#can we do a change dot org petition for this

[centrally-unplanned]

As someone who understands US government: what do petitions actually do? Enshrined in the first amendment is the right to.....sign our names on a list that says that if we get enough people, the government HAS to declare all schools must serve chocolate milk for lunch? Does the government actually care about petitions from Change dot org? Are they obligated to read/acknowledge them and then able to throw away? Is there a minimum number of signatures, and can some of them be Darth Vader, Seymour Butts, etc?

The answer is - generally nothing, but it is complex! Change Dot Org petitions don't matter, nor do most you are harassed about on the street. These are just a bad form of polling and are rightly ignored.

But many individual states have things petitions can do. In California you can propose straight-up laws! Get ~500k signatures and it will be on the ballot. Recalling elected officials, repealing congressional bills, and more are all on the table in the right context. It is mainly a state-level thing; the US Federal government does not to my knowledge have any legal place for petitions (if there are niche cases interested to learn!)

[charitytitter]

United Health Scare

Ok, I swear I didn't retire from Ai art just to turn this into a Political blog... but now that all eyes are on the injustices perpetrated by the corrupt and downright murderous Private Healthcare system in the U.S., I thought I would take the opportunity to pass along a Petition that a friend of mine created on Change DOT org. It isn't just a rant or complaint. It proposes actual solutions that can be passed onto our politicians, and it also contains instructions for how to hit the Healthcare Corporations where it actually hurts them (in their wallets). Please have a look, sign, and pass it along if it feels reasonable for you to do so. https://www.change.org/FixHealthcareUSA

[red-jaw329]

Ladies, gentlemen, those who can't be bothered with all that, the situation in Florida has somehow, SOMEHOW, become even worse. For those who don't know, our governor, the dark lord DeSantis, has just vetoed 32 million dollars worth of pre-approved funding for the arts here in Florida. Why? He says it's because the fringe festival (an international arts festival that actually received very little state funding) is "A sexual festival, where all this stuff is happening". Not only is this statement false, but the fringe festival is just a small part of the theaters, community centers, museums, and other groups who will struggle to get by. Please, if you live in Florida, call your representatives, make it clear how egregious this action is, and if you don't live in Florida, please share this with others. I'm also leaving a link to change dot org at the bottom. I don't know if DeSantis will listen to our petition, but we have to do everything we can.

[cyaneyedcl]

screaming crying in front of wit studio begging on my knees for another owari no seraph season so i can see mika and yuu be the lovers duo that go against the world to save each other

[oberynmartell]

List of Black Lives Matter and Racial Equality Petitions to sign:

infographic on why YOU SHOULD NOT DONATE TO CHANGE DOT ORG

one of the most comprehensive, well-rounded, and well researchd compilations of blm related resources (includes petitions, donation links, venmo accounts, names of people in need, etc) thats out there. please share this link everywhere and anywhere. 

a black lives matter carrd that includes petitions, donation links, blm movement information, links on how to donate to BLM without spending money, black owned businesses, etc. 

a black lives matter carrd that lists all the petitions that need to be signatures all in one place!

Justice for George Floyd

Justice for George Floyd 2

Justice for George Floyd 3

Charge the Officers Responsible for George Floyd’s Murder 

Charge the Officers Responsible for George Floyd’s Murder 2

Justice For Ahmuad Arbery

Justice For Ahmuad Arbery 2

Justice for Breonna Taylor

Stand with Breonna

Charge Officers Responsible for Breonna Taylor’s Murder

Justice For Tamir Rice

Justice For Tamir Rice 2

Justice For Joāo Pedro

Justice for Alejandro Vargas Martinez

Justice for Belly Mujinga.

Justice for Rashad Cunningham

Justice For Tony McDade

Justice for Dion Johnson

Justice for Jennifer Jeffley

Justice for Young Uwa

Justice for Elijah Nichols

Justice for Tete Gulley

Justice for Tazne Van Wyk

Justice for Michael Dean

Justice For Amari Boone

Justice for Darrius Stewart

Justice for Shukri Abdi

Justice for Ashton Dickson

Justice For Darrius Stewart

Justice for David McAtee

Justice for Cameron Green

Justice for Crystal Mason

Justice For Zinedine

Justice for Regis Korchinski-Paquet

Justice for Christopher Josey

Justice for Amiya Braxton

Justice For Emerald Black

Justice for Andile Mchunu

Justice for Cameron Green

Justice for Tamla Horsford

Justice for Collins Khosa

Justice for Sean Monterrosa

Free Siyanda

Reopen Sandra Bland’s Case 

Free Willie Simmons who has served 38 years for a $9 robbery

Get Washington State to Hold Police Officers Accountable for Police Brutality

Arrest Officer Jared Campbell for macing a child 

Demand Jail Time for Dylan Mota and Jacob Robles

Demand Jail Time for All Police who Murder Innocent People

Fire Racist Criminal Michael J Reynolds from the NYPD

Petition for Nationwide Police De-Escalation Training

Petition for Nationwide Police Required Racial Bias Test

stop immigrants being poisoned by ICE

Ban the use of inhumane rubber bullets

Demand a retrial for Angel Bumpass wrongfully convicted 13 year old with a life sentence

End Police Brutality and Violence Against BIPOC in the USA

Ban the use of rubber bullets for crowd control

Join Campaign Zero

Drop All Charges Against Incarcerated Trafficking Survivor Chrystul Kizer!

