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mezentine.bsky.social
Mezentine
@mezentine.bsky.social
1.9K followers 1.3K following 11K posts
Chicago-based. Bikes. Books. Photography. Lot of politics.
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mezentine.bsky.social
Literally the only other content on their webpage is a bunch of Know Your Rights and SALUTE anti-ICE stuff that they...did make custom graphics for, it looks like? To capitalize on SEO? Because they know its a high priority for Rodriguez voters? Because they do actually care?
Know your rights. You have the right to remain silent Do not open the door without a judge’s warrant You have the right to a lawyer Do not sign anything without consulting an attorney Do not sign any documents S.A.L.U.T.E Size and Strength: How many ICE or federal agents and vehicles you see Activity and Action: What is happening? A traffic stop? Is ICE targeting specific individuals? The more information the better Location: Where did you see ICE? Take note of the cross streets and if ICE is going in a specific direction Uniform: Specify what agents are wearing. Civilian clothing, uniforms, vests, face coverings? What do any badges or vests say? Time and Date: One of the most critical pieces of information to note is the time and date ICE was spotted. Equipment and Weapons: Are ICE agents carrying weapons? Identify any equipment agents have and whether they use them on people.
December 7, 2025 at 12:38 AM
mezentine.bsky.social
Tis the season for getting YouTube ads against Rossana Rodriguez sponsored by things like the Common Ground Collective with elucidating webpages like this.
Common Ground Collective (CGC) is a 501(c)(4) issue advocacy organization dedicated to educating and mobilizing local elected officials, building grassroots coalitions, and proactively engaging voters around effective policies that benefit Chicagoans in every neighborhood. Focused on solving problems and delivering results, CGC supports policies that reflect Chicago’s deeply held democratic values. We work to defeat extremist policies from both the far right and far left that seek to divide our city. CGC is a nonpartisan organization and operates independently of candidate campaigns, in full compliance with federal and state laws.
December 7, 2025 at 12:35 AM
mezentine.bsky.social
The Marvel Studios™ Captain America: Brave New World™ Red Hulk Christmas ornaments are not flying off the shelves at Menards, it seems.
A Marvel Studios™ Captain America: Brave New World™ Red Hulk Christmas ornament.
December 6, 2025 at 9:27 PM
mezentine.bsky.social
Tar is one of my favorite films of the decade, a movie that supports some really complex and ambiguous readings, but I don’t think it supports “What if that Krista girl really was just cuckoo crazy and Tar didn’t even do anything” lmao.
First, every woman in the film wants Tar-at least all the actual characters. Her wife, Sharon, gets jealous when she catches Tar glancing at Olga. Francesca clearly wants Tar, is shown several times wanting affection from her and then flat out asks for it when she asks Tar to hold her. And Olga comes onto her as well. However, none of these women seem to actually want Tar for anything other than a way to further their own lives. Her wife wants a stable home and finances. Francesca wants to further her career, and the same with Olga. When Tar does not provide this for them, they abandon her completely. Not only that, Francesca goes behind Tar's back and leaks the Krista e-mails. Her wife takes her child and house, and Olga is insinuated to have been working with Francesca. Once the rubber hits the road, all these women abandon Tar, or screw her over. If we are to extend this behavior back to Krista, who we know little about, we could assume Krista did a similar thing. Came onto Tar, a successful and attractive woman, in an attempt to further her own career. The film shows e-mails from Tar saying that Krista is unstable and potentially dangerous, which might actually be true, considering the shots of Krista in the film, maybe stalking Tar and maybe even breaking into her home. Krista also goes on to kill herself, which could be evidence of prior mental instability rather than an acute reaction to whatever may or may not have happened with Tar.
December 6, 2025 at 1:46 PM
mezentine.bsky.social
Most of my film discussion on Reddit is limited to the Blank Check crew, and occasionally Criterion fans, but occasionally I get recommended to check out a place called TrueFilm, the definition of which is kind of unclear and the contents of which always seem to be something like this.
