#there’s clips of the book on google books

[thatsrightice]

F—14 FUN FACT OF THE DAY #4

The F-14 Tomcat required special launch rails to be equipped for the AIM-54 Phoenix missiles. When attached, they would cover the the wells used for the AIM-7 Sparrow.

[bordonfreeman]

Recycling random shit to make a new sketchbook

[bbeelzemon]

graphic design is my fucking passion

[arctic-hands]

Hmm. I should prolly download those Haymarket google play books on top of the audiobooks in case our big brother google decides they're too radical to stay on the internet

[setnet]

read a professionally published short story a few years back and went huh. this seems familiar. it was about the first crusade, set in the space of time when the crusaders had successfully breached the walls of antioch and captured the city only to become besieged in turn by the seljuk turks who were coming to relieve the city. it was about faith, and starvation, and the discovery of the supposed holy lance in st peters basilica, and ghosts, and it was very good. anyway the reason it was familiar was because it was a rewrite of the author's hetalia fanfic that i read on livejournal in 2009.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Copyright takedowns are a cautionary tale that few are heeding

On July 14, I'm giving the closing keynote for the fifteenth HACKERS ON PLANET EARTH, in QUEENS, NY. Happy Bastille Day! On July 20, I'm appearing in CHICAGO at Exile in Bookville.

We're living through one of those moments when millions of people become suddenly and overwhelmingly interested in fair use, one of the subtlest and worst-understood aspects of copyright law. It's not a subject you can master by skimming a Wikipedia article!

I've been talking about fair use with laypeople for more than 20 years. I've met so many people who possess the unshakable, serene confidence of the truly wrong, like the people who think fair use means you can take x words from a book, or y seconds from a song and it will always be fair, while anything more will never be.

Or the people who think that if you violate any of the four factors, your use can't be fair – or the people who think that if you fail all of the four factors, you must be infringing (people, the Supreme Court is calling and they want to tell you about the Betamax!).

You might think that you can never quote a song lyric in a book without infringing copyright, or that you must clear every musical sample. You might be rock solid certain that scraping the web to train an AI is infringing. If you hold those beliefs, you do not understand the "fact intensive" nature of fair use.

But you can learn! It's actually a really cool and interesting and gnarly subject, and it's a favorite of copyright scholars, who have really fascinating disagreements and discussions about the subject. These discussions often key off of the controversies of the moment, but inevitably they implicate earlier fights about everything from the piano roll to 2 Live Crew to antiracist retellings of Gone With the Wind.

One of the most interesting discussions of fair use you can ask for took place in 2019, when the NYU Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy held a symposium called "Proving IP." One of the panels featured dueling musicologists debating the merits of the Blurred Lines case. That case marked a turning point in music copyright, with the Marvin Gaye estate successfully suing Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams for copying the "vibe" of Gaye's "Got to Give it Up."

Naturally, this discussion featured clips from both songs as the experts – joined by some of America's top copyright scholars – delved into the legal reasoning and future consequences of the case. It would be literally impossible to discuss this case without those clips.

And that's where the problems start: as soon as the symposium was uploaded to Youtube, it was flagged and removed by Content ID, Google's $100,000,000 copyright enforcement system. This initial takedown was fully automated, which is how Content ID works: rightsholders upload audio to claim it, and then Content ID removes other videos where that audio appears (rightsholders can also specify that videos with matching clips be demonetized, or that the ad revenue from those videos be diverted to the rightsholders).

But Content ID has a safety valve: an uploader whose video has been incorrectly flagged can challenge the takedown. The case is then punted to the rightsholder, who has to manually renew or drop their claim. In the case of this symposium, the rightsholder was Universal Music Group, the largest record company in the world. UMG's personnel reviewed the video and did not drop the claim.

99.99% of the time, that's where the story would end, for many reasons. First of all, most people don't understand fair use well enough to contest the judgment of a cosmically vast, unimaginably rich monopolist who wants to censor their video. Just as importantly, though, is that Content ID is a Byzantine system that is nearly as complex as fair use, but it's an entirely private affair, created and adjudicated by another galactic-scale monopolist (Google).

Google's copyright enforcement system is a cod-legal regime with all the downsides of the law, and a few wrinkles of its own (for example, it's a system without lawyers – just corporate experts doing battle with laypeople). And a single mis-step can result in your video being deleted or your account being permanently deleted, along with every video you've ever posted. For people who make their living on audiovisual content, losing your Youtube account is an extinction-level event:

https://www.eff.org/wp/unfiltered-how-youtubes-content-id-discourages-fair-use-and-dictates-what-we-see-online

So for the average Youtuber, Content ID is a kind of Kafka-as-a-Service system that is always avoided and never investigated. But the Engelbert Center isn't your average Youtuber: they boast some of the country's top copyright experts, specializing in exactly the questions Youtube's Content ID is supposed to be adjudicating.

So naturally, they challenged the takedown – only to have UMG double down. This is par for the course with UMG: they are infamous for refusing to consider fair use in takedown requests. Their stance is so unreasonable that a court actually found them guilty of violating the DMCA's provision against fraudulent takedowns:

https://www.eff.org/cases/lenz-v-universal

But the DMCA's takedown system is part of the real law, while Content ID is a fake law, created and overseen by a tech monopolist, not a court. So the fate of the Blurred Lines discussion turned on the Engelberg Center's ability to navigate both the law and the n-dimensional topology of Content ID's takedown flowchart.

It took more than a year, but eventually, Engelberg prevailed.

Until they didn't.

If Content ID was a person, it would be baby, specifically, a baby under 18 months old – that is, before the development of "object permanence." Until our 18th month (or so), we lack the ability to reason about things we can't see – this the period when small babies find peek-a-boo amazing. Object permanence is the ability to understand things that aren't in your immediate field of vision.

Content ID has no object permanence. Despite the fact that the Engelberg Blurred Lines panel was the most involved fair use question the system was ever called upon to parse, it managed to repeatedly forget that it had decided that the panel could stay up. Over and over since that initial determination, Content ID has taken down the video of the panel, forcing Engelberg to go through the whole process again.

But that's just for starters, because Youtube isn't the only place where a copyright enforcement bot is making billions of unsupervised, unaccountable decisions about what audiovisual material you're allowed to access.

Spotify is yet another monopolist, with a justifiable reputation for being extremely hostile to artists' interests, thanks in large part to the role that UMG and the other major record labels played in designing its business rules:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/09/12/streaming-doesnt-pay/#stunt-publishing

Spotify has spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to capture the podcasting market, in the hopes of converting one of the last truly open digital publishing systems into a product under its control:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/27/enshittification-resistance/#ummauerter-garten-nein

Thankfully, that campaign has failed – but millions of people have (unwisely) ditched their open podcatchers in favor of Spotify's pre-enshittified app, so everyone with a podcast now must target Spotify for distribution if they hope to reach those captive users.

