Lil Bites

I may not have loved The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, but Carly Lane-Perry absolutely nails the secret ingredient that makes this franchise great (even when it isn't). Speaking of The Conjuring, Meagan Navarro wrote a super interesting piece about how The Devil Made Me Do It's antagonist ties into the myth of Annabelle.

ICYMI...

• Shadow and Bone is coming back for season 2!
• Here's how Loki will differ from WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier according to the showrunner.
• Rob Zombie is directing The Munsters movie.
• Jensen Ackles is basically playing US Agent 2.0 on The Boys, but he looks damn good.
• You can watch the first eight minutes of In the Heights.

The Good News Is,

• Look at this pretty picture of the milky way.
• This little girl loves space. She impressed astronauts so much that a sticker with the name of her space blog will be sent up in a time capsule.
• Check out this new trans inclusive clothing line founded by the father trying to make sure his transgender daughter felt comfortable in her bikini.

This Party Sucks

The "common ground" argument is a straw man. In the last four years, top republicans shifted their party to fascism-lite (which, by proxy, took every self-identified republican who didn't speak out against it that way too). In response to that, too many democrats have... continued to attempt to find common ground in favor of bipartisanship?

Trying to find common ground with fascism (lite or otherwise) is, in no uncertain terms, absolute buffoonery.

On both sides of the aisle, the leaders of this country seem fine with pretending like the Capitol riots on January 6th simply didn't take place. Like we can just pretend like Trump's presidency and the things it inspired didn't happen because we have a democrat in power now. Meanwhile, a seemingly dwindling number of people do their best to raise the alarm because this is very close to Hitler's path to power.

Now, as the voting rights of countless Americans are threatened in republicans' attempt to ensure they regain power and continue that dangerous path, Senator Joe Manchin — a democrat — has stated that he will vote against the For the People Act. His reason? The people robbing Americans of their voting rights every single chance they get didn't get enough of a say.

Manchin isn't an outlier, either. He was just the one dumb enough to publish an op-ed on the matter.

What's the For the People Act?

The thesis of the bill is pretty simple:

This bill addresses voter access, election integrity, election security, political spending, and ethics for the three branches of government.

Digging a little deeper, the bill's main intentions are:

• Support for states to establish independent, nonpartisan redistricting commissions. (Short version: federal support to address gerrymandering across the country.)
• Expanding access to elections.
• Provisions for election security.
• Addresses campaign spending, including expanding the ban on foreign nationals contributing to or spending on elections; expanding disclosure rules pertaining to organizations spending money during elections, campaign advertisements, and online platforms; and revising disclaimer requirements for political advertising.
• Alternative campaign funding system for certain federal offices, as well as federal matching of small contributions for qualified candidates.
• The bill requires a code of ethics for federal judges and justices, prohibits Members of the House from serving on the board of a for-profit entity, expands enforcement of regulations governing foreign agents, and establishes additional conflict-of-interest and ethics provisions for federal employees and the White House.
• Finally, it will require all candidates for President and Vice President to submit 10 years of tax returns.

Here's an annotated guide of the For the People Act for those who want to dig in more.

The Baby Step

If you live in West Virginia, please call Senator Munchin's office at (202)224-3954 and make it clear that his constituents value the safety of American democracy over flirting with those who would take our rights away.

If you don't live in West Virginia, call your reps and make it as clear as day that the For the People Act must pass.

And Now, A Word From Our Sponsors...

This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Dice Tower Theatre. If you dig Critical Role, Lord of the Rings or anything adjacent to it, you should absolutely check them out. It's a heartfelt fantasy storytelling podcast based on a campaign between friends that reflects their challenges both at the table and in their lives. Dice Tower Theatre isn't just another actual play podcast focused around a game. This is a dramatic retelling of the story events with top-notch voice acting, masterful sound design and an original score. Best of all, you don't have to know anything about the game to enjoy this production for your ears!

Whatcha Watchin'?

Love, Victor season 2 premieres on Hulu on June 11th. It has too many love triangles, and struggles with a bit of a second season slump, but it's still fun enough. Folks who enjoyed S1 will definitely find plenty to love here.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It left me super sad. It's my favorite contemporary horror franchise, so such a huge dip in quality was a tremendous bummer. But, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are both darling in it, and their love as the fictional depiction of the Warrens still shines through. If that's all you want out of it, you'll leave happy enough. (Here's my ranking of the franchise, for inquiring minds.)

I struck out a lot with media this week! Mythic Quest's episode wasn't for me, my usual stories were taking a week off, and most of the stuff I jaw just left me with huge "meh" vibes. It happens. Shortly after this newsletter hits your inbox, my first thoughts on Loki will go live. Fingers crossed this week's rough patch will be a distant memory!

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