#ask-nimby

[pmd-newskies]

How does Kate feel about murkrows and honchkrows?

Kare feels a kinship with Murkrows and Honchkrow! They are, after all, related species. He sometimes looks after his friends Miss Henrietta Honchkrow’s baby 🖤 Which they both enjoy because they get along well!

That being said, some of the more, ah, stubborn and prideful Honchkrow see Corviknight as large, fierce rivals. This simply isn’t their nature though. 

[luulapants]

25 ways to be a little more punk in 2025

Cut fast fashion - buy used, learn to mend and/or make your own clothes, buy fewer clothes less often so you can save up for ethically made quality

Cancel subscriptions - relearn how to pirate media, spend $10/month buying a digital album from a small artist instead of on Spotify, stream on free services since the paid ones make you watch ads anyway

Green your community - there's lots of ways to do this, like seedbombing or joining a community garden or organizing neighborhood trash pickups

Be kind - stop to give directions, check on stopped cars, smile at kids, let people cut you in line, offer to get stuff off the high shelf, hold the door, ask people if they're okay

Intervene - learn bystander intervention techniques and be prepared to use them, even if it feels awkward

Get closer to your food - grow it yourself, can and preserve it, buy from a farmstand, learn where it's from, go fishing, make it from scratch, learn a new ingredient

Use opensource software - try LibreOffice, try Reaper, learn Linux, use a free Photoshop clone. The next time an app tries to force you to pay, look to see if there's an opensource alternative

Make less trash - start a compost, be mindful of packaging, find another use for that plastic, make it a challenge for yourself!

Get involved in local politics - show up at meetings for city council, the zoning commission, the park district, school boards; fight the NIMBYs that always show up and force them to focus on the things impacting the most vulnerable folks in your community

DIY > fashion - shake off the obsession with pristine presentation that you've been taught! Cut your own hair, use homemade cosmetics, exchange mani/pedis with friends, make your own jewelry, duct tape those broken headphones!

Ditch Google - Chromium browsers (which is almost all of them) are now bloated spyware, and Google search sucks now, so why not finally make the jump to Firefox and another search like DuckDuckGo? Or put the Wikipedia app on your phone and look things up there?

Forage - learn about local edible plants and how to safely and sustainably harvest them or go find fruit trees and such accessible to the public.

Volunteer - every week tutoring at the library or once a month at the humane society or twice a year serving food at the soup kitchen, you can find something that matches your availability

Help your neighbors - which means you have to meet them first and find out how you can help (including your unhoused neighbors), like elderly or disabled folks that might need help with yardwork or who that escape artist dog belongs to or whether the police have been hassling people sleeping rough

Fix stuff - the next time something breaks (a small appliance, an electronic, a piece of furniture, etc.), see if you can figure out what's wrong with it, if there are tutorials on fixing it, or if you can order a replacement part from the manufacturer instead of trashing the whole thing

Mix up your transit - find out what's walkable, try biking instead of driving, try public transit and complain to the city if it sucks, take a train instead of a plane, start a carpool at work

Engage in the arts - go see a local play, check out an art gallery or a small museum, buy art from the farmer's market

Go to the library - to check out a book or a movie or a CD, to use the computers or the printer, to find out if they have other weird rentals like a seed library or luggage, to use meeting space, to file your taxes, to take a class, to ask question

Listen local - see what's happening at local music venues or other events where local musicians will be performing, stop for buskers, find a favorite artist, and support them

Buy local - it's less convenient than online shopping or going to a big box store that sells everything, but try buying what you can from small local shops in your area

Become unmarketable - there are a lot of ways you can disrupt your online marketing surveillance, including buying less, using decoy emails, deleting or removing permissions from apps that spy on you, checking your privacy settings, not clicking advertising links, and...

Use cash - go to the bank and take out cash instead of using your credit card or e-payment for everything! It's better on small businesses and it's untraceable

Give what you can - as capitalism churns on, normal shmucks have less and less, so think about what you can give (time, money, skills, space, stuff) and how it will make the most impact

Talk about wages - with your coworkers, with your friends, while unionizing! Stop thinking about wages as a measure of your worth and talk about whether or not the bosses are paying fairly for the labor they receive

Think about wealthflow - there are a thousand little mechanisms that corporations and billionaires use to capture wealth from the lower class: fees for transactions, interest, vendor platforms, subscriptions, and more. Start thinking about where your money goes, how and where it's getting captured and removed from our class, and where you have the ability to cut off the flow and pass cash directly to your fellow working class people

[inhonoredglory]

Aziraphale’s Choice, the Job Connection, and Michael Sheen’s Morality

Update: Michael Sheen liked this post on Twitter, so I'm fairly certain there is a lot of validity to it.

I’ve had time to process Aziraphale’s choice at the end of Season 2. And I think only blaming the religious trauma misses something important in Aziraphale’s character. I think what happened was also Aziraphale’s own conscious choice––as a growth from his trauma, in fact. Hear me out.

Since November 2022 I’ve been haunted by something Michael Sheen said at the MCM London Comic Con. At the Q&A, someone asked him about which fantasy creature he enjoyed playing most and Michael (bless him, truly) veered on a tangent about angels and goodness and how, specifically,

We as a society tend to sort of undervalue goodness. It’s sort of seen as sort of somehow weak and a bit nimby and “oh it’s nice.” And I think to be good takes enormous reserves of courage and stamina. I mean, you have to look the dark in the face to be truly good and to be truly of the light…. The idea that goodness is somehow lesser and less interesting and not as kind of muscular and as passionate and as fierce as evil somehow and darkness, I think is nonsense. The idea of being able to portray an angel, a being of love. I love seeing the things people have put online about angels being ferocious creatures, and I love that. I think that’s a really good representation of what goodness can be, what it should be, I suppose.

I was looking forward to BAMF!Aziraphale all season long, and I think that’s what we got in the end. Remember Neil said that the Job minisode was important for Aziraphale’s story. Remember how Aziraphale sat on that rock and reconciled to himself that he MUST go to Hell, because he lied and thwarted the will of God. He believed that––truly, honestly, with the faith of a child, but the bravery of a soldier.

Aziraphale, a being of love with more goodness than all of Heaven combined, believed he needed to walk through the Gates of Hell because it was the Right Thing to do. (Like Job, he didn’t understand his sin but believed he needed to sacrifice his happiness to do the Right Thing.)

That’s why we saw Aziraphale as a soldier this season: the bookshop battle, the halo. But yes, the ending as well.

Because Aziraphale never wanted to go to Heaven, and he never wanted to go there without Crowley.

But it was Crowley who taught him that he could, even SHOULD, act when his moral heart told him something was wrong. While Crowley was willing to run away and let the world burn, it was Aziraphale (in that bandstand at the end of the world) who stood his ground and said No. We can make a difference. We can save everyone.

And Aziraphale knew he could not give up the ace up his sleeve (his position as an angel) to talk to God and make them see the truth in his heart.

I was messed up by Ineffable Bureaucracy (Boxfly) getting their happy ending when our Ineffable Husbands didn’t, but I see now that them running away served to prove something to Aziraphale. (And I am fully convinced that Gabriel and Beelzebub saw the example of the Ineffables at the Not-pocalypse and took inspiration from them for choosing to ditch their respective sides)

But my point is that Aziraphale saw them, and in some ways, they looked like him and Crowley. And he saw how Gabriel, the biggest bully in Heaven, was also like him in a way (a being capable of love) and also just a child when he wasn’t influenced by the poison of Heaven. Muriel, too, wasn’t a bad person. The Metatron also seemed to have grown more flexible with his morality (from Aziraphale's perspective). Like Earth, Heaven was shades of (light?) gray.

