#could it be shortened to sus?

[adozenforks]

So I finally listened to Slowly Unspooling (@slowly-unspooling) up to the latest episode

I would definitely go full conspiracy board if my brain wasn't all fogged up lol

So I'll just try to make a to-do list of what I want to look into here :

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

- any service / thing / whatever that 70% of the irl world population is susceptible to have access to

- relisten to the first episodes for more clues about the company

- Tape Kai knowing about the other Kai??? Why?

- make 2 timelines taking into account every time one of the Kais is confused about the amount of time that has passed

- searching symptoms of derealization/depersonalization, or anything that might have been up with Kai

- is the story about the Anna and Eva based on a real creepypasta?

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Mabel Normand (Mabel at the Wheel, Mabel's Blunder)—One of the best slapstick comedians of the silent era (who you've probably never heard of)! She wrote! She directed, in fact, she was Charlie Chaplin's first director! And of course she acted!

Theda Bara (Cleopatra)—One of cinema's first female sex symbols. Nicknamed "The Vamp" due to her looks. The OG Goth Girl. She would be HUGE on Tumblr if she were around today!

This is round 1 of the bracket. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Mabel Normand:

can never let mabel normand go by without mentioning mack & mabel, a deeply flawed musical with a beautiful score about her and mack sennett. (find a good cover of 'i won't send roses' and cry a little.) also, according to wikipedia mabel was the first film star to receive a pie thrown in the face!

Theda Bara:

She was simply nicknamed "The Vamp". Her sex appeal and typecasting was so intense that people actually thought that she lounged around half-nacked and seduced men left and right in her free time.

She is one of the most famous and enduring faces in silent film and yet only 6 of her 43 films survived the 1937 Fox Vault Fire! 6! Think about what we could have had!

She's the original Vamp and first film sex symbol! She said: “The vampire that I play is the vengeance of my sex upon its exploiters. You see, I have the face of a vampire, but the heart of a feministe.” Many of her films were banned or severely cut by state and city censorship boards due to her revealing costumes and suggestive acting. She even sued the Chicago Funkhouser censorship board to let her film Cleopatra be shown in theaters. Riots broke out in theaters during showings of her film Kathleen Mavourneen. In contrast to her film persona, her private life was pretty quiet. She grew up in Cincinnati as Theodosia "Theda" Goodman, the Jewish daughter of immigrants, and had one happy marriage that lasted 30+ years until she died at age 69.

*Theeee* celluloid blueprint for both goth chicks and sexually-manipulative women--her persona was that of a "vampire", in the sense that would eventually be shortened into "vamp", although in truth she blended both definitions beautifully. Alas, the prints of most of her back-catalogue were lost to a studio fire in 1937, but enough survives to clearly demonstrate the fantasy of enticing danger that she was so kind as to serve us.

my favorite goth icon i want her gender

[phantobats]

You have a very unique view of Batman/Bruce Wayne. Could you elaborate on why?

Sure! Get ready for a long rant, although I will try my best to shorten my thoughts.

My first exposure to the character came from BTAS when I was a child. Even then his character had fascinated me, but I've never quite understood why. As someone who has now grown up with him and consumed Batman media all my life, I can absolutely say that he is one of the best-crafted characters in fiction, especially if we are talking about superheroes as a whole.

Why? Well, it's all in how he chooses to go about defeating evil.

To truly combat evil, you need to understand it. You need to allow yourself to become evil but in a controlled way. It's not enough to just be a good citizen to rid an entire city of corruption and crime - as a good citizen you're harmless, you're not virtuous. You have to incorporate a darker side of yourself and hone it to become virtuous, because if you're a monster and you do not act like one, that is virtuous.

Batman is a man with the potential for tremendous evil, but he is also a good man, a rare mix you don't often see in fiction. He is a union of both the darker aspects of humanity and the brighter.

To further expand on that, I'd like to incorporate Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical theory on morality; "Fear is the mother of morality."

Each and every one of us has thought of doing something morally abhorrent once or twice, yet we stopped ourselves out of fear of what the consequences might be. That is the core of his critique against morality and it is a pretty good one, as people past the point of caring for those consequences find it easier to commit terrible crimes.

The same cannot be said for Batman. He is a vigilante operating outside of the law, no one can trace him, he cannot be sued and he manages to evade the police each and every time. He has the freedom to do whatever he wants to with no consequences. And yet, he still limits himself. He upholds a strict moral code because he believes that even the darkest parts of humanity can be redeemed. It's why he can face off against the worst things imaginable, but still be able to hold a child's dying hand to make her last moments seem more bearable. It's why he can do the same thing for the man who killed his parents.

Batman doesn't take the easy way out, he takes the right path over and over again no matter how hard it is to navigate through it.

And you can classify it as madness when it drives him to rescue and help even his most terrible of villains but in a way you cannot deny that no one believes in humanity as much as Batman does. No one faces off against the most rotten people and still manages to see that there could be something, even a shred of good, inside them.

And that is what makes him much more interesting and fascinating than any other anti-hero or superhero. He isn't a perfect man, but he also never gives up and reverts to killing simply because it is the easier choice.

[londonfoginacup]

not the same anon and i’ve already asked this to someone else without an answer. i’ve never been to a show in the usa but it feels to me like there’s a different atmosphere in general over there so this comes from genuine curiosity: why do you feel like you have to bring a rainbow flag to a concert? let’s forget about louis for a second, just think of a random concert. you said you’ve gotten bad looks for bringing one but also you (and others) claim that flags in concerts are meant to feel people safe. do you not feel safe if you don’t bring a flag? do you not enjoy a concert if you don’t bring one/see one? what’s the need to bring flags? i promise this comes from curiosity because in all the years i’ve attended music shows and festivals, i’ve never felt like bringing the flags i own, but again, i’m not from the usa and i’m not well versed into tumblr queer culture.

Hi anon. I will take this as a good faith question, although your phrase “I’ve asked this to someone else without an answer” is something I suggest you do not include when asking things in future, because it implies you’re upset or blaming that other person for not responding. People have many reasons to not respond, some of which are simply time or time of day or spoons! We are all simply trying our best out here.

Now onto your question— I think that what’s missing here is fandom history. You said “forget about Louis for a second”, but actually what we need to do is look back at One Direction’s history.

I’ve written this out and tried to shorten it a number of times now, but the long and the short of it is that while the band was active, especially 2013-2014, the way that One Direction the Brand and Management handled rumors about Louis and Harry was to create a rift between “respectful fans” and “everyone else”. And the “everyone else” was people who thought Louis and Harry were in a relationship, yes, but it was also simply queer fans. Because those circles often overlap, OR because other fans would see that they were queer and put them in the same category.

Rainbow Direction was a movement made by fans in order to feel safe at One Direction shows specifically, because it was one direction shows specifically that people did not feel comfortable at, but desperately WANTED to feel comfortable at, because this band and these boys brought them comfort, spoke words in their songs that connected to their queer experience, etc.

I would not say that it’s USA specific so much that it’s 1D specific. I don’t… believe (I could be wrong) that I’ve brought a flag to a non-1D (or 1D adjacent) show, although I HAVE seen flags at those shows, like Declan McKenna I feel like I saw a flag or two there, for instance.

But honestly anon, when I bring a flag, it is not to make myself feel safe. It’s so that someone else who is queer can see that flag and know that I am a safe person. Likewise, when I see someone else with a flag, I know that I feel safe with them. It’s a way of saying you’re not alone.

