#but the states we'd be going to are progressive states

[faggotwalkwithme]

ughh

[potato-elf]

personal posting in the tags again beware

[sigynsilica]

I believe we aren't going to see substantial progress in the fight against child abuse until we start viewing children as people group. More specifically, until we stop viewing children as a parent's property, and start listening to their voices in the same way we'd listen to any oppressed class.

I'm sick of dancing around the issue, especially in front of parents who get offended when other people "try to tell them how to parent their kids". You know what, I don't want to make friends with people who think it's okay to treat other people as your property, for any reason.

Children aren't legally allowed to own property, even though they can legally earn money at fourteen.

Children who can cognitively process algebra are allowed to be denied healthcare if their guardian disapproves.

In many states, children are allowed to be intentionally hit if it leaves no substantial harm on their body.

It is considered morally neutral to hate children.

Children constantly have their experiences, perspectives, and worldviews tokenized because "they'll understand when they're older"

In many states, children are not even allowed to choose what name they are called by.

And don't give me the "their brains haven't fully developed yet! They could make bad decisions!"

Listen. Adult people with intellectual disabilities can own property. They can still get healthcare if their nurses or assistants deny them healthcare. You're not allowed to spank someone with an ID or slap them if they do something you don't approve of. If they earn money or other assets, it is legally their own. And I think anyone who unironically claims to hate disabled people will be flagged as an ableist.

The fight for disabled rights is far from over. That's not the point I'm making. The point is that it isn't about whether someone's brain is fully developed.

They don't care about the kids. They care about controlling the kids. They view children as their physical possessions.

[doc-art]

Part 4 of the D&D art/story summary!

After yesterday's castle conquering, everyone got up and got ready to head back to the town to reconnect with the rest of the party.

While we were getting ready, our bard, Courrier, pointed out Loa's total lack of clothing, which she did not quite understand, and that Lloyd did not notice until it was pointed out.

There was also a running gag of our DM not appreciating how often we'd split the party. Left to right: Dolmir the dwarf cleric, Lloyd the human fighter, Courrier the human bard, and Zzrez the goblin rouge.

Loa the minotaur left the party to head back to her home to spread word of her deeds, while we went back to Phandalin, the mining town. It was still in a bit of a rough state after the siege a few days prior, but held well. We reconnected with the other half of our party and had some fun with the dragon hatchlings.

Once we were together, we all set out to our final objective. One tricky part was that we recruited a doppelganger from earlier to assist us, and he took the form of our agent member--Sildar, so we had to sneak Sildar out so no one would notice the clone.

The way that Rebecca and Sildar decided to smuggle him out was a very interesting approach.

A harness under her outfit, the perfect cover. It's cover was foiled when we heard odd noises coming from her, and Zzrez found a loose strap and tugged on it, causing our hidden agent to become known.

After some journeying out of the town, we found the mystical cave we had been searching for the whole campaign. Inside we faced an assortment of creatures and beings, along with being magically antagonized from afar by a beholder deep in the cave.

It was an ordeal.

After we made progress in the cave, we doubled back to rest up. When we came back, there was a large sea of unusual goop blocking our way back in. However, back at the castle we raided to save our boss, our goblin rouge picked up (what we thought was a bag of holding, but was actually a Bag of Devouring!) and used it to clear the way, much to the surprise of the party members that did not know of its existence in her possession.

We resumed our descent into the cave and met up with a band of minotaurs led by Lloyd's lover, Loa, who were there on a mission to kill the person responsible for the problems we had been facing.

We found them in the middle of a fight against some flaming, flying skulls.

It was a good fight, and Rebecca, who Lloyd failed to notify properly about his minotaur girlfriend (Loa), was surprised to meet her and her gang. The confusion was quickly resolved, however!

Once everything was cleared up, we continued forward together and made our way to the source of the magical horrors of the cave--a beholder. On the way, a subordinate to Loa questioned her leadership and charged ahead, taking with them two other minotaurs and leaving her with us.

The fight against the beholder was a difficult one, but we came out on top. The other minotaurs, through bard trickery and high aggro, fought each other, with the pale-minotaur (the guy going against Loa) being defeated by her and sent into the fires of the magical forge we were at.

Dolmir also considered the plan of throwing a bag of poisonous mushrooms into the mouth of the beholder, but was unable to since it quickly fell to the assault of multiple minotaurs and our whole party. He also took an axe to the shoulder from the mutinous minotaur, and our bard and goblin shared a moment.

After the fight, Lloyd and Dolmir got an armor upgrade.

[nekropsii]

your staunch defense of transfeminine people in a community where we're so routinely mocked and sidelined does not go unnoticed or unappreciated.

you're doing a fantastic thing

Hey, I'm glad it's doing something!! It was... Kind of radicalizing realizing that no one's fucking normal, actually, they just say they are. But the really, really radicalizing thing - the thing that got me to start being very loud and aggressive about it all - was getting hit with wave after wave of misdirected Transmisogyny for two reasons...

I acknowledged Transfem reads of characters exist, and stated that I actually - gasp! - enjoy some of them, even over the popular Transmasc readings of the same characters. Getting hit with backlash for this was expected, but I didn't foresee how that would manifest. Several people - all self-reporting as trans men, weirdly - flooded my notes and inbox talking down to me, treating me like I'm stupid, and that I don't understand Transmasc struggles (I do, I just distinctly was not talking about them), and... Most vexingly, treating me like I'm a woman, and acknowledging me as such. By saying I, for example, preferred a Transfeminine reading of Dave over the popular Transmasculine one - by simply bringing up trans women in a conversation that didn't include putting them down - I had apparently branded myself as a stupid bimbo woman in their eyes that desperately needed mansplaining to. By discussing trans women positively, I had branded myself as an "other", and needed to be treated as such. I don't understand why it was all trans men doing this - you'd think they'd know better than to start misgendering and condescending people just because they started talking about feminism or trans rights. You'd think they'd understand meeting feminism with traumadumping is inappropriate.

I put a Cis Woman in my Webcomic, and she apparently wasn't feminine enough for some fucking people. Mind you, none of us on the Dev Team ever really thought that she was any degree of Masculine. She was never designed to be masculine, and she wasn't designed with transness in mind. We'd always referred to her internally as a cis woman. She just happens to have broad shoulders, narrow-ish hips, an Adam's apple, a bigger nose, and some serpentine heat pits on her face that happen to look like facial hair.

This is her. The uncanny, ugly, mannish freak who should've just been a boy. She looks normal! She's just a regular woman! Apparently, when you tell people that what human beings would identify as sex characteristics are totally randomized on an alien bug species because that alien bug species literally only has one sex, that's cool and based until it's applied to women? Even then, these are all traits that some normal human cis women have in real life. What's even more jarring is that almost all of the Transmisogyny thrown at me over Tejuri's appearance was done over fucking Cohost - the website people fled to specifically to escape Tumblr's Transmisogyny. The site that touts its pride in getting rid of all Transphobes. God.

