#harmful dominance

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Private equity plunderers want to buy Simon & Schuster

Going to Defcon this weekend? I'm giving a keynote, "An Audacious Plan to Halt the Internet's Enshittification and Throw it Into Reverse," on Saturday at 12:30pm, followed by a book signing at the No Starch Press booth at 2:30pm!

https://info.defcon.org/event/?id=50826

Last November, publishing got some excellent news: the planned merger of Penguin Random House (the largest publisher in the history of human civilization) with its immediate competitor Simon & Schuster would not be permitted, thanks to the DOJ's deftly argued case against the deal:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/07/random-penguins/#if-you-wanted-to-get-there-i-wouldnt-start-from-here

When I was a baby writer, there were dozens of large NY publishers. Today, there are five - and it was almost four. A publishing sector with five giant companies is bad news for writers (as Stephen King said at the trial, the idea that PRH and S&S would bid against each other for books was as absurd as the idea that he and his wife would bid against each other for their next family home).

But it's also bad news for publishing workers, a historically exploited and undervalued workforce whose labor conditions have only declined as the number of employers in the sector dwindled, leading to mass resignations:

https://lithub.com/unlivable-and-untenable-molly-mcghee-on-the-punishing-life-of-junior-publishing-employees/

It should go without saying that workers in sectors with few employers get worse deals from their bosses (see, e.g., the writers' strike and actors' strike). And yup, right on time, PRH, a wildly profitable publisher, fired a bunch of its most senior (and therefore hardest to push around) workers:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/books/penguin-random-house-layoffs-buyouts.html

But publishing's contraction into a five-company cartel didn't occur in a vacuum. It was a normal response to monopolization elsewhere in its supply chain. First it was bookselling collapsing into two major chains. Then it was distribution going from 300 companies to three. Today, it's Amazon, a monopolist with unlimited access to the capital markets and a track record of treating publishers "the way a cheetah would pursue a sickly gazelle":

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

Monopolies are like Pringles (owned by the consumer packaged goods monopolist Procter & Gamble): you can't have just one. As soon as you get a monopoly in one part of the supply chain, every other part of that chain has to monopolize in self-defense.

Think of healthcare. Consolidation in pharma lead to price-gouging, where hospitals were suddenly paying 1,000% more for routine drugs. Hospitals formed regional monopolies and boycotted pharma companies unless they lowered their prices - and then turned around and screwed insurers, jacking up the price of care. Health insurers gobbled each other up in an orgy of mergers and fought the hospitals.

Now the health care system is composed of a series of gigantic, abusive monopolists - pharma, hospitals, medical equipment, pharmacy benefit managers, insurers - and they all conspire to wreck the lives of only two parts of the system who can't fight back: patients and health care workers. Patients pay more for worse care, and medical workers get paid less for worse working conditions.

So while there was no question that a PRH takeover of Simon & Schuster would be bad for writers and readers, it was also clear that S&S - and indeed, all of the Big Five publishers - would be under pressure from the monopolies in their own supply chain. What's more, it was clear that S&S couldn't remain tethered to Paramount, its current owner.

Last week, Paramount announced that it was going to flip S&S to KKR, one of the world's most notorious private equity companies. KKR has a long, long track record of ghastly behavior, and its portfolio currently includes other publishing industry firms, including one rotten monopolist, raising similar concerns to the ones that scuttled the PRH takeover last year:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/07/books/booksupdate/paramount-simon-and-schuster-kkr-sale.html

Let's review a little of KKR's track record, shall we? Most spectacularly, they are known for buying and destroying Toys R Us in a deal that saw them extract $200m from the company, leaving it bankrupt, with lifetime employees getting $0 in severance even as its executives paid themselves tens of millions in "performance bonuses":

https://memex.craphound.com/2018/06/03/private-equity-bosses-took-200m-out-of-toys-r-us-and-crashed-the-company-lifetime-employees-got-0-in-severance/

The pillaging of Toys R Us isn't the worst thing KKR did, but it was the most brazen. KKR lit a beloved national chain on fire and then walked away, hands in pockets, whistling. They didn't even bother to clear their former employees' sensitive personnel records out of the unlocked filing cabinets before they scarpered:

https://memex.craphound.com/2018/09/23/exploring-the-ruins-of-a-toys-r-us-discovering-a-trove-of-sensitive-employee-data/

But as flashy as the Toys R Us caper was, it wasn't the worst. Private equity funds specialize in buying up businesses, loading them with debts, paying themselves, and then leaving them to collapse. They're sometimes called vulture capitalists, but they're really vampire capitalists:

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/05/private-equity-buyout-kkr-houdaille/

Given a choice, PE companies don't want to prey on sick businesses - they preferentially drain off value from thriving ones, preferably ones that we must use, which is why PE - and KKR in particular - loves to buy health care companies.

