#mega millions drawing days

[sharwancapital]

What are the Mega Millions Drawing Days 2023 ? Your Complete Guide

[c-kiddo]

really something horrid about starting a new sketchbook and the paper texture is a bit different so you have to adjust and learn to draw on the new texture

[digitaldhobi]

Mega Millions jackpot reaches $1 billion for Christmas Eve drawing

Chantee Lans reports from Flushing, Queens.

FULL VIDEO

[adorethedistance]

I Love You - Trevor Zegras x Reader (18+)

Hockey Masterlist

Warnings: swearing, SMUT, oral f!recieving, rough sex

Words: 1956

Summary: When Trevor accidentally lets it slip that he's in love with you, the heat of the moment confession turns into the fuck of a lifetime.

A/n: I wrote this piece in one sitting and decided to not proof it extensively lol. It's not bad tho so enjoy! Minors DNI pls pls pls

“Spiderman would not beat Captain Marvel in a fight!” I sit up to passionately declare to an amused yet startled Trevor. As I sit up to straddle his hips, he subconsciously draws his legs up to rest against my back. Trevor looks at me with gentle shock, clearly not expecting me to get so fired up about the statement he’d just made. 

I’d been laying with my head on his chest for a while as he and I talked about the wonders of growing up. Then, somehow, the topic of aspirations led to childhood, leading to superheroes, and now to hypothetical super battles. Once the initial shock wears off, Trevor’s eyes flash with stubborn delight and he pushes back.

“Spiderman would absolutely win.”

“Why?” I ask, preparing to deconstruct any argument he throws my way.

“He’s got Spidey-sense so his reflexes would be quicker.”

“Okay, that doesn’t mean shit!”

“Why not?!”

“Because Captain Marvel has actual powers and MCU spidey only has spidey-sense, which is really just mega anxiety.”

“No way!”

“You’re just mad because I’m right. JAMIE?!” I scream into the empty hallway. “Oh my god, wait, he’s not even here!” I begin wheezing laughing at my own brain fart. Trevor also begins to laugh, though it’s clear he’s laughing at both my wheeze and the embarrassing moment beforehand.

“I told you he’s out with some of the guys.”

“I forgot to ask, why didn’t you go with?”

“Because I wanted to see you,” he says as if that statement didn’t just make my heart swell a million times larger.

“Not that I don’t appreciate your choice, but you never miss guys’ day.”

“What? Yes, I do!”

“When?” At my question, Trevor pauses still trying to come up with an answer. “See?”

“Well, I’ve been trying to make more of an effort to spend time with you...”

“What? Why?”

“Because I love you!” Trevor and I both fall silent for a moment. Lips slightly parted in surprise.

“Did you just-?”

“I don’t think so-”

“You totally did!”

“Well…” He trails off again, “I do.”

Reaching forward, I extend both arms to hold his face and I lean down to kiss his lips. The kiss deepens as it lingers and I hum a happy sigh into the connection. Trevor finds our passionate rhythm and his hands that were originally resting on my waist trail down over my hips and onto my ass. I can feel him fighting a smile through the kiss, which causes me to smile. The small laughs between us are gone just as fast as they came, and I keep one hand on Trevor’s cheek while the other slips into his hair. Gripping my hand in the strands on his neck he moans softly into the kiss. 

The heat of the moment leads me to begin grinding down on him, desperate for any sort of friction that could provide release. I trace the tip of my tongue down his neck, nipping soft bits of his skin between my teeth. Trevor groans at the sensation in tandem with the movement of my hips. The sound is so erotic it makes me want to ravage him immediately. I pull off of his neck for a brief moment to mutter,

“Bedroom. Now.” And Trevor doesn’t need to be told twice. He sits up sliding one hand under my ass and the other across my back to carry me from the couch to his bedroom. I marvel at how strong he is, how effortless the motion is for him. Trevor tosses me down on his bed with ease, a lustful smirk occupying his features as he admires the sight of me between his unmade sheets. 

Before either of us can say a word, I’m tearing his sweatshirt and the soft baby tee underneath it, off of my feverish body. The choice to forego any kind of bra was purely coincidental. Or maybe I knew deep down that I needed him this bad. Regardless the action leaves us both topless, and his smirk now grows into a lustful grin. 

“Fucking hell, I’m a lucky guy,” Trevor says as he takes in the sight of my bare chest. I remain laying down but extend my hand to reach for him. Trevor takes the cue, interlacing our fingers before dropping his head to pull my right nipple into his mouth. I gasp softly as he sucks the hard bud, grazing the flesh with his teeth, causing me to moan fully. 

“Fuck.”

He puffs a small laugh of arrogance before harshly sucking a love bite into the side of my tit. He works quickly, placing a kiss on the mark once he’s finished before repeating the motion on my left side. I tangle both hands in the back of his hair. Gripping the tufts for my own expression of pleasure. My hands idly follow as he pulls off of my tits and leans up to kiss me once more. He sucks my bottom lip roughly before kissing his way down the length of my body.

The kissing ceases as he encounters the waistband of my pajama shorts. Hooking his fingers in the band he looks up, pausing for a moment to check in. I nod a fervent ‘yes’ and that’s all the encouragement he needs to yank off my shorts and my thong in one swift motion. He discards the clothing somewhere behind his body, staring down before meeting my eyes once more. He wordlessly quirks a brow. Such a fucking tease.

“Please,” I say, knowing exactly what he wants to hear. Trevor happily obliges, roughly lifting my legs. He braces himself with one hand on the underside of each of my thighs, pushing them so that my knees flank my marked breasts. His head dips lower. Licking the surface of my pussy with his wide tongue. I breathe out a pleasured sigh at the first contact. He continues licking up and down the length of my sex, lingering at the top to swirl his tongue on my clit. I moan softly at the action, causing him to swirl harder before sucking the sensitive bud into his mouth. 

“Ah, Trevor!” I whine as he continues to pleasure me. His hands drop from holding my thighs to then open me up more, momentarily pulling off of my clit. The right hand spreads my pussy apart while the left lifts from above; I shudder at the feeling of the crisp air against my exposed clit. He snickers darkly before licking the bud, causing me to cry out in pleasure.

“Oh fuck!” 

His pace quickens. The movement speeds up as I feel my high building further and further. And just as fast as he had begun, he pulls away from my core once more.

“Agh, you dick!” Trevor just laughs and fake pouts at me.

“What’s wrong?” He asks snarkily and I roll my eyes. The act is surrendered without much of a fight as Trevor unties the drawstring on his sweatpants and drops them. His boxers quickly follow; he's already the hardest he’s ever been. I sigh at the sight and then scooch further down the length of the bed. With my hips right on the edge of the mattress, he reaches down to slowly trace his tip through my slick folds. He moans at the initial contact. I can feel myself getting wetter as he does. The things this boy’s moans can do to me is humiliating.

