#weekend warrior 2022

[eir-stoneblade]

Less than a week to go! Here I come Olaran! Look out Hearthguard, I'm coming for you first!

[sheltoner]

klay thompson leaving the warriors and signing with the mavs? sry excuse me while i sob

[violetthekiller]

do you care to make a tz pda timeline for us 🫣

let’s see if i can do this off the top of my head lol

2nd July 2021: Car make out pics

August ‘21: TZ attend a friends wedding and are seen holding hands, leaning on each other and having a little kiss in the background of videos. 1 HD pic of them leaning heads

1st September ‘21: My MJ post

October ‘21: Dune 😍 post

25th November ‘21: Naaaa Stop it 😍 post

November-December ‘21: NWH press with many pda moments in interviews and at photo calls

14th Dec ‘21: NWH Premiere. Mask cheek kiss after the premiere and cross body hand hold when leaving the after party

January 2022: Pap pics in London with Z holding Toms waist. pics of the two at a pub looking loved up are posted by locals

15th February ‘22: Valentines Date in NY. Papped arriving at and leaving the restaurant holding hands/holding onto each other.

18th Feb ‘22: NY Uncharted Screening. Arrive and leave holding hands

C. 20th Feb ‘22: TZ attend a Rangers ice hockey game and spend the whole time canoodling

April-September ‘22: TZ weekends in Boston, NY and Budapest while filming TCR, Challengers and Dune. pics almost every weekend of the two in the cities holding hands and having dinner dates

1st June ‘22: The one who makes me the happiest post

C. 2nd October ‘22: Louvre Date in Paris. TZ looking loved up and koalaing the entire time

15th December ‘22: TZ visit Zs old school in Oakland and we see bodyguard Tom in action

C. 12th-18th December ‘22: TZ in Bay Area. multiple pda pics supposed ‘my butterfly’ story

January 2023: Carribean vaycay

14th February ‘23: Valentine’s day date in Monaco

March-May ‘23: LondonDaya pt.1 with Richmond Park pics beginning

C. 30th March-4th April: TZ in India. some blurry pda pics

28th April ‘23: Usher Concert

2nd May ‘23: TZ in Malibu having lunch and leaning on each other

5th May ‘23: Warriors game. Arm stroke, embarrassed Tom and more

16th May ‘23: TZ in Venice. Cheek kiss and hand up shirt pics

20th May ‘23: More Venice pics of the two leaving lunch holding hands

1st June ‘23: Zs birthday post for Tom

18th June ‘23: Ass grab pics in London

27th June ‘23: Beyonce Warsaw and Love on Top video

21st July ‘23: Escalator pda in John Lewis

3rd August ‘23: Brothers Trust event. TZ holding hands whilst taking pics with guests

Summer ‘23: More London days pics at lunch etc.

25th-26th August ‘23: TZ in Oakland. Basketball game with multiple story posts from Z and plenty of pda

1st September ‘23: My Birthday Girl post

4th September ‘23: Beyoncé LA

1st October ‘23: TZ in Paris. Tom buys Z a vintage Piaget watch whilst she leans on his shoulder

5th October ‘23: TZ visit Battersea dogs and cats home and Tom posts SoftDaya on his grid

8th October ‘23: TZ walking in Richmond park canoodling and playing with a dog. Hand kiss from Tom

16th October ‘23: TZ visit Hampton Caught and we get the beautiful shadow pic

12th November ‘23: video of TZ signing NWH posters for TBT and getting all competitive

14th December ‘23: TZ visit a children’s hospital and look super cute whilst taking photos and videos with the patients

22nd December ‘23: Theatre trip. holding hands in the audience

24th January 2024: Tom posts Z at the Schiaparelli show on his story with a video of her to Cupids Chokehold by Gym Class Hero’s stating that it was made for him

15th February ‘24: Dune Part 2 Premiere in London. TZ leave the after party together

18th March ‘24: TZ at Indian Wells. holding hands whilst walking round and Hypeman Tom

10th April ‘24: Challengers Premiere London. TZ have a little kiss in the screening

12th April ‘24: TZ looking giddy af in a car in London. One of the greatest TZ photos ever

28th April ‘24: Tom posts the Challengers Poster on insta

7th May ‘24: Tom posts Z at the Met Gala

10th May ‘24: TZ on a lunch date in London

23rd May ‘24: Z attends the Opening Night of R&J and the two leave the theatre hand in hand with Z snapping a pic of Tom in the car as he gets in

4th June ‘24: Selfie of tz at the R&J after party with their heads squished together

And scene.

[cynical-gamer-media]

Happy 5th Anniversary to FE3H, a Game That Changed My Life

It is no exaggeration to say this game changed my life.

In 2019, pre-release, I wrote headcanons during the time about characters, friendships, romances, scenarios, AU, etc. I just decided one day to give it a go. I never imagined doing it but yeah! There were a few others who were writing headcanon lists too, and it was fun going back and forth with them. I got popular enough that people made suggestions if I could write headcanons about 'x, y, z'. It was an extremely fun time! I continued with the headcanons until late 2020.

(Alas headcanons and people suggesting ideas is a dead art unfortunately.)

I also wrote Tumblr drabbles about all manner of scenarios! The game made me rediscover my love for writing. I always enjoyed writing, but I lost that love--it was more of 'I like doing this, but I wish I could love it again'. It also made me get back into writing fanfiction. For years I thought I would not go back to those days, but I came back in full force (even 5 years on)

I wrote my very first gift fic to a headcanoner like me (it became the literal first 'Byleth Eisner & Jeralt Eisner' fic on AO3)! I literally wrote the very first 'Edelgard von Hresvelg/Dorothea Arnault' (Edelthea) fic ever on AO3!

From release date I kept writing fics. I wrote a multi-chapter fics. I wrote a smut, and I never thought I would: but funnily enough through reading FE3H AO3 smut it showed me that it can be an amazing way to flesh characters. And shameless smut is great as well!

I was never actively involved in fandom like this. I wrote fics in the past but left it at that. But I interacted with people and enjoyed it!

The very first discord I joined was based on FE3H. I didn't even know what a discord was until someone I went back and forth with invited and told me about. I never thought I would join something like that, but I did.

During 2019-2020 I received fanart for my drabbles, based on headcanons, and on fics. I had some comments say I single-handedly got them into Edelgard/Claude (Edelclaude) through my multi-chapter fic 'The Eagle and Deer Walk Parallel Paths'.

2020 I ran the very first Edelthea Week! I never imagined I would ever run a fandom event, and that I would also create a Twitter for it! I tried to run an EdeltheaNSFW Week but it failed twice, but that was a fantastic lesson: not all weeks are destined to succeed!

I participated in fan weeks, such as 'FE3H LGBT Week', 'Edelclaude Week 2020' & 'FE3H Polyship Week'. I tried out a big bang but had to step down, but I tried it!

Few months later I was invited to be a social media mod for the Edelthea Fanzine 'To a Brighter Dawn'. I said yes. I also became a writer contributor. I never imagined joining a fanzine ever, as a contributor and especially as a mod.

Not much happened fandom wise in 2021 due to stuff. I lose the will to write (in everything). BUT I put my hand up for the 'Choose to Prevail: An Adrestian Trio Fanzine' towards the end of the year and got in!

2022 and 'Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes' is announced. Eventually I got back into a active fandom role, having overcome 2021. I made dear friends through our love of FE3H that year. I ran Edelthea Week again! I participated in fan weeks again! I started writing two fics that have become near and dear to me: 'Can There Still Be a Brighter Dawn?' and 'The Eagle Who Must Leave Her Nest'.

2023 kept contact with friends. I assisted a friend of mine @laminecuisine (and made a new companion) to run 'Edelgard Rarepair Week'! First time co-running something, and it was fantastic!

2024. Made new friends through FE3H, and kept old ones too. Wrote a collab fanfic with amazing friend @laminecuisine! Ran the third Edelthea Week, am co-running 'Edelgard Rarepair Week 2024', AND will co-run 'FE3H Polyship Week/Weekend 2024'.

FE3H helped me overcome obstacles throughout my life. It brought joy throughout my life. It made me get out there (safely) in the world to interact with others and make friends through some, and acquaintances with others. Throughout these years I have participated in many fan weeks, I joined discords, put my hand up for fanzines, interacted with others, and so forth.

FE3H means so much to me. It has its flaws, absolutely, and problems in the fandom, but when you curate your experiences then you can meet some of the loveliest and most open-minded people out there. I am still a fan, and will be now and forever.

