#knock maga out

[ywpd-translations]

Ride 712: To the next step!!

Pag 3

4: Was it hard?

Did you run with everything you had?

5: In this year's first years' race, the second and third place were

Pag 4

1: Hinoki Keisuke

2: and Amigoe Kyoutarou

Pag 5

1: You guys

2: We....chased him.... at full throttle, but....

3: As expecte.... we couldn't catch up!!

4: From the moment we started going around the dam.... I saw him for a moment ahead of us, but..... ngh!

5: Kyoutarou said he had a cramp in his lag

Wha!! After that you were saying “I can't do it anymore” too, Kei-chan!!

6: Imaizumi-san

Well.... anyway....

Pag 6

1: “Losing” really is frustrating

Pag 7

1: Yeah....!!

2: Amigoe, Hinoki, I have towels and water for you!!

Waaaa!! Thanks!!

Thanks!!

Eh, uhm... sorry

I'm a second year, Danchiku

Danchiku-san!!

3: On their first time riding a road-bike, they were Rokudai's assists

In their first race

4: They place second and third, with a 2 minutes difference with Kinaka

Wateer....

Fourth and fifth place are coming, I see two people

5: ….. huh

It's Murakami and Furuya!

Pag 8

2: Hahaha, it was so much fun... thoday's race!!

I'm very satisfied!! You did a good job!!

3: Kinaka!! Where is Kinaka!? I wanna congratulate him too!!

4: I did it, I did it!!

Sohoku!! The first years' race!! Damn!! I still can't believe it!!

5: Who told me two years ago... that “it's no use going to Sohoku”!!

I did it, I took it, I got results in Sohoku!!

Hahaha!! Are you seeing my strength now!?

6: Yoo, Kinaka, today's race was good!

Yes!!

Pag 9

3: Ex- excuse me.... teh

Thank you very much.... teh

4: Kei-chan.....

Kyou-chan.....

8: I.... I'm all worn out, but

Pag 10

1: I fullfilled my promise!!

Yeah!

Pag 11

1: You're incredible

Roku-chan!!

4: Yeah....!!

5: We'll join the club too

Until we make sure!!

6: Thank you, teh

For... for making sure I did it

Pag 12

1: Don't worry about it anymore

3: Yeah

Pag 13

6: You're right!!

Pag 14

1: The next day, Kei-chan Kyou-chan officially quitted the bicycle racing club

Thank you for your help

Pag 15

5: Are you sure?

6: Yes

Sorry for causing you trouble!!

Pag 16

1: Ah, it's okay, if you want to try again, you can always rejoin the club

They're not ready for that

2: I was surprised and shocked too

In case they decide to rejoin, they'll undergo a severe test

Ehhh!?

3: We'll rejoin the basket club

Excuse us

Even though I knew it

4: To advance or to stop, you're the one who decide

5: That's what bicycles are

6: If this is the path you chose for yourself, then follow it and move forward!!

7: Yes!!

'lright!!

Pag 17

2 Seeing them going away made me feel unsettled

3: The ground felt like marshmallows, and my heart shaked and wavered

5: So

Pag 18

1: I stood firm with all my strength, and with all my strength I waved my hand

Kei-chan, Kyou-chan, thank you!!

Pag 19

1: Rokudai-ku.....

Is he okay?

2: He's okay

Proably

3: Thank you

4: Separations make people stronger

Pag 20

2: Rokudaiii, I told you

We step on when we're halfway through the curve

You're too late, so you'll fall behind

I- got it, teh

I'll be careful teh

3: Ohoh!! Not bad, the NakaRoku combination!!

NakaRoku....!? That's a unique abbreviation

But still not as good as us!!

Pag 21

1: The team's name we e were once part of, the “SS team”, stands for “speed shot” which means to shoot through your opponents quickly

2: But we're different now!!

Our “team SS” stands for...

3: Special strong!!

Which means “special strong”*!!

(NdT.: the forst time he says it in english already, so then he repeats the meaning in Japanese)

Wha!?

His vocabulary....!!

4: Hahaha, what do you think, it suits us, right? Danchiku!!

Uh.... uhm!? Oh... yeah, it's... simple

Hahaha

5: You spent time.... to think about it...?

You know me well!! I searched in a dictionary!!

Is that so... well, in that case, it can't be helped

6: Danchiku

Pag 22

1: This year, let's go to the Inter High together

3: That's what I want

Pag 23

1: Special strong means that “the two of us are special and we become the strongest when we're together”

2: Issa …..!!

3: Well, Onoda-san said that the members will be announced at the training camp again

But don't worry, you even won on Minegayama last autumn

4: You'll become a member for sure, Danchiku!! Hahaha

5: “For.... sure””

Pag 24

1: Issa..... there's something I still can't tell you

2: After that fierce race on Minegayama last autumn

All the time

3: My body's joints are so tight, and they hurt so much that I can't run like I used to

[cleolinda]

A narrative in links

I want you to hear "In the Hall of the Mountain King" in your head while you read this:

Backlash after comedian at Trump rally calls Puerto Rico 'island of garbage'

Racist jokes about Puerto Rico at rally bring anger and disgust: ‘Truly how the Trump party sees us’

Why Trump can’t pretend his rally’s anti-Puerto Rican racism was just a joke

If That Puerto Rico Joke Doesn’t Cost Trump, [running mate] JD Vance’s Reaction Will ("I think that we have to stop getting offended at every little thing in the United States of America, I’m just so over it")

Tony Hinchcliffe doubles down on racist Trump rally jokes despite backlash: ‘Change your tampon’

Trump’s Shock Comic Was Set to Call Harris a ‘C*nt’

‘F*** These Racists’: Geraldo Rivera Tears Into MAGA After Trump’s MSG Rally

Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin & More Amplify Kamala Harris After Trump Rally Comedian Trashes Puerto Rico

[GOP Speaker of the House Mike Johnson] fields questions from Latino voters about ‘stupid’ Puerto Rico joke

Trump’s Puerto Rico fallout is ‘spreading like wildfire’ in [swing state] Pennsylvania

Fallout from Florida Latinos fierce following racist jokes during former president’s NYC rally

Florida's Rick Scott [who is running for re-election] touts support for Puerto Rico after racist joke at Trump rally

Trump Rages at Fox News as His Allies Panic Over NYC Rally

Trump campaign struggles to contain Puerto Rico October surprise

It is absolutely sending me that this is what finally did it. To get everyone on the same page here, an "October surprise" in American politics is something unexpected that derails a political campaign at the last minute, right before Election Day in the U.S. (first Tuesday in November). Back in 2016, we thought it was the Access Hollywood "grab them by the pussy" tape, and then way too many people just shrugged and Trump won anyway, because the actual October surprise turned out to be FBI Director James Comey rocking up and announcing an investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server. But Her Emails, etc.

