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realhankmccoy · 5 months

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Notes on Elon:

I would never cry on the job nor swear on the job, but this drama queen can’t control his emotions because he was too spoiled by the parents. He’s got to get off his illegal drug addiction (K), because it’s mucking him up.

if you think private schooling, owning an emerald mine, a marriage of half a thousand people to a family of intergenerational transnational wealth and owning all 4 types of luxury car and horses is poverty, sure, Elon grew up very poor, probably the poorest childhood as he had all those things.

Elon has very strict speech and behavior control mechanisms of his own. He refuses to allow queer people to exist — So I’m not permitted to be queer or say anything queer on the job. He doesn’t allow unions. He harasses those who speak their minds and tries to silence them with bullying and intimidation. Speech and behavior become less free under big babies like Elon. Mickey Mouse and Disney give the world heart and soul and teach great morals and ethics — the opposite of Elon’s plans for world domination.

unions seems to be trouble?!? Wow man. Wow. Go live in China and be a slave to the state and capitalism if that’s how you feel. Even Trump isn’t so evil and unAmerican as to flush unions away. It’s our history and our tradition, same as in Europe and all free places. You would say Sweden is trouble, where there are far more unions?!?

Elon is on record as saying Q and T need to be ‘cut out’ of LGBT. You are so so so so so so uninformed. Read your boy. Elon explicitly is on record on Twitter about this. He has tweeted that he will ‘coup’ governments all he wants. One billionaire announcing he will overthrow any government that crosses him and buy a new one is 1) corrupt 2) evil evil evil evil — you will not BUY every politician in my country but that is what he does, he spends millions buying domination — he’s announced 1% of the worlds money should go to him — he has announced it’s about far more money and power than he has now. Anybody who helps him with this is a cuck and a child. He should be in prison for lying and SEC fraud. He’s a chronic liar. Should I go on? Who are you going to support next… Putin? Henry Ford? Rockefeller?

To call me uninformed when you don’t know the facts and feel like a small child cradled in Pappy Elon’s protecting world-saving arms needs a wakeup call. You need to start facing life like a grown man — not a child who is hoping a billionaire will help him somehow?

and why do you think Disney lost morals and ethics 10 years ago? Because they had one small small small gay character in one film and you’re worried? Or is it because Encanto and their recent films have been so loving and healing and you hate love and kindness and reconciliation — you prefer a born rich billionaire saying FUCK YOU? That is the dumbest most childish thing I’ve ever heard of. Would you say Eminem and Trump and Musk all have more morals than the animators at Disney, the costume actors, the devoted screenwriters? What drug are you on to feel this way, because your attitude seems totally corrupt and weak — you just want a strong father figure and Elon is your daddysavior? Sorry to be harsh but I see zero goodness in anything you’re discussing — just a delusion that you’re a child in a burning house and Daddy Elon is ‘rescuing’ you. What ‘rescue’ has he done? What can’t you say on Facebook that you want to say — do you wish to call folks n*gger like Elon does? Is that it? Or wish to spread lies about Covid and tell everyone it’s harmless like Elon the Idiot Fool did?

As a serial liar — one who’s as easily caught in his lies as a child — Musk’s word is the polar opposite of impeccable, so I’m not really a fan of people who are so easy to be better than in that regard. I’m also well aware he’s now playing Trump’s game from the 80s — ‘all publicity is good publicity’ — which was not the game he played before Trump became President. What a ruthless, unprincipled slimeball of a manbaby, truly, and it’s no wonder he can’t keep a relationship with any of his children’s mothers except the employee he artificially inseminated at the same time as Grimes (which is unprofessional and really gross, these weak and programmatic old-fashioned deeply sexist men who don’t feel strong unless they’ve got a bit of a harem going on). As somebody who has advocated for queer and trans people to be thrown away, he’s utter garbage as a human being because nobody dares to look him in the face and say ‘you’re stupid’ which is the truth. He can’t even get a clean shave lately because he’s so whacked out on hate and drugs. But as for all the interesting things he owns, yes, of course they’re interesting. That’s a separate matter from him as CEO, of course, and the world is loaded with brilliant employees and technologies who are much more worthy of respect than a sort of simpleminded child who hates queer people.

anyhow there’s no dispute he owns a lot of great things. So did Henry Ford, Hitler, all sorts of people. Russia is infamous for a bunch of monsters owning technologies. The point is that the technologies are separate from the owner and these owners need to not be permitted to spew their evil authority and petty spiteful agendas all over the place in the name of capitalistic competition. It’s not doing any good for the larger picture for the top brass to be so heavily coddled, and now we’re in a number of wars which he’s also had his hand in, a little helping out with a genocidal occupation of Palestine here a little defense form Putin there — all that needs to just be ended by the board of directors so these companies can focus on technology and business, not some born rich kid’s Bruce Wayne cosplay and self-indulgence.

there are literally millions of people wanting to be Trump or Putin as well, but who succeeded? You seem to place value on winning, but that means nothing to me if the result is guys like Elon, Trump or Putin. Who cares that they won it? They did a lot of things wrong and wicked to get there.

also there’s very obvious body-based bias and privileges at work. I’m a 5 ft 8 gay guy.. you can’t just stroll into a room and knock heads in that type of body and be lifted up to the top. Also there’s wealth in the backgrounds… I’m completely unimpressed by the rise of Trump, Putin or Musk.

as far as Eleanor’s quote goes, I have plenty of things to discuss about Musk’s evil ideas and Trump’s evil ideas. Kicking queer people out of LGBTQ is one of them. How the fuck is some freak show weirdo who can’t even shave their neck or keep their dick in their pants going to say I can’t be Queer? ‘We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it’ is an idea that was established a half century ago and still worthy of discussion, not some manbaby pressing the flush button trying to send down the toilet an idea he has never tried to grapple with.

whatever the Buddha might say, bad people and bad behavior MUST be criticised. People not criticising Hitler enough led to the holocaust. It’s a moral duty. The quote is self-defeating, for you to pass it to me and to pass Eleanor’s quote to me is a criticism of my faults — do the math on it. If you truly believe them to be true, you’re not allowed to try to make me aware of my flaws either. There can’t be a double standard.

anyhow that quote is not an accurate reflection of what’s going on in my head, no. Criticism of brutal men in power is not an inability to face oneself and one’s own flaws in the mirror. They’re two separate things and I do both of them plenty.

do you know Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson makes far more money than Meryl Streep or every quality actor? It certainly doesn’t mean that even the local college kid at community theater needs to look to The Rock for how to be a good actor. Sometimes in a toilet bowl, shit floats. Pardon the crude metaphor but that’s what’s going on with Trump and Musk. We can’t just throw quality standards and human decency out the window to validate success. Quality and decency are two very important principles.

thanks, i do enjoy Buddhism and philosophy both. I guess since the "GO FUCK YOURSELF, ARE YOU LISTENING BOB IGER" started with Elon's void in whatever's going on in his life, and since I'm just playing defence to his offensive disruption of the social fabric, it would be nice if some of his handlers could get him some philosophy to help him stop this acrimonious criticism of everything that's spiralling Twitter -- a real t-ball easy setup of a company to own -- down the whirlpool. The guy deffo needs a little philosophy in his life more than I do. I find it almost soothing and meditative to debunk some of these people with massive fan collections. The Taylor Swift people ... the Swifties... wow, can that crew ever be the female version of the Musk Fanboy.... just insane if their false idol is ever so much as questioned. I had one tell me that I'm obsessed with Taylor's naked 13-yr-old body, which she kept bringing up. I argued for a full day and she didn't finally shut up and refusing to believe me until I flat out said I'm attracted to hairy 50 yr old men... lol. I'm not a perfect person, but these Swifies and Fanboys are in far more need of help and liberation than I am... the aggression is just out of control, especially with every Fanbody parroting GO FUCK YOURSELF all over Twitter and Stocktwits today... i mean jesus christ, it's just crazy to me to witness so many grown adults cucking themselves and acting that way these days. I don't think that was ever a thing in the past... people are getting more intense and deranged in I guess what folks would call 'psy-ops' even though i dislike that term.

he's always talking positive but suddenly with this roadbump it's like OH WE'RE ALL GOING TITS UP AND I WILL DOCUMENT THE FALL

#elon musk #elon must #spacex #tesla #cucks #cucked #world domination #world dominating sociopaths #king baby #king babies

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talmagemoorehead · 1 year

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The World Economic Forum on Video

Human predators likely control the World Economic Forum.