Aziraphale is too good an angel not to believe in hope. Or forgiveness (something he’s very good at it).

Aziraphale has been scarred by Heaven all his life. But with the cracks in Heaven’s armor (cracks he and Crowley helped create), Aziraphale is seeing something else. A chance to change them. They did terrible things to him, but he is better than them, and because of Crowley, he feels ready to face them.

(Will it work? Can Heaven change, institutionally? Probably not, but I can't blame Aziraphale for trying.)

At the cafe, the Metatron said something big was coming in the Great Plan. Aziraphale knows how trapped he had felt when he didn’t have God’s ear the first time something huge happened in the Big Plan. He can’t take a chance again to risk the world by not having a foot in the door of Heaven. That’s why we saw individual human deaths (or the threat of death) so much more this season: Elspeth, Wee Morag, Job’s children, the 1940s magician. Aziraphale almost killed a child when he couldn’t get through to God, and he’s not going through that again.

“We could make a difference.” We could save everyone.

Remember what Michael Sheen said about courage and doing good––and having to “look the dark in the face to be truly good.” That’s what happened when Aziraphale was willing to go to Hell for his actions. That’s what happened when he decided he had to go to Heaven, where he had been abused and belittled and made to feel small. He decided to willingly go into the Lion’s Den, to face his abusers and his anxiety, to make them better so that they would not try to destroy the world again.

Him, just one angel. He needed Crowley to be there with him, to help him be brave, to ask the questions that Heaven needed to hear, to tell them God was wrong. Crowley is the inspiration that drives Aziraphale’s change, Crowley is the engine that fuels Aziraphale’s courage.

But then Crowley tells him that going to Heaven is stupid. That they don’t need Heaven. And he’s right. Aziraphale knows he’s right.

Aziraphale doesn’t need Heaven; Heaven needs him. They just don’t know how much they need him, or how much humanity needs him there, too. (If everyone who ran for office was corrupt, how can the system change?)

Terry Pratchett (in the Discworld book, Small Gods) is scathing of God, organized religion, and the corrupt people religion empowers, but he is sympathetic to the individual who has real, pure faith and a good heart. In fact, the everyman protagonist of Small Gods is a better person than the god he serves, and in the end, he ends up changing the church to be better, more open-minded, and more humanist than god could ever do alone.

Aziraphale is willing to go to the darkest places to do the Right Thing, and Heaven is no exception. When Crowley says that Heaven is toxic, that’s exactly why Aziraphale knows he needs to go there. “You’re exactly is different from my exactly.”

____

In the aftermath of Trump's election in the US, Brexit happened in 2018. Michael Sheen felt compelled to figure out what was going on in his country after this shock. But he was living in Los Angeles with Sarah Silverman at the time, and she also wanted to become more politically active in the US.

Sheen: “I felt a responsibility to do something, but it [meant] coming back [to Britain] – which was difficult for us, because we were very important to each other. But we both acknowledge that each of us had to do what we needed to do.” In the end, they split up and Michael moved back to the UK.

Sometimes doing the Right Thing means sacrificing your own happiness. Sometimes it means going to Hell. Sometimes it means going to Heaven. Sometimes it means losing a relationship.

And that’s why what happened in the end was so difficult for Aziraphale. Because he loves Crowley desperately. He wants to be together. He wanted that kiss for thousands of years. He knows that taking command of Heaven means they would never again have to bow to the demands of a God they couldn’t understand, or run from a Hell who still came after them. They could change the rules of the game.

And he’s still going to do that. But it hurts him that he has to do that alone.

[b0tster]

why are there so many NIMBYS in my ask box lmao. go away.

[my-castles-crumbling]

Anon Advice Asks - March 7

vibes anon (new), fearless anon, bi-awakening anon (new), mortified anon (new), on and off anon (new), midnights anon

Vibes anon

I have a... question

So when people just put like... "any/all" or "I don't know" in their bio for pronouns, what do you use? Cause like I appreciate the rejection of gender but I don't want to like... do the wrong thing. And being online, I fall into the trap of making up like vibes or even appearances for my friends kinda like I do with book people. So I don't want to get into fhe habit of thinking about people wrong. I just don't know how to handle it best. (Coming from someone who doesn't really get gender but doesn't want to make people uncomfy)

Honestly my first reaction whenever I'm unsure is to ask people. But if they really say I can use any, then I tend to switch it up. Because I think when someone says 'any' or 'idc' or whatever, and you tend to go with the pronoun they're like...perceived as by society, then that's almost assigning them a gender? At least it could be taken that way.

But I don't think it's bad to ask clarifying questions!

_____________

fearless anon

hi cas it's fearless anon

so i read this term somewhere it's 'nimby-ist' i think and the meaning's basically a not in my backyard liberalist and that perfectly describes my parents

my mom keeps telling me that i shouldn't wear the fact that i'm gay "on my sleeve" like brother i don't, not really, like my friends know i'm gay and i talk about the girls in our year that i like/have liked with them with codenames and we never bother changing the pronouns so yeah people might've found out from that and the fact that they have no volume control and a few of them know because i actually told them but like i don't go out of my way to make it known, not because i'm secretive about it but like it's not really relevant most of the time so like yeah but like even when i first came out she didn't want me to tell a lot of people or actually anyone at all because i'd get "labelled" and shit and what if something changed later. she had a friend who dated a girl but got married to a guy so now she thinks that maybe somehow i could be the same despite me telling her that i don't like men and am honestly a bit repulsed by them bc the boys my age here that my friends and i have interacted with so far are shit and because she grew up with most of her friends being guys she thinks i just haven't met the "right guy" like tf woman. oh and when i told her that her friend was bi she said that everyone is and i'm willing to bet that if i was straight she would've never said that. and she actually mentioned in the past that i should think about it carefully because it might hold me back in life like it's literally a part of me i can't exactly change it??? also she read a book with a trans mc once but recently she saw a picture of her ex colleague's son who was openly gay already and he looked like he was transitioning or at least looked very fem which my mom obviously took to mean as transitioning and then she's like "yeah i don't have a problem with you being gay straight or bi but i still have a problem stomaching trans people" like she doesn't have a problem maybe but she's definitely not as comfortable with it as she keeps saying she is.

and then my dad. well we don't really talk much about this shit because he's focused more on my academics than any other aspect of my life and doesn't really talk or want to talk about the rest but when i was telling him about how gay marriages may be banned in one of the states, he was like "stop getting so worked up over it and it's not even our country" and no, it isn't legal in our country either which is actually one of the reasons i want to leave but sure whatever.

i mean they aren't homophobic but they're also not not homophobic like they don't have a problem with it in fiction but they, especially my mom idrk about my dad, doesn't really like it irl and unfortunately for her, her daughter is gay.

Okay I'd never heard this term before so I googled it and...yeah, that's so many people, isn't it? but this IS homophobia, because it's still wanting queer people to be treated differently that straight people. And it's believing stereotypes, not wanting to be around queer people, etc.

It sucks that so many people are like that, and I'm glad you can recognize that. I hope you know that no matter who you end up with, it's acceptable and valid and your happiness is what's important.

______

Bi-awakening anon

i recently realised sirius black was my bi-awakening, being the androgynous king he is. then i realised he was also my brother's gay awakening. now im confused af. a little advice would be nice. our parents are 100% lgbtq-phobes, so that doesn't make it any easier either. we're twins and all we have for support in this matter is each other, because our friends think we're joking when we say we're bi/gay respectively.

Hi!

I mean a person (real or fictional) can be one than one person's queer awakening, and can make one person realize something different than what another person realizes. Especially in this case, where the person is fictional, it's completely valid for this to happen.

I'm glad you two are able to support each other. If you ever need to talk, I'm here!