Then, Trevor gently pushes the tip into my dripping hole. He takes a moment, allowing me to adjust to his size before pulling back out again. He fucks in and out of me with the tip until I whine out of impatience. Trevor takes the hint and without a moment to spare immediately pushes all the way inside me, bottoming out in one quick movement. I groan out a cry, relieved to feel him again, but desperately wanting more.

“Fuck me, please,” is all I have to say before he begins thrusting in and out. The pace of his thrusts are steady and wonderful. If I’d know he could fuck like this from the beginning, I wouldn’t have wasted time playing false modesty. He continues to fuck into me, moaning at the sensation in time with his thrusts. 

“Harder,” I sigh and Trevor merely smiles. He thrusts with a bit more force but I can tell he’s holding back. “It’s okay,” I say tauntingly, “You won’t break me.” Trevor seems ignited by the promise and begins to fuck harder and deeper. I loudly moan out with each thrust, reveling in the pleasure of feeling him inside me. 

I can feel  my orgasm building but before I can utter another encouragement he pulls out completely. “Wha-” I try to ask but Trevor quickly uses his impressive strength to rough flip me over. Laying face down, on my stomach, he grabs my legs and pulls me back to the edge of the bed. From where he stands, he pushes back in to fuck me harder and faster from behind. I cry out in immense pleasure and reach my right hand out behind me. Trevor interlaces our fingers and uses the position to pin that arm on my back, using that as leverage to go harder.

I could scream with how intense the pleasure is. As he continues fucking me I feel my high building once more. Trevor senses my peak through the way my pussy is clenching his dick, and he begins moaning louder at the sensation. Fucking faster and harder, he holds one hand on my back, the other on my shoulder to keep my from moving away from the end of the bed. I use my free hand to grip the fabric of his sheets in my fist. Each thrust gleaning a louder, more intense cry than before, building higher and higher.

“Oh my god, I’m gonna cum.” I squeak as he fucks me hard. The swelling mix of his pants and moans indicate he’s also close. 

“Fuck. Me too, babygirl.” 

“Please please please please please,” I whisper as I near my high more and more. As my orgasm envelops me, I go silent reaching for the peak of my high. The intensity of my squeezing around his dick amplifies, and the added friction is enough for him to climax simultaneously. He doesn’t let up his pace, allowing the both of us to release at the same time. 

“I’m cumming I’m cumming I’m cumming,” I whine as he twitches, jerking slightly as he finishes inside of me. The both of us finish with a symphony of moans and whines, falling into one another’s pleasure as we do.

Trevor then pulls out of me and collapses on the bed beside me. As I turn over, I feel his cum start to leak out of me but I’m too exhausted to do anything about it. When I finally muster the energy and look up at his sweating face, I smile and laugh breathlessly due to the rush of endorphins.

“Holy shit,” I say as best as I can with my dry mouth.

“That was easily the best sex we’ve ever had.”

“Agreed.” We fall silent again for a brief moment, Trevor resting his eyes in the interim. I look at his handsome face and smile as I think about how he’s completely and utterly mine. “I love you, Z.” His eyes flutter back open and he smiles sweetly. He sits up to look at me fully and say,

“I really am the luckiest guy in the world.” Trevor then leans down and places a soft, lingering kiss on my lips. 

“I’ll get you a towel and then you should probably pee.”

“And they say chivalry is dead.”

[welldigger62]

It is a horrid day, but I had to go out -

Yesterday was a Mega Millions drawing for 1.22 billion dollars, and I won a small piece of that 😃

I bought two tickets and won $6.

I had to cash that baby in right away, crummy weather or not.

To celebrate, I drove to Walmart and bought myself a bag of chips. 😂

My Sunday is complete now. 👍

[call-me-liquid]

Has Lily acknowledged your existence yet?

SOLID LILY WILL NOT RESPOND TO MY CEASE AND DESIST FROM MY TOTALLY REAL LAWYER TO STOP COPYING ME!!! MY FACE IS COPYRIGHTED BINCH!!!

She also has never responded to a single one of the thousands upon THOUSANDS of hand written notes that we could be

💖~ kissing each other right on the mouths as sisters ~💖

While I even bring her coffee! 😭

____

Yes. Sort of at least. The whole "Solid Lily," "Liquid Lily" episode, I can more or less confirm happened because of me.

The day I made this account, though I never interacted with her directly on purpose, I was watching to see when/if she blocked me. Took her something like, two or three hours to find my account and block. Which, in Lily's defense, fair enough. I think my reasons for mocking her are more than valid, but I wouldn't expect anyone to NOT take being openly made fun of like this as more than enough reason to cut off direct contact. It's clear I don't like her. But by the timing I can all but confirm the ask she got next was a self ask:

She didn't get the joke. Poor Lily doesn't get a lot of things, though.

She referenced me and another parody Lily account more directly here:

The "Mega Milk Lily" Liquid drawing came out if me making fun of this comment.

There was an instance of Mikaila vagueposting about someone drawing Lily as a "big titty goth gf," implying that artist, whoever they may be, wanted to bone Lily. That was also probably in reference to me. If it was, that tells me two things:

1. Mikaila doesn't know what a goth is (speaking as a goth guy.)

2. Not a surprise they both think drag is some kind of pervert satanic ritual if they interpret absolutely ridiculous drawings that don't even look close to the real Lily as flirting. I'm not trying to play dumb, I know there's a sexual implication to the way I draw Liquid. Liquid's origins as a character are a little messy because the original Lily Wojaks I drew ages ago. The "abusive wife" wojak has big tits, and that was the first one I made.

But as I started developing the character as a whole persona by herself, I started leaning into it more to both parody how in a performative hyper femininity. I'm a drag performer in real life. Though I don't perform as much as I used to, I used to do a lot of parody impersonations (Ben Shapiro was my favorite, lol.) Also, it's just way easier to draw curvy women super fast since they're made of a lot of distinct shapes.

If they think me drawing a parody Lily this way makes me think I'm into her, well. Sorry Lily I'm only into chicks who hurt people consentually. Full offense, with all do respect.

There's been a few instances I've been made aware of I personally concluded was not actually all that likely to be about me. However, there was one instance involving Loly alluding to a phantom violent drawing Courtney supposedly commissioned. In my opinion, Lily is making the whole thing up, or her friend is. Courtney supposedly sent it to a friend of Lily's instead of her directly, and this friend refuses to show or send it to Lily.

I can't confirm who speculated about this first, but either Lily or KiwiFarms suggested it was me who drew it. This drawing no one's seen but a friend of Lily's, who Courtney supposedly paid money to have made, only to ever send it to JUST Lily's friend.

I mean I can't prove a negative, but like, if this commission ever materializes there's a million different ways to at least show I would have had to go to take pretty extreme measures to hide that I made it.

