#is justifiably batshit insane

[jcryptid]

Honestly confused as fuck as to how the hell the goddamn terfs heard “gendering things ppl like is stupid let people define themselves and please just respect their pronouns ffs” and thought “ahh yes, finally someone who agrees that all trans ppl suck, I hope we can be friends”

girl help I'm getting they/them'd by well-meaning people who don't know what a tomboy is

[unlimitedbutchworks]

one fun thing about being a trans woman is that if you ever try to talk about how something or someone has mistreated you or other trans women it literally doesn’t matter At All how much of a preamble you give or how much you try to clarify that you don’t hate transmascs or that white trans women are plenty capable of being racist, people will just blow past it all anyway to warp your plea for people to give a shit about and grow past their transmisogyny as a thinly veiled attack against whichever identity category of theirs makes you sound the worst

[camelspit]

no bc nevermore is so funny how is prospero the only normal one in the posh kids group even after eating people alive with a horde of rats

[teamfortresstwo]

So. Eurylochus, symbolic of Odysseus’s doubt along his journey?

He questions his every move, from the sheep to the wind god. And, unlike Odysseus, Polites dying sends him even further into the “ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves!” Mindset which directly parallels him. However, in his worry during ‘Luck Runs Out’, we see someone who cares more about the lives of the crew than Odysseus himself does. Because Odysseus, by ignoring his doubt and concerns and only leaning towards pacifism, is getting his crew killed. (Sure the wind god thing worked out, didn’t mean it couldn’t have gone horribly wrong imo.)

Now, in the situation with Circe. He tells Odysseus not to save his men. At this point, Odysseus has yet to get the Molly, and Eurylochus has no way to know that he will. (One thing you have to remember is that in the entire musical, Eurylochus doesn’t interact with a god once. He has none of Odysseus’s fondness of them or idealism towards how they’ll react.)

Then, the underworld, and more importantly: Mutiny.

I think that at the beginning of the story, Eurylochus really was just following Poseidon’s idealogy and forgetting why he started doing that. But then he sees Odysseus, rescuing every man he can. And he remembers, he started this because it was mercy upon them. Again, he has the exact opposite change of heart as Odysseus and it happens at very similar times.

And Odysseus wants so badly to save his men. Eurylochus does as well, of course he does! Right now, he’s symbolizing Odysseus’s guilt and doubt at his own abilities-both as a captain and to get home. And they fight.

And Odysseus kill Eurylochus because he’s preventing him from getting home. From this point onwards, Odysseus is far more sure of himself. In mutiny, Odysseus effectively kills his own doubt.

[stevethehairington]

insane to me the length some people will go to defend their faves

[actualsunflower]

🔥?

I like warrior cats a lot. This isn't related to Fallout or anything lol. I was just obsessed with them when I was a kid (as you do) and now that I'm an adult I still read them as they come out, even if I don't still obsess over it. Fandom is super insufferable now though.

And the first series and the super editions that came out with the prophecies begin are by far the best. Bluestar and Crookedstar are my all time faves.

Certainly my most unpopular opinion I've found out, is I just really hate Squirrelflight, she's so annoying and she does not deserve to be leader or deputy

[bunnybonesstudio]

@demetriandelibinaryboyfriends @pimpedoutgreenears @sinful-karateka @baldwinboy5ive

Us talking about the Werewolf!Demetri AU

Most blessed type of fandom experience tbh

[tridenopmoth]

Okay, the concept is infused (in my opinion, I don't feel to creepy posting it) I present to you ✨ batshit insane au✨ We no joke, that's what we call it with Ness (aka almostswagkid) because we switched the sinners stories and it came out that Gregor and Ishmael swapped And that's how U Corp soldier Ishmael came out. I've got a big text about it, but I think a little explanation and text on pictures will be enough information.

Ishmael is one of the successful U corp soldiers where they used whale membrane as a base. All somehow mutate into marine animals, or rather body parts that they can use as weapons and adapt to the situation (change shape) . Ahab, who is the general of the squad was very proud of her and that she would lead them to victory, considered her as her daughter (well, like, fuck me, under my leadership gave out a soldier that does not mutate).