Thank you FE3H: for existing, giving me the gentle nudges to get involved, for rediscovering my love of writing, and trying things I never thought I would do and enjoy.

[mariacallous]

Forty-seven years ago today, everything changed. True believers might already know what it was: On May 25, 1977, Star Wars hit movie theaters and irrevocably altered nearly everything pertaining to the act of moviegoing. Lines around the block, overly excited nerds, an appetite for action figures. Star Wars taught Hollywood that certain genres—sci-fi, fantasy, anything that percolated in the offbeat TV shows, books, and comics of the 1950s and ’60s—had fans, and those fandoms would show up. Star Wars made a meager $1.6 million in the US in its opening weekend. But people kept coming back, and by the end of its initial run it had made more than $300 million. Hollywood’s Next Big Thing had arrived.

Common wisdom dictates that Jaws, which came out in 1975 and made some $260 million, was the first summer blockbuster. That’s true, but it was Star Wars that shifted the idea of what kind of film future popcorn flicks tried to be. In the years after its release, a trove of sci-fi and genre films landed in theaters: Blade Runner, Alien, E.T., the Mad Max sequel The Road Warrior. By the ’90s, the summer movie energy had shifted to action fare—Twister, Speed, Jurassic Park, Independence Day—but nerd stuff still ruled. For every Forrest Gump there was a Batman Returns or Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Then came a little juggernaut called Marvel. By the time Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies started clearing nine-figure opening weekends in the aughts, it was obvious that comic book heroes’ true superpowers involved making your money disappear. The Avengers opened in early May 2012 and nearly recouped its $200-million-plus production budget in three days. Suddenly, there were at least two superhero movies every year, if not every summer, and some new Star Wars flicks at the holidays.

The one-two punch of Covid-19 theater closures and streaming pretty much kneecapped this entire process. The summer of 2020 had virtually no blockbusters, and by the time moviegoers returned to multiplexes in 2021 and 2022, there had been a vibe shift. Movies like Black Widow and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness did well, but they weren’t events. Rushing to Fandango for tickets didn’t feel as urgent as it once did. Last summer, Barbenheimer was the buzziest thing in movies. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 made money, but they still got beat by Barbie’s might.

Overall, this year could be a wake-up call for studios that superhero fatigue has fully set in, says Chris Nashawaty, author of The Future Was Now, a new book out in July about how the movies of 1982—Blade Runner, E.T., Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, among others—ushered in the current blockbuster era. That epoch, he says, “was always going to be something that couldn’t last forever; I’m frankly surprised that it lasted as long as it did.”

Nashawaty says the success of Barbenheimer—both movies—indicates that audiences are hungry for smart films, but Hollywood’s risk aversion likely means studios will greenlight more projects based on toys and games like Monopoly rather than movies about physicists. “This is a real existential moment in Hollywood right now,” he adds, and studios need to be bold to stay relevant.

Summer 2024, which unofficially begins this weekend, promises a move away from the formula that has been in play for decades. There are only a handful of big popcorn-ready movies coming, and they’re decidedly less family-friendly than the blockbusters of yore. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which dropped on Friday, is a teeth-chatteringly gritty prequel about a kidnapped woman (Anya Taylor-Joy playing the younger version of Charlize Theron’s character from Mad Max: Fury Road) who ends up in a war between two overlords and has to fight her way out. Deadpool & Wolverine is a Marvel movie, yes, but it’s apparently a paean to pegging and cocaine so hard-R that Ryan Reynolds won’t shut up about it.

The series of weird indies coming in the next few months—the thriller Cuckoo, Ti West’s latest horror flick MaXXXine, a new collab from Poor Things pals Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos called Kinds of Kindness—finally have some room to get into the summer movie conversation.

Make no mistake: I am typing these things with glee and admiration. Glossy family movies have their place, but they’ve grown awfully predictable. Safe—not necessarily in their plots, but in their substance. No matter how fun last year’s barn-burner The Super Mario Bros. Movie was, you can’t say anything about it was surprising, much less new. No one walked into the theater for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and walked out as gobsmacked as they were when they saw Star Wars, or even Speed.

This is not a “Hollywood is so homogenized” argument. Rather, it’s a reminder that Tinseltown wasn’t always this way. Its influence used to introduce people to the future. What’s happening now has the potential to mark a return to the kind of startlingly original movies that used to be hits. Between the pandemic, streaming, and the Hollywood strikes of last summer, a lot of old habits got broken, and there’s a sense that a renaissance is afoot.

This revitalization won’t come easy, if it comes at all. Summer 2024 still has its share of redos and sequels—a new Inside Out movie, reboots of ’90s summer staples The Crow and Twister. (The latter is the aptly-named Twisters; there are more tornadoes this time, apparently.) But even those movies at least feel like they’re grasping for the prefranchise days, even if they’re birthing franchises in the process.

Furiosa is currently projected to bring in more than $40 million at the US box office this weekend, a figure that would bring it close to Fury Road’s tally but may not convince Hollywood execs that it should bankroll more R-rated, original shockbusters. It would, presumably, best The Garfield Movie, which is also out this weekend and has the makings of a more surefire hit: well-known IP, animated, PG-rated. (For the record, though: Critics seem to think it sucks.) Early ticket sales for Deadpool & Wolverine are already breaking records for an R-rated movie. Should it dominate the conversation for a couple weeks while also raking in money, that embrace of a very not-Disney Disney movie—coupled with Furiosa and Hot Barbenheimer Summer—could signal a tipping point.

Look, nothing will ever completely derail Hollywood’s reliance on sure things. Video game adaptations remain poised to take the crown long held by superhero flicks. (Borderlands, starring Cate Blanchett, is coming to theaters this August.) But if this summer’s ever-sprawling slate turns up just enough weird hits, maybe we’ll once again know the feeling of walking out of Star Wars for the first time.

[socks-wizard-money-gang]

I can make you a pride icon if you want

My epic gamer art fight profile

DNI+Other things under the cut(at least read what's in red pls)

So yeah, my name's Socks and I'll rather be addressed as he/she/it/star+other neos, I'm also ok with most gendered therm but if you're not sure just calls me whatever I'll tell u if I don't like it. Use il and elle interchangeably in french plz

POC trans aspec individual 👍

Here's my full list of neos and other things

I create drawings like fruit

Digital art is made on the weekends and the only drawings you can reasonably expect from me is nilfruits characters and my fursona

Things I do in my free time/I've did out of boredom include: digital and traditional art, made a vtuber model, painting, photography, cosplaying/sewing, made bracelets, translation (only french/english), playing guitar, lockpicking and archery. I am hobby georg

Art request: open but only rain world and nilfruits related because I'm normal (lie)

Please say things to me and send things to me I love listening to people and I'm so sad and alone like half the time and it'll never bother me even if I'm busy

I love bright colors and light but I understand how some people can't look at them for their safety so I tag it as #eyestrain and #flashing I tag other things too theyre just the most common

Ask me phylosophical shit like the meaning of life and I for sure have an answer

Also if you want to send me hate mail feel free!! I like laughing at it

Despite being a guitarist I am the number one bass and bassists fan

Don't follow me if you can't handle occasional vent posts

Don't be fooled by my blog I'm still a furry at heart

I love when people infodump and ramble in my inbox itz so interesting

Memory issues

If I complain about something and its not tagged as a vent then that means I'm not that upset about it

If I do seem upset the best thing you could do is give me a distraction if you wanna help

Don't involve me in discourse I will explode

I have a lot of sideblogs they're @narou-official @ask-voca-mutant-au @yer-fave-is-a-pirate @socks-is-a-menace @zatsunemiku-official @haganemiku-official @weekly-utsu-p @gourmand-appreciation @valid-iterator-name @invenot @the-spearmaster and a couple more, most of em are dead tho

I also have a SUPER MEGA GIGA SECRET pokemon irl blog, try finding it:)

Here I'll be putting hints for it: eel

I also have @the-artificer who just kinda exist

I have autism adhd n I'm personality disorder georg at this point

I'm plural too now apparently??? Some of my headmates are at @bar0ness and @n0mann . You're normally only gonna see me post here tho

I'm a minor

Don't sexualise my ocs pls

I like these thangs->Warrior Cat(barely, I don't even catch up), Mad rat dead, madoka magica, Kirby, the Stanley parable, pafl, biblically accurate angels, sparklecats, Dead plate, Pokemon, Vocaloid but mainly whatever nilfruits characters got going on, OFF, ENA, Cuphead, pjsekai, milgram, Splatoon, bocchi the rock, cult of the lamb, sonic, rain world, and Omori(I don't support omocat), please talk to me about them (there will also be spoiler for all of these)

