Belfry is forgetful, accident-prone, and irresponsible, but a snap decision to take in a young creature will change her life forever.
SO CLOSE everyone! Just $126 left until the $10,000 threshold and the gifts are unlocked of the TSSSF cards to those giving $50 or more. Down to 11 hours. This comic is gorgeous, and PixelPrism does amazing work.
Read the whole thing at tamberlanecomic.com, and then give!
This year…
I don’t know. This year’s Thanksgiving right now doesn’t feel “normal” for lack of a better word. Mind you, it’s still two days away, but…
The pang of nostalgia compared to what I know is going to be the reality is disheartening. Gone are the days of going across the river to Grandpa’s and Gramma’s and playing football in the backyard before the meal and genuinely being thankful. No more will I be able to take off my shoes in the vestibule of that house, head downstairs and see my cousins, go into the kitchen where my Grandma was putting the finishing touches on the meal, sneak into the adults-only part of the house and watch football on the television in the den.
In the wake of the election and the general way my extended family has gone, we’re a fractured and separated mess.
There’s no fix in sight, either. Not for a good long time–perhaps in the remainder of my life on Earth.
And that’s sad.
When I was young and innocent family was all I ever pined for, that closeness and unity that you have when you’re a unit and a group united by a strong pillar.
I love my family; don’t mistake that for a second.
I miss what was. The brief respites in memory that I can fathom up help to alleviate it but never fully replace some of the best times in my life.
I have a birthday card that I’m going to try and draw for a friend before their actual birthday… this year I’m hoping that it won’t be the hot mess that I tried last year! I for certain have Thursday off but am likely working in some fashion on Friday. Mo’ money, yeah?
What about you, followers? Are you finding this year’s Thanksgiving celebration a bit more daunting than last years?
I had to sit down and let my eyes adjust. Fluttershy was nuzzling me gently, with Pinkie next to the two Chicas.
Rarity? She’d almost glomped Bellora the second she saw her.
Then Bellora opened her eyes.
I was scared what might happen. Given how things in this universe normally unfold, I was expecting to be dead in a moment. Given the reaction I got from Chica, I think she was just as shocked.
Her eyes were a ruby color, they sparkled as if there were pieces of the valuable gem in the construction of the animatronic ballerina.
“Madam, as much as I enjoy the attention, could you please let go of me?”
Rarity let go–reluctantly. There was a bit of disappointment in the eyes of the fashionista, but it was short lived. I looked at Bellora for a minute before opening my mouth to speak.
Usually this has ended poorly with this group of individuals that I’ve been around. Normally there’s a threat to stuff me into a box or make me one with a springlock suit soon following.
Your eyes are pretty.
“Thank you.”
Chica groaned. “Don’t you even try to … sheesh, Whimper, I can tell you right now she is not your type.”
What, attractive and imaginative?
“No. Intelligent, and the fact that she’s a robot kind of adds to the equation.”
“Sis!”
“What? He’s an adult, he should have a girlfriend or something… I mean, come on, one of us with one of them? Not happening.”
“Where are we?”
Fluttershy’s question was answered quickly by Bellora. Rarity’s distance from the ballerina had seemed to decrease; whether noticed by the animatronic was unclear.
“This is Circus Baby’s Pizzeria. I am Bellora, one of the featured attractions here. You are… curious, yellow pony with wings. A unicorn, and a pink colored pony as well. And a human. You are from… Freddy Fazbear’s, correct?”
Chica nodded.
“How did you get here?”
“Emergency exit. Springtrap sort of decided to hold a mini revolution and created spring-lock versions of myself, Bonnie, Foxy and Freddy who are now lokiing for us.”
“Who is Springtrap?”
“A long story that I don’t want to get into right now. Suffice to say, bad news.”
“I see. Could you close the door, please, there’s something unpleasant coming from the room over.”
Huh?
OH DEAR GOD.
It took my brain a moment or two to realize that dark feeling was the fastest moving animatronic in the whole place. And she still had my phone.
“Have you met with your maker today? Get over here, Whimper!”
I forgot about Mangle.
Looks like Rarity’s chance to glomp Bellora was going to need to wait.
“RUN!”
Fluttershy’s call to action seemed so far away.
And Mangle was getting close.
Okay.
Okay.
I want everyone to take a deep breath, Lean away from your computer, put your phone down for a moment, and just breathe.
It’s really easy to go into a downhill spiral, especially on this website, because everything bad is filling up your dashboard, one post after another, and this is very, very overwhelming.
It’s okay. I promise it’s okay. We still have community, we still have each other, we still have reason and rightness. It’s okay.
Take a deep breath. Exhale slowly. Text someone important to you, hug someone close to you, stretch, eat a snack, play a game. It’s okay. It’s okay.
Be conservative about the amount of negativity you let yourself see tonight. it’s all bad, but it all says the same thing. It’s okay. I’m here, you’re here, let your brain breathe for a second.
THINGS A PRESIDENT CANNOT DO:
- Reverse any Supreme Court decision
- This includes Obergefell v. Hodges, which made same-sex marriage a constitutional right; Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, which reaffirmed a woman’s right to choose first articulated in Roe v. Wade, another Supreme Court case. Grutter v. Bollinger, which instituted affirmative action, the entire body of Civil Rights case law, plus anything related to due process, including the right of minors to due process, your right to an attorney, Miranda rights, inadmissible evidence, etc.
- (Even if Trump appoints the worst possible SC nominee, they still can’t reverse any of these decisions without a really significant case coming before the Court with new facts, and then they have to write an opinion stating how this case is different than that other case…it’s unlikely to happen.)
- Write law or repeal any existing law
- While traditionally, presidents have exerted influence on the legislative agenda (see, Obama’s role in advancing and promoting the Affordable Care Act) they cannot actually write or pass legislation. Bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions, and simple resolutions must be introduced in the House by a Representative.
- Presidents cannot strike down law. Only Congress can repeal laws, and only the Supreme Court can strike them down as unconstitutional.
- Presidential influence is just that—influence.
- (And if—for example—you are hated by 95% of the party you joined last week, and burned all your goddamn bridges by insulting them at various points in your campaign…..they’re unlikely to partner with you in crafting legislation.)
- Make any law or declaration that infringes in any way on the rights of the states
- So in the US, most of the rights are reserved to the states. You name it, it’s a state-run power. Criminal procedure and law? States. Medicare and Medicaid? States. The definition of marriage? States. Insurance, health departments, housing, unemployment benefits, public education, all these are state programs. And the president cannot infringe on those powers given to the states.
- (This is why down-ticket voting is so important, because Mike Pence as governor of Indiana had 800x the power he’s going to have as VP.)
- Declare war.
- This one is the most complicated, because with the advent of our “conflicts” in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc. there has been a significant shift in the articulation of the war doctrine, and it is one of the least restricted of the president’s “restricted” powers. But, despite all that, a president still has no power to declare war.
- Unilaterally appoint heads of administrative departments
- Unilaterally make treaties with foreign nations
Essentially, while presidents have a lot of power, it’s mostly unofficial—they can’t make sweeping laws, they can’t overturn existing rights, the most they can do is refuse to enforce them (which is absolutely a threat! and a problem!) but we aren’t electing de facto royalty here.
To all my friends who are freaking out that the President-Elect is going to dramatically change their lives in his first few months in office.
…
Well, I did that.
Now back to reality.
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