I've noticed that people often preach their alliance not as a genuine statement but as a way to keep with the trends. A lot of reblogs on posts about loving trans women are viewing them as either a body ("loving trans women" taken as synonymous with wanting to have sex with them), an object ("loving trans women" taken as their value being synonymous with their romancability), or a token (saying that you "love trans women" is the latest political trend in progressive spheres, and professing this makes you look like a better person, even if you don't mean it). I've learned recently that a lot of people don't know anything about Queer Theory or Transfeminism. A lot of people apparently don't even realize Transfeminism exists. It's been a fucking wild past few months. Things I thought were just basic human decency and common sense apparently need to be stated, because it turns out my standards for what counts as "basic human decency" is a lot higher than most. Wild. @_@

Every time someone pulls this stupid horseshit on me, I get more annoying and more powerful. Nothing's gonna make me back down. At the end of the day, I have the privilege of being able to shut up and stop facing harassment. That's not a privilege trans women have. It's why true allies cannot stop fighting even when it does get a little hard. We can put the weapons down. They cannot.

Every now and then I think about the phrase "Trans Women are the Women of Women". Every day, it becomes more true.

[kaidanworkshop]

Workshop Progress: Spring Update

Happy Pride Month Workshop Spectators! It's hot out there, so make sure you're staying safe and hydrated while celebrating in your respective communities. A lot has been going on behind the scenes since our last update; we've been busy tying up loose ends across the board as we finalize Kaidan Revoiced: Community Expansion, which is frankly, very tedious - lots and lots of spreadsheets. Nonetheless, all the miscellaneous minutiae we're ironing out is to ensure our upcoming surprise to the community, [REDACTED], runs smoothly. We've also got one final poll for you before our official release, then it's back to the grindstone for the Workshop staff as we focus on splicing and processing the last lines for implementation. As per our last poll, the community voted to have us postpone the mod release until it is in a finalized state.

Afterwards, we spent most of April going over the script one final time to catch any extra lines we may have missed for our commission covering the last of the original Kaidan 2 script. We also held a few live sessions on our Discord going over the few bits of Workshop Original content that will be going into this first version: the alternative platonic Autumnwatch route, the Nickname & Pronoun system, and the rewritten Pieces of the Past quest. All in all, this new content amounts to just over 100 extra lines; this version of the mod will be preserved indefinitely on our mod page in the future. As we move forward with creating and implementing more Workshop Original scripts post launch, users will still be able to download and use this version if they prefer. Finally, throughout the end of April and all of May, we've been running a closed beta for KR:CE with the help of volunteers from other Skyrim modding teams. We've been able to track down a few more bugs, confirmed that our new quest fail safes work (woo!), and discovered a handful of mods that were incompatible with KR:CE, requiring us to move a few things around.

During our closed beta testing, we did get a recurrent piece of feedback that we'd like to discuss with the community at large. Similar to the audio distortion Kaidan has in Kaidan 2, the voice lines for the Dremora in Kaidan's personal quest, as well as Myriah, the priestess in the forest wedding, are very badly distorted. One of the key reasons the Workshop was formed was to address the audio distortion that existed in the Kaidan 2 mod, so it feels incomplete to not address this issue. We'd like to hire two new voice actors to rerecord these lines for implementation, the cost of which would be approximately $40 - $60 USD total (due to how few lines we need), taken from our current budget surplus. As always, we turn to the community regarding any decisions relating to how we allocate your donations; you can vote on this proposition here through June 14th. As always, we thank you for your interest, your patience, and your support! We can't wait to announce [REDACTED], and the official release date of KR:CE to the community.

[pudding-parade]

Sorry, but I have to get political on all your asses, at least those of you who live in the US. It will be a one-time thing on this subject, the only thing that I will say here about the election before it happens. And yeah, I'm going to say this on a blog devoted to a stupid video game. Why? Because I know that I have younger American people who follow me here, and if y'all are like some of the younger people I've talked to in real life and online in other venues, I have concerns. So I'm going to say all this as an old-ass, progressive American. Because if I can wake up one apathetic mind out there, it will be worth it. And if you're pissed at me for making a single political post at this important juncture, then fuck off and unfollow me or send me nasty messages or whatever you want to do. I don't care. And I'm not cutting this, either.

My dear followers: Donald Trump cannot -- CANNOT -- become president again.

Late last night, Trump posted on his Truth Social account a video containing language and images reminiscent of the World War era. It was about his fantasies of what America would be like, should he win the general election in about five months. It contained suspicious imagery and phrases like "creating a unified Reich." Does that sort of language sound familiar? Especially when combined with his rhetoric about immigrants being "vermin" that "poison the blood of our country?" Ring any bells? I'm sure it does for any German folks who might read this.

Trump's post was only taken down about 12 hours later, after backlash over it, and then Trump claimed that a "low level staffer" posted it, not him. Which is either a lie OR he was lying when he said previously that only he and his campaign's communications director have or will ever have access to that account. If you want more info about this, here's a short video from Jesse Dollemore, an independent commentator:

This election isn't about liberal/progressive vs. conservative. It truly doesn't matter what your personal ideology is because this election is about saving democracy. This is about preserving your freedoms, because we won't be able to do anything about any other issue, whatever our individual ideologies and pet issues are, if our basic freedoms upon which this country was founded -- freedom of speech and to protest, freedom of (and from) religion, freedom of the press -- are chipped away until they are gone. Because that's what autocrats do. They want freedom only for themselves, and Donald Trump and his cronies and hangers-on are all autocrat wannabes.

And if you -- Yes, you, even if you're sitting in the middle of blood-red state -- don't vote for Joe Biden, you will be doing your part to hand the autocrats what they want, because a non-vote or a vote for anyone other than Biden is in fact a vote for Trump and autocracy. Similarly, you must also vote for Democrats for all other positions, local, state, and federal so that America's overt flirtation with autocracy that's been going on since at least the 1990s might finally end once and for all.

Yes, yes, I know: "But Genocide Joe!" Think about it: Do you seriously think that Trump, who licks Netanyahu's asshole because he sees him as the kind of "strong man" that Trump wants to be, is going to help Gaza? Or that he'll go against Putin and continue aid to Ukraine? Because if you think that he will do either of those things, I have several bridges I'd like to sell you. No, Trump is going to "put America first." He says it all the time, and what he means by that is that he will do nothing except whatever it takes to keep himself and his cronies in power while also isolating America by severing ties to our allies. Gaza will be given to Netanyahu just as Ukraine will be given to Putin, should Trump win, and he won't give a shit. In the end, Biden (and Harris, should she have to take over) will listen and help Gaza, maybe not as much as we'd like because the Middle East situation is complicated and there are no simple solutions, but a Biden-led government will certainly help more than another Trumpian government would. And Biden will definitely continue to aid Ukraine, because that situation isn't complicated at all.

