#and with this i stand by my original statements

[clytemnestradidnothingwrong]

It is my pipe dream that someday every American realizes no politician cares about us and never has.

The Democrats are not spineless. They're not cowards. They're not fighting back (much) because they don't care what the Republicans do to this county or its people.

They embraced "transgender" crap because they were paid to. They killed much of solidarity between and progress made by women, gays, working class, etc., because it was profitable. Even if they're elected out of office, they have enough money to be just fine. That includes your beloved AOC, who wouldn't piss on any of you if you were on fire.

And also, about the conservative normies: I believe it because I have also seen it. I live in a red state. I know conservatives who are indifferent to homosexuality but up in arms about "transgender".

A few replies on this have mentioned the gradual conservative acceptance, and they're right. Conservatives were slowly coming around, viewing us indifferently at the very least. I noticed the shift after same-sex marriage was legalized. It was begrudging, but most lost interest in protesting it.

Until "transgender" became a thing.

I still stand by my original statement that the trans movement HELPED Trump win. They tore the Left apart AND re-convinced conservatives that we were all perverts coming after their kids.

how exactly did the trans movement help trump get elected

Short answer: Because they killed all progressive movements.

Long answer: Trans activists hijacked and colonized the women's movement and the gay community, and even other movements such as BLM and disability rights, so now every protest has to be about "trans" people. No group can protest, fund-raise, or advocate for just themselves without pasty Gen Zers with neon hair and creepy middle aged men in wigs screaming about how they're the most oppressed people ever and it's their right to rape and kill anyone they disagree with.

"Trans" people and their allies have spent the past decade bullying everyone into submission, ostracizing and threatening anyone who questioned or criticized them, making every march, movement, and slogan about themselves, and destroying women's rights and the gay and lesbians communities from the inside.

This left the door wide open for conservatives to come in and finish us off. If it wasn't for "trans" people and their allies, we would've likely still had a solid defense (class/female/gay solidarity) against the rise of the far right, and Trump may not have been elected a second time.

But instead we have tribalism, insane amounts of violence, hate, and censorship, struggle sessions, and fractured movements that are mere shadows of their former selves, and it's all thanks to "trans" people and their allies.

They tore our communities apart, stripped us of our hard earned rights, spaces, and resources, and then mercilessly beat us until we lay on the ground, unable to defend ourselves from the MAGAs, who finished the job by simply walking up and setting our bruised and bloodied bodies on fire.

And instead of putting the fire out, "trans" people and their allies are watching us burn while insisting they're actually the ones on fire.

That's how they contributed to Trump's election.

[mariacallous]

The Trump administration is expected to stop its cuts to staff and funding for a federal program that supports 9/11 survivors through medical treatment and research, following significant public outcry across the political spectrum, according to several New York congressmembers.

The World Trade Center Health Program aids roughly 130,000 first responders and survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City, at the Pentagon in Northern Virginia and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It falls under the umbrella of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and also conducts research into 9/11-related illnesses and treatments.

The program was targeted for reductions as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to shrink the federal government, New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand wrote in a letter to U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week. The Democratic senators said that about 20% of the program’s staff had either been fired or were taking buyouts, putting it at risk. They added that the administration was slashing research grants for monitoring FDNY members’ health for any emerging illnesses tied to exposure at the original World Trade Center site.

“This is betrayal of our heroes who stepped up and risked their lives to put our community back together in one of our nation’s darkest hours, and we will not let it stand,” Gillibrand said in a statement at the time. Republican lawmakers also criticized the move.

But late Thursday, several GOP members of New York’s congressional delegation said the cuts were not going through after all.

“We just received confirmation from the White House that there will be no cuts to staffing at the World Trade Center Healthcare Program and research grants related to 9/11 illnesses,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis wrote in a post on X. Reps. Andrew Garbarino and Nick LaLota hailed the news as well.

Schumer told CBS News in a statement that “9/11 cancer research and funding for FDNY should have never been on the chopping block.”

“I am pleased the CDC has heeded my call to restore this grant for 9/11 first responders,” he said. “Now they need to fully uphold their promise and reverse the firings of World Trade Center Health staff to ensure care for 9/11 survivors and first responders continues uninterrupted."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday morning.