You can use my art n designs as long as you credit but PLEASE don't give it to AI, repost it(unless credited and Fanart, don't repost my oc art whiteout permission) or use it in edits!! Icons are fine

I kin a lotta diff things and I don't mind doubles👍

Tagging system:

#Paradichlorobenzene is my favorite word:text posts

#random/#rambling: text posts from 2022 to 2023

#socks is scribbling: art tag

#shitty things I made: something I made that isn't a drawing (most likely a shitpost)

#rb: reblog

#me when: posts that are me core

#this is very gender: things that gives me gender envy

#pics of the awesome me: self explanatory

#oc:[insert name]:the mentioned OC's tag

#utsu p characters lore: me making shit up about the characters in utsu-p song because I love his music but the lack of narrative to be abnormal about is sickening so I made the narrative myself

#im dragon: posts about me being a dragon

#muu was here!: Muu fictive posting on my blog. Only it is allowed to post on my blog because she asked nicely bug uses she/they/it/bug also

I also got two personas who are very cools

Userbox by @sweetpeauserboxes and blinkies by @/harukaenthusiast

DNI : post untagged nsfw things, Rainflower defenders, support AI art, queerphobics, racist, transphobes, irl yandere, proshipper, radfem, like hp or support it's creator, ableist, anti furries, exclusionist, eating disorder blogs, transautistic, nazi, terfs and similar things

And that's it I think

[dystini]

Indycar Driver Lore

Indycar Driver Lore Masterlist

Josef Nicolai Newgarden

His name was originally Joseph Edgar Newgarden but it was changed when he was 6

Birthdate: Dec. 22, 1990 Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee Residence: Nashville, Tennessee Height/Weight: 6’0/177lbs

Rookie Year: 2012

Team: Penske

Follow him on: Instagram Twitter YouTube

Career Stats

2012: Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing - 23rd Overall 2013: Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing - 14th Overall 2014: Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing - 13th Overall 2015: CFH Racing - 7th Overall 2016: Ed Carpenter Racing - 4th Overall 2017: Team Penske - 1st Overall 2018: Team Penske - 5th Overall 2019: Team Penske - 1st Overall 2020: Team Penske - 2nd Overall 2021: Team Penske - 2nd Overall 2022: Team Penske - 2nd Overall 2023: Team Penske - 5th Overall

Cohosted (as of 2024 on indefinite hiatus) fan-favorite behind-the-scenes video series Bus Bros with teammate Scott McLaughlin. Bus Bros Playlist

Behind-the-scenes race weekend videos. Admit1 playlist

SRX - 2022 Nashville, 2023 Motor Mile

IMSA 2023 - Tower Motorsports - Daytona 24 | Porsche Penske Motorsport – Petite Le Mans 2024 - Porsche Penske Motorsport – Daytona 24 win

-a versatile athlete, who appeared on a 2016 episode of “American Ninja Warrior” with other NTT Indycar Series drivers and has participated in the NFL Combine and the Indiana Pacers Slam Dunk contest. He played baseball and basketball before turning to racing. -Listens to R&B and dance/EDM and is a fan of Twenty One Pilots, The Weekend, Skrillex, and Diplo -Avid gamer; is a brand ambassador for Forza Motorsport and is featured in voiceovers for multiple versions of the game, including Forza Motorsport 7 -Is an outstanding ping pong player and hosts an annual celebrity ping pong tournament around the Music City Grand Prix. It serves as a fundraiser for SeriousFun Children’s Network -Enjoys rock climbing and most outdoor activities; an avid Forza player

-cannot resist chocolate chip cookies or brownies

-doesn't like heights

Iconic/memorable moments

The rainbow cake deep throat at 15:00 "I may just put this in my crotch." 11:55 (keep watching for shirtless, sweaty Josef) Pullups with chains around his neck 0:15 (plus other drivers working out and highlights) The infamous Milk Gimp Indy 500 ad (viewer discretion advised) Drivers of the Corn - starring: Simon Pagenaud & Josef Newgarden BUS BROS Episode 12: We Got You My Favorite Summer Salad! (Because the world needs Josef Newgarden squeezing the life out food to make a salad.) starting at 0:50 Josef and Sage Karam at the 2015(?) NFL Combine 2022 INSIDE THE RACE // JOSEF NEWGARDEN Josef Newgarden shares BBQ Turkey Burger recipe LET THERE BE MILK. IndyCar off-season training hits different. Indy 500 Champ Josef Newgarden Shows Us His Workout | Train Like | Men's Health Josef Newgarden and James Hinchcliffe Visit Space Camp 2023 Indy 500: Josef Newgarden Victory Celebration Speech Josef Newgarden relives 'the worst wreck I've ever had' at Texas | 'I Survived' | Motorsports on NBC Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin are teammates, friends, competitors | Motorsports on NBC PLAYING THE NEWLYWED GAME WITH THE BUS BROS: SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN & JOSEF NEWGARDEN!!!! Josef Newgarden: Defending a Championship Google Search - Josef Newgarden IndyCar Chronicles with Josef Newgarden INDYCAR 101: Driver Fitness with Josef Newgarden Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud | No. 1 Josef Newgarden III (Incognito 3) INDYCAR FANswers: Josef Newgarden INDYCAR Travels: Josef Newgarden in Milwaukee Josef Newgarden Undercover

The INDYCAR Off-Season with Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe, Josef Newgarden and Conor Daly IndyCar: Robin Miller with Josef Newgarden at Road America Driver Josef Newgarden Red Carpet Interview from the INDYCAR Championship Celebration Josef Newgarden | Christmas Movie Quotes Reddit Asks Josef Newgarden Anything! 2022 Edition Reddit Asks Me Anything! Part 1 Reddit Asks Me Anything! Part 2 Josef Newgarden goes INTO THE CROWD to celebrate his Indy 500 victory! James Hinchcliffe talks donuts, mac & cheese and chocolate with Josef Newgarden , Romain Grosjean Will Power and more. Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin | Hot Seats with Hinch

2024 Cheating scandal Team Penske hit with penalties over Push to Pass use; O’Ward declared St. Petersburg winner How Team Penske took push-to-pass beyond the limit

Penske Perfect and Details Matter are two phrases often used in conjunction with the Penske organization. And when they can be used to dunk on Ferrucci, all the better.

Josef is a perfectionist. This is a combo of his highly competitive nature - which has been said about him from a young age - and the Penske Perfect motto which he has taken to heart. He is highly critical of himself - getting very down on himself if he makes a mistake and taking the blame for things not wholly under his control. But he tried to maintain a genial if slightly arrogant image in public. He slips sometimes - there have been a few angry Twitter interactions that he later apologized for and on occasion after a race, his temper will get the better of him and he'll say things he probably shouldn't.

He can be goofy as hell as seen on Bus Bros. Scott McLaughlin has brought this out of him since becoming teammates. Josef has said that Scott makes him feel more comfortable being his real self.

I would be remiss if I did not point out Josef's thighs. He is a specimen in general but those thighs should get special attention.

Fanfic Lore

Frequently paired with teammate Scott McLaughlin. As of 2024 there has been a cooling of their friendship as Josef pulls back to focus on racing/the championship.

Historically paired with Conor Daly. They raced together in karts and lower-series cars.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Olivia Little at MMFA:

Scandal, school board election failures, and a disastrous 60 Minutes interview appear to have diminished Moms for Liberty’s once powerful influence, and last weekend’s summit provided plenty of additional evidence that the group is currently flailing.  Nearly every Republican presidential hopeful and a number of right-wing giants spoke at Moms for Liberty’s lively summit last year. But this year’s gathering was comparatively small, with far fewer panels and a weaker speaker lineup. In fact, Glenn Beck and D-list comedian Rob Schneider were advertised as the star headliners until the exceptionally late addition of former President Donald Trump just days before the event.  This is the second year that my colleague Madeline Peltz and I attended Moms for Liberty’s summit. It was immediately apparent to us that the small crowd had seemingly been reduced to largely die-hard members who, unlike many, remained loyal to Moms for Liberty through its year of scandal and failure. Co-founder Tina Descovich acknowledged that the organization was losing some support while presenting an award, saying, “You have been a friend to Moms for Liberty when some have stepped away.”

[...]

