#and everyone who voted yes should be ashamed of themselves | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

chocoholicannanymous · 3 years ago

Text

If the Spit Hits the Fan (Glee) Part XV

Follows pt I, pt II, pt III, pt IV, pt V, part VI, pt VII, part VIII, part IX, part X, part XI, part XII, part XIII and part XIV.

Being Sebastian's boyfriend really isn't that much different from being his friend. They do a lot of the same things, and talk about the same stuff, only now there's hand-holding and kissing and cuddling with it. Apart from the touching though? Nothing really changes much.

Which kind of makes it sound like how it was with Blaine.

It's not though.

Sebastian will hold his hand in the hallway without worrying about being seen. And yes, Dalton is different from McKinley – so, so much different, and safer – but Blaine even hesitated to hold Kurt's hand in the choir room, surrounded by friends.

Sebastian kisses him in a way that never leaves Kurt doubting there's attraction, and has to stop his hands from wandering too far on a regular basis – yet never making Kurt worry he won't stop.

Sebastian makes Kurt have to stop himself, both from allowing it and from doing his own wandering. They're still too new to go there, no matter how much Kurt's hormones sit up and beg every time Sebastian touches him. (They'll get there, Kurt's sure, just... Step by step, and not yet.)

Sebastian reaches out for Kurt without looking – sometimes seemingly without thinking – to pull him close, and always makes a space for him.

And when Sebastian sings, it's with Kurt, or for him, not at him.

It's a far cry from scheduled make-outs and avoiding even PG13 levels of PDA and being made to feel like his boyfriend is more interested in his own hand than in Kurt.

It's amazing.

There's a rainbow rose hanging on Kurt's door on Valentine's day. He and Sebastian have been dating for two days – a day and a half, if he was to be picky – and Kurt knows from last year's insanity that there's not a flower shop within two hours of Vesterville that carries rainbow roses. They have to be ordered special, and with a lot more warning than two days.

Kurt's not the least bit ashamed about how he squeals, or how he turns on his heel and kisses his boyfriend (!) for long enough to be a little dizzy afterwards.

This isn't to say that Sebastian is a perfect boyfriend. He's not. Then again, neither is Kurt. He's working from romantic movies and the examples from the New directions, and of course from his time with Blaine. Neither is a good road map. Romantic movies have so many flaws Kurt don't really want to examine, and a lot of his favorites are set too far back in time to be useful as guidelines. The loves lives of his old glee mates are...well. They're flawed too, when seen without rose-colored glasses and envy.

As for his relationship with Blaine... Even if he's not counting how it ended that relationship was so very less than perfect, and honestly it was both their faults. Kurt's not without blame, he knows that and can admit it without somehow pretending what Blaine did wrong never happened.

So he's trying to learn from his mistakes, and other people's mistakes, and he does his best to communicate with Sebastian – who does the same in return.

Also, no one can say that they don't argue. They definitely do. They have from the beginning, and they're both opinionated passionate people, so why should they stop now? Their relationship has changed – they themselves haven't.

It's just that they manage to argue in a way that works. That doesn't makes Kurt pull out his claws to eviscerate Sebastian, that doesn't scare Kurt, or make him give in to “preserve the peace”. That, right there, was one of the things that had sent his relationship with Blaine down the wrong turn. When he'd first told his dad that he'd begun dating Blaine Burt Hummel had told him never to go to bed angry with his partner. He'd meant to sort out arguments and disagreements, but Kurt had interpreted it as needing to back down and push down his anger or hurt. With Sebastian he doesn't.

They argue, because that's who – and how – they are, but they do it in as mature and healthy way as they are able to, being teenagers. And they apologize if they step over the line. Not Kurt apologizes, regardless, with Sebastian pouting until he does, but both of them.

If Kurt had to, he'd call it damned near perfect. Instead he'll just say it's good, and he's happy.

That's never something to look down on.

The week of Regionals is weird. Kurt's never felt as prepared or as calm with a competition approaching, which is rather telling. The rest of the Warblers are a different story though. Kurt has made it clear that his primary goal is to beat the Troubletones, and his friends are feeling the pressure. They even ask if Kurt and Sebastian won't reconsider singing 'Human Nature'.

“Look, guys, I'm honored, really, that you would trust me, us like that. But I want to win more than I want that solo. And even if we ignore the fact that Ohio doesn't seem ready for a gay duet, I really do think the setlist we have is stronger as is. The Troubletones have a great presence, and both Mercedes and Santana are awesomely talented. However, everything about the Troubletones are built around them. The rest of the girls are background and dancing. If we go on with a number that's the same they are going to win, for no other reason than that most people find girls prettier and nicer to look at.

“But if we go on as an actual choir, for a show choir competition? We'll win. I'm sure of it. We've worked so hard with our songs, and I wouldn't change a thing about our setlist.”

And it's true. They have an amazing setlist, and everything flows in a way that makes Kurt feel practically professional, and he's not giving that – and its chance to win – up to stare longingly at Sebastian while singing a song that exposes them to the core.

No. Kurt's going to have quite a lot more time in the spotlight than he'd expected when turning down a proper solo. He's going to sing with his friends, and his boyfriend, and he's going to show McKinley what it means to be a team onstage.

The Troubletones are just as amazing onstage as Kurt thought. They've done a good job picking their songs, and Mercedes still has the best voice he's ever heard live. Santana's not quite as talented, but give her the right song – which these are – and she'll blow your mind. Their choreography showcases the girls poached from the Cheerios without making Mercedes look too far behind, and their clothes look good.

Kurt would vote for them any day, even with Rachel being given a place in the background, except this one. This is going to be his day. He meets Sebastians eyes as they line up and nods.

Showtime.

'I want You Back' does exactly what it's meant to, namely getting the audience in a party mood. As the last notes flows into the first from 'Man in the Mirror' the mood shifts and Kurt feels his own shift with it. His solo feels a little raw, because in no way can he sing those lines without being reminded of all the crap he's gone through over the past 6 months.

“...a willow deeply scared, somebody's broken heart and a washed out dream...”

Well. His heart might have been broken, and his dreams about Blaine did wash out. But he's got new dreams, and his hearts healed, and no matter the scars he's whole where it matters. And even if he wasn't? He's looking in the mirror, and he's changing.

They bring the party back with their last song, giving their all transforming the sounds of 'Beat It' to sounds that can be reproduced by the human throat. The dancing is the most demanding Kurt's ever done onstage, and he knows he will definitely be beat after. But they look and sound awesome, and that's all that matters.

Or maybe not, he ruefully thinks as he sees Finn on his feet, jumping up and down and whooping as the Warblers are proclaimed the winners and Rachel looks like she's been pelted with eggs again.

“You stole our songs!”

Of course. All Kurt wants to do is get on the bus, go back to Dalton and celebrate. Okay, shower, then celebrate. So naturally Rachel is waiting to ambush him. Well, that's not going to go the way she's probably thinking.

“Really? Really Rachel, you're going there? You know very well that we didn't steal anything. Oh, I know that there was a suggestion that the New Directions do Michael for Sectionals, but I also know that you were the one who refused to accept it.

“You really blew it there. Michael is a great choice for Sectionals or Regionals, what with the Ohio mindset, and I'm pretty sure you would have won with the setlist the guys suggested. I'm not surprised you put a stop to it though.”

Rachel draws back, looking first shocked, then insulted, then finally like an angry goose, complete with hissing sound. He's not letting it touch him though, lets it run over him, one might say, like water over a goose.

“There are no songs in Michael Jacksons discography that's a given for you, no certainty that you'll be featured. And in the end, that's what mattered, wasn't it? Not that the New Directions won, but that you won. You wanted to beat the Troubletones, didn't you? Wanted to show that you were better than Mercedes, wanted to prove that her beating you when auditioning for Maria was just a fluke. Wanted to prove what everyone knows, that's she's every bit as good as you, and sometimes better, is wrong.

“Well, congratulations. You got what you wanted in terms of the setlist and the spotlight, but you fucked up everything else. And not just for you, but for everyone.”

An expression of pain flies across Rachel's face, and he pushes the knife in a little bit further.

“We weren't as blind though. The minute Finn told me about the Michael setlist I knew it was a winner. As did the other Warblers. I asked Finn first, and Sam and Puck. They didn't think we needed their permission, as you didn't use the songs, but they gave it any way.”

Kurt looks at Rachel, looks at the way she's still fuming, still refusing to see any other side than her own. It won't matter what he says – she'll keep ignoring any and all arguments against her. Once he might have tried harder to make her understand, but as things are he just wants to leave. His boyfriend's waiting and that makes Kurt out of time to spend on his former friend.

“Your loss, our gain.”

He starts to leave, but thinks better of it. He's got one more jab in him.

“Oh, and Rachel? Don't worry. Going to Nationals is a privilege, and we won't waste it. We've already gotten started on a setlist.”

It's petty, but. So's she.

That evening the Warblers celebrate as thoroughly as a bunch of uniformed boys in a well-staffed boarding school can. This means that it's late when Kurt drags Sebastian to his room (unlike him Sebastian's in a single), but neither of them is under the influence of anything but happiness.

That's important to Kurt as they tumble into Sebastian's bed while kissing, because he doesn't want there to be any doubt in Sebastian's mind that when Kurt pulls off his shirt and then goes for his fly it's because he wants to.

Having Sebastian stop him is frustrating, to say the very least.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

It's only the fact that it's Sebastian, and that he's shown himself trustworthy in so many ways over the past months that stops Kurt from storming out.

“I thought we... You know?”

It's so hard to say, to open himself up like this, years of being told he's a predator, or ugly, or plain wrong getting just as much in his way as the fact that he's never done this, and the only time he's been even close wasn't even about him.

Apparently he's going to have to use his words regardless, because Sebastian's not taking the opening.

“I thought we could have sex.” There. Words. Consent. Door wide open.

And yet Sebastian's still not taking the opening.

“What's the hurry?”

Kurt pulls back a little, hurt blooming.

“No, no, don't. Talk to me, okay? I'm a bit surprised I guess. We haven't even been dating for two months yet, and I know this is new for you.”

“So? It's not like I'm waiting for marriage.”

Kurt knows he sounds a bit snippy, and he has sort of been waiting – not for marriage, but for something, some feeling of more. He's got that feeling with Sebastian, so what's the point of waiting any longer? Everyone else his age (or so it feels) is having sex so why can't he?

Some of it must bleed through because Sebastian gets that “aha” look, and nods a bit.

“Look, regardless of what I might have said or implied when chasing Blaine, I'm actually not the whore of Babylon. I have, however, rounded a few bases and enjoyed them. I think you'd enjoy them too, and I would love to find out first hand. But that doesn't have to mean we go straight to fucking.” Kurt blushes, because he might be ready to do it, but those words...

“So. I'm not going to push, and I'm not going to rush. I am more than interested though, I'm just happy to take it a bit slow. To build up to every step. As far as I'm concerned you've earned that.”

Sebastian's looking so earnest it kills Kurt annoyance, and then lightning-quick it's replaced by a vicked look than makes him shiver all over.

“I wouldn't mind showing you the first of many, many bases now though. How about it, babe?”

Kurt doesn't mind either, neither then nor the next day.

#chocoholic fics #kurt fic #kurt hummel #sebastian smythe #a wild sebastian appears #kurtbastian

42 notes · View notes

zoinkshaggy · 3 years ago

Photo

BASIC QUESTIONS

First name? “Sha– uh, Norville.”

Surname? “Rogers.”

Middle names? “Matthew.”

Nicknames? “Shaggy.”

Date of birth? “November 4th, 1995.”

Age? “Twenty five.”

PHYSICAL / APPEARANCE

Height? “6′0.”

Weight? “150-ish.”

Build? “Uh, long.”

Hair color? “Brown.”

Hair style? “I had dreads for awhile, but now I keep my hair short. Not short. Medium length, I guess.”

Eye color? “Also brown.”

Eye Shape? “Like, normal?”

Glasses or contact lenses? “Neither.”

Distinguishing facial features? “I’d say probably my smile.”

Which facial feature is most prominent? “Smile.”

Which bodily feature is most prominent? “My legs and arms, ‘cause they’re, like, twenty feet long.”

Other distinguishing features? “That’s it.”

Skin? “Oilier than I’d like.”

Hands? “Callused.”

Make up? “I don’t wear any.”

Scars? “Nothing important.”

Birthmarks? “Nah.”

Tattoos? “No! Needles? No thank you!”

Physical handicaps? “None.”

Type of clothes? “I really like sweaters. Sweaters will always be my favorite. They feel safe. It’s a little too hot for that here, though.”

How do you wear your clothes? “How they come.”

