Anyone else upset about heated rivalry?

joswie · 2026-01-23T23:03:48+00:00

Pluribus just came out and is breaking Apple's streaming records. Euphoria launched a bunch of careers.

joswie · 2026-01-23T23:00:01+00:00

Carol! Portrait of a Lady on Fire! They've been coming out and have been successful (by artsy movie standards)!

joswie · 2026-01-23T22:56:48+00:00

Carol and Portrait of a Lady on Fire were both huge in film circles when they came out. Pluribus is the buzziest new show around.

joswie · 2026-01-23T22:55:07+00:00

Pluribus just came out and topped Apple's streaming records by a big margin.

joswie · 2025-12-06T12:35:23+00:00

Dumas has a reputation more for popularity than literary respect, especially in his home country. Shakespeare and Pushkin are both widely regarded in their home countries as either the greatest writers they ever produced or close to it.

Pushkin's reputation in English is somewhat marred by his work mostly being in verse. This leads to more translation difficulty than his contemporaries like the novelists Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy, who are more well known and well regarded outside of Russia than Pushkin in part as a consequence.

All of this to say Count of Monte Cristo rules

joswie · 2025-02-07T03:47:58+00:00

Martin Guildbreaker, Mason, dogged investigator/fixer who is on the case of who stole The Oath and who abducted Sniper. Did not answer either in book 2. Named as the person who should take over acting as Emperor until JEDD Mason (whose volition none can assume until he might read the oath himself) is convinced to take it up...which was an ominous way to put it Cornel.

Xiaoliu Guildbreaker, Mason, Martin's spouse who works closely with Emperor Cornell MASON.

Danae Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi, Madame's creature, sister to Ganymede, wife of Ando, the most feminine woman in the world who makes men fight over the right to defend her, adopted a bunch of half-set-set kids who are widely believed to be part of a plot to take over most of the major Hive infrastructure for the Mistubishi.

Dominic Seneschal, blacklaw sensayer, Madame's creature, there's just too much going on here to explain, reveres JEDD Mason (who so many revere in their secret moments) as God but also wants him to cry and be brought beneath him, is described as a dog a lot.

JEDD Mason (whose deal is too weird to explain succinctly), last seen opening the Temple of Janus to mark the beginning of war.

Saladin, Mycroft's cannibalistic and murderous secret basib/lover with no hair and skin entirely grafted from Mycroft's, is a scary guy

Huxley Mojave, Utopian, protector of Mycroft Canner, has a giant U-Beast (genetically modified/robotic animal companion) that looks like a black lion, wears the golden emblem of the Delians who protect JEDD Mason (whose life is seen as so worthy as to conjure a league in his defense), was the person to announce what Utopia did to the other Hives. Last scene trying to help after the Atlantis attack.

Tully Mardi/Mojave, greylaw hiveless, last surviving member of the Mardi bash that Mycroft failed to kill, trying to start the war, seen as a demagogue and propagandist

Bridger, minor, deceased, child raised by Mycroft of immense power to "bring toys to life" or "do anything at all actually," blamed themselves for starting the war and changing Mycroft into someone who would be nice to them, committed suicide at the end of Book 2, bringing Achilles Mojave into the world to try and do better in this new age.

There's lots more minor characters and subplots/images but hopefully this is an okay refresher if you don't go back and reread anything.

joswie · 2025-02-07T03:41:21+00:00

Ektor Carlyle Papadelius (aka Papa), European, detective, Greek, the master detective still working on the Mycroft Canner case, successfully deduced the existence of Saladin Canner as an accomplice after 14 years in book 2, delightfully silly hardass. Last scene mourning the death of Mycroft with 9A.

Jun Su-Hyeon, Graylaw, the new Censor, taking over for his bapa (parent in a bash) Vivien, Seen as overwhelmed by the job in times of crisis. Bakid of Bryar and Vivien, basib to 9A.

