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senadimell · 2 years

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Favorite PolSci paper?

...you should really know not to expect anything resembling concision from me, my friend.

So, uh...I'm not even gonna try to pick one.

The thing about me and political science is that I skew a lot closer to the humanities end of the analytical pool; I tend to be more inductive than deductive and it shows. I also tend to be skeptical of most work's explanatory power, and extremely skeptical about anything claiming predictive power. My favorite work tends to incorporate historical research and ethnographic data, and I tend enjoy critique papers and theory building. I tend to like "mid-level" approaches, where people try to study a specific phenomenon rather than going for large unifying theoretical questions, because I favor smaller knowledge claims with more data behind them. It's harder to build than tear down, and unfortunately I just love "tearing down" work. That said, there are some things that are really hard to research, and I'm always impressed by scholars who manage to do it well, either by spending a lot of time building trust or else by thinking of novel measures.

Kathleen Collins has a neat paper that tries to understand something really dang hard to research: banned underground movements in Central Asia. It's called "Ideas, Networks, and Islamist Movements: Evidence from Central Asia and the Caucasus." Specifically, she's looking at the spread of social movements that politicize Islam, and why they might succeed and take root in the face of governmental opposition or fail.

What I like in particular about the piece (in addition to the interview data she managed to collect from people involved in very illegal movements in generally illiberal states) is that she proposes mechanisms for the spread of a particular ideology in the face of state repression rather than just assuming "well, it's an Ideology! It's powerful!" She looks specifically at ideational fit and recruitment/idea networks (i.e. how the word is spread), and whether they're inclusive or exclusive networks (more about the "not us" or more about "join together").

It's ultimately case study research, but unlike a lot of case studies, convenience is decidedly not a driving factor behind her particular cases because she picked one of the hardest things to get people to talk about outside of a war zone. And of course, she gains a lot of respect from me by realistically assessing the implications for her paper (nothing turns me into a shark faster than people claiming greater explanatory power than their paper actually provides). So. Great insights, she really interrogates the mechanisms she proposes (which is absolutely what you have to do if you're theory-building with case studies), and she incorporates both extensive interviews from focus groups, political leaders, and surveys.

There's a series of pieces about Euromaidan by Volodymyr Ishchenko that I really enjoyed. The first is more or less introducing a database recording Euromaidan protest events that I admire. It does a good job being thorough and controlling for common biases from databases made up of media reports (skews towards big cities, sensationalist events, etc). I'm impressed by the dataset, and find the analysis particularly interesting.

Ishchenko really digs into what Euromaidan looked like on the ground and how it manifested regionally, who was involved, and what happened at protests. A bunch of scholars were going back and forth on whether Euromaidan was actually violent or not or what the degree of state involvement was, but he pretty convincingly argues that most of these arguments are based on...well, not cherry-picked exactly, but non-comprehensive evidence.

So you get one person who is saying stuff like "it was totally organized violence" and another saying "it was totally peaceful and state-escalated" and "it was mostly organized by the far-right" and "it was totally a popular protest" and frankly, based on their evidence, none of those contradicting claims were wrong because nobody was comprehensively analyzing what actually happened in all the protests and paying specific attention to who, what, where, and when incidents happened.

So he argues that most protests were peaceful, but there are specific regional trends, and eastern protests tended to be much less popular but had a higher concentration of far-right organizers, which is why some people can honestly say it was like a coup while a lot of other people can say "it was just a popular protest." He also identifies who exactly was involved, and when, and where, which is really important; in a followup article, Ishchenko IDs the groups with the resources to "[initiate] and [diffuse] efficient, coordinated, and strategic violence" and talks about how when Euromaidan was violent &/or radicalized, who was involved, and why. So who specifically was involved, who had organizational knowledge and violent knowledge, and when/where were they involved?

The concept of violent organization or escalation to violence is really interesting because people tend to separate peaceful from violent organization like they're two separate phenomenons or people assume that violent stuff was always going to be violent (scholars of violence are especially prone to only studying events where violence occurred, and when you want to know why something happens, it's really really important to look at why it might not happen). So I like what Ishchenko does.