What are your feet like? “Kind of big, I guess. Two left feet, that’s what my mom said ‘cause I’m such a klutz. Uh, I should buy some more socks and shoes. Some of my socks have toe holes and my shoes are kind of coming apart.”

Race / Ethnicity? “I don’t have my birth parents around to ask, but I know I’m Spanish.”

Mannerisms? “I have a habit of, like, playing with my necklace or hair or bracelet — my hands don’t always like being still.”

Are you in good health? “It’s alright, I think.”

Do you have any disabilities? “No.”

PERSONALITY

What words or phrases do you overuse? “Like. I use it, like, a lot.”

Do you have a catchphrase? “Zoinks.”

Are you more optimistic or pessimistic? “I definitely think I’m more optimistic, but I have my moments.”

Are you introverted or extroverted? “Introverted.”

Do you ever put on airs? “I… don’t know what that means.”

What bad habits do you have? “Overeating, not eating healthy. Sleeping in too late. Chewing my nails, only sometimes.”

What makes you laugh out loud? “Usually myself.”

How do you display affection? “My idea of affection is kind of, just, hanging around someone. Hugs can be nice too.”

Mental handicaps? “My anxiety.”

How do you want to be seen by others? “A person they came come to and trust.”

How do you see themselves? “Better than I used to be.”

How are you seen by others? “Probably… nervous.”

Strongest character trait? “My loyalty.”

Weakest character trait? “Getting stuck in my head.”

How competitive are you? “Not at all.”

Do you make snap judgements or take time to consider? “Like, I take too much time to consider.”

How do you react to praise? “I don’t know what to say. I guess I get kind of flustered, you know?”

How do you react to criticism? “Just kind of shrug it off.”

What is your greatest fear? “Ghosts, spiders, heights, bees, guns... losing Scooby.”

What are your biggest secrets? “I don’t really keep secrets.”

What is your philosophy of life? “We’re all just here for a little while, so we should make it easier on each other.”

When was the last time you cried? “It’s been a few months, actually.”

What haunts you? “Zoinks. Hopefully not any ghosts.”

What are your political views? “I don’t pay enough attention to politics to have any views, really. I’ll vote for whoever Velma votes for. She knows what she’s talking about.”

What will you stand up for? “I will always stand up for my friends.”

Who do you quote? “Usually if I’m quoting someone, I don’t even know who I’m quoting.”

Are you indoorsy or outdoorsy? “Indoors. I like walking Scoob and everything, but, like, there’s too many bugs outside.”

What is your sinful little habit? “Putting mustard on ice cream.”

What sense do you most rely on? “Taste. But also hearing.”

How do you treat people better than you? “The same.”

How do you treat people worse than you? “The same.”

What quality do you most value in a friend? “Kindness.”

What do you consider an overrated virtue? “I wanna say courage. Biased opinion.”

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? “I’d stop worrying about everything.”

What is your obsession? “Good food.”

What are your pet peeves? “When people are mean for no reason.”

What are your idiosyncrasies? “Gotta make sure I turn all the lights off before I leave.”

FRIENDS AND FAMILY

Is your family big or small? Who does it consist of? “I guess it’s kind of small. I have my dad, my mom and my sister, Maggie. I haven’t seen my real parents since I was a kid.”

What is your perception of family? “I don’t think family has anything to do with blood, it’s how people treat you.”

Do you have siblings? Older or younger? “Maggie, she’s younger.”

Describe your best friend. “I’ve known her since, well... it feels like forever, but it’s only been, like, a decade and a half. She’s the best person I know. She’s so smart and funny, and she’s beautiful. She has a beautiful soul and... just... everything about her is beautiful. She makes me feel safe, it doesn’t matter what’s going on or how much my mind is racing, if I know she’s there it just feels like everything’s gonna be okay.”

Ideal best friend? “I’ve already got ‘em all.”

Describe your other friends. “They’re great. They’re all unique in their own ways, you know? Freddy’s headstrong and he’s the coolest guy you’ll meet, Daph is such a warm energy and she’s a great conversationalist, Buzz is genuine and he’s loyal. I know everyone thinks so, but I really do have the best friends.”

Describe your acquaintances. “I guess that would be the people I work with. Like, they’re okay.”

Do you have any pets? “Yeah, I have Scoob, but he’s more like my brother or something at this point.”

Who are your natural allies? “Probably the Mystery Inc gang.”

Who are your surprising allies? “I guess it’s surprising I’d fit in with them, huh?”

PAST AND FUTURE

What were you like as a baby? As a child? “I was happy. I can’t remember much from being that young, but I know I was traveling with my parents, I remember I felt like the world was so big and exciting. I felt so loved. I guess I kind of lost that feeling when I was adopted, suddenly the exciting stuff was just, like, scary. I was an anxious wreck as a child, that’s all, honestly.”

Did you grow up rich or poor? “The Rogers family is well off. I wouldn’t say rich, but, like, well off.”

Did you grow up nurtured or neglected? “I don’t wanna say they neglected me. I did feel that way a lot, but some of it was... me, I guess, myself worrying. Yeah.”

What is the most offensive thing you ever said? “I hope nothing.”

What is your greatest achievement? “Is it sad to say everything I’ve done in this last year? For awhile it felt like I was just getting by, but right now, I feel like I’m really living. I got a job, like, it’s not much but it’s a job, I’m doing better in school, I’ve got Velma now, really got her...”

What was your first kiss like? “It was with my favorite person. Kind of later than most people’s, I guess, but worth waiting for.”

What is the worst thing you did to someone you loved? “Come into my mom’s life, probably.”

What are your ambitions? “I’ve been thinking I might wanna go to culinary school.”

What advice would you give your younger self? “I would just tell him that nothing is wrong with him, it’s okay to go your own pace and, like, it’s all gonna be okay, little guy.”

What smells remind you of your childhood? “Corn dogs and pizza. Apple pie. Playground mulch. Hair spray and perfume. Dirt.”

What was your childhood ambition? “I just remember wanting to stop being so scared.”

What is your best childhood memory? “It’s so old it’s blurry, but I remember one of my birthdays, I guess it was my last before I was adopted. We were traveling, my parents were happy, I was happy. It was the last time everything felt okay for awhile.”

What is your worst childhood memory? “There’s a few. Most of them involved panic attacks alone in my bedroom.”

Did you have an imaginary childhood friend? “Not that I remember.”

When was the last time you were crushed with disappointment? “Sometime before I moved to Elias.”

What past act are you most ashamed of? “I’m ashamed that I let myself get separated from my parents, that I couldn’t figure out how to get in touch with them. Maybe shame isn’t the right word. I just wish I knew how my mom and dad were doing, my other mom and dad.”

What past act are you most proud of? “Taking whatever the first step was to stepping out of my shell.”

Has anyone ever saved their life? “I feel like Scooby Doo saved my life.”

Strongest childhood memory? “Another birthday. My first one with the Rogers family. I ended up crying in the bathroom. I was so confused and overwhelmed, I felt like the only person in the world. I just wanted to go home. I don’t think that feeling will ever leave me.”

LOVE

Do you believe in love at first sight? “Yes.”

Are you in a relationship? “I’m with Velma.”

How do you behave in a relationship? “I don’t really know what I’m doing, I’m just trying to make her happy.”

When did you last have sex? “I-- uh... that’s personal.”

What sort of sex do you have? “Like, w-why are you asking that?”

Have you ever been in love? “I am right now.”

Have you ever had your heart broken? “Yeah, but it wasn’t in a relationship.”

CONFLICT

How do you respond to a threat? “Run.”

Are you most likely to fight with your fists or your tongue? “Like, neither.”

What is your kryptonite? “All you can eat buffets.”

If you could only save one thing from your burning house, what would it be? “I assume Scooby and Velma don’t count, so I guess I’d probably grab my favorite shirt or something.”

How do you perceive strangers? “Scary.”

What do you love to hate? “I don’t hate anything... except maybe lima beans... and there is no love there, like, at all.”

What are your phobias? “There’s a lot of ‘em.”

What is your choice of weapon? “I’m more of a hider. If I had to use something, I’d probably grab whatever was blunt and close to me.”

What living person do you most despise? “I don’t despise anyone.”

Have you ever been bullied or teased? “Yeah.”

Where do you go when you’re angry? “I don’t get angry. When I’m sad, I just go home.”

Who are your enemies and why? “The bad guys the gang and I try to stop... because we’re trying to stop them...”

WORK, EDUCATION AND HOBBIES

What is your current job? “Right now I flip burgers.”

What do you think about your current job? “It’s not too bad. It pays the bills for now. Maybe one day I can get a real cooking job.”

What are some of your past jobs? “This is my first job.”

What are your hobbies? “Just chilling, mostly. Smoking, eating.”

Educational background? “I’m in college.”

Intelligence level? “I’m not the smartest guy you’ll meet, but I’m trying.”

Do you have any specialist training? “No.”

Do you have a natural talent for something? “I don’t know if it’s a talent, but I have a lot of knowledge on the supernatural. Weeding out what’s real and what’s not, though, that’s the hard part.”

Do you play a sport? Are you any good? “No, I’ve never been good at sports... I hated gym class.”

What is their socioeconomic status? “I recycle, but I should do more.”

FAVORITES

What is your favorite animal? “Dogs.”

Which animal do you dislike the most? “Anything that bites or stings.”

What place would you most like to visit? “I think Antarctica would be pretty cool. Ha, ba-dum-tss.”

What is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen? “I remember Topanga Canyon being so pretty...”

What is your favorite song? “Two Princes, Spin Doctors.”

Music, art, reading preferred? “Music.”

What is your favorite color? “Green.”

What is their password? “Scoobydoobydoo420 --- like, wait, why are you asking?”

Favorite food? “Like, that’s too hard!”

What is your favorite work of art? “Uh... Mona Lisa?”

Who is your favorite artist? “I don’t know artists that well.”

What is your favorite day of the week? “With my work schedule, it doesn’t really matter.”

POSSESSIONS

What is in your fridge? “What isn’t in my fridge? Let’s see, right now I know there’s barbecue sauce, mayonnaise, mustard, honey mustard, honey, shredded cheddar cheese, American cheese slices, a wheel of Gouda, ketchup, ranch, spicy barbeque, sour cream, strawberry and grape jelly, apple jam, butter, margarine, milk, chocolate milk, Almond milk, strawberry syrup, cherries, a half eaten Philly Cheesesteak, ham, turkey, black forest ham, broccoli, Reeses cups, water bottles, apple juice, leftover brown rice, at least one eggplant, eggs, one slice of buffalo chicken pizza, cabbage, few different Lunchables, green peppers, one red pepper, mild salsa, medium salsa, a microwaveable Calzone, strawberries, raspberries, cream cheese, a bowl of chili and... actually, I think that’s it. Don’t get me started on the freezer.”

What is on your bedside table? “My phone and an old water bottle, probably.”

What is in your car? “I don’t have a car.”

What is in your bin? “Candy wrappers, empty Chinese takeout boxes, probably some junk mail.”

What is in your purse or wallet? “My ID, debit card, a little bit of cash, Scoob’s service dog certificate, a picture of Velma.”

What is in your pockets? “Scooby snacks.”

What is your most treasured possession? “I’m not attached to any specific items, really, just people.”

SPIRITUALITY

Who or what is your guardian angel? “I don’t know, I’d just like to think I have one.”

Do you believe in the afterlife? “I’m not sure. When I think about it, I get a little freaked out.”

What are your religious views? “Uh, I- I don’t know.”

What do you think heaven is? “I think it would be this safe place on the clouds where everyone you love is waiting.”

What do you think hell is? “Bad.”

Are you superstitious? “I guess, yeah.”

What would you like to be reincarnated as? “I guess being a dog would be pretty fun... anything like that. I don’t think I’d wanna be a human again. It’s too much.”

How would you like to die? “Not... painfully...”

What is your spirit animal? “A sloth.”

What is your zodiac sign? “Scorpio.”

VALUES

What do you think is the worst thing that can be done to a person? “Breaking them down. Making them feel like they’re not important, they don’t matter, they have to change who they are to be loved.”

What is your view of ‘freedom’? “Having the chance to choose.”

When did you last lie? “Like, I don’t want to lie, but this guy at work asked me if I liked his new sunglasses, and I didn’t want to be rude and they were pretty expensive, so I said yeah, but... I really didn’t like them.”

What’s your view of lying? “I hate doing it, I don’t want to be lied to.”

When did you last make a promise? “Last week.”

Did you keep or break their last promise? “I keep my promises.”

DAILY LIFE

What are their eating habits? “Whatever I want when I want it.”