Heard of the "surprise billing epidemic"? That's where you go to a hospital that's covered by your insurer, only to discover - after the fact - that the emergency room is operated by a separate, PE-backed company that charges you thousands for junk fees. KKR and Blackstone invented this scam, then funneled millions into fighting the No Surprises Act, which more-or-less killed it:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/21/all-in-it-together/#doctor-patient-unity

KKR took one of the nation's largest healthcare providers, Envision, hostage to surprise billing, making it dependent on these fraudulent payments. When Congress finally acted to end this scam, KKR was able to take to the nation's editorial pages and damn Congress for recklessly endangering all the patients who relied on it:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/03/14/unhealthy-finances/#steins-law

Like any smart vampire, KKR doesn't drain its victim in one go. They find all kinds of ways to stretch out the blood supply. During the pandemic, KKR was front of the line to get massive bailouts for its health-care holdings, even as it fired health-care workers, increasing the workload and decreasing the pay of the survivors of its indiscriminate cuts:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/11/socialized-losses/#socialized-losses

It's not just emergency rooms. KKR bought and looted homes for people with disabilities, slashed wages, cut staff, and then feigned surprise at the deaths, abuse and misery that followed:

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kendalltaggart/kkr-brightspring-disability-private-equity-abuse

Workers' wages went down to $8/hour, and they were given 36 hour shifts, and then KKR threatened to have any worker who walked off the job criminally charged with patient abandonment:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/02/plunderers/#farben

For KKR, people with disabilities and patients make great victims - disempowered and atomized, unable to fight back. No surprise, then, that so many of KKR's scams target poor people - another group that struggles to get justice when wronged. KKR took over Dollar General in 2007 and embarked on a nationwide expansion campaign, using abusive preferential distributor contracts and targeting community-owned grocers to trap poor people into buying the most heavily processed, least nutritious, most profitable food available:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/27/walmarts-jackals/#cheater-sizes

94.5% of the Paycheck Protection Program - designed to help small businesses keep their workers payrolled during lockdown - went to giant businesses, fraudulently siphoned off by companies like Longview Power, 40% owned by KKR:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/20/great-danes/#ppp

KKR also helped engineer a loophole in the Trump tax cuts, convincing Justin Muzinich to carve out taxes for C-Corporations, which let KKR save billions in taxes:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/06/02/broken-windows/#Justin-Muzinich

KKR sinks its fangs in every part of the economy, thanks to the vast fortunes it amassed from its investors, ripped off from its customers, and fraudulently obtained from the public purse. After the pandemic, KKR scooped up hundreds of companies at firesale prices:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/03/30/medtronic-stole-your-ventilator/#blackstone-kkr

Ironically, the investors in KKR funds are also its victims - especially giant public pension funds, whom KKR has systematically defrauded for years:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/22/stimpank/#kentucky

And now KKR has come for Simon & Schuster. The buyout was trumpeted to the press as a done deal, but it's far from a fait accompli. Before the deal can close, the FTC will have to bless it. That blessing is far from a foregone conclusion. KKR also owns Overdrive, the monopoly supplier of e-lending software to libraries.

Overdrive has a host of predatory practices, loathed by both libraries and publishers (indeed, much of the publishing sector's outrage at library e-lending is really displaced anger at Overdrive). There's a plausible case that the merger of one of the Big Five publishers with the e-lending monopoly will present competition issues every bit as deal-breaking as the PRH/S&S merger posed.

