if i'm not a bog witch, what's even the point?

Mayor Mamdani's first month takes an unexpected turn as the Five Boroughs were severed from the earth. Reporters on the ground have stated that nothing was left behind, save for smouldering claw-marks in the street, and most of Long Island.

The new mayor could not be reached for comment; however, the nation's president is reported as having experienced his first real emotion in over 30 years, after staffers informed him of the city's disappearance. This report was shortly followed by an email from senior presidential advisors, stating:

The headquarters of more than 40 different Fortune 500 companies have vanished - and reportedly, residents of "Neath York" haven't seen them, either.

Nation-wide, CEOs of major companies are struggling to understand the discrepency between the profits and the reported value of their businesses. When Mr. ______, CEO and founder of ________ was interviewed on the matter, he had this to say:

"I just don't understand it. My analysts have all gone on extended leave. They said they feel like there's something missing in their heads, something massive; I think they're colluding on something. [...] they must've talked me into slashing my pay, too, as some kind of PR move. It's insane, who would give up that kind of money for nothing? I mean, my annual salary isn't even over $500,000 - I could lose my home!"

The value of the dollar appears to have dropped almost overnight, following the loss of New York City. Economists across the country have been collaborating feverishly to pinpoint the exact cause.

On 4chan's infamous '/pol' board, one self-described economist wrote the following:

">over 40 fortine 500 companies now headless

>new york Gdp drops

>national gdp drops

>???

>value of the dollar [----]ing evaporates?

I dont know guys, the numbers still dont really add up. its like they erased something huge."

Many economists have also called in to report what could be a massive hacking campaign, targeting the foundations of American business. The cause of this concern? A mysterious suite of software, often with titles containing the name of a non-existent company, followed with words like 'index', 'market', or 'finance'.

over 800 species of Bus

the concept of the "stock market" has been excised, using the Red Science (and possibly irrigo)

maps are not allowed, & the streets shift constantly. cabbies still know exactly where they are at all times, and have formed a semi-secret society

the Subway Takes guy is still there

someone lied to the Masters and told them the city runs on a barter economy. this has been a challenging adjustment.

(Most of) Long Island got left behind

The subway still takes you to all the same stops, just different names

occasionally, for the first six months, there would be an unexplainable burst of cell reception. the delayed time displacement becomes obvious as residents briefly enjoy MySpace being popular again. The next burst brings back UseNet, and then everything goes dark.

nobody can find the mayor, but everyone is sure they *just* saw him around the last corner

members of the Roadworker's Guild are perpetually seen wearing welding masks; while members will often have the face lifted, requests to remove it entirely are met with either fear or outright hostility

nobody can seem to remember where all the worst potholes used to be, but many streets are now scored with a number of glowing sigils. it is not recommended to dwell on this.

several of the Masters have attempted to enact a travel ban between London and Neath York, which has resulted in city-wide protests York-side. London's zee captains appear to either not have been informed of this ban, or, more likely, have simply refused to care.

@mourningcandles I was enamoured by this tag i could feel it and hear it so vividly in my mind

By 'low-impact' do you mean impact on the material reality of people's lives, of politics, of marxism? Do you think that someone can make art that is effective propaganda without meaning to?

I agree that people especially on the 'art appreciation' website will have strong reactions to that statement as did I when reading it, I think it would be silly to expect otherwise, but I think it's something worth thinking about. I'm not super well-read even though I'm trying to fix that and I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter if you have a moment.

i mean, like, any individual media object just has an extremely low impact on the world, materially and politically. when art or even specifically directed propaganda has influence on the world, it is in aggregate, as the manifestation of a cultural trend or the characteristics of mass media production--for instance, i don't think gears of war or top gun are individually very influential on the world in a vacuum, they are simply individual examples of the very influential billion-dollar mass culture imperialist propaganda industry.

and like, in case where a particular work or piece of propaganda can be singlehandedly influential, the properties of the work itself are secondary to the material factors propagating it and the political factions adopting and appropriating it. like, to take a very extreme example, the protocols of the elders of zion became a hugely important pillar of global antisemitism because of its usage by the black hundreds and later by white russian emigres, not because of some remarkably convincing element of its own rhetoric

My three evil girlfriends.

With a heavy heart, I come to you all with the news announced by close friends of Cat Frazier that she had passed away on Monday, June 29.

She had been running @animatedtext since 2012, with her impact on the internet SHAPING tumblr. If you have a years long history on this site, you’ve seen her art.

She ran a venue in Oakland called Oakland Secret, a punk venue where I’d vend at regularly as an artist. She made a safe space for queer artists, artists of color, and local furs too. I am forever grateful for her work both in the Bay Area creative scene and online, and am forever changed by the totality of her impact.

I’ll be linking some articles from the 2010’s about her impact online: The Fader | Action | Jezebel | ObviouslySocial

I invite you to take a visit through her archive, and if you have a long history with this site like I do, it’s like walking down memory lane.