Ishmael and Queequeg were in the same squad, and began to form a bond with each other. But one day Ishmael could see Queequeg mutating and so she asked her not to fight. Queequeg could not resist Ahab's orders. ‘For our bright future’ she justified it.

So Ishmael tried to talk and ask Ahab to have Queequeg shunned from the fights. But she was refused and because of that Ishmael started to freak out and react very harshly to Ahab, so she was tasered a few times and put in a tank to calm down. Whether it was because of her or not, U corp still couldn't do anything in the smoke war. In the end, almost all the soldiers turned into mermaids.

And because of all these events, Ishmael became very cold and stopped being attached to anyone, whether it was for fear of being electrocuted again or for the pain of losing Queequeg. So she hardly reacts to anything, just does what she's told.

So most likely it will be like Gregor's, that there will be 2 cantos And in the second one, when we meet Ahab again, she uses special sound that trigger \ accelerate the mutation of soldiers

And why Ishmael's body first forms a cocoon, then melts and gets a full mutation and we have to fight this form. And like in 5 canto, the first person to reach out in that form is gonna be Heathcliff ( who changes story with Rodion) Then everyone else and Dante can get her back to normal.

If you're wondering how sinners have changed, here you go: Yi sang to Faust. Merso to Don. Hong lu to Outis Heathcliff to Rodion Sinclair to Ryoshu. Gregor to Ishmael Next post "Swap Gregor"

[snapscube]

my updated case/character rankings after finishing Farewell, My Turnabout

holy FUCK that was good. easily THE MOST batshit insane stressful/thrilling case they have done up to this point. i loved nearly every second of it. i think the only thing keeping it from beating 1-5 for me is that i think at very brief moments it gets so twisty and turny that it ALMOST feels a little tooooo gratuitous. but this is very rarely the case and even then i don't think it ever quite gets there. plus, i'll admit from a gameplay perspective once the goal of the courtroom scenes became "just bluff purely for the sake of bluffing to stall as long as possible even though you dont really believe in your client" the gameplay loop became SLIGHTLY less fun. i think from a meta perspective it's Extremely good and compelling and i love how it ultimately plays with the fact that, mechanically, you are literally doing nothing different than you always do. it's just the difference in who you're putting your trust in. your client vs, in this case, the prosecution, namely Edgeworth. it's so fucking good from a narrative perspective but gameplay wise felt less satisfying moment-to-moment. i was kinda just waiting for the other shoe to drop and for them to find maya LOL like you really feel on the edge of your seat when you're literally just stalling to save a life entirely outside of the courtroom. again, it's JUICY drama, but what i liked about case 1-5 is that it kinda had a lot of both of those elements. they both play with the meta of how you understand the game up to that point in really effective ways, but 1-5 felt slightly more balanced.

ANYWAY, not trying to pit two bad bitches against each other im just justifying why it didn't quite make the top spot. It's CLOSE though, i could see a timeline where under further examination it moves up anyway.

[fipindustries]

some comments on my second read of the locked tomb trilogy.

*it truly cant be said that you have actually read these books until youve read them twice. suddenly the whole experience is much more seamless, so many things make much more sense. now you can actually follow along what the hell is going on and appreciatte the characters for who they are.

*cytherea really did dulcinea dirty. i didnt notice the first time around but now on a re-read i can see how she played her as this hapless, subtly bitter, seductive nimphette. a picturesque wasting waif who all she can do is philosophise about how unfair her life is. and then you go to the second book and you see how proactive, mischevious and likeable in an honest way the real dulcinea is and you realize cythereas was being either lazy or kind of a bitch

*john comes off as so much more clearly an asshole in everything he says and does. specially in the fact that he obviously goes to great lengths not to admit to himself that he is an asshole.

