#is this an extension of america core???????????????????????????

[wyllzel]

i know it's bc American institutions have essentially rebranded themselves as fashion labels (?) in Korea, but it will never not be mind-bending to see kpop idols wearing like. NFL and UCLA merch. like what does he know about the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows of college football???

[calder]

Released in 2010, Obsidian Entertainment's Fallout: New Vegas actively concerns itself with the realities of gay existence, and is widely recognized as a noteworthy work of queer science fiction. New Vegas extensively examines social attitudes towards homosexuality among the game's major factions, and primarily conveys this lore through gay and bisexual characters describing their own experiences. It also allowed the player to mechanically set the Courier's sexual orientation. By taking both available perks, the player character can be bisexual. By choosing neither, the player can opt out of seeing flirtatious dialogue options.

Uniquely, Fallout: New Vegas explores homosexuality in the context of wasteland societies, and touches upon related issues. The core theme of New Vegas is that the desire to recreate the past is driven by irrational nostalgia, and any endeavor to manifest past glory is dangerous and doomed. The social issue of homophobia is used as a demonstrative example. The resurrection of corporate and military power structures presents new avenues for Old World problems such as institutional homophobia to reemerge. One of the many issues that divide the New California Republic and Caesar's Legion is the latter's open persecution of gay people. The NCR is described as tolerant and even accepting of same-sex relationships, though acceptance tends to fall off the further one moves away from the developed, urbanized core of New California. In recent years, the Republic's rapid economic transformation has led to an unforeseen erosion of the humanitarian ideals which it was founded to serve. In practice, to recreate America was to take on its shortcomings and its sins. As subsistence scavenging has dried up, the people of the NCR increasingly turn to wage labor, entrepreneurial venture, or military enlistment to keep their families fed. Meanwhile, their government enacts morally corrosive imperialism (narrative verbiage), their dominion expanding indefinitely as their infrastructure crumbles from within. This has led to a profit-based imperial monoculture which must conquer, consume, and coerce to perpetuate. As personal politics and service labor grow in importance, people find themselves more inclined to present as "normal" in the interest of financial stability and political expedience. A loading screen visualizes this culture of artificial social normalcy: the portrait of President Aradesh on the NCR 5$ bill neglects to depict his unibrow, earring, and facial scarification, overall portraying the once-chieftain so cleanly-cut as to be unrecognizable at first glance. He also appears to be wearing a collared shirt or suit as opposed to the robe he wore in Fallout.

In the Legion, Caesar has mandated that every legionnaire take a wife and produce children, citing high infant mortality rates and the constant need for soldiers, and going as far as instituting child quotas. He treats human beings as a resource to be exploited for war. Ostensibly in this aim homosexuality has been declared a capital offense punishable by death. Historically, routine demonstrations of violence towards women and gay people are a deliberate feature of fascist societies, the only logical cultural conclusion of a government devoted entirely to war and control. In Forlorn Hope letter 9, an NCR soldier wrote wrote the following to his boyfriend:

Dearest Andrew, Writing this seems pretty morbid, but tomorrow we march into the no man's land between our camp and Nelson, which is crawling with Legion. The Major insisted I write this damn "if you get this, I'm dead" letter so here it is. What a crock. I have the luck of the devil and your love on my side, so I'll be home soon. Keep the porch light on for me. We'll party in New Vegas when I get back. I love you. —Devin

Devin believed he would prevail over the Legion because his love would keep him safe. He was found dying or dead on the battlefield, the letter was found on his body. In a post-release patch, the injured soldiers were removed from the battlefield for performance reasons, and never re-implemented. Driven largely in reaction to the Legion's hyper-masculine posturing and misogyny, rumors persist across the Mojave that gay male relationships are not only common within the Legion, but condoned. These rumors are repeated commonly in NCR society. A closeted NCR Major mentions that the Legion is "a little more... forgiving" about close male "friendships," speaking in a hushed tone to avoid suspicion. At the same outpost, the player can encounter Cass, a bisexual civilian woman. She may flirt with a male Courier, who may imply they are gay, prompting her to imply gay men are more common in the Legion. Even as gay men fight and die in the name of love under his command, NCR General Oliver may remark to Courier Six at the Second Battle of Hoover Dam: "If you think after all that's happened, I'm going to grab my ankles and take it like the Legion..."

This writing pertains to institutionalized homophobia which manifests in practice though power structures and social interactions without being written into law. Simply put, in his derogatory remark, the general expresses to his army that military surrender is gay, much like their gay enemy. From the brevity and bluntness of this remark, it's clear that this sentiment is already well understood among his ranks. Logically, to project strength in the eyes of such a leader, one might also project homophobia by scrutinizing and harassing one's peers and subordinates. In this atmosphere, the expression of homophobia is not only normalized, but materially incentivized. For the ambitious, it becomes a tool, and a way of casting shame upon rivals. For the closeted, homophobia becomes a survival tactic, hoping to throw scrutiny off oneself. This is why Major Knight is immediately frightened when a male Courier flirts with him. He is so profoundly alienated that he romanticizes life as a gay man under the Legion. The Legion punish homosexuality with death, and yet Knight characterizes them as more "forgiving" than the NCR. Through these apparently disparate events, the audience can trace how a distorted perception of gay people emerges among insecure men in a military environment, and subsequently becomes ingrained in the corresponding civilian culture. At the 188 Trading Post, a lesbian from the Brotherhood of Steel named Veronica also wryly remarks that she believes legionaries have gay sex about as often as straight sex. She also notes that this only applies to men, as women have no rights whatsoever in Legion society. In this aside, she conveys a pre-existing frustration with lesbophobic social norms. Veronica also mentions that the people of her bunker would rather she remain on the surface. The Mojave Brotherhood of Steel has no official policy prohibiting homosexuality, but an implicit attitude among its dominant members that their limited numbers require everyone to have children to avoid extinction. Numerically, this may seem logical on the surface, given their reluctance to recruit outsiders. However, given their tiny population, this is an ineffective countermeasure, as they do not have nearly enough members to maintain genetic diversity for more than a few generations. This approach is not universally supported by all family units within the Brotherhood, but every individual is ultimately at the mercy of the elder. Veronica was in a lesbian relationship, but they were quietly separated by Elder Elijah, due to the dominant culture of enforcing heterosexual pairing among their population.

Caesar's law has not ended homosexuality within his domain. Despite the obvious risks, some legionaries have continued to pursue relationships behind closed doors, especially given their access to slaves. So long as members complete their societal obligations and fulfill the child quotas, they are able to pursue romance with other men in secret. Homosexual relationships in the faction are noted as being relatively equal compared to the average Legion husband and wife, in a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" sort of open secret policy. Gay legionaries must always make sure to keep their activities hidden. A centurion was once almost caught fraternizing with the teenage boy he had chosen to tend his tent. Despite previous "romantic" intentions, he quickly resolved to dispose of the slave to dispel suspicion. Had they been caught together, the centurion would have been charged with homosexuality and sentenced to death. This story is only known because the enslaved young man, Jimmy, managed to escape execution. Further illustrating the cruelty intrinsic to Legion governance, it's stated that homosexuality was the crime, and not the rape of a young slave; in fact, it seems Jimmy was forced to contribute to the child quota despite being a gay teenager, and the experience left him traumatized. He has resolved to never have sex with another woman, as the very notion triggers memories which fill him with disgust, and (in his own words) makes him feel like a slave all over again. The Strip is indifferent to gay people, viewing them as another opportunity to make caps. Both the Gomorrah and the Atomic Wrangler are interested in maximizing profits, and their prostitution services cater to clients regardless of their orientation. The openly gay Jimmy works at nearby Casa Madrid, but there is some tension among his peers due to his co-worker Maude's blatant homophobia. She supposes he's "okay, for one of those," and if propositioned by a female Courier, Maude will direct them to Sweetie for such "perverted" services. Pretty Sarah must regularly intervene to keep the peace among her staff.

The Followers of the Apocalypse, well-read punks who seek to embody healing through anarchistic values, are not concerned with gender. Most are openly and casually sexually active. Upon meeting Courier Six, Arcade Gannon offhandedly makes his gayness known, unprompted. The audience must face the fact that Arcade's apprehension of the Legion is far from abstract; under Legion law, he would be put to death. One possible ending gives further insight into Caesar's hypocrisy: should the player sell Arcade into slavery and leave Caesar alive, he will keep Arcade as a personal physician and philosophical advisor. They intellectually spar at length, and Caesar grows singularly fond of him. Accordingly, Arcade imitates the historic suicide of Cato the Younger by disemboweling himself. The Legion's remaining medics attempted to save his life, but none were Arcade's equal. Caesar understood his doctor's final gesture of contempt, and mourned him for months.

New Vegas ventures further into themes of healing from the trauma of sexual violence, from the perspective of a lesbian character. Corporal Betsy, an NCR sharpshooter, is a rape survivor, and suffers with PTSD from the incident. Her unprocessed trauma has manifested as a maladaptive tendency to aggressively and explicitly proposition the women she encounters, in an effort to reassert a sense of control. This defensive hypersexual impulse has negatively impacted her ability to connect with other women. A male superior officer notes that her behavior is inappropriate for anyone of her stature, but abstains from disciplining her out of sincere concern for her mental health. The Courier can help her begin to recognize these problems, and convince her to seek treatment from Doctor Usanagi at the New Vegas medical clinic, which proves helpful to her as she processes and heals from her trauma.

In Old World Blues, the Think Tank are five floating brains in jars who express themselves by waving robotic arms bearing screens depicting facial features. Before the War, they were federal scientists who committed crimes against humanity in the name of weapons development. Each is stuck in some sort of neuro-bionic feedback loop which prevents them from moving forward with their projects, mentally binding them to their central laboratory. Walking through their homes at Higgs Village, it's clear each was deeply neurotic before they were transformed into floating brains. Now without bodies, they attempt to maintain the illusion that they are exempt from sexuality as purely mental beings, but each displays obvious interest in the human form. They have codified this shaming with the term "formography." Most of the men are obsessively defensive over their complete disinterest in penises, which they talk about constantly. However, the shameless Dr. Dala shows overwhelming interest in observing and recording any and all human functions. Already androgynous in her pre-War life, Dala has taken to self-identifying as a "gender neutral entity" (though she is not known to use they/them pronouns). Regardless of the Courier's gender, they may coquettishly scratch themselves, clear their throat, and stretch in front of Dala until her biomed gel decoagulates. Dr. 8 also responds positively to graphic masturbation advice from Couriers of either gender. The X-8 research facility is ostensibly a massive immersive shrine to Doctor Borous's hatred of Richie "Ball-Lover" Marcus, a long-dead child who bullied Borous centuries ago. He also clings to his resentment of one Betsy Bright, who refused to attend a dance with him, supposedly so she could "go smoke with RICHIE MARCUS." Clearly arrested in development, Borous has literally built a temple to the fantasy of torturing his adolescent romantic rival and feeding him to dogs. His frozen, static characterization of the jock Richie Marcus as a "pinko-commie" who "likes balls" reflects the shallowness, pettiness, and overall misanthropy underlying his patriotic identity. It remains apparent throughout Old World Blues that the Think Tank are all chronically sexually repressed, which is inseparable from the values of the violent and judgmental pre-War culture which created them. With time and isolation, this ingrained repression has manifested as various intense and deranged psychosexual behaviors, including rage-fueled homophobia, voyeurism, and the obsessive performance of puritanical pretense.