And in the end, it's not really about Ukraine and Gaza, though they are of course important. It's about us. Should Trump get into the White House again, he will surround himself with people who want America to be a plutocratic and authoritarian autocracy, very similar to Putin's Russia. This is not hyperbole. This is fact. A vote for Trump -- either actual or de facto by fucking around with not voting or voting for a third party because you think it's a "protest" -- is a vote to end democracy, plain and simple, which might very well mean that you'll never be able to protest again another day.

How bad could Trump be, you ask? Who cares who is president? Well, have a look at Project 2025. It's a 900-page "playbook" for the next "conservative" administration. (In quotes because there is nothing "conservative" about these people, including Trump and his cronies; they are radicals.) It is nothing less than a plan to destroy the federal government, the Constitution, and the freedoms that it enshrines and protects, which means the end of democracy. They published a similar tome before Reagan was elected, and once he was in, Reagan followed through with a lot of it. I have no doubt that Trump would, too, given that his "Agenda 47" platform is basically the same. Here is an article that summarizes Project 2025 and details some of its directives. And here is an article from Time Magazine, of all things, where the writer of it interviewed Trump about his vision for America, should he win. The first line of the article is, "Donald Trump thinks he’s identified a crucial mistake of his first term: He was too nice." You can read the transcripts of the interviews, too, so you can rest assured that the interviewer isn't being hyperbolic.

It ain't good, folks. Part of this extreme-right agenda is ridiculously expanding the power of the executive branch so that it would no longer be checked and balanced by Congress and the Supreme Court, which effectively turns the presidency into a dictatorship. And if Biden does not win, at least some of this bullshit will come to pass, especially because Trump already has the Supreme Court in his pocket. And he'll be able to appoint more young, far-right lunatics to that, too, should he win.

I'll repeat that Trump CANNOT win. I'll be the first to say that, as a pretty extreme (but also pragmatic) progressive, I'm not Biden's biggest fan, for various reasons. He is way farther right than I am, though he has been far more progressive-friendly than I expected and he has gotten some very good things done. But even if he wasn't and hadn't, he will preserve democracy and because of that, I will be voting for him without hesitation. I won't even have to hold my nose. Trump and his cronies in Congress and the Supreme Court will destroy democracy if you -- Yes, YOU! -- let them. And if you let them by deciding not to vote or doing some sort of lame "protest" vote, especially if you live in that handful of states where every presidential vote matters, you will have no one to blame but yourself and others like you. People being apathetic or doing "protest" votes is what got us Trump the first time around.

For fuck's sake, do the right thing.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for possibly being a dick to my friends?

I (15, genderfluid) have had a group of friends since I was 12-13 (all about my age, mostly F but varying degrees of gender). We'd have the occasional drama, mostly started by my now-ex friend (let's call her A) (15F), but everything was pretty okay.

That was until about February, when my friend, B (15F) broke up with A. B told me that A had been saying some nasty things about me behind my back (that I'm sensitive, ugly, annoying, etc). I was hurt, because I thought A was a good friend prior to learning this. I confronted A about it (I didn't tell her that B told me), and our relationship got a bit rocky from there. I ended up blocking A for my own mental health.

Quick context break, from what I can piece together, A would call me sensitive because I would protest her and others joking about suicide.

Things started getting hairy when our mutual friend C (15M) told everyone that he didn't think I was sensitive, and that the casual joking about suicide had caused him a lot of problems. A then immediately did a 180 and tried to end the drama between us by getting B to send me messages she wanted me to hear. However, despite apparently wanting to end the drama, she did not apologize to me, and instead said, "I'm not sorry, because in my eyes you are sensitive," amongst other things.

Around this time, my then-partner, D (14NB) broke up with me, citing they weren't in the right mental state for a relationship. A week later, they started dating B.

I was feeling really hurt and lied to at this point, and I kind of cut off D until C got me and them into a group chat to talk through our problems. We made a bit of progress and talked through our feelings. I was two hours ahead of them at the time, though, so it was past midnight for me.

A slightly important part of this story is that I have a tendency to write self-indulgent poetry about my feelings. This includes one about the red flags I noticed in me and D's relationship, but ignored. To wrap up the conversation and get to sleep, I sent that poem to C and D instead of a proper explanation of some of the stuff I was mad at D about. (In retrospect, this was a very stupid idea. But I was desperate for sleep, so?)

A couple days later, C explained to me that the drama between me and A had kind of messed him up, and that for his own mental health, he would go no-contact with me for a while to work on himself (which is fine, that's respectable).

Afterwards, B seemingly got mad at me for the whole poem thing, so I asked her about it. We had what I felt like was a mature conversation, and wrapped up most of the problems she had with it (mostly that it looked like I had compared D to an unsavory public figure, which I explained was not my intention). I also sent an apology to D for insulting them and causing any problems with that poem. They said it was fine, and that they weren't that offended.

Today (just barely, in fact), B blocked me, stating that I talk too much shit and cause a lot of problems.

Tldr;

Why I might be TA: There's a very real possibility that I do talk too much shit without realizing it, especially because, in the past, I've been known to not realize when people are uncomfortable with my actions unless they directly tell me.

Why I might not be TA: I feel like, for my situation, and knowing only what I knew at the time, I made justified decisions.

[go-to-two]

if you had to write Hailey’s exit with everything already in canon that happened to Upstead up until the beginning of the finale, how would you have written her & Jay’s resolution, with the go ahead that you had Jesse willing & available? Would you?

It probably wouldn't have been super centralized to her full season tbh. When I knew Tracy was out (which they knew before the season began) and I had Jesse there (which again, they did) I would have established in the first episode that they were in contact in the background (because they were in contact in 10x20). The divorce that did nothing but destroy their development wouldn't have happened. Hailey would still have gone through the stuff with Jo (side note, I guess she isn't coming back?) and the Matson stuff (sans weird father/daughter references). At some point in the middle of the season, she'd learn Jay is coming back to the states and he asked her to talk. She ignores him. The season progresses, and Hailey would end up exactly where she did at the end... looking at Jo's life, Voight's life, and herself, and she would make the choice that she wants to heal and wants more for herself than burying everything in the job or unhealthy coping cycles. She would make the choice to leave (without needing Voight's permission to do so). Her final scene would have been her in a new city (don't particularly care which one). She sits in a cafe with a new badge on her hip, waiting. Jay walks in, sees her, they both smile nervously. Fade to black.