*there are SO MANY fucking nods and clues and foreshadows of what is going to happen in the following books that its ridiculous, gideon talks about doing friendship bracelets in book one

*going slower through gideon's and ianthe's interaction in book two you can see much more clearly how they would end up as genuine friends by the end of book three. yeah they are squabbling but they are clearly having so much fun even though they wont admit it. gideon genuenly appreciates ianthe's jokes at least twice and they actually form a little bit of a bond shittalking other people and commiscerating over the fact that harrow is not interested in them romantically. i think guideon is impressed that ianthe is not just a snob or a prissy princess or a nerd and that she actually has a sense of humor that is actually very similar to hers and a genuine grit and willingness to get her hands dirty. but also is fucking hilarious that ianthe was actually fucking with harrow when she acted like she couldnt see the bodies harrow was seeing

*i can also see much more clearly how ianthe was kind of justified in saving john, yes a bit part of the equation was her wanting power and being in good standing with the god emperor but also i think she was genuenly concerned when mercy "killed" john and they told her that the entire dominicus system was about to die because of that. i think ianthe is not an idiot and she is capable of thinking longer term than we think.

*this time around i could actually follow the absolute batshit insane mess that was john and alecto and mercy and gideon 1 and pyrrah and guideon 2 that ends with "harrow" having guideon's eyes that were actually alecto's that were actually john. jesus.

[gh0stbeeee]

Separate Bight post ;P

Bill manages to get one up on Light and now he has partial possession of Light's body if he wants. He saw Misa use mascara once and the first thing Bight did was put it on. Of course, Light fought him most of the way. Bill doesn't like possessing Light when he isn't willing because Light is stubborn and will make the experience utterly miserable.

But when they can agree? A Diva.

Bight is the drama, some androgynous flair, and absolutely psychotic. Will kill you for a chip.

Everyone around Light is very concerned.

For more of the AU:

I imagine L gets himself involved when strange anomalies and what looks like gruesome occult rituals begin popping up in Japan.

Bill needs to begin getting his power back to escape the Theraprism after all. Once he gets enough strength to break out, he huddles down in Light’s mindscape.

The Axolotl let's the Pines know and— yeah Ford gets started on a new portal (Death Note is in a different dimension.) The four of them are ready to squish him out for good.

Bill has to teach Light the most insane math and science ever and each session leads to them trying to strangle eachother in the mindscape.

Light is still not a murderer yet, so his descent into madness happens slower as he's exposed to more and more Bill and power.

There's a whole scene where Light tries to justify himself as a good person and Bill just laughs at him and tells him he should see some adjacent timeliness because oh boy!

Light becomes like a warlock? Bill teaches him some basic magic and rituals and you can imagine Light is thrilled. Bill gets a little nervous at how earnestly Light soaks it up.

They balance eachother weirdly well as villains? Bill is chaotic evil and Light is more lawful/neutral evil. Bill helps Light be less suffocated under his and societies expectations and rules, is the evil voice on his shoulder like "aren't you tired of being nice? Don't you wanna go batshit?" And Light is able to poke holes in Bill's shitty mental health, which both helps and makes him worse. Because he doesn't want the world totally destroyed, after all. He'll play undercover therapist if he has to.

They enjoy talking. Light reminds Bill of Ford in the way he is insatiable for knowledge, and he missed talking with someone that can ask good questions. Light has never been able to be so confused and blindsided by a being, so he really enjoys the novelty and stimulation.

Getting a place to actually begin building a portal is insanely hard, but Bill knows some old bunkers in the mountains.

They are so bitchy, toxic, and argumentative, but they love the catharsis of not having to hide their true selves.

Bill may or may not get jealous when L starts poking his nose in for Light's attention. Similarly, Light feels challenged by Ford for the title of The Specialist Human lol

Uh that's it for now.

[welcometogrouchland]

It's mostly the fault of poor editorial practices that B&R is so heavily misaligned continuity-wise w/ the main batman book. But walk with me for a minute:

You are Damian Wayne. You are 14 years old and have had one of the worst years of your life last year. Which is saying a lot.