Mark Moss is not the poster child of objectivity in his presentation of the WEF, but at least he does show a few video clips of these people telling us what they plan to do to us and how. The question of why they’re determined to control us completely is a matter of perspective. To give the WEF the benefit of the doubt, imagine you were a wealth, powerful stakeholder with controlling interest…

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#Human predators and scientific materialism #Mark Moss #Narcissists #Narcissists run the WEF #Saving the world from the WEF #Sociopaths at the WEF #WEF Plan #WEF using Crises #What motivates the WEF?#World domination #World Economic Forum

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mostlysignssomeportents · 6 months

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Zuck’s gravity-defying metaverse money-pit

Tomorrow (Oct 31) at 10hPT, the Internet Archive is livestreaming my presentation on my recent book, The Internet Con.

Think of everything that makes you miserable as being caught between two opposing, irresistible, irrefutable truths:

"Anything that can't go on forever eventually stops" (Stein's Law)

"Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent" (Keynes)

Both of these are true, even though they seemingly contradict one another, and no one embodies that contradiction more perfectly than Mark Zuckerberg.

Take the metaverse.

Zuck's "pivot" to a virtual world he ripped off from a quarter-century old cyberpunk novel (reminder: cyberpunk is a warning, not a suggestion) was born of desperation.

Zuck fancies himself an avatar of the Emperor Augustus (that's why he has that haircut) (no, really). The emperors of antiquity are infamous for getting all weepy when they run out of lands to conquer.

But the lachrymosity of emperors has little causal relationship to the anxieties of tech monopolists! Alexander weeps because he just loves a good conquest and when he finishes conquering the world, he's terminally bored. That's not Zuck's problem at all. When Zuck attains monopoly status, his company develops an autoimmune disorder, as his vicious princelings run out of enemies to destroy and begin to knife one another.

Any monopoly faces these destructive microincentives, but tech is exceptional here because tech has the realtime flexibility and speed that brick-and-mortar businesses can never match:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/19/twiddler/

Sociopaths with tech monopolies are worse for the same reason that road-rage would be worse in a flying car: adding new capacity to indiscriminate self-destructive urges turns ordinary car crashes into low-level airburst warfare:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/28/microincentives-and-enshittification/

The flexibility of digital gives tech platforms so much latitude to break things in tiny increments. A tech platform is like a Jenga tower composed of infinitely divisible blocks. The Jenga players are the product managers and executives who have run out of the ability to grow by attracting new business thanks to their monopoly dominance. Now they compete with one another to increase the yield from their respective divisions by visiting pain upon the business customers and end users their platform connects. By tiny increments, they increase the product's cost, lower its reliability, and strip it of its utility and then charge rent to restore its functionality:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/24/cursed-bigness/#incentives-matter

This is the terminal stage of enshittification, the unstoppable autocannibalism of platforms as they seek to harvest all the value created by business customers and end users, leaving the absolute minimum of residual value needed to keep both stuck to the platform. This is a brittle equilibrium, because the difference between "I hate this service but I just can't stop using it," and "Get me the fuck out of here" is razor-thin.

All it takes is one tiny push – a whistleblower, a livestreamed mass-shooting, a Cambridge Analytica – and people bolt for the doors. This triggers the final stage: the "pivot," which is a tech euphemism for "panic."

For Zuck, the pivot got real after a disappointing earnings call triggered a mass sell-off of Facebook stock, history's worst one-day value incineration, which lopped a quarter of a trillion dollars off the company's market cap:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-19/dramatic-stock-moves-of-2022-led-by-meta-dive-nordic-flash-crash

This was when the metaverse became the company's top priority.

Now, in my theory of enshittification, the step that follows the pivot is death: "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

Many people have asked me about the conspicuous non-death of Facebook! That's where I have to fall back on Stein's Law: "Anything that can't go on forever eventually stops." Facebook can't continue to annihilate value, alienate its workers, harm the public, hemorrhage money in support of a mediocrity's cherished folly forever. Can it?

Admittedly, it sure seems like it can. Facebook's metaverse pivot has thus far cost the company $46,500,000,000. That is: $46.5 billion. That's even more money than Uber torched, seeking to maintain the illusion that they will be able to create monopolies on both transport and the labor market for driving and recoup the billions the Saudi royal family let them use for the con:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/11/bezzlers-gonna-bezzle/#gryft

Don't worry: the Saudi royals are fine! They cashed out at the IPO, collecting a tidy profit at the expense of retail investors who assumed that a pile of shit as big as Uber must have a pony under it, somewhere:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/19/fake-it-till-you-make-it/#millennial-lifestyle-subsidy

Uber has doubled the cost of rides and halved drivers' wages, using illegal gimmicks like "algorithmic wage discrimination" to squeeze a little more juice out of the nearly exhausted husks of its workforce:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/12/algorithmic-wage-discrimination/#fishers-of-men

But Stein's Law hasn't been repealed. Drivers can't drive for sub-subsistence wages. Do that long enough and they'll literally starve: that's what "subsistence" means. We lost a decade of transit investment thanks to the Uber con, at the same time as traditional taxi drivers were forced out of the industry. Uber can't be profitable and still pay a living wage, and the fantasy of self-driving cars as a means of zeroing out the wage-bill altogether remains stubbornly, lethally unworkable:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/09/herbies-revenge/#100-billion-here-100-billion-there-pretty-soon-youre-talking-real-money

Which means we're at the point where you can get off a commuter train at a main station and find yourself stranded: no taxis at the taxi-queue, no busses due for an hour, and no Uber cars available unless you're willing to pay $95 for a ten-minute ride in a luxury SUV (why yes, this did happen to me recently, thanks for asking).

As more and more of us are exposed to these micro-crises, the political will to do something will increase. This can't go on forever. "Don't use commuter rail" isn't a viable option. "Walk three miles each way to the commuter rail station" isn't viable either. Neither is "Pay $95 for an Uber to get to the station." Something's gotta give…eventually.

"Eventually" is the key word here. Remember the corollary of Stein's Law: Keynes's maxim that "markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent." Sure, anything that can't go on forever eventually stops, but that is no guarantee of a soft landing. You can't smoke two packs a day forever – but in the absence of smoking cessation, the eventual terminus of that habit is stage-four lung cancer. Keep hammering butts into your face and your last smoke will come out a crematorium chimney.

Zuckerberg hasn't merely blown a whole-ass Twitter on the metaverse with nothing to show for it – he's gotten richer while doing it! In the past year, his net worth increased by 130%, to $59 billion, thanks to an increase in Facebook's share-price, driven by investors who stubbornly remain irrational, keeping the Boy Emperor solvent long past any reasonable assessment of his performance.

What are these investors betting on? One possibility is that the rise and rise of Facebook's share-price represents a bet on technofeudalism. Since the Communist Manifesto, Marxists have been predicting the end of capitalism. That end seems to have come, but what followed capitalism wasn't socialism, it was the return of feudalism, an economic system where elites derive their wealth from rents, not profits:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/28/cloudalists/#cloud-capital

Profit is the income you get from investing in capital – machinery, systems, plant – and then harvesting the surplus value created by workers who mobilize this capital. Capitalism produces massive returns for its winners – in the Manifesto's first chapter, Marx and Engels just geek out about how productive and dynamic this system is.