Do you have any allergies? “Not that I know of, but I bet I’m allergic to bees, I feel like if I got stung I’d die, so I try to avoid them.”

Describe your home. “It’s just a small apartment. It feels like home when Velma’s there, though.”

Are you a minimalist or a clutter hoarder? “Can I be both? I’m trying to do better about clutter, it’s usually just clothes and trash, I don’t have many belongings.”

What do you do first thing on a weekday morning? “Kiss Velma on the head. Get ready for work. If I’m off, I’ll cuddle a little longer, then we’ll have breakfast.

What do you do on a Sunday afternoon? “Take my shoes off, sit on the couch and watch some TV.”

What do you do on a Friday night? “Whatever Velma wants to do.”

What is your soft drink of choice? “Dr. Pepper.”

What is your alcoholic drink of choice? “I don’t drink much. Mike’s Lemonade is enough for me, and it tastes good.”

MISCELLANEOUS

What or who would you dress up as for Halloween? “I like dressing up as ghosts with Scoob. I think I was the Hamburglar last year. Maybe me, Scooby and and Velma can all do matching costumes this Halloween.”

Are you comfortable with technology? “I guess.”

If you could save one person, who would it be? “Velma.”

If you could call one person for help, who would it be? “Depends on the situation. Freddy, Daph or Velma.”

What is your greatest extravagance? “Food...”

What is your greatest regret? “I don’t think I have any.”

What is your perception of redemption? “Noticing that you need to do better, then striving to do it.”

What would you do if you won the lottery? “I’d pay off any bills my friends have. Put some funding into the Mystery Inc. I guess I’d save the rest.”

What is your favorite fairytale? “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.”

What fairytale do you hate? “Like, Little Red Riding Hood makes me feel... weird...”

Do you believe in happy endings? “Yes.”

What is your idea of perfect happiness? “Being comfortable in your own skin and surrounding yourself with people that are good for you.”

What would you ask a fortune teller? “I’d ask how my birth parents are doing.”

If you could travel through time, where would you go? “I’d go back and spend another day with them.”

What sport do you excel at? “None, no sports.”

What sport do you suck at? “All of them. Especially baseball.”

If you could have a superpower, what would you choose? “I’d like to be able to turn invisible. Not to spy on people. Just to hide when everything got too overwhelming.”

#yes i did every single one #took me longer to figure out what's in his fridge than do the rest of this task + graphic #watask #tasks.

5 notes · View notes

gate4043 · 1 year ago

Text

So, the main argument for No, which held any amount of sway as far as an argument went, was

"It will give the government the power to bypass indigenous communities to get the rights to develop/mine land."

Except that was a steaming hot pile of bullshit and would have taken two seconds to debunk.

Here's how a referendum works:

The public are informed of a proposed change to the Australian constitution, which means all of the text, in no uncertain terms, which will be included

The public votes either YES to include the change, or NO to keep the constitution the way it was

The votes are tallied, and if the YES goes through, the change is included.

Now, here is the proposed change, in its exact wording:

129 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia: i. there shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice; ii. the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; iii. the Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.

Now, maybe you didn't quite understand that, so I'll break it down for you, in the three proposed points.

They would establish a board.

The board can comment on decisions relating to indigenous communities

The government can make changes to the board

My mum had some issues with that. Her main issue being

"The government is going to stack the board with mining lobbyists and make them take Aboriginal land away."

She's right about... some of that.

The government would have the power to stack the board with mining lobbyists, under this change.

However, you'll find, the government would have no reason to do this, as the government is not granted any powers here it does not otherwise hold.

If the government wanted to stack a board full of mining lobbyists and take land rights away from indigenous people, they would be just as enabled to do that with the constitutional change as they are without it.

So to recap:

The government -> would not have been granted any additional powers

The Voice -> would have done fuck all outside of giving an 'official stance', i.e., "we agree/disagree with this decision" on government issues

The No result -> literally only exists because people didn't read the proposed changes

The actual plan laid out for the Voice -> Honestly might've done some good, assuming they actually carried it through

Everyone who voted No -> should be ashamed of themselves

89 notes · View notes

retrorealeyes · 4 years ago

Text

Here’s why I want my parents dead /hj

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE like I know hating your parents if they aren’t overtly abusive (and even if they are it’s only mildly) like bruh, tempted to list out my parents “abuse” here. also like bruh, i’m fine rn, i’ve just been hating them for a while

This isn’t fully everything ever, it’s just an overview and I don’t think it touches the main problems enough (also I don’t give a lot of examples because there’s too many and I don’t have the will to write em all,and i’ve still overviewing everything)

-never respect my wishes if it goes against theirs (e.x. please leave me alone, can i go outside?, can I leave and go upstairs?)

this is a big one

-don’t respect my privacy (in weird ways too, like my dad opening the door to scare me when i’m changing) and making fun of it too

plus in normal ways like reading my journals or never knocking no matter how many times i tell them to

-making fun of me on purpose to get me upset, even when i ask them to stop

-getting suddenly and violently angry (dad):

often unreasonably and quickly

my dad curses people out under his breath, as a sign he’s going to get violent

has broken things, SUCH AS MY WHOLE ASS PHONE by throwing it on the ground does punch things, generally not people, e.x. walls, but not that hard. he has punched me

DOES to people- slap, push (this one especially, just last week he did), throw, scratch

is destructive to other’s property (e.x. ripping up THEIR papers)

refuses to listen to suggestions like, in the future, trying to calm down, or writing out his anger instead or seeking therapy

been like this towards me since i was 6-7 years old

it can escalate from anything

will degrade you and insult you, if you ever say anything back (even in a non-angry situation, will grow even angrier/get very angry)

makes you feel awful

can last for hours and never accomplishes anything apart from further degrading yourself

if you don’t give the exact answer he wants, will get even angrier

I’m obviously terrified of him

Swears at me, except they censor me so much they could probably kill me if I ever swore so that exacerbates the fear of it

after the fact continuosly denies it

-my dad also:

always demands respect

always plays the victim and complains about how we dislike him

never admits his mistakes

is awful to my little sister, randomly, even when she’s being perfectly fine

-my mother and father’s relationship

they openly and mean to each other. they never display affection and joke about divorcing

sometimes dad yells at mom for a while, it’s obvious he thinks he’s superior to her and belittles her intelligence

they are sometimes violent, but not often, and not overtly, more violent towards objects than each other when fighting with each other

they do get in fights often (see: my dad’s belief in his superiority)

-openess with them

there is none. they constantly criticize any self expression, make all subjects taboo, get angry over nothing and overall make me terrified of talking to them, then get all sad about “why don’t you tell us“ but if I try to express anything, even if they don’t get angry, they’ll store it in their heads and then later keep using it against me. “You said we were bad parents, do you not want to eat our food?“ “You said you were unmotivated, you don’t even have a reason to be sad.“ (said in an challenging, mean way)

-my self esteem

-my dad, physically (TO BE CLEAR I don’t think my dad in any way in trying to do anything sexual, i’m just saying he never respects my boundaries and here are some things he thinks are “perfectly fine” that he does, also this might be a bit disconnected sounding, i’m just so tired

commenting on my weight/appearance (mom too)

commenting on what i’m wearing, especially teasing me if it’s something out of the usual, as if i’m not insecure enough already

dictating what i wear if they don’t like what i’m wearing

commenting (negatively) on my mom’s weight a lot (to be fair, they both joke about being old and him balding and a little about him being fat so this one isn’t as bad apart form the fact that i’m skinnier so he “jokes” a lot about how i’m like a skinnier version of her)

fatso called the girl in the video

forces me to hug and kiss him, often only giving my phone back or treats luke donuts if I kiss him, even if I’ve expressed i’m uncomfortable (just does this a lot and i hate it)

-the past

have yelled for me for no reason since i was young

i don’t remember ever liking my dad (wait, before 6 years of age i remember liking him and before I was 9 i remember not hating him at all times)

i continously try to trust them again, then they break me

they were never open with me and taught me to be ashamed of myself which led to bad social relations later, which i’m only now breaking out of

-confiscation and lack of trust

always taking my stuff so i can’t rely on what they’ll black mail me with, no “excuse” is valid to keep it (ex. I want to communicate w/friends or I LITERALLY HAVE INSOMNIA AND CAN’T SLEEP WITHOUT LISTENING TO MUSIC); during my worst days, when I was really suicidal i remember not having my phone for a long time which led to me being left behind and further isolating myself which, y’know spiralled

I can go on and on about how they never value my voice but i’m sort of running out of steam

they also never trust my statements, always cast me as the cause-r of something (luckily they’re fair and don’t punish me for it if I insist I didn’t do it, but the fact i have to really advocate for my innocence and am constantly suspected just is not great, and even jokingly, i hate attention, their attention)

There’s more but i think i’m done for now

-constantly bother me (i know this is nitpicking, i’m just trying to get everything out, and some of these have more layers than i’m willing to express)

intentionally sabotaging

even if i ask them to go away

try to annoy me when ever i see them, even if i’ve asked them not too, and really make me avoid everything even more (you have to go through where they usually are to get out and that means y’know what)

singing

yelling and stepping loudly (which makes me scared my dad is mad all the time)

always teasing and judging

-mother dearest

very aggressive

VERY controlling

generally boring

always invades privacy, more of a nosy person, but, in a way, better than dad

she can get violent too and screams but it’s less often but can get very intense sometimes, generally it’s more of taking away my stuff and telling me to give up (which, the telling me to give up, my dad does too)

-lack of independence

THIS ONE IS HUGE. my parents are very controlling and so even a little freedom excites me and they use my lack of experience as a sword against me, and that makes it eve harder for me to do anything when I’m constantly fighting restrictions and my brains can’t distinguish bad restrictions from schoolwork restrictions

-shitty world view

just a bad biased view of the world, i really don’t want to elaborate, beyond the general sense they deserve to be respected for being parents a conservative-type view, also don’t have basic sense of morality, as in sympathy, for everyone, and instead do the whole us|them thing with their politics, the only problem is that we’re immigrants which is why they vote democrat

-grandparents

are visiting, they are also unhygienic, to always be obeyed, generally judgemental, and intentionally old, and taking up both of my rooms, overall i don’t like any of them, my father’s mom is alright though

-generally shaming me

And otherwise everything is generally going to shit, my social life (though I saved it somewhat for ONE person), my mental/emotional health, my exercise, motivation for anything, just the way the house is set up, my grandparents are here, how i’m doing in school.

I should write the thesis and really flesh this out well but I’ll tell you what: ultimately my parents are selfish people who don’t consider me my own entity but more as themselves and my achievements combined. ANd even if you love me, which I don’t doubt, I don’t have to love you back, and that doesn’t excuse your shittiness, dad. I fucking hate you. (yes. i’m grateful for the money, house, generally not obviously abusive childhood, food, stuff, bed, phone, etc. you have provided, but that doesn’t cancel out your misdeeds, it just coexists next to it)

Like is it SO bad for me to blame SOME of my issues with them? BUT NO if I ever bring up how they did x so i did y. I did y ON PURPOSE to UPSET THEM and i can’t hold them accountable, i’m just blaming them, even if I’m genuinely trying to explain my issues the way I understand them.

idr if you can edit tumblr documents, and even if you can, i’m not going to, i’ll just add to this with comments, to preserve the integrity, not that anyone will or should read this, but i’ll probably come back to it

5 notes · View notes

rimalaw · 4 years ago

Text

Why this Non-Trump Voter Thinks Trump Could Win 2020

I am a registered independent and both parties have ideals I agree with, and sadly those I don’t. Therefore, I am always left out and just looking for who will better support some of the more important values that I believe in. I did not vote for Trump, and because I need healthcare (among other things), I cannot support a man who wants to destroy the healthcare plan that I am on, without a real plan in place that will protect people with pre-existing conditions. Trump says ObamaCare is a horrible program! But what the heck has he offered??? Nothing! I can't take small talk to the doctor or hospital if and when you take away my health plan, and have to wait for small business enrollment in Florida (1x a year) to kick in and charge me tons of money to cover my pre-existing condition!

When Bush was President, health insurance was costing me over $1,200/month, and now under the Affordable Care Act (a/k/a Obama Care which is really why Trump hates it... it doesn’t have his NAME!!), I am paying approximately $600.00 a month for a really good plan. Make no mistake, by now my plan would cost AT LEAST $1400.00-$1500.00, since I am 16-20 years older than when Bush was President. Let me not forget how Obamacare saved the life of my best friend, who would otherwise NOT have gone to the doctor, and not have discovered a life threatening illness, which but for the Grace of God, she did. Because of her health plan, she received the best care and treatment, and thank God survived one of the worst diagnosis one could get. She got the plan two (2) weeks before she went to the doctor! This is what Trump wants to take away! Trump wants to take away lifesaving care without a REAL PLAN in place to help millions of Americans.

