#anyway not wearing a mask is eugenics

[liminalweirdo]

i'm deleting the original of this post because i simply cannot get 500 messages a day saying whether people do or don't have alerts in their area. It was interesting at first, but after almost two weeks of it, it's no longer contributing to the conversation. We've established that some people are getting alerts in some parts of North America and some people aren't. That wasn't the point of this post. _____________________

the reason there are no actual phone alerts for the air quality in Canada and parts of the US right now is because the government doesn't want to freak people out. This is what I've taken to calling New Normal Syndrome Return to Normal Syndrome — when people don't want to acknowledge that the worst air quality on record, or an ongoing global pandemic is cause for alarm and appropriate protective measures.

Return to Normal Syndrome has also affected the folks pretending it's "Normal" (or not a form of child abuse??) to take their kids out in a level 11 air quality warning without any respiratory protection before kids can comprehend the damage that will do to their lungs.

People with Return to Normal Syndrome can wear blinders as much as they want, they can cling to "Normal" with their fingertips, but it's not going to make it true. We're living in a global pandemic, in a climate crisis, and this is not sustainable.

We don't need to adjust to "the New Normal," we need to take appropriate steps to fix it and mitigate the damage that it's causing, at least within our own families and communities to start.

[liminalweirdo]

"Like the White House’s plan to privatize COVID treatments and vaccines, Medicaid coverage is another public health emergency measure that’s been deemed no longer necessary."

well that's disturbing

"It is a lot of work to be poor and disabled. In a country where health care is not a right, the Medicaid redeterminations reinforce the precarious state of marginalized communities in relationship to the state."

[ineedmorevat7kinmylife]

Okay so I watched Empire Strikes Back tonight, and like, how have I never seen any Varigo as Han Solo and Leia? Like they’re perfect.

Anyway, this triggered a “what if I wrote a whole fic about this and put all the characters from tts and vat7k into Star Wars?”

So here is who I’d think be who. Keep in mind, my Star Wars knowledge is limited to mainly just the original trilogy, and even then isn’t much.

Varian - Leia So, basically instead of Varian being a princess or prince of whatever planet Leia is from, he would be a royal scientist who was naturally good at the force and just didn’t know it yet.

Eugene - Luke Luke and Leia would be cousins in this, Eugene being the son of Darth Vader, and Varian being Vader’s nephew. Eugene, after being born, gets taken to an orphanage on Tatooine, where Ben watches him and makes sure he’s not evil. Hugo - Han Solo Hugo would still work for Donella, he would be more of a bounty hunter than he is in the movies. He has his own ship, but Don gives him assignments. Olivia - Chewbacca/Millennium Falcon Chewy: so I’m imagining like a big robot that Hugo built, she could’ve worked as R-2, but Chewbacca is always with Han, so it just made more sense. In this Olivia would be used less for sneakiness and more for brute strength, because Hugo needs that more Millennium Falcon: Olivia is an AI in the ship, Chewy is just Chewy Donella - No one! She doesn’t really fit with anyone, or maybe she does and I just don’t remember them. So here she’s kind of just inserted Qurin - Leia’s dad Seeing as we never see Leia’s adopted father, we don’t know much about him, just that he was an old Jedi master. (I think. I’m getting most of my info from my dad, so let me know if I’m wrong) But he presumably dies when her planet blows up, so that’s what happens to Qurin here! Sorry! Edmund - Darth Vader So, since Eugene is Luke, Edmund had to be Darth Vader, and the more I think about it, the more I like it. Especially because of Dark kingdom/Dark side. Sorry to Edmund fans, (not sure how many there are) but I can personally totally see him being evil if the Dark kingdom was just a bit more evil. Rapunzel - Jedi leader Not an actual character that I know of, she’s just one of the generals or whatever for the Jedi. Lance - Lando Calrissian Because it just works okay. Especially for Lance’s first appearance in the show, when he was kind-of reformed, but not really, then later becomes better. It just works. Also I like the idea of Lance and Hugo knowing each other before hand. Eugene and Hugo did, it’s not too much of a stretch to say Lance did too. Baron - Jaba the hut I have nothing else for this, it’s self explanatory. The Force: So we’re going more moonstone with this. Those who can connect to the moonstone are Jedi, and they can use its magic. Usually trained from a very young age. If you’re a Jedi you get a fun hair color (it matches your lightsaber), and makes it very hard to blend in. This is mainly cause I like the Varian’s hair stripe means he’s got some moon magic in him theory. Dark side: Dark kingdom wants to protect the world from the moonstone, they think it’s dangerous. Darth Vader rose to power despite being connected to the moonstone and using the force, he claims he can use it without being connected, but he can’t. The reason he wears the mask isn’t because he’s terribly disfigured, cause that’s a little bit of bad messaging, it’s so he hides his bright red, glows-when he-force-chokes-someone hair. And cause he thinks it looks cool. I didn’t want to make Adira and Hector evil, so I just didn’t include them, let me know if you think of a way they work. If I do end up writing this, it will take a long time, feel free to use the ideas for your own fic, especially if you know more about Star Wars than I do, just let me know and please credit me. :)

[rikaklassen]

CW: COVID-19

Potent section from "Queer as in fuck you" written by anonymous and published by Sour Queer Press which resonates strongly:

What is fascinating to me is that queer community focuses so much on consent. It’s truly mind blowing to see people go back to dance and house parties, large and small events, unmasked. Poetry readings and community care events, all with either no or sloppy precautions that make no sense (fyi, if you require masks you better have a way of making sure people are wearing them or else you are still excluding disabled folks). The irony to me of a group that cares so much about community and being trauma-informed contributing to the spread of a disabling virus is too much. And there aren’t really words for seeing person after person let you down. All in the name of something we (queer militants) have a history of fighting: assimilation. Eugenics in the name of mental health. As if queer disabled people aren’t some of the most creative people I’ve met. And I’ve been so disappointed in the queer community that I forget: so much of the invisible (no thanks to you) queer community does care about covid. It’s the aesthetic, back-to-normal, eugenicist, assimilating queers that don’t care. And it dawned on me: y’all aren’t fucking queer. Your values align with every white woman you make fun of for being fragile, attached, sensitive. Queerness is more than a denim vest and who you fuck or don’t. Queerness means fighting for the very values “queer” (from this point on, y’all queer fuckers that don’t take covid seriously are getting a “”) people are abandoning. We lost an entire generation to AIDS, and the nightmare is a generation of “queers” who are happy to forget how hard we’ve fought for each other. It seems like people think queerness is more about how you look and not about how we move. So do me a favor, stop calling yourself queer. You don’t deserve the label. Go hang out with the boring ass cis hets who go to brunch on the weekend and go to that new restaurant for Wednesday night dinners. I’m sure they’ll appreciate your added spunk and since that’s what you’re assimilating into anyways, just get to it and stop pretending. In the meantime, we’ve been building community, whoever has a filter lugging it back and forth to houses, taking whatever money we can spend on masks for ourselves and each other, watching movies and making art. But I’m gonna be honest, that’s not good enough for me. That’s what you want anyways, isn’t it? For us to isolate in our communities. No, I think I’m going to start calling in our AIDS ancestors and bringing dead bodies and ashes to your doorstep.

Print editon [PDF, 2.6MB, archived] | Read edition [PDF, 14.7MB, archived] | Audio [MP3, 72.5MB, archived]

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Fucking depresses me no one is cautious during deaf events or pride events even though deaf people are more disproportionately likely to be disabled; and queer people are also disproportionately more likely to be disabled. Even more infuriating when one of the reasons why we don't have many queer elders over the age of 40 was because of the AIDS epidemic and we have had campaigns like safer sex awareness and consent as well as distributing harm reduction supplies such as free condoms.

[redundare]

so, okay. relistening to Part 16 of Malevolent i went into a research spiral about Eugene O'Neill, whose poem "Free" Arthur recites for John. name wasn't familiar to me, but some of his plays i recognize by name: The Iceman Cometh, Long Day's Journey Into Night. okay so far so normal.

then i start coming across poems like Nocturne, and monologues like this one (CW attempted suicide, child death). like, damn, okay, i see why Harlan chose this writer for Arthur, and the podcast in general. very thematically on point

THEN. i read the wiki page for The Great God Brown. hold up. use of masks? a character takes the mask and poses as someone’s husband and by the time she finds out, the "real" Billy has faded away, and he’s accused of killing his "real" self?? hold up hold up hold up we're in King in Yellow territory

AND THEN i discover O'Neill is famous for his use of masks in his plays, not just in The Great God Brown but others too, and there's dozens of papers written about it. O'Neill himself wrote an article called "Memoranda on Masks" in which he says things like, "the mask is dramatic in itself, has always been dramatic in itself, is a proven weapon of attack."

U H M ? ? ?

in a different article for the NYT, he writes of the characters in The Great God Brown,

“When he steals Dion’s mask of Mephisopheles he thinks he is gaining the power to live creatively while in reality he is only stealing that creative made self-destructive by complete frustration. This devil of mocking doubt makes short work of him. It enters him, rending him apart, torturing and transfiguring him until he is even forced to wear a mask of his success […] Thus Billy Brown becomes not himself to any one. And thus he partakes of Dion’s anguish [...] and in the end out of this anguish his soul is born.”

hey harlan, what the fuck, man. O'Neill isn't even NAMED IN THAT EPISODE! if i pull on EVERY string will something fall out?? like how the fuck does he keep doing this??? anyway, new pet theory that O’Neill is one of the King’s and Arthur was attracted to his work because of Yellow-Tinted Reasons. O’Neill’s also alive in canon rn, so I hope John insists on seeing one of his plays when they’re in NYC

[thebibliomancer]

Earth X #9

Wherein the Inhumans reverently look up at Medusa’s cleavage framed by Black Bolt’s wings.

