#Things you have to bear as an immigrant I guess

[captainrayzizuniverse]

I drove down to Buffalo and back yesterday (and i’m flying to nyc on friday woohoo!), and I just want to know why the fuck do I have to pay money to get back into canada? Specifically Ontario? This year I’ve entered the US through the BC border 4 times and not once did I have to pay anything to come back in.....so um??what’s the dealio? 

My friend reminded me that when we drove to syracuse in 2021 we had to pay as well to get back in but I thought it was because I wasn’t a citizen yet...so I’m guessing it’s a province thing? And google doesn’t help! All they say is ‘you don’t pay fees or taxes when you enter canada’...well I paid for something! 

[exyrpf]

Do I even want to know what happened in the last 24 hours 😭 I'm almost afraid to ask but I'm also insanely curious

You probably don't want to know but I'll tell you because you have no choice. This will be long and...awful. But there are sources so that's fun! Please keep in mind that this was all released within 24 hours on Thursday, September 20th, 2024 and that, unfortunately, I haven't mentioned everything.

But! The GOP was certainly having a wild one yesterday.

To start things off:

The first 'Big News' to break was about Mark Robinson.

For those saying 'who the fuck is Mark Robinson', he's the current (R) Lt. Gov of North Carolina that is running for Gov. Before yesterday, he was best known for openly hating LGBT+ and Jewish folks, being a Holocaust denier, being (forcefully) anti abortion, saying it was better when women couldn't vote, anti immigrant, hating the civil rights movement, etc, just being a hateful Evangelical nasty fascist. MAGA to his core. Trump has endorsed him, saying he should be cherished and calling him "MLK on steroids". (Robinson is Black).

So, yeah, that's bad enough right? Yesterday it got even worse. CNN released a report about some comments he made on a porn site forum 12 years ago, the most prominent being 'i'm a black NAZI'. He also commented that he wished slavery was legal and that he'd own a few, and called himself a 'perv' that used to 'peep' on women in public locker rooms when he was a teenager.

Also the tale as old as time that I'm sure you could guess when I mentioned 'GOP' 'loudly transphobic' and 'porn site scandal' - trans porn was a favourite of his. Because of course.

Also of course - the GOP hasn't taken him off the ticket, and he will continue to be the nominee for governor in North Carolina!

Read the article, there's more about him and the situation in general. Mind the warnings.

-

Now on to our favourite worm brained bear eating anti vaxxer conspiracy theorist, Robert F. Kennedy Junior! I'm putting this under a read more now.

The first thing to drop about him yesterday was the news of an investigation after he allegedly cut off the head of a dead whale and took it home 20 years ago. Now I bet you're thinking, wow that's bad! Unfortunately for RFK Jr yesterday got worse. It was then revealed that he (70) was having an affair with right wing journalist Olivia Nuzzi (31) after New York Magazine suspended her.

Everything I learn about RFK Jr I learn against my own will.

-

Saying goodbye to RFK for now, let's move on to Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida! This Matt Gaetz, with the botox if you didn't recognise him.

Scary lookin, right?

This isn't a completely new story (here's an article about how he alledgedly paid for sex with a minor) but new court filings were released yesterday alledging that he attended a drug-fueled sex party in 2017 with the 17-year-old girl at the center of the alleged sex trafficking scandal.

Sure is great to have such trustworthy men representing this country!

OKAY, on to the next.

-

This wasn't really breaking news because this is just Trump being Trump but he gave a speech at an ANTI ANTISEMITISM EVENT where he preemptively blamed the Jews for being the reason he'll lose this election, telling them they need to get their head checked if they vote for Harris (that's pretty much part of his stump speech by now though) and saying he'll reinstate his Muslim ban. White fascist blaming Jews? Wow, I did Nazi that coming.

-

I genuinely could go on, I really truly could.

Oh! Kamala Harris went on Oprah and it was really nice and not at all insane and she talked to the family of the first known victim of Trump's abortion ban and it was very touching. Trump's official social media then posted a clip of her talking about her gun and saying 'If somebody breaks into my house, they're getting shot' like it was a snatch when in reality Republicans in the comments are saying 'actually, this would make me vote for her'. Thanks, Trump Team for the free advertising!

Misc:

Chris Rufo (known racist and anti immigration right wing activist) got revealed to have an illegal immigrant wife, and then got revealed to be a user of Ashley Madison (database where people go to cheat on their partners)(Robinson was also on Ashley Madison).

Jasmine Crockett during her thing and ripping white republicans to shreds. (idk this was just fun to me)

Actually Republicans and Project 2025 got ripped to shreds and shut down in general by multiple Congress members.

GOP is on the brink of causing a government shutdown, because of COURSE they are.

Cards Against Humanity sues SpaceX over “invasion” of land on US/Mexico border.

Anyway there's actually MORE believe it or not but I can't remember if it happened yesterday. Thank you for reading, I'm always open to discussing current events. I don't think it's a well known fact that I'm into politics because I don't talk about it on tumblr because people are kinda stupid. Anyway!

[mammalsofaction]

I liked CATU, the songs are banger and there are a lot of sweet moments. That being said its not perfect, and I wasn't a fan of Isabella's and Doof's dynamic in the movie, being a disservice to both Isabella as a kid and Doof's character arc through the 4 seasons.

That being said, a lot of his actions and decisions while leading the kids through Feebla-Oot is like....correct, actually? Particularly for the song "Adulting"

The dynamic tone between Isa and Heinz throughout the whole movie was just them being condescending to each other. Which I guess makes sense, knowing them both--Isa hates to be belittled, especially by an adult figure she doesn't respect, and Heinz's general first instinct around children was to act as an overbearing overprotective father. Combined with the fact that this child was refusing to listen to him, groping around the spaceship and inventions HE created, and insists on looking down at him, he's going to act condescending right back. It backfires a lot, naturally, what doesn't, around Heinz?

I would like to repeat that while I can sort of wrap my head around it, I didn't like the way it portrayed Heinz as more childish and immature and again, not doing justice to the audience's perception of him through the 4 seasons. I didn't like how they were treating each other.

Condescending was the running tone in the back and forth of the song Adulting as well, which was what made it funny, frustrating and baffling to me. The joke is that...he's RIGHT. It sounds made up, but adulting is a real thing, a statement that can and WILL be validated by any adult who has ever lived independently. They WILL get it when they turn 18. The kids don't get it...because they're KIDS.

I think they assume he's pretending like it was to sound authoritative, sure, maybe. But he's still right. It's not about collected soft and hard skills, it's not about knowing how to read a compass or how to do your taxes or how to fight a bear or to buying a car. Adulting is about sucking it up and taking responsibility for yourself. It's ABOUT the flailing around and learning how to do what as you go, it's about crying and doing it anyway. It's about the mind numbingly, outrageously boring stuff, and it's about the minor milestones that scares people half to death.

Heinz is 48. He's been married, and divorced; He's had a kid. He's bought houses, cars, started and failed multiple businesses. Mind you, Heinz came to America as an illegal immigrant at age 16 with just the clothes on his back, nothing to his name and disowned by his parents. He, probably better than most people, know how it's like to take responsibility for himself somewhere completely foreign, entirely hostile, and with almost no backup or life support.