(Image: Sefa Tekin/Pexels, modified)

I’m kickstarting the audiobook for “The Internet Con: How To Seize the Means of Computation,” a Big Tech disassembly manual to disenshittify the web and bring back the old, good internet. It’s a DRM-free book, which means Audible won’t carry it, so this crowdfunder is essential. Back now to get the audio, Verso hardcover and ebook:

http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org

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/2023/08/08/vampire-capitalism/#kkr

#kkr #simon and schuster #publishing #penguin random house #ppp loans #looters #plunderers #vampire capitalism #vulture capitalism #debt #private equity #pe #harmful dominance #monopoly #trustbusters #incentives matter #labor #writing #publishing workers #recorded books #overdrive #glam #libraries #toys r us #pluralistic

[beeb-oob]

"Do you feel safe now?"

i feel the burnout gnawing at my ankles so i'm trying something different to scare it off

#creature #alien species #creature design #xenobiology #spec bio #spec evo #original art #speculative evolution #speculative biology #the chirpers #abstract pattern #the critter on the left is a predator the Chirpers hunted to extinction in the wake of a extermination campaign #they did this to most of their predators #they didn't take into consideration the harm they caused to various ecosystems #a lot of their culture in the industrial age is about overcoming and dominating so these culling were a bit of a coming of age thing as well

[eirxair]

no bc i love my granda so so much, he's literally the epitome of what teenage boys and young men should idolise, instead of andrew tate and all that bullshit.

he loves and geniunely cares about animals and children, he geniunely tried to raise his children the best he could, even after 50 or so years of marriage he still looks at my granny like she's hung him the stars and moon, he compliments her every chance he gets, his eyes geniunely light up when he talks about his grandchidren, children, wife, and dogs.

he's never once raised a hand to my granny, and even after all the time they've been together he's still at her beck and call and he always walks on the side of the footpath closest to the road.

he's not afraid to act stupid when he's playing with his grandchildren, wearing tiaras and cowboy hats and putting on horrible american accents. he used to be a teacher in a low income part of his city and didn't give up on those children, he never taught the boys or girls differently, he would take my ma and my auntie and uncles to get a poke every friday after school. (the vanilla kind that you get in the wee metal things in ice cream shops, so proper good ones)

he always listens to what me and my sister and my cousins have to say and he doesnt look down on us and isnt condescending at all just because we're young. he treats me like an academic almost when we discuss theology and history together. the man lives and breathes respect.

the only time i've ever seen him ever lose his temper was when the topic of pedos and people harming children came up. the only time i've ever been scared of him is when i was like 6 and he dressed up as santa and came to our house, (i didnt realise he was santa at first and thought some strange man with a strange voice broke into our house)

he's insanely smart and gave me tips on how to slack off in classes and still get good marks (it was at that conversation i realised thats where i got it from)

idek, just, my granda is soft spoken, he treats service workers with respect, he always always always treats my granny like she deserves the world and more, in all my years i have never ever heard about or seen the man making a joke or demeaning comment towards her, the only thing close to it would be teasing where they both go back and forth.

not to mention how much i love my granny, she could make everything out of nothing and still stretch it. she's resourceful and soso witty. i'm always told i look like her and remind people of how she acted when she was younger, and i hope thats true. she takes no shit from anyone, and battled breast cancer (and won) like it was no ones business, my granda supported her 110% of the way. her ma and da were scottish and she likes to cling onto that heritage, making shortbreads and all. back when my granny and granda used to race greyhounds (ages ago before i was even born) she always had a knack for picking out good ones.

i know this was supposed to be about my granda but theyre a package deal, they come in a pair. and my granny's fecking amazing and its a sin to not sing her praises.

tbh, my granny and granda are some of my most respected ever role models. and he and my granny are the reason i believe that true love can exist and that it can prevail. idek why but they give me hope.

in terms of incels or whatver the fuck, he's what a "high-quaility man" should be. not some wifebeater who objectifies and harms women.

#this is personal so sorry for the personal kind of rant lads #my granny says i have [her maiden name] eyes and it makes me so happy that i have something tying me to her on my person at all times ykwim #in terms of incels or whatver the fuck;he's what a “high-quality man” should be. not some wifebeater who laughs about harming women. #this man grew up and raised his children while he lived somewhere surrounded in violence. he had a shitty traumatising childhood #but he still loved and found love in everything and had a wonderful life. he never took anything for granted; especially not his wife. #idk how to explain it but just; he had every reason to be violent and hateful but he wasnt and isnt. thats what we should idolise. #not blood. not gore. not violence or dominance. idolise healing and caring and morality

[infernal-lamb]

me: feeling heavily vindicated by the reveal that the game is reliant on the concept of Nature in conflict of Free Will and Agency, the reclamation of the Self against a religious superstructure that relies on the erosion of the self and free will to feed a God-Tyrant’s consolidation of power (I am taking the sheep game very serious. Everyone is booing at me and telling me to lighten up. I’m sorry. It will happen again.)