I dunno.

You know something I didn’t realize until last time?

All the covers form one image. If placed side by side in two rows of seven. Pretty neat.

Anyway. Earth X. It is a pretty Bad Future.

Uatu the Watcher has been blinded. He kidnapped Aaron Stack to be his seeing eye robot but Aaron has learned the secrets he was hiding about the Celestials and their plan for humanity.

He is furious with Uatu.

A psychic brat called the Skull has brought an army of thousands of mind controlled people to New York. He’s defeated the robotic Iron Avengers and killed the Hydra. Now he corners President Osborn in his office.

Captain America teleports around the world, recruiting old friends to form an army against the Skull.

Humanity has undergone a mass empowering event, mutating everyone. Reed initially blamed himself, blamed his vibranium experiments. But he has come to learn that it was the Inhuman’s terrigen mist that has changed humanity.

Loki schemed to set Thor against Sorcerer Supreme Clea and removed both from Earth so he can scheme and plot.

Peter Parker’s daughter May, the new Venom, tried to fight against the Skull but fell under his control, leaving Peter at a loss.

Oh, and there’s a werewolf astronaut on the Moon called John Jameson. He’s wandered into the tense dynamic between Uatu and Aaron. I don’t know why he’s here but he’s here now.

Earth X. There’s a lot of stuff going on but it all ties together with a big bow that says Celestials.

The Celestials are here. Whatever their ancient plan, it is two hundred years early and it is imminent.

Pretty exciting.

There’s a lot of subplots going on so let’s cover the Inhumans first. Last time, Reed and the Inhumans realized that the mass empowering event was caused by the Inhuman’s own terrigen mist.

Apparently, shortly before the royal family left Earth, there was one last big fight between Maximus and Black Bolt. Maximus’ scheme was to detonate a terrigen bomb that would turn humanity into Inhumans for him to rule.

Sounds like what has happened, right? We found our culprit?

Well, no.

Maximus was stopped. He killed best doggo Lockjaw, so Black Bolt killed him.

But Medusa has now realized that the only person who could have set off the bomb after Maximus’ defeat… was Black Bolt.

(Tally 2 marks for 616 stuff inspired by Earth X. The events War of Kings and Inhumanity were based off this idea.)

The populace of Attilan got fed up with the rules and restrictions and eugenics of the Inhuman ruling council. A council powerful enough to take Black Bolt and Medusa’s kid away from them. So despite the outside world being poison to Inhumans, everybody left. They much rathered be poisoned than put up with the Council.

In the outside world, the refugee Inhumans were weakened by pollution and were mistaken as mutants. So they got hate mobbed.

Black Bolt decided to set off the terrigen bomb before he and the Royal Family went off into space. If everyone was Inhumans, the refugees could blend. Maybe this would even solve all of humanity’s prejudices. Or so Medusa assumes Black Bolt was thinking.

Black Bolt doesn’t talk in general but now he’s super not saying anything. Not even his non-verbal communications that Medusa interprets for others.

So that mystery is solved.

It was Black Bolt in Attilan with the Terrigen Bomb.

Over in New New York, the Skull and his forces have cornered President Osborn in his office.

And the Skull delivers a truly karmic death to Norman. Not that the Skull is even aware of that.

Norman is given a vision by Spiders-Man (another tally for Earth X) of Gwen Stacy shoving him out the window.

And on his way down, he gets tangled up in the new American flag and snaps his neck.

Also, for some reason, he was wearing a Norman mask over his goblin face.

The terrigen mists really mutated people in appropriate ways. Black Panther became a kitty, Ox is an ox, and Norman Osborn’s face became that of the Green Goblin.

I don’t know why he hid it. Considering that in this world, angry mobs murder people who look too normal.

(Way to solve prejudice, Black Bolt)

Also, I said this last time, but I really thought President Osborn would be more important to the plot. But I guess it was just a Bad Future signifier.

Times must be bad, Osborn is President and Peter Parker is depressed and retired.

With Osborn dead, the Skull broadcasts a message saying he’s in charge now.

The Skull: “I’ve got great news, everybody. The president’s dead. No more wrinkles. No more age spots. No more grandma smells. I’m in charge now.”

Before we panic, we should find out what his plan for fixing health care is.

Elsewhere, Captain America continues teleporting around the world recruiting an army.

His next stop is to England, to recruit Brain Braddock, Captain Britain. Who is now King Britain.

He’s also depressed because Excalibur, the team, was turned into stone by the Gray Gargoyle. Brian found the real Excalibur, the sword, to save Excalibur, the team, but he’s been too afraid to use it.

Brian also foolishly says “I am Britain” to express that he has to make decisions for a country, not just himself. Giving Captain America the opportunity to drop a “no man is an island” counter.

In Tony’s quarantined hideout, he and Vision react to Norman’s death.

Which neither of them weep or gnash their teeth at. The guy sucked.

Tony’s Tony brain is still whirring away even after becoming a hermit and he wonders if the Skull didn’t take control of the Iron Avengers like he did everyone else because he couldn’t.

We haven’t gotten a lot of specifics on how the Skull’s mind control works. Him not being able to control robots is a plausible weakness.

Hm. I wonder if Vision is immune to Professor X. Vision’s mind is based on human brain patterns but it’s entirely synthetic. And mutant telepathy doesn’t work on Sentinels or Nimrods.

Maybe Vision should intangible through the ground, pop up behind the Skull and cold cock him.

The last big subplot is Aaron Stack ditching Uatu and John Jameson on the Moon to go fill in Reed Richards.

Uatu was very specific that Reed should be distracted by grief and despair so he doesn’t cause more damage. So Aaron has realized that if anyone has a chance of stopping the Celestial plan, it is Reed.

So he pops out of a Monoloth in front of Reed and uses his telescoping eyes to show Reed the horrible truth of the Celestial plan.

Earth X is a cosmic horror story hiding inside a wacky comic book AU.

Uatu let Aaron believe that the Celestial plan was that humanity would evolve into space gods. Into a new group of Celestials.

He let Aaron believe this so he could use it as a cudgel against Aaron’s moral objections. Things look bad but these are birthing pains so humanity can achieve its glorious destiny.

And humanity being special and destined to become space gods is very common in Marvel.

The Skrull-Kree War story in Avengers concluded with the reveal that humanity had latent reality warping powers and that one day, they’d rule the universe.

People on Earth are constantly ascending to higher planes of existence by getting so powerful. The High Evolutionary did it to himself once.

When it seemed like the plan was that humanity was evolving into Celestials, this was a very plausible direction for the plot to go.

But it was a lie.

The Celestial plan is about new Celestials. But there is already one growing inside Earth.

(Another tally for Earth X. This was the plot of the Eternals movie.)

Cosmic horror often uses the idea that humanity is a meaningless mote in existence.

Earth X does something arguably worse.

Humanity is very important. A very important if small cog in the machine. An immune system to protect the growing Celestial from “germs” like the Skrulls or Kree.

The Deviants and Eternals were the first and second stab at an immune system but were insufficient in different ways.

The Celestial seed is responsible for everything that we think makes humanity. Ambition, conflict, guilt, responsibility, altruism, culture, innovation. All of our virtues and vices meticulously calculated to serve a specific role. Our development from pre-history to the end of the world charted out.

To encourage humanity to grow, to spread, to fight. Conflict sparks progress. Pollution, radiation, scientific advances create an environment for superpowers to develop. Which makes humans powerful enough to protect the world from outsiders. Finally, for the Skull to arise to bring the mutated populace under control in the last days to prevent destructive in-fighting.

Humanity has a destiny and it is to protect an egg and then die when it hatches.

Sounds like someone really liked Chrono Trigger.

Jokes aside, this is the dark secret at the literal center of Earth X.

We know the game now. There’s four issues left. Can a cosmic plan millions of years in the making be stopped at the eleventh hour?

Probably. Superhero comics are all about punching existential threats until they go away.

[disabledfurry]

"don't compare disabled animals to disabled people it's dehumanizing"

1 able bodied people do that all the time anyway have you seen the way they talk about/react to cats with cerebellar hypoplasia. also this.

2 idk i just don't really like paragraphs and paragraphs and paragraphs of "not being able to walk or breathe or use the bathroom on your own is a horrible tragic unsustainable life" for some reason /sarcasm

3 what if and hear me out we all sat down and learned about what does and doesn't sound like eugenics? but you can't do that because then you'd have to start wearing masks again : - (

[heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon]

Like, literally all of them? Go fuck yourself?

"Less representation than Gravity Falls..."

So...

I guess all of the crippled queer kids are just going to have to be okay with Tyrone (strangely appropriative and fetishistic name for the disfigured clone of your 13 y/o white boy character) happily exclaiming something like how he's apparently "Better Off Dead!" when he gets a soda poured on him and destroyed, huh? Oh Wait! I forgot.. That was Paper-Jam Dipper!

