#cannot wait to vote tomorrow

[meaningtotellyou]

harris is still killing it with the swing states so far

[margowritesthings]

The French Are Glad To Die For Love

A Bridgerton x Moulin Rouge crossover

pairing: Colin Bridgerton x ? word count: 2.1k words warnings: 18+ minors DNI, un-beta'd, mentions of sex, spitting, lots of debauchery authors note: surpriiise! i have been sitting on this since part 1, so to celebrate part 2 tomorrow here's my new mini-series! i have never written for Colin before, so i'm nervous, but i loved writing this.

i also need your help! i cannot decide if this mini series should be Colin x reader or a Polin fic, where Penelope is Satine. I have created a poll here for you to vote, so please let me know!

and as always, enjoy! it's been a hot minute since I last published, so thank you if you're still here.

Bridgerton Masterlist

The stars sparkle especially brightly tonight, the crimson lanterns guiding Parisians and tourists alike through the winding streets, and Colin Bridgerton stands in awe of it all. 

He’d read stories, heard tales of this place during long nights at Whites, but nothing could have quite prepared him for what lay ahead of him, a long string of lights hanging in the sky leading the way to his destination. 

The Moulin Rouge. 

A house of debauchery and sin, of freedom and truth, filled to the brim with bohemians and artists and beautiful women unlike anything or anyone he’s ever seen before. Even now, 30 feet away from the illuminated windmill, he can hear the music and the joy spilling out from the building. His senses are filled with the perfume of hundreds of women passing him by the minute, all with real, toothy grins he rarely has the pleasure of seeing back home. It is far too impolite to be so happy in London society. 

Colin steps forwards, his boots crunching against the gravel and his coattails flying in the breeze. His shoulders brush more wonderfully merry, positively inebriated partygoers on his way in, catching odd fragments of conversations that would have scandalised him and his whole family were he elsewhere. 

But he wasn’t elsewhere. He was here, in the city of love, away from anybody who had ever known the name Bridgerton. His clean slate clutched close to his chest, waiting to find out what will be written on it next, Colin feels the fresh air on his face for the last time before his life is changed forever.

The heat hits him first, a symptom he knew all too well of too many people packed into a small space. But unlike every ball he’s been to, this doesn’t feel claustrophobic or fusty. It feels alive. 

There is a feast for the eye wherever one looks. Burlesque dancers showing off stockings and garters by kicking their legs up, toes pointing towards the aerial hoops holding acrobats hanging from the ceiling. Gentlemen, if you can call them that in this state, wearing top hats, arm in arm with their glasses raised high, spilling their contents all over the wooden floor. 

The music blasts loud from each instrument the band masterfully pluck or blow or bang, but laughter and conversation buzzes amongst the melodies. It is a near overwhelming amount of joy, one Colin certainly could use a drink to wash it down with. 

If he could just find the bar…

Bodies fill his view, so entangled in each other it is difficult to tell where one starts and another ends. Frilly skirts flow over the knees of suits as ladies dangle from the necks of patrons, sharing cigars and passing around bottles of an unknown green liquid. Rosy cheeks as far as the eye can see, wether from too much of that green stuff or the exertion of all that dancing, Colin can’t be sure. Between them all, in tiny empty spaces, he can just about make out rows of bottles and glasses. 

Weaving through the crowd is like treading through water, but their energy and joy seems to rub off on him. There isn’t a dance card in sight, women choosing their partners themselves whenever they like with a freedom Colin isn’t sure he’s ever seen before. Is this truly what people are designed to be when they are free?

Eventually, his hands find the sticky wood of the bar, quickly lifting themselves back off it on instinct at the sensation. When Colin looks to his left, he sees a woman pouring a shot of liquor between her breasts, a man knelt below her waiting to lick it back up, and he quickly realises why the bar feels so tacky- every surface here seems to be host to someone’s revelry. 

“Welcome to the Moulin Rouge, monsieur. Can I get you a drink?”

Colin’s attention is quickly pulled by the welcome, his gaze snapping to a tall French woman dripping with red jewels that compliment her rich brown skin perfectly. She is captivating to be sure, deep hazel eyes commanding Colin’s attention, competing with the most incredible curls of hair he has ever seen. Ladies of the ton are welcome no matter their race back home, but Colin has never seen a lady allowed to wear her hair so beautifully natural before. The Afro framing her face has more tiny rubies that sparkle under the cabaret lights, and Colin is speechless. 

“I…uh, pardon me, Miss, I-“ he sighs, giving up entirely at his failed attempt at decorum, “Is it so obvious I have never been here before?” 

She laughs, gems twinkling as her head shakes with mirth. 

“Not at all, but most gentlemen who have been here before know to wear a top hat. And there’s that look in your eye…” 

As she speaks, she pours out one finger of the green liquor Colin has spotted a few times already, sliding it along the wood towards him. 

“Wonder. Drink this. It will help with the nerves.” 

Colin looks down, finding himself fascinated with a drink that seems to glow of its own volition. He has smoked blends and meditated with world weary travellers from across the globe, drank tea containing unknown substances that left him staring at blades of grass as if they held the worlds secrets, and yet this… whatever it is, seems to terrify him.

The barmaid laughs again, that melodic sound with the real joy Colin very much enjoys. 

“It’s only absinthe, monsieur. Loosens the inhibitions, relaxes the body…” she explains, pouring a second out for herself and lifting it to him as if to prove her credibility. 

“Santé.” He toasts to health.

“Amour.” She toasts to something far greater.

It leaves no room for argument, and all Colin can do is lift his own glass and tap it against hers. 

It burns his tongue, leaving a fiery trail down his throat as he swallows and tries not to cough and splutter. A bitter yet herby anise flavour fights with his taste buds and seems to seep straight into his mind, teasing at those tense knots that held him back from fully immersing himself here. 

When his eyes eventually reopen, he finds the barmaid beaming at him, unphased by her own potion. Rather used to it, if she shares a glass with every newcomer, he should think.

“Be careful, though, monsieur. Many a man has spent a night with the stuff and swears he fell in love with a fairy dressed all in green. Ruined him for any other woman for the rest of his life…” She speaks words that belong in fairytale, with a tone containing such severity Colin is inclined to take every single one of them as gospel. 