___________

mortified anon

Oh my gosh Cas I was absolutely mortified earlier

I went to my maths classroom but my other maths teacher and a sub were in there so I ran and went to my friend down the hall and pretended I needed a pen and went into the room and one of the boys was like “is she meant to be in here” and my friend said I was just getting a pen and he kept asking if I was supposed to be there and my friend had a go at him like “LEAVE POOR XXXX ALONE” and honestly it felt nice to have someone stand up for me like that but I felt so awkward tho bc like I had to walk right past the teacher to get in 😭

Hi!

I knew this feels embarrassing now, but I PROMISE you that by tomorrow (a few days, tops), ten other embarrassing things will have happened to other people, and your moment will have been forgotten about <3 At least you learned you have a great friend!

-----

On and off anon

Hey cas

I have a problem

So I'm dating this girl right, we've been in a relationship for almost 2 years now

Its been feeling on and off like idk what to do right

And today this boy asked me out and it got me thinking, should I keep dating her or should I break up with her, should i say yes to him idk cas i don't want people to judge me either

And if I say no, idk how to let him down slowly either

Hi!

Honestly, I think if you're not sure about this girl and you're considering someone else, it's not fair to act like nothings wrong...like you at least need to communicate with her that things don't feel the same. It might be that she says she wants to work through it and when she says that, you decide the same, or maybe she'll say the same and you decide to break up. Or maybe you just decide to break up right away. But like...I feel like if I was in her shoes, and my partner was considering leaving me for someone else and I had no idea? I would be so sad.

And honestly it could just be that you two have grown apart, and that's okay. Sometimes relationships just fizzle, and that's sad, but it doesn't mean anyone did anything wrong. But you need to talk about it with her. It's okay to be confused about your relationship, but I don't think it's okay to like...keep all that from her.

_____

Midnights anon

Hello! It’s midnights anon! I’m really sorry for sending in another ask

Before I get into the annoying/bad stuff I have good news! I had a good weekend! I read, cooked my own food, listened to vinyl, and I felt content and did my homework in advance. I felt pretty good! I wasn’t all that tired or melancholy, and I even read/annotated for 2 hours straight!

But now that I have school again the bad stuff comes back

I don’t really know who I am honestly? I want to be quiet but I’m still so so overstimulated and overwhelmed at school and I love my friends but… sometimes they make me feel like I’m bothering them? Honestly it doesn’t matter, I just have to hide and push that bad stuff down for later, but it still hurts, y’know? I just wish I knew how to be quieter when overstimulated. I wish I didn’t laugh as loudly or acted the way I did. But it doesn’t matter, still. I have a plan for life and I’ll stick to it. My 5 year plan is mostly for me to organize life in general and learn to exist and be a normal person. The first year (this year) is to be normal. It’s to do my homework, go to school events, and cook, basically use willpower to beat depression, autism, adhd, anxiety, etc.

2nd year I’m not sure, probably physical stuff, like ways I really like dressing and expressing myself, what my brain thrives on when it comes to food and studying, etc., maybe get a job

3rd year is like, interpersonal relationships and stuff and unpack any lingering issues/trauma from it

4th year is my senior year, so it’ll mostly be about studying for SATs and college stuff (I’m planning on becoming a therapist, and I’m really excited. There’s this YouTube channel, cinema therapy, where a therapist and movie director watch and analyze the mental state of movie characters and how the direction interacts with the characters, and I’ve already learned SO much about therapy and the human brain)

And 5th year is (probably?) my first year of college (I’m probably not taking a gap year, but who knows) and I’m gonna use it to settle in to college, and get used to being on my own

Also, I’ve been reading a lot more (most of it being marauders fan fiction) and it’s comforted me so much? It reminds me of my own life in a sense? The marauders being in 4th or 5th year, with talks of a war arising, murmurs about a (clearly evil) guy rising to power and gathering followers, discrimination based on identity/birth status, etc.

And reading the sad fanfics have helped too. It’s like… if bad things happened to the marauders, the betrayal, the death, the breakups, the destruction, the trauma, the pain, the loss, it kinda shows me that good things can happen too? Even if there’s so much pain and anguish, Wolfstar managed to exist in the little moments that weren’t spent fighting a war. It’s made me less afraid of dying, which sounds stupid and weird but I… am not terrified of death?

Obviously I want to live (and I’m really really happy I’ve started to mean those words more and more), but dying doesn’t seem so scary. James and Lily died but their lives were good and exuded kindness and good

With all that said, I have a question

What’s it like being an adult? Like, you have a job and a wife and a life. That’s AWESOME, and I was wondering how different being an adult felt than being a teenager?

I hope you’re having a good day, and thank you for reading. You’re a kind soul and so many people are grateful for you :]

Hi!

I'm so glad you seem to be doing better overall, and you have a five year plan! Trust me when I tell you that nobody has themselves completely figured out- it's okay to not have yourself figured out either.

Being an adult is complicated, lol. I think there's pros and cons...like I miss being a teenagers because being a teenager means you can kind of just...act silly whenever you want, and adults don't bat an eye. When you make mistakes, they tend to be easier to fix. And, if you're lucky, you have things like your housing, food, and basic needs paid for and taken care of.

But when you're an adult, you don't have anyone controlling you. You can make your own decisions and you have a lot more freedom. You have more responsibilities, yes, but you have so many more choices.

I don't know which I prefer in a vacuum, but I'd say I'm happier now.

[axvoter]

Blatantly Partisan Party Review XXI (federal 2025): Sustainable Australia–Universal Basic Income

Running where: all states and territories for the Senate (no House candidates)

Prior reviews (under many variations on their name): federal 2013, federal 2016, VIC 2018, NSW 2019, federal 2019, federal 2022, VIC 2022, NSW 2023, WA 2025

What I said before: “I am aware of some well-meaning people in this party with centrist or centre-left environmental views, but the overall thrust is NIMBY and anti-immigration and I cannot in good faith offer any endorsement.” (NSW 2023)

What I think this year: Personally, I would be embarrassed to stand for a party with so few principles that it modifies its registered name to include a slogan to lure in low-info voters. SusAus, however, have fewer scruples. To lightly plagiarise my WA 2025 state election review, SusAus is the party that has never had a name it didn’t want to change. Starting life as the Stable Population Party, the federal party rebadged from “Sustainable Australia Party–Stop Overdevelopment/Corruption” to “Sustainable Australia Party–Universal Basic Income” in November 2023. If they could stop tacking slogans or policy principles onto their name, that would be grand.

SusAus have adopted a policy to provide a Universal Basic Income (UBI) of $500 per week to Australian citizens. I have noticed pronouncements in favour of a UBI have been spreading among some minor parties and candidates over the last couple of electoral cycles, and not always from the left. Whether promoting a UBI this prominently will win SusAus much of the vote remains to be seen. What strikes me is that they position a UBI as an environmental measure as part of a degrowth mindset to reduce demand and consumption, i.e. people will need to work less (and thus produce less) if they have a guaranteed $500 per week. This makes it tremendously ironic, then, that SusAus’s page on a UBI has a summary from ChatGPT. No, I’m not just saying it looks like a ChatGPT summary; it is headed “We asked ChatGPT to summarise the below article and this was the result”. Yes, ChatGPT, an environmentally destructive technology with a gluttonous demand for electricity and water. Perhaps SusAus needs to reflect on their own practices before lecturing anybody else about consumption and waste.