So this year, of course, I and the rest of r/politics have been sitting here waiting for shit to go down, most likely re: Trump rather than Harris (I say as I knock on my wooden kitchen table), but what could he do that's any worse than what he's already done this year? Than what we already know of his past?

Apparently, everyone has decided it's this. It's a dude who is not even Trump getting up at the Madison Square Garden Nazis-In-America nostalgia rally Sunday night and telling shitty racist jokes. Not the one about "Latinos coming," not the one about Black people and watermelons, not even other things Hinchcliffe said in the same speech. It's not any number of heinous things various other speakers said (scroll down). No, it's

"There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico."

It's not thumbs up at Arlington Cemetery, it's not THEY'RE EATING THE DOGS, it's not "I wish I had generals like Hitler's" and all the other times Trump admired Nazis. It's this.

I mean, everyone is correct to be outraged about this, I'm glad that it's gained traction and more people than usual are actually shocked and politicians are panicking, and Puerto Ricans both on the island and the mainland have my deep I'm-sorry-sympathy that they have been insulted this way. But--maybe it's just the last-minute timing, but it is blowing my mind that THIS, finally, from a guy who isn't even Trump, is the October Surprise.

[seriouslycromulent]

The Math Ain't Mathing

So I'm sure people are going to accuse me of being a conspiracy theorist, but the more I think about the results of this US election, the more it's clear that things aren't adding up.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm well aware of the US's long history of racism and misogyny, and it is totally possible -- in theory -- that more people voted for a moronic straight, white male who is an ajudicated grapist and convicted felon over a more-than-qualified, intelligent, results-driven woman of color for a position as leader of the wealthiest nation on earth.

I'm not saying that couldn't happen. But did it? Legitimately?

The more I think about Trump's campaign, the more fishy this result seems.

So here was a man with ...

virtually no policies (that he could talk about openly),

no ground game,

no door knocking apparatus to urge folks to get out the vote,

no phone banking,

he was constantly running out of money and had to shill products to raise more,

stole money from down ballot candidates, putting their marketing strategies at risk,

found liable for SA,

found guilty of millions of dollars in fraud,

constantly rambles and shows clear signs of being mentally unwell,

invokes violent and hateful language against specific communities as well as individuals,

bragged about being a dictator on Day 1,

had over 40 former cabinet members declare him unfit for office,

was called a fascist by his own former chief of staff,

was not endorsed by any reputable economists,

saw a flood of lifelong Republicans -- literally millions of them -- abandon their party to vote for his opponent,

has been impeached twice,

has seen sharply, dwindling crowd sizes at his rallies for the last 6 weeks,

... and somehow he won the popular vote by 5 million?

Even though he never won the popular vote in 2016? Or 2020?

Suddenly he "found" a bunch of votes from people who liked him?

Um, no.

Just no.

One of Trump's biggest failings is that he and his team tell lies like children. That is, they've never learned how to keep things believable. Like a misguided 10-year-old who is desperate to impress someone with his whopper of a tale, he always exaggerates to the point of hyperbole and insults our intelligence.

For example, he told us his rally at Wildwood, NJ, this past summer had 108,000 even though the town itself only has 80,000 residents and the venue he held the rally in only held 20,000 people.

Or how he kept insisting that American kids are going to school and somehow receiving gender reassignment surgery over a couple of days and without parental consent before being sent home.

Each lie is so over the top and grandiose it makes him look infantile while at the same time insults our knowledge of reality.

And that's exactly what this feels like.

There is no way this man won the majority of the votes and the popular vote after only winning due to the electoral college the first time and not at all the second time. More people vilify him now than they did in 2016 and 2020, and that's saying something.

There just aren't enough voters in the US to give him a clear path to victory here no matter how committed his sycophants are to white supremacy. MAGA voters are not the majority of the voting electorate.

Also the fact that the exit polling data is suspiciously similar to the same tall tales Trump's been selling for the past year about how he had a ton of support in the Latino and Black communities, despite there being no data to support it at all. He was polling damn near 0% in some majority black communities like Detroit and Atlanta.

Yeah ... no.

This math ain't mathing.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I know when something isn't adding up. And nothing about these results add up at all.

On top of that, they ran their entire campaign like they didn't care about people getting out to vote. They kept insulting different segments of the electorate over and over again, as if they didn't need the votes of single people or people without children.

Plus, we saw record voter registration leading up to the election. More people voting early in state after state, and millions of people voting for the first time in their lives. But somehow there were fewer votes cast in this 2024 election than in the 2020 election?

Hell, Georgia alone tripled its early voter turnout. So how is this election getting fewer votes than 4 years ago?!

There were historically longer lines than ever before in parts of the country that never saw long lines, and yet there were millions fewer votes counted so far this year? Are we really to believe that all those long lines and so many new voters managed to only add up to 136M versus 158M who voted in 2020?

I call bullshit!

Also, a number of folks are commenting on how quickly the states were called. In all my years of voting, I've never seen a US election turning around so fast.

Yeah, the math ain't mathing.

Sure, he could've eeked out a win via the Electoral College without the popular vote like he did in 2016, but given her momentum and the majority of the polls either favoring her or having had them tied, none of these results pass the smell test.

