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[blackoutteesusa]

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[hellfireloserclub]

Inspired by this post

By the wonderful @steddieas-shegoes you dont have to read it first, but you should

At first, Eddie thought something was wrong. They had just gotten through the turnstiles, and he was wandering forward to marvel at the train pulling into the station on the raised platform above them. He hadn’t seen an actual steam train in real life before. The combination of the excitement at seeing the billowing clouds coming from the flume of the engine, on top of the buzz he was still carrying from his first-ever trip on an aeroplane, meant he hadn’t realised Steve had fallen out of step with him until he turned to ask if they could ride it.

Steve had stopped dead in his tracks and didn’t seem to be in any rush to catch Eddie up. So Eddie skipped back around the other families and stopped beside his boyfriend. closeup Eddie could make out that Steve was crying, his sunglasses hid it, but Eddie knew him well enough to read the wobble on his lip and the way his eyebrows arched and know what it meant. 

“Stevie, what is it?” He placed a hand on Steve’s arm, the only thing he felt safe doing in such a public setting. “Did someone say something? You’re not getting one of your headaches are you?” 

Steve shook his head, his wobbling bottom lip turning into a wobbly smile. 

“We’re actually here.” Steve leant into his side moving out of the way of the people coming through the turnstiles, “I never thought… well I never thought I would get here…”

Steve was happy crying in front of a giant floral Mickey Mouse head and Eddie had never loved him more. It was well worth all the sneaking around and plotting and planning to see Steve so overwhelmed with Happiness.

But Eddie might actually burst if they didn’t get into the actual park soon, plus people were looking at them, and he was more than aware that if the sight of two fully grown men crying didn’t draw attention to them, two fully grown heavily scared crying men would. 

“Come on Baby, You haven’t even seen your summer pad yet. I hear that this place has an actual castle, not a two-star McMansion like good old Castle Harrington.” That jostled a laugh out of Steve, who saw ample opportunity to wipe his tear-stained cheek on the shoulder of Eddie’s T-shirt. 

“Are you regretting the wardrobe choices yet?” Steve tugged on the hem of his black shirt.

“Absolutely not.” it was a barefaced lie, he was boiling to death and in desperate need of something to drink as soon as possible. But it was the principle of the thing. He had a standard to uphold. He flagged down a passing member of staff (a cast member Steve had pointed out as they had gotten to the hotel, his nose in the guidebook the kids had bought them) and asked them to take a picture with the camera that Jonathan had lent them for the trip. The woman didn’t even blink as Eddie pulled Steve into his side as they posed before the train station. She wished them a magical day as she returned the camera and Eddie dragged Steve towards the Tunnels under the train station and onto Main Street USA, not as scared to keep Steve a little closer to his side.

Eddie had seen nothing like it before, the adverts on the T. v, and the guidebook didn’t do it justice at all, they hadn’t even been in the park two seconds before Steve had dragged him towards something. 

There was so much to take in, the other-worldly-ness of it was overpowering, and considering Eddie had been stuck in a hell dimension for a good while there that was saying something. Everything was so bright, and as they made their way up towards the honest to god fairytale castle, sounds and smells overwhelmed the senses, Eddie wasn’t sure where to look first. 

Steve was yapping away, flicking through his guidebook, they had picked up a map as they had passed under the station, and Eddie had been tasked with navigating, making a big production of folding the map out as much as he could and wafting it in front of both their faces.

“So what do you want to do first.” he asked as they reached an area on the map labelled with ‘hub,’ “If we go Left we have Pirates and a river adventure, if we go right we have the future. Straight ahead and you can punch a prince in the face, steal his horse and his title for charming.” 

“What do you want to do?” Steve looked so awestruck Eddie wasn't sure he wasn't about to burst into tears again. 

“I say we go buckle some swashes, plus they sell ice Cream over in ‘adventure land’” (he did the air quotes, earning him an annoyed tisk from a woman carrying a child that had stopped next to them ) 

Soon they each had a dole whip float, and Eddie couldn't help but laugh as Steve ended up with a scoop of ice cream stuck to the end of his nose as he attempted to retrieve his straw from the mountain of Pineapple Juice and soft serve.

After they had cooled down, they joined the line for the Jungle Cruise; he did not know what to expect, but it wasn’t the dry sarcastic deadpan humour of the Skipper of the little boat. The jokes were Hopper level dad jokes, and by the time they had reached the eighth wonder of the world (the back side of water), they had both almost fallen in with laughing so hard. 

“Well, at least if everything else fails Mike can get a job working for the Jungle Navigation company.” Steve pointed at the fake flyers on the way out of the queue advertising for staff.

They stuck to the shade as they made their way towards the next ride, only pausing to watch as Chip and Dale wandered past them (‘Jesus imagine if Wayne had gotten chipmunks that size stuck in the roof?’ ‘Are they a couple? Or is it a Burt and Earnie situation?’ Dustin would know he knows everything ) 

“What the hell is a Handwitch and why do I want one?”

It turned out to be a sandwich served as a cone, and ended up in a debate on if Argyle had anything to do with the monstrosity that had just been devoured. It lasted all the way until they got into the delightful air conditioning of the pirate line. The ride building was cold, and there was a strange smell in the air, but they were thankful for it as they ventured further and further into the darkness. As they loaded into another boat, they took the back row, Eddie feeling emboldened by the darkness twisted his hand together with Steve as their boat took off on a voyage. 

Dead men tell no tales.

Eddie lent in close to Steve’s ear “Dunno I thought it was one of my better skills.” 

“Think you have to stay dead, you came back and haven’t shut up since.”

We wants the redhead.

“Isn’t that Birdie’s battle cry?”

Here doggy doggy doggy 

“That dog is guarding those keys like I guard the last shred of my sanity around the rugrats.” 

"Well, now I have a massive need to see you dressed as a pirate" Steve teased as they jumped out of the boat at the other end. 

"Well, they sell tricorns and swords in the gift shop so it can be arranged" 

Walking into frontier land Eddie couldn't help but make a beeline for the cowboys selling hats near some construction walls. He tried not to appreciate the man in the chaps but he was only human. 

 "If I buy a pirate hat, you need a cowboy hat or that Davy Crockett hat." He pointed to the one next to the popcorn maker. 

"That very specific one? Is there something you want to share with the class Munson?" 

