#i also know people in my own country also want people like me to be gone

[imagitory]

I've never been more heartbroken in my life.

I was gobsmacked in 2016, don't get me wrong. I was devastated and frightened and shaken beyond words. I even had to go behind a wall and collect myself at one point that horrible November 9th, 2016, after colliding with a man wearing a red MAGA hat at work. A good chunk of us at work talked amongst ourselves about it, offering each other comfort.

But this? This is different. I could imagine dumb people making excuses for voting for Trump in 2016 -- saying that they thought a businessman would be good for the economy, saying that they wanted someone who wasn't a "Washington insider" like Hilary Clinton. Sure, it was stupid, but people can be stupid. Quite frankly, a lot of people are stupid, in this country and otherwise.

But now? Anyone who voted for Trump now has voted for a man who not only rounded up immigrants and put them in concentration camps separated from their families; bungled the response to COVID-19 so badly that the American death toll easily surpassed every other country on Earth; has poisoned the Supreme Court to the extent that they overturned years of precedence with Roe V. Wade and has basically given Trump cart-blanche to do whatever he wants while he's president; was the first president in history to refuse to concede on election day; was impeached for crimes in office not once but TWICE; was instrumental to and passionately supportive of the full-on attempted coup at the U.S. capitol on January 6, 2021 that could've very easily resulted in the deaths of his own Vice President and multiple members of Congress; has spoken glowingly of despots like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un and even said he will be "a dictator on day one" if elected again; has both used slogans originally used by modern American Neo-Nazis ("America First") and purportedly told one of his ex-subordinates that he wanted generals like Adolf Hitler's...but also has by the day proven more and more just how mentally inept, vindictive, and mean-spirited he truly is.

And unlike in his previous races, Trump is ahead in the popular vote too. We can't just blame this on the electoral college being antiquated and gerrymandered AF like in the Trump-Clinton or Bush-Gore elections. Even if all of the third-party voters in this country had grown a bloody brain cell and voted for Harris so as to show solidarity against Trump and his form of American fascism, it still somehow wouldn't be enough. We could potentially blame this on lower voter turn-out -- according to what I'm seeing so far, even with all the votes not counted in this race yet, it looks like there were far less votes cast this election than in the last one, though likely still more than the 2016 race. But even so, I don't think that's the only problem. I truly think there were just a lot of people who turned out en-masse to vote for Trump. And all I can think in regards to those people is...

This is beyond stupidity or even selfishness. This is cruelty. This is large swaths of people deciding that they want fellow American citizens to suffer -- because in their minds, if those people suffer, that'll somehow make them happy. This is a large chunk of America saying, "yeah, you know all that crap about 'liberty and justice for all'? Screw that, I want a 'strong man' to bully people different from me for my own amusement." And -- perhaps -- there's also an element of feeling like their vote doesn't really have any consequences for them, so why should they care if the man they voted for is a god-awful person? It's not like that man will hurt them.

I had hoped. I had hoped, seeing the outpouring of support from liberals, independents, and conservatives for Harris/Walz. I'd hoped, seeing how many ex-Trump appointees were standing up against him, how much people were shouting their disdain for Project 2025 from the rooftops, and how many women were protesting in the face of Roe V. Wade being overturned. I truly had started to hope that America would prove we'd grown beyond our country's own original sin -- how our United States preached freedom for all while still being built on the backs of slaves and refusing to grant a vote to over half their population -- by electing a smart, successful, charismatic woman of color who sees our country as great in potential and wants us to pursue that potential as our first female president, rather than backtracking all the slow progress we've made over the last 200+ years.

But now...my hope has faded. My heart is in pieces and the world is so dark. I hardly know how I'll function at work tomorrow, even if I know somehow, I have to try. We'll all have to stand somehow. Somehow, someway...we'll have to find the strength. We'll have to stand, and we'll have to keep moving forward, even when it feels like we're a Little Mermaid walking on knives.

We'll have to stand.

[landgraabbed]

ever since the reviews for veilguard dropped and i watched a few i cannot open youtube without getting blasted by anti woke shit. i just want to see some silly nonsense bro

[marvelavengerspovs1]

Comfort

Pairing: Bucky x F!reader

Warnings: Light mention of politics, fluff

Length: 494

Summary: Bucky comforts you during your time in need.

A/N: Normally I’m not one to be overly vocal about my beliefs, but after the shit show that was the election, I can’t not be. If you know me, I believe that everyone deserves rights, no matter who they are, how they identify, who they love, etc. The type of hate that we see now is only going to increase and I cannot stand by and not say anything. My page will always be a safe space for everyone, no matter what. I wrote this partially to comfort myself, but now I am posting it for everyone else who also needs this. To my friends who are going to be affected by this, I am so sorry that this country has failed you. I am sorry that your rights will be affected by this. I am sorry that people carry this immense amount of hate and don’t know how to mind their own business. Know this; My page will be a safe space for you to be yourself, even in this horrible time. You have someone in your corner who will not judge you and cares for your overall well being. We may not know each other, but I support you.

This is not proofread, I just wanted to put this out.

I do not consent for my work to be translated, copied, or sold!

You lay in your bed, thinking about life. It’s a tough pill to swallow. There are no words to describe the devastation you feel for your friends and family. You continue to stare up at the ceiling, thinking about how much you wished Bucky was home.