But capitalism is also a Red Queen's Race, where the winners have to run faster and faster to stay in the same place. Capitalism drives competition, as other would-be winners pile into the sector, replicating the systems that the current winners are using and then improving on them. This is why the prophets of capitalist end-times like the FBI informant Peter Thiel say that "competition is for losers."

Capitalism's "profits" stand in contrast to the feudalist's "rents." Rents are income you get from owning something that other people need to produce things. The capitalist owns the coffee-shop, but the feudalist owns the building. When a rival capitalist opens a superior coffee-shop and drives the old shop out of business, the capitalist loses, but the rentier wins. Now they can rent out an empty storefront in the neighborhood everyone's coming to because of that hot new cafe.

Feudal and manorial lords also made their fortunes by extracting surplus value from workers, but these rentiers don't care about owning the means of production. The peasant in the field pays for their own agricultural equipment and livestock – control over the means of production is necessary for worker liberation, but it's not sufficient. The worker's co-op that owns its factory can still find the value it produces bled off by the landlord who owns the land the factory sits on.

The jury's still out on whether American workers really see themselves as "temporarily embarrassed millionaires," but America's capitalists have a palpable, undeniable loathing for capitalism. The dream of an American "entrepreneur" is *PassiveIncome: money you get from owning something capitalists and/or workers use to create value. Digital technology creates exciting new possibilities for rent-extraction: a taxi-operator had to buy and maintain a car that someone else drove. Uber can offload this hassle onto its drivers and rent out access to the chokepoint it created between drivers and riders, charging all the traffic can bear. This is feudalism in the cloud – or as Yannis Varoufakis calls it, cloudalism.

In Varoufakis's Technofeudalism, he describes Amazon as a feudal venture. From a distance, Amazon seems like a bustling marketplace of manic capitalism, with sellers avidly competing to offer more variety and lower costs in a million independently operated storefronts. But closer inspection reveals that Amazon is a planned economy, not a market.

Every one of those storefronts pays rent to the same landlord – Amazon – which determines which goods can be offered for sale. Amazon sets pricing for those goods, and extracts 45-51% of every dollar those sellers make. Amazon even controls which goods are shelved at eye-height when you enter the store, and which ones are banished to a dusty storeroom in a distant sub-basement you'll never find:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/14/flywheel-shyster-and-flywheel/#unfulfilled-by-amazon

Zuck's metaverse is pure-play technofeudalism, Amazon taken to the logical extreme. It's easy to get distracted by the part of Zuck's vision that will convert us all into legless, sexless, heavily surveilled low-resolution cartoon characters. But the real action isn't this digitization of our fleshy wants and needs. Zuck didn't spend $46.5B to torment us.

The cruelty isn't the point of the metaverse.

The point of the metaverse is to rent us out to capitalists.

Zuck doesn't know why we would use the metaverse, but he believes that if he can convince capitalists that we all want to live there, that they'll invest the capital to figure out how to serve us there, and then he can extract rent from those capitalists and start earning "passive income." It's an Uber for Cyberpunk Dystopias play.

Zuck's done this before. Remember the "pivot to video?" Zuckerberg wanted to compete with Youtube, but he didn't want to invest in paying for video production. Videos are really expensive to produce and the median video gets zero views. So Zuck used his captive audience to trick publishers into financing his move into video. He fraudulently told publishers that videos were blowing up on Facebook, outperforming boring old text by vast margins.

Publishers borrowed billions and raised billions more in the capital markets, financing the total conversion of newsrooms from text to video and precipitating a mass extinction event for print journalists. Zuck kept the con alive by giving away (fewer) billions to some of those publishers, falsely claiming that their videos were generating fortunes in advertising revenue. These lucky, credulous publishers became judas goats for their industry, luring others into the con, the same way that the "lucky" guy a carny lets win a giant teddy-bear at the start of the day lures others into putting down $5 to see if they can sink three balls in a rigged peach-basket.

But when we stubbornly refused to watch videos on Facebook, Zuck stopped spreading around these convincer payouts, and precipitated a second mass-extinction event in news media, as the new generation of video journalists joined their predecessors in Facebook-driven unemployment. Given this history, it's surreal to see publishers continue to insist that Facebook is stealing their content, when it is so clearly stealing their money:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/saving-news-big-tech

Metaverse is the new Pivot to Video. Zuckerberg is building a new world, which he will own, and he wants rent it to capitalists, who will compete with one another in just the way that Amazon's sellers compete. No matter who wins that competition, Zuckerberg will win. The prize for winning will be a rent increase, as Zuckerberg leverages the fact that your "successful" business relies on Facebook's metaverse to drain off all the value your workers have produced:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/18/metaverse-means-pivot-to-video/

This can't last forever, but how long until Zuck's reality distortion field runs out of battery? That's the $46.5B question.

The market can certainly remain irrational for a hell of a long time. But the market isn't the only force that regulates corporate outcomes. Regulators also regulate. Europe's GDPR is now seven years old, and it plainly outlaws Facebook's surveillance.

For nearly a decade, Facebook has pretended that this wasn't true, and they got away with it. Mostly, that's thanks to the fact that Ireland is a corporate crime-haven with a worse-than-useless Data Protection Commission:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/15/finnegans-snooze/#dirty-old-town

But anything that can't go on forever will eventually stop. Facebook has finally been dragged into EU federal jurisdiction, where it will face exterminatory fines if it continues to spy on Europeans:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/07/luck-of-the-irish/#schrems-revenge

In response, Facebook has rolled out a subscription version of its main service and its anticompetitive acquisition, Instagram:

https://about.fb.com/news/2023/10/facebook-and-instagram-to-offer-subscription-for-no-ads-in-europe/

For €10/month, Facebook will give you an ad-free experience across its service offerings (it's €13/month if you pay through an app, as Facebook recoups the 30% #AdTax rents that the feudal Google/Apple mobile duopoly extracts).

But this doesn't come close to satisfying Facebook's legal obligations under the GDPR. The GDPR doesn't ban ads, it bans spying. Facebook spies on every single internet user, all the time. The apps we use are built with "free" Facebook toolkits that extract rent from the capitalists who make them by harvesting our data as we use their apps. The web-pages we visit have embedded Facebook libraries that do the same thing for web publishers. Facebook buys our data from brokers. Facebook has so many ways of spying on us that there's almost certainly no way for Facebook to stop spying on you, without radically transforming it operation.

To comply with the GDPR, Facebook must halt surveillance advertising altogether. There's no way to square "spying on users" with "you can't surveil without explicit consent, and you can't punish people for refusing."

And of course, "not spying" isn't the same as "not advertising." "Contextual advertising" – where ads are placed based on the thing you're looking at, not who you are and what you do – is hundreds of years old. Context ads underperform surveillance ads by a slim margin – about 5% – but they're vastly more profitable for publishers. That's because surveillance ads are feudal, controlled by rentiers like Facebook, who own vast troves of the surveillance data needed to run these ads. Traditional ad intermediaries (agencies, brokers) took 10-15% out of the total advertising market. Ad-tech companies – the Google/Facebook duopoly – take 51% out of every ad dollar spent.

Eliminate surveillance ads and you torch their feudal estates. Facebook will always know more about someone reading a news article than the publisher – but the publisher will always know more about the article than Facebook does:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/save-news-we-must-ban-surveillance-advertising

There are rents under capitalism, just as there are profits under feudalism. The defining characteristic of a system is what happens when rents and profits come into conflict. If profits win – for example, if productive companies beat patent trolls, or if news publishers escape Facebook's rent-extraction – then the system is capitalist. If rents win – if investors continue to bet large on the metaverse as its losses pass $50 billion and head for the $100 billion mark – then the system is feudal.