Your brother, one of the people you were closest to, got shot in the head and forgot who you were. Your best friend went to space for a week and came back 3/4 years older than you, taking away your previously established dynamic and leaving you to have to bond all over again w/ a new one. You may or may not have gone wayyy too far with your new superhero team, who now all hate you, because you fucked up big time*

And worst of all, when you do try to do the right thing, you end up forced to watch Alfred, a father figure to you, the only one at your birthday that year, the person who has been so patient, loving and trusting with you, even when you probably didnt deserve it...die. you watch him die, and feel it's all your fault.

And your dad never corrects you on that last point. So you run away.

First to your mom who can tell something's up with you, she knows you don't give up that easy, you decide not to stay with her because you remembered how actually, neither of your parents are good at communicating with you despite their best efforts, so now you're 14 and flying solo.

And you do fly solo. For a while. Make new friends, new enemies. You think you're better off for it. You've got your best friend and your brother back. They're not around as much. It's fine.

And eventually your dad tells you that it's not your fault that Alfred died. Bit late but it's appreciated. Really. There's a bit of a hiccup where you get possessed by a demon and wage war against your father but after that, all in all, you two are...together again.

You start to think maybe you want to give him another chance, for the two of you to be father and son.

And in a change of pace, it works out! It's going good, mostly. He insists you go to highschool, you resist, feel like he wants you to be something that you're not (wants you to be normal), but eventually you acquiesce for your own reasons. He cheers you on at soccer and nosies around at your fundraising events with the other parents and gives you a stern talking to about your choice of girlfriend. Because he cares.

Except all the while this is going on, your dad is currently having his brain slowly taken over by an evil version of himself that he created and every time you look away he's slowly tearing your family apart (your brothers are just barely keeping it together. The ones who didn't get lobotmized that is Jesus Christ). You keep taking his side in these conflicts, for whatever reason. Maybe because he promised it would be different this time, and it isn't** and you're going to stick with him until he keeps his word for once.

But at the end of the day?

It's like your brother says. You're not the one who saves him. Broadly speaking, you've made things worse and needed others to come save you. And what else is Robin really for? You thought it was about redemption and teamwork but guess you're wrong. It's about saving your self destructive, apparently two-faced and erratic father. And you can't even do that right.

* TT (2016) by Adam Glass is a racist ooc mess, but unfortunately it's still canon so I'm referencing here, though like a lot of works authors clearly wish weren't canon but are, it's been subsequently glossed over. Win? Maybe? Or not?

** again Zdarky's characterization of Damian is so outdated as to be ooc, and considering the way he constantly and explicitly uses it to illustrate Tim's strengths as robin, I'd argue there's. Also implications there. But the batshit insanity of the main batbook compared to B&R rn is crucial for this post, so I'm attempting to justify it. This time..

[bumblingbabooshka]