My appreciation for Ischenko comes largely from a neat article by Charles King called "The Politics of Microviolence" which makes the assertion I just mentioned about violent and non-violent events being part of the same phenomenon. His piece is mostly a critique of the literature that then highlights two papers doing it well. (he argues we need to think smaller instead of only looking at large-scale violent events, and we need to consider when violence doesn't happen when it could have).

Oh man, there's a lot of really good work that I'm leaving out. Most of it is on civil war, paramilitaries and militias, and socialization to participate in violence (there's a really interesting study that says we basically assume it's easy to get people to be violent, then says that's not necessarily the case because that socialization fails, then works with with Israeli defectors). But my list kept growing and so I'll stop here.

The challenge with all scholarly work is that the more specialized you get, the easier it is to get siloed and unfortunately, it does get easier to take methodological assumptions as facts. For all the buzz around interdisciplinary stuff, there is a reason people specialize. I tend to be a connection-minded person and so I eat up work that combines disciplines well or critiques methodological assumptions that put two things into stark categories. But there's often a pretty good reason why those categories develop. Thus is the nature of scholarship...

Bibliography

Collins, Kathleen. 2007. "Ideas, Networks, and Islamist Movements: Evidence from Central Asia and the Caucasus." World Politics; World Pol 60 (1): 64-96. doi:10.1353/wp.0.0002.

Ishchenko, Volodymyr. 2016. "Far Right Participation in the Ukrainian Maidan Protests: An Attempt of Systematic Estimation." European Politics and Society (Abingdon, England) 17 (4): 453-472. doi:10.1080/23745118.2016.1154646.

Ishchenko, Volodymyr. 2020. "Insufficiently Diverse: The Problem of Nonviolent Leverage and Radicalization of Ukraine’s Maidan Uprising, 2013–2014." Journal of Eurasian Studies 11 (2): 201-215. doi:10.1177/1879366520928363. https://doi.org/10.1177/1879366520928363.

King, Charles. 2004. "The Micropolitics of Social Violence." World Politics; World Pol 56 (3): 431-455. doi:10.1353/wp.2004.0016.

#none of this is even getting into my big critique of a lot of literature #which is that i was trained in a field that just loves states #which means a lot of people i know about who study violence are asking it from the field of security #and security is about the security of the state #so it divides people pretty starkly based on their pro- or anti-government affiliation #and i'm not satisfied with that analysis #idk it's kinda like what volkov says in violent entreprenuers: we draw a line between organized crime and legitimate business #like there's a fundamental difference between state-sanctioned economic activity and state-criminalized economic activity #or state-sanctioned violence and non-state-sanctioned violence #and i don't think two types of the same behavior are fundamentally different just because they where they operate vis-a-vis the state #same thing with violence. who's to say the natural state of violence is that the state has a monopoly on it?#specifically. i think it's wrong and ahistorical to assume it's an anomaly when non-state actors engage in violence #even organized violence.#so yeah...i do think there's a difference between paramilitaries like SWAT and many militias #but rebel groups and state-aligned militias? not so much. or at least that's my current hypothesis based on what i've read #would like to do more research but alas. that's hard and i'm not willing to go for a phd in the foreseeable future #asks

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hearts1ckness · 2 years

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sad day for the elora household as i file for a divorce with samuel collins over his slander of mario kart

#THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN MARIO KARTS NOT A RACING GAME #THERES CARS & A TRACK & A RACE TO BEAT EVERYONE ELSE SO YOU HAVE BRAGGING RIGHTS FOR THE NEXT WEEK THATS THE TEXTBOOK DEFINITION #‘oh but it’s not technically a racing game because there’s items u use as sabatoge’ MF ILL TECHNICALLY BEAT UR ASS #BOTH IN PERSON & AT MARIO KART #i do not tolerate mario kart slander in this house i don’t CAREEEEEE #i didn’t spend my entire childhood beating my cousins asses at games to be told by a SOUTHERNER that mario doesn’t count as a racing game #swear to god if i find out he hates monopoly too im shutting this whole operation down i swear to god i swear to god-#redacted asmr

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20cm · 2 years

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btw ticketmaster should rebrand to comedymaster truly its a joke im LAUGHING bc its like. nyc "general admissions sale" accidentally (?) had a resale map up nd then u sit in a queue *for the gen.ad sale* only to be brought BACK to that resale map. girl what was that 😭