Anything that can't go on forever will eventually stop. The question isn't whether the platforms will eventually become so enshittified that they die – the question is whether they will go down in an all-consuming fireball, or whether they'll go down in a controlled demolition that lets us evacuate the people they've trapped inside them first:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/09/let-the-platforms-burn/

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/2023/10/30/markets-remaining-irrational/#steins-law

Image: Diego Delso (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Puente_de_las_cataratas_Victoria,_Zambia-Zimbabue,_2018-07-27,_DD_10.jpg

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

#pluralistic #mark zuckerberg #meta #enshittification #facebook #twitter #elon musk #billionaires #follies #failing up #metaverse #steins law #big tech #technofeudalism

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quarterdollar · 27 days

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SEVERELY obsessed with the character insight here. so obsessed that i typed a long-ass post of analysis, in which i support the argument that volo really isn’t a complete sociopath, he’s just a big emotional short-sighted hypocrite.

as we know, volo’s endgame goal is to subjugate arceus and recreate the world from scratch, implicitly so that whatever pain and heartbreak he’s experienced/witnessed no longer exists. this is of course an intentional parallel to cyrus’s desire to create a world without spirit in response to the emotional pain he experienced in his childhood. while we do not have a concrete explanation on what exactly the painful events volo experienced were like we do with cyrus, he talks about them enough that it’s clear that they impacted him significantly. that is to say i think he’s expressing his thoughts and feelings sincerely when he brings the topic up, he isn’t lying or trying to misdirect you in any way in regards to that.

i bring this up because a big portion of cyrus’s character that to this day flies over many fans’ heads is that he is defined by ironies and hypocrisies. he wishes for a world devoid of any emotions specifically because he is dominated by them—he confesses as much during his rant in the distortion world:

cyrus also famously has a crobat on his team, which evolves through high friendship, despite his steadfast belief that spirit—of which friendship is undoubtedly a part—is an ugly, vague, incomplete thing. in addition to this, usum all but explicitly confirms that the journal of a child who befriended a rotom was written by him. so, in conclusion, cyrus has a heart and is easily swayed by good emotions as well as bad.

so now we come to volo’s new dialogues in pokemon masters. i think that they have made it clearer that like cyrus’s emotional actions, his obsessions with history & preserving memories through photographs are meant to be genuine hypocrisy on his part, rather than intentional obfuscation of intent. think about it—a man who’s dominated by curiosity & love for history also claims to want to remake the world so utterly that all of that history is rendered completely destroyed. yet even in the depths of his post-defeat breakdown he still maintains that defining curiosity of his:

and now i ask, what is curiosity, if not an expression of love for the world around you? despite claiming to want to destroy the current world and all evidence of its existence, volo also still wants to know absolutely everything about it, past and present. it’s inherently contradictory. and this brings me to the recurring themes in his pokemas dialogue: how he not only appreciates photographs as a way to create a tangible record of history, but as a way “to capture and isolate the best moments”. those happy moments worth holding onto and looking back on in the future. see also the photograph of him and togepi in the original game, never commented on, taken for no apparent reason other than the fun of it—or more specifically, as these dialogues suggest, to isolate that moment in time in a tangible form. that is an act of love and of sentiment.

so, what’s the conclusion i’m getting at here? well, because of the ambiguity of his character in the base game. i’ve seen that volo is often interpreted as being a manipulative sociopath motivated solely by his desire for control. everything he does before the postgame is entirely a lie, absolutely none of the facade was genuine, etc. and don’t get me wrong, he is a control freak with a god complex! he does railroad the player into doing what he wants! he is not honest and he is not a good person. but, i think there is very much an intentional irony to him the same way there is with cyrus, in that his road to hell was paved with good intentions. he has the capacity for genuine kindness and i personally believe that his descent into villainy was spurred entirely by an earnest appreciation for the world around him and a desire to eliminate suffering.

as a closing statement, i want to bring up a quote from volo himself regarding calaba of the pearl clan:

i don’t think it’s that volo feels nothing for his pokemon or for the people around him—rather, i think he simply loves the world very, very much.

#pkmn musings #pokemon #pla #volo #pokemas #the consummate merchant

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necroromantics · 1 month

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How To Write ASPD / Psychopathy

half educational, half ramble. dedicated to the creepypasta fandom.

(check out my how-to-write bipolar + ticci toby here)

What is ASPD?

Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) is characterized by a disregard for others rights and feelings. It's a personality disorder, which means the mindsets and behaviours associated with this condition are deeply ingrained and maladaptive.

The current DSM-5 diagnostic criteria states that to be diagnosed with ASPD, a patient needs to have a long-term (occurring since at least age 15), consistent, and persistent history of three or more of the following:

failure to conform to social norms; repeatedly breaking rules/laws that may be grounds for arrest

deceitfulness; lying, tricking others for personal gain

impulsivity or a failure to plan ahead

irritability and aggression; fighting, hostility, outbursts

reckless disregard for the safety of self or others

irresponsibility; repeated failure to comply to work or financial obligations

lack of remorse; being indifferent to or rationalizing having mistreated or hurt others

ASPD, by definition, can only be diagnosed in people who are 18+. Minors cannot have ASPD due to treatment and intervention reasons. A minor who exhibits traits of ASPD will be diagnosed with Conduct Disorder.

At it's core, though it may seem like people with ASPD are just hostile and insensitive and rude, is a defense mechanism formed in childhood, typically in response to an abusive environment. Self-preservation and a "dog eat dog world" mindset are very common in those with ASPD. Everything is about doing what it takes to retain social dominance, control, and ultimately safety. Boredom and risk-taking is also very common in people with ASPD, and many people with this condition have never had proper, healthy influences in childhood to teach them proper manners, social norms, morals, or how to regulate their emotions and aggression.

It is a chronic condition that affects about 1-3% of the population. Its very prevalent in the prison population as well. ASPD not only causes a person to potentially cause harm to others, but is a condition that very negatively impacts the patients themselves.

(Note: The term "sociopathy" is typically used to refer to an extreme presentation of ASPD. "Psychopathy" may sometimes be seem as a very very extreme presentation of ASPD)

What is Psychopathy?

Psychopathy refers to a set of traits/issues that might be seen in patients. It is NOT a diagnosis. If psychopathic traits cause dysfunctional behaviour in an individual, they will most likely be diagnosed with ASPD.

Psychopathy is now most commonly used in research settings to use it as a term that describes certain patterns and behaviours. It is something professionals study, not diagnose.

The traits related to psychopathy are:

manipulative behaviour; superficial charm, persistent lying, deceiving others

grandiose sense of self

lack of remorse or guilt; lack of empathy, callousness, shallow emotional expressions

reckless lifestyle; need for stimulation, parasitic (constantly takes from others), lack of realistic long-term goals, impulsivity

antisocial behaviour; poor behavioural control, early behavioural problems, trouble with the law in youth

Not all psychopathic people fit the criteria for ASPD, not all are disordered by their traits, and not all people with ASPD are considered psychopathic. But there is a very big overlap.

Psychopathy is typically only recognized in a forensic or research setting. It is often wrongfully used in the media to describe people who are serial killers, abusive, or used to dehumanize others.

Personally, I believe that media and creators need to move away from the terms psychopath/sociopath. They have far too much negative connotation that only exists to demonize people who suffer with unconventional traits. If you want to write psychopathy correctly, do your research on what it looks like in its presentation, and just drop the label.

What are some harmful tropes with ASPD/Psychopathy in media?

ASPD and Psychopathy have been tossed around in many different settings as ways to cheaply create an evil villain, or a cold calculated monster, or a reckless criminal. There has been only one instance in my lifetime of watching hundreds of movies and shows that I have seen an accurate, humanizing portrayal of ASPD. (That show is House MD by the way, I highly recommend if you want to see good representation).