Bucky had left a few days prior on a mission. While it shouldn’t be much longer, you still wished he was home. You wished that you could lay in his arms and cry while he held you, telling you that he would do everything in his power to try to help you.

You are so lost in thought, you don’t hear the front door to your apartment open. 

Bucky quietly opens the door, hoping to not disturb you. He gently locks the door and takes off his boots, leaving them by the front door. Alpine is the first to greet him, rubbing against his leg. 

Bucky picks her up to pet her, giving her a gentle kiss on the top of her head. “Hey girl, is she still in bed?”

Alpine purrs to say yes and rubs herself on Bucky’s chest. Bucky frowns slightly but he knew you would be like this. He walks to your shared bedroom, knocking on the door.

“Doll?” He asks tentatively.

Your heart jumps before you turn your head. “Hey, Buck.” You whisper with a small smile and tears in your eyes.

Bucky gently puts Alpine on the bed and cuddles up right next to you. “I’m so sorry, Doll.”

You only nod your head and turn your body to be engulfed by him, wrapping your leg around his waist. “You just being here is helping.”

Bucky doesn’t say anything, only rubbing your back and kissing your temple as you cry in his arms. If there was anything he could do, he would do it. But that’s not possible and he wants to destroy everything because of it.

“I got you, Doll. You can cry, scream, punch, do whatever you need to do.”

You shake your head. “I just need to be with you.”

Bucky nods. “Then we can lay here and waste the day away. Have you eaten?”

You shake your head once more. “No.”

Bucky frowns slightly. “Doll, you need to eat. It’s almost 3 pm.” Alpine meows in agreement.

“I know, I just couldn’t pull myself out of bed.” You reach for Alpine and she lays between you and Bucky, purring at her favorite humans.

“Ok, well do you want to order food?”

You shake your head and scrunch your face. “I feel like if I eat, I’m going to throw up.”

Bucky looks you in the eyes. “Baby, I know. But you have to eat. How about I make you some toast? It’ll fuel you and isn’t super heavy.”

You nod. “Yeah, ok.”

Bucky kisses your forehead. “I know Doll, but we’ll get through this. I will do everything in my power to make sure that you’ll be ok.”

[the-pineapple-talks]

Yeah like I said the reason it doesn't work is because the U.S. voting system sucks.

I also think you misunderstand me lol. I am not from the U.S., I am from Colombia, a way more poor and underprivileged country in South America. I grew up to absuive parents and older sister and had to work myself and my younger sister pur of there by myself with no support from my extended family. We are one of the countries, btw, that the U.S. has tried to imperialize but people here are thankfully very resilient and very wary of the U.S. government. This is partly why I have this view of "you can have your own internal problems as long as you're not invading other counties". In case you're not aware, Colombia is a country with a lot of internal violence and organized crime. My family has had to move due to thread from this. Crime is at an all-time high here and our coin is at all time low. We wear about 1.85$ USD for an hour of work for a 48h week with a bachelor diploma and that's if you're lucky enough to get a job, and 1kg of meat is about $10USD. Every time you get on a bus in a busy city you know there's a chance you get robbed at knife point. If you're walking down the street you don't take your phone out or you might get robbed and even then you might get robbet. Because of the problems in Venezuela we noe have a lot of illegal venezuelan immigrants, who cannot get hired because they're not documented, this has led to an increase in petty theft too. And this is from my point of view in a city. Harder to reach areas have to go without electricity, water or food sometimes.

If you go to protests, you know there's a chance you get arrested and you never return home. Still we do it, because we want our country and our people to be better.

We have like 20 political parties, more counting the small ones, and people consider any of them when voting, and every person's vote has actual value. We also have healthcare.

My point is, I don't say this because I'm privileged, working as an influencer in California or something like that, I just have a different point of view. I think not considering third party candidates really limits what you can do for your country. It also sucks that they don't get as well platformed. I also think it shows how divided the country is that Trump won but everyone "seems" upset about it. Yet the majority chose him, so there's clearly a BIG disconnect in the identity of the people, idk.

In Colombia in our last elections also a very... worrying... guy won, but when he won there wasn't this sense of disconnect.

And anyway, you seem to get very defensive about this so I'll also clarify, in the other posts, in tbe replies, I'm just asking. When I say "what are you fleeing from? What is going on?" I'm not accusing anyone of not having anything to flee from, I would just like to know the answer to the question.

In the future, when someone disagrees with you don't assume malice when you can just assume that... 2 people have different POVs.

[reactionimagesdaily]

Reaction images aside, how are you holding up?

Aww, thanks for asking. :P

To be honest, I'm probably doing better than most. I'm a healthy cishet white man who lives in the UK, so I don't have nearly as much to worry about as I know a lot of people do. (Also hey, I'm enjoying the new Dragon Age game, so that's been nice.) But I also know what kind of ramifications this election is bound to have, both inside the US and beyond.

(I mean, the world's biggest democracy is getting overtly more hostile and authoriarian in real time (y'know. again), and I know on this side of the pond we've got some real brain donors who'd love to see something similar happen here. I'm worried about what Trump could do once he's back in charge, and I'm worried about what might happen to my own country, with it's 'special relationship' to the US, as a result. And I'm not alone in that.

All this on a fuckin' Wednesday...)