____

“Although I’ve been out for a very long time, I made a conscious effort to be out with relation to this project, as I wanted to be visible as a lesbian in the game industry. New Vegas itself is, I think, one of (if not the) best games out there in how we treat homosexuality – and all of that is very intentional.”

“If my work on FNV, if my being out has helped even one gay person, then I have succeeded.” — Tess “Obsidian’s Gay Cowgirl” Treadwell

____

written (with help from other editors) for fallout.fandom.com/wiki/LGBT_representation_in_the_Fallout_series criticism welcome

[rayclubs]

Which tf2 merc do you think gets mischaracterized the least?

Good question! Let's do a rating.

In my opinion, there are three aspects to characterizing someone.

Facts - you have to get basic character backstory right. This includes all objective canon truths, events, and, well, facts about said character.

Behavior - you need to understand how the character acts, how their interpersonal relationships function, what they're like in their day-to-day life. This is the nitty-gritty of fanfic and fanart, this is dialogue, line-to-line characterization.

Integrity - you need to understand the character's core beliefs and principles, what their values are and how they view the world around them. This isn't something you can easily quote or point to as a mistake in fanfic, it's more of an overall idea of a character.

Each of these is going to be worth up to three points, with zero for terrible characterization that gets everything wrong. This would ideally total to nine points. I'll be awarding an additional bonus point for character interpretation that doesn't make me scream "he would not fucking say that". Let's go.

Scout:

His backstory is fairly simple. He has an absent father, half a dozen siblings, and a crush on his boss who doesn't reciprocate. People mostly get this right, except they also call him a virgin despite the fact he canonically lands the fried chicken queen, and seems to do it with ease. 2/3.

His behavior is also mostly portrayed accurately, in that he's loud, obnoxious, self-absorbed, and can be kind of a dick, though not completely without endearing qualities. The fandom is, admittedly, guilty of making him more insecure and self-conscious than he actually is, to amp up the drama. 2/3.

His core values, however, are completely off. The main interpretations I see of him are "depressed Scout", "homophobic Scout", and "baby Scout", neither of which is true to his character. This is a grown man with a force-a-nature complex. The homophobia is just projection and internalized prejudice, but that phenomena is too complicated for me to dissect here. I talked about it before and might make another post later. Anyway, 0/3.

Scout does not get a bonus point. He would not fucking say "poggers" but he would say "daddy-o".

Overall characterization score: 4/10

Soldier:

Very little is known about Soldier's backstory so there isn't really any room to be wrong about it. What we do know is also vague and unreliable, so it's open to interpretation. Given how little room for error there is, I'll give him a 3/3.

His behavior is completely off in most cases, often shown to either be overly aggressive or so dumb you start to question how this man functions in his day-to-day life. Canon Soldier has plenty of endearingly stupid moments but a lot of them can be read as deadpan jokes on the character's part, and many turn out to be secretly clever moments, such as him infiltrating the robot base with a goofy cardboard disguise. Likewise, canon Soldier has plenty of aggressive and mean moments, but he's not cruel and very clearly not a threat to his teammates, which isn't captured at all in fanworks that decide to go that way. 0/3.

Soldier's core ideals are mostly captured well, as in - yeah, he calls people communist as an insult in fanfics. I feel like he should mention God more often than he does in fanon, it's, like, one of the two ideologically meaningful things he ever talks about. The importance of "America" as a concept to him is mostly preserved but left unexplored. 2/3.

Soldier does not get a bonus point, he would not fucking say [homophobic slur] yet here we fucking are.

Overall characterization score: 5/10

Pyro:

His backstory is nonexistent yet people still fuck it up. His technical knowledge is clearly extensive and impressive, as shown by the complexity of his weaponry - which, mind you, looks HAND MADE - but people treat him as if he's altogether incompetent and maniacally stupid all the time always. He also ran an engineering company for hell knows how long and people just forget about it because they're allergic to adults or something. God this pisses me off so much. I mean for fuck's sake, people act like his full job description is "Pyromaniac" and not "Pyrotechnician". I'm so tired. 0/3.

His day-to-day characterization and dialogue is also completely off. People treat him as if he's INCAPABLE of communication, make him obsess over childish things he's only shown a moderate liking to in a manner that's borderline creepy and insulting, and take away his whole entire agency in everything he ever does. I will literally not give y'all a single point, you do my man Pyro so dirty. 0/3.

His ideology is complex and vague in canon, and I don't blame people for getting confused by such things as Pyrovision, but FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. In my time on Ao3 I've seen animal Pyro, cryptid Pyro, monster Pyro, alien Pyro, evil mindless maniac Pyro, incompetent baby Pyro, nonbinary Pyro (HENCE MY PROBLEM WITH THE HEADCANON, do you see how it looks next to all these other interpretations?) but I've rarely, if ever, seen competent adult Pyro with actual hopes and dreams and agency. 0/3.

Pyro does not get a bonus point because he would not fucking say "uwu" but he would say "fuck", let Pyro say fuck.

Overall characterization score: 0/10 are you fucking surprised

Demoman:

Oh poor lad what have they done to you. So, Demo's backstory is arguably the most detailed and fleshed-out in the entire canon. Too bad nobody fucking read it. Admittedly, in the recent years I've seen people mostly manage to remember he has several jobs and is overall a competent and successful man, but it's rarely - if ever - explored, I've seen exactly one fic where the author bothered to explore what one of his other jobs might be (and it was not a good fic for many other reasons, don't ask me for a link), and it honestly feels like people don't want to dwell on it? Like, they mostly mention it to fill a quota, y'know? Here, I'm not racist, I've acknowledged one of this character's achievements, leave me alone. Also the subject of him being fucking adopted as a kid never comes up. 0/3.

His day-to-day characterization suffers a lot because people think alcoholism is the most morally repugnant thing that can ever happen to a human being. This man honestly barely even has a presence in the fics he's in. Are you wondering where Demo is? Well, he wasn't there! He was BUSY! He couldn't come! There is a handful of writers who bother to write his actual inner monologue and point of view, and this point goes out to them only. Also there was a pretty good Boots and Bombs fic in which Demo was a dick to Soldier but then got better, and it stuck with me. 1/3.

His core character is fucked up by fandom because he's either all flaws or not allowed to have any flaws, and there's no in-between. Ever since I joined the fandom I've seen a lot of critique floating around, and people mostly seem to listen and realize they've been mistreating the man for long enough, but it created a whole separate problem of Perfect Demoman which is bland and boring. People don't want to write an offensive caricature but don't feel like fleshing him out either, so they just make him great at everything and never let him fail and grown in ways that are meaningful. Except that one fic I mentioned earlier, but I've already awarded a point for that. 0/3.

Demo does not get a bonus point. I couldn't find a meaningful example of bad dialogue because, like I said, he has no presence in any of the fics he's in. He would fucking say something.

Overall characterization score: 1/10 and honestly it's too generous on my part.

Heavy:

Okay so Heavy's backstory really confuses people. I've got like a dozen asks in my inbox when I called his father a revolutionary AND a counter-revolutionary. Wait till I call him a royalist, it'll blow your tits clean off. I don't feel like explaining the history of the communist regime in the USSR on this post, let's just say people are mostly faithful to canon but don't really "get" Heavy. 2/3.

His day-to-day characterization is plain bad. He's treated like a mother hen to the mercs when he's more of a stoic friend with a mean streak and a crude sense of humor. I think the main problem is the dialogue, people just can't give him the dignity of speaking in an intelligent manner. It's honestly also pretty bad in the comics. 1/3.

His core ideals are fine, if oversimplified. He's not a complicated man, he loves his family, his guns and his doctor. People rarely give him any more depth than that but it's not offensive to his character or anything. I feel like he should have more political opinions than people give him. I also feel like people make him way more protective of Zhanna's romantic pursuits, to a creepy degree. I mean, yes, he's annoyed by her marrying Soldier, and seems horrified for a brief second, but it's not like he's against it or anything, he's just kinda surprised? Anyway, 2/3.

Heavy does not get a bonus point because he would not fucking say "da". Pizda.

Overall characterization score: 5/10

Engineer:

Yeah people mostly get him. He's got 11 Ph. Ds. Some treat him like he grew up as an actual cowboy or something but most remember he's a nerd. I'd actually give all the points here because Engie's backstory is NOT complicated. 3/3.

His dialogue and day-to-day characterization is also okay, though people really mellow him down a lot. I had a bit in one of my fics where he said something like "let's teach those sumbitches how the real killin' is done" and like three different people commented on it saying they liked or were surprised by his mean energy. It's not even that mean, I think it kinda shows my problem with his interpretation. 2/3.

I asked about mischaracterization once and a lot of people replied "Engie is the most mischaracterized because people treat him like he's good but he's actually evil" which I think pretty much covers it? It's hard to write someone who is not implicitly strictly good or strictly evil. Engie treads this balance really well, I'm actually convinced his demeanor is not a facade, he is nice at times and mean when he wants to be. Fanon Engie can only be one of two things and neither is right. 0/3.

Engie gets a bonus point as an exception. I actually can't tell why, people just have his voice on-point. Is his accent and manner of speaking really that easy for you? I struggle to write him a lot. I think he should say "bitch" more.

Overall characterization score: 6/10

Medic:

People focus on the fact he lost his medical license more than on the fact he HAD a medical license in the first place. Other than that he really doesn't have a backstory. I dislike that people try to give him a sad one, I think he grew up loved and maybe even a little spoiled, but I can't fault others for not following my headcanons, so. 2/3.

His dialogue is the WORST because it's written phonetically. His goofy yet self-confident energy isn't captured well at all. The best I can put this is "people wife him" but it sounds kinda mysogynistic so really I'm at a loss. Submissivepilled breedablemaxxer. 0/3.

His core values are also all over the place. The complicated thing about writing Medic is that he actually doesn't come with pre-packaged drama. His backstory is vague, his demeanor is optimistic, his vibes are fun, and the worst thing that happened to him in canon was working with the classics for a bit - people amp it up to squeeze hurt out of it, which is fine, but not many people actually like going there. Thing is, fanfic writers aren't that good at writing drama when it hasn't been established before. They have to warp his character, make him edgy, self-conscious, or plain mad evil without redeeming qualities. I remember really struggling with my big Medic fic because I wanted it to be dramatic but had to put a lot of work into actually building up the emotion, because Medic is fine. He's fine. He's alright. He's fine. He's doing well. 0/3.