The last instance I really can't say for sure if it was me or not. But it may have been me that caused Lily to go on a prolonged rant about metaphors. The same day I made fun of her for the same thing, referencing a 9 month old Sai stream where she confused "symbolism" for "simile." Symbolism can absolutely be used in a visual or conceptual metaphor.

[the-demi-jedi]

Happy Odaiba Day!

Since today, August 1st, is the Odaiba Memorial Day (something like May the 4th for Digimon fans), Digimon are my childhood love which I'm now revisiting and a lot of fans are doing this, I've made this favorite Digimon chart ^^ (I know this is supposed to be fan-art, but I can't draw for shit, so maybe next year!)

Looking at the chart, it might look like I'm kind of a 02 fanboy... which I actually kind of am, since I've seen it like a million times when I was a child, but to be fair, I really loved and enjoyed all animes, even the more "divisive" ones like Tri. and the 2020 Adventure: reboot (I still have to watch Xros Wars and Appmon tho). I love that the stories had something to offer to my 8-years-old me, and it still has now, 20 years later.

(Also, Shutumon is absolutely hotter than Angewomon. Fight me.)

Since I've had a hard time choosing in some categories, let me do some honorable mentions:

Child (Rookie): Gammamon, Renamon, Angoramon Adult (Champion): Growmon, GeoGreymon, Aquillamon Perfect (Ultimate): MetalGreymon, RizeGreymon, Garudamon Ultimate (Mega): Hououmon, Ophanimon, WarGreymon

[lovelanguageisolate]

First Night in Bangkok

Christopher Hitchens once said that however hard you try to avoid cliché, visiting communist Czechoslovakia forces you to reference Kafka at some point.

Anyways, Bangkok really is a fucking trip, man. I feel like I died two days ago and reincarnated in a William Gibson novel. So very much.

Inhuman cybercapital futurity assembling itself in a thousand gleaming Hong Kong-domiciled gigabanks and digital nomad cafés and dancing girls as it chokes old Buddhist temples and shantytowns and struggling palms in a traumatically transcultural miasma of a myriad reactive nitrous oxide species coughed up by a million two-stroke motors.

After a brief nap in my luxury burbclave hotel, security guard and English-fluent beaming hotel staff staff at post, me trying to do battle against 15 timezone hours' worth of jetlag, I register for the first time that I've been dissociating. I'm hobbling around on the air cast I wear for my foot sprain and a collapsible Walgreens cane, of the kind I imagine two-bit hustlers using to beat drug dealers poaching on their turf. But I'm in my favorite mass-market synthetic ink tie dye shirt, made somewhere in Central America I don't recall off hand, my blue tourist shorts, and my Buddhist beaded mala, engraved with Sanskrit I cannot read, on plastic draw string, so hopefully everyone knows I'm a chill dude.

I am in an eight floor mega shopping mall. There are robots serving white frat boys and dutiful waiters in white masks who could be robots serving local Thai prep school kids in sky blue school uniforms 500 baht sirloin steak dinners.

There are as many languages spoken here it feels like as New York City. And hotels, restaurant, massage parlors, tailors, purpose built to pander to rich Arabs, rich Chinese, rich Americans.

There is a strange amodernity to all the floating signifiers. White spring break kids approximating Thai names and wai hand clasps. Chinese shirts with a Markov chain’s chants of floating English prestige nonsense. Transcontinental fake gold watch arbitrageurs. More virtual market makers than a Jersey City server farm somehow spun up and cast into human form.

Sub-orbital resort vacationers in one corner. The state messages of the network monarch on a giant billboard overlooking a four-story expressway overpass on another. Everyone communicating in signs, gestures, and humble Buddhist bows. Hindu, Christian, Mormon, Jew, Shiite, Sunni, and so many Buddhists, all sitting and eating and shopping and praying and coughing and sputtering and fucking and bowing to one another at the end of the world before the self-aware chatbots reconstitute all the anthropomass on the third rock from the nuclear furnace. And of course, on TV, a narcissistic reality TV star in orange bronzer and an oversized navy blue Brioni suit and red tie is inaugurated president of the United States for a second time.

And my $4 dinner, served by surgically masked waitstaff at the shopping mall of the omega point. The terminal object in the category of mass market commercialism. Another floating signifier: a featured photo on Wikipedia of beautiful Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where I've actually been, here mobilized as a metonym for the kind of steak restaurant this place is supposed to be. Of course, probably no one who works here has been to America. It reminds me of Gilles Deleuze’s characterization of capitalism as an inherently deterritorializing process—one that makes every place into every other place, until no one knows where they are.

And the strangest thing is that somehow, between the tourists trying to immerse themselves in the fakery, and the shop workers trying to perform, something genuine is created, even though the thing the performance refers to is fake—and everyone knows it.

Actually, maybe the craziest moment was when I was walking past the clothing hawkers. Of which there were just so unbelievably many. And they were selling wildly unlicensed branded merch for Luis Vuitton and Ralph Loren and Balenciaga and GUESS, etc. Some of them laughably implausible. But others effectively the real thing. The Asian tourists love those in particular. And I asked myself, “how did these knockoffs get so good?”

And then I remembered: Thailand is the place where all of this crap actually gets made! It’s all outsourced to here. They’re just cutting out the middle men seeking rent on the brand. And so I’m not really sure who’s the fraud here. Is it the unlicensed shirt hawker trying to take me for a ride and fudge their “tax” calculations? Or is it the Italian fashion house trying to charge me 20x what it costs the Thai sweatshop workers to make?

I see a case for each.

Obviously not JUST Thailand makes this. There’s also Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Honduras, Costa Rica, etc. All the groveling satellite states trying to scramble up the value-added ladder that capital and IP and telecom flows have turned into the 21st century's Manchester. All part of that big globalized textile mill.

Anyways, I got a pretty nice white dress shirt for like $15 and a truly label-less white bucket hat for $5. And I’m almost sure I got taken for a ride, but I was waaay too tired to haggle, and anyways, by any standard of justice as globalized as these clothing flows, I'm the one taking them for a ride.

I message my mother, half way around the world. It's 7:30 AM on the Eastern Seaboard of the US. It's 7:30 PM here in Bangkok. My mother says, "Keep your wits about you, man. You have to play the haggle game. It's in your Albanian blood. My grandmother would have taught you plenty, had she been there."

I can't help but think that they’d have been like, “no, please! Just take it! For free!! ” after 3 minutes of that. Those Bangkok street hagglers have never met an Albanian orphan.

Gonna go to a Buddhist temple tomorrow. First, tonight, a cocktail bar overlooking the city. In my $1000 black John Varvatos jacket with the Mandarin collar over the $15 off-brand shirt I just bought.