Reopen Kendrick Johnson's Case

Abolish Prison Labour in the USA

Require Dash and Body Cameras for the King County Sheriff's Office

Demand a retrial for Angel Bumpass wrongfully convicted 13 year old with a life sentence

Sign the Police Accountability Act into Law

Justice for Elijah Nichols 

Exonerate Eric Riddick

Justice For Luz Gonzalez!

Support a new law to be made in Trayvon Martin's name to stop from claiming self defense after aggravated murder

Justice for James Scurlock

Justice for Philando Castile

Issue a State executive order to hold police accountable for unlawful action

Don't let Julius Jones be executed by the state of Oklahoma

Help pass the Hands Up Act, which prohibits police officers from shooting unarmed citizens and carries a mandatory 15-year prison sentence if there isn’t a weapon found after someone has been shot by a police officer

A twitter thread linking to many, many Brazilian Petition that still need signatures

Justice for Jamarion Robinson

Justice for Elijah McClain

Fire Jared Campbell

Dismiss the charges on Marshae Jones and charge the one who shot her and her unborn baby

Justice for Anderson Arboleda [Petition only in Español] 

Drop Charges Against Trafficking Survivor Chrystul Kizer

Justice for Julian Cole

Reopen Kenneka Jenkins Case

Justice for LeVena Johnson

Justice for Matthew Tucker

Justice for Regis Korchinski-Paquet 

Justice for Christopher

Abolish Confederate Branding at Richland High School

Justice for Justin Howell

Justice for Brad Levi Ayala

Justice for Mike Ramos

Justice for Brad Levi Ayala

Make Juneteenth a Federal Holiday

Ban the use of rubber bullets for crowd control

Make Lynching a Federal Crime

Tell Congress you support making lynching a federal hate crime

Demand Capezio provide skin color inclusive dance clothing

Justice for Kylie Lindsey and Isabella Chinchilla

Justice for Maurice Gordon Jr.

Justice for Alaa

Justice for Robert Fuller

Justice for Elijah McClain

Justice for Elijah McClain 2

Demand The KKK be declared a terrorist group

Demand The KKK be declared a terrorist group 2

Demand The KKK be declared a terrorist group 3

Reopen the case of Sandra Bland

Reopen the case of Kenneka Jenkins 

Justice for Jonas Joseph

Justice for Tazne Van Wyk

Justice for Cláudia Ferreira

Justice for James Scurlock

Justice for David Dorn

Demand Justice for Darren Rainey

Justice for LeVena Johnson!

Justice for Maurice Gordon Jr.

Justice for Alton Sterling

Justice for Dana Fletcher 

Justice for Dominique Fells

Justice for Gregory Johnson, Jr.

Justice For Darrius Stewart

Arrest Jennifer Watson for Attempted Murder

Justice for Andile Mchunu

Justice for Christopher Josey

Grant Clemency to Crosley Green

Ban The Use of Tear Gas on Civilians

Justice For Tyler Lumar

Justice for Alaa

Ban The Confederate Flag From Public Schools

Remove 20ft Confederate "Stonewall" Jackson statue from Manassas National Battlefield Park

Justice for Tshego Pule

Justice for Tyler J Evans

Donation Links

A thread of Youtuve videos you can stream to donate to BLM

Official George Floyd Memorial Fund

OFFICIAL Gianna Floyd Fund (George Floyd's child)

Black Lives Matter

We Cant Breathe

43 Bail Funds to Support

Homeless Black Trans women fund

Split a donation between 70+ community bail funds, mutual aid funds, and racial justice organizers

Minnesota Healing Justice Network

Women for Political Change

Spiral Collective

When We All Vote

National List of Bail and Mutual Aid Funds/Organizers/Black Owned Businesses

Venmo names of black trans people that need help

Latino Community on Lake Street

Black Immigrant Collective

Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha

Atlanta Black Owned Business Relief

Al Maa'uun

Remembering Shana Isuroon 

Fundraising for destroyed black owned businesses

Joyce Preschool

Black Table Arts

Northside business support

Du Nord Riot Recovery Fund

Unicorn Riot

Donate to Destiny Harrison & her daughter Dream’s Legacy

Pimento Relief Fund

Southside Harm Reduction

West Broadway Business and Area Coalition

Division of Indian Work

TC Care Collective

Justice for Breonna Taylor

Justice for Jamee

Justice for David McAtee

Donate to Brandon Saenz who was shot in the left eye by a rubber bullet, and lost the eye, several teeth, and had facial fractures that required several surgeries

HOW TO DONATE INTERNATIONALLY/SITES THAT ACCEPT INTERNATIONAL CURRENCY 

HOW DONATE WITH NO MONEY

HOW TO DONATE WITH NO MONEY BY STREAMING THIS

HOW TO DONATE TO BLM BY SHARING LINKS

A list of black owned businesses we should be supporting! + a list of black owned businesses we should be supporting that accept international currency!

