#and then if i change all the links to https it breaks the like button 🙂 fun and cool

[elderly-scrolls]

tentatively made an art blog after 14 years on this site...it's not properly set up yet but yeah if u mostly just wanna see my art then this blog is for u

[aquatark]

Okay! So! I'm breaking out the correct capitalization because this news is so insane! The Japanese website for Endless Ocean Luminous received a major update last night, and I want to walk through the biggest new info from it with you! This is gonna be really long, so please bare with me, there's just so much to cover...

Here's the link for people who want to check this themselves: https://www.nintendo.com/jp/switch/a7lka/index.html

The Veiled Sea is random, but not in the way you think

It has been officially confirmed that the Veiled Sea's terrain and creatures will change with each dive, and creatures will likely spawn in accordance to the nearby terrain. But don't panic!

After filling in 80% of an area's map, you will be given a map ID, which you can use to access that exact same map, either by yourself or with friend, whenever you like! Think of them like Minecraft world seeds. An example ID (which can likely be used upon release) is given in the photo above, accompanied by what looks like a photo of the one and only...! Maybe you can reliably encounter her on that map ID?

2. Salvages are back, baybee!!

In what looks to be a system similar to EO1 and the Everblue games, salvages of all sorts can be found under small glints on the ocean floor! The P earned from salvages immediately goes into your current amount once you've picked it up. According to the photo above, salvaging is "essential to unravelling the ocean's mysteries", and another photo states that you may even find traces of "ancient civilizations"...

3. A diving rank system has been revealed, along with fishy friends

As you discover new creatures and treasures, you will unlock all sorts of things, and your dive rank will increase! Higher dive ranks have access to more suit colors (which side note omg i'm loving the options), as well as larger creatures following you, and more creatures following at the same time! What does that mean? Well... you know EO1's friendship system, where if you're friendly enough to a fish, it'll follow you around? This seems to be returning, but reworked! The creatures that follow you depends on your dive rank: at a low rank, only small fish will follow you, but as your rank increases, you can have dolphins and even huge whales tag along with you!

4. Behold a whole new range of underwater environments

I already showed pictures of them in my previous post, so I won't here to save photo space, but to list a few, underwater magma flows, shipwrecks in the abyss, polar areas, freshwater caves, and active hydrothermal vent fields have all been shown off here!

5. Different missions will be available each dive

Not much elaboration is needed here, but each dive, you will be given special missions (such as seeking out a location or creature). We don't yet know what reward these will give us, but it's gotta be good, right?

6. A new method of identifying creatures

Creatures you have yet to identify will glow, and pressing the L button while near these creatures will unlock their information. Multiple creatures' info can be acquired this way at the same time, making for easy scanning of big groups! This info will then be available in the marine encyclopedia, which can be accessed at any time.

The encyclopedia will also record the creature's behavior, habits, and the largest/smallest sizes of it you have found.

7. Creature variants have been introduced

Though the site did not elaborate on this, it did showcase a picture of a creature labelled "variant".

This one is especially interesting, because though the scientific name here is accurate, the Japanese text below it reads... "Coco Maharaja", which is this EO2 legendary's Japanese name! Will we be able to encounter the exact legendary specimens from EO2 again in the Veiled Sea, or are these simply colored variants named after them? Either way, the creature variant system is going to be awesome, I can tell!

8. Photography is back, and better than ever!

Photos will be sent to the Nintendo Switch's album when taken. What purpose they will serve in the greater game has yet to be seen, but you can take photos with yourself in them!

9. Multiplayer and singleplayer options

I know some people were worried about multiplayer being the only mode, but this is not the case! Players can dive either solo, or with a group over the internet with the "Dive Together" option. When diving together, up to 10 random players can play... or, when diving with friends, up to 30 people can!

Additional multiplayer reveals include the ability to use tons of emotes to communicate, adding emojis to creatures or treasures you find which can be seen on the map for others to check out (the Cacao Maharaja photo showcases a bunch of these emojis), being able to teleport to any player in your current dive, and more!

10. A new mythical creature...?

The array of photos shown of new creature models is absolutely astounding... but one in particular that caught my eye is the set of new prehistoric creatures!

One of these things is not like the others though... what could "Raja Emas" be...? Can prehistoric creatures be mythical too?

This update has made me more hyped than ever for this game! I'd be curious to hear your thoughts too~ :>

[kingkatsuki]

https://x.com/monika_icecream/status/1816124917727014970?s=46&t=vHgEzwg5oS7rUYJBymnxDA

Ok but ever since we found out about all of Enjin’s tattoos I’ve been absolutely FERALLLLLLLL. Imagine reader seeing them for the first time and not know he had the tummy tattoo😫😫💖💖💖

Link.

OMG I LITERALLY JUST RETWEETED THIS ON TWT! My eyes would bulge out of my skull when I first see them, honestly.

Like just imagine reader gossiping with Semiu and asking whether she’s ever actually seen what’s going on under Enjin’s shirt, and she just gives you the most pointed look like “that is not my type.”

So you’re asking the other cleaners, because someone must have seen him changing a shirt after a run in with a particularly nasty trash beast, or when they were stuck somewhere and they had to shower together? But it seems like no one has seen this man naked.

And Griss finds it hilarious that you’re so determined to find out, so curious— “Why don’t you just ask him?” He grins into his beer, “I’m sure he’d be more than willing to show you.”

But you can’t just ask him to take his top off— no matter how much the thought alone has butterflies swirling in your tummy and the sight would probably fuel your masturbation material for the rest of your existence.

It’s months later, and you find yourself tipsy in an alleyway pinned to a wall in front of an equally pissed Enjin. His hands pawing at your sides as you tug his shirt up over his chest and you see it— the three swirls over his belly button as you tug the material higher and follow the intricate designs over his pectorals. And he’s laughing at your actions, asking whether you want him to strip in the alley or what.

So you tell him that you’ve wondered what his tattoos looked like for months, you’ve been waiting for this day as long as you could remember and it’s even better than you imagined.

And he throws his head back as he breaks into raucous laughter, a cigarette barely holding on between his teeth before he looks down at you with his lip curled into a smug smile, “If you wanted me to strip for you, you could’ve asked me months ago.”

[ryanthedemiboy]

Since Trump is claiming Project 2025 has nothing to do with him, I'm reading his Agenda47, and I'm going to tell you all about it.

Sources: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/as-trump-creates-distance-from-project-2025-the-conservative-agenda47-comes-into-focus/ar-BB1qaeVP || https://www.npr.org/2024/07/11/nx-s1-5033006/trump-is-distancing-himself-from-project-2025-but-some-in-his-circle-have-ties-to-it

If you don't want to read about it, blacklist A47

If you want to read about my thoughts/highlights but later, I'll be breaking it up into parts like I did for Project 2025 (which I'm probably not going to finish or otherwise touch again except to check a few things against this), so if you just want all of it at once/only when I'm done, check the tags "A47.1" "A47.2" and "A47.3" -- I don't imagine I'll need more than three posts for the 16 pages.

Although to be fair, when I changed the font into something readable for me, it went to 40 pages, so.

Direct link to Agenda47: https://www.donaldjtrump.com/platform

For the extended/detailed version, you have to get the pdf (which I can't guarantee won't put viruses or malware on your computer. Who knows what Trump and the RNC are doing) by clicking the button named "HERE" on the link above, or go to this link: https://rncplatform.donaldjtrump.com/

NOTE: I may or may not trigger warn for shit, this is 5.4k of shit and I'm multitasking quite considerably

[zer0carrds]

hello! i know you replied to my last message a month ago, so sorry for my delayed response!

i was wondering if you knew how to get the buttons to expand into info? right now i just have section breaks on mine so it doesn’t expand into the info, it just takes me to a new “page”

gotcha gotcha. i hope you don't mind me answering this publicly, i've had this question come up a few times before! bee tee dubs this thing is gonna be image heavy, so you have been warned. also ignore my tabs i was too lazy to crop everything properly. just avert your gaze.

you can do this in a number of ways, but i'm going to use the basic "buttons" option to start!!!

here's my stinky example page. so impossible to navigate. i put my sections, so i have my things. idk i think i'm silly sometimes.

we're going to click the plus sign, and click 'button'.

when you do so, it'll put your standard button on your screen and it'll expand your customization bar (i'm going to assume you're familiar with that already!!!!) where you can first add how many buttons you want.

each button has it's own drop down where you can change your title/label, add your link, change colors and all of that. you can go ahead and change your label to whatever you want. i'll be calling mine "about me" for funsies.

second, when linking your pages in any format, you do NOT have to type the whole url of your carrd site; all you need to do is [hashtag]sectiontitle. so mine will be #page1. if you're linking to other websites, you'll need to use the full https://domain url or else it may not work. but to reiterate, you just need to link the exact section name.

my button options will look something like this!

once that's done, you can continue adding your buttons and changing the labels and URLs. to do that, all you need to do is collapse your button's options, selecting "add", and adding as many buttons as you'd like. rinse and repeat.

ta da!

since i have three pages i want to link to, i'll make two more buttons this way. so my buttons tab is gonna look like this:

so yippee!!!! these will link to their respective pages. if i could do a demo video of it, i would but my quicktime is broken :prayer hands. emoji:

you can make buttons using different features:

but in order to link in text, all you have to do is [link title](link here) in your text box.

you can to that method anywhere you use text, so you can sprinkle it in wherever you want.

IMPORTANT THINGS 2 MEMBER:

you don't have to use the full carrd url to link your pages. just use only your section title, #page1 for example.

have fun with customizing the colors. you can adjust the width of buttons as you feel, resize them, etc. you can make some rlly cute navigation with your different button options! i'll most likely make a guide about customization later on!!!

you can make as many of these as you want. you can stack 'em or keep them in a default row. up 2 u.

lmao i hope this was helpful! sorry it's image heavy i just wanted to make sure i covered as much as i could <33333 if you need clarification, please don't hesitate to let me know (^:

[infanitytv]

WDMTR PODCAST EP 220 FEAT. SPECIAL GUEST "QUE HEFFA" THIS WEEKS QUICK HITS

WDMTR PODCAST EP 220 FEAT. SPECIAL GUEST "QUE HEFFA" + THIS WEEKS QUICK HITS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMSOSgzYvMY Please visit our website for more information: https://infanitytv.com/ 🔔Subscribe to Infanity TV now and never miss the excitement of sports with our exclusive talk shows, expert analysis, and original programming! https://www.youtube.com/@Infanity-TV/?sub_confirmation=1 🔗 Stay Connected With Us. 👉Instagram: https://ift.tt/oWEIahe 👉Twitter (X):https://twitter.com/InfanityTV 👉Website: https://infanitytv.com/ ✅ For Business Inquiries: infanitystudios@gmail.com ============================= ✅ Recommended Playlists 👉 The Profanity Nation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tGyk04KV9o&list=PLgUEwO8D7_192XzeDlcCDFmXHuwqeD0KH&pp=iAQB 👉 Infanity TV Streaming Shows https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCAEnelyrA4&list=PLgUEwO8D7_19JF-wDjtXgtZaXj9eVw7EW&pp=iAQB ✅ Other Videos You Might Be Interested In Watching: 👉 Lakers Are Surging ☆ Clippers Not So Much | The Breaks! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCAEnelyrA4 👉 Instagram Outage, Facebook Outage, What's Going On | The Breaks! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou9zE8lCL5A 👉 LeBron's 40,000 Point Journey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tGyk04KV9o 👉 Top Pre-Season Bets for MLB | The Breaks! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTUk_3c2qvU 👉 Classified NFL Combine Leak Will Change Everything | Said What I Said! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AglJLwboYbw ============================= ✅ About Infanity TV. Welcome to Infanity TV, the ultimate destination for all your sports and lifestyle entertainment needs! If you're a fan of thrilling sports talk shows, exclusive content, and in-depth analysis, subscribing to Infanity TV on YouTube is an absolute must. By subscribing to Infanity TV, you'll gain access to a wide range of content that will keep you entertained, informed, and engaged. Our shows present a perfect blend of humor, analysis, and exclusive access, allowing you to immerse yourself in the world of sports like never before. Take advantage of all of the gripping action, insightful analysis, and exciting moments that Infanity TV has in store. Subscribe now to join our vibrant community of sports enthusiasts on YouTube. Hit that subscribe button and get ready to embark on an unforgettable sports journey with Infanity TV! For Collaboration and Business inquiries, please use the contact information below: 📩 Email: infanitystudios@gmail.com 🔔 Are you looking for exclusive sports talk, original content, & top-quality analysis? Look no further than Infinity TV. Subscribe now for the ultimate sports & lifestyle journey! https://www.youtube.com/@Infanity-TV/?sub_confirmation=1 ================================= ADD HASHTAGS HERE ⚠️DISCLAIMER: We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of watching any of our publications. You acknowledge that you use the information we provide at your own risk. Do your research. Copyright Notice: This video and our YouTube channel contain dialogue, music, and images that are the property of Infanity TV. You are authorized to share the video link and channel and embed this video in your website or others as long as a link back to our YouTube channel is provided. © Infanity TV via Infanity TV https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVEIwTezhsp4vKRO5N6epKg August 12, 2025 at 09:01PM