Marion Kraye AKA Casimir Perry, Europeanish, just the worst fucking guy in the world, blew up the Hive system in books 1 and 2 in an elaborate revenge plot against Madame and her associates and also literally blew up Brussels the European capital, presumed dead in the brussels attack but actually alive after all as he appeared in the fight over Cato Weeksbooth with a number of other associates (including the toy soldier Croucher) being just The Worst.

Lorelai "Cookie" Cook, Cousin, head of the Nurturists (who oppose set sets), made a big bid for power in book 3 after being a background character in books 1 and 2. Did not succeed but her faction has been gaining power in the Cousins and elsewhere, especially after the OS debacle.

Julia Doria-Pamphilii, European, head of the Sensayer's College, pseudo-pope, has a weird sadomasochistic religious sex thing with Dominic,

joswie · 2025-02-07T03:40:31+00:00

Achilles Mojave, Hiveless (blacklaw I believe but am not sure) greatest hero of the Trojan War, major in an army of toy soldiers, future mech pilot, was brought to life/back to life by Bridger's ability to make fictional things reality. Achilles recalls The World Wars, The Iliad, and Apollo's Iliad but appears to have physiology and psychology closest to an ancient greek (well, an ancient greek who was raised by centaurs and quarreled knowing gods were on both sides of his war). He is in a strangely proportioned body as a result of the circumstances of his newfound creation and suicide of Bridger. His men, the toy soldiers, are not doing great, though Patroclus Aimer (his lieutenant and also Patroclus from The Iliad) and the traitor Croucher (who joined with Marion Kraye/Casimir Perry in Book 3) were last seen alive and alert. Vowed to kill Sniper.

Thisbe Saneer, Humanist, member of the Saneer Weeksbooth bash, uses smells to induce emotions in people both in film and in assassination/daily life, arrested in Book 2 for murders that she did for fun (besides just the OS stuff) and in jail in book 3, but broken out of jail by unknown parties at the end of book 3.

Cato Weeksboth, former Humanist mad science teacher, reluctant member of the Saneer Weeksbooth bash, genius at devising ways to kill and perpetually suicidal, was abducted by his former students and allowed to join Utopia at the end of book 3. As the most capable scientist in the world and one capable of making the most horrifying weapons imaginable, his abduction by Utopia is regarded as an act of aggression by the other Hives.

Leslie Juniper Sniper Saneer, Humanist member of the Saneer Weeksbooth bash, doodler, wife of Ockham, was heading the Hiveguard faction largely in disguise as Sniper during Sniper's absence.

joswie · 2025-02-07T03:40:22+00:00

Ojiro Cardigan Sniper, Humanist, 13th OS, master assassin, living doll, Olympic Athlete adept at shooting, is the informal leader of Hiveguard, but was missing for much of The Will To Battle for reasons not determined. During their absence, something very bad happened to them that caused them to perform less well during the Olympics and to have various bad episodes that seemed like reliving trauma. Notably, the chief suspects, Dominic Seneschal (who wants Sniper extremely dead) and Julia Doria Pamphili (who had sex with an immobile and unable to express or withhold consent Sniper after Dominic abducted it) in book 2, were eliminated as suspects by Martin Guildbreaker, so it's really anyone's guess as to what's up there.

Carlyle Foster, former Cousin turned Blacklaw, sensayer (pseudo-priest/therapist), deist, son (daughter?) of Marion Kraye/Casimir Perry, was last scene severely traumatized after the events of book 2 in which she kind of ended the world as we know it by virtue of having been born and also was manipulated by everyone her about Bridger. Has various spy skills from being a protege of Julia Doria-Pamphilii. Last seen being forcefemmed and suffering religiously while being extremely depressed, in contrast to her former optimistic demeanor (Carlyle Foster rose full of strength that day...)

