Be Careful What You Wish For
Tucker could make fun of him for not reading comics all he wanted, but Danny really did enjoy reading them. He just didn't have much time to after the Accident, with all of the ghost attacks.
He had the time now, he supposed. There were no ghost attacks anymore, not with Vlad "taking care of them".
He was almost scared to find out what the Fruit Loop meant by that.
Danny sighed, staring up at the bare white ceiling of his bedroom. He missed the stars he'd had stuck to the ceiling of his room back home. Because Vlad's mansion wasn't home, was it? It wasn't ever going to be, no matter what.
Again, he began to think of the heroes he'd always admired, the ones that he had always fantasized about when he was younger, as if they would fly out of the comic books and take him and Jazz away, take them to parents that would actually pay attention to them. Now, Danny would take his parents not paying attention to him over them being dead.
Danny sighed, his eyes slipping closed. He wasn't tired, but he wanted to pretend that he was somewhere warm and safe, anywhere but here.
"Man, I wish superheroes were real... I could really use one right now."
Then came a gentle whisper in his ear, one that promised the safety and warmth he was desperate for. "Your wish is my command, little Prince."
Danny jolted upright, but it was too late. One moment, he was sitting in a bed that wasn't his own, could never be, no matter how hard he tried to pretend it was, and the next, he was sitting in a field, cornstalks swaying gently in the warm breeze.
Where... was he?
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GenCon Crit Awards situation
The Crit Awards are a relatively new Awards ceremony focused on Actual Plays. They recently announced that, supposedly due to safety concerns, they will not be hosting their ceremonies at GenCon 2024. This announcement has been met with numerous tabletop gaming personalities to cancel their appearances and trips to GenCon, as well as many others voicing support for the Crit Awards and condemning GenCon. As well as others doing the opposite.
For more information, the Crit Awards released back in mid June that in addition to banning known racists, Homophobes, misogynists, Transphobes, and the like from being eligible for nominations for their awards, they would ban outspoken zionists as well. The initial statement, admittedly, is a bit vague.
This happened supposedly because the staff found out one of the then proposed nominees either was or was once part of a controversial actual play group that was explicitly zionist; Again, no major details were revealed for privacy, though further statements allude to said controversial actual play group supporting illegal settlements in some way.
Supposedly they communicated with the nominee and came to a peaceful resolution where the nomination was removed; Said nominee has not come forward at this time. The ban announcement happened shortly after.
Since the announcement of the ban, both the Crit Awards and GenCon received numerous threats of violence from numerous sources. After phone calls with GenCon representatives on Jun 24th, the Crit Awards would announce they will not be at GenCon 2024. They released a statement revealing these things, as well as condemning "harassment, violence, and terrorism" as well as stating "we take issue with the pro-imperialist, antisemitic rhetoric that conflates Judaism with zionism" and reaffirming their condemnation for the genocide.
The organization did not call for a boycott, but many individuals have announced they will not attend GenCon in solidarity.
While the Crit Awards haven't said much recently, and their statements claim it was a peaceful agreement with GenCon Staff, many individuals connected with the Crit Awards, Including the Host of the awards ceremony, who are not bound by NDAs, have gone public and stated that GenCon forced the Crit Awards to release their statement and were in fact banned and kicked out by GenCon.
It is important to note that GenCon is held in Indianapolis, Indiana. Indiana, since 2016, has TOUGH Anti-BDS laws. Part of that is banning any and all public or state funding for any group that supports any form of boycotting or BDS, as well as banning all funding from groups that support groups that support BDS.
GenCon is a massive moneymaker for Indy, so much so that the extremely conservative state government has in the past canceled planned restrictions on Abortion rights because GenCon announced it would leave Indiana if they passed said bans. The Indianapolis Convention Center is currently undergoing major renovations to nearly double its floor space and connect to both existing and new hotels, and the area is currently building multiple new hotels and other amenities; While there are many events they are making these expansions for, the fact they announced them immediately after last year's GenCon, which was the largest yet as well as heavily criticized for overcrowding and a poor initial response to it, and they were announced mainly in the context of GenCon shows that these major investments are motivated in no small part by GenCon.