[kuai-kuai]

webdev log 5 grahhhh

guestbook added and... she's up... I'm still waiting for my SSL certificate but...

here's the link!

edit: SSL... activated... but I think it takes a while so if you get the "secure connection failed" error just change the url from https to http

EDIT 2: NOOO THE CSS IS WEIRD DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK I don't know what's wrong with it..

Edit 3: my genius knows no bounds (it's fixed)

I was gonna buy a custom domain name and maybe I still will in the future since a long url always looks sketch but also it's kinda funny so maybe I'll keep it..... plus it's free.

I don't know if there's anything funky after deployment... SO...... for those who are interested in doing a little testing:

if you leave a comment and I don't approve by tomorrow or something let me know, because then something must be amiss.. but I tested it myself both logged in and out so it should work.

and let me know if you see "document" as the page title anywhere. I'm bad with keeping up with adding titles... and let me know if I left any generic "testing!" comments anywhere... last time I checked the database there are only three and there should only be three...... but I miss things a lot

also haven't tested uploading... if it doesn't work then fuck me!!!! 🤓

and I know the search button is different on both the stories and art section I don't care to fix it because I am SO TIRED.

anyways, now for some comments and final thoughts under cut

this was........... a journey. honestly, most of it was copy and pasting code because I'm a poser and can't think for myself. but it was still really hard and the code is messy but I do wanna improve in the future since I plan on building something for my partner too.

deploying was a nightmare I didn't use mysql but everything loves mysql. sqlite is the default for laravel and I didn't know better but I am so never using it again. I kind of don't want the database within the files itself and would like to connect it to my host's mysql database thingy.

I literally have xampp! I should've just used mysql grahhhhh.....

I don't know how safe it is to have a database within the files like that, but I'll probably back it up every once in a while and if someone hacks or whatever like pervert I literally do not care because my password is completely unique to that site and not reused for any social media and also it's encrypted... and there's not a trace of other sensitive information that I know of that I added.

so it's not worth anyone's time.

anyways webdev is so hard. I literally cannot imagine doing this from scratch. I am worshiping the black box that is laravel.....

but I did learn a lot. I think I'm a top-down learner..... I gotta know the big idea before the details make sense. I didn't even know what the fuck MVC was until yesterday. no idea that that's what I was even doing. I hate learning anything in school because it's all about the small stuff first @_@ I forget everything so quickly that information cannot be "built up"... you gotta give me the whole building and a hammer and let me break it down

I think because of this experience I can learn more about the actual lower level details... :> I will keep on expanding. it's fun! keeps my brain all soft and gooey.....

a lot of code is inconsistent because I learned more as I went but I was very lazy and didn't want to go back and clean stuff up if it still works..... 😎👍

for the future, I'm going to probably try to be more organized with my tables and try to read more on database design.. luckily my site is very simple. I probably won't make anything more complicated than this ever but it'd still be good to learn.

I need to learn how to write shorter more efficient code and not make things so hard for myself...... and I should have uhhhh written more comments. I always forget comments and then I go back and look at my code like

😀❔

too lost in the sauce......

but yeah, baby's first website with a ~BACK END~...... happy birth, kuaikuai.great-site.net! be gentle, she's fragile and made from cardboard, sleep deprivation, and frustration.... long live! ......hopefully!

[monriatitans]

MonriaTitans

Let's Play Some $#!7! - Split Attention: Tavern Talk's Demo + Spiritfarer - Part 2

Come join me for another episode of Let's Play Some $#!7 | LPS$, where I play games to provide commentary to educate on game development! Provided I don't get too caught up in the game to comment, which, in a sense, is commentary in and of itself. Today, we finished playing Tavern Talk's demo! It was first introduced to The Weekend Game Show | WGS via Let's Play Some Demos! - Part 14, TIMESTAMP: 1:50:50! I had to cut it short due to the "30-Minutes Per Demo" rule. Another reason I finished the demo was to make sure I did the game as much justice as possible. 

Now, I didn't call this stream Let's Play Some Demos! | LPSD because I want this game. After I get it, it'll be a regular feature on the show. And, since the demo was finished quickly, I also played Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition! It was first introduced to The Weekend Game Show | WGS via Let's Play Some Demos! - Part 3! Part 1 was an LPS$ stream. And, had I known how short Tavern Talk's demo was, I would have finished it during the first playing of it. I was RIGHT THERE towards the end!

With all that out the way, here are my opinions, via the "Layered Compliment Sandwich": Tavern Talk drink-making mechanic is the most unique I have ever seen. Being able to feed Abdu a small amount of the drink we messed up instead of starting over is SUPER convenient! And the fact how much of each ingredient to use is dictated. And the Quest board is a nice touch as well, though, did the demo block us from putting up more than one? Because I would click on the board and it would just pull up the journal. That made me sad. Also, there was a random apostrophe facing the wrong direction. Despite those little things, I can't WAIT to get my hands on the game! I hope Fable does well... I hope I gave her the right drink... Spiritfarer is a delight! It's a cartoon-looking game with cussing in it! What a PLEASANT surprise! Especially since, I, as an adult, don't bother to look at the maturity rating. It was also refreshing to see a game of that type of art style throw a curveball like that. The talk about capitalism being horrible is a boon, too! One change I would make is to have in the Updates portion of the... journal?... either include Improvements or have a separate section altogether. Hopping back up to the BLUEPRINTS every time I forget what I need to make is time-consuming and irritating, considering how little time we have in the day. And is there a button to turn off excess animations? I don't need to see the "waking up" and "getting stuff out of the oven" animation every time. Clock's ticking and I have things to do! Those irritants won't stop me from continuing my personal playthrough, though!

And that's it for this mini-review! Thank you for reading! If this series of videos is something you're interested in, you can watch it on YouTube, The Titans' Discord, Steam, Rumble, and Odysee! And on Twitch while the VODs last. Don’t forget to hit the Subscribe and/or Follow buttons to know when there's more!

—

The Sunday, January 19th, and 672nd, Artist Shout-Out goes to Carla Antoni! Check them out here!

—

TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - Starting Soon 9:59 - Welcome Gamers! 12:53 - Artist Shout-Out 16:06 - Tavern Talk 58:57 - Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition 1:55:06 - Break Time 2:10:02 - Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition 3:56:38 - Artist Shout-Out 3:57:17 - Thank You/Links 3:57:55 - Up Next/Farewell

—

MORE INFO & TO SUPPORT – MonriaTitans | WGS Summarized – Rendezvous Point Bookshop – Artist Shout-Out Criteria – Throne Wishlist – #SubOffTwitch – YouTube – Rumble – Odysee – Twitch– Steam

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Originally published to https://opinionsandtruth.wordpress.com on January 19, 2025.

[bosssmg]

New Top SMG Setup On Rebirth Island: Warzone 3 Gameplay | Boss SMG

New Top SMG Setup On Rebirth Island: Warzone 3 Gameplay | Boss SMG https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbpWi6_JqKc Welcome to another high-octane Warzone 3 session, where we take on Rebirth Island with the latest SMG build that's changing the game! In this video, I break down the new SMG setup, showcasing how it performs in live combat scenarios and why it might be your new go-to for Season 3. 🎮 What You'll Learn: - Detailed breakdown of the new SMG build and its features. - Gameplay tips and strategies for dominating on Rebirth Island. - Live combat demonstrations will show off the SMG's effectiveness. If you enjoy the video and find the tips useful, please hit that like button, subscribe for more Warzone 3 content, and leave a comment with your thoughts or questions about the SMG build. Let's get those wins together! This video is about New Top SMG Setup On Rebirth Island: Warzone 3 Gameplay. But It also covers the following topics: Best Weapons Warzone 3 Warzone Best Plays Competitive SMG Warzone Video Title: New Top SMG Setup On Rebirth Island: Warzone 3 Gameplay | Boss SMG 🔔Looking for non-stop laughs and epic gaming action? Subscribe to Boss SMG for side-splitting jokes, intense gaming showdowns, and the wildest moments! https://www.youtube.com/@bosssmg9615/?sub_confirmation=1 🔗 Stay Connected With Me. 👉Twitch: https://ift.tt/OWlJivb ============================= ✅ Other Videos You Might Be Interested In Watching: 👉 When Gamers Lose It: The Funniest Rage Ever Caught Live! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7tt-ryWxWo 👉 Just Logged In & Already Getting Trolled 😂 | Gaming Gone Wild! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T_8Q8UGaNo&t=32s 👉 Epic Fails & Savage Clutch: Gaming With The Boys! Gaming Shenanigans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXEwv2jlHJU 👉 CALL OF DUTY MW3 - watch me destroy this team callofduty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-_vJIHFMNk 👉 Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 - CRAZY SHOTGUN LOADOUT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nSfvHVBwrQ ============================= ✅ About Boss SMG. Welcome to Boss SMG, your go-to destination for top-tier comedy and gaming content! Get ready to laugh till you cry with hilarious skits and dive into epic gaming adventures. From side-splitting jokes to intense gaming showdowns, I've got it all here! Remember to SUBSCRIBE for epic gaming content, funny videos, and my journey through the wildest gaming moments. Join me for daily entertainment, and remember to smash that like button. Get ready to boss up your day with Boss smg—where comedy meets gaming excellence! 🔔 Ready to level up your gaming entertainment? Don't miss the epic gaming content, fun, and unforgettable moments—hit that subscribe button now for this wild ride! https://www.youtube.com/@bosssmg9615/?sub_confirmation=1 ================================= #warzone3 #rebirthisland #smgbuild #callofduty #warzoneguide #smgloadout ⚠️Disclaimer: I do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of watching any of my publications. You acknowledge that you use the information I provide at your own risk. Do your research. Copyright Notice: This video and my YouTube channel contain dialogue, music, and images that are the property of Boss SMG. You are authorized to share the video link and channel and embed this video in your website or others as long as a link back to my YouTube channel is provided. © Boss SMG via Boss smg https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVRXdRMk6p9kblfy5iqH77w May 17, 2024 at 08:26PM

[enoua5]

This is all great! A lot of web hosting resources are programmer-oriented, which makes it hard to find! These threads help a lot!

I'm going to add on some notes about accessibility (especially in regards to screen-readers), because that's sometimes hard to find as well.

