#it's really just the shoes that make it 3rd gen

[nugulover69]

Hanto dresses like a member of a 3rd gen kpop boy group. "it's 2015 and I'm about to get mercilessly bullied by Doni and Coni on Weekly Idol" type fit

[soullessjack]

talk about that stupid lil hedgehog. go hog wild (punintended)

oh my god i keep Trying to answer this and it keeps getting deleted somehow ok. deep breaths. and spoilers for the 3rd movie also.

SO.

sonic 3 is, naturally, a very loose adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2. and just like the other two movies there were details from the games that were either changed or taken out to better suit the movies, bc as much as they are sonic movies, they aren’t just beat-for-beat remakes. they’re definitely aiming to be their own thing while also respecting and keeping close with the source material they pulled from (and personally, I didn’t grow up with the games; I’m a watcher over a player; I’ve always had more interest in the game’a story than actually playing it—so just from a creative standpoint, I immediately respect any adaptation that does the same).

the 3rd movie has a lot of major detail changes for the sake of running with their own plot and trying to keep its PG rating, and it works fantastically. I’ve watched it twice already and there is no doubt in my mind I’ll watch it again bc it’s genuinely So Fucking Good. but one of the most important detail changes for me is how they handled Maria’s character. in the original SA2 game, and I don’t mean this as an insult or anything, Maria is frankly a non-character. she falls into the archetype of a character who exists just to die for the plot and doesn’t have much personality as a result. it’s not inherently a bad thing; it’s just a narrative tool. but the issue comes from how it’s done, because when it’s done right, it’s done right. but when it’s done wrong, it becomes lazy fridging (we as supernatural victims know this well).

I don’t think game-Maria was necessarily fridged; it’s her clear purpose in the story and pretty much a canon event that she and Gerald will always die (thanks gens), but it also makes her a little less interesting to engage with as her own character bc she isn’t really her own character. she’s like, the idea of shadow’s goodness. she’s this perfect paragon of love and kindness and forgiveness that, at 9-12 years old, somehow has a fully formed opinion on the nature of humanity as inherently good and worth being saved [by shadow]. it’s not bad storytelling, but it’s just a tad heavy handed.

movie-Maria, on the other hand, is an actual person. she still dies in the end, of course (canon event), but through shadow’s memories of her we’re able to see how she connected with him and what made that connection so important to him that it ruined him severely to lose. movie-Maria is just a kid. she’s curious, a little mischievous and plainly innocent. she doesn’t really know what shadow is or what his purpose on the Ark is, and she doesn’t really care. she just knows that she likes him and cares about him and that’s good enough for any kid. it’s all, “let’s watch movies together,” “let’s use your air shoes to roller-skate really fast around the colony,” “let’s dance to this record,”etc etc.

the actual scene is such an adorable little montage but it also shows how simplistically Maria connected with shadow and made him feel like more of a person. instead of directly asking shadow to be a good person and save the world, she encourages him to be whoever he wants to be. instead of sending him off and making a final promise with him, she just dies. suddenly and without any last words. which means shadow has no promise to remember like he did in the game. he doesn’t come to his senses because he finally remembered Maria actually wanted him to do good.

and that’s my segue into the second major difference of the movie! hooray for segues!

so, one of shadow’s final memories with Maria is sitting with her under the Ark’s dome and looking up at all the stars in space. just like the montage it is an adorable, even beautiful scene of them together all by itself and I had to pause the movie during my second watch to sob into my hands but the one thing I’m picking on today is when shadow tells her, “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” again, very simple, but still very hard hitting because we’re seeing in real time what he’s doing without her. we’re seeing how much her loss has affected him because we finally saw exactly what it was like, what it meant for him to have her in the first place.

and, between the game and the movie, shadow’s end goal is still revenge for Maria. her…presence…(?) her memory, at least, is still with him at every step of his plan and fueling him to go even further. in a way, it’s almost like Maria becomes the face of her own loss, because each time he remembers something about her, it’s only ever painful and only ever makes him more determined to enact revenge. and then when he beats the shit out of Tom (sonic’s dad who’s also kinda boring) (sorry), and the flash between sonic kneeling over him to shadow kneeling over Maria, it starts a sort of…tipping point for shadow to doubt if this is what he really wants or has to do.

and the thing is, it’s not about right and wrong with shadow. he knows what he’s doing is wrong (i personally must disagree with revenge on the military for murdering a child being framed as wrong but this is a paramount produced kids movie so that’s how it goes). he knows it’s just pure, anger driven revenge for the sake of revenge and he doesn’t care. in his own words, it’s who he is internally, bc it’s all he’s had or known for the last 50 years. and then, when he and gerald are on the eclipse cannon together, shadow asks him, “is this really what Maria would’ve wanted?” again, it’s not about right or wrong for shadow (or even Gerald honestly). it’s just about Maria and avenging her and dying in the process bc nothing is worth living or saving anymore, including themselves. that is, until Gerald responds, “the question isn’t ‘is it what Maria would’ve wanted,’ the question is ‘what do they deserve?’ Remember what she meant to us; remember what they took from us.”

I genuinely think that was Shadow’s wakeup call (and I love how it was changed from Maria simply wanting Shadow to be good all along, to Shadow coming to that realization for himself). pretty soon after that exchange, the fight between him and sonic starts and the entire time it’s just shadow instigating and antagonizing sonic to do his worst and End It. Straight up kill him, bc he’s too far gone now and there isn’t even enough time left to begin processing any doubt or regret for it all, and the plan was always a revenge-suicide-genocide anyways (you know, for kids!)

let’s go back a few paragraphs to when I said that Maria had almost become the face of her own loss, her own absence, because shadow’s memory of her only fueled his pain and determination to destroy everything. just like her game iteration, she’s an idea now. she’s an embodiment of the past, for better or for worse, for both shadow and Gerald. and remember, in both the game and the movie, it’s Gerald’s need for revenge that sparks shadow’s. Gerald uses shadow’s grief and anger to encourage it and it does eventually become shadow’s own goal too, but Gerald always wanted it first. shadow was just a means to an end that he thought he wanted.

it’s Gerald who tells shadow to remember what Maria meant and remember how it was taken, while shadow focuses on her and how she would’ve felt. and I really think it’s that moment afterwards that pulled shadow out of it, just enough to try and instigate his own death since the cannon can’t be stopped and, again, even if he did regret his actions, it won’t matter after everything is done. he thinks he’s just as far gone as Gerald is with this need for revenge and anger and hatred. he thinks This is who he is, until sonic gives him the classic “it doesn’t have to be who you are. love is stronger than pain, and even if she’s gone the love you had for her is still there, so keep going on that instead of the pain.”

(paraphrasing like crazy but it is genuinely a very well written scene like all the others.. IT’S A CINEMATIC MASTERPIECE AND I AM DEAD SERIOUS ABOUT THAT).

I’m not trying to say the original game’s story is any lesser or not impactful, and if I did that would just be a straight lie bc that’s one of Sega’s most renowned games in the franchise to this day, but I do think it hits a lot harder for shadow to have this arc away from Maria, if that makes sense. no final promise, no idea of what she wanted him to be. she’s not the embodiment of all that was good in him, but she was the support system he needed to (eventually) realize he could be good and be more than his purpose.

[elliethesuperfruitlover]

tw/venting

so im once again randomly sad at 1:30 and honestly i hate it. i always seem to get really just down and upset during the early morning. (probably because i need to be sleeping) but this is stressful to be honest. im feeling a ton of guilt that i shouldnt even feel bad about. right, so we all know that im how old? a minor, and like.......im fine with that. im fine being this age. but like....i feel like im carrying feelings for things that dont even have to do with me. some people are like “yeah, i dont want minors interacting with my content” and for some reason, i always wonder if it has something to do with me. it doesn’t, but i feel this secondhand guilt for some reason, and it hurts. and i know it’s really selfish of me to do that, and im victimizing myself with this. i always obey the “MDNI” on people’s posts, but sometimes i feel like i did something bad. like with smut, specifically, i completely understand why people wouldn’t want minors interacting with that, it makes so much sense.

then i start feeling really upset about how i literally write smut, and read it. im starting to feel like there’s something wrong with me for having written smut, and had a specific audience read and react to it. i sometimes feel gross for just wanting to read smut. and a lot of the fandoms i read smut for may have the “MDNI” on it, which is fine, but after that, I feel this deep trench form, and it’s the worst thing. i just feel like im weird, and dirty for wanting to read smut about characters. and here comes the argument of me, a minor, reading smutty ass fanfiction about grown characters, in some scenarios. of course, i imagine myself older, above legal age, but that doesn’t stop the nasty feelings I feel. and with characters that are my age, or around my age, like with my hero academia, like sure, i crush on sero and everything, but i feel awful about reading smut for him. or even thinking about smutty things.