So what are some of the tropes to acknowledge and avoid?

1. Psychopathic serial killer

Have you seen American Psycho? Great movie. Don't do that. While the character Patrick Bateman is commonly associated with the terms "narcissist" and "psychopath", he also is a satirical character who is a very dramatized and exaggerated presentation of some psychopathic traits.

I will be honest. A lot of real-life serial killers do suffer from various mental health conditions, but correlation is not causation. In the Creepypasta fandom we are surrounded by different characters who are almost all serial killers, and people like to make things easy and just throw the label of "psychopath" onto them and call it realistic. This is very cheap, and very harmful.

If you want to write a psychopathic serial killer character, then acknowledge how harmful, fear-mongering, and dehumanizing this trope is towards people who actually suffer from these traits.

2. ASPD synonymous with abusive behaviour

ASPD is a disorder that does cause people to do and say things that will harm others in some way. Cluster B personality disorders are commonly seen as 'social disorders', as in they cause dis-order in interpersonal relationships, and in response to society. Borderline personality disorder (BPD) for example may cause somebody to threaten harm to themselves in response to percieved abandonment, or to have intense fights due to emotional dysregulation.

ASPD in particular may cause someone to be insensitive towards others problems, lack morality, be aggressive or hostile, put others down, or get into reckless situations. This is why they are disorders. Because they cause significant and serious problems in the persons life.

It is not pretty, and it's not fair, and yes, people with disorders may cause harm to others due to behaviours associated with their condition. But there is a difference between causing harm, and abusing another person.

Lying to someone is not inherently abusive. Being reckless is not inherently abusive. Being an insensitive asshole is not inherently abusive. To not understand the nuance and the complexity of these situations is to completely demonize and stigmatize a serious mental health condition. You don't call people with BPD abusive for their actions inherently, because you acknowledge they are hurting and only doing what they know to cope with this hurt. Of course it's unhealthy. That's what a disorder is. That does not make someone abusive by default. Anyone with any condition, even neurotypical people can be abusive.

3. Cold, emotionless robot

People with ASPD can and do feel emotion. People with psychopathic traits can and do feel emotion. They get sad, disappointed, disgusted, happy, excited, jealous, hurt, angry. There is nothing in the ASPD criteria that states anything about emotional presentation or experience.

In psychopathy, it is mentioned that there may be a shallow emotional expression. This may also be present in ASPD. This means that while a person will feel emotions, it is either beat down or brushed off, or completely repressed. The emotional repression may come from childhood abuse where they were punished for expressing emotions, or expressing emotions had caused them harm.

Lacking emotions/emotional expression is instead highly linked to Schizoid Personality Disorder, and is apart of the criteria for said disorder.

Media protraying people with ASPD/psychopathy as cold, emotionless, calculating robots is another trope used to dehumanize people with mental health issues. It's used to make people with ASPD seem evil or not having feelings that could be hurt. In reality, nearly everything a person with ASPD does, is their dysfunctional way of protecting themselves from being hurt.

People with ASPD may lack the emotional capacity for things such as empathy and remorse, though. Its common that they are unable to care for, or feel upset for others suffering. They may also be unable to feel guilt. This criteria is seen in about 51% of people with ASPD and is associated with more extreme presentations.

Do you headcanon anyone to have ASPD?

Yes, but I don't like to use the label on them. I do write a lot of antisocial mindsets into my headcanons for Ticci Toby, and I heavily write ASPD into my OC, Tobin.

For Toby, his presentation of ASPD comes in the form of rebellion, not understanding/following social norms, recklessness, and a strong desire for power, dominance, and control. I write this as his subconscious response to the trauma he faced in childhood. As a child Toby was constantly put down and made to feel small and powerless at the hands of his father. In order to make sure his father abused only him and not his mother and sister, Toby would act out and be a troublemaker. I think that he would have a lot of ASPD behaviours and views on the world.

For my OC Tobin, he's pretty similar in presentation in regards to power/control, and not following social norms. He is very prone to justifying and rationalizing his behaviours to the point he doesn't feel remorse for the harm he causes. Tobin grew up in a very unstable and abusive environment where, like Toby, he did what he needed to do to get by. He never learned proper morals, norms, regulation, etc. But Tobin does care about others. He takes care of his little sister, and loves his girlfriend, and is very protective. Tobin is still a complex human being with more to him than just being an antisocial insensitive prick.

How can I write a character with ASPD?

Do proper research. Not on Reddit, or Quora, or WebMD. I mean go find trusted, scholarly articles and read real scientific papers and studies on ASPD. Do research into how/why it forms, the mindsets, the symptoms and their presentation, the neuroscience even.

Humanize your characters. While it's fun to throw around a bunch of negative and toxic traits to a character you want people to see as 'bad', it's lazy character development. Give them good, positive traits as well. People are very complex, and nobody will fit in to the mold of good or bad. Make them human enough where someone wont look at your character with ASPD and assume everyone with ASPD are monsters.

But also, don't water down the disorder. ASPD does cause harm to the patient and the people in their life. I've seen it a lot where people will try to fight against stigmatization by completely glamorizing the disorder. "People with ASPD aren't inherently bad! They don't actually hurt others or act hostile or say insensitive things"... Yes we do. And it causes many problems. And that is why its a disorder.

Personally I don't like to throw the ASPD label onto my characters even if I do write them to have ASPD because I feel like it just boxes them in. If you write a character with ASPD, try doing it in a way where a professional would be able to tell they have ASPD without you even mentioning the label.

Remember that ASPD is COMPLEX. It varies vastly in its presentation, its a disorder that is life-consuming and the dysfunctional beliefs and behavioural patterns are deeply ingrained and consistent throughout many different areas in someones life. It's a label to describe preexisting issues. It's something that is highly associated with childhood trauma, and drug addiction, and general suffering for the person dealing with their own chaotic mind.

The biggest problem I see that frustrates me is the way people throw around the terms "psychopath" and "sociopath", especially when someone just wants to add a layer of edginess onto their character. Remember that you are dealing with a condition that real people suffer from every day. If you can't handle it respectfully, and if you would demonize someone with ASPD in real life for acting as your character does, just don't write it in. Keep the label separate. We don't need any more stigmatization and misinformation.

I know this was very long, but it's such a multifaceted and complex issue and I've seen it enough times in the fandom to be frustrated enough to write this. If you have any questions, want more advice or information, please feel free to ask away in my ask box 🔥

#tombtalk #creepypasta #creepypasta fandom #creepypasta headcanon #ticci toby #clockwork #ticci toby headcanons #creepypasta ticci toby #jeff the killer #creepypasta jeff the killer #eyeless jack #creepypasta art #creepypasta headcanons #creepypasta oc #creepypasta fanfiction #aspd #antisocial personality disorder #cluster b #writeblr

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nobodylikety · 3 months

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Capy-what? ₍ᐢ•(ܫ)•ᐢ₎

I found the idea of @incherryblossoms about capybara hybrid! reader x hybrid! New Jeans very interesting! so here it is!

I did some research on capybaras (which by the way was very interesting, since one of my favorite things when I make a hybrid! character is researching the animal and its characteristics), so I hope you like it <3

tags: Hybrid! New Jeans x Capybara hybrid! Reader, College AU, comedy??, fluff.

summary: New Jeans sets out to find out why capybaras recently been a sensation among people, social media and the animal kingdom, by meeting one for the first time!

Seoul National Hybrid University (SNHU) has university houses close to campus for its students. One of said houses is occupied by Hanni, Danielle, Minji, Haerin and Hyein —although Hyein is only doing Pre-university, before officially joining as soon as she sends her exam results and final averages.—

In this way, only five rooms of the six in the house are really occupied, because the one that is free, the girls use it as a kind of storage-room.