YEEEESSS I loved this addition - I don't know anything about disco and I've only seen snippets and early episodes of ENT so I wasn't able to talk about them in the original post - TOTALLY forgot about how the (let's just say for the sake of clarity) Vulcan religion both Spock and Tuvok follow was something considered a dangerous fringe group in T'Pol's time. They did the same shit with Pa'nar syndrome? Vulcans LOOVE to gatekeep information. They love a little secret like their Romulan brothers, on an individual and societal level. Why do you need to know my age? Why do you need to know the cure for Pa'nar syndrome? Don't talk about the pon farr. I also didn't know that Vulcan and Romulans eventually unify into one planet again! Spock-o your dream came true~!! (Now I'm picturing Vulcans and Romulans with 'Never say Ni'Var' stickers) Also, about progress coming after large incidents - that makes so much sense given the society being outlined. Small groups can be ignored or villainized as being un-vulcan in a way larger ones can't. Why are so many Vulcans thinking 'illogically' or being 'un-vulcan'? That doesn't make sense. Are WE the illogical ones? I personally imagine Vulcan society (general) being very resistant of and quick to change in equal measures. Vulcans find strength in appearing as a wholly unified group and don't seem (again, generally) to like being on the fringes. They're a society that pushes fitting in over standing out - being in the 'in' group is valued highly, whether that group is for change or against it. The above kind of thinking might naturally lead to bullying being seen as 'logical' or 'inevitable' by one's father...of course they were bullying you, you were acting emotionally. On the other hand - bullying is not peaceful behavior and it seems to imply emotion. Perhaps the bullying is un-Vulcan...so then you should not respond, or you are just as much to blame. But isn't it logical to respond when provoked? No, it's emotional. But- etcetc. Logic is just as malleable as any other um...'thing.' Like, Honor or whatever one word thing Humans have. It can serve many people and agendas and is subjective. Logic isn't a one size fits all black and white thing - it's just what Vulcans try to follow instead of emotion. If Logic were objective, all Vulcans would think and act exactly the same, but they don't! And I think it's also why there's such a heavy interest in philosophy on Vulcan. They're a people who have to think about themselves and their behavior and what should be done a lot. They have to meditate, to control themselves, to disregard instinct, and they have to learn to do all these things consistently every single day from birth until death. They're a species that live in a very different way from anyone else we encounter, where their natural way of life is (in some manner of speaking) unnatural to them. As Tuvok said, "Do not mistake composure for ease." It's probably extremely difficult but it's necessary, and it makes sense that people who live that way might grow to look down on others who follow the emotions that nearly led to Vulcan's own ruin. I can see how it might seem foolish to them and how a paternalistic and arrogant cultural attitude might grow from that. To Vulcans, they have literally achieved world peace after being on the brink of nuclear destruction. It makes sense that they're proud of that and I think pride is the inverse of shame in that there's also a lot of it in Vulcan society. It's like a reward <3 Vulcan society has changed a LOT throughout the years. Even before T'Pol it'd already sustained an extremely radical shift from a very war-focused and emotional people to the Vulcans we all see in canon. And even in canon their society changes from T'Pol to Spock to Tuvok. It's fascinating to see the ways Vulcan society changes throughout the franchise and how it doesn't!

With regard to that last post about Vulcans, it's so interesting to me that Vulcans ARE so hidebound around tradition even when that tradition is illogical or harmful. Women are treated equally in everyday life but how marriage operates is tradition and will not be changed. The marriage tradition of a woman being unable to ever point blank reject a man she's been betrothed to suggests that there used to be a more widespread societal issue with misogyny that's since been (seemingly) eradicated AND YET the tradition of marriage is tradition, and so it cannot change. When T'Pol asks Trip what she should do about (essentially) not wanting to marry Koss, she rebuts everything he says with the fact that it's tradition and her individual feelings don't matter when faced with tradition. "I have an obligation. [If you'd spent time around Vulcans you'd understand that] our commitment to tradition outweighs personal choice." When Trip says that people change she says "Vulcans don't. My obligation is to my culture, my heritage, it has to take precedence." Though one might think LOGIC is the most important aspect of Vulcan culture, it seems that TRADITION outweighs logic or, maybe more accurately, that Vulcans have decided as a species that to follow tradition is logical since they are a logical people and to do otherwise is emotional and therefore illogical. Another tradition that Vulcans seem to practice across the board without question is the kahs-wan, where you literally send your child out into the desert to survive for ten days without food, water, or weapons in Vulcan's forge where there are predatory wild animals and electric sandstorms. It's a test that can be taken multiple times without shame over having failed the first but I'm certain that there HAVE to be like...kids absolutely dying because of this ritual, right? I'm sure if a child is injured or dying slowly there's a way to save them but I'm also sure that 'cracking your head open' or 'being eaten by a sehlat' are pretty common ways to die if you're a starving and dehydrated child stumbling around a desert. And it's just a 'maturity test', it's NOT necessary and yet they continue to follow it both as children and as parents. Speaking of parents, parents exercise a LOT of control over their children in Vulcan society. We see in ENT that Koss' parents are the ones who arranged the marriage and it's them who T'Pol speaks to instead of Koss when she wants to negotiate the terms of her marriage. Both Spock and Tuvok had their careers planned out for them by their parents (and though both rebelled, Tuvok in canon frames this rebellion as foolish...not seeing the forest for the trees, being too young to understand his parents' vision.) For Spock, it makes sense bc he's a politician's son and one of the most important figures on Vulcan but Tuvok is just like...a normal citizen of Vulcan. So then in Vulcan society it's normal for both your marriage and career to be decided on by your parents and if you're a woman there's no getting out of the marriage thing unless you and a lover are willing to risk a life. And if you object to any of that hm...seems mighty illogical of you. And disowning your child ALSO seems to be a pretty common Vulcan practice.