Guess who has a podcast? The Engelberg Center.

Naturally, Engelberg's podcast includes the audio of that Blurred Lines panel, and that audio includes samples from both "Blurred Lines" and "Got To Give It Up."

So – naturally – UMG keeps taking down the podcast.

Spotify has its own answer to Content ID, and incredibly, it's even worse and harder to navigate than Google's pretend legal system. As Engelberg describes in its latest post, UMG and Spotify have colluded to ensure that this now-classic discussion of fair use will never be able to take advantage of fair use itself:

https://www.nyuengelberg.org/news/how-explaining-copyright-broke-the-spotify-copyright-system/

Remember, this is the best case scenario for arguing about fair use with a monopolist like UMG, Google, or Spotify. As Engelberg puts it:

The Engelberg Center had an extraordinarily high level of interest in pursuing this issue, and legal confidence in our position that would have cost an average podcaster tens of thousands of dollars to develop. That cannot be what is required to challenge the removal of a podcast episode.

Automated takedown systems are the tech industry's answer to the "notice-and-takedown" system that was invented to broker a peace between copyright law and the internet, starting with the US's 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The DMCA implements (and exceeds) a pair of 1996 UN treaties, the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the Performances and Phonograms Treaty, and most countries in the world have some version of notice-and-takedown.

Big corporate rightsholders claim that notice-and-takedown is a gift to the tech sector, one that allows tech companies to get away with copyright infringement. They want a "strict liability" regime, where any platform that allows a user to post something infringing is liable for that infringement, to the tune of $150,000 in statutory damages.

Of course, there's no way for a platform to know a priori whether something a user posts infringes on someone's copyright. There is no registry of everything that is copyrighted, and of course, fair use means that there are lots of ways to legally reproduce someone's work without their permission (or even when they object). Even if every person who ever has trained or ever will train as a copyright lawyer worked 24/7 for just one online platform to evaluate every tweet, video, audio clip and image for copyright infringement, they wouldn't be able to touch even 1% of what gets posted to that platform.

The "compromise" that the entertainment industry wants is automated takedown – a system like Content ID, where rightsholders register their copyrights and platforms block anything that matches the registry. This "filternet" proposal became law in the EU in 2019 with Article 17 of the Digital Single Market Directive:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/09/today-europe-lost-internet-now-we-fight-back

This was the most controversial directive in EU history, and – as experts warned at the time – there is no way to implement it without violating the GDPR, Europe's privacy law, so now it's stuck in limbo:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/05/eus-copyright-directive-still-about-filters-eus-top-court-limits-its-use

As critics pointed out during the EU debate, there are so many problems with filternets. For one thing, these copyright filters are very expensive: remember that Google has spent $100m on Content ID alone, and that only does a fraction of what filternet advocates demand. Building the filternet would cost so much that only the biggest tech monopolists could afford it, which is to say, filternets are a legal requirement to keep the tech monopolists in business and prevent smaller, better platforms from ever coming into existence.

Filternets are also incapable of telling the difference between similar files. This is especially problematic for classical musicians, who routinely find their work blocked or demonetized by Sony Music, which claims performances of all the most important classical music compositions:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/08/copyfraud/#beethoven-just-wrote-music

Content ID can't tell the difference between your performance of "The Goldberg Variations" and Glenn Gould's. For classical musicians, the best case scenario is to have their online wages stolen by Sony, who fraudulently claim copyright to their recordings. The worst case scenario is that their video is blocked, their channel deleted, and their names blacklisted from ever opening another account on one of the monopoly platforms.

But when it comes to free expression, the role that notice-and-takedown and filternets play in the creative industries is really a sideshow. In creating a system of no-evidence-required takedowns, with no real consequences for fraudulent takedowns, these systems are huge gift to the world's worst criminals. For example, "reputation management" companies help convicted rapists, murderers, and even war criminals purge the internet of true accounts of their crimes by claiming copyright over them:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/23/reputation-laundry/#dark-ops

Remember how during the covid lockdowns, scumbags marketed junk devices by claiming that they'd protect you from the virus? Their products remained online, while the detailed scientific articles warning people about the fraud were speedily removed through false copyright claims:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/18/labor-shortage-discourse-time/#copyfraud

Copyfraud – making false copyright claims – is an extremely safe crime to commit, and it's not just quack covid remedy peddlers and war criminals who avail themselves of it. Tech giants like Adobe do not hesitate to abuse the takedown system, even when that means exposing millions of people to spyware:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/13/theres-an-app-for-that/#gnash

Dirty cops play loud, copyrighted music during confrontations with the public, in the hopes that this will trigger copyright filters on services like Youtube and Instagram and block videos of their misbehavior:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/10/duke-sucks/#bhpd

But even if you solved all these problems with filternets and takedown, this system would still choke on fair use and other copyright exceptions. These are "fact intensive" questions that the world's top experts struggle with (as anyone who watches the Blurred Lines panel can see). There's no way we can get software to accurately determine when a use is or isn't fair.

That's a question that the entertainment industry itself is increasingly conflicted about. The Blurred Lines judgment opened the floodgates to a new kind of copyright troll – grifters who sued the record labels and their biggest stars for taking the "vibe" of songs that no one ever heard of. Musicians like Ed Sheeran have been sued for millions of dollars over these alleged infringements. These suits caused the record industry to (ahem) change its tune on fair use, insisting that fair use should be broadly interpreted to protect people who made things that were similar to existing works. The labels understood that if "vibe rights" became accepted law, they'd end up in the kind of hell that the rest of us enter when we try to post things online – where anything they produce can trigger takedowns, long legal battles, and millions in liability:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/08/oh-why/#two-notes-and-running

But the music industry remains deeply conflicted over fair use. Take the curious case of Katy Perry's song "Dark Horse," which attracted a multimillion-dollar suit from an obscure Christian rapper who claimed that a brief phrase in "Dark Horse" was impermissibly similar to his song "A Joyful Noise."

Perry and her publisher, Warner Chappell, lost the suit and were ordered to pay $2.8m. While they subsequently won an appeal, this definitely put the cold grue up Warner Chappell's back. They could see a long future of similar suits launched by treasure hunters hoping for a quick settlement.

But here's where it gets unbelievably weird and darkly funny. A Youtuber named Adam Neely made a wildly successful viral video about the suit, taking Perry's side and defending her song. As part of that video, Neely included a few seconds' worth of "A Joyful Noise," the song that Perry was accused of copying.

In court, Warner Chappell had argued that "A Joyful Noise" was not similar to Perry's "Dark Horse." But when Warner had Google remove Neely's video, they claimed that the sample from "Joyful Noise" was actually taken from "Dark Horse." Incredibly, they maintained this position through multiple appeals through the Content ID system:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/03/05/warner-chappell-copyfraud/#warnerchappell

In other words, they maintained that the song that they'd told the court was totally dissimilar to their own was so indistinguishable from their own song that they couldn't tell the difference!