So it's an empty room.

That is, until Haerin opens the door, ready to throw another piece of junk inside, a cat toy that she broke because she doesn't know how to keep her claws still, and she finds that there is a damn capybara snoring in the bed, which until this morning, it was empty.

The creature lies on its side on the blankets like a deformed dog, and even lets out a snort in its sleep.

If she had her way, history would say that she remained calm and collected; that she silently took out her phone and sent a text message to the group chat, and she would simply leave the storage-room and return to her room. In the morning, she would brainstorm with Hanni, Danielle, Minji, and Hyein about what the hell she had seen, and she would go on her merry way and simply no one would do more about it. Because, a capybara in the damn room? Seriously? The largest rodent in the world, and also quite docile. Nothing to be scared about.

But history will tell otherwise, because instead of calming down, Haerin is screeching and meowing. And upon noticing her, she immediately covers her mouth with her hand, but the damage has already been done. The capybara wakes up with a screech and lets out some warning barks.

All the noise in the storage-room, that is, the barking of the capybara, as well as Haerin's desperate feline meows and screeches, are so loud, there is no way that the rest of the girls cannot notice that something, whatever that is, it's happening.

"No no no. Shut the fuck up. You can't bark at me, you big rat," Haerin hisses, trying to be dominant, in order to defend herself from the big rodent that stands on top of the bed and glares at her. But she's just a scared kitten who plays the tough role, and doesn't do it very well.

“HAERIN ARE YOU OK? YOU ARE DYING? I'M ON MY WAY!" Danielle, loud and hyperactive as she is, is the first to come to the grumpy hybrid cat's rescue.

The puppy peeks out from behind Haerin, whose tail and ears are perking up, to bump into the barking capybara on the bed.

“Is that a radioactive rat?” she asks, tail wagging gently.

“How am I supposed to know, you stinky puppy? I opened the fucking door and it was there!”

For a moment the capybara on the bed takes a backseat, while Danielle and Haerin fight like a cat and dog, trying to decide if what is on the bed is a deformed, obese dog or a giant radioactive rat.

“I'm a capybara, actually?” You interrupt their discussion gently, after resuming your human form. The little ears are still poking out of your head, half hidden by the brown hair, as is the tail, where...well, where the tails go.

Haerin and Danielle look at you, in a mix of caution and silly surprise. They look meticulously at the room, detailing that there are some half-open boxes.

“Hi” you greet, smiling slightly and holding out your hand.

What are you doing in that room? In the storage- room? What if you're a sociopath who took over the room and is going to kill them all? In Haerin's head, all the panic alerts are on.

Not Danielle's.

Haerin will never understand what kind of gears move a dog's brain; she swears Danielle has sawdust in her head.

"And you are…?" Haerin inquires, with a knot in her stomach. She ignores the outstretched hand, even after Danielle does accept it.

“Oh, sorry. I'm your new roommate, I just moved in this morning. Didn't they give you notification? They were supposed to send it to your mailbox…”

Ah yes, the mailbox. Danielle hates the mailman. She probably ran around him, and in the process she missed the envelope that contained the notification inside it.

“Uh, uh, no. I'm sorry," Haerin feels less tense knowing that at least you're not a sociopath who's going to kill them. “So, you were the sleeping capybara?”

You nod your head.

“I was just supposed to take a nap and then wake up to say hello, but…” you wave your hand, smiling slightly embarrassed, cheeks rosy. “Things didn't go according to plan.”

"Don't worry! You just scared Haerin to death, but she's over it," Danielle comforts you, whose tail wags so enthusiastically that it looks like the propellers of a helicopter, while she animatedly pats Haerin's shoulders. She hisses back at her.

But before you can answer, the rest of the inhabitants of the house heads to the room-no longer-cellar, due to Danielle's lack of return after saying that she would go to 'save Haerin'. A hybrid bear towers over the others, while floppy bunny ears appear among the group, along with a bushy fox tail.

Minji, Hanni and Hyein, respectively, as introduced to you by Danielle.

“So it's because of you that Haerin screamed as if someone had eaten her cans of tuna,” Minji comments, covering her mouth, half yawning, half laughing. She is disheveled, as if she just woke up from a nap.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare her, or you”

“L-let's just hope t-the screams don't happen again.” Hanni lets out a shy giggle, then adjusts her floppy ears. She seems to be sensitive to noise, and she is softer and gentler than the others.

“With Haerin in this house, it's kind of difficult,” Danielle responds, panting with her tongue out to cool herself. Having her tail wag so vigorously must have tired her out. “But maybe you'll give us some peace,” she says, looking in your direction.

"What are you saying? Me?"

“You're a capy-something, aren't you?” Hyein, the youngest of them all, asks with genuine interest. Her bushy tail dances behind hers, with the elegance that Danielle's tail does not have, even though they share some kinship relationship as they belong to the same Canidae family.

“Capybara, yeah”

“They say that capybaras are very popular. People love them, they are like… super sociable, calm and very adorable” Hanni has done her research on it, a fact that makes her blush hard, realizing that it is as if she had done some research on you. Or more precisely, as if she had deliberately commented on that, because you are there.

"That's why I say it! Maybe if she's here, she'll make us get along better. Finally someone will be able to exorcise the demon that Haerin has inside!” The nonsense that Danielle constantly says makes you unable not to smile. You can still hold back a little the laughter, but you have the feeling that the more you live with her, the less you will be able to stop yourself from laughing.

Minji yawns again, slumping against Haerin, who wraps her arms around her waist and nestles her chin against the crook of her neck.

“Haerin doesn't have a demon inside her. Haerin is the demon,” Minji points out, laughing. To annoy Haerin, the bear hybrid plants a kiss on her cheek that makes her hiss. "You see? totally demonized”

It seems like everyone is very close, which is nice. And friendly too, because they make you feel very welcome.

“Don't pay attention to those three,” Hyein suggests with a smile, referring to Dani, Minji and Haerin. “They're like the Three Stooges, really.”

“They don't seem that bad to me” You smile, realizing that she doesn't mean it in a bad way. But from affection. She knows them. And she loves them. It is that type of love and closeness that implies mockery and complicity.

“Anyway, we're glad you're here. It's..-” Hannie covers her ears, because Danielle is barking again.

“Because you are another person to love!”

When you think that someone, probably Haerin (you don't have to live with them much to realize that they get along like a cat and a dog and that, even so, they love each other very much), is going to tell Dani to shut up for shouting cheesy things, they all nod in agreement.

“If they say people love capybaras, why don't we?” Despite Danielle's earlier outburst, which causes Hanni to panic and cover her ears, she continues. Her voice is so gentle and soft it sweetens your ears. “We will have plenty of time to get to know you”

“Let's see if capybaras are as charming as people make them out to be on social media.” Haerin snorts under her breath, but you notice how he looks at you for a moment, eyes shining, before looking away with a growl. Tsundere.

“They must be! You seem huggable” Minji seems like the only thing she cares about is whether you're comfy and soft to cuddle with. She's a hybrid bear, taking naps with people she likes is something you'll have to get used to from now on.

Then another discussion breaks out about why-capybaras-are-so-loved-and-popular, which only makes you smile.

Living in this house will not be boring at all.

Not when there are five hybrids who seem to just had a crush on you.

Which only proves that capybaras are capable of having anyone head over heels.

#hybrid!au #kpop hybrid au #new jeans x reader #new jeans imagines #danielle x reader #hyein x reader #haerin x reader #minji x reader #hanni x reader

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not-poignant · 4 months

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Birthday Spotlight - Dr Gary Konowalous

[13th January - Capricorn]

Known first and foremost as the MVP of Falling Falling Stars, Dr Gary was a runaway hit even though he was never meant to be in anything more than a handful of reminiscences re: Efnisien's sessions with a psychologist who specialised in criminal juvenile behaviour, especially those who leaned towards murder, rape, arson and animal cruelty.