1. Navigation

Screen-readers can break a site up into sections for easier navigation. They do this primarily through headings and regions

1.1 Headings

Html gives you `<h1>` through `<h6>` for headings. For best accessibility, you should have exactly one h1 tag on your page serving as a title, which should be above all other heading tags. From there, h2s show the sections of the page, h3s show the sections of h2s, etc.

In the context of this post, "1. Navigation" would be written as `<h2>1. Navigation</h2>` and "1.1 Headings" would be written as `<h3>1.1 Headings</h3>` (assuming there was an <h1> title above them)

Making sure these are layed out properly will allow people using screen readers (and similar navigation tech) jump around between sections without needing to tab through all content on your site to get there.

1.2 Regions

Regions act as a functional level of organization above headers. Of particular note are the <main> and <nav> tags. If you wrap your page's main content (your comic, title, comments on the comic, etc) in a <main> tag, screen readers will he able to find it and jump to it easier.

Likewise, if you wrap your navigation section in <nav>, screen readers will be able to jump straight to it with the press of a button.

There's a few others: `footer` is for information about the page such as copyright and upload date. `aside` is for information that isn't the "main content" but is still complementary to it.

2. Alt Text

Being able to navigate the page is moot if people can't read your comic! You can easily add alt text to any image using the `alt` attribute. An image tag like `<img src="comic.png" alt="This is a text description of the comic." />` will be read by screen readers as something along the lines of "Image. This is a text description of the comic."

Note that the screen reader already knows that this is an image, so no need to say "image of" or anything like that. It's also best to use proper grammer and full sentences (while not being *too* verbose) to make it easier to understand when read by text to speech.

3. Aria

There's a web standard for providing extra context to screen readers called ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications). Generally, these should be used lightly, as they can confuse screen readers if used incorrectly, and aren't supported by all screen readers. That being said, they're very helpful when you need them!

You can find a general guide to aria here: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Accessibility/ARIA

3.1 aria-label

By far, the aria attribute I use the most is `aria-label`. This can be added to any html tag to override the default accessibility text. This is intended to be used to add screen-reader text to something when there's no actual text there in the page. The classic example of this is a button with an image instead of text. (Note, `alt` is preferred over `aria-label` when using images)

3.2 role

Want to include ascii art without having it turn into a garbled mess of punctuation when read by a screen reader? Want a button that just redirects you to a different page like a link? You can use the `role` attribute to change how screen readers treat something. Again, use sparingly.

A full list of roles can be found here: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Accessibility/ARIA/Roles

3.3 Testing

There are plenty of tools online to help you build more accessible websites. Here are a few I personally use.

3.3.1 Wave

WAVE Evalutation Tool is offered as a browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, and will analyze your page to give you accessibility suggestions at the click of a button:

3.3.2 Contrast

Also helpful is WebAIM's contrast checker. Simply give it a foreground and background color, and it will suggest how easily someone will low vision will be able to read the text against the background

3.3.3 Learn a screen-reader

When I was first learning accessible design, I learned to use the screen-reader that came with my phone. It takes some getting used to, but it can be learned with a guide in under an hour! While WAVE can point things out pretty well, actually using it for yourself can help you find more subtle issues.

Tbh at this point you should just make your own webcomic app/website because it would probably be 100 times better than whatever going on with webtoon right now.

hahaha it wouldn't tho, sorry 💀

Here's the fundamental issue with webcomic platforms that a lot of people just don't realize (and why they're so difficult to run successfully):

Storage costs are incredibly expensive, it's why so many sites have limitations on file sizes / page sizes / etc. because all of those images and site info have to be stored somewhere, which costs $$$.

Maintenance costs are expensive and get more so as you grow, you need people who are capable of fixing bugs ASAP and managing the servers and site itself

Financially speaking, webcomics are in a state of high supply, low demand. Loads of artists are willing to create their passion projects, but getting people to read them and pay for them is a whole other issue. Demand is high in the general sense that once people get attached to a webtoon they'll demand more, but many people aren't actually willing to go looking for new stuff to read and depend more on what sites feed them (and what they already like). There are a lot of comics to go around and thus a lot of competition with a limited audience of people willing to actually pay for them.

Trying to build a new platform from the ground up is incredibly difficult and a majority of sites fail within their first year. Not only do you have to convince artists to take a chance on your platform, you have to convince readers to come. Readers won't come if there isn't work on the platform to read, but artists won't come if they don't think the site will be worth it due to low traffic numbers. This is why the artists with large followings who are willing to take chances on the smaller sites are crucial, but that's only if you can convince them to use the site in favor of (or alongside) whatever platform they're using already where the majority of their audience lies. For many creators it's just not worth the time, energy, or risk.

Even if you find short-term success, in the long-term there are always going to be profit margins to maintain. The more users you pull in, the more storage is used by incoming artists, the more you have to spend on storage and server maintenance costs, and that means either taking the risk at crowdfunding (ex. ComicFury) or having to resort to outsider investments (ex. Tapas). Look at SmackJeeves, it used to be a titan in the independent webcomic hosting community, until it folded over to a buyout by NHN and then was pretty much immediately shuttered due to NHN basically turning it into a manwha scanlation site and driving away its entire userbase. And if you don't get bought out and try your hand at crowdfunding, you may just wind up living on a lifeline that could cut out at any moment, like what happened to Inkblazers (fun fact, the death of Inkblazers was what kicked off the cultural shift in Tapas around 2015-16 when all of IB's users migrated over and brought their work with them which was more aimed towards the BL and romancee drama community, rather than the comedy / gag-a-day culture that Tapas had made itself known for... now you deadass can't tell Tapas apart from a lot of scanlation sites because it got bought out by Kakao and kept putting all of its eggs into the isekai/romance drama basket.)

Right now the mindset in which artists and readers are operating is that they're trying way, way too hard to find a "one size fits all" site. Readers want a place where they can find all their favorite webtoons without much effort, artists wants a place where they can post to an audience of thousands, and both sides want a community that will feel tight-knit. But the reality is that you can't really have all three of those things, not on one site. Something always winds up having to be sacrificed - if a site grows big enough, it'll have to start seeking more funding while also cutting costs which will result in features becoming paywall'd, intrusive ads, creators losing their freedom, and/or outsider support which often results in the platform losing its core identity and alienating its tight-knit community.

If I had to describe what I'm talking about in a "pick one" graphic, it would look something like this:

(*note: this is mostly based on my own observations from using all of these sites at some point or another, they're not necessarily entirely accurate to the statistical performance of each site, I can only glean so much from experience and traffic trackers LMAO that said I did ask some comic pals for input and they were very helpful in helping me adjust it with their own takes <3).

The homogenization of the Internet has really whipped people into submission for the "big sites" that offer "everything", but that's never been the Internet, it relies on being multi-faceted and offering different spaces for different purposes. And we're seeing that ideology falter through the enshittification of sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. where users are at odds with the platforms because the platforms are gutting features in an attempt to satisfy shareholders whom without the platforms would not exist. Like, most of us aren't paying money to use social media sites / comic platform sites, so where else are they gonna make the necessary funds to keep these sites running? Selling ad space and locking features behind paywalls.

And this is especially true for a lot of budding sites that don't have the audience to support them via crowdfunding but also don't have the leverage to ask for investments - so unless they get really REALLY lucky in EITHER of those departments, they're gonna be operating at a loss, and even once they do achieve either of those things there are gonna be issues in the site's longevity, whether it be dying from lack of growing crowdfunding support or dying from shareholder meddling.

So what can we do?

We can learn how to take our independence back. We don't have to stop using these big platforms altogether as they do have things to offer in their own way, particularly their large audience sizes and dipping into other demographics that might not be reachable from certain sites - but we gotta learn that no single site is going to satisfy every wish we have and we have to be willing to learn the skills necessary to running our own spaces again. Pick up HTML/CSS, get to know other people who know HTML/CSS if you can't grasp it (it's me, I can't grasp it LOL), be willing to take a chance on those "smaller sites" and don't write them off entirely as spaces that can be beneficial to you just because they don't have large numbers or because they don't offer rewards programs. And if you have a really polished piece of work in your hands, look into agencies and publishing houses that specialize in indie comics / graphic novels, don't settle for the first Originals contract that gets sent your way.

For the last decade corporations have been convincing us that our worth is tied to the eyes we can bring to them. Instead of serving ourselves, we've begun serving the big guys, insisting that it has to be worth something eventually and that it'll "payoff" simply by the virtue of gambler's fallacy. Ask yourself what site is right for you and your work rather than asking yourself if your work is good enough for them. Most of us are broke trying to make it work on these sites anyways, may as well be broke and fulfilled by posting in places that actually suit us and our work if we can. Don't define your success by what sites like Webtoons are enforcing - that definition only benefits them, not you.

[incoherenci-blog]

Iran may be on the cusp of change. A conversation with Arash Azizi.

By James M. Dorsey

The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey depends on the support of its readers. If you believe that the column and podcast add value to your understanding and that of the broader public, please consider becoming a paid subscriber by clicking on the subscription button at http://www.jamesmdorsey.substack.com and choosing one of the subscription options. Thank you.

To watch a video version of this story on YouTube please click here. An audio podcast is available on Soundcloud.

Transcript

James M. Dorsey (00:00:06):

Hello and welcome to the Turbulent World with me, James M. Dorsey, as your host.

Iranians vote with their feet.

Earlier this month, turnout for parliamentary elections and the 88-member Assembly of Experts that appoints Iran's supreme leader was at 41% an all time low.

In 2022 and 2023. Iran was racked by mass protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini while in the morality police's custody, Mrs. Amini was detained for allegedly violating Iran's strict rules requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, or headscarf.

Many hoped the demonstrations, like multiple earlier protests, signaled the beginning of the end of Iran's clerical regime that came to power in the 1979 Islamic revolution. The revolt overthrew the Shah, the first toppling in the last 40 plus years of an icon of US influence in the Middle East.

Hardliners in the United States and elsewhere have called for supporting civil society opposition.

(00:01:25):

Others advocate breaking Iran apart by supporting ethnic and religious minorities in the country.

A historian and political scientist at South Carolina's Clemson University, Arash Azizi argues that Iran may be on the cusp of change. It's just that the change may come from within the regime rather than from the street.

The change is likely to involve a polishing of the sharp edges of the Islamic Republic rather than a transition to democracy. Even so Arash, the author of two books, a biography of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's notorious Quds Force who was killed in 2020 in an American drone strike, and a just published volume on the recent women's protest movement argued in The New York Times that Supreme leader Ali Khamenei's inner circle is populated by technocrats and pragmatists rather than ideologues and revolutionaries who want to perpetuate the status quo.

Few will challenge the notion that the eventual passing of the baton by 84-year-old Mr. Khamenei, who is believed to be in poor health, embodies the potential of change, even if the recent Assembly of Experts election was stacked against reformers who were banned from being candidates.

Counterintuitively, Arash sees a ray of hope in the eventual transition to a new Supreme Leader reason enough to welcome Aash to the show. Aash, it's a pleasure to host you today.

Arash Azizi (00:03:09):

Thank you, James. It's great to be with you.

James M. Dorsey (00:03:11):

Let's kick off with you giving us a bit of your intellectual biography and your engagement with Iran. Allow me to note that links to Arash's books will be at the bottom of the transcript of this podcast, which you will be able to find on my Substack newsletter early next week. Arash, the ether is yours.

Arash Azizi (00:03:33):

Thank you. My name is Arash. As said, I'm from Iran and when it comes to my intellectual biography, especially when it comes to Iran's struggle for democracy, it's really sort of inseparable from my life.

I was born in Teran in 1988, Iran is the country I grew up in, and I had the privilege of, and I really do see it as a privilege of growing up in one of the most fascinating periods in Iranian history in the late 90s.