Anyway, I had a longer thing written out here about the concept of orthopraxis (just while I was trying to get my thoughts in order, lmao) but the core of what I want to say is this:

I think we're about to see an uptick in people being shitty

I'm going to counter that by doing un-shitty things

What do I mean by un-shitty things? Well, I've been meaning to participate in Amnesty International's 'Write For Rights' campaign for months - I just fired off my first email today. I've already donated to causes supporting Gaza in the past, but now I'm also planning to write to my local MP about how annoyed I am that my country is still culpable in genocide. Make my voice heard, you know? I also want to keep making art that people enjoy, because I think that's important. And I'm going to buy another commission from an artist I like, because they could probably use something good in their life right now. And... to be honest, I'm not sure what else I'll do yet. When I figure it out, though, I'll try and actually do it.

Maybe for you, un-shitty things mean something smaller scale. Hugging your loved ones for longer, or giving that loose change you always carry around to the next homeless person you see. That's good too. Maybe it's something larger in scale, and that's awesome! But to anyone who's reading this, I'd definitely recommend doing something that not only feels good, but is also TANGIBLE. Not only does doing feel good, but it means that you're improving someone else's life, in however small a way. Which, y'know. Net positive, innit.

(Yes, I'm aware this is basically the 'when you see someone being so mean it inspires you to be kinder meme', lmao. No, I don't really care.)

You asked me how I'm holding up? Well, the first thing I'd like to do is respond to your question in kind: how are you holding up? In a general sense? In specific ways? Hopes, anxieties, plans?

And the next thing I'm going to do is tell you that I'm more than holding up.

I'm locking in.

[bludhavens-finest]

Ok so this is the biggest blog I have so I will be talking about it here, also comics have always been inherently political so it makes sense to talk about here, this will be posted to the rest of my blogs as well

I’m going to tag this with tw’s, if you don’t want to see more shit about the election I get it believe me I do, that’s fine. If you do stay around I’m going to be incredibly blunt about this shit

1. Do not fucking kill yourself. The amount of queer and especially young people I have seen saying that they are going to is astronomical, these people are not worth loosing your life. If you need help, get help, talk to someone, at the end of this post I’ll add numbers/websites

2. If you are disabled like me, and you need something medically whether that be vaccines, surgeries, procedures, mobility aids, medications, or even certain information; get them now while you can. The medical system in America is a bitch to deal with and even harder to get into, most of my appointments take at least three months, but if you can get in and get things done before they switch who’s in office, get it done now.

3. If you are trans and planning to get gender affirming surgery or healthcare in the next few months same goes for you, get the surgeries while you still can and get on meds now, if you get on them now it’s going to be easier to keep the prescription for as long as you can.

4. If you’re a woman or afab, get birth control while you can. Because they are going to get rid of birth control at this point, they’ve already gone after abortions and this is the next step.

5. But queer/feminist/punk media and books while you still can, because yes they can and will ban books they already do it in schools

6. Honestly I would even go so far as to say start buying physical copies of certain bands if you can, because most hardcore and just regular punk bands will probably be less accessible

7. Honestly probably just get a vpn at this point, I know you’ve gotten an ad for one from a YouTuber before, look into the company’s, find one you can afford and like

8. If non-Americans or even just some Americans who are republicans (which if you are fuck off.) think this is an over-exaggeration it’s really not.

America is the only first world country without universal healthcare, most people in this country either die waiting for a doctor, die because of a doctor (medical negligence and malpractice are leading causes of death in America, over a quarter of a million people die a year because of it.), public transit is non-existent, disabled people have been fighting for our rights for decades, women lost the right to control their own bodies after having that right for less then a life span. Many woman were there when roe v wade passed and still alive when it was overturned. Because it all happened in the span of 50 years. The amount of violence in our police departments (that are only getting more and more funding), the lack of education and lack of historically accurate information taught in public schools, the literal fucking constant brainwashing campaigns.

This is all coming from someone who is Afab, a Minor, living in the south, mentally and physically disabled, a lesbian, and trans. Believe me I understand how fucking scared people are.

It is 2024 almost 2025, not 1970. You have access to information and you are entitled to being informed, so inform yourself. Check your own sources, do your own research.

I’m well aware that this all seems fucking dystopian, I know that it seems like there’s no point, but keep yourself safe. If you need a break from seeing all this filter your tags, go outside for a while, get off the internet, play with your pets, talk to friends. Just don’t let yourself sit in this and worry yourself to death, it’s not going to help anyone.

Numbers you can call: 1-866-488-7386 (Trevor project), If you go to their website you can also text if talking isn’t safe, 988 (suicide and crisis line),

[actual-sleeping-beauty]

about a half an hour ago i turned twenty-two. i feel a little like eeyore saying, "it's my birthday pooh," about it. hard to celebrate right now. hard to know if i can trust the people around me.

but also. for about twenty four hours now, all i have been able to think about is the newborn child of a couple i have never met and likely never will. i keep thinking about susanna wolff and caldwell tanner. i keep thinking about how their first daughter was born in december of 2020. (i am not weird or creepy for knowing this, she wrote an article in the new yorker about having a pandemic pregnancy.) i keep thinking about how their second child was born recently, almost certainly within two weeks of the election. (i am also not weird or creepy for knowing this, the birth was announced by his podcast so he can take some paternity leave.) i keep thinking about these children, about the difference in the circumstances of their births. about the world we, as a country, have decided is fit for them.