Edit: I'm so sorry I did not read the ask close enough 😭

To actually answer your question... going into the finale with everything canon, it would have been when she was searching her laptop for alternate careers. Each option was just another way for her to run away from her problems, and she would realize that. She would stop looking at jobs and pull up his contact in her phone. We'd see her hesitate on whether or not to call. In her final scene, we'd still see her get in a cab and arrive in a new city, and Jay would be there waiting to meet her at the airport (bonus points if it's in a truck)

[myonmukyuu]

stream stellar stream

🎀🎙 thoughts incoming

Watching the live version of Stellar Stream reminded me - man, I really love this song.

Although I still haven't been able to watch the movie (JP exclusive ....) I've been getting little blips of context here and there and there's this repeated emphasis on Ayumu's growth and I really like it!!

Ayumu starts out the series as someone who is very uncertain and prefers staying in her comfort-zone. Her anxious tendencies kept her firmly glued to Yu's side and as she grows we get to see her gradually bloom into someone more confident. Stellar Stream is a song about Ayumu running face first into the unknown and embracing it. Something that the Ayumu at the very beginning wouldn't even dream of. As well as a demonstration of what Ayumu has become, I think Stellar Stream is also a perfect sendoff for her. If the writers are cooking up some graduation arcs, Ayumu is probably in the perfect state to receive it ahahah.

Anyways, this isn't actually an Ayumu deep-dive word dump, it's a SetsuPomu word dump oopsies HAHAHAHA. I just wanted to set some context...

Stellar Stream Ayumu is very cool. There's the pink and prettiness we'd usually associate with Ayumu with this touch of cool that emphasizes her growing confidence and ambition. The black half-cape and finger-less gloves almost come off as 'heroic' (similar to SGbNamida).

It made me think about how Setsuna would think Ayumu is probably the coolest person alive. I can imagine her radiating with admiration from the backstage.

It reminds me of this magazine page about the 2L solo songs. It's hard for me to find the page but I do promise it exists. It featured some art of Ayumu in her Say Goodbye Namida costume and had a little comment from Setsuna. Setsuna compares her to a "hero" or heroine, I don't really remember the wording, only the sentiment. And it's not the only time Setsuna compares Ayumu to a "hero" . There's also this little short where Setsuna compares Ayumu to an "unassuming hero who slips from the darkness to defeat the villain". Setsuna has also compared Ayumu to, on multiple occassions, the heroine of a dating sim. This isn't really related but I think it says a lot about Setsuna.

Anyways, it makes me think... At some point Setsuna became captivated by Ayumu and started perceiving her as someone who is cool and heroic. Which is kind of at odds with Ayumu's usual perception of being cute, pretty and pink? When Ayumu had first met Setsuna, it was watching her perform CHASE for the first time. Ayumu had her world expanded... But when did Setsuna really "meet" Ayumu? If we go by the anime timeline, Setsuna didn't really get many opportunities to meet Ayumu until the climax of season 1. Ayumu largely kept to herself/Yu for most of the season too. My interpretation is that Setsuna was quietly watching from the sidelines before trying to make friends with her as the season progresses. My yuri-goggled interpretation is that Setsuna had a crush on a pretty girl and couldn't work up the courage to get closer until the end of the season.

So why does Setsuna feel this way? What makes Ayumu "cool"?

SetsuPomu is a funny ship to me... It's very easy to explain why Ayumu might have romantic feelings for Setsuna. (ie. Setsuna being so critical to her character growth helps) but it is a lot harder to definitively claim that Ayumu's feeling are romantic since she has other "targets". (But we're here in the LL shipping community so does this even matter???) I find it funny because with Setsuna it's probably the other way around. It's very easy to claim that she has a crush on Ayumu. Like pathetically easy. (Girl, you wrote a self-insert fanfic where you were Ayumu's childhood friend and a knight with her as the princess I think she really has it down bad.) but the "why" is a little more vague. Emphasis on "a little" since Season 2 and Nijiyon really nail the Setsuna-side of things. But regardless I'd like to go into deeper detail because that's what I do as the CEO of SetsuPomu.

As a disclaimer... though honestly this disclaimer should've been at the start. This is 60% headcanon conjecture! If I kept firmly planted to the concept of "canon" I wouldn't be shipping SetsuPomu.

I think Setsuna's admiration began from something really simple.

Ayumu listened to her.

Setsuna has a lot of anxiety related to being "too much" when it comes to her passions. She believes in "shouting her love" but is also very afraid of rejection and confrontation. When the idol club disbanded, I think this would've been the height of that anxiety.

I think Ayumu's very simple act of listening to her and being receptive to her interests really kick-started their friendship. It's so easy to find bits and pieces of this.

Some games over here.... some novels over there... and Ayumu isn't just politely going along, she has a genuine growing interest and I think it makes Setsuna feel very safe to be passionately herself around Ayumu. It's a two-way street too with how Ayumu has this tendency to be hesitant to try new things until someone takes her hands and guides her a little of the way. Then, before anyone knows it, Ayumu can fall into a similar kind of obsession as Setsuna and that really fires Setsuna up!

Setsuna and Ayumu have this friendship where they both feed into each others' passions. With Setsuna's lonesome nature before becoming a part of Nijigasaki, this is really new for her so yeah. An innocent crush on Ayumu isn't hard to imagine.

Okay so it starts with admiration but when does it become "awe" of Ayumu's "coolness"?

Setsuna sees in Ayumu what she thinks she herself doesn't have. And ironically, ones of those things is "courage". Like I mentioned before, Setsuna is very afraid of confrontation and conflict. She disbanded the idol club indirectly as student council president. She lives a double life in an effort to please everyone and that whole conflict she had with Shioriko in SIFAS was broadly caused by her being unable to keep up that double life.

Courage is something that Ayumu has. Even if Ayumu herself isn't fully convinced. In general Ayumu only needs a little push to get going, but once she does get going she actually is quite assertive and brave. Even in her conflict with Yu in season 1, Ayumu herself decides to confront Yu. (Setsuna needs to be chased and cornered to be confronted).

Setsuna is also has a hard time dealing with failure. When things fall through she tends to do rash things like disband the club or idk, cancel the school idol festival maybe? I view Setsuna as a little racehorse with blinders on. As she runs at full speed, things at the wayside tend to blur and if she trips its catastrophic.

But Ayumu takes it slow.

Unlike Setsuna, Ayumu isn't afraid of mistakes. Even at the very beginning with Yume e no Ippo, she might trip and stumble but she will always move forward one step at a time.

I think Setsuna holds deep admiration of this. Ayumu is cool because she doesn't let her doubts hold her back like Setsuna does. (<- Setsuna's perspective).

Ayumu, to Setsuna, is really cool.

And when Ayumu's courage takes her to doing things like... I don't know, flying internationally to spread school idol activities because a fan emailed her, Setsuna thinks that's crazy cool and something a hero would do!!!

While Setsuna very much wants to be the hero, she admires Ayumu for that very thing

after all, Ayumu saved her too.

