Could Be Gayer

This story started years ago, really, but the past has happened. The future can be changed. All that exists is now, so now is where this story begins. Eight different realms for skykids to explore, each one unique and rich in their own ways. Home is a welcome resting place for skykids to rest, to play songs and hide and seek. Isle teaches the young how to walk, jump, and fly. Prairie, one of the most popular locations, is filled with greenery, butterflies, and all sorts of surprises. Forest, quiet and cold, introduces the dangers of light going out, crabs grow irritated and some learn how to flip them. Valley is filled with games and skating. Wasteland is rich with dangers as krill target skykids, oil saps warmth, and older kids have a laugh at young moths. The vault is filled with a matronly warmth, filled with knowledge lost to the ages. Eden is a horror best left unspoken.

This story focuses on three skykids. Shrimp is the youngest, not yet past the wastelands, with a pinkish, orange undertone to their hair. Her brown cape is simple, decorated with four stars. Hades is almost the oldest, her cape mimics butterflies, her hair and eyes have red undertones and hues. The shape of her mask is akin to krill, hinting to a dark and angry past. Butterfly wears a black cloak, his hair has blue undertones and his mask is a dull blue shade compared to the normal grey or brown. His hair is loose, often done up by his closest friend, Hades.

Shrimp floats around in their moth-y glory in the prairie, somehow managing to acquire a chibi mask. They beep happily as they ride on the mantas.

Hades is sneaking around the wastelands, taunting the krill to entertain her closest friend. It’s working and she knows it.

Butterfly is sitting high on the cliffs, also in the wastelands. He is haunted by his past but enjoys Hades’ entertainment and company. There weren’t many happy things in the wastelands or the vault, but at least here he could help young moths, protecting them from the many dangers.

There are many things that could happen, but at the moment, everything was calm. Bigger dangers than krill have yet to be discovered. This story has just begun. Luckily for them, or perhaps unluckily, you are here to help.

Short protest guide. Copy text and share:

Street protests are erupting in major cities across America. We should be preparing. Get your friends/ crew/ affinity groups together. Decide on roles (everyone of them is critical).

Antifascists have been fine-tuning violent encounters with fascists and their police protectors for years. Wear black head-to-toe. Masks up (you can do this with a black t-shirt, google Piqueteros). Comfortable footwear for being on your feet potentially for an entire day.

The more uniform everyone looks the harder it is for the state to identify who did what (no face no case). Wear another color under your black in case you need to strip it off to blend into the general population. Bring extra PPE to assist everyone in preventing the spread of Covid-19.

Strikers should move to the role of unarresting/ interveneing physically against police violence. Pad your dominant forearm to absorb baton blows (it may save you a broken arm).

It's everyone's job to assist medics in collecting supplies and lending a hand when called on during an emergency. Call for a medic with both arms crossed over your head. "Medic"!!

In the event chemical irritants are deployed, eyes are washed with water (street medics have moved away from maylox in recent years). Do not wear contacts if you can help it/ wear eye protection. When medics offer a snack or water, take it (you need it). If someone goes down sheild them with your body as they are vulnerable to attack/ trampling. Keep the cameras off injured peoples (short spray paint cans are good for taking care of camera lenses that refuse to move). After the action check in with medics. Medics are notoriously the worst at self-care during crisis and deal with major trauma. Show them care and emotional support.

Stay mobile, avoid being cornered/ kettled/ flanked. Cops will yell loudly/ concussion grenades are fucking loud. Their noise is meant to rattle and disorient you. Tear gas cannisters will burn a naked hand. They should be returned with at least a 100% cotton gloved hand to the cops that shot them/ covered with something like a traffic cone.

Never turn your back to an attacker, do not run. Eyes constantly scan outside the crowd. Remain hyper-vigilant at all times. Leave no one behind.

In the event of arrest, do not tell cops anything, not even what you had for breakfast (everybody walks when nobody talks) Legal teams are already working to get you out/ bail is already being raised internationally. When the protest is over everyone who is able should go to the jail to stand in solidarity until everyone is released (there are exceptions, legal will help make that call). Write the legal number on your body in multiple places with sharpie.

In the event trans/ non-binary comrades are arrested or detained, cis people MUST go to jail with them. If you have to cross the police line or sit in the middle of the street to get this done, do it. We never let trans/ non-binary comrades go to jail alone. This also applies to white people when POC are arrested. We protect the most marginalized in our ranks.

One person not in the street needs critical info for those arrested. Real names/ DOB/ medications/ etc. Write it down somewhere safe off-site, burn it later. Do NOT use Google Docs or other online forms. These are insecure and subject to subpoena.

This is non-sectarian defense. We may have beef outside the protest, but in the street we stand shoulder-to-shoulder. We protect each other, we have each other's backs.

When the American Flag is displayed and the national anthem is played, Military Personnel in Uniform “should give the military salute” to the flag until the song stops.

I don’t know if it would work, but I suggest at future protests (especially if military are present), protesters begin playing the anthem on a speaker and perhaps displaying the flag.

On tumblr I’m seeing a hell of a lot of young white kids yelling at anyone who actually follows those steps, and acting like burnout is a moral falling rather than a well-proven psychological phenomenon.

Here is a nice comprehensive list on why what you're doing is shitty and why you need to fucking stop.

1. You're disrespecting the boundaries set by other people. People set boundaries by blocking others. Its that simple. By reposting art, writing, or anything by a blog with the express purpose to send it to people the creators have blocked, you have violated their boundaries.

2. You are potentially putting the people creating the content in danger. By reposting things without permission and creditting you are potentially exposing dangerous people who have been blocked to the blog content, to the blog content. I personally have several people on my block list that are blocked because if they saw my posts I would be in danger, not to mention that without the block function I would have loads of anon hate to deal with.

3. You're disrespecting boundaries 2.0. A lot of us have blogs blocked because they are on out DNI lists and we do NOT want them to interact with our content. By giving people we do not want interacting with our blogs a platform to interact with out blogs, you're disrespecting boundaries.

4. You have not gotten permission. You have not attempted to gain permission from the content crestors in order to repost their work. This means that you are stealing our work. Furthermore, creditting us does not do much given that you created the blog to spread our content to people we do not want seeing our content.

5. You're being blatantly shitty to the creators. By actively disregzrding the creators wants, desires, and wishes, along with stealing our content and putting us in potential danger, you have been absolutely shitty to the creators. It is not your fucking job to ignore our boundaries, disregard our wants, and steal our content. You are not helping by adding credits, nor are you being kind. You are blatantly hurting the creators you ""like"" by creating a platform that is complete shit and harmful to the creators.

6. You are literally stealing our work. As previously explained before, since you have not gotten permission to repost our work you are stealing it. By showing our content to people we do not want seeing our content you are stealing our work. By reposting our work you are stealing our work. Your url literally implies that you are stealing our work. Everything about your blog is built on the premise that you are stealing our work. I'm under the assumption you've passed kindergarten and know why stealing is bad.

It’s not a trend; I believe with all my heart that what we are doing now is changing the course of history and this world will be better for it. Don’t stop.

It’s not a trend; I believe with all my heart that what we are doing now is changing the course of history and this world will be better for it. Don’t stop.

It’s not a trend; I believe with all my heart that what we are doing now is changing the course of history and this world will be better for it. Don’t stop.

It’s not a trend; I believe with all my heart that what we are doing now is changing the course of history and this world will be better for it. Don’t stop.