However, after the aforementioned event where GenCon protested the state's government and threatened to leave, GenCon has changed tune over the years, soften criticism despite the government being more overtly anti-choice than before, and most crucially, has signed massive partnership extension deals with Indianapolis and Indiana. These contract mean GenCon is planned to stay in Indiana until 2030; These contracts are often renegotiated often, so there are no plans to leave the state soon.
It has been suggested that GenCon was either pushed to kick out the Crit Awards, or did so preemptively to avoid backlash from the state government, which would definitely include threats to the multi-year multi-million deals with the state. While GenCon is still one of the largest annual moneymaking events in Indianapolis, there are many more events scheduled to take place in the Indy Convention Center as part of a wider plan to expand the number of events in Indy. This includes the 100th anniversary meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, as well as the National Eucharistic Conference, the first in nearly half a century.
The point is, things have clearly changed, and GenCon both is no longer inclined to protest the state government and no longer as large a player despite making more money every year due to the sheer amount of other events, meaning the state government now has more power in the relationship and can threaten GenCon with cutting funding as well as outright expulsion from the state.
The Crit awards initial statements were very vague and were understandably criticized, and their later statements go out for their way to emphasize that they are against antisemitism and antisemitic individuals were already banned under the previous rules, and they stress that they want to avoid conflating Judaism with zionism. The massive amounts of threats sent to both the Crit Awards and GenCon are unacceptable, and some have reported that it was coordinated by various online groups after reports of the Crit Awards updated rules were done by newsites.
GenCon is getting criticized for the situation, the Crit Awards are being criticized as well, people have been realizing that GenCon notably puts up less of a fight with the conservative state government which gets them criticized more, and people are both pulling out and some are even planning on attending with pins that support the Crit Awards (as GenCon can be a big financial investment and some simply can't afford to not go after buying badges and/or booths)
GenCon starts in less than a months time, August 1st through the 4th. The Crit Awards will be held virtually.
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This isn’t Johnny discourse but it is kind of discourse about the discourse about him balding (which he isn’t).
What would it matter if he took off his hat and he was a shining beacon?? The dude canonically fucks (well not canon-canon but I feel like there’s implications of fucks-ing)!! At the most, he would be a Pitbull reference and that would be cool because good for Daisuke. Listen to Timber by Ke$ha (feat. Pitbull).
It kind of felt like they were making jokes at the expense of people loosing hair. It’s like that thing where you shouldn’t make fun of people for ‘X’ because then your friends who ‘X’ will know you think that about them.
John E is cool. I think he’s lame but he’s cool.
-A concerned Jellyfish Pirate
Idk anything about Pitbull, to be honest, but my GOD does he look like he's having the time of his life in the Timber video hahah Been a while since I heard that song...
Anyway, Johnny totally fucks. There's no way a man that toned, running around shirtless all of the time, with that slight yeehaw accent, couldn't find someone DTF with the tiniest bit of effort. He's absolutely gettin it rofl He could still get it if he was bald too, or receding.
I've complained about it on here a bit already, but yeah I don't think people making fun of Johnny because they think he's losing hair realize that a lot of people in real life are going to lose their hair as they age, and their jokes at Johnny are also jokes at these people. It's not even just an issue cis men can have either, everyone's hair thins with age, some just more (and sooner) than others. To make fun of someone, fictional or otherwise, for losing their hair is digging a trench to fill with future self loathing at one's own hair loss. And hair loss in >2023 isn't even that bad anymore!! There are so many ways to manage and style it now.
Johnny's a babe. Big fan of his "dad trying too hard to be cool but is actually somehow still really cool despite that" energy
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Hey crazy thought but maybe Kairi wouldn’t seem like such a ‘wasted character’ if this fandom would quit taking everything of narrative and thematic significance about her and assigning it to Riku constantly all the time.