An alternative analysis of Tar. A subtle indictment of cancel culture and professional jealousy. First off, I'd like to say I've only seen Tar once, and plan on watching it again, so this isn't the most researched analysis. But when it comes to the film, I see a lot of people on Reddit automatically assuming Tar is a monster, abuser, groomer etc. and a vile human being, and it's just the film presenting her character in an ambiguous way (which I appreciate). But I'd like to offer an alternative view. What if the film is actually a subtle indictment of this kind of jumping to the worst conclusion about someone we don't even know, when we don't know the whole story? What if it's about professional jealousy and backstabbing? Think of some things the film shows us.
December 6, 2025 at 1:41 PM
mezentine.bsky.social
One reason I’m fond of the DC comics setting is definitely because its anachronistically urban character is kind of nice to inhabit. I like an America with way more big cities, with thriving dense cores, connected by what seems like a more widely utilized rail network.
December 4, 2025 at 2:05 AM
mezentine.bsky.social
Real ones know.
A set of three colored game pieces on a board, tipped over and stacked up. On top an upright piece has an illustration of Baja Yaga’s chicken leg house
December 4, 2025 at 1:37 AM
mezentine.bsky.social
Fried rice night tonight.
A large wok filled with pepper, zucchini and kale fried rice
December 4, 2025 at 1:09 AM
mezentine.bsky.social
I cannot stop thinking about Magical Athlete.
A red board game box titled Magical Athlete. The cover depicts a number of zany characters, such as an elephant magician and a banana centipede. A colorful rectangular game board is laid out like a race track. Illustrated wooden player tokens match the designs of character cards such as Baba Yaga and Party Animal
December 3, 2025 at 1:24 AM
mezentine.bsky.social
And one day Sma is there on the beach. They need his help again. And all she can do is ask. And offer, in payment, the one thing he wants.
She turned her gaze to him. He had to work hard at not looking away. We've found Livueta,' she said. He stared into her eyes for a time, and then blinked and looked away. He cleared his throat, looking back out to the glittering sea, and had to sniff and wipe his eyes. Sma watched as the man moved one hand slowly to his chest, not realising he was doing it, and rubbed at the skin there, just over his heart. 'Mm-hmm. You're sure?' 'Yes, we're sure.'
December 1, 2025 at 6:00 PM
mezentine.bsky.social
He’s living in a hut on the shore, spending his days beach combing and trading with the locals, watching the ships pass by.

And then there’s this.
The day he found the little chair he ignored it, but it was still there when he walked back past that stretch of beach on his return. He went on, and the next day combed in the other direction towards a different flat horizon, and thought the gale the following night would have removed it, but found it there again, the next day, and so took it, and in his shack repaired it with twine and a new leg made from a washed-up branch, and put it by the door of the shack, but never sat in it.
December 1, 2025 at 5:49 PM
mezentine.bsky.social
Sma is not about it. Skaffen-Amtiskaw is the best.
*Listen, Xenophobe -' "Xeny.' Xeny; you are a million-tonne starship; a Torturer class Rapid Offensive Unit. Even - 'But I'm demilitarised!' 'Even without your principal armament, I bet you could waste planets if you wanted to - *Aw, come on; any silly GCU can do that!' 'So what is all this shit for?' She shook the furry little remote drone, quite hard. Its teeth chattered. 'It's for a laugh!' it cried. "Sma; don't you appreciate a joke?' 'I don't know. Do you appreciate being drop-kicked back to the accommodation area? 'Ooo! What's your problem, lady? Have you got something against small furry animals, or what? Look, Ms Sma; I know very well I'm a ship, and I do everything I'm asked to do - including taking you to this frankly rather fuzzily specified destination - and do it very efficiently, too. If there was the slightest sniff of any real action, and I had to start acting like a warship, this construct in your hands would go lifeless and limp immediately, and I'd battle as ferociously and decisively as I've been trained to. Meanwhile, like my human colleagues, I amuse myself harmlessly. If you really hate my current appearance, all right; I'll change it; I'll be an ordinary drone, or just a disembodied voice, or talk to you through Skaffen-Amtiskaw here, or through your personal terminal. The last thing I want to do is offend a guest.' Sma pursed her lips. She patted the thing on its head, and sighed. 'Fair enough.' 'I can keep this shape?' 'By all means.' 'Oh goody!' It squirmed with pleasure, then opened its big eyes wide and looked hopefully at her. 'Cuddle?" "Cuddle.' Sma cuddled it, patted its back. She turned to see Skaffen-Amtiskaw lying dramatically on its back in mid-air, its aura field flashing the lurid orange that was used to signal Sick Drone in Extreme Distress.