When I was nine years old, Iran elected the reformist president Muhammad Khatami. And it's not so much just about him or internal politics of the Islamic Republic, but this election really opened the new era in Iranian history where millions of people were seeking change. Millions of people really had beliefs that Iran could be democratized, that it could change very quickly. It was a time of artistic and cultural and journalistic excellence.

(00:04:32):

There were tons of newspapers everywhere in the society. Everyone spoke about possibilities of change. It's really exciting time to grow up in, and I was and am from early on I identified as a Marxist and I still see myself always on the left side of things.

But what definitely hasn't changed is me being part of the Iranian quest, seeing myself as part of the Iranian quest to change things and to bring a freer and more democratic and more just Iran.

Now, I was a journalist for many years. I was a TV anchor. I then turned to academia, got a PhD in history and Middle Eastern studies from NYU.

But these are really all details. The broader picture remains, remains the same as I said with the broader reference, which is I am still really that Iranian citizen trying to imagine a different Iran and hopefully bring about a different Iran as part of a different world.

James M. Dorsey (00:05:46):

And yet you left Iran.

Arash Azizi (00:05:49):

That's right. Yeah. I mean I've left Iran in 2008 actually. So, I haven't been back like millions of Iranians. I unfortunately haven't been back to Iran for that many years, close to two decades now.

And it's funny, when I left in 2008, I couldn't have imagined that I won't be able to go back. I mean, I really didn't imagine that at all. In 2009 we had a grand movement called the Green Movement that started from contesting a presidential election, basically contestation over the results, but really morphed into a grand anti-regime movement. And really a lot of us thought this is it, and the regime would be gone.

I remember, I lived in Canada at the time and I was renting a place and I told this landlord, ‘Oh, I can't sign for another year because the regime would be overthrown.’ 40 years is over and I have to go back.

So, this is really kind of the perhaps naivete that you have also as to, I was 20 years old or something, but yeah, I left. I lived in many other countries. I lived in Malaysia, I lived in Britain, Germany, Canada, and now the United States.

James M. Dorsey (00:07:05):

And you seem to come to the conclusion that it won't be popular revolts that provoke change in Iran. Tell us why you think change will come from the top rather than the bottom and what that change may look like.

Arash Azizi (00:07:22):

Yeah, it's a very tough reality to sort of admit, if you will, and that sort of, I wrote this piece for The New York Times that you referred to where I'm talking about this, but also in the epilogue to my book, and this is a book that I wrote really with all my heart. It's called ‘What Iranians Want: Women, Life, Freedom.’

This is a book that on every page of it I wrote about people that I really consider my heroes. These are my fellow Iranians, trade unionists, environmental activists, feminist activists. These are people who really, this era that I spoke about from late 90s to now, they wage the heroic struggle over decades against the Islamic Republic. They embody all the wonderful ideas that the regime doesn't…This book is really…a testament to them.

(00:08:23):

The reason I wrote it is that I wanted Iran to not be reduced to what you usually have in the headlines of whether it's a nuclear program or all the soldiers or the mullahs. And I wanted to see that there is a different Iran and much of the work that I do in fact is an attempt to ensure that there is this different Iran.

However, even in the epilogue of this book, when I'm trying to predict the future of Iran, if you will, I have to admit, one has to be honest, that it's not clear that it's these movements that will be the only ones who are calling the shots. I mean, it's clear that that won't be the case, right? And one has to be brutally honest.

Now, the reality is that the grand movements for civil liberties, for democracy that I talked about have had a basic failure in the last couple of decades, and that has been a failure to translate their power and their demands into a political channel.

(00:09:25):

This is a very important thing and I think it's an important ailment. Basically, I think we have a political deficit around the world. I often when in this conversation, I often point to this new book by Vincent Bevins about the missing decade of the  2010s.

This is a writer, a journalist, who goes and looks at all the different mass movements in the 2010s to show some of the reasons that they failed. I mean, he looked at it, whether the Arab Spring or a movement in Brazil and a lot of other places, even in Ukraine.

In some sense, actually what becomes clear is that there is a failure to translate these mass movements into a political channel, the political proper political channel, especially because there is a lack of a tradition of political parties, organized political forces that were very powerful in the 20th century.

And somehow by the end of the 20th century, we convinced ourselves, I might say we on the left and on the right, it's interesting, there's sort of convergence on the left in the name of Autonomism or Horizontalism, and on the right and the language of end of ideology and all that becomes  that this was sort of all the bad 20th century stuff and we don't need anymore.

(00:10:43):

All we need now are hashtags and it is spontaneous people coming together, but unfortunately you don't get political change like that. So, unfortunately in Iran, for a variety of reasons, these movements that I am very proud to be a part of have failed politically to cohere into a political alternative.

And we have to be honest, right? Everyone loves to, whenever you lose in politics, everyone loves to say you scored a moral victory. Unfortunately, moral victories don't change history. They don't change people's lives in politics. It's about winning. It's about being able to dislodge the dictators that are in power and there is no clear path for this sort of freedom movements in Iran to do so.

James M. Dorsey (00:11:36):

If I can interject, I think of course, just to sharpen what you're saying, I agree with you. I think the problem that you see with popular revolts, and you see that going back to 1986 with People Power in the Philippines and certainly with the popular Arab revolts in 2011, it's that there are two tensions. One is translating street action into backroom bartering and politics. And it's always the question, at what point do you surrender the street? Because once you've surrendered the street, you can't retake it.

Arash Azizi (00:12:20):

Yeah, absolutely. It's a fascinating way of looking at it. It's interesting that you brought up Philippines. I don't know enough about it, but you look at it actually as a positive example in some ways, because at least in Philippines, they were able to, when I look at countries that have gone through some sort of a democratic transition, I mean I look at Philippines as one and that one in which an authoritarian system was replaced by a very imperfect democracy.

But at any rate, it is a democracy. People are electing their leaders in the polls, which would be a dream for Iranians, frankly, if we got to a place where we had anything like that. But I'm fascinated by the way you put it because that's precisely the point though. Yes, you are right, that if when you give up the street to the backroom, then you cannot take it back.

(00:13:04):

But also, you cannot keep the street forever, right? Absolutely. If you're in politics, you either cash it in at some time or it dissipates because people…

Yes, if you are in your early 20s and you love going to demonstrations, this is a big part of your life, you come under the illusion that, goodness, wouldn't this be great if this was life basically, right? That all the time we did was this.

But even leftists themselves who say this, usually they get to an age where they get a job and they get married, whatever, and they're not interested in doing this every day.

Certainly, most people, they're not trying to be political actors every day. They're trying to live their lives. If they can help it, perhaps they like to even not think about politics as much, and we can be critical of that, but means that you have to work with new ones that you have.

So, I think the key thing is to know whether it's for popular worlds or any sort of political action, it's key thing to know what is your strategy and how you can channel it.

James M. Dorsey (00:14:12):

Yeah, let me just interject…. This is a fascinating discussion, but I do want you to come back to my question.

Arash Azizi (00:14:19):

Yeah, of course.

James M. Dorsey (00:14:21):

I co-authored a book several years ago, which compared political transition in the Philippines, sorry, in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. And what we concluded was that in the case of the Philippines, in the case of Indonesia, and in fact also in the case of Myanmar prior to the military coup, what worked was that there were three players in this. There was a strong civil society, but there also was a faction of the military that saw an advantage or an interest in supporting change. And so that's what you really had in Southeast Asia, and that's what in a lot of ways you lacked in the Middle East.

Arash Azizi (00:15:24):

Well, if there was ever a segue that said, yeah, that's really fascinating. Exactly sort of what I'm trying to explore in regards to Iran.

James M. Dorsey (00:15:39):

Let's go back to Iran. Indeed.

Arash Azizi (00:15:42):

Yeah, no, but I mean it's exactly this question. To go back to your original question, which relates to this point about the comparison between Southeast Asia and the Middle East, the way I would put it, by the way as I write in The New York Times, it's an op-ed, you need to always extend to it the point a little too much.

The way I would put it is not so much that, oh, the change will come from the top, not the bottom. Although there is also truth to that.

But let me put it here if I may. I basically think that a variety of, let's call 'em civic movements, it's pro-democracy movements. These people that I wrote this book about, these people who want democracy for Iran and who are idealists, I don't mean that in a negative way, but I mean there are those who have ideals, right?

They want a different Iran, they have substantive ideas about gender justice, about social justice. They'll continue to be a big part of future of Iran, and that's sort of the camp that I consider myself part of.

In fact, whatever change happens at the top, I even do say whatever change happens at the top, they're not going to stop fighting, they're going to stop. They're going to continue the struggles.

(00:16:59):

But the thing is the Islamic Republic is not just that it falls short of these more substantive ideas of justice, but that it's in a really moment of crisis in which it's suffering from acute incompetency and acute sort of legitimacy crisis. It follows policies that seem to be in favor of no one really.

It's funny, we often like to compare the late Islamic Republic as we call it, a bit hopefully with the late Soviet Union saying that, oh, there was an ideological crisis, there was an economic crisis. But when you look at the late Soviet Union, it's doing rather great compared to the Islamic Republic.

(00:17:41):

At the end of the day, whatever you say about the state socialism, it had some coherence. It was followed around the world. There were millions of people around the world who saw some hope. With the Islamic Republic, it's really hard to see anyone really believing in it as an alternative model.

So, to make the story short, what I'm arguing is that Khamenei is going to be 85 next month. He is going to die and pass away at some point, and it's not just that his passing is important, but at the moment he is really the only thing that holds together this highly disparate system of people who have sharp segments with each other. The vie forpower, and no one really believes in the ideals of this revolution anymore. The idea of 1979 revolution, it hasn't been able to create even a coherent form of alternative. Iran is not more religious. Iran is ever more capitalistic.

(00:18:40):

It really, you cannot look at this and say, oh, this is a sort of Islamic model of life. If you look at all these foreign supporters of the Islamic Republic who come to Iran, it is very rare for them to praise the domestic regime. The most they can do is say, oh, Iran is great because it's supporting anti-Israel forces in the region.

So, my argument is that elements in the leadership of the Islamic Republic today and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, IRGC, see this militia as the ones who are most likely to come on top after the death of Khamenei.

I think popular movements will make their attempt, but frankly, I think it's most likely that these other established forces will come on top, at least initially, and that I do believe that they will make some fundamental changes in Iran because they want to make the country less of a basket case, frankly less of a crisis mode. So that that's sort of the root of this prediction or prognosis that I have for the immediate future of Iran.

James M. Dorsey (00:19:46):

This goes straight actually to my next question. You've described the technocrats among those people as military technocrats. In other words, if I read this correctly, and I think that's what you're saying, the post-Khamenei era would involve a transition to a greater role for the IRGC or the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which would drive the change, whereas the pragmatists that you also sort of point out within the regime and particularly within Khomeini's inner circle, are largely former diplomats. Is that correct?

Arash Azizi (00:20:27):

Actually, the first part is definitely correct is that so there is a yes.

I believe that this militia, IRGC, is likely to have the upper hand in the post a period. Now, it's a bit complicated because IRGC itself is not a united force. It has so many disparate groups, but people with different stakes in it. It's also not just the military group effectively because yes, it's a militia primarily, but it's also a massive economic power. So, I think Iran, I imagine sort of Iran looking more like a Pakistan or Algeria in sort of a place where a military cast, if you will, they will have the important role.