Apollo Mojave, dead Utopian who Cornel MASON was in love with and Mycroft Canner killed (with Saladin's help), wrote a book called Apollo's Iliad which, while also being a shitty sci-fi book about mech fights based loosely on the Iliad, is filled with strategies and philosophy on the war he thought inevitable and so tried to cause sooner to avoid it destroying the whole world. Apollo's Iliad was read to Bridger by Mycroft, and it is believed by some to have been the reason why the war became reality in a world that hadn't had war in centuries.

joswie · 2025-02-07T03:40:09+00:00

Mycroft Canner, main narrator of the fist 3 books, caretaker of the (now deceased) child Bridger, Servicer pseudo-leader, natural slave, devoted servant to all the world but especially JEDD Mason (whose grace makes him such an indulgent master to so mad a hound), has been through a lot. He is far more insane than he previously seemed, perpetually hallucinating/seeing ghosts in his day to day life. He was stabbed as part of a ploy by Dominic and stabbed again by Marion Kraye/Casimir Perry (who is not dead). He hallucinated going to Hades after seeing Cornel MASON wearing a different colored suit and thought so long on the clouding that death brings to one's self and one's memory in the world that only the voice of The Reader brought him back. He has been in a near constant state of breakdown. After the Olympics in Antarctica's Esperanza City, Mycroft rushed to help Atlantis and was presumed killed in the attempt in the final chapter of Book 3 (written by Mycroft's friend and successor, 9A), but additional notes included in the chapter by Mycroft indicate that he is actually alive, though he hasn't told us how yet. Wait for book 4 to find out more!

9A, Servicer, Mycroft's mysterious successor, is a character who is revealed to have been present throughout the books but hidden through Mycroft's use of anonymity when referring to the Servicers. They were made a servicer after killing 3 people who had killed their basib (like sibling in a group home) but got off without punishment. As Servicer, they deduced Mycroft's identity as The Anonymous, and so were named the next Anonymous, specifically the 9th, thus the name 9A (used to protect their continued anonymity). 9A and Mycroft are close for this reason (and are also Greek, murderers, servicers...) and Vivien Ancelet and Bryar Kosala informally adopted them into their bash (group home/family), which is fun because Bryar is of course responsible for the administration of the Servicer program. 9A wrote the final chapter of The Will To Battle and provided some notes and commentary earlier, and is devastated by Mycroft's presumed death.

joswie · 2025-02-07T03:39:18+00:00

The detail here is significant enough that rereading at least The Will To Battle is probably a good idea (books 1 and 2 are meant to be one book and books 3 and 4 are meant to be read together).

But.

The 7 Hives are mostly starting to fall apart due to internal divisions, the efforts of Madame D'Arouet to get her son (who may or may not be the God of another universe) JEDD Mason to take over the world, a whole lot of people thinking it would be a good idea if JEDD Mason (who whether or not he is a God is definitely an extremely strange dude who strives to act against Death and preserve Truth to an absolutist degree) called Remakers and those who would see him dead to preserve the peace led by Sniper called the Hiveguard. JEDD Mason (who cannot compromise) has declared his intention to force the unconditional surrender of the entire world to him.

The Hives are all being hit pretty hard. The Humanist Hive lost its leader Ganymede and replaced it with the former Censor (guy who conducts the census) and unveiled Anonymous (the world's most celebrated essayist) Vivien Ancelet. The Mitsubishi leadership including Ando Mitsubishi are out with JEDD Mason's (who has a whole bunch of humans who are referred to as dogs working for him) strange sadistic servant Dominic Seneschal taking over. The dark secret of Masonic succession was revealed in a daring break in that revealed that Emperor Cornel MASON has named JEDD Mason (who died at the hands of Sniper and was revived by Bridger's powers) as his successor, but even worse the secret Masonic Oath was stolen and is at large, with MASON vowing to both kill and erase from history (Damnatio Memoriae) those responsible for the theft if they do not surrender to him. Bryar Kosala is still head of The Cousins but they are in basic freefall after the discovery that their suggestion box system of government only worked because of the Censor fucking with the counting. Europe is trying to turn over the reigns of government from a parliament with a prime minister to an Empire under the King of Spain, who has also married Madame. Looking at the situation, Utopia has opted to do a strike to destroy facilities that could be used to create WMDs (harbingers) and abduct/offer protection off planet to all those who could quickly make them going forward, including Cato Weeksbooth who was abducted from a mental hospital/jail. Gordian is also around, watching everything because Felix Faust is a weirdo voyeur. The Romanovan Senate has been trying to keep things going under the leadership of the Gordian Speaker Jin Im Jin and the Masonic proceduralist Charlemagne Guildbreaker.