December 1, 2025 at 5:16 PM
mezentine.bsky.social
Sma has boarded the ship Xenophobe and it’s extremely weird crew, including the extremely weird ship itself which has, as its avatar, a furry koala creature who’s bit appears to be “I’m just a little guy!”
"Its representative. The bit you can talk to. You can call me Xeny? It smiled; it had little round teeth. I know most ships just use a drone, but,' it glanced at Skaffen-Amtiskaw, 'they can be a bit boring, don't you think? Sma smiled, and sensed Skaffen-Amtiskaw's aura flicker out of the corner of her eye. Well, sometimes,' she agreed. 'Oh yes,' the little creature said, nodding. 'I'm much cuter' It wriggled in her hands, looking happy. 'If you like,' it giggled, TIl show you to your cabin, yes?' 'Yes; good idea,' nodded Sma, and put the thing over her shoulder. The crewpeople called out to say they'd see her later as she, the ship's bizarre remote drone and Skaffen-Amtiskaw headed for the accommodation section. 'Ooh, you're nice and warm, the little brown and yellow creature
December 1, 2025 at 5:13 PM
mezentine.bsky.social
Who is Zakalwe? He goes where he’s told, and does what he’s supposed to, in service of some greater interest he has attached himself to, an interest that never gets down here in the mud with him, never sees the faces of the people who are actually going to die.
intelligence) trying to protect these delicate, simpering products of a millennia's privilege, and never knowing whether I'm doing the tactically or the strategically right thing. The Minds did not assume such distinctions; to them, there was no cut-off between the two. Tactics cohered into strategy, strategy disintegrated into tactics, in the sliding scale of their dialectical moral algebra. It was all more than they ever expected the mammal brain to cope with. He recalled what Sma had said to him, long long ago back in that new beginning (itself the product of so much guilt and pain); that they dealt in the intrinsically untoward, where rules were forged as you went along and were never the same twice anyway, where just by the nature of things nothing could be known, or predicted, or even judged with any real certainty. It all sounded very sophisticated and abstract and challenging to work with, but in the end it came down to people and problems. This girl was what it came down to, here, this time; barely more than a child, and trapped in the great stone castle with the rest of the cream or scum (depending on how you looked at it), to live or die, depending on how well I advise, and on how capable these clowns are of taking that advice.
December 1, 2025 at 5:04 PM
mezentine.bsky.social
Anyway with all that big stuff laid out, we can start to ask: so who is Zakalwe? Well, his job appears to be dropping in and helping people win wars the Culture thinks they should win. But he’s not a 4X player. All he can do is try to persuade the powerful that they should listen to him.