Nope. I think crippled queer kids would much rather appreciate Toby and Minty being there just fine. After all, I think that it must be the first time we've ever seen any visible wheelchair users in a Queer Coded Disney Show since Kim Possible. Let alone this queer coded and let alone twice. And they're two separate characters existing at the same time and their presence doesn't even revolve around teaching anyone anything! They're just ALLOWED to EXIST!

Didn't see anything like this in Grabbity Balls though, did see a stereotypical man-ish little girl with a big, deep man-ish voice be implied to have "something wrong with her" by an adult authority figure character who's voiced by the same straight, white, openly anti-black Canadian man that you all have been heralding as the ultimate alley for your fictional LGBTQ+ Cartoon Characters' rights, for some reason.

At least the Star Crew tried to give us this:

Which in my opinion was a bit more forwarded and impactful than some dude bro frat boy "love guru" type character just wearing a bunch of symbols and ornaments around his neck, even if they both didn't get through the censors ... You all know this is way more explicit than that.

Speaking of in your face and explicit Queer Coding:

Golly gee... I wonder why such cute and beefy but shy Little Leather Monster Complete with his own Harness and what appears to be a Gimp Mask just had to be regulated to the back?! So funny how Daron Nefcy literally said Disabled Rights, Trans Rights, and Leather/Kinkster Rights while Alex Hirsch only said Eugenics, "Trans Rights" (if you can pass to him, if he can pronounce your name, and you don't say "bae" ) and of course, let's not forget Cops at Pride, despite how little they could apparently both get away with... :)

... But of course, the last and most important Queer Reading to me in Star vs. :

The whole idea of being forced to be with someone you don't love to the point where you have to take a Secret Lover and elope with them and preserve your own sanity because you're a"Bad Girl" who likes a lot of dirty, kinky things to the point where your own voice actress is herself an open kinkster who likes dirty kinky things and that shows through her fun performance, as well as the canonical writings of this kinky character.

And we're not even getting into all of the WAM and Food Fetish stuff in Star vs. The Forces of Evil but it's there, and it's 'glorious'

And after the show is over ,like the actual Queen of Darkness you are, you gotta go sue your old washed up has-been rock star ex boyfriend for misusing the forces of what he says is kink to abuse you ... Because kink is great actually and he's just evil.

Anyway, Esmé Bianco is amazing.

Don't even get me started on Meteora and the blatant disrespect. Especially after Jessica Walter's passing.

I'm writing this post because I'm just ... So fucking sick of people shitting all over the wonderful representation that Star vs. was able to even achieve in favor of praising Alex Hirsch, every time... When in reality, Star vs. The Forces of Evil has overall better representation and overt, and, as some have even said, both in out the show, literally abject Queerness in it than Hirsch will ever have in whichever eye y'all tried to put the eye-patch on your sexy twink Bill Ciphers only to have Hirsch shit on all that and immediately "fix it" by redesigning it as some disfigured ablest caricature before literally switching over to yet another anti-black one.

Dana broke up with Hirsch for a reason: He's a jerk!

If you think that Daron didn't do a "queer enough" narrative with Star vs. despite it being so by it's nature since day one, despite that being already being promised by it's very nature in it's influence being Sailor Moon and Scott Pilgrim, and if you read the Book of Spells even and still say shit like: "I don't see how Star vs. is QUEER????"

Then like, I'm sorry you can't look a little deeper to find that queerness already everywhere in the narrative all around you and if you actually think that Alex Hirsch ever did Representation TM better than Daron Nefcy, all I can say is that I'm sorry you're like a misogynist with shit taste in men and I'm so glad Dana Terrace is free from her shitty boyfriends shadow now at least.

Saying something even more petty about this because I'm gay: A giant, "Size Shifting", People Eating, Purple Pussy Monster who spends his time in mostly just booty shorts, his Chocolate Fountain Jumping Wife who orgasms when she eats candy and left her arranged marriage so that could have more orgasms, and their Giantess, Purple Pussy Monster of a daughter who sucks the souls out of people and spent most of her life as the Milfier than her own Mom, Terrifying Headmistress of a reform school, where she sucked the life of her own students in a Bathory-uqse fashion, before blowing up her cyborg simp, with his own heart, then probably being able to use the severed arm of her Lizard Cyborg Ex Boyfriend as a make-shift dildo to get a final wank in before ultimately experiencing a growth spurt, losing her mind, and killing everyone ... Will always be more Queer in their very nature, than a floating stale dorito in a top hat and two "gay" cops that are designed to be classicist, racist stereotypes for the sake of the unspoken running "joke" that they could even get along, ever were...

And again... If you're an adult and 'Star Vs.' still isn't enough for you... Then maybe you should STOP looking to cartoons and Disney for your ideal representation and make your own...

I'm done.

[liminalweirdo]

here's a link to that template by the way

also, there are a GREAT number of conditions that put you at right risk for covid infection including some neurological and mental illnesses. You can find the complete list here for underlying conditions and here for medical conditions.

also you you think you're not high-risk AND you haven't have covid before, check it out anyway, you might be surprised to find that you are, in fact, considered to be as risk for more severe illness.

Some factors include lack of physical activity, asthma, depression, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, hypertension, etc.

And if you're not at higher risk for severe illness, someone you love probably is.

Stop eugenics, wear a mask.

[rotisseries]

EUGENE THIS RANDOM ASS SIDE CHARACTER HAD A WEED DEN AND HAD OMEGAVERSE PORN AND A GAS MASK BONG AND ALL AT THE AGE BETWEEN 50-70 I WANNA MEET HIM SO BAD WHYD HE DIE BEFORE THE STORY BEGAN 😐

Anyways ok as someone who lives in snow like tlou is showing (if not more they're out in forests and it's walkable in that's CHILDS PLAY) all their clothing irritates me. jeans are you FUCKING joking. but I believe Abby is just fine like girl is wearing absolutely nothing for her head and neck that beanie is such a joke. but she could do it. I believe her

😐 right as I said this joel saved abby. um ill be back I guess I just meant to send in 2 asks for today what the fuCK

OMEGAVERSE PORN?? I DON'T REMEMBER THE OMEGAVERSE PORN. I REMEMBER PORN I DON'T REMEMBER OMEGAVERSE???

and yeah THE CLOTHING. LMAO. the hoodies and jeans are bad enough but ellie is literally wearing converse. girl.

[artemisiatridentata]

I am begging y’all to please wear a mask (ideally an N95, such as a 3M aura, or at least a KN95 or KF94) in public and in crowds, indoor AND outdoor, even when you DON’T feel sick or have any symptoms. At least 20% — and some sources say up to 60% — of cases are asymptomatic!!! Meaning you could feel completely fine, waltzing through the grocery store or restaurant or concert maskless, and be shedding virus and infecting countless other people!! Please mask up to protect yourself and others. If you’ve stopped, it’s never too late to start again. It is never pointless.

Also — just want to clarify a couple things mentioned above.

1) Covid is not endemic. Here’s a good explanation as to why:

2) While I’m very glad to hear the person above is experiencing mild acute symptoms, I hope people reading that don’t interpret it as a reason to drop precautions like masking, testing, avoiding crowds, etc!! And the next things I’ll say are not meant to scare y’all, but to reiterate the seriousness of this ongoing viral pandemic.

Covid is not becoming more mild. It is, rather, becoming more infectious and more immune-evasive, meaning immunity you may have from vaccines or prior infections protects you less as new variants evolve and spread.

While the acute phase of covid can result in mild symptoms for some people, the long-term effects are worrying. An increasing number of previously healthy young people are getting strokes, heart attacks, brain fog and other severe post-covid sequelae. Even mild cases can result in brain damage equivalent to an extra year of aging, and covid can impair your body’s ability to fight off future infections. An estimated 23 million Americans and 65 million people globally have or have had long covid, a cluster of often life-altering and debilitating symptoms that persist weeks, months, and even years after an acute infection. Hell, the WHO themselves recently stated that you have a 1 in 10 chance of developing LC with each infection, though some estimates put it at 1 in 5. Idk about y’all but I am not tryna fuck around and find out with those odds.

I’m not even going to get into the eugenic aspects of the way the US government and corporations are handling this pandemic, because I’m tired and don’t want to type all that out right now. But that’s another important reason to wear a mask, imo. Since the pandemic started, disabled people have been pushed out of society and repeatedly ignored and told the basic protections we’re asking for are too much to ask. They’re not. Caring for the people around you by wearing a mask is one of the most radical things you can do right now. Don’t let the government and capitalist corporations convince you otherwise.

Lastly, what we have to remember is that we are early on in this pandemic. We are just starting to see the long-term effects that repeat covid infections are having on people, and they are, frankly, horrifying. What will the world be like 10 years from now, if everyone keeps going along with the back-to-normal getting-infected-twice-a-year grind?

Anyways. Personally, for all these reasons and more, I’m not willing to take risks like going unmasked in public. I’ve avoided restaurants, bars, movie theaters, concerts, and other large gatherings since March 2020. I continue to wear an N95 in public, both indoors and outdoors if I’m around a bunch of people. I use other mitigation tools like air filters and antiviral nasal spray to further reduce my risk, and I…. may or may not have hypothetically used a fake name to get two Novavax shots even though I wasn’t eligible for more vaccines since I got a bivalent booster back in the fall. (No I didn’t. I would never do something illegal! Even if the government were dragging its feet on updating vaccine guidelines! Haha! You should definitely not do something like that!) is it hard to live like this? Fuck yeah. It fucking sucks sometimes. But you know what would suck more? Throwing caution to the wind and listening to corporations urging me to get back to normal and then getting repeatedly infected and probably becoming even more disabled or dying.