He wasn't lying. He's right. He could've been less condescending about it, but yeah. It IS about aching knees and keeping perfect medical records, bringing fungal cream everywhere. It IS being lost and asking around, putting up with fucking it up. It's about getting hurt so the people you're in charge of stay safe and healthy and keeping your kids entertained and fed. It's about having to take charge. It made him look incompetent, but I VASTLY preferred that the near 50 yr old man told Isabella off for trying to take charge of the team in a foreign jungle planet actually. Knowing Heinz, there was no way in HELL he would've let her think she was responsible if something happened (and many things did happen), and he was right to.

Isabella is going to hate it SO much when she turns 18 and finds out he was right, btw. Adulting IS a real word.

[roxyandtheroxies]

I have begun to think about this a lot...nowadays there are some black people who have never done a hard day's work in their life, who may have been born very very upper middle class or even upper class, and are completely disconnected from the struggles of the working class! A part of me is happy about this, fifty years ago this would have been UNIMAGINABLE, at the same time, a part of me thinks "same shit different toilet" (also, i do know racial discrimination of the black community still happens, but bear with me). And a more ambitious part of me wants something similar to happen to the lgbt community, to succeed in a lot of our goals, perhaps so many that twenty or thirty years from now we could see transmasc CEOs who have never experienced transphobia and who say shitty things about immigrants on public news and whatnot, or perhaps a very popular texan nonbinary news anchor who talks shit about the fucking hippies and commies who need to take a bath and get a motherfucking haircut instead of going around carjacking with illegal immigrants >:3!!! Or a transfem lesbian who has her own podcast talking about how much she hates degeneracy in modern society and that the values of traditional gender roles and racial hierarchy have been lost by leftards >:3!! Just some funny scenarios i guess, never hurts to dream! Message me if you want to like, roleplay one of these, or talk about anything else to be honest.

[thedarkone121]

Hello! Have a ramble card, you may ramble about whatever you like :3

Oh, Dust. Dust, my good fellow and now-fellow mutual, I don’t even know where to begin with this power you have given me… I’m ill-prepared for such a responsibility! But, I guess I can start my rambling off with some facts about Anne-Marie.

Anne-Marie is mixed-race, her biological mother originated from the Caribbean Islands but she fled to England during the wars for independence and to get away from her own family situation. Anne-Marie’s biological father was a wealthy Englishman, one who went after immigrant women. He’s a slimeball, plain and simple.

Anne-Marie has no desire to know her biological father. Jekyll is her dad and that’s end of it. Her mother, Isabella, is still alive but Anne-Marie doesn’t know nor does she care. Anne-Marie wants nothing to do with Isabella and would rather leave her in the past. They did not have a good relationship.

Anne-Marie did have a group of friends while she was at the Orphanage. She was the youngest so the older kids did their best to look after her. They were the ones who gave her the name Anne because of her tendency to question things by saying “And?”.

I meant to save this for a sketch on the first day of Pride Month but I guess I’ll say it here; Anne-Marie is asexual — like most of my OCs, to be honest 🤣 she falls more on the sex-repulsed side of things, which confused the heck out of Hyde. Speaking of Hyde, Jekyll and him were both very confused when Anne-Marie came out but they were still supportive in their own ways. They’re trying, okay? 🤣 They did have a huge sigh of relief when they realized that Anne-Marie wasn’t interested in fooling around with anybody when she reached her teenage/adult years.

Do not mention the words Anne-Marie and marriage in the same sentence around Jekyll. Jekyll does not want to think about marrying her off. He wants her to be the sole inheritor of everything he owns. He WILL delay marriage talks for as long as he can.

(In a future scenario where everything is happy, an older Anne-Marie does end up being in a nice queerplantonic marriage with a Jonathan Harker-inspired OC who is AroAce. Lanyon and Everly helped set it up.)

Everly is Anne-Marie’s piano teacher, something that happened not long after Robert first met the girl. The two got along together swimmingly and Anne-Marie would often play Everly’s sonnets as a form of lessons. Everly is probably the only Lanyon Anne-Marie genuinely likes. Everly sees her as the daughter she wishes she could have.

It’s such a shame that Anne-Marie doesn’t like Robert because those two would’ve gotten along swimmingly on dissing the upper-class while they were at parties. While Anne-Marie, like Jekyll, was taught upper-class etiquette but she didn’t thrive off it like her father. She’s actually pretty crabby whenever she had to deal with snobs. The only reason she is able to get away with acting as the perfect proper daughter is because Jekyll lets her loose it in either an isolated room or during the carriage ride on the way home.

She has a collection of scary stuffed toys in her room. Stuff like bears with large teeth and creepy button eyes. It freaks Lanyon and some of the Lodgers out. Jekyll has gotten used to them. Hyde is still weird out by them.

Anne-Marie’s tends to favor spicy food. Her favorite is that Chicken Paprika their family lawyer got from a fellow lawyer friend. Jekyll and Hyde can NOT handle spicy food but they still try to eat it with her. Hyde keeps going despite how much pain he’s in.

I guess it’s time to mention some stuff I have in regards to Jekyll being a dad. I can’t imagine him having any biological children. I can’t imagine this man procreating. In any form of media, might I add. It is easier to see him pick up a child from somewhere and him becoming a dad that way.

No matter how much his reputation means to him, I think Jekyll is willing to go to war if somebody ever sighted Anne-Marie the wrong way. If Anne-Marie tells her side of the story of an incident she’s involved with, he WILL believe her. Frankenstein learned that the hard way.

Him reading her bedtime stories are the only times Jekyll is able to sleep. Anne-Marie is a koala bear when she’s tired and Jekyll is never able to escape when she latches on. Welcome to the life of a dad, Jekyll.

Speaking of which, I almost forgotten to mention that I don’t think Jekyll ever planned to have kids. He likes children and sometimes don’t mind their company, but he never saw himself as a dad. Him adopting Anne-Marie was a decision that still surprises him to this day.

One last thing to close off the whole ramble, Anne-Marie is able to hold her stare for a long time. It’s something she developed when she was on the streets. She uses it as a form of intimidation, as she found out that people can unnerved by holding a long form of eye contact with them. She’s still well-known for this trick, even when she lost her sight. So if she is staring in a general direction, the Lodger who is on the receiving end of it is still freaked out.

And that’s end of the ramble! Not sure if this counts since I tend to be organized when I’m writing but thank you Dust Mint for letting me get some of ideas out!

[kae-luna]

🌃//Writeblr Intro//🌃

Hello! Welcome to my corner of the internet. I am Kae Luna. You can call me Kae or Luna. I am pretty new to Writeblr, so please bear with me.

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🌊About My Writing🌊

✨Genres: sci-fi, fantasy, supernatural, action, drama, psychological, LGBTQIA+

✨Subgenres: dystopian, cyberpunk, biopunk, solarpunk, post-apocalyptic

✨Common themes: diversity, anti-capitalism, female empowerment

Links🌐

Since I like both anime art and storytelling, I'm planning to make light novels. Some of them may be short stories, standalone novels, or series. :3 Going to put some of them on Wattpad and Tapas.