Medic does NOT get a bonus point, he would not fucking say "babygirl" and I'm not even sure if he would say "yass queen slay" I'm SORRY

Overall characterization score: 2/10

Sniper:

People mostly get his backstory right, probably because it's the most well-explained in the comics and it gets the most "screentime". It's also literally a Superman parody which is funny and memorable in concept. 3/3.

People can't find a good balance between stoic professionalism and social anxiety. I think Sniper is actually pretty simple, in that he's a little self-conscious which pushes him to actively better himself as a professional, but also makes him a little awkward so he comes across as standoffish and a little mean. He's a solid bloke that's balanced and feels real. Fandom has to go for the extreme every goddamn time with him. It sucks. 0/3.

People kind of get his drama, his relationship with his family and whatnot - mostly because a lot of us losers can relate, I bet - but, again, go for the extreme in making him anxious, whiny, and sad as a wet kitten. Unless it's a porn fic in which case he's an absolute freak that growls at people. I don't know what it is about Sniper that makes him so difficult to characterize. Manic pixie dream boy. Dark and moody lover love me like no other. 0/3.

Sniper does NOT get a bonus point because he doesn't say "cunt" nearly as often as he should. Also send me asks about my Sniper takes I want to stir up some shit.

Overall characterization score: 3/10.

Spy:

The only piece of his backstory we actually know is that he fathered the blight of the earth that is Scout TF2. 3/3.

His obnoxious and insufferable demeanor is mostly captured well. A lot of his portrayals aren't nearly as classy as people think they are, but that's because most authors are themselves proletarian, myself included, which is fine. Not many make the effort to pepper his speech with French words it would actually be natural for him to say, and blame it on the nonsensical complexity of the French language, but I'm not buying it as an excuse. 2/3.

His core values are off in regards to Scout - he's often portrayed as soft, mellow, overbearing, and critical of Scout's love life to either a comical or an uncomfortable degree. His fandom portrayal often also lacks the self-confidence he's demonstrated in the comics. Spy is not above strangling a man with a chain that holds the shackles around his ankles, he wouldn't consider it a blow to his dignity to fuck any of his coworkers either, come on. He's also funny and goofy but the fandom tends to neglect that. 1/3.

Spy does not get a bonus point because he would not say "perchance" but he would say "your mother".

Overall characterization score: 6/10

The final scores are:

Spy - 6/10

Engineer - 6/10

Heavy - 5/10

Soldier - 5/10

Scout - 4/10

Sniper - 3/10

Medic - 2/10

Demoman - 1/10

Pyro - 0/10

There we go! Pyro is the most mischaracterized, Demoman is a close second, and nobody is characterized well. Cheers!

[qcellbit]

meta talk. i don't quite know how to word this properly, but adding french creators to the qsmp is the riskiest thing quackity studios could've done and it doesn't surprise me that the success to which it was executed was minimal.

adding portuguese speaking creators exclusively from brazil as the first batch outside of the initial english and spanish speakers was the perfect "soft expansion" for the server when you consider the reason for the project's conception - because quackity had experienced poor treatment from white americans as a bilingual latino creator and sought to unite his two communities in an empowering way, further expanding this very noble and personal idea to encapsulate all communities and all languages spanning across the entire world. inviting more latino creators who have likely had the same experiences and would be able to appreciate what the project is trying to achieve is a no-brainer.

it's an uncomfortable thing to touch on (which is why i've never, ever, seen it spoken about on this website), but minecraft projects and communities have always had massive problems with all forms of bigotry, but especially racism. white americans and white europeans have probably not felt the euphoria of seeing their culture celebrated in mainstream global entertainment projects as they already absolutely dominate the entertainment industry on a global scale. as someone who is visibly brown and living in europe, i've always got a lot of grief from classmates and co-workers in the form of ignorant jokes and flat out exclusion - it's an unfortunate cultural norm that bleeds into streaming due to the medium's casual and open nature, unnoticed or unchallenged by white viewers who don't want to have to confront a content creator's bigotry in fears of having to stop watching them. something that cannot be ignored by the people it's actually affecting. there is a reason dsmp and hermitcraft cosplay meet ups are dominated by pale skin.

i love the qsmp because its inclusion of latin american creators and quackity's selectiveness based on personal experience have largely (and i do mean largely, not entirely, but that's a discussion for another day) eliminated that problem.

the most prominent and succinct example i can think of is the photo of quackity's bedroom that was mocked countless times by his english speaking community and his bigoted english speaking friends when he streamed on the dsmp - when that photo was brought to the qsmp, forever, a fellow latino creator, was the first person to gently offer solidarity because he had come from the same impoverished latin american background. to me, and to a lot of minorities, that is what the qsmp is about. yeah, sharing languages in a minecraft server is novel, it's a fun way for americans who did poorly in high school to get back into learning spanish, but it stands for so much more when you're a racial minority. when your pleading in the dsmp fandom was drowned out and ignored for the entire duration of its run. when you're completely unrepresented in minecraft tournaments, and when known bigots are encouraged to participate in said tournaments to boost viewership because numbers are paramount. when you are finally seeing your culture appreciated rather than mocked on streams with tens of thousands of viewers all over the world as part of a massive project with a brilliant, engaging story.

it was obviously necessary to branch out of the americas at some point with what the project is attempting to achieve, but such a task is daunting when the next group you're inviting and their community probably do not have the capacity through personal experience to appreciate what the project stands for at its core in the same way the first batches do. can non americans all relate in discussions of the internet and entertainment industry being america and by extension english speaking centric? yeah, of course. but can white europeans relate when the only representation you have in said media revolves around harmful bigoted stereotypes? can there be a quiet solidarity between a white frenchman and a brown brazilian based on experiences with government, racial profiling, and online mockery? no. and in the landscape of livestreaming stupid jokes for entertainment alongside fast paced gameplay, these nuances are probably not going to be acknowledged.

in complete contrast to the solidarity exhibited between quackity and forever when discussing their poverty growing up in latin america, i have not forgotten and never will forget aypierre excusing his constant racist jokes aimed at the brazilians on his uniquely "french dark humour" that the brazilians, hurt by his comments, could "not understand." this is not an excusable cultural difference, but a symptom of white european privilege, and total ignorance towards what the project is meant to stand for. a smooth integration of all the world's cultures necessitates white european and white american introspection in a way that i haven't seen a lot of streamers capable of. admitting fault to such a degree and the ego of a large online personality do not often mesh well.

i'm always very irritated when people (especially english speakers) complain about them not "adding the germans" sooner despite us seeing applications for german speaking admins many months ago - because it would not be a task of simply throwing out server invites to content creators and cobbling together an animation of a submarine crashing into the island. you cannot downplay the ambition of this project and the mammoth task its trying to accomplish. people take for granted and forget that this is an unprecedented melding of cultures that would never otherwise interact and clash on the rare occasions they do. the french qsmp community being small and the french creators largely being outliers when it comes to the qsmp is not something born out of malice or purposeful exclusion, but simply a symptom of an unspoken lack of solidarity and inability to meaningfully relate based on everything from wildly varying privilege to global placement.

and don't get me wrong - i'm not excusing things like the times at which events are broadcast (i literally live in europe and have to stay up until sunrise to see most events, i think the admins do have to bite the bullet and begin structuring events around a new timezone that isn't the globally inconvenient unsustainable PST), or the exclusion of clips from french content creators at the presidential dinner, but i think attributing those admin choices to the brazilian community being unfairly favoured is downplaying what the qsmp as a project means for minorities, especially when the brazilian community receive the most scorn for infamously being the first to call out bigoted behaviour from qsmp content creators. yeah, it sucks that the french haven't slotted into the qsmp as well as the brazilians and aren't anywhere as numerous, but with all these unspoken contributing factors being taken into account, i can't be surprised.

i wish quackity and his team the best in smoothly integrating more languages and cultures in this amazing project in the future, but for the love of god please understand that the implications of this project and its impact are far larger than any streamer "drama" you might've witnessed in the past. and stop underplaying what this project is trying to achieve in an online landscape saturated in bigotry.

[varusha-asmoday]

How did you become a Luciferian/Satanist and why do you remain one?

Theistic Satanism was not something I was actively searching for when I got into it. It was actually something I kind of just stumbled into.

I was never really looking for a faith, as I had been disillusioned by the idea of religion long ago. It never even occurred to me how badly I needed something to believe in until I started believing in it. The concept of faith and religion has been so muddled and distorted over time that now I feel a lot of “religious” people aren’t really religious and just use use religion as a mask to cover up or justify controlling the people around them and to justify their own opinions. So many people nowadays treat their religion like it’s an extension of politics and not the spiritual comfort it’s supposed to be.

So, as I mentioned, this was not something I was looking for, but it was very much something I needed. I was introduced to Theistic Satanism through a dating app of all things. Long story short, I matched with this girl who happened to be a Theistic Satanist and her dating profile was not subtle about that. She had mentioned on there that she’s passionate about her faith, her church, her gods, her people, etc. The kinds of things I’m used to seeing Christian conservatives saying on their profile about Jesus and all that. Her profile really stood out to me and I wanted to know more about her and about her beliefs.

We ended up matching and I began asking her about the faith. I asked questions about core beliefs and the gods within the pantheons of Hell. I asked about the place of queer people and trans people within the faith. I asked about consciousness and afterlife. For every question I had, she had an answer for it that resonated with me— answers that just made sense.

All of the things that were being told to me were things that aligned with my personal gnosis prior to finding Theistic Satanism. While it was true I had identified atheist for the majority of my life, I still held onto my beliefs in the supernatural and had started exploring my spirituality and very basic witchcraft prior to my introduction. I had just barely begun exploring the occult and after hearing everything she had to tell me about Theistic Satanism, I knew this was the next step in my spiritual path.

She ended up inviting me to the church’s first open mass and when I had arrived and met everybody else who was there, it was like coming home for the first time. The people, the gods, the culture, the faith, the craft— it was a literal dream come true to have a space like this.

I don’t think everyone in the world should convert and become a Theistic Satanist, hell, same goes for Theistic Luciferians. It’s certainly not for everyone. But with how much goodness has been brought into my life in such a short time, I strongly believe that everyone needs faith like this. Something that makes them feel seen, something that gives them hope and joy, something that uplifts them and those close to them, something that works for them and doesn’t infringe upon others.

The world can be a terrifying place, and for a lot of people it’s something that grows more and more terrifying every day. Trust me, I know it. As a trans woman and Theistic Satanist living in America right now, it feels like the world is quite literally against me. But it’s because of my faith, because of my gods, that I’m holding my head up high. Despite it all, I’m still here and my gods hear me and see me for who I am. Theistic Satanism has truly changed my life for the better and I’m living each and every day filled with Satanic joy.

For the first time in a very long time, I feel secure. And I have Satan to thank for that.

Ave.

[orqheuss]

☆*: .｡.Wand headcanons.｡.:*☆

Warning: long post! Deep discussion of characters and their personalities ahead

I have been thinking extensively about Ominis and Sebastian's wands and which would suit them the best since they are currently unknown in canon.