[jalphisrealtrustme]

In defense of Jack Merridew (alternatively titled: my classmates did not read the book)

I don’t like it when people categorise any lord of the flies characters as “good” or “bad” (or in any other types of media, really) and it’s especially bad in class discussions. My classmates always say things like “Jack is crazy guys!” Or “Jack is evil!”, and it annoys me to no end. Are you trying to tell me that you read lotf off Sparksnotes? Anyways, these characters are too complex to be categorised into a single, black and white label, so I think picking up various traits based on the text is a better way of understanding the characters.

Two characters a lot of people like to put these labels on are Jack and Ralph. In my class Jack is seen as a batshit insane demon while Ralph is an angel with a shimmering halo. This is another time I ask them, “have you read the book with your eyes closed??”. When compared to Ralph, Jack does seem objectively, more chaotic, but that isn’t seeing the full picture yet. Today I’m going to clear up a few misunderstandings my classmates often have with Jack to prove that he is not in fact, evil.

1. Jack constantly bullies Piggy throughout the book

While it isn’t wrong to say this, he does bully Piggy quite a lot, I don’t think this is a valid point when discussing how he’s evil, because all of the boys, including Ralph, mistreated Piggy. This argument can’t be made solely for Jack. I would’ve gone on to explain how Ralph doesn’t treat Piggy that well either, but all this mistreatment is arguably a result of Piggy’s own decisions. Being a character that heavily relies on adults, Piggy decides to share the very name he doesn’t want people to call him to Ralph immediately. Since they’re Eton type school boys, of course this wouldn’t go piggy’s way. Him being bullied is a result of his own behaviour in the book, which doesn’t justify Jack’s actions, but explains it.

2. Jack is responsible for multiple deaths

This is another point my classmates often make. A pattern I’ve noticed is that they tend to weed out things that other characters are also guilty of, and direct it at only Jack. This is very frustrating because the main deaths in this book (Simon and Piggy) are results of the setting’s effect on all the boys. When discussing Piggy’s death in particular, Jack isn’t even the one who directly causes it, albeit he doesn’t seem very against it either. Anyhow, It’s not as if Jack purposefully intended these deaths, or even directly caused them, they are all at fault in some way or another. Jack is responsible, but not solely responsible for them. It’s just easier to point the blame to him because he’s the face of the hunters.

3. Jack is inherently evil

I think this is the most outrageous point by far. First off, this is literally proven wrong at the start of the book, where Jack struggled to kill any pigs. It’s shown when he, Ralph and Simon explore the island, in which he hesitates to do so, and another scene where he fails yet again when Ralph is building the shelters. Perhaps this is because British school boys were not taught how to hunt, but I believe it also shows how Jack is just another scared boy, and not inherently evil. There aren’t any other factors that stop him from it other than himself, making it different from Roger’s case where nothing other than societal norms stop him from throwing rocks at the littluns. I’m not saying that Jack is completely innocent, but he is most definitely not inherently evil. Despicable, apathetic characters that are evil at heart do not struggle to kill a pig.

Conclusion

Jack is as controversial as he is misunderstood. While he does harmful things in the book that lead to death and injuries, I believe that he shouldn’t be the only one responsible. Everything that happened on the island is a result of the setting’s effect on the boys, so we cannot direct the responsibility at a singular character. Jack is not inherently evil, nor is he a despicable villain (yes I’m talking to you villains wiki,) and if that’s what you got from the book please read again.