#im not even mad at not getting tickets bc truly thats just so . funny WHAT was that. this is such a joke of a company 😭#if this is normal/theyve done it before thts. still really funny that they just like #operate like this. the company that kicks u out if ur a 'bot' but attends scalper conventions. okay 😭#whyyyy is this company such a monopoly on this shit #rook.log

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if-you-fan-a-fire · 9 months

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"MONOPOLIES, NOT PEOPLE C.C.F. TARGET, JOLLIFFE SAYS," Toronto Star. July 22, 1943. Page 8. --- Ontario Leader Claims Hysteria Being Shown by "Old Parties" --- RAPS MILK INDUSTRY ---- Stating that George Drew, Progressive Conservative leader, "is attempting to frighten the electors out of their wits by his wailing that the C.C.F. means regimentation and dictatorship," E. B. Jolliffe, Ontario C.C.F. leader, last night said his party stands for democracy and freedom. "The only ones who have anything to fear from the C.C.F. are the monopolies" he said.

Mr. Jolliffe. candidate for South York, addressed a gathering in Humewood school. Earlier in the evening he spoke on behalf of C. H. Millard, C.C.F. candidate for West York, at Roselands public school, Mount Dennis, Flight Lieutenant Leslie Wismer, C.C.F. candidate for Riverdale, spoke at both meetings.

"The tide of support for the C.C.F." Mr. folliffe said. "is rolling in so fast there are distinct signs of hysteria among the old parties. They are becoming very, very fearful, and, when they are fearful, there is no end to the imagination of the old party politicians.

"We must have a basis of economic security," he stated. "We can't mark time, or reverse the years and go back as the Progressive Conservatives intend to do. We must have plans for looking after the members of the armed forces and workers in war industry when this conflict ends. The only party who has such plans is the C.C.F. There is no end to what can be done in regard to per natural resources, starting new industries. equalizing educational facilities and building better homes."

Mr. Jolliffe said there was some excuse for lack of rehabilitation or planning on the part of the Dominion government because it is charged with the gigantic task of prosecuting the war but he said Queen's Park did not have to shoulder this responsibility and claimed no plans have been made there.

Alleges "Monopolies" Referring to "monopolies," he and the tobacco industry "not only does not allow the grower to support his family decently, but also leaves a terrific toll on the people who use tobacco."

"Every time you buy a package of cigarettes you pay tribute to the tobacco industry," he stated. "The distribution and side of tobacco has been reduced to a collection of toll from the people.

"The processing and distribution of milk is also becoming a monopoly." he said. "It is wasteful. Keeping up the pretence of competition, companies. are wasting tires and manpower. Milk is a vital commodity yet it costs the people far more than is necessary."

Mr. Jolliffe said the George Drew, who is claiming the C.CF. means regimentation and dictatorship is the same George Drew who, in 1938, came back from Italy singing the praises of that silly dictator, Mussolini.

"He showed the same bad judgement there as he does in many other matters," he said.

Warning that plans for post-war rehabilitation must be given immediate consideration, Flight Lieut. Wismer said the problems which will have to be faced at the end of this conflict are much greater than those arising out of the last war.

Soldiers Highly Skilled "With few exceptions," he said, "the men who will return this time will be highly skilled technicians. For example, our tank drivers are the best drivers in the world. Their skill could be used equally well in handling trucks and buses. Some people think our army as a lot of stupid fellows who line up and go to war. There is none of that today. Every man is highly skilled. They must be brought back and absorbed by industry."

Mr. Millard said the old political parties, the apologists for private enterprise and monopolies," can no longer hide their identity.

"They do not represent the needs or aspirations of the common man or woman," he said. "Labor does not forget the tanks at Stratford, or the Hepburn Hussars at Oshawa, or the strike-breaking police at Kirkland Lake, Campbell's Soup, Wallaceburg and Galt."

Mr. Millard said that, white more than 30 per cent of the 73 C.C.F. candidates already nominated are members and representatives of unions, not one trade unionist has been nominated by the Conservatives.

"And yet," he stated. "the Conservatives keep up the pretense of having a labor policy to meet the needs of the working people. Even if they did have a policy they wouldn't have anyone to put it to work."