Of course, Mr so-called War Minister Zakalwe liked to pretend he did have an idea where it was all going to end; he claimed to have some sort of explanation for it all, about outside forces, the balance ot technology, and the erratic escalation of military wizardry. He always seemed to be hinting at greater themes and conflicts, beyond the mere here-and-now, forever trying to establish some - frankly laughable - otherworldly superiority. As though that made any difference to the fact that he was nothing more than a mercenary - a very lucky mercenary - who'd happened to catch the ear of the Sacred Heirs and impress them with a mixture of absurdly risky exploits and cowardly plans, while the one he'd been paired with - him, Astil Tremerst Keiver the Eighth, deputy regent-in-waiting, no less - had behind him a thousand years of breeding, natural seniority and - indeed, for that was just the way things were, dammit - superiority. After all, what sort of War Minister - even in these desperate days - was so incapable of delegating that he had to sit out a watch up here, waiting for an attack that would probably never come? Keiver glanced at the other man, sitting staring into the flames, and wondered what he was thinking. I blame Sma. She got me into this crock of shit. He looked around the cluttered spaces of the room. What had he to do with idiots like Keiver, with all this historical junk, with any of this? He didn't feel part of it, could not identity with it, and he did not entirely blame them for not listening to him. He supposed he did have the satisfaction of knowing that he had warned the fools, but that was little enough to warm yourself with, on a cold and closing night like this. He'd fought; Put his life at risk for them, won a few desperate rear-guard actions, and he had tried to tell them what they ought to do; but they'd listened too late, and given him some limited power only after the war was already more or less lost. But that was just the way they were; they were the bosses, and if their whole way of life vanished because it was a tenet of that way that people like them automatically knew how to make war better than even the most experienced commoners or outsiders, then that was not unjust; everything came level in the end. And if it meant their deaths, let them all die. In the meantime, while supplies held out, what could be more pleasant? No more long cold marches, no boggy excuses for camps, no outside latrines, no scorched earth to try and scrape a meal from. Not much action, and maybe he would get itchy feet eventually, but that was more than compensated for by being able to satisfy the more highly-placed itches of some of the noble ladies also trapped in the castle. Anyway, he knew in his heart that there was a relief in not being listened to, sometimes. Power meant responsibility. Advice unacted upon almost always might have been right, and in the working out of whatever plan was followed, there was anyway always blood; better it was on their hands. The good soldier did as he was told, and if he had any sense at all volunteered for nothing, especially promotion.
December 1, 2025 at 4:59 PM
mezentine.bsky.social
And the fractal layers are always interfacing with each other *continuously*. Discrete segregation is a fantasy.
The Winter Palace, besieged. Outside, on the snow-strewn plain, amongst the fires and trenches, there were huge wooden siege structures and missile launchers, heavy artillery and rock-throwing catapults; juried field projectors and gas-powered searchlights; a heinous collection of blatant anachronisms, developmental paradoxes and technological juxtapositions. And they called it progress. 'I don't know, Keiver breathed. "Men fire guided missiles, from their mounts' saddles; jets are shot down by guided arrows; throw-knives explode like artillery shells, or like as not get turned back by ancestral armour backed by these damned field projectors... where's it all to end, eh, Zakalwe?'
December 1, 2025 at 4:50 PM
mezentine.bsky.social
God, the effortlessness of the writing. This is why the scale stuff works. The Orbitals, the GSVs, the trillion-death wars, all of it, if all works because on every page Banks just spins out this endlessly fractal detail reaffirming that everything big is built out of a billion small bits.
'Ah. Good' Keiver fiddled with the ornamental pommel of his gun, wishing that Zakalwe didn't make him feel - so unjustifiably, dammit - inferior, and crossed in front of the fireplace to sit (care-fully, this time) on a preposterous porcelain throne stationed to one side of the hearth. He watched the mercenary sit down on the hearth-stone, leaving the plasma cannon on the floor in front of him and stretching. Well, a half watch's sleep will have to suffice? 'Hmm,' Keiver said, feeling awkward. He glanced at the ceremonial coach the other man had been sleeping in, and so recently vacated. 'Ah.' Keiver drew the roquelaure about him, and smiled. 'I don't suppose you know the story behind that old carriage, do you?' The mercenary - the so-called (Ha!) War Minister - shrugged. Well, he said. The version I heard was that in the Interregnum, the Archpresbyter told the Mytholast he could have the tribute, income and souls of all the monasteries he could raise his state coach above, using one horse. The Mytholast accepted, founded this castle and erected this tower with foreign loans, and using a highly efficient pulley system powered by his prize stallion, winched the coach up here during the Thirty Golden Days to claim every monastery in the land. He won the bet and the resulting war, disestablished the Final Priesthood, paid off his debts, and only perished because the groom in charge of the prize stallion objected to the fact that the beast died of its exertions, and strangled him with its blood and foam-flecked bridle... which, according to legend, is immured within the base of the porcelain throne you're sitting on. So we're told He looked at the other man and shrugged again. Keiver was aware that his mouth was hanging open. He closed it. 'Ah, you know the story.' 'No; just a wild guess.' Keiver hesitated, then laughed loudly. 'By hell! You're a rum chap, Zakalwe!'