I try to balance unique settings with complex characters.

🌊About Me🌊

I've been writing and drawing since I was little. And before I could write, I would tell my mother my story and she'd write it down for me. I've always had a crazy imagination. When I was a tween, I got into anime and manga, so I learned how to draw in that art style.

I am 26, queer-romantic asexual, and feminine-presenting nonbinary. I identify as both a girl and a demi-boy. You can refer to me as she/her, he/him, or they/them. I don't mind. I'm also white and have ADHD, dyspraxia, anxiety, and depression that prevents me from getting a "real" job.

I'm pretty shy and anxious, but once you get to know me, I may say some weird stuff and dad jokes. I'm a big nerd and simp as well.

I am also a Vtuber, but made this alt identity since I didn't think my work would fit that persona.

🌊About My Blog🌊

Here I am going to post about my WIP stories and some of my art. I will also reblog others' art and writing. Many aesthetics, fandoms, and other stuff may be reblogged as well with tags if it inspires my work.

Here I hope to find more creators to connect with and find some epic creations. Feel free to message me if you'd like, though I am kinda shy. :3

I am okay with:

✨Asks

✨Tag games

✨DMs. I'm happy to make friends. :3

🌊My Likes & Favorites🌊

✨Aesthetics/genres: vaporwave, cyberpunk, pastel, eco punk, nature, grunge, post-apocalyptic, solarpunk, steampunk, fantasy, LGBTQIA2S+

✨Movies: Alita: Battle Angel, Ultraviolet, Aeon Flux, Spider-Man 2, Howl's Moving Castle, Black Panther, The Matrix

✨Shows: Doctor Who, Stranger Things, Umbrella Academy, The Witcher

✨Anime: Death Note, Attack on Titan, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

✨Games: Skyrim, Baldur's Gate 3, The Sims 4, Minecraft, Fallout

✨Cartoons: Aeon Flux, Batman The Animated Series

🌊WIP(s)🌊

Ultra Drive - Intro Post | Directory Post

Links: Wattpad | Tapas (coming soon)

✨Genre(s): sci-fi, cyberpunk, action, drama, psychological, dystopian

✨CWs: fascist government stuff, pandemic mention, gore probably at some point, discrimination and oppression, violence

When AlexiKa was a child, her world was changed forever when her family was forced to immigrate to the imperial city of Venicula after the Ebony Plague - caused by mysterious eumalyptus spores - infected her home town. Now a young adult, she works as a courier (and secretly an anti-corporation activist). When going on a delivery, she accidentally uncovers dark secrets and ends up infected with the same Ebony Plague that haunted her hometown as a child. But when she survives the illness and instead develops superhuman abilities, she joins a mutant resistance group to fight against the Veniculan Empire, the Gaia Corporation, and other mutants with immoral goals.

Adventures in Alsteria - Intro Post (coming soon!)

Links: N/A

✨Genre(s): fantasy, comedy, slice of life, action, adventure, LGBTQIA+

✨CWs: None ATM? Violence probably?

A trans femboy wood elf named Nel finds the homeland of his people - the rain forests of Falinor - and goes on an adventure to form a guild of adventurers! Still kind of in the vibes stage I guess, but I have some ideas formed for lore and characters. :> Something more cute and lighthearted for me to write in contrast to Ultra Drive.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't have much that I can share at the moment due to much of my writing being lost (school assignments or lost on old computers) or attached to other identities. I also had a looong writer's/art block.

[idrisofficial]

give us the halcyonism lore!

also, girl, afternoon? it’s 8 am

i wrote out a whole thing and then it got deleted after i hit send :( oh well i'll start over i guess.

ah, halcyonism. idris's most foundational institution whose beliefs and practices have eluded me for literally years. i've worked more on it lately, so there's definitely some new material, but my knowledge of the religion is largely incomplete. bear with me, and if anyone wants to grill me in follow-up questions after this, they are perfectly welcome.

a practical history of halcyonism:

halcyonism was created roughly 400 years before present-day idris by two co-conspirators, one of brinne's ancestors and one of adrian's ancestors. they were both relatively well-off citizens under the old monarchy who were dissatisfied with the weak political and economic status quo of the country, and weren't particularly adherent to idris's Old Religion. they were also power-hungry as fuck. so they essentially decided to pull an all-nighter one night and come up with a brand new religion to sweep idris's vulnerable population plagued by famine and sickness off its feet. very unfortunately imaginative people. they had the means and influence to spread their ideology, and their plan worked almost exactly as intended. the government basically had no choice but to hand the crown over to the alistair family. brinne's ancestor appointed their closest disciples as nobility, with each noble house corresponding to one of the gods. they've run the government this way since then.

halcyonist beliefs

halcyonism is a polytheistic religion, with 1 highest god (halcyon) and 7 lower gods. the most central idea is that humans are the gods' superior creation, fashioned entirely in their image. each god represents one essential human feature and one essential value to the religion. or if you're explaining it like a halcyonist would, humans in ideal form possess all seven features of the gods and all seven of their virtues. as explained, the government's noble houses all correspond to a god, a feature, and a virtue. here's a table of what that looks like:

*this table is also in order of how the noble houses are ranked in power and in control over land throughout idris.

churches of halcyon are found everywhere throughout idris. they're usually sectioned off by class, but nobody will tell you that. you just have to know. it's relatively easy to tell anyways, purely based on the size and decoration of the church. idris is a feudal society, which is formally divided into seven regions for the seven noble houses/seven lower gods. the capital (halcyon city) is the only region of idris that is associated with halcyon rather than a lower god. within each region, religious practices slightly vary to elevate the god (and subsequent value) who has domain over that area.

halcyonism is an incredibly insular religion which preaches total obedience to the state (after all, the state represents the gods themselves). there is no formal conversion process, as everyone in idris is considered to be halcyonist, and immigrants are very few and far between. if you're an immigrant who wants to assimilate you can just slip into a church and pretend you know what's going on. you're kind of fucked if you can't speak/read the language, though. halcyonism does not exist outside of idris, and forbids proselytism to outsiders; identifying as an idrisian and identifying as a halcyonist are functionally the same. however, it is seen as an obligation to bring idrisian heretics back to piety. if they're adherents to another religion, it's a halcyonist's responsibility to alert state authorities, but if they're simply faithless then the obligation is to return them to the church's ways.

[possiblyunhinged]

So the same people who bemoaned Labour's spending and were HYPER critical of Diane Abbott's past LBC interview are now licking the boots of Farage and co...

Whose 'economic plan' has been dismantled already...

But they will vote for Reform anyway...

But everybody else is the woke-sheeple-snowflake, and you're the facts-not-feelings brigade?

Despite the reality that benefits and refugees are a neglectable fraction of public spending that you put ALL of your focus on, whilst we have seen the Tories blow billions into their mate's companies through bullshit contracts of things that NEVER WORKED. See section: track & trace, PPE lanes, private NHS contracts...

It could make sense in some other realm, I guess.

Also, the only time you bring up violence against women is when talking about immigration. Bear in mind that 1 in 4 women are subject to sexual violence, and you have nothing to say about the white British men who won't even see their day in court because of how the 'justice' system treats women.