“I dare say I should be careful, then. I do not think this green fairy would want to join the rest of my travels when she can instead entice all of Paris’ men to sin…” 

The residue of the liquor smells just as strong as the full measure, which Colin tries to blink out of his senses when he puts the glass back on the bar.

Almost as if society itself had cleared its throat at him, Colin remembers himself, remembers just where he is. Undoubtedly the most unique establishment he had ever set foot in, but an establishment all the same. 

“I beg your pardon, miss, I seem to forget myself. How much do I owe you for the drink?”

She considers him.

“Hm,  the absinthe I think… for you, a kiss.” 

Colin, already pulling coins from his breast pocket, pauses, a little grin tugging at the corner of his lip. The francs clink together when they fall back to the bottom of his pocket, a long forgotten currency of the past. It’s a perfect reminder of just how different things are here, how easily walls crumble between strangers and connection is offered so freely. He has never kissed a woman he has not paid for back home, so afraid of getting too close to another in case they ruin each other. Here, a beautiful woman leans over the bar, offering her flushed cheek for him to softly press his lips against. 

And he does. 

And it is lovely. 

“If any more handsome men capture the eye of Mademoiselle Belle, I will surely be out of business!” A loud, hearty voice pulls Colin from one blissful moment back into the party.

He regards a rather large man, clad in a red tailcoat and stunning golden waistcoat. His top hat, near the same to all the other gentlemen in the room but somehow grander, tops wild orange curls that match a fantastic handlebar moustache. A true ring leader to this wonderful circus of debauchery Colin has found himself in. 

“Harold Zidler, at your service. Welcome to the Moulin Rouge.” 

“Colin Bridgerton.” He replies, offering a hand that Harold seems bemused at. Unsurprising, considering what passes for currency around here. Nonetheless, Harold shakes the offered hand. 

”I must say, your establishment is rather…” he hesitates, unable to find a word in any language he has picked up along his travels that quite captures the Moulin Rouge. Perhaps he could blame the absinthe, or the intoxicating hedonism he feels rooting its way through his mind, hidden in the brass notes from the band and thrown with each cancan kick of one of the dancers that surrounds him. 

Luckily, Harold seems well used to this phenomenon. 

“Isn’t it? And you have seen nothing yet! I assume you are not from around here?”

”It is rather obvious, I have been told.” Colin adds a glance to Miss Belle, who’s skirt frills bounce in the lights while she shakes up a cocktail. He adds, “London.” 

”Well, Monsieur Bridgerton, I promise you that what we have here in the Moulin Rouge is unlike anything you have back home in London.” 

Colin’s eye is caught again across the room, as a beautiful woman with blonde tumbling waves spits a drink into a man’s mouth. 

“I am inclined to agree with you there.” 

It truly is unlike anything back home. Colin has travelled across Europe and back again, seen incredible sights and met wonderful people. He has felt that ease that distance from London society and its unwritten laws and social rules that bind him back home can bring. He’s seen beauty and felt freedom and thought he might have found truth somewhere along the way, but it pales to whatever is contained within these four walls. 

In truth, it couldn’t be farther from London society.

”Just wait until you see my Diamond, Monsieur.”

… Perhaps not. 

Intrigue hits Colin as Harold pulls out a pocket watch on a brilliant gold chain. 

“Your diamond?”

”My Sparkling Diamond. The main attraction of the Moulin Rouge, my most sought after little chickee.” He speaks proudly, with a mist in his eye Colin normally finds on ambitious Mamas at grand balls, secretly trying to auction their daughters off to the highest rank. 

“I do not believe she is booked yet for tonight…” Harold adds, that mist darkening, disappearing, leaving a shiver stuck between Colin’s shoulder blades.

Not because this Diamond is a courtesan. Colin is hardly a stranger to the profession, and he bears no judgement. In truth, he admires the women he has been known to spend the night with, finding the courage of living outside society so freely quite brave indeed. No, that shiver came from Harold entirely, Colin just cannot figure out why. 

Harold excuses himself, though makes sure Colin knows to stay for the show, and Colin orders a whiskey on the rocks, insisting on paying in cash this time. Though singular in person, he has never felt less alone in his life. Looking around, there isn’t an empty chair in the house. If there were, there wouldn’t be room to put it down for all the dancers and patrons enjoying every ounce of the world they can. Music played straight from the soul ringing in his ears, Colin could make out every instrument. The lights dazzled in his eyes and the spot caught him every so often, lighting his drink up in his hand like golden ambrosia. 

And then, darkness. Silence. 

A single spot, though the mirrors scattered around catch the light and illuminate the faces of the people around him. Everybody is looking upwards, as if they all know she is coming. 

Even if he did know, Colin could never have prepared himself for what he saw when he looked up.

Who he saw.

The Sparkling Diamond, shimmering high on a swing hanging from the ceiling. 

The most beautiful, breathtaking, person he has ever seen. In any city, on any continent in the world. 

Crimson lips part as each and every person hangs on the breath she takes.

”The French are glad to die for love…”

don't forget to vote in the poll for your fmc!

[a-loose-collection-of-ants]

Ok. Shit.

I get the feeling I'm not gonna sleep tonight, and who knows, I might regret this tomorrow but I need to get some thoughts out.

I've tried to retain this idea that most people are inherently good. Some of this is the remnants of whatever religious faith I was brought up in, and some of it is just what I tell myself to stay sane. It's getting harder to think that way, but I am trying to hold on to it.

There's this image I keep replaying in my head. My dad and I were visiting family down south shortly after he had wrapped up his cancer treatment. We stopped by my aunt's house in South Carolina, and she told me with tears in her eyes about how she had started gardening again after my dad's diagnosis. There was a Trump flag flying from her roof.

On another visit to the same family members, we were visiting a college and walked by a gender neutral bathroom. My uncle made some off-color joke about it and then quickly moved on when nobody laughed. My sister (a sort of closeted trans woman) looked at me with an expression of both deep sadness, and whatever face you make when you watch a bird fly head-first into a window.

My point is, I know these people aren't filled with hatred and malice. It's not constructive to waste your energy hating them when their greatest sin is ignorance.

I barely remember the Obergerfell decision, but I remember being in middle school around the time it happened. Attitudes towards queer people weren't great, but they changed so rapidly that I barely noticed. Maybe the fact that this was when I realized I was queer gave me a false sense of security when it came to the "moral arc of the universe", or maybe it's the example I have to hold onto about how fast things can change.

