Copyrights And Wrongs

So the music industry can be pretty darn cut-throat, but it has the occasional bright spot. I'm luckily not speaking from direct experience, but there's this story, about a young electronica artist who wanted to make a song with samples from this obscure 80's soft rock track. The record label who owned the copyright not only refused permission, they threw a couple studio producers in a booth and made their own version. But then the original singer heard about this, and re-recorded the song for the artist to use. Nice story.

Sadly I actually prefer the soulless record label's version.

Truth In Media

After we jumped into the next timeline, as I was helping our new fellow traveller deal with her post jump nausea, the Captain walked over and obtained a paper from a nearby newsstand. The Captain began to look through the paper, the cover story blaring at us that Boris, whoever he was, was alive with The Snowbeast, whatever that was.

"Shouldn't we look at a proper paper?" she asked the Captain.

"That might be true, or slanted, or false. This, I know is false, but this is what the culture wants to read. Much more accurate measure of a culture." 

On Bended Knee

On a moonlit night, as they drank a middling at best white wine, he professed his love to her, and asked to spend the rest of his life with her.

It was not a poetic speech, although the stammers and grunts as he tried to collect his thoughts during it did give it a slight scat singing aspect.

He repeated himself, he mangled the quotes he used, and the presentation of the ring was without any real showmanship.

But it was heartfelt, and true, and the most important thing he could say, to her.

She just wished she could accept.

Aesop 2.0: 25. The Bee And The Fly

The Bee and The Fly were flying together, looking for food, when they followed some humans into a long tube, which then closed up. It felt strange for a few hours, then the tube opened, and The Bee and The Fly found themselves in a whole new world.

The Fly was delighted, and explored their new home, while The Bee panicked, until they found a hive that accepted them, quickly returning to the same working life they'd had. Both were happy.

"Travel can change you, or not change you. Don't let anyone tell you one or the other is wrong."

Royal Guards

Royal guards were placed, for the most part, in logical and tactically useful positions.

Except for four guards, placed in a square in the middle of the field outside the palace, looking out.

Sure, they technically could raise the alarm if they saw something, but that's not why they were there.

Anyone who looked into it would find mention of a young princess, hundreds of years prior, who ordered guards to guard the first Crimson Dandelion of the season, and that they were never recalled by a Royal.

And absolutely no mention of a secret escape tunnel that emerges there.

Counting Backwards

A large file was dropped on my desk by the new Captain. After I finished my mouthful of chicken parm hero, I flicked through it.

"Oh, Marvolo The Mesmerising. We had another complaint?"

"Why is this guy still walking free?"

"Because his expensive legal team are very good at arguing that given all evidence shows that it's impossible to make someone do something under hypnosis that they don't want to do, it's all consensual."

She then dropped a signed statement on top of the file.

"His expensive legal team who were hypnotised to work for free have broken the spell."

The Most Sadistic Thing To Say

There's an old joke that the most sadistic thing to say to a masochist when they ask you to hurt them is 'No'.

Like most jokes that aren't really jokes, there's an element of truth in that, despite it getting almost everything wrong about the subject matter.

Sadism and masochism are more complicated and nuanced than just different reactions to different ends of the whip. And pleasure and pain denial can be a part of some people's kinks.

But really, the most important thing is that you understand that the most sadistic thing to say to a masochist is spoilers.