Anyways, Stream Stellar Stream

[usukustwiceperyear]

Hello everyone,

Congratulations on another amazing Twice Per Year! We hope everyone has been enjoying the batch of new content, or if you haven't had the chance yet, we encourage you to take a look.

This publication was a bit rough going, and largely because of that, the Admin Team has decided to write this post to share with everyone the state of TPY and our (tentative) plans moving forward.

The Process

First, we'd like to explain a little about our process. At the beginning of a year, we open up a poll to take idea submissions from everyone, regardless of whether they hope to participate or not. The admins then compile these submissions into specific choices and themes for people to vote on what they'd like to see for the coming year. This is what acts as our "interest check," to see a birds' eye view of not just participants but also readers. After that, we open sign-ups for the selected theme. While we underline the fact that sign-ups are a show of commitment and there are penalties for dropping out later, we have also attempted to emphasize that these penalties are mild and temporary and mostly just to discourage noncommittal sign-ups. The admin team uses sign-ups to gauge the size of TPY (both literally in page numbers, and fandom-wise in "activity" especially in comparison to interest check numbers), and has to manually collate a spreadsheet of each participant's sign-up info and progress at every check-in. Then, the check-ins. These are checkpoints at set dates during the TPY "term" where we message participants to get an idea of where they're at in the creation process and answer any questions or concerns they may have. The actual status of the work isn't really what matters here - the more important function of a check-in is to open an avenue of dialogue with people so they don't feel shy or hesitant to message the admin team. We understand that stuff happens, and either people don't want to be a bother, or it slips their mind because they're busy with other things, so the check-ins function as, well, a check-in to see how things are going. Finally, the submissions. This is where the admins' crunch time begins, as we rush to begin production of the actual zine itself. If participants do not submit their works correctly with the template provided, then this stage can also involve chasing people down for info within a timely manner (and if responses are slow, can delay production). Unfortunately, this part has been a struggle over the last 3-4 TPYs, as participants have not consistently submitted their works as requested (mostly artists). At this point we are aware that things tend to drop into radio silence, so we'd like to briefly list what we're busy working on. In addition to participants' submissions, the sum total of a TPY publication is made up of: a cover page (whose artist is selected from the sign-up sheet); a disclaimer and thank you page; original graphics for the acknowledgements, table of contents, and contributors pages; original graphics for the SFW and NSFW category pages; and an original document template for written works. It is a large amount of work and can take time to get looking right. We also re-format and SPAG (spelling and grammar) check written works, and resize any incorrectly submitted artwork. Once everything is made and ready, it is compiled with Adobe Acrobat into a single PDF.

The Numbers

There are a couple of pain points in this process that we'd like to elaborate on.

In 2022, we took over TPY from the old team, and as such only ran one theme as we built our new system and processes. We are missing full voting and participant information from this time, but we do know that there were:

24 sign-ups, with 12 final participants (12 drop outs/potentially ghosted)

Last year (2023), TPY had:

52 votes on the themes

23 sign-ups for part one, with 19 final participants (4 drop outs)

31 sign-ups for part two, with 24 final participants (7 drop outs)

This year (2024), so far TPY has had:

43 votes on the themes

26 sign-ups for part one, with 18 final participants (8 drop outs - 5 of which ghosted)

Overall numbers are varied, but it's the ratio for each year we're looking at. For 2023, the percentage ratio from votes to sign-ups were 44~59.5%, dropping to 36.5~46% for final participation (a drop of 7.5~13.5%). These are pretty good numbers - it means roughly around half of the people who voted were planning to participate! For 2024 however, it started out strong (60%!) but dropped to 41.9% upon final submissions (a whopping 18.1% right out of the gate). But more importantly: not only did it drop below the participant threshold that the admin team has set, but there were a staggering number of people who simply vanished and did not inform us of dropping out. This was when we posted our notice saying that we were extending the submission deadline, in hopes to get word from those people on their status - which severely delayed the production of the zine. We received 2 further submissions in this way, but the rest remained MIA.

But What Does It Mean

The takeaway here is the growing number of drop outs (not to mention the ghosting). Sign-up numbers are largely looking great, as it's natural for that number to rise and fall as people come and go from the fandom, get busier or have more leisure time, are interested in that term's theme or not, etc etc. The admin team's threshold is for a 20 participant minimum, as we believe this is a reasonable number for current fandom activity/popularity, in addition to allowing for a wide variety of fanworks submitted (the ratio of written works to artworks can be very skewed). Dropping below this number is concerning, as not only does it mean decreasing interest, but it also starts tipping the level of work needed by the admin team into unbalance. We're working adults, with jobs and responsibilities, and dedicate not only our personal time but also our personal money (Adobe ain't cheap) to this fandom tradition. Understandably we want TPY to be the very best it can be, but that does require others to "meet us halfway," so to speak, by participating. If not enough people do so, the work involved begins to feel less like a willing celebration to contribute to and give back to the fandom, and more like we're, well, wasting our time and effort (and money).

And while we understand life does happen and sometimes it's necessary to drop out despite original intentions to participate, the Admin Team would like to re-emphasize that if you don't believe you can fully commit (perhaps you don't have a solid idea for the theme, or you know you'll be gone on holiday for an extended period, etc.), then please don't sign-up. If you must drop out - no worries, truly, but please let us know! Don't just disappear! Conversely, we really hope that more people do consider signing up - there's no "requirements" you must meet (anyone can participate), the process is easy (all we ask is you respond to the check-ins and follow submission rules, otherwise we do the rest), and you get to be published in one of this ship's longest running events!

We hope that by making all this information transparent, we can empower and encourage people to be more willing to participate and support TPY. The Admin Team has occasionally received some absolutely lovely and kind messages thanking us, which we appreciate more than words can say, as this really is a labor of love. But we'd also love to see those feelings returned to the fandom at large, not just kept in our email inbox!

Moving Forward

Thankfully this time, we were able to get TPY out at the very end of September/start of October, but unfortunately this has messed up our timeline for the remainder of the year.

The Admin Team took some additional time to discuss whether TPY would continue or not, after this rough term, but we didn't want to just end things with no transparency and no chance for people to have their say. So we've chosen to continue for now, with some changes.

As there are only 3 months left in the year, it would be a very rushed term (not to mention end of year holidays), and we have decided that that would be unfair to hopeful participants. As such, the Admin Team has made the decision to push the voted-on theme, "Ocean's 1923" (love at sea), to the beginning of next year (2025-1).

Sign-ups will start December 1st and run through December 31st. (A further timeline of check-in and submission dates will be shared later.)

As the numbers start rolling in, and we see how that term fares in sign-up and final participant rates, we will make a final decision on the ultimate fate of TPY. If interest has simply waned over the years and people no longer wish to participate, then we would like to end TPY with dignity, and would likely hold one final wrap-up theme to top things off.