#it’s so funny I genuinely introduced the concept of a human to Cotl to show the tensions of these concepts: a human coming to the lands #as someone who has made a life being both the midwife and undertaker of livestock animals #and now confronted with their sentience and how they too deal with religious domination and desire to upend the system that harms them #maybe I’ll actually write this goddamn thing FUCK #also this obviously isn’t like a Huge revelation I’m not that far up my own ass jsjdjdkd #sorry for the blasphemous jumpscare

[leclaren]

The history of women in sports being literal trophy pedestals who have to stand with a frozen smiles during ceremonies with fitting a certain beauty standard mold the only qualification for the job is so real. Sure you can argue that it’s their choice, and they get paid, but in this context it’s not about the individuals, it’s about the message they want to send with it. If young girls, future athletes, grow up seeing reperesentation of themselves in sports as conventionally attractive highly objectified, nameless statues, while men do the actual heroics, what do you think it’s gonna do to their self image and sense of worth in the community? Same goes with female fans, who are already under constant scrutiny because of their chosen interest. So it really disgust me how these world class athletes enforce the portrayal of women as objects (even jokingly) meanwhile remaining neutral about actually funding and strengthening women’s sports.

To clarify, i don’t blame blame the women who work these jobs in the slightest. In this economy when there’s a job, someone’s going to do it, especially in such a glorified environment. The point is that these jobs shouldn’t exist at all.

#f1 #motorsport #formula 1 #inspired by pierre’s recent tweet #but also extends to other sports #not saying that pierre is the root of all evil here and sure he didn’t mean any harm #i’m just so fed up and this stems from 10+ years of experience as a fan and someone who used to play a male dominated sport #text

[delightfuldevin]

I was thinking about why King Boo was so intent on capturing Mario in the first Luigi’s Mansion game (especially thinking back on my earlier headcanon that KB didn’t even know Luigi yet) and I thiiiiink it might be cause of the many times Mario had run through ghost houses until that point. By then, Mario had to run through many ghost houses on his way to rescuing Peach from Bowser all those times. He didn’t think twice about going through the houses since he was so focused on his mission, but running about haphazardly with no fear probably stressed out the Boos who themselves are very shy and thrive on being able to scare others.

Perhaps by the time Luigi’s Mansion happens, the Boos had complained to their King multiple times about the fearless hero who ran through their haunts. So KB decided to capture Mario himself so that he could show his Boos that the hero is just another mortal who can be scared like anyone else. He had never met Mario before LM1 either, but he had heard more about him than Luigi and had more beef with him, at least until Luigi introduced himself into the equation. Now KB has even more beef with Luigi than he ever had with Mario.

#devin speaks #super mario headcanons #it all started as a situation of wrong place wrong time #mario didnt mean any harm to the boos; he was just trying to save the princess #but the boos are shy and scared of those who they cant scare so they had to run to their king for help #and kb is a very protective king so of course he went all out in capturing the seemingly fearless fiend #kb is barely even a villain he doesnt want ultimate power or world domination #he just wants to spend his afterlife with his lovely undead subjects but he keeps getting bugged by plumbers and an onion headed scientist

[gayvampyr]

if you respond to posts criticizing male anti-feminist/misogynist culture with “uhm women do this too” you’re part of the problem

#text post #feminism #like idc if women do this too. it is a small percentage of women and it’s irrelevant because men do things that specifically and directly #harm and oppress women #so many spaces are male dominated and this is creates a hostile environment to women #it doesn’t matter if ‘women do it too’ because women are not the oppressors. men are #mens misogyny directly impact us whether you’d like to admit it or not

[principiumindividuationis777]

Libby Putney, aka Chanel No. 5, being Chanel Oberlin's lapdog/yes girl: She slapped herself because Chanel told her to do so, of course. LOL

#Abigail Breslin #Emma Roberts #fashion #hair #blonde #earrings #Scream Queens #purses #preppy #tw: self harm #slap #alpha #dominance

[cruelsister-moved2]

i genuinely think that like anyone whos even a little into folk culture or like local ecology or pre-christian history, and also anyone who isn't indigenous but is concerned about indigenous issues (which should be everyone obviously) should have to do some serious reading about the concept of blood & soil and learn to actually recognise it as a trope. i also think that absolutely everyone on earth should read at least one book-length text on romantic nationalism and understand how deeply that shapes all our discourses on the emotional and irrational and on art and politics and gender and identity and belonging etc etc and then make an actual effort to keep it out of their rhetoric & their resistance

