Not Lost

Nicked from Facebook

Huge layoffs inbound for Xbox throughout 2027.

The European Union already forced Apple to abandon its proprietary charging port and adopt USB-C across its entire iPhone lineup. It just did something bigger. A new EU mandate requires every smartphone sold in Europe including Apple devices to feature a battery that can be replaced by the user without specialist tools, without voiding a warranty, and without sending the device to a manufacturer approved service center. Batteries must maintain a minimum capacity threshold after a set number of charge cycles and replacement parts must remain available for up to ten years after a model goes on sale.

The consumer electronics industry built its current business model around batteries that degrade, cannot be replaced at home, and create a natural upgrade cycle every two to three years. The EU just legislated that model out of existence in the world's largest regulatory market.

Apple, Samsung, and every other manufacturer now faces a choice between redesigning their devices for the European market or accepting that their current hardware architecture is no longer legally sellable there.

Chapter 7: Catechism

"What's with the sudden interest?" Tyranny asked. "Don't tell me you've finally seen the Light?"

"Hardly," Bolaire scoffed. "This is a work-related matter."

"Yes, his Administrative Director is unwell."

"Seems like a lot of trouble to go to for a secretary."

Rauwyn curse that abominable trope. "Why does everyone think I have a think for middle-aged paper-pushers?"

People LOVE to talk about how Bolaire could just kill his victims rather than subjecting them to mind theatre torture while starving them to death. They say that 'even though Bolaire only preys on people who hurt him or his friends, it is still morally wrong to take their agency and harm them rather than killing them outright'. They say that this justifies how Thjazi treated him.

....But Thjazi could've taken Bolaire off between those victims, put him in a box, and effectively 'killed' him / put him into stasis, if he was so damn horrified by the morality of letting Bolaire walk about in his city.

He chose not to do that.

He instead chose to treat Bolaire, a sapient person, as a tool who he possessed and controlled, while subjecting him to dehumanising cruelty every step of the way. Even if Bolaire is a dangerous parasite who hurts people, Thjazi chose to torment him over a prolonged period rather than 'ending things' immediately. While still letting Bolaire torture his victims.

It started with someone listing "places with uncanny energy," like gas stations on a road trip, empty movie theaters, etc.

Then someone reblogged it and said those are called "liminal spaces," defining liminal as in-between, neither one thing nor another.

Tomorrow (July 4th, 2026) is the 10 year anniversary of the-crepes-of-wrath's comment, which:

Predates the 2020 spike in interest by four years

Predates the original backrooms post, and the the creation of r/liminalspaces by three years

Predates the earliest mention that KnowYourMeme attributes to Twitter by two years

I'm pretty sure this is the moment the term "liminal spaces" was attached to this sort of imagery, and it's TEN YEARS OLD TOMORROW!