It's easy for people to fall into patterns of hate when they lack exposure, and the media landscape right now is making easier to avoid that sort of exposure. The basis of the fight against extremism is education, and I think it has to also be compassion.

Don't get me wrong, I also have family that are more than likely not worth the effort ("they" control the weather and all that), but those aren't most people. Most people are exhausted by politics. They see the price of groceries and vote for the other guy regardless of who's name is on the ballot. Or they're like a classmate of mine, who didn't really like either candidate and was having trouble just voting for the "better" one.

If anything, I guess this is a reminder to myself to hold on to empathy despite everything. It's fine to feel angry. Hell, it's probably good if it gets you moving. But we cannot respond to dehumanization with more dehumanization.

I'm not really all that religious anymore, but I hold on to some things. One of them is this: All things, by virtue of being crafted by God's hands, have value. Or, as my dad said it "God don't make no shit". This goes for yourself, as well as everyone else. I can't let myself lose that right now.

I don't want to belabor my point too much, but I do want to say that I saw people saying things like "it's all over if trump wins". I'm not going to lie, it's bad and people are going to get hurt and die because of this. America was waiting for the results of it's biopsy and we found out it's cancer... but we're not dead yet. I don't have a specific action I can advocate for, but please, don't give up. Authoritarianism is a longstanding wound on this country and it festers in apathy.

Take a deep breath. Regardless of what happens, time moves forward and the sun will rise in the morning. I am going to go to work, make some dinner, and hopefully find some way to work volunteering into my schedule.

Recommended listening if you want to cry right now

[emmedoesntdomath]

no, I can’t treat this as a joke. sorry for raining on your metaphorical parade, but this is the eve of the potential burning of my entire parade to the ground. balloons, crowds, shitty music. I may never be allowed to have a parade again. that’s not desperately overdramatic, that’s the reality I’m facing. I cannot find it within me to laugh off all that I stand to lose- all that WE stand to lose-, even if I believe we might have already lost. don’t stand by. don’t wait for some stupid meme to tell you that you could have done something, but chose not to because you decided you didn’t care. please vote tomorrow. please.

[lantur]

updates,

Cannot wait to vote for VP Kamala Harris for President in November. :)) I feel excited and energized about the direction the Democratic Party has taken, and I haven't felt that way in years. She has my full support. I'm looking forward to a 2025 without another Trump presidency and without Project 2025. I'm looking forward to Donald Trump fading from the national consciousness and news cycle after almost 10 years.

Have been listening a lot to Eminem's new album and loving it. ❤️

Stressed :(( because of attending a big all staff work conference in Denver from tomorrow through to Sunday. I'm usually only out of town for my work conferences for one night, two max. The days are also scheduled so fully that we have agenda items from 7:30 AM - 8:30 or 9 PM. I've talked to several other introverts at the organization that are stressed about the long days too. Not thrilled about giving up half my weekend either.

Have been sad because one of my best friends, who is very special to me, is moving out of state soon. We'll have to transition to long distance friendship, and I'll really miss seeing her every week.

[bow-of-aros]

Day Four: Hide and Seek

Summary: Look. All Eiffel needs to do is stay quiet enough in order to survive until tomorrow with his dignity intact. He can totally do this.

(Spoiler alert: He absolutely cannot do this.)

-

Hey folks! After a supremely unhelpful poll, I ended up landing on Wolf 359 for this prompt! So this is for everyone who voted for Lovelace and Eiffel! To everyone else, I hope that you still enjoy this last-minute submission <33

-

Okay. Okay okay okay. This is fine! Everything is totally fine.

These were the thoughts flying through Doug Eiffel’s head as he flung himself through the echoing halls of the Hephaestus. Halls that he currently wished would be a little less echoey as a clang sounded when he swung around a corner a little too fast.

He just needs to find somewhere to hide. As long as he can do that, he can stay quiet, and if he can stay quiet, then maybe he won’t die.

Yeah, folks. This is a life-or-death situation.

There’s something stalking him. Always just far enough out of sight that when Eiffel turns his head, there’s nothing there except for the prickling sensation of being watched.

Another corner flies by and he finally sees what he’s been racing toward.

The blessed storage closet.

And it’s not just any storage closet! It’s far enough from any essential room that nobody had ever bothered to actually store anything useful in there. It was mostly stuffed with useless things like loose screws and fire extinguishers.

The point is, it’s where Eiffel goes whenever he wants to avoid a Minkowski rampage, so it’s the perfect spot to wait out any potential catastrophic disasters.

Eiffel throws the door open before frantically scrambling to catch it so it doesn’t slam against the wall because that would be bad. He manages to snag the latch on his fingers before irreversible damage could be wrought.

A quiet click sounds as he eases the door shut, and Eiffel is left in darkness.

“Officer Eiffel? Why exactly are you hiding in the storage closet?”

“OH— Shit! Hera!” Eiffel hisses, nearly sending a box of something probably very loud flying, “Shhhhhh! Not so loud!”

“Uhhhhhhh… Okay?” Hera lowered her voice to a whisper, “Why are you hiding? Does it have something to do with—”

“No! It has nothing to do with anything! I’m being unfairly and unjustly persecuted for no reason! I’m being hunted for sport and if she finds me she’ll tear me limb from limb!”

Hera has this special ability to make even her silence feel judgmental. Eiffel can practically hear the disbelieving eyebrow raise through the whirring of the engine.

“Wow. Unfairly and unjustly. Sounds like a big deal,” Was that a clang? Did Eiffel just hear a clang?! “So I definitely shouldn’t tell Lovelace where you’re hiding, right? Because she’s been giving me some pretty good offers in return for your location.”

“What?! No you can’t tell her!” Eiffel’s pushing the boundaries of what’s considered whispering, but this is important goddammit!

Then, from a distance, “Eiffel? Eiffeeeelllll?”

Oh fuck. She’s here.

“Hera. Hera! You can’t say anything! I’m your best friend.”

Silence.

“I’ll do my work without complaining to you for a whole week!”

“Deal.”

Yeah. Of course.

Eiffel pulls himself behind a shelf, doing his best to breathe as silently as humanly possible. So for a second, he listens for her footsteps, before remembering that they’re on a space station with zero gravity and they don’t have footsteps.

“Come out come out wherever you are! I just wanna have a little chat!”