I would much rather make some sacrifices socially and listen to doctors and scientists and long covid survivors who have been sounding the alarm bells and screaming from the rooftops since 2020. Because I love my life, I love being able to do the things I’m able to do, and I don’t want to lose that by getting long covid. I don’t want to raise my risk of dying young from a stroke or heart attack. I don’t want to risk infecting someone else and condemning them to that fate because I wasn’t wearing a mask. And I doubt that any of y’all want that either, deep down. 💖

reminder that even if the world health organization says covid is over, it isnt.

[one-true-houselight]

What is the point of requiring masks to walk into a building, only to leave it up for personal choice once people sit down for a performance? Do you understand how masks work?

[capitainecorbeau]

Masks aren't going to be mandatory inside anymore from Feb 28th onwards (in france) even though contaminations are still at an all time high.

I just

I'm so fucking tired why are so many people pretending it's over, it's not, we're still at risk, vulnerable people are still very much in danger, this is such fucking bullshit

[rocksandrobots]

Phantoms of the Past Chapter 27 - The Halloween Hunt: Part 2

All three of the Coronians continued to scream as the car drove directly at them. Only at the last minute did Lance react, "Let's get out of here!"

He scooped up Rapunzel and flung her over his shoulder and grabbed Eugene by the shirt collar to pull him along.

Only for Eugene to stumble as they ran, and Lance lost hold of him.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel screamed as the vehicle rammed right into him...and then passed right through him again. As if he had been a ghost!

Eugene stood there in shock as he patted himself. "I'm... I'm alive? I'm alive!"

He jumped for joy, and then indignantly turned around and yelled at the horseless carriage as it drove away. "Hey, I'm walkin' here, ya road hog!"

------------

Wasabi ventured a peak out between his fingers. Noticing that there wasn't a bloody smear across his windshield, he turned to Gogo , who was driving, "Why don't you watch where you're going? You almost hit that guy!"

Gogo rolled her eyes. "Relax, I didn't hit him… Did I?"

Fred turned to look out the back window to see a man with a goatee and green vest angrily shouting at them. "No, he looks fine, to me. He is mad though."

"That's it! I'm driving!" Wasabi tried to reach for the steering wheel, but his costume prevented him from stretching his arms out to thier full length. It also didn't help that Gogo held him back with one hand as she continued to steer with the other.

"Chill. We just got started. Besides, those idiots shouldn't have been in the middle of the road anyways."

------------

"The nerve of some people," Eugene complained as he rejoined his friends on the sidewalk. "to not watch where I'm going."

Rapunzel threw herself at him and squeezed him tight. "Oh, thank goodness you're alright."

"So is this place, like one giant illusion or something?" Lance asked, "Because that metal death carriage just went right through you. Like it wasn't even there."

Eugene only shrugged.

"It can't be." Rapunzel argued. "Xavier said that the candle would take us to Varian. He can't be living in an illusion for months on end."

"I don't know," Eugene argued back, as he looked around once more. "This place sure looks like something he would dream up."

Lance shook his head. "Can't be him making all this… Not enough giant murderous automatons running around."

"Oh, and what do you call that?" Eugene pointed to another wheeled vehicle that rolled past. This one was a large truck that parked next to a house. The door of the truck opened and several men started carrying boxes inside the building.

"U-haul." Rapunzel read on the side of the vehicle. "Huh... It looks like people here use these... these horseless carriages to get around. Maybe they can just turn incorporeal, as like a safety feature?"

"Yeah, somehow I doubt that's it." Eugene said as they all three watched the now heavy traffic flow pass, while on the other side people bustled about. One thing was for sure, they were in a very, very busy city.

"I like your costume." a small voice beside them called out.

Lance jumped in fright and scrambled into Eugene's arms. "Ahhh, it's a goblin!"

The 'goblin' in question was a short child wearing a monstrous rubber mask.

"Lance, it's a costume." Eugene sighed.

"Oh... I knew that... I was just playing along..." Lance nervously laughed. "...giving the kid confidence, you know."

Rapunzel gave the child a wide smile and knelt down to the kid's level. "Thank you, I think your outfit is great too. Ummm... maybe you can help us. My friends and I are new here... can you tell us where we are?"

"You've on 4th street." A taller kid joined them. This one was dressed in a fur vest and wore a horned helmet. "If you keep heading that way you'll reach main street about six red lights down. Then you turn right and you'll be in downtown." The kid pointed behind the gang of travelers with a toy club.

"Downtown... got it." Rapunzel nodded, not that these directions meant anything to her. "What's downtown?"

The child shrugged. "I don't know, restaurants? Events? It's where all the tourists go. That and the bridge." Then she nudged the other smaller child. "Come on Bobbie. Let's hit up the next house." And with that the two kids walked away, carrying what looked to be two bags overflowing with candy.

"Well, that was strange." Eugene committed once the children were out of ear shot.

"Do people always dress like hideous monsters here?" Lance asked.

Rapunzel held back a laugh. "Oh, they're just playing pretend. Let's try heading this way towards that downtown they were talking about?"

"I thought the spell was supposed to bring us to Varian." Eugene complained as they started walking. "So far we haven't seen hide nor hair of the goggled headed delinquent."

"He... must be nearby." Rapunzel tried to sound positive, but the hesitancy was evident in her voice. "Let's just keep going. We might run into him."

None of them noticed the yellow car that passed by heading in the opposite direction.

--------------

Varian didn't see the three Coronaians either as he pressed the call button on his cell.

Wasabi had given him a device to hold his phone up on the dashboard so that he could drive with his hands free, and he went back to watching the road as soon as the phone started ringing.

"Hello?" The girl on the other end asked.

"Hey, Megan. Is Trina with you?"

"Yeah, Carl and Globby dropped her off here just a few minutes ago. Then they went to take Noddle Burger Boy trick or treating."

"Great! That'll save us time. I'm heading over to the art institute now to pick up Carol, and I'll swing back around to get you two on the way to SFIT."

"Sounds good. Do you think we can fit all the instruments in your car? My drum set is pretty big."

"Eh, we'll make it all work. Don't worry about it. Just be ready to go when I get there."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye."

The call ended, but despite his words, Varian did worry. Try as he might, he couldn't shake the feeling of unease that came over him.

He took a deep breath. "It's okay... You're just nervous 'cause it's your first real performance. Nothing bad is going to happen."

He didn't really believe himself.

-------------

Rapunzel couldn't shake the growing feeling of unease as they walked along the sidewalk in the afternoon sun. They had perhaps been journeying for half an hour and still hadn't seen any sign of Varian. Though they saw plenty of other people.

They were definitely in some sort of city, and it was busy. Rapunzel had never seen so many people and tightly packed buildings in her life. The largest she had come across was Vardoas, and it seemed to be dwarfed by this place... wherever they were. She tried to guess their location by what few signs that were up, but it seemed to be an even mixture of English, Spanish (according to Eugene who was fluent), and a third language that Rapunzel didn't recognize at all. Lance said it was Japanese, and that he had met an old sailor in prison once, who heralded from the far away island. Though he himself couldn't read it.

She figured that they were in some bustling port town that saw a lot of trade between these three kingdoms, but none of her guesses felt right. Neither London nor Madrid were anywhere near this, Japan, and Spain and England were sworn enemies, so it was odd that both languages were spoken here.

Then there were the people themselves. They saw more and more children, and a fair few adults, running around in costumes. They were dressed as everything and anything you could imagine, from horrific monsters, to mythical creatures, to cute oddities, like pumpkins and puppies. There were also outfits worn that she was sure were costumes as well, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out what they were intended to be. Some women and even a few men, wore extremely short skirts or tops that barely concealed anything. Rapunzel was too surprised to even blush. Other's had brightly dyed hair and flashy makeup, with unitards and tights to match. She would have thought a circus was in town if not for the rest of the people also in costume.

Occasionally, she would see someone wearing clothing familiar to her. People dressed in grand ball gowns, normal peasants garb, sailor's outfits, military uniforms or knightly armor. Yet, she quickly discovered that these were just costumes as well.

The people not in fancy dress, seemed to prefer woolen jerseys and long blue britches. Even the women wore these trousers the same as the men, and on the few occasions that she did see a dress that wasn't a long flowing gown or a super short skirt, it was often a type of tunic with tights. She also saw a lot of coats and scarves, but she didn't feel the least be cold herself.

But if she thought the people were odd, the city itself was even weirder. They saw more of those horseless carriages parked along the street and driving upon the road. The buildings around them were tall and made of red brick with several windows. Most seemed to house shops and vendors of some kind on the bottom floors, while the few homes were thin structures squished in between the taller brick buildings. Some of the houses had tiled roofs with corners that swept upwards at the end, and others had flat roofs that you could easily walk upon, a few even had mini gardens sitting on top with full grown trees!