[lluminousllama]

Some concept sketches I explored of Minos and Sisyphus' designs for the battle of bands AU!

I'll work on more refined drawings of them soon, but in the meantime imma go into some lore about them below (+ additional art):

• Minos, previously Judge of Hell, was the one who originally came up with the battle of bands competition, wanting to provide sinners the opportunity to redeem themselves and find their humanity in order to be provided salvation.

• They say Minos’ voice was as beautiful as an angel’s song. He would often sing for the citizens of the Lust Layer, bringing them hope and feelings of love — one would feel blessed to hear his voice. Minos experimented with different forms of music, and played various musical instruments (I imagine Ancient Greek instruments like the Lyre!)

• The Lust Layer experiences an art renaissance after the angels left Hell momentarily, where music flourished throughout the grand city. The other layers of Hell also became inspired by this, and participated in the competition as well.

• When the angels returned from Heaven, they immediately put an end to the competition, not wanting the husks and sinners to feel empowered by the art they create. Minos was stabbed by Gabriel through the throat, and his soon-infested corpse was used to punish husks that try to make music in the Lust Layer.

• Before V1 came to the Lust Layer it was completely silent — the only sound u can hear is distorted, classical music coming from the corpse of Minos (eerie atmosphere my beloved)

There were some other outfits I came up with for Minos! I might just give him multiple outfits because I love them all ajskskskks

• Sisyphus plays the trumpet in this au!! I always imagined that he’d play the trumpet — I thought about the angels playing trumpets (biblically) and had the idea that Sisyphus’ trumpet playing rivaled their sounds (something unacceptable to the angels!)

• I’m still solidifying some stuff for Sisyphus’ backstory! Sisyphus, in the face of Heaven’s oppressive nature, stood at the top of the pyramids of Greed and blared out music from his run-down trumpet — the beautiful melodies he played gave the husks of the Greed Layer the courage to stand up and revolutionize against the angels and Heaven!

• Sisyphus and the Insurrectionists became a jazz band that took part in the battle of bands competition in order to make a statement. Heaven, realizing the danger Sisyphus posed to them, swiftly killed Sisyphus — Gabriel faced Sisyphus off in competition before beheading him. They say that Sisyphus still continued to play his trumpet, a smile on his face, even though he knew he was going to lose in the end.

• The remaining Sisyphean Insurrectionists would be harshly punished, making it harder for them to continue playing music. However, despite all this, they still try to continue playing — just as Sisyphus did in his final moments before his death.

A silly doodle of the Sisyphean Insurrectionists! (Don’t ask how one can play the tuba, lol)

[sapphire-weapon]

Seeing as how I just got two asks back to back trying to claim that I'm being unfair to Leon and that his behavior towards Ada in RE4make is "justified," I figured I'd just make an independent post about it instead of answering two questions that'll have overlapping answers. (And a third one came in as I was writing, even.)

No, I'm not being unfair to Leon, and no, his behavior isn't justified. Leon's being immature in RE4make, straight up.

The way that people talk about this, and the way that Leon acts towards her -- you would think that Ada had been a childhood friend that Leon had known for years, and that she betrayed him at the zero hour and destroyed a lifetime of trust between them.

Ada is some chick that Leon knew for a total of, like, six hours, years ago. And in Remake canon, she makes it very clear to him at the end of RE2make that her lying to him wasn't personal; it was just business.

He's had six years to think about this and compartmentalize it, but he's still taking it so intensely personally that he's being petty. He spends all of RE4make trying to ensure that Ada knows how personal it is, and he digs at her in such a way that it's like he wants her to feel personally hurt in return.

He's being fucking childish.

Especially when you consider that, even if Ada had wanted to reach out to him and let him know she's not dead -- how, exactly, do you propose she do that? Just saunter right on through CIA security and surveillance? Call Leon on a phone that's definitely being tapped and traced? Come the fuck on, man.

It's also not an either/or situation. It's not like the only two options for his attitude towards her are "overtly romantic" or "total cunt." OG RE4 had him be wary of her intentions and suspicious of her motives without being a complete and total asshole about it.

Think about this honestly. If the "she's like a part of me I can't let go" line didn't exist in OG, would you think that his feelings towards her were romantic at all in that game? Because I wouldn't. Half of their interactions are him questioning her or blowing her off.