Ha! Not a chance. Eiffel’s learned the hard way not to trust Lovelace’s little chats. It’s honestly impressive how someone can sound so innocent and so totally evil at the same time.

“I know that you ate the last of the graham crackers on board. You know that those are my favourites!”

She couldn’t know that. Not for sure!

“I know, because you wrote Eiffel wuz here first. Suck it Lovelace! On the box.”

Oh. Yeah.

“So, you can come on out, and we can talk about this like adults. Or,” She pauses, mischief colouring her voice, “I can come find you, and you can suffer the consequences.”

A beat. Two. Then, a disappointed sigh.

“Fine. Have it your way.”

Suddenly, the door whooshes open, and there stands Isabel Lovelace, haloed by the fluorescent lights like some sort of avenging angel.

Eiffel had never been the religious type.

He kicks against the wall, rocketing himself past her with a wild, “YOU’LL NEVER CATCH ME ALI—Nonononono! Lovelace wahahahahait”

He’d barely gotten past her when she caught him around the waist, reeling him in before clawing her hands into his stomach. A tactic that he found very unfair, by the way.

So, he told her exactly that.

“Wait! Shitshitshihihit dohohohon’t! How did you even—” A lightbulb, “Hera you trahahaitor!”

“Who, me?” The traitor’s voice sounded above him, not even trying to sound sympathetic to his plight, “I didn’t say a thing!”

Lovelace snorted, “Yeah, she just flashed the light outside the closet a bunch of times until I got the hint. Not that I needed the help.”

“Yeah, well, I figured that it couldn’t hurt.”

How could they just have a casual conversation while Eiffel is here DYING?! Lovelace has moved one of her hands up to his neck, her fluttering fingers eliciting panicked squeals amidst the cackling.

“Okay! Okayokayokay I’m sohohohorry!”

Lovelace slows, although she doesn’t stop, so Eiffel takes the opportunity to catch his breath a little bit.

“Are you sure?”

“Yehehehes!”

“Are you really sure?”

“I’m reheheheally sure! I prohohomise!”

“But are you really super duper—”

“YES! Yes I’m suhuhure!”

She pauses for a moment, “Hmmmmm. Alright.”

And then she… Doesn’t let go.

This can’t be good.

“Well! I really should be getting to work! Soundwaves to look at, things to communicate with! All in a day’s work for your friendly neighbourhood communications officer.”

Eiffel tries to pry Lovelace’s hands away from him to very little effect. Yeah, that’s just about what he expected.

“You do know that I still need to punish you, right? I mean, you finished my favourite snack.”

“But—”

“And,” She continues as though he hadn’t even spoken, “I did say that there would be consequences if I had to come and find you. Can’t have it going around that I’m not a woman of my word, can I?”

And the hands that had been resting so calmly on his sides dug in, making Eiffel scream in a way that even the Empty Man himself hadn’t managed before falling back into shrieking laughter.

Then, without missing a beat, Lovelace leaned in real close and spoke into his ear,

“Eiffel? Never try to hide from me again.”

And, well, he won’t make a promise that he can’t keep, so he just keeps on laughing.

[incorrect-play-it-by-ear]

Tumblr simulator in the Play It By Ear cinematic universe part 4

🐻 bears-right-to-school

I don't want anyone to worry but there are some. TRuly concerning sounds coming from the zoo a few blocks over. We're supposed to be visiting it tomorrow, but if the distinct cracking of a gate i just heard is anything to go by that might be postponed lol.

👈TAGlikethefilmlikethegamelikethefilm

I thought you were like an animal rights person? Call the police or something you freak

🐻 bears-right-to-school

What? What gave you that idea? also I am not a freak chill

👈TAGlikethefilmlikethegamelikethefilm

Your username???

🐻 bears-right-to-school

Oh. Ok so what I am about to say is NOT going to help me in the freak/non-freak discussion here

📺 Brendanlovestv

Me reading the notes on this post

963 notes

💻 all-we-need-to-do-is-start

today's mood

🛜 financial-plans-are-for-nerds

Rachel please tell me this isn't another one of your "broad strokes, gets people in the door" ideas. We need an actual product

💻 all-we-need-to-do-is-start

How many internets are there?

🛜 financial-plans-are-for-nerds

...one?

💻 all-we-need-to-do-is-start

You're gonna fucking love this

13 notes

💃 I-do-want

Can't wait to see where my bridesmaids are taking me for my bachelorette's this weekend 😍

💃 I-do-want

This has been the worst weekend of my life

#I didn't know steamboats were still a thing # I didn't know you could book one for a bachelorette's party #and I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY THE HELL THEY AGREED TO LET US STEER THE DAMN THING #SEVEN MOJITOS IN #SURELY WHAT HAPPENED CANNOT BE OUR RESPONSIBILITY

5 notes

🍄 funguys-and-gals

OK I need help settling a debate at work. SERIOUS VOTES ONLY

NO secret thirst option/see results button, we die like poorly informed geologists

🪨 rocks-stay-on-during-sex follow

OP how do I put this... a peach emoji for the fungi option might have been a tad. ill-conceived

🍄 funguys-and-gals

GET OFF MY POST

52 notes

✈️ airhost-with-the-most

So I took you guys' suggestion and hired a PI to follow my wife and see if she is cheating on me, to see if that is why it feels like our marriage is falling apart or if there is something else that we could actually work on instead.

I did NOT expect said PI to spend approximately 85% of his time monologuing into the air. HELP can I get my money back???

#He just said something about falcons and absinthe #I am working a flight to Phoenix in like an hour I DONT HAVE TIME FOR THIS

23 notes

previous editions

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #325

I'm definitely going to need to send my laptop away to get the screen replaced; it has seen much better days:

It's still kinda holding together. But there are lines of dead pixels on the bottom left side, so I imagine it's only a matter of time before the screen goes completely kaput. Lame...

I wasn't nearly as productive today as on previous days. I think doing all that cooking and all those dishes really pissed off whatever's wrong with the upper right quadrant of my body (at this point, I suspect serratus posterior superior dysfunction of some kind...). When I went to PT today (weird day of the week for it, I know...), the trapezius and the rhomboids on my right side got mashed up, and now the whole area is super pissed, and it's kinda hard to move or breathe or do anything.