DO NOT DONATE TO SHAUN KING

DO NOT DONATE TO CHANGE.ORG

Donation for Justice for Saraneka “Nemo” Martin — pregnant protester shot during protest

Donations for Mike Ramos

Donations for Elijah McClain

Donations for Elijah McClain 2

* this list is constantly updated (new links added at the bottom) so please keep checking back for new information on petitions and ways to donate!!

updated as of 11 october 2020 — please continue to send me the petitions and fundraisers that you come across so i can add them!!  

[spidermaninlove]

Anon. It's not just you. His chest puffs with pride -- and protectiveness, if I'm not mistaken. And he looks sure, secure, purposeful, and grown-up-manly. She's his reason.

Anon. Seriously, how do we petition Amy Pascal and whomever else? In musicals of the 30s and 40s (which I love love love), it was almost the rule to have a beloved, ongoing pairing in films. Please: T&Z in the Fred Astaire movie, and T&Z as the paired-up go-to couple for movies with singing and dancing. Can you imagine?! We need joy like that. And I daresay it'd be more than joyful for them. So. Anyone know how we get in touch with Amy? Is something on change-dot-org going too far? :-)

moi:  First things first, we need to help Z protect her man by tweeting Sony to give him a face zip and while we’re at it, ask for a toilet zip as well.  On a side note, would Z ask us to band together for this cause if Tom was no longer playing Spidey?  I think not.  After that, then we can petition for them to play a couple in another movie.  It wouldn’t be the first time actors with chemistry have paired up in more than one movie. 

[mostlysignssomeportents]

We Need To Save .ORG From Arbitrary Censorship By Halting the Private Equity Buy-Out

The .ORG top-level domain and all of the nonprofit organizations that depend on it are at risk if a private equity firm is allowed to buy control of it. EFF has joined with over 250 respected nonprofits to oppose the sale of Public Interest Registry, the (currently) nonprofit entity that operates the .ORG domain, to Ethos Capital. Internet pioneers including Esther Dyson and Tim Berners-Lee have spoken out against this secretive deal. And 12,000 Internet users and counting have added their voices to the opposition.

What’s the harm in this $1.135 billion deal? In short, it would give Ethos Capital the power to censor the speech of nonprofit organizations (NGOs) to advance commercial interests, and to extract ever-growing monopoly rents from those same nonprofits. Ethos Capital has a financial incentive to engage in censorship—and, of course, in price increases. And the contracts that .ORG operates under don’t create enough accountability or limits on Ethos’s conduct.

Take Action

 SIGN THE PETITION TO DEFEND DOT ORGS

Domain Registries Have Censorship Power

Registries like PIR manage the Internet’s top-level domains under policies set out by ICANN, the governing body for the Internet’s domain name system. Registries have the power to suspend domain names, or even transfer them to other Internet users, subject to their contracts with ICANN. When a domain name is suspended, all of the Internet resources that use that name are disrupted, including websites, email addresses, and apps. That power lets registries exert influence over speech on the Internet in much the same way that social networks, search engines, and other well-placed intermediaries can do. And that power can be sold or bartered to other powerful groups, including repressive governments and corporate interests, giving them new powers of censorship.

Using the Internet’s chokepoints for censorship already happens far too often. For example:

The registry operators Donuts and Radix, who manage several hundred top-level domains, have private agreements with the Motion Picture Association of America to suspend domains based on accusations of copyright infringement from major movie studios, with no court order or right of appeal.

The search engine Bing, along with firewall maintainers and other intermediaries, has suppressed access to websites offering truthful information about obtaining prescription medicines from online pharmacies. They acted at the request of groups with close ties to U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturers who seek to keep drug prices high. The same groups have sought cooperation from domain registries and their governing body, ICANN.

The governments of Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, among others, regularly submit a flood of takedown requests to intermediaries, presumably in the hope that those intermediaries won’t examine those requests closely enough to reject the unjustified and illegal requests buried within them.

Saudi Arabia has relied on intermediaries like Medium, Snapchat, and Netflix to censor journalism it deems critical of the country’s totalitarian government.