The Director of Hillview eventually came to be featured in the Underline the Rainbow alternate universe, an omegaverse where he is the Director of Hillview Omega Rehabilitation, a peak alpha, and the unlikely partner of Efnisien ap Wledig in an unusual m/m romance. Going from psychologist in one serial to lover and main character in another is a pretty big glow up!

‘You touch the lives of the people around you, Efnisien. In the past, all you saw was the negative ways you influenced them. I’m sure that will be the main way you orient to the world going into the future, though as I always say – we’ll work on it. But you do have an influence on the lives of the people around you. Sometimes it’s fleeting. But sometimes it’s meaningful, and important, and quite a remarkable thing. ‘I enjoy you as a client, not only because I enjoy the work we do together as a professional, but also because I enjoy the young man you are. You’re kind and compassionate, funny, and sometimes possessed with a very wicked sense of humour which I frankly find quite relatable. You’re insightful and courageous.’

Falling Falling Stars

Spoils of the Spoiled - A minor character referred to by name only, and the diagnostician of Efnisien ap Wledig, formally diagnosing him with Pure O (a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).

Falling Falling Stars - Intended to only be a side character with minor cameos, Dr Gary quickly became the MVP of this long running serial, and was as much a star of this story as Efnisien and Arden!

The Moon is Down - A oneshot between Dr Gary and Mika from Falling Falling Stars.

Constellations - A Gwyn + Efnisien reconciliation story in the Falling Falling Stars universe.

Underline the Black - Main POV character alongside Efnisien ap Wledig. An enemies-to-lovers, alpha/alpha romance, with very unconventional dynamics and a significant (20+ year) age gap!

Underline the Gold - Cameo role

Underline the Blue - Cameo role

Underline the Red - More significant character here, and the unlikely antagonist

PhD of Psychology

Specialises in niche psychology (juvenile criminals/sociopaths in Falling Falling Stars, omega rehabilitation in Underline the Black)

Has a golden retriever - Polly - who is the goodest girl ever

He is dry, witty, dominating, a top, compassionate, insightful, bullish, heavy-handed, can be ruthless, and quick to apologise (though he has to be!)

Older. Age undisclosed in Falling Falling Stars, but he's 44 in Underline the Black.

The scene where he dropped absolutely everything to save Efnisien's life in Falling Falling Stars

Every time he's made Efnisien cry

Being so extra in an omegaverse that he's a literal "peak alpha."

Workaholic!

Consistently helping Efnisien realise the world can be a better place, usually after upsetting him a lot beforehand.

Dumping Efnisien into the ocean (just about) to snap him out of a dissociative episode.

The blue cup

His espresso + wine habit in Underline the Black

Chain-smoking his dead lover's cigarettes while moodily staring at the beach, in Underline the Black, like a 44 year old emo kid.

That good old PhD in psychology

He keeps his wry sense of humour

He always owns Hillview!

He cares deeply for Efnisien

Good dresser! Likes suits.

He pushes too hard

He has a strong sense of inner justice and equality

Needs a holiday

His appearance was intentionally never described in Falling Falling Stars so that people could imagine their own safe version of a psychologist! That's nearly 780k of never telling you his hair or eye colour, for example! Many people swear they know what he looks like, and are surprised to realise I never said a word about what he looks like in this story. Much to the rage and chagrin of fanartists (I'm sorry!)

Dr Gary's therapy sessions have inspired multiple readers to seek therapists of their own, and some people have described him as being the therapy they needed. Sometimes fiction just hits right, especially when Dr Gary's in the room. (He's a pretty annoying therapist though!)

I started shipping Efnisien and Dr Gary in the first 3 chapters of Falling Falling Stars, and then had to stop myself for the rest of the story to maintain their professional relationship. But in a way, the seeds for Underline the Black were sown a long time ago!

After typing 'Dr Gary' for so long in Falling Falling Stars, it took ages to train myself to write 'Gary' in Underline the Black! Thankfully it took Efnisien a while to get on board with saying 'Gary' instead of 'Dr Gary' as well. :D

‘Did you fuck me?’ Efnisien croaked, thinking he should be presenting a more macho image right now, but waking up to that dog touching him – and feeling a bit like he might be dying – was making it hard to manage much at all. ‘You would know if I’d fucked you,’ Dr Gary said, voice wry.

Underline the Black

#birthday spotlight #dr gary konowalous #writers of tumblr #falling falling stars #mm romance #queer romance #enemies to lovers #slowburn #underline the black #underline the rainbow #original fiction #original works #character birthday #doing something new this year #happy birthday dr gary!!#don't drink too much wine

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fizzigigsimmer · 1 year

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Do you want to know what really fucked me up and got me good about Steve Harrington in S1? What I MISS SO MUCH and wish the Duffer Brothers had a clue how to tap into?

Steve was the Queen Bee. Which is hilarious because the Duffers fully set out to write him as the Jock Bully archetype but through a happy marriage of poor writing and even poorer casting (for the intended goal) they ended up with a completely different character archetype.

It was utterly fascinating to me. Because we don’t see male Queen Bees pretty much ever unless it’s part of a gag or some Very Important Point within the plot. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one who just is one, while the narrative keeps on telling you he’s the Jock Bully... when he’s so clearly not.

Don’t believe me? According to exhaustive research on archetypes.com: 🤪

Common traits of the Queen Bee = Cunning and glamorous, often materially wealthy, confident,socially ambitious, and charismatic.The recognized ruler of an academic setting. Deep inside she’s an angry girl, because she has been disappointed or seen how the world really is and has no outlet. She is in need of boundaries and guidance. Unable to deal with her emotions, she projects her anger into selfishness and protects herself from the outside world climbing the social hierarchy. The Mean Girl falls when she loses her power. Her power is always directly tied to her social status and her story ends with her no longer resting atop the social hierarchy. If we’re humanizing her, she’s a sad rich girl in need of a true friend she can be imperfect with. She may soften, but often her legacy as ‘Queen Bitch’ will continue to haunt her.

Common Traits of the Jock/Jerk Bully = an alpha male who dominates the school/college environment through physical violence and threats of brutal retaliation. Typically blond, he is rarely seen without a letter jacket or some connection to the sport he draws his self value from, as he is also typically dumb and unlikely to go far in life. If we’re humanizing this character his father is a jerk with unrealistic expectations. He has a posse of enablers who hype his excess anger and poor impulse control issues. His low levels of empathy and radar for weakness in others can be played for laughs if he is the villain of the week or border on sociopathic if he is the heroes arch nemesis.

Now don’t get me wrong. I can so clearly see how the Duffers started out writing Steve as the Jock Bully, but it’s also pretty clear that things went haywire once they fell in love with Joe. I think it’s obvious that in an effort to highlight what they liked about Joe (a sensitive artist and definitely not a Jock Bully) they lost the one trope and accidentally created the other.

So when they create Jock Bully 2.0, AKA Billy Hargrove and decide he and Steve are gonna be rivals for the school crown and ALPHAHOOD or whatever... instead you’re just left with the keen sense that these two characters are supposed to be together. Because they are.That’s the formula. And I would bet money they realized it too.

#steve harrington #harringrove #Billy Hargrove #meta #happy accidents

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brainworms-all-night-long · 1 year

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Can we talk about how fucked up the known Robotnic family tree is??