On the bright side, I did get to talk with that Canadian immigration lawyer today. I'll tell you all about him, but after I get his permission to do so in this space.

Still, I have the first few steps of the process of getting out of here outlined. First, we have to take an English test called an IELTS, and also get our academic credentials evaluated by a Canadian company of some kind, in order to make sure they're up to snuff for Canadian employers.

Well, as it turns out, we cannot take the IELTS without passports. And, though J and I have ours, M's expired over a decade ago, so we had to go to an appointment to get a new one. It's not going to get to our house for another 6-8 weeks, though. We'll have to wait before we schedule the test. But we should be able to get our academic credentials evaluated. I'll look into that process tomorrow.

...I forgot to eat for most of today. Before leaving for physical therapy, I did stuff a couple slices of cold cuts into my mouth, but that's hardly substantial. My appetite has been kinda weird these last couple days. At around 7pm or 8pm, though, I remembered that my body needs fuel. So I made a salad:

It's got mixed greens, tomatoes, onions, black beans, goat cheese, scrambled egg, and crushed Fritos in it. And then I put ranch dressing on top. Want some...?

I made some tea to go with it; that vanilla bean macaron tea. Here:

...These aren't the best swirls, I know. I think the focus must have been off, and I didn't notice until it was too late. Sorry about that.

��

...I spent most of the rest of today just floundering, partially numb, and foggy of brain. I wanted to play Oddworld, but... I just couldn't bring myself to. I wanted to doodle, but... I dunno. Even with a plan spelled out and things to tentatively look forward to, it's still kinda hard to think.

I guess I'm still a little sad that so many people voted for someone who wants to kill me and my little family and almost all of the people I love.

...I just... want to live a life in which everyone gets to be happy and safe. And I know that this could happen if everyone worked together, but there's so many different people with so many different kinds of trauma, and all of them have their own ideas about which kinds of people do and don't deserve to live (there's no such thing as a person who doesn't deserve to live). I wish for a world in which it was easier for folks to cast aside the conditioning they received that teaches them to associate the worth of themselves and of others with silly, arbitrary things.

We are all the same in that we want to live in peace with people we love. And given that everyone wants that, it shouldn't be so hard to do, but... a lot of people get taught that the only way they can live happily is if some other group of people defined by arbitrary characteristics didn't exist, and... I think that's really sad. It's really sad that some people truly do believe, for example, that the only way they can be happy and safe is if every single person with dark skin and every single person who was ever at any point related to someone with dark skin ceased being alive.

...I just wanna live someplace where we aren't near people who would be happy to kill us. I think everyone wants that. And this shouldn't be a difficult thing to find in my world, but... here we are.

...Well. One step at a time. We'll follow the immigration process one step at a time, and hope for good things. But... ya know. If there's any chance you can just “zoop” us all over to where you are... I certainly wouldn't be opposed. You could use the company. And I could use a nap.

No, I know; it's impossible. I know. But it's still nice to think about. I'll just keep making preparations to protect my little family, and I'll do whatever I can for the others around me in the meantime. I'll write the steps to the immigration process as we go through it; maybe it'll help someone else, somehow.

Suppose I'll stop writing for today. I feel like if I keep going, I'm gonna ramble on ya (if I haven't already). And I feel like I'm a bit too weird in the brain right now to express myself particularly well in any case.

Don't worry. I'm tired and feeling kinda sad and lost, but I'm not down for the count – not while I have people to protect.

Tomorrow is when M and I decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary this year. It'll be our 10th year of marriage, though we've been together for 12. I can't believe how quickly the time has passed. I can't believe he hasn't gotten tired of me yet, hahaha...

We're gonna go to a sushi place to celebrate. It'll be me and J and M all together at the place we ate on the day we got married. Maybe I'll tell you more about that tomorrow.

I love you a whole lot. And I'll write again tomorrow. So please stay safe out there, okay?

Your friend, Lumine

[ewesless]

Goof Up Poll #1

Who left their chocolate chips for baking cookies with on the counter top when the dishwasher was running and melted 1/3 or more of the bag?

Okay, I'm going to do something a little different with this one. Drabbles! I mean, definitely vote your vote, but hear me out?

Why Solomon? He's a disaster in the kitchen, but he also is going to add some cayenne and powdered goji berries for a kick and healthy superfood twist. SOMEHOW the bag of chocolate chips melted and turnes into a solid brick. Oh well chocolate melts and evenly distributes, right? Especially with a torch! It also adds a delightfully, extra crunchy texture to the thick, flavorful crust (I'm woefully unimaginative compared to the Magic Master Chef :( These abominations would be safely removed by a stab happy, hazardous materials disposal specialist named Raphael.

Why Simeon? He's canonically a cute, old, out of touch ditz and enjoys cooking thoughtful recipes for his housemates. He would definitely keep some sweet snacky stuff like mini packs of M&M's or other hard shelled candies like Reese's Pieces as pick me ups and for Packed Lunches. So he would have a batch with cinnamon chips or butterscotch chips too. Apart from being specialized for the palate of the recipient he would put them in adorable bags with personalized labels written in his elegant script. Leviathan framed his tag, begged the others for theirs as rare memorabilia collectables and Mammon sold him his at a steep price...which he paid for on the spot. 6/7 SECURED. When he learned that Beel ate his which was devastating he demanded Beel regurgitate it OR ELSE. Fear the taste of his spicy newt chip dust fingers!!

Why Luke? Poor kid doesn't have his emotional regulation under control yet :( (I say as an old fart who doesn't either) He would be upset and also discover that the baking powder was expired and that the flour was contaminated by Solomon making his cursed pancakes so this was actually a blessing in disguise? Feeling unnerved but lucky he'd go to the store (with ??? as his chaperone, but I think he shops alone too?) and while there he would have a nice distraction by seeing inspiration for cupcakes or other little baked goods for next time. When he gets home he gets back into his groove and bakes a great batch of cookies! He calls his comfort friends and after a vent session he feels better and they suggest baking together. "How about Snickerdoodles?" He likes thick and chewy big ol' bakery style cookies.

