Twilit Beast

tear out your soul

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you have this breath weapon! (also you're a dragon)

"This is an LGBT safe space. Of COURSE I fully support individuals who identify as transgender and their right to self-determination! I just think that transitioning is a very serious choice and should be heavily regulated. And there could be a lot of harm in exposing cis children to such topics, so we should be really careful about when it is appropriate to mention trans issues or have too much trans visibility."

apparently he (who through my drunken memory I remember only as Earl) liked some woman, and she told him that he wasn't cultured enough and needed to attend his first drag show (she also flaked on him)

Now I'm reasonably androgynous and was wearing makeup, a short leather skirt, and black heeled boots, but still when this guy came up to me when I was standing off alone and asked "So. Do you come here often?" with a very earnest expression, I thought. Surely not. This guy doesn't think I'm a straight woman does he????

Anyway I start talking with this guy and he has no idea what the fuck is going on but he is just a very kind and earnest dude and asked a lot of questions (while asking if it was alright if he asked those questions). I track down my husband and friends and I'm like y'all. We need to make sure that Earl has a Good Fucking Time tonight.

Man was completely out of his depth. At one point they put on a puppy auction to raise money for Pride, that started with a 6 ft drag queen in all her glory leading a leather pup out on a leash to the tune of that damned RSPCA "in the arms of the angels" song

We look at Earl. Nervous. He squints, laughs, and then goes "I was wondering why people were dressed like that!" He turned to me and asked "So they're like dogs?" And I said yeah pretty much. And he just chuckled and went "Yeah I thought so with the tails! Never seen this before!"

When the first drag king came out, Earl looked at me wide eyed and went "There's a dude version too?!" And I said yeah they're called drag kings. And he said, low, "Drag kings."

During one of the queens performances, he frowned, shook his head and told me, "Your legs are better than hers." in a tone that implied he thought there was some travesty taking place and I should also be getting paid

When he found out I was there with my husband (and that I am not a woman) he profusely apologized and said "I'm so sorry, it's dark in here and I thought you were a hot chick! I wouldn't have said nothing if I knew you had a husband, I'm so sorry about that."

When beemovie invited me to the dance floor with him later and I still had a drink in my hand, Earl said "Oh don't worry about that I can hold your drink, you get on out there and shake your ass with your husband!" Then before we left, Earl bought me drinks for "Putting up with me all night and answering everything. Y'all helped me have a great time tonight."

like. You gotta recognize there's going to people who have never had interacted outside of their of their own community. This includes you. And just because your community is familiar with all the right vocabulary and how to correctly say something, it doesn't mean they're actually going to support you. If someone like Earl shows up, confused and out of their depth but kind and curious and earnest, you gotta have patience and truck through the small things, so when he goes back to his friends and his coworkers and they snicker asking how the drag show was, he can genuinely talk about how included we tried to make him feel and that he had a great time

If I weld a joint, and the CWI comes up behind me with a radiographic test for it and finds that I just laid hot metal on cold metal or it looks like a sponge inside, you know what’s gonna happen? You think they’re gonna give me a low score and tell me to move on? Fuck no. They’re gonna hand me a grinder and tell me to take it out and put it in right.

When there’s actual work to be done, we don’t leave it at the first attempt if that attempt was shit. We don’t leave a trail of “what’s done is done.” If it takes you four attempts, that’s what it takes, and next time it’ll take fewer because you learned how to do it right after the third time.

School, as it’s set up, with unforgiving deadlines and single attempt high stakes tests are building a shitty work ethic. It says “I tried once, and that’s all you’re getting.” It sets you up to leave a trail of cut losses and barely or unfinished projects as you scramble to get something, anything, turned in before the deadline.

Wondering how many people haven't heard the song that Jarona comes from. Everyone's heard it, right?? Right?? Anyway

Hop on the tour bus! Let's sight-see around the dead kingdom of Hallownest! What might catch these bugs' attentions? How will they feel? Let's find out...

First up, Honeysuckle adores Greenpath and its many, moss-covered critters. She's alarmed by the acidic water and then delighted when she sees some durandoos trundling through the acid without concern. And yes, she rides one of them for a while :)

-

Multiple of the bugs stuck around in the City for a while. Cici and Maúl get to experience clean rain for the first time. Refreshing and blue. And the City is so stunningly huge! The buildings so tall! The bridges made of metal and stone! Even crumbling as things are, they are still so impressive! No wonder bugs would make pilgrimages along the Pilgrim's Way to reach here. It's a much kinder path, and Maúl muses on if this City is nicer than the Citadel. Though he looks abashed to have uttered such and keeps his head down for a while afterwards.

Cici wonders what bugs did all day in a place like this. Did they even have to work? Could they just attend shows or visit libraries or walk around looking at art all the time? Jealous...

Meanwhile, Crinum senses a glow of concentrated soul energy and climbs up into the Soul Sanctum to investigate...

After silently creeping through corridors and inspecting strange yet vaguely familiar devices, she comes across the corpse pit. He's silent for a few moments, and then growls, "... what a waste."

-

Beyond the City, the final two bugs find very different points of interest. Trickle knew about Hallownest before even arriving. Of course he's heard about the Pale Wyrm!!! Oh gosh, what an honor to step in that Wyrm's kingdom. Oh wow, look at all he wrought. And his body, way out here at the Edge of his Kingdom...

Awed, Trickle stands at the maw of that great corpse for a long time. What size... What power... What an influence on this land... He wonders what the Wyrm saw in its visions, what drew it to this place, what made it decide to cast off its shell for a smaller form. If only he could ask it...

Meanwhile~

Ensconce finds liquid gold and indulges eagerly. They've tried honey before, but that had been in a crystalized form. This honey, though? Fresh and dripping? Ooohhhh, delicious. They so rarely get to eat something as plentiful and filling!