Riggggggggght.

You're free thinkers who just happen to have fallen down the alt-right pipeline that every disenfranchised, working-class man in Britain seems to fall down every decade or so.

Got it.

[gaykarstaagforever]

This is a list of scripted ABC shows from the last season. I haven't heard of most of them because I'm not 63 so I'm going to guess what they are about from the titles and then check and see how right I was. Or if my idea is better.

1. The Conners was that reboot / sequel of Roseanne. But then Roseanne was insane and racist in real life so they kicked her off of it. I assume it was retooled to now be about the family becoming private eyes and traveling from town to town in a gadget-loaded super RV, solving mysteries.

You should all note before I go on that most of what I know about network television comes from the 70s and 80s. Back when it was also cheap and lame, but at least fun.

2. Abbott Elementary. Probably just Community / The Office, but in an elementary school filled with a diverse cast of quirky characters who only seem to date each-other. I bet they do a lot of jokes about helicopter parents and people getting offended by seemingly innocuous things. There is probably a sassy brown person whose culture is played for light-hearted comic relief.

3. Station 19. Firefighter show, where all the firefighters look like soap opera actors. Most of the show is people having arguments and making out, then like 3 times a season stunt people in face-hiding fire gear fight a big fire inspired by some thing that happened in the news around the time they were filming the show. I bet the tag line is "And you thought the hottest action would be the fires!" Occasionally old actors from 80s movies will cameo as someone's parents. I am falling asleep just typing about it.

4. Grey's Anatomy. Oh my god. In real life these people would have retired from being bad doctors by now. Or be in jail.

5. The Rookie. I looked this one up due to the last post. Nathan Fillion plays a 50 year old rookie LAPD officer. Because they wanted to do a cop show with him but he's too old for that, without the premise. He probably has to learn about diversity and drugs or something. No one ever gets shot and they don't show LAPD white supremacist cop-gangs doing dog fights or anything. Wasted potential.

6. The Goldbergs. I've heard of this. It was some writer's Everybody Hates Chris about his 80s secular Jewish family. Obnoxious old people watched it to be reminded about how they just don't make good rock music like that anymore, man, because they are too old and lazy to go find new music they might like via streaming platforms. It has been cancelled. Good, if only to spare me that recurring conversation with people I don't like.

7. Home Economics. A rich white homemaker lady gets divorced and has to get a job as a home ec teacher at a public junior high to make ends meet? And she slowly learns to laugh and love again, while also coming to realize that poorer people are good for more than just mowing your lawn. There are hijinks about her wearing $600 shoes that get covered in cake batter. She has to rent part of her house out to an Indian immigrant family. Starring Delta Burke from 1995.

8. The Good Doctor. Ha ha ha. That show about an autistic doctor, except Hollywood doesn't know what autism actually is so he's just a deranged lunatic who gets away with shitty behavior because he's good at hearts.

But not in the fun, House MD, way.

9. The Rookie: Feds. This got cancelled so that means it was bad, even by low network TV cop show standards. I don't even know how to do that. Uh...some 50 year old TV actress I probably wouldn't recognize quits being a crime professor to become an FBI agent, after her son FBI agent goes missing under mysterious circumstances? And it ended in a cliffhanger when she got attacked by a polar bear in the middle of the jungle.

10. Not Dead Yet. My Name is Earl, but if Earl was a nice zombie. He has a best friend guardian angel played by Jaleel White.

...This actually just sounds like Highway to Heaven, if Michael Landon had been a zombie. And instead of brains he eats Jell-O, and he can take his limbs off and send them into air ducts and up drain pipes to help people, like trained rats.

...I'd watch a couple episodes of that, I guess.

11. Will Trent. Oh give me a break.

Okay. There is guy named Will Trent, who is on the run from the...CIA, because he was with them but then someone framed him for killing the Speaker of the House with a poisoned lapel pin. He now travels from town to town, helping average people and their sexy sisters out of jams, while also trying to figure out who framed him and what their master plan is, to clear his name.

The last season ended with it looking like the real villain is the First Lady, who belongs to some ill-defined anti-America cult.

It's probably based on a book series from the early 2000s that only the loudest uncles read.

12. Big Sky. Some cowboy thing, probably. Where all the cowboys are hunky stoic white men who are millionaire ranch owners. But you are still supposed to sympathize with all their "we gotta keep a-hold of this land at any cost" violent toxic male shit, because you are a postmenopausal my mother and want to have sex with these men.

It's one of those shows that just "accidentally" has zero POC cast members, who aren't one-shot drug-runners or coyotes or thugs hired by rival ranch owners.

One-shot because that is how all of their characters are killed.

It probably got cancelled when some writer got smart and tried to do a thinly-veiled anti-Trump allegory and all the Evangelicals turned on it. Tucker Carlson probably got mad about it for 3 minutes, before he interviewed some Russian politician about how the Ukrainians hate Jesus.

13. The Company You Keep. Black women try starting and running a bakery. It quickly devolved into a romantic melodrama. Black audiences never cared and white audiences wanted more sexy rich cowboys.

I don't know. It's ABC. Every seasonal lineup has at least a couple token shows starring POCs that get immediately cancelled after one season, because they aren't serious attempts at anything outside of the politics and so never connect with an audience.

Also all of them are still written by white men, so what chance could any of them have, really?

14. Alaska Daily. Northern Exposure, but the protagonist edits a news blog when not busy solving quirky small-town mysteries. The Janitor from Scrubs might be in it.

...Well. WAS in it.

This Twin Peaks thing is hard to pull off in a compelling way unless you are willing to go kookoo-bananas with it.

15. A Million Little Things. This one "ended," which means the cast wanted too much money after so many seasons, so "the producers had always planned from the beginning to wrap things up after 5 seasons."

It was probably one of those shows that just follows a "typical American family," which happens to have soap opera problems every week based on things the writers heard CNN say people in the Midwest are mad enough over to vote for Trump again.

It probably had a regular cast of like 16 people, and was on the giant TV in the showroom of every US car dealership at least once. Until someone changed it to that show which is just Kitchen Nightmares, but Gordon Ramsey has been replaced by a balding round man who lacks his charm and good heart and is just an asshole to struggling restaurateurs.

You know the one.

Or, at least, your parents do.

Update: The Conclusion

[nerdygaymormon]

Anti-woke laws are about protecting comfort of the dominant group

18 states have passed laws banning concepts, authors and books from schools and libraries, and 26 more have proposed such laws. 

I live in Florida and the Stop Woke Act bans teaching concepts that suggest “a person, by virtue of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin, bears personal responsibility for and must feel guilt, anguish or other forms of psychological distress because of actions, in which the person played no part, committed in the past by other members of the same race, color, national origin, or sex.” 

Florida also passed the “Parental Rights in Education" bill, which is more commonly known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill because it bans public school personnel from conducting classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in “kindergarten through grade 3″ and in later grades it’s banned if it is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards." But there are no state standards!

These laws may sound vague, and that’s purposeful. In practice it means the discomfort of the dominant group (white people and non-queer people) is guarded against.