and then i keep thinking about the fact that the world keeps turning. barring something awful happening, these children will get to grow up. they will go to kindergarten and learn to read and tie their shoes. they'll learn that the world is not fair and that there's something unexplainably beautiful about light pouring through the trees in late fall and that there comes a time when you gt to pull out your sweaters and get excited about clothes you had forgotten you owned and that people you love can come back into your life when you thought they were gone and that you will have favorite songs and poems and games and books and movies and and and.

i think about how every day people live their lives. a old woman i knew died last monday. twenty two years ago today i was born, too early and unprepared. every day people are living and loving and breaking. someone got married today. someone got divorced. yesterday i cried for hours and then spent two hours with my friends cheering them on in volleyball. twenty two years ago this week my parents took their incredibly ill baby to the hospital and a group of very dedicated medical professionals saved her life. twenty two years ago this week my grandmother got the call that she had breast cancer. a year ago i was diagnosed with a chronic illness. thirteen months ago i thought i might die before i saw twenty-one, let alone twenty-two. a month from now my grandfather is coming from his home, decimated by a hurricane, to watch me graduate from college.

what i'm saying is there are terrible awful things every day. there are. and yesterday was particularly awful. it's hard to know these things, to see where we are headed. but we cannot succumb. no nos podemos rendir. we cannot. the world needs us. we need us. there are so many quotes for this moment, and i am a magpie who collects shiny phrases instead of metals. i want you to say it with me - come on now, do it; i am trusting you with my earnestness. Hope is the thing with feathers. the light-soaked days are coming. we're here because we're here because we're here because we're here. unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not.

or, perhaps more appropriately, i'll instead quote caldwell's friend, creating one of the most lovely scenes i have ever heard with him in a dnd game, shortly before the events of susanna's article:

you are afflicted with duty... the world should have protected you, but you have been asked to protect it. what an honor. what an injustice.

[castillon02]

Wade was on the couch, shoveling frito pie into his facehole, when Spidey crawled through the window, paused, cocked his head, opened his mouth, and then closed it again. 

Not Spidey’s usual M.O. 

Then Spidey made a lip-zipping motion at him and dropped from the wall to the floor. His shoulders and calves had tightened, and his movements jerked instead of slinked, his body ready to spring into motion. 

Hot. Mildly alarming, but hot. Spidey had sensed something.    

Wade moved over to the front door to secure their exit. Katanas: check. Guns: check. Frito pie: check. He kept eating. 

Spider-Man did a slow three-sixty, peering around the room, and froze with his eyes narrowed in the direction of Wade’s newest purchase: a Deadpool-themed boombox that Wade had found on Etsy. It had arrived just that morning. 

Wade was going to leave such a negative review if it turned out that his boombox was actually a bomb. Not one star—it had a tape deck, a CD player, and an AUX hook-up, and Wade was all about that retro shit—but definitely negative. Maybe two stars; who couldn’t appreciate the pun of a boombox that went boom? 

Spidey advanced on the boombox and ran his fingers over its surface like a snob testing the furniture for dust. Attached to his fingertip on the upswing lay a red square about the thinness of a gum wrapper and the breadth and height of a motherfucking electronic bug. 

“Christ on a pogostick dildo,” Wade muttered, setting his frito pie on the Javelin anti-tank missile launcher that had been delivered along with the boombox. 

He’d used his last bug detector as a bludgeon, and he kept going out to get a new one only to be distracted by one of the Big Apple’s tempting offerings: people to shoot, Spideys to please, tacos to eat, Spideys to please… Actually, maybe it was kind of appropriate that Spidey was the one helping him out here, given that he’d been so distracting. 

And given that… 

Heh. 

His name was Spider-Man. 

And he’d found a—

Found a b—

Wade made desperate crab pinching motions at Spidey. 

Spidey interpreted his hand signals like a boss and crushed the bug into itsy bits between his freakishly strong spider-digits. 

Wade squealed. “Holy exterminator, Spider-Man! You caught an actual-fact bug in your not-so-actual-fact web! Fly swatter, more like spy swatter!” 

“See, this is why I don’t tell people.” Spidey scratched at the back of his neck. 

Wade put his hand to his chest and batted his eyes even though only the bottom half of his face was visible. “Awww, and you told little old me?” It always made Wade’s heart grow three sizes when Spidey showed him one of his spidery secrets.  

Spidey shrugged. “I figured you’d want your ‘Workin’ 9 to 5’ serenades to be private.” 

Wade settled one hand on his cocked hip and put on a country accent. “I ain’t never got no shame over Ms. Parton, Websy.” 

“I was also trying to avoid mentioning the Nickelback.” Spidey gestured at the CD organizer next to the boombox, which was open to Now That’s What I Call Music! Volume 10. 

Now That’s What I Call Music! Volume 10 had Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me” on it, and after the Britney Spears and JLo songs, Wade had definitely planned on belting out the “I SAID I LOVE YOU AND I SWEAR I STILL DO” and “SCREAM ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?” lines extremely loudly and emotionally, possibly before shooting himself. Not his ideal recording to have in the hands of his enemies. 

“Your sacrifice is appreciated, Spidey.”  

Spidey gave a sloppy salute. 

Wade narrowed his eyes. “Hang on. How do you know which songs are on that CD?” 

“Oh wow, some frito pie! And what’s that? I think my spider senses are tingling…” As he darted towards the window, Spidey webbed Wade’s bowl from the missile launcher to his hand. 

Wade wouldn’t be fast enough to catch him; instead, he lunged for the boombox and frantically inserted the CD. “Don’t think I don’t know what your 2002 jam is!” He mashed the skip button.  