Beyond this, SusAus is what SusAus has always been: an anti-immigration party of NIMBYs. Their supposed solution to Australia’s housing crisis is merely to reduce demand by slashing immigration. They have a completely outlandish claim on their website that “SAP is a pro-immigration party. As part of our plan, we simply support returning Australia's annual permanent immigration program from around 200,000pa to the normal Twentieth Century average level of 70,000pa.” Folks, please. If you want fewer people to come here, you are anti-immigration by definition. Slashing migration to just 35% of its current level is quite obviously an anti-immigration stance. Moreover, the twentieth-century average needs to be calibrated with respect to the population of the time: i.e. if 70,000 people migrated to Australia in 1925, proportionally that is a much bigger intake than today, as the population a century ago was about 5.94 million, less than 22% the current population of roughly 27.31 million.

Moreover, a steep reduction in future immigration does not solve housing problems for everybody already here, nor does it address the serious effects of suburban sprawl, but SusAus seem quite happy with sprawl because they also want to “stop overdevelopment” (until recently so important it was part of their name), which is code for apartments. Heaven forbid we have compact cities that support active and public transport and where car use is unnecessary or undesirable for most purposes. You won’t find SusAus advocating for that.

To echo what I said in my WA 2025 review, “To be honest, I am not terribly interested in engaging with the rest of their policies because their core principles are discrediting.” If you are an environmentalist but you share One Nation’s attitudes on migration, this is the party for you. Everybody else, look elsewhere.

Recommendation: Give Sustainable Australia–Universal Basic Income a weak or no preference. In terms of parties that might have a superficial appeal for left-wing voters but about which I have serious reservations, I suggest that SusAus be placed below Fusion, except in Queensland where Fusion’s lead Senate candidate is affiliated with Democracy First.

Website: https://www.sustainableaustralia.org.au/

[dynamicity-keysmash]

I'm on break from being his number 1 hater

I'm not fully read in on Mr Newsom, I mean yes, he's a politician, a Dem in a blue state (same here), what are some things I should know about him; or phrased differently, what's he done that deserves us dunking on him?

Well, I guess my break from being Newsom's #1 hater can end early. To begin broadly: Gavin Newsom holds nothing sacred beyond his own imagined future as president. He stakes his career on flashy stunts that grab headlines instead of pursuing meaningful progress because he thinks being a bold administrator in the context of California's unique issues won't help him win over Midwest voters in 2028. Democrats have massive supermajorities in the state legislature and do almost nothing of substance with it, but even when they try to, there's like a 50% chance it'll get a Newsom veto.

Now, to get into specifics:

He has spinelessly looked away from, and sometimes vetoed, things that would improve California like: ranked choice voting, properly funding the high speed rail, universal healthcare (which he ran on and then killed), CEQA reform (a law that NIMBYs use to kill housing), zoning reform, and much more.

He had a maskless dinner with megadonors at an elite restaurant at the height of the pandemic, in violation of his own COVID policies.

He betrayed the LGBT community by using his podcast to politely platform (and not at all challenge) Michael Savage, a hatemonger who says that gay men should die of AIDS.

He betrayed the LGBT community again by bending the knee to the Republican narrative on trans athletes in a chummy conversation with Charlie Kirk.

The context of the previous two points is that the LGBT community has been the backbone of his political career from the start. Once upon a time, he earned our trust by officiating illegal gay marriages as the Mayor of San Francisco long before gay rights were popular among Democrats. In return, stalwart support from our community rocketed him into statewide politics and helped put him in the governor's mansion. He's always been a silver-spoon slimeball with a gaze fixed on power, but it seemed like some things, like LGBT rights, were sacred to him. Now that he wants to be president and LGBT rights are losing popularity, he proved us wrong and stabbed us in the back.

To tie this all back to the post that prompted your ask: Newsom's current actions to protect immigrants and defend California are fantastic and truly admirable. But make no mistake, if standing up to Trump on this issue was detrimental to his career advancement, he'd be sitting on his hands in Sacramento issuing empty statements.

[dotthings]

Hmmm I see hypocrites are still yapping.

So let me point out:

"pro-shipping" does not mean:

demanding censorship of a queer love story, demanding it be silenced in fandom discussion, and banned from mention at conventions

demanding no one acknowledge what canon actually put into the canon for the queer ship

demanding it be censored in all promotions

demanding people from the show be silent in speaking about it (especially gratuitous given creatives on the show deliberately wrote it into the show)

talking about a queer ship using homophobic and othering language, treating it as disgusting and inappropriate and somehow automatically incompatible with a show that is about family and found family

talking about shippers of a queer ship in dehumanizing ways

talking about a character being bi coded as something ruinous, inappropriate, disgusting, or violating

conveniently being "pro-shipping" and against censorship only when it's for something you enjoy (which people can enjoy what they want, but it doesn't mean anything goes in terms of their behavior toward others) and then the most pearl clutching puritanical pro censorship homophobic Karens in the land, virtue signaling constantly to attack a queer ship

carrying on trying to make false equivalencies in ways that would make the people at GLAAD sigh tiredly and ask could you please not

bullying people because you dislike a queer ship

bullying people because you dislike the idea of a character you like being queer

You don't get to just pick up "pro-shipping" only to protect your own objectively and self-evidently social taboo ship then attack a widely accepted queer ship on puritanical grounds, doing all the same pearl-clutching, policing, and NIMBY Karenism puritanism you yourselves object to, all in service to your manufactured ship war.

That is not "pro-shipping."

[blorger]

Eat the damn food and don't complain. Somebody has to feed you properly. I've got business to attend to but I'll be back by 4. I don't remember what's in most of these rooms but you can look around if you like. Don't touch stuff--my family thinks death traps are a noble and refined source of entertainment--walls and floors are ok. Don't open locked doors blah blah Bluebeard shit, if doors are locked you can't open them what the hell am I talking about. If you need something yell, Nimby will hear you (house-elf). Yes she likes it we've talked to her don't start that Granger shit. Draco

Around noon on the third day after Christmas, Harry interrupts an admittedly entertaining tirade about the upstairs neighbors’ music taste to ask, “So, who are you avoiding?” Draco chokes on his orange juice and nearly drops the glass. “You're a good deal sharper than you look,” he gasps once he's got his breath back. “Wow, that's so flattering I forgot the question I just asked,” Harry deadpans. Draco grins at him. “Well, it was worth a shot."

from make my wish come true by terminally_underwhelmed

[eightyonekilograms]

i think it's also wirth noting that a lot of 'luxury' housing is just ordinary 2 or 3 bedroom apartments that are marketed as luxury because they're newly built and not like massive penthouses with hot tubs or whatever.

(sorry I'm getting to these asks so long after the incident in question)

I don't go into this at the time because I was trying to be in persuasive mode rather than going full aggro, but I do agree that another problem with left-NIMBYs [typo corrected] and why I don't think they should be taken seriously is that they toss around the word "luxury" way too easily. A lot of them just call any new construction "luxury" because it looks nice... because it's new! Nobody builds housing that looks like shit right off the bat!

And you're right that lots of new apartments get described as "luxury" in their advertising, which means absolutely nothing except that the real estate agent put the word in there to sound enticing. Fellas, is it leftist praxis to uncritically parrot advertising copy?

[fatfables]

Abundance, Oklahoma

A short companion piece to my full length fat fable 'Camp Shawn'

1.

Mr Nimby’s palms were itching. He scratched and scratched at them until they were sore with red marks running down the middle. He held his left hand up to his nose and his right nostril flared as he took a big sniff. He grimaced and pulled his face away from his hand.

“What on Earth are you doing?” Mrs Catinhellschance asked him.

Being rather a short man he looked up at the old woman, and frowned. He had never liked the crazy old bat but this damn new settlement had made allies of them. After all, who in their right mind would want a fat cult moving in down the road? Those people were crazier than she was, and she stunk of urine and screamed at passing cars.

“I’m preparing for my speech. What do you think I’m doing?”

“Well, it better be a good one. They got that famous lawyer man coming. Ya know, the old Swedish one from the TV news.”