Now, it might be helpful to know that I have attended EVERY 1D/Harry/Louis/Niall concert (but one) with @lululawrence . It’s her flags that I wear. She is the best sort of person you could ever hope to attend a concert with, but that’s beside the point. My point is that the one show that I remember the most dirty looks and feeling the most uncomfortable was the one Harry show we attended in… 2021? The end of the 2021. Harry’s fan base grew EXPONENTIALLY over the pandemic. That night, we saw maybe two flags in the pit and none anywhere else. There were more people dressed as bananas than people with flags. Sus and I had the bi and ace flags, and honestly anon, I started to want to hide it. The people around us gave us looks, I heard them talking about us although I tried not to listen. I wasnt afraid for our safety, but I was viscerally aware that the people around us didn’t understand the flags and didn’t want us there.

And I had been there in Nashville at the Ryman, when every flag had been confiscated and the security had been terribly mean and Harry had had to pull out his own and set it on stage at one point when the lights went down. That had been upsetting but we had all been on the same page, the fans and Harry, that the flags were important. Post-2020, that show was different. I felt like a creature on display for people to gawk at.

So when you talk about tumblr queer culture, I don’t actually know how much this extends past 1D/Louis/Harry. But in the beginning of 2023, when Sus and I went to the first concert we had booked (we had… four or five that year), and noticed how few flags there were, the two of us were specifically worried about concerts feeling the way that one in 2021 did. That’s why we did spent the next few months sending flags to every North America Louis show (and don’t get me wrong, I’d have done his other legs if I had the money to get them flags too. But all those flags in the NorthAmerica shows? A few friends whom I ADORE helped but mostly that was almost entirely out of my own personal budget). Because we wanted to make sure that everyone felt the safety of being able to spot a flag in the crowd and know that whoever was holding it was not someone who would reject them for their gender/sexuality.

Sure, another option is that no one brings flags and we all just sit and enjoy the music. That’s really fine. But I think for our fandom in particular it’s a bit of history, of being loudly rejected during the 1D days and then surging our support for one another for the solo tours.

And tbh yeah. Okay. America is scary and people are mean and i know so so SO many people who are ONLY out online or at shows like these. I want them to know im there with them.

So, I don’t know if I answered your question well. @takemehomefromnarnia or @lululawrence or any number of other people could probably answer it better.

[meimi-haneoka]

Do you guys ever think about how many times CLAMP tiptoe around the word "death", in Clear Card? (you: what kind of question is that???)

Because it's an awful lot.

The actual verb 死ぬ (to die), the classical one, is never mentioned* to indicate "death", and I totally see the reasons why: mainly target and "world view" of the series (lord, if there's something I learned during these 8 years of observing the reactions from the JP fans is that the 世界観, the "world view" is EVERYTHING and if the authors dare doing something that goes against it, they won't forgive them. Especially for a series rooted deep in everybody's childhood).

* (Actually, it is used in chapter 43 in a funny skit with Kero, Suppy and Nakuru, where Kero says "I thought I would die!!!" because he's too embarrassed by the SyaoSaku scene he had to forcefully witness hidden in Sakura's bag 😂but it's a foolish scene)

I think the first time where they actually start to dangle it in our faces is in chapter 28, when they make Momo scream in panic: "If you rewind that far, the repercussions will be immesurable!!" and then Kaito confirming right after "Time magic shortens the caster's lifespan". 命を削る indeed means "to shorten one's lifespan", and what else does that mean, if not that he's killing himself little by little, by using time magic? Sure, magicians have a longer lifespan, but...

Another instance where they make us "sniff" the smell of death but they don't serve the actual meal is in chapter 33, when Kaito goes out in the garden to counter the attack coming from the Association. He condescendingly says 力不足と己の身が滅ぶのを恐れて, mocking them for not including time magic in their collective attack because they're afraid their power won't be enough and they'll literally wreck their bodies in the process. Kaito doesn't straight up say "they're afraid to die", but the verb 滅ぶ means "to perish, to be ruined, to be destroyed" and we all saw what effects time magic had on Kaito's body. He's basically calling them p*ssies, yes.

And excuse me, but the most apparent one....when Kaito (or the Clan) says multiple times "Her soul will break", should Akiho write on herself more power than her body can sustain....isn't that just a very generous way to avoid saying "Akiho WILL DIE" to not scare the young readers away? Because, think about it...if her soul breaks...what is left of her? What is left of Akiho, as we know her? Yes, just a shell, a corpse for use and consumption of the Association/Clan, exactly.

And what to say about the scene of chapter 41 when Nadeshiko is trying to mom-talk Kaito into reason and the guy answers "I guess it's because I'm getting closer to become the same kind of entity as you", meaning, a ghost??? Hence, he's basically saying "I'm about to die"? I always snicker when I read that part because I'm like "OH COME ON, CLAMP, MAKE HIM SAY THE WORD" 😂

Another instance where the characters dance around the concept of death is in chapter 51, when Momo gets to have this very mom-son talk with Kaito (yes, exactly, Kaito set into motion several mother figures throughout the story - Lilie, Momo, Nadeshiko herself - that should tell you SOMETHING). Momo is trying to make him understand that he's literally betted his life away when he made the contract with her, so that should give him an idea of how important this mission is to him, and for whom he's doing this for. She says "When you made the contract with me, you revealed your true name. We could say I hold your heart as magician in the palm of my hand". Here Momo is basically already mentioning the concept I've been saying time and time again when Kaito revealed his true name to Akiho in chapter 80: in CLAMP works, revealing your true name to someone is like placing the most vulnerable part of yourself in their hands. The "imagery" Momo suggests here is actually pretty disturbing: the word 心臓 (heart) is the one commonly used to indicate the actual organ, more than "heart as core of the emotions", and so what she's suggesting is that at any moment, without notice, she might close that hand and crush his heart, basically killing him. Of course Momo would never do that, but she wants to remind him of what damned situation he's put himself in, how far he went for the person he still isn't ready to recognize at this point of the story.

I think the closer they went to say the "forbidden word" was when Lilie in chapter 72 explained to Sakura the extent of her premonitory dreams: "I know things that will happen shortly ahead...things way far ahead in the future...and even things that will happen when I'll be gone".

Another instance where they TOTALLY dance around the real situation (that is, Kaito should've been dead-dead-dead by then) is in chapter 80 when Eriol explains to Akiho what Kaito had been doing: I'm not sure if it's Eriol who sugarcoated it in his speech, or Akiho herself while recounting it to Sakura, but she says "He messed with lots (of dangerous magic), so his condition wasn't supposed to be that good", another polite way to say "he should've been dead by now". In fact, what's keeping him alive is literally the fact that the pocket watch (and therefore, his time) is frozen for now.