Yet nearly all were decorated in the most bizarre and sometimes gruesome manner. Pumpkins and squashes were carved and set on the front steps, some with cute smiling faces and others with hideous glares. Fake looking ghosts and paper mache skeletons hung from windows. Most of the shops held displays of varying degrees of horrific, from sweet scenes of silly bats dancing, to witches on brooms petting black cats, to bloody zombies eating brains. And there were cobwebs upon cobwebs everywhere, along with even a few fake spiders in them, which scared poor Lance.

Rapunzel herself got a fright when one tall statue, shaped like a banshee, screamed at her when she walked by one shop. She jumped.

"What is going on? It's like everyone here is trying to scare one another."

"I think it's some kind of holiday... it must be a festival of some sort..." Eugene said as he hugged her close.

"Oooh, like the Feast of Fools in Paris, or bonfire day in England… heh, remember Eugene? That party lasted all night." Lance suggested.

Eugene laughed... "Yeah, I remember. Man what a loser, that Fawkes guy must have been. You failed to blow up Parliament one time and people are still celebrating in the streets to mock you 40 years later."

Rapunzel didn't pay much attention to their banter. Instead she tried to read some of the signs hanging up in the store windows. Most were repeating the same word and phrase over and over again.

"Trick... or treat.." She read slowly. "and Happy... Hall... O... Ween?"

"Halloween?" Eugene echoed. He walked closer to one of the signs to read it better.

Meanwhile Lance was distracted by a bowl of unguarded candy standing by the door. "Take one... well don't mind if I do."

"Día de Muertos... Dia.. Day of.. Day of the Dead!" Eugene finished translating the other sign. "Oh.. Oh! Oh I get it now. It all makes perfect sense."

"It does?" Rapunzel asked him.

"Yes.. you know All Souls Day in Corona?"

"You mean that depressing holiday where everyone visits the graveyard and bakes raisin bread?"

"Exactly. Well, other countries celebrate similar festivals and it goes by different names. 'All Saints' Hollow Eve... or Halloween, is the Irish take on the holiday... or was it Scottish? Either way, it's a big thing in the British Isles. And Día de los Muertos is Spanish for Day of the Dead... though I hear tell, that it's more popular in the Spanish colonies than Spain itself..."

"That's it!" Rapunzel jumped for joy. "We must be in the Americas! That's why there's so many different cultures here. Haha! Oh how exciting! We've traveled to a whole other continent!"

Eugene chuckled, "Boy when Varian wants to get lost, does he ever 'get lost.'"

"Oooh, tell me all about this. 'Hall-o-ween!'

"Well, we've seen most of it. Folk dress in costumes and hand out treats, or sometimes trick people with scares. Legend has it that such tricks are supposed to dissuade evil spirits from stealing your soul on this night."

"Well this candy sure is a trick." Lance huffed, gaining his friend's attention. He stood next to the bowl on the stand and kept trying to scoop up the treats. Only for his hands to pass through the container as if it was made of air.

"Lance, will you stop fooling with that?" Eugene snapped and dragged him away before anybody saw.

"But, it's jinxed I tell you! Just like that spooky carriage that almost hit us!"

"It is not jinxed." Eugene argued back, and as if to disprove this he tried to lean against a metal lamp post, only to fall straight through it. He jumped up in fright. "What is with this crazy world!?"

"Hmmm... I wonder..." Curious, Rapunzel tried to touch a blue box that had the word Mail written on it. Her hand also past through it, as if she herself was a ghost. She pulled it back quickly and examined her palm.

"Wait! Are we ghosts!? Is this the Afterlife?" Lance squealed.

"Don't b-be s-silly... Souls Day is j-ust a normal holiday like any other." Eugene stuttered as he clung to Lance in comfort.

Lance hugged him back. "Maybe the legends are true. Maybe we've crossed the barrier into the land of the undead. Where they torment you with delicious food that you can never eat!"  

Rapunzel didn't listen, she lifted her hand to the sky to get a better look at it. Her hand shifted in color under the light of the sun; it was almost as if the sun was flickering like a candle...

"Pro-ject… Project! That's it! We're just projections!" Rapunzel called out.

"What?" Eugene asked as he slowly untangled himself from Lance.

"Xavier said that the light of the candle would project us to where we wanted to go. He meant it literally. The light from the candle is projecting our image onto the land... we're not actually here."

"Then where are we?" Eugene asked.

"Yeah, and where are our actual bodies?" Lance asked as he experimentally poked Eugene to see if he was actually there. Eugene smacked his hand away in annoyance, and this quickly devolved into a slap fight between them.

Rapunzel once again ignored this outburst between them. "I don't know, Lance... back in Corona I guess."

-----------

"This is boring!" Angry whined as she rested her hand on the crate beside her.

"Yeah," Catalina agreed as she rested her own head in her hands. "They aren't doing anything."

Everyone present in the blacksmith's shop were staring at the trio sitting in the middle of the circle on the floor. Rapunzel, Eugene, and Lance appeared to be in a trance as they sat around the still fluttering green flame of the magic candle. From their eyes poured a gastly white light obscuring their irises and pupils.

"Patience, little one." Xavier soothed. "They still have several more hours left before the candle burns out."

"What's happening to them?" Edmund asked.

"Their minds are being projected to wherever Varian is hiding." The blacksmith explained. "The further away that he is, the less accurate the spell will be. I'm afraid that they may need every minute that's available to them to find what they seek."

------------

Rapunzel started to breathe heavily as she marched up the steep hill. "Almost... uh... almost there." She called back.

"If we're not.. uh.. if we're not really here... oooh boy... then why am I running out of breath climbing?" Eugene complained.

"All I know.. ooff.. is that we've been here for at least an hour... uh.. and haven't seen Varian.. huff... anywhere." Lance huffed. "How are we... huff... supposed.. oooh... to find him in a city this size?"

"Think, huff... positive, Lance." Rapunzel encouraged. "We must have.. oooh... we must have covered half the town by now... All we have to do... is reach... huff... the top of this hill... eh... and will be in that 'downtown' those kids were talkin-." Her enthusiasm instantly faded away as he came to the top of the hill. She stood there in shock as her friends finally joined her.

"Oh... sure... it'll be a piece of cake to find him in this!" Eugene snarked, as the three of them saw the sprawling city below. "Why.. 'tis but a village."

It was anything but a village. The city seemed to go on forever. The only thing else that broke the skyline besides gleaming towers of glass and the giant lanterns hovering above them, was what looked to be a bay sparkling off in the far distance under the low hanging sun.

"Welp, we tried." Lance said, before turning to leave.

"No. We can't give up!" Rapunzel argued after him. "Varian's our only hope to translate the scroll. Think of Corona."

"Blondie, we all care about Corona." Eugene said as he laid a hand on her shoulder. "But look at where we are. Look what we're up against. Finding him is like finding a needle in a haystack."

"Yeah, and we don't even know what this 'haystack' is called, or where it's located." Lance interjected.

Rapunzel pouted and pulled the scroll out of her pocket. "There has to be away." She whispered, as she studied the paper, looking for answers. Suddenly Lance's voice broke through her musings.

"Hey, what if we asked that magic mirror over there?" She turned and saw him pointing to a store display. Inside the window were several black 'mirrors' of all sizes. Only they weren't very good mirrors as they didn't reflect back the person's image clearly in their dark surfaces.

"Lance, that's not a magic mirror." Eugene rolled his eyes.

"Oh, then what is it, genius?"

"Well... clearly it's.. it's uh... some sort of odd, art installation...."

That's when the 'mirrors'' turn on, displaying simultaneously the image of several young boys in short britches and colorful shirts fighting over a checkered ball.

"Oh What the- Holy Hera!" Eugene jumped at the sight.

"See, I told you... magic mirror." Lance smugly gloated.

"Oh, maybe the mirror can tell us something." Rapunzel interrupted, her hope renewed once more. She waved at the largest of the black boxes inside the window. "Hi, I'm Rapunzel, and these are my friends, and we were wondering, Mr. Mirror, if you could... Do you know where we are?"

As soon as the words were out of her mouth the scene on the mirror changed and there sat a small man inside of it. He had a big bushy mustache and wore a well tailored suit.

"This is Bluff Dunder, providing you with the lastest San Fansokyo news."

"San Fansokyo?" Eugene echoed. He had never heard of such a place before, and he considered himself to be very well traveled.

"Bluff Dunder?" Lance snickered next to him.

Rapunzel shushed them to be quiet and let the mirror man speak.

"Happy Halloween everybody. The weather is the perfect nippy temperature for the chilly holiday, and trick-or-treaters should bundle up as the night settles in. In sports, the jaguars defeated the hawks today 3 to 1 and will be heading to the world cup."

"Oooh." Rapunzel cooed in interest. "I hope none of the animals were hurt fighting."

"Who cares," Eugene snapped, "What about Varian, huh? Do you know where he's at?"

"Eugene... don't interrupt the man.."

"...and be sure to tune in tonight when we cover an exclusive snoop. Big Hero Six, or shall we say Big Hero Seven?"

The screen changed again and showed a group of armored individuals, poised as if ready to fight. They looked like bright colored knights.

"Who is this mysterious newcomer who's been seen with the famous superhero group?" The man in the mirror went on. "Friend or foe? Human or no? We've obtained an exclusive interview with notorious criminal, Mr. Sparkles, for details on this latest crime stopper."

The scene changed again to another small man, this one with pink hair. He wore a bright orange jumpsuit and was being held in what looked like a jail cell.