Who the fuck still watches the TV news, he thought. “Yes, I’m well aware of that, Irene, thank you.”

“He’s very good, ya know.”

“I know, Irene. He’s also very old. Quite frankly it’s amazing that he’s still alive given the damn size of him!”

“Human rights lawyer, he is.”

“Yes, Irene, I know!” He was on the verge of losing his temper.

“No need to shout at me, Mr Nimby, I’m only trying to help.”

“I know that as well, Mrs Catinahellschance. None of us want this. These people are batshit crazy.”

“Who’s batshit crazy?”

They both turned round to see Mr Bunterson, famed human rights lawyer from the TV news slowly making his way towards them. He was at least eighty years old, had a full head of wild, curly, grey hair, and a walking stick in each hand to help him keep his balance and take the stress off his spine, caused by the planet sized belly that he was rocking up front.

Mr Nimby and his neighbour tried their best not to stare at the old man’s waistline but it was very hard not to. How often does one see a 500 lb plus octogenarian? 

“I can only assume that you are referring to myself or my clients?” Steve said.

“Too right!” Mr Nimby said. “We don’t want your kind here. You’re a disgrace to this country!”

Steve Bunterson instinctively let out a massive burp that he had been saving up, “Buuuurrrrrppppppp!” He blew it in Mrs Catinahellschance’s direction.

“Sorry,” he said, “Too much Dr Pepper in the car.”

“Vile man,” she spat at him, “Puerile, like a spoiled child!”

“And what is wrong with spoiling children Mam? Aren’t children meant to be doted on? The twinkle in our eyes? Do you not believe that the children of America should have everything that they want?”

“No, we do not! Isn’t that right, Mr Nimby?”

“Yes, that’s right! You people represent everything that is wrong with this country!”

What a fucking idiot, Steve thought. He was about to speak when a fourth person entered the hallway. It was the chairman of the town council, Chief Likestotalkandtakespaybacks.

“Ah hello Mr Bunterson, so pleased to see you! It’s a real honour to have you here in our town. You must be looking forward to putting your plans forward” He reached out a large Indian hand and shook Steve’s soft wrinkled palm with genuine warmth.

“It’s very nice to be here. And yes I’m really excited about the Abundance proposal. I think that it will bring a lot of growth to the region.”

“Bollocks!” said Mr Nimby abruptly.

Steve Bunterson turned and looked down at the small man over the rim of his round glasses, individually designed at great expense to match his round face.

“Very strange turn of phrase for an Okie?” He said, “Have you spent a lot of time in the UK? Mr er..”

“Nimby! The names Nimby. And no I’ve not. Though I do like to watch a lot of their comedies online.”

“Hmmm, not surprising for a man who hates America. Did you know that Mr Nimby was a red coat-wearing self-hater?” He aimed the question at Chief Likestotalkandtakespaybacks.

“No I did not, but I can’t say that I’m at all surprised.”

Mr Nimby tried to protest this childish name-calling but he was spoken down by the much larger chairman.

“You must be very hungry Mr Bunterson. You’ve come a long way today. We have prepared a special buffet meal before the meeting.”

“I thought you’d never ask!” Steve smiled widely at Mrs Catinahellschance, purposefully pushed his belly out and made a loud noise out of not saying goodbye to either her or Mr Nimby.

Stupid people like that clearly weren’t worth bothering with. The two of them obviously thought that their protests might actually work. They were both far too stupid to know that they hadn’t just already lost but had in fact lost ten times over.

2.

Steve was sat at a large round table with Chief Likestotalkandtakespaybacks, four young members of the Surplus and three rotund local supporters. Eight of the party glutted themselves to the limits of human endurance while one of them spoke at great length.

Considering his advanced years, Steve still knew how to eat. He was now more than 200 lbs lighter than his heaviest ever weight, a consequence of the limited medical technology available to him, but he still more than enjoyed his food.

One day the youth of America would no longer need to be restricted by such basic things as the limits of evolution, but that day had not come yet. Steve filled his face with oysters, shrimp, crab legs, and lobster. He quaffed down the quail, and chugged down the champagne. He had developed a real taste for expensive cuisine in his older years. The younger Surplus stuck to pizza, fries, and burgers.

Plate after plate was delivered to the table in order to save the guest of honour from having to fetch his own food, and the empties started to pile up as the serving staff struggled to clear the table quickly enough. One Surplus boy, Kaden, 22 years old and just over 300 lbs, was keen to show his abilities off to his elder. He ate so many burgers and cocked back so much Coke that he burst the buttons off his best shirt as his belly bulged. To his delight Steve raised a toast to his achievement and demanded that they all have another round of three more plate fulls in celebration.

Chief Likestotalkandtakespaybacks didn’t care one way or the other about the behaviour of his gluttonous guests, he was already dreaming about his upcoming trip to Rio. As far as he was concerned if the white man wanted to eat himself to death then he was more than welcome to do so. He didn’t even raise a note of concern or dismay when the young Surplus and rotund locals started farting wildly at the table. He had done his homework and knew that this was an old Surplus tradition dating back to the camp, so didn’t want to offend his paying guests by commenting on it.

After two hours of eating it was time for the meeting to begin. Himself, Steve Bunterson, and Mr Nimby moved to a long table at the front of the room so that they could take it in turns to address the attendees.

Steve was very slow to stand and even slower to walk. His replacement knees were suffering from the strain of having to hold up his bulk. His 500 lb frame was now swollen to the max and his huge round low-hanging gut swayed as he shuffled forwards with small heavy steps. Two thousand miles away his twin brother, Henry, was sitting on his sofa eating four whole pavlovas while a servant boy tried to massage the pain away from his fat swollen legs.

Chief Likestotalkandtakespaybacks spoke first and at great length. He took ten minutes to go through the attendees, twenty minutes to go over the minutes of the last meeting and half an hour to introduce Steve and the topic of the night. Fortunately for the young Surplus and their local rotund friends there was still plenty of food left on offer to keep them entertained. Poor old Steve just had to sit and listen to it, wishing that he was younger and still sat at the table with the other fat boys.

Second to speak was Mr Nimby. This in itself irritated him and he spent fifteen minutes complaining about the fact that the anti-proposal speaker should really get to speak after the proposal in order to be able to rebut it. Chief Likestotalkandtakespaybacks interrupted him three times to state that the order of the speakers had been chosen at random. Mr Nimby finally got to his point.

“The Surplus are an unethical, immoral cult that threatens the basis of our country. This obsession with growing as fat as possible may now be very popular but that doesn’t make it right. As decent law-abiding people we should reject them and their principles. Allowing them to build a whole town dedicated to making its citizenry as obese as possible in our county would be not only an acceptance of their way of life but an approval of it…”

His speech was interrupted by a slice of strawberry cheesecake hitting him straight in the face. A loud cheer erupted from the table of fat boys.

He wiped the sweet sticky dessert from his cheeks and continued. 

“That, ladies and gentleman, that is the level of people that we are dealing with! These disgusting gluttonous pigs have no conscience! If we allow them to build on Peterson’s Farm then that is what we are welcoming into our community. And I for one want nothing to do with it!”

Mrs Catinhellschance, sat at the back of the room, attempted to applaud him but she was easily drowned out by the boo’s of seven severely obese young men, who jeered and pelted him with after dinner mints. He sat back down.

Steve Bunterson rose slowly to his feet. His distended belly bashed into the table in front of him as he stood, knocking over his drink and those of his fellow speakers. He waved a fat old hand up and down to beckon the boys to quieten. They did so immediately.

