Drillimation Never Posted Any Winter-Related Content Throughout Much of This January. Here’s Why.

If you’ve been following any of our social media channels over the past month, you will have noticed that you haven’t seen much winter-related content other than our first YouTube video of the year, which you can watch below.

The reason for this decision was not one, but two unfortunate circumstances that occurred this month. The first one was the murder of Renee Good by ICE agents, and the other was a major blizzard that was striking the southern United States. It even hit our hometown, but to a lesser extent.

The first incident forced Drillimation to update its safety precautions whenever you visit our booth at conventions, whether you’re in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls, Erie, Cleveland, or Pittsburgh metro areas. Protests also broke out during that time, and Drillimation was forced to pull winter-related content from the lineup, especially from the murdering organization’s abbreviation.

The other one is an all too common scenario during the winter: blizzards. The blizzard dumped large amounts of ice in parts of the southern United States and many areas recorded over 45cm (18in) of snow. A planned appearance for the prophet at Mount Pleasant in Edinboro, which is located 45 minutes south of Erie, PA, was cancelled due to bitterly cold temperatures. Yesterday, lows reached -20°C (-4°F), compared to the 2015 historic cold wave that dropped temperatures to -28°C (-18°F). This was the first time since December 2022 that temperatures reached subzero in Fahrenheit.

Snowstorms also confer advantages for Drillimation, as players may play the game when they are stuck inside during major blizzards. This is quite questionable, as snow and ice storms cause major power outages and players might not have electricity during these events. Of course, cold weather is a major killer, and during the winter months, over 45,000 people die from cold-related illnesses, particularly hypothermia. This was the case in the February 2021 blizzard that left millions in Texas without power for multiple days.

Back to Drillimation, this is already complicating travel for Drillimation ahead of next weekend’s Pittsburgh Anime Fest, as the host city was hit harder than Erie. They nonetheless have a couple of days to dig out before the Prophet heads down and exhibits.

Again, this is a normal practice to do self-censorship when a major snowstorm or blizzard strikes due to sensitivity towards the victims, including those who have died. Seeing characters freeze to death in the same way the real blizzard did is like seeing fiction coming close to home.