Spidey hovered near the window, about to be hoisted by his own curiosity. “No way,” he said. “There’s twenty songs on that CD. No way you guess right.” 

“Oh, yeah? Well, listen TO THIS!” Wade stopped the disc on song 15. 

A piano melody started to play. 

“Oh my god,” Spidey said. He dropped the bowl onto the counter and his face into his hand.   

“Makin’ my way downtown, walkin’ fast, faces pass, and I’m homebound!” Wade sang along with Vanessa Carlton. He pointed at Spidey and walked over. “Starin’ blankly ahead, blankly ahead, making my way through the crowd…Take it, Spidey! Dun-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh—”  

“And I need you!” Spidey stifled a laugh. 

“Dun-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh—” Wade shoved the frito pie spoon, microphone-like, into Spidey’s hand. 

“And I miss you!” Spidey sang into the spoon. 

“Dun-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh— chorus time, go!” 

Spidey leaned into the spoon. “AND NOW I WONNNDER…IF I COULD FALL…INTO THE SKY…” He tilted the spoon at Wade. 

“DO YOU THINK TIME…WOULD PASS ME BY…” 

They sang the rest together: “CAUSE YOU KNOW I’D WALK A THOUSAND MILES IF I COULD JUST SEE YOU…TONIGHT.” 

“Hey,” Wade said after their duet ended. The dulcet sounds of Celine Dion (song number 16) faded into the background, helped by his hand on the volume knob. “Could you check my bedroom for bugs, too?” 

Spidey sighed. “For electronic surveillance, Pool. Don’t get any ideas.” 

Wade crossed his heart (and his fingers behind his back). 

“But,” Spidey said, “even if the rest of the place is clean, maybe we should check the Switch for bugs too. You know. With the very advanced spider technique of playing it.” Spidey fidgeted. 

“Going once, going twice, SOLD, to the Deadpool with the color-coordinated boombox!” Wade mimed banging a gavel. 

Pretty good for a day in which Wade had been considering shooting himself to a Nickelback soundtrack. And Spidey ate all his frito pie, so he didn’t even have to deal with any gross leftovers! 

The next day, Wade did some investigating and posted his Etsy review: This seller attached an electronic monitoring device to the product, BUT someone threatened their family to get them to do it, so, what can you do, ammirite? Took out that trash for you btw, np. The CD player, tape deck, and AUX all work great, the speakers are nice and loud, and the design is chef-kiss. 5 stars for immaculate engineering, 0 stars for being unwilling to sacrifice the lives of your friends and loved ones for a faceless customer with a poop emoji in their username, 5 stars again for being bribed into letting me be a repeat client despite all the bloodstains. Looking forward to the Spider-Man-themed iPod with webby wired earbuds!  

Author's note: for those who don't know what frito pie is, it's basically corn chips with ground beef and cheese (and assorted miscellaneous) on top, kind of like nachos. Regardless of its status as a family dish, it is an absolutely bachelor kind of meal.

[pettytiredandjewish]

Damn the genocidal warmonger who would benefit me more personally didn't win :(

Not quite sure if this is sarcasm or not (I’m too tired to figure it out) but let me explain some things to you and others.

- The majority of politicians (not all) are “warmongers”. This includes presidents. I have my own opinions about the US involving themselves in wars (but is another long discussion for another day).

- I am not a huge fan of Harris. I don’t fully agree with her views. BUT I still voted for her and Waltz (I also am not a big fan of him too but for different reasons).

- I voted for her because I know out of all of them, she was going to be the better choice for all of us. I know a lot of yall don’t like that way of thinking but let me give you some advice. Our country has 2 major parties (democrats and republicans) and we also have Green Party and independent. When it’s time to vote for your final choice- I don’t look at third party and that’s because I know there is a very low chance that they will get electoral votes. (I have my opinions ons on electoral votes). I focus on the democrat and republican candidates. I am not a republican. I do not agree with a lot of their views and policies. But I’m also not a democrat too. I’ve shifted from them due to the fact that the majority of them thinks that Jews/Israelis are monsters. I can’t stand by a party that supports that harmful and hateful view point. When it came time for me to vote I knew I had to pick the person that would be better for all of us. Harris was the better option. When voting don’t just think about yourself but think about the ones whose lives and rights are at stake.

- I remember Trumps first term. It was scary. Me and my family were making plans to leave the country (in case we had to). I was afraid for my and my loved ones safety.

- Trump winning this election is bad for all of us. This is why voting is fucking important y’all. If you are eligible to vote- then fucking VOTE. Stop telling people to not vote because “my vote won’t make a difference” (you don’t know that) or “I don’t like either of them so I’m not voting” (guess what I and many others don’t like them either but we still voted) or my new favorite “I hate that genocidal Harris so I’m not voting or I’ll vote for trump or third party to punish her”… well congratulations ass hats! Trump is the new president.

- say goodbye to your rights because a lot of us (including me) is gonna be screwed big time.