Meanwhile, Harris had a multigenerational, multiracial, multiethnic, multigendered coalition of enthusiastic supporters who volunteered, phone banked, door knocked, and fundraised in every state plus D.C. Her media strategy was savvy, her interviews were sharp and intelligible, and her demeanor was inclusive and congenial. Again, not putting anything past good ole American racism and misogyny, but all the data showed that her supporters were clearly larger in number and more enthusiastic than his.

Long story short --

I do believe we are witnessing the American government being hijacked and a dictator installed right before our very eyes.

[mugiwara-lucy]

Now while all of this is all good news I would just like to remind everyone that the fight is NOT over yet!!!

There’s still so much work to be done and while Kamala is doing her part; she has literally been on the road for the PAST WEEK, WE HAVE TO DO OURS!!

Do NOT get complacent and think we won because if we do we get PRESIDENT VANCE!!!!

Deadlines to register to vote are coming up and here’s the post below to register if you haven’t already!!

Also, your own vote isn’t enough! Get as many people as you can to vote for Kamala be it your friends, cousins, parents, grandparents, old friends from high school and college, coworkers, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, stepchildren (if they’re 18 and over) and the list goes on and on but every vote counts! ALSO PLEASE check your registration DAILY because MAGA WILL purge your voter registration!!

And early voting has started! And if you don’t wanna vote on November 5th, Early Voting is another option! Like I said get as many people as you know and try early voting that way you can avoid MAGA fuckery on November 5th!

And Mail in Ballots are ANOTHER option I highly recommend!! And like I said get as many people as you can to take advantage of this option! BUT if you decide to go with Mail In/Absentee Ballots; PLEASE mail your ballots at the ACTUAL USPS office!! That way MAGAts won't fuck with it.

And I’ve seen Democrats abroad take advantage which I HIGHLY suggest so here it is!!

Guys….today is Kamala’s birthday.

What BETTER gift to her would be giving her the presidency of the United States after four months of hard work?!

But she can ONLY get it if we do OUR part!! Make phone calls, knock on doors, send out posts, call friends/neighbors/family/exes and most importantly….V-O-T-E!!!!!

[qqueenofhades]

Sorry for the homework assignment but could you provide a few down ballot elections where my donation would help?

What immediately comes to mind is:

The link above gives money (whether collectively or individually, you can pick) to 12 Democrats running in flippable House districts (i.e. currently held by a Republican but close enough to target for turning blue). Getting the MAGA clown show out of the House is crucial to get President Harris (knock on wood!) off on a good footing and able to ACTUALLY DO THINGS.

Democratic senators Jon Tester (Montana) and Jacky Rosen (Nevada) are in tight re-election races; help is useful there:

One of the most likely states to flip from red to blue in 2024 is North Carolina, and would insulate our map/give us more paths to 270:

If you or anyone else has some spare pennies, I suggest giving to any of the above. Thanks!

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Aldous J. Pennyfarthing at Daily Kos:

Just two weeks after Donald Trump urged radical leftists to vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this November—because “he’s got some nice things about him” and “I happen to like him”—he’s suddenly taking a different tack.

In the wake of new polling suggesting RFK Jr. would siphon more votes away from Trump than President Joe Biden, Trump is stablin’ and geniusin’ up a storm, taking to his perpetual prevarication platform Truth Social to knock the wind out of the independent candidate’s campaign. His latest tirade comes just days after Trump claimed RFK the Lesser could hurt both major party candidates but “he might hurt Biden a little bit more.” On Friday night, as Trump dithered between wishing his wife a happy birthday or lauding South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem for her new and courageous puppy-murdering stance, he suddenly swung in an entirely different direction: claiming the guy he once praised as “very smart” and a “very good man” is actually a total disaster. And not because RFK Jr. would be forced to attend state dinners in a giant acrylic hamster ball to avoid infecting other world leaders with smallpox. No, it’s because Trump—and Republicans as a whole—are suddenly very nervous that Kennedy will loosen Trump’s once-reliable hold on the demon sperm vote. 

As Daily Kos noted Tuesday, new polling from NBC News shows Kennedy support at 13%—but notably, he “picks up 15% of Trump's support in the head-to-head while attracting only 7% of Biden's original voters.” But that’s not all! In the Marist poll, Kennedy gains a point; and “17% of Trump voters threw their support behind Kennedy in this poll, compared to 11% of Biden voters.” [...] Trump’s latest rants represent a stark departure from what he was saying just last year, after it was revealed that former Trump adviser Steve Bannon had spent “months” recruiting RFK Jr. to run against Biden and serve as a “useful chaos agent.” In June of last year, when RFK Jr. was still running as a Democrat, Trump said he was a “very smart guy,” a “good guy,” and a “common sense guy.” He even lauded the Kennedy scion’s allegedly robust poll numbers, saying, “He’s a very good man and his heart is in the right place, and he’s doing really well! I saw a poll, he’s at 22. That’s pretty good.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has increasingly targeted his campaign to MAGA-curious messaging to appeal to disgruntled Trump voters, and that has Donald Trump shaking in his boots because indications that RFK Jr. will poach more from Trump than Joe Biden.

See Also:

Salon: RFK is now openly gunning for Trump voters — and Republicans are starting to worry

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

August 6, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Aug 07, 2024

Today Vice President Kamala Harris named her choice for her vice presidential running mate: Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota. Walz grew up in rural Nebraska. He enlisted in the Army National Guard when he was 17 and served for 24 years, retiring in 2005 as a command sergeant major, making him the highest-ranking enlisted soldier ever to serve in Congress, according to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.  

He went to college with the educational benefits afforded him by the Army, and graduated from Chadron (Nebraska) State College. From 1989 to 1990, he taught at a high school in China, then became a social studies teacher in Alliance, Nebraska, where he met fellow teacher Gwen Whipple, who became his wife. They moved to Minnesota, where they both continued teaching and had two children, Hope and Gus, through IVF. 