Why Diavolo? There was a chat where he was part of a sleep away exchange at HoL (Lucifer wouldn't let him room with him 😓) and when he baked he had eggshells in it. He mistook salt for sugar and made perfectly spherical cookies in Nightbringer (they pair well with Demonus.) Diavolo's Salty Balls if Barbatos wasn't lurking nearby he would not think twice about eating the forbidden raw cookie dough and will pay the price for it tomorrow. If Barbatos was observing/teaching he would all of a sudden discover that his errors or mistakes would be magically fixed (Because sometimes Barbatos CANNOT ABIDE Diavolo making or learning from mistakes. He just can't help himself sometimes either, like a compulsion 😔) He likes crisp chocolate chip cookies, which is fortunate because that was exactly what he got.

Okay this one I have been waiting for. I am no better than the plot writers with Lucifer 😂

Why Barbatos? Barbatos does not have a dishwasher machine (he is the dishwasher) even as of OM (it was mentioned in a Sweets Masters chat that I forgot the name of 🥲) so imagine with me if you will that he was not aware that they radiate heat outside of the machine, not just in your face when you open it before the drying cycle is finished...

He has been enjoying THE HELL out of his new dishwasher this week. He's in a good mood, the Little D staff are miraculously well behaved despite now having 2+ hours freed up from no longer washing dishes by hand. Hm... (give them more breaks, please. Rest and recess is good for productivity, workplace rapport and emotional health.)

Today the Young Master's treat shall be his own recipe for Decadent Devildom Chocolate Chip Cookies.

While the ingredients are warming to room temperature he does the dirty dishes that were brought in shamefacedly by Little D no. 4 that he had hidden in the library while he was binge reading...5 days worth of them. That's forgivable because he now has an excuse to run his beautiful, large scale industrial dishwasher again! What he doesn't realize though is that it would heat the countertop. It melted his butter and chocolate chips.

Not missing a beat he melts the chocolate down in a double boiler and chills it in the refrigerator on a baking sheet (They had a refrigerator already. One mention is in the Barbatos chat that I forgot the name of with Diavolo's Opaque Mysterious Refrigerated Container) while it chills and the butter warms *properly* on a unheated surface. He goes and monitors Diavolo, anticipates that he may need to scold him. Surprisingly Diavolo is ahead of schedule! Inspection of the Little D's reveals that they have performed well above standard (because as stated R and R is goodddd) Wow....all is going well today!

The result is Chunky Chopped Chocolate Chip Cookies! Milk and Cookies for everyone to reward them for their hard work and a sweet happy ending!

Edit: Proofread your insomnia writing 6x. Better yet read it out loud! Or else you will be like me and gnash your teeth over forgotten words, disorganized sentence structure and typoes that you're still finding the next day and too tired to fully fix.

I love my super fun run on sentences and adjective overkill 😂 They make me oddly happy.

[thelordofgifs]

now i could abuse your offer and be evil and request a finarfin/eönwë fic but i'm giving you a choice. so either that or something for m&m of your choosing <3

yeah it literally took me 13 months to forgive you for voting against Eldacar in the semifinal. grudgingly, here is your bribefic.

The Herald was waiting when Finarfin slipped at last into his tent, bone-weary and bloody. Not so Eönwë: the years of campaigning and today’s bitter skirmishing alike had had no effect upon his radiance, the golden glow of his skin and the ancient Light before light in his eyes. Finarfin had never before seen his eerie calm so much as wrinkled.

“What were you thinking?” Eönwë hissed – or perhaps hissed was the wrong word. Say rather that his voice reverberated, that although he had not spoken very loudly at all the very inside of Finarfin’s skull seemed to have been set ringing. It was often so, with Eönwë. His presence was so overwhelming that Finarfin was growing to believe the Valar had made a tactical error in sending him to command their host – for how could any mere Elf stay focused on the great task that lay ahead of them when Eönwë was there to draw attention like a lodestar?

“I am tired,” he said. His own voice was very feeble in his ears, after Eönwë’s. “Might we not save the debriefing for tomorrow, when Ingwion joins us?”

“I am not asking for a debriefing,” said Eönwë. He stepped closer to Finarfin, or perhaps grew a little, or else the tent itself was shrinking around them. “Only to ask why exactly you waited so long to pull back after you had been wounded.”

“Speak not of my failure to me,” Finarfin said. His head was pounding, and his throat was dry with thirst. “Had I lasted but a little longer the hill would have been regained.”

“Noldorán,” said Eönwë. He was so close now to Finarfin that he filled his entire field of view, in all his golden-plated armour and sunlight-filled hair and the twin flames that were his eyes. “You could have died.”

Finarfin was acclimatising now to the near-pain of Eönwë’s voice, and the pleasure-buzz that accompanied the way it vibrated inside his head. His eyes had fluttered shut as the Herald spoke, and it took him a moment to realise that a response was expected of him.

“I did not,” he said. His tongue was numb and heavy in his mouth. “Die.”

Eönwë made some strange sound, impossible to interpret, and then put two or three of his arms around Finarfin at last, pulling him flush against that armoured chest. “Be more careful in the future, Noldorán,” he said, and Finarfin could not repress the little hum of satisfaction that rose up in him to hear that voice again. “I cannot bear to hear you have been wounded, and know not whether this time will be—” He broke off abruptly.

“No,” Finarfin half-moaned, his knees buckling. He thought his ears would pop from the sudden lack of pressure in them. Did Eönwë know how his every word caused Finarfin pain – and that his silence was agony yet greater? “Keep – keep talking, please, keep talking—”

But Eönwë carried him over to the narrow little bed, and brushed the bloodied hair off his face, and then kissed him deeply; and then at last Finarfin was still.

[hautmondehqs]

⋇ attention all! we have some good news incoming!

by the majority of votes, it seems like we'll be pushing forward with our reopening tomorrow on october 22 { kst }! all acceptances will be made by today so please keep an eye out for yours. if you are interested in joining us for the grand reopening, go ahead and send in an application! thank you for choosing hautmondehqs, the admins are beyond grateful for a second chance and we cannot wait to begin a new chapter with all of our precious vips! let's go on for a long time together ♡

[quantumcartography]

I know this isn't what anyone wants to read right now, but I need to gripe about the US election.

I also can't help but look at the global stage and see how much this is gonna fuck everything. It's going to kill so many people. He's gonna pull support out of Ukraine and give his buddy Putin the green light. He's probably gonna increase military funding to Israel and take kickbacks from arms manufacturers. And I cannot imagine that there aren't people China looking at the world and thinking about reclaiming their territory. International politics aren't my forte so I'm sorry if this is all just fear mongering but heaven help me if that's not what I see coming. So many people are going to suffer and die from this. It hurts to think about.

