#not me insinuating the height difference is similar to that of him & a child with that gif when I actually have no idea how tall dakota is

[calebrhcdes]

Caleb hadn't told anyone he was coming when he finally made the decision to move back to Covington. The decision had been made in such quick succession to actually moving, that he hadn't really had time to. But, beyond that, after swearing for most of his life that he would never move back to the town, never give his father as much access to him as living in their hometown would provide, there was a part of him that didn't want to have to answer the many questions he knew would come as to why the very drastic change of heart.

Instead, he opted to simply move back, and run into people. Which was sure to happen in a town the size of Covington. And hope beyond hope that the questioning didn't get too deep.

That was apparently exactly the kind of run-in fate had in store for him and Kota. A grin easily slid onto his features at the greeting that was oh so typical for the youngest Heise sibling. "Well, well, well, if it isn't my least favorite member of the Heise family." His quipped reply was clearly just a joke based on the teasing lilt to his voice and the mischievous glint in his eye. Being around Dakota simply elicited the big brother energy in him. He moved to throw his arm over her shoulder, giving her an affectionate (or at least as affectionate as these two assholes ever got) squeeze as they fell into step together. "So, how have things been in the proverbial armpit of the south since I last made it to town?" he asked, hoping to steer the conversation towards catching up on how things had been for her instead of himself or his reasoning for moving down here.

location; downtown closed; @calebrhcdes

She'd heard rumors he was back, but she figured it were just that; rumors. Caleb had been back every now and then to visit but she was sure the chances her "big brother" moving back to Covington were the same as her sisters; slim to none.

And yet, there he appeared out of the corner of her eye. Did it prove the rumors true? Not really, but in the meantime he was here, and she could lay the annoying little sister energy on thick until he left again...or until she knew the rumors were true.

She cut across, stopping near him and leaning against a wall. "Well, well, well. You kinda look like shit, you know that?" she teased with a grin.

[chaosandcrimson]

no way is that DANICA ‘DANNY’ ROSSI.. they’re a 29-year-old SYNTH notoriously known for being HEADSTRONG  &  INDULGENT but there are some people who have seen them being PLAYFUL  &  FORGIVING.  if you ask me, they remind me a lot of family albums filled with happy memories, movies directed by John Hughes, and the ability to find beauty in the saddest of faces, but that could just be because they’re considered the PLUCKY OFFICE GIRL around town. just keep an eye on them  &  see if their true colors shine through..

Don't say you're too tired to fight It's just a matter of time Up there's the finish line So run, and run, and run

OVERVIEW

Name: Danica Leighton Rossi

Nickname(s): Danny

DOB: September 5, 2095

Age: 29

FC: Sarah Grey

Height: 5'8"

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Occupation: Political Aide

Relationship Status: Dating Aslan Sakarya

[+] playful, protective, forgiving [–] headstrong, heedless, indulgent

BIOGRAPHY

tw: bombing

Danny is the first child to parents who could not conceive naturally but really wanted children. In the end, they had two Synth children, both daughters.

Her younger sister Gilly and her have opposite aesthetics and dispositions but are nevertheless very close. Most people assume that because of their different personalities they have little to no common interests, but that couldn't be further from the truth; they are actually quite similar in their tastes and hobbies.

Growing up, they lived comfortably and never wanted for anything materially or emotionally. Their parents made a point to be present and attentive, and in turn they taught their daughters the value of a close-knit family and hard work.

In high school, she participated in student government and went on to study Public Policy at university. It was there that she became involved with campaigns for local office as a volunteer. Ironically, she did not enjoy the politics of politics, but she enjoyed everything else about it—realising that she wanted a career as a public servant, but quickly ruling out becoming an actual politician.

For most of her time at university, she had a long-term boyfriend who was also involved in politics. From the beginning, there were signs that they weren't that compatible but she readily ignored them. Unlike her, he had aspirations to hold public office and repeatedly insinuated that his goals were more ambitious and therefore better than hers. He was also much more willing to play fast and loose with his ideals if it got him where he wanted to be, and when she disagreed with his methods on moral grounds, he told her that she was too soft for politics.

A year after graduating, the two of them were working on a campaign for a local politician backed by the Big Three when one of their fundraisers was bombed by the newly formed Violet Messengers. She got away with only minor injuries, but the event left her struggling to reconcile her own privilege with the reality of life in the lower district that she had now been aggressively confronted with.

Her boyfriend did not share her concerns, and was also very unsympathetic toward how conflicted she was feeling, which was when she realised that she had spent years putting up with him belittling her at every turn. She decided to leave him as well as the campaign that they had both been working on.

