Extra Evil - Strolling In Late
Today's Fortune: Find a new artist to stalk every week.

Newsreel
The Atlantic says Americans need more shots.
The National Guard says Americans need more shots.
Gazans may get less shots.
The Ukranian waterfall continues.
The Nobel Committee bought shots for climate research.
Cancer-attacking sound waves may let patients keep taking shots.
You Need This
Pitching.
A Photo

War Journal
That first headline refers to a popular The Atlantic article (is any magazine better at ducking the reaper?), about modern ills hailing from a jello shot shortage. Reconstruction, plagues, and hideous greed aside, the idea has me giggling.
My old flask's talking to me like a Green Goblin mask. But dry's working out, so I'll hold out for a government subsidy. If Uncle Sam wants my liver and mornings, he can pay for it.

Word's been losing to Notepad. Odd rebrand.
Or a digital typewriter side effect. I've grown to love that thing. I'm finding it easier to hammer things out with less glowing and spinning in the background. You know, thanks to the blossoming mental stability that marks our era.
Alternate theory: that's pure recency bias. There may be a simple, flat bonus to writing tools . The old Musashi "think of nothing but your art." I like The Book of Five Rings a bit too much for a pacifist of convenience. It's equally popular among people that think Earth needs to return to PVP mode.

Overheard, on Artificial Island:
Green: I went back on Facebook.
Red and Blue: *concerned silence*
Green: To get our pictures! Check it out, this is from 2015.
Red: You look good!
Blue: You should use that, bro.
Green: It's from 2015.
Blue: Play to win, bro.
Green: Anyway, I'll get your old pictures.
Blue: Play to win.

I'm enjoying a gamer relapse. As in playtime, not becoming a reactionary. Per past promises, that story arc requires high-velocity head trauma. So far, I'm still landing on my feet. Okay, hands and rear. But the head's looking fine.
I'm chained to Hades 2, much like half my cohort. The others are playing Silksong. I'm curious but I sense that'd be like chasing coke with coke.
All that's probably hyperbole. I've "only" logged 15 hours, which I'd have spat on as a child. Or last year. I'm really pushing these days. I have this phantom feeling, that I'm on the edge of disappearing or a breakthrough. Both might be fantasies. They imply more control than the universe likes to hand out.

I'm done waiting for the head wound. My short-form video experiments have been a stealth warm-up: I've had an idea for a dating coach parody for a bit, and it's time I put pencil to paper. Or face to camera, whatever the serotonin-mines call it.
A Screenshot

The Present
- Maybe you need two copies. [How to Dodge a Cannonball]
- I had a birthday. [Exclusive Evil]
- Welcome to my origin story. [DoggZzone9000]
- I wrote about Friend. And lived. [1900HOTDOG]
- Maybe you need both editions. [My Previous Book]
The Past
Remember the time I abridged everything?
The Future
Trying to squeeze in a poster stunt. Fingers crossed.
Next column hits a familiar theme from an odd angle.
Dead Sun Theory
Pitching.
Not Brought to You By
Consider this an addendum to this week's column. I have to talk about this image:

These posters are everywhere. And get enthusiastic hatred. It warms my heart, really. Tell your friends you wrote this, and you'll be drinking alone. Tell your parents, and you'll need a new last name. Tell your priest, and you'll need a new God.
Said posters deserve it. But just for the product. As ads, they're merely mediocre.
This is academic, and we're probably better off castigating everyone involved in Friend with nuance-free inquisitorial enthusiasm. But this is a hobby, and I should spend some time away from Hades. I'll indulge the overthought.
At times, in evaluating ads for terrible bullshit, we fall victim to the Cigarette Fallacy. Ads for death sticks can still be brilliant, garbage, boring, fun, or simply bizarre. Ask my comrade Brendan sometime. Or the few reverse miracles I dug up in this section during our retro period.
As far as pitches to sell your soul to Tzeentch go, Friend posters are merely dull. Dictionary pulls are dull, featureless tech against white is dull, and begging for a expensive url to carry you across the finish line is dull. Which, on second thought, is it's own sin. Friend's an insane proposition. Go crazy. Revel in the madness. You're selling digital meth, not iPads.
Nuance rescinded. Reclaim your pitchforks.
Creativity: D- | Persuasion: F+ | Sanity: F-
One Sentence Reviews
Ghost Killer: Meandering excellence. (4/5)
Friend: Buy a dog. (0/5)
Osmo Action 5: Like the 4, with streaming bugs. (3/5)
Overpriced Mechanical Pencils: I'm a mark. (5/5)
A Question

Signing off
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