And sometimes I wonder if the "unhappiness" or "grief" that Yelan foresaw for Sakura, in the eventuality she couldn't gain control of her own powers, included....death too....NAAAAAAAHHHH

(well, I mean, who didn't think of THAT when they made Kaito say that he could see Nadeshiko because he was close to dying?? Well knowing that Sakura could suddenly see her too?? they did that on purpose jfc)

[casualdadnomad]

hello atla fans this is my take on the fanfic gaang nicknames bc god do i love to shorten and change a name

masterpost (✯◡✯)

there is no way to nickname aang naturally besides just calling him names (ex. toph’s “twinkle toes”)

alternatively. making his name longer in a nickname sort of way

sokka: sok

pronounced like sock. i don’t make the rules (yes i do)

idk why but i love that one sm it’s so goofy and silly

suki is another one i’m not sure you can really nickname. su?

zuko just doesn’t strike me as a nickname guy but i appreciate the mocking (lovingly ofc) zuzu

I understand THEORETICALLY why we would call katara kat but the first a in katara is pronounced as a schwa (unstressed syllable) not the short a in kat so it doesn’t work for me

toph (#1 nickname creator) having a one syllable name is a crime

but i do love the concept of her being the only one they can first name last name if she is in trouble

also referring to her just as beifong is pretty good too

azula…. zula? zules?

zuko could also call her zuzu right back

ty lee would probably shorten it to ty instead of lee because less common name

mai is mai. don’t call her anything else unless u r ty lee or u will probably get a knife thrown at u

little bonus is the whole gaang calling iroh uncle

Idk if this is a real post i just saw a post about zukkas using kat and zutaras using tara and i am not a zutara that’s for sure but i don’t like kat so #subvertingexpectations

[spanishskulduggery]

Heyo Profe 🍓:

What are the proper ways to express dismissive attitudes? I heard of "Y qué a mí?" Does that have the same connotation as "Whatever"? Or is it "como lo que sea"(which feels Spanglish to me)?

I typically see it like ¿A mí qué? though it's like "so what?" more literally "what does that have to do with me" as the a mí is "to me" and it gets used in sentences like a mí me importa "it matters to me" etc. It's just like "and that concerns me how?"

lo que sea is "whatever"; which can be used like English as an actual part of a sentence "whatever it is" ...or a dismissive response "whatever"

Other expressions you might see/use to be dismissive:

No tiene nada que ver conmigo. = It has nothing to do with me. [lit. "it has nothing to see with me"; tener que ver con (algo/alguien) is "to have to do with (something/someone)"; so you could use this like no tiene nada que ver con ella "it has nothing to do with her", los informes no tienen nada que ver contigo "the reports have nothing to do with you"... parts of the expression can change]

Nada que ver. = Unrelated. [a shortened version of the above; more common to say no tiene nada que ver or no tienen nada que ver "it/they're unrelated"]

Me da igual. = I don't care. / It's all the same to me. [lit. "it gives me the same"]

¿Qué más da? = Who cares? / No matter. / It doesn't matter. / Oh well. [lit. "what more does it give?" same idea as above it's just like "eh oh well" most of the time]

¿Ah sí? = Oh yeah? / Oh really? / Is that right? / Is that so? [can be snippy; can be just a short response]

Ajá. = Uh-huh. [can be an affirmative response or like the bored "uh-huh"; depends on your tone of voice]

No me importa. = I don't care. ¿A quién le importa? = Who cares.

No me digas. = You don't say. [can be sarcastic; literally it's "don't tell me"]

¿Y bien? = So? / So what? / Well?

Ya lo veremos. = We'll see. / We'll see about that. [potentially dismissive or potentially a wait and see sort of thing - I've used it to be like "I don't really know but we'll find out" or I've said it in a way like "let's wait and see what they have to say about it" sort of like not wanting to argue about it further]

No tiene sentido. = That doesn't make sense.

There are a handful of expressions that describe indifference like ni fu ni fa or a mí ni fu ni fa which is like "no matter" or "it makes no nevermind to me" almost

...

I will also include a handful of negation words/expressions. These generally just express a no, but they could be dismissive or they could be just an emphatic no. It's really contextually driven as they aren't necessarily rude but they're a very strong no.

En absoluto. = No way. / Absolutely not.

Ni modo. = No way.

Qué va. = No way.

Also para nada is like "at all" or "not at all" and it can be used in some expressions like no sirve para nada "it's totally useless" or "it's completely useless"

But para nada can also be used as a response. Someone might be like "oh I'm so sorry" and a response can be para nada "oh no worries" or "don't even worry about it"

...

There are some that I think might apply but they're not always dismissive. Like ¿y eso? is a bit of a normal response it's like "how come?" or "why's that?" or just asking for clarification on something or more information, but you could potentially ask it sarcastically.

Another two to keep in mind:

No te incumbe. = It has nothing to do with you. / It's not your business. [which can be snippy; if I'm trying to be polite I say con todo el respeto no te incumbe "with all due respect it's none of your business" which is firmer but not totally disrespectful; another more literal version is no es asunto tuyo which is "it's no business of yours"]

The snippier way to say this is métete en tus asuntos which is "mind your business" - literally "put yourself in your (own) affairs". This can be changed for politeness or plural... métanse en sus asuntos is plural for example like if you were addressing a bunch of people. I definitely heard a few teachers say this to us students.

Now this one is absolutely dismissive and is meant to put someone in their place:

¿Quién te ha dado vela en este entierro? = And what business is that of yours?

Literally it's "who gave you a candle in this funeral/burial?" - the idiomatic expression comes from giving a candle to the family members of the deceased at a funeral.

The implication here is "Why do you think you get a say in the matter?" ...just basically saying hey this isn't your business and you don't get an opinion

[moonguardrants]

Gonna rant here and say Calvin-Moon Guard (Calvin Quill) is garbage even way back on Wyrmrest Accord. They were stalking two guilds I'm in on alts on one of their many rogues and logged onto two accounts to gain an advantage in a IC fight and no one knew about this until someone just happened to check their alts on armory since they have all their alts on checkpvp on hidden which I always find sus

Anyway here in the screenshot above Shorten and Composite are both Calvin Quill's alts! They were trying to gain a fight advantage with Clan Esuri whom they were stalking on their rather many number of rogues for quite awhile. They always appeared 5 minutes after something happened.

I was given information and asked around about their alts so I could block them after I learn about them being buddy buddies with Niklos Adamant, Gideon Northgate, Kalom, Gnosh.ect.ect.ect yeah basically in that 'circle' to keep my buddies and friends out of potential drama

Calvin-Moon Guard

Shorten-Moon Guard

Composite-Moon Guard

Unmake-Moon Guard

Unrecognize-Moon Guard

Everyplace-Moon Guard

Strength-Moon Guard

Efficient-Moon Guard

.

[stories-of-the-nrm]

The Great Race Part 1

Narrator: It was a beautiful summer day on the Island of Sodor. Everyone works on their delivering their trains on time. Gordon especially, takes great pride in making sure the Express arrives on time.

(We see Gordon waiting at a red signal. Suddenly Thomas blows his whistle.)

Gordon: Gahh!

Thomas (laughing): Wake up lazy wheels! The Express can't be stopped all day you know. Some of us have work to do. I bet I can make it to Vicarstown faster than you.

(Gordon moans. The signal turns green and Gordon speeds away.)

Annie: That wasn't very nice, Thomas.

Clarabel: You know that Gordon's a very fast engine. He'll make you look very silly.

(Thomas calms down.)

Thomas: Relax, ladies. I'm just teasing him. And besides, the Express always has the right of way. Everyone knows that.

(We follow Gordon through his journey on the Main Line until he stops at the station in Vicarstown.)

Gordon: Oh yes. Right on time. Of course that isn't a surprise if you're me.

(Donald who's pulling a freight train to the Mainland just rolls his eyes.)

Narrator: As he waits for his departure time, Gordon hears Thomas' whistle.

Gordon: Well, well, well little Thomas. Looks like I beat you to Vicarstown after all.

(Thomas pulls up to the platform right next to Gordon's.)

Thomas: Oh come on, Gordon. It's not like we were really racing.