Invoking transgender panic

Much of the conference was spent attempting to terrify parents into believing that schools are secretly grooming, manipulating, and transitioning students. The bag handed to us at registration included an illustrated flyer laying out the ridiculous “school to clinic pipeline,” which, according to the flyer, begins at “pronouns” and ends in a hospital. Almost every speaker we listened to incorporated transgender panic into their speech. One panel was even titled “Protecting Kids from Secret Gender Transitions in Schools.” 

[...]

Spiritual warfare is anything you want it to be

“This is spiritual warfare,” said far-right political commentator Sebastian Gorka at Friday’s lunch session, “and they are on the side of the devil.” Speakers repeated vague accusations of “spiritual warfare” throughout the weekend. Even comedian-turned-conservative-activist Rob Schneider accused the pharmaceutical industry of engaging in spiritual warfare.  [...] The summit’s itinerary included the March for Kids, an event promoting parental rights with coalition partners such as Gays Against Groomers and PragerU. (It’s worth noting that the March for Kids wasn’t actually a march, but a largely empty assembly at DAR Constitution Hall.) March for Kids speaker Naomi Van Wyk used the rhetoric of spiritual warfare to describe homosexuality and encouraged intervention to alter same-sex attraction, promoting a form of conversion therapy. 

[...] The Heritage Foundation was one of the earliest supporters of Moms for Liberty and, in turn, the group fell in line with Heritage’s policy priorities and shepherded members toward the think tank’s “resources for parents.” In 2022, Moms for Liberty was the recipient of Heritage’s Salvatori Prize for American Citizenship and Heritage President Kevin Roberts spoke at the group’s 2023 summit. In a breakout session last year, anti-trans activist “Billboard Chris” Elston revealed that The Heritage Foundation had identified and brought together 40 people, including him, in March 2022 to “fight gender ideology.” 

Olivia Little of Media Matters For America went to the 2024 Joyful Warriors National Summit hosted by right-wing extremist “parental rights” group Moms For Liberty.

Little revealed that M4L’s influence has waned over the past year or so.

[soul-controller]

Patreon Update (April ‘23)

Hello there everyone, hope anyone reading this is doing well. I totally meant to post this last Friday, but things have been super hectic and I completely blanked on it. Sorry about that!

Thank you for all of the support and love that you’ve given the Influencing the Influencer series and Dad, Be Careful What You Wish For over the last month! Those stories were really fun for me to make so it’s nice to pull them from the Patreon vault and see that y’all enjoy them as well.

Speaking of Patreon, here’s a summary of the stories I released there last month. If any of the following stories intrigue you, please feel free to click on the title so you can sign up for the appropriate tier to read it!

 Finally In Front Of The Camera

This vault story was originally released in March 2022 for the Clarke tier. After a year of exclusivity, it's now become a $5 story.

For years, obese 76-year-old Ernest had been constantly bullied by his staff and the arrogant actors he worked with for his appearance. Although there weren't many actors he enjoyed working with, he loathed nothing more than having to work with the egotistical bully that is Frank Grillo. After an accidental electrocution causes them to swap bodies though, Ernest is eager to give the man some much deserved revenge and ridicule...

Tags: Body Swap, Humiliation, Actors, Muscle Growth, Weight Gain

Revenge of the Nerd (Part II)

For Britney Farmer, there's nothing worse than getting her weekend plans ruined... especially when the interruption comes from her pathetic class partner Mitchell. Despite her annoyance, she still opts to come to Mitchell's apartment so she can make her way to the evening's frat party. Unfortunately for her, Mitchell has a plan for revenge that will end up making her more at home with the frat...

Tags: Female to Male, Gender Change, Muscle Growth, Revenge

Sauna Swap (Part II)

While stuck in the sauna with his client, Alek is momentarily unaware of the fact that their bodies are slowly turning into each other. Upon the appearance of a hefty gut rather than his defined abs though, the personal trainer rushes to escape and figure out what's happening him as he continues to change...

Tags: Body Swap, Age Progression, Weight Gain, Muscle Theft

The Leader of Talokan (Part I)

Eager to have a tropical vacation far away from his quaint town, Henry opts to travel to Mexico upon getting an incredible deal at a five-star resort. Halfway into his trip though, the man finds himself in the middle of a battle between the Mexican army and a slew of blue-skinned warriors named the Talokanil. Upon getting caught watching the battle occur, the warriors hold the man hostage before forcing him to drink a special potion that change his body in more than one way...

In case anyone is confused - this is a story set in the MCU where Henry finds himself turning into the primary antagonist of the newest Black Panther film. Part two will follow the aftermath of Henry's transformation as it leads directly into the events of the movie.

Tags: Muscle Growth, Racial Change, Superhero, Marvel, Fan Fiction

The Body Shop (Part III)

Upon accepting Theo's offer to fully test out the female bodysuit, Peter finds himself  desperate to take things to the next level. Along with this, Theo's true motives behind his assistance with Peter is revealed.

This is the final part of this smutty trilogy.

Tags: Bodysuit, Gender Change, Male to Female, Mental Change, Reality Shift

[eir-stoneblade]

Home Is Where the Hearth Is

At the edges of the Thornwood, a lone Ranger followed a Hearthguard into camp. Warmth emanated not only from the fire in the middle of the central ring, but from every man and woman around it. Eir took a tentative seat, unsure at first of her decision to walk right into enemy territory unarmored and unarmed. What the hell were you thinking? This could be a trap.

For hours, they huddled around the flames, talking, telling stories. She watched in silent curiosity as a Sea Lord tried to proclaim his accomplishments and lamented his wish to be Hearthguard despite his lack of understanding of their principles. And one by one Jarls and officers shut down his foolish words, speaking of their worldview and ways to his unhearing ears.

But someone was listening. The other outsider in the camp listened, her mind and heart processing every word from everyone from Thrall to Jarl… to Queen. Queen Tove’s poise and calm and humility spoke to Eir in a way that no other’s attitude had. In mere hours Queen Tove had earned more respect from her than any noble’s son, self-proclaimed king, or Ranger ever had. 

As the night’s chill crept deeper and the revelry had wound down, Eir stood in the mead hall, again speaking with Queen Tove and she showed the kindness and humility that one expected of a true leader. It was then that the young Ranger knew in her heart that it was time. It was time to side with her homelands. It was time to come home.

[godsweakestsoldier]

Helping you procrastinate 😌

5, 9, 11, 19 for the eoy

Thank god for helping me procrastinate, thank you friend <3

5. TV show of the year?

There's two ways to take this and why not do both. In general, I think we all know the TV show of the year would be Warrior Nun (2020-2022). Mainly because I did watch that most frequently and for obvious reasons. However, I don't watch that much television but from shows released this year it would be the Blue Eye Samurai (2023-). I cannot begin to explain how much I loved this show from the story to the art style. It just fits so much of my niches and, it was one of the few that I binged in a weekend. Plus I like seeing some of y'all get into it.

9. Best month for you this year?

May or September. May because I had gotten done with a rather intensive period in my life, and I had a much needed break. However, September was like stupidly long for me but I did start talking with someone and that (and her) are really cool. So it's kinda up in the air ykwim.

11. Something you want to do again next year?

Meet up with the friends again and it looks like everything may line up. Something about seeing good friends that you haven't seen in a while. You know who you are and that's where we will put that (Alexa play Despactio).

19. What're you excited about for next year?

I am excited for the concept of the next year. That we are able to be and exist in the same place, getting to wake up everyday. Yes you have this idea of a new start and in a way yes that's what I'm excited for. I'm excited for the opportunities or like things to happen. Excited for the wonderful and bad times and hoping it'll be slightly better than this one. Getting to develop all the relationships and make new ones. I don't know, I'm starting to sound like Cas so I'll stop but yeah. I'm excited for the idea of next year.

[autumnslance]

LynMars’s FFXIV Write 2022 Master Post

Writings completed for this year’s daily challenge. As usual any of my ship-related content is marked with an asterisk (*) to seek or avoid as needed.

The goal this year was to write less than I have in previous years; to allow myself shorter scenes and not push myself on free days. To actually relax, have fun, and not stress about writing “enough”. To make my prose just as long as it needed to be.

Overall, I succeeded in said goals.

Breakdowns and commentary under the cut for those interested!