As we know from Harry Potter lore, wand cores and woods have the most sway in how not only the wand itself would behave, but also what kind of person the wand owner is and how they will use it. With that being said, we know the personalities of the boy's quite intimately, but we know absolutely no information about their wands besides what they look like, and even then in some scenes they look vastly different.

For this research I used stills from the game when we get close ups of their wands, as well as the Harry Potter Wiki, the Wizarding World website, and a funky weebly website that someone made for a class all about wandlore (I know, not really a reputable source, but it has a but ton of information that can be backed up via the other websites I mentioned) to gather my research.

This was all just a late night info spiral that the ominis discord server helped me with, lol (message @finalgirllx if you would like to join! we have fun)

I am by no means saying my word is law or that you can't have your own opinions. This is just what I think fits them best. I do not own the characters or the Hogwarts Legacy game.

I tried to keep this as spoiler free as possible. No huge plot spoilers are shared.

Now with the formalities out of the way, let's dive in.

We'll start with Ominis, because he has, arguably, the most interesting wand.

My headcanon: Horned Serpent horn core, blackthorn wood, 10 3/4 inches, brittle flexibility

I'm going to go section by section and explain my reasonings. First, the core.

Horned Serpent horn core: While a very, very rare core, it is an exceedingly powerful one that leans towards not only the ties it has to Ominis' family name but also his strengths and weaknesses.

There has only been two wands created with a Horned Serpent horn core in Harry Potter lore, and they belonged to the adopted sons of Isolt Sayre, the founder of Ilvermorny, or the North American school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

According to the lore, Isolt is a direct descendant of Morrigan, a famous Irish witch, and Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts, thus making her of Gaunt heritage. Her parents were murdered when she was young by her aunt, Gormlaith Gaunt, whom was unhappy with her sister's muggle-helping ways. Gormlaith then kidnapped the girl and kept her captive for a number of years before Isolt was able to escape and flee to America on the Mayflower. There she befriended a Horned Serpent, and when her adopted son's were of age she had their wands fashioned with a sliver of the horn from her serpent friend.

So, why does this core fit Ominis?

As I said, it's properties directly line up with what we know about Ominis' wand in the game. Sebastian states that it is "almost sentient" and is able to help him navigate around the castle and the outside world with little problem. This fits the Horned Serpent horn because, according to the Harry Potter wiki, "[t]his core was exceptionally powerful, sensitive to Parseltongue and vibrated when Parseltongue was being spoken, and could warn their owners of danger by emitting a low musical tone." Because of Ominis' blindness, he likely has exceedingly strong hearing, thus making the low musical tone of the Horned Serpent horn a likely culprit for his wand's echolocation abilities. Not only would this wand core run in the Gaunt family, but it would also connect to Ominis' ability to speak Parseltongue.

As a side note, Salazar Slytherin had a basilisk horn core in his wand and is said to have passed it down when he died, so it would stay in the Gaunt family. Having a core so similar to Slytherin's, and most likely Ominis' father because he would be the next in line to get the wand, would please his family greatly.

Blackthorn wood: As we can see in the game and in the reference picture, Ominis' wand is a dark grey, nearly black color. This in itself narrows down what possible wood it is, as there isn't many dark wand woods known in the lore.

Below is an image of blackthorn branches.

The coloring matches, but what about their personality?

According to the Wizarding World website, this is the description of blackthorn wood:

Blackthorn, which is a very unusual wand wood, has the reputation, in my view well-merited, of being best suited to a warrior. This does not necessarily mean that its owner practises the Dark Arts (although it is undeniable that those who do so will enjoy the blackthorn wand’s prodigious power); one finds blackthorn wands among the Aurors as well as among the denizens of Azkaban. It is a curious feature of the blackthorn bush, which sports wicked thorns, that it produces its sweetest berries after the hardest frosts, and the wands made from this wood appear to need to pass through danger or hardship with their owners to become truly bonded. Given this condition, the blackthorn wand will become as loyal and faithful a servant as one could wish.

This fits with one of the first things we find out about Ominis and his personality-- he starts off as standoff-ish, brash, and, for a lack of a better word, "thorny." After getting to know him in the game, though, we find out that his harshness is just a defense mechanism due to his past and his protectiveness of his friends. Thus, the berry analogy. He himself goes through an incredible "danger or hardship" at the hands of his family, making the blackthorn tree a kindred spirit for him.

Unfortunately wand length and flexibility don't make much of a difference in wands, but there is still a little bit of information about them. I'm basing most of this information (the wand length at least) on fanon decided lore.

10 3/4 inches: Wand length is primarily based on the height and stature of the wizard. In very rare cases, witches and wizards of incredibly sour dispositions will get small, stubby wands (6 inches or below) but that doesn't fit in this situation. According to the Harry Potter Wiki, nine to ten inch wands are "[v]ery standard, and very formal," and "[t]ypically, wizards of average height (5' 6" - 6' 0") will have wands in this size range." Since most of the fandom agrees that Ominis would be around the 6'0", 6'1" range, this would fit his build. I added the 3/4 just to be a bit spicy.

Brittle flexibility: Because neither website really has information about the flexibility of wands, this is taken mostly from the weebly page on wandlore. According to the Wizarding World website, "[w]and flexibility or rigidity denotes the degree of adaptability and willingness to change possessed by the wand-and-owner pair[.]" I have also heard that it is based again on the witch or wizard's personality, so I used both instances here.

Basically, the more flexible the wand, the more flexible the witch or wizard would be in stressful situations, but also the more likely your wand would be to accept a new owner if it were to be won in a duel.

Brittle fits Ominis the best because of it's description on the wandlore class website:

A wand with this flexibility tends to attach itself quickest to owners who have insecurities, and its level of loyalty is often dependent on how loyal the owner is to it. Should it become very loyal to its original owner, new owners often won't get the chance to earn the wand's loyalty before it breaks. Brittle wands are best suited to subtle and delicate magic, such as transfiguration and non-verbal spell-casting. Because they break easy, their owners should be careful to avoid magic that is unnecessarily flashy or explosive, especially if the wand also has a dragon heartstring core. Owners with this wand flexibility are usually contemplative, clever, and somewhat cynical; they tend to be an "underdog" type of person and perhaps even a little bit unlucky, which could lead them to becoming resentful of their more successful peers. If a brittle wand owner perseveres and manages to get over their insecurities, however, he or she will often become a "great success story" that never ceases to amaze and inspire others.

There are points in the argument both for and against Ominis' insecurities controlling his personality, but this particular wand flexibility fits both extremes well. If he leans more on the insecure side, the wand would attach itself quite quickly to him and would remain loyal as long as he was loyal to it, which is a given since he needs it to navigate the world. Ominis was likely a closed off and insecure child when he was young, so it would fit that a brittle wand would attach itself to him quickly. In the game, we see Ominis is careful and sure with his wand work, so I don't think the brittle nature of the wand would come into play, especially with his and Sebastian's love for confringo.

The main thing that connects this flexibility to Ominis is the description of the owners personality, stating that they would be "contemplative, clever, and somewhat cynical" even an "underdog" type. Ominis is the definition of these three terms, and it can be argued that because of the biases surrounding his last name, as well as his disability, he could be considered an "underdog." Ominis is contemplative in most of his dialogue, wanting to see all sides of an argument before making a decision one way or another. He is incredibly clever, often twisting arguments in his favor and throwing words back at the person debating him. As for cynical, there just isn't a better word for how he treats the MC when he passes them around the castle. Every single one of his voice lines is some thinly veiled insult.

Next, let's explore Sebastian's wand-- easily one of the most identifiable wands in the game.

My headcanon: Dragon heartstring core, yew wood, 9 1/2 inches, unyielding flexibility

Same process as Ominis' wand. Here we go!

Dragon heartstring core: In medical science, "heartstrings" refer to the chordae tendineae of the heart, which connect the papillary muscles to the tricuspid and mitral valves so they can open and close as the heart pumps blood between atrial and ventricular chambers (I had to research this lmao, I am not a science person). It's possible that this is where they get the core from in a dragon, but there isn't enough information about dragon anatomy in canon lore to be sure.

Wand cores are connected to the strength of a witch or wizard's magic, as well as the type of magic that they are more likely to lean towards and the type of magic that the wand will be adept with.

Dragon heartstring is one of the three "supreme cores" that are sold in Olivanders. The description of the wand core on the Harry Potter Wiki is as follows:

Dragon heartstrings produce wands with the most magical power, and which [are] capable of the most flamboyant spells. Dragon wands tended to learn more quickly than other types. While they could change allegiance if won from their original master, they always bonded strongly with the current owner. The dragon wand tended to be easiest to turn to the Dark Arts, though it would not incline that way of its own accord. It was also the most prone of the three cores to accidents, being somewhat temperamental.

Don't be swayed, I did not just pick this because of its proclivity towards dark magic. Yes, Sebastian is the one that teaches the MC the unforgivable curses, but this in itself matches the personality traits he exhibits from the very beginning: confidence (to the point of arrogance at times), and loyalty. Sebastian himself states that he leans more towards "fiery forms of magic" after he teaches you the blasting curse, so it would make sense that his wand core would need to be able to handle this kind of spell work. One that is "flamboyant" and "temperamental" would fit this the best. Not only this, but before the MC arrives at Hogwarts, Sebastian was the best duelist there, so he would need a wand core that picked up magic quick and was able to keep up with his competitive nature.

Yew wood: Yes, another thing that leans towards dark magic, but hear me out. Sebastian's wand color is very light, making the options for the possible wood types he would have just as sparse as Ominis'.

Wand woods are connected to the owners personality, diving down past the surface level and often discovering the most innate personality traits of the witch or wizard that owns it.

Below is an image of yew wood.

At first, I thought Sebastian's wand could possibly be aspen, but upon looking at the coloring of that wood versus yew, yew seems to be the closest in color. Aspen wood is often compared to bone because of how pale white it is, but if you look at the picture of Sebastian's wand, it has some warm undertones that make it a different hue than ivory.

Back to the personality. Here is what the Wizarding World website says about yew wood:

Yew wands are among the rarer kinds, and their ideal matches are likewise unusual, and occasionally notorious. The wand of yew is reputed to endow its possessor with the power of life and death, which might, of course, be said of all wands; and yet yew retains a particularly dark and fearsome reputation in the spheres of duelling and all curses. However, it is untrue to say (as those unlearned in wandlore often do) that those who use yew wands are more likely to be attracted to the Dark Arts than another. The witch or wizard best suited to a yew wand might equally prove a fierce protector of others. Wands hewn from these most long-lived trees have been found in the possession of heroes quite as often as of villains. Where wizards have been buried with wands of yew, the wand generally sprouts into a tree guarding the dead owner’s grave. What is certain, in my experience, is that the yew wand never chooses either a mediocre or a timid owner.