"Not where impressionable ears can hear Harrington." He wiggled his eyebrows and Steve reached for his wallet. By the time they got on the rollercoaster, Steve had the fake raccoon hat pulled down over his hair and Eddie had dashed back to buy the tricorn he had seen in the last land. As they rode up the lift hill, he leant into Steve " You heard the man darlin' best remove em…" 

"Think they meant hats and glasses baby, keep it in your pants, I know you can restrain yourself till we get back to the hotel." Yet Steve still shimmied a little closer along the bench seat knocking his knees playfully against Eddie’s, the skin on skin contact where their knees met was enough to make Eddie reach out and touch, resting his hand on Steve’s bare knee as they looked out at the world around them. The castle looked just as pretty from the back, and the sight of a steamboat thrilled Eddie almost as much as the train. He was so distracted he didn’t even see the first drop coming. 

 The coaster was a little wilder than the pop-up ones at the Hawkins fair and Eddie was happy that Steve gripped his hand as they took the second drop because Eddie was almost sure he was about to see the dole whip in reverse. 

He declined the chocolate-covered bacon, happy to let Steve indulge in his abomination on a stick. Seeking shelter from the midday sun they dropped into a show, the way Steve's face lit up when he turned to Eddie and whispered "These bears all talk like you and Wayne after too many whiskeys" earned the younger man a dig in the ribs. 

After getting photos with the country bears (they also liked Steve's hat.) Eddie all but dragged Steve towards the ominous-looking Mansion.

 "Nope, I've changed my mind, you need to get one of these maid outfits" Steve whispered as they stepped into more darkness the doors closed behind them and a looming voice began taking from the darkness.

Steve pressed in closer as the room began to seemingly stretch around them. Eddie almost missed the door opening as he tried to work out how they had achieved the effect, it definitely felt like the room was stretching, and it disorientated him as they followed the crowd out onto the loading platform. 

Eddie was already convinced that this was some of the coolest shit he had ever seen even before they were loaded into their doom buggies.

" Is this going to be scary?" Steve whispered. 

"I doubt you're going to shit your pants if that's what you're worried about, baby, you can hold my hand if you need to."  

Steve did just that, content to watch Eddie as he tried not to miss anything as they progressed from room to room. 

By the time they had gotten to the ballroom, Steve was leaning forward just as much as he was, eyes blown wide as he took it all in. 

By the time they had ditched their hitchhiking ghosts and emerged blinking back into the sunlight, both of them were trying to work out how they had managed the effects. 

"Again? " Steve asked as they passed a carriage with a ghost horse. 

"Again." 

By the time they had been around four times, Eddie was sure he had worked out how they had achieved the ghost effects in the ballroom and could recite the opening monologue of the ride from memory. (quietly so as not to annoy anyone else, he wasn't a monster.) 

"I don't think I want a ghost following us home." Eddie lamented as Steve finally pulled them away from the ride and towards a churro cart.  

"After Vecna, a ghost would be easy to deal with, I mean, El would sort them out if they really miss behaved, we could teach them to fold laundry or something useful.," Steve licked the cinnamon and sugar off his fingers, and paired with the beaver hat he still had pulled down over his head, it was giving Eddie ideas. 

"You're thinking if a poltergeist, like Beetlejuice babe, ghosts can't touch stuff." 

"Who?"

"Beetlejuice?" 

"Beetlewho?"

"I see what you're doing and that's not gonna work, plus Universal is up the street, play your cards right and I might take you to meet the ghost with the most, but only if you're a good boy." 

"If I drag you on 'the happiest little cruise to ever sail' will I get marked down?" 

Eddie tried not to be charmed by the tiny dancing figures but every so often he would see one that reminded him of the kids and he would point them out to Steve and laugh. There were only so many times he could hear the syrupy sounds of "It's a small world " before he wanted to shove his fingers in his ears. 

"Someone sold their soul to the devil to write that tune. It's going to be stuck in my head forever." 

And when Steve dragged him across the path towards Peter Pan, Eddie found himself humming the tune, if it got stuck in his brain he was going to make it everyone else's problem. 

They got a few funny looks as they waited for their pirate ship to take them to Neverland, and even more scandalised looks when Steve loudly started talking about how Peter Pan reminded him of Eddie. 

"Yeah well unlike Peter I came back from the dead, at least I get the chance to grow up." 

"Disgracefully?"

"Naturally, is there any other way?" He wrapped his arm around Steve, in the dark surrounded by mermaids and pirates, it felt safe to be themselves for a moment or two. Steve sank into it, not really watching the dark rides story as they passed, and still humming 'It's a small world ' as they traversed through the stars. 

Steve looked in his element as Eddie hammed it up, fantasyland was more his speed. 

It reminded him of the Renaissance fairs he would go to, the cast members all dressed in fantasy outfits and there was an honest to god replica of the sword in the stone, both of them tried to pull it from the rock only to have the little blonde girl behind them in the line have it slide out right out.

"No more King Harrington, this is a momentous day! Let's celebrate by going round in circles on the fancy painted horses, I'm sure that will in no way make us throw up." Eddie dragged them to the thankfully short line for the carousel. 

"This might not but the tea cups will most definitely make you hurl." Steve pointed to the viciously spinning pastel monstrosities, and Eddie regretted the churro choices immediately.

Eddie posed on his horse Steve snapped a photo and passed the camera over to Eddie to get one of his own. He looked stunning in the mid-afternoon sun, even with the stupid hat. Eddie waited until he got a genuine smile before he hit the shutter, he knew this one was going on the wall. 

Eddie was trying to work out what Disney's deal was with boats and things that spin. It seemed to be a running theme, so after being thrown around in a teacup and then going around in circles on the back of a flying elephant, he was happy to be climbing into a bucket and taking the skyway into the future. At least that just went in a straight line.

They took photos in front of Space Mountain and then joined the line. Steve had his guidebook out again, pulled out of his fanny pack where he was holding things for safekeeping. His eyes kept darting from the guide to the space theme around them and he started going into details about space. 

"I didn't think this was your kind of thing?" Eddie asked, leaning against the icy wall. 

"Space? I was obsessed with it when I was little, I wanted to be an astronaut. But Dad said it wasn't a realistic dream. So sports it was. Still, find it fascinating. Just don’t tell Dustin." 

"How is it, after all this time I'm still discovering things about you?" Eddie sighed lovingly, he was a sucker for excited nerd Steve, and he was almost at peak adorable as he climbed into the seat before Eddie, pulling off his hat and shoving it in the basket before him Steve looked stupidly happy. Shoving his own hat into the compartment he pulled down the lap bar already sure he was going to hate this ride with a burning passion. He didn’t disappoint himself with that estimation, by the time he had got to the other side he had decided space just wasn’t for him. 

Steve wanted to go on again, so Eddie hunted out the smoking area, and people watched. A family with their little kids clambering to get to the next ride caught his eye. A little boy was tugging one of them away from the coffee stand and towards the petrol race cars. The older one was watching Eddie with a curious look.