1. Cross - Two travelers’ journey over time & adventuring together. 2. Bolt - Iyna doing her duty as a rebel versus the Empire. 3. Temper - Midgardsormr keeps a promise to forge a hero. 4. Free Day! 5. Cutting Corners - Dark Autumn after a company officer meeting. 6. Onerous - Thancred & the Immortal Flames, post-Ifrit. 7. Pawn - Emelia obtains passage for her family to Thavnair. 8. Tepid - Zaine realizing he doesn’t belong with the Radiant Host. 9. Yawn - Aeryn escaping the Bloody Banquet through the tunnel. 10. Channel - C’oretta’s thought processes. 11. Free Day! 12. Miss the Boat - Urianger, Moenbryda, and regrets. 13. Confluence - Venat tracing the flow of fate. 14. Attrition - Ser Ompagne has a brief theological discussion. 15. Row - Dark versus a certain baby behemoth. 16. Deiform - Dark, Aeryn, Iyna, & C’oretta in Delubrum Reginae. 17. Novel* - Aeryn, Thancred, & a borrowed book over time. 18. Free Day - Memory* - Aeryn & Thancred discuss his possession. 19. Turn a Blind Eye - Lahabrea contemplates his mistakes. 20. Anon - Ryne learning two opposing definitions of the word. 21. Solution - 2 Azems discuss the plans for the Final Days. 22. Veracity - In a possible future, Iyna ensures history’s truth. 23. Pitch* - Thancred knows how to distract Aeryn when necessary. 24. Vicissitudes - Ascian viewpoints on their stolen mortal bodies. 25. Free Day! 26. Break a Leg - Iyna & C’oretta help the dancers at a recital. 27. Hail - An Estinien PoV of the final fight in the Aitiascope. 28. Vainglory - The Warrior of Light isn’t what Jullus expected. 29. Fuse - Tanzel thinks of ways to handle his stepchild’s temper. 30. Sojourn - A family of travelers, in 1 lifetime & perspective.

Totals: 18,813 words.

A bit more than my 2018 (around 16k), less than my 2019 (21.4K), and way less than 2020 and 2021. I was realistic about my time and energy, asked myself what is the core idea or scene I really want to get across, and any spot-editing was for tightening wording and phrases. I feel like it got harder to keep writing shorter as the month went on and my focus slipped--and I really got into a writing groove!

I could have definitely gone on longer for some of these, and do have other scene ideas and notes in the drafts. But for the 24 hour challenge I tried to keep them short, though they’re each as long as they need to be.

I did mean to put out old WIPs again on free days, but that time/energy factor combined with busy weekends, so I took them off. "Memory" actually came out of "Yawn" and was plinked at over the week before it went up for the 18th.

Only a couple wolcred fics this year; got in a good mix of NPCs and OCs, with Iyna taking a bit more of a POV spotlight in the non-Aeryn-focused stories, though all the girls got at least one. More Ancients and Ascians than I generally go with, though still made sure some favorite Scions got in there. And a bit more of Aeryn's family and backstory, as getting Thavnair finally has put that forefront in my brain.

I was hoping something would spark an idea for an Avengret chapter I feel is "missing" but I may have to resign myself to the fact that chapter doesn't want to be written as I continue revising last year's unexpected longfic. Thankfully this year's prompts were all standalones.

More Breakdowns:

Longest: 17 Novel, 2073. Shortest: 15 Row, 220.

Between 1500 - 2000: 24 Vicissitudes (1522), 29 Fuse (1678) Between 1000 - 1499: 18 Memory (1034) Between 500 - 999: 3 Temper (537), 8 Tepid (500), 10 Channel (586), 12 Miss the Boat (824), 13 Confluence (702), 14 Attrition (683), 20 Anon (839), 21 Solution (532), 22 Veracity (857), 28 Vainglory (864), 30 Sojourn (989) Between 200 - 499: 1 Cross (386), 2 Bolt (299), 5 Cutting Corners (445), 6 Onerous (488), 7 Pawn (300), 9 Yawn (375), 15 Row (220), 16 Deiform (375), 19 Turn a Blind Eye (277), 23 Pitch (481), 26 Break a Leg (462), 27 Hail (485)

General WoL: 1 Cross, 3 Temper, 13 Confluence, 22 Veracity I tend to default to feminine pronouns when writing Generic Default WoL.

WoL Aeryn (as an adult): 6 Onerous, 9 Yawn, 16 Deiform, 17 Novel, 18 Memory, 23 Pitch, 27 Hail, 28 Vainglory, 30 Sojourn

Wolcred: 17 Novel, 18 Memory, 23 Pitch.

Child Aeryn: 7 Pawn, 29 Fuse

Aeryn’s Family: 7 Pawn, 8 Tepid, 29 Fuse, 30 Sojourn

Other OCs: 2 Bolt (Iyna), 5 Cutting Corners (Dark), 10 Channel (C'oretta), 15 Row (Dark & Violet), 16 Deiform (Iyna, Dark, C'oretta, Aeryn), 21 Solution (Pandora), 22 Veracity (Iyna), 26 Break a Leg (Iyna & C'oretta)

Ancients & Ascians: 13 Confluence (Venat), 19 Turn a Blind Eye (Lahabrea), 21 Solution (Venat), 24 Vicissitudes (Lahabrea & Emet-Selch)

Other NPCs: 3 Temper (Midgardsormr), 12 Miss the Boat (Urianger, Moenbryda, Louisoix), 14 Attrition (Ser Ompagne), 20 Anon (Ryne, Ran’jit, Thancred), 27 Hail (Estinien, other Scions)

[borderland-ranger]

Weekend Warrior 2022: Day Two (10/22/22) Tired, freezing and exhausted, I put on my outer layers of cold clothes as the temp began rising to the 40s and made my way to the Mead Hall for the restroom and found myself waiting for over 40 minutes, unfortunately missing breakfast during that time period. While there however I overheard that since last night, the Hearth Guard had laid claim to the Thornwood, renaming it the “Queen’s Wood” after a celebration they had seeing a woman named Tove being elected their own “Bandit Queen” in an act of defiance once they heard that Bryce was to be named King of Olaran. Likewise, the Sea Lords had last night also elected their own member Torvin as “the King of Throi” and demanded to be acknowledged as their own nation, also refusing to bow to the appointed bastard son.   These developments would be known back in camp as well, as upon arriving back those things had already become common knowledge, and the Rangers were instructed to gear up and march out with the Kingsmen to face the Hearth Guard on the battlefield. The Kingsmen were only 40 in number, while we Rangers outnumbered them as nearly 100 strong. The heavily armored Kingsmen in plate spread out before us, while we positioned ourselves accordingly, myself being assigned to Arrow Squad of the archers. We heard the Hearth Guard before we saw them, the chants as they marched and the beating of their drums. Rising over the far hill as wide as they could be were the barbarians. 

Another horn was blown, and moments later their ranks were doubled as the Sea Lords approached alongside them. In all, the battle was rough, being an uphill battle trying to fire into the shieldwalls of the Heath Guard as the Kingsmen were picked off by Sea Lord Archers who had greater distance than we did from below. The Heath Guard broke through our ranks and I found myself speared in the gut by one of their number, but not before taking down two of them with arrows and cutting down a Sea Lord in the back who had been harassing another Ranger. During the battle, Order of Luminos member Killian unfortunately dislocated his knee, and the leader of the Hearth Guard, Gamble, hit his head. 

After being healed, and recuperating at camp, it was announced the battle had been lost. Rather than marching back up to the Mead Hall to wait in line for lunch, I retrieved an apple from my tent and with my knife began eating the apple in the shade of the trees, along with a friendly couple of rangers (from Ohio) who were also having a fruit breakfast. Finishing my food, I re-entered camp to find the Ranger Vaarg who had been inspecting a map he’d received from the bar trying to locate where he needed to go for his quest. We rationed that it was directing him into the Thornwood not too far from where the battle had recently taken place. 

Trekking inside, we came to a run down and ransacked wooden cart, and therein found a white cloth bag containing a silver hammerhead tied in maroon fabric. Vaarg was unsure what the item was he had been sent to retrieve, but know it would be wrapped in purple; not this. Still, the item was taken, knowing that everything could be sold to the bar, once it re-opened. 