I'm not going to go into any heavy spoilers, but if you know, you know.

Sebastian is absolutely not a mediocre or timid wizard-- quite the opposite. He tends to lead with his heart rather his head, diving into battles before thinking through a strategy or jumping feet first into an argument before hearing both sides of the issue. He is fiercely loyal and protective of those he cares about, which can be seen in how he talks about not only Anne but also Ominis. His main motivation through the entirety of the game is finding a cure for his sister's curse, and he quite literally goes to outlandish means to achieve his goals. He is described as an accomplished duelist (we don't really see that, but let's chalk that up to the companion mechanics of the game and not his actual skill) and he is proficient in curses of all nature. He is the definition of a morally grey character-- not quite a hero, but also not quite a villain.

Again, for wand length and flexibility I will be using a mix of canon and fanon lore because of how scarce the information is on these sections of wandlore.

9 1/2 inches: As I said earlier with Ominis' wand, nine to ten inches is the common length for most wands. Since Ominis and Sebastian are, in fanon lore at least, similar in height (Ominis slightly taller than Sebastian in most fanfictions and fanart), I kept them close in length. Most agree that Sebastian is likely around 5'10", 5"11", so a wand slightly smaller than Ominis' but still within average length would fit best. Again, the half inch is just to be spicy.

Unyielding flexibility: Same as before, most of this information was taken from the wandlore weebly.

The word "unyielding" in itself describes Sebastian's personality. As previously stated, he is incredibly stubborn and hardheaded when he wants to be, and we see that often in the game.

The description for an unyielding wand is as follows:

A wand of this flexibility finely tunes itself to its original owner's preferences and doesn't stray from those preferences, even in the hands of a new owner; the new owner will just have to get used to it. It is particularly good for combative and healing magic. Unyielding wand owners tend to be very confident in themselves and/or in the things they believe in. They tend to be intelligent, somewhat cynical, and usually have well-defined principles that they will not stray from ever. Sometimes, this combination can lead to arrogance because of them insisting on how right they are without considering other points of view or whether or not they might be wrong.

Sebastian is a confident young man. He himself names him the best duelist in the school, and he prides himself on his knowledge of the wizarding world, both due to his proclivity to research and the fact that his parents were professors. In the game mechanics, particularly the bits that did not make it into the final game but were still in the code, there are a few lines for him that lean towards the possibility that he could heal the MC if our health got too low, thus adding the possibility that he was skilled in healing magic and combative magic. Sebastian's principles are defined from the very beginning of the game, stating that he would do anything for his friends and family, as well as was not afraid to break the rules to get what he wanted. He can be a bit arrogant at times due to this confidence, but for the most part it comes off as endearing.

As the game goes on he grows more cynical of the world and of the MC, often stating that they do not share the same opinions like he once thought and that they don't care about Anne and finding a cure for her curse. His tendency to not sway in his opinions and his insistence that he is right and everyone else is wrong grows tenfold around the winter mark. Because of this, no matter how many people are arguing that he is going down a dark path, he does not back down.

As both Ominis and Sebastian say, Sebastian Sallow does not back down from a fight, and he needs a wand that agrees with this belief system.

These are my headcaons! If you made it all the way to this bit, please don't be afraid to share your thoughts and personal headcanons for the boys and their wands!

Thanks for indulging me and my ramblings, lol

[grantmentis]

Women’s hockey news 6/1-6/16

News from around the women’s hockey world, only confirmed news and not rumors. It’s hard to cover every signing and extension so I try to filter to just the most notable but may miss something, feel free to add!

This is a long one as a heads up

PWHL (America/canada)

PWHL completed their draft! Full results are here

Corinne Schroeder signed a 2 year extension with PWHL New York

Lina Ljungblom (who was drafted in 2023 and played in the SDHL last year, winning SDHL league mvp) signs a three year deal with PWHL Montreal

Zoe Boyd and Natalie Snodgrass a one year extension with PWHL Ottawa, Aneta Tejralová signs a two year extension

Former Colgate University women’s hockey coach Greg Fargo is hired to coach PWHL New York

Natalie Darwitz is forced out of PWHL Minnesota, who will begin their GM search

Mélodie Daoust, Brittyn Fleming announced their retirement

PWHL Boston expected to stay at Tsongas next season

SDHL (Sweden)

Next years schedule has been released, with the season starting in September

Swedish national team defender Jessica Adolfsson signs with HV71. She was with Linköping last season

Forward Lisa Johansson signs with SDE HF. She was with Luleå last year

Italian defender Nadia Mattivi signs with Luleå. She spent the last several season with Boston University, where she was also captain

Finnish forward Ida Kuoppala signs with Skellefteå AIK. She spent the past few season with UMaine and was one of their top scorers

University of Minnesota Duluth and Bemidji state forward Reece Hunt signs with Luleå

SWHL/Postfinance Women League (Switzerland)

HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls sign two big names from Naisten Liiga. The first is Michaela Pejzlová, a star from Czechia who led Naisten Liiga in points, was a first team all star, and won her second championship. HIFK teammate Julia Liikala is the other player from Naisten Liiga joining, she was a second team all star for the league and played on Finland’s national team that won a gold medal

HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls also gets three players who played in the SWHL last year: the first is young Swiss goaltender Sofia Bernardasci, who’s played solid backup minutes the past two years on other teams. 23 year old Italian center Greta Niccolai, who represents her national team and also captained ladies team Lugano last year, joins the team as well. Lastly, young defender Valérie Christmann joins from HC Davos Ladies

Naisten Liiga (Finland)

Naisten Liiga schedule announced and can be viewed here. The season will star in September with a mini showcase in Turku where all teams will play their first few games

Forward Pauliina Salonen returns to HIFK. The 20 year old was one of their top producers last season and spent some time on the national team during their five nationals tournament

Kiekko-Espoo extend Minttu Tuominen, Tiia Pajarinen, Aliisa Toivonen, Siru Lehtopelto, Tea Villil��, Nea Katajamäki, Lisette Täks, and Nea Koskipalo. Tuominen, a star defender who was drafted by the PWHL but ended up playing in China and then Finland instead last year. Also notable is Pajarinen had 16 solid starts for Kiekko-Espoo last year, and got some looks on the national team. Tea Villilä has also been a mainstay producer on Kiekko-Espoo for the past several years. Täks finished with the most goals in Naisten Liiga. All this to say, Kiekko-Espoo has brought back significant core pieces

HIFK brings back goaltender Miia Vainio, who had the most shutouts last season

Tilli Keränen, who captained Finlands U18 team in 2022-2023, will play one more year at KalPa before going to the NCAA in 2025-2926

KalPa also brings back Captain Johanna Juutilainen

One of Ilves top scorers, Noora Mylläri, will return this year

EWHL (Central/eastern Europe + other assorted counties)

EV Bozen Eagles announced the signings of Justine Reyes and Kristen Guerriero to play in the EWHL and Italian women’s domestic league. Reyes was one of the SDHL’s top scorers last season, and Guerriero had a productive season in the SWHL

Veteran defender Enikő Tóth returns to the EWHL after spending last year in the SDHL, signing with MAC Budapest

IIHF

We got our locations and most of our times for all of women’s senior worlds in 2025! They are as follows:

Top division; ceske budejovice, Czechia from April 9-20

Division IA: shenzhen, China, dates TBA

Division IB: dumfries, great British, dates TBA

Division IIA: bytom, Poland from April 7-13

Division IIB: Dunedin, New Zealand from April 14-30

Division 3A: belgrade, Serbia from March 2-8

Division 3B: Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina from February 20-26

We also have the U18 tournament dates!

Top division; Vantaa, Finland from January 5-12

Division IA: TBA

division IB: Katowice, Poland January 7-13

Division IIA: Riga, Latvia from January 13-19

Division IIB: Istanbul, turkey from January 18-24

[revasserium]

a rumination on falling in love; aka the terrifying and strange reality of "dream girl" becoming "real girl"

or, what happens when an only child who has only ever loved in fiction falls in love in real life instead

this is not for you. unless, of course. you, like me, have felt like this before. which is to say, this might be for you. but it most definitely is, 100%, for me. so read on if you'd like. or, close out and move right along.

i am very lucky, i think, to have had the childhood that i had -- only child, two loving parents. but not only that, two loving parents who were good at loving and also good at parenting (which are two very distinct and different things and somehow, at least in my semi-limited exposure to people around my age, is becoming rarer and rarer these days). i am lucky to have been allowed to grow as i have -- to never question that i am loved, unconditionally and endlessly, to never question whether or not i have something -- because of course it's mine -- i've got no siblings to have to share anything with.

now, to some, that might be a sad, lonely thing, but i never thought about it that way. because i was never taught to think about it that way. and contrary to popular belief, it hasn't made me (or at least so i think) stingy or "bad at sharing" -- it's actually made me rather an over-sharer. i always have snacks at the office, i try to offer advice freely, i spot dinners/outings when i can, i like the joy it brings to share things not only to the people being shared with, but also to me -- the person doing the sharing.

but the double-edged sword of only-child-dom in upper-middle class america is time -- the huge, gaping excess of it, giant swaths of it after school, great big chunks of it on the weekends, the seemingly unbridgeable chasm between turning off the light and falling asleep. later, i'd learn that undiagnosed adhd and very high performing manic depression are to blame for most of my vibrating sense of need to fill every hour of every day with some kind of productivity (this, unironically, is why i love new york city -- the frenetic energy of it matches my mental wavelength so that i can feel "productive" even when i'm just walking down the street or sitting in a bar).

but back then, i -- and by extension my lovely parents -- tried to fill it with stuff -- 2 different art classes, ballet, swimming, piano, debate club, singing, chinese school, and of course, with my still yet unfilled hours -- reading and writing. to say i was raised by the books i read would be an understatement. to say i am nothing more than a massive conglomerate of those characters that resonated most with me in those books would be parenthetical to the fact that i'm also built by all those characters i've ever admired or wanted to be. i am, in the most cliche, literal, non-lampshaded sense "that nerdy book girl" who made it her entire fucking personality to be... that nerdy book girl. and this, amidst the stratospheric rise of "not like other girls" media and rhetoric -- it was not healthy (it still isn't), but it was a large part of who i was. and a lingering part of who i am today.

my overactive, adhd-driven imagination served me well, then. into the stories i delved, and what i couldn't find in my normal every day life, i found in narrative. long before the tiktok-ification of "book boyfriends" came the voices in my head that sounded like all the would-be book boyfriends i'd ever have -- everyone from edward cullen to kakashi to four (that one guy from divergent who only has like 4 fears, which in retrospect is so, so cringe, but alas) to fictionalized versions of one direction members. the list goes on. i used to be able to hold entire conversations, play out entire scenes with these mental constructs with impudent ease. spend hours in my room by myself just imagining.

it was like astral projection -- my body, here, my mind and my soul, somewhere else entirely. and this i believe (to this day) is the core of a lot of my writing and creativity. and also the core of a lot of my philosophies and beliefs. the ability to sink into a dream, a scene, a story.