-There will be no more reproductive rights. If you need an abortion or have a miscarriage, you are screwed. You won’t be able to get the abortion and if someone finds out that you were looking into getting one, that person could report you and you might get arrested. If you are having a miscarriage, you still have to carry it to full term or you may get arrested (or you may also die)…

- LGBTQ rights, say goodbye to those. Same sex marriage will be back on debate and possibly will be banned. Want to adopt kids? Well you won’t be able to anymore because you’re not straight or cis. You want to start transitioning, well you won’t be able to because that’s illegal…

- I can keep going. That is how fucked we are. We are so fucked it’s not even funny. I knew trump was gonna get votes from his cult- i mean supporters. I also knew that Harris was gonna get her votes too. But those who refused to vote or voted third party to punish Harris, you guys played a factor in trump winning. You are ONE OF THE REASONS why he won. So congrats! Y’all didn’t want a “genocidal” woman to be president. You just wanted someone far worser than her.

- also just so you know, Harris supported and was pushing for a ceasefire. Y’all are just mad that she wanted the hostages to be freed and that she called you guys out (pro Palestine and anti zionist) for how y’all were behaving and acting. (I won’t even go there cuz that’s a whole ass story).

- so to the pro Palestine and anti zionist groups: did you free Palestine? Did electing a monster (who is a raging racist/sextist/islamophobic/Antitsemitic/homophobic/transphobic/the list goes on…) save Palestine? Is he gonna do it? The answer to that is NO. You fucked up.

- also remember that i/p conflict is not the only thing that is going to be affected when trump takes office. The Ukraine/Russian war? Ukraine is screwed. Remember that.

[hella1975]

it’s so cool that you’re going backpacking I’ve always wanted to do that! do you have any pictures or tips for ppl who want to go?

giving an early twenties gap year girlie a free pass to talk about when she backpacked europe is a DANGEROUS thing yes i will gladly talk in detail at length about it thank you so much. hold my hand. you're not going anywhere. stop struggling.

my europe trip!!!

so we did 11 cities in 9 countries in 28 days (france, belgium, germany, netherlands, czech, slovenia, hungary, austria, italy) staying at least one night in all of them except germany because THAT COUNTRY WANTS ME DEAD. here are some tips for people wanting to do something similar:

the official interrail pass is a LIFESAVER we literally paid ~£240 for a global 7 day pass and it meant we got over a dozen trains that individually would have all been £100+ like you save a STUPID amount of money

you don't have to book all your accom in advance. we booked for the first 2 weeks which was good bc we were still finding our feet and it made it less stressful, but for the last 2 weeks we would book accom literally as we got the train to the place in question and it made it much more flexible bc if we liked a place we'd just stay there another night

hostelworld is a really good app for this, very affordable while still being legit

BUY YOUR OWN PADLOCK! a lot of hostels have lockers to put your things in but will charge extra for a padlock to keep it secure

imo seat reservations on trains are generally a waste of money. take this tip w a pinch of salt bc i travelled in the non-tourist season, but we always managed to get seats on trains no matter how busy it was and booking seat reservations (the single time we did it) led to us wasting about 15 euros each to sit in different carriages, and then we were delayed and missed the 2nd train so didn't even get our booked seats AT ALL and we decided from then on to just firm it and not reserve any and honestly we were totally fine

look into the public transport of the specific place you're in beforehand. it is 100% better to utilise the public transport over getting taxis or walking everywhere but a lot of people get intimidated and waste the fact that most european countries have amazing public transport. the only thing i will say is to just check how people get tickets, if it's tap-on tap-off (a majority are), if it's paper tickets then where to validate them etc etc

if you're a female or female presenting solo traveller then at all times of year this is a VERY COMMON THING and is generally very safe. every hostel offers female only dorms and a lot of other travellers are very chatty, so it's easy to make friends or at least make sure people Know You're There. i had a couple instances of being the only girl in a 12 bed mixed dorm which made me very very antsy, but i was travelling with a man and i always made an effort to seek out any other girls in a hostel and ensure we all checked on each other

don't leave anything out in a hostel unless you're okay with losing it 😭 i thought i'd be okay bc im so paranoid i refused to leave ANYTHING out when i wasn't in the room and some fucker STILL took my goddamn sliders of all things

portable chargers, making sure you have the right adapter, charging your phone at any opportunity etc etc. the last thing you want is a dead phone. it's my mantra when travelling ANYWHERE that as long as i still had my passport and my phone then everything else could work itself out and that's coming from someone whose CARD GOT SHREDDED IN VIENNA AND GENERALLY HAS CARTOONISHLY ROTTEN LUCK WHEN ABROAD. ALWAYS be vigilant about these two things

do the tourist things! go to the famous sights! i mean this so seriously! but also try find little hole in the wall spots too! my highlights of the trip are very traditional things like the colosseum and the eiffel tower and lake bled etc etc we even did a couple big bus tours that were really fun but then i also have the time we went drinking w locals in zaandam and wound up dancing in this really random bar we never would have found otherwise or the restaurant we found in paris hidden behind a whole other building where they sat strangers on the same table and we got a 3 course meal and a bottle of wine for 20 euros like try get a good mix of Known Sights and Hidden Gems

skincare products will be a godsend after one 11 hour train journey too many fr keep some moisturiser on you at all times 😭

on that note also, you'll figure this out as you go but try pack your bag tactically bc there's nothing worse than being 5 hours deep into a train ride and realising you Desperately Want something that you know is right at the bottom of your massive fuck off backpack

i know i said i swear by hostelworld but SOMETIMES hostels work out more expensive than some shitty hotel or an airbnb so make sure to check ALL accomodation options. our last stop of the trip was 4 nights in rome and it wound up being significantly cheaper for us to stay in a 2* hotel right in the middle of the city than it was to get any of the hostels that would have put us on the outskirts

final tip is if this is truly something you want to do then START PLANNING!!! backpacking is a super affordable way of seeing a lot of beautiful countries in one go. it really didn't take me as long as i thought it would to save for this and i'd say if you're being really disciplined you can do the whole thing (the WHOLE thing like travel, accom and spending) for just £1k. i also think staying in hostels and getting trains and lugging a big bag around is actually much more rewarding than doing it a fancy way. like it forces you to interact with the country you're in and that doesn't always happen if you just get fancy hotels. go go go!