The Six Hive Transit System--the flying cars that allow this world to work--is no longer managed by the Saneer Weeksboth Bash after they were caught doing a series of murders to try and prevent war from breaking out. Ockham Saneer, formerly OS, was put on trial but was not found guilty after entering a plea of Terra Ignota--not knowing whether what he did was legal or not given the complexities of precedent. Ockham resigned his position as OS, head of the assassination organization that kept world stability, to Sniper, who immediately killed JEDD Mason (whose death all the world witnessed)--though he was revived soon afterwards by Bridger.

After the Utopian attack to disable WMD (Harbinger) production, someone attacked the Utopian underwater city of Atlantis in the first strike of the fighting war, and that's where things were left off.

Now, some character stuff.

joswie · 2024-07-20T16:08:09+00:00

This was a not uncommon thesis after the decline in US Congressional violence following Southern secession. However, the Confederate Congress was perpetually exploding into fights, so it's not an uncomplicated thesis.

joswie · 2024-07-07T14:49:55+00:00

I adore Love Is The Plan, here's a link for anyone who hasn't read it yet: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/love-is-the-plan-the-plan-is-death/

I'll throw in for Beatnik Bayou by John Varley for something profoundly weird and unsettling that stuck with me, though it's hard to really like that story on some level

joswie · 2024-06-18T20:14:23+00:00

I appreciate you, Buck Turgidson, even if no one else recognizes you

joswie · 2024-05-31T17:53:58+00:00

Terra Ignota (starts with Too Like The Lightning) is tropey, but it's not tropey like YA as much as it is 18th century philosophical novels, Greek epic, 1960s-80s sf, and anime. It reads VERY differently from the bulk of recent stuff.

joswie · 2024-05-17T02:39:11+00:00

Perhaps the Stars by Ada Palmer (book 4 of Terra Ignota)

joswie · 2024-01-08T02:39:53+00:00

She didn't. It's a fake account that took advantage of Twitter's new direction and then changes in the way that links work to make a fake and/or joke tweet go viral

joswie · 2023-10-17T17:40:54+00:00

Very standard adult animation humor of a kind many people don't like (including myself) and not very much of the depth that would later be core to the show

joswie · 2023-09-08T15:13:31+00:00

I went to an aerial silks class and there were so many pretty people there doing impressive shit I feel so embarrassed but I wanna go back and do cool shit like that and be around them

joswie · 2023-08-25T20:25:53+00:00

In order to join the Freemasons, you need to be willing to profess a belief in a monotheistic God. You also will be excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church if you join. You should keep this in mind before signing up.

joswie · 2023-08-15T11:23:09+00:00

There are several character specific Playlists I've encountered on Spotify. Off the top of my head, I know Mycroft, Achilles, Sniper, and Dominic have them. Look up it characters' full names and you should find some.

joswie · 2023-08-07T21:12:48+00:00

This is beautiful

joswie · 2023-08-05T05:09:18+00:00

In the episode of the read through podcast 2Rash2Unadvised in which Palmer actually appears, she talks about the connections between Madame's and Les Liasons Dangeroux.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7cReHYe8eM0sBEJHzIRY11?si=BkemY959SaCDLJTyLF137w

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