And this was done with OG Leon knowing that Ada was explicitly working for Wesker. He knows that she's working for Albert Fucking Wesker, and he's still able to pull off being suspicious without being a cunt.

Remake Leon has no idea who she's working for and never, ever has. For all he knows, she could be working for someone who's in the fight against bioterrorism. The last thing he knew about her was that she was a fellow adversary of Umbrella who was getting shot at by Annette Birkin. He has no reason to treat her like a villain outside of his own personal butthurt.

He's just being petty because she hurt his feelings six years ago, and he's refused to grow up and move on since then and, at the very least, treat her with the bare minimum of cold professionalism that she actually deserves. They both establish in their first conversation that they're both here for work. They're doing a job. And he can't get over his personal butthurt enough to be a professional about it.

She makes him look terrible by comparison, because she very clearly does still have feelings for him in RE4make, but she's able to still be an adult and recognize the reality of the situation they're in.

I'm so tired of these takes where people treat Leon like he's a perfect innocent angel baby who did nothing wrong and is right to be mean to the bad lady who hurt him. Leon was a dumbass who got played and hasn't been able to gracefully take the L and move forward in life. That's what actually happened.

Like, damn, man. I know we all love Leon, but he's not always right. He has flaws. And this is one of them. Let him be flawed. And maybe examine things a bit further the next time you want to fully lay the blame for a male character being butthurt at a female character's feet.

[loveamongdragons]

Look, if you agree with me on the general statement of stories having to end, then surely you'd agree that atla's ongoing sequels have nothing to do with broad philosophical/societal statements the producers want to make, but are merely a way to milk more money from the IP?

I feel like I should just shrug this off and not waste my breath, since this is the current reality of the media industry, but it still hurts me to see a beloved IP of mine be cannibalized. This is the fate of every story nowadays, and I personally dread the day when they'll inevitably release Back to the Future 4: electric bogaloo.

I would have been all in for a new post-apocalyptic strory from the same creators, I might have really given it a try, despite my disappointment with how they'd handled the fates of the Gaang in the comics and LoK. I am all here for new IPs, new worlds and new characters to fall in love with. This post-apocalypse did not have to be in ATLA's world, in fact I find it jarring that the series has now a medieval fantasy, an industrial/steampunk fantasy and a post-apocalyptic fantasy installment. It is disjointed, and it lacks identity to ground itself in. You might say that it is great that the world is so varied, and I'd disagree because to me it appears to be held together by a flimsy threat of this IP's iteration of the Chosen One trope.

Obviously I haven't watched Seven Havens, and maybe the reviews will be great, and I will stand corrected. But so far this announcement gives me little hope and a lot of scepticism.

I am being bitter, and I will stop now. I am mostly here to love the original show.

I beg corporations to let stories END. Endings are important. Journeys start to lead to a destination. Do we really need a third Avatar series? Does it have to be a post-apocalypse? Why would you write a post-apocalypse when that is basically what we'd watched the Gaang prevent when Ozai set out to burn the whole Earth Kingdom? Why give us the feeling that it was all for naught?

I wish ATLA was just a stand-alone.

[valtsv]

every time i metapost about this podcast it inevitably deteriorates like this

[thyrell]

aaron stated his pronouns were he/him to jounalists and news outlets before his self-immolation. speculating someone else's gender, especially after his death is disrespectful and not your business. even if he went by lilly and used other pronouns, you are essentially trying to out him and disrespecting his wishes. maybe you should do as aaron asked and keep your focus on palestine instead of sending hate to a black trans person on here

im not sending hate to this person, i havent even interacted with him unless those anons were sent by him. i continue to use he/him for aaron bushnell, as per his last public communications, because as per the original post this is about, this is all speculation. i appreciate you coming to me off anon to tell me this, but i want you to think about whether this discussion is genuinely harmful to aaron bushnell's legacy or the palestinian freedom movement as a whole, whether it is just uncomfortable or in poor taste, and most importantly whether it warranted the widespread backlash against trans women on this website that it elicited.

[mistbornthief]

me: idk i dont really like the idea of Kelsier surviving bc it ruins the image of this man everyone considered unkillable to then actually die but then also not dying bc his memory lived on like a god and--

also me reading Wind and Truth: OMG KELSIER!!!!