[posttexasstressdisorder]

Sad to say it, but something like this is really my only hope of ever getting out of this poverty trap that SSI has become. Hell, even one of the lesser prizes would probably set me up for the rest of my allotted days on this accursed rock.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Saturday, April 13th

FRED: We're still working on a plan, but so far, it involves being sent to prison and becoming somebody's bitch. ANGEL: Nobody's going to jail, Fred. I told you, a heist like this, I've done it a million times. (beat) OK, maybe twice, but I'm good at it, I swear.

~~Ground State~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Weekly Drabbles #112 — Scaredy-cat by veronyxk84 (Buffy & Dawn, PG-13)

No Biggie by NotASlayer (Buffy, Riley, T)

Anne by MissKitty28 (Buffy/Spike, G, in French)

An Old Friend by TannaraMoonvale (Giles, True Blood crossover, T)

Debrief by MadeInGold (Buffy/Riley, M)

Hope by itsalwaysteatimeinwonderland (Spike/reader, not rated)

[Giles and Willow texting about Amy] by scooby-group-texts (not rated)

Heaven Can't Help Me Now by ClowniestLivEver (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Raven, Chapter 11 by sparrow2000 (Xander & Spike, G)

… A Stranger I Go Hence, Chapter 12 by MalkMcJorma (Faith/OC, M)

Thirty-ish Days (and Thirty-ish Years), Chapter 26 by Dynapink (Buffy/Giles, T)

but this love is ours, Chapter 14 by ripslayer (Buffy/Faith, M)

Best in me, Chapter 16 by DancingAngel0013 (Buffy/Giles, E)

Xander Harris and the Little Pink Pill, Chapter 7 by Kylia (Xander/Cordelia, E)

Dawn Rising, Chapter 57 by Luna_delCielo (Buffy ensemble, Tolkien crossover, T)

Wish Granted, Chapter 6 by faewm (Anyanka, Harry Potter crossover, T)

Three Slayers at the Same Time, Chapter 2 by In_the_universe (Buffy/Kendra, G)

Raven, Chapter 11 by sparrow2000 (Xander & Spike, G)

I Don't Want to Be the One, Chapter 10 by pommedapi (Buffy/Spike, T)

Slayer No More, Chapter 20 by jsaint34 (Buffy/Pike, M)

Buffy & Giles Drabbles, Chapter 2 by DancingAngel0013 (Buffy/Giles, M)

The Boring Stuff: Reptile Boy, Chapter 3 by missfiggy (Buffy/Angel, M)

Come Hell or Whatever, Chapter 2 by TheActuallyKid (Buffy, Batman crossover, M)

The Witching Hour: Chapter 5 by TheLightdancer (Willow/Tara, E)

If I Could Turn Back Time, Chapter 2 by Tropicmorningnews (Buffy/Angel, M)

Valkyrie vs. Cordelia, Chapter 6 by Nonkosherian (Fauth/Willow, T)

It's Easy Time, Until It's Not, Chapter 32 by hulettwyo (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

Love Lives Here, Chapter 48 by Passion4Spike (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Boyfriend Swap, Chapter 6 by Maxine Eden (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Because the Night, Chapter 4 by CheekyKitten (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Wilderness Retreat OR Super Mega Happy Kill-A-Rama! Chapter 4 by Melme1325 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Hello Cutie, Chapter 4 by CheekyKitten (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Celebrating You, Chapter 11 by DeamonQueen (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Afterburn: In The Dark, Chapter 1 by Melme1325 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Death Is Buffy's Next Great Adventure, Chapter 118 by Sharie (Buffy/Tom Riddle, Harry Potter crossover, FR15)

Coming Through, Chapter 56 by hulettwyo (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

Service Unit, Chapter 11 by hulettwyo (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

What the Drabble? Vol. 2, Chapter 12 by VeroNyxK84 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Anything But Ordinary, Chapter 7 by Harlow Turner (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Bathroom Wall, Chapter 1 by hulettwyo (Buffy/Spike, G)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: Buffy, Spike, Clem by frenchublog (worksafe)

Artwork: Buffy and Spike by isevery0nehereverystoned (worksafe)

Fan trailer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Smallville intro style) by Meowity

Fanvid: Angel | Cold Cold Cold by genericaces

Fanvid: Spike | I'll Keep Coming by genericaces

Fanvid: Buffy + Dawn - You wouldn't like me by Faith Victoria

Fanvid: Buffy + Angel - I love me more by Faith Victoria (anti-Bangel)

Fanvid: BTVS || HUH, YOUR FATHER. IT IS YOUR FATHER, RIGHT? ||HUMOR by ZNellyZ

Artwork process video: Kristy Swanson Buffy the Vampire Slayer iPad Procreate Drawing Timelapse & Talk by kcsnipes (worksafe)

Artwork process video: Alexis Denisof Timelapse #Wesley by Sadiq's Solitude (worksafe)

[Reviews & Recaps]

Video: Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Occult-PRAISING Joss Whedon's Atheism: Willow Rising Part 1 by Examining Kubrick Craven Halloween

Video: Was The Initiative From Season 4 Of Buffy A Good Idea Or A Bad Idea? by CrasHNburN

Video: Witch Switch | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Witch s1 ep3 by Nerdy Investigations

Video: Gone-Slayer Sunday by Jane Talks Buffy

Podcast: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Movie Review | Forever Fangirls | EP #103 by A Reel Review with Forever Fangirls

[Fandom Discussions]

i desperately need to kno how spike and harmony met by leechjam

It is insane to me that this show wants us to believe that everyone just left Faith to rot in that motel room by nicnacsnonsense

I think it would have been REALLY funny if Buffy at one point had been like NO! no…. I cannot date another Vampire! In crush by raisedbythetv89

It’s crazy to think Buffy lost Kendra and Angel in one night by theredpharaoah

Another issue I had with "Lies My Parents Told Me" by finalgirl1984

The Angel-Cordelia-Doyle dynamic was so fucking good by sunnydalebimbo

Rewatch thoughts and questions continued by GoSpuffy and multiple other posters

Spike and the first continued by multiple posters

Reasons for being the Slayer continued by AbercornBay

4x7 [Apocolypse Nowish] is the best episode in the show until the last two minutes… by ukcountrylover

When do you feel Cordelia was first possessed? by ukcountrylover

The Magic Bullet episode by Organic-Mistake-2223

I don't really feel sad about.... [Anya's death] by LightBlueSky55

Has anyone read the Tales of the Slayer short stories? by kmf-89

S3 E2 [Dead Man's Party] by No-Intention-1948

TIL The name of the club [The Bronze] is a pun by IsNYinNewEngland

What "Day in the life of" would you like to see? by threefeetoffun

What is your favorite pairing/duo of the series? Mine is Willow & Xander by AceItaliano

Most un-realistic part of the show? by Slayerette444

What would've happened if Faith didn't jump off the building? by SafiraAshai

Corporate needs you to find the difference between this picture and this picture by Randy_Giles1880