We won’t learn about actions and policies that discriminated against people of other races. Not because this didn’t happen, but it may make white children uncomfortable to know they benefit from the legacy that benefited their white parents or grandparents. 

This is true for learning about the experience of people of other races, immigrants, or gender. 

In Florida schools we now refuse to acknowledge that there are some boys who love boys, or that some children have 2 moms. Teachers are told to remove a picture with their same-gender spouse. Queer people are considered unsafe for children to know about.  

This is problematic for several reasons. 

For one thing, if minority groups don’t learn about past practices that discriminated against their relatives & ancestors, what they are left to conclude is because their parents and grandparents didn’t work harder is why they are worse off in comparison to their white peers. I guess the “psychological distress” of minority children doesn’t matter.

Another point is if we don’t understand how we got to our present situation, it feels like it’s how things naturally are and we don’t know how to address the issues that caused our current problems and disparities. 

Finally, it’s a form of erasure. Queer people aren’t real, or queer people are dangerous, they shouldn’t be seen and known. 

On top of these general laws are those which specifically target trans people for discrimination and to deny them health care which is approved by every major medical organization. These laws are forcing families to become refugees in their own country as they find ways to flee to states where their trans children will be safe. 

The history of this time period will point out the unjustness of these laws and the harm they did...but only if you live where somewhere it’s allowed for such history and its implications to be taught

[primevein]

The Prime of His Youth: Book II: Quest for Fire: Ch36: Turning

Jack and Arcee stepped into a room with a Cybertronian that transformed into a polar bear. "I would like to thank you?"

"Why does it sound more like a request?" Arcee asked.

"The surgery cannot be undone, at least not with any guarantee, but I hear that the polar bears are from your world?"

Jack thought for a moment. He then looked up at Arcee, "When you went to the arctic..."

"We can survive cold, but not that cold." Arcee said to Polar Reign.

"My fur should protect me." Polar Reign stated.

"And, if it doesn't?" Arcee asked.

"There is also no Energon supply in the Arctic." Jack stated.

Polar Reign sat as he thought it over. "I can turn my metabolism way down. I'll be able to get to a location with Energon. Probably."

"Bumblebee is the one who knows what immigration rules are like with Canada." Jack stated, "Talk to him. You could probably work with their military to earn your Energon."

"Th... that's it?" Polar Reign asked, and Jack looked at him curiously.

"You're not a prisoner, you're a patient." Arcee said to him.

"I'm what?" Polar Reign asked.

"You agreed to the treatment." Jack stated, "And that treatment is complete?"

"You're free to go." Arcee added.

"That's it?" Polar Reign asked.

"Unless you want to help capturing the rest of you." Arcee stated.

"And... the ones that don't agree?" Polar Reign asked.

"Remanded to the custody of Ultra Magnus." Jack replied, "However your legal system works. Without a medical excuse, you will likely be held accountable for your breach of the ceasefire."

"Anything else?" Arcee asked.

"Thank you." Polar Reign stated.

* * *

Jack and Arcee walked into a room, and a large bat hung upside from the ceiling. She let go and flew down, transforming on her landing.

"What do you think?" Jack asked Arcee.

"What?" Arcee earnestly asked.

"Oh, NOW you're not going to push it?"

"Push what?" Arcee asked, and then developed a shocked look on her face. "You don't mean?.."

"No." Jack said with a brilliant smile, "But it is nice to see you on the other side of it." He then looked at the femme. "Bulkhead fought you, didn't he?" Jack asked.

"How did?.." she asked.

"I was guessing there weren't too many giant bats." Jack simply stated, "Have you recovered?"

"From the deprogramming?" she asked.

"And the wrecking ball?" Arcee asked, and she nodded.

"Mostly." Barb nervously replied.

"You have nothing to fear." Arcce said, and she nervously looked up at her, "Unless you attack someone."

"And if I don't?" Barb asked.

"You are free to go." Arcee stated.

"Where?" she asked, "How will I get my Energon? I can't exactly work in this form."

"What were you?.." Arcee asked, and immediately regreted it. She sighed before continuing "before?"

"Helicopter." she simply stated.

"Sirenia was a courier?" Jack asked, causing Arcee to snicker. "I guess she did have problems."

"Why doesn't she just come back to Caminus?" Arcee asked, and then paused. This likely meant she would be accompanying them.

"No, I think it's a good idea." Jack stated, "We'll talk to Windblade about it." He looked up at Arcee, and she looked nervous. 'Finally.' he thought to himself. He looked back to Barb, "We'll contact you when we're going to roll out."

* * *

"Am I supposed to thank you?" Colossal angrily asked.

"This was your idea." Arcee simply stated.

"If you have nothing to say to me, I have more than enough other things to do." Jack simply stated. The two looked at him for a few more moments. Jack turned back to the doors, Arcee soon following after.

"And what do I do now?" he asked.

Jack and Arcee paused, and Jack turned to look at him, "What do you want to do?"

"What do I want to do?!" Colossus asked, "Am I even Cybertronian anymore?!"

"I thought we had beast forms?" Arcee asked, "Or was that a rumour?"

"I - have heard - the stories!" Colossus shouted. "That doesn't bring me ANY closer to finding out what to do?!"

"Spend time with giraffes?" Arcee asked, and turned to Jack," They're from Ear... Terra, right?"

"Africa." Jack stated, and Colossus gave him a curious look, "Most of them are in Kenya, I think. Africa is a tropical continent. Kenya is a country."

He and Colossus simply stared at each other for a pregnant moment, "Can I come?"

Jack looked back at him for a moment, "I'm not done with my quest. How fast can you run?"

"About 3 Kilomiqs." Colossus stated.

Jack paused for a moment and then gave Arcee a questioning look, "I don't know why you're looking at me. I'm not good at this kind of thing." She paused, and Jack still gave her a questioning look, "Faster than city, but not highway?" she asked.

"Oh?" Jack asked, and turned back to Colossus, "How long can you maintain it?"

"A sprint." Colossus stated, "If we drop it down to two and a half, and I can do it for a couple of Kilochords."

"Tsk." Arcee voiced, and Colossus knew that wasn't good enough.

"See?!" he shouted. "What good am I?!"

Jack breathed in deeply, "On Terra we believe every spark is precious. You will definitely find a way to contribute."

"And in the mean time?!" he shouted.

"Stay here?" Arcee asked, "Help New Kalis. There's going to be a lot of your kind coming through here, and there are going to need someone who can stand up."

"When our quest is complete, we'll come back." Jack said to him.

"Which is?" Colossus asked, but it was clear they didn't want to answer. "Very well."

* * *

Jack and Arcee stood in the hallway. "Any others?"

Arcee looked off to the side, "Give me a moment." she said. "No, that's it."

"No foundlings?" Jack asked, and got no reply, "Maybe they just want to get as far away from this as possible?"

"That would make sense." Arcee replied, "So, what do we do now?"

Jack thought for a moment, "Resupply." He paused a moment, "While we have the chance. Abandon the Dinobot hovel, get everyone back to New Kalis. Send Bulkhead and let's say Arcelia on a milk run."

"Doesn't she have important archiving to do?" Arcee asked.

"Yeah..." Jack voiced. "She's also my procur... procurator?"