Walz became the faculty advisor for the school’s gay-straight alliance organization at the same time that he coached the high-school football team from a 0���27 record to a state championship. The advisor “really needed to be the football coach, who was the soldier and was straight and was married," Walz said in 2018. 

Walz ran for Congress in 2005 after some of his students were asked to leave a rally for George W. Bush because one of them had a sticker for Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. Walz won and served in Congress for twelve years, sitting on the House Agriculture Committee, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

Voters elected Walz to the Minnesota state house in 2018, and in his second term they gave him a slim majority in the state legislature. With that support, Walz signed into law protections for abortion rights, supported gender-affirming care, and legalized the recreational use of marijuana. He signed into law gun safety legislation and protections for voting rights, and pushed for action to combat climate change and to promote renewable energy. 

Strong tax revenues and spending cuts gave the state a $17.6 billion surplus, and the Democrats under Walz used the money not to cut taxes, as Republicans wanted, but to invest in education, fund free breakfast and lunch for schoolchildren, make tuition free at the state’s public colleges for students whose families earned less than $80,000 a year, and invest in paid family and medical leave and health insurance coverage regardless of immigration status. 

While MAGA Republicans are already trying to define Walz as “far left,” his votes in Congress put him pretty squarely in the middle.  His work with Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan to expand technology production and infrastructure funding in the state was rewarded in 2023, when Minnesota knocked Texas out of the top five states for business. The CNBC rating looked at 86 indicators in 10 categories, including the workforce, infrastructure, health, and business friendliness. 

Walz checks a number of boxes for the 2024 election, most notably that he hails from near the battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania and comes across as a normal, nice guy. He favors unions, workers’ rights, and a $15 minimum wage. He is also the person who coined the phrase that took away the dangerous overtones of today’s MAGA Republicans by dubbing them “weird.” As a student of his said: “In politics he’s good at calling out B.S. without getting nasty or too down in the dirt…. It’s the kind of common sense he showed as a coach: practical and kinda goofy.”

Walz is also a symbol of an important resetting of the Democratic Party. He has been unapologetic about his popular programs. On Sunday, July 28, when CNN’s Jake Tapper listed some of Walz’s policies and asked if they made Walz vulnerable to Trump calling him a “big government liberal.” Walz joked that he was, indeed, a “monster.” 

“Kids are eating and having full bellies so they can go learn, and women are making their own health care decisions, and we’re a top five business state, and we also rank in the top three of happiness…. The fact of the matter is,” where Democratic policies are implemented, “quality of life is higher, the economies are better…educational attainment is better. So yeah, my kids are going to eat here, and you’re going to have a chance to go to college, and you’re going to have an opportunity to live where we're working on reducing carbon emissions. Oh, and by the way, you’re going to have personal incomes that are higher, and you’re going to have health insurance. So if that’s where they want to label me, I’m more than happy to take the label.” 

Right-wing reactionary politicians have claimed to represent ordinary Americans since the time of the passage of the Voting Rights Act—on August 6, 1965, exactly 59 years ago today—by insisting that a government that works for communities is a “socialist” plan to elevate undeserving women and racial, ethnic, and gender minorities at the expense of hardworking white men. 

Historically, though, rural America has quite often been the heart of the country’s progressive politics, and the Midwest has had a central place in that progressivism. Walz reintegrates that history with today’s Democratic Party. 

That reintegration has left the Republicans flatfooted. Trump and J.D. Vance expected to continue their posturing as champions of the common man, but on that front the credentials of a New York real estate developer who inherited millions of dollars and of a Yale-educated venture capitalist pale next to a Nebraska-born schoolteacher. Bryan Metzger, politics reporter at Business Insider, pointed out that J.D. Vance tried to hit Walz as a “San Francisco-style liberal,” but while Vance lived in San Francisco as a venture capitalist between 2013 and 2017, Walz went to San Francisco for the first time just last month. 

Head writer and producer of A Closer Look at Late Night with Seth Meyers Sal Gentile summed up Walz’s progressive politics and community vibe when he wrote on social media: “Tim Walz will expand free school lunches, raise the minimum wage, make it easier to unionize, fix your [carburetor], replace the old wiring in your basement, spray that wasp’s nest under the deck, install a new spring for your garage door and put a new chain on your lawnmower.” 

Vice President Harris had a very deep bench from which to choose a running mate, but her choice of Walz seems to have been widely popular. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who are usually on opposite sides of the party, both praised the choice, prompting Ocasio-Cortez to post: “Dems in disconcerting levels of array.” 

Harris and Walz held their first rally together tonight in Philadelphia, where Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, who had been a top contender for the vice presidential slot, fired up the crowd. “Each of us has a responsibility to get off the sidelines, to get in the game, and to do our part,” he said. “Are you ready to do your part? Are you ready to form a more perfect union? Are you ready to build an America where no matter what you look like, where you come from, who you love, or who you pray to, that this will be a place for you? And are you ready to look the next president of the United States in the eye and say, ‘Hello, Madam President?’ I am too, so let’s get to work!”

Pennsylvania is a crucial state, and Shapiro issued a statement offering his “enthusiastic support” to the ticket. He pledged to work to unite Pennsylvanians behind my friends Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and defeat Donald Trump.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[shuniverse]

dark nights ,, g.tnka

🧷 I decided to write gundham because I adore that man and I want to marry him fr 😔❤️

🎐 f!reader (because I’m self-indulgent 🥲) ;; cute fluff ;; a storm ;; gundham + a tight muscle shirt 🤭 ;; gundham calls you paramour and dove and darling because those nicknames suit him and they’re so fucking cute 😭 ;;

;;

gundham had invited you over, missing your company, because ‘even the supreme overlord of ice gets lonesome in his abode.’

you happily obliged however, also missing the warmth you felt in your boyfriend’s apartment, as well as his adorable little hamsters, the devas.

and so, you’re driving to his home, playing some low, soft songs on the way there, your bag packed in the passenger seat with hoodies and other assorted clothes, and your hair done in a messy bun in the back of your head with light bangs framing your face, and subtle dark eyeliner around your eyes.

finally arriving at his door, your things in hand, you knock on his door.

you giggle at the rustling behind it, and you smile softly when the door finally opens, revealing your boyfriend with his hair down and messy, face mostly clean aside from the gentle eyeshadow still around his eyes, in a snug black tee that accentuates the subtle muscle of his arms and the thicker muscle of his chest, and loose grey sweatpants hanging low around his hips. he looks absolutely delectable.