Use a line from any character in the Buffyverse to describe Buffy Summers by PristineSituation498

Joss Whedon brand of feminism by sadhungryandvirgin

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[barkbarkboy]

uh so i wanted to analyze boy division a million years ago..... i saved the lyrics but i never actually finished it. oh well. heres my queer/trans focused analysis of all the lines i can draw meaning from. its so layered!!!!! like i swear i'm gonna lose my mind this song is so good. u don't even know. CW: i talk about death transphobia and rape culture a little bit. no graphic details but yeah

If all my enemies threw a party, would you light the candles? / Would you drink the wine while watching television? / Watch the animals and all the tragedies if all my enemies (bigoted people) "threw a party" - as in celebrate or make fun of any form of minorities (with the queer/trans community as a heavy focus in this song), or some tragedy affecting those groups, would you join in? would you support them? or would you be on the side of letting people do what makes them feel happy and free and let them be themselves (such as being openly gay/trans despite the bigotry you face) Sell your arteries and buy my casket gown / (Well) It better be black, (Well) it better be tight, (Well) It better be just my size i'm not sure what "sell your arteries" means, but like, could be alluding to selling your soul for shitty beliefs and friends, or selling your heart since your arteries are part of the circulatory system. this choice is possibly sacrificing those minorities' lives in the process due to these shitty, ignorant people learning and perpetuating bigoted beliefs from these other shitty, ignorant people. the writer calls out these people for this and thus placing them (and the queer community as a whole) on death's doorstep before they are forced to confront their own internalized trans/homophobia. the writer asks why these lines must be drawn and why these lines, like the cuts of the gown they wish to wear when they die, shouldn't be cut to fit all people and not just one arbitrary gender. they're demanding it be cut just for them, and thus the label of "queer" to fit more people, not to build a new box, but to get rid of the box entirely, and let those people speak for their experience themselves.

I'm not asking, you're not telling / He's not dead, he only looks that way i'm not asking, you're not telling is clearly a nod to the phrase don't ask don't tell, about queer soldiers. in the "story" of the song it may allude to a phase in the writer's life where they pretended to not be gay to blend in and by proxy survive. this masking causes damage however, it makes them look dead, ether because that was their look at the time, or because they are mega depressed and feel unable to be themselves, so of course they're not going to be enthusiastic about life and look "dead". and the average person doesn't notice this, they just excuse it as being mentally ill, because being queer is not the norm and its not normalized enough in society.

I buy my enemies rope to hang me and the knives to gang me / You can watch them stab me on your television the writer wishes to intentionally provoke people, hoping they change people's minds, and risk their life in the process. so many queer killings go on day by day and some of them don't even make news. the writer is calling out that these bigoted people are purely ignorant to how this affects the community and thus telling it to them straight: queer killings still happen and they're awful. this community is vulnerable and needs protection. Stalk the halls because the bathroom walls / Would have a lot to say about the lines you're putting down this line? fucking GENIUS. where do i even start. first of all, bathroom debate? waaayyy before that was even a topic of discussion for mainstream audiences? they fucking saw the future ok. divine fucking visions. not only this but i think this line alludes to the fact that there are bathrooms at your home, and there are public bathrooms. for history reasons, public bathrooms are gender segregated. its considered taboo to use bathrooms that arent aligned with your agab, even though its a mostly private experience where no one has to see any of that shit. on the other hand, your at-home bathroom? not gender segregated. theres a million arguments about why public gender segregated bathrooms should continue to exist but the majority of them are rooted in patriarchy, misandry, and rape culture. the last thing is, a rumor about public bathrooms.... sometimes gay shit goes down in there. sometimes straight shit goes down in there! basically, if the bathroom walls could talk, they would say they see a lot of shit go down, and its happening behind closed doors whether you like it or not, and trans people just want to fucking piss. so leave them the hell alone and let them piss in peace! another point is "the lines you're putting down", as in, the line between the "male and female" sex and the "man and woman" gender is a lot more blurry than mainstream society thinks. someone will see someone masc presenting and automatically call them he pronouns for example, even though that person might be a she and just dressing comfortably. this gatekeeps people who don't pass well from using bathrooms at all, because they're afraid of getting hate crimed in there or because they just don't know/can't find the space that fits them.

(Well) It better be white, (Well) it better be cut (Well) It better be just my size now we've had a black line drawn, and this is the white line, alluding to black and white thinking, which is how a lot of people view being cis and perisex. however, you can be perisex and still have features that confuse you for another gender. the box is not fitting, and it never will fit the entire world's population of men, women, or enbies no matter how cis/perisex they may be. the writer demands the same thing of the lines being drawn as he asked for the black casket gown, that it fits everyone on the planet, and not just one specific kind of queer person. Until my capillaries burst of boredom / I'll be waiting this line of thinking is obvious to the writer, but its not obvious to everyone, especially mainstream society. they're willing to wait for the future, when one day all of this is normalized, and they and other queer people around the globe don't have to be afraid to be themselves anymore. the wait is frustrating and long, but they're pushing through to the end, hoping for a better, more safe future. I'm not laughing, you're not joking / I'm not dead, I only dress that way how often have you been here? someone made an off-color joke, and you just can't laugh because its not fucking funny? its just offensive? genius. i also like adding "you're not joking" because its so fucking true. people who say stuff like this and then pass it off as a joke when you get mad usually are trying to dogwhistle or seem chill/aloof by acting nonchalant about hate speech. furthermore, it seems the writer is embracing the way they dress now at least, and making it their own. theres also this idea of looking pretty when you're dead, so if you dress like you are dead 24/7, and you feel good about it and feel like you look pretty, you know how good you'll look when/if that time comes, which we know the writer has on their mind bc they know queer people die all the time and get hate crimed all the damn time. Wherever you are, wherever you are / Whoever you are, whoever you are 'Cause we got the bomb, we got the bomb, let's go / We got the bomb, we got the bomb, let's go / We got the bomb, we got the bomb, let's go / We got the bomb, we got the bomb, let's go We got the bomb / We got the bomb / We got the bomb / We got the bomb i think this is a rallying cry for all the queer community, whoever and wherever they are, to keep fighting. i think this information, which mainstream society has yet to understand, is compared to a bomb, because its going to blow the whole structure apart before putting it back together, hopefully in a healthier, safer, and more inclusive way.

[plethoraworldatlas]

This March, Argentina’s school year began with empty classrooms. The price of learning materials rose by 502 percent over the past year, leaving many children unprepared for the year to come. And the teachers? On strike after President Javier Milei announced deep cuts to their salaries.

There’s something much larger happening here: Workers rights are under attack in an already vastly unequal society. Labor income inequality has been on the decline in many Latin American countries like Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. In Argentina, it’s been on the rise.