"Yup, yup, yup…The Portal Pirate and me go waaaay back. I was there when he first arrived in San Fansokyo." The little man said as he studied his nails. Then he looked up and suddenly grabbed the bars of the cell. "Hey, are you getting 'my good side' with that camera?" He shouted.

Then the scene cut again. This time the image was more blurry. There was clearly a thin, dark haired young man standing in the midst of a purple fog. He wore a long frock coat and his face was obscured by a bandana and goggles. He threw a neon green ball at something, and then pressed some buttons on his glove. A bright blue portal opened, like a hole in the air, right next to him. As he turned to step through, and the light of the portal caught the matching streak of blue in his bangs.

"Varian!" Rapunzel pointed out. "Look, It's Varian!"

"Well, whaddaya know? The mirror did find him." Eugene could barely believe it.

"Yeah, but does the mirror know where he is right now?" Lance asked.

More images of Varian cycled through the black box as Bluff Dudder's voice carried on. "Yes, who knows of this mysterious visitor to our city? Is he really from another world? What is he after? And will he become a permanent member of the noble group of heroes who defend our fair San Frankoyo?"

The image on the box changed yet again, and Bluff Dunder reappeared. "Answers to all this and more, tonight at 8 o'clock sharp, with your host, myself, Bluff Dunder!"

"Eight tonight!" Eugene shouted. "We haven't that kind of time to wait man! Why can't you just tell us now?"

Man in the mirror ignored him as he continued to ramble on about more news regarding the city. Rapunzel gently tried to steer her boyfriend away before a fight could break out between him and the magical being.

"Thank you Mr. Mirror!" She said with a tight smile. "You've been a big help."

The mirror didn't answer and switched to yet another new scene of kitty cats running around as a jaunty jingle played. She hoped that they hadn't offended the mustached djinn as she walked away.

"Pff, figures." Eugene continued to complain. "Never trust a magical entity to give you a straight answer."

"True, True." Lance nodded.

"But he did give us more to go on." Rapnuzel explained. "apparently Varian's been hanging out with those... those knights that protect the city... what did the mirror call them?"

"Big Hero Six.. no Seven... or was it Nine?" Lance mussed. "It was some sort of number."

"Well, I'm sure that if we asked someone here, they'd know." Rapunzel said.

"Oh sure, just say we magically traveled here by candle light and are looking for a strange child who's been apparently helping to protect the city for months, but is secretly the most wanted criminal in our land... I'm sure no one will call use crazy then."

Rapunzel gave Eugene a pout at his cynicism, but she couldn't fully disagree with him either.

She sighed and shook her head. "We don't have to tell anyone about the candle, we'll just say we're looking for this 'Portal Pirate'.

Lance scratched his head. "If he's trying to turn over a new leaf here, then why call yourself a 'pirate'?

His friends could only shrug only at that.

"Let's just try to ask the first person we come across and see what they have to say." Rapunzel insisted.

That's when Rapunzel spotted a man dressed in a blue uniform with a badge standing by one of the parked self-propelled carriages. He was writing something down in a small notebook. After finishing this he tore the page out of the notebook and placed it on the front window of the vehicle.

'Hello my good sir,' Eugene called out to him. "You look like a man who knows his way about town. I was wondering if you might be of help to my friends and I. See we're visiting your fair city for the first time...."

"And it's amazing by the way." Rapunzel enthused.

Eugene wrapped a hand around her shoulders to keep her from rambling more, as she was want to do.

"Uh-huh, it sure is sweetie. Anyways, we were hoping you could help us locate a particular person. I believe he goes by 'the Portal Pirate' here. Have you heard of him perchance?"  

"Yeah and he hangs out with some group called Big Hero Six." Lance added helpfully.

The man in blue rolled his eyes in clear annoyance and Eugene realized that they must have said something wrong.

"Tourists..." The man uttered under his breath, then more clearly he said. "Those vigilantes are not associated with the police force, and I'm afraid I don't have time to play tour guide." He pointed to the badge pinned to chest. "This isn't a costume. I'm a real officer and Halloween is our busiest time of the year. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do. Enjoy your trip."

He turned away and started to walk to another blue and white vehicle. 'Police' was written on the side and a red light sat on the top of the roof. He opened the door to get in, but Eugene hurried forward before he could enter it.

"You're a law man. That's great!" The officer stopped, and Eugene pressed forward. "Lance and I are special operatives from our country and we're chasing down a very dangerous criminal. He's apparently running around your city pretending to be one of these vigilantes."

The officer narrowed his eyes at them. "And you expect me to believe that? If you were really secret agents then why haven't you contacted the proper authorities?"

"Well, we only just arrived, you see." Lance said. "And you're the proper authority aren't you?"

"I'm the Chief of Police, yes." The officer frowned.

"That's great!" Eugene continued. "See, you're precisely the right person to help us. I'm Eugene Fiztherbert, this is my partner and buddy Lance Strongbow, and her royal highness herself, Princess Rapunzel!"

Rapunzel waved at the officer with a small smile as he eyed her up and down. The policeman held his composer for only a moment more before snorting with laughter. Then he quickly coughed and slipped back into his authoritative stance once more.

"Alright, you got me. That was a funny joke. Now, I need you to move along. I have work to do."

"B-but, it's not a joke!" Rapunzel insisted.

The chief rolled his eyes. "Please, I'm supposed to believe those are your real names? If you're Rapunzel then I'm the tooth fairy."

"It's true... well, mostly true." Eugene added. "Lance's name is actually Arnwaldo Schnitz, and according to my long lost father, my real name is Horus... which I hate… b-but she really is the princess!"

The officer crossed his arms. "Oh really, the princess of where exactly?"

"Corona." Rapunzel softly answered and the policeman dropped his arms in surprise. He looked like he was in shock.

"Say that again." He ordered in all seriousness.

"Corona. Did you not just hear her?'' Now it was Eugene's turn to roll his eyes.

"Corona?"

"Yes, Corona. The land of the sun, the sea, and really killer sauerkraut."

"And you claim to be some... sort of authority from there?"

"Yes, that's what we've been trying to explain to you." Eugene was getting exasperated. "We're hunting down an escaped convict. We have reason to believe that he's hiding out in your city pretending to be this... Portal Pirate, that's been running around."

The officer blinked as if he connected the dots in his head. "And how did you come by this intelligence?"

"Oh that magic mirror over there told us." Rapunzel helpfully said as she pointed back to the window display.

The chief pinched the bridge of his nose in confusion. "Magic mirro... You mean the television? You saw the Portal Pirate on tv and recognized him? How?"

"Oh it was easy!" Lance said. "He always wears those same goggles, has a blue streak in his bangs, and he practices alchemy." He shuddered. "You don't wanna mess with that alchemy he's got. The things that kid builds can make a grown man cry with fear." He bit his finger as if to prevent crying himself.

You could see the wheels turning behind the officer's eyes as tried to traverse this newest revelation. "And.. and what do you want with him again?"

"He's wanted for treason." Eugene explained. "He's a terrorist and weapons expert... mostly because he builds his own weapons. Like Lance said, he's very dangerous."

"He's also an expert in dead languages." Rapunzel added. "He's the only one who can translate this scroll."

She pulled out the document to show the policeman. He reached out to touch it and Rapunzel quickly drew it back.

"Sorry, but's very old and very delicate." She hastily explained. She didn't want to give the poor man a fright by also showing him that it was see through. Especially since it looked like he was finally coming around to their story.

"But what is it?" The man pressed.

"It's a an ancient artifact, and it's written in code." Eugene said, trying his best to side step all of the magical explanations. Even he had a hard time believing in magic, and he'd been surrounded by the stuff non-stop for years. He seriously doubted that this lawman believed as well, especially given his reaction over the 'magic mirrors', or 'televisions' as he had called them.

"So let me get this straight." The officer said, as he stood to his full height. "You're undercover agents sent over to extract a deadly criminal who has taken refuge here in America, and you wish to re-arrest him and get him to translate this scroll for you."

Eugene thought the matter over, "Yeah, that's pretty much it. Not unless you want to arrest him for something else. We'll happily cooperate with your government over this. We mostly just need the scroll translated and assurances that he won't attack our kingdom again."

"Hmmm hmmm... and as traveling dignitaries, I'm sure you have all the proper papers to visit our country, and have gone through all of the necessary channels to legalize this international extraction?" The officer loomed over them and Rapunzel's stomach suddenly dropped as she realized that the lawman wasn't actually interested in helping them.

Eugene also must have realized this at the same time as she did, as she started to feel him tug on her sleeve. "Oh, well... we must have left those back at the castle-"

"Where are your passports?" The officer pressed.

"Umm Eugene?" Lance nervously asked.

"Run!" He shouted and the trio turned and bolted back down the hill.

Rapunzel ventured a glance behind them and saw the officer entering the blue and white carriage from before. The red lights on top began to flash and a siren blared from the vehicle as he took chase. He was upon them in seconds.

"Halt! By the authority of the San Fansokyo police apartment, I order you to stop running!" The officer yelled over a megaphone at them.

"Uh, Eugene?"" She called after her boyfriend. There was no way that they could outrun the horseless carriage.

"Uh, I'm thinking! I'm thinking!" He called back to her. "Uh.. quick! He surely won't drive through a building."

They dove into one of the stores.