And make no mistake; sadly, I think people who are on that plan, who rely on this plan, who have family or friends who need that plan, etc. etc. will still NAIVELY and IGNORANTLY vote for Trump.

Why do I think that enough people would vote for Trump and that he can win? Well... Let’s think about it:

1-He is campaigning like a high energy Super Bowl Team in all the swing states, bringing with him his own type of electrifying energy, electrifying his base, and those who are still on the fence and can feel some of that electricity as the attendees and media blare their excitement of his visit. Make no mistake, these visits matter. When I ran for Judge 14 years ago, I was an unknown an the youngest in my race. I didn’t have the type of ethnic or Anglo name needed to win in my County. However, every area that I was able to heavily campaign in, make speeches, meet people, I WON. I didn’t win that election, but I won those areas. So I realized that meeting people matters, and in this race, make no mistake, these super spreader events excite people. They don’t care about COVID while they are there, and for the most part have learned to live with it. They just care that the biggest Super Bowl team came to their town and made them feel GOOD! I know Biden has toured, but I’m sorry it doesn’t come close. I know he was doing social distancing etc, but the car thing isn’t exciting nor generating the amount of crowds and energy that it needs.

2-COVID- yes believe it or not, without COVID, Trump might have been up in the polls without issue. Then COVID happened which threw him down in the polls, and then his apparent lack of handling it, threw him even further down. Then he got COVID, and believe it or not, even though he didn’t seize the opportunity to come out more contrite, which would have assured him a win, he still earned a lot of points. How: A) because America saw him as human and actually felt scared for their President (even some of the ones that didn’t vote for him); B) America got to see that he BEAT IT! Yes, he has the best doctors and treatment etc, but America saw that this 74 year old overweight man, who got sick enough to need treatment, still BEAT IT! So now America sees COVID (foolishly or not) not to be so feared, which deep down everyone wants to believe. These two results of Trump getting COVID actually earned him voters as people felt scared for him and then happy at his beating COVID, signaling the Country and they could too could slay this dragon; and finally C) people are seeing the country economically recover and attributing this to his lack of fear of COVID, and the desire to keep the country out of lockdown which most Americans are fed up with.

3-Fracking- For the love of God Joe, you don’t denounce fracking like that when you need the swing states in the way that you do. Instead you CONFIDENTLY say, “don’t worry, our plan is to slowly bring in safe alternate sources of energy while we freely train current workers and so many more (as we will have so many jobs created) to transition into great and even BETTER paying safer jobs. NO ONE WILL LOSE ONE JOB, and I can guarantee even BETTER Jobs for you all.” But instead, you have Trump in Pennsylvania, and other swing states scaring people that they will lose their jobs.

4-Law and Order-Make no mistake, I believe the police have systemic racism and needs serious training and overhauling. But Biden and Democrats need to COMPLETELY distance themselves from the anarchist propaganda of defunding the police. That was NEVER a train to ride. From the first use of those words, BIDEN should have never bitten, not even a nibble. Now with the visual of businesses boarding up, Trump is touting about these rioters and giving the illusion to those voters less capable to comprehend the difference, that this is what the Democrats, i.e. Joe are doing and allowing. From the get go, Dems and Joe should have aggressively, I mean hot tooting crazy like attacked and distances themselves from it.

5-COVID AGAIN-I wear masks (2), I barely go out, etc, but like most Americans, we are tired of hearing about COVID. When that is all that you hear, gloom and doom, and Biden talks about dark days, it just doesn’t sit so well. Strangely enough, to people on the fence now, Trump seems like the guy that wants to give you freedom and a cheery positive outlook of life, while the Democrats, CNN, MSNBC, etc., are painting this bleak picture and more lockdowns, that no one wants to keep hearing about.

6-The Darn Polls- So many polls tooting a Biden victory whether true or not, are only making on the fence people, the lazy, the unmotivated, the unenergized Democratic voters say, “they don’t need me, ... I’m not so excited.. or Biden will win anyway.” Meanwhile, the Trump supporters are freaking out and making sure they show up in massive droves to help their Super Bowl Team, I mean their guy. Plus, any poll should really discount a lot of points away from Biden, because really, there are a lot of paranoid secretive, conspiracy believing, or seemingly ashamed Trump voters who will not participate. Remember, a bleeding hard liberal is more likely to be kind to a pollster and answer a poll; and a right winger will say, “I have nothing to say, leave me alone,” hang up, etc...

7-Socialism-Kill this socialism crap- The Dems should have killed this idea long ago, and Biden should have been VERY ASSERTIVE and vocal about how he is for middle of the road values (yes I know this might alienate the Bernie people, but that’s what Bernie is for. And if this party is so crazy to sit out and let Trump win because Biden isn’t left enough, well then the party has bigger issues which no amount of therapy can fix).

8-The last Debate- Trump basically showed people he is not so crazy, he can have restraint, he wasn’t rude. People who were running away from him after the first debate or on the fence, came back after he showed America and the world that he isn’t so bad.

9-Strength and POWER- Basically, aside from the fact that Trump often appears to be a bully, lately, more than anything he has shown stamina and strength. People like that, and want to join the stronger looking team, and the man that never ever seems to stop, and confidently never takes NO for an answer. People, like to support the one that appears to never back down, never accept defeat, never look weak, and never quit!

10-Too many people believe his lies, those of the crazies on Facebook, and the alt right that disseminate the worst of the fake news. Sadly THE DEMS DON'T STRONGLY and DEFINITIVELY ATTACK THEM!! Every talking point should have been hit with a barrage of targeted commercials and aggressive stump speeches. People need to be told for example, “TRUMP brags about the economy, he hopes you have amnesia and forget that OBAMA left him with a booming economy, and only an untrained monkey could ruin it. All Trump did was NOT destroy it YET, but his tax cuts to the MILLIONAIRES (not you AMERICA making under 400k) will cause us a depression if he is in office four more years because you can only pay so much to help the country without having income we used to rely on coming in.”

Well, that’s all folks. I hope I am wrong, but if it doesn’t go as the untrustworthy polls show, these are some of the main reasons why. These points are for that small percentage that pick the winner in most Presidential elections, not for the firmly committed of either party. Also, if Biden doesn’t win, then those who protested this summer did not all come out to vote, and that’s shameful!

#trump2020 #election2020 #2020 presidential election #stoptrump #Trumpcanwin

1 note · View note

miraculouscontent · 6 years ago

Note

SW2 is ridiculous! How would SW2 MC have been? I mean, in what developments of characters would your version of the episode have focused? (SINCE I WAS WITH YOU IF THERE WOULD BE A DEVELOPMENT TO SHOW)

I’d probably just roll with my original idea for it. When I first heard of the title “Stormy Weather 2″, my reaction was “Yes! One of my favorite akuma are coming back and this is the PERFECT opportunity for continuity!”

Believe it or not, my idea for the episode was also to call back to previous episodes. Just… not in the way they did it.

My idea for “Stormy Weather 2″ is that Marinette is at one of Adrien’s photoshoots since he invited her all the way back in “Troublemaker.” She reminisces on the first occasion in “Stormy Weather,” where she had to sneak into the park with Alya+Manon to see it and Adrien hardly even knew her back then. She takes joy in how she’s friends with Adrien now and that he invited her.

Meanwhile, Aurore is returning to the weather studio, having been called in by the crew. She’s a little salty about “Stormy Weather” but tries to be polite even though Mirelle is there.

Though actually, it turns out that Mirelle isn’t working out as the weather girl and decided to step down. She’s too shy, stammers, and can’t get the news out fast enough.

Aurore doesn’t like being second place, but accepts, even having an apologetic conversation with Mirelle after Mirelle sheepishly apologizes for "taking the place Aurore deserves."

However, while she’s getting ready for her first appearance as the new weather girl, she hears Alec in the hallway, talking on his phone (presumably to Nadja).

He’s making fun of Aurore. He talks about her “tantrum” over her loss. He talks about how she was “so childish” that she got taken over by an akuma. He talks about how he made fun of her when she lost (not that he feels bad for it) and that she never even made Alec a main target of hers.

Aurore tightens her grip on her umbrella, but tries to keep herself under control; this negative emotion feels uncomfortably familiar.

Then he drops the bombshell: the competition was rigged. The crew had believed Mirelle to be “cuter” and more easily manipulated to do whatever the crew wanted, so they messed with the voting so Mirelle would win.

Idly, a black and purple butterfly flutters onto Aurore’s umbrella and disappears.

Alec laughs, not at all ashamed about making fun of a teenage girl’s akumatization. He’s completely unaware that the girl he’s talking about even heard him. Though, would he really have cared about keeping those thoughts to themselves anyway?

Suddenly, the doors near Alec fly open due to a gust of wind. He’s knocked back by the force, his phone sliding along the floor as if even it wanted to be away from him.

Alec reaches for the phone at first, then stiffens as he realizes that his focus should definitely be directed elsewhere.

Alec glances back to the open doors–the source of the wind–and his blood runs cold.

Stormy Weather stands there, looking tall and intimidating from his place on the floor. She walks up to him slowly, each click of her heels causing a spark of electricity to be spread along the floor.

Alec is too terrified to noticed that her outfit is now sporting blues and yellows to go with her purple and white color scheme. Everyone in the room that Aurore had been in are already fleeing down the halls, leaving Alec to his fate.

Stormy Weather holds her umbrella out to the side, letting the umbrella float a few inches above her palm as it defies gravity.

She feigns sympathy. “Sad that I missed you last time, Cataldi?” she asks with a hint of innocence and a lot of contempt.

He tries to save himself. “A-ah, Aurore–”

She glares.

He immediately corrects, “S-stormy Weather! I can explain–I didn’t mean–”

“No, no, you were right,” Stormy Weather drawls, still with the innocence in her voice.

The umbrella falls back into her hand.She pauses, then glares, the innocence vanishing. “I made a mistake last time in leaving you be.”

She twirls the umbrella, then aims the tip at Alec. He flinches, trying to shield himself.

A few seconds pass. Nothing happens. Cautiously, he opens one eye, still seeing the umbrella pointed at him.

The umbrella lowers. Alec looks up, confused. Is he safe now? Is she sparing him?

Stormy Weather says nothing. Instead, she raises a hand. Her fingers twitch. The air starts to feel cold. Her arm flashes, then glows with the light of her umbrella, her hand charged with an icy energy.

She didn’t even need her umbrella to use her powers anymore, her umbrella considered to be too special to waste on a lowlife like him.

Everyone else had already fled, leaving Alec to his fate.

The classic Stormy Weather smug slowly overtakes her face. She aims her palm at Alec.

“We all make mistakes,” she said, her smug mixed with a malice. “Now I’m going to fix mine.”

She fires.

Ladybug and Chat have to be very creative when fighting the updated Stormy Weather. Stealing her umbrella is no longer enough because Stormy Weather can still use her powers without it. The umbrella has amplified powers compared to her body and is what she uses to make the weather go bad, but she doesn’t need it. The umbrella also needs to be broken to stop her abilities; a hard task given that attempts usually end with a lightning bolt to the face.

After managing to stop her, Ladybug checks on Aurore, who now laments the fact that “Alec was right” in a way since she let negative emotions take control and became Stormy Weather again.

Ladybug disagrees, assuring Aurore that negative emotions are natural and that the importance is in moving past them.

She also winks, noting that Alec probably won’t bother her again after today. Aurore smiles.

And things are just as Ladybug said. Alec still makes insensitive comments at everyone, but one look from Aurore shuts him up, as if he’s afraid she’s going to turn into Stormy Weather again. The crew loves having her around for that alone, and Aurore’s revamped confidence and smile as she talks about the weather make her extremely popular with the TV audience.

Back with Marinette and Adrien, they’re back in the park for Adrien’s photoshoot (that needed to be finished after it was interrupted by Stormy Weather’s… well, weather) and Vincent is eagerly taking pictures of Adrien.

However, Vincent’s still not feeling it. He looks around, as if for inspiration, then eyes Marinette. He rushes towards her, talking excitedly about how he needs a girl like her.

Marinette is confused (and feels a sense of deja vu), but Vincent insists, especially since Adrien invited her. Vincent pulls Marinette over to the fountain and forces her to sit next to Adrien, then readies his camera.

He encourages them to move closer together, saying that he wants to see some energy and chemistry. Adrien apologizes, but Marinette shyly insists that it’s fine.

Vincent takes a few snapshots and thinks they’re good, but he isn’t completely satisfied. Thinking quickly, he instructs Marinette to kiss Adrien’s cheek.