Side note

This is my first post ever so I hope I did okay and didn’t sound too arrogant. It’s mainly directed at my classmates. I know people can have different opinions, and you don’t have to agree with me, but please read the book at the very least. I might make a proper post about defending Jack in the future, but this is all I have for now. Thanks for reading!

[crag-dreams]

It’s the Saturday before Election Day 2024 here in the US, and stress/anxiety/fear/etc… is pretty high for a lot of people. That’s warranted, because another 4 years of Trump/GOP rule will harm so many people. You should do whatever you need to manage the next few days (including voting if you haven’t already), but I really want to encourage you to stop giving polls and “close race” media coverage much / any of your time or consideration.

Polling processes are wildly obsolete for how Millennial and Gen Z voters act compared to Gen X and Boomers (this is not a dig at these generations, just a factual observation). Polls are also easily manipulated to return a desired result, and the people running polls have a vested interest in getting your engagement. Keeping the results tight keeps eyeballs on them.

Similarly, the 24/7 media environment needs you constantly on edge and worried so you keep checking in and listening. They have no interest in a boring election or landslide victory. The majority of journalists have not risen to address this moment with the deliberate, in-depth reporting that we need. It’s far easier to throw together click-bait headlines to pump their numbers. It’s why they spend days covering the tiniest slip by Harris/Walz (and previously, Biden) while giving Trump/Vance a pass on every insane thing they say. Trump is *incredible* for news companies. He is so outrageous that their headlines write themselves, and as long as they don’t follow-up to truly report on him in a way that would end any other politician, they have unlimited content. Whatever you think about Biden, just remember: a single debate performance that wasn’t great was seized upon by the media (because it made for great engagement) and ended his candidacy. Trump can say the most batshit things (they’re eating the dogs!), and they minimize it at every opportunity, because he is good for them. They are sacrificing their journalistic integrity and responsibility at the expense of real people’s lives and rights.

So, what do we do if polls and most news coverage isn’t useful? Remember:

Trump lost the 2020 election. The Electoral College is the only reason it was even close. People were fed up then, and they are even more fed up now.

Roe was overturned by an activist Supreme Court that Trump is responsible for. In virtually every state-level election since then, the results have been outstandingly positive for Democrats, including in the Deep South™. This is why so many GOP politicians have stopped talking about abortion, even going so far as to remove their position from their websites, or directly contradicting themselves when asked about it. The only person making a decision about a woman’s body should be that woman, and these predominantly white dudes still don’t realize how badly they fucked up.

The majority of Trump’s former Cabinet and senior leadership have very publicly turned on him. While it would have been nice for them to do this earlier, it’s unprecedented to see so many prominent Republicans declare they will not vote for him. This doesn’t impact the hardcore MAGA crowd, but it absolutely speaks to more centrist Republican voters.

Trump has been convicted of sexual assault, and he is an adjudicated rapist. He’s been convicted of 34 felony indictments, with more to potentially come. Even though it seems like he never suffers consequences for these legal issues, it costs him voters. People who could justify supporting him before are finally reaching a limit, even if they don’t publicly admit it. (Some do!)

Also, more and more people who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 are willing to publicly admit they are tired of him and can’t do it again. His rallies are smaller and smaller, the crowds are less engaged, and, yes, people leave during his rambling rants more and more often.

Gen Z is getting to vote for the first time at any real scale. Say what you will about TikTok and other platforms, but they are more informed and showing up and caring about issues that didn’t move the needle for Gen X or Boomers. Remember the Access Hollywood, grab ‘em by the pussy, tape? That should have ended his original campaign, but it didn’t. Gen Z has found out about that, and it’s just one of so many things driving them to get out and vote. The turnout is going to be incredible.