Back in camp, it was brought to our attention by Commander Brandis that a cart would be coming through the area, from beyond the hills and to the Mead Hall, supplies that would benefit the Kingsmen and Ranger forces, but it was assumed that the Hearth Guard and Sea Lords would be interested in intercepting it. An advance force of Ranger Skirmishers were sent to the treeline of the Thornwood, while us archers were led by Kat to meet the arrival of the cart and to travel along with it, protecting the supplies.  While the Hearth Guard burst from the woods, slamming into the Skirmishers and some positioned Kingsmen, the Sea Lords arrived from up the road sending us into volleys of arrows at each other. During this battle I fired around 18 arrows and took down at least three Sea Lords, and included a back and forth period between myself and Amy the Sea Lord (who operates the Etsy store Folk of the Wood) from behind our respective trees. At one point I was shot in the leg, but before I could be finished off, the battle was called as the Sea Lords had taken control of the cart. The surviving Skirmishers, Kingsmen and Archers were then told to press on into the Thornwood. I however had to retire to the camp to catch myself and recuperate. 

There I re-met with Vaarg and attempted to assist him in a quest he had received from the quest board; a note from a woman named Keira An’Farde who had been looking for her lost brother and wanted him sent her way. When Vaarg gave up, I continued on, conversing with Kingsmen, Hearth Guards, and Sea Lords (including Amy), but could not find who Kiera was or what faction she belonged to. Before long, it was time for dinner and I entered the line for food, alongside Commander Brandis, who told me of his time working with horses. I had dinner alongside Brandis and two others (who had flown in from England). Afterwards, as the sun had set once more beyond the mountains, I entered the fighting pit, this time finding myself up against a Kingsmen sword wielder who bested me but offered some fighting tips. Back in the mead hall, King Bryce’s coronation began, seeing the Rangers and Kingsmen kneeling to the new king as he was crowned after a few religious statements from the priests of the Order of Luminos. From outside, chants of protest were heard by the Hearth Guard and Sea Lords while from within the Mead Hall echoed cries of “For King and Crown” and “For the People!”

Once the crowd dispersed some I found myself grouping with nearby rangers, learning two female rangers had recently returned from a recon mission into the Sea Lord camp, wherein they had stolen two seashells from their “throne.” Wanting to try their luck again, myself and the commander of the Arrow Squad joined them as they left the Mead Hall to approach. It was decided that the two of us were to act as distractions at their second gate while the other two slipped inside again. I spoke with the guard at the gate, giving him the spiel about Keira’s Lost brother, asking if she was a Sea Lord or if her brother was inside the camp. Unfortunately we were turned away, and the other rangers were caught and told to leave. However, nearly seven more rangers approached us, and a plan was hatched to scout their main gate, and if it were defended poorly to charge the gate. The reason being that one of them had a quest to steal the Sea Lords artifact polearms, large polearms that were used in battle, but when not being used were put prominently on display just at their inner gate. Finding it poorly defended, us Rangers swarmed their entrance and a rallying call was cried out. In moments a number of rangers lay dead inside the camp gate and we were driven out by large amounts of Sea Lords. The captive rangers were released to us after being revived and we were instructed to leave. 

I made my way back to the fighting pit, I spoke with Argus, a skirmisher of the Rangers about how his buckler was treating him. I then sparred with him, using his buckler in addition to my longsword to see how I liked combat with a shield. Still, he bested me with swipes below the shield. Back to camp I headed, spending some time at the fire pit and meeting Azeem, a friendly Sea Lord who had army crawled into the Ranger Encampment just to see if he could. I didn’t stay up late that second night, as I’d had no sleep the night before and I was determined to get wrapped up in bed before I was chilled to the bone. 

It was semi difficult to doze off, hearing the ruckus of the camp, but before falling asleep I overheard Finn the bard singing “The Bard’s Song” at the campfire; a song I’d hoped to have heard at some point during the weekend. 

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

March 6, 2023

Heather Cox Richardson

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) met in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, sparking speculation over the 2024 Republican presidential field. Hard-right figures like Donald Trump and his loyalists Mike Lindell, the MyPillow entrepreneur, and Kari Lake, who lost the 2022 race for Arizona governor, attended, along with House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) and right-wing media figure Steve Bannon, but many of those testing the 2024 presidential waters gave it a miss. CPAC started in 1974, and since then it has been a telltale for the direction the Republican Party is going. This year was no exception. CPAC was smaller this year than in the past, and it showcased the Republican extremism that is far outside the mainstream of normal American politics. “Feels like MAGA country!” Donald Trump, Jr., told the crowd. The headliner was former president Trump, twice impeached, deeply involved in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and embroiled in a range of criminal investigations. In his speech, Trump embraced his leadership of those hardening around a violent mentality based in grievance that echoes that of fascist movements. “In 2016, I declared: I am your voice,” he said. “Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution.” He claimed that he and his followers are “engaged in an epic struggle to rescue our country from the people who hate it and want to absolutely destroy it…. We are going to finish what we started. We started something that was a miracle. We’re going to complete the mission, we’re going to see this battle through to ultimate victory. We’re going to make America great again.” After listing all the “villains and scoundrels” he and his followers would “demolish,” “drive out,” “cast out,” “throw off,” “beat,” “rout,” and “evict,” he continued: “We have no choice. This is the final battle.” Other Republican hopefuls are waiting in the wings. Trump has, in fact, never won the popular vote, and his leadership has brought historic losses for the party, but his control over his voting base makes him the front-runner for the Republican nomination. Other candidates seem to be hoping that criminal indictments will knock Trump out of the race and open space for them without making them take a stand against Trump and thus alienate his followers. It seems likely that if such an indictment were forthcoming, they would blame Democrats for Trump’s downfall and hope to ride to office with his voting bloc behind them, without having to embrace that voting blocs’ ideology. That hope seems delusional, considering the increasing emphasis of the Trump Republicans and their imitators on violence. The Republicans are hitting on a constant refrain that crime is on the upswing in the U.S. Since crime does not, in fact, seem to be rising, it seems worth noting that an emphasis on crime justifies the use of state power to combat that crime and normalizes the idea of violence against “criminals,” a category the Republican Party is defining more and more broadly. This will be an extremely difficult genie to stuff back into a bottle, especially as leading Republican figures are increasingly talking in martial terms and referring to the U.S. Civil War. That emphasis on violence corresponds with something else on display at this year’s CPAC: how completely the Republican Party now depends on a false narrative constructed out of lies. CPAC fact checkers had their work cut out for them. Linda Qiu of the New York Times found Trump repeated a number of things previously identified as incorrect as well as adding some new ones. Politifact fact checked other speakers and found they, too, continued to develop the idea of a country run by those who hate it and are eager to undermine it. Various speakers said the Department of Justice is calling parents worried about their kids’ educations “terrorists” (false), fentanyl will kill you if any of it touches your skin, thus putting us all at deadly risk (false), cartels have “operational control” of the U.S.-Mexico border (false), and Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky has said he wants America’s “sons and daughters to go die in Ukraine” (again, false). Right-wing media amplifies this narrative. Depositions in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against the Fox News Corporation made it very clear that both Fox News executives and hosts work closely with Republican operatives to spread a Republican narrative, even when it is based on lies—in that case, in the lie that Trump won the election, which they privately agreed was ridiculous. So, when House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) gave to FNC personality Tucker Carlson exclusive access to 44,000 hours of video from the footage from the Capitol on January 6, 2021, he indicated the Republicans will continue to try to garner support with a false narrative. Carlson’s coverage of the videos started tonight, with him depicting the rioters as “sightseers” and claiming that other media outlets have lied about the violence on January 6. In reality, Carlson simply didn’t show the many hours of violent footage: more than 1,000 people have been arrested on charges relating to their actions surrounding January 6, more than half have pleaded guilty, and around one third of those charged were charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding police officers. McCarthy’s desperation to maintain the party’s narrative shows in his unilateral decision to give Carlson exclusive access to that video. A wide range of media outlets are clamoring for equal access to the footage while congressional Democrats are demanding to know on what authority McCarthy gave Carlson that access. The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol had arranged to transfer the films to the National Archives, but when the Republicans rewrote the rules in January, they instead transferred the video to the House Administration Committee. McCarthy did not consult the committee when he gave access to the films to Carlson. Nor did he consult House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who has noted that releasing the films without consultation with the Capitol Police is a security risk. Instead, McCarthy apparently coordinated with Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight. Loudermilk led a tour of the Capitol complex on January 5, 2021. Representative Norma J. Torres (D-CA), ranking member of the Oversight Subcommittee, told Justin Papp of Roll Call that McCarthy “totally went around, not just the subcommittee, but the entire committee…. I hope Ethics will have something to say about this. I think it needs to be investigated on all different levels.” In contrast, House Administration Committee chair Bryan Steil (R-WI) appeared unconcerned with the end run around the responsible committee, saying that “the key is that we’re balancing the transparency that’s needed for the American people with the security interests of the House.” Republicans are planning to take this disinformation campaign across the nation. Despite their insistence that they want to slash government spending, Republican leaders are in fact urging their colleagues to engage in “field hearings” that will take their “message” straight to voters at a time when they are not managing to accomplish much of anything at all in Washington. Jordan’s Judiciary Committee has requested a travel budget of $262,000, more than 30 times what it spent on travel last year and 3 times what it spent before the pandemic, and it is not just the Judiciary Committee that is hitting the road. As Annie Karni and Catie Edmondson of the New York Times noted today, this also means that they speak at the plants of Republican donors, thus giving them free advertising. Congressional Democrats say they received almost no notice of these trips.