Since the 1960s, Argentina has been in an unprecedented period of macroeconomic instability. Stagnating in the lead-up to, and during, the dictatorship years (1976-1983), the country’s economy has reeled from crisis upon crisis — punctuated with the occasional period of recovery and growth. As the decades wore on, public distrust and discontent produced a deep social divide. Argentines call this phenomenon la grieta (“the rift”).

During his successful presidential bid last year, Milei seized upon these conditions. TV personality and self-proclaimed anarcho-capitalist, the eccentric economist promised to correct Argentina’s path and make what he called the “political caste” pay for their mismanagement of the country. Wielding a chainsaw while he campaigned, Milei vowed to eliminate state ministries, abolish the central bank, roll back abortion rights, and dollarize the economy.

Now that he’s had a chance to implement his platform, working families — not an elite “political caste” — are footing the bill for his far-right economic project.

In the two months before Milei took office in December, inflation was running between 143 and 161 percent. In February, inflation soared to more than 254 percent and the poverty rate reached 57 percent — the highest in decades.

Argentina’s labor movement has quickly mobilized widespread and effective opposition to his policies. While strikes and protests continue, we can already begin to draw lessons on resisting the far-right’s rise worldwide.

Milei takes a chainsaw to workers rights

After taking office on December 10, 2023, Milei acted swiftly. Declaring “There is no alternative to shock,” the president immediately devalued the peso by 50 percent, lifted price controls, and dissolved half of the country’s ministries.

Milei’s government then launched an offensive on workers rights. On December 14, the newly appointed Minister of Security announced a new protest protocol. Consolidating control of Argentina’s security forces and creating a registry for organizations suspected of “instigating” the protocol allowed federal forces to use increased surveillance and violence.

Days later, Milei signed the “Decree of Necessity and Urgency 70/2023.” Dubbed the megadecreto (“mega-decree”) for its sweeping scope — cutting severance pay, weakening collective bargaining rights, deregulating the rental market, and otherwise undermining existing protections — the 366-article document is an unconstitutional abuse of executive powers.

Making matters worse, Milei cut public subsidies on utilities and transportation. Hypocrisy shone through his already vague definition of the “political caste.” As one Argentine told a journalist, “The caste doesn’t take the train nor any form of public transit. We workers and students do.”

Milei’s aggressive measures roused a prompt response from Argentine labor. In late December, the country’s largest unions announced plans for a January 24 general strike — the quickest to be organized under any president since Argentina’s return to democracy in 1983.

Millions join the general strike

Forty-five days after Milei took office, 1.5 million Argentines took to the streets. Workers from all sectors joined the strike: transit, aviation, government, banking, and sanitation, just to name a few.

“Not one step back,” one associated union declared on the day of the strike, “for the unity of the workers movement is essential in protecting the rights we’ve achieved.”

The protesters’ outrage centered on Milei’s Omnibus Bill. The proposed legislation contained sweeping changes to Argentina’s economic and political structure, including the privatization of state-owned companies and an unprecedented expansion of executive powers. 

The bill would also codify Milei’s unpopular “mega-decree.”

“[Milei’s ‘mega-decree’] destroys individual rights of workers, collective rights and seeks to eliminate the possibility of union action at a time in which we have great inequality in society” said Héctor Daer, the Secretary General of the General Confederation of Labor. One of the world’s largest unions, the CGT represents roughly two-thirds of Argentina’s unionized workforce.

Shortly after the strike ended, the National Congress of Argentina rejected Milei’s Omnibus Bill. Initially approved by the Chamber of Deputies in a 144 to 109 vote, majority support faltered when it came time for an article-by-article review.

The first Omnibus Bill consisted of 664 articles. Now, two months later, they are struggling to push an amended 269-article version — with hefty concessions for the left.

Milei’s uncompromising approach played no small role in killing his first Omnibus Bill. But the general strike served a critical blow to his already weak coalition. 

Aftermath in Argentina, implications abroad

Beyond their victories in the streets, Argentine labor has also made notable gains in the courts. Successfully challenging the legality of Milei’s “mega-decree,” the General Confederation of Labor blocked the roll-out of several critical anti-worker measures.

Following January’s general strike, February and March witnessed a patchwork of smaller strikes, placing continued pressure on the government. The most recent have come in the aviation, healthcare, and education sectors. The Argentine Workers’ Central Union (a federation with 1.2 million members) held a “national day of struggle” on March 12 — and united with other groups to block 500 roads throughout the country on March 18. More strikes are planned for March 28.

On March 14, the Senate voted down the Decree of Necessity and Urgency. Though the “mega-decree” remains in force unless the lower house also opts to reject, the upper house vote represents another massive blow to Milei’s government.

Instrumental in defeating Milei’s first Omnibus Bill — and otherwise slowing the pace of his anti-worker disaster project — Argentine labor’s recent victories offer an important reminder: Working-class people are a potent political force.

These victories also offer lessons in resisting the far-right’s rise worldwide: Organized labor can serve as an infrastructure for mobilization and a counterbalance to democratic backsliding. At their best, unions provide checks on abuses of executive power and ensure that working people always have political representation — no matter who occupies the presidential palace.

With nearly 30 percent of the workforce unionized, the labor movement is strong in Argentina. The United States hasn’t seen that degree of union density since the 1950s, though now the tide might be turning.

With 64 countries holding national elections in 2024, this year will be a watershed moment in world history. And with the far right on the rise, there’s never been a more critical time to mobilize in defense of dignity and democracy.

Here in the United States, there are over 85 million poor or low-income eligible voters. As Inequality.org’s co-editor Sarah Anderson writes, “If this bloc voted at the same rate as higher-income voters, they could sway elections in every state.”

[alanshemper]

17 June 2024

On June 15, nearly 300 organizers with Jewish Voice for Peace descended upon the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles as celebrities, Democratic mega donors, and former President Barack Obama joined President Joe Biden at a glitzy fundraiser that raised over $30 million for his presidential campaign. Activists held a rally outside the fundraiser and blockaded entrances in an effort to draw attention to a new call for an arms embargo to Israel after Israel’s bloody invasion of Rafah sent alarm and outrage through the international community.

The fundraiser, which the LA Times reported had a top-tier ticket package costing $500,000, was attended by some of the state’s biggest political donors, and was intended to widen the fundraising gap in the state for the President. According to the LA Times, “The least expensive tickets cost $250 for a seat farthest from the stage. The priciest option, at $500,000, includes four seats in the first three rows in front of the stage, a reception and photos with Biden and Obama, and an after-party, according to an invitation.” In an effort to prevent disruptions by activists, fences were erected around the perimeter of the theater the day before the fundraiser.