Marinette blushes pink, asking if that’s necessary, while Vincent assures her that he knows best. Adrien shrugs, clearly not minding, and besides, didn’t Marinette kiss his cheek before?

Marinette nods sheepishly, having to remind herself that this kiss isn’t supposed to mean anything and also that Adrien still believes that the kiss in “Mayura” must’ve been a friendly one. She steels herself up, then kisses his cheek, Vincent taking an enthusiastic snapshot.

As if he’s on a roll (as Marinette is internally squealing), Vincent then tells Adrien to kiss her cheek in return to build their chemistry and get a good shot. Adrien is surprised by the request, but shrugs; after all, these kisses are strictly friendly and professional, aren’t they?

Marinette expects him to ask her if a cheek kiss is okay, meaning that she’s wholly unprepared as Adrien leans down and kisses her cheek without hesitation. Vincent excitedly takes pictures while Marinette stiffens and blushes red.

The end card is Marinette staring dreamily at the photo of Adrien kissing her cheek, as well as Aurore being successful as the new weather girl.

#MC's Adjustments #adjustment: plotlines #episode: Stormy Weather 2 #MC's Writing #writing: story #category: long post #word count: over 1000 #other: ask and answer #((Calling for an ''MC'' episode might be inaccurate.))#((I find it a better challenge to work with what the episode already gave me.))#((Also))#((I've been getting asks about episode fixes and I'd rather delay that until my potential 'How I'd Do Season [x]' post.))#((Since I'm basically just copying what I'd put there otherwise.))

216 notes · View notes

storyunrelated · 5 years ago

Text

Fictober 2019 - #11 “It’s not always like this.”

Prompt number: #11 “It’s not always like this.”

Original fiction: Hostis humani generis

Rating: T

Warnings/Tags: Implications of brutality.

A protest regrets putting a toe out of line.

—

Rules exist for a reason. Or should, in theory.

Generally it’s assumed (or people like to think, deep down in that hopeful part of themselves they’re often quite ashamed of) that the reason has some higher purpose and form an interlocking system designed to maintain a stable and just society.

Bring out the best in people, dissuade them from doing the worst, that sort of thing.

Of course it isn’t like that. Not really. Who makes rules? People with the best of intentions, or people who stand to benefit from having the rules favour them?

Well, a little of the former it’s true, but most of their good work is shat all over by the latter, who have more of the money and less of the scruples. The people who tend to look at the world as something put there for their benefit, and so who see no issue with rules being made that benefit them exclusively.

Because why would that be a bad thing? This is their world. Everyone else just lives in it.

One of these rules we’re talking about was the rule mandating the approved protest zones. Which is to say, those zones wherein which protesting was approved.

Time was you could protest anywhere. Which kind of made sense, yes? Point of a protest to cause a scene and attract attention. Roughness eventually led to the need to apply for a license to protest, which was an odd concept in itself but worse had happened.

Later, the areas in which protests could be held was whittled down, mostly because the people who owned the areas that were often protested in (public areas where, you know, you might get seen and your message heard) disliked having rowdy people present unless they were spending money, and typically protestors weren’t.

So, little by little, the places where you could express a dissenting position were reduced one by one until, now, at last, there is but one, nicely tucked out of the way, out of sight of anyone important, far away from where good, honest citizens might trip over them.

There was a protest today, too. Difficult to see what it was about because the exclusion zone around the protest zone was big enough that I had to squint to see the signs. Certainly they were unhappy - that much I could see - just couldn’t work out about what.

They were chanting something, but it was lost on the wind. Windy day, today.

The protestors numbered about a dozen or so. Watching them closely were somewhere in the region of fifty police officers, tooled up to the nines. Big bulky so-and-so’s in full armour with those new weighted batons. They even had drones, for some reason. Because they could?

I could have pointed the protestors out to them. It’s the people standing the area you’ve made them stand in there. There you go, no need for drones.

All seemed a bit of a waste of money to me, but I don’t make these decisions. I just vote in the people who are told what decisions to make by unappointed advisors with strange ideas about what direction society should go in.

The direction is generally said to be up, though it doesn’t often feel like up. Least not to me.

“What’s this?” My guest asked, squinting and trying to read one of the signs.

“Protest,” I said.

“Why are they behind a fence?”

“To keep them safe.”

This wasn’t true.

“Oh,” my guest said.

As we watched, a particularly forceful gust of wind caught one of the signs and tugged it from the hand of the protestor who’d been holding it. The protestor, in turn, foolishly went after it and in so doing put a toe over the line demarcating the approved protest zone.

This was all the excuse the police needed to move in.

I was genuinely surprised to be able to hear the screaming given the distance and the sheer weight of bodies burying the protestors. Pretty impressive they could keep screaming even once the batons started swinging, too. Guess at least one of them had some real lungs on them.

“Oh no,” my guest said.

My poor guest. In retrospect this was probably not a stop worth including on the sightseeing tour. Oh well, too late now.

“It’s not always like this,” I said to them, smiling weakly.

They knew I was lying. I knew I was lying.

But I had to say it anyway, didn’t I?

#fictober19 #Amwriting #Writblr #Writeblr #Writing

3 notes · View notes

bountyofbeads · 5 years ago

Text

Democratic divides take center stage at first debate

https://wapo.st/31ZcPzE

SOULESS Trump 😢😭🖕👉“BORING!” he tweeted as the candidates began discussing the deaths of a father and daughter at the border.

Democratic divides take center stage at first debate

By Toluse Olorunnipa and Michael Scherr | Published June 27 at 12:16 AM ET | Washington Post | Posted June 27, 2019 |

Deep divides over health care and economic policy dominated the first Democratic presidential debate Wednesday, as 10 candidates jousted in Miami over the best formula for beating President Trump and fixing the economic struggles of the middle class.

The result was a prime-time display — the first national event of the election season — showcasing economic and regulatory differences that have riven the Democratic Party, including transformative plans to eliminate private health insurance, fund free college for most Americans, break up giant corporations and impose sharp tax increases on the wealthiest Americans.

The ambitious slate of proposals highlights the Democrats’ leftward shift, a trend Republicans are seeking to take advantage of by linking the party with socialism and government control. The generally sober event also highlighted one of the key dilemmas that Democrats face in their attempt to oust Trump — a bombastic showman whose name was only occasionally mentioned but whose presence loomed large over the proceedings.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), standing center stage with the most early attention from moderators, drove much of the debate with a passionate defense of disruptive plans that would face long odds of passage in Congress. She framed each of the issues as a question of determination, saying she was willing to fight and take on the “corruption in this system” that had created the problems.

“We’ve had the laws out there for a long time to be able to fight back. What’s been missing is courage, courage in Washington to take on the giants,” she said. “I want to return government to the people, and that means calling out the names of the monopolists and saying I have the courage to go after them.”

Her rivals were forced to respond, though they avoided taking her on directly, trying to explain their plans as different routes to the same goal.

“I do get concerned about paying for college for rich kids; I do,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), a thinly veiled reference to plans supported by Warren to make public colleges free for all Americans.

But the two-hour debate proceeded without a significant viral or humorous moment to rival the kind of spectacle created by Trump during the 2016 debates that were dominated by the real estate developer’s shocking comments, off-color jokes and biting attacks on his rivals.

Trump’s campaign characterized the debate as “the best argument for President Trump’s reelection,” arguing that Democrats were proposing “a radical government takeover of American society that would demolish the American Dream so many are gaining access to under the growing Trump economy.”

Rather than paint a hopeful vision of the nation’s future, the Democrats onstage focused on the grim challenges facing the country — warning of a long list of serious threats to the nation’s well-being, such as corporate power, global warming, the humanitarian crises on the southern border and the growing economic power of China.

Perhaps seeking to introduce themselves to a national audience, the candidates only rarely addressed one another directly or strayed from well-rehearsed lines.

When Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) was asked about previous comments criticizing politicians who pledge to break up specific companies — as Warren has — he seemed to shift in Warren’s direction, saying “I don’t think I disagree” that corporate consolidation is a problem.

Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke gave his first answer in both Spanish and English, but he struggled to respond directly to the question about how high he would bring the marginal tax rate for the wealthy. He spoke instead about ending gerrymandering while bolstering the Voting Rights Act and same-day voter registration.

“I would support a tax rate and a tax code that is fair to everyone,” he said, after the question was repeated to him.

Wednesday’s debate marked the first of 12 scheduled by the Democratic Party, including at least two split over two nights, with 10 more candidates scheduled to appear in Miami on Thursday. Polls show a wide-open race, even as most of the 23 candidates struggle to register even 2 percent support.

Warren was the only candidate to appear polling in double digits, with clear momentum after months of tireless campaigning. Three other candidates, O’Rourke, Klobuchar and Booker, have been struggling to maintain the early expectations of their campaign announcements. Six more, including Rep. Tim Ryan (Ohio), Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, have found themselves struggling to be noticed in the crowded field.

But all of the candidates were given a chance to weigh in on the key divides in the party. Only Warren and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio raised their hands when asked whether they would get rid of private health insurance.

“I understand: There are a lot of politicians who say , ‘Oh, it’s just not possible.’ . . .,” Warren said, fully embracing the single-payer health-care plan backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who will be onstage Thursday. “What they’re really telling you is that they just won’t fight for it. But health care is a basic human right. And I will fight for it.”

The issue of immigration, an area of relative agreement in the Democratic Party, prompted one of the few fierce exchanges of the night — between the two Texas politicians on the stage. Former housing and urban development secretary Julián Castro sought to draw a contrast with O’Rourke by saying the former congressman opposed repealing part of U.S. immigration law that allows for criminal prosecution of migrants who come to the United States without proper documentation. Castro has called for decriminalizing undocumented immigration, a position Republicans have branded “open borders.”

“I think that you should do your homework on this issue,” Castro said, turning to O’Rourke. “If you did your homework on this issue you would know that we should repeal this section.”

O’Rourke said he favored immigration policies that ended the family separations that have taken place during the Trump administration, and to ensure that migrants seeking asylum are not detained.

For most of the candidates onstage, the debate marked one of only two chances they will have, in addition to the July debates, to spark the interest necessary to get them on the September debate stage, when the polling and donor qualification requirements will dramatically tighten.

Several candidates made clear attempts to grab and hold the spotlight in the hopes of breaking through.

At both ends of the stage, de Blasio and former Maryland congressman John Delaney, who poll the lowest, forced their way into the conversation repeatedly, with the former arguing he was the most passionate liberal on the stage and the latter playing the role of the most practical moderate.

“What we are hearing here already in the first round of questions is that battle for the heart and soul of our country,” de Blasio said. “This is supposed to be the party of working people. Yes, we’re supposed to be for a 70 percent tax rate on the wealthy.”

Delaney responded by calling such ideas unrealistic. “I think we have to do real things to help American workers and the American people. Right?” he said.

Booker’s strategy in the debate was to repeatedly personalize the issues that were raised. When talking about guns, he spoke about his Newark neighborhood where seven people were recently shot. “I live in a low-income black and brown community,” he said when asked about corporate consolidation. “I see every single day that this economy is not working for average Americans.”

Candidates focused mostly on policy but also spent time attacking Trump for his governing style and his record since taking office in 2017. Trump’s erratic approach to foreign policy came in for blistering attacks.

“I don’t think we should conduct foreign policy in our bathrobe at 5 in the morning,” Klobuchar said.

“This president and his chicken hawk Cabinet have led us to the brink of war with Iran,” Gabbard said.

“The biggest threat to the security of the United States is Donald Trump,” Inslee said to applause.

Ryan was one of several candidates who blamed Trump for conditions at the border, where migrants from Central America have been traveling in family groups, overwhelming U.S. facilities meant to house adults. Lawyers visiting some of the facilities have said that children in the facilities were living in squalor without access to basic hygiene items.

For his part, Trump weighed in from Air Force One, where he was en route to the Group of 20 summit in Japan. He focused on technical difficulties that forced NBC to cut to a commercial break when audio problems surfaced.

“.@NBCNews and @MSNBC should be ashamed of themselves for having such a horrible technical breakdown in the middle of the debate,” he tweeted from over the Pacific Ocean.

The president didn’t attack any specific Democrat during the debate, instead focusing on a candidate who was not on the stage.

“Ever since the passage of the Super Predator Crime Bill, pushed hard by @JoeBiden, together with Bill and Crooked Hillary Clinton, which inflicted great pain on many, but especially the African American Community, Democrats have tried and failed to pass Criminal Justice Reform,” Trump tweeted from his presidential plane before the debate even started. “Please ask why THEY failed to the candidates!”