Final Words

We know this was a lot to get through, so thank you if you got this far. We are so appreciative of everyone who has touched TPY in some way - whether as a participant or a reader, you are an important part of this ship.

We understand if there's questions or comments people would like to make in response to this. Our email is always open (usukustwiceperyear (at) gmail (dot) com), or feel free to message Narcoleptic via Discord (@narcoleptic).

Thank you again, and until next time, The USUKUS Network & Twice Per Year Admin Team

[sepublic]

With this analysis of Luz having Belos, and King having the Collector, it does feel as if Eda herself is technically missing her own personal antagonist; Though tbf, she does parallel/foil Belos in a lot of ways too. So it could simply be interchangeable, esp when we have Luz and the Collector; But a part of me wonders if there would've been a third villain, for Eda?

Like, maybe the Archivists; They're out there, and their relationship with the Collector can be comparable to Eda and King's. It's just that Eda lied to King and was at times a neglectful parent, but nevertheless came around... And since I believe it was an Archivist and not the Collector who turned the Owl Beast into a scroll, there's a very personal connection for Eda there, given how much the curse really shaped her life and made her self-doubt in a way even the coven system didn't (Though you could argue she only got cursed because of Belos' cutthroat system pitting Lilith against her).

Maybe the Archivists would've recognized their magic on Eda, would've recognized the Owl Beast especially and we'd get more lore on it; Not that the Archivists needed it to be special to 'preserve' it, per their stated MO. Given the Owl Beast's reaction to the Collector, imagine how it would've responded to the actual Archivist who transformed it? And we could've gotten more collaboration between Eda and the Owl Beast, more understanding as the latter became more active as a character...

Who knows, maybe the six-legged form we see in the finale is a super-harpy form that the two could've achieved against the Archivists; Or the 'Owl Deity' mural within the Owl House's living room.

I also wonder if Eda's antagonist is Lilith; After all, we've seen in the storyboards that she was originally going to be much more antagonistic and mean-spirited. I wonder why the writers changed this. I suspect it's to make the twist of Lilith cursing Eda actually impactful, since a Lilith who clearly cares and is struggling to have it both ways feels like a genuine betrayal to Eda and the audience, as does her dangling Luz over a cliff (Which in the storyboards, happens but isn't as huge of a deal).

So Lilith is an occasional antagonist and rival, but never a malicious threat and even someone who teams up; Which makes the revelation and her crossing a line hit extra-hard. So she's basically a twist villain, revealed as the 'mastermind' behind the curse that Eda struggles with in S1, with S1 having the most emphasis on the curse as a conflict for the protagonists to navigate; And Lilith sharing that curse is the resolution, as it's no longer an active problem threatening Eda's existence. There's still more (like the aforementioned Owl Beast) to address in S2, but the curse itself is not worsening anymore.

With all that in mind, I guess this makes Lilith technically the villain of S1? Since Belos only really takes initiative in the last two episodes. She's more recurring, and her being less antagonistic kind of works with S1 being much more light-hearted. I've already suggested before that each season corresponds to one of our main trio; S1 for Eda, S2 for King, and S3 for Luz. Belos definitely plays a bigger role in S2 while the Collector is more S3, so it's not exactly one-to-one...

Still, we can see the progression as the villains get more powerful; But in the end, Lilith and the Collector were both manipulated by Belos, and are won over in the end. Lilith gets the most screen time as an ally due to when she turns around, and thus her time as a protagonist overshadows her time as an antagonist.

I also have to wonder if Eda isn't meant to have her own villain? Eda is unlike Luz and King in that she's already a full-grown adult who's seen and learned plenty; She's got more to learn as we see. But she's more certain of her place in life, whereas Luz and King are going through their coming-of-age, and thus they have their personal antagonists to represent that big character conflict.

For Eda, it's more confronting herself; Or maybe the Owl Beast is that antagonist, since she does blame it for ruining her life and all that. Maybe it's Raine and Gwen and Dell and Lilith; Less in an "Antagonist" sense, and more as people Eda needs to make resolution with, that she's in conflict with.

And as an adult, that conflict is less overt and more quiet, internally painful, and really about just talking things out. By contrast, Luz still had her Gildersnake moment coming up, set up in THE very first scene of the show, and King had his arc renouncing his destroyer status to be more mature with the concept of power.

Maybe it's because Eda's not one who operates on fantasy like Luz and King do, either; In the second episode, Eda delivers the lesson about 'being special' which tell us a bunch. It suggests she's already been there and done that, she's the mentor. Her antagonist is less of an overt face per adulthood, but maybe it represents how she's done most of her growth.

So Eda's arc isn't about her relationship with fantasy; King's is abandoning his in favor of a quieter, sustainable reality; Luz has a nuanced dynamic with her fiction (due to it being less inherently destructive than King's), where she healthily distinguishes when and when not to embrace it.

It could be that since Dana originally held hopes for a prequel series involving teen Eda, that we would've gotten a more overt antagonist for her that way; Maybe Principal Faust! With his rantings on kids as evil, being an insincere teacher while Eda becomes a genuine one and even a dean! And that conflict’s resolution leads to Bump taking his place. And/or it's Terra Snapdragon. Hell what if it was the previous Golden Guard, and Darius not yet realizing what his mentor did wrong (even if his mentor realized but never vocalized it to a kid who could get in trouble) contributed to him no longer being friends with Eda; Because she defeated the Golden Guard.

(This reminds me of my speculation on Eda and the Golden Guard, before we learned Hunter's name, being parallels and having connections. They're not exactly parallels... Well maybe in some ways they are with their lacking magic... But they definitely have that lost-to-time familial connection.)

I did notice that in S3, Eda didn't have as much focus compared to Luz and King; Again, for the reasons I listed above about her having done most of her arc already, and what she had left had already been resolved. So it makes sense to focus on Luz and King, who are still struggling. But also again; If we got that prequel series, we would've gotten a bunch of solo Eda development and screen time, but without any Luz and King alas.

So when evaluating all these factors, maybe Dana and the writers chose to focus on Luz and King, and let Eda take the backseat for this reason; They'd still have a whole show for Eda, or at least a mini-series, afterwards. But this was the last we'd see of Luz and King, so I think that priority worked. Even if we evidently aren't getting that prequel series, if Dana's acceptance of this is any indication... Plus, again: S3 being short means they can only fit in so much, meaning Eda could only get so much too; Esp with the set-up of Luz needing to make her way back to Eda and King, which means they only have 2/3 of S3 where they can appear.

[mirai-e-jump]

TV Guide Dan, LDH Special Issue dan the Girls ft. Yuzuki Hirakawa Interview (translation below)

Publication December 1, 2023

-RESOLUTION-

"Hirakawa-san, you entered the entertainment industry after winning the Grand Prix in the vocal and dance category of LDH's, "LDH Presents THE GIRLS AUDITION" held in 2018. Please tell us why you took part in the audition."