Eddie couldn’t keep his eyes off the family, two little boys and their dads, he hadn’t been sure at first, but then he caught the way the men looked at each other and he KNEW, that's the way he and Steve looked at each other. Here in the Happiest place on earth, the little family were being themselves and Eddie found himself longing for something he never thought he would ever have. 

Steve emerged from the gift shop just as Eddie was stubbing his cigarette out, and Eddie wanted to follow the family. It was making him think things, things that involved Steve feeding a little person at 3 am as he sang quietly to them both. 

As Robin called it ‘the free-roaming queers’ had opened something in his heart. He just wanted to see that someone out there like them had made a family from the scraps that society would allow them to have. That there was hope for him and Steve beyond hiding behind closed doors, and a fear that one day one of them wouldn’t come walking back through the door. 

Steve gladly followed Eddie’s lead, climbing into the tiny cars that stank of petrol, they were in the car directly behind one of the other men and one of the kids, and Eddie couldn’t help but keep glancing at them, willing Steve to understand. He knew he had jumped several steps, but his heart wanted what his heart wanted, he just had to hope Steve wanted the same thing. 

 And as they reached the end of the circuit and they waited to exit, Steve caught up with the situation. 

 And as they reached the end of the circuit and they waited to exit, Steve caught up. 

The blonde man walked over and helped his partner out of the car, Steve caught sight of the rings, and the two kids and he made an audible sound that made the Blonde man turn sharply to look at them. 

The Blonde’s face changed from anger to understanding, as Eddie reached out and wrapped his hand around Steve’s wanting to signal they weren’t a threat. 

The couple smiled and waved to them as they left, and Steve gave a weak wave back, he looked as if he were about to cry. 

“Ok, baby?”

“Yeah, just… yeah.” he wasn’t but Eddie didn’t want to push it, moving him quietly towards the people mover, he didn’t speak, they just took their seat side by side as they moved around the track. As they entered the dark of space mountain Steve found his hand again. 

“They had kids,” he whispered quietly into Eddie’s ear. “Can we have kids?”

“You can have anything you want sweetheart, all you have to do is ask.”

“No, that’s not… I mean maybe it is but, I thought-”

“-It’s complicated, but nothing stopping us. But maybe this is a conversation we should have when we can actually see each other,”

He felt rather than saw Steve nodding, knowing his face was screwed up in that adorable way that made Eddie want to push the crease out from between his brows and kiss it better. 

But as the daylight returned as they exited the tunnel all he saw was the adoration on the other man’s face. 

From then on they saw that family almost everywhere in the park. And when Eddie finally got to go on his steam train, the older boy climbed into the row with them. His dad nodded from the row ahead, acknowledging it was fine.

It was like Dustin had climbed aboard the train, and Eddie found himself talking at length about the way the engine worked, the entire time he could feel Steve watching him, he knew that if he looked up, he would be blown away by how gorgeous his boyfriend looked right now, he always lit up whenever Eddie was like this with people’s kids.

When they jumped off the train Oliver, as he had introduced himself, was still explaining the finer point of pistons to Eddie. His Dad’s walked over coming to a stop next to Steve.

“I hope he wasn’t too much of a pest.” the dark-haired one asked.

“Absolutely not, Eddie was going to wax poetic about trains, he might as well do it to someone who will appreciate it.” Steve smiled at Oliver, his little brother was now asleep in the Blonde man's arms. 

“He’s been asking to come to talk to your husband since you got off space mountain, he wanted to know where you got the Raccoon hat.” The dark-haired man said to Eddie, and it only threw him slightly to hear Steve referred to as his husband, he found he didn’t hate it at all “He’s obsessed with Davy Crockett, I mean you can’t blame him.” 

“It’s the arms right?” Eddie grinned as Steve blushed slightly aware that he was being objectified but preening like the peacock he was. 

"We got it over next to big thunder, because someone is incredibly predictable." He said nudging Eddie with his hip. 

"Says the man who wanted me to buy this pirate hat" Eddie defended himself, almost forgetting they were in public. Almost. He was well aware the poster family for all American wholesome were judging them from the steps. He remembered where he was seconds before he went to flip them the bird. Settling for a little wave instead. 

"Well Oliver, say bye to the nice couple, we have dinner booked." The dark-haired man said, nudging Oliver to shake both their hands.  

"Nice to meet you Mr Eddie, dad and pops say I must always be a gentleman." 

"I think our Dustin could do with learning some manners like you." Eddie said, grasping Oliver's hand and shaking. Steve lent down and did the same. As they waved goodbye Eddie heard Oliver exclaim to his fathers ' Dustin has two dads too, awesome.'

When Eddie looked at Steve again, he could see he was on the verge of tears again. 

It was shaping up to be an emotional day. They said nothing to each other as they hunted out food, settling onto the grass by the castle to eat the foot-long hotdogs they had purchased. Steve was ruminating on something, sunglasses now tucked away as the sun dropped beyond the horizon. 

Eddie waited, he had learned a long time ago that rushing Steve wasn't the best idea; he got to things in his own time, even it he was likely to torture himself over it for a while first. 

 Eventually as the surrounding hub filled, Steve moved closer, leaning into Eddie's side as if he didn't care they were in public. Eddie was damn sure he wasn't bothered. 

"That man called me your husband, and you didn't correct him." Steve was staring at the castle. It was as if it scared him to look across at Eddie. 

"That's because I didn't want to." Eddie was glad his voice hadn't faltered, he didn't want Steve to have any doubt in this. "I'd marry you in an instant, you know that right?" 

Steve did look at him then. Not even pretending to hide the tears pooling in his eyes now. He nodded. 

"I'm not a cliché Harrington, You aren't getting me on my knees in front of this castle. But when we get home? No going all Paranoid again if I start sneaking about ok?" 

"Maybe I'll ask you first, did you think about that Munson?" 

“Well I don’t see any losers in that situation, and I mean, I did organise you the most kick ass metal holiday ever, I mean It’s about time you did some work.” Steve had the decency to look offended but still twisted his hand into Eddie’s as the lights around them dimmed and the music started playing from the speakers. 

As the night sky filled with fireworks and the crowd oohed and aahed at the explosions above the castle, Eddie held Steve closer in the darkness. 

[armen-the-quote-guy]

Do you wear confederate flag T-shirts? Do you have a confederate flag on your house and/or truck? Do you post confederate flags on social media? If you answered yes to any of these questions, please read the quotations below. You might reconsider such behaviors.