(Gordon is about to say something when he hears a whistle he hasn't heard in a long time.)

Gordon: No. It couldn't be.

(Thomas looks in the direction Gordon's looking in.)

Thomas: Wow. Is that who I think it is?

Narrator: A large green engine with two tenders backs into Vicarstown station next to Thomas.

Thomas: Hello there. I'm Thomas. Are you who I think you are?

(Before he can speak, Gordon cuts in.)

Gordon: Yes Thomas, you should know who this is. This is my brother, the Flying Scotsman.

Flying Scotsman: Oh! Hello, Gordon. Haven't seen you in a while. Don't tell me your run has been shorted to Vicarstown already.

Gordon (scoffing): Oh please. Like my controller would ever shorten my run. I always run my trains on time and provide reliable services.

Thomas: You don't even travel 100 miles on a one way trip, Gordon. I'm sure the Flying Scotsman works way harder than you do.

(He laughs.)

Flying Scotsman: Oh I wouldn't be so formal, Thomas. You can just call me, Scott. Why calling me the Flying Scotsman almost makes me sound famous.

(Gordon rolls his eyes.)

Gordon: Just say what you wanted to say, Scott. Some of us actually have work to do.

Scott: Ah yes. I wanted to tell you some news. Now I don't know if you heard this yet, but on the Mainland there is to be an international steam exhibition show. Many competitions will be held and I will be racing.

(Gordon makes an exasperated gasp.)

Thomas: Wow. I didn't even know engines could race.

Scott: Of course we can race. I might not be able to hit my 100 mph record, but I can still win a race or two. I wouldn't be the pride of the LNER if I wasn't fast.

Gordon (huffing): If that's all you came here to say, you wasted your breath. I wouldn’t want to be part of such foolishness anyway. I'm not a show off like you, Scott. Some of us have class.

Scott: Oh I wouldn't be so quick to blow it off, Gordon. This could be your chance to show the world what you Sodor engines are made of.

Thomas: I definitely want to go to the Mainland and show what I'm made of.

Scott (chuckling): Well Thomas, you my friend have a lot of heart. Who knows, maybe I'll see you all at the show.

(The conductor blows his whistle.)

Scott: Flying Scotsman coming through!

(The title "Hit Entertainment presents" appears.)

Flying Scotsman: Flying Scotsman, coming through!

(The subtitle "Created by Britt Allcroft" appears.)

Gordon: Ooh!

(The Flying Scotsman drives off screen with his train as the subtitle "Based on The Railway Series by the Rev W Awdry" appears. Thomas looks surprised as the subtitle "Written by Andrew Brenner" appears. We cut to a birds eye view of the track to the Mainland as the subtitles "Told by Mark Moraghan" and "Executive Producer Christopher Keenan" appear.)

Thomas: Wow. I can't believe the Great Railway Show's only a month away.

(He sees a man gluing a poster about the show saying it will take place on August 1st, 1965.)

Sir Topham Hatt: That's right, Thomas. I haven't decided if we would even be competing in the event yet. We still have a railway to run.

Thomas (a little dejected): Yes sir.

Narrator: Thomas makes his way back to the shunting yard. Gordon meanwhile, is still grumbling about seeing his brother.

Gordon: Unbelievable. My brother didn't even write to me in so long. Now out of nowhere he wants to act as if nothing happened. Typical.

(Time passes and Gordon grumbles all the way back to Tidmouth Sheds.)

Tagging: @jayde-jots, @pandorauniverse616, @klein-sodor-bahn, @colaxcoco, @glitterking599, @bluy1206, @oldslowcoach, @thefedoragirl, @nlliah, @postmodernpre-grouping, @ihatewoodpeckers, and @theyellowroseofsodor.

[shallyne]

The Diary of Feyre Archeron Ch. 2

Chapter two of Feyre's diary! I hope you enjoy,! Things might pick up in the next chapter

Words: 1.4k

February 7th

Dear Diary,

I feel like death on two legs. These past fews were SO hectic.

I've got the job I applied for and they agreed fairly quick for me to work the night shifts, and now I know WHY! Who would have thought so many people went to a seedy diner at the outside of town in the middle of the night? It's weird and I also need to act like nothing is different because mom knows nothing! She doesn't suspect a single thing! I guess being ignored by her has its perks?

Anyway, I'm not going down that route. Point is, I'm trying to juggle work and school and somehow get sleep at some point of the day, which worked until today when I fell asleep in Mr. Suriel’s class. And guess who woke me up? Rhysand!! He was very sweet about it but I felt so embarrassed, I basically bolted away from him and almost walked into a door. Yeah, I can't look at him anytime soon.

Also, dad is acting very weird lately. He's always in his office and barely talks to any of us if he bothers to show up for dinner, even mom and Elain.

Okay, that's it I think.

Byee

February 15th

Dear Diary,

The moon is so pretty. It's like 11pm right now and I'm not at work, I got this Saturday off to work on Sunday which even gives me a little Sunday bonus! Amazing, isn't it?

Back to the moon, it's beautiful! I've never paid much attention to it but now that I did, I never want to look at anything else again. Sitting in the moonlight and writing in my diary? That's so aesthetically pleasing, Pinterest would eat this up!

I'm also not the only one still awake, I can hear dad’s TV, he's watching the news again, as every evening although he's working much later than usual, mom is super grumpy about this. I think they even argued yesterday, I heard weird noises coming from their room.

I also have good news! Rhysand and I have to make a project together for history!! ME and RHYSAND. It's going to be so fun, as long as I keep him far away from my house. He already asked if we wanted to start the project at his house or mine, of course I said his even though I'm super nervous! We're meeting tomorrow. Should I wear the blue sweater? Maybe I can steal some of Elain’s mascara. Or I could ask her. We'll see, I guess.

I also don't know if I should leave my notebook at home. It's full of scribbles of Rhys's eyes. That's very specific but I just can't get them right! How can a person have such unique eyes? If anyone comes close to having literal starry eyes, it's him. So, what would be more embarrassing, if mom found the notebook or Rhys??

I think I'll leave it here, hide it in my closet. If mom still finds it I can lie and say it's just practice! Hopefully she won't find the R+F scribbled in the back.

I'm getting sleepy now, big day tomorrow.

Bye!

March 9th

Dear Diary,

Rhys and I got an A on our project! It was so easy working with him, it didn't even feel like working. He's not just the most beautiful guy I have ever seen, he's also so nice and incredibly smart! I think he also plays sports, what can't he do? Like, leave some talent for us!

I also got into an argument with Nesta if it's acceptable to use sus as a word. It's way too hard and time consuming to always fully spell suspiceus ous, same with saying it. Shortening it saves lots of time! She says it's stupid and to not use it in front of her friends because it's humiliating. To quote her, verbatim, “Stop trying to make sus happen, Feyre! It's not going to happen!” Rude. It's totally going to happen someday and I'm going to tell her “I told you so.” (She hates that)

Also, after weeks of acting sus, dad finally joined us at dinner and actually talked. Mostly to mom and the topic was the airplane that had just disappeared but nonetheless, he talked and his mood seemed better! He also doesn't look like a caveman anymore for the first time since he locked himself in the office, so that's good.

Mom also almost caught me eating chocolate, which would have been a total disaster. She's always making sure that we, mostly Elain and Nesta, aren't overweight. She's weighing them weekly! It's so insane. Sometimes I bring back some leftovers after my shift and sneak them to Elain and Nesta's room. They accept them and mom hasn't kicked me out of the house yet, so I assume they haven't told her. They also don't ask question when I bring the snacks, they just accept it. Good, that means they don't have to lie for me. Or I don't have to lie to them.