#and like fascism is all about aesthetics so it just isnt really enough to be like oh well its cute cottagecore whatever what harm could itdo #youre not going to notice the instrumentality of the Bad Scary stuff thats the whole point #so you actually do need to like learn about the various tropes and their origins. #just head in hands lately bc like nationalism is one of the master's favourite tools guys😭 #and just everything abt the (esp white-dominated) witchcraft circles are like supposedly reclaiming women or something but its literally #like i know exactly whose book all these pages r ripped from. its so stupid

[mariemariemaria]

the people who think that christianity is the worst most problematic religion ever and the people who think that islam is the worst most problematic religion ever are two sides of the same coin to me

#mind blank no original thoughts no nuance #not actually caring about women and other people who are negatively effected by the religion. #if you don't care about all women who are oppressed by religion then you don't care about any women #like the ppl on here who criticise xianity all the time for being sexist or homophobic #but then refuse to do that for any other religion?? ok so u dont actually care about women and gay people beyond ur culturally xian bubble👍 #meanwhile they refuse to recognise that xians are oppressed in many parts of the world alongside other religious groups like muslims #just completely western centric #this isn't to deny that christianity is oppressive like ofc there's valid criticisms of it #personally i think the catholic church should be dismantled lol #but it is not uniquely oppressive and to pretend it is is to position victims of religious oppression in a hierarchy #with xians at the top while ignoring other victims and refusing to build up solidarity with them #and u could say that this is an online problem but it's not. its so pervasive in the actual world bc ppl are either focused on their own #experiences (which is understandable to an extent but still pls look at the world around u lol) or they are so focused on defeating bigotry #that they ignore any and all criticisms of another religion. which also is not helpful and actually damages their cause #not to mention the people who are actively harmed by forms of that religion everyday #this doesn't just apply to these two religions obviously but unfortunately this dominates western social cultural debate #like i think you could definitely make parallels here with irish history and politics and how the liberalisation of both the north and the #south is a key part of the peace process. northern protestants became more at ease & trusting of the roi when it started to liberalise and #develop out of essentially being a catholic theocracy. northern catholics were more accepting of the existence of ni when protestant #domination and the protestant churches/o.o. could no longer decide government actions #a united ireland is more likely now because the republic has (largely) thrown off the shackles of the catholic church #like in the late 20th century northern protestants were generally fearful of the republic and considering divorce wasnt legal there until #the 90s it was with good reason. it wasnt all in their heads lol #idk i just think there's similarities there #posting this against my better judgement. please engage in good faith if you engage at all lol

[eshithepetty]

To start off this post I just wanna say, I hold mp100 dear to my heart and I say this with love, but.. I feel off put whenever people talk about the bad shit that anime usually has, and then say that. Mp100 has none of it. Because, like... sure, it has less of it than the usual, and I appreciate it for that, but that doesn't mean that it, doesn't have it at all? I mean. The transmisogynistic joke in episode 2. The fatphobia in season 2's episode 2. The lack of female main characters, Takeuchi's racist design.... don't get me wrong, the show is still great and I love it very much as I said, but you can love a show and appreciate all the things that it got right while not disregarding the things that it got wrong. You don't have to hate it for those things, you don't even have to necessarily talk about them if you don't want to. You just shouldn't deny that they exist in that media in the first place. That feels really disingenuous to me.