The president has repeatedly weighed in on the Democratic primary, and he spent part of Wednesday doing the same. His focus has largely been on Biden, who in early polling has been leading Trump in some key states. Biden will join Sanders and eight other Democratic candidates at Thursday’s debate.

On Wednesday, with Biden not on the stage, Trump appeared less interested in the actual substance of the debate.

“BORING!” he tweeted as the candidates began discussing the deaths of a father and daughter at the border.

#donald trump #u.s. news #trump administration #politics #president donald trump #politics and government #trump #white house #us: news #democratic party #democrats #democratic debates #debate #demdebate #2020 presidential election #2020 candidates #2020 election #2020 Presidential Candidates #2020 Presidential Election

1 note · View note

inkbucket · 4 years ago

Text

On Political Involvement

Even though I disagree with some of their theology and practices, I respect the Mennonites because they’re willing to accept the odd looks and general “these are crazy people” reaction that society renders them because of their peculiar dress and manner of life. In the same way, I’d like to begin a criticism of theonomy and Christian Nationalism by saying that I have a similar respect for the folks who hold these opinions - I think they’re deeply wrong, but I do respect their willingness to be mocked and jeered at. That takes courage, which the church in America could use a lot more of.

What does it mean that Jesus is King of the Universe? To me, it means we should actually do what he says - even in Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 - and view whoever is put in charge over us politically (and in all other spheres of human authority) as being given to us by Jesus Christ for our good. Sometimes for blessing and joy and freedom, sometimes for discipline and judgement and slavery (Nehemiah 9:36), but always a mere tool and emissary of King Jesus (Isaiah 10:15).

Here we are, servants today! And the land that You gave to our fathers, To eat its fruit and its bounty, Here we are, servants in it! And it yields much increase to the kings You have set over us, Because of our sins; Also they have dominion over our bodies and our cattle At their pleasure; And we are in great distress. - Nehemiah 9:36

Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it? As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up, Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood! - Isaiah 10:15

The powers that be would certainly be offended if they realized the truth: that all their pomp and circumstance are empty theater, and that their heart beats or ceases to beat at the command of a higher King, who controls even their desires and plans (Proverbs 21:1).

The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. - Proverbs 21:1

The theonomists have deemphasized this central theme of good Christian political theology to the point of irrelevance. They think that when God judges an evil empire like our own by placing more despotic rulers over us, it's something that can be remedied if only the Church were more politically active or shouted for biblical principles more loudly in the public sphere (more and more loudly as our numbers shrink). Because as good postmillenials, it’s our job to immanentize the eschaton, right?

The blood of sixty million innocents cries out from the ground of the United States of America, over which we walk proudly declaring that it’s a Christian country and that we still own the public square. Even patterns that can be obviously deduced from nature (such as gender) have been denied, and Science and Reason (which have themselves been heavyweight idols for several centuries) have been forced to bow down to newer and bigger and more unkempt idols. Christians who actually believe the Bible are a shrinking minority. And that’s OK because Jesus is still in charge, and this is what he’s giving us right now… and it must be for our good because He promises that all things work together for the good of those who love Him.

Wisdom means seeing the signs of the times, and knowing what’s fitting to do in each season. David fleeing from Saul for years while refusing to take his life or overthrow him (even though he’d become an insane tyrant who mass murdered priests of God)… Jesus’ command to early disciples “when they persecute you in this city, flee to another” (Matthew 12:23). Have you noticed how much running away the people of God do in Scripture? A lot. That doesn’t appeal to the resurrected form of ancient pagan masculinity being passed off as Christian in some circles today, but it’s true.

Sometimes, of course, God appoints a champion to stab Ehud or kill Goliath and they do use violence. But David’s not allowed to build the temple because he’s a man of war rather than a man of peace - even then, and much more in the New Testament as God’s heart is more fully revealed, living at peace is normative for Christians, insofar as it depends on us (Romans 12:18). On a human level, it’s humiliating: going the second mile or turning the other cheek isn’t fun or masculine or sexy according to both the world’s judgment or our natural inclinations.

Perhaps a confusion about vocation that’s the real rub here: if God has appointed you to be the President of the United States or a senator or mayor, you should hold that office as a Christian and use whatever wisdom God’s given you to do your job, which means that yes, you will certainly apply Biblical principles to your vocation - same as a good Christian plumber would apply those same principles to his work. If you’re an average voter and feel like you can ethically vote for someone, then use your minuscule influence for good. But the New Testament is eerily silent about the value of traditional political power, and that should make us suspicious. They tried to make Jesus an earthly king by force and He refused (John 6:15).

Loving the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, and loving our neighbor as ourselves, is not a calling or license to be political busybodies. When God gives us harsh masters we cry out to Him for relief; and when he blesses us by giving us better rulers than we deserve, we thank Him. Politics is the domain of the high and mighty, and one wonders how much the heart of a Christian should be drawn toward them. We’re more in the meek and lowly in heart camp, working with our hands and living peaceful, quiet lives (1 Thessalonians 4:10).

But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing. - 1 Thessalonians 4:10

As Paul knew very well, sometimes that’s not possible when you speak the truth: mobs and riots and stoning were unfortunately normal for him. But let’s make sure that we’re stoned for good works: speaking the truth about abortion and pornography and homosexuallty in love to our immediate neighbors, welcoming strangers into our lives and telling them the good news that another King greater than Caesar is here. Let’s be stoned for encouraging and binding up the weary, and making sure that whatever spheres of influence God has placed partially under our control (home, office, neighborhood, etc) should function according the the law of liberty.

“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” implies that some things are Caesar’s business, not ours. Are you a centurion? Then of course part of Caesar’s business is your business too. But taking it to mean that plain Christian citizens therefore “own” whatever government God currently has them under is like saying Christians own all the cars and houses that belong to the other people in their town, since ultimately all cars and houses do belong to King Jesus, right? It’s true that all things are ours, but that doesn’t mean that I can commandeer my neighbor’s Lexus.

Being an informed voter takes at most a couple hours a year. Keeping your eyes open for news that could actually affect the people you love takes a few minutes a week. I can’t speak for everyone, but for myself, whenever I go much beyond that I get a strong sense that I’m just being a busybody in other people’s matters (1 Peter 4) and a connoisseur of indignation.

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. - 1 Peter 4

0 notes

vagueisvogue-blog1 · 6 years ago

Text

Something that I find really annoying as a nonbinary/trans person (ftm), who passes until you hear my over-compensatingly high-pitched voice, is the extent of male privilege. I’ll be walking down a street, and some guy will yell “Hey, bro!” and hi-five me, or this one time, someone stopped me to tell me that it was their best friend’s birthday. In every instance, I had never met those people prior. Before, random men would stare at my ass or catcall me. Adult men, elderly men, teenagers. Sometimes they would even follow me home. (One of the guys I knew broke my locks.) I would be shaky, paranoid, and no one would do anything. I was expected to take it.

My youth normalized the idea that I might be kidnapped, raped, killed.

When I told my friends I had a stalker and I was scared, they responded with “wow, you must feel so great”. (In what world is it cute to threaten anyone’s safety?) Like it’s supposed to be a good thing that people care more about my body than my brain. When one of my friends opened up about how guys kept harassing her after she turned them down, everyone but me responded in a way that paralleled rolling their eyes.

When I didn’t pass, people would always tell me to “close my legs” when I sat with them spread. Teachers, coaches, pastors, peers. Now that they know that I’m male, it doesn’t matter.

As a woman, you feel pressure not to talk about sex, or note that you enjoy it. As a man, that “not” is scratched out.

As a woman, everyone told me that I would “grow out of my feelings of not wanting to give birth/have kids/get married”. That was when I was in second grade, and a decade later, my feelings haven’t changed. My knowledge of myself was disregarded because I was a “kid”, but also because I was a girl. I was expected to raise children, pressured to by anyone with a voice. And now that I’m out, my mom has accepted that her grandkids will be dogs. Not because she doesn’t think I can have kids (I always knew that if I had any, I would adopt anyway), but because I know have a different societal role.

You’re not supposed to say “I know” when someone tells you that you are beautiful, educated, comedic. You’re supposed to take it with a “thanks” not because it’s polite, but because you’re not supposed to love yourself. I’ve always experienced that, more so with long hair than without.

In eighth grade, a female friend asked me if I had a thigh-gap. She asked me in a way where there was very clearly a right and wrong answer. I replied “yes”, and a moment later she giggled “my cousin’s so fat that she doesn’t have one”. The joke was lost on me.

You’re not expected to love yourself or your body. I thought my thighs were too fat, my butt was too big, my stomach too portruding. News flash, there was nothing wrong with me. There is nothing wrong with anyone’s physicality. Nevertheless, I stopped eating lunch in kindergarten (I WAS FUCKING FIVE) because I was done with people. Ashamed of my babyface and my slight belly. I cannot express to you how healthy I was and yet how much I “was a problem”. And then I would go to my second house and only home, that of my Latinx friend, whose mom would tell her to be “skinny”. Be more like the gringa. That didn’t sit well with me.

Skinny doesn’t fucking exist. Anorexia shouldn’t be trendy.

And then there’s unwanted groping. And when I say from everyone, I mean from a heck ton of diverse people. Over the span of most of my life. I’m not going to bother to list them out, I don’t have that energy.

Your mom is probably worried that she makes less money than a male coworker. Constantly. Whether it’s true or it isn’t is irrelevant. Anxiety can’t be the standard.

When I say I’m a feminist, moderation isn’t expected. If I am not a man-hating catlady then I should call myself an “equalist” instead. I have had guys tell me that “everyone is a feminist” so the movement is irrelevant. I have had other guys tell me that “all feminists should die” or that “third wave and second wave feminists are insane”. Stop. Just no. It is not insane to want more than voting rights. It is not insane to include poc and queer women.

In general, women are often told they are crazy. That is incredibly derogatory, incredibly ignorant. They are not crazy for expressing their emotions or themselves. And “crazy” is a word that comes from abelism.

So stop treating people like this. Especially women. Don’t tell them to sit pretty. Don’t tell them to shut up. Don’t tell them that Eve is to blame for the sin of man. Don’t harass them. Don’t assault them. Don’t drive people to suicide. Don’t murder them. Don’t deny them the little pieces of freedom that you take for granted.

Value them. Vote for them. Respect them. Let them know that you appreciate them. Female, male, nonbinary. Human.

#lgbt #queer #my story #harassment #gay #mlm #wlw #lgbtq #trending

1 note · View note

loudlytransparenttrash · 7 years ago

Text

The Truth About DACA

The decision to end DACA is a deserved end to a magnet for illegal immigration based on an unconstitutional executive order by Obama desperate for the minority vote. The Dreamer Act was completely rejected by Congress, it was never passable to begin with, it’s illegal as those who it claims to protect, though Obama took it upon himself to pass it by executive order soon after he said that he had no authority. Where were the calls for Obama’s impeachment?

So firstly, President Trump is simply undoing an illegal action and reestablishing the rule of law. We are a nation of immigrants yes, but not illegal immigrants, and we are also a nation of upholding common and ordinary law which is found in every other nation on earth. People were brought to this country illegally because we failed to enforce these basic immigration laws, these people aren’t refugees, they aren’t asylum seekers and they aren’t children, all we are doing is trying to enforce our immigration laws which have always been there.

As a sovereign nation, just as every other, we have the right to decide who comes to the U.S and we are already the most generous and welcoming. Even if we tripled our current legal immigration quotas, there would still be people who would enter or remain in the U.S illegally. Enforcing our immigration laws encourages people to come here legally, something we all support, and discourages illegal immigration, something we shouldn’t support.

To hear the media tell it, all 800,000 illegals being kept here by DACA are fantastic role models, they are the next Albert Einstein or someone on the verge of curing cancer and we Americans should be throwing ourselves at their knees in gratitude for them coming to stay with us. If your only understanding of this issue comes from the MSM, of course you are outraged over the fact that Trump is about to order an army to kick in daycare center doors, snatch up all the brown kids and hurl toddlers back over the southern border.

In reality, DACA is a shabby little temporary amnesty program created illegally for illegals. Let’s set the record straight to begin with. We aren’t talking about children here, the average age of Dreamers is 25 and many are as old as 35. They aren’t highly educated either. In August 2013, only 7.5 percent of the DACA illegals who were 18 or older had four-year college degrees. In August 2017, it dropped to only 5 percent. A significant share never event went beyond high school. The idea spread by the pro-illegal alien groups and the news media is that the DACA recipients are mostly inspiring, bright college kids, is a lie.