"You act I know what it is?" Arcee asked.

"Even better reason to keep her here." Jack stated. "We'll recall everyone here, send Bulk and Sirenia back. Before we go, we should get her as much Undergrid lore as we can."

"Siren is good for June." Arcee simply added.

"I'll say goodbye while you talk to Chromia about getting us a new house."

"Send me to do your dirty work?" she sarcastically asked.

"Did you want to be the one to say goodbye?" Jack asked with a smile.

"Primus, no." Arcee replied. She kneeled down to kiss him.

* * *

Arcee and Jack walked into the home. Smaller than the last one, but still a palace compared to Human buildings. "I don't suppose we could have some alone time?" Arcee asked.

Jack looked back at the Cybertronians walking passed, "Not until Ciel can change the locks."

"Tsk." she replied.

* * *

Jack and Arcee stood by as Arcelia walked up, Sirenia, Roxana, Smokescreen, and Windblade behind her. They walked in. Jack walked in after them, with Arcee just behind him. Jack turned and looked up at Arcee, "Can you tell the, uh, ones that wanted to come to Earth where to find us, and get the bat and wolf." She gave him a loving look and made no move to step away. Jack waved her down. She knelt down for a passionate kiss. She then stood up, transformed, and drove off. Jack looked back to the crowd, "Ciel, change the locks."

"Master." she said, and curtsied. Jack looked at her curiously. "I am your archivist." she said with a brilliant smile. Jack blew her a kiss. "Can I have a real one when I'm finished?" she asked.

Jack nodded at her as she walked to the front doors. He looked Bulkead, waiting outside with his back to the house, "Miko, nap time."

"What?" she asked with offence.

"When you're done, you, Bulkhead, and Siren are going back to our house to collect supplies."

"Do I have to go?" Miko asked.

"Figured you would want to?" Smokescreen asked.

Miko looked Jack in his visor, "Only if you promise not to pick any fights until I get back."

Jack breathed in deeply before looking her in the visor, "I promise to do my best. And yes, you have to go?"

"Why?" Miko asked.

"Your job is the most important of them all." Jack strongly stated. Miko looked at him through a palpable pause, "You have to hug my mom." Miko just stared at him for a moment until Roxana started giggling. "No, I'm being serious." he said firmly, "Mom needs a hug." Sirenia looked nervous. "Of course, you have to hug her, too." Jack said to her, and she seemed relieved.

"You're serious?"

"Very." Jack replied. The two simply stared at each other, "Also about the nap part." Miko just glared at him. "I'm serious."

"Ugh!" she exclaimed, "Bulk?" she asked.

"Did you want to cuddle, or sleep on my seat?" Bulkhead asked.

"Shhhh." Miko said to him.

Jack turned to Windblade, "There is a femme that is interested in moving to Caminus."

"The wolf or the bat?" she asked.

"Bat." Jack stated.

"She is worried that her form has no function, and as such could not contribute properly on Cybertron?"

Jack blinked obviously as he looked at her with surprise, "Exactly right."

"That is the same reason Sirenia wished to join us."

Sirenia looked at her nervously. "Over here, Siren." he said. She quickly ran over to him. He gestured her down. She kneeled down, and he kissed her passionately. He gestured back to the group. "Get us setup in the meantime." he said, and looked out at Bulkhead. He turned back to Roxana, "Checkout everyone here, and then go and help the lab."

"Master." she affirmed.

He turned back to Bulkhead, "Let's get him unloaded."

[tsuki-sennin]

Pretty Cures! We have two of them now! And a fifth episode! Whoa!

Getting all the early episode conflicts outta the way. Should be plenty of fun! And if not, hey~!

Spoilers, I guess...

-Handwritten letters!

-Bebop really said "Fuck that, I ain't doin' that shit."

-Sora really be doin' night terrors.

-SQUARE?

-Got lazered to death.

-See, my nightmares are usually a lot less direct than that.

-Man, it's so funny to me that sweet superheroine Sora's now sharing a TV block with Compulsive Liar Ace Ukiyo and "King of Evil" Gira.

-This is why Toei gets superheroes. They run the whole spectrum.

-Oh fuck, more ancient legends about monsters.

-Legendary Warrior Pretty Cure. There she is again.

-If I recall correctly, we've had at least one person bearing that title every season since Tropical Rouge.

-I wonder if these ancient superheroes have like a trade union?

-Like

-Riku!Kuuga, Cure Empress, and all the ancient Kyoryugers in a bingo tournament and debating where their royalties are gonna go.

-Ozone Baby's princess magic.

-Ohhhh, Sora's really antsy to get back, huh?

-"How adorable~!"

-ODEN

-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

-This guy's been real patient with Pteragordon.

-Free food...

-OHHHHHHHHH

-This lady must be our boss.

-WORKPLACE HARASSMENT

-Unionize.

-Mashiro doesn't believe in copyright infringement.

-Okay, I'm sorry, I should be taking this seriously. but I can't see this empty stretch of road without immediately thinking of that Invader Zim scene.

-You know exactly what I'm talking about.

-She needs to train.

-Ohhhhhhhh, here it comes.

-ODEN, HOW COULD YOU BETRAY US SO

-"I like trains."

-Holy shit, they thinned him.

-He somehow looks even more terrifying.

-Please stand behind the white line, Pretty Cure.

-"Back off, bitches! We're now departing, full speed ahead! ...I wonder if they'll let us on the Shadow Line?"

-Hero Time, once more!

-Thaaaaat's the stuff.

-All alone, Hero Gal?

-"ALL ABOARD THE KNUCKLE TRAIN TO FIST PLANET!"

-Hell yeah Mashiro. Show 'em whatcha got.

-Baby Mandala.

-Ew, no, don't lick your lips.

-Oh...

-First friend...

-Man...

-The path of a hero is a lonely one.

-No man is an island, Sky-chan.

-Better to lose on your own than let Prism put herself in danger, huh?

-Oh, here he comes!

-"Oh, just typical! You know I'm not gonna leave you alone, right!?"

-"YES! Thank you for realizing that!"

-Fast train.

-Buddy!

-Aibo!

-Partner!

-Synonyms!

-"No Elle-chan, your two extra moms aren't fighting! See, getting along perfectly~!"

-Hit by the train.

-*Smeck*

-Sparkle!

-No other word for it than "friend".

-I personally would've said "destined" but y'know.

-Live Elle-chan Reaction.

-OH GOD SPIN TRAIN

-She acknowledges her partnership~!

-Futari wa! Pretty Cure!

-Lots and lots of callbacks.

-Oh shit, trinkets.

-Sky Blue! Prism White!

-Motherfucker Dipped

-PreCure! Updraft Shining!

-"Breakfast is ready, darling~!"

-AAAAAAAH

-Futari Wa! PreCure!

-SUMMER

-Manatsu, baby, it has been SO FUCKING COLD OUT these past few months, you gotta motivate me to think about pina coladas, cheeseburgers, mermaids, beachy things!

-SCHOOL

-...oh yeah, Sora's technically an illegal immigrant, I forgot about that.

-Anyways, Episode 6, can't wait~!