Now, this question of vibes, similarity and fair use has only gotten more intense since the takedown of Neely's video. Just this week, the RIAA sued several AI companies, claiming that the songs the AI shits out are infringingly similar to tracks in their catalog:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/record-labels-sue-music-generators-suno-and-udio-1235042056/

Even before "Blurred Lines," this was a difficult fair use question to answer, with lots of chewy nuances. Just ask George Harrison:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sweet_Lord

But as the Engelberg panel's cohort of dueling musicologists and renowned copyright experts proved, this question only gets harder as time goes by. If you listen to that panel (if you can listen to that panel), you'll be hard pressed to come away with any certainty about the questions in this latest lawsuit.

The notice-and-takedown system is what's known as an "intermediary liability" rule. Platforms are "intermediaries" in that they connect end users with each other and with businesses. Ebay and Etsy and Amazon connect buyers and sellers; Facebook and Google and Tiktok connect performers, advertisers and publishers with audiences and so on.

For copyright, notice-and-takedown gives platforms a "safe harbor." A platform doesn't have to remove material after an allegation of infringement, but if they don't, they're jointly liable for any future judgment. In other words, Youtube isn't required to take down the Engelberg Blurred Lines panel, but if UMG sues Engelberg and wins a judgment, Google will also have to pay out.

During the adoption of the 1996 WIPO treaties and the 1998 US DMCA, this safe harbor rule was characterized as a balance between the rights of the public to publish online and the interest of rightsholders whose material might be infringed upon. The idea was that things that were likely to be infringing would be immediately removed once the platform received a notification, but that platforms would ignore spurious or obviously fraudulent takedowns.

That's not how it worked out. Whether it's Sony Music claiming to own your performance of "Fur Elise" or a war criminal claiming authorship over a newspaper story about his crimes, platforms nuke first and ask questions never. Why not? If they ignore a takedown and get it wrong, they suffer dire consequences ($150,000 per claim). But if they take action on a dodgy claim, there are no consequences. Of course they're just going to delete anything they're asked to delete.

This is how platforms always handle liability, and that's a lesson that we really should have internalized by now. After all, the DMCA is the second-most famous intermediary liability system for the internet – the most (in)famous is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

This is a 27-word law that says that platforms are not liable for civil damages arising from their users' speech. Now, this is a US law, and in the US, there aren't many civil damages from speech to begin with. The First Amendment makes it very hard to get a libel judgment, and even when these judgments are secured, damages are typically limited to "actual damages" – generally a low sum. Most of the worst online speech is actually not illegal: hate speech, misinformation and disinformation are all covered by the First Amendment.

Notwithstanding the First Amendment, there are categories of speech that US law criminalizes: actual threats of violence, criminal harassment, and committing certain kinds of legal, medical, election or financial fraud. These are all exempted from Section 230, which only provides immunity for civil suits, not criminal acts.

What Section 230 really protects platforms from is being named to unwinnable nuisance suits by unscrupulous parties who are betting that the platforms would rather remove legal speech that they object to than go to court. A generation of copyfraudsters have proved that this is a very safe bet:

https://www.techdirt.com/2020/06/23/hello-youve-been-referred-here-because-youre-wrong-about-section-230-communications-decency-act/

In other words, if you made a #MeToo accusation, or if you were a gig worker using an online forum to organize a union, or if you were blowing the whistle on your employer's toxic waste leaks, or if you were any other under-resourced person being bullied by a wealthy, powerful person or organization, that organization could shut you up by threatening to sue the platform that hosted your speech. The platform would immediately cave. But those same rich and powerful people would have access to the lawyers and back-channels that would prevent you from doing the same to them – that's why Sony can get your Brahms recital taken down, but you can't turn around and do the same to them.

This is true of every intermediary liability system, and it's been true since the earliest days of the internet, and it keeps getting proven to be true. Six years ago, Trump signed SESTA/FOSTA, a law that allowed platforms to be held civilly liable by survivors of sex trafficking. At the time, advocates claimed that this would only affect "sexual slavery" and would not impact consensual sex-work.

But from the start, and ever since, SESTA/FOSTA has primarily targeted consensual sex-work, to the immediate, lasting, and profound detriment of sex workers:

https://hackinghustling.org/what-is-sesta-fosta/

SESTA/FOSTA killed the "bad date" forums where sex workers circulated the details of violent and unstable clients, killed the online booking sites that allowed sex workers to screen their clients, and killed the payment processors that let sex workers avoid holding unsafe amounts of cash:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/09/fight-overturn-fosta-unconstitutional-internet-censorship-law-continues

SESTA/FOSTA made voluntary sex work more dangerous – and also made life harder for law enforcement efforts to target sex trafficking:

https://hackinghustling.org/erased-the-impact-of-fosta-sesta-2020/

Despite half a decade of SESTA/FOSTA, despite 15 years of filternets, despite a quarter century of notice-and-takedown, people continue to insist that getting rid of safe harbors will punish Big Tech and make life better for everyday internet users.

As of now, it seems likely that Section 230 will be dead by then end of 2025, even if there is nothing in place to replace it:

https://energycommerce.house.gov/posts/bipartisan-energy-and-commerce-leaders-announce-legislative-hearing-on-sunsetting-section-230

This isn't the win that some people think it is. By making platforms responsible for screening the content their users post, we create a system that only the largest tech monopolies can survive, and only then by removing or blocking anything that threatens or displeases the wealthy and powerful.

Filternets are not precision-guided takedown machines; they're indiscriminate cluster-bombs that destroy anything in the vicinity of illegal speech – including (and especially) the best-informed, most informative discussions of how these systems go wrong, and how that blocks the complaints of the powerless, the marginalized, and the abused.

Support me this summer on the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop!

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

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/27/nuke-first/#ask-questions-never

Image: EFF https://www.eff.org/files/banner_library/yt-fu-1b.png

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

[lemondoddle]

what happens when you type into the computer (BOOK OF BILL SPOILERS)