Now, the diplomats that you mentioned are, to be clear, when I say pragmatists, I also actually do mean some of these military leaders are in fact pragmatist. They care about lining their own pockets and they care about economic growth and they don't want Iran to be sanctioned and isolated and hated by everyone inside and outside Iran. So that's what is going to drive some sort of a pragmatic politics on their part

(00:21:32):

But the diplomats that you mentioned are one of the fascinating things for me looking at a variety of diplomats of Iranian diplomats, diplomats of the Islam Republic who are basically showing a lot of discontent with harmony. This is a very sort of delicate point because the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979, but Iranian diplomacy, if you're a diplomat of Iran, you didn't just become parrot of the regime immediately necessarily, and you weren't just following this idol, ideology. Iranians, as you can see from me and others, we have a very strong sense of our nation, and I'm sure you've had this experience of seeing it with Iranians, right? Doesn't matter whether you are a sort of dissident in Europe or you are someone in Iran, you have a strong sense of nation.

(00:22:29):

So, the Iranian diplomats wanted to follow a traditional sense of Iranian national interest. And if you see, even during Islamic Republic, for example, let's say in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, I mean Iran has often played a role that you can't say it's ideological or in support of Islamist revolutionary ideas. It's sort of traditional Iranian foreign policy sort of national interest rules, whereas they (the diplomats) see that that has dissipated on under Khamenei especially in the last years.

They're not happy that Iran is a supporter of Hamas that is banking, not just that it's supporting Hamas, but it's banking so much on it that it is helping Russia against Ukraine, that they're very unhappy about that. But this also shows you there's sections of establishment who are unhappy about the results of Khamenei, and that's why I sort of mentioned the diplomats. Now, yes, some of them, many of them, in the future of Iran can form a very different group than let's say people coming out of IRGC, right?

(00:23:32):

Javad Zarif, the former foreign minister eternally, you think, I mean, may want to have political ambitions, (even if) he always says he doesn't. He would never run for anything, but if he was going to have political ambitions, I think frankly he probably would be good at it. He definitely has come with some, obviously a lot of us don't buy much from him, but anyways, he definitely can come with some, yeah, so variety of former officials of the regime, whether it's diplomats, whether it's those who are in more economic positions or in politics can have some sort of a future in the post-Khamenei era as they vie for power. But those who hold the guns and power currently are the IRGC folks, so it's likely that they'll be the ones sort of running the game for a while. They're the ones who are organized.

James M. Dorsey (00:24:23):

What's also interesting is that the people you're talking about are already now or for some time been publicly expressing their dissent and their criticism. So, it's not just an assumption of what these people say. They're actually willing to go out and say it.

Arash Azizi (00:24:44):

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean it's very interesting in a regime like Iran, because there's actually a lot of this discontent that's being spoken about, so I'm not even talking about the circle of dissent. It keeps getting wider in a way the Supreme Leader permitted.

The opposition, people like me who oppose the Islamic Republic, obviously we are nowhere near power. There's no way we can even publish newspapers and all that. In Iran, then those who are, let's say reformists or loyal opposition critiques of the Islamic Republic, they've been effectively booted out of parliament. They don't have a public political life, but inside the conservative and ultra conservative camp, no matter how much you exclude, right? Still, there's a lot of fighting against the corruption of this or that individuals or for different policies. I mean, when things are so bad, you have to blame someone.

(00:25:42):

The thing is, Iran has a declining economy, which I think is a key of everything.

By the way, none of the discussions we had really would've meant much, if I'm honest with you, if Iran was doing economically very well. People don't like to admit that. I would ask my students, would you prefer to live in a poor country or democratic country? And a lot of them always say, oh no, I would live poor, but free.

But the reality is when the economy is bad, it really, that's sort of fundamental change, and you realize how bad the Iranian economy is, right? The GDP per capita of Iran now in real terms, significantly less than, and I don't have the numbers in front of me, but significantly less than 10 years ago by some estimates, I think it's like a third of 10 years ago.

(00:26:31):

This is crazy. Imagine you're living  standard falling to a third in just 10 years, so you have to blame someone. So, yes, there's tons of those who are always attacking each other and who are always expressing criticisms.

As I said, the foreign policy in support of Hamas or support of Russia and Ukraine is being critiqued by, not by people like me, but by leading former diplomats or establishment figures, public intellectuals, those types inside Iran, and this is after prisons are full of thousands of people who are there because they're predicting, but still people are still making the criticisms.

And I think the other thing I'll tell you is that look, just if you get outside of immediate sort of political common atheists, common that there are, if you are honest and sober, if you are someone Iran who really cares about Iran, Iranians care about their country. Usually they like to sort of have this state of Iran discussions often, right? It's very clear to everybody that we are in some sort of a very deep crisis, I think, and many others agree with me that this is the worst Iran has been since easily a hundred years ago.

(00:27:50):

So, naturally, when you're in conditions like this, people are voicing critique publicly. It's just that usually in order to not get into trouble, regimes like this, afford this, you can critique everything and be like, oh, of course the supreme leader would agree with me. He doesn't want this, right?

Because that's how you save yourself, himself also, this is one rule of dictators. Mao Zedong also did the same thing. I guess you control everything, and yet you always act as an opposition leader, right? So, in this Maoist moment, if you will, he is always waging a revolution against the regime like saying, we need to renovate things and things are not being done well, even though he is really micromanaging even the smallest decisions.

James M. Dorsey (00:28:38):

Presumably the notion of change will also depend on who the next supreme leader will be among those touted as potential successors. Are there those that would be more supportive than others?

Arash Azizi (00:29:01):

The next supreme leader is most likely going to be a very weak figure who won't wield much power. That's sort of my two cents or my guess. This is also a state of the art for the last few years, if you have Iranian analysts getting together after a couple of drinks or whatever, everyone likes to predict who will succeed.

So, my line here is that it basically, it's going to be a weak figure or perhaps a leadership council. It would need to require constitutional change for that to happen. But in the first constitution of the Islamic Republic, there was a possibility of a leadership council, and then this was gotten rid of in the current version, but they can change it again. Let me tell you that the supreme leader is a very strange position, right? Political scientist Said call the Islamic republic’s constitution, the platypus of humanity’s constitutional development because it's a very strange position.

(00:29:59):

It's closest analog. It's the philosopher king in Plato's Republic, right? It's this idea that this wise man can rule over everything, but in effect, of course, it becomes a sort of broader indicator.

Look, the reality is there's no one, there's no cleric that has the charisma or political expertise or kind of figure who could replace Khamenei as a convincing supreme leader. All the major candidates died. So, the most likely thing in my opinion is that it will be very weak, clear, and others will run the show until eventually they might even get rid of the position basically.

So, I think Khamenei will be the last real supreme leader of the Islamic RepublicI should tell you that the hottest rumor for some years now, and especially in recent couple of years, is the possible candidacy of Khamenei's son, Mojtaba Khamenei, and I personally don't buy it.

(00:31:05):

I don't think they'll be stupid enough to try to go with that. I think, I mean, put yourself in place of all these IRGC leaders, all this sort of variety of people who are of power in the Islamic Republic. Do you really want to, after all these years of answering Khamenei, do you really want to answer his son who has no qualifications you can really speak of?

Sure. He's like a relatively, relatively informed cleric. He's teaching in the home seminary and all that, but I don't think they'll go with it. I don't think they'll accept it. And also, it's like the irony, it's one thing for (Egypt’s Hosni) Mubarak to put his son forward for power, but for revolution that is all about Islam and justice and blah blah, to then just turn out into a new monarchy with Khamenei as the ruling family. It's a little too much on the nose, I think.

James M. Dorsey (00:32:04):

And to be fair to Mojtaba has emphatically denied that he has any ambition to succeed his father. But coming back to what change may look like, it strikes me that we've seen hints of change, at least in terms of foreign policy in recent month. For example, at the Islamic and Arab Emergency Summit in Riyadh last November, Iran adopted a hardline position in the preparatory talks, but then signed off on a final statement that endorsed a two-state solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Also, Iran has not categorically rejected a potential Saudi recognition of Israel, but said that a Saudi Israeli alliance against Iran would be a red line.

Arash Azizi (00:32:56):

So, the Iranian foreign policy establishment still does have the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to use relatively pragmatic language at times. The first thing we should remember is that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not run Iran's foreign affairs, right? None of the major diplomats will be running the region are in any shape or form answerable to the foreign minister. Don’t take my word for it, the prime minister has said this repeatedly. He just repeated it a couple of weeks ago in an interview. Others have said it, the Minister of Foreign Affairs is not really the one running the show, and that's part of the problem. By the way, this is symptomatic of how many rule, right? What Kamenei has done is that he's built a parallel estate effectively, which runs things. He’s even built a parallel parliament, even though the Parliament is super dominated by ultra conservatives effectively.

(00:33:47):

Now he has high councils,  a high council for cyberspace, a high council for the economy, and they are the ones who pass the laws. But I think what that shows you is things that you mentioned like that, oh, they wouldn't object necessarily to a resolution that would implicitly or explicitly endorse a two-state solution or what they'd say about potential a Saudi Israel recognition. It shows that there are definitely elements in the Iranian establishment that are happy to be more pragmatic about it. The reality of all of this is, I mean, we can talk about a specific issues, but if I just give a broad picture, the reality of it is Iran, again, I think it's very important to remember that Iran is an ancient civilization. I know everyone is sort of tired of hearing this of Iranians saying it, but it really does matter because Iranians see themselves that way, right?

(00:34:46):

We were a founding member of the League of Nations, the only Muslim country as a founding member of the League of Nations. We were in fact in the Council of the League of Nations. We were founding member of the United Nations. So, when Iranians, whether on a popular level or on policymaking level at some point, think of their country, they're often thinking of Iran, right? They're not thinking of first the Palestinian cause or first the Israelis. They're thinking of Iran. They're Iran-centered in this way and on that basis, it's not that strange that it doesn't, from the Iranian national interest, frankly, it doesn't make sense for us to be very one-sided in any conflict in the region. It doesn't make sense for us to be very one-sided either for Israel or Palestine. Same with Azerbaijan and Armenia.

(00:35:42):

And that's why in many ways it has backed Armenia. My point is not this Iran centeredness and the priority of Iranian national interests means that there are many who think Iran should play a much more constructive role in this region. And a part of the reality is that today no Arab state, not one fights against Israel, doesn't fire a single bullet against Israel. When I teach the Arab Israeli conflict, I usually tell my students that effectively we know the Arab-Israeli conflict mostly ended in 1979 (when Egypt signed the first Arab peace treaty with Israel). It's a Palestinian-Israeli conflict that continues, but Arab states are not fighting Israel since 1979. Ironically, Iran was born in 1979 and it carries the mountain and it just doesn't make sense for us. Basically, why is it that Iran, which is not an Arab state, which doesn't have any reason to want to destroy Israel from the perspective of its national interest, why should it be the only state that puts itself in danger and that it's the only one firing shots at Israel against the wishes of the Palestinian leadership, more importantly and the leadership of every other Arab state.

(00:37:05):

So, I think a lot of Iranians, both on the popular level as I said that, but even in foreign policy decision making levels think we can't be, and they say this publicly, again, it's not just me saying it that we can't be more Catholic than the Pope, right?

(00:37:21):

We cannot be more Arab than Arabs, basically than an Arab cause and has always long been, of course. And Iran can play an auxiliary role. It can play a role of its own national interest, but it doesn't make sense for it to act like it's a frontline state who's put all its eggs on the basket of this goal of illusion of wanting to destroy Israel as its leadership repeatedly says, and as all these militias that it supports say.

Whereas in effect, when you look at alternative, (Turkish President Recep Tayyip)  Erdogan is pretty anti-Israel. He doesn't even cut diplomatic relations with Israel and none of the Turkish Islamists, it's very interesting. Islamists have been in power since 2003. They've never, in the worst moments when Israel killed almost a dozen Turkish peace activists, they still didn't, they suspended, but didn't entirely cut diplomatic relations with Israel. Not to mention trade ties, and we can bring other examples.