There’s also a little myth going around that 100 percent of DACA illegals have never broken the law. The truth is, over two thousand of them have lost their amnesty benefits due to crime and gang violence, and just as they have become less educated year by year, rates of DACA participant crime and violence have rapidly accelerated every year since 2012. Bear in mind that the bar is very low for acceptance into the DACA program, explicitly allowing people with multiple offenses and certain felony convictions to be approved. Only a handful of the applicants were ever interviewed, and rarely was their information on application ever verified.

Dreamers have long-since terminated their studies and most have committed multiple felonies in order to get jobs - Social Security fraud, forgery, perjury on I-9 forms, falsification of green cards and drivers’ licenses, identity theft, etc. DACA guidelines give illegals committing multiple felonies and significant misdemeanors a total pass as long as they have not been convicted of their criminal activity. This means that Dreamer gang-bangers, Dreamer identity thieves, Dreamer sexual predators, Dreamers who haven’t paid income taxes, and Dreamers committing a wide range of other crimes all qualify for DACA status as long as they haven’t been convicted of their crimes.

Sure, convicted murderers aren’t allowed entry into DACA, though if you have gun violations, you’ve beat your wife and skinned a cat a couple of times, you’re in, as long as it’s only two cats as successful entrants can have up to three misdemeanors regardless of severity, which is why virtually all applicants are accepted. So let’s do the math on how easy it is for anyone, no matter how little merit, to get into the DACA program that’s now being lauded by the media as “the best illegal immigration has to offer.”

According to official data from the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, DACA has a rejection rate of just six percent, which means 94 percent of all applicants, no matter how gamy their paperwork, no matter what their misdemeanors or other “acceptable” criminal activity is, and no matter how low-achieving or uneducated, all while being illegally here in the first place, have been gifted residency ahead of all legitimate immigrants who have waited in line, proven themselves to be highly qualified and educated, have proven their identity and have followed the law. One set of laws for them, one set for everyone else. This is the warped sense of equality which fails the left.

If your parents break into a stranger’s house and they tell you that this is your home now, it’s your right to live there and the police eventually come to kick you out, is it the homeowner’s fault when you are told to leave, or is it the fault of your parents for illegally entering the house in the first place and convincing you that it’s yours to stay in? The simple fact is, these adults are here illegally, and we can downplay it, lie about it and sugarcoat it all we want, the fact remains that they are here illegally, they are actively cheating the system and cheating both Americans and legal immigrants.

As I’ve said before, illegal immigrants don’t do the work Americans don’t want to do, they do the work Americans won’t do for that price. When you flood the country with illegal workers by design and suppress wages to a point where only those willing to be exploited are willing to work for peanuts, unemployment becomes a big issue. The moment businesses are forced to raise wages without illegal workers, people will flock to these jobs and employment rates soar. This does not necessarily apply to all DACA illegals, though the principle remains, illegal workers are cheating Americans and legal immigrants job opportunities, especially with hiring quotas skewing the selection process.

It’s important to remember this decision on DACA does not mean these illegals now face the risk of deportation. Trump has no plans to throw anyone out tomorrow, this is about legalizing the illegal and he has given Congress six months to fix Obama’s unconstitutional mistake. If we’re going to keep illegals here, at least the policy keeping them here should be legal. DACA is an illegally created work permit program that offers those who came here illegally to take jobs that would otherwise go to Americans citizens. Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” policies are extremely popular and with good reason, American views on putting its citizens first are no different to anyone else, though we along with other Western countries are the only ones told to be ashamed of it. Simply wanting to put fellow citizens first and follow standard immigration law is today considered Nazism.

The outrage over DACA has only started, and in the coming days we are guaranteed to be inundated with claims Trump is going to tear eight year olds from their mothers’ arm and the economy is about to collapse. My advice in the upcoming cacophony of cries and shrieks: don’t lose sight of the truth.

#daca #defend daca #dreamer #dreamers #trump #donald trump #mexico #politics #black lives matter #blm #feminism #social justice #antifa #anti sjw #sjw

75 notes · View notes

progressiveparty · 5 years ago

Text

#Traitors4Trump

Those who support Trump are anti-democratic and if they vote for him they support an end to the experiment the Founders began. The fake president in the White House is a traitor, a liar, a braggart, and a tool. Trump is violating the Constitution every chance he gets, profiting from his office, which is illegal. He sells rooms in his hotels to government employees, such as Secret Service, for higher than retail rates. He diverts military maneuvers to force personnel to land sort of near his resorts and then compels them to travel to rent rooms from him. These sorts of violations of the emoluments clause seem minor, and perhaps they are in some sense, but they reveal Trump’s bottomless greed and corruption and spoiled brat entitlement. Trump actually told a rally of his that he should be the Man of the Year every year, even as he mocked Swedish teenage climate chaos resistance girl Greta Thunberg, who was in fact declared Person of the Year by Time magazine. Some of this behavior is illegal and impeachable by Trump, much is simply disgusting. That is Trump’s daily regimen, to commit a few revolting acts every day. The world understands, the intelligence community verifies, that Putin’s Russia is once again manipulating social media and doing so to attempt to reëlect Trump. Trump cannot handle such honesty; he fires the US intelligence official who warns us about that. Traitor Trump. That is his new nick. From interfering in the justice department on behalf of his criminal friends, and falsely claiming that he is the “Chief Law Enforcement” officer in the US, to his petty attacks on anyone who isn’t fawning over him, this morally-challenged manreally not a man, just an aged big fat adolescent if we consider soul and emotional maturitythis pathetic dude is just one person. The real question for America is, “How many continue to support this bozo? He is a criminal from dawn to dusk, from dusk to dawn, and yet there are those–certainly virtually all elected Republicans who value their lives and livelihoods–who continue to lick his boots. I am so ashamed of anyone who supports Trump. I cannot believe they call themselves Americans. This is way past partisan disagreement; this is support for a gangster, a thug boss. I guess their only excuse is they are hardworking folk who only have time for one news source and it’s easiest and fastest to choose Fox News, a rabidly pro-Trump, anti-truth, fact-free source if there ever was one. Oh, well, we shouldn’t blame folks for not having the time to check it all out. Yes. We should. In the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s those of us who were working for peace, justice, and sustainability were frequently labeled commies and “Russian dupes.” Yeah. We rejected that. We were activists against Soviet domination of other countries, we opposed Soviet violations of human rights. We were the ones speaking out and acting in resistance. I personally went, in the winter of 1987, to the Soviet embassy in Washington DC and was arrested for resisting their nuclear weapons pointed at everyone I loved. I was cuffed and stuffed and went to jail for my opposition to Soviet violations of democracy. I didn’t see any Trump-type people doing anything like that. This Piece Originally Appeared in www.nationofchange.org Read the full article

#Traitors4Trump #anti-democratic #constitution #DonaldTrump #fakepresident #founders #Trump

0 notes

brauronia · 7 years ago

Note

hi! i do not live in spain and have only visited barcelona + heard the catalonia pro-independence perspective but i found your post really interesting. npr and bbc talked about how catalonia itself is very divided (almost 50/50). despite a lot of news sources making it seem united pro-independence. what is your perspective?

Hi! Thank you for your interest :)

Let me start by saying that I’m not Catalonian, but I know what it feels like to be oppressed by Spain (perhaps better than them). I am from the northwest of the peninsula, a little region called Galicia. We, too, have our own language (although it’s dying because nobody uses it). We, too, are oppressed. The word ‘Galician’ was actually a synonym for ‘fool’ in the official Spanish dictionary until just a few years ago (they removed it because it’s not policitally correct but they still think we’re idiots.) My cousin was studying in another part of Spain, and he protested that an exam had been too diffcult; the teacher’s response was: ‘Is a Galician boy actually telling me how my exams should be?’. Literally. But the worst part is that we are ashamed of our culture. If a young person speaks Galician, they will be mocked at because ‘only old people speak Galician’. That’s the worst stage of social oppression, the moment you are ashamed of your identity.

So I’m not Catalonian but I know what those who want the independence feel. I think it’s just as simple as letting them VOTE. The Spanish government has refused to allow a referendum because the constitution does not allow it. They have refused to give people a chance to express themselves and choose their destiny as a nation. So the Catalonian parliament decided to have an illegal referendum. So far so good.

Now, only 2 million people voted. 2 million people. There was no control whatsoever: anyone could vote (tourists and children included). Some even fucking voted TWICE. Do you think this referendum is enough to declare the independence? No, it’s not. It’s not DEMOCRATIC. It shocks me when the Catalan president says that he is just following Catalonia’s wish in declaring the independence, because he doesn’t know what Catalonia wants. He knows what 2 million people want. What about all the people who didn’t vote? For fucks sake. This shit is wild.

So I think both sides are behaving like idiots. The Spanish government refuses to change the constitution and let a legal, proper referendum happen. The Catalan parliament has decided to declare the independence for like no fucking reason (because 2 million people’s votes is not representative of the whole Catalonian community). The majority of Catalonia did not express themselves.

And you know what’s the best part? The European Union has closed the doors to ‘The Republic of Catalonia’ (which is, don’t forget, A LIE! Only 2 million people said yes to that republic! We don’t know what Catalonia wants as a whole!). What are they going to do now, with no help whatsoever? Business companies are already moving from Catalonia to other parts of Spain because this shit is getting wild. What currency are they even going to use? This is just so ridiculous! They declared the independence but they have no idea how they’re gonna deal with economy and commerce.

I just wish Catalonia were given the chance to decide for real. Because that illegal referendum is NOT enough to declare the independence. We don’t know if that’s what Catalonia wants for real. Don’t forget that there are people who feel Spanish and want to remain in Spain, because they feel that being Catalan and Spanish are not incompatible. That’s a valid feeling, too, and it should be respected. With that I do not mean to imply that I don’t support those who do not feel Spanish at all. With that I mean that people have different opinions and we should just let them SPEAK and decide what they want to be, but nor the Spanish government nor the Catalan parliament are interested in hearing all of people’s wishes.

Anyway, that’s how I see it. Nothing about this situation is democratic to me. You can’t just declare the independence (with all the economical impact it implies) based on 2 million votes and call it a ‘democratic act’. It’s not. It’s despotic. And you can’t just refuse to listen to Catalonia’s wish to SPEAK AND VOTE just because it’s not legal. WHY IS EVERYONE SO STUPID IN THIS COUNTRY

#answered #Catalonia #Spain #I’m so pissed about my country #I mean I always am #but this is getting so ridiculous #if this were a comedy drama I would be laughing my ass off at all these poorly made decisions