HELLO THE WEBSITE HAS UPDATED and different things happen when you type things into the computer on the screen. if a character/word isnt relevant the computer gives a red X. so far i've found:

stanley: takes you to an ebay search for brass knuckles, entering his name repeatedly will take you to various grunkle-related eBay searches until you get to bill's wheel of shame with much more to click

mabel: adds stickers to the set. you can keep hitting enter until the the room has been "fully mabelized"

ford/sixer: a case file on ford's extra digits

soos: a long set of notes about how soos is doing running the mystery shack

dipper: a note presumably from bill to dipper "informing" him that he can decode messages by staring into the sun. if you enter his name multiple times bill urges you to keep looking with words of encouragement as each note becomes progressively blurry and splotched with black until the entire notecard turns black

bill: this youtube video (and no it's not a rickroll)

gideon: an audio recording plays of gideon humming/scatting to the tune of "we'll meet again", ending with a whispered message of "i love you, mabel"

wendy: a note pranking you with the the 👌 emoji

mcgucket/fiddleford: the cotton eye joe music video

pacifica: a warning note about the book of bill mabel made her write

robbie: chat messages between him and thompson as they prepare to summon bill (as mentioned in tbob) with an image of their encounter

tad strange: the computer plays clips of bread being sliced set to jazzy instrumentals. this enables the glowing red button on the computer to turn green to switch the bread videos on and off at will

blendin: a message appears on the screen reading "time agent lost and presumed incompetent"

weirdmagedon: a newspaper page from the gravity fall's gossiper utilising the "nevermind-all-that-" act and stating "nothing happened" that day

axolotl: text onscreen appears: "you ask alotl questions"

T.J. eckleburg: text onscreen appears: "never mention that name again"

cipher: links to a wikipedia page about triangles

blanchin: pulls up a youtube tutorial on how to blanche vegetables

triangle: one half of a parenthesis appears on the computer ")", will also pop up with "tri harder"

dippy fresh: links to this image

mystery shack: links to a google search for confusion hill

gravity falls: text appears onscreen reading "never heard of it"

portal: text appears onscreen reading "portal.exe has been deleted. i bet you could build one"

theraprism: a notice sign appears- "in case of (coded words) do not use elevators" with a graphic of a person and a cthulu like monster on stairs

blind eye: an eye chart utilising the same string of letters- "WKHBOOVHH" that gets smaller each line, paired with blocks of color- the cursor turns into a "zoom in" tool that actually just makes the page blurrier with each click

creepypasta/horror: an entry on the urban legend "the always garden"- a liminal space/backrooms style restaurant anomaly

alex hirsch: links to a google search for flannels

toby determined: links to a google search for restraining order

dorito/chip: a dorito slowly enlarges on the computer screen and then becomes a jumpscare of a toothy bill, who periodically screams for a bit before the video finishes

love/boyfriend/romance: pulls up the parody romance novel, clicking starts an audio recording of the book

death: text appears onscreen: "life's goth cousin"

book of bill: text appears onscreen: "hide it under shirt during pledge of allegiance"

life: text appears onscreen: "life: 72% complete. now loading: death"

baby/lalala: an ultrasound of a baby bill in a womb and a message congratulating you

pines: text appears onscreen: "a good family tree"

weird: a video of weird al yankovich appears on the screen, he's confused and shouts for bill to get him out of there

waddles: links to a pig adoption website

mickey/disney: text appears onscreen: "rat.gif censored for your protection"

ducktective: text appears onscreen reading "ducktective stars in 'love, quacktually', coming to 'oi, it's the cockney channel innit?' this fall"

mason: a note from dipper about ford teaching him anagrams, plus a coded message with that technique

tyrone/clone: a picture of the janky dipper clone with a message that he's yours now

matpat/game theory: a video of matpat and a conspiracy board, he turns to say "hello internet, you're on... you're own... good luck" as he holds the book of bill

skeleton: text appears onscreen: "the one with the sword! he found you!"

scary: pulls up a parody goosebumps book "spookemups", clicking on it starts an audio recording of neil cicierega reading a section

divorce: pulls up a logo for "o'sadley's'"

music: enables you to click the dial, clicking the dial plays loud static

math: bill recounting an encounter he had with plato

conspiracy: a video of charlie day in a tin foil hat rambling about the website's previous state, holding the book of bill

okay that's enough from me, there's SO MUCH MORE that I just can't keep up with!! Happy searching!

[muffinrecord]

I'm gonna be lazy and copy+paste my comment on youtube onto here too...

Making this video was like book ends for me. I became interested in Magia Record because of online magical girl transformation compilation videos.

I was a day one player for the North American server-- I became really obsessed with the quotes the girls would say, so I started my first youtube channel and uploaded clips of what they were for anyone else who was curious. This grew into recording Magical Girl Stories, Events, and Log-in stories, but it was a slow process.

When the NA EOS was announced, I dealt with my sadness by recording as much content as possible. I actually damaged my eyes by focusing on screens too much. I became acquainted with the Magia Union Translations server and started recording videos for Antimony and friends.

Then a bunch of copyright claims started to go out, targeting the music used in the videos. At this point I started hosting and paying for a google drive to upload everything to just as a backup. We were able to get videos back up by filing disputes but we were all really nervous for a few months on what to do. Additionally, since a bunch of channels were now no longer hosting magia record recorded game content, I decided to make this second channel and host those too.

And at the end of JP EOS, I've gone full circle. I started by being interested in this game because of the cool transformation video compilations, and now I've made one of my own. It's a weird sense of closure.

<3 Love you all, enjoy.

[yeoldenews]

Hi! Where do you find all your news clippings, especially the Victorian ones? Currently I’ve been devouring every book I can get my hands on about Victorian era anything. But really I want to get a sense of the people, and I’d love to just browse through Victorian era letters/newspapers.

Thanks for any help or ideas!

While many historical newspapers are behind a paywall, there are still tons available for free online. Unfortunately they are scattered on lots of different sites so you sometimes have to dig a bit.

The largest single free online newspaper collection is Chronicling America, which is jointly run by National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress - however it only has American newspapers.

The National Library of Australia has a similar large online collection called Trove, and The National Library of New Zealand has Papers Past.

Most large universities or state historical societies have some sort of online newspaper collection, usually limited to their particular geographic area.

When I start a project focusing on a certain area my first google search is usually '[location] newspaper archives', just to see what pops up.

If you can't find what you're looking for on a free archive, try contacting your local public or university library! Many libraries have subscriptions to paid archival sites, some of which you can even access at home if you have a library card.

[emcscared-whumps]

WRITING RESOURCES

This post will be updated with new entries Last updated: 01 Aug, 2024 See the Updated Version!

WRITING TIPS & RESOURCES

ASL: Technicques to Write Signed Dialogue

Disability Writing Guides (Another resource post)

Disabilities that You Should Consider Representing in Your Writing More Part 1 (Another esource post)

Editing Service (by @concerningwolves)

Emotional Intelligence in Conflict

Ellipsus, the New Collaborative Writing Tool

Difficult Chapters

Drafting: Four Methods for Highly Anxious Individuals

Writing Disability: Overused Tropes

General Writing Resources Post (Collaborative)

Lay or Lie

MS Word Shortcuts Guide

Niel Gaiman Teaches the Art of Storytelling

Platonic Relationship Development

Passive Voice Advice

Publishing

On Punctuating Speech

Scene Transition

Sentence Ending Pointers

YA MacGuffins and Games, A Trope Analysis

Your Readers Don't Know - The Truth of the First 30 Pages

Weirdly Specific but Helpful Character Building Questions

The Writer's Sus Resources Post

The Writer's Workbook

WHUMP

The Anatomy of Kill Blows (Collaborative)

The Biology of Human Survival (Life and Death in Extreme Environments), by Claude A. Piantadosi

Whump Events (A linked Google doc by @whumpsday )

Whump Reference Books (A linked list created by @bump-of-whump )

Whump Resources (A resource post by @a-crumb-of-whump , how to start a whump blog, oc advice, advice on motivation and dealing with discouragement, and games

Iron Comb (Iron combs for processing wood/flax fibre used as a torture device in historical settings)

Mer Whump Bingo by @a-crumb-of-whump

The Whumpy Printing Press is Open for Submissions for Publication of Whumpy Novels!