Because we still use the stupid Electoral College, this election largely comes down to swing states. The Trump campaign has done almost everything imaginable to lose those voters. Whether it’s bashing unions (Trump said a child could do the same job as automotive workers building cars, he bragged about not paying overtime, etc…), immigrants (they’re eating the dogs, GOP-led states demonizing them), Puerto Ricans (calling their home a floating pile of garbage, Trump denying hurricane relief for almost two years), or women (abortion, telling women they should vote how their husband wants them to, Vance thinking their purpose is nothing more than baby-making, stay-home, wait-on-a-man’s every need), they are losing the swing states.

Elections are *incredibly secure and trustworthy.* The Trump/GOP camp has attacked this at every opportunity with virtually no success. The few instances of voter fraud we’ve seen in the last few years are almost entirely from Republicans. They have already started the narrative that the election is rigged if Trump loses. This narrative will only increase as results start to roll in on Tuesday. Don’t even worry about it. They will lose every / almost every single lawsuit they try to bring. It will have no impact on the eventual outcome.

Early voting, including absentee and mail-in ballots, turnout is incredibly encouraging. The higher the turnout, the better, and people are showing up. There’s fatigue and embarrassment on the GOP side (you’re gonna eventually hear from those voters that they stayed home, voted for Harris, etc…), and there’s excitement and motivation on the Dem side.

Are there reasons to be worried? Of course. The Trump campaign is going to try and obstruct the voting process in every way they can. They’re blocking poll monitors in Texas and Florida. Drop boxes in some states have been attacked. Voter rolls have been illegally purged. They’re bringing lawsuits (most of which they’ve already lost) even before Election Day. They’re going to claim fraud. They’ll probably incite violence again.

These are the actions of a desperate campaign that isn’t trying to actually win, because they know they’ve already lost.

So, we can acknowledge our stress, anxiety, and fear, but we don’t have to let it ruin the next few days. Get outside and enjoy (hopefully) beautiful Fall weather. Snuggle your pets. Listen to your favorite albums. Read a great book. Hang out with your people. Vote.

We’re a few days away from a massive weight being lifted from our shoulders. Don’t let it weigh you down until then.

[spacerockfloater]

Do you know what’s weird and hypocritical as shit?

The same Team Black stans who are shaming Team Green for having a moral code and characterising them as Trump supporters, trad wives, Christians driven by Catholic guilt, people with a Madonna-Whore complex etc., secretly also share the exact same values.

Because tell me, if you don’t feel like Rhaenyra being promiscuous and having children out of wedlock is something bad, why do you bother writing entire paragraphs about how her children are not bastards since Laenor claimed them/ they have Arryn genes/ they get the right of inheritance from their mother yada yada? Why do you try to justify her sleeping with her uncle on the day of his wife’s funeral as something Laena would be okay with because she loved and understood Daemon/ they were all in a polycule yada yada? Do hear how insane you are?

And it’s the same fucking people who congratulate Rhaenyra on her progressive family that shame the Targtowers for simply existing and push the narrative that they deserved being ignored by their father completely simply because they were born to his second wife. Like, Rhaenyra having children with her muscle man boy toy with her husband’s approval as they are both free to fuck whomever they want, while also kicking this same man out of the picture in order to marry her uncle and produce even more children with him and simultaneously making her uncle’s daughters from his previous marriage live with her and interbreed with her eldest sons is a perfectly fine and stable home environment, but marrying another woman after your wife passes away and having children with her is where you draw the line? On the one hand you’re encouraging Rhaenyra’s batshit deranged family dynamic, but on the other you’re actively supporting the idea that children born to a second wife deserve no love or sympathy from their father or eldest, by 16 years, sister? That’s so fucking sick.

If you actually didn’t give a fuck about moral standards, you wouldn’t bother finding excuses for every single one of Rhaenyra’s actions, but instead of just clenching your asscheeks and owning up to Nyra’s frivolous lifestyle, you’re jumping through hoops in order to desperately prove she’s not immoral and then use that exact code of ethics you turn your nose up at to judge Team Green. Team Black stans you’re the biggest hypocrites on earth. At least we’re consistent with our ideologies.