“Mr Nimby is a moron. He is an antiquated idiot. His outdated ideas of morality belong firmly in the last century. A century of untold wars and horrors. He dare not speak it but he clearly believes in the debunked ideals of public health. Of the type that have been rejected by the vast majority of Americans. He seeks only to curtail the liberty of us all. He wishes to deny all of us the right to enjoy our own bodies, to pursue happiness through eating. This is not only unconstitutional, it is downright un-American! This man hates America, he told me so himself earlier this evening. And beyond even this he is not only wrong in his beliefs but he is also wrong in his facts. We are no longer planning to build our new town on Peterson’s Farm but on the reservation. This sale of private land has been agreed with Chief Likestotalkandtakespaybacks and the rest of his tribe. A fair and legal agreement between the original inhabitants of this great land and a people who represent its great future.”

Fourteen young heavy hands banged on the large round table in pronounced agreement. Mr Nimby looked at the chairman next to him in total surprise.

“Is this true?” He asked him.

“Yes,” said Chief Likestotalkandtakespaybacks, “We signed the contract yesterday. The new town of Abundance will be built on twenty seven acres of reservation land. As such the consent of the town council is no longer required. I invited Mr Bunterson to tonight’s meeting as an act of courtesy to the town’s folk so that he himself could talk to you and explain the benefits.”

Mr Nimby slumped defeated in his chair. Steve Bunterson’s smile was as wide as his stomach. Fuck these ignorant inbred assholes, he thought. No one would stand in his way.

He rose once more to his feet, scratched at the top of his huge belly, straining under his designer 6XL shirt, and began to speak again.

“Every American youth has the option to choose our way of life. To choose a fulfilling life of abundance in Abundance. I want every boy in this great country to be able to grow into his full potential. To be the biggest and best that he can be. It is not only his right, it is his birthright! Gaining is the epitome of the American dream and I repudiate anyone who says otherwise. I was lucky as a child that my father cared deeply about me and my brother. He cared enough to not just let us be who we wanted to be but to help and encourage us every bite of the way. He understood human rights better than anyone. While so-called public health crusaders tried to deny us a right to life, liberty, and happiness, through intrusive social programmes that went against the spirit of the founding fathers, our father sent us to fat camp in order for us to indulge in our passion. Meanwhile the public health lunatics attempted to ban trans-fats, they attempted to limit the variety of food available in schools, attempted to limit portion sizes at fast food restaurants, attempted to limit the number of restaurants and food stalls through anti-business zoning laws, there was all sorts of government overreach going on, but we fought them all! And we were victorious! We grew as fat as we wanted in spite of them, and thanks to ever improving medical technology we will continue to grow to new unheard of sizes without any negative health effects! I was once over 700 lbs and lived a perfectly happy life. You my boys, you the future of the Surplus, the future of America, you will soon be able to grow to over 1000 lbs at least! That I have no doubt about. And you will be able to do it in a town called Abundance!”

There were loud cheers from the large round table as shouts of “Hip hip hooray” started up. Steve received a standing ovation from his corpulent young followers and a few more heavy set people in the room.

“And now my friends, we shall feast to celebrate!”

Steve sat back down at the large round table as Chief Likestotalkandtakespaybacks spoke again for another twenty five minutes in order to bring the meeting to an end. Mrs Catinhellschance and Mr Nimby tried to slink quietly out of the door but an extra-large apple pie hit him in the ass as he did so.

The elderly Steve Bunterson, attorney at law, four young Surplus, and three new recruits continued to stuff themselves stupid with desserts for the next three hours. They guzzled down gateaux, chomped their chubby chops on chocolate cheesecakes, and downed dozens of delicious dairy donuts each. They swallowed every item in sight until they all strained and heaved around the waist. Every one of them extended themselves to a delirious level. Eight tight stomach bags groaned with delight. More buttons popped and every one of them had to undo his belt and fly in order to let his delightfully overfull belly breath.

Steve was so impressed with his fat young charges that he let three of them come back to his hotel room so that they could fellate him and each other.

Click here to read the first of three parts of 'Camp Shawn'.

[dappledpaintbrush]

If it becomes more than a dream, what do you think a Super Paper Mario movie would be like?

Please write down everything you have to say, it doesn't matter if it's a 100 page essay I would like to read it.

When I finally get not only yapping permission, but also yapping endorsement

I think about the SPM movie a LOT. Not because I think it’s going to happen but because I’m insane. I also think it works better as a show, but I always must migrate to thinking of it as a movie lol. I talk a lot I’m gonna divide my thoughts into sections (Again, I’m turning off reblogs because reblogging an ask gets rid of the read-more, I’m sorry!! It’s for the best LMAO)

Rating:

I would LOVE if they addressed it like the FNAF movie. I remember people talking about how “oh it’s gonna be for kids because it’s a kid’s franchise and they’re gonna make more money if they made it for kids” but they made it PG-13 and. Everything was fine. They made a shit ton of money and everything was fine. Point is, I think SPM would work best as a PG-13 movie. And yeah it sounds like that one clip of SpongeBob and Patrick screaming in terror on a baby rollercoaster, but SPM does have elements that would be Difficult to put in a movie format and still make it rated PG. With the game, it can be passed off as cartoon mischief and thus be E for everyone, sure, but in a movie? I don’t see it. And let me clarify- I know they could make the hypothetical SPM movie be rated PG and still have its original plot, but I believe that is only if they cut down on a lot of things and make it very goofy and overall remove the heart of the story. But do I think it would be fucking PEAK as a PG-13 movie? Hell yeah. They could have a lot more leg-room to truly pay homage to the game, which is known as one of Mario’s darker stories for a good reason.

But do I believe they would make it PG-13? No. Definitely PG. Again, I know this is a Mario game and it’s not some super evil sick twisted story oh my god cover your eyes little timmy blah blah blah, but STILL. Pulling off some of its core scenes on the big screen where there’s SO much more detail in the animation and the voice acting etc etc etc would be hard to accomplish without making said scenes less impactful or even shallow. And if you still think I’m being dramatic, the mario movie is rated PG. The Mario movie. And all Mario did was get punched and got a bruise on his eye. I’m sure if there was a storyboard scene of him, Luigi, Bowser, and Peach getting set on fire and going to the afterlife, it would have been SCRAPPED. OR, it would have absolutely no emotion other than “erm… THAT just happened!” Take your pick.

All in all, if it were to happen, the SPM movie will lose some things. Nintendo would NEVER allow Mario to be in an PG-13 movie. It’s unfortunate :(

Speaking of the Afterlife:

Nintendo will have to cut out the Underwhere, Overthere, Grambi, and maybe even Luvbi and Bonechill. OR, completely revamp that whole thing to make it as religiously ambiguous as possible. No fucking doubt about it. At ALL. I can already see the change.org petition run by a Christian mother screaming at Nintendo for blaspheming God and making a joke out of heaven and hell “which are very real and you’re teaching kids it’s some silly fake thing in a fake Mario movie BUT NO PEOPLE HAS TO KNOW THEY WILL BURN FOREVER IF THEY DONT OBEY!!!” (Note: just in case it wasn’t obvious, I am mocking the Christian mother in the quotation marks). I’m surprised Nintendo even got away with it in the first place, ESPECIALLY regarding Luvbi and Bonechill. I put “maybe” regarding those two because it’s likely 2 and 2 won’t be put together about who inspired their characters, but at the same time. It probably will. Yeah it definitely will

Bonechill is directly inspired by Satan, and Luvbi makes indirect references to Jesus. Regarding Bonechill, to quote from his Wiki:

“Tippi's tattle says that Bonechill may have once been a Nimbi, which is supported by the fact that he has feathered wings on his back. This fits into the overall motif of The Underwhere and The Overthere, which draw heavily from both Ancient Greek mythology and the Christian religion. In particular, the concept of a fallen angel (Nimbi) is inspired by the Biblical story of Lucifer, who became the devil after betraying God. Furthermore, in Dante's Inferno (of the epic Italian poem, the Divine Comedy), Lucifer (now known as Satan) is depicted as a giant, six-winged beast imprisoned in ice in the deepest circle of Hell. This is all paralleled by how Bonechill has six wings, was imprisoned deep below the Underwhere, and is a self-styled "master of the cold dark" who uses ice breath to attack and is "something of an evil celebrity in certain circles of the Underwhere". Similarly, his being released during an apocalyptic event (the emergence of The Void) may be derived from the Book of Revelation, where Satan escapes from hell and he and his army are battled and defeated in heaven.”