this also briefly dips into how i interact with my mutuals’ fics, particularly the smuttier ones. i think ‘oh god, am i being gross by interacting with this’ and i know that if they have an issue with me interacting with their fics, they would say it, clearly, and explain what needs to be explained. and i love that. but i always feel like im the weird one here, like im the odd one out, i guess because of my age. and i absolutely love and appreciate that they’ve created a safe space for me. it’s just an internal thing that’s really bothering me. and i absolutely love my mutuals as well. and i know that they also love and appreciate me, i guess i just feel that guilt.

and i know that it’s completely normal for kids my age, and teens to think about, and sometimes desire sexual things. and i know that it’s fine to explore those thoughts. sometimes, though, i just feel like im being a hypocrite. i. e. some shoes marketed towards teens, such as euphoria, and riverdale (off the top of my head, not biased) portray teenagers that might not be accurate. i don’t know what it’s like to be y’know present in a high school, and there, but for my own experiences, at least, i feel like it’s not true, or at least not in all of its glory. im like the outlier for a lot of that stuff. and i know it probably exists in some places, but i feel like this is how society views teens, and what they expect from us. i feel this odd pressure to be everything that society expects me not to be. and on some posts and stuff, i see what seems to be a bit of a disdain for kids of my generation, or at least gen z and i just kinda freeze and panic. i go “oh god, do they think this of me” “do they hate me” and i know that they don’t but it’s this lingering thought of “this is what they think of other kids in the same group as you”. i know it doesn’t represent the entire view but i just feel like i cant say anything, or bring it up. it makes me feel like im the problem.

anyway, i feel like i can’t do some of the things that i want because im scared of what people will think of me. like, sometimes i just feel hot, y’know and of course, send nice photos to a pal or two, but i’d never post that shit publicly. why, you might ask? because im a minor, and just because i feel nice about myself doesn’t mean that i need other ppl being gross about it. some people always say “these teens are always posting stuff all over social media. they share everything on there.” one, yes, we do, some people should know better. but also, two, this is new, people are being misled, mistakes are going to happen. plus, when you dont have that outlet to do other things, you go where you may feel safer to do something. it may not even be the best choice either. i agree that teens shouldnt post everything to social media, but i also believe that we should be allowed to make mistakes too? and have a bit of fun (where it’s morally correct, im not talking about driving people to suicide, or posting nudes (or semi-nudes on insta when you’re 13, that’s just wrong) anyways. i just feel like i cant do anything bc im gonna get shit for it, and further promote an agenda, but at this point im kinda starting to tear myself down about other people’s opinions, and that’s shitty.

also i feel like teens cant do shit in GENERAL, but that’s another conversation for another fucking day.

i always try to keep my opinions and everything at bay, because i hate when conflict is directed at me. and i dont like the panic of waiting for someone to text, or message me when i had what could be considered a hot take. i feel like i cant disagree, or think differently. or even sometimes just speak my mind because im scared of the repercussions. so i kinda just shut up, and stay in my little corner, and i absolutely hate that. but i also dont like being vocal about my opinions because of the fear that it produces.

and also sometimes some of the shit that people come up with im like......okay, i feel like i cant joke about. like when i talk about “MILF dennys” or “DILF buffalo wild wings” I DONT WANT TO BE A MILF, NOR A DILF. i dont even want kids, so ahaha. i say that shit as a joke.

kids, get future milf out of your bio, unless you put a “/j” or “/hj” after it. also, you don’t want to be a sex worker, or a stripper. im pro sex-work, but don’t look at that as your ONLY job option. that shit gets people killed, or tortured, and mistreated. if it’s a joke, it’s a joke, but it’s a dangerous choice, and it’s your grave bestie. and no, people contradicting you isn’t sexist, or misogynistic UNLESS IT’S LITERALLY THAT. people can be like “i think your opinion is a little harmful, ngl” and you can respond respectfully and be like “do tell, im open to  listen” and not go off about someone not supporting your choices. if it’s something that you can avoid, do it. IF IT’S ILLEGAL, DONT DO IT. like, prostitution is illegal where i live, so if yall try to do that shit, dont expect to be given special treatment. people already see kids, women, and sex workers as what? OBJECTS. you’re nothing to people who may be incarcerating you one minute, and calling you for a 5 minute hookup the next. it’s not empowerment to be on places, and letting yourself be groomed and taken advantage of by nasty ass people who need to be locked up. i understand that you should be able to do what you wan, and wear what you want, but there’s some disgusting people out here.

and it’s also the usual shit bothering me, the pandemic, school, my brother saying fatphobic stuff, yada yada. i want a HUG. and i need to sit in someone’s lap for god’s sake anyways.

im also pretty sure that it’s NOT normal to have this many extreme changes in mood. like i was fine earlier yesterday but as soon as i see one thing that hits too close, im upset so....anyways.

also yes i feel bad about this because i really need to talk to someone about these issues, instead of y’know, letting them pile up and haunt me until im emotionally unavailable because i hide my feelings. this is further promoting other people’s view of teens oversharing on social media. but to be honest, people are going to hate gen z, and teens for a lot of shit. and i cant stop them from doing that. i can, however, keep myself out of their line of sight and dont cause issues about it. anyways, im gonna go rewatch some invincible (wow 3rd time now). and try to keep my mind off of wanting to be in someone’s arms while we make out. :) 

[randomnameless]

FE4 run - the unofficial 3rd Gen

Procrastination at its finest here - what would happen in this run of FE4 after several years?

warning, as always, this is not serious

Queen Larcei and King Seliph of Granvalle are actually pissed at the reconstruction and their own Kingdom - why should they start trading with Agustria first and help them more than help Isaach?

The “nobles” can’t tell them that they’re “barbarians” since Larcei is obviously Isaachian so they use the “it’s too far to send help there, we must secure the Yied Desert first if we want to cross and provide them with goods etc...” card.

But then Larcei tells them that Verdane is closer, and yet Granvalle isn’t helping her brother with his rebel-taming duties. Hell, if she could, she would go there to help him get rid of the bandits. But she can’t because she is Granvalle’s Queen.

Seliph understands that providing help to Verdane will bring less benefits to Granvalle than helping Agustria - who still has a functioning economy, and, besides, as the son of Sigurd, he feels indebted to the people of Agustria (he might have read a letter his cousin’s wife gave him).

So while he is a bit furious but powerless about helping in Isaach’s reconstruction, he continues with the general trend of his forefathers and doesn’t give a fig about Verdane.

Things are difficult in mainland Granvalle for Tine, because everyone and their cats hate Freege, and demand outrageous fees for Reparations about what the Freeges did during the War - when i say everyone and their cats it’s mainly the New Kingdom of Thracia and the Miletos guilds.

Tine and Nanna will never be friendly towards each other until their deaths.

She doesn’t care about Miletos though. Hopefully Seliph puts in place a new policy about “sharing the costs” so every Duchy has to participate. Ultimately, Seliph suspends the payment when he and his cousin have a heart-to-heart talk around the famous bottle of wine because Leif knows now that bleeding dry a country or a duchy isn’t the way to build a lasting peace between nations.

Tine also has problems in her personal life, because he husband is in Jungby and if they manage to get an Ulir Crusader, soon enough they will need a Tordo one but hey, there’s no one left with Tordo blood and there’s a duty not to let bloodlines extinguish (that’s the last thing Seliph heard from F!Lewyn).

Speaking of Jungby, as expected, Faval is the golden puppet Duke whereas Lester - who managed to convince his mom to come home - rules the house. They try to repair some of Faval’s early decisions like opening the castle to accomodate all orphans in the Duchy and giving a quarter of their treasury to the Conote orphanage he used to live in. Faval loves his wife, of course, but she has a duty to recreate a new Tordo line, just like he had to take his Holy Weapon and fight in the last Holy War. So he isn’t sad.

A bit pissed, but not sad.

Johalva was acclaimed as both as a hero and as a kinslayer by the randoms of Dozel. Lana was really pissed about this, but Johalva didn’t deny the various accusations but still add that he had to do those things to protect the civilians, the innocents etc and Julius was really mad, didn’t you see the big monster disappearing in the sky during the end of the war?

He finally managed to be acclaimed as a good Duke after head-butting with some of his fellow Dukes who called him a “disgrace” and managed to make Seliph reconsider his idea of taxing Dozel more than the other Duchies (Chalphy, Jungby and Edda) in the war reparations efforts.

He and Lana also made graves for Johan and Brian, but none were made for Danan.

Lana’s a bit worried about Neir blood disappearing, but given one or two generations cousins could marry and a Crusader could be born again.

Oifey trains Seliph’s son in the ways of chivalry like he did with Seliph when he was younger, he hopes that Seliph’s son will inherit the Chalphy duchy, because he doesn’t feel like he belongs here, in the halls and the throne that were supposed to be Lord Sigurd’s and Lord Byron’s.

Arthur’s dream never comes to fruition, and despite his best efforts, he cannot manage to make the world see Velthomer as anything else but a nest of vipers and other less than savoury people. Fee is the only reason why he didn’t pack his things and run away to Silesse after ten years of rule.

Cherry on top, despite being Azelle’s son, Arthur is also known for having been the one to have killed everyone in his maternal family, so the randoms think they get the short end of the stick - he even killed Lord Ishtore who participated in the child rescues with his sister!