Okay, I guess that's it for the day.

PS: is it normal to constantly have a feeling of impending doom? Is it just PMS?

April 29th

Dear Diary,

Since Rhys and I did our project we've spent much more time together! He's so funny, he always makes me laugh. I think we've even become friends. We shared our lunch today, he got a half of my sandwich and I got a half of his! He even gave me his coke zero because he was shocked when I told him I never had any. It was amazing. (the coke, the company and the lunch)

Rhys told me he's super into astronomy, he's a nerd about it and it's so cute. I never saw him so animated about a topic! I mean, when he talks about himself. For some reason he also looks super interested when I talk about painting, he must be a good actor because I can't imagine him really being interested in art but I appreciate it anyway! No one ever really tried to listen to me about my hobbies.

I think I'm talking nonsense again, I don't know why that always happens. Sometimes my thoughts feel like a big heap of muddled words and everything is going on at once.

Oh, right, I almost forgot the most important thing! Rhys and I planned a sleepover during the summer holidays! I told him that I'd like to have a WiiU someday and he suggested a game night, because he has a WiiU, I'm so excited! I hope the time goes by fast, I can't wait. I need a break, my schedule is so tight these days, it's almost suffocating but I can't tell anyone.

It's going to be worth it, though. I'm saving my money, for what, I don't know yet. Maybe my driver's license? I have time to figure it out.

Mom is out for tea with her friends right now, so I'm using the time to listen to Taylor Swift without headphones!

May 31st

Dear Diary,

I could cut the tension here with a knife but either no one tells me what's up or they don't know. I tried to get some infos from our cook, Alis. She's always nice and she gets wind of all the gossip but she couldn't tell me what's going on.

Something isn't right and I need to know what it is, although something tells me I shouldn't. But can I just leave this mystery unsolved? Of course I can't!

It might be quiet right now, mom amd dad are in dad’s office upstairs, Elain and Nesta are in the garden and all the house staff seem to be huddled somewhere around the kitchen, whispering among themselves. Maybe I could eavesdrop? But there isn't really a way to hide without them seeing me. We definitely need more secret nooks in this house, I can't get information like this.

Nesta always says I'm nosy but that's such a negative way to look at it, I'm just curious. How is she not? How is Elain not? Is it wrong to be curious?

Especially if your parents are super jumpy for, like, the whole last week! It's super sus. Last night I knocked over the salt shaker and they flinched! Mom didn't even shout or reprimand me, she just glowered and went back to her dinner, it was sca–

Oh, hold on, the doorbell just rang, be back in a sec.

Taglist:

@captain-of-the-gwynriel-ship @starfall-spirit @rhysiedarling @corcracrow @sydney-fae25 @tothestarsandwhateverend @aayo-whatt @dreamlandreader

[mykey-and-bobby-koopa]

((It's August 13th, which means… Koopa Week has come to an end.

To commemorate that event, here are some facts about Kamek, Bowser's Magikoopa servant:

• His full name is Karmelo Krystal Koopa.

• His shortened name is derived from his first name and the initial of his middle name.

• His middle name was derived from the color of his shell, which is light blue and without spikes.

• He is 59 years old. His birthday is December 21st.

• His sign is Sagittarius and his stone is turquoise.

• In terms of height, he is taller than Morton and shorter than Morton and Wendy; in terms of weight, he weighs the same as Jr.

• He has been nearsighted since he was 40, since then he has had to wear high magnification glasses. As he gets older, his vision becomes more blurry because he develops cataracts.

• His favorite dessert is rum raisin ice cream.

• His favorite color is gray.

• His shell is smooth, with no spikes on it.

• He walks semi-hunched over because his tunic is somewhat heavy. If he took it off he would feel lighter and would be upright like the rest of the Koopalings

• During his adolescence he wanted to study magic, being one of the first Koopas to be a Magikoopa. His love for it was born when he played “Dungeons and Koopas”, almost always being the role of a magician.

• He has an older sister, being only two brothers.

• He is a great lover of reading, he knows many things. One of his topics of interest is medieval fantasy literature.

• His first job was being the assistant of Bowser's grandfather, who at that time was the king. From there he has served the royal family uninterruptedly until the present. From the beginning Bowser's grandfather saw potential in him with his powers and magical abilities, teaching the young princes magic.

• He saw Bowser's father and Bowser himself grow up, knowing everything since they were both young.

• You could say that he is like the Koopalings' “grandfather”, since he treats them with tenderness and scolds them in equal parts. He helped in the birth of each one

• He met Mykey and Bobby's parents in person, being very close to them.

• Shortly after Bowser's father was crowned king, he met a Koopa with whom he fell in love. However, things did not go so well and nothing came of it. Since then, he has not wanted to start a relationship with anyone, even today.

//

Es 13 de Agosto, lo que significa que... la semana koopa ha llegado a su fin.

Para conmemorar ese hecho, aquí algunos datos sobre Kamek, el magikoopa sirviente de Bowser:

Su nombre completo es Carmelo Krystal Koopa.

Su nombre abreviado deriva de su primer nombre y la inicial de su segundo nombre.

Su segundo nombre fue derivado del color de su caparazón, es cual es celeste y sin pinchos

Tiene 59 años. Su cumpleaños es el 21 de diciembre

Su signo es sagitario y su piedra es la turquesa.

En cuanto a estatura, es más alto que Morton y más bajo que Morton y Wendy; en cuanto a peso, pesa lo mismo que Jr.

Es miope desde los 40 años, desde entonces ha tenido que usar lentes de gran aumento. A medida que su edad avanza, su vista se torna más borrosa debido a que desarrolla cataratas.

Su postre favorito es el helado pasas al ron.

Su color favorito es el gris.

Su caparazón es liso, no presenta pinchos en ellos.

Camina semi-encorvado porque su túnica es algo pesada. Si se la quitara se sentiría más ligero y estaría erguido como el resto de los koopalings

Durante su adolescencia quiso estudiar magia, siendo uno de los primeros Koopas en ser magikoopa. su gusto por ella nació cuando jugaba “Calabozos y Koopas”, siendo casi siempre el rol de mago.

Tiene una hermana mayor, siendo solo dos hermanos.

Es un gran amante de la lectura, sabe muchísimas cosas. Uno de sus temas de interés es la literatura fantástica medieval.

Su primer trabajo fue siendo el asistente del abuelo de Bowser, quien en ese momento era el rey. Desde ahí ha servido a la familia real ininterrumpidamente hasta el presente. Desde el principio el abuelo de Bowser vio potencial en él con sus poderes y habilidades mágicas, enseñándoles a los jóvenes príncipes la magia.

Vio crecer al padre de Bowser y al mismo Bowser, conociendo todo desde que ambos eran jóvenes.

Se podría decir que es como el “abuelo” de los Koopalings, ya que los trata con ternura y los regaña a partes iguales. Él ayudó en el nacimiento de cada uno

Conoció en persona a los padres de Mykey y Bobby, siendo muy cercano a ellos.

Al poco tiempo de que el padre de Bowser fuese coronado rey, conoció a un Koopa del que se fue enamorando. Sin embargo las cosas no salieron del todo bien y no se llegó a nada. Desde ese momento no ha querido entablar una relación con nadie, incluso en la actualidad.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Miraculous headcanon: Both Adrien and Gabriel have mentally categorized the Mirakung Fu as Hokuto Shinken.