WOUNDS, INJURIES, & TRAUMA

GSW Recovery - [A] [B] [C]

Malnutrition

Migraines

Passing out from pain

PTSD Dreams

Scar Tissue Info

Sleep Deprivation

Writing Traumatic Injuries Resources (Another resource post)

More Resources for Writing Injuries (Another resource post)

WEAPONS

Gun information

The Safety and Mechanism of a Bolt Action Rifle

Bolt Action Rifle Mechanism (Animated diagram)

Semiautomatic Rifle Mechanism (Animated diagram)

Pump Action Rifle Mechanism (Animated diagram)

CLOTHING

African Women's Fashion (Outfit examples video)

Lady's Clothes Guide

Men's Fashion Guide

Men's Suits Guide

Period Clothing References

Shirt types

Vintage Fashion Clips (Saved for scarf pin :))

MISC

African Hair Care and FAQ

Art Resources and References (Another resource post)

Creating a Chinese Name

Writing Deaf, Mute, or Blind Characters

Place Description Aid...?

Directional Hearing Underwater

Drawing Fat Simple

General Cane Guide

Ideas to Consider when Creating BIPOC Characters

POC Stock Photos

Wheelchair References for Art and Writing (features images)

Whump Community Directory (Tumblr blogs)

Wikipedia Monster Compilation Pages for People (Another resource post)

If there're any broken links, please let me know!

[kooldewd123]

I haven't been checking in with the wider Gravity Falls fandom since I've been trying to do a lot of my own analysis so forgive me if this is something that's already been discussed a lot, but this one thing in particular has been really sticking in my mind. Typing "gun" or "oh yes they both" into the terminal provides these two responses:

These are lyrics from the musical Chicago, specifically the song "We Both Reached For The Gun." Here's a clip of the song from the movie adaptation, for reference:

Two immediate things to note here. First, the scene uses heavy puppetry imagery, and the importance of that in relation to Bill should be obvious. And if that wasn't enough, the character actually doing the puppeteering is named Billy. Frankly, that could quite likely be where this reference begins and ends and everything I say from this point onward might be me overthinking this. This could simply be another joke response like "McGucket" just leading to the music video for Cotton Eyed Joe or "Gideon" giving a Google search for sweat resistant bolo ties. What makes this one seem different to me is that unlike those examples, it stays in the terminal and doesn't link to an external site. You wouldn't understand the joke without already knowing the song (honestly, I didn't understand it myself until the previously linked video coincidentally came up in my YouTube recommended feed a few days later), not to mention that the prompts to find it are entirely self-contained as well.

Digging into the song itself, it's a very interesting choice to reference here (Quick disclaimer: I haven't seen this musical before, and most of my research has been fairly cursory, so please correct me if I get something wrong). The context here is that Roxie (the girl being puppeteered) killed the man she was having an affair with when he tried to leave her. In this song, Billy, her lawyer, rewrites the story so that the man was instead a jealous ex threatening her life. Him and Roxie "both reached for the gun," and the murder was actually an act of self-defense. Because of this spin, the false story of Roxie being a sympathetic hero ends up overtaking the reality that she's just a vindictive killer. And the weirdest part is... this kinda mirrors Bill's backstory that we learn about in the Book of Bill? We never solidly find out the truth of what happened to Euclydia. What information we have is at best heavily biased and at worst outright censored. Did Bill truly want to help his dimension or is that just a justification he came up with after the fact? We don't know. We're the reporters in this song, the people who have nothing but the word of the perpetrator to go off of. And I... don't really know what conclusion to make of this. Like, the broad strokes of the two stories are very similar in their themes, but whenever I try to look at the details, they don't map onto each other as well as I'd like. Roxie seems much more unrepentant than Bill, and Bill seems much less, stable? i guess? than Roxie. I really feel like there might be something it's trying to say about Bill here, but whatever it is, it's eluding me.

[mrghostrat]

ok OK listen. here are my latest streamer au thoughts before i try to hop off for the day:

i love "married couple madly in love that no one realises are together because they're so different" but i am also terrible at fic planning for established relationships, and my favourite part about aziraphale/crowley is the lead up and the pining

so what if......... "streamers who no one realises are roommates because they're so different" AND "roommates who are secretly madly in love with each other but are so focused on keeping their own infatuation secret they don't notice it's reciprocated until thousands of online strangers start to point it out" ?????

fic concept: crowley and aziraphale are two full time streamers living together. they have their own spaces. but they mesh bizarrely well as roommates, and have come to really enjoy the routine of eating dinners, grocery shopping, and spending their days off together. there's still some distance between them, that shy sort of "i want to show him something– oh his door is closed, i better not bother him," invitations are actual invitations rather than "i'm doing this and you're coming with me," and they're not a CrowleyAndAziraphale unit yet.

both chats are going mad trying to figure out why crowley's roommate's voice is so familiar, and where they've seen that red hair in the corner of aziraphale's screen before. there's conspiracy theories and a subset of shippers (stoked by both crowley and aziraphale's occasional penchant to sigh and vent about a vague crush they haven't named, but is definitely their mysterious roommate if you watched every stream and collaborated on an elaborate google doc to connect all the dots together) but their mods are the only ones who know they live together. (and ship it. of course they know about the crushes and ship it to death and are just watching with popcorn waiting for these idiots to figure it out)

some people piece it together with all the off hand mentions and mid stream tea deliveries, and more start to believe them when crowley drags aziraphale to a twitchcon event and they're seen being friendly in photos together. they're also aware of people constantly asking and guessing about their illusive roommates, but when crowley finally pops up on an aziraphale stream, both streamers are startled at just how insanely their communities react to the innocuous reveal.

nothing changes for aziraphale and crowley. they were never intentionally hiding the fact, so they just continue referring to each other in their normal vague terms. but now when a new viewer is like "who's your roommate?" long time subs with the lore will fill them in. and it very quickly starts to sound like "crowley lives with aziraphale, that wholesome kitchen streamer. someone's made a clip comp, you should go watch. it's adorable they're so in love" and crowley sees these messages like what the FUCK are yall talking about in here on this day, and bans a message for the first time in six months.

aziraphale of course sees none of these messages because he's a fuckin luddite and can't keep up with chat.

or. maybe he's just choosing not to acknowledge them. because if chat can see he's in love with crowley, does that mean crowley can see it too? and that is just unacceptable and terrifying to him, so he smiles and quickly starts explaining how to saddle stitch a book spine even though literally nobody asked

(anathema, newt, and nina have worked their way through the flavoured popcorn seasonings anathema's aunt sent her for christmas, and are now experimenting with homemade seasoning recipes together) (if maggie knew about all this, she would have put her foot down and demanded they talk to aziraphale and crowley about having a conversation)

[active-mind-15]

If the GoM + KagaKuro + Momoi had YouTube channels

I saw a headcannon post like this a few days ago and thought I'd take my own crack at what I think the YouTube channels of the main cast of KNB would look like if they had them. Hope you enjoy!