here are some of my fav pics!!! tho i am not good at taking pics so bear with also 10 pic limit so ill reblog with more bc i took hundreds

paris:

brussels:

köln:

prague:

[pleasantly-painful-fiction]

I spent many years studying Hitler, the Holocaust, and the events leading up to one of the worst parts of human history, all in a desperate attempt to understand the HOW and WHY. How could a country - how could the world let something like that happen? Why was this allowed to happen? And the worst part about finally understanding was realizing how easily it could happen again, and how often it did happen again. Eventually you realize that Hitler wasn't all that special. Same with everyone else. You also realize that, had you been in the same situation as many German citizens, there's a good chance you would have done the same things. Of course, if you don't already know this, you probably won't believe it, and there's not enough time to explain it all.

But perhaps even more terrifying is how difficult it is to prevent a repeat. Unlike a frog, society doesn't jump out of the pot if you slowly heat the water. The holocaust didn't start in 1939 with WWII. It didn't start when Hitler came into power in 1933 either. The stove was turned on more than a decade earlier, and the water was slowly heating up, but most people wouldn't realize what was happening until the water was boiling.

And what's more terrifying than all of that? Watching it happen all over again. Those that were especially knowledgable about WWII/Hitler/the Holocaust, saw the signs in 2016 before Trump took office. They noticed the similarities in policy, environment, language, behavior, etc, and they tried to warn people, but the water was fine. No one wanted to believe it would ever boil. Those that weren't as familiar with that part of history couldn't see the connection. That is until a few years ago. Finally! Some people were noticing. It was being talked about. And yet... people still weren't convinced the water would ever boil. And they still aren't today.

The most terrifying thing is knowing that we are walking down a very dangerous path. It's knowing that Trump and the republican party have already started setting up the perfect environment for a genocide in this country. It's feeling the water get warmer and warmer, begging everyone around you to get out before it's too late, and watching so many of them refuse.

The republican party is spewing hate towards American citizens. It's spewing hate towards people who aren't white, who aren't republican, who aren't male, who aren't straight, who aren't heterosexual, who aren't Christian, who aren't on their side; and they aren't even trying to hide it. The republican party has failed to condemn the Proud Boys, the KKK, the insurrectionists, and so on. The republican party is more worried about a book turning a kid gay than a person with a gun ending that kid's life. The republican party repeatedly refuses to work with anyone not on their side. They continue to repeat harmful lies and rumors about minority groups. They continuously blame the blacks, the immigrants, the disabled, the gay, the trans, the non-Christians, the women, the democrats, and whoever else they can come up with for every little problem in this country. They are actively supporting hate IN THIS COUNTRY.

They are doing the same thing Hitler and his party did. The. Same. Thing. They've even made attempts to register the Muslims.... you know.... like Germany registered the Jews.

So yeah, excuse me if I don't want a SECOND genocide in this decade. Excuse me if I don't want to repeat history. And excuse me if I definitely don't want to repeat history and have a second genocide in the 2020's in my own backyard.

If you don't like genocide, sit down, shut up, and open your eyes. There's no good option here, so pick. You can have one genocide or two genocides. You can protect your family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc, or you can doom this country, Palestine, and many other parts of the world. You can help destroy this country, or you can try to save it.

The water is starting to simmer. Are you going to continue sitting in it until you're boiled alive, or are you going to try to climb out?

“undecided voters” as a concept is so hilarious like I can’t imagine making it to this point in the election cycle and being like “I still just don’t know….”

[strawberryamanita]

I'm legally disabled. It's in the books that I am Unemployed Due To Disability. Regardless of how "normal" or "functioning" I appear in real life, I do have trouble doing normal things, such as keeping a steady job. If something bad happens tonight, there is going to be anywhere between cutting costs to and completely removing benefits that people like me need to get on in life, such as Medicaid and SSI/SSDI. I will not be able to provide for myself, and my family will struggle to provide for me. I already feel like dead weight when I'm not, and I'm horrified of that possibly coming true.

I've also had many struggles with my own reproductive rights. I have no plans of getting pregnant, but I suffer from menstrual pain that, without a smidgen of exaggeration(ask anyone in my family), debilitates me. It inhibits my ability to walk, stay awake, and function in general. I lose a quarter of my life to my BS endocrine setup, and while NY will thankfully be relatively safe for reproductive healthcare, the already slow road to a solution I've been on would get a lot bumpier if that bad thing happens.

And none of this is to mention my queerness. That's probably the easiest thing I can hide -- Lord knows a good chunk of people actively ignore it whenever I'm in a room -- but it still terrifies me that I could be a target of active violence if I let it slip to the wrong person in this hypothetical bad future. After a lifetime of my family worrying I'll get hurt in public just for existing, it would no longer be in vain.

I voted for the rest of the country, for the rest of the world, but I also voted on my own behalf. I just got the barest taste of freedom on my tongue, I don't want all this struggling to get here to have been for nothing.