#toronto #political candidates #political speech #co-operative commonwealth foundation #election campaign #labour socialism #canadian socialism #postwar reconstruction #planned economy #monopoly capitalism #capitalism in canada #regulating capitalism #canada during world war 2

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mostlysignssomeportents · 9 months

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Kickstarting a book to end enshittification, because Amazon will not carry it

My next book is The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation: it’s a Big Tech disassembly manual that explains how to disenshittify the web and bring back the old good internet. The hardcover comes from Verso on Sept 5, but the audiobook comes from me — because Amazon refuses to sell my audio:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/the-internet-con-how-to-seize-the-means-of-computation

Amazon owns Audible, the monopoly audiobook platform that controls >90% of the audio market. They require mandatory DRM for every book sold, locking those books forever to Amazon’s monopoly platform. If you break up with Amazon, you have to throw away your entire audiobook library.

That’s a hell of a lot of leverage to hand to any company, let alone a rapacious monopoly that ran a program targeting small publishers called “Project Gazelle,” where execs were ordered to attack indie publishers “the way a cheetah would pursue a sickly gazelle”:

https://www.businessinsider.com/sadistic-amazon-treated-book-sellers-the-way-a-cheetah-would-pursue-a-sickly-gazelle-2013-10

[Image ID: Journalist and novelist Doctorow (Red Team Blues) details a plan for how to break up Big Tech in this impassioned and perceptive manifesto….Doctorow’s sense of urgency is contagious -Publishers Weekly]

I won’t sell my work with DRM, because DRM is key to the enshittification of the internet. Enshittification is why the old, good internet died and became “five giant websites filled with screenshots of the other four” (h/t Tom Eastman). When a tech company can lock in its users and suppliers, it can drain value from both sides, using DRM and other lock-in gimmicks to keep their business even as they grow ever more miserable on the platform.

Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

[Image ID: A brilliant barn burner of a book. Cory is one of the sharpest tech critics, and he shows with fierce clarity how our computational future could be otherwise -Kate Crawford, author of The Atlas of AI”]

The Internet Con isn’t just an analysis of where enshittification comes from: it’s a detailed, shovel-ready policy prescription for halting enshittification, throwing it into reverse and bringing back the old, good internet.

How do we do that? With interoperability: the ability to plug new technology into those crapulent, decaying platform. Interop lets you choose which parts of the service you want and block the parts you don’t (think of how an adblocker lets you take the take-it-or-leave “offer” from a website and reply with “How about nah?”):

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/adblocking-how-about-nah

But interop isn’t just about making platforms less terrible — it’s an explosive charge that demolishes walled gardens. With interop, you can leave a social media service, but keep talking to the people who stay. With interop, you can leave your mobile platform, but bring your apps and media with you to a rival’s service. With interop, you can break up with Amazon, and still keep your audiobooks.

So, if interop is so great, why isn’t it everywhere?

Well, it used to be. Interop is how Microsoft became the dominant operating system:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interoperability-reviving-elegant-weapon-more-civilized-age-slay

[Image ID: Nobody gets the internet-both the nuts and bolts that make it hum and the laws that shaped it into the mess it is-quite like Cory, and no one’s better qualified to deliver us a user manual for fixing it. That’s The Internet Con: a rousing, imaginative, and accessible treatise for correcting our curdled online world. If you care about the internet, get ready to dedicate yourself to making interoperability a reality. -Brian Merchant, author of Blood in the Machine]

It’s how Apple saved itself from Microsoft’s vicious campaign to destroy it:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interoperability-reviving-elegant-weapon-more-civilized-age-slay

Every tech giant used interop to grow, and then every tech giant promptly turned around and attacked interoperators. Every pirate wants to be an admiral. When Big Tech did it, that was progress; when you do it back to Big Tech, that’s piracy. The tech giants used their monopoly power to make interop without permission illegal, creating a kind of “felony contempt of business model” (h/t Jay Freeman).

The Internet Con describes how this came to pass, but, more importantly, it tells us how to fix it. It lays out how we can combine different kinds of interop requirements (like the EU’s Digital Markets Act and Massachusetts’s Right to Repair law) with protections for reverse-engineering and other guerrilla tactics to create a system that is strong without being brittle, hard to cheat on and easy to enforce.