[KUROKO]

Mainly on the book side of YouTube.

He likes to do book reviews and book recommendation videos and keep people updated on what he's been reading recently.

He also does this thing where he opens up a Google Form every once in a while and takes suggestions from his subscribers on what to read and then he'll pick a few suggestions at random and give his thoughts in a video.

Sometimes he does vlogs where he hits up his favorite bookstores and encourages people to visit them (he mainly supports local bookstores and also is a big library advocate and often urges his viewers to support their local libraries, too).

On occasion, he uses YouTube shorts or the community tab to post pics and short vids about Nigou like taking him for a walk or dressing him in cute outfits (Nigou is Kuroko's pfp on his channel).

Kuroko also never shows his face in any of his videos and his viewers always get so curious about what he looks like, but when they ask for a face reveal, he never budges.

Because no one can see his face, they focus a lot on his voice and Kuroko has been told by many people that his voice is calming and he could definitely dip his foot into ASMR. He compromises by posting the occasional video of him reading excerpts from his favorite books.

[KAGAMI]

Very much a "ball is life" type of guy. He posts clips of his basketball game highlights from school tournaments. Also posts clips of him playing streetball with his team members from Seirin and sometimes other GoM members if Kuroko invites him to come play.

He posts travel logs, too. It could be something like him heading to LA to visit or to get some basketball training in with Alex. OR he could do "day in the life" vlogs in Japan where he just shows people how he's living. He posts them very sporadically, there's no schedule for any of his vlogs.

I feel like he could also do those "What it's like to live in ____" videos where he tells people about his experiences living in the US and Japan and gives people travel tips he's picked up along the way.

I bet he has YouTube shorts where he films what he eats in a day, and because of the sheer volume of food he consumes, his subscribers always think he's bullshitting because who tf eats that much in 24 hours?

He also does YouTube shorts where he cooks simple dishes. He always gives people an ingredients list so they can try the recipes, too.

He probably has both a domestic and international viewer base because he's bilingual (and I saw a headcanon someone had that Alex taught both Himuro and Kagami some Spanish so maybe he's even trilingual). When talking directly to viewers, he switches between languages a lot.

I bet he does livestreams too every once in a while when he's alone on a basketball court at night and wants some company, so he just props his phone up and comes back to it every so often to read the live chat.

[KISE]

Oh, he's a beauty guru through and through. I know he's got makeup tutorials on his channel. He also does viral makeup challenges (or maybe he creates his own challenges and they go viral on their own).

He also posts a lot of GRWM videos. Sometimes he gets ready for modeling work, and other times he gets ready for school or a basketball game.

Also, he deffo gets sponsorships from cosmetic brands all the time like maybe foundation or face wash. He just has so much social media presence that brands are all lining up to ask Kise to use their products.

I can see him doing vlogs, too. Usually when he's out doing modeling work. He likes to show his subscribers behind-the-scenes stuff about modeling and how the industry works.

He 100% does clothing hauls, too. He likes to pick clothing brands he thinks deserve more love so that his subscribers start shopping there and the brands get more business.

He does livestreams where he does Q&A with his subscribers and talks more about himself there. They're a fan-favorite because subscribers get to see him more laidback and comfy.

I can also see him trying to do simple dance challenges for YouTube shorts as well. He usually tries to drag his Kaijo teammates or even the other GoM into it. Some are more receptive than others, to put it lightly...

[MIDORIMA]

He's a weirdo (said endearingly) on YouTube. He makes content for all the boys and girlies interested in obscure niche topics.

I'm sure a good chunk of what he posts is related to horoscopes and compatibility stuff.

He also does livestreams where he does fortune-telling for his subscribers, usually summoning the power of whatever his lucky item is that day.

I would also like to think he does videos picking apart popular conspiracy theories and then going to war with said conspiracy theorists in the comments.

But then another part of his channel is almost like "study with me" type videos where he shows the process of completing homework or getting ready for an important test/exam.

A lot of people under his comments for those videos ask him for study tips and he freely gives out advice.

There are also people under his comments who talk about how stressed school makes them and he's actually very encouraging and supportive to them in his own way. He's big on motivating his subscribers to try their hardest and not to get too down on themselves if their results aren't as good as they expected. Because of this, his subscribers love to update him on their academic progress, both the good and the bad, and Midorima reads every single one of their comments.

[AOMINE]

Probably the most sporadic poster of them all. Nobody ever knows when this boy will post and he gives no heads up either. YouTube community tab is for losers. You'll see his videos when you see them.

Most of the time he uploads videos they're usually super short, maybe no more than 2 minutes long. And the content of these videos could honestly be about anything.

Sometimes they're clips of gameplay from a video game and other times, it's just him filming random stuff that captures his eye.

He doesn't edit or nothin, he just rawdogs the YouTube experience and posts his videos as they are from his phone.

In a way, you could call some of the videos vlogs, but they're just so short and borderline cryptic that his subscribers don't see them as anything other than shitposts. And that's precisely why Aomine has amassed a sort of cult following.

The non-shitpost short videos are ones where he films himself catching bugs in the summer. Those are actually super cute and wholesome because he likes to share factoids about the bugs he caught.

The only times he does longer videos is if he posts clips from streetball matches he has with the other GoM + KagaKuro. They're usually titled something like "Kicked Kagami's ass in b-ball today". Any and all dislikes on videos like that are solely from Kagami and all the burner accounts he uses to dislike Aomine's videos.

[MURASAKIBARA]

I think his most popular segment would be snack/sweet reviews. Especially when there are new limited edition flavors of something. Sometimes snack brands like to send him mystery boxes for him to open up on camera.

He also likes to talk about what he eats when he travels to new places, giving tips on places to eat in foreign countries that you may not find on an initial search online.

His subscribers treat his word like the holy bible and a lot of them will not trust a snack unless Murasakibara has said it's good. He's like the Keith Lee of snack YouTube. Very wholesome but also holds a lot of authority.

I think he would totally do mukbangs, too. He noticed his subscribers love it the most when he eats crunchy stuff, so a lot of his videos around that are him eating chips or his maiubo sticks. It's basically ASMR, at this point.