Do you see that shit. Do you think Nintendo would risk doing this in a movie, let alone ever again in any game?The backlash would be INSANE. And they could easily call Luvbi a blasphemous mockery of Jesus because she sacrificed herself to save the world, AND CAME BACK LATER😭😭😭😭😭

Anyways, yeah. In the SPM movie, that whole chapter of the game is what’s going to be changed the most. It likely will be solely based off Greek mythology with no Christian themes involved. Or even LESS than that if they’re too scared. God I wish they weren’t. That chapter is one of my favorites in the whole game (mostly bc it’s crazy to me how Nintendo didn’t chicken out of making it), and it sucks so bad to know it’ll likely be almost nonexistent if the SPM movie were to happen.

Run-Time:

This game is. Long.

In my perfect world, I like to think of it as one big grand movie and it’s the longest animated movie ever made and it’s animated by Dreamworks in the style of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and it has 5/5 stars and critics are crying and screaming of joy and everybody who clowned on this game has personally showed up to my door to apologize for their wrongdoing and beg for my forgiveness. But unfortunately we can’t have everything we want

I don’t think they will cut out any of the dimensions, I just think that most side plots will be rushed through like a montage :/ It’s why I think it will work best as a series. Every episode could be dedicated to a Dimensional Door. But that also means it’ll likely have less of a budget which sucks

Blumiere and Dimentio:

Something will have to change.

First of all, Blumiere. I don’t exactly know HOW, but they will have to change about his story. The game itself has already gotten criticized for “romanticizing a toxic relationship” between Blumiere and Timpani, and that criticism will be MAGNIFIED with a blockbuster film. Again, I don’t know how the will do it, but they’ll have to adjust that plot to please the masses more than likely. It fucking sucks. But this is modern Nintendo. They are going to go the safest route possible.

That’s not the only thing regarding Blumiere that will have change. Yk how the game also gets criticized for giving Blumiere a happy ending but not Dimentio despite the fact that, regardless of their motivations, they both tried to kill everyone? That criticism will also be magnified with the release of a movie. They’ll have to modify the story to make Blumiere’s actions significantly less evil than Dimentio’s, which could be accomplished through making it so that Blumiere is mind-controlled by the Dark Prognosticus. OR, they’ll have to give Dimentio a happy ending too, whether that be he survives and changes his ways (BOOOOO🍅🍅🍅), or he also gets the “he’s alive somewhere” treatment like Blumiere and Timpani did. However, in order to accomplish that successfully with an audience of five years olds, they’ll have to directly talk about Dimentio’s own tragic backstory with as much weight as they do Blumiere’s. And l. Don’t see that happening. It would be absolutely CRAZY if it did and I would probably pass out in the theatre if we got to see the Pixl Creator, but yeah, it’s unlikely.

Mr. L:

Some good news! I see them making Mr. L recognizable

They probably won’t.

BUT THEY LIKELY WILL

In the first movie, Mario and Luigi’s bond was shown in ways they have rarely done before. Their love and care for one another is clearly shown, not just “that’s my brother Luigi wahoo!” or something. I mean come on, think of the hug scene. And you mean to tell me in the 2nd or 3rd or idk movie, Mario can’t recognize him with a blindfold on? Be serious

In a game, yeah haha funny gag, but in a movie, it’ll be met with more annoyance than anything and it’ll be really disingenuous, and it already does get that criticism in the game where it’s arguably “more acceptable.”

Conclusion:

There’s a lot more that can be discussed, but this is all I’ve put a significant lot of thought into about what I think the SPM movie would be like if I thought about it realistically. Basically, if it’s gonna truly be an SPM movie, Nintendo’s gonna have to grow a backbone. But even then, I still think it would be a great movie, especially in the eyes of those who haven’t played the game and thus don’t have the same “ARGHH BUT YOU FORGOT FLIP-FOLK NUMBER FORTY TWO” mentality that I have LMAO. And even THEN, I still think it would be a great movie. Nintendo will just have to be reaaaally careful to adapt to the limitations (that they put on themselves 💀) and still make it a movie about Super Paper Mario.

[lucyav13]

Characters

This chapter will be dedicated to all those characters who accompanied us on our adventure for the pure hearts, so I hope you like it :) 

Queen Jaydes, Grambi y Luvbi

(Image credits to its author)

Queen Jaydes is the kind-hearted (but strict) queen of Underwhere. As ruler of The Underwhere, she possesses power over life and death. Queen Jaydes is named hence the god of the underworld in Greek mythology, Hades, as well as "upset," meaning "unenthusiastic" or "bored" (both qualities she possesses). Fun fact: she bears a certain resemblance to the Queen of Shadows.

Following Dimentio's defeat, Jaydes travels to The Overthere upon learning that Luvbi has returned to life. There, she promises to give Luvbi all the love she can and encourages the heroes to visit her to judge her when they finish her games, as thanks for her hard work.

Gambi

His name is a portmanteau of "grandfather" and "Nimbi."

Just as Jaydes is based on Hades, the ancient Greek lord of the underworld, Gambi may be based on Zeus, the sky god and ruler of Mount Olympus in Greek mythology. Additionally, as The Overthere also borrows from Christian theism, certain aspects of Gambi are shared with God, such as his position as head of the angelic Nimbis and his conflict with Bonechill (whose story closely resembles that of Lucifer). However, Grambi is not credited with creating the world or life and is neither omniscient nor omnipotent.

Luvbi

Her name is a combination of the words "love" and "Nimbi." After Bonechill's defeat, Luvbi assumes his true form to save all the worlds. After saving all the worlds, Luvbi recreates herself as a true Nimbi girl independent of the white Pure Heart. (A/N: I have a theory that explains how, so check out the Pure Hearts chapter ;))

Fun Fact: Luvbi plays a similar role to TEC-XX from the previous game, in that they both make a sacrifice to help Mario and his friends at the end of Chapter 7, only to be inexplicably revived upon Mario's defeat the final boss.

Kalamarx

After the heroes defeat Mr. L in the heart of the Whoa Zone, Squirps reveals to them that he is the prince of a forgotten kingdom, Squirpia, and that his mother, Squirpina XIV, was entrusted with the Pure Heart by the Ancients. She then placed Squirps in a hibernation capsule for 1,500 years, so that he could lead the heroes to the Whoa Zone when they arrived in Outer Space. After relaying his mother's message to them asking them to save all worlds, the prince hands over the Blue Pure Heart. The post-chapter narration reads that, his quest finally done, Squirps lay down near the statue of his mother and closed his eyes to rest. He was presumed dead by the heroes; however, returning to Outer Space at any time afterward reveals that he had only fallen asleep, and the player can replay the chapter as normal.

After beating the game, the heroes can find Squirps in the Whoa Zone near his mother's statue, assuring her of the world's safety and that he would restore Squirpia someday.

Tipptron, with her tattle says: His full name is Squirp Korogaline Squirpina. It seems he is actually the prince of a space kingdom... He dreams of ascending the throne someday. I'm sure he has what it takes...