I've spent the last 11 years supporting everyone else nonstop with everything I could. Do I ever get to matter with everyone else?

[javierpena-inatacvest]

I put on my "Read Like a Girl" shirt to wear work today (it's the one teacher shirt I will NEVER get rid of) and as I was leaving, I told my husband how insane it is that someone could tell exactly who I was voting for based on the fact I'm wearing a shirt with diverse women in real careers that promotes female literacy 🥲

I know neither candidate is perfect, but I do know that one of them isn't a convicted felon who wants to strip away basic human rights and bodily autonomy!!! Vote to protect your own rights, the rights of others, vote for your family, your friends, vote for the people who fought for your right to have a voice to make a difference in this world!!

I am very fortunate to have friends and family who are voting the same way as I do (my husband literally asked me this morning "What should I wear to work that lets everyone know I'm excited to vote for our first female president" 🥺) but if you are not in the same situation, remember that YOU are the only person in the voting booth who knows who you voted for!!! The only thing anyone can access is whether or not you voted, not how you voted- your vote is YOUR vote!!

If you live in the U.S. and you haven't already, please, please, PLEASE go vote!!! 💙🫂 🇺🇸

Don't mind my face below the cut, I wanted to share my shirt but I also am trying to keep from bursting into tears thinking about the potential future of our country!!!!

[kemetic-dreams]

Why do African Americans have British names?

Just as European immigrants' names would later be changed by officials at Ellis Island, Africans brought to the U.S. as slaves were generally stripped of their names and given the surname of their oppressor. These were often English names but could also be from other European countries.

A century-and-a-half after the end of slavery and I’m still identifying with the name of the slave-owner who once owned my family. That’s my house. Their house. That sucks. That’s a bone deep pain, one hidden and held in the letters of my last name. And after I posted my response tweet to Ava, that pain of slavery got me thinking of one question.

What if Black Americans ditched our slaves names? What if we cut that psychic chain that binds us to slavery in name and deed?

Malcolm X: “During slavery, the same slave master who owned us put his last name on us to denote that we were his property. So when you see a negro today who’s named Johnson, if you go back in his history you will find that his grandfather, or one of his forefathers, was owned by a white man who was named Johnson. If his name was Bunch, his grandfather was owned by a white man that was named Bunch.”

Interviewer: “I get your point. Would you mind telling me what your father’s name was?”

Malcolm X: “My father didn’t know his last name. My father got his last name from his grandfather, and his grandfather got it from his grandfather, who got it from the slave master. The real names of our people were destroyed during slavery.”

Think about that. No, for real. Think about that. If you aren’t black, you may have never considered what it means to walk around carrying the mark of your family’s slave master. If you think about it too much and too deeply and it’ll fuck you up. That’s probably why many, if not most, Black Americans never think about it. Not really. It’s just too dark and too visceral and too real to consciously remember that every day when you put your name on something you’re extending the reach of your former slave master.

Every time a black athlete is celebrated––unless it’s someone supremely woke like Muhammad Ali or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or even Metta World Peace, who consciously changed their name to suit themselves––that world famous athlete makes their family’s former slave master more famous. Same for every black CEO, every actress or actor, every black politician, and every black activist. When their name shows up in the press they honor and extend their family’s former slave master’s memory. That’s fucked up. Which is why Muhammad Ali said this of his birth name:

“Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn’t choose it and I don’t want it. I am Muhammad Ali, a free name — it means beloved of God, and I insist people use it when people speak to me.”

Most white people in America have never considered what it means to walk around with the name of the family that once owned your family. Just imagine if all Black America changed their names on the same day.

The name Taraji is a unisex name of Swahili origin that means "hope" and "faith". It's commonly used in Eastern African cultures, especially among Swahili-speaking communities. The name is passed down through generations and is celebrated globally.

The name Ashanti has multiple meanings, including "gratitude," "thank you," and "warlike": 

Gratitude: The name Ashanti is a girl's name of Ghanaian origin that means "gratitude". 

Thank you: The name Ashanti is derived from the Swahili word asante, which means "thank you". 

Warlike: The name Ashanti is also said to mean "warlike".

Meaning of Afẹ́ni

One who loves another.

The name Chiwetel means "God brings" in Igbo. 

The name "Olubowale" is a combination of the Yoruba names "Olú" and "wale" and could mean "My God/Lord has come home": 

OlúA popular name among the Yoruba ethnic group, "Olú" is a diminutive of "Olúwa" and can mean "God," "deity," or "lord". In some parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo, the word "Olú" is even used as a royal or noble title. 

WaleThe name "wale" is associated with the Yoruba people, who primarily live in southwestern Nigeria and parts of Benin and Togo.

[storywestistrash]

i am actually so tired of the way westerners treat eastern europeans

[rabbithaver]

every so often i will see a post from a leftist on this website that is so egregiously ableist that i remember that like. oh yeah the userbase of leftists on this website is violently anti-disabled people and will jump at any chance to demonize any of us for any reason. i just forget that fact because i'm extremely dedicated to curating my space

i'm paraphrasing here but i saw a post that said, "every time i see an American [disabled person] mention being scared about the election because they're afraid of losing their benefits i have to laugh. anybody who wants blood-soaked money from the US government deserves to starve" which. like. goodness that's a lot to unpack. i think we should burn the whole suitcase instead !