This is a quotation from the Mississippi Declaration of Secession. “Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery — the greatest material interest of the world.” The government of Mississippi made perfectly clear that its reason for seceding was to protect slavery. This is Article 1 Section 9 Clause 4 of the Constitution of the Confederate States of America. “No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed.” The leaders of the CSA believed in slavery so deeply that they enshrined it as a right in their constitution. The rest of their constitution was an almost exact copy of the USA Constitution. The only substantial difference between the two constitutions was that the CSA Constitution forbade the abolition of slavery. This veneration of slavery was also in the state constitutions of the CSA. For example, this is Article 25 Section 1 of the 1861 Constitution of the State of Florida. “The General Assembly shall have no power to pass laws for the emancipation of slaves.”

Confederate veneration of slavery wasn’t limited to legal documents. CSA leaders also praised slavery in their speeches. For example, when Vice President of the CSA Alexander Stephens gave a speech explaining the founding ideals of the CSA, he said this. “The prevailing ideas entertained by [Thomas Jefferson] and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old [USA] constitution were that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally and politically. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with, but the general opinion of the men of that day was that, somehow or other in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent and pass away. This idea, though not incorporated in the constitution, was the prevailing idea at that time. . . . Our new [CSA] government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea. Its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition.” Stephens explained with total clarity that the CSA was founded to promote racism.

If you study that time in American history, you’ll find heaps of similar quotations. Friends and neighbors, please don’t make the mistake of displaying and celebrating the CSA flag. That history shouldn’t be celebrated. That history should be mourned. The CSA was an example of how low people can fall, and its flag belongs only in history books and museums.

[cedarspiced]

hiya! i'm cedar! i'm a 23 y/o grey-ace fagdyke creature living in the PNW.

buy me a kofi?

my free/cheap anthro bases

gazafunds.com

sudanfunds.com

some things about me:

ΘΔ grackle-cat griffin, sable, cat, deinonychus, coydog, painted dog

i use it/they pronouns

i'm ADHD and autistic

i'm a physically disabled cane & wheelchair user with long covid, POTS, and several other fun conditions

i'm polyam and partnered with @bovinebimbobussy <3

i'm a huge paleoenthusiast and while i do have a soft spot for Mesozoic dinosaurs, i'm also a big fan of all the other prehistoric critters and plants. opabinia my beloved

i'm a furry and reblog furry art & fursuit pics sometimes, so if u don't wanna see that, please block those tags!

i also do reblog unreality stuff from time to time and I often forget to tag it, so if that's something that could bother you, please be forewarned.

i also reblog some nsfw text posts, so please be aware of that!

rent lowering gunshots:

kink belongs at pride and always has

masks & vaccines are awesome and slow the spread of disease

black lives matter and always have

free palestine. death to israel & to the USA.

if you say you're trans, you're trans. end of. there's no other requirements.

sex is a spectrum, not a binary. also, intersex people belong in the queer community.

TMA and TME are just terms used to describe a group most affected by a certain type of discrimination (in this case, transmisogyny). no, TME does not automatically mean transmasc. it also includes all cis perisex people and non-transfem intersex folks. (what do TME/TMA mean?)

thought crimes aren't real and having paraphilias doesn't automatically make you an Evil Bad Person

callout posts are only ever harmful. yes even if they really did do that thing they're being accused of.

the tr*nsandroph*bia movement is just Mens' Rights Movement: Transgender Edition. yes, transmascs are oppressed. that is purely because we are transgender. not because we are transgender & masc.

asexual and aromantic people belong in the queer community. yes, even the cishet ones.

vote-scolding people who have already made up their mind about an election is only going to make everyone more upset at each other, and calling people bots or russian psy-ops for having a different political opinion is uh. Not Cool. to put it politely (a.k.a. that behavior is rooted in primarily USamerican racism and xenophobia.) sometimes people just have different takes based on different lived experiences!

tagging explanations, sideblogs, other socials, and fursona refs under the cut :3

my tags:

#cedar speaks - my personal posting tag

#my face - self explanatory

#my art - also self explanatory

#no id - posts with no image description

#partial id - posts with some images described, but not all. alternatively, posts that have an ID that only describes part of the image (e.g. a post with a picture of an orange cat wearing a blue t-shirt that's captioned 'i love his little shirt' but the image is just described as 'a small animal'.)

#described - posts that have all images fully described

my sideblogs:

@sableteeth - therian/alterhuman sideblog @cedarspiced-artchive - all of my art gets reblogged to here

@morrowinds - all things elder scrolls

@slime-squishes - mined craft :]

@zooplanet - planet zoo, though i've been thinking about making it a sims sideblog as well

@the-fog-chamber - echo vn stuff

@fagmoans - horny blog. dni unless you're 18+

other socials (not really active on em, but jic this site goes tits-up):

instagram

cohost

bluesky

furaffinity

my fursonas:

Cedar (my namesake <3)

art by marlomogensen, with minor edits & background by me

[more detailed IDs for these coming soon, please be patient!]

Nyx (my truesona)

art by yours truly!

[sadistic-softie]

I had fun making this little Google slides thingy:

Credits:

https://www.amazon.com/HZMAN-Adults-Faux-Leather-Guards/dp/B08NX1FCYC

https://www.amazon.com/Short-Sleeve-T-shirt-Pocket-Color/dp/B004SWKZKQ

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9BLC8C1/ref=twister_B0B68SHQSD?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/CTU-Fashion-Summer-Holiday-WineRed/dp/B0BTHM23RK/ref=asc_df_B0BTHM23RK/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=669053671572&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16858927732559463628&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001654&hvtargid=pla-2187768149029&psc=1&mcid=c113dd5c6acd3e4bb723f1a91f48605d

https://www.amazon.com/COOFANDY-Business-Wedding-Vests-Waistcoat/dp/B0B9XZFVFM/ref=asc_df_B0B9XZFVFM/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=644634711577&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5094666427262776632&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001654&hvtargid=pla-1941802487653&psc=1&mcid=3f4080bd20733c63903ee17a56f298b7

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https://www.target.com/c/jackets-coats-men-s-clothing/overcoats/-/N-5xu2aZjasm7

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[astra-galaxie]

Noah Smith

Biographical information

Full Name: Noah Smith

Gender: Bigender (he/him & they/them)

Sexuality: Gay

Status: Deceased

Age: 20 (season 1)

Birth: 1993

Race: Human

Cause of Death: Poisoned

Nationality: American

Origin: Fairview, Grimsborough, USA

Residence: Fairview, Grimsborough, USA

Profession(s): University student

Family: Thomas Smith (father) (incarcerated)

Partner(s): Danyon Wilson (boyfriend)

Profile

Height: 5’11” Age: 20 (season 1) Weight: 170lbs Eyes: blue Blood: AB-

Noah was a young man with pale skin, blue eyes, and jaw-length blonde hair. He wore a black t-shirt with the American flag embroidered on the left side, jeans and running shoes.

Synopsis

Noah was the victim in The Ways of Death.