So, this is to say that many in Iran see that Iran should have its own policy and it should prioritize itself, and it should not lend, you cannot lend a foreign policy of a country of 80  million people to some ideological goal somewhere. You should prioritize the wellbeing of your own citizens and peace in the region, and I think it's very likely that this is the sort of direction of change that you'll see in the future of Iran after Khamenei.

James M. Dorsey (00:39:01):

Before we come back to the issue of change, it's one thing just to add to what you said about Iranian identity. It is of course a fact that Iran is only one of three Middle Eastern states with maybe Israel four with a very deep seated sense of identity, and certainly Israel accepted here with a history of empire alongside Turkey and Oman, which really says something about, or reemphasizes what you were saying about Iranian identity. I want to just for a moment, dwell on the Palestinian issue, and it strikes me that what support for the Palestinians or what Iranians feel or this regime feels support should be for the Palestinians, helps the regime basically maintain a facade, a revolutionary facade, even if the revolutionary zeal in the revolution itself is long vanished, would you think that would be an accurate analysis?

Arash Azizi (00:40:13):

I think yes, in many ways, yes. The way I put it is when you think about Islamic Republic, I put yourself in place of ho. Ho is a genuine revolutionary. He, he's been a revolutionary all his life since he twenties. He went many years to jail and internal exile, and he fought for this revolution. He was among its founders of the Islam Republic, and then he's led it since 1989. What achievements do you have no real achievement to speak of in terms of Islamic Republic has not created much of a better life in Iran. His achievement is that Islam Republic has endured, you can say that, but it's not in a good shape. But one thing you can say is that yes, it has built a multinational army, an impressive multinational army that does fight against Israel, right? Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a variety of accumulation.

(00:41:09):

These are all the ones, as I said, not a single Arab state fires a bullet against Israel, but all of these groups are so it is not just a facade. The reality is that this project does have some reality. There is this, the access of resistance exists after all, and it's funded and headed by the Islamic Republic, and it's something to be proud of if you are into that sort of thing. Right? After all, there were people in the system of London who were shouting in support of Houthis, unfortunately. So the point is you can look at this and be proud of it. The problem with it though is that, as I said, it doesn't have much support inside Iran because it's just hard to convert an entire population with a strong sense of national identity to this particular Islamist Zionist sort of line. It's very hard for them to buy into this.

(00:42:15):

It's hard for most people to buy into any ideology for an entirely entirety of a nation, but in this case, they see it as diametrically opposed. It's not clear how the access of resistance is serving Iranian interest. It looks like for Iran, it has brought economic isolation, international isolation, declining a standard of living. We being hated on around the world, having to live under the sanctions and without advancing any of our national interests. So there is not much support for it inside Iran. So I hope it's clear what I mean. So it's not a facade in terms that it's a general revolutionary project, and yes, if you are a member of Hezbollah in Lebanon, you might really be happy that you are part of this. Although what I should add to this though, what I should add to this is that not only it hasn't brought a good life for Iranians, it also hasn't brought a good life for anybody else.

(00:43:11):

I mean, look at all these countries that I mentioned. None of these Hezbollah is hated across Lebanon effectively, including by many of the Shia, and I hope I don't exaggerate it, I don't want to be naive, but it's clear that Hezbollah is not some very popular group in Lebanon anymore. The way that it was when it was fighting Israeli occupation, actually in the sort of nineties and maybe even a bit after that, but just not anymore because Lebanon is effectively instead of collapse in Iraq, these militias have really ruined the sovereignty of the country. And similar examples in other places in Yemen at best, they're part of this tapestry of civil war in that country.

(00:43:54):

So they really haven't provided a model that would be really attractive, and that would become sort of a pool of attraction. So it could be a source of inspirations for some revolutionaries who are interested in these groups, but really not a sustainable source of supporting in any of this country. I should also add that as my friend Danny Postel has argued acts of resistance effectively plays a counter-revolutionary role actually, not just revolutionary by which he means that effectively it's become part of a status quo, ironically, in countries like Iraq and Lebanon, right? The axis of resistance, part of the status quo. So it actually has to actively fight against change. So the Iraqis had a mass movement in 2019 against these conditions, as did the Lebanese. So these so-called revolutionary forces are actually country revolutionary is stopping the aspirations of the people in this country is for effective national governance and a sovereign country and an opposing and opposition to the sectarian system that has really defined them

James M. Dorsey (00:45:15):

Coming back to the issue of change or pragmatism or whatever one wants to call it, perhaps you can describe how this will manifest itself on the one hand, domestically. You spoke a little bit about it internationally, but maybe you can take that a little bit further in terms of what it would mean for Iran's relationship with the axis of resistance, its various non-state partners, but also in terms, for example, of the nuclear issue,

Arash Azizi (00:45:54):

So, you mentioned domestic and international, right? Sort of the consequences in other words.

James M. Dorsey (00:45:59):

You spoke about Israel, but there are also, of course, the  issues of the relationship with Hezbollah, with the Iraqi groups, with the Houthis and Yemen, with Hamas, and there is of course the always lingering issue of Iran's nuclear program.

Arash Azizi (00:46:21):

And there's also a question of domestic policy, and as you want, we can talk about that. What do I mean? Let me make a prediction again, sort of what I think this pragmatic sounding post-Khamenei Iran is going to do in relation to all of, and I have since I wrote the oped, I've had interesting debates with different friends actually about this. Some of whom said they agree regarding domestic policy, but maybe not so much about regional policy because the IRGC is proud of its achievement, so they'll continue it.

So I think, look, they are, they're not going to immediately cut ties to all these militias because obviously, well, once you have it right, it's not a bad thing to have a few groups linked in different countries that you can use. But I think their direction is the general direction is going to be, so with the nuclear program and in regards to these militias is going to be coming into some sort of regional and international agreement that can end the sanctions on Iran, end the Iranian isolation, and give a bit of a breeding space to Iran.

(00:47:39):

The nuclear question is a bit dormant right now. Actually, if you look at just the last intelligence estimate that came out of the United States, they basically are saying Iran is not continuing, which is interesting, right? They're not crazy. They know how to pace themselves on this question.

So I think they'll try to come to some sort of an agreement even in status quo if they want the sanctions to be lifted, no matter who is in the White House, they'll try to do some sort of negotiations. Maybe it wouldn't be as splashy as 2014, 2015 and nuclear deal like that, but quietly make some agreements, draw back the nuclear program enough so that these sanctions can be lifted. There will be an agreement with Saudi Arabia, so they'll come into some sort of a peace agreement basically. And by peace, I mean they'll basically say, look, we're not going to rock this boat too much.

(00:48:34):

We're not going to threaten to destroy Israel time and time again. But given, obviously there should be a place for Hezbollah and Lebanese Shiites, after all, generally in the Lebanon and structures in Yemen, there can be a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia where there's some sort of a solution there after all, even without the change of the Islamic Republic.

There are elements of this already, the relationship between Iran and the militias, it's interesting. Even now, the regime of Iran and the militias effectively is usually not the case that Iran says go attack all the time.

In fact, it's usually the opposite. It's to say basically it's always trying to restrain them. And now again, we have the US intelligence estimate. Thank God the United States has a system in which the intelligence is not super partisan and is released in a way that there's some objectiveness to it.

(00:49:32):

Because if you really read the detail, they're very clear that Iran didn't know about October 7th, right? They didn't know about it, and it's unlikely that they would've encouraged something like this out of the fear of getting into this conflict.

So, I think the important difference would be that the goal of building a powerful Iranian state that will have its own interest will take precedence over this revolutionary ideological project of building a group of militias that are leading Iran right now. And I think that will change, and I think the nature of these militias in this country would also change after all.

One thing that is a very delicate thing for us to all remember, let's forget Palestine for a second, but in the case of Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon, yes, these militia all have a revolutionary anti-Israel sort of Islamic ideology, but they are also sectarian actors and they get much of their sustenance in these countries as sectarian actors, right?

(00:50:41):

The Lebanon Hezbollah wouldn't exist if not for the fact that the Lebanese Shia had a history of disenfranchisement. And so they sometimes channel this energy into the communist party as in the past. Then they channelled the Amal movement, and then they end up channeling to Hezbollah. You know what I mean?

So they'll always continue in some ways, but when the tune changes in Teran, their tune is also going to change. And in terms of Palestine, again, the real story here, of course, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, these are not Iranian groups. They have their own origins. They're not even Shia. They're always looking for foreign sponsors.

The history of Palestinian militancy is that they're always looking for different foreign sponsors, it used to be Saddam or Muamar Ghaddafi, Soviet, China at some point, and in the last few decades it's been the Islamic Republic. So, the nature of that is going to change once Iran goes on a more pragmatic route.

James M. Dorsey (00:51:47):

Would you see the fact that Iran is trying to ensure that support for Hamas and the actions of its non-state allies like Hezbollah or the Houthis in Yemen stops  short of sparking a regional configuration that could involve the United States? Is that an indication of the change to come that you envision? And does it suggest that there may be more common ground between technocrats, pragmatists, and hardliners?

Arash Azizi (00:52:19):

I think it's a very good question. I think it shows a couple of things. First of all, it shows that even now, Iran doesn't want to get into a conflict or a war. Iranians don't want to do that. Not the leadership, not the people. And they know that we can't afford it.

We are not a society ready to go to a war in this condition. They know it would have no real support in society. So even now that's the case, and it does show that after all, we have to remember, my argument isn't that there are a bunch of hard liners in power now they're going to be replaced by technocrats, right? My argument is that a lot of these so-called hard liners  have a heavy technocratic edge. It's just that in the current conditions, the constellation of power around Khamenei is such that they play a role right now.

(00:53:23):

It is a bit of a risky proposition to make, and I do sort of hedge this in the article by saying, I don't know if it is possible that Khamenei dies and these people really mean all that they say, and they're going to lead a new ideological Iran, and they're not technocrats or pragmatistss after all.

There are people who have written on Mahdism, and they believe Mahdist Arian ideology. With all due respect, I don't really buy it. I don't really think, yes, I know that Said Mohammed, whom I write about in some of my work, this sort of military figure, I know he talks about the Mahdi all the time and the hidden Imam, and I don't think they're serious about it.

(00:54:09):

I don't think it's true. I don't think it will hold, although it's always a possibility. But yes, the argument is that even these guys are effectively technocrats and pragmatics and its Khamenei who keeps the revolutionary flame alive.

My argument is really that, look, in 2019, in the 40th anniversary of the Islam revolution, Khamenei gave a speech called the Second Phase of the Revolution, and he basically says the second phase of the revolution is going to be built by this young revolutionary.

I basically think he has failed to build this young revolutionary. He has failed to build the next level leadership that could drive this revolution. And if you want to take a very broad view, you can say this is the fate of revolutions that you cannot usually build a revolution beyond a couple of generations.

Even in the Soviet Union, after a couple of generations, these were apparatchiks, and after all, when communism failed, most of them very happily transitioned into becoming sort of national elites in these new republics. And there are many other examples that you can give. So, I think that the Islamic Revolution is dead, and that's the next generation of leaders will innovatively be more pragmatic.

James M. Dorsey (00:55:39):

That takes us back to the beginning of this conversation, and the question is, what makes today's Iran different to the Iran of 1979 when the regime of the Shah was toppled by a popular revolt or the 2011 Arab revolts that initially succeeded in overthrowing four autocrats. So why, in a sense, is it going to be that in Iran you envision a change that comes from the top rather than the result of a popular revolt?

Arash Azizi (00:56:13):

That's a great question. I think number one, as I said, I still have hopes for popular revolts that will play a role, but I don't see, I think the reason is in 79, you had the Shah who, what is common in 79 and 2011, frankly, the reason this dictator's fall is that they're the type of people who run away.

The Shah doesn't even try when you really think about it. Now, he had cancer, he wasn't feeling well. If you want to be very generous to him, you can say he didn't want to kill his people. But the Shah is not the kind of, he doesn't do any real resistance.