While he does mukbangs, he likes to rant talk about his day to his subscribers. They find it very endearing when he gets invested in telling stories.

I remember Fujimaki once saying Murasakibara's alternate future job would be a baker/patissier, so I think Murasakibara would also have content where he's just baking. He likes to take suggestions on what he bakes from subscribers. His taste testers are his Yosen teammates or the GoM if he happens to be down in Tokyo/Kyoto for whatever reason.

The only non-food content he has on his channel is his livestreams, where he plays video games. He either plays cozy farming sims or horror games. There is no in-between.

[AKASHI]

A total equestrian boy. A good chunk of his channel is riding sessions he has with his horse, Yukimaru. He answers questions about horses from his subscribers in the comments all the time. Sometimes you will see him under the comments of other good horse YouTube channels gushing about how beautiful those YouTubers' horses are and how well their owners take care of them. He asks them about certain riding gear he sees them use, too, so he can buy it for himself.

Another chunk of his channel is music-related. He likes to upload videos playing his favorite pieces on both the piano and the violin. He takes song requests from his subscribers, too. Once in a blue moon, he'll even post a piece he composed himself. One time, he posted a video of himself playing the violin for Yukimaru, and his subscribers thought it was the most precious thing ever.

He also posts videos of himself playing shogi, either by himself or whoever he has convinced into playing shogi with him. It's usually Midorima, and he always loses.

Speaking of Midorima, Akashi noticed his "study with me" videos and wanted to try doing it, too. This eventually led to once-a-month livestreams where Akashi studies by himself in his room. This led to his subscribers nicknaming him "Lofi Girl". He did not understand the reference.

He posts basketball stuff on there, too. Usually, stuff he's taken from his own team's practices as he observes them from the sidelines.

He also sometimes posts YouTube shorts of the Uncrowned Kings when he's hanging out with them. They're always candids of them engrossed in a conversation, or when they're goofing off, and during those times, when Akashi feels compelled, he'll sneakily record them and post it later, almost like an archive of memories to look back on and smile.

He's also pretty passionate about mental health and sometimes talks about it on his channel, encouraging people to normalize conversation around it. He gives updates on his own mental health journey (yes, I have a headcannon that he starts going to therapy after the Winter Cup) and his subscribers are always so supportive of him for being open and honest about it. His transparency in turn inspires his subscribers to take their own mental health more seriously and they give Akashi updates of their own. He always loves hearing their progress and always tells them to hang in there.

[MOMOI]

She loves a lil vlog here and there. She loves showing people what she does on a day-to-day basis. Her editing style is also super adorable.

She also likes to livestream to just talk to her subscribers about anything, really. A lot of times, it ends up being about romance, though.

Her content has a slight overlap with Kise in which she also does GRWM videos. Usually for school or to go into town. Sometimes this bleeds into her doing videos where she puts outfits together for specific situations and gives fashion/makeup advice to subscribers.

She does hauls, too, but it's all bath salts and bath bombs. She has an extensive collection of candles, too, and she loves to tell her subscribers when she gets new stuff.

She's probably also done a room tour, too, I bet. I like to think her bedroom has that gamer-girl vibe. Just all cute shit but at the same time she gets down to business you do not play around with data analyst Momoi.

I would say she also includes the other miracles the most out of everyone. Kise is usually the most willing participant in her videos. They probably team up for makeup challenge videos. Somehow they rope Aomine into them to be their test subject, may God bless his soul.

She also likes to take videos of the GoM when they have get-togethers. Her subscribers get a kick out of seeing their antics and they constantly tell her she has amazing friends. Momoi agrees.

Anyway, that was it from me. I don't think I've ever done a KNB headcanon post like this before, so I just wanted to try. I hope you guys liked it! ✨✨✨

[low-budget-korra]

The Legend of Korra Fancast

This one was hard to make. Specially the Watertribe that is based manly on the Inuk people but it physical appearance also resemble a lot other native people, like the Maori and other Native American people.

This fancast is based on appearance, ethnicity and vibes.

Korra- Devery Jacobs and Sydney Park

Devery Jacobs is a native actress who stars in Reservation Dogs, a show I haven't watched but it is on my watchlist. She is the first pick for the role, because she is native american, despite being light skinned in comparison to Korra.

The second pick is Sydney Park, I read she is mixed but I choose her based on her appearance only. I haven't seen none of them acting, but in those pictures I could see Korra in both of them.

Asami Sato - Havana Rose Liu and Kelsey Chow

I've Watched Bottoms and in the moment I saw Havana Rose Liu on screen I thought "that's Asami Sato" and, I mean, just look at her. She is gorgeous, sophisticated, charismatic, she even has those beautiful green eyes. And importantly, the acting is there.

I feel the same with Kelsey Chow, especially after watching clips of her in Yellowstone. Sure, she ain't asian or asian American (I've read that she has some native american background) but still, I think she is a good second choice even being too old for the role cuz like Devery Jacobs, who is also in her 30's, they look younger than they really are.

Mako - JJ Jr Mackenyu / Ludi Lin

I haven't watched One Piece but one look at JJ Jr Mackenyu and I saw Mako.

Same with Ludi Lin, sure he is also too old for the role but he has that "cooliness" , that "bad boy" aura that Mako has especially in book 1.

Bolin - Niko Hiraga // Kai Bradbury

I only saw Niko Hiraga in Booksmart and haven't seen any work of Kai Bradbury but look at those eyes, such sympathetic eyes man.

Tenzin - Donnie Yen / Ke Huy Quan

Ip Man himself as Tenzin is a dream and one of the most common fancasting of the character but I think Ke Huy Quan would be The Tenzin, I mean, in Everything Everywhere all at once he shows an heart and an light that justs would fit Tenzin so well

Lin Beifong - Michelle Yeoh // Ming-Na Yen

The same with Michelle Yeoh, I mean just look at her and her works. Ming-Na Yen would also be an amazing choice for Lin, if see her in clips from agents of shield and damn she seems so good in there.

Suyin Beifong - Maggie Q / Lucy Liu

Maggie Q is a baddie with such kind eyes and mother vibe (yes, I loved Nikita) that fits so well with Su. Lucy Liu brings the same as Maggie Q but with some swagger that would be fun to watch.

Amon - Meegwun Fairbrother / Adam Beach

No, Meegwun is not a white man but it is white passing just as Amon. I haven't see any of them acting, I'm going just by looks here. Adam would be the choice if they choose to make Amon look more like a Watertribe man.