[jellyluchi]

Hey ❤️ Oc tag game! If you enjoy this, paste the message below into as many ask boxes as you can, let's spread the OC love!!! This is the OC rant tag game! If you get this message use it as a chance to talk about your OCs! As much or as little as you want, tell us about their past, why you made them, what you like about them, anything you want to share! Everyone always seems too shy to talk about OCs so let this be a opportunity to go all out!

Thank you for sending me this Abella!! 💗 I'm sorry it took a while to answer I was getting my thoughts in order. I just really appreciate that you thought of sending an ask like this to me !!!

It is unfortunate that right now I'm really disconnected from Focaccia as my OC and it feels kind of bad? talking about her. Maybe because of past experiences I become hyperaware of talking too much about my OC. It feels selfish! Especially because she's a self-insert. But since this is an ask...

Focaccia's past: It's very straight forward, instead of adding a bunch of events, I just kept it 1:1 with a gist of my experiences. Like being born in South Asia, going to private school, immigrating, college, and so on! Even with the mundane past she has difficulties with her family, especially her mother who I've decided is a narcissistic mom.

Why I made her: To selfship with Prosciutto of course! Tbh, I wanted to be like those people who have no OCs and simply insert themselves into the canon with absolutely no bearings in the narrative. But I like making up stories so eventually I made an OC to make up a story about their love. Because I like romance and angst.

What I like about her: I think I like that she sucks at a lot of things. She can't fight, she can't cook, she's not smart enough to strategize the downfall of her enemies. I joke she's a girlfailure bc she really is! Because anything else just wouldn't be authentic to who I am. I guess in a way it helps me accept my own flaws and shortcomings.

[steeleumbra]

From my substack: Music...

Originally uploaded to substack Nov 19, 2024

I’m sitting in my bedroom at my desktop, listening to my media player on shuffle. Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ just finished, and ‘Baby One More Time’ by Britney Spears just started.

I played with my cat earlier to the song ‘Shake Your Groove Thing’, by Peaches and Herb. He is now trying to sleep in the middle of my bed. And he can have it. It’s 10:57pm, and it already feels like it’s going to be another sleepless night for me.

I’m not sure if I’m just killing time pissing around on the computer, or actually trying to think of something to do. But I also guess it doesn’t ultimately matter. If I strapped wings to my arms, drew a smiley face on my bare ass, and jumped off the roof trying to catch a headwind to Alaska from Lewiston, Maine, I don’t think that would matter much either. Not anymore than my ass possibly seeing a pic of itself smiling on someone’s cctv feed on a future true hauntings special; or whatever my spirit is, still floating around in the earthly ether long enough to see images of the body of a moron, found two feet from the base of my building flashing on the 5 o’clock news with wings tied to his arms and lines on his ass that might be a face, or a recipe for shortbread he must have wrote after putting the wings on. It would only be a two story fall, but at that point one could hope for either result, I guess.

“Why do I write like I’m from somewhere in the UK,” he asks himself but also writes out, for some unknown cosmic reason. I’m an ex-central New Yorker living in Maine.

It’s those damned immigrant-British TV shows, I tell you! Someone should have taken the remote away from me when Keeping Up Appearances and Benny Hill came on. Most fucking definitely when Benny Hill came on. I was way too gods damned, fucking young to be watching that adult shite.

Did you ever notice that he was never undressed enough. Not for my little gay but straight-masking ass. No, he wasn’t that good looking. But I grew up watching the Skipper’s bulge on Gilligan’s Island. Bears have always been my thing, I guess.

Still—fucking late night cable television and lack of responsible adult supervision; regardless of the fact that my undiagnosed autistic and ADHD insomnia made me stay awake later than any adult I knew.

Anyway….

‘Make My Heart Go’, Gloria Estefan. Playing now. It played ‘Wepo’ by her about an hour ago. That’s a fun song to ugly dance to. Most of these songs are fun to ugly dance to. And most of my dances are ugly. That’s why I called the playlist Dance Mix. It isn’t, technically, dance music. I think only three or four of the songs, out of the dozens I’ve added, would actually be played in a club somewhere. But they give my legs and 49 and a half year old hips something to move to while my hands do dishes. I don’t want my limbs to be jealous of each other. Especially my legs. 3:37am, petty vengeance charlie horses are some of the worst I’ve ever had. Granted, I have no proof that revenge is the reason for the pain. But I have better sense than to tempt that kind of fate.

‘Poker Face’. Lady Gaga. This one was fucking huge when it hit the airwaves. It seems like such a long time ago, but it hasn’t even been a full decade yet. It’s not like ‘Joyride’ by Roxette, which came out in 1990, nor ‘Call Me’ by Blonde in 1980. Those I could argue should feel sort of old, now. And I didn’t get here until ‘75, myself, so I can’t actually claim to have been here for the original runs of anything from as far back as 1970. But I’ve heard a lot of music from then…and before. And I’ve pretty much liked it all.

Except that fucking ‘Mairzy Doats’ one. I can’t be arsed to look up who performed it, nor care, but it’s from the ‘40s. It’s slightly more absolutely annoying than ‘Baby Shark’ to me, so it wins my most hated song award—which I don’t have one of to give. Mostly because I’ll be fucked by a bullet train on cross country skis if I invest in an award for a song I hate but can’t get out of my head.

I would invest in an award—a good award—for ‘The Song That Doesn't End’, though, because I don’t mind making some deep valley head spaces for that. Sherry Lewis did it using her Lamb Chop voice for an album. Though, I didn’t hear it until it was on her PBS children’s show in the ‘90s. Yes, I was too old to be watching it. But I’m also autistic, which is both a reality and the excuse I will use anytime I’m questioned about my music and video tastes that seem too juvenile. It also doesn’t hurt that I like ventriloquists. For the most part. Some should drown trying to drink water and talk at the same time. But I’ll keep my lips sealed and my hand firmly out of a puppet’s ass about who, other than to say it isn’t Dunham—but don’t push it.

All this to say…not a hell of a lot. I didn’t really expect to write this much. But I just had some chocolate yogurt with generic Cinnamon Toast Crunch for—well, the fucking crunch, I guess—and some coffee since insomnia already sent a telegram letting me know it’s on that bullet train tonight headed for my ass, so the caffeine won’t make a difference. And it is now 11:28pm, and my cat is still driving my bed through patches of ethereal catnip and tuna trees. And I just wanted a place where I don’t have to strive to be relevant in a world where I never have been. Where I don’t have to bust my ass, sans smiley face, trying to think of something that makes me believe that I’m important enough for the world to give a shit about. I just want to be me, streams of consciousness or not, without the responsibility of having to mask just to make small talk, nor somehow build from scratch the motivation to be impressive in an old t-shirt from Walmart, a pair of boxer briefs that were, at some point in years past, probably also from Walmart, and using one of the coffee cups I bought from Dollar Tree because I’m really fucking poor, but that I wouldn’t trade for a hundred bucks each. Come back with two hundred each, and I’ll negotiate.

That’s a lie. I’m autistic. We don’t negotiate. We wait for you to imply something, take it literally, say something unknowingly inappropriate, and watch you walk away wondering why you don’t want to buy from us anymore.

C’est la vie.

