#yeah this jives with what I've seen thus far

[lakesbian]

I am new here from Reddit and am finding your takes interesting. I know you don't like Wildbow, wondering your thoughts on the WGW podcast, if you've listened to it. Do you think it's "compromised" as analysis goes due to its proximity to the author?

[leaning on counter] hiii. yeah the reddit-origins are showing, i don't know if i've ever seen anyone mention the WGW podcast on tumblr, and the only reason i know what it is is because i go on little investigatory gallivants to reddit at times. i do not actually recognize the name "WGW" specifically, but as far as i am aware there is only one notable worm podcast, and i thus must assume we both have the same podcast in mind and that podcast is called WGW.

i have not listened to it, because 1. i do not like podcasts and 2. if i were ever going to undergo the miserable ordeal of listening to a podcast it would not be one of redditors analyzing worm. but from what i know of it the deal is basically just that it suffers from the same affliction as all other analysis generated from worm reddit--the author is literally right there, with zero boundaries btwn him & the fans, with full ability and willingness to issue bullheadedly argumentative essays against and/or outright suppress opinions on his book he disagrees with. and so all analysis regarding the book produced in the space inevitably bends towards catering to the views of Mister Bow Himself, at the cost of any critical or creative thought which does not align with his viewpoints. the subreddit culture is inherently hostile to any analysis which wildbow feels doesn't jive with the precise way he wants his book's fan-community to experience and interpret the work, which is why the one (1) time someone reposted one of my posts there it got deleted faster than assault on his way to get his nuts batonned in by taylor. there's a reason why the podcast, from what i heard, descended into uncritical praise for even the most narratively disastrous aspects of ward.

so to summarize: yes, all analysis produced in wildbow-centric worm fanspaces is inherently intellectually compromised by the culture of those spaces.

[chamerionwrites]

The Russian effort to meddle in the election began way back in 2014, long before anyone viewed Trump as a serious candidate for the presidency, much less a likely nominee. The goal was simply to create division and chaos by exploiting existing cleavages in American society—or as the indictment puts it, operators were instructed to create “political intensity through supporting radical groups, users dissatisfied with [the] social and economic situation and oppositional social movements.”

The work was coordinated through the Internet Research Agency, a group that came to widespread American attention in summer of 2015, when Adrian Chen wrote a long feature on it for The New York Times Magazine. The IRA is a private company, not a government agency, but as Chen laid out, it has close ties to the Kremlin. The indictment explains that the IRA in turn was controlled by Concord Management and Consulting and Concord Catering, “related Russian entities with various Russian government contracts.” Concord hired the IRA for “Project Lakhta,” a wide-ranging project that involved work in Russia and overseas.

The IRA and its officers began tracking U.S. social currents in 2014. That year, two of the defendants named in the indictment traveled to the United States for scouting purposes. The indictment describes measures that would seem cartoonish if not for what would follow. The travelers claimed they were visiting for personal reasons, but bought special equipment and discussed “evacuation scenarios” for the trip. In June, two of the defendants covered a great deal of ground, going to Nevada, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Louisiana, Texas, and New York. In November of 2014, a third defendant visited Atlanta.

When Chen reported on the IRA, many of the initiatives he uncovered were laughable—bizarre in concept, sloppy in execution, and without much sway in practice. Early on, Project Lakhta’s efforts seemed similar amateurish. Posing as Americans, they sought advice: “For example, starting in or around June 2016, Defendants and their co-conspirators, posing online as U.S. persons, communicated with a real U.S. person affiliated with a Texas-based grassroots organization. During the exchange, Defendants and their co-conspirators learned from the real U.S. person that they should focus their activities on ‘purple states like Colorado, Virginia & Florida.’”

Any casual American watcher of politics could have offered such a banal insight, but it was influential for the Russians: “After that exchange, Defendants and their co-conspirators commonly referred to targeting ‘purple states’ in directing their efforts.”

The work soon started to bear fruit. “Specialists” at IRA began creating social-media pages devoted to hot-button issues, from restrictive immigration policy to Black Lives Matter to religious affinity (“United Muslims of America,” “Army of Jesus.”) “By 2016, the size of many ORGANIZATION-controlled groups had grown to hundreds of thousands of online followers,” the indictment states. One particular notorious example was a Twitter account using the handle @TEN_GOP, which purported to be the voice of the Tennessee Republican Party. “Over time, the @TEN_GOP account attracted more than 100,000 online followers,” the indictment states...

Even if the conspiracy did not set out to boost Trump, it jumped into the task with gusto once latching on to him. There was a distinctly pro-Trump bent in its social-media presence...The mercenary nature of the Russians’ affection for Trump manifested itself upon his victory. The goal of having elected him complete, IRA operators pivoted to create maximal discord in the new era. Operators worked to organize rallies both for and against Trump in New York on November 12, 2016. They also planned an anti-Trump rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, that month.

[punderfulowl]

Top 12 Anime (That I've Seen) in 2018

Happy New Year, one and all! You read the title right, starting off 2019 with a change of format with not ten, but TWELVE entries in this year-end list! Not only that, I’ve actually watched more current stuff than last year! 

Allow me to explain...

Just in case you haven’t seen my list from last year, this list will consist of anime I’ve seen this year and not necessarily anime that came out this year. Why? One, because I watch whatever I want to watch. And two, because not a lot of people do end of the year retrospectives this way and it’s a fun time sharing older series that many might not have seen, yet (not exactly original though considering that I stole this idea from videogamedunkey). Now that you understand the rules, let’s begin!