I know we all live in echo chambers but I guess I'm just disappointed to see him win the popular vote. Like that sucks. It's close sure, but still a simple majority. I see a lot of people arguing about why Kamala lost and the bad running she did and blaming people for voting third party or abstaining from voting and all that jazz. Which are fair to varying degrees. But I'm more vexed about why people voted for him. Misogyny? Racism? Or were most people just willing to excuse those things so they could stay in their party colors? Or were there some single ticket issues that mattered most?

Maybe I'm doom spiralling but I cannot help but think this is another marker on the road to civil war. Like it's no secret he's modelling himself after autocrats. And he knows if he leaves office again, he's a dead man. So, he just doesn't leave office. Which would be a blood bath. Reactionary violence, sanctioned police crackdowns, and of course, America being so large, not every state would accept it, military rolls in, etc. etc. Maybe I'm tilting at windmills but it doesn't feel like it.

At the end of the day, I'm just scared that a majority of the people in my state support someone who wants to dismantle my job. As a librarian, I rely on government funds. And his cadre wants to pull funding from any government funded group that has books it deems inappropriate. Maybe I just need to start learning a trade. Take up carpentry or plumbing or something.

I dunno. I'm fiddling between rage and depression. And I won't say I'm hopeless. My hope is there, buried in my chest, nursing her wounds. (Why is hope female in my mind?) I'm just gonna let her heal and wait.

If you're reading this, thank you for listening. I love you. I hope today is easier than yesterday. And I hope tomorrow is easier yet.

[bluefactories]

didja happen to vote by mail or absentee vote? CHECK IT'S BEEN COUNTED!!

I've been voting since my first presidential election in 2008 as a Texan that lives abroad

this is my 5th time voting absentee for president by mail, and I cannot actually remember how many times I've been organised enough to register beforehand for primaries / midterms over the years (Texas purges the rolls every January so you have to register by February for primaries cos fuck you, of course).

I pay to register to vote each time cos I send it tracked, because up until now it's been postal-only-FPCA-registrations until this the year of our lord 2024 in the great state of Texas and I pay separately to send my ballot (also tracked)

POINT IS

My ballot arrived on October 21st. Couldn't see the record of Me Actually Voting, so I called the elections office on October 24th and was told there was an error, wait for an email.

I waited.

Nothing.

For like a week.

I live OVERSEAS. If I have to pay a £60 to send a printed ballot off through GlobalExpress, I fucking WILL to try and get rid of Ted Cruz and cancel out someone's bullshit vote BUT THEY NEED TO TELL ME LIKE FUCKING NOW SO I CAN DO IT BEFORE THE DAMN ELECTION

so I called again and am engaged in phone tag & have had to Ask For The Manager and am waiting until open of day tomorrow for them to figure it out

to their credit, the elections department has escalated it and seem to be trying to figure it for me

but if I hadn't chased it up

my vote would be moot

so the pOINT IS: call your bastards

make sure they've got you on the 'i voted' roll if you;re too far away to get a cute sticker

[roo-bastmoon]

Maximum Effort!!

Puppykitties! Perk ya ears up today! I've compiled a list of actions we need to hop all over right now. PLEASE REBLOG.

We must be smart and efficient with every second we have from now until Thursday, April 6th at 11:59PM EST.

First up--let's switch to a very targeted playlist on Spotify. Set your alarm and switch accounts at 4 hours and 45 minutes in.

Also remember to play Like Crazy (and only Like Crazy) from these massive playlists when you have 4 minutes to spare.

Next, YouTube. That MOTHERFUCKER is freezing and deleting our streams to the point where we been stuck at 33 million for days but we HAVE to keep trying. It weighs too heavily to stop. We absolutely cannot abandon this ASSHOLE OF A PLATFORM GODDAMNIT.

If you don't have time to fiddle with playlists today, put this one on and just click around every two hours:

If you CAN manually stream, then please engage with this shorter and more targeted list the next two days (check in every 35 minutes and hit refresh up to 40 times in a 24-hour period for maximum charting):

However, please also prioritize Apple Music and Pandora today. Even if it's uncomfortable or totally new to you, now's the time, today's the day, we need these streams for Jimin.

If you want to play on the Apple Music site, here's a good enough playlist.

HOWEVER, I recommend instead signing into Stationhead with your Apple Music login and joining this specific streaming party as they play Jimin 24/7 and that counts as engaged, premium streams, so you can just set it and forget it.

Also have the music video playing nonstop on a tab with your Facebook please--these views won't get deleted.

Now: the Pandora Experiment. Please. Please try it If Pandora is available in your country, please sign up for a 60 day free trial, make a playlist of Jimin's songs including all the versions of Like Crazy, and set it to loop. Doing this can give you over 200 streams a day that all count for charts. That counts the same as if you bought the song itself. I know you're tired. Do you think fatigue stops Park Jimin? Of course not! Then it shouldn't stop you.

I made a playlist and I'm looping it and it's the easiest streams I've ever gotten; I feel like I'm robbing the music industry.

While you're streaming, you must buy. I'm sorry. I know you've already bought a lot. I know you're tired. I know it's a pain in the ass to make emails and accounts and source other funding. I know. But we need 100,000 sales by midnight Thursday and we are just a bit over half way. So as much as it's exhausting, everyone, buy all 5 versions of the digital single Like Crazy today if you're a US/PR ARMY. And prepare to do it again tomorrow. It boils down to a few minutes and $3.80. There's no getting around it. YOU NEED TO BUY AGAIN.

If you are not a US ARMY but you can spare the money, please donate to US ARMY funds:

And if you just absolutely cannot afford it, do not stress or feel shame. You still have vital roles you can play while the rest of us are running around like our hair is on fire. We need you to stream hard, contact radio stations online, and VOTE.

Which brings me to the fact we have several votes going on that Jimin is losing. The most critical today is on the MuBeat app for the CORE MUSIC AWARDS.

When you're in the bathroom or on the bus or waiting for your food to heat up, if you have 3 minutes of idle time, that's when you watch free videos on idol apps like MuBeat, IdolPlus, Fan N Star, and Choeaedol to collect points so you can vote for Jimin on these awards!