What’s more, this book explains how to get these policies: what existing legislative, regulatory and judicial powers can be invoked to make them a reality. Because we are living through the Great Enshittification, and crises erupt every ten seconds, and when those crises occur, the “good ideas lying around” can move from the fringes to the center in an eyeblink:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/12/only-a-crisis/#lets-gooooo

[Image ID: Thoughtfully written and patiently presented, The Internet Con explains how the promise of a free and open internet was lost to predatory business practices and the rush to commodify every aspect of our lives. An essential read for anyone that wants to understand how we lost control of our digital spaces and infrastructure to Silicon Valley’s tech giants, and how we can start fighting to get it back. -Tim Maughan, author of INFINITE DETAIL]

After all, we’ve known Big Tech was rotten for years, but we had no idea what to do about it. Every time a Big Tech colossus did something ghastly to millions or billions of people, we tried to fix the tech company. There’s no fixing the tech companies. They need to burn. The way to make users safe from Big Tech predators isn’t to make those predators behave better — it’s to evacuate those users:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/18/urban-wildlife-interface/#combustible-walled-gardens

I’ve been campaigning for human rights in the digital world for more than 20 years; I’ve been EFF’s European Director, representing the public interest at the EU, the UN, Westminster, Ottawa and DC. This is the subject I’ve devoted my life to, and I live my principles. I won’t let my books be sold with DRM, which means that Audible won’t carry my audiobooks. My agent tells me that this decision has cost me enough money to pay off my mortgage and put my kid through college. That’s a price I’m willing to pay if it means that my books aren’t enshittification bait.

But not selling on Audible has another cost, one that’s more important to me: a lot of readers prefer audiobooks and 9 out of 10 of those readers start and end their searches on Audible. When they don’t find an author there, they assume no audiobook exists, period. It got so bad I put up an audiobook on Amazon — me, reading an essay, explaining how Audible rips off writers and readers. It’s called “Why None of My Audiobooks Are For Sale on Audible”:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/25/can-you-hear-me-now/#acx-ripoff

[Image ID: Doctorow has been thinking longer and smarter than anyone else I know about how we create and exchange value in a digital age. -Douglas Rushkoff, author of Present Shock]

To get my audiobooks into readers’ ears, I pre-sell them on Kickstarter. This has been wildly successful, both financially and as a means of getting other prominent authors to break up with Amazon and use crowdfunding to fill the gap. Writers like Brandon Sanderson are doing heroic work, smashing Amazon’s monopoly:

https://www.brandonsanderson.com/guest-editorial-cory-doctorow-is-a-bestselling-author-but-audible-wont-carry-his-audiobooks/

And to be frank, I love audiobooks, too. I swim every day as physio for a chronic pain condition, and I listen to 2–3 books/month on my underwater MP3 player, disappearing into an imaginary world as I scull back and forth in my public pool. I’m able to get those audiobooks on my MP3 player thanks to Libro.fm, a DRM-free store that supports indie booksellers all over the world:

https://blog.libro.fm/a-qa-with-mark-pearson-libro-fm-ceo-and-co-founder/

Producing my own audiobooks has been a dream. Working with Skyboat Media, I’ve gotten narrators like @wilwheaton, Amber Benson, @neil-gaiman and Stefan Rudnicki for my work:

https://craphound.com/shop/

[Image ID: “This book is the instruction manual Big Tech doesn’t want you to read. It deconstructs their crummy products, undemocratic business models, rigged legal regimes, and lies. Crack this book and help build something better. -Astra Taylor, author of Democracy May Not Exist, but We’ll Miss It When Its Gone”]

But for this title, I decided that I would read it myself. After all, I’ve been podcasting since 2006, reading my own work aloud every week or so, even as I traveled the world and gave thousands of speeches about the subject of this book. I was excited (and a little trepedatious) at the prospect, but how could I pass up a chance to work with director Gabrielle de Cuir, who has directed everyone from Anne Hathaway to LeVar Burton to Eric Idle?