"Happy Halloween, how may I help you?" A smiling old lady at the front desk greeted them.

"Uh hi, you wouldn't have any royal guard repellent would you?" Eugene nervously joked.

The little old lady was only confused by the question.

Rapunzel and Lance stood by, trying to catch their breaths, when Rapunzel heard a small voice beside her.

"I like your Rapunzel costume. " She looked over, and saw a little girl with a long yellow braid like her own, though hers was clearly a wig.

Rapunzel gave the girl a tight smile. "Thank you... b-but mine isn't a costume. See?" She tugged on her own hair. "all real."

The little girl's eyes lit up as she gasped in excitement. How far had her story spread?

"Uh-oh, tall, dark, and blue is walking right this way." Lance said.

Everyone looked up and saw the policeman had parked the carriage and was heading right their way.

"Well desperate times call for desperate measures." Eugene stated.

"Like what?" Lance asked.

"Like this." Eugene grabbed his hand, and in turn Lance grabbed Rapunzel's, and then all three of them ran through the wall into the building next door.

Rapunzel could hear the little girl cry out "Coool!" before disappearing on the other side.

They were suddenly inside a barber shop and a few people screamed upon their sudden appearance. Then just as suddenly applause broke out.

"Thank you, thank you." Eugene bowed, deciding to take advantage of the opportunity. "We'll be here all week."

"Man, how did you do that trick?" One guy called out.

"A magician never reveals his secrets." Lance said, picking up on Eugene's con with practiced ease.

Their relief was short lived however when the police officer poked his head around the front door in irritation. "I don't care how you did that. You're not getting away!"

Eugene panicked. "Uh... and for our next trick, a disappearing act!"

And they ran through the opposite wall again, and again, and yet again; to many screams of equal fright and delight. They may have ran for several blocks before they finally lost the lawman chasing them.

They exited out of a flower shop last and finally stepped out on to the sidewalk huffing and puffing.

"No... huff. seriously..." Eugene breathed. "If we're here having an out of body experience, the why.. oooh... why do I keep running out of breath!?"

"Maybe 'cause, we don't actually have any lungs?" Lance innocently suggested and Eugene gave him a light smack.

As they pointlessly argued though, Rapunzel spotted a fuzzy creature run into the alley next door. It was black and white, and had a striped tail.

"Wait a minute..." Rapunzel whispered as she recognized the animal, and started to walk after it. Lance and Eugene paused in their discussion, gave each other confused looks, and then started to follow her.

-----------

Ruddiger pulled the tattered bed sheet over the wooden crate. He then placed an open tin can and a used paper plate on each end. In the center, he had placed an empty glass soda bottle, with a dandelion weed in it. He eyed his handiwork and then smoothed out the wrinkles in his makeshift tablecloth with his paw.

Satisfied, he opened his mouth and let out a chittering nose. Suddenly, a blonde female raccoon poked her head over the rooftop across the way. Ruddiger ran in a little circle for joy upon seeing his crush. For her part however, the other raccoon only tilted her head at him curiously.

Ruddiger had been trying to impress the pretty female for months now. Ever since he spotted her hanging around the cafe his first day here in this new world. There hadn't been any other raccoons in Corona. He himself had been brought there on a boat when he had tried to raid the ship's food stores. He had barely gotten away from the angry sailors, before stumbling upon the apple orchard that would become his home for the next couple of years.

Now that he had found his own kind again he couldn't have been happier; only his ways were apparently not the same as hers. Either because of growing up in different eras, or because he'd been living with humans for so long, Ruddiger found that he had a difficult time in communicating with the fair beauty. She'd only stare at him blankly whenever he tried to woo her.

Well, hopefully this would finally catch her attention.

Ruddiger gave her a nervous smile and pulled out a can of whipped cream. He sprayed the sugary treat into the tin cup and paper plate and stood back to offer it to her.

Finally intrigued, the girl raccoon hurried down the drain pipe and cautiously walked over to the whipped cream, still eyeing Ruddiger with her blank gaze. She gave the sweet an experimental sniff and then licked it. She seemed surprised by the taste, and Ruddiger feared that she may not like his gift after all.

Then suddenly she started to furiously gobble up the cream with animalistic vigor. Ruddiger blinked in surprise at first. He hadn't expected this reaction, but as she started to walk upon the crate to get to his cup of cream as well, he realized that she must have really, really liked the stuff; perhaps even more than he did.

He gave a blissful sigh as he rested his head in his paws and stared at the gorgeous creature before him as she mindlessly devoured both their dinners. They had finally found something in common.  

Ruddiger's happiness was short lived however, when a long blonde haired woman stuck her head around the corner of the alleyway.

"Ruddiger?" She gasped. "Ruddiger!"

Rapunzel ran into the alley with all the excitement of bumping into an old friend. This startled Ruddiger's date who stopped eating immediately, scurried back up the drain pipe, and disappeared over the roof, knocking over a couple of trash cans as she went.

Ruddiger looked helplessly on as the girl of his dreams vanished, yet Rapunzel seemed oblivious to the trouble that she had caused.

"Oh, who was that? Did you find yourself a lady friend here? And you were having a raccoon date! Oooohh how cuuutee!"

That snapped Ruddiger out of his stupor. He snorted in irritation, and hurried up the fire escape to get away from the annoying woman.

Rapunzel, however, was only confused by this behavior. "Oh, please don't go!" She called after the raccoon as her boyfriend and future brother-in-law joined her in the alley. "We're looking for Varian. Do you know where he is?"

Ruddiger didn't answer. Instead he poked his head round the railing of the balcony and angrily shook his paw at the princess. He then chittered at them in what could only be described as the raccoon equivalent of a curse.

Rapunzel frowned. Even though Ruddiger was Varian's pet, she had thought that the raccoon was on her side....or was at least sympathetic to her. After all, Ruddiger had been the one to free her family from Varian's imprisonment.

She watched the indignant animal disappear inside the building through a window with wounded pride.

Eugene placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's okay sunshine, don't worry about it. If Ruddiger is here then Varian can't be far away. He's probably in that building right now."

"Great! Let's go ask him for help and get this over with." Lance cheered and turned to walk into the wall.

Eugene stopped him, "Uh... maybe this time we should go through the front door, and not scare everybody senseless?"

Lance's face fell as his friends walked out of the alley. "Oh... Right."

-----------

"That's it... Concentrate..." The disembodied voice hissed in her ear.

Cassandra squeezed her eyes tighter and tried to envision the opal on her chest in her mind's eye, willing it to obey her commands.

"The Moonstone responds to emotions, yes," Her ghostly mentor instructed, "But it can only be controlled by sheer force of will. You need to learn to harness your feelings and focus them. By having a clearer goal in mind you can channel your energy."

Cassandra took a deep breath and tried to replace her negative feelings with more productive thoughts... especially since her primary emotion right now was annoyance.

The phantom she had met in the haunted shell house nearly a year ago, sure did love to boss her around. That is, when she wasn't endlessly prattling cryptic nonsense. Not for the first time Cassandra regretted ever opening that blasted door and releasing the demon.

For demon she was... Cassandra long suspected who the stalking spector really was, but she had never stated so out loud. Names gave power, and so long that she didn't name the thing that haunted her, then that was less power the demonic wraith had.

Still, the ghost had proven useful. Without its knowledge Cassandra would never have known how to prevent the curse on her hand from spreading. She may have been nothing more than a charred and blackened husk by now, had she not stolen the moonstone.

Rapunzel had been so hurt by Cassandra's supposed 'betrayal' but really the whole thing had been her fault. She had been the one to sing the decay incantation, even when Cass had told her not to. She had been the one to shut down any complaints or concerns Cassandra had, and so Cass hadn't even bothered to tell her about the spreading infection. She had been the one to get lost in the shell house, even though Cassandra hadn't even wanted to go into the accursed place to begin with. 

Rapunzel had even been the one responsible for Gothel, their 'mother's' death, according to the ghost that she'd freed. Not that Cassandra had ever really cared about the woman... Yet it was just another example of how wherever the other girl went, destruction and misery followed, and most of the time it was all due to her own oblivious selfishness.

Anger flared up within Cassandra's chest again. She couldn't believe that she had ever wasted her time trying to befriend the princess. All the missed opportunities, all of the lost potential, all of the misplaced faith defending the indefensible. 

And that anger only spread from there; she was mad at Rapunzel for hurting both her and others, she was mad at herself for going along with the girl's excuses, she was mad at Eugene and the rest of her former friends for enabling Rapunzel's worst excesses.

She was angry at the royals and their unchecked authority; the way that they had steamed rolled over people, how they sanctimoniously pretended that their atrocities were 'helping' people, and how they taught that hypocrisy to their daughter. She was even mad at her own dad for protecting that authority and teaching her to blindly respect it as well. 

She was also angry at the people of Corona who still supported the royals. Who no doubt blamed her for things that she couldn't control. Those sheep were probably singing their little lost princess's praises for stopping the mean bad woman for 'attacking' their beloved kingdom.

Cassandra growled under her breath. Oh how she hated them! She hated all of them! She hated their condescension, their snide comments, their rude gossip, their disappointed stares.l… How they always talked about her behind her back, teased her for her dreams, or simply ordered her about. How she hated their callous disregard of anything that didn't concern their own petty puerile interests. It wasn't just Rapunzel who was awful. The entire kingdom was toxic. 