It's actually very striking if you think about all the options he had. And the Shah, by the way, if you look at his life, he's a runner, right? This is not the first time in 1953, he runs away, couple years late in 58, 59, he's basically ready to run away.

(00:57:09):

He is not one who wants to stay there and defend his rule. So this is why the revolution wins in 79. This is one of the key reasons that revolution wins in 79, is the lack of resistance on the part of the shop.

I mean, 2011, it's also the case that a lot of these dictators are, after all, they kind of run away early, right? So whether you mentioned four, I guess you mean what's the Mubarak (of Egypt) and Ben Ali (of Tunisia).

They kind of resigned pretty sort of early. Ben Ali I believe ran to Saudi Arabia, indeed. And then I guess you're talking about Saleh in Yemen and Ghaddafi in Libya. But Ghaddafi was effectively overthrown by foreign intervention. So that was pretty different, right? That's not in the cards in Iran, and Saleh was the head of basically a civil war situation that dislodged him from power.

(00:58:00):

So none of these situations exist in Iran because there is no foreign intervention, thankfully. And there is not going to be unlike, and you mentioned this at the beginning, and some uninformed, malicious Israeli analysts wrote this in the Jerusalem Post recently.

Iran is not going to split into different ethnicities. Permanent dreams that people have are not going to happen for Iran. Khamenei is not going to give up power.

So that's why I believe the change is the most likely to come from the top in this way. And what is common with the Arab spring, if you look at what happened in the Arab Spring, and Egypt is sort of a classic case, people come out, there's this mass movements, they bring down the government, and then it's the organized forces that run the show.

(00:58:59):

So, it's the Army and the Muslim Brotherhood that duke it out over power. And 20 of my friends also had a Tahir Square, which is very touching, but it's not going to change things.

So unfortunately, I see the situation the same in Iran. I don't see how the resistance movements and all that could come together to get organized in time to be the beneficiary of the immediate change.

My hope is though I'm not just the analyst, right? I'm part of this as well. My hope is that we can cohere into an alternative so that we can play a role in the next phase of this fight. And if one is to be more hopeful, you would think if at some point the equilibrium of different power centers in society is such that they'll allow for some of multiparty elections, then a variety of Iranian progressives can continue that work, build a strong voice, build their civil society, build political parties, and can affect change in that way.

(01:00:11):

But it's going to be a long growth. It's not a short growth. The idea that Iranians come and fall and the regime is replaced by a democracy and then we are all happy ever after, unfortunately, it's not in the cards, and the future of Iran is very scary to me. That's also the fact, right?

There are terrible things that can happen, and that's why I think we should be smart in what we advocate for and that we should remember important values at every point.

Opposition to Iran breaking up, opposition to the possibility of civil conflict, opposition to all form of foreign intervention. It's very sad for me and very concerning. And that unfortunately opposition figures have broken something that was a big taboo and they've effectively called for United States or Israel to attack Iran. It would not be good. It would not lead to anything good. It would not lead to any positive development from any sane view. And anyone who advocates this, it's either malicious, insane, or both.

James M. Dorsey (01:01:23):

Arash, time is not our friend, even though this has been a fascinating and enlightening conversation, I learned a lot and I hope so has our audience. Thank you for joining me on this show, and thanks to our listeners and viewers. Please share any comments or questions you may have in the comment section of this podcast on Substack, and please stay tuned for my twice weekly episodes best wishes. Take care and see you soon.

Thank you for joining me today. I hope you enjoyed today's column and podcast. The turbulent world with James M. Dorsey depends on the support of its readers. For the past 12 years, I have maintained free distribution as a way of maximizing impact. I am determined to keep it that way. However, to avoid putting up a paywall, I need the support of a core of voluntary paid subscribers to cover the cost of producing the column and podcast. If you believe that the column and podcast add value to your understanding and that of the broader public, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. You can do so by clicking on Substack on the subscription button at www.jamesmdorsey.substack.com, and choosing one of the subscription options.

Thank you. Take care and best wishes.

Dr. James M. Dorsey is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, and the author of the syndicated column and podcast, The Turbulent World with James M. Dorsey.

Arash Azizi, The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, the US, and Iran's Global Ambitions, Simon & Shuster, https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Shadow-Commander/Arash-Azizi/9780861541171

Arash Azizi, What Iranians Want: Women, Life, Freedom, Simon & Shuster, https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/What-Iranians-Want/Arash-Azizi/9780861547111

[authorsadiethatcher]

It was only yesterday when I said I might start writing some flash fiction for folks on Ream. Well, I did it. It took less than a day for me to break down and start writing. It's short, but it's got hypnosis and bimbos.

I'm including the beginning of the piece below. If you want to keep reading, it's available for free on Ream. You just have to hit the follow button there and you'll get access to this and all future flash fiction stories. The link:

Bimbo Countdown

"Who are you?" Melissa asked, afraid after waking up in a strange room. This person, this man, had kidnapped her. Or so she assumed. She could not remember how she had gotten here. "I've come to hypnotize you into becoming my perfect bimbo," the man said. "You can't hypnotize me," Melissa said, defiance in her voice. She was certain of that. "One," the man said. "One," Melissa repeated. "You might as well give up now," she continued. It was strange that she could only see the man in silhouette. He was lit from behind, making it impossible to identify him. "Two," the man said. "Two," Melissa repeated. "You can't hypnotize someone like me." Her words were laced with defiance. She was unashamed in who she was and refused to change just because someone told her to do it through some mumbo jumbo hypnosis spell crap. She could tell right now he was nothing but a charlatan. And if that meant she had to sit in this chair all night, then so be it. "Three," the man said.

Keep reading on Ream: https://reamstories.com/sadiethatcher

[terriblebicho]

HERE´S HOW YOU CAN ALSO PUT DISCIPLINE

(or any other picture you want idk)

ON YOUR DASH

Right-click on the blank space on the right side of the dash and select "Inspect".

On the Elements tab, follow this path: "body" -> "root" -> "base-container" -> "D5eCV" -> "ZYef7" -> "_3xgk" -> "gPQR5 FGfuE ah4XU" -> "lSyOz"

Like so.

3. Click on those three dots on the far-left of the "lSyOz" element and select "Edit as HTML"

4. Paste this text: <div class="CiJTh"><button><img class="RWr4x" src="https://www.sputnikmusic.com/images/albums/91.jpg" alt="Fuck it. Discipline on the dash" title=""></button></div>

here inbetween the ><

5. Exit Inspect Element, and that's it. If you want any other image, just replace the link that goes in src="" with a link to any other image you want. You can also replace the text that goes in alt="" with whatever you want.

Some considerations:

The changes will be lost when you refresh the page or go into Explore, Settings, Inbox, Account, etc. There are ways to preserve Inspect Element changes using browser extentions or so I've heard but I haven't looked much into it myself. Personally, I copied the text onto the notepad and saved it with a recognizable name so I can search for it and repeat the process to copy+paste it in the Elements tab if I want to.

I'm on the cringe browser (Chrome), so I don't know yet if this works the same way on Firefox.

It is with a heavy heart that I announce that Yes this WILL break other completely unrelated things in the webpage.

There's a chance that the "for you" page becomes inaccesible if the Inspect Element tab was too wide when you were making the changes.

You also, sometimes, cannot see other people's blogs overlayed over your dash as per usual (they all open on a new tab instead).

There's a chance the page straight-up refuses to load anything else or freezes.

I have no clue why any of this happens, I have no experience in coding, I just wanted to do a funny with Inspect Element and didn't think to check for possible bugs before I started writing this post. I am only now starting to realize this tutorial kind of sucks.

This is for the people who want to experience a cool pic on their dash. At the cost of the dash itself.

The clown is gone but my computer's been idle with the browser open since yesterday so I still got Discipline on the dash

[kishmae]

Evermore

Adrian Felipe "Pepe" Malic dela Cruz Alindogan - is my Headcanon name for HWSPhilippines (Can still be changed)

Arin Izzati Bolkiah - is my OC!Brunei

There are some short mentions of other ASEAN members and hints of Spain.

Inspired by Habang-Buhay by Zack Tabudlo, try listening to the song it is very cute and light-hearted. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkX3iiI317k

Also, I only used google translate for the Malay translation of the song, so I am sorry in advance for the incorrect/inaccurate translations.

     † ⚭⚮⚭ ☪

Aking sinta

Ano bang meron sa iyo

Pag nakikita ka na

Bumabagal ang mundo

The Republic of the Philippines asks himself, what does Negara Brunei Darussalam have that makes the world suddenly stop?

No, what does Arin Izzati Bolkiah have that makes the world freeze?

Is it her gentle golden-brown eyes? Her calm and regal smile? What about her adorable button nose? Oh... Oh! Maybe it's her cheerful and lightheaded laughter? Or perhaps it's all of the above?

Yes, that must be it. Adrian Felipe "Pepe" Malic dela Cruz Alindogan, the personification of the Republic of the Philippines, nods in agreement.

Apabila kamu senyum

Ia seperti orang lain

Apabila melihat saya

Anda akan membuka mata anda

Saya tidak dapat lari dari kecantikanmu yang tenggelam

datang sini

"Malic," Arin calls the nodding nation, intending to get their attention.

Upon hearing his third name, Felipe broke off from his thoughts and then smiles at the Bruneian woman.

'Oh, Allah.' Arin could not help but think as she got caught in his smile. It was as if she was drowning in the depths of Felipe's beautiful purple eyes. The exact same set of eyes that shone like how it was centuries ago with vigor, pride, might, happiness, and everlasting love. That captured both her heart and mind. Arin has to break her stare to stop herself from falling even more and tries to regain her posture. "Come here."

Tignan mo lang ang aking mga mata

Wag kang titingin na sa iba

Akin ka na

Wala ng iba

Felipe wants to curse himself after he sees Brunei avoid his eyes. Did he make himself look stupid? Are there any creases on his uniform? Is his hair tangled? Or is there sand in his eyes? Yes, he had to admit that he had just woken up and rushed into the meeting. Though, he did bathe and did his facial before leaving the house. Maybe he just missed it along his run. He just can't himself, the mobile game he was playing was addicting, and good players only play in the evening.

For sure, Felipe is not an insecure person, especially regarding his looks. But he does get conscious whenever Arin is around.

It's his reflex to look dashing and handsome so that Arin's eyes would only focus on him and nothing more or no one else.

Saya akan berada di sini sehingga kita tua

Saya akan sayang awak selagi awak jatuh

saya pegang

Cuma jangan berputus asa

Selagi saya masih hidup, saya milik awak

Sensing that Felipe had stopped approaching. Arin confusingly looks at him and wonders but then jolts in surprise as she sees him suddenly wiping his entire face using his sleeves.

Arin then lets out a laugh as Felipe takes out his cell phone, seemingly using it as a mirror to check his face. And it seems that his attention to his visage and self-care did not change.

It has been years - No - Centuries that they have met. But even so. Arin could never get enough of Felipe's presence.

It does not matter that when time could finally catch up on them, their hair turning gray, their skin wrinkled, or their bones brittle. She would continue standing there beside him.

And despite their separation for nearly four centuries. Years of yearning, loneliness, and pain. She reminds herself that she had loved him longer than that. And will continue to do so.

How could she not?

He was her sun, her light, and even her breath. He was the air that would drive the sails of the ships bringing her to places she had never been but would always cherish.

He would sing songs for her, dedicating his passion and love for her that made her fall deeper than ever before. And she would not worry about falling because she already knows - he would catch her no matter what.

And she promises that as long as he accepts her, she will be his till eternity.