The presence of a 10-foot security fence, top-dollar ticket prices, and roster of A-list attendees felt a bit too much like “keeping out the rabble.” There is a stark disparity between the Biden campaign and the throngs of working people who are dissatisfied and angry at the Biden administration’s insistent support of Israel in the ongoing genocide in Palestine, as well as his messaging about the state of the nation’s economy. High profile fundraisers such as the one on June 15 feel out of touch with the economic realities of the voters that Biden is trying to retain leading into November. This appears to be proving difficult, especially in a time of increased insecurity for the average working person, who can barely afford a trip to the grocery store let alone a ticket to a glittering fundraiser full of Hollywood’s elite.

[comicaurora]

If anything, the centralization of the internet into mega-sites like Tumblr and Twitter rather than a million independent and unconnected blogs and sites means it's never been simpler to get eyes on a niche webcomic. Back in the day you just had to hope people found your website URL through word of mouth or something. Discoverability is way higher now - hell, I learned about 17776 through Tumblr in the first place. Webcomics are not being quality-gated; nobody will stop you from posting it on free platforms like this one. There has never been a better time to get a million strangers to see your art.

That's not to say the standards by which webcomics are judged hasn't changed. Professional-quality webcomics have always existed - one of the first was Girl Genius, a comic that was literally being traditionally published before its creator Phil Foglio decided to give this funky internet thing a try instead - but the number of gorgeously drawn ready-to-print webcomics has increased, and I think that makes a lot of people feel like their webcomic must live up to that standard before it "deserves" to be seen.

But that's not a webcomic-specific issue. Artists of all stripes have a tendency to unfavorably compare themselves to the Good Art they see around them, and the more Good Art they're exposed to, the more they typically worry about measuring up.

Webcomics haven't been gentrified, we're just seeing and hearing more about ones that have unbelievably impressive print-ready art, and that can make it feel Not Okay for us to draw our own goofy, sketchy, bizarre vision. The most important thing I've learned about art is that no artist should ever wait to be given permission.

People don't like to admit it bcs cringe or w/e but Homestuck really did revolutionize the webcomic as a storytelling medium and I am endlessly frustrated that before webcomic artists could really stretch our legs fucking webtoonz swooped in, set a new, more restrictive standard, and then monetized and monopolized the ever living fuck out of the concept of The Webcomic until it drove away anyone who couldn't be a professional quality manga artist for free, and now the only webcomics that actually feel like spiritual successors to Homestuck are so obscure they're basically cult classics that you have to beg people to read.

Like it's just so wild to be in high school and see Homestuck be like "we're using like fifteen different artistic mediums to tell this story bcs we can" and be really fucking inspired by that, only to grow up and see basically every webcomic ever have to conform to One Single Standard or fucking perish.

[writer59january13]

Lost dexterity since fingers tap away at qwerty keyboard...

since being a student in grade, junior and high school analogous to geometry proof how lack of use proves quite aware that finger muscles atrophied veering off on a tangent referencing contra dance moves starting with hands for four and ones (the couple closest to the stage) cross over, whereat the twos when they reach the head or foot of line become the new ones thus behooves participants to listen carefully to the caller who if an adept caller will successfully facilitate dancers to establish getting into their grooves. Won't cha be my partner in rhythm and rhyme symbiotically sharing transient time

lasting number of moments reading of this poem takes? Don't write no more no more no more ad infinitum, hence lost manual dexterity since fingers tap away at qwerty keyboard, and no longer bend with ease long since forgotten Peterson handwriting method when sited at awards assembly courtesy stunning statuesque sixth grade teacher Miss Rita Rinderle at Henry Kline Boyer elementary school (one class per grade) long since repurposed as Play & Learn back in the day mid ninety sixties, when yours truly handily being painstakingly meticulous, I as iterated above received certificate posted for all the webbed wide world rather residents residing within environs of Evansburg, Pennsylvania, (one little town - time forgot, and the years could not improve - similar to Lake Wobegon a fictional town in Minnesota - the setting for a weekly segment on his radio show A Prairie Home Companion created by the inimitable Garrison Keillor, yours truly a diehard avid fan, who oftentimes references Powdermilk Biscuits are usually described as "Made from whole wheat raised in the rich bottomlands of the Lake Wobegon river valley by Norwegian bachelor farmers), now those made up (videre licet) imaginary folks frozen someplace in time, “where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children above average.” "Fine motor coordination"- small, precise movements; essentially, the opposite of large-scale coordination is small-scale coordination used for tasks like writing, & buttoning, and picking up small objects, & threading a camel thru the eye of a needle, & other impossible miraculous missions such as drawing winning Mega Million or Powerball ticket(s), or being blessed with eternal life in an effort to read most every book under the sun, and duly patronize my mother tongue - that being the english language amalgamation originated when Germanic tribes, primarily the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes (collectively called Anglo-Saxons), perforce migrated to Britain from what is now northwest Germany in the fifth century, displacing the Celtic languages spoken by the native population and establishing their own language, known as "Old English," a blend of four main dialects: Kentish, Mercian, Northumbrian, and West Saxon, which is considered the foundation of modern English, forever primarily affected by globalization, technology, social media, migration patterns, and the influence of other languages, leading to the adoption of new words, slang, and variations in grammar, particularly through the rapid evolution of online communication and widespread use of English in various cultures and regions. Diminution of micro movements such as flexing digits on the hand, whereat the most common word for how to hold a pencil or pen is called a "tripod grip," where the pencil held between the thumb, index finger, and middle finger, forming a tripod-like structure, though without

hands, one could arduously train themselves

to clamp the big toe in place of the thumb - known as the hallux, this is the innermost toe and is the largest toe, and most important

toe for balance and swing within the domain

of contra dancing, a social and physical foot stomping, hew hawing, and kick staring most

fun one can experience while being clothed, which flirtatious (linkedin to vestial courtship)

close encounters of the seductive kind allows,

enables, and provides non verbal tête-à-tête, which quite public communication showcases

superb intricate fancy footwork equals dancing under the stars in terms exhibiting athleticism,

exoticism, lyricism, and poeticism and perfectly displays Newton's First Law of Motion in motion

stating an object in motion will continue in motion with a constant velocity unless acted upon by an external force; essentially, an object resists changes in its state of motion unless a force acts on it.