DNA, a trade association for the domain name industry, has proposed a broad program of Internet speech regulation, to be enforced with domain suspensions, also with no accountability or due process guarantees for Internet users.

As the new operator of .ORG, Ethos Capital would have the ability to engage in these and other forms of censorship. It could enforce any limitations on nonprofits’ speech, including selective enforcement of particular national laws. For intermediaries with power over speech, such conduct can be lucrative, if it wins the favor of a powerful industry like the U.S. movie studios or of the government of an authoritarian country where the intermediary wishes to do business. Since many NGOs are engaged in speech that seeks to hold governments and industry to account, those powerful interests have every incentive to buy the cooperation of a well-placed intermediary, including an Ethos-owned PIR.

Not Enough Safeguards

The sale of PIR to Ethos Capital erodes the safeguards against this form of censorship.

First, the .ORG TLD has a unique meaning. A new NGO website or project may be able to use a different top-level domain, but none carries the same message. A domain name ending in .ORG is the key signifier of non-commercial, public-minded organizations on the Internet. Even the new top-level domains .NGO and .ONG (also run by PIR), which would appear to be substitutes for .ORG, have seen little use.

Established NGOs are in even more of a bind. The .ORG top-level domain is 34 years old, and many of the world’s most important NGOs have used .ORG names for decades. For established NGOs, changing domain names is scarcely an option. Changing from .ORG to a .INFO or .US domain, for example, means disrupting email communications, losing search engine placement, and incurring massive expenses to change an organization’s basic online identity. Established NGOs are effectively a captive audience for the policies and prices set by PIR.

Second, the top-level domain for nonprofits should itself be run by a nonprofit. Today, PIR is a subsidiary of the Internet Society (ISOC), which also promotes Internet access worldwide and oversees the Internet’s basic technical standards. ISOC is a longstanding part of the community of Internet governance organizations. When ISOC created PIR in 2002, it touted its nonprofit status and position in the community as the reasons it should run .ORG. And those community ties help explain why, when PIR proposed building its own copyright enforcement system in 2016, outcry from the community caused it to back down. If PIR is operated for private profit, it will inevitably be less attentive to the Internet governance community.

Third, ICANN, the organization that sets policy for the domain name system, has been busy removing the legal guardrails that could protect nonprofit users of .ORG. Earlier this year, ICANN removed caps on registration fees for .ORG names, allowing PIR to raise prices at will on its captive customer base of nonprofits. And ICANN also gave PIR explicit permission to create new “protections for the rights of third parties”—often used as a justification and legal cover for censorship—without community input or accountability.

Without these safeguards, the sale of PIR to Ethos raises unacceptable risks of censorship and financial exploitation for nonprofits the world over. Yet Ethos and ISOC insist on completing the sale as quickly as possible, without addressing the community’s concerns. Their only response to the massive public outcry against the deal has been vague, unenforceable promises of good behavior.

The sale needs to be halted, and a process begun to guarantee the rights of nonprofit Internet users. You can help by signing the petition:

TAKE ACTION

 SIGN THE PETITION TO DEFEND DOT ORGS

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/12/we-need-save-org-arbitrary-censorship-halting-private-equity-buy-out

[imeverywoman420]

You should have a charm school (flavor of love/rock of love charm school style) for FDS posters. I lurk there for drama every once in a while and each time I return it's like barging into a room full of miserable jane austen characters cooing for husbands and taking smelling salts because they accidentally remembered pornography exists again. It's women with 10 exes GUFFAWING over the POOR UNFORTUNATE HOOERS having bigdick orgasms with a hookup or a friend or bf or anyone she is comfortable not demanding marriage from.

I literally want that so bad like do i need a change dot org petition or something how can we make this happen.

[mermaidsirennikita]

I’m going to be that person that never heard of the Bridgerton book series till the show came out and after I have been more fascinated in knowing how the rest of the Bridgerton siblings find love. I actually bought Anthony’s book so I can read it and be prepared for season 2! I will miss the duke but it’s called Bridgerton for a reason. I honestly hope to get all the book seasons! It makes me mad that the fans leaving are more shallow and only watched the show because of the eye candy and not for the amazing stories that have yet to come. I’m honestly proud that Rege is getting more roles because he deserves it and I can’t wait to see him in more things soon. Sorry had to vent!

Nah, I get you!  And I think a lot of people are in your boat but they won’t be very vocal.  I mean, some chucklehead’s already got a change dot org petition out there trying to get Rege-Jean back like he didn’t sign on for other jobs because he wants to progress in his career.  Lol it’s like, insulting that they think he didn’t make this choice on his own?  He signed on for a different NETFLIX production that would conflict with this show.  He’s a man who wants big things and he’s getting them and if you want to see more of him go support him in his new endeavors.  I know I will.  Why does he need to be macking on Phoebe for people to care?

