Not to sound glib but I don't want your support, because I don't need it, I'm still going, there's others out there that can't stand on their own right now. Seek them out and help them.

I'm so sorry for your loss Aikune, I'm here if you want to chat.

Yes, awesome Gareth! Thank you :cheer:

Holy shit, Aikune. I'm so sorry that you lost your friends and almost your own life too. Let that inferno rage, because that really is what's needed to stop this shit from happening again.

For all,

Do not let ourselves forget who we are or where we came from. Nor shall we forget all we have accomplished and that together we remain united and strong. Evil will always work to create fear, confusion, and distrust among ourselves and others. To divide and conquer is the way of evil because it hates us and even more it hates what we are... human beings.

This is why we come together not only to mourn our fallen, but to celebrate and stand tall. We show evil that we will not be succumbed or silenced. That when the dust settles we will always be and that we are not going anywhere. My deepest respects and sympathies to any and all affected by this event. Continue to show your PRIDE! At the end, I add my own song which I created to commemorate the dead in true Klingon fashion (Translated into English of course).

Below is a speech by General Chang, a character in the Star Trek universe, while instructing at the Klingon Academy. In it he discusses the Heart of Virtue, or teek googk, a weapon said to be favoured by Kahless the Unforgettable. I find this speech holds commonality to our own struggle in the LGBTQ community.




"Kahless used it as a symbol of his house, then of the Empire. Many say it has an unequal balance, but this is inaccurate each blade represents the three virtues of the true warrior.

Duty is the first. It is the beginning and the end of the warrior's path. Without duty a warrior becomes a slave of aimless glory and reckless self-interest. Polish this blade; sharpen it until there is nothing it cannot pierce.

The longest blade is that of Honour. It is the most difficult to master. Honour is my life, there in I will live and there in I will die. Truth, courage and forthrightness; Honour encompasses all, yet is more. The fire that illuminates the difference between an armed savage and the true warrior, and the light that will guide along the warrior's path.

All true warriors travel the same river of blood, as one is disgraced, all are disgraced, and as one finds his dept in glory, so do we all find glory. A warrior would not allow another to suffer unjust disgrace or begrudge him the fruits of a well-earned victory. That is why the final blade signifies Loyalty, as we are all bound by the common journey.

Know this and master all the heart of virtue, ignore it and ultimately fail yourself and fail your comrades."


"The Heart Within"

Sons and Daughters
The blood of battle washes clean
From many victories and glory earned
Through the night we sang and drank
Our songs so loud we made the Great Halls quake
We are warriors brave and true
Our lives burn short and bright

In shadow, a foulness entered our home
As a coward striking at our back
The blood was ankle deep
And our halls grew silent

Then a voice cried out
They will kill me, but they will not defeat me
The Klingon heart beats within us all
We die with honour and join the Black Fleet
Then another voice cries out to Sto-Vo-Kor
Beware, a Klingon warrior is about to arrive!

United by the bonding
Our fires burn brightly streaking the heavens
The battle has begun
Our Klingon hearts fused
We know fear no more

We are warriors brave and true
We travel the river of blood
Nothing can stop our blade
We raise our sword
And slew the evil dead!

Qa'pla!


~ General Ja'xme (Medgirl)
Daughter to the Great House of Nagh'reD (Stonewall)

Our deepest sorry for you and your loss. Thank you for speaking out. We understand your feeling and your attitude. This was clearly a hate crime, against gays, queers, humans, humanity. It was and is and will never be right. If we can support you pls let us know.

I am so sorry that you lost your friends to this horror. It is insane that people would argue that this is not a hate crime when clearly it is both fueled by hatred of a community and terrorism. Downplaying the hate crime that was committed is part of an agenda of all those American's that are anything but American. Even our President didn't leave out the hate crime in his speech yesterday.

Something evil is in the air and to be honest I am not convinced it's coming from other countries. It's right here at home.

Stay Safe!

So sad, people out to have a good time ends like this. so many lives and families ruined.... stay strong Orlando.

Anyone in the UK see this clip from Sky News - the presenters just have not got a clue... it was a homophobic attack by a terrorist but they simply wont acknowledge that.. Well Done Owen Jones..

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/owen-jones-walks-off-sky-news-after-presenters-deflect-homophobia-behind-orlando-shooting-a7078891.html

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I'm not OK. I was being a slut at the time of the shooting but an hour before that I was at Pulse. My friends who just got engaged earlier and were celebrating are both dead. There's an inferno in me right now that I'm letting burn because it's all thats keeping me going right now. My hate and rage is addicting and I don't care if I become an addict. The refusal for people to admit this was a hate crime targeting the LGBT community is infuriating. It was ME they were shooting at and it was MY FRIENDS that died. I am not going to play nice any more. This faggot has a gun and this faggot is damn sick and tired of being told to stay calm so you don't do anything stupid. Sometimes being stupid get the job done. Being stupid saved the next generation from the AIDS decimation of the 80's and 90's. Maybe Being Stupid will get the job done now. The Civil Rights Movement had MLK and Malcom X. The Gay Community never had a Malcom X or Black Panther figure to give force behind the worlds of HRC, GLAAD or other LGBT Leaders.