Wala ng ibang

Nakagawa sa akin ng ganto

Kundi ikaw

Nag-iisang diyosa ng buhay ko

Hearing her chuckle, Felipe turns off his cell phone and then puts his attention towards her. She still looks adorable when laughing. And he can't help lovingly smiling at her.

Felipe knows that if Spain finds out, he might force him to kneel on salt.

As he was never loyal to a single God. For he believes in two.

The Almighty God. And this Goddess in front of him.

She had made him do things he never thought he could.

He made her sonnets, songs, and poems that could make any creature who reads them blush. At first, he wrote on leaves, bamboo, and copper. But as those vanish due to time and colonization. He did not let it stop him.

Despite his memories slowly fading, forgetting her name but never her face. He continues writing - now, using paper, until those pilled up and turned into books. Books that did not mention her name but perfectly describe his devotion unto her.

He prays to God every single day and those prayers contain wishes of happiness and protection for her. And for him to meet her again.

Felipe then approaches Arin after she had stopped her laughing. Standing beside her, he asks. "Is my beauty that dazzling that it makes you laugh hard?"

Jangan takut

jangan takut

Saya ada di sini bila awak keseorangan

Saya tidak dapat lari dari kecantikanmu yang tenggelam

datang sini

Arin then stares at the man beside him and answers, "Yes."

Felipe did not expect that straightforwardness, so he mockingly put a hand above his heart, acting like he was having a heart attack. And before he could make a rebuttal, Arin beat him first. "You look absolutely breathtaking. That makes me think if you are some kind of supernatural being or what."

Now he is not acting. His heart is literally under attack. Dramatically Felipe sits into the nearest chair like the drama king he is. And Arin follows and sat next to him, still laughing at his state.

Arin was - is always on Filipe's side. Even if the world would go against him, she would stay. She would not allow the two of them to separate again. She does not want to again experience those bitter lonely centuries without him.

And this time, she would do anything for it to never happen. She would never let him experience the same loneliness she felt without him.

She was drowning in her tears at the news of his fall in the hands of those colonizers. She wanted to go sailing into his kingdom and demand his return. But her Sultan did not allow her to do so. And then the war happened, and she lost him.

And thankfully, he came back.

But it was painful to know that some of his memories had begun to fade. Gone were those times when they were sailing across the seas, trading with powerful kingdoms, and fighting together against one of the largest empires in the region... And even their marriage.

She bitterly curses that man for the damages he has done. But despite that, he still remembers her face. He still remembers her. And she could not help but cheer when he did.

She now knows that, despite the years of separation. She still has a place in his life. A place where she could still stand beside him and admire his overflowing beauty and brightness.

Tignan mo lang ang aking mga mata

Jangan pandang orang lain

Akin ka na

Tiada yang lain

"Now, stop playing with me." Felipe huffs as he fans himself. Staring at her beautiful eyes he continues. "You know how I hate liars."

"I'm not." Yes, she knows. She knows full well. His history was full of liars and traitors that broke him, making him not like the same nation as he was centuries ago. But he was still her bright and smiling Malic.

Boldly, Arin pulls her chair closer to him and stares him directly in the eyes. Those beautiful purple eyes of his. "You have always looked majestic and beautiful Malic."

The look they give one another can only be described as pure unimaginable love. A love that transcends time. An unconditional love that can never be replaced despite years of separation.

The level of love is never constant; it consistently changes. But it is without a doubt that these two will choose each other to spend their every day with one another. And for the two of them, no one is comparable to their lover. Arin will always be Felipe's. And Felipe will always be Arin's. They are for each other and no one else.

Andito ko hanggang sa ating pagtanda

Mamahalin kita basta't pag nahulog

Naka hawak ako

Wag ka lang bibitaw

Habang buhay na ako'y iyo

He would not let anyone take him away from Arin. Not this time, not ever.

He swore.

This time, Felipe intends to stay with her till they grow old.

He plans to continue writing poems, singing songs, and traveling with her as long as his body will let him.

He had loved her longer than the existence of most countries. And he will continue until his own time will run out. Loving Arin is something involuntary for him.

It was chance that they met, but he was fated to fall head-over-heels for her. And he will continue loving her, giving her everything he could provide. And seeing her happy is his goal in life.

"No, Arin. It is you that is the majestic one." Smiles Felipe. Bravely he grasps his hand into her, interlocking them. Oh, how her small hands perfectly fit well with his. It was as if it was perfectly made to hold each other.

Punggung pun dah bongkok

Malah kepala anda benar-benar kelabu

Anda akan menari sehingga mata kami tertutup

Hearing him say that made Arin's face turn into a vibrant shade of red. Her mind immediately went offline not knowing how to respond to him. She let out a few intangible words.

Seeing his effect on her, Felipe smiled brightly. Then unexpectedly pulls her into a short embrace. Their embrace is cut short, but Felipe still holds her hands, and laughing twirls her around and dances.

Her foot was uncoordinated, expected from a woman being caught off guard. But after a few moments, she managed and followed Felipe's lead.

The two then start to dance across the room. No choreography nor digital music were accompanying them, except for Felipe's humming.

This moment, though not planned, reminded Arin of the days of the past.

It was just like this. The dancing alone, feet on the warm white sands, the moon being their only source of light, the calming sound of the waves, and the beautiful voice of Felipe ringing in her ears. It was peaceful, and relaxing.

And Arin couldn't help but immerse herself and close her eyes. Leaning into his chest. An action she always does when she is comfortable when she feels at home. Well, she is home.

Wala naman na kong hiling pa

Bastat kasama ka habang buhay na

Kuntento ako basta't ikaw lang kasama

Ikaw kasama ko

Noticing Arin's closed eyes and her body comfortably in his embrace once again. Felipe breathes a sigh of relief, before encircling his hands around her waist, protectively securing her unto him.

'This is the life, and I have nothing more to ask for.' He was content with this scenario. No. He will always be contented as long as Arin is with him, safe, sound, and happy.

His memories may have blurred a few moments with her. Taking out the past images of him holding her. But it did not take how it felt to be in this position.

Her body radiates the warmth he craves every night when he was alone without her. The soothing scent she emits pacifies him. The softness of her body molded into his. And importantly, her. Her being with him. Him being with her. He could not ask for anything more.

For Arin, Felipe was her Always. And for Felipe, Arin is his idea of everlasting beauty.

Cinta saya

Apa masalah awak?

Ketika saya melihat anda

Dunia semakin perlahan

Tignan mo lang ang aking mga mata

Wag kang titingin na sa iba

Akin ka na

Wala ng iba

Saya akan berada di sini sehingga kita tua

Saya akan sayang awak selagi awak jatuh

saya pegang

Cuma jangan berputus asa

Selagi saya masih hidup, saya milik awak

Tignan mo lang ang aking mga mata

Wag kang titingin na sa iba

Akin ka na

Wala ng iba

The two continue on slow dancing inside the room not knowing how long has time passed by nor do they really care. They only put their entire attention on themselves, on the small world they created and they cherish and love.

They did not notice how the other ASEAN nations enter the room looking for the two of them. Malaysia was about to loudly call them, but thankfully Singapore manages to reach up and cover his brother's mouth.

Indonesia covers Timor Leste's eyes in hopes that the little girl did not see anything. Whilst his face turned red in the intimacy of his fellow South East Asian neighbors.

Thailand only responds by smugly snapping a picture of the couple, cheering internally at their cuteness and silently congratulating them.

Vietnam simply hides in her nón lá in embarrassment as she thought that they were intruding on the couple and wants to leave them alone ASAP.

Cambodia reacts by hiding behind the taller Laos who snickered and in turn videos the dancing couple with no shame. Also planning to upload it into their group chat later.

Myanmar just shrugs and continues eating the Bein mont he bought earlier from a local street vendor.

The other South East Asian nations with their different reactions continue to silently stare at the two - well except Timor Leste.

The moment was only broken when someone loudly asks.

"Why are you covering my eyes Dirga? Are they Fucking?!"

"Timor!"

   † ⚭⚮⚭ ☪

nón lá  -  Vietnamese Hat

Bein mont  - A popular street food in Myanmar (I hope you guys are doing well)

And yes, Arin often finds herself calling Felipe, Malic. As it is her favorite name of his among others. 

Hope you enjoyed the story. 3

[thewebcomicsreview]

The Secret Report is a webcomic I am doing. Could you please review it? Please note that the art is a little bit roughin the beginning.

Here's the link: https://secretreport.the-comic.org/comics/#comicimage

Keep in mind that despite the strip format, the comic is serialized (not gag a day) and the strip format was chosen purely to save on time (that's also why in the beginning it is partially in grayscale)

So, first thing jumps out immediately 

Which is that I literally can not read your comic because the “Support Me Financially” subscribestar link is on top of it. It looks like your header bar is set to position:fixed so it jumps down when I try to scroll to read the comic itself. I get the desire to make the link prominent but this crosses into obnoxious (It’s also very generic, but I’m not a marketer so I won’t comment on that further), and breaks the reading experience because I have to scroll up slightly every page load. Ignoring the site design and getting int-

Actually I’m not the biggest fan of these nav icons either. You sort of have to be used to Standard Webcomic Site Template to know what they do, or even that they’re buttons at all. That’s more nitpicky, though.

So, I spent like an hour and a half going through the strips one by one and making notes in the way I often do, but after way too long I realized it was useless, because

Strip 2

Strip 31

Strip 102

There’s a remarkably rabid improvement in the presentation, here. Not just the art, but the paneling and world balloons have shot up in quality. Like, the art is still fairly crude and I’m not going to pretend otherwise, but you’re getting way more out of it now that you were originally. For a comic that’s only been going a year and change there’s a pretty significant improvement! 

I wrote 225 words nitpicking this one panel, but really who cares. Your early comics aren’t indicative of your current work, to the point that “This dialogue from strip 7 makes no sense” isn’t actually useful feedback anymore. And that’s legitimately amazing for how short a time you’ve been working on this. 

I do think, though, that you’re still having some issues with the word balloons, and I think you should focus on that because it’s probably the highest ratio of “effort spent” vs “output improved” you can get right now. Panel 2 has fifty-six words in a single balloon. The rule of thumb is 25 words max in a single balloon, and 35 words in a single panel. I’d recommend that you, and anyone writing comics, get in the habit of counting your words, and either draw more panels to fit them all in an aesthetically pleasing way, or try to cut your dialogue down. (”Thank you Admiral. The calls for violence from the human religious leaders make it clear we’re not wanted here anymore” is 20 words and contains most of the key information)

I would also recommend giving a bit more flow to the logical flow of the conversation. Here, Birvoth says the problems of this world are “Inequality, Slavery, Lack of Social Mobility, and Arrogant Leaders” and Soria tells him not to generalize all humans. But....he didn’t. All four of humans problems he lists are social problems about how some groups of humans oppress others, not “humans are greedy”, so Soria’s objection doesn’t make any sense. 

He did generalize them in the previous strip, but then he walked it back to talk about social problems and Soria has this kind of delayed response

Shuffling the panels like this makes the conversation flow smoother, making Soria’s objection better time while having the interesting side effect that now Birvoth appears to be walking it back in response to her. Which you may or may not consider a positive, but that’s the kind of thing I’d encourage you to think about. (Strips 88 and 89 have a similar delayed response thing happening, where the woman says “you can’t help” and then Lemmy stands around for two panels before starting the next strip with “No I’m pretty sure I can help”).

This might be presumptuous, but I get the sense this kind of thing and the word balloon issues that you don’t write out your dialogue before drawing the strip. I think it might be a helpful exercise to try writing a movie-style “script” for your comic, and then putting it down for a bit, then coming back to give it a once-over with fresh eyes and try to edit it down. I think that might help you catch this kind of stuff and find your own solutions to it.

I look forward to seeing what your comic looks like next year. You’re improving at a pretty good pace! 

[infanitytv]

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