Jagged Stone insists it's actually Seito Gekken, as he read Fist of the North Star and that manga reveals that's the much older style Hokuto stole the pressure point attacks from.

Luka and Penny are the only ones in Paris to actually use the proper name... That is NOT Mirakung Fu, that was Su-Han shortening the TRANSLATION for the name of the entire art of the Guardians, of which the hand-to-hand combat is only a part (kung fu, or in Mandarin gongfu 功夫, being a term for any art or skill that requires hard work to achieve). He wasn't in the mood of translating the proper name for the two kids and not impolite enough to use names that he didn't think Adrien could understand (how was he supposed to know he speaks fluent Mandarin, better than Marinette actually?), and it stuck.

fucking RIP

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Suraiya or Suraiya Jamal Sheikh (Vidya)— Suraiya has it all as a blistering hot leading lady - moving from child actress to being acclaimed as a master of her craft as both an actress and a singer. Her eyes are soulful, sultry, with a depth of wisdom to her face that is unmatched. She entranced the leading men of Bollywood as well as Hollywood and deserves a space among the hottest vintage ladies.

Theda Bara (Cleopatra)—One of cinema's first female sex symbols. Nicknamed "The Vamp" due to her looks. The OG Goth Girl. She would be HUGE on Tumblr if she were around today!

This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Suraiya:

Theda Bara:

She was simply nicknamed "The Vamp". Her sex appeal and typecasting was so intense that people actually thought that she lounged around half-naked and seduced men left and right in her free time.

She is one of the most famous and enduring faces in silent film and yet only 6 of her 43 films survived the 1937 Fox Vault Fire! 6! Think about what we could have had!

*Theeee* celluloid blueprint for both goth chicks and sexually-manipulative women--her persona was that of a "vampire", in the sense that would eventually be shortened into "vamp", although in truth she blended both definitions beautifully. Alas, the prints of most of her back-catalogue were lost to a studio fire in 1937, but enough survives to clearly demonstrate the fantasy of enticing danger that she was so kind as to serve us.

my favorite goth icon i want her gender

She's the original Vamp and first film sex symbol! She said: “The vampire that I play is the vengeance of my sex upon its exploiters. You see, I have the face of a vampire, but the heart of a feministe.” Many of her films were banned or severely cut by state and city censorship boards due to her revealing costumes and suggestive acting. She even sued the Chicago Funkhouser censorship board to let her film Cleopatra be shown in theaters. Riots broke out in theaters during showings of her film Kathleen Mavourneen. In contrast to her film persona, her private life was pretty quiet. She grew up in Cincinnati as Theodosia "Theda" Goodman, the Jewish daughter of immigrants, and had one happy marriage that lasted 30+ years until she died at age 69.

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

Isn’t it funny that any perceived shortcomings of Steven Universe’s writing was always blamed on the crew rather than executives and shortenings that were compromised to allow an openly queer wedding, but when you so much as utter one mildly negative thing about The Owl House, you’ll hear nothing but “THE SHORTENING” from stans and any writing flaws are always deflected onto executives? And TOH is always held up as the most important queer show ever and people willingly overlook its flaws with queer and minority representation, while Steven Universe was bashed by people constantly overanalyzing the hell out of it?

It certainly is ironic. I wasn't in the SU fandom so I missed all the Drama™ but I've heard second-hand about some of the absolutely bat-shit takes. I'm also unsure if fans knew how extensive the executive meddling was from Cartoon Network, which could explain why they defaulted to blaming the crew (I could also be completely wrong here). However, TOH stans take it too far in the other direction and blame everything on Disney. It seems like they don't like to hear any criticism of the show regardless how valid so they immediately point to the cancellation as the reason for the show's faults.

Now to be fair, the cancellation did not help at all and it's completely insane that the crew had to wrap everything up in three long episodes instead of a full season.

I don't blame Dana Terrace at all for never wanting to work for Disney again.

But in the end, we should remember that no show is without fault and that representation is not a zero-sum game; one show will not have the Best Representation Ever, it all builds off one another. Steven Universe broke new ground and paved the way for more explicit queer rep which allowed executives to even green light shows like The Owl House in the first place.

It does everyone a disservice to pit queer media against one another; shows like this need to be supported, not drowning in Discourse.

[cocogum]

The Shiemi logic doesn’t make any sense. (rant)

(I love Blue Exorcist tho don’t get me wrong-)

Can you tell me how NO ONE ELSE IN THE TRUE CROSS ACADEMY HAS NOTICED THIS BEFORE?!?

If you happen to forget, Shiemi’s name is an extremely shortened version of the name ‘Shemihaza’.

Why does it matter?

Well! It’s cuz the name “Shemihaza” isn’t just some normal name.

Shemihaza is in actuality the EMPEROR OF CREATION, is one of the Sol and also one of the three FOUNDERS OF THE LITERAL ORDER. She was one of the three members of the GRIGORI which are also the supreme advisors of the True Cross Order.

In short, she’s basically one of the three cloaked people that you always see sitting upwards in the stands while people are getting judged by law underneath them.

After her body got crystallized, she became a tree and now currently overlooks the land of EI which is also known as the garden of Amahara.

So she basically turned into a holy sanctuary.

Now that we got reminded how much of a big deal she is, let’s get back to Shiemi.

THEIR FREAKING POWERS LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME AND THEY HAPPEN TO HAVE THE SAME NAME.

So I’ll ask anyone again.

How in the hell did none of her classmates know about this before or haven’t at least managed to make some kind of connection?????

You’re telling me that the most knowledgeable students which are Bon, Izumo, and Koneko haven’t noticed some kind of pattern with Shiemi??

Dude.

These students perfectly know The Order.

They know so much shit cuz they study a lot and you’re telling me that NONE OF THEM, NOT A SINGLE ONE OF THEM have tried wondering what the hell was up with her????

And what’s the deal with Yukio???

He has known her far longer than anyone else and even HE hasn’t noticed any weird vibes she gives off????

I don’t know about you, but if I was in Yukio’s place, I would’ve actually found it sus that a blonde girl whose name sounds closely similar to Shemihaza, has summoning powers that look a lot like the Shemihaza’s, looks nothing like her mom, doesn’t have a dad, and lives in the official exorcist shop.

Like bruh.

The only people who I’m okay for not saying anything about Sheimi’s weird case with Shemihaza are Shima, Rin and Mephisto.

I’m fine with Shima not knowing anything about the Shiemi case because he deliberately wants to ignore any important things of the True Cross and just wants to have fun. So the thought of him knowing anything that might relate her and Shemihaza together would be thrown out of the window for this guy. However, if he got assigned to spy on Shiemi then yeah he would’ve probably found out about her.

I’m also okay with Rin not saying anything cuz he’s a dumbass when it comes to studying or knowing things about the Order in general. So he wouldn’t have been able to know what was up with her in the first place even if he tried really hard. Oh yeah and even if he miraculously suspected her to be something far more than she says she is, I bet he’d find no hint anywhere despite the fact that the literal answer (Shemihaza) would be right under his nose. He’s the type to ignore huge hints until someone points them out for him.

And it would be obvious for me to be fine with Mephisto not saying anything about the matter cuz that guy already knew and is not spilling the beans yet simply for the sake of waiting for the right moment to finally reveal to them.

Our iconic weeb just loves suspense.

The same thing could be said for Amaimon.