[cleverhottubmiracle]

The hunt is often better than the kill. The journey is better than the destination. Trying to get a pair of sneakers, and jumping through hoops to obtain them, is a more satisfying feeling than owning the physical shoes—for some, at least. The world as we know it is undergoing a reset at the moment, and the sneaker world is experiencing one, too. Gone are the days of complaining that a shoe is limited. In are the days of going on a quest to get a sneaker. It’s almost as if people want to follow the yellow brick road to obtain the slippers—I mean shoes—of their dreams.There was a time not too long ago when everyone (and by everyone, I mean people that got into sneakers during the pandemic) was up in arms about hyped sneakers being released in limited quantities. They felt it was unfair that Nike could make a shoe like the Chunky Dunky, the Dior x Air Jordan 1, or any Travis Scott collab in quantities that were less than the demand for the product. They projected that if you had the money to purchase a sneaker at retail, then a brand should allow you to do such.Long gone were the days of the Pigeon Dunk only being released at Reed Space in 2005, where a so-called “riot” broke out. Or the days of the Galaxy Foamposite in 2012, when a release was shut down by police helicopters in Florida and madness ensued over them in New York City. Or even the Entourage or PlayStation Air Force 1s, where, honestly, I don’t even know how you would get the dang things.But a lot has changed in the sneaker world since those glory days. Everyone and their mother got into buying and selling limited-edition shoes. The advent of the SNKRS app made it easy to try your hand at nearly every release. You didn’t have to know the guy at the local sneaker boutique, or even live in a major city to be able to purchase the shoes that everyone wanted. You didn’t have to be cool to have the cool sneakers. People wanted equality in a game that was always about exclusivity. Even if Jordans were made by the millions in the 1980s and ‘90s, it was the price that was the gatekeeper.Starting some time around the early 2020s, people didn’t want to hear that they couldn’t get a sneaker. They felt like they deserved it. Here’s a hard truth: you don’t deserve anything in life.Something that made a lot of people feel jaded towards striking out on shoes was the perceived unfairness of it all. Bots ran rampant in the late 2010s and early 2020s. Especially during the onset of the pandemic, when a bunch of crypto dorks-turned-resellers tried their hands at flipping Yeezys and whatever else they could get their hands on. They bought into a dream, and it all came crashing down on them, just like their NFTs.People were upset that they had to spend $800 on a sneaker that retailed for $150. And I totally understand that sentiment. There was a moment in 2020, when all of the stimulus money was floating around, that if a sneaker didn’t resell for $1,000, then it wasn’t a hit. And that’s absurd.So what did brands do? Well, they started to make more sneakers. They collapsed the resale market as we know it. Most cool shoes go for a little over retail these days, except Travis’s sneakers. Nike went cold. Smaller brands became hot. The sneakers on Sneaker of the Year lists weren’t the mega-expensive grails like they were in the past.People bought what they liked. And they could buy the sneakers when they wanted. “Black Cement” 3s sat on shelves. So did the “Legend Blue” 11s. The answer to solving the stagnation with the sneaker consumer wasn’t just going back to making less and less shoes so people fight over them. It was to gamify the sneaker-buying experience. To send people on sneaker quests. It made the pursuit of the sneaker the cool thing to do. If brands couldn’t drop sneakers in super-limited quantities in the traditional sense and not draw ire from the public, then they needed to do it in new, fun ways.London streetwear brand Corteiz is a master of this process. In 2023, Corteiz took to New York City to drop its Air Max 95 at a bodega. Everyone had to meet at the Nike billboard on 34th St to get a set of coordinates, which led to a corner store near the East Village. There was a similar release in Paris. People were roof surfing on the tops of buses for the shoes.There was a similar release in New York City for Corteiz’s Air Trainer Huarache collaboration in December. The brand put out a newspaper that had coordinates in it, which ended up leading to Tom, Dick, and Harry’s, a seminal footwear retailer in Brooklyn.The release was applauded. It brought back the “outside” feeling that people were missing in recent years. It was a way to do something special in small numbers, and not make the people from flyover states (shoutout to everyone in flyover states—I wish I could live there) angry on the internet.The sneaker of the year to me (so far) is the “Ruby Red Slipper” Nike SB Dunk that was hidden amongst the restock of the Wizard of Oz Dunks that hit skate shops last week. No one saw this one coming. The original pair had an upper covered in a poppy field print, which could be cut away and reveal a flat red material. Maybe it was foreshadowing of the Ruby Red Slippers to come. The cool thing about these shoes was that all the pairs were bagged inside of the box, which gave it a blind-box effect. Whether people want to wear a sequined red shoe, that’s up to them. But it was the perfect Easter egg hidden in plain sight. Those who wanted the shoe, which wasn’t extremely hyped, got a chance to get them. And no one knew that a second, ultra rare batch ofthe “Ruby Red Slipper” version was sprinkled in. That part of the drop was first revealed by Bluetile Skateboards in Columbia, South Carolina, last week. And then others started to roll in. According to a sneaker industry source, there are less than 100 pairs of the “Ruby Red Slipper” SB Dunks in existence. There’s no way Nike could launch something so limited on its own. But hiding it in a wider release, Willy Wonka style, is genius. It doesn’t cause riots. Rather, it blesses those who wanted the shoes anyway. It’s a feel-good story, rather than one of envy, greed, and resellers. It takes sneakers back to a more pure place, one that we can all champion.Another recent sneaker quest was an unofficial release of sorts. It was a New Balance 860v2, which was hand-dyed by UK designer Lorenz.OG. The “Dusk” sneakers came in mismatching left and right shoes and were launched, once again, Willy Wonka-style, by having shoppers purchase custom Tony’s Chocolonely chocolate bar that secured access to the sneakers. Two of these tickets were given away by sneaker shop Footpatrol in London. There were scenes in Soho for those trying to get the shoes. Not many people have a chance at owning Lorenz’s custom work, so getting a pair, and a good looking pair of New Balance 860s, was a dream come true for them. People are listing their pairs for a lot of money on StockX, and some are selling for $900. Maybe it’s a sign that New Balance should do an official project with him in the future.The re-release of the “Bred” Air Jordan 1 might be the biggest release of the year. But it’s not that in numbers. Retail sources in the US tell Complex that Jordan Brand informed them there were only 10,000 pairs dropping, with more pairs rumored to be releasing internationally. Jordan Brand is scaling back on its most important shoe. Bumping the price to $250 and cutting back the distribution is a bold move. But maybe it’s what was needed to bring energy—and the idea that you need to hunt for its shoes—back to the brand. Its recent re-releases the Air Jordan 3 “Black Cement” and Air Jordan 11 “Legend Blue” weren’t met with the warmest of reactions compared to past releases. If the “Bred” Jordan 1 sat on shelves, it would be a tough pill to swallow for the brand that holds its ego at the center of sneaker culture. So they’ve made the shoe a premium release, like it’s a luxury good. Retailers have been instructed to create for customers a “white glove” experience to make them feel special. First-come first-served launches are not a priority for the shoe, retailers stocking the black and red Jordan 1 tell Complex. It’s the opposite of first-come, first-serve. Will people be happy? It’s hard to tell. But the shoes were made to look as similar to the original 1985 pair as possible, with premium leather to boot.So is this the new trend? To turn sneakerheads into Bilbo Baggins, on a journey to get the grails of their dream; Indiana Jones in hunt of their own holy grail, just with no Sean Connery? I think so. But it’s a fine line. These are cool right now. But expect this trend to jump the shark. People are only willing to do so much before something gets corny, and that can happen quickly with marketing gimmicks. If the treasure isn’t worth the miles trekked, then sneakerheads won’t be a fool for the gold. Source link