12. Fastest Finger First (2017)

Starting off the list is a little anime series that may have gone under most people’s radar when it first came out. I, myself, forgot about it until a random clip showed up on my FB feed via Crunchyroll’s page and decided to seek it out. It was a fun enough time with learning about the ins and outs of the Quiz Bowl world while getting behind our young heroes that aim to be the best. Admittedly, this shows rolls with plenty of anime cliches which almost drowns out the few surprises it has. One of those surprises is that these high school characters actually look like high schoolers! There’s no, “lolz, that’s a freshman in high school, but she has double D boobs! And that one over there is over six feet tall high muscle tone! Cuh-razy!”

Okay, that was more of a personal note, but it’s still appreciated. Anyway, it’s a cute show and definitely worth the look.

11. Ray:The Animation (2006)

Starting out is a show that I did a review on earlier this year so I’ll keep this, as well as other shows I reviewed already, relatively short. Ray is about a young woman, whom is an amazing doctor in her own right, tackling medical mysteries as well as her own foggy past. Medical dramas may be present in live-action shows, but it’s quite the rarity in anime especially having a woman in the leading role. Unfortunately, the lackluster animation and art keep it from going higher on this list, but all the good it has is REALLY good (albeit with some silliness here and there).

10. Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation (2015)

I’ve already had my say in regards to this series, but, just to clarify for this list, my feelings have not changed. Holds itself well for a mystery, has an interesting protagonist, and is visually beautiful. I would like to know more about this story, but that would mean reading the light novels. It may be low on the list because of it being a glorified commercial, but I would recommend this anime regardless.

9. Devilman Crybaby (2018)

Once you have seen this list as a whole, you’ll notice that most of the stuff I’ve seen last year was on the lighter side. You can blame Devilman for that because I needed some fluff for a morale boost after watching that! However, I didn’t place it at the bottom of the list for a reason and that’s because I recognize this anime as the game changer it is. Devilman is both visually and narratively different from what we’re used to in anime and we, as a community, need more of that. We need more shows that start up conversations on not just meaning, morals or symbolism, but rather on what we want to see and how trends should change. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve yet to recover from this show, so I’m going to look at some pictures of adorable puppers.

8. Pop Team Epic (2018)

Apparently, a LOT of people didn’t like Pop Team Epic and the attention that it was getting. I...don’t quite get it? I guess you can be allergic to fun? Sure, it was weird and off the wall, but that OP was a banger, though! Okay, so the humor didn’t jive with everyone, but it sure jived with me!

7. Aggretsuko (2018)

A fun look into the life of a young individual stuck in an average desk job (except, you know, with animals), Aggretsuko was an honest to goodness surprise for me last year and I’m glad it’s getting a second season. 

6. Violet Evergarden (2018)

I’m sure that there are going to be a lot of people that will be mad at me for not putting this higher, especially since I think it’s this high to begin with on its merits of being a beautifully animated show alone. Yes, it had some really good character moments and one episode that got me very emotionally invested, but for some reason I find this spot to be just right. Hey, it beat out six other shows, right?

5. Interviews with Monster Girls (2017)

If ya’ll aren’t angry now hahaha!

Seriously, be thankful that my bias only had this anime this far. What bias is that? As sad as it sounds, this show opened up my eyes to the wonder that is Sakie Satou aka my new, overall, waifu. 

Sakie aside, this show has a lot going for it. I can just imagine if this kind of story was handled by anyone else our main protagonist, Tetsuo Takahashi, would have been some bland self-insert with no personality, but instead, he’s one of the show’s strong points. For one, Tetsuo is a freakin’ adult and freakin’ acts like one. Second, instead of a generic, lean body type, he’s pretty jacked which I like to think provides some manservice for those looking for it.

IwMG is a delight and you should check it out if you haven’t already.

4. Hinamatsuri (2018)  

Hinamatsuri was considered to be not only the best comedy anime of 2018, but the best anime, period, of 2018. Those claims are easily understood because the show has many things going for it: comedic timing, slapstick, and a variety of interesting characters. I’ve already said my piece when I reviewed it earlier, so all I have to say is to check out Hinamatsuri for a good laugh or seven.

3. Teasing Master Takagi-san (2018)

This show has charmed me so much. It was such a surprise. However, I’m going to keep this short because any longer will leave me gushing over and over again about how freakin’ precious these two kids are.

2. Nichijou (2011)

Nichijou is such a delight! The pacing, rhythm, and slapstick are ALL on point! I remember seeing some images back in the day and wasn’t all that impressed, but it wasn’t until one or two years ago that I came across some actual footage and was left impressed. A truly hilarious show with its own style. Go and watch this if you need a laugh.

1. My Hero Academia [S1] (2016)

So, yeah, I was about two years late to this party, eh? But after two years of seeing a lot of my friend fall head over heels for MHA, I thought, “Enough is enough, time to see if all this hype is merited.”

It was, it so freakin’ was.

I paced myself as best as I could thinking that I could space out the (current) three seasons because I’m not huge into binge watching, but I practically watched the first two seasons back to back. I enjoyed it that much! Heck, it got my brother to start watching it and he’s not that big into the anime scene! However, between the first two seasons, I felt that the first season was the stronger of the two and thus its place on this list. 

Sorry for this being WAY late, but I’m glad to have finally finished this. Here’s to another year of being a huge nerd! Hooray!