'Rotted to the core and founded off of lies' had been Andrew's description of the kingdom, and Cassandra now began to wonder if the Saporian had been right.

"Good, get angry." The voice whispered again. "After what they did to you. What the royals did to your poor mother. They deserve it. Take that rage and now focus it... envision your enemies, and think of how you'll make the coward before you."

Cassandra imagined the rocks. She imagined them following her commands. She vindictively imagined all those she hated shivering in awe and terror of what she could do. She controlled the plague that had ravaged the land. She could save them and be their hero or devour them whole and ruin them forever. It was their choice.

'Let's see them laugh now.' She thought.  

Suddenly the rocks shot up before her and made their way to Corona again. But this time, they were focused, they had intent, and they were heading straight to where she wanted them to go... To Rapunzel.

The rocks glowed a bright blue this time and Cassandra's eyes snapped open. Where her irises and pupils should have been, there was nothing but an empty void filled with a matching blue light.

The demon beside her smiled. 

[place-holder-for-witty-username]

The plot in Maskquerade involving Walter Plinge being treated like shit for being seen as intellectually disabled and slow by literally everyone in the Theater and especially how Sasparilla the arsehole manager but him secretly being the literal phantom of the opera was great.

Not thrilled about how he threw agnes nitt under the bus for being too fat to be an opera star after she was one of the few people who were kind to him, but i suppose it underscored the theme of how two-faced people can be in that industry and explains why agnes decided to quit to be a witch.

And the whole thing with granny weatherwax giving him a mask to wear permanently so he can be himself always because people are never more themselves than wearing a mask was really smart!

And Greebo the tom cat being turned human and instantly becoming Greebo the sexiest sex god ever to sex when LITERAL Cassanova (cassanunda for short) is standing RIGHT THERE.

Anyway I had a point? Yes! Terry Pratchett treats his "simple" and intellectually or physically disabled characters as PEOPLE with value and as human beings with a place in things who are just as important as the abled people. It is both realistic and important!! Include people!

Reminds me a little of Phryne's cousin who has down syndrome in Miss Fishers Murder Mysteries and how they show how loved he is and how included by his family and how they look after him when he struggles with remembering Janey who was killed and has a meltdown but theyre here for him and help him cope! despite the shitty attitude eugenics people had at the time period (1920s) he is always treated with respect and value, at least that's how I saw it!

When i was growing up in primary school lots of the other kids had disabilities but we all grew up together so it just was normal. Like oh thats so and so, he can't talk but hes really nice and smiles and will laugh at your jokes! Or oh yeah thats x, shes deaf so you need to use these hand gestures when her cochlear's not in, whatever lets go play hopscotch! The nice 5 yr old kids don't give a fuck (theres always bullies), and a lot of the time they just accept it and move on because they have games to be getting on with, its the adults who are weird about kids who are different.

I love the way Terry Pratchett values people with all kinds of body shapes and of all ages, and even of all levels of intellect.

Sam Vimes (my beloved) is often acknowledged as "not the sharpest tool in the shed" but BY GODS does he get shit done and is the RIGHT shit.

Juliet Stollop is dumb as a box of rocks but it's her straightforward mind that says to (smart and clever) Trev Likely and Glenda Sugarbean "are you stupid? You're talking about Mr Nutt! Of course he isn't evil!"

Sybil Vimes is radically kind BECAUSE OF and NOT inspite of her size.

Junior Postman Groat is old and creaky and INVALUABLE to the post office!

Stanley Howler is young and a bit crazy but ALSO has his value recognised by Moist and given an important job, and he does it really well!

Sergeant Jackrum is massively fat and appears stupid but is so sharp that he saves the day and (redacted because I'd hate to spoil, even if the book isn't at all new).

I don't knew it just makes me happy and wish more people read Discworld

PS I'd love it if others added their thoughts

[twdmusicboxmystery]

11x01: Details + TTD

Okay, let’s start with TTD.

There wasn’t a ton of smoking guns in TTD this past week. (Hopefully next week when Emily is on, it will be better. :D)

We got a good shot of the music box still sitting on the shelf behind Angela. That’s always encouraging.

The first thing that caught my eye in the actual episode is that they showed the blood running over Norman’s rabbit tattoo during the “in memoriam.” And it didn’t correlate to anything else in the memoriam. It wasn’t like they were showing a particular death or walker kill and it happened to be in the same shot. They just randomly threw it in in the middle.  As though really emphasizing it. Definitely caught my eye.

Angela talked about the “whispers into screams” graffiti. She said the Whisperers did do that before leaving Alexandria, and it’s also the name of one of the comic book issues. Interesting. Something I might want to look into more, but even if they’re gone, it seems something about the Whisperers is still relevant. Not only because we still see this graffiti in the intro, but in the trailer, it looks like Maggie will wear a skin mask at some point.

What I can tell you is that the “masks” theme is still very prevalent. So it may be largely thematic, but I’m interested to see where they’ll go with it.

At one point, Paola said Maggie was “off the rails.” You don’t really see that in episode 11x01, other than what Negan said about her planning to kill him. But you’ll see it a lot more in 11x02, so I’ll talk more about it next week.

Finally, they said that the wall of the lost Eugene’s group sees in the CW compound was full of pictures of the crew, which is fun. David Boyd, one of their directors, is on it. I like David Boyd a lot. He directed 10x21, and during the TTD for that episode, he was giving lots of confirmations and hints. So, not only is he very much in on the plan for the show (Beth; the CRM; etc) but he’s willing to tell us stuff from time to time. So, I like him. :D

There are also some people on the board that look a lot like Beth/Emily. One gal with blond hair and striking similarities to Emily is in a graduation cap. There have been some people trying to figure out if it’s actually her. I kind of doubt it. I think that would be too obvious. But I do think people with similar looks to her were purposely placed on the board to remind us of her.

Think of it this way. We have one sibling searching for another (Yumiko’s brother) and the sibling (Yumiko) presumably thought he was dead before this moment. Meanwhile, there’s a blond, very Beth-ish girl on the board directly beside that. Hmmm.

Details:

Okay, just a few things I didn’t talk about in my analysis on Monday.

First is the money theme. We’ve actually noticed a lot of money symbols in the episodes late. @wdway​ has especially been focusing on and interpreting them. Of course the paper money symbol goes back to Still, when they gathered up stacks of cash and then used them to set the moonshine shack on fire. So, we can definitely tie paper money symbols to a Bethyl storyline.

I’m not going to go into great detail about the money. I’ll just say that it is tied to the Revolution Theme. Why? Because paper money generally has pictures of leaders (ie. Presidents or the founding fathers if it’s U.S. money) on it. It also often has pictures of political buildings, such as capitol buildings.

Not only have we seen such buildings in TWD (think 9x01) but in this episode (11x02, actually) we’ll see the part from the sneak peek where Daryl looks at the murals on the walls. One of the things he sees is a capitol building of some kind in flames.

@wdway also noticed that one of Maggie’s people (Duncan, I think) has an All-Seeing-Eye tattoo on his arm. That’s on the back of the American $1 bill. So, we’re seeing this theme a lot lately.

In this episode, we saw a bin full of paper money at the CW that all had black Xs on them. (X = Chevron = Beth). And then there was that interesting sequence about Princess and her $2 bill.

I’ll also tell you that in 11x02, we see a heavy money theme around Daryl, and it ties in a big way to Beth symbolism, but more on that next week.

Thanks for asking this, because I completely forgot to talk about it on Monday.

Yes, the things Carol gives back to him are his two knives. So, when Carol, being the last one down in the building, runs to get the last of the food, Daryl shoots walkers to cover her. But at some point, he either runs out of arrows or just can’t reload fast enough, so instead he throws two knives to take out 2 walkers that are close to her.

When she finally makes it back up to where the rest of the group is, she hands him back both of the knives. I know the shot is dark, so you have to look closely, but you can see that there are two of them.

And yes, I think this is SUPER significant. First, it’s the kind of thing they didn’t HAVE to show. Who’s gonna notice how many knives Daryl may have or if he gets them back, anyway? And it’s something we could always assume happened off screen. But no. They went out of their way to show us this.

What does it mean?

Well, given that Carol originally gave him Beth’s knife, I think of them definitely represents Beth and her bringing Beth back to him. We’ve seen a ton of evidence to suggest that Carol will be heavily involved in Beth’s return.

What about the second knife? I’m sure most people would assume Leah. Because he gave her Leah’s knife, maybe it just makes sense, right?

Meh. Maybe, but that actually wouldn’t be my guess. Only because we haven’t seen tons of evidence of Carol being involved with the Leah storyline moving forward.

And I could be wrong about that. It’s not set in stone in my mind. Just because we haven’t seen evidence of it doesn’t mean it won’t be the case.

But my guess would be Connie. And no, for the record, I don’t mean to imply that Daryl feels about Connie as he did about Beth. But he definitely cares about Connie and he lost her in a very similar way to Beth. And in that case, Carol was directly at fault. So, I like to think the two knives represent Carol bringing Connie and Beth back to him.

In fact, especially if Connie is first (which I think she will be) her return will be a precursor to Beth’s. We’ll see first one and then the other. Just my guess, though.

Okay, I think that’s all I have for today. I’ll do my rabbit theory either tomorrow or Friday. Stay tuned!