and then. i fell in love.

and sure, it would be much too cliche to say that misery breeds good art so a happy artist would (at best) produce mediocre art/writing/whatever. because i've also seen fantastic art produced by very, very happy artists. the sad truth is only that it's much rarer than the alternative of the painfully mainstream tortured artist.

but to some degree, i think there's an inkling of truth in that saying. because having a real-life boyfriend, with all the real-life machinations and strings of having said real-life boyfriend has made it, somehow, much harder to access that old imaginary part of me. like a child growing up and losing the ability to "make believe" the way they used to. except, i know it's still there. there are still moments where i touch it, where i dip my toes in and it always feels like coming home.

and it's more than just the normal adult-ish responsibilities of going to work and paying bills, making dinner and shopping for groceries. doing laundry and investing in your roth ira. because before real-life boyfriend, i still did those things and i was still able to seamlessly get to that "elsewhere place". somehow, it is the physical presence of real-life boyfriend that seems to act as a "grounding agent". he is home, so i can't go to that other place. or, i can kind of get there, but i've always still got one foot steeped in reality.

it is not a necessarily good or bad thing, just an observation at most. but it does create this new "space" for the "want" of that elsewhere. for the want to being able to slip into that creative asphodel like i used to -- blink and i'm there. so i find myself often sitting at my desk, wishing, and then wondering what it means that i can't. that it isn't always and immediately accessible to me anymore.

perhaps absolute solitude was the unquestioned prerequisite for so long that i'd never noticed it until the solitude was no longer available to me. or perhaps the book-boyfriends are just shy creatures, afraid of the blaring daylight that real-life boyfriend might shed on their ultimate two-dimensional beings.

or perhaps that was always a "safe space" that i'd created for myself, and now real-life boyfriend has created a safe space for me too, and the venne-diagram of the two space spaces overlap just so, making a less singular space of each of them in turn. i don't know, but it's an interesting thought.

it's always struck me, now thinking back, that i've never been even remotely interested in having a real-life relationship before now. but that i've also never questioned if i wanted the current one that i'm in, if this was "the one" or if it was "good for me". and in that too, i know i am very lucky. few people can say that they struck gold the first time they've ever tried.

i know for a fact i wouldn't be this happy, have this good of a life if real-life boyfriend weren't here. he has made me better in ways that i do not have words to describe. but i'm also terrified of the earthen grounding-ness of him. i've spent my entire childhood and most of my adult life with my head in the clouds, taking the necessary trips back down to earth when i had to but... it feels strange to be "here" more and more. there's a hole inside of me where "that" heaven should be.

but two things can be true -- i am happy here; i still yearn for that elsewhere.

[pulaasul]

Marvel vs. DC - Amalgam

Marvel and DC, two of the most renowned comic book companies in the world, joined forces in 1996 to create the Amalgam Universe and the Versus lineup.

In video games, particularly in the fighting game genre, these comic book superheroes have crossed over with other franchises. Marvel characters, for example, have gone up against characters from Capcom—a video game company with an extensive catalog of titles. However, in their storyline, they often join forces to face a common enemy.

DC, on the other hand, clashed with the characters from Mortal Kombat, developed by the former Midway Games. Their narrative revolves around the two sides battling each other before ultimately uncovering the true cause of their conflict.

In the Versus miniseries, the storyline centers around two cosmic entities compelling the characters to fight one another, only for the heroes to eventually unite and stop the entities from destroying each other.

In the spirit of Amalgam Comics and my love for crossovers, I'm proposing the idea of a Marvel vs. DC fighting game that could be developed by Capcom.

It could have been an either/or situation—either Capcom or NetherRealm Studios—but since NetherRealm is still owned by Warner Bros., DC's current parent company, it wouldn't be a fair arrangement for Marvel characters.

I propose a roster of 27 characters for the fighting game. Capcom’s very first Marvel fighting game featured 13 playable characters, while Midway’s first DC fighting game included 23 playable characters, 11 of which were from DC.

Admittedly, this might seem ambitious, especially since Capcom’s recent releases typically feature 16–18 base characters. Adding 9–11 more might push the limits, but it’s necessary to ensure a balanced and diverse roster.

Here’s how the roster would break down: Marvel and DC would each have 10 characters, making up the core lineup. Five additional characters would come from the Amalgam Universe, paying homage to the classic crossover. The final two would be guest fighters—Ryu from Street Fighter and Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat—a nod to the first fighting game crossovers these characters were part of.

Let's start with the Amalgam characters:

Amazon - Princess Ororo of Themyscira (Amalgamation of Wonder Woman and Storm)

Nabu the Ancient One (Amalgamation of Nabu and the Ancient One)

Huntress (Amalgamation of DC's Huntress and Captain Marvel - Carol Danvers)

The White Witch Wanda Zatara (Amalgamation of Zatanna Zatara and Wanda Maximoff)

Catsai (Amalgamation of Catwoman and Elektra)

Marvel Characters:

Captain America - Steve Rogers

Thor - Thor Odinson

Captain Marvel - Carol Danvers

Storm - Ororo Munroe

Wolverine - James "Logan" Howlett

Magneto - Max Eisenhardt

Scarlet Witch - Wanda Maximoff

QuickSilver - Pietro Maximoff

Ironman - Tony Stark

Thanos

DC Characters:

Superman - Kal El, Clark Kent

Batman - Bruce Wayne

Wonder Woman - Princess Diana of Themyscira

The Flash - Barry Allen

Zatanna Zatara

Catwoman

Captain Marvel - Billy Batson

The Joker

Lex Luthor

Zodd

NPCs would be Deadpool and Harley Quinn

Any of these characters can replace anyone from the proposed roster or could be added as DLC:

Deadpool - Wade Wilson - Marvel Comics

Harley Quinn - Harleen Quinzel - DC Comics

Spider-man - Peter Parker/Miles Morales - Marvel Comics

Poison Ivy - Pamela Isley - DC Comics

Cyclops - Scott Summers - Marvel Comics

Mr. Fantastic - Reed Richards - Marvel Comics

Constantine - John Constantine - DC Comics

Dr. Fate - Nabu/Kent Nelson - DC Comics

Doctor Strange - Stephen Strange - Marvel Comics

Blue Beetle - Jaime Reyes - DC Comics

Human Torch - Jonathan Storm - Marvel Comics

Firestorm - Martin Stein & Ronnie Raymond - DC Comics

Martian Manhunter - J'onn J'onzz - DC Comics

Green Lantern - Any of the human green lanterns, I prefer Kyle Rayner - DC Comics

[anarchistfrogposting]

Hey just wanted to quickly ask if you could maybe explain what settler colonialism is, I'm a bit confused by the term because it seems like it doesn't really apply anymore in places like the US. There aren't really colonies, but fully developed capitalist states that oppress both the people who were originally colonized as well as the working class there.

Colonialism is an aspect of imperialism which focuses on an imperialist state (most obvious examples of this are Britain and France, for example) extracting natural resources from conquered/bought/stolen land abroad, wherein the country that forms the core of said colonial empire takes those resources and uses them to develop their own industries and thereupon its productive capabilities. Many places in Africa experienced considerable colonial oppression, but comparatively little settler-colonial oppression (although I will be clear; there were and are many large-scale settler colonial operations that aimed and some to support and protect European hegemony over Africa).

Settler colonialism is a specific form of colonialism wherein settlers from the imperial core travel to and form significant communities within colonial nations, stealing land from and displacing the local, native populace and replacing it with the native population of the imperial power. These projects inevitably and necessarily involve attempts to wipe out native culture and heritage and replace them with a new settler identity. Prominent examples of this can be seen in former colonies of the British empire; the US, Canada and Australia, e.g., but settler colonialism is a critical aspect of the success of colonial projects; the impacts thereof can be seen in a huge way in Latin America, India, all across Africa (prominently Algeria), and Oceania. In all the aforementioned native populations were displaced and their culture and identity intentionally erased.

Israel is certainly a settler colony, but it stands out as having a somewhat unique background and history. If you are interested in what I mean by this, I’d recommend you to watch this video by crash course (now quite old), which seems to do a decent job of quickly providing a brief overview.

Without significant decolonisation efforts, many of these places are, in a sense, still settler colonies. America will arguably always be a settler colony, but notably still colonises Native Americans in its borders. As does Canada. You could argue that these are postcolonial nations, but I feel that obscures the fact that many of these nations still actively engage in colonialism.

The line between colonialism and not colonialism, I would posit, is not a matter of development but a matter of policy and direction.

There are many many people far more qualified to talk about colonialism and settler colonialism than me, a white person from the UK, but I hope this helps. If you���re interested in exploring black and anti-colonialist anarchism, I would recommend Andrewism on YouTube, and would look into Angela Davis, who, along with being a prison abolitionist has also written extensively on colonialism.

[sixpossumsinaclownsuit]

Remember kiddos, polygamy and polyamory was only demonized for four core reasons:

Tw: homophobia, sexism, religious commentary, political commentary, oppression

1.) America wanted more taxes

Part of the legal institutionalization of marriage is that there is tax benefits for the individual parties when they get married, and financial ties/power is attorney between married people. It becomes messy when these ties extend to multiple people/marriages and the I*RS wants they tax money, and America would rather just make an entire way of life illegal than make laws and systems that accommodate people. See point #4 for more on that

2.) Puritan culture (aka thinly veiled sexism)

Puritan culture relies heavily on systems of control that villainize sex and women (that's a whole other conversation but I won't digress), and lots of marriages/polygamous marriages having sex with each other is obviously bad bad bad!! Hard to control!! Save the defenseless women from their pimp husbands! Orgies, the devil's work! And...

3.) Homophobia

Good god, women being in marriages together! Married to a man, but what if these women end up by being married to each other by extension! And having sex with each other! And what if a woman marries more than one man! Would these men become inferior to their wives? Would one of these husbands be less dominant than another? Would the men function in these complex marriages like a woman?! Disgusting! That's gay (derogatory!) Would these husbands be having sex with each other? But that's gay and gay is bad! Sex is bad! God, purge these sinners of their Sodomy!

(Surprise surprise, homophobia has very little to do with actual gay people and has everything to do with puritan culture, control, sexism and the demonization of sex, and points two and three are actually the same thing)

4.) Christian nationalism

Polygamy and nonmonogamy is normalized and integrated with several non-Christian and alternative Christian cultures going back thousands of years, like Islam, Mormonism, feudal Japanese/samurai cultures, Hinduism, several Native American cultures, etc... even in the Bible in Judeo-Christian history and biblical era cultures nonmonogamy was normalized. Banning nonmonogamy in America is banning the right to engage in non-christian religious rite and practice. It's only something criminal to post-puritan Christians and those beliefs becoming law, regardless of other religious beliefs and practices also existing in America, is the unseparation of church and state.