These are all the ones I have specifically for ARMY duties:

Finally, everyone, it may never come to fruition, but please click through all active links to radio stations on this linktree. These spins on these stations will count for Billboard. Please click active links, go to ALERTS, paste in the words "Like Crazy by Jimin of BTS" and submit.

And on one last note, I want to reset Intention.

I went a bit negative yesterday and I regret it. All of you love Jimin; none of you need to be brow-beaten to support him. This is extremely stressful. None of us want to see Jimin dragged or shamed or made to feel like his efforts were wasted. However, antis are always going to insult him, our perfectionist is always going to feel humble, and the media and music industry are always looking for a nice juicy downfall. Nothing can touch the fact that Jimin made history this week.

I realize now that we have to be like our boy, and be stubborn enough to get right back up and keep on going. So today, let our intention be positive. Imagine Jimin's happy face and giggles and soft warm feelings, knowing that we gave our all to support him. Wherever it lands, whatever happens, we do this not out of spite for our rivals but out of love for Park Jimin. Love always wins.

The rest is noise. Tune it out. Focus only on what matters.

Work hard, but do it with love.

God's speed and thank you, puppykitties. I have such sincere admiration for you all.

Love, Roo

[6flyingosprey6]

YEYEYE I agree that Bad gaining Philza's support would be incredibly good for him. Philza is probably the most trusted person on the server with a stable sleep schedule, and I think he would bring good ideas to the table on what to do.

I have mixed feelings on the debates personally. I feel like the native English speakers will have an advantage as they will probably be in English, and tbh from what I understand so much nuance can be lost between languages.

Personally I hope they have some sort of in-person translator so people feel like they can use their native languages but I know it probably won't happen 😔

Anon whoops is cute :3

Yeah fully agree with you on how the debates could be heavily biased in the native English speakers favor. Im really hoping that they figure out a better way of translating for the debates, because they’ll be really important. I have high hopes for Quackity Studios in finding a solution for that, because like you said, a lot can get lost between languages.

AND YES YES YES Philza could be such a good ally! He has a ton of respect, and is seen as a generally pretty level headed guy (also his audience is fairly large, so audience votes yay!). I cannot wait to see how this goes tomorrow.

[lovesongbracket]

Reminder: Vote based on the song, not the artist or specific recording! The tracks referenced are the original artist, aside from a few rare cases where a cover is the most widely known.

Lyrics, videos, info, and notable covers under the cut. (Spotify playlist available in pinned post)

No Children

Written By: John Darnielle

Artist: The Mountain Goats

Released: 2002

It should be noted that this song, and entire album, was written through the point of view of an imagined couple–known as the Alpha couple. In John’s own words, “The Alpha couple are these people who get together in California, and they fall in love, but they’re really broken people, and they’re very bad for each other – they’re both big liquor enthusiasts. They move to Las Vegas and live in a motel for a year, out of a sort of romanticized vision of how they’re supposed to live, and things just keep getting worse, so they just flee across the country in the hopes of starting a new life, but they haven’t really thought it through at all. So they get to Tallahassee, and that’s where I always envisioned them falling apart, in some tiny little house”. “No Children” is a staple of band’s live shows and certainly among their most well-known. The song further expands upon the notion that this couple cannot ever be content, and know only how to live in chaos and misery. The Alpha couple were put to rest by Darnielle after the release of Tallahassee in 2002–though John has said he could one day bring them back. Darnielle stated, “This is a song that I want you to know when it comes time for your divorce. You could be in a lawyer’s office somewhere off 15-501 in one of those little business parks you don’t normally go to saying, ‘Well, I must’ve driven past this place a thousand times. Now I’m going to get my divorce.’ Like some people wait for Christmas; it’s a different sort of Christmas. And as you prepare to sign the papers, you say, ‘I’m glad I’ve got that one tune.’ ”

[Verse 1] I hope that our few remaining friends Give up on trying to save us I hope we come up with a fail-safe plot To piss off the dumb few that forgave us I hope the fences we mended Fall down beneath their own weight And I hope we hang on past the last exit I hope it's already too late [Pre-Chorus 1] And I hope the junkyard a few blocks from here Someday burns down And I hope the rising black smoke carries me far away And I never come back to this town again [Chorus 1] In my life I hope I lie, and tell everyone you were a good wife And I hope you die I hope we both die [Verse 2] I hope I cut myself shaving tomorrow I hope it bleeds all day long Our friends say it's darkest before the sun rises We're pretty sure they're all wrong I hope it stays dark forever I hope the worst isn't over And I hope you blink before I do And I hope I never get sober [Pre-Chorus 2] And I hope when you think of me years down the line You can't find one good thing to say And I'd hope that if I found the strength to walk out You'd stay the hell out of my way [Chorus 2] I am drowning There is no sign of land You are coming down with me Hand in unlovable hand And I hope you die I hope we both die

I Was Born to Love You

Written By: Freddie Mercury

Artist: Freddie Mercury

Released: 1985

Cover included: Queen, 1995

“I Was Born to Love You” is a 1985 song by Freddie Mercury, and was released as a single and on the Mr. Bad Guy album. After Mercury’s death, Queen re-worked this song for their album Made in Heaven in 1995, by having the other members play their instrumental parts over the original track transforming the song from a disco song to a rock song. The Queen version from the Made in Heaven album also includes samples of Mercury’s ad-lib vocals taken from “A Kind of Magic” and from “Living On My Own”.

[Chorus Intro] An amazing feeling coming through I was born to love you With every single beat of my heart Yes, I was born to take care of you Every single day of my life [Verse 1] You are the one for me, I am the man for you You were made for me, you're my ecstasy If I was given every opportunity I'd kill for your love, hey So take a chance with me, let me romance with you I'm caught in a dream, and my dream's come true (It's) so hard to believe this is happening to me An amazing feeling coming through [Chorus] I was born to love you With every single beat of my heart, yeah I was born to take care of you, huh Every single day of my life [Verse 2] I wanna love you, I love every little thing about you I wanna love you, love you, love you (Born) to love you, (born) to love you, yes (born) I was born to love you (Born) to love you, (born) to love you every single day of my life I was born to take care of you every single day of my life [Instrumental Break] [Bridge] My life! Hey hey! Every single day of my life [Chorus] I was born to love you With every single beat of my heart Yeah, I was born to take care of you, honey Every single day of my life