Hopefully with a certain priest’s help, he still managed to rebuild the Duchy so they’re not in the Verdane tier of development anymore. After Arthur’s death, the randoms in Velthomer will say that he wasn’t so bad as a Duke.

Speaking of the savages, Ulster makes his base in Evans because it’s closer to Granvalle and to the royal forces he petitions to help against the barbarians.

When Julia finally joins her husband after being fed up with flower pot duties, she moves the new capital to Genoa. “Verdane” is too remote from everywhere, and in Genoa, they’re both close to Granvalle and to Miletos. Why Miletos? The closer they are to them, the harder it is for them to ignore Verdane, so they will have to listen and maybe obey when they petition for help or to stop putting stupid tariffs on their exports.

Why should they listen? Because Julia is Seliph’s sister and he cares a lot about her well-being.

Ultimately Ulster becomes King of Verdane, but Julia remains a Princess of Granvalle. Their son is the Prince of Persia Verdane and also a Prince of Granvalle. Hopefullu, the kid has major naga blood (even if ulster was overjoyed when the kid managed to “learn” Astra because those rumours about Julia and Seliph are still bothering him, just like they bother his sister) and even if he likes Verdane a lot, some people start to tell him that he has every right to sit in Belhalla and live with the civilised people.

He tells them to fig off.

In Agustria however, there are several rebellions brewing, even after Ares became King. Some former Princes/Kings call him an imposter, other call him too subservient towards Granvalle.

Strangely, though, Lene managed to usher a new era of show and other performing arts - to the point that the New Kingdom became reknown for its great arts. The children puppet shows about the Great King Ares vanquishing the Demon of Granvalle are always full. Through those shows, Agustrians manage to live in a collective fantasy of how they participated in ending the war and fought against Loptyr.

Shagall was the Shield that tried to protect Agustria from the Loptyrians during the first Gen and Eldingan was the Sword who defeated them, but through a deception the Loptyrians had Eldingan killed, so he passed the role of the Sword to his son Ares - everyone was happy, even the old Shagall partisans who, at first, didn’t want Ares or Eldie’s line to usurp the previous line of the Kings of Agustria and reminded Ares of Eldie and House Nodion’s vows.

Sadly enough, Lene wanted to make the lives of the performers and other orphans better with the economic profits earnt by those shoes, but it disappeared in the pockets of the people who were organising said shows. 

Delmud was busy ruling the rest of the country, and exchanging letters with his sister and King Seliph, as the cordial man he has always been.

In Thracia’s New Kingdom we had Leif and Nanna happily creating a new dynasty - and Altenna’s forever alone.

Arion disappeared, and everyone thought that the line of Dain perished with him. However, one of Leif’s former cleric friends told him that there is a child living in (again) an orphanage in Tahra who is Lord Arion’s kid, but for his own sake, it’s better to live as an ignorant peasant than as a prince who lost his kingdom, wouldn’t he agree?

Due to Altenna’s dedication, and Hannibal’s popularity, the Thracians weren’t that crushed when the unification happened, and even if the northeners still have a better lifestyle then their southerners brothers, at the end of Leif’s reign, both people start to have to same lifestyles as in, there are brigands and piss poor people on both sides of the peninsula, but also, rich merchants and assholes in the South too.

Leif is aware that when he asked money to Seliph he acted a bit selfishly, but his Kingdom passes first. They still managed to remain great friends, and Leif’s son married Seliph’s daughter.

In Silesse, Ced manages to get a major blooded baby on someone but realises that he was never cut out to be a King, given how the country governed itself without him during all those years. 

However, he didn’t bail out like his Father, and started to make several researches about dragons, and the mytical land of Archanea - prompted by Loptyr’s sight at the end of the war, and also, because of F!Lewyn.

He volunteered on the first expedition (passing through the northern seas of Silesse) but realised that his place was in Silesse, to study more and, maybe, start to develop trading routes to the new land. It’s only during the last years of his life that he managed to see a returning ship - after several years, sailors finally managed to land somewhere ; they brought him special endemic fruits found in that new land : Zofian Oranges.

The Isaachian people were happy when Shanan returned, because they heard disturbing rumours about their King misbehaving in Thracia and thought that if those rumours started, that meant that he was dead and some man tried to usurp his good name.

They were relieved when they saw him again.

Since the Isaachians had been freed early, they manage to reinstall some sort of government in Isaach (the capital) and everyone from the other kingdoms pledged their allegiance to Shanan - granted, they couldn’t find the former nobles of Sophara, so it was just some elders who participated in the ceremony.

Shanan was a bit disappointed that Granvalle didn’t send as much help as they expected, but thought that maybe Seliph was busy managing internal affairs.

Sadly for him, Patty gave birth to 3 children who all had the brand of Odo on their backs.

He decided that the eldest would remain in Isaac, one would go to Sophara and the last to Ganeishire. 

But the one who was in Sophara wanted to inherit Isaach’s throne, given how he was a boy while the eldest was a woman, and trouble ensued.

More trouble ensued when Seliph’s son didn’t want to return to Chalphy and remain in Belhalla, and when Julia’s granddaughter has had enough of Verdane and managed to steal the Book of Naga, wanting to return to Belhalla.

France Agustria declared itself the Holy land and elected a pope, who took residence in Orgahill and who managed to hear the voices whispers of the gods. Soon enough, being the eldest brother of the Pope, Ares’ son, when he became King, declared the Thracians heretics, for they were developing and practicing dark magic.

Miletos tried to rob everyone using the various tensions as catalysts, but, in the end, they were unable to do a thing when Ares’ second daughter managed to survive a shipwreck when Leif’s only son didn’t. Thracia accused Miletos of having staged an accident to get rid of their heir - Leif’s daughter managed to find (or forge, depends on the POV) a letter detailing how Agustria paid the corrupt Miletosians to sabotage her brother’s lifeboat.

Hopefully Seliph died a few years before the start of the Third War, so he never knew how much the next generation managed to screw what he and friends fought for.

the end

[theonyxpath]

Thanks everyone who commented on our blog posts last week. Hearing from you was both informative and very helpful. As you might imagine, we spent a fair amount of time during this week’s Monday Meeting discussing the reactions we’ve encountered.

End of the day, we’ve tried from the beginning of Onyx Path‘s existence to bring in new and diverse creators onto our projects, and now that we’re starting to make that work, we’re not going to let them feel threatened here.

Dystopia Rising: Evolution art by Sam Denmark

While it might seem like a tonal shift to now start talking about the Lunars Kickstarter; all of last week and into the meeting today we looked to this KS as an awesome positive example of what we do in the midst of a lot of negativity.

Gotta have light shining in the dark, gotta have the good with the bad.

Part of why we’re grooving on the Kickstarter and all the great comments and posts about Lunars as we “leak” out parts of the manuscript, is that we’re hearing so many folks enjoying what they are reading. That’s great, and it is what we hoped for, as there’s always been a feeling on the creative level that the last two editions just didn’t do full justice to the Lunars.

As per the blog title: 3rd time’s the charm. (All the puns and allusions intended).

Here’s hoping everyone’s enthusiasm stays stoked once all the text is revealed by the end of the Kickstarter – we certainly think it’s all great!

Trinity Continuum: Aeon art by Gunship Revolution

Something else that I’m personally thrilled by is the Scarred Lands game being played by Devil’s Luck Gaming on their Twitch channel here:https://twitch.tv/videos/385880467

For me, I was very impressed by the costuming and design of the promo I saw, but started chortling when I saw the Slitherin ratman all made up and squeaking! See, I was the one who originally wrote their first descriptions in the first Creature Collection.

And no, I did not name them after the House. I had not even read those books when I gave them that name, but boy did I realize how it sounded after I did! I was going more for the feel of them slithering up out of the ground and from sewers, with dirty jagged daggers in hand.

So it’s an absolute thrill to see one of them being played, and played so well. Check it out if you can.

Dystopia Rising: Evolution art by Marco Gonzales

Finally, we talked about the Onyx Pathcast interview with Eric Zawadzki about his work on Deviant, and how he has stepped into Dave Brookshaw’s shoes as developer of the book.

You can hear Eric’s enthusiasm for Deviant, and how infectious that is during the interview, and we’re all extremely excited to be getting closer to presenting this new kind of supernatural for Chronicles of Darkness.

Eddy notes several times how the themes of Deviant are very basic, very grounded, and very evocative for our current time. Deviants are very accessible as characters, and very flexible in what could inspire them. There are just so many pop culture references that could be drawn from, as well as classical stories of quests for revenge and payback.

Take a listen, if you have the time, and I think you’ll agree just from listening to Eric, Dixie, and Eddie talk about the game. Link down below in the BLURBS! section.