5 notes · View notes

dontvoteconservative · 5 years ago

Text

2019 General Election Fallout

With the benefit of a few days to reflect, I'll give it my best go to summarise the position and various issues as I see them following the 2019 General Election which naturally I welcome any comments on. It's going to be a long one! There was a level of naivety - from Corbyn, his team, the party members, me, and everyone associated with what they/we were trying to do. We thought that we could send out a message and it would win enough people over and become a genuine mass movement. After 2017, Corbyn had earned every right to try and expand that message - and I don't think he was wrong that he has been successful to an extent in reframing a number of key debates around government spending, austerity, nationalisation vs. privatisation and so on. In addition, young people became more engaged with politics than ever before. I fear that many of them will become disillusioned following this election, but many won't and it bears repeating that there is no way that those people would have been inspired by Andy Burnham or Liz Kendall. The 18-24 year old electoral map is just a big red island so there are long term signs of encouragement. None of this provides very much consolation about the result, but I think it is important to provide that context. Back to the naivety; we mistakenly believed that more people would hear the message and it would sway them sufficiently to at least mitigate any losses, for Brexit reasons or otherwise. With that being said, I think the writing was on the wall either way, for reasons I've talked about at length previously; in short, that Brexit had become such a culturally significant issue and the debate had been reduced to Leave vs. Remain with no desire on either side of that divide to hear the other side and Labour had to try and appeal to both sides simultaneously. For reasons I explained during the campaign, Labour's position of trying to find a solution that would do some of what both sides wanted, but not all of what either one wanted, was risky but no more so than doing what the commentariat (who are now smugly trying to say 'told you so') wanted, which was strongly advocating a Remain position. That would have been worse for sure, as well as less morally justifiable - we know that's true because the Liberal Democrats advocated strongly for Remain and also ended up with less seats than they began with. We had to try and show that we could be a uniting force and hope that enough people hated the Tories sufficiently to view them as the worse option. I think Rory Stewart was actually correct in a brief interview I saw him give on Friday when asked - the majority of people just aren't as ideologically minded as that. That's probably an obvious thing to say but the hope was that we could actually get more people to be more engaged in that way. This may sound patronising but there just isn't the level of understanding across the country required for a lot of people to be receptive to the investment based strategy that we were trying to put forward and that meant the manifesto wasn't trusted even though the content was pretty brilliant - it was too much all at once for people to believe in (although I don't think this is the biggest factor at all). Decades of conditioning have taught people that borrowing = bad and that's going to be really difficult to unravel. On Corbyn - one of the big messages that's been shouted very loudly is that Corbyn was a big turn off on the doorstep; I don't deny that this is true. Another big message is that blaming the media is abdicating responsibility - this is nonsense. The suggestion seems to be being made that public opinion of Corbyn exists in a vacuum and has been arrived at independently of media coverage of him, and/or that the media are neutral arbiters of politics who merely present facts rather than making a lot of conscious decisions in order to influence public opinion, often via misrepresentations or outright lies, which is so self evidently ludicrous it shouldn't need to be said. We saw that whenever voters got access to Corbyn and his message directly, the reaction was excellent and people were won over. Not enough people, but quite a lot (obviously many wouldn't give themselves the opportunity to hear him directly). To those people who aren't politically engaged, of course Corbyn was a turn off. But the thing is, so was Gordon Brown and so was Ed Milliband. Perhaps not to the same extent but Brexit made everything a lot more stark. The next Labour leader is going to face this as well and five years from now we may well just be hearing 'so and so was a turnoff on the doorstep'. Because Corbyn has a long history of outspoken activism on a number of topics, it did make the job easier than usual. Not because he had acted in a way that was nefarious or contrary to the interests of the UK, or any group of people, but because they could scare people with references to the IRA, or Czech spies etc and create a level of association without mentioning his long history of being a passionate campaigner for worker rights, social justice and so on. If we are going to say that we cannot have political leaders like this because the papers will drag them, we are saying that Murdoch can have our country and our democracy, in which case what's the point in anything? I have to say that I find the sneering at 'hobbyists/entryists' (the people who became very engaged over the last few years) absolutely revolting. The 'Cult of Corbyn' are largely a generation that face a number of virtually insurmountable obstacles in terms of their future prospects. How can you blame them for attempting something radical and trying to move in a direction away from scapegoating, away from climate disaster, away from the continued crushing of working people into ever less secure employment, lower wages etc.? We should want more people involved and engaged - the attitude that they are responsible for this result by showing some passion and having some fucking hope sends a clear message; politics is a closed shop and you aren't welcome. Anyone remotely implying that should be ashamed of themselves. There's also a widespread bout of amnesia that appears to have gripped the commentariat - yes, we got battered. Yes, we do need to try something different in some way. But we tried the way they're saying and we lost then as well, WITHOUT the added issue of Brexit. I am in general agreement with Shaun Lawson on Twitter who always writes very interesting and thoughtful threads on Labour - because of the issue I mentioned above of Labour having essentially two target electorates who are in many cases totally opposed to each other, it's difficult to know what direction to go in and this is a big problem for the next leader. How do we win back the 'LABOUR HEARTLANDS' without alienating the other half (which is of course people like me)? Because if it's socially conservative 'values' and dog whistles about immigration, that's going to be a huge turn off. The other aspect of that amnesia is that the election of Corbyn was itself a reaction to how little Labour were perceived to be doing for vast swathes of the population. The same people that are on Twitter now talking about how right they were are the ones that created Corbyn as leader, as well as Boris Johnson as leader, in much the same way that the Clintons of the world created President Trump. Any suggestion that a return to this is a guaranteed (or likely) vote winner, or that it would have been more attractive at this election, is pretty fanciful stuff. To summarise, I don't think there's anyone who could have led Labour to a substantially different result at this election and honestly things look equally bleak for the next ten years. Until the proportion of people in this country who do not consume their news from the traditional media sources shifts far enough that it starts to make a tangible difference, it's going to be a tough slog. I expect that we will see legislation that seeks to curtail access to independent media, via elimination of net neutrality or other means to try and stem that flow.

That’s the current state of play - the next thing will be to await the leadership election and see who the runners and riders are. Obviously a bit of a sick joke to say this now, but remember not to vote Conservative, won’t you.

0 notes

blessedarethebinarybreakers · 7 years ago

Note

(1/2) Hello lately I have been confused and cowardly, Recently I was in a car with my parents and holding some money. A homeless man knocked on the window and even though I could've easily helped him, I didn't for I was afraid of judgement and i was greedy ( my parents and their friend were talking about how homeless people don't use the money in good ways anyway) I felt TERRIBLE as we drove away, and still do. Now I am again confused and cowardly regarding the incident in Charolettesville.(1/2)

(2/2) I’ve always had the philosophy not to fight hate with hate, but I believe you are right in one of your recent posts regarding the matter. I’m not very brave and I’m pretty weak, as seen with the homeless man, so this leads me to wonder how I can be brave enough to stand up for justice. How can I be brave and do what God wants by helping people. I am so afraid in this world, and I want to help but my fear gets in the way but things that are going on is too much not to help even in small way

Hello there, thanks for reaching out. You are asking some really important questions and you’re definitely not alone in having them or feeling confused or cowardly. I’m going to start by addressing your story about the homeless man and then move on to Charlottesville and how to stand up for justice.

I’ve had multiple encounters with people asking for money on the sidewalk or by walking up to my car, and some of them haunt me. There’s guilt to my memories of them, yes, but I try to focus not on that guilt but on how I can do better next time. The past is the past and we can’t change it, but we can do better in the future.

I moved to Louisville last year from a suburb, and the people walking up to your car at a red light to ask for cash was something new to me. The first time it happened, I had nothing to give, and the rest of the day that person haunted me. I let them haunt me, because the memory inspired me to act – the next time I went driving, I put some ones and fives in my car so that I’d be ready for the next person.

The next person to knock on my window was a woman in early December, her breath coming out as fog in the cold. I gave her some money and wished her the best in the short time before the light turned green, and a few minutes after I’d driven away I thought crap. Her hands must be freezing, and I doubt she’ll use the little money she has to get gloves. I should have given her the gloves I was wearing. She and her frozen hands haunt me still, even now that it’s mid-August. And I am glad for the haunting – there’s the occasional twinge of guilt but I transform it into a resolve to be better.

The most recent person to ask me for some money was on the sidewalk of Charlotte, North Carolina. I was recovering from top surgery that week and had been praying for small opportunities to pay back how I’d been blessed – this could have been the perfect chance but I only had a credit card, no cash, on me. So that man haunts me too; and only just this morning I thought of how I should have, could have helped him, what I should have said: “Hello, I’m sorry I don’t have any cash on me, but my girlfriend and I are walking to a restaurant right now. If you like, you can either tell us what you’d want from their and we’ll bring it back to you here, or you can come with us and eat with us.”

So he haunts me and will continue to haunt me and again, I thank God for these ghosts in my memory, reminding me that I have so much to do to become a better follower of Jesus in the world. You had you past moment and it haunts you – how will you be ready for future moments?

So that addresses the guilt about the moments you’ve missed the chance to help someone. But what about the question of whether you should give homeless people money at all? Because I’m sure it’s true that some of them spend the money in ways you wouldn’t want. I have several responses to that.

1) Give them something instead of money. I have some classmates who carry granola bars in their car so that when someone comes to their window, they can offer food instead of cash. I’ve heard of people who make care packages in ziplock bags with things like bandaids and toothbrushes and quarters that they hand out too.You can also do the whole “I’m about to go in X store / restaurant, is there something I can buy you” or if it’s cold, have gloves or a hat ready to give them. And I wish to God I could get over my anxiety and shyness and give them some conversation, because that’s a gift too and one a lot of people who sit/stand on the sidewalk all day sorely want.

2) Give them money and know it might not go towards what you want but hey, once it’s their money it’s out of your hands. And if it’s cold and they buy whiskey or some cigarettes, they may just be trying to survive the cold buy ingesting something warm. We are called to help how we can, not to judge. I suppose you might also talk to them, be like “I’m hoping you’ll use this cash to buy some food, but I understand it’s out of my control.” They may listen!

3) Because yeah, the argument many people give that “all” or “most” people asking for money spend it on bad things, or that they got themselves into this mess through addiction so why help them …. are pretty loveless arguments. Statistically, a good number of “panhandlers” are supporting children or others.

Now, it’s also important to keep yourself safe. Don’t stop your car and pull down your window on a dark / deserted street to talk to someone, or invite someone to eat with you if you’re alone and don’t think you could defend yourself against them if needed. Be loving, but be smart too.

And it sounds like you still live with your parents – it may be hard sometimes to help folks when they’re around. I was the same way, when my parents and I would go into the city and there’d be people on the sidewalks asking for money – my parents always said something if I stopped to give them even just loose change. So often I wouldn’t, just to avoid those comments. It’s up to you whether you have the money to spare as well as whether you’re able to give it around your parents without harm to you. Giving a smile, acknowledging the person exists, is a good thing too. And you’ve got time to help, and other ways to help – such as volunteering at a food pantry or giving money to such a place, if you can.

Now on to the next topic.

To expand a little on my opposition to the “don’t fight hate with hate” comments many people make, my main frustration with such comments (or “there’s been violence on both sides!” etc.) is that they derail the conversation. We need to be focusing on how to help the side that, like, doesn’t have nazis and white supremacists on it, rather than policing their tactics.

It’s not that I’m a fan of hate or anything, but too often the frustration and fear of the oppressed is raised up to be “just as bad” as what the oppressors or doing – despite the fact that the oppressors have way more power to actually act on hatred, to be violent without consequence. In Charlottesville, for example, some counter-protestors maced nazis and pushed nazis around. Meanwhile, the nazis waved torches in people’s faces, also used mace and pushed people around, and got multiple people hospitalized, beat at least one Black man near to death, and killed a person. And yet there are people on Facebook who don’t talk about that, about the ideologies of the nazis that want everyone who’s not white to disappear from our country….they talk about how “both sides” had some violence and spread the platitude of fighting hate with love. It doesn’t help, it doesn’t do anything but make the oppressed feel unheard.

And on to your desire to fight for justice but worry that fear will stop you. It’s okay to be scared. Seriously. It doesn’t make you a coward. So many of us are terrified right now for various reasons. Don’t be ashamed of your fear, but bring it to God and pray for courage to work through the fear. Brainstorm ways to work past the fear in advance, because in the heat of the moment the fear will probably win out if you don’t have a plan to combat it.

If you’re a white person, it is our job to confront racism when we see or hear it among other white people. This is hard. It’s not fun. Especially when it’s racism from our parents or siblings or friends. If speaking out would put you in real danger -- such as if your parents would hurt you for doing so (emotional abuse counts) -- then it’s okay not to talk to them. Keep safe!! But when you have the emotional energy and it’s safe to do so, find ways to call people out. Comment on someone’s racist status on Facebook that no, their view is not okay. Or make your own posts sharing people of color’s tweets or articles about what’s going on -- even if it means a lot of people are going to comment obnoxious crap on them. Even if you don’t have the words or the answers when people try to argue with you, you saying something will show people of color and other marginalized groups who see your comment that there are people on their side.

Another great thing to do that’s more private is to message individuals. Reach out to any friends of color, Jewish folks, LGBTQ folks you know and let them know that if they need someone to vent to you’re there, or to know that you’re thinking of them and they’re not alone. This takes courage in its own way. Some of them may not respond at all, some may respond with a quick thanks or looking for real conversation. Whatever they answer, it will help at least some of them. We all need reminders that we’re not alone right now.

If you are old enough to vote, vote! Not just in the big elections. And call or write your representatives; if you google for information on how to do so in your state you’ll find lots of resources, including scripts you can read from.

It’s really important to be listening to people of color right now and raising their voices; to listen to Jewish people and raise their voices, to LGBTQ people and disabled people and so on and raise their voices. So listen, share. Educate yourself. You’ll hear ways to help.

And when the fear keeps you from doing something you know you should do, it’s okay. Acknowledge the guilt you feel and bring it to God with prayers to transform it into future action. How can you learn from past mistakes to do better now?

To close this long thing, I’ve got a prayer for you.

God of Justice,This person has glimpsed your call to support the oppressed and to lift them up, but they are enwrapped in so much fear. Be with them. Let them know their fear is human, that it’s okay. Ease their guilt, their anxiety, and transform them, God. Let them learn to focus not on human judgment and arguments but on the need to fight for justice. As they begin to make small steps towards that, may it get easier for them. Send your Spirit of courage to inspire and motivate them, and your Spirit of understanding and right judgment to help them realize that love is often loud. As they seek to do your will, may this prayer sing in their heart: Make me your instrument of justice, God. Make me your instrument of justice. Amen.

If anyone has more to add to this, please do!

#anon #queerly christian asks #homelessness #activism #social justice #nazism mention #white supremacy #nazis #long post

22 notes · View notes