tricks and japes and junk

Part of a Valentine's Day collab with other Brazilian artists!!

*verbal altercations

silco is a very physical arguer—he pokes, points, shoves, and prods. he squints, scrunches his nose, pouts, hisses, and snipes.

if he has a lot to say, he tells vander to sit down ‘cause he’s not going to get a cramp in his neck from looking up for so long. sometimes when he’s too angry to do that, he grabs a chair or a crate to stand on so that he can argue with vander at eye level/from a higher viewpoint.

(vander finds it really fucking endearing when silco tells him to sit down and/or stomps off and comes back with a crate to stand on, trying his hardest not to smile.)

occasionally, silco physically handles vander into the nearest seat—grabbing him by the shoulders, pushing him, pulling him. the build uo to this is silco entering the pub loudly, still sparking and fizzling with frustration like an exposed wire, and stalking past vander without sparing a second glance (expecting him to follow).

when vander doesn’t follow right away (torn on whether or not he should follow or give silco space to cool down first), he gets his answer in the form of silco storming back out from where he disappeared and either standing there waiting for the other man to read the room and leave his station and then dragging him out with a hand on his collar, or silco himself flips up the hatch, grabs vander by the front of his shirt and pivots to stomp off again with the big dog behind him.

which is a sight to see for anyone dining in or taking drink at the last drop for the first time. but to those who knew of the hound and his handler, it was instantly understood that this particular argument wasn’t going to be a swift one.

then it’s all finding the bottom of your tankard really interesting or suddenly desiring to close your tab early because while it could not be seen, silco’s rage was a terrifying one considering how quiet it is. and for vander not to raise his voice once is even scarier considering how dangerous his rage is as who in all of the lanes wields the heraclean talent of taming the hound of the undergound? the pretty bird on his arm?

people wouldn’t believe it until they observed silco for themselves, commanding silent authority from his perch on the bar or overseeing his book of enterprise tucked into a homey booth at the back of the pub. the way he so easily wins the pint-puller’s attention by just being there, sometimes not even saying a word until he takes his leave because there’s too much work to be done and he’s too busy in his head.

vander is all voice when he argues, his gestures come later: a hand in his hair, wiping his face or in the air emphasising his words.

from an early age he learnt to rein in his strength when arguing because of the obvious physical advantage he has over others, so he roars and growls and grits through clenched teeth. he sighs and postures back his shoulders like a soldier.

when he argues with silco, it’s hard to remain angry because his love for him is always there first before the grievance whenever he looks at him. he sees his soulmate, his other half. his partner.

the same applies when they’re right in each other’s faces, nose-to-nose, and silco is glaring straight death at vander but because he’s looking up, the light catches his eyes and vander’s completely gone (on some “whatever you say, beautiful”).

the way vander doesn’t joke like an adolescent lad when he’s with silco but instead speaks to him like a mature lover—gentle murmurs so soft they’re barely inaudible, not even having to ask his order before vander’s refilling his glass or setting a new bowl down for his elusive canary to pick at.

lingering his eyes in the direction of the dark booth as he polishes glasses, checking in on his partner periodically through the bustling shift.

excusing himself from his patrons to go and say goodnight if silco is the one to leave first, draping the cloth over his shoulder or tucking it into his belt as he follows the younger man up to their bedroom (when the time can be spared) or catching him around the corner and crowding him against the wall. away from the curious eyes of their establishment that ceaselessly wonder at the sort of power silco must possess if he can master the pit’s most feared pair of fists.

And everything else is a type of distraction that Lestat WANTS us to be distracted by.

In previous seasons, Danny Molloy talks about how Louis uses third person "him" or "one" when he's trying to distance himself from his actions. Danny is good at catching this stuff!

Lestat is a master of DISTRACTION. Look at the visual difference in the third season (a naked woman showering in the background of a shot, switching from documentary style to colour, time skips, so much modern slang it's almost hard to understand).

Danny repeatedly throughout the episode asks Lestat if he was a stutterer as a kid. (the repetition also kind of mimicking the act of stuttering). He's hammering him. Don't get distracted! Stay on point (both Danny and us, the viewer)!

And what happens at the end of the episode? Lestat stutters as he sees his mother; and it looks like we're going to start delving into his childhood. That's where the pain is. That's where the story is.

1. The court holds Google responsible for statements made by its AI, considering them Google's statements (search engines have limited liability for results in their engine as they're the words of other sites/companies/people), meaning when their AI lies/hallucinates they're liable for the defamation/harm resulting from those statements.

2. Google's defense that customers are generally aware of the lack of reliability and are responsible for fact checking was dismissed. As the court pointed out, that would "significantly diminish" AI Search's stated purpose and it can't be distinguished from Google's business practices/statements as a search tool.

3. Studies have found about 91% of Google's everyday AI responses are accurate, leaving millions of searches per HOUR with potential liability for falsehoods. 56% of correct responses weren't supported by the sources the AI listed. Both of which mean Google is now liable for a LOT more AI "errors."

4. Google was held liable for 80% of court costs in this case and this precedent is expected to reverberate around the world. This is a massive shift from the 3rd-party search provider role Google has previously played and it comes right as they've tied ALL searches to their AI search.