Unless a lot of why people were obsessed with Simon was a weirdly fetishistic take in which they only wanted him when he was dressed up in period clothes and getting with a cute but not too cute woman they could project themselves onto?

Anyway.

If the audience can’t get behind a new love story per season, then I don’t see this show making it past season 3 or 4, per the ways of Netflix.  Netflix bases most of its renewals on how many new subs a show can bring to the platform, and in a lot of ways fresh exciting faces per season SHOULD support this.  A lot of people will hopefully watch s2 who didn’t watch s1 because they won’t have to worry about continuity and for that matter can see themselves in Kate Sharma in a way they couldn’t with the other seasons.  But a lot of other people don’t seem to care about how important Simone’s casting is.  Which is really sad.

Ultimately, as you said, it is about the family and each family member finding love.  This was never solely Daphne’s story.  We saw her story play out.  Now it’s time for Anthony’s (and Kate’s).  Then it will be time for Benedict, and so on.  This is also the way a billion dollar industry has traditionally functioned for years, so hopefully people will be able to get over themselves and see what’ll happen with s2.  And support RJ!  You can do that!

[uwumauk]

This is quite different than usual, but with the abhorrent goings on over in America right now I feel like I should put this account to use, since it’s the biggest platform I have access to.

What happened to George Floyd and many others, and what’s happening to the people protesting for their rights to exist safely, are evil, evil things. Obviously. No one needs me to tell them that and I don’t want to sound like I’m talking down to you all. Antiblackness has been built into the core of societies around the world for centuries, and America is being highlighted now, but that doesn’t mean we non-Americans can ignore this. I am a white person, and that means it’s my job to use the privilege I was born with to lend support to black people however I can, however I might be needed. My anger and exhaustion at this is nothing compared to that of everyone who’s forced to live this every day of their lives.

This isn’t a huge platform or anything, but if I can use it to help at all I want to do that, so.

Petitions to sign:

Justice for George Floyd: https://t.co/FxqR2yF2OV?amp=1 Justice for George Floyd (We The People): https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/justice-george-floyd-0 Justice for Breonna Taylor: https://t.co/EKdRvJgaZB?amp=1 Mandatory Life Sentence For Police Brutality: https://t.co/Lab0kIVgYJ?amp=1 Hands Up Act: https://t.co/eSGXoEbE49?amp=1 Justice for Joāo Pedro: https://t.co/9D72BxyFrJ?amp=1

And a few zipcodes for everyone also outside of the US in case you need them: https://twitter.com/isthisreaal/status/1265728218260258822

(note: change dot org asks you to donate after you sign, but apparently those are just donations for the site so it can run more ads and ‘keep the petition trending,’ and it won’t help the cause the petition is for.)

Donations to make:

Louisville bail fund: https://t.co/5uD2YomKED?amp=1 Support protestors in Atlanta: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/support-justiceforgeorgefloyd-protesters-in-atlanta George Floyd memorial fund: https://gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd ACLU of Minnesota: https://www.aclu-mn.org/en/donate Unicorn Riot: https://unicornriot.ninja/donate/ Reclaim The Block: https://secure.everyaction.com/zae4prEeKESHBy0MKXTIcQ2 BLOC: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/blocbybloc

I’ve double checked all of these to make sure they’re legit, but of course be sure you do your own checks when it comes to money just to make sure that you’re getting money to somewhere it’ll really help!

If you’re in a position to do more practical work such as actually taking part in protests, then fantastic. Stay safe, look out for the people around you, and, if you have it, be prepared to make use of your privilege.

Apologies if this is overstepping any boundaries. I’m trying to make sure accurate information gets spread as far as possible and I’ve only seen most of these links on twitter, so I figured compiling them would be easier for people than seeking out tumblr posts that have every single one separately.

[dreamy-moments]

my whole life i’ve never been able to comprehend why black people, gay people, trans people etc have had to suffer more in life than any other person. they’re human beings just like the rest of us. why should they be treated any differently? each time something like this happens, i am devastated, yet somehow not surprised by the obvious lack of justice. there must be a change. this cannot and should not be allowed to continue. i figured that since i have a decent sized platform on here i would try and spread awareness of how important this is. i urge you all to take action. whether this be through signing petitions and donating (i will post links further down the post) through protests, voting, contacting your governors, senators, whatnot. make yourselves heard. george floyd was not the first victim of police brutality and he won’t be the last. please, speak up. have the conversations with your family and friends, call them out on racist remarks, make it known to everyone around you that this type of behaviour is absolutely not acceptable. we need everyone to know this. we need justice. we need accurate charges and punishment. this was not an isolated incident and was certainly not an accident.

i may not be the most educated on the subject, but i do know how wrong this is. i am aware of my privilege and know that it is my duty to use it to reach out to people and make them aware of the issues within our society. i want to stand up for people who have been wronged by the people in charge of protecting us. i want to stand up for the people who are being ignored and mistreated.