[andybrenner]

It wasn't hard to spot Roman as his car was a statement piece a mong the sedans and corrolas on the street- including his own. He stood almost immediately, and his smile was a sigh of relief at that time. As Roman stepped out, Andrew took a moment to thank his driver for waiting and handling Roman, giving a little nod in his direction. Then eyes caught the bag of croissants and he laughed again. "Seriously? You don't think I have food up there already?" Perhaos he was craving something specific- and Andrew didn't have croissants. Not before, anyway. His hand slid around Roman's shoulders as he lead him him up the stairs, allowing him to go ahead so he wouldn't trip before he replaced his arm around his shoulders.

His apartment buildint was dated but where necessary, it was updated. For the most part the original brick and structure wasstill standing and functioning. The elevator was taken up and once they finally entered his apartment, lights were turned on and he let Roman in to lead the way. Nowhere near as gaudy as Roman's, his was warmer and cozy- exposed brick, dark furniture. More figurines of heroes on bookshelves with multiple tattoo convention awards. Photos of Andrew and the shop team at conventions and more rustic paintings littered the walls wide windows casted a view to the street below in the Livingroom and Kitchen, which connected via open concept, and for a Bachelors place of living- it was relatively clean, save for a hamper of dirty clothes in the kitchen and pillows and blankets laying disarray on his couch.

"So... this is my place." He said as he locked the door behind him. His jacket was removed and hung on the back of the door and he removed his shoes by the couch. "I'd give you a tour but I think I overdid it last time."

Nightly chores, for the most part, completed, Andrew was able to get out at a decent hour as opposed to the early morning he was use to. His own doing, but regardless. All the while finding himself wondering why Roman chose his apartment over sharing more information on himself. Andrew had assumed he would have loved to been asked questions, but he was seemingly wrong. He would nit pry, though, out of respect. He could only assume he would learn more as time went on.

He made it to his apartment within ten minutes, full expecting Roman to have been there by then. When he wasn't, Andrew took a seat on the outside stoop. Maybe something had come up- a phone call or something of the sort- that stalled him. Or, and Andrew's mind began to wander, maybe Roman didn't forgive him for those two weeks after all and this was how it was supposed to end.

Lips purse and pouted at that thought and his hands wrung themselves together in his lap, waiting patiently. A half hour since the two parted ways- he would give it another half before he cut his losses.

[theluckygroundhog]

i made a sonadow angst fic >:D i feel deranged for writing it but whatever

Summary: Following a battle with Eggman, Sonic wanders through a forest with a broken foot, avoiding the scouting robots. When he is discovered, Shadow is the only person close enough to aid Sonic. There are sweet moments under the stars, but mostly angst. Content Warnings: major character death(s), guns and gunshot wound, described wound packing, suicidal ideation, starvation and dehydration (semi-intentional), vomiting, mentioned/lightly described corpse

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Shadow the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog Characters: Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog Word Count: 5,352

Additional Tags: Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Medical Inaccuracies, not on purpose just im not a doctor, First Kiss, Last Kiss, Cuddling & Snuggling, Protective Shadow the Hedgehog, Gunshot Wounds, Guns, Suicidal Thoughts, Starvation, Vomiting, Hugs, not in a cute way but like desperatly clinging

[skaruresonic]

O Great and Powerful Amy Fan Council, please call me a pick-me, it would be so fucking funny

[dw-flagler]

wait for it wait for it wait for it...

THERE IT IS!!!

[demonstars]

you're still here!! i thought we lost you, i'm happy you're here!

YES MIGHT'VE GIVEN THAT IMPRESSION BECAUSE FOR A WHILE I DID INTEND TO LEAVE!!! and then after all was said and done i took time to Reflect and Spoke to friends and decided to stick around For a while even if just to rb and post memes a bit

[msookyspooky]

The way me and the Randy Character AI talked for almost 3 hrs about horror movies 😶

[cherrysnax]

I think it’s rlly interesting when u can tell someone was bullied as a child and instead of working thru that trauma they take that anger and point it at anyone who dares reminds them of it

[ko-neko-san]

You ever notice all the men in black are all human or near human? Is that on purpose or are there just very few aliens what wanna be cops? Or is it just that the alien ones are wearing like. Disguises? The people (I) need to know