Lark

It's this piece, titled The Banality of the Banality of Evil. Because on first glance, you're like. Yeah, okay, it's obvious what it's saying. Even nazis, even evil people can appreciate beauty, too. But then you learn its name, and suddenly the interpretation shifts a bit. The idea that evil is banal has in itself become banal. my first response to seeing a nazi on a bench is "oh it's about the banality of evil" and not "jesus christ there's a nazi on the bench."

what I find really interesting is how the way this is drawn (especially considering who drew it) the art style seems extremely deliberate. This type of nostalgic landscape painting is very reminiscent of nazi art and specifically, Hitler's art.

Nazis were extremely judgmental of "entartete Kunst" (degenerate art). Bansky's usual work very well fall into this category! So for him to go for this style of painting in particular is another choice I find very interesting, because I can see some people react to this painting with some variation of "oh, I didn't know he could actually draw! I thought he is a hack but he is a real artist!" - and that is where they would agree with the Nazis.

but it's an entirely new level of tragic when somebody you've actually spoken to gets turned into a bot account. it's like peeking at a zombie apocalypse through the window and realizing one of the shambling corpses was your friend.

and then the zombie catches sight of you, lurches up to your window, and shouts through the glass that they accidentally reported your account to tumblr and you'll be deactivated unless you click this link.

if you get something like this ↑ they're gonna follow up by instructing you to contact tumblr support on discord and give you contact info; or they're gonna link a website that looks sort of like tumblr support and say you have to email them; or any variety of "you must now contact tumblr, here is how you contact tumblr."

whatever they send you, it Does Not lead to tumblr. it leads to the master zombie that bit them and inducted them into the ranks of the undead, and will bite you the second they have your email and password. i might be confusing zombies and vampires. anyway,

it's easier to fall for these messages because the blog doesn't LOOK like a bot blog, because it ISN'T a bot blog. it's a normal person's blog that got accessed by a bot, meaning the blog's content CLEARLY looks like a real active user when you click on it. and yes—it might even be a blog you already know. sometimes bots like this go down a blog's DMs or reblogs and message people they've previously interacted with.

I need the Autobots or Decepticons to track down someone, who went into stasis on earth for the war, only to find fungi mycorrhiza clogging their Energon lines having consumed every drop. I need lichens, mosses, and ferns sprouting from their frame, slowly absorbing the micronutrients that leech off of them as bacteria and protists excrete acid to dissolve them microscopically. I need small detritivores like snails, isopods, and insects eating those plants and bacteria. I need a nest of mice hidden under their armour. I need a clutch of mysterious eggs safely nestled away in a burrow under their arm. I need the earth to completely and entirely reclaim them.

And the worst part, the worst part is that I need them to see that this was inevitable. I need them to see that they can clean them up, remove all the plants and debris, provide them with fresh Energon, and see how their very processor has been rusted and corroded

Everything but their spark is dead and consumed, and even that is barely holding on by a thread. They’re functionally a living corpse. At what point do you just let the wildlife take the rest of them? At what point do you wonder if their spark will even return to the allspark?

I need them to see that this will happen in every habitat across earth. Maybe not as fast. A rainforest is hungrier than a desert: but they’ll both eat you.

I need them to see that: even with Unicron locked away, asleep for millennia more, he will still consume them if they stay.

Everytime they see an organic from here on out, I need them to shiver

[Fungal metal corrosion| Radiotrophic fungi| Plants that absorb heavy metals ]

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.

Left is MY FIC, right is the ACTUAL BOOK QUOTE IT WAS INSPIRED BY

(Mask context: masquerade ball / cinderella au)

It has been doing numbers EVERYWHERE and I only found out from this lovely person who commented on Ao3:

When they come to the Kabin, we want to make those kids proud of their identity, proud of their accent and proud of where they’re from,” he explains.

“Knocknaheeny hasn’t had the best reputation in the last 20 or 30 years, but it’s changing for the better. We’re always telling the kids to be proud of where you’re from – whether that’s Cork or someone who’s moved to Ireland.”