here is a link, where you will be able to sign petitions, donate etc: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

note: do NOT donate to change dot org. i believe they are a private organisation and therefore can use the money for other things. sign the petitions but do not donate!!! there are other, better charities to donate to.

take care everyone. my heart is with you all. please treat others with kindness, and i hope you will all at the very least sign the petitions, and if you are able to, donate. <3

[brightmalcolm]

Oh man I’d love an AU episode!! Like they do a promo as if it were a real episode and they never tell the audience it’s fake and the only way we know is at the very end, Malcolm wakes up chained to like a bed or something lol There’s soooo many possibilities like let’s swap Ainsley for Malcolm (timeline be damned) and make it prodigal daughter or something wild so the actors can have so much fun with it acting out of character

Sign my change dot org petition for fox to make a “what if” like series just for Prodigal Son where every episode is some kind of AU in addition to the canon timeline series.

[realitv]

  WELCOME BACK TO MONDAYS WITH █████: TODAY WE’VE BROUGHT ONE OF THE HOTTEST NAMES OF THE MOMENT ON BOARD! Studio lights sizzling; not an ounce of CAKE FACE / #NO FILTER foundation sliding off of silicone skin and they’ve got a smile that belongs on GOOD MORNING, AMERICA (!); red, red lips peeled back and it doesn’t quite fit; almost too big for bones and flesh. Too tight. Acrylics gleaming in the strange light and there is a hunger in that smile; something raw and reel and bleeding; something RATED R. A strange brand of familiarity in that grin; something a nation had grown up with, accepted as part of their daily, lasting routines. HEY, VIEWERS! I KNOW YOU. I WATCHED YOU ALL GROW. I’ve given you all so much, and all I’ve ever asked of you for it all was your time. Minutes ticking away into years; lines and greys and suddenly, haven’t you just wasted your golden years in front of me? WORSHIP ME.    “We at the network rarely listen to change dot org petitions.” A twitch. Their skin tugs unpleasantly tight across their mainframe; straining under the tension and the corners of their over-lined lips crack. Split. WE’RE SORRY, BUT AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION IS MANDATORY. THOSE WHO REFUSE TO ENGAGE WILL BE DISPOSED OF. Cameras pan; bring The Harlequin into sharp focus; all 1080P and 4K HD for the livestream, plasma screen eyes backlit and rows upon rows of blank televisions screens lie in their wake. Watching, waiting. YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE. Heads rising in perfect sync; glazed over-eyes and screen rotted brains, thumbs still poised on smart phones and glass and the audience turns, hundreds of eyes resting upon another STATION HIJACKER. Your attention, please. We are returning this broadcast to its original network. Silence. No static, no microphone feedback; something weighted and pressing and real between them and when the Mass Media’s chest rises with artificial breath, the studio rattles with a sigh. “I find giving in to petty demands just clogs up my satellites, and well, honey, you understand why I can’t have that, don’t you?” CUE AUDIENCE LAUGHTER: a low rumble through narrow aisles and cramped seats rising to a hellish chorus. HA HA! HA HA! ISN’T THIS JUST PEACHY, VIEWERS? The smile melts off, the laughter dies down. Somewhere, a teleprompter flashes: Hold for applause!    They’re a picture perfect slice of the AMERICAN DREAM: bleach blonde, artificial hair chemically fried and held in place with six cans of hairspray; a 401K and an RRSP (whatever the fuck those were) tied up neatly in stocks and bonds. THEN AND NOW: nostalgia, viewers, is a trap. We’ve been cashing in on it and the market is not yet exhausted by it. THEN IS NOW, VIEWERS! ISN’T THAT NIFTY? BUY YOUR REMASTERED DVD COLLECTIONS NOW FOR ONLY THREE SMALL PAYMENTS OF 49.99 -- PLUS TAX. CALL NOW AT 1-800-DOLLAR SIGNS. Spotlight, please! There will be no commercial breaks this time. “Nostalgia may be profitable these days, but even I have to set my limits.” LED, energy efficient gaze panning; resting over The Harlequin’s shoulder and upon the ever updating teleprompter; red, red lips glossing over lines that were not fit for a live studio audience. I remember holding your predecessor in my arms as I did all my other children; and when they grew too much, I did what all parents must do: and I took great joy in it. NO CENSORSHIP ON A LIVE PRODUCTION! Eyes darting back; glassy stare pervasive; a veritable searchlight cutting through smoke and mirrors and Hollywood bullshit. I would know, viewers. I helped create it. “--You know they will tire of doom and gloom, don’t you? They did with dear, darling little Dada, and look what happened to them.” Crunch. 