“darling? you’re gawking, is something the matter?”

his comfortingly deep voice pulls you out of your trance, and you giggle and nod. “sorry, baby, you’re just super pretty.”

his cheeks flush at the compliment, ever the shy guy despite his normal persona. “ah, thank you, my paramour.”

you nod, stepping forward to press a kiss to his lips, more prominent now that the pale foundation isn’t covering them, and he reciprocates happily with a ringed hand to your cheek.

he pulls away though with a beautiful close lipped smile. “let us get inside, my love, we mustn’t let it get cold. besides, I’ve been dying to feel your most comforting presence in my dark abode.”

once again, you nod, and step inside and walk to his room, where you set your things. you know he doesn’t mind, he’s let you know, and you’re comfortable considering you’ve been together for two years. you’re surprised you’re not living together at this point.

you leave his room, having stolen one of his hoodies, which makes him chuckle when he notices. “cold, my dove?”

you giggle. “yeah, it was kinda chilly outside, especially with the rain coming in.”

he nods with a knowing grin on his defined features. “of course, I understand, love. come, I’ve prepared some movies for us to enjoy. ah, but first, please make yourself comfortable, I’ll go grab our treats for the night.”

“ok, baby.” you smile and kiss his cheek while he presses one to your head, lifting your hand and kissing the back of it, before walking to the kitchen to retrieve your snacks.

god I got lucky with this man, you think, he’s perfect.

as soon as you utter those words, you notice four familiar little blobs in your peripheral vision, and you turn your head to see the devas crawling over to you to cuddle against you, maga-z gently nibbling on your forearm, making you giggle. “hi, babies. miss me?”

you smile fondly at them. cuties, they are.

gundham walks back into the room, seeing the cute little scene, and he smiles. “how adorable. a goddess with fearsome creatures, shall I call you circe?”

you giggle at his reference, knowing Circe is one of your favorite Greek goddesses. “I wish, baby, but she’s too cool for me.”

“oh nonsense, dove. you’re goddess enough for me, and I think that suffices enough, yes?”

you smile and kiss his arm as he sits down next to you. “I suppose, love. now, what movie do you have picked out?”

he gives a small smile as he pecks your temple before handing you a bowl of fresh fruits as well as the chips he knows you love. “I’ve picked out a few, darling, just let me know what you’d like to watch, okay?”

you nod, getting comfy and munching on your fruits.

he scrolls through movies he rented for you, passing through Atlantis, The Phantom of the Opera, The Conjuring, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Incantation - and as soon as he stops on that, your face lights up; it’s your favorite horror movie.

“Ooh, ooh, that one!”

he chuckles. “okay, my paramour, we shall watch this one.”

you smile giddily at him and kiss his cheek. “thank you baby.”

he gives you a warm smile, one you’ve grown to love and appreciate, seeing as it usually only comes out with you. “anything for you, my dove. let’s watch now, I know you’re practically vibrating in your seat.”

you giggle at his comment, snuggling up close and grabbing a chunk of watermelon and handing it to gundham, who opens his mouth for it. you pop the fruit into his mouth, and he chews with a little smile, waiting til he’s done to kiss your head and speak again. “thank you, my paramour.”

nodding, you chomp on a piece of your own. “of course, pretty boy. let’s watch the movie now!”

he gives a small laugh, turning on the movie for you both to watch.

all goes well, until about 10 minutes later, thunder booms outside, and a flash of lightning is the last shine of light you see before all goes dark.

you scream, clinging onto gundham. you wouldn’t necessarily say you have a fear of storms, but this one got to you.

you feel arms wrap around your form in a comforting manner, and a kiss is pressed to your head as a hand brushes down your hair. “shh, my love, all is well, it’s just a power outage, you are okay.”

you bury your head into gundham’s thick chest, whimpering a bit. “are.. are the devas okay?”

he smiles against your head, feeling the aforementioned hamsters crawl and snuggle against his neck, and close to your head. “yes, darling, they’re just fine. are you?”

you pause for a moment, before looking up at him, faintly seeing his defined facial features from what little light is coming through the window, and nodding. “yea, I.. I’m fine, baby.”

he nods in response, kissing your forehead. “good, that’s good. I suppose no movie then?”

you pout, before sitting up and grabbing your snacks. “let’s just head to your room, baby. it’s comfy in there, and we can light candles!”

he chuckles at your enthusiasm, standing up and holding out a hand for you to hold. “let us go then, dove.”

you both head down to his bedroom, the familiar smell of incense and cedarwood filling your senses, making you smile, and you plop down on his bed, the black silk sheets comforting you with the plush pillows.

he gently grabs your snacks and places them on the bedside table, and he picks up a candle from a drawer, lighting it, and setting it down. the smell is a mix of lavender, and musky oak-like wood. he then turns to light and burn some incense as well, the woodsy smell complementing the candle.

he smiles at you now, and you lay back on the sheets comfortably, opening your arms to the beautifully misunderstood man in front of you, who happily takes your invitation and gets on the bed to lay comfortably on top of you, the top of his dark head close to your chin.

you press a kiss to his head, feeling drowsy and comforted by the way he runs his hands up and down your sides, and he presses a kiss to your collarbone.