Until next week, remember:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER:

Two weeks into our Kickstarter for the Deluxe version of EX3‘s Lunars (that funded in less than 40 minutes) and we are over 300% funded and have over 1777 backers! Multiple Stretch Goals have already been achieved, and we’ve just gotten started. So c’mon and get your beast-form on and join the fun

The Story Told Podcast has a wonderful interview about Lunars: Fangs at the Gate: https://thestorytold.libsyn.com/bonus-episode-5-exalted-lunar-ks-interview-with-eric-minton

ONYX PATH MEDIA

Illustration by Michael Gaydos

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast has our Terrifying Trio taking a break from TTRPGs to look at card and board games that they know and love. https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

And Here’s More Media About Our Worlds:

If YOU have a podcast, YouTube or Twitch channel, or talk about games on a blog or other website, and want to perform actual plays or make reviews of our games, please reach out to the Gentleman Gamer on the Onyx Path forum. From there we’ll share emails and get you started, so when you do start producing content we’ll be able to promote it on our blog and YouTube channel!

The Story Told Podcast started on their character creation session for Wraith: The Oblivion, which you can find here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/episode-21-wraith-character-creation

On our channel, we uploaded the first episode of Red Moon Roleplaying’s Changeling: The Lost actual play: https://youtu.be/vNlAmsFrMiQ

Not only that, but we continued the They Came from Beneath the Sea! actual play, also run by Red Moon Roleplaying: https://youtu.be/fY7sRVqiOl0

Ah yes!

Devil’s Luck Gaming have just commenced their Scarred Lands campaign on Twitch, named Pirates of Blood Water. It’s for mature audiences only and we hope you enjoy! https://twitch.tv/videos/385880467

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

ELECTRONIC GAMING:

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is both rolling and rocking!

Here���s an update from the App devs:

Onyx Dice!  We’ve recently released the Changeling: The Lost, Trinity Continuum: Aeon dice, and now the Geist dice.  Next up on our radar is: Demon: The Fallen,  Mummy: The Resurrection,  Kindred of the East, Vampire Dark Ages, and Mummy: The Curse.

We have a serious issue on the Pixel and Motorola phones that prevent the user from using the app correctly.  A fix is coming shortly.  A temporary workaround is to minimize the app without shutting it down, and then restore it.

ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue you bought it from. Reviews really, really help us with getting folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the Screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can now order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296

And available this week! Deluxe Changeling: The Dreaming and Deluxe Beckett’s Jyhad Diary! The additional books we have after the Kickstarter ship-outs are done are now at IPR!

DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

This Wednesday, we’re offering our monthly Exalted 3rd PDF releases!

CONVENTIONS

UK Games Expo: May 31st – June 2nd Gen Con: August 1st – August 4th Save Against Fear: Oct 12-14 GameHoleCon: October 31st – November 3rd We’ll also be back at PAX Unplugged later this year. n!

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM FAST EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Geist2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Distant Worlds (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

TC: Aeon Ready Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Heroic Land Dwellers (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Redlines

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Let The Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Second Draft

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Ready Made Characters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Cavaliers of Mars)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Development

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

CofD Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Memento Mori: the GtSE 2e Companion (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Manuscript Approval:

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Editing:

Aeon Aexpansion (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

V5 Chicago By Night (Vampire: The Masquerade)

V5 Chicago By Night Screen (Vampire: The Masquerade)

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

C20 Novel: Cup of Dreams (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Scion Jumpstart (Scion 2nd Edition)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Post-Editing Development:

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Night Horrors: Shunned by the Moon (Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition)

Dystopia Rising: Evolution (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

Tales of Excellent Cats (Monarchies of Mau)

Wr20 Book of Oblivion (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Indexing:

Ex3 Dragon Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

The Realm – Gong’s and Yiyhoung’s stuff in… Gunship and Priscilla are working.

Ex3 Monthly Stuff  

Chicago By Night – AD’d.

Aeon Aexpansion – Emailing artists.

They Came From Beneath the Sea!

EX3 Lunars – KS going.

Signs of Sorcery

Hunter: The Vigil 2

Shunned By the Moon – All artists contracted again.

Book of Oblivion – Sketches coming in slowly but surely- some finals.

Contagion Chronicle – AD’d for KS.

Marketing Stuff

In Layout

Dystopia Rising: Evolution

Proofing

M20: Gods and Monsters – Satyr Phil inputting backer errata.

Pugmire Roll of Good Dogs and Cats

Adventures for Curious Cats

Trinity Core – Mind Meld.

Trinity Aeon – Mind Meld.

Ex3 Dragon Blooded – Indexing.

Geist 2e – 2nd Proof.

C20 Player’s Guide

False Images – EX3 novel – Finishing inputting backer errata.

In Media Res

At Press

Scion Hero – Getting printer proofs this week.

Scion Origin – Getting printer proofs this week.

Scion Dice – At Studio2.

Scion Screen – At Studio2.

Fetch Quest – At Studio2

TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: 

Today in 1971, Sean Astin was born and then was raised by Gomez Addams. Later, he searched for pirate treasure with his goony friends, played football, and became a gardener for the Baggins family. After a long journey to return a particularly memorable piece of jewelry to the manufacturer’s facilities for a refund, he was elected Mayor of his town of residence. Let’s hear it for “our Sam”!

[thebeltcameback]

pink shoes time! gonna put it all in one post since my peas were found by the barbie blogs

no filter. just thoughts

the opening credits font has weird proportions

im gonna like the costumer character

i knew going in that this would be low res but this is low res. so blurry

augh their eyes

i wish i was that physically active

i too have a bucket

ya coulda waited until she was over miss antagonist

just put a sign on the wall behind the curtain that says

become the cow

*milkmaid. same thing.

turn down the music. give her earplugs. idk. if you're teaching someone you gotta be flexible. if they fall into the same mistakes you gotta try different solutions

yep hailey is mine now

oh this is so awkward i adore it

"beef stew or foie gras?"

"well, foie gras, of course."

"aHA!"

is foie gras spelled like that? ... yes. ... it's liver?? and the birds it comes from can't do anything?? i will never understand french food. also i thought itd be grass /gen

"that's hilarious!" (trying to escape situation via implying a joke)

"it's hilarian."

BUCKET

"seventeen?? better late than never my sweet"

...

"itwasanicebucket!"

hailey's sfx. just. yes. continue. summarize the plots of many more movies please. i vaguely remember you geting frozen and forced to dance but please please please go on.

speaking of, i can't believe how inspiring the snow queen was to future generations. just look at technoblade's 3rd potato war video! *off in the distance*: dance, potato boy, dance!

barbie you are so oblivious and thats a-okay. unless your father is stressed at the dinner table and says "i need a break" and you respond on instinct "have a kitkat." then it's not okay. it's not okay.

the snow queen freezing people is way less dramatic than eris whirling merfolk and i think that's good for a kid-friendly replacement of death. loss is frequently silent and not dramatic.

ooh the soundtrack got more sinister as she sledded off. love it

hailey wordlessly starts crawling to the inciting incident shoes XD

pretty landscape

anddd now she's odette instead of gizelle. summary please?

you know in first grade i was a snowflake in the nutcracker. that dress was pretty. i have no clue where it went.

bro stop freeze-drying your subordinates you'll hinder your progress.

"and this lake is made of their parents' tears!"

"ewwww! how'd i miss that part?

...

"is this uhh domestic silk or imported?" she says to a magic swan

bye bye choreography

the skirt really IS good at social distancing

okay its daytime i guess

goatee man in busheessss

i got the summary i wanted!! wooooo! :D

why must he limpwrist in order to do magic

hailey still has glasses as a bird! also im jealous

honk honk

peck peck

swan jerky

is odeal real. is that a part of the actual musical piece

eli go for secret door next 'kay?

to be fair, bows do require some strength. it only makes sense that this guy's first atrempt is pathetic

the wing flapping looks like how youd first animate an eye blinking if youve never seen those blinking tutorials

hilarian is absolutely a golden retriever prince i-forgot-your-name

goatee man why are you peeking put from your curtains

okay the wing flapping got better as they got more tired

they're facing the same dorectoon 90% of the time how does that count as gazing into her eyes

yeesss spread terror

become bird

bye bye choreography

now he can tell the difference

mmm dont teach him modern slang

the AC arrived! hailey is a sculpture now!

there is one way to dance these steps: the way your doctor recommends! dancing is exercise and you should not go too far beyond your body's limits

dammit this is just the sleeping beauty dress again except the female lead is conscious

okay the snow queen imploded

yay climate change

more sfx! my life is complete

we werent in the real world the entire time?? why is everything suddenly going right in the real world. i was not aware of these developments

hmm. hailey, were your last minute enhancements perhaps magical in nature?

best fucking song/gen

🎶keep on dancing! unless you're not physically fit enough to continue!🎶

wait the milkmaid was supposed to have backup dancers? why werent they in rehearsal?

ohmygodthetwoidiotsaretheinternationalballetcompany apologies for my forgetfulness

haileyyyyy

wait does this make my kristine oc who is completely unrelated the second kristen? this movie is 2013 and kristine is end of 2018

katerina, how many upcoming ballet dancers have you sent on magical adventures? thats an awful lot of pink shoes.