(The evaluation of the ways in which Kairi and Riku are important and vital foils for each other got kind of long so it’s under a read more; to be clear, I love Riku so much, and it makes me super mad to see his narrative also being undermined by this trend, this is not a hate post.)
Kairi and Riku serve opposing but complementary purposes in the narrative. Kairi represents light, but she also represents the stagnation of the light. Many characters who are associated with just light are also associated with stagnation and a resistance to change. Hoder and Eraqus are particularly extreme examples, but Aqua exemplifies this as well. They want a predictable world where things stay as they ‘should’ be and they are threatened by changes to the status quo. Eraqus in particular refuses to change anything about himself for 60 years, only taking on students at the last minute because he’s running out of time. Kairi, like Eraqus and Hoder and Aqua, stands as the bold, sharp light that casts others into shadow.
However, the other side of “resistance to change” means that Kairi represents restoration. She is able to restore Sora in KH1, pull them home in KH2, and hold Sora back from death itself in KH3, because her power is one of restoration. She holds so tightly to their old way of being that she can stop death itself in the interest of not changing too drastically. But she is unable to move forward on her own, because she fears change too much. She wants to chase after the boys when they keep leaving her behind…but she isn’t able to keep up, because what she actually wants is for them not to run at all.
She wants to go home, and restore their previous status quo. This desire is consistent in her for the entire series; this is also why she is unable to let go of her childhood crush for Sora, even though he’s obviously not the person she wants him to be anymore. For Sora, Kairi is the rock, she is the home that will always be there, he feels that she is the secure dock he can always return to after the storm. He relies on her not changing, which reinforces her fear of change. Lea is similar, and they can bond in KH3 over both their mutual desires to restore a prior, idealized status quo where their friends were reliably there and not at risk of disappearing on them or running away from them or changing.
Riku on the other hand embodies transformation. He represents change to the status quo, growth and development and a new way to be. Too much change is as much of a problem as too little; Kairi in KH1 sees Riku wants change, and it scares her, and he does in fact go too far. At the same time, she’s the catalyst for Riku’s desire to change their circumstances. Kairi’s arrival at the islands in the meteor shower incites Riku to dream of going to the outside world. This too is a tension that creates an anxiety in Kairi - in a way, she can see herself as to blame for Riku’s desire to change. But Riku was always going to change, because that’s who he is. He is radical change, the change that cuts away restrictive dogma so that the world can advance. Riku drives Sora to also want to grow and change, to excel and challenge himself. Sora wants to be like Riku, whose strength and internal drive he admires.
Ultimately Kairi and Riku are in BALANCE with each other. Ironically, while Kairi is themed as ‘the sea,’ her narrative purpose is to be steady as the earth. Riku’s name is ‘the earth,’ but he is changing and dangerous as the sea. They are one another’s reflections in the narrative. Kairi’s arc is about learning to let go and move forward, even though it scares her. Riku’s entire arc is about finding balance, not throwing away the comfort of the past, that inoculates him from falling too far the way Baldr and Xehanort do. Riku can drive Kairi to join them by giving her a Keyblade too. Kairi can pull Riku back from fleeing from them by seeing him even under Ansem’s face. He is able to be in contrast with Kairi in a healthy way, in a way that honors her fears while also refusing stagnation. They have to work TOGETHER to find Sora, because they are one another’s narrative and thematic opposites. Kairi is too stagnant on her own, and Riku too volatile. Sora is the healthy middle between them, the center-point that can bind the light and the dark TOGETHER for one purpose.
Kairi is narratively and thematically important to Kingdom Hearts. She represents something, and trying to take the things that reinforce her narrative importance to the story (her representation of the light, her narrative purpose of ‘disruption’ in her arrival via the meteor shower, her position as the one who grounds Sora in opposition to Riku’s position as the one who drives Sora to push himself and achieve more) not only undermines her story, it undermines Riku’s.
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