He was a university student who struggled with his sexuality since high school. He was raised by his homophobic and racist father, who taught him that loving another man was a sin. But Noah couldn't help but feel drawn to other men, often finding himself with feelings like the ones his friends had towards girls. But he could never confide his feelings with his father; he would get disowned or worse…

So Noah hid his feelings inside of himself and pretended to be the man his father wanted him to be. He bullied people for being "wrong" and "different" from him when in reality, they were exactly the kind of people he wanted to be friends with. He hated mistreating people and felt sick whenever his "friends" talked down about people behind their backs or about the things they dreamed of doing to the "vermin" of the Earth.

When he graduated high school and moved away to university, he found freedom like never before. None of his "friends" followed him to his university, nor did anyone from his graduating class. He finally had the chance for a fresh start away from his father and his disgusting beliefs. He could become the person he wanted to be, which began by joining his university’s LGBTQ+ club.

Noah was terrified about showing his feelings, but the club members helped him feel comfortable with himself and supported him in coming out. Of course, he knew he couldn't tell his father what he was doing, so he would lie whenever they talked, and Thomas would ask how the university was going. Noah felt guilty about lying to his father, but finally being able to express himself took the guilt away.

A couple of years after graduating high school, he met Danyon at a rally. His heart skipped a beat when he made eye contact with the rainbow-wearing man, captivated by his bright smile and carefree attitude. He was scared to talk to the younger man, but Danyon saved him the trouble, striking up a conversation as if they had always known each other.

When Noah learned that Danyon was attending his old high school, he wasn't surprised that the teen was aware of his old reputation. But he was pleasantly surprised when Danyon told him that people deserve a second chance, especially when that second chance involved becoming the real you. Danyon offered to help Noah apologize to those he had wronged and show the world the real Noah, not the fake one Thomas had created.

As they got to know each other, love soon blossomed. Danyon brought out the best in Noah, and in turn, Noah showered his boyfriend in love. The two were so happy together and planned to get an apartment when Danyon joined Noah at university.

But apartment hunting would forever remain an unreachable dream for the couple…

Noah joined his LGBTQ+ club's trip to Grimsborough for the city's culture day festival. The club had a float and information booth at the festival, the former of which Noah would be driving. Thomas heard that his son was in town for the festival and assumed Noah was there to sabotage it. So you could imagine the disgusted shock when Thomas found out that not only was Noah NOT there to sabotage the event, but he was there to SUPPORT it!

Thomas was furious and even more enraged to learn that his son was gay and had a boyfriend. He was appalled by the picture on Noah's phone of him kissing another man and tried to threaten his son into being "normal."

But for the first time in his life, Noah stood up to his father and refused to pretend to be someone who made him feel disgusting. He would live his life how he wanted to, and if that meant Thomas wasn't a part of it, then so be it. He would be happy with Danyon and all his friends who loved him, the REAL him!

However, fate and his father had other plans for him. Noah never thought that his father would actually go through with his threats of killing his own son, but as it turns out, Thomas was not to be underestimated. Thomas poisoned his son's ice cream when one of Noah’s friends bought some for the club and watched from a distance as Noah slowly succumbed to his deadly fate.

When Noah realized something was wrong, he tried calling for help, but his father stopped him. The poison had drastically weakened Noah, so he was helpless to stop Thomas from taking his phone and dragging Noah to the rooftop of the Grimsborough police station to die. Noah begged his father to take him to the hospital, but Thomas just sat back and watched his son die slowly and painfully.

In death, Noah wishes he had been a better person sooner and that he had never gone off on his own after eating the ice cream. He misses Danyon terribly but hopes his boyfriend will find someone new to love and be happy with; he deserves it for being such a wonderful person. And yet, he will wait for Danyon to join him in the afterlife, but he can take his time. Noah knows Danyon will do great things, and he will happily watch from the other side until they are reunited.

Story Information

First appeared: The Ways of Death

Trivia

The title of the case he appears in is a play on the phrase The Way(s) of Life

A few months before his death, Danyon had helped him to recognize that he was bigender after his boyfriend explained the feelings around the gender identity, and Noah realized that they matched his feelings

He was taking a global history and culture course at university to better understand the diversity of life

He was thinking of becoming a social worker or therapist

He was recently voted to be the vice president of his university's LGBTQ+ club before his death

Disclaimer: Character design was created using Rinmarugames Mega Anime Avatar Creator! I have only made minor edits to the design! Background courtesy of CriminalArtist5

Links to my stories:

The Case of the Criminal (Ao3/Wattpad) Killer Bay (Ao3/Wattpad) Where in the World are the Killers? (Ao3/Wattpad)

[handmadenostalgia]

Lana Del Rey’s First Summer

Elisa Carini & Vincenzo Grasso

As in a Orthodox Christian service, Lana Del Rey turns her back to the audience. Having consumed the first half of the concert, she pauses for a few minutes in the feverish atmosphere at the Bussoladomani Park, in Lido di Camaiore. It’s July 2nd, 2023, and we are on the last day of “La Prima Estate” Festival. The monologue that accompanies the music video of one of her best-known singles, Ride, starts on the screen, projected at the back of the stage. Her recorded voice recites:

I was in the winter of my life, and the men I met along the road were my only summer…

One after the other, in snapshots, Lana’s thousand summers come to life: the Lana-before-fame, when she was Lizzy Grant and had platinum blonde hair; Lana in Video Games, the 2011 YouTube phenomenon that changed everything with a homemade video clip and a chorus backed by her smoky timbre impossible to replicate. As she told the Daily Mail in 2011: ‹‹If I’d known so many people were going to watch it, I would have made very different choices››. And yet, it may have been precisely these choices – the low-resolution webcam pointed at her face; the lips stretched out like a canthus – that marked the trajectory of an artist destined to become a cult figure in the contemporary music scene. And then again, in a coast-to-coast journey through her catalogue of records, she shows all of her transformations. While we’re at it, we wonder why such an artist would choose Lido di Camaiore as the venue for her only Italian date, announced just six days before.

Perhaps, this exemplifies an aesthetic of subtraction, one that Lana has pursued throughout her career. Her stage-fright, the terror of the spotlight, perhaps even an awareness of the inability to live up to the expectations placed on female artists in pop music. So, she also deletes her social media. The music can “speak for itself”, no promotional strategy other than the vicarious marketing of her own fanbase.

The location is certainly not easy to get to, but today we’re 17,000.

When the monologue ends and Lana returns to our gaze, we wonder what her next move will be. When will the Lana we see now become part of this celebratory carousel?