You are totally right, Lars. The things happening right now make me very sad too, I even can not sleep. My STO absense (for about half a year now) is also related to these happenings, because of the events on NewYearsEve here in Europe. It was a nightmare for me, it still is, my love, myself, most of my friends and even members of my family had contact with sexual related violence. Mixing all the individual stories together you end up with a story that fits with that of Cologne and the other cities in Europe.

And now Orlando. This is really hard to cope, I am very, very sad, I even can not cry because I am so sad. Yesterday one of our fleeties told me, he knew someone working at the Pulse. This remembered me of working in a german city as organizer and service for public queer parties, so if this happened here it could have been me. It was very hard for me, listening to the interview with the bartender of the pulse, as I could really feel what she was talking about.

I don't know if another gun law would make it better. Europe has stricter laws on the use and getting of weapons, but we weren't able to hinder the guys of Paris doing their bloodshed. I think its even worse than that, and blaming the laws won't stop those evil people to carry out their plans. At this point there are two thoughts coming in my mind:
In my career as Eventmanager I had access to many rich, wealthy and good secured people, including 3 german chancellors and even 2 american presidents. Sometimes there was a security check on me, sometimes not.
While I was young I experimented with drugs (like anybody else), and on one occasion buying stuff from my dealer he offered me a weapon. I dont know why he asked me (perhaps he asked all his clients) and certainly I refused, but the point is, this was more than twenty years ago in a public place in a german city. So I think, its easy to get weapons no matter where you are or what the law is.
Finally I want to point out, that one of the guys shooting at the Bataclan in Paris was one of the securities working there, and he gave the other three shooters access through a backdoor.

I believe there is no safety, only good faith and hope, and love of course. If we stay together, if we cry out loud our demands, and if we always remember that we are humans and we are all the same, than we may be able to break this chain. I am working my whole life on this, and I wont surrender, no matter what.

Thanks for putting together this event, Gareth. It was fun!

Really well done guys, i was out of action on the monday and tuesday mostly but even if i had been doing my usual stuff each day i doubt i would of come close, awesome stuff :)

These are all awesome. I do like the "Space...The Final Frontier" best.

http://attitude.co.uk/orlando-gay-club-shooting-the-victims/

R.I.P.

Thank you for the event. I hope, there will be more of that kind - especially FitBit related.

There is more to track than just steps :p

When will be the next Starfleet Health Check?

I just came across this one on Facebook :P

[attachment=3560]Puns.jpg[/attachment]

Challenge now ended

This post will have a somewhat political tone to it. Everything I write down here are my own views and no one else's. If you decide to react in this thread, please be respectful to one another and don't attack each other personally.
Or maybe we shouldn't react to each other at all, but just use this thread to pour our hearts out.

I feel the need to write this down, because what happened in Orlando this weekend makes me extremely sad. Not only because a shitload of people pointlessly lost their lives and others are scarred for the rest of theirs, but also because it could have been so easily avoided. I feel sad, because this shit is happening for so fucking long already. I feel sad, because people are completely and utterly unable to keep their own prejudices in check. I feel sad, because people are bend on hating each other for absolutely ridiculous reasons.

There are those that support the American right to carry arms. I feel that if American gun laws would have been more similar to those in Europe, this mass murder would either not have taken place, or not have taken as many and as severe casualties as it did.

I am glad to read though that this act of terrorism has been condemned everywhere and that a shitload of money and blood is being donated.

For now I do not know what else to write. So I will keep it at this.

My heart goes out to the victims and their family and friends and I hope any fleeties residing in the area are safe and sound (let us know something if you're alright, will you?)

Trina.9625 (who I believe is a officer of the LGBT guild Our Sanctuary) has posted details of a pride march across Tyria on the Guild Wars 2 forums.

https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/community/events/Pride-March-Tyria

Citizens of Tyria, you are invited to join us in celebrating Pride March Tyria this June 26 at 5pm PST (roughly when daily achievements reset). We march primarily to show our support for gender and sexual minority players, some of which have found Guild Wars 2 to be one of a few safe places to simply be themselves and get away from the drama and the politics of the outside world.

Allies and proponents of equality for all are especially welcome to attend as are those who are members of LGBTQIA+ communities (my apologies if my acronym is less than current).

The march route will be starting in the center of Ebonhawk and proceed until it reaches the steps of Rata Sum. Please refer to included map for specifics.
As real life comes first we’ll understand if players will only be stopping by for a short section of the approximately two and a half hour tour. Also for those for whom the above-mentioned time is inconvenient, we’ll be glad for those who want to volunteer to lead other groups whenever is most convenient for them as we want this message of support to reach as many as possible regardless of personal time constraints.

Thank you for your time.

This is at 1am for me so I probably won't be able to make it but hopefully some of you might attend.