Hirakawa: I've always liked LDH artists. I would go and see their live performances, and I watched "Weekly EXILE," a music information program that was being broadcast at the time. Then, I heard the announcement that they'd be holding an audition for female artists for the first time in a while. Before that, auditions had been limited to singing and dancing, but the auditions I attended included various categories, including singing and dancing, as well as acting and modeling. At the time, I wasn't interested in the entertainment world, but my parents and those around me recommended I do it, so I did it partially out of curiosity. However, as judging progressed, before I knew it, I won the Grand Prix…is how it felt. I like singing, but I didn't have any dreams of becoming a singer. After joining the agency, I took singing, dancing and acting lessons equally, and during those lessons, I decided to pursue acting.

"Winning the Grand Prix helped you in deciding to pursue a career in the entertainment industry."

Hirakawa: I was in my second year of high school when I won the Grand Prix, and I had to move from Kumamoto to Tokyo by myself, so I was determined, or rather, I felt I had no choice but to do it. The final stage of the audition was a training camp exam, where about 10 finalists spent a week together. While there, I met other kids who were seriously working hard to pursue their dreams, and I realized that I could no longer be half hearted in my efforts just because I had been chosen. However, when I made my debut as an actor in the stage play of "Moryo no Hako," I didn't know what to do or what was expected of me on the stage, so I just went along with things. It was only last year when I was cast as the role of Rita Kaniska (PapillonOhger) in "Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger" that I was able to proudly say, "My profession is an actor. Actually, before I was cast for the role…there was a time when I was wondering if it was okay to continue down this path, or if I should look for another one. That's why I was so happy when I was chosen to play the role, and thought I could continue as an actor. However, I was alittle anxious before the broadcast started. Rita is the king of Gokkan and the Chief Justice of the International Court of Justice, but their gender isn't clearly stated, and their face is almost invisible, being hidden behind their collar and hair. Since this type of character hasn't been seen in the Super Sentai series before, I couldn't predict what kind of reaction we'd get from the viewers. But thankfully, the positive feedback I've received since airing started has made me enjoy filming even more.

"We feel that characters who don't specify their gender are appropriate in the current era."

Hirakawa: I'm grateful to have been given such a role. I've always thought that my appearance, personality and voice were (gender) neutral, so I was happy to have landed the role of Rita. At first, Rita was a calm and quiet character who didn't say much, but as the story progressed, they're able to rely on others, and gradually become able to express their feelings in public. Slowly, their humanity and cuteness is showing, and I hope that my performance will make the character even more beloved.

"We feel like it's more difficult to express a character that changes gradually, rather than one that changes drastically, but do you find it difficult?"

Hirakawa: I'm not sure…personally, I don't find it that difficult. More than the changes of Rita in the story, I think the relationship between me and all the cast members were the biggest change. As filming progressed, the relationship between the cast members deepened, and I feel that we're able to understand each other. I think this naturally led me to express myself in the role. The atmosphere when Rita and their retainer, Morfonia (Hasegawa Kasumi), are together has also changed. Of course, this happened after the halfway point of the story, but it also reflects the fact that the cast members have become closer to each other.

"And now, "Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger Character Book: The Bonds Connected by Moffun and Racules?!" featuring Rita, Morfonia, and Hymeno Ran (played by Murakami Erica) is on sale. Please tell us your thoughts after looking back on the photo shoot and interview."

Hirakawa: In the TV series, Rita and Hymeno, and Rita and Morfonia are sometimes filmed together, but this is probably the first time that Hymeno, Rita, and Morfonia are together. This was the first time doing an interview with the three of us, so it was very refreshing. Rita is called the "Immovable King," a character with very few movements. So, there aren't that many posing variations, but Hymeno and Morfonia moved alot to add variety, so I felt thankful for that (laughs).

"In episodes 32 and 33 of the TV series, there was a collaboration with "Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger." You co starred with Shiono Akihisa-kun, playing the role of Souji Rippukan (Kyoryu Green), who also belongs to LDH."

Hirakawa: The day after it was decided that I'd be appearing in King-Ohger, I had work to do with Shiono-san, and when I told him, "I'm going to be your junior in Super Sentai," he said to me, "I know it'll be a tough year, but please do your best." He also said, "I hope we can work together again somewhere." At that time, I never imagined that I'd be able to work with Shiono-san in King-Ohger, so I was really happy when the collaboration episodes were announced. We only had one day of filming, but I was able to hear stories about the "Kyoryuger" days, and I was deeply moved by being able to appear in the same scenes for the first time. The collaboration episodes were directed by Sakamoto Koichi, who's famous for his action direction, and although we had to fight more enemies without transforming than usual, since I like action, it didn't bother me, and it was a valuable experience. I'm also working with Amano Kousei-san, another senior at LDH, who plays Grodie Leucodium starting from episode 30. Since Grodie is Rita's enemy, they have many scenes together. Amano-san is very considerate, lending us things to cool our necks when we were on location during the hot season. Also, he gets involved with me on Twitter, and is a really funny and friendly person. However, once he gets into his role, he completely changes, which I think is amazing.

"Since our magazine mainly features men, we'd like to ask what kind of men Hirakawa-san likes."

Hirakawa: Someone who's firm and flexible. When he messes around, he'll completely mess around, and when he talks about serious matters, he's serious. I'm the type of person who gets excited when I'm having fun, so ideally, I'd like someone who has the same enthusiasm as me, and to take the initiative and have fun doing whatever it takes, instead of being drawn away from me (laughs). Also, I think it's wonderful if he can say, "Thank you" and, "I'm sorry" for even the smallest of things, and if he cares about family.

"If you could be reborn, would you prefer to be male or female?"

Hirakawa: I'd like to be male. I used to play with my brother, who's 5 years older than me, and his friends, and I wanted to be a boy too.

"Well then, if you could be a man for one day, what would you like to do?"

Hirakawa: I wonder…(taking time to think), I guess I'd do some muscle training. If I can become a muscular man like Kaku So-san, my co star in King-Ohger, I'd like to go to the gym and train my muscles until he admits defeat! Kaku-san said he can bench press 120 kg (265 lbs), so I'd like to aim for that too and show off my muscles to everyone (laughs).

[a-very-tired-jew]

The server closes, but the antisemitism it gave is forever

By the time this gets posted from my queue the Dropout Discord server will have officially closed/froze (May 26th, 2024). However, the looming freeze hasn't dissuaded any of the users in a particular channel from posting their wild conspiracies and outright falsities. Take this one that happened on May 24th.