Handmade nostalgia

Red heart-shaped sunglasses, white flowers in dark hair, mullets and mustaches, cherry coke and peyote T-shirts, cowboy boots, denim shorts, ethereal dresses. Cameras capture an excited, eager crowd. After a sunny afternoon it starts to wind up. Reflected on the large screens, a boy holds up a sign that says "MOMMY?", he smiles.

Through a vast repertoire curated over the course of a decade, Lana has created a complex, distinctive and, for the early 2000s, innovative narrative universe. Her references include some of the cornerstones of American literature and music: Walt Whitman, Allen Ginsberg, Tennessee Williams, Sylvia Plath, T.S. Eliot, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Presley, Joni Mitchell, not to mention covers of songs such as Blue Velvet, Summer Wine, Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood and Chelsea Hotel No°2. Lana has taken a bygone aesthetic - that of 1950s’ USA - and made it her own, enacting it with the grace of poetry.

Think of Lolita – Nabokov’s novel – which, like herself, has often been misunderstood, accused of romanticizing abusive relationships. It is almost impossible to think of Lana Del Rey without certain literary references coming to mind, or other iconic images such as Marilyn singing Happy Birthday to JFK, Jackie O’ and her pink Chanel suit. And these images live together with the California of the early 1970s, with “jazz singers” and “cult leaders” (Charles Manson and the family), with life “on the road”, being on a Harley Davidsons with your cheeks resting on the leather vest of much older man, with half-empty motels in the middle of the desert and abandoned gasoline stations.

It’s impossible not to think of her religious references too: Tropico, the 2016 short movie, the blue veil over her long dark hair and her hands clasped in prayer. Lana’s world is made up of her passions, of aesthetics that speak to her, of "handmade nostalgia". Quotes and references are never an end in themselves, but serve to create atmospheres, to evoke feelings. Lana tells stories, sometimes even her own, with extreme sincerity and vulnerability, a perhaps unconscious courage that we could call authentic: she cannot and does not want to do otherwise.

Lana has created a world for herself and has nurtured the worlds of others. Think of a novel like The Girls, by Emma Cline, and a song like Freak; think of the many artists inspired by her, who are already collecting her legacy. Laila Al Habash and Maria Antoinetta themselves - who opened the concert and were wonderful, telling stories and building worlds - reaffirmed the importance of an artist like her for the contemporary scene. It’s also impossible to think of Lana without thinking about the era of Tumblr, when it was still popular among the younger generation and full of photos of her: Lana in front of the American flag with honey-brown hair winking at the camera, Lana in her red Ferrari jacket. It’s impossible not to think of the hours spent sharing her photos and videos, trying to recreate her aesthetic. It is impossible not to think back to the time when you first discovered her, Lana.

There’s still light, but not for long. We look at the big screens. A sign reads: ��YOU DID MORE FOR ME THAN MY THERAPIST”. The girl we befriended smiles. We ask her if she remembers the first time she heard Lana. She recounts that it was the summer of 2012, that she was on holiday at her grandmother’s country house. ‹‹There was nothing to do,›› she says, ‹‹Me and my cousin used to spend the days sitting on the lawn talking, drawing, and listening to Born To Die. He made me discover it.›› She smiles: ‹‹We were sixteen. I listened to Summertime Sadness crying every night because my boyfriend had moved out. We were living on Tumblr››. She takes a sip of her beer: ‹‹It's been ten years and we still write to each other sometimes heaven is a place on earth with you.››

A Motel Room of One’s Own

Throughout the concert, Lana is accompanied by the band, a corps of dancers, and her three backup singers. As she performs her most famous songs - Young and Beautiful, Ride, Born to Die, Blue Jeans, Summertime Sadness and Video Games - the crowd overwhelms her voice.

On the songs that are less well known to the general public, such as the newer ones from her latest Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard, the crowd calms down and Lana’s vocal performance comes out strong and mature. Long gone are the days when she was harshly criticized for her musical inaccuracies resulting from a seemingly uncontrollable anxiety.

In Lana’s early days, the American and European media portrayed her as the result of a Frankensteinian operation between the stereotype of a movie diva and a 1940s torch singer. In a 2014 interview with The Guardian, the singer, often accused of a kind of ingratitude towards life because of the recognisable sadness that still characterizes her music, confessed: ‹‹I was hoping I was already dead››. That same year, upon the publication of her most controversial work, Ultraviolence, she was torn to shreds by critics for “glorifying” domestic violence.

Reality or fiction? In this case, the search for an answer is less interesting than the question itself. In fact, Lana has often hovered on the liminal specter of autofiction, and it is only recently that she has begun to indulge to the practice of ruthless autobiography.

In the first half of the concert, Lana sings The Grants, a single from her latest album in which talks about the fear of losing family members. It is a eulogy to emotional memory: she mentions the birth of her niece, her grandmother’s last words - in short, what she intends to take away with her when her time comes.

When she sings an intimate version of the title track from Ocean Blvd, the question is reversed and becomes an invitation to her audience: ‹‹Don’t forget me.›› Thousands of arms raise their mobile phones, their flashes on. But the truth is, it is hard to forget an artist who has irrevocably changed the course of pop music by narcotising it; before her arrival, pop music was dominated by the obsessive and sweetened rhythms of the early 2000s.To paraphrase a passage from her own song, even today, here on stage in front of thousands of people, there is a girl locked in a motel room, humming. If you have found the entrance to this hidden world, don’t leave it.

[okadaizoirl]

ummmmm i want more mutuals post-twitter so uhhh

my name is alex, pronouns he/him, man who likes dudes, man that's transmasc, started T on 5/23/2023

i am unashamedly neurodivergent

my opinions on discourse are uhhh. 1) it's okay to reclaim slurs that apply to you, so i'll tag things with slurs in them but just know that. 2) where i live, america, is a post-capitalist dystopia that can probably only be fixed by a guillotine and gutting corporations. corporations are where the country is really ran, the government is nothing more than a band of puppets having their pockets greased by ill-gotten gains. there's no bigger criminals than the ones on our televisions. 3) weed is cool and should be legal and possession should not be a crime, the presidential pardon for those serving sentences for possession was great but where's the followup? 4) trans rights are human rights and the fact that gay culture is incredibly phallo-centric at times is a bit alienating, however there are strides being made in accepting trans men that i'm very happy about. we should see t-dicks represented as much as cis dude dicks. 5) i objectify myself due to trauma but i'm always going to be angry about the sexualization of minors and that weird shit some parents do with shirts for literal infants containing sexual innuendo. 6) terfs and radfems use women as a scapegoat for hatred for other groups which is inherently misogynistic as generalization of women based entirely off women you perceive as 'worthy' is kind of part of that whole thing buddy. terfs and radfems hate women. they just are more open about hating trans women, their 'based' form of woman-hating. it's pathetic imo. their mistreatment of trans men also stems back to sexualization of and a feeling of sexual entitlement to dfab people and wowee zowee that's a chauvinist classic! 7) that said i'm kink friendly and my content is more suited for adults only, so display your age in your bio please and minors DO NOT INTERACT.

i am currently converting to Judaism

i have a cat his name is link he is stinky please look at him

i'm in the southeast USA, save me, they were right when they said it's really hot in hell

i like anime, video games, dudes, jerma, justin whang, tom scott, breaking bad/better call saul, a lot of shit

i write dirty words for fun

i'm just okada izou from FGO irl. massive kinnie alert.

follow me ig

[wordforwordbiblecomic]

July Newsletter: Discounts, new Book of Judges and more

We’ve got news on the new edition of Judges, discounts, blogs and more this month

New Judges with more pages!