*Image credit - Me. It’s my cat. Not taken at a time that reflects the content of the text, but I’m not taking a low light image at night with an Android. Besides, I like how this one turned out.

[Tumblr reposting note: Although the image isnt' watermarked, it does have a hidden signature]

[centrally-unplanned]

1: Um, no? I mean, I guess that depends on what you mean. Hank Green definitely doesn't support murdering them, that's, uh, really obvious. Now, I think if you asked Hank Green "are these people tabula rasa evil and if we killed them no more evil people would remain and the problem would be solved" he would also say, no that again is insane, obviously the incentives that created the climate denial faction would continue to function and create others". But if you asked him "look this bill is on the floor, if you killed the big opponents right now and THEN held the vote it would probably help the bill, right?" he would say "i mean, yeah, that would help. I don't support murder, but I can analyze results".

This statement: "Killing them isn’t going to solve anything. They are not load-bearing" is trivially false for so many issues. Just because bad actors are not the sum cause, or even the majority cause, of an issue does not mean they don't contribute to it and their sudden vanishment wouldn't improve it. To take a really easy example, Death Note-ing the Bush Administration in 2002 probably would have made things way, way better for the world. Can't predict the future, but oh yeah, its where the smart money would go. For climate change there are *tons* of bad actors who have lied about data, opposed research funding for clean energy, opposed build permits, etc. Climate change is complex and more about energy fundamentals so these people are not the primary source of the issue. But "you are not a villain if you did not cause at least 51% of the problem" is a silly stance - people lying or being willfully ignorant to the public about important issues are villains. Politicians being anti-vaccine are villains. Politicians lying about threats posed by immigrants are villains. This is a common occurrence, its not special. For it to not apply to global warming would in fact be exceptional.

(Obviously I would have never used the villain here, they can be non-villain on other topics for example - its just the word used at the top for "doing a bad thing with some level of moral culpability". I don't think that matters

2: You can't have it both ways, you said this:

Are they lying out of their asses, or do they not believe you because the side saying we need to fight climate change doesn’t act like they want to fight climate change but DO act like they hate the concept of economic activity?

In response to me discussing the, as an example, Republican Party in the United States. Which, I should note is not in Germany. In Germany the greens are a large enough faction that the subwing of them that is legitimately anti-growth has some power, though its minor - Germany's GDP has grown every year, outside of nuclear they don't get a ton of wins. But that's not the US. The Republican Party top brass is not "anti global warming" because "the side fighting climate change just hates economic activity" because in the US that faction barely exists. As I said it does exist, it has its wins, but its very minor. You were the one arguing that the anti-global warming stance of this huge faction in the US is a response to the "anti-growth" league, which is only true in the sense that this way way larger faction cherry picked a fringe minority to elevate as a straw boogeyman. The fact that power is diffuse and multiple people do things sometimes is not the burden you needed to clear for your argument.

In the end what you have to prove is that the large majority of the Republican Party (just as our example here) has good-faith objections to the global warming problem and is like, open to data, and will respond to the situation, etc, and are just fighting back against 'anti-growthers". This just isn't true; its like arguing the anti-vaccine movement just needs more data, and honestly its ludicrous to suggest it. They reject pro-growth solutions, they reject estimates of temperature increases, they don't even engage with the topic at all, just trot it out as an Own The Libs shibboleth. You aren't connecting any cause and effect here; you can't get distracted by the fact that some *other* people are being villains too like that somehow gives them a pass. And they are human beings, with agency. No amount of structuralist "its what the voters want, they gotta pander" gets you around the fact that human beings run our world, they make concrete decisions, and they could make different ones. Not even 15 years ago John McCain was running ads about tackling climate change as he ran for President. The idea that politicians have zero moral agency is imo a nonstarter.

[zoe-wrote]

returning “home”

moving abroad is not for the faint of heart. or rather, prepare your heart if you’re moving abroad. i suppose when thinking about studying abroad, it’s always talked about as a break in your *real* life to guide your future back *home.* i think if your exchange is only a month long or even two, it might be easier to see it that way. but for me, i lived abroad for six full months. i was aware the whole time that my life in dublin was temporary, a life which i was building up for six months with the full knowledge that the clock was ever ticking and my return to boston looming ever closer in front of me.

when i landed back in the US i started to have a bit of culture shock. it started in the airport with the flags down the hall, and continued in the immigration line where i heard the familiar buzz of a group of americans talking, a sound i had learned to discern while in dublin and encountering quite a few americans through the study abroad program. i remember being novel. i’m no longer special. i don’t get people cautiously testing the waters when assuming that im from the states just in case they could be offending a canadian by saying “you’re american, or north american right?” not that being from a truly massive nation with a very loud presence on the international scale for both cultural and empire/genocidal reasons ever made me exactly unique when in europe, but it was an easily discernible fact about me which goes unquestioned in the US. now it’s more interesting that i’ve lived in dublin, which was mostly unexciting to dubliner acquaintances. i found that dubliners tended not to love their city as much as consider it the best option they had, in the same way that irish republicans (as in pro-unification of ireland) are proud catholics despite often being completely non-observant and even quite critical of the church as an institution. the catholics colonized the irish a bit before the brits, and as culture continued to be forcibly replaced bit by bit it became a point of pride to cling on to catholicism as a belief that came before the english which they would not give up. that’s grossly oversimplified and mildly historically inaccurate, feel free to hit me up for actual reading recs but that seemed a quick way to get my point across. google irish sectarianism if you’re curious and a bit lazy.

that was a bit of a tangent, let me try to recenter. i believe i’ve mentioned this blog is stream of consciousness, tangents are a pretty major component of my conversational style and general consciousness so please bear with me as i attempt to express and idea in a length short enough that you won’t get bored reading.

i guess i wasn’t prepared to be able to close my eyes and remember the bus routes of two different cities and name the stops i would need to get off for different establishments, or describe an area on a street or a park nearby. i’m not used to being of multiple places, i’ve lived in boston mostly my whole life. i did live in germany for six months when i was six, but i was so little im not sure i had captured the nuances of home yet. i know dublin is still there, i know im not obligated to abandon it, but the reality is that my life has always been in the US and will continue to be at least for a while. i became truly aware while abroad of how much i suck at maintaining friendships virtually. i talked to my friends back home next to none and still have family members and friends that i haven’t responded to since they texted me in march. i called my parents twice (2), one time was a twenty minute zoom call to talk about my housing situation come fall and the other a forty minute phone call during my last month there where i filled them in on several things i had been keeping from them. thankfully i’ve had a very warm welcome upon coming back, and i am ever grateful for my village here in boston. i have friends i consider soulmates. it’s hard to imagine not being around them.

i move into an apartment in august, my first big girl lease. i’m living with two of my best friends. síofra is visiting me in a little under a month. she applied for a visa and everything. i do have my own life i’m building. i have time to figure out what that means for me. i suppose i might not remember the bus transfer options from dublin 2 to dublin 8 when coming from UCD in dublin 4 by this time next year. maybe i will, who knows. there’s a lot of not knowing right now. i’m trying to make peace with that. i turn 21 6/30. i have a lot of time to fuck up.

some songs i’ve been reflecting to when thinking about home