Like there's an old science man that after he lost all of his research tried to blow up the planet and was shot dead by the goverment, an evil alien, an edgy hedgehog made with the help of the evil alien, a fucked up lizard, an innocent terminally ill girl that also got shot dead by the goverment, a sociopath hell bent on world domination that has actually pretty cretive robot designs, a Nokia phone that is also a hedgehog and a dragon, a wooden puppet with a lighter and the reflexes of a horse, and a sentient self aware AI that just wants a peaceful family life

Putting them under a microscope and looking at Eggmans children (he actually has kids like this guy has never seen a woman in his life but god damn hes a father somehow, thanks Sage)

Metal is the oldest child with high expectations put on him and no childhood, Orbot and Cubot are somewhere there as punching bags becaus every healthy family needs those, Belle is the forgotten middle child and Sage is the spoiled youngest

And now I want a spin-off comedy series with their shenanigans and wonky famy dinamics as they try to concure the world.

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art-tea-chill · 1 month

Text

Made a Hazbin Hotel OC, here she is. I'm thinking about rewriting this show.

(Note: I have not watched Hazbin Hotel aside from the pilot because I have no interest.)

Her name is Mari Farfalle, she's a butterfly demon and Sir Pentious's wife in both life and death (I hate Sir Pentious x Cherri because it feels extremely forced, so screw it).

Likes:

Sir Pentious

Egg Bois

Violence

Dissecting creatures

Collecting hearts

Tea

Cake

Romantic gestures

Dislikes:

Angel Dust and Cherri Bomb

Sir Pentious being harmed

Soda

Not being able to dissect creatures

Cherries

Valentino

1960s fashion

Peace

1700s Fashion

Backstory:

Mari was a British woman born around the early to mid 1860s and was the heiress to an extremely wealthy family at the time. However, Mari often felt distant and antisocial compared to what a lady should've been during the Victorian Era. She was a sociopath with very little empathy and love towards anyone, she only either hated people or felt neutral towards them. She was very violent and the only thing that brought her joy was violence and tearing people apart.

One day, her family married her off to Sir Arthur Price (Sir Pentious real name before he died). Mari and Arthur's relationship was neutral until she figured out that he was a supervillain plotting world domination and a brilliant scientist who could create machinery far beyond what was normal for the time. To Arthur's shock, Mari was delighted to learn this and personally started funding his machinery due to the fact that she didn't quite possess his skill. Arthur and Mari started to actually fall in love this time.

One day, however, one of the house servants figured out Arthur's plans and Mari's involvement and ratted them out. They were both put on trial and were sentenced to death by electrocution. Both Arthur and Mari died on November 27, 1890.

Personality:

Mari is a dramatic and hammy supervillain alongside her husband in Hell, just with the added bonus of being a sadistic sociopath. She has no regard for any of the sinners and views them all neutrally. Along with her husband, she despises Angel Dust, Cherri, and any sinner that acts remotely similar to them and wants to dissect them when they finally lose to her and Pentious

Despite her sociopathy and cold hearted nature, she genuine loves Pentious, she just trouble expressing it in a way that either doesn't sound like she's manipulating him or in a empathetic way. She also shares his attitude towards the Egg Bois and cares for them.

Trivia Time:

She was in her early 30s when she died and Arthur was around his late 30s.

Mari loved brutally dissecting animals and keeping parts of their organs, it was one of the few things in life that brought her joy. She still does so in Hell.

She also want to dissect Angel and Cherri like mentioned above, what she wants to do to them specifically is sew their kidneys together and take their hearts as a prize.

Mari adores Victorian surgery due to how bloody and violent it was back then, she's disappointed that surgery in Hell or even in life anymore isn't like that anymore.

Mari hides her other sets of arms and wings like Angel Dust does to surprise her victims, but she mainly uses her other arms while dissecting sinners who crossed her path.

She can play fake facades up extremely well, she mainly does this to Charlie since she doesn't care about redeeming herself.

Has a pretty big ego, sinners learn the hard way that badmouthing her is not a good idea unless you're willing to start living with stitches and missing organs.

her sins in life were Pride, Envy, and later Wrath. (In my rewrite, I'd say that souls go to Hell if they commited crimes while having two or more of the Seven Deadly Sins as personality traits.)

Describes stuff she likes in extreme detail.

She's a butterfly in Hell because she envied their beauty when alive and ripped off their wings if one came close to her. She still has a collection of ripped wings.

Mari also has a heart collection, its the organ she likes the most.

Bonus: Art Dump.

I tried to make her in Vivzie's actual style before going "screw it" and just made Mari in my own. This is her anatomy if your wondering.

Just her talking to Charlie about a sinner she killed and dissected that also badmouthed both her and Pentious.

Just a lady and a heart she stole.

#my art #oc art #artists on tumblr #fan art #hazbin hotel #vivziepop #hazbin art #hazbin angel dust #hazbin cherri bomb #hazbin charlie #hazbin sir pentious #hazbin hotel fanart #hazbin hotel fandom #hazbin

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libbee · 2 years

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Friendly tips for emotional people/Scorpio/cancer/pisces placements/4th/8th/12th house placements:

I have observed that people who are emotional thinkers, who have Scorpio cancer pisces inner placements, who have planets in 4th 8th 12th houses often face problems in their social, family and friendly life. If the people in their environment are emotionally intelligent then it is good. Otherwise, they may face problems in expressing themselves.

Emotional thinkers act on their emotions rather than logic. The worst kind of audience for them is someone who is emotionally illiterate. These people will show no empathy, no remorse, no kindness. Air/Fire dominant people can be really cruel towards water people.

Water people are just more sensitive and perceptive than others. Air/Fire people can gossip, bully, ridicule, roast each other like it is nothing but water people take things to heart and get offended + defensive.

Air/fire people can also lie, gaslight, manipulate like it is nothing. They are naturally that way. Water people are prone to people pleasing and being submissive. People love to get emotional reaction from you. These are the people to cry over a puppy video and rage over slight threat.

Add to it childhood trauma, and water babies are fucked up. Now you have an emotionally sensitive person living on survival mode. Oh my my!

So how to deal with social life when you're a water baby?

Learn to control your emotions. I often mention this in my blog but how to do this? Water babies are deep into their emotions. This emotional intensity is their strength as well as their weakness. They feel deeply. I again and again advice studying stoicism. It will change your life. Practice controlling your emotions with your trustworthy friends and family.

Prioritize your needs and wants. Dont be a doormat for others. Serve yourself first then serve others. Air/Fire people naturally know they are self centered but water babies can be lost as to whom they are to serve. Dont be like "I do so much for you but you dont care".

Trust a person for their action and you will never be fooled by their words. Water babies really trust what others say. They are naive and sincere like that. It doesn't even cross their mind that others can lie and manipulate them. Beware of those who lie. They are sure to backbite you someday.

Not just their personality but their surroundings also is determined by their planets and placements. They can attract both wholesome and unwholesome people into their lives. How to avoid unwholesome people? Boundaries and self esteem. When you assert your boundaries, toxic people will leave you. If you have weak boundaries, they will eat you alive. Trust me, I know this 😢

Water babies are some of the most authentic people. They know who they are. If they find company of people who also water babies, they will flourish. Beware of narcissists, sociopaths, psychopaths because they will cause you much karmic loss.

Learn about transactional relationships. Nothing is unconditional. Not even a mother's love. A mother loves her child because of natural connection, obligation, preservation of offspring and to fulfill her own emotional needs. Romantic relationships are transactions = companionship, conversations, mutual interests, similar traits, sexual needs, financial needs. Friendships are transactions: conversation, similar traits, companionship, learning and laughter. Please know that there is no such thing as unconditional love or devoted love. Learn self preservation.

Some of the closest people to me are the water babies. I often see them being bullied by air/fire placements. My loved ones toughened up and bore it. But soon we realized that the world can be a cruel place. Air/fire people know this. When they lack any water placements, they can be some of the most cruel people around you.

So, water babies, find company of fellow water babies and befriend them using aforementioned tips. Best of luck, sweeties! 💙

#astro observations #astrology observations #astrology #astro community #shadow self #astroblr #occult #8th house #astrology and mental illness #dark astrology

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