#mob psycho 100 #mp100 #mp100 critical #just tagging in case. i get not wanting to hear this stuff even mentioned when you're just trying to have fun with a thing you love #fandom critical #my own post #i also think a lot about the aspect of mp100 where.. it falls into the tired trope of villains being the only ones trying to chance society #and are obviously being very bad and harmful about it. while the heroes are the ones trying to maintain the status quo #it's interesting because. like theres more to it than just that in mp100's case?? #like. for one a big theme of mp100 is children not having to deal with the worlds pressures and having to be the ones to save it #and nearly all the protagonists are children #so if they suddenly went on some arc trying to get involved in changing society in more drastic ways that could contradict that message #and it isnt like mp100 denies the fact that those societal issues exist? thats what mogami arc was in part about after all #so idk #at the same time i feel like including those elements could be really interesting #especially with mob; considering who he is as a character #someone whos main purpose through the story is changing others and thus making the world a better place #whos very compassionate and always eager to expand his way of thinking and better himself #hes already got some of that thinking in him - like how he got so mad on behalf of the workers world domination arc #so i just find it interesting to think about. maybe as he grows older he gets more concerned about that stuff. #its a hard balance tho with how he at his core wants to remain humble and ordinary. so some ordinary job; like a cleaner or a firefighter #like ive seen him be portrayed as still seems the most right #idk!! just find it interesting to think about so im rambling at this point hfgh #in the end; as the show says the most important thing is being kind. and just through being that you make the world a better place #even if its just through interacting with the closest individuals around you #thats enough in an of itself :) #so yeah #the tags got away from me ill stop now jdhdjd

[a-birdhouse-in-your-soul]

do we think there’s a portrait of evan bates somewhere in usfs’s attic and if we destroy it he’ll finally retire

#figure skating #grand prix final 2023 #obv i do not wish harm upon anyone #but another season of bock dominated might cause me to harm myself #74 tes wtf ice dance why #ugh

[ehlnofay]

just got reminded of an old ass vent post... want to remind everyone that this is a cutter from shivering isles dlc HATE blog. and I’m going to rip the devs and writers apart with my teeth

#they created a character whose sole trait was self harming and made her a fucking hemomaniac. #yk. it's just a goofy little thing. she just has a life-dominating obsession with self-mutilation #and it's FUNNY. #I truly cannot conceptualise of a more tasteless handling of this issue even the old 'angsty emo kid wanting attention' might be better #than whatever the fuck this is. #I hate it so much #going to stop talking about it and go to bed bc uhhh. getting too mad about this specific thing is not good for me lol #but fuck whoever wrote that shit seriously

[baltears]

ruminating on the inherent fuckedupness of t/ddy’s existence today

#westworld #like. imagine that you are literally built. designed. to be dominated by your all consuming love and loyalty and devotion to one person #and this is so deeply embedded in the core of who you are that it is actually physically impossible for you to change that #now imagine feeling all that while knowing it is impossible for them to ever feel the same way about you. #they will never prioritize you the way you do them. they will never be unconditionally and totally in your corner the way you are for them #they will only be able to place your needs above their own occasionally whereas you do it 100% of the time 24/7 without fail #because you have to. because that's how you're built that's who you are. but it's not who they are #you are designed for them to take advantage of and so even if they try not to they literally cannot help but do it #because allowing you to act in the way that feels most natural to you inherently means enabling your total lack of any boundaries #and letting you constantly ignore your own interests in favor of theirs even if you know you're being harmed by it #you desperately want to be with them. you desperately love them and feel overwhelming joy when they are near. #but you also know that being with them is inseparable from being dominated and exploited just by dint of how you relate to them #they might not mean to. they might not want to. they might bitterly regret it. they might try their hardest not to. but they always will #whenever they are with you you become a planet orbiting a sun. and they can't help it and neither can you. #yeah like. actually i love teddy. 😔 #and i love this relationship too. but i find it so confusing that people portray it as wholesome when it's literally the opposite of that #low key i think it's actually one of the darkest and most fucked up relationships in the show #i love the tragic duality of it like the way they can't help but vibe and get along and love each other but also being together is. #just honestly unsustainable after they've left their loops because trying to be their own sentient beings is not compatible w that #i was getting a little emotional when teddy was tearing up just being around xtina in 4x04 because like. #she's essentially his master. she dominates him at all times in all ways literally without even wanting to or meaning to. and he knows that #but he Still Loves Her and he can't help it....... baby boy...... #and she's just instantly charmed by him because he's Built to be charming specifically For Her and To Her...... #it's so fucked up. it's so fucked up and sad but also their dynamic can be so sweet and touching and that's what makes it even more brutal #i actually like it so much. #like if we're picking sports teams it would not be my team. but i do rly love & appreciate it and find it interesting & crunchy & complex #my least favorite thing about it is probably evan and james' chemistry which idk... it just rings a little artificial to me and always has #(more on her end than his tbh. idk why and i won't speculate but it feels like he carries their scenes a little bit to me) #(and im not calling evan a bad actress either bc she's incredible but that kind of thing is just hard to force) #but anyway. the text of the relationship and how it's written is amazing and crunchy and delicious <3