Reader, I fucking nailed it. I went back to those daily recordings fully prepared to hate them, but they were good — even great (especially after my engineer John Taylor Williams mastered them). Listen for yourself!

https://archive.org/details/cory_doctorow_internet_con_chapter_01

I hope you’ll consider backing this Kickstarter. If you’ve ever read my free, open access, CC-licensed blog posts and novels, or listened to my podcasts, or come to one of my talks and wished there was a way to say thank you, this is it. These crowdfunders make my DRM-free publishing program viable, even as audiobooks grow more central to a writer’s income and even as a single company takes over nearly the entire audiobook market.

Backers can choose from the DRM-free audiobook, DRM-free ebook (EPUB and MOBI) and a hardcover — including a signed, personalized option, fulfilled through the great LA indie bookstore Book Soup:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/the-internet-con-how-to-seize-the-means-of-computation

What’s more, these ebooks and audiobooks are unlike any you’ll get anywhere else because they are sold without any terms of service or license agreements. As has been the case since time immemorial, when you buy these books, they’re yours, and you are allowed to do anything with them that copyright law permits — give them away, lend them to friends, or simply read them with any technology you choose.

As with my previous Kickstarters, backers can get their audiobooks delivered with an app (from libro.fm) or as a folder of MP3s. That helps people who struggle with “sideloading,” a process that Apple and Google have made progressively harder, even as they force audiobook and ebook sellers to hand over a 30% app tax on every dollar they make:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/red-team-blues-another-audiobook-that-amazon-wont-sell/posts/3788112

Enshittification is rotting every layer of the tech stack: mobile, payments, hosting, social, delivery, playback. Every tech company is pulling the rug out from under us, using the chokepoints they built between audiences and speakers, artists and fans, to pick all of our pockets.

The Internet Con isn’t just a lament for the internet we lost — it’s a plan to get it back. I hope you’ll get a copy and share it with the people you love, even as the tech platforms choke off your communities to pad their quarterly numbers.

Next weekend (Aug 4-6), I'll be in Austin for Armadillocon, a science fiction convention, where I'm the Guest of Honor:

https://armadillocon.org/d45/

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

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/31/seize-the-means-of-computation/#the-internet-con

[Image ID: My forthcoming book 'The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation' in various editions: Verso hardcover, audiobook displayed on a phone, and ebook displayed on an e-ink reader.]

#pluralistic #trustbusting #big tech #gift guide #kickstarter #the internet con #books #audiobooks #enshitiffication #disenshittification #crowdfunders #seize the means of computation #audible #amazon #verso

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321spongebolt · 8 months

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How I would've envisioned "Hasbro City" (Chapter 3c - Character Autographs and Photo Opportunities)

PREVIOUS CHAPTER(s):

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3a

Chapter 3b

Chapter 3c

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

This section will discuss how I would've envisioned characters signing autographs and getting pictures with you. I'm also taking notes from the website, everycharater.com in terms of interaction and photo tips.

I will organize each character by franchise in no particular order. Not all characters will be up here. If you have ideas for interaction and photo tips, or if I missed something, feel free to comment. Just keep in mind, this is all for stuff that could've happened at the time and not something that can happen currently.

"MY LITTLE PONY" CHARACTERS

The ponies will not be able to sign autographs, but Spike, Discord, Grubber, Capper, and Captain Celaeno can, and maybe even Princess Skystar and Queen Novo too if you have them in their surface forms (or Hippogriffs as they are addressed). However, cast members aiding the ponies can sign for them.

In terms of photo tips, most of the characters do like getting hugs (For instance, Cuddles (my OC), Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and even Twilight Sparkle.), so make sure you hug your favorite pony in front of the camera. For Captain Celaeno, maybe raise your sword in the air and pose like a pirate (assuming you have a plastic sword on you).

As far as interaction tips, here's a list of examples for what I could think of down below.

Twilight Sparkle = You can share your favorite book(s) with Twilight. You can even ask her for friendship tips, she is the Princess of Friendship after all.

Rarity = If you're wearing a fancy outfit or if you have jewelry on you, show either to Rarity. She'll be happy to see those.

Rainbow Dash = Do a fist bump (or as she calls it, a "bro hoof") if you see her.