So before you tell a polyamorous person "oh that's cheating with permission" or "I could NEVER do that," or "I love my partner too much to do that/cheat like that," remember that these are the institutions and the propaganda you're upholding with your judgement. Supporting/ being kind about polyamory is religious tolerance, and biting your thumb at the I*RS.

Tl:dr, the dissolution of separating of church and state, puritan culture and the sexism/homophobia associated with puritan culture is why nonmonogamy is demonized and why polygamy is illegal in America.

Tone indication/post intention: satirical and exaggerated tones criticizing longstanding institutions of oppression with the intent to explain why judging, hating or criticizing nonmonogamous practices is oppressive and a result of propaganda. This post is not intended to persuade people who practice monogamy to practice nonmonogamy instead or to demonize monogamy. It is intended to advocate for breaking the stigma around nonmonogamy.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Adam Zyglis

* * *

General observations about the campaign

The disinformation efforts are in high gear and are compounded by difficult-to-interpret early voting numbers. Others have written extensively about how to interpret early voting (Simon Rosenberg and Jay Kuo). My overly simplistic interpretation is that we are seeing the natural phenomenon of regression to the mean in early voting as the distortions in early voting caused by the Covid lockdown in 2020 are no longer present. That makes percentage comparisons and trends between 2020 and 2024 misleading.

In general, the core data conforms to what the political moment suggests should happen: Democrats are seeing strong(er) results based on the overriding issue of the 2024 election: The abrogation of the right of reproductive liberty in Dobbs that demoted more than half of America’s population to second class citizens. (See Jay Kuo’s article, linked above).

Democrats overperformed expectations in nearly every election since Dobbs. But pollsters and pundits keep trying to model 2024 based on 2020 and 2016. Not only do those elections lack the post-Dobbs effect, neither of them involved a candidate who mounted a coup and incited an insurrection, was convicted of 34 felonies, withheld national defense documents after a demand for their return, and was found to be civilly liable for sexual assault.

None of the above is meant to dismiss the consistent signal in the polls that the election will be close. But the relative advantage generated by enthusiasm and momentum cannot be ignored—as most pollsters seem to do.

In an incredible gift to the Harris campaign, Trump's surrogates have been saying the ugly part out loud:

Speaker Mike Johnson admitted that Republicans still want to repeal Obamacare a.k.a. the Affordable Care Act. See Vox, Republicans are serious about cutting people’s health care

RFK Jr. speaks openly about managing multiple cabinet-level agencies and sub-agencies across the federal landscape. What could go wrong with a guy who dumped a dead bear-cub in Central Park, used a chain saw to decapitate a dead whale, and contributed to a deadly measles outbreak in Samoa? (How RFK Jr. Falsely Denied His Connection to a Deadly Measles Outbreak in Samoa – Mother Jones).  

The Trump-Vance transition chair, Howard Lutnick, (CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald), repeatedly questioned the effectiveness of vaccines in an interview with Caitlin Collins on CNN. Video: Kaitlan Collins spars with Trump-Vance transition co-chair about RFK Jr. and vaccines | CNN Politics.

And of course, Trump chose five days before Election Day to tell women that he is going to exert control over them “whether the women like it or not:

I want to protect the women of our country. I want to protect the women [even though my advisors said it was] very inappropriate for you to say. "I said, 'Well, I'm going to do it, whether the women like it or not . . .

See Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Harris rips Trump for saying he'll protect women whether they 'like it or not'.

And on Thursday evening, Trump said in an interview with Tucker Carlson that Liz Cheney should have “guns trained on her” to see how she feels. He said:

“Let's put her with a rifle standing there with 9 barrels shooting at her. Let's see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face."

The media should write about nothing else for the next five days. Trump is implying an execution of a political opponent. On Thursday, the Times and WaPo devoted front-page coverage to a non-story about Joe Biden condemning the comedian who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” In comparison, Trump’s comments deserve 100X as much coverage—and condemnation.

The above missteps are damaging before we even get to the slurs and threats to wide swaths of Americans: Puerto Ricans, Black voters, Jewish voters, and anyone who opposes Trump's political agenda.

And Trump's effort to hold a press conference from a garbage truck was a public relations disaster because (a) Trump reminded everyone of the “floating island of garbage” comment, and (b) Trump visibly struggled to open the truck door and appeared to stumble due to lack of balance issues.

As always, we cannot rely on Republicans to defeat themselves, even though they are doing their best to do so. Indeed, it is unavoidable because the Republican platform (to the extent it exists) seeks to advantage millionaires and billionaires at the expense of everyone else. It is tough to build a winning message on that platform. Grievance and division will take you only so far. After that, you must appeal to people who want a president who will improve their lives. That isn’t Trump. It is Kamala Harris.

Trump has helped to crystalize the candidates' differences in the campaign's final weeks. That can only help Democrats up and down the ballot. As the saying goes, “Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.” Fortunately, Kamala Harris is both!

[Robert Hubbell Newsletter]

[signetnorthamerica1]

Why Hazmat Technician Certification Is More Than Just a Job—It’s a Lifesaver

When it comes to handling hazardous materials, there’s no room for error. The role of a Hazmat Technician goes far beyond a typical job description—it’s about saving lives, protecting the environment, and ensuring the safety of communities. Hazmat Technician certification is a vital qualification for those working with hazardous substances, and it is crucial for maintaining safety standards in industries ranging from chemical manufacturing to waste disposal. In this blog, we’ll explain why becoming a certified Hazmat Technician is more than just a career choice; it’s a responsibility that can be life-saving.

The Importance of Hazmat Technician Certification

In industries where hazardous materials are present, workers face significant risks. From chemical spills and leaks to fire and explosion hazards, Hazmat Technicians are at the forefront of preventing and mitigating potential disasters. These professionals are trained to assess dangerous situations, protect others, and manage emergency responses effectively.

Hazmat Technician certification is essential for several reasons:

1. Ensuring Safety in High-Risk Environments

Whether working in emergency response teams or industrial facilities, Hazmat Technicians play a critical role in managing hazardous materials safely. The certification ensures that technicians are well-prepared to respond to emergencies like chemical spills, gas leaks, or fires involving toxic substances. By following proper protocols and safety procedures, Hazmat Technicians reduce the likelihood of catastrophic events that could harm workers, the public, and the environment.

2. Compliance with OSHA and Industry Regulations

OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) has strict regulations for handling hazardous materials, including OSHA 29CFR 1910.120, which sets the standards for Hazmat Technicians. Certification is not only important for personal safety but is often required by law to comply with these regulations. Proper training ensures that technicians can meet the necessary federal and state standards and avoid legal and financial penalties for non-compliance.

3. Developing Crucial Skills for Emergency Response

Hazmat Technician certification provides extensive training on emergency response, safety equipment, and decontamination procedures. Technicians learn how to handle and contain hazardous materials, assess risk, use personal protective equipment (PPE), and manage clean-up operations. The skills gained during certification can be the difference between preventing a disaster and allowing it to escalate, making it an invaluable qualification for anyone working with dangerous substances.

4. Protecting Public Health and the Environment

The consequences of mishandling hazardous materials can be far-reaching. Chemical spills, gas leaks, or exposure to toxic substances can lead to widespread health issues, environmental damage, and even loss of life. Hazmat Technicians are trained to control these situations and minimize the impact on public health and the environment. Their role is not only to protect workers in industrial settings but also to safeguard the broader community.

5. Building a Strong Career Foundation

A Hazmat Technician certification opens the door to numerous career opportunities in high-demand fields like emergency response, waste management, chemical manufacturing, and environmental protection. Certified Hazmat Technicians are highly valued, as they bring specialized knowledge and expertise to their roles. Whether you're just starting your career or looking to advance, Hazmat Technician certification is a critical step in ensuring long-term professional growth and success.

What’s Involved in Hazmat Technician Training?

Becoming a certified Hazmat Technician involves completing comprehensive training. Signet North America’s Hazmat Technician program includes core courses that span 40, 80, or 160 hours, depending on the level of expertise and experience required. The training covers key topics such as:

Identification and Classification of Hazardous Materials: Learn how to identify dangerous substances and assess their potential risks to human health and the environment.

Regulatory Compliance: Understand OSHA and EPA regulations that govern the handling of hazardous materials.

Emergency Response Procedures: Develop the skills to respond effectively to hazardous material incidents, including leak containment and evacuation procedures.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Gain hands-on experience using the appropriate PPE to protect yourself during hazardous material handling and emergency response.

Decontamination and Cleanup: Learn safe methods for decontaminating affected areas and materials, ensuring that all hazardous substances are properly disposed of.

Tactical Response: Get trained in the tactical response strategies needed to contain and mitigate the effects of hazardous material incidents.

With practical exercises, field demonstrations, and real-world applications, Hazmat Technician training ensures that you are fully prepared to handle the challenges of working in hazardous environments.

Why Hazmat Technician Certification Is a Lifesaver

The importance of Hazmat Technician certification goes beyond technical knowledge; it’s about the potential to save lives and protect communities. The skills and knowledge gained through training directly impact the safety of your workplace and the environment.

Hazmat Technicians are often the first responders to hazardous material incidents, and their ability to quickly and efficiently manage a crisis can prevent injury, environmental damage, and loss of life. The safety protocols and response strategies taught in certification courses like those offered by Signet North America can make a real difference in life-or-death situations.

By becoming a certified Hazmat Technician, you are not just advancing your career—you are equipping yourself with the tools to protect your colleagues, your community, and the environment from potentially devastating hazards.

Start Your Hazmat Technician Journey Today

If you’re ready to take the next step in your career and become a certified Hazmat Technician, Signet North America offers the training you need. With flexible courses designed for both beginners and experienced professionals, we provide comprehensive education that prepares you to handle hazardous materials safely and effectively.

For more information or to enroll in a Hazmat Technician certification course, call us today at 877-875-2921. Take the first step toward a safer, more rewarding career with Signet North America—where safety comes first.

[miscellaneousjay]

Watched “Coming to America” for the umpteenth time a few hours ago and I feel like that in the 30 years between it and the sequel, we really coulda had like four movies instead of two. Follow me real quick:

Movie 1-Coming to America (1988): Prince Akeem meet-cute with Lisa for love

Movie 2-Coming 2 America (1990): Lisa gets used to being a princess in Zamunda (you know the rite of passage sequel that all married-in royals get after the HEA in the first movie).

Movie 3-Coming to America III (1994): (filmed right before the untimely passing of Madge Sinclair) Akeem and Lisa are expecting their first child and are thrilled. However, they are also worried because some hard-core traditionalists who hadn’t been totally silenced when it came to Lisa are now running their mouths about the new Prince or Princess being half American.

Movie 4-Coming to America IV (2014): set about 20 years into the future from movie 3, this movie would be the final film in the franchise where King Jaffe will stepping down and Akeem will be taking his place and, by extension, his oldest daughter (I’m sticking to the three daughters he and Lisa end up having by the canon second film; son doesn’t exist because he was never conceived) will be taking his place as the very next in line for the throne. When Akeem takes the throne at the end of the film, he still abolishes the “only male heirs can take the throne” rule. Therefore, my Movie 4 is Canon Sequel C2A; the difference is, we see the Crown Princess enter a battle of ideals with the elders of Zamunda’s royal council for most of the film in order to prove that being female does not make her a less capable ruler than her father or grandfather before her.