In September, we will be officially releasing the new version of The Book of Judges. This new edition features the NIV translation but also even more pages! Now, I know what you’re thinking but we didn’t add anything to the biblical text, we spread the existing panels over more pages making it so the pages are not so cramped and the illustrations are larger, we also lightened up the images as our first edition was very dark.

In this example below, the top left page is the original page, which becomes three pages in the new edition including two new panels and verse reference numbers in the corners.

If you can’t wait until September you can preorder it via the UK online shop and pay postage to your location and you’ll receive it before the official release. (Note: Kickstarter Backers of Song of Songs who added Judges will get this new version)

The new Judges graphic novel was showcased at the American Library Association Convention of over 10,000 librarians last month and this month will be at the Christian Product Expo in Kentucky.

Discount!

If you are ordering books direct from us (via the UK online shop), you can now get a discount when you spend £50+ you’ll get 25% off! Just enter the discount code FIFTYQUIDPLUS at checkout. Includes books, t-shirts and digital items!

(T&Cs: Offer works on direct purchases from the UK, not available on US and Canada domestic delivery which is handled by our distributors).

Patreon Hangout

On Saturday 15th July, we’ll have one of our Patreon Hangouts, a Zoom call between myself, some of the team and our patrons will be there to chat, answer questions and connect. The talk will likely be around the new title The Book of Acts which has started production but won’t be Kickstarted until next year. To get the inside scoop, see pages before anyone else and join us at the hangout, become a patron today:

The Gathering

We had a great time at the Gathering in June despite nearly melting in the sun. I did some sword training and we saw dozens of men make a first-time commitment or recommitment to Christ on the weekend. Welcome those that joined the newsletter at the event.

Blogs

I wrote a couple of blogs on the research I’ve been doing recently, I showed the top one to Dr. Mark Woolmer (our history consultant and history lecturer) and he said he’d have given me a First for the essay if it had been submitted in his class which made me happy

In this blog, I explore the question of whether the Golden Calf of Exodus was likely a statue of an Apis Bull?

https://www.wordforwordbiblecomic.com/blog/was-the-golden-calf-an-apis-bull

In this blog, I ask if Moses was tall.

https://www.wordforwordbiblecomic.com/blog/wasmosestall

Kickstarter Update

The creation of the Song of Songs is complete and the digital copies will be sent out to you very soon. They've had their first round of proofreading and corrections are being added. Once the second round of proofreading is complete will be sending it out, before the end of this month.

They'll also be heading to the printers in the next month or so in good time for delivery to backers by the end of November (or before). They will be released in shops in March 2024.

Prayer

Books in libraries: As you saw above our book was featured at the ALA con. Please pray with us that libraries really discover the benefits of the Word for Word Bible Comic and decide to stock them all across the USA. Spanish editions: We have some potential leads to getting distribution of our Spanish editions in Latin America and Europe. Please pray we can get these books into the hands of Spanish speakers very soon!

Technical issue: We have had some trouble with the ISBN registration on Amazon and other places for the new books. Some progress has been made since last time but please pray this is miraculously sorted out very soon so it does not hamper sales.

[blackoutteesusa]

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Skate Canada Review

Men:

Ilia Malinin (USA) Total Score 301.82 - Congrats to Ilia for qualifying for the Grand Prix Final! Despite the challenge of going to back to back competitions Ilia had no problem with securing his second gold medal of the Grand Prix series. Technically he preformed better than he did at Skate America, but I think he was definitely feeling a bit tired, and I think he was struggling especially in the middle section of his free program. His short program has grown on me a lot even tho it’s literally the ugliest costume I’ve ever seen. Also, I’ve been hearing that this was the last time he will be competing in his current free skate costume which is a tragedy, because it’s the best costume he’s had and really don’t see him getting a better one. I think his PCS score was too high.

Shun Sato (Japan) Total Score 261.12 - I think it’s such a slay to skate to Ladies in Lavender when you’re not a lady. He absolutely slayed his short program, but he needs to get his step sequence up from a level 2, because that’s bogging his score down a bit. He struggled a bit in the free program, so I am looking forward to seeing it once he gets it clean. I really liked both of his costumes and I like the new hair color. #FurecocoTrioForever

Junhwan Cha (South Korea) Total Score 260.31 - I am so happy that Jun made it onto the podium!!!! However, I’m going to be honest when I say I’m not really vibing with his programs this season. The Imagine Dragons short program makes no sense to me, and I don’t really like the Latina lady screaming at me in his free program, but his blouse is beautiful, so I will say that I like his free better than his short. There’s lots of room to grow in his free program, and he only had 2 combos, so we def need to change that. His Ina Bauer was great, but he finished a little late on the music. IDK why the judges didn’t give the PCS skills he deserved. He was robbed.

Sota Yamamoto (Japan) Total Score 257 - I love Sota so much and I wish there was four spots on the podium cause I wanted him to be on the podium so badly!!! I love the purple shirt in the short program, and overall the short was very solid. I also really liked his free program. At first I thought it was gonna be a bit boring but the music did a great job at building through the program. I’m absolutely gutted that he fell on his 4T. He also needs to work on not telegraphing his jumps as much.

Vladimir Litvintsev (Azerbaijan) Total Score 222.9 - I had no idea who he was but then I realized that he was the fool who skated to the Lion King while wearing a tiger print t-shirt lol. The Game of Thrones short program was pretty solid. Didn’t love the Nutcracker EPIC version tho, especially the singing at the end. Keep it all Xmas music or don’t use Xmas music. I think he ran out of steam a bit in the second half of his program, and he needs more choreography cause right now he just has a lot of crossovers.

Gabriele Frangipani (Italy) Total Score 222.57 - Who needs Daniel Grassl when we got this guy! He was giving me Adam Driver vibes, and I think it’s cause they have similar noses. Tbh I don’t really remember much from his programs, and they just felt a bit meh to me, but on his defense I was half asleep during his free program. Hopefully he’ll be less meh at the NHK trophy.