Tarrlok - Tatanka Means // Matariki Whatarau

Same with Amon fancasting, Mataraki ain't native american but he is Maori(according to google) and yes, he is too young for the character and that's also why Tatanka is my first choice

Zaheer - Henry Rollins / Ron Yuan

Before y'all jump on me because I pick a white guy has first choice to play Zaheer, let's remember that he has a view of the Air Nomad culture and mentality that he considers superior even in comparison with the only Airbender master at the time, he also is a hypocrite since he let his friends destroy a millennial temple symbol and museum of the culture he said it's inspired him. This is the type of arrogance and disrespect that typically comes from a white man c'mon

I didn't know any of Ron Yuan work but just by his appearance I think he would be a good choice for Zaheer

Kuvira - Sonoya Mizuno / Natasha Liu Bourdizzo

Sonoya and Natasha , can't choose who I like best for the character, both of them has that damn penetrating powerful gaze.

[eueuphoriaz]

I finally finished this clip! Did translation the old way (2 phones and Google translate), so not sure if the translations are as accurate as it should be.

Got this audio clip on Twitter so I am not sure if it is official and when it was released. But I am drawn to the "unrequited love" mention from Levi to Hange here. Again

Every Levihan should watch this video to understand why the "Unrequited Love" in 132 is so special and why it is very very very, almost certainly, that it is Levi's confession to Hange.

If that audio clip is official, that would make 132's "Unrequited love" Levi's second time mentioning that to Hange.

Why?

And it is so weird that throughout the whole story, only Levi sees Hange's obssession towards Titans as romantic. Others see her as weird, eccentric, reckless, danger to self and others or hope for humanity etc but only Levi associates a sense of romance into Hange's attention towards the Titans.

I dont see Levi saying that about Hange's thirst towards books (Smartpass) or cars or her curiosity over Marley's technology.

Probably only he is interested in getting Hange's attention (for his own).

Let's just appreciate the environment when he made the 132 "unrequited love" mention.

Everyone is finally feeling a sense of hope and control. The yeagerists are defeated, the airship is ready, the ship is ready to bring non-combatants to somewhere safe, everyone is forgiving or just willing to work together. It was a calm and peaceful feels before Floch came along.

Now, this is also the first time we see Levi and Hange interact after Hange's 126 proposal. After that either Levi is sleeping or Hange is busy working. In such a nice environment where everyone started to feel a sense of hope, I am quite sure Levi's 132 "unrequited love" is his attempt to answer Hange's 126 proposal.

Did Hange get him? i dont think so. Both of them have been drawn to look separately in the manga panels after the Yeagerist battle. I believe that Hange, after seeing Magath's death, is burdened and distracted by her responsibility. She is in her working mode and probably actively fighting to surpress her personal feelings, which she somehow let slip in front of Levi in 126. Unlike the 104, she doesnt want to show that openly. So I am guessing that while Levi is feeling the same vibes as everyone else as they prepare to get on the airship, Hange's mind is too burdened to process or acknowledge what Levi said.

I can only hope that Hange accept both his and her own feelings before she leave.

[the-lean-buddha]

My thoughts on the news about The Long Walk's film adaption

I have very little faith that The Long Walk will be a good adaption but maybe I'll be wrong! I can dream, and I've been wrong before. Here are my thoughts on the casting announcements and set pictures.

Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson are the leads, according to Deadline, which means they're presumably Garraty and McVries. Jonsson seems like a good actor but an awful fit for either character, and with Hoffman (presumably Garraty) it comes down to how good an actor he is, I guess, because I can see it working if I squint but I haven't seen anything from Hoffman to suggest he can do Garraty. And I reaaaaally doubt he could do McVries. McVries has a bite to him.

Joshua Odjick is Native American so he's presumably Joe or Mike (not to say that a different character couldn't theoretically be Native American in the adaption, but it's key to Joe and Mike that none of the other Walkers understand their culture at all, and only Baker defends their parents). It's odd that either of those two would have a prominent enough role to be cast already, so I wonder if either one of their roles is beefed up, or if Mike and Scramm will be a composite character and Joe won't feature at all. Alternatively, Odjick isn't playing a Native American character (or he is but Mike and Joe are adapted out), in which case I'd guess Parker.

Roman Griffin Davis is someone I've only ever seen in Jojo Rabbit so I don't know how much range he has. I think he'd fit best as Barkovitch but I wouldn't be surprised if he's been cast as Baker or Olson.

Charlie Plummer is Stebbins. I say this almost entirely because he's a long-haired blonde. If McVries is black then book descriptions (and characterizations, let's be honest, you can't make McVries a black kid in the 70s and keep his character the same) are thrown out the door already, but google Charlie Plummer and tell me he's not been cast as Stebbins. Also, take a look at this.

Ben Wang is Asian American and there are no explicitly Asian American characters, so we've gotta guess this one purely on Vibes (Olson and Barkovitch could both be canonically Asian American, but Barkovitch is openly racist, so). From Wang's YouTube channel and some clips of Chinese Born American I found, he's a nice and playful guy (hmu Ben let's get a lemonade, also tell me who you're playing), so I'd assume Baker or Olson or Abraham because they fit that the closest, I guess? But this is unfortunately a flawed way of guessing because actors playing lunatics are sometimes normal people in real life, walking among us, going almost undetected.

Tut Nyuot's a young, sweet-looking kid. I'd assume Percy? Again, weird to cast Percy already because he doesn't even have any lines in the book, but I can't imagine Nyuout playing a character who's supposed to be the same age as Charlie Plummer's character. Maybe he's unexpectedly good at playing deranged assholes like Barkovitch? We'll see.

For Garrett Wareing I'd say Olson, looking through clips and interviews.

Jordan Gonzalez gives me no strong impression. Sorry, Jordan. Feel free to give me a stronger one over lemonade (and tell me who you're playing). If I'm held at gunpoint then I'll say Abraham.

Mark Hamill is presumably playing the Major. He's absolutely not who I would have picked because he overflows with character and I always pictured the Major as a stoic, empty Big Brother type figure, whose moments of charisma and friendliness were obviously just an act. And I guess Hamill could play that, but I think the Major will more likely have a lot more personality and vim and vigor in the movie, if Hamill was cast - he's easily the biggest draw in the cast. Not necessarily a bad way to portray the Major, but easier to mess up. We'll wait and see.

Judy Greer as presumably Mrs. Garraty will presumably be fine.

Set photos look promising, aesthetically. No half-track, though. And there's a tank. Why is there a tank?

There's a Deadline article suggesting that there are only 50 kids and the pace limit is 3mph. But there's also an article suggesting it's still 100 kids so it might be a mistake? If it's 50 kids then that's presumably done for practicality but it's a bad change, the number will either get too low too fast or it'll drop too slowly (and also no 47 and 61 which would be weird but that's not significant). 3mph isn't necessarily bad, it's more feasible, but it does mean the "first into Massachusetts in seventeen years" can't happen. Maybe they'll make New Hampshire the record instead.

i want lemonade

Reblog with your thoughts! We've got news, people, and I'm sure someone somewhere is more excited about that than I am. Let's get some discussion going on in here.