“a nap would be good now, darling, storms are good for sleep. let us rest, and feel rejuvenated when we wake.”

you smile, nodding, softly scratching the base of his neck with your nails. “sleep.. sounds good, my love.”

he sighs deeply, his deep and rumbly voice making you warm inside. “sleep well, my paramour.” and with a kiss to your jaw, he’s snuggled his head against you, on his way to dreamland.

and it’s now that you realize, however.

this.

this is home, you think.

and you think you could stay til those candles burn out, til all of them do.

or forever.

yeah, that. that’s a good idea.

;;

hope you enjoyed this!! I love writing for gundham :((( he makes me so so happy and I want a boyfriend like him 😭😭

feel free to like and reblog, it’s greatly appreciated!!

[solarbird]

Well, here we are.

If you’re in a battleground state, there are still a few opportunities for knocking on doors, for making phone calls, until not long before polls close. Here’s one in Pennsylvania; scroll down to find more than that specific example. Here’s one in North Carolina, and one in California for Congressional races.

There’s probably more for “ballot curing” if you live in a state that does that. Look around for it. It’ll be more phone calling, mostly, trying to reach people with damaged, errantly submitted, or otherwise problematic but otherwise-valid ballots so they can come in and verify who they are and get the ballots accepted. Look for local efforts if you can.

If you have friends or family you can still talk to, who might not vote or might be on the line or gods forbid might still be voting for the fascist, these are some of the best arguments I’ve put out there. Use ’em if you can, and haul ’em to the polls yourself if that’s what’ll work, because every single vote matters now.

Abortion rights and birth control go without saying.

From yesterday, the Party of Plague going fully against vaccination

From a few days ago, Elon Musk saying Trump will crash the economy, and that’s the goal

The raw, unvarnished race hatred of the Madison Square Garden rally

Trump literally being a Hitler fanboy and wanting what Hitler had, and the GOP being onboard with that

The people who have worked with him the most have the worst things to say about him

The plan to ramp climate destruction all the way up, to keep throwing money at oil companies until there’s nothing left to throw

How to interest the lowest and most passive of low-info voters

The essential misogyny and the raw hatred of women by MAGA

What to tell people who think politics is “boring” and they want to “stay out of it,” which is, in short: an authoritarian in power means literally everything is about politics all the fucking time

Project 2025, of course

And how this election can be the last one under the Baby Boom rules, under Baby Boom politics, and how there is finally – finally – a way to move forward, if we grab it now.

Trump will almost certainly declare victory no matter what the votes are; there are rumours that he’ll do it around 10pm, but that could be leftover from 2020 when he had the same plan. Fuck that, and fuck him, and don’t take it seriously.

There has already been some violence, so it’s safe to assume there will be more, but I don’t think it’ll be enough to matter today; what will matter today will be the rapid-fire disinformation barrage – from MAGA, from Russia, from Project Veritas, and more – and the fleet of legal filings MAGA will unleash, probably before polls even close. They’ll be trying to stop voters, vote counting, and most certainly vote certification.

Of course, we all know that’s coming. And that’s why every single vote, in every district, no matter how blue, matters. It’s because the bigger the margin, the fewer people will join on to the insurrection this time around. If it’s big enough, it’ll fall apart before it can even get started.

So. I’ll be around all day today and into the night, as I have been the last few weeks; I don’t know if I’m going to do a true “liveblog” here, but I might well. If I do, I’ll do it via a root post and replies. If I don’t, look for me on Mastodon, where I will most definitely be active.

It’s election day, team. Whatever you’ve got left, it’s time to deploy it. Good luck – and good hunting.

Now get out there and win this thing.

Election Day is here

[likesplatterpaint]

Omfg, Internet do your thing and destroy this absolute moron with his own actions.

Just the gifs on their own…

Stunned I didn’t hear this on tumblr first.

TT points out inappropriately sexual behavior can indicate frontal lobe deterioration and it really makes sense…

Dude was acting like he was on Comedy Central. I forgot how awful he actually is because to be honest I’ve avoided any clips of him for like? Two years now I think? But you could just really tell under all the bravado he is desperately manipulating the crowd with deliberate speech, exaggerated frustrations and threats of violence to make himself seem “relatable”, something he pours everything into.

And Jesus I could hear in his MAGA zombie crowd god fuck it works. They DO relate.

I hate it here.

[vorchagirl]

WIP Whenever

Tagged by @xoshepard - thank you!

Moments: a Saints and Liars prequel I'm working on. It's Reyes' point of view of them falling in love on Kadara in snatched moments from their missions and interactions.

I'll tag @ashenlavellan @lonesurvivorao3 @acciokaidanalenko @sept @foofyschmoofer @briarfox13 @painterofhorizons @silurisanguine @pyrorawr @heroofshield @crimsonshield75

Cerys Ryder was tiny, he registered with interest, much smaller than he had imagined, and Reyes tilted his head as he compared her to himself. At 6’3, he thought he was almost full foot taller than her. And not only was she small, but she looked very delicate. Very…breakable and girly. True, her build was hard to see under her jacket, but he thought she looked both petite and feminine.

She was very beautiful, Reyes acknowledged reluctantly, but he'd known that from the picture on Alec's desk. Her smiling image was burned into his memory: high cheekbones, full lips, and blue eyes which were the same shade as her fathers.

His attention moved from Cerys back to the Outlaws as their raucous laughter was drowned out under the loud metallic scraping of their chairs on the floor as they stood up. They ambled towards her, looking drunk and definitely up to no good.

Reyes tensed automatically, should he intervene?

The two men were clearly the typical type Sloane hired, and they were used to intimidating the locals into doing exactly what they wanted.

He hesitated, curious to see how Cerys would handle the situation.

They crossed the floor in a few long strides, and all but trapped her against the bar, lecherous expressions on their faces as they invaded her personal space. Reyes couldn't hear what they were saying over the noise of the bar, but he watched their expressions turn nasty as she obviously rebuffed them and turned away, her disinterest clear.

He winced, turning her back was a mistake. The Outlaws didn't take kindly to pretty girls turning them down, and he knew what would come next.

They grabbed her, clearly intending to drag her out, and Reyes instantly stepped forward, one hand on his gun. He wasn't one for chivalry under normal circumstances, but he couldn't just stand by while they dragged her out to beat or rape her.