... how many costuming sidekicks have you sent on magical adventures?

no credits? guess i cant check the name spellings

[crazy4tank]

10 Cheap JDM Cars That Will Skyrocket In Value | HotCars

New Post has been published on https://coolcarsnews.com/10-cheap-jdm-cars-that-will-skyrocket-in-value-hotcars/

10 Cheap JDM Cars That Will Skyrocket In Value | HotCars

The Property of the Rising Sun has provided us some of the sickest performance cars on earth . There's the amazingly gorgeous Toyota 2000 GRAND TOURING from the 1960s, different decades of the Nissan GT-R plus Z-cars, Mazda's rotary-powered monsters, the list of automotive gemstones from Japan doesn't appear to end.

Updated April 2021: This particular list has been updated to be able to more accurate and better reveal the current Japanese classic vehicle market. In some cases, prices have got increased drastically, but you may still find plenty of bargains out there for drivers who are willing to spend some time searching the particular classifieds. There's certainly no much better time to buy one of these vehicles than right now as costs are expected to increase even more.

For whatever reason, Japan classics never fetched just as much as their European or United states counterparts, at least not till recently. Nowadays, JDM symbols such as the MKIV Toyota Supra are already traversing the auction block nicely into 6-figure price ranges , way out of reach for the standard car enthusiast.

RELATED: 10 Of The Best Nissan Vehicle Models On The Market

However , you may still find some diamonds in the tough, just waiting for their time for you to shine. That means it's time for you to go dig through the sofa for some pocket change plus hit up your local classified listings for one of these future JDM classics.

10 Ford Prelude 3rd Generation

via Uniquecarsandparts

Honda’s sports activities coupe never really enjoyed especially strong sales during the 23 years on the market. It had been somewhat popular, but few-people realized what a gem it truly was. The reason might be right down to its increased price plus lower practicality, making it overshadowed by some of Honda’s various other offerings, such as the Accord Sports coupe. But Honda’s loss can be your gain.

The Prelude – especially the 3rd Generation Model – is almost like a baby NSX design-wise. A mere fistful associated with dollars will get you a smooth wedge design, popup car headlights, and body-hugging bucket chairs in a car with a nice looking overall personality – it also has the handling to match! The particular 4-wheel-steering equipped Si versions even outshone Ferraris plus Corvettes of the era within slalom tests.

nine Toyota Celica GT-S 7th Generation

via Motortrend

After an entire 36 years on the market, Toyota said goodbye to the affordable sports coupe using this 7th and final era. The 7th-gen GT-S can rev up to 8, three hundred RPM and made one hundred and eighty horsepower straight off the display room floor. But it didn't finish there, Toyota Racing Advancement, or TRD for brief, offered a number of bolt-on improvements, including a performance exhaust, brief shifter, lowering springs, along with a more aerodynamic body package.

RELATED: fifteen Surprising Facts Toyota Executives Want Drivers To Disregard

TRD even designed the supercharger for the engine, yet you’ll have to do some function to make it fit under the Celica’s hood. Speaking of what's underneath the hood, this engine is a star, Lotus used it within cars such as the Elise plus Exige.

8 Acura RSX Type-S

via Supercars

The particular Acura Integra was a good icon of the 90s plus proved front-wheel-drive cars can still hold their own – especially with the incredible Integra Type-R . Good luck finding one of those pertaining to sensible money these days even though. Honda tried to fill the particular Integra's big shoes using this – the Acura RSX. However , it never really achieved the same cult status since the Integra, but that doesn't imply the RSX Type-S was obviously a bad car.

The 210 horsepower, guide 6-speed transmission-only coupe has been bathed in sporty additions, like bigger brakes, sport-tuned managing, a re-worked engine, plus an optional body package reminiscent of the Type-R, enormous wing and all. You'll want to get your own sooner rather than later.

7 Infiniti G35

via Pinterest

This might perfectly be the cheapest way directly into Skyline ownership. That’s due to the fact, in The japanese, the G35 was advertised as a Skyline .

ASSOCIATED: 15 Surprising Information about The Nissan Skyline

It provides rear-wheel drive, a 6-speed manual transmission, and it's really fun to drive. Plus, that it is available in both coupe plus sedan configurations. Find yourself an example, and you might just have an upcoming classic on your hands. As well as, you can tell people a person drive a Skyline, and you also can't put a price label on that!

six Mazda Miata NB

through Auto123

This little Mazda is usually virtually guaranteed to be a good appreciating asset at this point. The first gen ‘NA’ Miatas were climbing in price for a few years currently, but the NB can still become picked up for reasonable cash.

RELATED: 3 decades Of The Mazda MX-5 Miata In 15 Pictures

The particular NB Miata featured numerous updates over its forerunner, most notably the deletion from the popup headlights, which is indeed a shame. However , the Miata is all about providing its proprietor with the maximum amount of traveling fun with little extras at a low cost. The NORTH CAROLINA and ND variants appear to have forgotten about the cheap part. But not this small guy.

5 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart

via Carsinvasion

Consider it a baby Lancer Evolution. The particular Ralliart bridged the distance between the standard Lancer as well as the iconic top of the line Evo . It showcased the same engine as present in the Evo, albeit within slightly detuned form since it was paired with a smaller sized turbocharger.

Additionally, it had some Evo-style the rules of aerodynamics going on, including a new front side and rear bumper as well as the all-important rear spoiler. They have an understated car with a lot of potential, and it should be acquired before other enthusiasts begin recognizing it for what.

4 Subaru Legacy 2 . 5GT Spec. B

via Netcarshow

Subaru has high end and sporty covered perfectly with the WRX STI and the BRZ sports coupe . Their flagship vehicle, the Legacy, is significantly softer, more luxurious, and much more comfortable. But that does not mean there’s no space for some zoom.

RELATED: 10 Things Everyone Did not remember About The Subaru Impreza

There is indeed a run associated with high-performance Legacy models. Referred to as Spec. B, it showcased bigger wheels, stiffer shock absorbers, a 6-speed manual transmission – all packed in the subtle, almost nondescript package deal, unlike its STI brother.

3 Lexus SC 300

via Bestcarmag

Rear-wheel generate, 6-speed manual, 2JZ motor. But it isn’t really a Supra . The particular Lexus SC model was obviously a luxury grand touring vehicle that the company finally murdered off in 2010. We're the majority of interested in that first-generation base design though. Usually, with luxurious cars, people tend to get a bigger engine and opt for more features. But with the SOUTH CAROLINA, the entry-level ‘300’ design featured the same iconic inline-6 that made the MKIV Supra so special.

Granted, the Lexus lacked the twin-turbo set up. But just imagine the substantial aftermarket support available for this particular thing. The problem as a purchaser these days is that some proprietors are starting to become very conscious of the fact that there's a special motor hiding under the hood of the old Lexus, but discount hunters can still find good examples under $7, 000, occasionally even cheaper if you're ready to put in some work to be able to roadworthy.

2 Datsun/Nissan 300ZX

via Chromjewelen

The notice Z has quite a status to uphold in the Nissan family. You’d be hard-pressed to find a cheap, good condition 240/260/280z these days. But the Z31 plus Z32 300ZX might be the following best thing. By all steps, they drive better, manage better, and are more sleek than the famous Z-cars . But they never ever garnered the same degree of commitment the old Z’s enjoy – until now, anyway.

RELATED: Custom 1985 Nissan 300ZX Packs Supercharged OF V8 Power

The Z32 is certainly arguably one of Nissan’s most well-known vehicles, but it’s simple to find examples for well below $10, 000, as long as you're pleased with the naturally aspirated edition rather than the twin-turbo model. In the mean time, the Z31 still has not gotten more popular and can simply be had for less than $5, 000.

1 Honda Civic

via Wheelsage

Given that a low mileage Ford Civic Si sold for fifty dollars, 000 at auction , it might not be a bad idea to acquire a pristine classic instance yourself. You can still discover affordable examples of Honda’s bestselling compact around and if this particular trend continues, you could be sitting down on a fuel-efficient goldmine – if it’s not been mistreated or rusted through however.

The sixth-generation and older Civics are getting more expensive as we speak, specifically the performance versions. Civics from 2001 and more recent are still bargains, and perhaps better cars than their particular older siblings, if not since iconic.

NEXT: They are The 10 Fastest Japan Cars Ever

[megacircuit9universe]

Electro College

THU SEP 25 2020

Well, here I am on another Thursday night... Thursday being the day of the week where the big story of the week hit’s it’s terrifying apex before dying off over the weekend, and giving way to the next big story that starts as a whisper on Monday, and builds steam over Tuesday and Wednesday.

What was last Thursday?  Suckers and Losers? What was it the week before that?  Trump telling Woodward he knew the virus was airborne and deadly back in February and deliberately lied about it?  Don’t cite me on that timeline, because the point is, every week it’s something that makes you forget what you were freaking out about last Thursday... which I guess is why I’m here?

Before we get to this week’s big story, I need to circle back to the last entry, on a Friday, when the TikTok ban was an absolute certainty... which was to take effect on Sunday.