[MORE] 

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[mariacallous]

Meduza's The Beet: Dispatch from Podlaskie

Hello, and welcome back to The Beet!

Eilish Hart here, the editor of this weekly newsletter from Meduza that brings you long-form journalism from across Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. If this email was forwarded to you, sign up here to join our mailing list. And be sure to check out last week’s feature about Nagorno-Karabakh’s tragic final act if you haven’t already. 

As you may know, Poland is set to hold a doubleheader this weekend. The ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) has called a controversial four-question referendum for the same day as the October 15 parliamentary vote. Voters will be asked if they support dismantling border defenses and accepting “thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa” — the antithesis of the PiS government’s handling of the border crisis with Belarus since 2021. By all appearances, the ruling party designed the referendum questions to highlight key talking points in their campaign and to undermine their main rival: the opposition Civic Coalition led by former Prime Minister Donald Tusk. However, both the PiS and the opposition have been pushing anti-migrant rhetoric in their campaigns in an apparent attempt to outdo each other in what polling shows will be an extremely tight race. 

And so, ahead of this weekend’s vote, we’re bringing you a bittersweet dispatch courtesy of journalist James Jackson, whom you may remember for his past work with The Beet on a borderless tripoint in Central Europe. This week, James takes us back to summertime in Podlaskie, a province in northeastern Poland that, in addition to sharing a highly fortified border with Belarus, is home to two Tatar villages. As the descendants of asylum seekers who settled in the region centuries ago, Podlaskie’s Tatars are living proof of Central and Eastern Europe’s diverse past — and, boy, do they have stories to share. Moreover, since 2021, these communities have experienced the border crisis firsthand and responded with compassion, distributing aid to stranded migrants and refugees and even conducting Islamic funerals for the deceased among them. I hope you find their story as fascinating as I did.

Dispatch from Podlaskie

In Poland’s Wild East, Tatar culture is alive and well 

By James Jackson

There’s something ethereal about driving through the vast Polish region of Podlaskie in the summer. Best known for its bison and Żubrówka Bison Grass Vodka, this is Poland’s own Wild East, a frontier province along the reinforced border with Belarus. Yellow corn fields and seemingly endless rows of green pine trees punctuate its wide-open blue skies. Locals drink a moonshine called duch puszczy, “the spirit of the forest.”

Podlaskie even boasts its own historic horse-riding warriors, the Tatars, one of Europe’s oldest and one of the world’s most northern Muslim populations. With their wooden houses of worship, the Tatar villages of Bohoniki and Kruszyniany have the air of a little mosque on the prairie. Their cemeteries boast gravestones inscribed with novel-sounding Polish-Muslim names like Aisza Poltorzycka and Mustafa Bogdanowicz, alongside flourishes of Arabic and a smattering of Cyrillic lettering.

Kruszyniany Mosque, August 2022

GRZEGORZ GAJEWSKI / ALAMY / VIDA PRESS

JAMES JACKSON

Painted wooden shutters on a wooden house in Kruszyniany. June 2018.

EDWIN REMSBERG / ALAMY / VIDA PRESS

Crimea’s indigenous Tatar population may be larger and better known today, but the Lipka Tatars were Muslim islands in interflowing Catholic and Orthodox seas spread across Poland, Belarus, and Lithuania before modern statehood. There are around 2,000 Tatars still living in Poland today, half in Podlaskie’s Tatar villages and the others scattered to the cities.

‘We don’t feel like outsiders’

In the Western imagination, Central Europe isn’t known for its diversity. Behind the Iron Curtain, everything was communist or Christian, gray with soot, and rife with decaying prefabricated tower blocks. But sitting down over a bright purple chłodnik soup of beetroot, cucumber, and eggs outside a colorful yurt in the Tatar village of Kruszyniany, these preconceptions seem far away. 

As both the nationalist government and catch-all opposition take aim at migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa ahead of the parliamentary election on October 15, the Tatars serve as a reminder of a diverse and tolerant Poland that can sometimes be hard for modern observers to recognize.

Dżenneta Bogdanowicz runs a local restaurant and a visitor’s center with her husband. The Bogdanowicz family received this land hundreds of years ago as a gift from the legendary Polish King Jan III Sobieski for bravery in the Battle of Vienna. This battle looms heavily in nationalist myth-making as a time when the Polish Winged Hussars saved Christian Europe from the Turkic hordes of the Ottoman Empire. Some would perhaps rather forget that they fought victoriously alongside Muslim Tatars, just like they did in the Battle of Grunwald to throw off the yoke of the Teutonic order.

Bogdanowicz is a diminutive, effusive woman with a bowl haircut. As we eat, she chatters away in Polish, her first language. “The Polish Tatar language disappeared in the 16th century. Tatars are military men; they came to the area and married women, but children usually learn language from their mother, so that’s why the language disappeared,” she explains. “Many Tatar tribes didn’t have a common language, so they usually spoke the local language of where they were.”

Bogdanowicz’s family once owned 500 hectares (1,235 acres) of land in what is now Belarus, but it was lost in the great redrawing of Poland’s borders after World War II. Her grandfather fought for Poland in the war, following a family tradition of sorts. When he returned from exile in Britain on his wife’s orders, the Communist secret police hunted him down as a former Polish officer. He was kept in a prison camp in the center of Warsaw before he was executed in the 1950s.

She tells us this before instructing us on how to eat the traditional beef pie — “you cut the top off and eat it from the inside” — that she’s served alongside a babka ziemniaczana, a peppery potato cake with salty pickled cucumbers from their garden.

JAMES JACKSON

The Bogdanowiczs’ hospitality took a bittersweet blow five years ago. “We lost everything in a fire, even historical artifacts and souvenirs,” our host says, pointing to a freshly built wooden house that took the place of their burned home. But well-wishers from across Poland rallied to their aid. “We didn’t realize people even knew who we were, but many came to support us financially and mentally, as well,” she recalls. 

“We don’t feel like outsiders,” Bogdanowicz adds. “Polish people see Tatars as equal citizens.”

The frontier of the Islamic world

“The Tatars are a remnant of an extremely multicultural world,” historian and Goodbye, Eastern Europe authorJacob Mikanowski tells The Beet. With nomadic origins as part of the Mongol Golden Horde, the Tatars were invited to settle in the region by a Lithuanian duke who granted asylum to Khan Tokhtamysh’s clan after they lost a war with the conqueror Timur in 1395.

At that time, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania — which later became part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth — was home to a wide range of ethnic and religious groups, including Orthodox Ukrainians and Belarusians, alongside Ashkenazi Jewish minorities, who would experience the Jewish Golden Age. Then, at the end of the 18th century, Poland-Lithuania’s more centralized and militaristic neighbors in Prussia, Russia, and the Habsburg Empire teamed up to extinguish this diversity and partition the commonwealth, spelling the end for what was once the largest state in Europe.

Nomadic fighters were an invaluable asset on this western edge of the flat Eurasian Steppe, and the Lipka Tatars often crossed sabers with Cossacks, Crimean Tatars, and Ottomans in service of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In a prime position in the Bogdanowiczs’ kitchen, there stands a crescent-shaped standard bearer their ancestors carried centuries ago to fight for this flawed, unstable, yet precocious European republic.

“Eastern Europe is one of the frontier regions of the Muslim world,” Mikanowski explains. “We shouldn’t see it from just the West; you can change your perspective and equally well view it as one of the northernmost extensions of Islam.” Indeed, some Balkan countries have been Muslim longer than Latin America has been Christian, and Tatars have played a crucial role in Eastern European and Russian history.

The Muslim cemetery in Kruszyniany. October 2018.