Plus, if he saved the day, Reyes thought with a small smile, Little Miss Pathfinder would have a reason to trust him.

And if he could get the new Pathfinder on his side, he might have a chance of escaping this hellhole.

The Outlaws seized her arms and started dragging her towards the door when Cerys snapped. Reyes could think of no other word for it. A biotic aura exploded around her and she biotically charged, slamming one man into the wall with a sickening crack. He screamed and let go, clutching his hip as he fell to the floor writhing in pain. Cerys then swung around and, in a series of moves Reyes recognised as Krav Maga, used her biotics in a flurry of punches which knocked the other man cold, and probably shattered his cheek bone judging from the hideous snapping crack he heard in the shocked silence.

She landed lightly and stepped over the prone man with a little jump, walking back to the bar as though nothing had happened. Reyes eased his hand off his gun and snickered to himself; so much for riding to the rescue. Cerys Ryder might have been petite and pretty, but she wasn't helpless in the least.

Despite appearances, she was every inch her father's daughter.

[militantinremission]

Donald Trump: Potential Felon- In Chief?

Donald Trump has been convicted on 34 Felony Counts of falsifying Business Records in his attempt to hide his [past] infidelity during the 2016 Presidential Election. I'm not a Lawyer, so I don't understand what This Trial accomplished. Trump received a 'Scarlet Letter', but he's STILL the likely GOP Nominee for POTUS. Republican Leaders continue to Pledge their Allegiance, & Trump's MAGA Minions will likely double down on their efforts to put him back in Office. Just as Vladimir Putin survived 16,000 Sanctions, I see Donald Trump surviving this Conviction. In fact, he has reportedly raised $35M in the first 24hrs following his Conviction; he's currently up to $39M.

What was The Point of this Trial? What does finding Trump Guilty on 34 Counts actually accomplish? In essence, Nothing has changed; The MAGA Bus rolls onward. Donald Trump faces Sentencing on July 11th (3 Days before the Republican National Convention), & even then, it's not likely that he will face any Jail Time for a 'Low Level Felony'. Even if he's Sentenced, Trump vows to continue Campaigning. Dems run the risk of Donald Trump being likened to Nelson Mandela. New York State Attorney General Letitia James & Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg were aiming for a Knock Out Punch, but at best, they only gave Trump a Black Eye... I don't see their End Game; unless it's a Win that Attorney General James & D.A. Bragg are planning to ride into the Governor's Mansion & Gracie Mansion respectively.

Despite his position of being a Former President, Donald Trump IS a flawed Candidate. His greatest strength, is his Cult of Personality. I credit him for being a Master Marketer, who has created a formidable Base among Working Class Republicans. This demographic is the traditional Republican Base, so it's not a big surprise to see Republican Leadership following their Key Voting Block into MAGALand. I said before that Politicians underestimated Donald Trump's Media Savvy. He has a knack for staying relevant in a Society conditioned to 30 second Sound Bites & a Short Attention Span.

TD Hip Hop did a great analysis of Trump's Guilty Verdict; looking at the Jury Instructions in particular. The Mainstream Media pointed out Judge Juan Merchan's instructions regarding sole use of Michael Cohen's testimony as grounds for Conviction; Jurors have to consider additional elements in order to Convict. Tony pointed out how the Judge also permitted Jurors to find Trump Guilty on Each Count w/ as few as 4 Jurors out of the 12; This is a precedent. It also raises a huge question mark regarding Trump's Guilty Verdict on ALL 34 [Felony] Charges. How many Counts were actually unanimous votes? Why was conformity among All 12 Jurors bypassed in this particular Trial? What does it mean for future Trials in Manhattan Courts, NYC, & N.Y. State?

The Mainstream Media is running w/ Trump's Conviction; Political Correspondents are quick to point out how 20% of Donald Trump's Supporters say they will 'reconsider' their stance if he's Convicted. But then again, are they only fanning the flames of Trump Supporters? Many in the MAGA Camp believed all along that he is being politically persecuted & pledged to support him regardless. I wonder how this Verdict will affect Libertarians that were on The Fence- will they cry foul & lend their support to Donald Trump? What about Black Voters? Some can see Trump getting the 'Black Treatment' from the Justice System, and may identify w/ that. Then there are those who point to Judge Merchan's daughter, Loren; who through her Firm- Authentic Campaigns, made $10M from information related to this Trial. Attorney Kash Patel pointed out that this is a Violation of N.Y. State Law & the F.E.C.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden is in Scramble Mode. His disregard for Black Specific Issues are coming Home to Roost. His Campaign & the Democratic Shills associated w/ it are trying to push his accomplishments for Black Americans, but NOTHING is Black Specific. Joe Biden is basically citing a laundry list of 'Rising Tide' Measures that benefitted EVERYONE... It harkens back to Kamala Harris stating that she wasn't going to do anything 'Just for Blackfolk', & Joe Biden telling the CBC that 'Latinx is The Future, so they have to get behind them'. TD Hip Hop pointed out how his 'Blacks for Biden' Rally in Philadelphia was a DISMAL FAILURE. The video clips show a Crowd, but wide angle views show a nearly empty gymnasium. Cornell West had a better Turnout in Harlem, & THAT was embarrassing! The fact that Joe Biden is NOT running away in the Polls, says more about Biden than Trump... Stephen Gardner went deeper into Legal Precedent in his interview w/ Kash Patel.

Patel, is a former Federal Public Defender & Prosecutor w/ 60 Criminal Prosecution Trials under his belt. In his interview, he says that he attended proceedings & saw things in the Trump Trial that he never saw before. He gave examples of Legal Precedent in a Court Case, including 'Reversible Error' illegalities during Jury Instructions (citing Richardson vs United States). Both he & Stephen Gardner cite a Double Standard in the Justice System; from a Black Perspective, this is Pure Comedy! They cite a Miscarriage of Justice that Black Americans have suffered through since Emancipation. The question is: How can Black America use this to Our advantage?