Fig. 1. User states that Jews should be safe around the world and Zionism was invented by anti-semites (their word) to get the Jews out of Europe. Let's break down this picture. It's the same thing we have heard from goys time and time again about this entire issue. Jews should be safe around the world and we should make the world safer for them so they don't need Israel. Here's the problem...we've tried that multiple times. In fact, there was a whole ideology opposite of Zionism called Bundism that pushed for that very thing. Guess what happened? Bundists were exiled, tortured, imprisoned, cleansed, and killed. That's not to say don't make the world a safer place for us. We'd like it to be. But historically speaking, this sort of action hasn't been consistent. Now, the second part of their post: "Zionism was originally invented by anti-semites who wanted Jews out of Europe". Imagine being so confidently wrong in something. Not only does a quick fact check tell you you're wrong, but demonstrably so. The "Father of Zionism" is Theodor Herzl who helped formalize an ideology that was already present in Judaism. His actions were inspired by the Dreyfus Affair. If you don't know what this is, a Jewish officer of the French army was falsely accused of being a spy and imprisoned. The actual culprit was identified and the French army suppressed the evidence and acquitted him, he was not Jewish. Throughout this time there was rampant antisemitism in French society, which had previously been viewed as a liberal bastion of acceptance. If this place that intellectuals viewed as tolerant of differing views, creeds, religions, and so on could become virulently antisemitic, then were Jews actually accepted? That is the underlying thought that led to the formalization and creation of political Zionism as we know it (albeit in a very brief and generalized summary). Hell, this person probably doesn't even know what Labor Zionism is and it would probably break their brain. The most progressive societies in the world can say they're safe for Jews to exist in, but they will turn at the drop of a hat.

So when someone like this says that Zionism was made by anti-semites (and they're using the hyphenated incorrect term which is indicative of other issues) I can't help but think that they know next to nothing about the conflict outside of what they've consumed these past months. The likelihood is that this particular person has only engaged with antisemitic content because that misinformation they're spreading is something that only exists in those circles. It's antisemitic conspiracy wrapped in anti-Zionism. It's reminiscent of things the Soviets would say about Israel while actively killing the Jews in their country. They then followed it with this.

Fig. 2. Same user generalizes a whataboutism regarding safety for everyone, then specifically asks why no one prioritizes the Palestinians in these conversations. In this photo they ask why do we assume that the world is going to hate Jews forever? Because it has. Antisemitism is one of the oldest forms of hatred towards another group. Jewish history is marred with repeated incidents of cleansing, torture, imprisonment, exile, and killing. In no century has there ever been a time when Jews just existed peacefully with our own autonomy. And yet someone like this, who has shown their whole ass with their ignorance of what Zionism is and its origin, asks "why aren't we talking about the Palestinians in these conversations?" Because there is not a specific word that describes hatred of Palestinians like there is for Jews. Nor do they have thousands of years of history regarding that hatred. It's a false equivalency and a pitiful whataboutism to try and make conversations about antisemitism into something they're not. However, considering this user writes "anti-semite/semitism", I would not be surprised if they are of the "Palestinians are Semites" mindset (which myself and others have gone over in other posts, and even the server itself addressed months prior). We can talk about Palestinians and the dangers they face. We can talk about the rights and country they should have. We can talk about how other countries in the region keep them in camps and don't let them become full citizens. We can talk about all the issues surrounding them as a people. But not when we're talking about antisemitism, because it's not about them. The fact that this user is trying to make it that way and was not confronted in any capacity about their outright misinformation and manipulation says everything about the Dropout Discord Palestine channel that you need to know.

[sirfrogsworth]

I don't think I've ever been this mad watching a YouTube video.

We keep joking about how everything is going to turn into The Handmaid's Tale but we are pretty much fucking there in Texas.

We need to stop arguing about a presidential race we don't actually have a way of changing. We are wasting so much energy right now.

Biden sucks.

Vote for Biden.

Now that we settled that...

We need to focus our energy on local politics. These are elections we can actually influence and win. All of the horrific anti-trans laws are local. All of the horrific anti-abortion laws are local. We need state reps and mayors and governors. We need to grassroots the shit out of local elections and fundraise for progressive candidates.

If we had local congresses filled with progressive majorities, we'd have to worry much less about a Trump presidency. Yes, he can still do a lot of damage, but almost all of the draconian shit is on a state level right now.

People were giving Biden shit about mask laws. But all of the mask mandates were done at a state level. It's the governors who did that shit.

Focusing solely one one political position is screwing so many marginalized people. If we can elect local reps and school board members and get them some political experience, they can then move on to higher positions. They can build their political cache and go from state to federal. And eventually maybe one of them can even run for and win the presidency.

We are attacking this from the wrong vector. People want instant results and I get that. But the long game is the better strategy. Not to mention the long game allows for long term results. If we build a progressive infrastructure from the ground up, it cannot be toppled by one crazy dipshit.

So, let's think local and get this done, eh?

[ghostlywhiskey]

wait if price gets a tattoo do you think he gets simon to do it for him? like maybe as hobby simon has taken up tattooing since he’s already covered in ink and price is shocked but thinking about it makes sense so he gives simon the letters he wants but simon doesn’t know what they’re for and doesn’t ask but secretly he has a guess on who their for and then tattoo’s price on his bicep or his rib cage

-🦆

I'M? AN? EMOTIONAL? WRECK? OVER? THIS? THIS IS PRECIOUS?

simon would without a doubt agree and do it for price. when they are both home from a mission, price telling you he's going to catch up with simon. it isn't a total lie.

and so, price will head to simon's house, the three riley girls flooding into the entryway when he comes over. 'uncle price' excitingly chanted by them as he bends down to hug each of them. simon's s/o walking, over with the youngest, a mini version of simon in their arms as they greet him. he'll beg for not a word to be mentioned to you since he know you two are close from all the playdates and time spent while both of your husbands are off for weeks or months on end. he wants it to be a surprise when he comes home later.

thirty minutes later, price is laying comfortably in the guest room turned into a personal little tattoo station for simon to work on the piece. the reference photo taped above price's ribcage and stencil ink gently marking the skin.

"we've handled worse," simon states, getting ready to start inking the first few letters. "it'll feel like a pink if anything." he chuckles softly before the needle pokes at the skin, price not even moving an inch in reaction.

"sure you're making progress there, riley?" price holds in a laugh, not wanting to cause his body to shake while simon works. the four names carefully inked into the skin in a line by his ribcage. and when that one is done, simon moving onto his wrist for your name next.

a tooth pick in simon's mouth as he mindless chews at the end to keep him entertained in some way while focusing on the tattoo. "who woulda thought we'd have tattoos of our kids names, hm?" simon mutters through his teeth, glancing at price for a moment while he lifts the needle from the skin.

price gives him a smirk as his eyes look back at the wrist, your name almost finished. "not fuckin' me," price replies, fisting his hand for a moment before releasing. "or someone who decided to put up with our asses, eh?" the chuckle he wanted to release before, coming out now.