we'll try and try again

Rachel Ann Bovier is a Pittsburgh legend who has been publishing her poems in city newspapers for decades. In more recent years, she started putting up these bill boards along major roads. For what reason? I have no clue. But I would often pass them on my way to Oakland for therapy. They never failed to cheer me up.

As a young trans writer, they gave me this precious little spark of joy. There was someone like me, a writer, a Pittsburgher, a trans person, who was confident enough to put their face on a bill board! I would always smile as we passed by and my mom took note.

Fast forward a few years and it’s my 21st birthday. My mom has been super excited about my gift and teased me about it over and over again. She said it was the best gift she’d ever gotten me and in many ways she was right. It was a custom poem she commissioned from Miss Bouvier! It congratulated me on my birthday, my academic success, lots of little stuff. It was simple and sweet and perfect.

HAPPY ANNIV, DATE EVERYTHING!!!!

This is Linda, 60

Alexis, 64

Helena, 63

Kendrah, 72 (!!)

Tasha, 65

On the fourth I played out a long cherished fantasy, and shot every American I met.

As performance art goes I was very successful, my spree lasted all day and I only had two negative responses (out of nearly a hundred.) One white lady told me I ought to have "pre-informed consent" and I was "basically assaulting people," as though splashing a little water on someone is akin to performing a sexual act or invasive medical procedure. Hilariously, the only real negative consequence she could imagine is that I "might ruin someone's nice clothes." It was an interesting statement to make when it was 85 degrees and 100% humidity outside, during a season when it rains multiple times daily. Overall, she set a really creative example of someone using triggering reactionary buzzwords to pretend something playful and harmless was a horrific traumatic event, in an attempt to manipulate the feelings of others. As someone who has been victim of assault, I thought it was absolutely ridiculous and offensive to make light of something so serious by equating its circumstances to a prank.

Really the best thing to do is laugh at that sort of person. I can't imagine being so sensitive and sheltered, they're basically spoiled whining babies crying and making up lies to get their way. For the rest of the day, any time we would have some normal interaction with someone, my friend and I would joke that we "needed consent" or say "you basically just assaulted me" (like when handing someone a beer for example.) If she thinks a splash of water is horrible, she is really not gonna like what I do with my guillotine! (I also almost got shot by the fuzz for having a water gun! Classic stuff.)

The second search result had included the slur "ob*se" in the title of the article.

There are seriously people who tell me fat people aren't oppressed. Meanwhile, trying to find information about how to keep a fat person from drying in a car crash is met with links to products that make dirty money off of how society views my body.

Pelvic bones are strong and sturdy, and you're going to be MUCH less likely to injure internal organs and such when you suddenly slam into a nylon belt"

Text and photos by @thejacespace

Your #1 Fan!💖

Literally had so much fun putting her together! Someone stop me from making more DE cosplays😂

Character: Fantina

There are several groups of traditionalist Catholics that have been pissed since something called Vatican 2, which updated a bunch of practices and official positions, and one group of those is called The Society of Saint Pius X. Their leader was excommunicated in 1988 for making bishops (?) without permission.

Those bishops are now hella old, so they decided to make some more, and the pope said that was automatic excommunication. (excommunication matters both as a matter of theology (sacraments performed aren't valid) and economics (the church stops giving them money, can take back property, etc))

Pope said don't, and they did, and now: schism?????

Apparently they claim not to be sedevacantists ("pope's not valid"), but idek what else you would call this.

Article from the Vatican press office (calling them Lefebvrians is apparently itself a diss, as that is the name of the founder and emphasizes the cult of personality aspect)

Excellent bluesky thread liveblogging the consecration (must be logged in, I think? Screenshots are highlights)

Tl;dr, from the replies to that thread