Donald Trump has a history of Anti-Black Discrimination Practices in his Business Dealings, while immersing himself into Black American Culture. Black Anti- Trumpers are quick to remind Black Trump Supporters of Donald Trump's Crusade against the 'Central Park 5' & his refusal to apologize for his actions. I think they're justified in doing so. At the same time, The Mantra of Politics is: 'Nothing Personal, just Politics'. The height of Political Maturity is being able to put personal feelings aside for The Greater Good. Black America sits in 'The Catbird Seat'. Dems NEED Black Votes to retain Power; at the same time, We can play on Donald Trump's 'Black Treatment' as: The Enemy of My Enemy...

This is NOT an endorsement of Donald Trump. In fact, I don't support Trump or Biden. I refer to BOTH as:

Anti- Black Racist 'A' &

Anti-Black Racist 'B'

That said, a little political savvy will go a long way to help Our Cause. Joe Biden has proven himself to be a 21st Century Dixiecrat. I personally think that his Policies over the Decades have done more damage to Black Americans than Donald Trump's Discriminatory Business Practices. NEITHER Candidate gets a Pardon from Me, but if we're 'Playing Politics', We have to remember that LBJ was also an Anti- Black Racist, that We could do business with. The Black Vote is OFFICIALLY FOR SALE, & The Price is a Black Agenda for ALL Black & Afrikan Americans, PLUS a 'Lineage Based' Multigenerational Federal Reparations Program to indemnify American Descendants Of Chattel Slavery. We're past Exploratory Committees & Commissions; Illegal Immigrants are literally getting a Blank Check for Crossing the Border.

The question Now is: How Bad does each Candidate want to Win?

-Just My Opinion.

[arizonaconservativegal]

So the dems want to remove another sitting president, prevent a former president from taking the white house, remove justices from the supreme court because they don´t like their rulings and have BLM and antifa riot, destroy property and attack random people, but MAGA crowd are the ones out of hand because they stormed the capitol and caused trouble.

They remind me of the kid who knocks the gameboard off the table because he's losing

[tysonfurybattlepass]

i hate marketable “self defense” so much. “heres how you remove someone’s hand from your wrist-“ NO you fucking idiot, you BITE them. you knee their groin and gouge their eyes and kick their shins and you SCREAM and yell and you thrash like a fucking animal. i’ve been fighting mma competitively for ten years and none of the judo throws or the boxing combinations or the fucking spinning head kicks or the fancy hand trapping are going to help you in real life. it’s a sport. it’s bullshit. self defense is ugly and nasty and if you’re not cheating you’re not fucking trying. also don’t fucking do krav maga. shit is a scam, i promise you. put a five-year krav practitioner in the ring with a six-months deep boxer and see how that goes (spoilers: not well)

if you really wanna learn how to fight, understand that it’s not something a six week course can teach you. it takes months of learning and repetition and physical conditioning. if your gym doesn’t make you practice on a partner, you’re not learning how to fight. f your gym makes you punch and kick the air for the whole class, you’re not learning how to fight. if your gym puts you in front of a heavy bag for the whole class, you’re not learning how to fight. if you’ve never sparred, you don’t know how to fight. if you’ve never been knocked down or choked out, i promise you you do not know how to fight. practice against someone who is actually trying to cause you some hurt. not injury, but hurt. everyone has a plan until they get punched in the nose.

[c28hunter]

Okay you're just tempting me to talk about martial arts (pls never stop-) and I actually had to think about it a bit, but here are my thoughts:

For the record I am assuming that before this "sparring" they both had a bit of training

In a scenario where it is Bojan Vs Nace, I honestly assume that Nace would've had at least a bit more advantage to himself.

First of all, Nace has a big range of motion. In this case his height would play to his advantage as he'd be able to keep Bojan at a distance. Then why did I say that Kris would've lost? Because of balance my friends. Nace has strong legs (we've all seen the thighs, haven't we?). This gives him a steadier position and Bojan who is way shorter, would have a lot of trouble trying to bring Nace to the ground. The only problem is that Nace himself once said that he's slow, which could've caused him some problems during the fight. But as long as he'd be keeping a good distance, Bojan wouldn't be a big problem.

Now to Bojan, who I assume prefers fighting on the ground. As someone who is "similarly built" (aka strong, martial arts legs, similar height) I can say that trying to knock someone as tall as Nace over is VERY difficult. You need a good timing and a good technique to be successful. So Bojan would have to try to close the distance (that works for Nace's advantage), which would be pretty risky. Again, on the ground, Nace is stronger than Bojan, or at least bigger, so if Bojan wouldn't have been fast enough and pinned Nace with his knees (knees out on the shoulders, I've been in such position once, you can't do anything in that scenario) Nace would pretty easily flip the situation and be on top of Bojan. Bojan's speed is his biggest hope here. Moving quickly, throwing fast punches. That would've been the best strategy.

And who would win? Well I don't know.

I've seen duels like that and the ending really depends on who makes the first mistake or who is less confident in their abilities. The first person who starts being avoidant, or unfocused is the one to lose and in this scenario I don't know who it would be. I'd watch this fight with a lot of popcorn, really

Bear in mind that it is just my opinion! I could be completely wrong!

And to @flananjan , YOU GO GIRL (gn) GO TRY MARTIAL ARTS! I'd really suggest taking up Krav Maga, because it is like a mix of all martial arts, but with only the simplest and most useful techniques. It really doesn't require a lot of strength (you'll build it up while training). It really brings a lot of good fun and kind of useful skills so, I recommend with my whole heart!

I know nothing about archery tho hah. There is an ongoing joke in my sports club (where we also have archery lessons) that I am prohibited from entering archery lessons after I hit an old, fancy chest with an arrow twice in a row. So yeah, I'd rather not touch a bow

[emkaymlp]

The optimist on me is hoping these next four years will knock the cultist mindset out of maga supporters.

The pessimist in me is being suffocate by the optimist with a pillow.