TOUCH OF NATURE / ALAMY / VIDA PRESS

This consistent exposure to Islam led to one of the strangest trends in Polish history. From the 16th until the 18th century, members of the aristocratic Szlachta elite (who made up around 15 percent of the commonwealth, which by then they viewed as the bulwark of Christendom) started dressing in the Ottoman style and calling themselves Sarmatians, an ancient term for eastern European nomadic tribes taken from Ptolemy’s Geography.

Even when riding into battle against the Ottoman Empire, these nobles wore curved sabers, Turkic kalpak hats, and colorful Persian sashes. “When [Jan III] Sobieski was defeating the Turks during the 1683 Battle of Vienna, his Polish troops were dressed almost exactly the same way as their opponents,” writes journalist Marek Kępa. 

As the only people able to vote under Poland-Lithuania’s Golden Liberty system (also known as the Nobles’ Democracy), the Szlachta relied on an imagined, ancient-Iranian warrior ancestry. “That was to differentiate the gentry from the peasantry. It was about being better than your serfs,” Mikanowski explains. Some nobles even saw the Tatars as their brethren — with the caveat that, as non-Christians, they were unsaved.

Doing something good

Though the Renaissance-era daydream of Sarmatism eventually died out, the Lipka Tatars did not, and they preserved their own traditions despite the disappearance of their language. 

In the village of Bohoniki, half an hour’s drive from Kruszyniany, a wedding party gathers outside the community center while we wait for Maciej Szczęsnowicz, the chairman of the local Muslim community. As we sit down for tea across from the square brown house of prayer with its subtle minaret and red fence spiked with a crescent moon, the sounds of clapping and accordion music waft over to us, along with the scent of cardamom. The celebrants are dancing in a circle; among them is an older man who looks uncannily like a Tatar Lech Wałęsa.

Maciej Szczęsnowicz

JAMES JACKSON

Szczęsnowicz and his community attracted international attention in 2021 after Alexander Lukashenko’s regime tried to send tens of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers over the Belarusian border and into neighboring Poland. A humanitarian crisis ensued, with Polish border guards carrying out unlawful and sometimes violent pushbacks. The Polish government accused Minsk of waging a “hybrid war” and declared a state of emergency along the country’s eastern frontier, barring access to journalists and activists. 

Szczęsnowicz, however, got permission from the Polish authorities to help the migrants, and he was one of the very few allowed to enter the tightly controlled border zone. Together with his community members, he began handing out 300 meals a day. 

Some migrants didn’t survive the journey, succumbing to hunger, thirst, exposure, or injuries from beatings at the hands of border guards. That November, the Bohoniki Tatars conducted an Islamic funeral for 19-year-old Syrian Ahmed al-Hassan, who reportedly drowned in the river that runs along the Polish-Belarusian border. As the Imam read the rites, al-Hassan’s family watched via video link. “We wanted to spread the news that we were doing something good for people,” Szczęsnowicz tells The Beet. 

Despite the bureaucratic hurdles in getting permission from embassies and the Polish authorities, Bohoniki’s Muslim community has held eight more funerals since then, burying the dead on the edge of their cemetery. The most recent ceremony took place in January of this year. 

“They found him close to the Białowieża [Forest]. His brother came for the funeral, and so did the ambassador of Iraq,” Szczęsnowicz recalls. 

Imam Aleksander Bazarewicz (center) says a prayer during the funeral ceremony of a 19-year-old Syrian refugee who drowned in the border river trying to get to Poland. Bohoniki, November 15, 2021.

WOJTEK RADWANSKI / AFP / SCANPIX / LETA

At least 49 people have died since the border crisis began, and more than 200 others are still missing. One body was found with a piece of paper that had the address of the Bohoniki community center written on it, Szczęsnowicz says.

The response to the funerals hasn’t always been positive, however. Szczęsnowicz has even received death threats, as well as offers of police protection.

Polish director Agnieszka Holland’s The Green Border, a film based on the true story of refugees stranded between Belarus and Poland in 2021, has met similar backlash — including from figures in the Polish government. Before the film’s premiere at last month’s Venice Film Festival, Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro likened it to Nazi propaganda. (The film won a special jury prize, and Holland filed a lawsuit against Ziobro for defamation.) 

Though the crisis has somewhat abated, the electronic sensors on Poland’s newly constructed border wall registered 20,000 attempts to cross between January and August. 

On election day, October 15, Poles at the polls will also take part in a national referendum, which will ask (among other things) whether they support the “admission of thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa” as part of the European Union’s migration pact. 

The referendum is widely regarded as a way to boost turnout ahead of a tightly fought race where both sides have used immigration has as a rhetorical chess piece. How Poles respond may show how much of the commonwealth’s legacy lives on today. As loyal Muslim defenders of Poland and descendants of refugees, the Tatars will be watching.

JAMES JACKSON

That’s all for now! 

For more of The Beet’s reporting from Poland, check out our March dispatch on how Ukrainian refugees were faring there after one year of all-out war. Until next time,

Eilish

[neowitcher]

QUEER ROMANCE TO SPICE UP YOUR VALENTINE’S | RECOMMENDATIONS

In the mood to spend your Valentine’s curled up with a good romance book? Here are some recommendations with non-binary, asexual and sapphic leads.

1. Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly | 2022 | 368 p. | f/nb | 🌶️🌶️

The first openly nonbinary contestant on America’s favorite cooking show falls for their clumsy competitor in this delicious romantic comedy debut “that is both fantastically fun and crack your heart wide open vulnerable. (Rosie Danan, Storygraph)

Starting off with one of my favourite romance reads of last year, Love & Other Disasters is a delicious romance in multiple ways. It focuses on the main characters’ struggles and dreams, and you’re bound to be rooting for them the entire way. The f/nb romance is both heartwarming and sexy, and with its competitive setting, it surely is impossible to put down!

2. The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann | 2022 | 336 p. | ace f/m | 🌶️

Thirty, flirty, and asexual Joy is secretly in love with her best friend Malcolm, but she’s never been brave enough to say so. When he unexpectedly announces that he’s met the love of his life—and no, it’s not Joy—she’s heartbroken. Malcolm invites her on a weekend getaway, and Joy decides it’s her last chance to show him exactly what he’s overlooking. But maybe Joy is the one missing something…or someone…and his name is Fox. (Storygraph)

My second favourite romance of last year won’t reel you in with spicy scenes, but does a rather incredible job portraying intimacy between two gorgeous love interests. Asexual representation is still lacking in romance novels but Claire Kann proves that there absolutely should be more of. The fake dating trope used is the cherry on top for this wonderful romance that I won’t stop recommending. Perfect summery read to start counting down to warmer days. (Full review can be found here.)

3. Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner | 2022 | 404 p. | f/f | 🌶️🌶️🌶️

A sharp and sexy rom-com about a college senior who accidentally hooks up with her best friend’s mom. What should have been a one-time fling quickly proves impossible to ignore, and soon Cassie and Erin are sneaking around. Worst of all, they start to realize they have something real. But is being honest about the love between them worth the cost? (Storygraph)

Mistakes Were Made is the total package if you want it all this Valentine’s: amazing humor, exciting romance, and an abundance of steamy scenes. Probably the most binge-worthy book on this list, I highly doubt you would need anything more to fall in love. Despite the slightly scandalous romance, the conflict never takes away from the enjoyment. For any MILF lover: this book is made for you!

4. For Her Consideration by Amy Spalding | 2023 | 320 p. | f/f | 🌶️

When an aspiring L.A. scriptwriter falls head-over-heels for a bossy and beautiful movie star after a devastating break-up, the two take a risk on love and cast themselves as the leading ladies of their own star-struck romance in this sweet and spirited love story from critically-acclaimed writer Amy Spalding in her adult debut. (Netgalley, Storygraph)

If you’d prefer to buy yourself a new book instead of reading something, then this is for you! Releasing 21 February, For Her Consideration is a relatable and swoonworthy sapphic romance fully coated in Hollywood dreams and sapphic film culture. It has great plus-size representation and fun side characters, making the book really awesome, both with and without the romance. (Full review can be found here.)

5. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree | 2022 | 318 p. | f/f

Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv the orc barbarian cashes out of the warrior’s life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where she plans to open the first coffee shop the city has ever seen. A hot cup of fantasy slice-of-life with a dollop of romantic froth. (Storygraph)

Last but not least, the perfect cosy recommendation for anyone who loves a cute romance without it being the entire genre. The sapphic romance in this is very slow burn and while they’re slowly falling in love, you’re bound to fall head over heels with the book in its entirety. Nothing better than a book that feels like a hot cup of coffee to cuddle up in bed with.