December 1, 2025 at 4:38 PM
mezentine.bsky.social
One of my favorite Banks techniques is the use is slightly archaic or unusual words rooted in specific human culture as a way of assisting the reader in building an alien-yet-human imagination of scenery and setting. Gene Wolfe is famous for this, but I think Banks is just as good at it.
They shared their eyrie with the state coach of the Mythoclass, a cluttered army of statues, and a jumble of assorted chests, cases and cupboards packed with treasure from a dozen great houses. Astil Tremerst Keiver selected a roquelaure from a tall chiffonier, closed the cabinet's door and admired himself in the mirror. Yes, the cloak looked very fine on him, very fine indeed. He flourished it, pirouetting, drew his ceremonial rifle from its scabbard, and then made a circuit of the room, around the grand state coach, making
December 1, 2025 at 4:13 PM
mezentine.bsky.social
*sigh*
December 1, 2025 at 4:13 AM
mezentine.bsky.social
Just this enormous suffocating weight that is no longer pressing down on my chest every moment of every day until I forget that its even there?
A view down a ramp towards a floating platform in a harbor. A man is fishing off the side A brightly colored bundle of boating equipment, teal, yellow and red, sit on an otherwise stark brown dock covered in white snow A floating ring-shaped dock in the habor with eight long arms extending from its sides
November 30, 2025 at 10:52 PM
mezentine.bsky.social
Man its crazy how much better I feel after I quit my job.
A great horned owl sitting motionless on a branch in a winter tree free of leaves. A great horned owl sitting motionless on a branch in a winter tree free of leaves.
November 30, 2025 at 10:47 PM
mezentine.bsky.social
Owl.
A great horned owl sitting motionless on a branch in a winter tree free of leaves.
November 30, 2025 at 10:45 PM
mezentine.bsky.social
Oh my god the theme parks aren’t technically using MCU canon that doesn’t have the Thanos Snap because they can’t invite the guest to contemplate the possibility that their loved ones traumatically dissolved into ash in front of them only to return to life five years later.
and inspired by the MCU. However, they instead take place in the "Marvel Theme Park Universe" 18. an alternate universe parallel to it within the MCU multiverse, [91 in which the Blip, introduced in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and subsequent events did not occur. 1°! They are designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, in collaboration with Marvel Studios and Marvel Themed Entertainment.'"]
November 30, 2025 at 9:56 PM
mezentine.bsky.social
I kind of feel like the Avengers section of the park probably shouldn’t have taken ten years to build since your acquisition of the IP and maybe shouldn’t be getting its much needed expansion after you spent that decade strip mining said IP to the point of rapidly diminishing relevance.
In one of its latest expansions, the company is at work adding two new attractions to its Disneyland Avengers Campus, that will double its size. Construction is underway at Avengers Infinity Defense - "Suit up for a multi-world adventure experience to stop King Thanos from wreaking havoc across worlds. Travel to iconic locations like Asgard, Wakanda and New York City, and face King Thanos himself," read a post to the park's blog. And at Stark Flight Lab, "Sit in 2-person pods, deploy to a test station and get whirled around in a simulated flight by a robot arm. Mr. Tony Stark will join you for the ride!"
November 30, 2025 at 9:51 PM
mezentine.bsky.social
Oh fuck off. “Our average customer is price insensitive so we can charge whatever we want and they don’t even notice.” Fuck you.
He noted that Disney park-goers tends "to be at the higher-income deciles, and those consumers continue to do well. So we certainly broadly feel good about where the consumer is."
November 30, 2025 at 9:45 PM