Aleksa Rakic (Canada) Total Score 222.49 - Having this guy as the highest scoring Canadian was not on my bingo card. He seems to struggle a bit on his 3A and overall i thought his jump technique was kinda ugly. Overall he had pretty consistently low GOEs on his jumping elements and he didn’t perform well. Lots of room to grow at least.

Jason Brown (USA) Total Score 218. 75 - My beloved. On the technical level, he did not have the best skates, but his overall skating skills remain unmatched. Jason usually isn’t competing this early in the season, so hopefully he just needs more time to get into the groove. I am not really vibing with free music. It was very one note and a little boring ngl. I did like the cartwheel tho.

Stephen Gogolev (Canada) Total Score 216. 84 - Had a pretty good short program but fell apart during the free. Needed more speed and energy, and he needed to EMOTE! He kinda just looked tired

Mark Gordonitsky (Israel) Total Score 213.31 - Meh.

Luc Econmides (France) Total Score 211.88 - IDk why but I always forget what he looks like and then I get surprised when I see him and he looks like he does. Interstellar program was interesting with the head twitching at the beginning and the fake writing at the end but my man was ACTING so I will take it. Had a super scary axis on his 3A in the short and on the 3Lz in the free.

Roman Sadovsky (Canada) WD - I guess he tweaked his back before the event started which is why he wasn’t doing any jumps during practice. But luckily, the injury should have no long lasting impact. I feel so bad for this guy, I feel like he always has the worst luck.

Women:

Kaori Sakamoto (Japan) Total Score 201.21 - I love Kaori so much. She is definitely pushing herself with both of her programs this season, and I just don’t think she feels comfortable yet in either of them. The short was solid, but she did have some unexpected trouble in the free. She looked a little tired, but that’s okay cause we are early in the season, so there’s still time to build up stamina. The blonde hair is starting to grow on me and I love both of the costumes.

Rino Matsuike (Japan) Total Score 192.16 - Talk about the COMEBACK QUEEN. I love the Moulin Rogue program so it better be clean at Finlandia. Her free program was honestly the highlight of the weekend. She had a GORGEOUS spiral and overall excellent skating skills and quality of movement. She slayed.

Hana Yoshida (Japan) Total Score 191.37 - I really liked her short program. She just had a little boo boo with the step out on the combo, and I think she could use more speed during her stsq. I really liked her dress for the free program, but I did not like the mesh gloves. It’s a shame she went down on the 3Lz.

Kimmy Repond (Switzerland) Total Score 191.07 - IDK why but I did not expect her to do as well as she did. Idk how tall she is, but she looks super tall, and her long limbs just looked a bit awkward. I’m pretty sure she ended a smidge behind her music in both the short and the free. I thought she had really nice spins tho.

Madeline Schizas (Canada) Total Score 190.04 - Dear Maddie, there is only one Lion King program and it belong to Wakaba. I did like the Danse Macabre free tho. I’m glad she went with red for the costume instead of black. She was one of my highlights of the weekend, cause I was just so happy that she skated two clean programs in front of her home crowd!!!This was probably the best I’ve seen her perform.

Alysa Liu (USA) Total Score 187.69 - Miss girl kinda got hit hard with the URs, but she still had a great return to the Grand Prix! I really liked both of her programs, especially the free. I think she needs to build up her stamina a smidge, but I’m just so happy to she her back it makes by heart flutter.

Elyce Lin-Gracey (USA) Total Score 182.37 - I wanted her to do good so badly. She almost got the same exact scores that she got at Skate America, so at least she is consistent. But she is just a lil’ cutie and she just needs time to develop and grow! Props to her for competing back to back.

Kaiya Ruiter (Canada) Total Score 162.32 - I liked the short program, but I didn’t realize the free was a Wonder Woman program until we got to the end of the program and the electric guitars were doing the Wonder Woman thing. Had a couple of URs and a two footed landing. But she was very cute, and very engaging.

Ekaterina Kurakove (Poland) Total Score 162.07 - ‘Twas a rough short program. Stepped out on the lutz and it was under-rotated and she didn’t get her combo. She was also pretty slow on the spins. However, she kept on emoting throughout the whole performance. I’m not vibing with the Cats program. Her first mistake was picking the movie version. Her second mistake was wearing the cat ears. Just felt very juniorish to me. I also think there were too many music cuts.

Sara-Maude Dupuis (Canada) Total Score 160.46 - Couldn’t get her combo in the short. Had a crazy axis on the 3Lz in the free and was just getting a lot of URs in general. Overall her jumps were just looking a bit scary. She wore a green dress tho and I thought she slayed

Seoyeong Wi (South Korea) Total Score 140.85 - Got hit hard with the URs. I really liked both of her programs and I thought her costumes were gorgeous, but she just didn’t perform well to them. She really ran out of gas at the end of the free program.

Yelim Kim - (South Korea) Total Score 136.14 - This honestly made me so sad. She is such a beautiful skater but the jumps are just not there. I guess she is recovering from back surgery?!?!?!? Idk, I just really don’t want to watch her perform another disaster program.

Pairs:

Deanna Stellato-Dudek / Maxime Deschamps (Canada) Total Score 197.33 - They’re obviously not in top shape yet, but like I’ve been saying, we’re still early in the season so no need to freak out. Did not really vibe with the short program. The heavy breathing really turned me off, and I’ve learned that this cover was used for 50 Shades of Grey, which turned me off even more. I do like the free a lot better, but IDK what the theme is, or what it’s about. They have a shared dog and it’s super cute.

Ekaterina Geynish / Dmitrii Chigirev (Uzbekistan) Total Score 189.65 - I did not like the weird opening movements in the short. A little trouble with the throw jumps but pretty good overall synchro.

Anastasia Golubeva / Hektor Giotopoulos Moore (Australia) Total Score 186.14 - I hated the music change in the short. And they copied Kao’s free program for their free program lol.

Dance:

Piper Gilles / Paul Poirier (Canada) Total Score 214.84 - The costumes in the rhythm slayed, but his backless suit in the free traumatized me. I get the what they were going for but I don’t think it was executed well. They are so fast, and they are both excellent performers

Marjorie Lajoie / Zachary Lagha (Canada) Total Score 199.9 - I liked the in synch lip syncing, but I did not like it when they FELL! They are so fast on the twizzles and they serve so much face. I’ve heard people don’t like the Sound of Silence free, but I was vibing with it.

Evgeniia Lopareva / Geoffrey Brissaud (France) Total Score 194.25 - Look they were great, but I just don’t vibe with them and IDK why. Rasputin rhythm dance was insane but in a good way. Maybe they’ll grow on me.

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