  Laughter rumbles again; slightly unsure and off kilter within the cramped space and when they smile once more, it’s a horrific benediction. Devoid of joy, filled with something close to STARVATION. Thank you, thank you! Head tilting; hair shifting with an unpleasant stiffness and they slowly, carefully stretch their legs; no longer tight and curled into their chair. Bigger, louder, better -- NOW IN HIGH, HIGH DEFINITION! Commanding space, demanding it -- funny how you can control a room without really being in it, huh? “I’m not opposed to negativity, honey. Sometimes everyone finds all that bubble gum goo goo stuff too sweet and sugary, and I think that’s just fine. Just dandy, really. But give them too much of a good thing? And oh, they’ll get sick of it.” AND WHEN YOU DO, VIEWERS, I WILL BE WAITING.    Chair creeeeeaaaaks, a whisper of poly-blend silk and they rest their elbows against their knees; hands hanging limply between and the audience cranes their necks to look, phones still clutched tightly in their hands and that smile grows, flexes; skin buckling beneath it - PAUSE AND HOLD FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT! I know what this needs. A beat of silence; dry tongue darting out to run along the edges and contours of sharp teeth and the skin splits, rocket fuel pooling against them and they swallow it back with a gasp of satisfaction. YOU HAVE AN IMAGE PROBLEM. No consistency, no message: aimless pieces trying to rebel and saying more than what they intended to. Disappointing: they’d never liked reruns. “One season. Contract renewal pending. Will that make you smile, honey?” 

&& @shitqost (x)

[lady-divine-writes]

Klaine Advent Drabble: “WWDGD? (Rated PG13)

Summary:

After talking to a little boy at the store and being reminded what's important, Blaine's outlook on life has shifted. And whereas that might be a good thing ... it might also be a dangerous thing ... (779 words)

Notes: Part 2 to The Lesser Known Adventures of Dick Grayson. Written for the Klaine Advent Drabble 2018 prompt 'wire'.

Read on AO3.

“So …?”

“So …?”

“You’ve been awfully quiet since we left your agent’s office.”

Blaine glances up and around, his forehead crinkling when he spots the dashboard clock and notices how much time has passed. He’d been staring at his phone, logged on to Gmail to send his mother the news, but got stuck staring at an empty message screen without a word written in it. “Have I?”

“Yup. You haven’t said a word in over an hour.”

“Oh. I’m … I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. I’m happy for you! You deserve that part! And to think, after your audition, they re-wrote portions of it to better suit you!?” Kurt pulls off the highway, sighing happily on his fiancé’s behalf. “That only happens once in a lifetime! It must be a lot to digest.”

“I guess …” Blaine agrees, less enthusiastic than Kurt expected him to be.

“What’s wrong?” Kurt asks, frowning at his fiancé’s reflection in the windshield glass as he navigates a handful of one-way streets. “I thought you’d be over the moon. It seemed like you really wanted that part. It’s all you ever talked about.”

“I did. And I am. But I’m going to be the villain. You know?”

“But you knew that. You said you wanted to play a villain.” Kurt pauses at a stop sign and looks both ways twice, even though there’s no one driving down either street for blocks. “You said you wanted to play a character that’s dangerous. A character that people would love to hate.”

“I do. But after visiting the hospital, singing with those kids, talking to Leo …” Blaine gazes out the window and up at the clear, black sky “… I liked feeling like a hero. It’s actually kind of addictive.”

“Who knows? Maybe your character will become a vigilante for justice,” Kurt offers, turning down the next street. “Get a redemption arc.”

“Hopefully.”

“Plus, nothing says we can’t do more good deeds in our personal lives. Back in high school, you ran food drives, we volunteered at a soup kitchen, I helped build a House for Humanities …”

“And we rescued those shelter dogs. Speaking of which …” Blaine cranes his neck to look over his shoulder at a building behind them “… The Puppy Barn: Hundreds of Hugs from Boxers to Pugs. Is that new?”

“Yeah.” Kurt pauses at another stop sign. “I read about it in the community section of the newspaper. The owners said their store would be an avenue for shelters to bring their animals to the communities, but at the wire, they switched gears and became a boutique.”

“Puppy Barn.” Blaine chuckles sarcastically. “They’re not even being subtle, are they?”

“Nope. A lot of activist groups were up in arms about it, but they managed to open anyway.”

“So … are there puppies in there?” Blaine asks, rising up in his seat to try and see through the huge front window. “Alone? In the dark? At nine o’clock at night!?”

“I guess so.” Kurt sighs. “I don’t want to think about it. It’s too sad.”

“Well, is anybody going to do anything about it?” Blaine asks, wondering briefly – what would Dick Grayson do?

“I think there’s a Change dot org petition going around,” Kurt says, watching the curious change in his fiancé’s expression. “We can sign it when we get home.”

Blaine nods, determination knitting his brow as he comes to a private consensus. Before Kurt can start driving again, Blaine grabs his gym duffel from behind his seat and throws open his door. “Wait here a minute?” he asks, fully out of the vehicle before he finishes his question.