This guy already knew but had to be sure if she was the real deal (and by that, I mean if she was worthy to be related to Shemihaza or some shit like that).

As for anyone else, I’m not too sure.

People like Shura and the other teachers are hard to tell if they knew or not.

But like it’s pretty easy to believe that they should know about the prestige future that Shiemi would eventually have???

And yet not??

Cuz they seem to act like idiots when it comes to her safety??? And they treat her like a random girl studying at their school instead of you know…

LITERALLY BEING A PART OF SHEMIHAZA HERSELF.

Just picture this okay?

You’re a random student of the True Cross Academy studying to become a full fledged exorcist.

Your class is composed of a weird looking kid (who is not a kid) with a puppet for a hand, two girls with one looking as bland as a potato and the other one looking like a breed between a fox and a dog, a guy with a rooster for a head, a pink haired dude, a baldy with glasses who gets all the ladies and a lazy disappointment whose twin brother is your literal teacher.

One day, you meet a new student in your class and she’s a girl who lives somewhere on the campus of the True Cross Academy and has been living with her mother who also happens to be the owner and shopkeeper at the Exorcist shop for exorcists.

She has a strangely strong spirit which can transform her tamer into a LITERAL GIANT

or a freaking FOREST to use as some kind of barrier to save her friends from Rin’s blue flames depending on when she wants to.

Her name also strangely resembles the name “Shemihaza” which you are aware that her name literally represents one of the Grigoris.

Like come on man. This is so stupid.

The exposed hints are all on the surface.

There is no layer to hide them.

At this point, Shiemi could literally be dangling a flyer on her forehead saying “hey look at me! I’m related to Shemihaza!” and no one would bat an eye at that cuz they’d be unable FOR SOME REASON to know what she means by that.

Like it has come to a point where even SHE has tried hiding that secret to everyone when she found out because of her mom telling her the truth. And we all know Shiemi sucks at hiding secrets but she’s surprisingly really good at keeping that one.

But all of a sudden, when she states that she gave up on being an exorcist suddenly everyone’s on her ass suspecting that something’s wrong and that she might have a secret she ain’t sharing???

Gurl no, the time where her friends had to care was when she wasn’t hiding a secret.

When she wasn’t aware about her divine roots.

As soon as you see her you can immediately tell that she even LOOKS like the people who stay at the holy sanctuary made by Shemihaza. She has so many similar physical traits as them that you would just look really stupid if you were in the same class as hers and have NEVER noticed some kind of ressemblance between the two.

If there was one thing that would make me not admit that Bon, Koneko and Izumo were actually smart, then it would be this.

The fact that they haven’t ONCE suspected that Shiemi might have been something more than just their classmate/friend before even she realized it herself.

The only one who was ever good at hiding his power was Rin until he had to expose himself due to Amaimon being a pain in the ass.

RIN. That’s it. He’s the only one that made any sense. Unlike Shiemi, his fangs and pointed ears in his human form could have been explained since it’s not unusual for people to have pointed teeth or non-rounded ears. His immediate decision to fighting alone could be easily explained by the fact that he’s just a reckless stupid guy or because he prefers fighting alone.

Shiemi was normal from the start but slowly gave off weird suspicious vibes in class and during missions. (Also how come no one tried asking her about her dad? He’s clearly not in the picture. Izumo and her became close so why not just ask her about her father? She could’ve asked Shiemi when they had that sleepover that one time.)

[mariacallous]

On June 19, 2021, a convoy of armed men drove into the border city of Reynosa, Mexico, in the state of Tamaulipas, and opened fire on pedestrians. For more than eight hours, gunmen roamed four neighborhoods, kidnapping and killing 15 people, including two cab drivers, a nursing student, and a group of construction workers. After security forces were deployed throughout the city, four suspected gunmen were killed. In the days that followed, rumors spread on social media. People in Reynosa were afraid to go back out into the streets, factories shortened their night hours to protect their employees, and local businesses closed early.

Three days later, the attorney general of Tamaulipas, Irving Barrios Mojica, said the motive of the attack was to destabilize Mexican society. The attackers belonged to a cartel that was looking to gain control of the area surrounding the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, which straddles the U.S.-Mexico border. The authorities seized a formidable amount of weaponry from the men: about 180 cartridge cases in total, as well as five long guns, and several .223-caliber magazines, which are commonly used in AR-style semi-automatic rifles. These weapons had one thing in common: They came from the United States.

The Reynosa massacre is just one recent entry in a long list of violent acts committed with U.S.-made weapons in Mexican territory. At least 70 percent of guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico between 2014 and 2018 were trafficked into the country from the United States. Although the exact number of weapons smuggled across the border is uncertain, a study quoted by the Mexican government estimates that 2.2 percent of the nearly 40 million guns manufactured annually in the United States make their way into Mexico, amounting to more than half a million weapons a year. Hidden inside vehicles, appliances, and furniture or trafficked by sea in sealed shipping containers, U.S.-made weapons are bringing violence from north to south, according to the Mexican government.

In 2021, Mexico filed an unprecedented lawsuit against U.S. weapons manufacturers and a firearms distributor in the District Court in Boston, the first suit filed by a foreign government against the U.S. gun industry. The lawsuit names gun manufacturers such as Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Colt’s Manufacturing Company, Smith & Wesson Brands, Glock, Beretta, and Century International Arms and aims to hold them responsible for facilitating the flow of weapons across the border.

The complaint was dismissed by the District Court in September 2022, and Mexico filed an appeal in March. On July 24, the Mexican government urged the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston to revive the suit, arguing that a U.S. law does not protect U.S. gun manufacturers from being sued over gun trafficking that leads to violence in Mexico. A ruling is expected in the coming months, but this lawsuit could potentially set a precedent for cross-border litigation and strengthen the global fight against the illicit arms trade. The Mexican government is seeking at least $10 billion in damages for economic harm, yet the primary aim of the lawsuit is more ambitious: to curb gun trafficking by forcing changes to the business practices of U.S. gun companies and pushing for tighter controls on their distribution systems.

Mexico has strict national gun laws. There is only one store in the country where individuals can legally purchase a gun. The store is owned and operated by the military, and fewer than 50 gun permits are issued annually, mainly to prominent businesspeople, public figures, or individuals who have been the victim of a crime and need a firearm for protection, said Lt. Col. Israel Martínez Valdés from the Federal Registry of Firearms and Control of Explosives, responsible for gun permits.

After a U.S. ban on assault weapons expired in 2004, the Mexican government’s suit argues, U.S. gun manufacturers increased production, “particularly of the military-style assault weapons favored by the drug cartels.” The lawsuit alleges that this accompanied a dramatic increase in homicides across the border after 2004. One of the most common types of gun smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border is the hormigas (“ants”) method, in which straw buyers—intermediaries with clean records who are sent to buy guns on behalf of third parties—pass weapons on to traffickers, who smuggle them in small quantities.

Zulia Orozco Reynoso and Gerardo Hernández, researchers at the Autonomous University of Baja California in northern Mexico, explained that local gun shows in the United States lack restrictions and controls, which makes it easier for weapons to cross the border undetected. Dealers purchase large quantities of guns from distributors and resell them at gun shows with no paperwork and no questions asked, the Mexican government’s suit states. Private or unlicensed sellers at gun shows in the United States are not required to conduct background checks or maintain records linking weapons to buyers, a fact known as the “gun show loophole” or “private sale exception.” Traffickers can buy several guns at once and smuggle them in private vehicles without being monitored by U.S. or Mexican authorities.