Pinkie Pie = Pinkie loves throwing parties, so ask her if she can throw one for you (even if it's for a special occasion). At Equestria Dining, she'll do the honor of presenting your requested birthday dessert (like a birthday cake or a pie, assuming it is your birthday).

Minuette = Tell her how much you brush and floss your teeth. You can bring Minuette a toothbrush if you want.

Cuddles = Cuddles loves giving hugs, give him one. You can also ask him how his friends are doing. For photo tips, hug Cuddles for the camera.

"LITTLEST PET SHOP" CHARACTERS

All the characters from the show should be able to sign autographs. If you meet Penny Ling, give her a hug for the camera. She's an affectionate panda bear. Here's some examples for interaction tips.

Blythe Baxter = Tell her about a pet you have. You can also introduce your service pet to Blythe if you're blind.

Minka = Minka loves to draw stuff. Show her your drawings if you ever brought them with you.

Vinnie = Dance with him. Vinnie's a great dancer.

Bisket Twins = Tell Whittney and Brittney Biskit you like the Largest Pet Shop ever over the Littlest Pet Shop.

"OPERATION" CHARACTERS

All the characters should be able to sign autographs. I don't have any ideas for photo tips, but I do have some ideas for interaction tips.

Cavity Sam = Tell him you'll help cure him. He needs that kind of affection before undergoing surgery.

Surgeons = Tell them you'd like to help Sam get better too. They could even give you hints on how to extract certain funamoty part out of Cavity Sam without lighting his nose.

OTHER HASBRO CHARACTERS

Hanazuki ("Hanazuki: Full of Treasures") = Hanazuki should be able to sign autographs. For a photo tip, maybe give her a hug for the camera.

This is all I can think of for right now, but these are just a few examples of interaction tips I have. In my next chapter, I will discuss what eateries my proposed "Hasbro City" theme park would've offered.

#321SPONGEBOLT's Ideas #ideas that could've happened at the time #what could have been #what could've been #My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: The Movie #Cuddles (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic OC)#littlest pet shop #littlest pet shop 2012 #Clue #operation #operation game #hanazuki full of treasures #monopoly #Uncle Pennybags #Hasbro City #theme park concept

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lesellieknope · 9 months

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im handling this really well guys

#we operate in monopoly money

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fellhellion · 8 months

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tbh, i honestly think that for all she's facinated by the past and held a measure of suspicion for what alchemax was covering up in that regard, i think as young adults xina, much like miguel (if to a lesser degree), was subsumed into the kind of idealogy that's entrenched into the world of 2099. while they were dating, we don't ever see them fight about the fact he would've been an alchemax employee (to my memory) or even the fact that the apartment he gets is company housing. so i don't personally get the impression this was an overt idealogical conflict between them at this point in their lives, even though Xina’s memorabilia seems to hint at Marxist leanings?

xina holds no loyalty to alchemax certainly (as a young adult or when we're reintroduced to her) and i don't think she'd work as an individual contractor or with people like angela if she didn't have reservations and critiques about these kinds of corporate monopolies and the effect they had upon shaping the future, but i also personally read part of her obsession with twencen stuff as about it being a niche that's secluded from just. how inescapable the influence of corporations is in the world of 2099.

it's not that she idealises the past, but moreso that by virtue of the sheer passage of time it has become removed from the reality of the present, and i think alongside the insights it offers about a reality alchemax would keep hidden, the past is a reprieve.

#theres something very interesting to me in xina being willing to engage in subversive acts like helping angela out and being associated w #her. while she also seems like of. isolated? imo? partly due to 90s writing just not offering a wider insight into what relationships #are a big influence on xina outside of miguel but i also like to read xina's isolation as symptomatic of the fact by the time we see her #again she's kind of partially removed herself when she can afford to from spheres of influence alchemax has a monopoly in #like employment.#i honestly wonder if breaking up with miguel and this removing herself from the particular sphere he operated in was something that affecte #her in this space #i think part of what ends up influencing this reading is the fact 2099 really only has the o'haras and occassionally kasey as reoccuring #characters that move between the borders of uptown and downtown and consider #the implications of the fact uptown stands atop the ruins and poverty of downtown #and i think it would be really interesting to see what xina's insight into these kinds of structural issues would be #tunes talks 2099

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