Well... everybody on TikTok was very sad and angry about that, but then news came on Saturday afternoon that... surprise... the deal somehow went through and TikTok is here to stay... (?) (!) (?) (!)

The other big thing that happend on Friday, of course was the death of RGB, and since then, the GOP  has been in lockstep about confirming a new justice as soon as humanly possible... in bald disregard for all the arguments they made in 2016 about how voters MUST have a say in such things... even while their noses have been rubbed harder in that pile of shit, by the media, than a dog belonging to the most proactive house trainer on Earth.

But, just because 100% of the GOP from the highest offices to the lowest, have their faces covered in feces right now in defense of this move to swing the court at the 11th hour... it doesn’t mean they are all slavishly loyal to Trump.  

I’d hazzard a guess that 60% of them are only on board with this, because of the dream to overturn Roe V Wade, which goes back thirty years.  

They’d sooner kill themselves than turn down this once in a lifetime, fleeting chance to so unbalance the court, that the dream can finally come true.

But...

This urgency... from the top to the bottom... this frantic scramble... in which their faces are covered in poop, and their shoes are flying off, shirts coming untucked, tupees taking flight in the political wind... this desperation, in which they do not care what they look like to observers...

...betrays one fact.

And that is, all of them know Trump will not be reelected.

Many of them know the whole Republican Party is on the verge of losing power... for at least a generation, if not forever... thanks to Trump.

But if they can tip that Supreme Court!.. well conservatism may be able to live on for another thirty years... long enough for hyper conservatism to stage a comeback.

It’s not about saving babies, by the way.  It’s never been.  The anti-abortion movement has always been about controlling women, just as all other conservative passion projects are about controlling minorities and the poor, and gatekeeping access to status, wealth, and power.

A conservative court could keep that all rolling for them as they struggle to brainwash a new generation of their own kids to win back seats of power in the other branches of government... or so they hope!  But it’s a gamble they just have to take in this desperate hour.

Now, it is true that the slavishly loyal cabal of Trump loyalists in the Senate and a few other places do want this Supreme Court nomination rammed through for... la la la.. save the babies or whatever.. but in their heads it’s very much more about saving the coup!  

These guys, McConnell, Graham, and friends, saw a different dream within their grasp after Trump won in 2016... 

...the dream of bringing all three branches of Federal government under the control of a single Republican strong man... for good.  It was a bold vision, but... four years wasn’t gonna be enough time.

Tearing down an entire democracy is hard guys!

It takes time!

They worked as hard as they could though!  You have to give them that!

They know just as well as the rest of the GOP, that Trump will not get reelected.  Not after Covid19.  Not with Biden still ahead by seven points this long after the conventions, and this close to November 3rd.

So for them, ramming through a replacement for RGB is seen as a Hail Mary play, to outright reject the election results.  And they’ve said as much this week, as has Trump.  They’re laying the flimsy foundations for this final bid to hold power, as best they can.

Flimsy because it’s both very last minute, and also... relies on people believing their word has any value...

Sure, we’ll support a peaceful transition of power if Trump loses, we promise! But we just want to make sure elections are fair!

...in a political moment where they’re also saying out loud, FUCK WHAT I SAID RECENTLY I’M DOING A 180 AND FUCK YOU!

The idea is... the results will probably be close enough in a couple key states, that they can contest the results and take it to a pre-packed Supreme Court who will grant Trump the victory.

There was even talk of pressuring states to send Republican electors to vote for Trump, even if the popular vote totals in the imagined key states was heavily in favor of Biden.

Again, that might trigger a Supreme Court case, cuz you can’t get on a state ballot in the first place, unless you agree not to try a stunt like that, but... their packed court would rule in Trump’s favor and... American democracy as we knew it would be over.

Maybe not the most ideal way to stay in power, but... still a workable plan... or so they think.

But this plan hinges on the so-called, “red mirage,” to materlialize on election night... which is itself, a delusional theory.  

It’s based on the idea that all Democratic voters will vote by mail, while all Republican voters will vote in person.  Thus, election night results will see most states turning red, and Democrats will be in a position where they’re calling for time, for the mail in votes to slowly trickle in and be counted over the next couple weeks... promising that Biden really won it, once the final count is done.

But that’s not reality.

What is reality?  

Well, first of all, states that are too close to call don’t get colored either red or blue, so in this scenario, it’d just be a bunch of gray states that were not called either way, pending more data.

But setting that to one side, let’s look at what the reality is likely to be, and then let’s look at how things would play out... even if Red Mirage was a reality on November 3rd...

REALITY: Trumps only path to squeak out 270 electoral votes is if he wins both Wisconsin and Nevada... along with... all the states that normally turn red, such as Texas, Florida, etc.

The problem is, Biden is ahead by two to three points in both Wisconsin and Nevada... along with several of the states that normally turn red, such as Texas, Florida, etc.

This means that all Biden has to do is win either Wisconsin or Nevada, and he’s to 270... and any other normally red states he wins (and there are several which are leaning his direction right now) will only solidify that win.

But Trump has already pulled adds in Wisconsin, and Nevada... because his campaign is running out of money... which is astonishing, given how much they had to start with but... criminals like to pocket huge sums of donation money so... now they’re feeling the hurt from that, because they can’t even fight in the two states they definitely need... that Biden is winning.

Meanwhile, Biden’s got massive inflows of donation money, as have all the rest of the Democrats down ballot... thanks to what the GOPs been doing in the wake of RGB, and thanks to, “loser and suckers,” and lying to the public about Covid, etc.

Millenials, and GenZ have also not forgotten about the TikTok ban, even if they’ve gotten yet another reprieve from it, and do still very much plan to storm the polls on November 3rd, along with GenX, who elected Obama/Biden all by themselves before either of these newer, much larger gens were old enough to vote.

Trump already spooked everybody out of voting by mail several weeks ago with his assault on the USPS, and so everybody who can is already early voting... and facing resistance from illicit and illegal militia groups in some states on the early voting fronts which... in this year of bravery in the face of fascism in the streets... means only more storming of polls in every way possible to guarantee a landslide for Biden on election night, before bedtime.

Keep in mind that right now, Trump supporters are also being successfully brainwashed into thinking theres no way Trump can lose.  They have to be brainwashed to think this, so that they’ll go along with the argument (after he does lose) that it was all rigged.  

But this brainwashing beforehand means... they, are gonna stay home and be complacent, just as Hillary voters did in 2016.

The election map is, thus, gonna be so blue, on election night, that Trump’s only recourse will be this:  

“ITS OBVIOUSLY RIGGED, BECAUSE THERES NO WAY ALL THOSE STATES TURNED SO BLUE BY SUCH HUGE MARGINS!”

In effect... he will be crying about a blue mirage, on November 4th.

And while that may play with his stunned supporters... it’s NOT gonna play with the Supreme Court, or the military, or the destroyed GOP Senate, or even Fox News.

RED MIRAGE SCENARIO:  Okay, but what about the other scenario where there IS a red mirage, just for the sake of argument, and Trump immediately moves to block the counting of any absentee votes still out there in the mail?  

Well... the only hope of stopping such ballots from being counted, would be to get the Supreme Court on board.  BUT... even with more conservatives than liberals on the nine person court... they, the Justices, would know, for a certainty, that to rule in his favor... to not count valid votes on the flimsy, proof-free argument that mail in ballots are inherently fraudulent... during a pandemic... would result in a fucking civil war the same day as the ruling.

In other words... Trump would be leaving it on their shoulders, to destroy the Constitution... which is the exact opposite of what the Supreme Court is all about, and the exact opposite of how they maintain their hold on one third of he power in this three-branch democracy.

And even a grade school child knows, if they did that, in this political climate, civil war would begin the next hour... and we’re a nuclear power so... a civil war here could well lead to the end of the world.

They’re not gonna do that, and they don’t have to.

The whole stupid strategy by the right, of packing the Supreme Court with conservative Justices has always been idiotic, because once you’re on the Supreme Court, you’re beholden to nobody.

Not only are you beholden to nobody... but your power to stay beholden to nobody is all about showing your beholden to nobody, by upholding the sacred reputation of the Supreme Court as a body of untouchables who only care about the Constitution, and the correctitude of all the previous rulings by the Supreme Court.

This is why my father, a life long conservative, has been so butt-hurt, all his life, every time the new conservative Supreme Court justice rules in favor of the liberal thing!  Why?  How?  Where is their party loyalty???

Sorry dude, but that’s how the founding fathers designed it.  They get life long appointments without needing to run for reelection, so... they’re free to actually follow their conscience once in a while.

Thanks Trump, for nominating me.  Thanks Mitch, for ramming me through.  Now... fuck you both!  I’m not starting your fucking civil war, go to hell!

The Supreme Court was already doing this to Trump very recently, so... what?... is the death of RGB supposed to make them suddenly fall in line?  More likely, it will make them more determined to respect her legacy, and show the planet that they do not bow to would be dictators.

Trump is toast... stuck in the toaster... getting burnt, and setting off the smoke alarm, because he refuses to eject.  And the GOP senate... is sticking a butter knife in there, to try and help him... just before the sprinklers go off.