Some fun facts: Squirps' reaction to being fed a chocolate bar can be seen as a callback to Gourmet Guy from the original Paper Mario, who acted similarly when fed Cake and also impeded Mario's progress in Chapter 4 of that game.

He is also somewhat similar to Flavio, as both claim themselves to be gourmets and are initially hesitant to accept the edibles Mario brings them.

Excluding enemies, Squirps is the only character in the game who flips into 3D as the player does; this is the case even when they visit him in the Whoa Zone.

Squirps is the second character in the Paper Mario series to fall asleep and be mistaken for dead by Mario and co., with Admiral Bobbery being the first.

[sommerregenjuniluft]

lune will you tell me more about your obx james vision??

IVE BEEN WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO FINALLY ASK SO I HAVE A JUSTIFIED WAY OF YAPPING MY ASS OFF😭😭😭😭🫶🏼🫶🏼🫰🏼 mil ily. okay here we go. strap in, it’s gonna be long

first of all i want to talk about how similar jb and james are not only in character but literally their names. it’s perfect. it fits so well it’s ridiculous. john b vs james p,, jp!??! jay p jamie p,, like PLS. very funny very fitting. makes my brain tingle. now starting into the story and plot,, i havent had too much time thinking it out so this is a very drafty version. but we know the potters in canon are a pretty wealthy family, historically, and just making james be a pogue, live on the cut, have a poor family would be too easy. so i was thinking the heist gold being related back to the potter lineage kind of like with pope and denmark tanny. and fleamont trying to retrieve whats rightfully his/theirs. once he vanishes i want james to live all alone (except for when his friends are there) on this large, ancient property, in this huge empty house. after effie died when james was very young, fleamont packed their shit and moved with little james back into his ancestors home. it’s not a mansion but it’s a big ass house. rock and cement, lots of hidden nooks and crannies and fun trinkets and weirdly shaped windows. james drives an oldtimer probably, one with a big back bench and a roof that folds back manually not electrically and lots of trunk room. it’s his baby. it’s a she. idk about the name yet. nimby maybe, hinting at the nimbus broom idk fjkhgj. appearance and style wise there’s not a lot i have or want to change. he’s an avid chucks wearer like john b. he’s got his button downs, tits out at all times. the dirty ass bandanna he wears around his wrist or neck. (i want to mention that sirius has a matching one that he wears in his hair mostly, like on his forehead, holding back his longer hair. you best believe i’m not giving sirius jj’s crusty ass cap. not doing that to my angel baby.) mostly this just stemmed from rewatching obx and with a sudden clarity being like.,,, wow jb and sarah are So jeggy coded T^T

[prototypesteve]

The Vanguard of Assholes: first, fast, and loud. Also, not worth your worry.

What it feels like: “As aspec identities rise in visibility, the world is pushing back with organized aphobia and closed-mindedness, and we’re surrounded.”

What it’s more like: “Most of the world has no idea you even exist yet, because they’ve been busy with their own shit. But a few people hate everything new¹, and they’ve noticed that you’re showing up more and more, and they don’t like new things, so they’ve decided to turn into whatever your natural enemy is. This week, they’ll be aphobes, and next week, they’ll be concerned parents against bicycle lanes. They just pick new stuff, and hate on it. They are The Vanguard of Assholes.”

There’s always a Vanguard of Assholes who show up first, fast, and loud, as the “dissenting opinion” to anything new¹.

Study the history of every “new” thing that emerged into public consciousness, and you will see examples of the Vanguard of Assholes showing up first, fast, and loud, claiming to be “everyone”, as they try to push the new idea back out of public consciousness.

They come disguised as moral panics, reactionary causes, NIMBY protests, book-burnings, trucks covered in upside down flags, traditional values voters, disingenuous debate-me bros, and “this is just too much too soon” editorials… it’s the Vanguard, losing their shit because they’re terrified of something new.

But not far behind the Vanguard of Assholes are the more than 90% of people who don’t have an opinion about you, good or bad, and won’t have an opinion about you until they get to know you. Find a way to sidestep the Vanguard, and get to know people from the big majority, be your own representation, and often be the first real live aspec person they know.

Appendix A: “So we should just let them?”

Now, a fair question is, “Shouldn’t we confront the Vanguard, because don’t they also talk to the majority?” Nope. The Vanguard prefer to engage a small, friendly audience in their immediate orbit, or with the groups they’re trying to chase away, because they know the Vanguard is small. They’re hoping they’re a little bit bigger than the group they’re chasing². They know that whenever they try to talk to the majority, they’re dealt with in seconds, because they’re very obviously filled with hate-fear.

If a Vanguard aphobe went on network TV tonight, and talked about why Loveless needs to be pulled from Amazon and Audible, to protect kids from asexuality, the majority would rightly ask them, “What the Kentucky fried hell are you even talking about? Asex. Is that like… abstinence or something?” And when the majority did look up what Loveless was about, they’d be more likely³ to respond, “I don’t see a problem here, there were three asexual characters in a book that mentioned multitudes of people, and none of them made anyone else asexual,” or “Oh, I have a friend/coworker/classmate/relative who’s like that. Xey didn’t date…” and so on.

Footnotes:

¹ No, asexuality itself isn’t “new”—I’ve been asexual for all of my 53 years—but asexuality’s presence on cultural radar, as a thing of note, is relatively new. You can still fit all of the asexual characters in commercially available fiction or media into a single tour bus. Season 2 of Sex Education (the season with that clip), Angela Chen’s Ace, and Alice Oseman’s Loveless were all released or published in 2020. The Sunset aroace flag only dates back to 2018. The purple asexual flag only dates back to 2010, which makes it younger than the iPhone.

² Low estimates put us at around 1 to 2% of the population. Even if aphobes were 4% of the population—which they aren’t, but pretend they were—they might seem to outnumber us two to one, but that would still leave 94-95% of the world outside of the discourse, and not currently on anybody’s side, but not likely to be swayed to the irrational aphobe side. Not in 2024.

³ This is based on observation. I’ve come out to roughly a thousand people. Most are like, “Hey, glad you’re happy.” None were openly hostile (including people from a very diverse queer community, or my extremely religious and/or conservative friends). Fewer than five have asked me more about it because either they or someone close was possibly aspec.

[lesbianuhaulindustrialcomplex]

GODDDDDDD i am tired of californians acting like certain perfectly safe suburban areas are essentially downtown gotham. literally just because there are homeless people that live on the sidewalks in this area and mind their own fucking business and maybe have the gaul to be high in public. yknow, because they're fucking homeless and don't have any other option. they literally don't even ask for change or assistance from people passing by in my area anymore because they know these NIMBY ass fuckers will clutch their purses and act like they just pulled a knife on them for daring to look at and speak to another human being. and of course this serves to delegitimize any actual violence people experience in this area. a young Asian woman in my city subreddit posted about an experience she had in an area with a high homeless population where a man followed her around a shopping center shouting racial slurs at her while also saying she was worshiping the devil. she titled the post indicating that she was afraid she was going to be the victim of a hate crime. people in the replies essentially mocked her and told her that she needed to get used to that kind of behavior in that area and that it was "just a fucking crackhead" and that it wasn't ACTUALLY a racist situation. you people all need to fuck off. how dare you tell a young woman she needs to get used to having slurs hurled at her while being followed around. and it's not even true that this kind of thing happens all the time in the area. i have looked up the crime rates in this city, they are low and have a general trend of getting lower. and of course just like every other place you are so much more likely to be the victim or a crime committed by someone you know versus by a complete stranger randomly. its just so frustrating. so many people in this area try to posture that they're these perfect liberals, but the second someone is homeless and struggling with drug abuse, suddenly they belong to a class of people that are no longer human and perfectly acceptable to punch down at.