“Blaine?” Kurt leans toward the passenger seat, one arm outstretched, trying to grab his fiancé back. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t know,” Blaine says, searching the ground. “But I might be getting a redemption arc.”

Kurt’s eyes pop open wide. “Blaine!? Don’t do this, Blaine! They won’t let you keep that role if you get arrested for breaking and entering!”

“Nonsense!” Blaine giggles, serpentining toward the store as if that might help keep him from being seen. He hits a patch of ice and slides about a foot, but recovers, throwing his head back and laughing like a comic book baddie. “It’ll be great PR! They might even give me a raise! Keep the motor running!”

“Blaine!!” Kurt hisses, tensing when he sees his fiancé pick up a large rock and head for The Puppy Barn’s window. “Blaine!! We don’t have the room, Blaine! If you don’t have a job, we won’t be able to feed a hundred puppies!! Felons aren’t allowed to have puppies, Blaine!! BLAINE!”

***

Notes: In case you haven't guessed it, the title WWDGD? stands for 'What would Dick Grayson do?' :)

[yeosprout]

the non-universes who jump on the hyuna and edawn bandwagon make me so mad/annoyed... like please, leave them alone if youre just going to use the drama for followers/retweets

Yap… they always wanna give their 2 cents on something that’s not gonna affect them like i saw someone saying “i wish all groups would have a dating scandal so we could weed out the FAKES” like do u want to see the world burn ????? non ptg fans can speculate about what that’d be like but not actually have to deal w the repercussions of experiencing it firsthand. and some things r made with good intentions like that keep edawn in pentagon petition but like . if the government doesnt care about change dot org what makes u think cube will

[nekocreations]

The 4th of July got me thinking as I listened to distant bangs and booms. Either you’re a proud American celebrating the better moments of our somewhat splotchy past or you’re lamenting our present- where progress seems to be going backwards and the future is looking ever uncertain. Or, you’re both. It’s okay to be both. That said, I want to do more for my country and my planet but alas I am an individual. I’m not rich so my spending or with holding doesn’t effect capitalism. I’m sick often so attending protests isn’t something I can really do right now. That leaves me two pretty important options though. Lending my voice to carefully chosen petitions and voting (especially in small local elections). Both feel like a numbers game where it’s easy to get swallowed up but it counts. Those small local elections especially. Think of elections like a tree. Congress being the trunk of it. Small town officials being the roots. Most of our big time state representatives started out as mayors and other important things. A lot of people, especially in smaller towns, don’t go to their local elections but I really encourage you to do it. It’s a lot less votes than a presidential election, each individual vote is a lot more important AND every person voted in has the potential to climb those roots to the trunk. Keeping bad people out of power starts at the roots. We need to start paying more attention to this. You can register to vote (or make sure you are) at https://vote.gov/ Using this tool and your zip code (email not needed) you can see when your local elections are (they’re not just in November!) and who’s up for vote https://ballotpedia.org/Sample_Ballot_Lookup Don’t know what’s required to vote? Do you need your ID or anything special? Click your state and township so you’re prepared https://www.usvotefoundation.org/vote/eoddomestic.htm Now. Petitions. We’re seeing a lot of those floating around right now and they’re amazing. They’re a great step between elections to get a collective voice heard on an issue. To understand how and what kind of online petitions work I encourage you all to give this article a skim https://billmoyers.com/story/sign-save-world-online-petitions-explained/ which will explain it all a billion times better than me. Things you need to know; not every petition is actually going to work or even formulated correctly, the source you’re signing at is likely going to sell some of your information, you should always look into the motives of the person who started the petition. Again, that article is going to be way more helpful than me. The nutshell version is- petitions work but do your research. The big popular online petition site that I’m pretty sure all of us have heard of at least once is https://www.change.org/ They’re great -but- you should be aware of some things before signing with them. A lot of people think they’re a charity, they’re not. They are a multimillion dollar company that makes money by showing you ads, showing you other petitions that might interest you that are paid for by others and potentially selling your email address to advertisers. Now them being a for profit company doesn’t automatically make them bad. Everyone has to make a buck to survive, web hosting isn’t free, etc but it’s good to be informed. To read the facts about Change.Org I encourage you to read https://activistfacts.com/organizations/530-change-dot-org/ Another online petition site is https://front.moveon.org/ which is a non-profit, has a clear liberal/democratic lean -but- a cringe worthy history of advertising snafus here and there that you can read more about here (especially the section on criticism) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MoveOn Hopefully these links helps you all put your time and energy where it can do the most good. I hope I can encourage you to celebrate our country by continuing to lend your voice toward positive change. Turn up the volume. We need it. Here. Have a photo of Edgar. https://www.facebook.com/NekoCreations/photos/a.626696464041807/3313191738725586/?type=3