And with that, it is time for bed.

[fromthedeskoftheminister]

Rise of a Region

Summary: A Friendly between three Quidditch teams becomes all the more interesting when a mysterious spectator joins the games.

Tags: Mysterious disappearances mentioned, suspected death mentioned, Whitebeard Pirates, Straw Hat Pirates, Revolutionaries, Quidditch AU, College AU, Modern World AU, Gen Fic, mild cursing, Entirely UnBetaed

AN: It is a time when tumblr is dead and Ive been sitting on this ficlit for a while. US Quidditch Cup 10 starts this weekend and Im going to be watching, so I figure its probably a decent time to post this. I’ll reblog it again before games start in the morning, but I want to post before I forget. Before I begin, Yes, Muggle Quidditch is a thing. Yes it is international. Australia won last year’s world cup. Yes, Brooms are used. Yes it is a full contact sport. No, we do not fly. The Snitch is a tennis ball in a sock velcroed to a neutral 3rd parties rear. It is only worth 30 points. Catching it, separating the sock from the person, ends the game. And I think thats all. If you have any sort of question about the story or quidditch, my inbox is open

                                                  Rise of A Region

The field was a nice one, Marco absently thought as he surveyed the grounds from his vantage point on the hill just behind the soccer goalposts.  Turf field, regulation size brooms, plenty of extra balls and a set of what looked like a set Peterson hoops were set up on one half of the soccer field he was overlooking.  Random joyous yelling drifted up to him as people greeted each other and he let the sounds wash over him.  He was going to sit here and enjoy the sunshine in peace and relative quiet before the rest of the team arrived and he had to go manage things, make introductions and generally figure out the plan of action.

The spring sun was bright, warming the day to a rather comfortable temperature that was just shy of being too hot.  It was negated by a very gentle breeze pushing the barest wisp of a cloud lazily across the brilliant blue sky.  Marco set his hands behind him and returned his lazy gaze to the people on the field below.  They had just started to set up their equipment and Marco checked the time.  He had an hour or so before the friendlies were supposed to start but if he knew his team, it would in reality be more like 2.  So what was he going to do to pass the time?  Marco was half temped to copy the guy he had spotted while searching for a dry spot to sit and just take a nap.

While it sounded nice in theory, he knew it would be a bad idea.  He wanted to be at his best for these matches.  Their region was new as were the two teams that had invited them here today, but they had already gained something of a rep.  Frankly, Marco decided, readjusting how he was sitting to see the field a bit more clearly he would be better served watching their practice and warm up in an attempt to figure out the team’s strengths and weaknesses.

He wasn’t entirely sure how long he was watching for before the squishing sound of a canvas shoe stepping into a particularly viscous muddy patch alerted him to the fact that he had company.  The arm that draped itself over his shoulder accompanied by a rather ridiculous red pompadour alerted him to the fact that Thatch had finally woken up and realized that they had arrived at their location.  Due to their prolonged friendship he was probably one of the only people that would take such liberties.  They watched in silence as the group of people below, which had only grown in size since Marco had started watching, completed a rather complex scoring drill.

“You’ve got maybe 5 minutes before the rest of the group starts arriving. ” he said with a yawn.

Marco raised an eyebrow at that. “You mean they’re actually going to be on time today?”

Thatch managed to look offended “Hey!  We totally get places on time!”

Marco snorted, clearly amused. “Only because I’ve been purposely telling the group the wrong start time of tournaments for at least a year or so.  Today’s the first time since that disaster that was our first tournament that I didn’t.”

Thatch gaped at him then rolled his eyes. “Of course you have.  I can’t believe I forgot how devious you can be.”

“So, how late?” Marco chuckled.

Thatch grinned as well. “Last car should be here in 30 minutes at the latest.”

“Right.” Marco said shrugging Thatch’s arm from his shoulders as he smoothly rose from his seat.  “I should probably go let them know then.  And introduce myself while I’m at it.  I don’t think I’ve actually ever met Sabo in person.”  He turned to offer Thatch a hand up, but his friend had already hoisted himself to his feet.

“Might want to hold up a second.  I see Haruta’s car.” Thatch said and Marco nodded in acquiescence.  They didn’t have to wait long.  The car had scarcely come to a stop before Haruta tumbled out full of their usual boundless energy and scampered over.

“Hey guys!” They cried out cheerfully as they attempted to scramble up Thatch’s back, clearly attempting to get a piggyback.  “Where are the others?”

“Not here yet.” Thatch said

“Whoohoo!” Haruta yelled “Its not us who’s last this time!”

“Impossible things have been known to happen.” Marco said dryly as Jiru, Izou, and Jozu joined them on the hill.  Haruta made a face when they caught the teasing tone directed their way.

“Yeah yeah.  Get lost one time…” They grumbled good-naturedly and Thatch snorted from beneath them as they settled themselves on his back.

“Once?  Try like ten or fifteen and then you might, just might be in the ball park” Marco teased.

Haruta stuck out their tongue in response before exclaiming, “Lets go!”  Apparently spurred on by the other’s enthusiasm, Thatch took off down the hill like a shot with Haruta whooping like a maniac on his back.  Jiru, the only certified EMT of their group took off a second later yelling semi-jokingly at the pair that they’d better not hurt themselves.  Marco rolled his eyes at the antics of his teammates before heading down towards the pitch himself at a much more sedate pace.

Izou matched his stride and after a moment inquired “So?”

Marco shrugged. He knew exactly what the other was asking.  “Not sure yet.  I’ve heard that The Strawhats have a stronger chaser lineup with fast breaks while the Revolutionaries tend to favor gaining bludger control and taking their time.  We should be able to beat them with ease but seeing as the two teams have been practicing together the entire time, I don’t exactly know who’s on which team.  This would also be a bit easier if I actually knew what Sabo looked like as well.”

“You still don’t know?” Izou asked incredulously.

Marco simply shrugged.  How was he supposed to know what the other man looked like?  He wasn’t on Facebook all that much and Sabo’s profile picture there was simply an icon of a Tophat.  The other captain had emailed him instead of using a chat feature and in doing the set up for this friendly they simply had never gotten around to meeting one another face to face.

“Ah, I can help with that.”  A new voice said cutting into the conversation. The source was somewhere near their feet and Marco looked down to meet a pair of curious silver eyes peering up at him from underneath a vibrantly orange cowboy hat.

“Really?” Izou asked, sounding skeptical. Despite the warmth of the day, the other man was bundled up rather seriously.

“Yeah.  You said you were looking for Sabo right?” The stranger said as they pulled themselves to their feet.  He adjusted his hat to get a better view of the field revealing a face full of freckles atop a deep tan. Without bothering to wait for an answer the other man continued.  “Ah, found him.  He’s the blonde one over there,” the stranger said making a vague gesture as he stooped down to grab a green zebra stripped bag with a rather intricately designed spade over one pocket.

“Well, that’s not terribly helpful,” Marco said, glancing in the direction that the stranger had gestured to before turning back to the other man.  “There are currently several blonds ‘over there.’  Can you be a bit more specific?”

“Sure.” The stranger said. “He’s the only blond with facial scars.  Here, why don’t I just introduce you?

Marco shrugged then offered out a hand. “Sounds good to me.  I’m Marco by the way.”

“Izou.” Izou offered with a wave of his hand.  The creased brow between his friend’s eyebrows was rather telling.  It meant that Izou was trying to remember something, though at the moment it probably came off as unfriendly.  It didn’t seem to bother the cheerful stranger who returned the introductions with a smirk.

“Nice t’ meetcha.  I’m Ace.” Ace said shaking Marco’s hand before the trio resumed their walk to the pitch. “Who do you play for?”

“Eh?  Oh, the Whitebeards.”

Ace looked rather impressed by that statement. “For real?  That’s the shit man. Thought you guys weren’t a part of this region though?”

“We are now.” Marco said with a smile. “With the Strawhats and the Revolutionaries joining up, the board finally decided there were enough teams in the area to qualify for a region of our own.”

“Sweet.” Ace said. “Though I hope you don’t think you guys’ll be able to just walk all over these two teams, Mr. Quidditch World Cup Champions.”

Marco simply shrugged and Ace laughed loudly, drawing stares from all over the pitch with rather amusing effects as a couple of people suddenly became recipients of bludgers to the face.  Another person, apparently startled by the laughter threw a quaffle a little too high and it sailed over the edge of the passing circle headed right towards them.  Ace snatched it out of the air and had returned the pass to another person in the circle.  That seemed to break whatever spell had come over the majority of the players except for two people in particular.  A small tan lanky boy wearing a strawhat exchanged some sort of look with a blond young man with a series of scars scattered over his left side, the most prominent one over his left eye. Ace gave a small wave and apparently that was all that was needed to cause the pair to run towards them, no at Ace, full tilt.

Ace’s eyes widened and he quickly took the bag off of his shoulder and held it out to Marco who looked at him with undisguised curiosity. “Can you do me a favor and hold this?” Ace asked, the words coming out in a rush.