The tropes are troping for real, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!🤓

BUT SERIOUSLY! WE REALLY COULDA AND SHOULDA HAD BOUT FOUR MOVIES BY THE TIME THEY GAVE US THAT LACKLUSTER SEQUEL THAT WAS REALLY KINDA UNNECESSARY CONSIDERING HOW LONG THEY WAITED TO RELEASE IT!!!! I can sit and watch the first one each and every time it comes on tv. The sequel? I haven’t given it a second watch since I halfway watched it a little after it came out! At least if you’re gonna wait like dumb long to make a sequel to something, at least make it worth it! The Incredibles 2? Worth it! Puss in Boots: The Last Wish? Worth it! Coming 2 America? Not so much. It could’ve been executed better.

P.S. Just peeped that the princess inherited Queen Aoleon’s regal air! She look SMACK like her grandma!🤭🥰❤️

[chamerionwrites]

Absolutely living for this drag of one of my least favorite TCW episodes (and arguably by extension the whole show, since I would argue it's a continuing pattern):

"There’s a core metaphor for Clone Wars, right? This is the thing we’ve talked about so many times - and for the prequels. Lucas is not afraid of this. The Galactic Republic is the United States of America, slipping towards authoritarianism and fascism. It is a republic that has failed to serve its constituency, it has failed to serve the people that live there, it is filled with corrupt bureaucrats and moneyed interests, and - it’s unfortunate but the fact is that powerful people here can slowly push this even further towards the kind of centralized control under the hands of a few people who are absolutely politically and morally repugnant, until it gets transformed into what ends up being an empire. Right? That is the thing that happens in the prequel movies. But, here, the signifiers of the American empire - Agent Orange, napalm, the ways in which homes are searched in the beginning - are not deployed by the Republic. They’re deployed by the Republic’s enemies! It’s similar, in some ways, to the way that recent Call of Duty re-used the Highway of Death, rubbed America’s name off of it, and put Russia’s name on it. Obviously there’s a difference here, we're not literally talking about America and Russia, but that’s the same sort of like - we want to play with these ideas, but it doesn’t work if the Republic is the occupying force in this story (they say to themselves). Instead, let’s make it the Separatists who are our cartoonish bad guys. But when the bad guys are so cartoonish as to be identical to the boogeymen that the actual empire in our real world cooks up so that they can justify their imperial attitudes and actions, then the metaphor unravels."

--Austin Walker, A More Civilized Age (Episode 8)

[thekrows-nest]

Huge wall of speculation incoming.

I have no idea if the OG! - Vamp! connection hinting at the mantra relates to stuff I’ve guessed at but hasn’t been publicly confirmed, or if it’s stuff that even I haven’t touched on.

Let’s see… let’s first go over what I do know.

The hunger is obvious. 

OG Krow is notoriously food insecure and that’s where his organ harvesting side hustle comes in. His thirst for fluids… if you know you know. He’s also metaphorically ‘empty’ because he’s been so emotionally neglected and lonely. Also his job and the dog eat dog survival growing up may have desensitised him to a lot of emotions like guilt, empathy (for those who give a reason) or fear.

As well as being a really striking visual it makes sense with all of this for Vampire Krow to have a gaping void at his core, a ravening hunger and thirst, an empty belly and no heart. Traditional vetala also prefer to feed on intestines so there’s that too.

OG Krow is an artist, and creativity is his entire drive outside Dove. (It could be argued that as a muse who broke his art block, Dove is even an extension of that.) Maybe there is some of that remaining.

OG Krow loves music and has sensitive hearing.

OG Krow is clever and sneaky, easily underestimated.

OG Krow loves birds. Perhaps that can be used in some way.

OG Krow was/is homeless, hypervigilant, stealthy, has wonky sleep schedule but great physical stamina. 

Vampire Krow may be tethered to one place or haunting abandoned places, but if he may have travelled to America he may have been cursed to wander. Or just have free will like most vamps. Or is being forced to move around to avoid being killed, or endlessly chase more prey. I don’t know.

I do know he doesn’t have an opulent mansion and probably doesn’t have a safe secure resting place. Vampire Krow doesn’t tire because he has nowhere safe to rest with other monsters hunting him and is always seeking the next meal. He can possibly be active night or day but might use stealth/night for easy meals if he still has enough sanity to not just charge in.

OG Krow is Bengali/Indian. 

In the subcontinent it would reallllly suck for him if he was weak to the sun. Or garlic. Or superstition. Too easy.

You know what? Both Krows have freckles and OG Krow curls up in bed to stay warm (maybe that’s just his substandard accommodation). I headcanon that if Vampire Krow  ever gets a moment of peace or if prey is unavailable he's sitting in the sun to get nice and dark or just not caring about it, he can barely feel the warmth but imagines it’s still a source of energy (prana) and maybe it warms his cold dead body. He tries to remember it from when he was alive. 

Maybe he even uproots and crushes cloves of garlic into his mouth because the strong acrid flavour is the only thing that still registers, or eats it like a starving human eats grass. 

Whoaaa… In some religious contexts Hindus may consider the strong odor of onions and garlic ‘impure’ and avoid them during sacred occasions or religious rituals. It is veg food though.

However like OG Krow he may not have been allowed to learn about Hindu beliefs. Despite having memories of life, having Hindu roots and being traumatized by colonization, I still don’t know what garlic means for Vampire Krow either way. If it’s good or bad. I’m going to say it’s not effective because it’s so well known against European vampires.

I don’t think Vampire Krow gives a single crap about crosses, or (if OG Krow had the religious upbringing I have brought up as a Krack theory) they may just make him angrier. This is a fairly traditional weakness anyway. 

Krack theory… OG Krow as orphan or in foster care?

Part of living Vampire Krow’s trauma under occupation may have been being orphaned or taken from his parents for colonisers to raise. 

I don’t think this is it as OG Krow is Bengali/Indian but there were also cases of British men siring children and returning overseas, abandoning mother and child to fend for themselves. Not a great position to be in in poverty, war, and famine… may have led to the loss of his mother or their separation.

This doesn’t square with him being turned as an adult unless there’s some device like slowly aging or he was just reaching age. But abuse of children of colour in ‘children’s homes’ was rife, mortality was high and covered up, and children were the favourite prey of traditional vetala. I actually have no idea how or why he was turned.

So. This is all I have so far.

Blind unreasoning hunger (greed), (bloodlust?) or rage may lead Vampire Krow into traps or destruction/capture by another monster. (Either Vishnu or Krishna said downfall comes through greed, lust or rage.)

Appeals to any remaining humanity may be somewhat helpful.

He may be bribed with… liquids. Or mangoes?

Water from the Ganges seems to be the equivalent of holy water.

Offers to braid his hair did seemed to give him pause. And marriage proposals? In Indian culture it can be inauspicious to have open (untied) hair and the attention and sensation of braiding might remind him of life. Or lust.

Perhaps Vampire Krow may be mesmerized by art or beauty. Perhaps he can be distracted by looking at or making mehndi.

Maybe he can be enthralled by music or given pause by loud sounds.

Maybe you have to be wary of him pretending to be trapped or enthralled, only to suddenly lunge.

He may pause to look at released birds, or stop to collect strewn feathers.

You cannot sneak up on him or outrun him as you will be taken unaware or tire before he does. I believe the term is persistence predator.

Krow mayyyy be weak to intense cold? Or at least not really like it.

Turmeric is an auspicious spice and to be avoided during mourning so maybe he’s weak to that? He may still be given momentary pause by Hindu taboos from when he was alive? Assuming he was allowed to learn about it.

He may have trauma from life around young ones being taken or hurt, and might be persuaded to spare babies or children.

As to the specific mantra relevant to OG Krow, I still don’t know. There may have to be some more lore drops before I even have the faintest hunch.

But I did look for mantras for abandoned babies and came up with another chant to Narasimha - then randomly stumbled on something interesting.

There was once a deva named Hiranyakashipu who sought the boon of invulnerability against most weapons and causes of death, and to become so strong that only Lord Vishnu could kill him. Beast, deva and man could not kill him, he could be killed neither at night or in the day, not inside nor outside, on the earth or in the sky, by weapons either living nor nonliving… 

Then one day Hiranyakasipu had a grievance and sought to kill Narasimha (the fourth avatar of Vishnu). Hiranyakasipu was then attacked by Narasimha under the perfect conditions to circumvent it all.

Narasimha took a form that was part human and part animal, attacked Hiranyakasipu at twilight, and did it at the threshold to his house. Narasimha laid the deva on his own thighs (off the ground but not in the sky) and killed him by disembowelment with his claws.

Probably not why Vampire Krow is gutted but an interesting coincidence all the same. 

So I’m guessing that Krow has a number of conditions under which he can’t be killed or at least things that won’t work, and so there may have to be some creative thinking, riddling and loophole abuse.

Vishnu/Narasimha also does seem to be the one to pray to for defense from demons or evil spirits.

Took a bit to get to this because my god what a novel that is this ask. /pos

I appreciate that you make me much more of a genius in character design than I really am Krowspiracy. /silly I guess it's one of those things that even if the creator didn't consciously go into a design with certain thoughts, it still subconsciously bleeds (ha) through. Maybe I still am a genius?

...New canon for Vampire Krow. He absolutely lounges in the sun whenever he does have a moment's peace. He probably doesn't really warm up any more, or really feel it, but, it's a moment to try and reflect back on when he was alive. To try and desperately still cling to what humanity he has left.

And no garlic isn't really effective one way or the other to Vampire Krow. The main thing for him is I wanted to get away from "traditional" (western) vampire weaknesses for him. He's not western, so why would those weaknesses apply to him? So someone trying to eat garlic or something as a means to ward him off are in for a nasty shock.

Crosses might not be a magical weakness to him, but they could still infuriate him as a possible reminder of British colonization. So in one sense, is a weakness, but not like how you'd think for a vampire.

I do like the idea that enthralling him with things of beauty is a means to at least give him pause (or even confuse him with unexpected kindness). There's so many stories of terrible beasts being tamed or thwarted or whatever when showing compassion to them instead of aggression. And that is a neat idea to have with Vampire Krow.

As for the specific mantra... I'll give a slight hint. It is to a specific deity but likely not who most would think of. And it does have to do with OG Krow lore. However, that lore hasn't been publicly revealed yet. (For you though, Krowspiracy, as a treat, I'll say you did pretty much nail what the lore was, more or less, in one of your theories.)

Pretty much for a mortal to kill him would require specific conditions I think (or well... basically nuke him sdfnmbdlf). A fellow supernatural would have an easier time killing him, albeit that doesn't necessarily mean they can accomplish the task.