The California-Baja California border region, which stretches for 120 miles, is one of the busiest land border crossings in the world. Yet while an enormous law enforcement operation ensures that people do not travel from south to north unauthorized, movement from north to south is far less surveilled. The guns “come by land, by air, by sea, and through the tunnels along the border,” Hernández said.

Much of this trafficking is done by people with dual citizenship or Americans hired by drug cartels. Mexican citizens can face up to 10 years in prison for trafficking a gun and up to 30 years for trafficking weapons intended exclusively for military use. Yet foreigners introducing a single weapon to the country for the first time are merely fined, Orozco Reynoso said, and the weapon is returned to them when they leave the country.

“The risks for Mexicans are greater, or at least they are not given a second chance, unlike Americans,” Orozco Reynoso added.

Dangerous weapons don’t just end up in the hands of criminal cartels. Law enforcement and members of the Mexican defense ministry, the nation’s sole authorized importer of firearms, have also committed atrocities with U.S.-manufactured firearms. A 2018 report by the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights affirms that legally imported firearms have been used by police and military units in gross human rights abuses. The local police who attacked the 43 Ayotzinapa students who disappeared in September 2014 were armed with legally imported Colt AR-6530 rifles. In 2011, a man was arrested in Tamaulipas for allegedly belonging to a criminal organization; while he was in custody, a navy lieutenant killed him with a 5.56 mm Colt M16 rifle.

Legally acquired firearms from military and law enforcement stocks are also diverted with the cooperation of corrupt authorities. Between 2006 and 2017, more than 20,000 firearms were reported as lost or stolen, according to the Mexican defense ministry. Last year, a leak of more than 4 million confidential documents from the ministry by the hacker activist group Guacamaya revealed that high-level military members had sold guns, grenades, and tactical equipment to criminal organizations.

U.S. gun manufacturers know that their marketing and distribution practices have caused harm in Mexican territory, the Mexican government claims. According to its complaint, U.S. gun manufacturers have not implemented public safety measures in their distribution systems, such as comprehensive training for dealers and a code of conduct that requires distributors to keep better track of their inventories. Mexico contends that U.S. gun manufacturers design semi-automatic rifles that can be easily modified to fire automatically, a feature sought after among cartels. These practices “aid and abet the killing and maiming of children, judges, journalists, police, and ordinary citizens throughout Mexico,” the lawsuit says.

For Alejandro Celorio, Mexico’s lead attorney and spokesperson for the foreign ministry, this “lack of care” facilitates the illegal trade in their weapons. “It’s the number of guns but also the type of guns that are sold in the United States with total irresponsibility,” Celorio said. In the United States, “guns are sold to someone who wants to kill children in a kindergarten or to someone who works with organized crime.”

Mexico argues that these companies have access to firearms trace data that identifies specific networks of distributors and dealers that regularly supply drug cartels in Mexico. Based on reports from the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Mexican government revealed that over a four-year period in the mid-2000s, more than 500 Century Arms WASR-10 rifles originally purchased in the United States were seized at crime scenes in Mexico. Yet Century Arms, the lawsuit claims, continued to supply its rifles to the same distributors and dealers. (Century Arms did not respond to a request for comment.)

The U.S. gun-makers filed a joint motion in 2021 to dismiss Mexico’s claims, arguing that the injury is not traceable to the gun manufacturers but rather stems from violence committed by criminals in Mexico. They further argue that allowing foreign law to apply “would invite other nations to likewise invoke their own laws to attack the U.S. firearms industry.”

“The scope of liability the complaint suggests well exceeds what any U.S. court would permit at common law, even under strict product liability. And such a pervasive assault on the firearm industry would imperil civilian access to firearms—a right guaranteed by both the U.S. and Massachusetts constitutions,” the joint motion states.

On Sept. 30, 2022, when Judge F. Dennis Saylor dismissed Mexico’s lawsuit, he stated that “while the Court has considerable sympathy for the people of Mexico,” the Mexican government’s claims do not outweigh the protections provided to gun manufacturers by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), a U.S. federal statute that bars lawsuits seeking to hold gun manufacturers liable when individuals use their guns illegally. Since 2005, the PLCAA has granted gun manufacturers and dealers broad immunity from lawsuits when deadly crimes are committed with their products. Saylor added that while the PLCAA contains several exceptions, such as claims for damage caused by a defective firearm or for entrusting a gun to someone the dealer knows is high risk, none apply in this case.

However, in its appeal, the Mexican government argues that because crimes were committed on Mexican territory, U.S. federal law does not apply; instead, Mexico should be allowed to sue the companies for breaches of Mexican law. When U.S.-based corporations cause injury abroad, the U.S. Constitution and statutes allow other nations to sue for violations of their own laws, the lawsuit states. It further argues that the defendants violated Connecticut and Massachusetts consumer protection laws by knowingly marketing their products to criminals and drug cartels.

Heidi Li Feldman, a law professor at Georgetown University and an expert on gun litigation, said the Sandy Hook settlement provides a road map for how to circumvent PLCAA protections with consumer protection laws. In that case, the families of nine victims of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School argued that Remington Arms, the manufacturer of the AR-style semi-automatic rifle used in the shooting, violated state laws by marketing its Bushmaster XM15-E2S to “at-risk” young men as a combat weapon and allowing the gun to be depicted in video games. They reached a $73 million settlement with Remington in 2022.

“The suit’s going to be fiercely fought on the grounds of whether PLCAA applies to it in the first instance,” Feldman said. The PLCAA was never meant to apply extraterritorially, she said, and it would be “politically unpopular” in the United States to allow foreign governments to sue.

Mexico filed a second lawsuit in a U.S. federal court in October 2022, this time against five gun dealers in Arizona. That lawsuit seeks to prove that the dealers knowingly sold weapons to straw purchasers.

The complex and extensive web of protections for U.S. gun manufacturers, mainly created by the PLCAA, makes it difficult for Mexico to beat the industry. But the lawsuits have received international support. Among those who submitted supporting amicus curiae briefs are U.S. prosecutors and district attorneys, activists, victims of armed violence from both sides of the border, and Latin American and Caribbean countries that argue that guns smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border do not end up only in Mexico—they continue to flow into other countries throughout the Western Hemisphere, while more weapons are transported from the United States directly to the rest of the region via shipping companies and commercial airlines.

“We have come a long way, and this conversation about the illicit arms trade is becoming more and more questioning about the irresponsibility of companies,” said Celorio, the lead attorney.

A new piece of legislation in the United States, the first major federal gun safety law passed in nearly 30 years, also may change smuggling patterns. Signed into law in June 2022, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act cracks down on straw purchasers, allowing them to be punished with up to 15 years in prison or 25 years if the firearms are linked to serious criminal activity such as drug trafficking. In September 2022, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen living in Mexico was driving south to the port in Laredo, Texas, with 17 handguns. He is the first person to be convicted under the new law. According to Justice Department officials, between Jan. 21, 2020, and July 11, 2022, the 25-year-old purchased 231 handguns.

The success of the Mexican lawsuits, however, depends largely on lifting the general immunity that the PLCAA grants to the powerful gun industry and lobby. A win for Mexico could open the door for other foreign governments to sue U.S. gun-makers for violence in their countries. Whatever the outcome, the litigation raises a question that the United States has not wanted to answer: Who will hold U.S. gun manufacturers responsible for the violence they cause abroad?