“Sure.” Marco had scarcely taken the bag before Ace continued

“You might also want to take a couple of steps to the side.”

“Why?” Marco asked but the question was rendered moot as the answer came barreling past as twin blond and black blurs tackled Ace bringing him down with a lot of noise. Marco turned to Izou who was still standing beside him. “Are you as confused as I am?”

“Yes.” Izou said. “Though I finally figured out why the kid seems familiar.”

“Oh?”

“That’s Ace.”

“Im aware that’s Ace. He told us his name Izou.”

“I wasn’t done thank you. That’s Ace of Spades.”

Marco blinked. “As in the Merc team that made it to the final four of the Quidditch World Cup Championships 3 years ago? The team that was rumored to be able to give us a run for our money but ended up withdrawing due to injuries?”

“Exactly.” Izou said. “I wonder what he’s doing here. I thought all of the Spades had retired from Quidditch after that.”

“Most of us did.  The Spades as a Quidditch team no longer exists.” Ace said rejoining the pair, arms over the shoulders of the two people who had just tackled him. Strangely enough, the younger of the two the kid with the straw hat had tears running down his face while beaming like Christmas had come early.  The blond under Ace’s other arm didn’t have any tears but had a rather similar smile on his face. Marco’s curiosity was driving him crazy but he pushed it away.  He didn’t know any of these people well enough to ask about the strange series of events he had just witnessed. “And to answer your question, Im just here to visit these weirdo and play some Quidditch. Sabo, Luffy, meet Marco and Izou of the Whitebeards.”

“Nice to finally put a faces to the names.” Marco commented, hands in his pockets.

“Indeed.” Sabo said, ducking out of Ace’s hold. “Ya ready to get these games started?”

Marco looked around, and his eyes lit upon a familiar group of people that were just standing atop the hill he and Izou had just walked down. “Seeing as the rest of my team just arrived, I’ll have to say yes.”

“Great.” Sabo said. “Lets get this show on the road then.”

[bitchcraftmagic]

I do not think it is a particularly hot take to declare, unequivocally, that the discourse around Pride this year has been, how do you say, rancid. It’s been month old eggs, solid milk, wilted lettuce rancid, baby. Between the unilateral dismissal of all things rainbow to no sexy sex in front of the precious children it’s just been a real mess. And all this messiness had me thinking about my own relationship to Pride and queerness and our history and I have come to some conclusions I would like to scream out into the void, if you don’t mind.

I like to call myself a historian because I got a useless degree in it and it makes me feel good. I am not a professional by any stretch of the imagination unless there is someone who can pay me to talk out of my ass, but alas, there is not. Instead I must deliver my missives for free here on this hellsite and pretend my $320,000 financial mistake gives me any authority on the subject . With that being said I have noticed, with alarming clarity, that people don’t know fucking shit about the past. Everyone just thinks the people of the past were dumbfucks who couldn’t wipe their ass and died at the ripe old age of thirty with twenty seven kids surrounding them. Critical fucking thinking be damned. Part of this is a shitty education system and the other part is rampant incuriosity. Some motherfuckers don’t care and it shows. Others just walk around with unearned confidence thinking they know all there is to know about history. It is an epidemic that will lead to our downfall, for this I am sure. But I digress. I say all of this to illustrate that so many queer people nowadays do not have a single clue where we came from and thus our discourse has become a hell from which we cannot escape.

Every year during pride month I watch the documentary “How to Survive a Plague.” It came out in 2012, same year I did, and I have gone out of my way to watch it every year. I own it, which says something in this age of streaming. And every year as I sit and sob, heart aching, eyes swollen, despair settled into my fragile bones I ask myself why? Why do I do this? It’s not a fun watch. It’s painful. But I watch it anyways. I watch it because it humbles me. I watch it because it hurts. I watch it because I see the anger and pain of a community that was so reviled by society it was left to die. And yet they screamed so loud that they could not be ignored. I watch with awe and reverence for the people who made it a fucking point to not die in vain but to go out with such force and righteous anger that no one could look away. To see what ACT UP did, to see what just average every day people did to make sure everyone understood that this was murder by neglect is something to be proud of. The fact that we as a community survived, that we as a community did not go quietly into that good night, the fact that we still created beautiful things and had beautiful lives despite the horror and vitriol that was laid at our feet is something to be infinitely proud of. It is why we celebrate Pride. We have Pride because every time they tried to shame us, to kill us, we said fuck you. It is pain and it is beauty. That’s our history. It behooves us not to lose sight of that.

The arbiters of discourse right now, I think, are rather young queer folk. I’ve seen a stat that says a 3rd of Gen Z identify as queer and I think because they have the numbers they have a pretty loud voice within in the community. I believe, for the most part, that this is a positive. The children are the future, etc. But I think a lot of Gen Z folks have lived in a world where queer acceptance is something that is rather commonplace. It is not really and truly, of course, and there are many things that still need to change but society at large is okay with queerness. To verbally come out against the LGBTQIA+ community is seen, at the very least, as “uncool” and you will be roundly mocked for your rather regressive stance on sexuality. This doesn’t have that much substantial advantage when we are systematically oppressed but the more privileged among us don’t feel the sting of it. I think this allows many people to live in the fantasy that expressions of queerness must adhere to a new set of rules devoid of historical context.

Rainbow capitalism is the buzz word de jour. It lives in the pantheon of misunderstood terms the internet has gobbled up. Gaslighting, normalize, cancel and rainbow capitalism exist in this pseudo-leftist hellscape where annoying people with internet access wax poetic about how ‘problematic’ Rugrats actually was because Deedee didn’t seem to have a life outside of the Pickle’s offspring (I made this up for comedic affect. If it exists in reality please do not tell me about it). Rainbow capitalism started off as an intelligent critique on the way in which corporations utilized queer imagery during Pride month to seem inclusive when in fact they were part of a the very structure that oppressed us. Wells Fargo, McDonalds, Unilever, shit corporations like this that slap a rainbow on something stupid and float down some Main Street in a liberal city claiming altruism when not a penny of their massive profits went into a queer person’s pocket. What it has been reduced to is a tool to make fun of any rainbow themed thing and any corny fool who dares dawn a pair of colorful shoes. We live in a society, baby, and it’s the nasty beast of capitalism. And in the confines of that society when you are a viable consumer you have value. Capitalism recognizes profit loss and gain not humanity. You earn humanity through market value and rainbow capitalism shows us, in the most twisted way possible, we have gained cultural capital. Is it perfect or even something we should actively desire? No, not really, but it says something about the way things have changed. I’m in my late twenties and when I was a closeted queer teen there was barely any acknowledgment of Pride month. Now I get emails weeks ahead of time telling me about the Big Gay Sale that Anthropologie is going to have or whatever. Sure I roll my eyes and as a big fat commie I do not engage with it but it does say something about our shifting societal acceptance. Oreos said trans rights which is…whatever, but it is also kind of amazing when you remember that not so long ago most of our culture liked to pretend that trans people did not actually exist. For our elders they saw a world that wanted them dead and now see a world that actually wants to cater to them even if it’s only for one profitable month. It isn’t perfect but it’s something. Your problem is not the rainbow part it’s the capitalism part. You hate being reduced to a consumer instead of, say, a human fucking being with a soul. We all have to participate in this nightmare but at least we can eek out a small modicum of joy when we rub our rotting bodies down with a rainbow themed soap bar. If you truly hate rainbow capitalism so much consider celebrating Pride a month early, on May 1st, with workers around the world and strike, baby. Use that queer anger and fuck capitalism right up the ass.

This brings me to my next point. Sex belongs at pride. End of story. Kids do too. And there are ways in which kink and sex can be separated from children and families at pride. I’m as sexually repressed as any former Catholic can be but I recognize that the fact that I am uncomfortable with some kink shit is on me and no one else. Queer people have been demonized for our sexuality, for being too sexual, for being ‘deviantly’ sexual. Flaunting our sexuality is and act of defiance. Don’t get it twisted. Also, kids seeing non-explicit sexual expression is not the end of the world. Human bodies and sexuality are not inherently bad or predatory and should not radically traumatize a person, minor or otherwise. I’m not saying go to bone town in public, I’m just saying a leather harness will not make a child weep in terror. Y’all have to be smarter than this.

The discourse is bad but what is worse is that no one seems to be listening. Queer history, in all its pain and glory, is forgotten or ignored. We can’t do that. We cannot allow our stories, our lives, our pain to mean nothing. Fucking learn about our struggles and our triumphs. Don’t fucking forget this all can go away in a blink of an eye and we have to fucking fight tooth and nail to be heard and respected. A don’t forget how far we have come. Our ancestors did not fight and die for us to forget them. And our community, around the world, still suffers and cries out for us. Remember that the next time you clown on some rainbow sneakers that at least they want your money and not your fucking life.*

*this was good line to end on but I do want to acknowledge that here, in these United States, black trans women are still fighting for their lives daily. I just liked the, uh, semi-poetic nature of the sentence. Thankyousomuch.