Instead, she joined the campaign of the candidate running opposite her former boss—a long-time activist who was not backed by the Big Three. They won the election, and brought Danny in as one of their aides when they took office.

As an aide, she is an anonymous cog in a large machine, but she is genuinely passionate about her job and does not need people to notice how good she is at it. Sure, maybe it would be nice to get some recognition for being the person who writes her boss's speeches and crafts their bills, but getting to do what she loves while working toward a fairer society? That's a reward in and of itself.

MISC

She took a gap year between high school and college in order to travel. She spent most of that time in Europe, where she tried to speak local languages as often as she could. As a result, she is conversationally fluent in Spanish, French, German, and Italian, with rudimentary knowledge of a handful of other languages.

She is frequently met with bewilderment by people who are meeting her for the first time after only knowing her by name. Apparently, people don't expect a leggy blonde when they hear the name Danny Rossi.

[bondsmagii]

gonna be honest, i'm really tired of people brushing off sexual harassment because somebody is autistic. I was harassed endlessly by someone who everyone thought was just harmless and autistic, who kept getting away with it because he was autistic, and I'm finding out now that he raped his younger cousin who was a child. as an autistic person can we stop acting like we don't know any better.

idk if this is directed at me re: the Chris Chan discourse, or if this is just a general rant, but for the record I totally agree with you.

in terms of Chris specifically, I'd like to reiterate once more that I'm not excusing her behaviour. I was just illustrating the difference in context. Chris is severely autistic, and as autism is a spectrum there are genuinely some people out there who cannot learn safe boundaries. in this situation, it's up to the person's caregivers to protect others from that person's behaviour. Chris's parents failed those women in that respect, and the caregivers of the person who harassed you also failed you. the reason I was pointing out the different context with Chris was not to defend her actions but rather because there were people in my inbox acting like she was an intentional predator doing it for creepy predator reasons, and not a severely autistic person who was incapable of learning otherwise and had nobody to set things right -- and because of this misconception, these anons were insinuating that Chris deserved the horrific abuse and torture I'd previously outlined. that's... just not on, imo.

in terms of a general rant, and going on from something I touched on above, I think it's important that people consider the fact that even if somebody is autistic, or mentally ill, or has a personality disorder, etc, they can still cause harm. there are people out there with these issues who do cause harm, and while some of them are genuinely incapable of understanding or preventing it, others are. some will even use their issues as an excuse. increasingly online, talking about any negative harmful behaviour in the context of any of these issues is seen as "demonising [issue]", but this uniform assumption also causes harm. if people had been more pragmatic about your concerns, they would have been capable of understanding that a person can be both a) autistic and b) dangerous, but unfortunately a lot of people see that as ableist. what is ableist is seeing somebody with a certain issue and assuming that they will act that way ("all autistic people are clueless and will harass me", for example), but being aware of the nuances is not ("some autistic people might not understand boundaries and therefore could harm me"). as soon as it became clear that the person who harassed you was in the latter group, people should have stepped in. I'm not sure why they didn't, but I know that attitudes these days often make people either reluctant to speak out for fear of being accused of ableism, or unable to speak out because they're met with attitudes like what you experienced.

it's an uncomfortable fact that a lot of people for some reason don't like to admit, but there are people out there with autism or with mental illnesses or other issues who are dangerous, and they are scary. they genuinely do not know better. acting like it's ableist to be frightened of an autistic person who cannot understand "no" invading your personal space and touching you, or that it's ableist to be frightened of a psychotic person on the subway who's raving about things and seems likely to get violent, is ridiculous. fighting ableism is not the ability to act like these things aren't happening, and to yell others down for sharing their contrary experiences. fighting ableism and avoiding being ableist yourself is the ability to understand that these things can and do happen, that some people fall on the side of spectrums where they are dangerous and they do need special care, but to understand that they are deserving of care and empathy and a safe place even if they're scary or violent or "creepy". it is unfortunate that people get hurt by this behaviour, but if more people were aware of said behaviour and less people acted like it was the height of ableism to acknowledge that sometimes people with disabilities can be dangerous or violent, there would be more in place to assist with this issue. "he's autistic; he can't help it" shouldn't mean "so we'll let him continue and turn a blind eye". it should mean "so we will remove him to a safe environment where he's unable to continue this harmful behaviour". that is the difference; that is what should have happened with the situation you described, and that is what should have happened with Chris.

I am very sorry that happened to you, and if what I was saying did seem like I was defending similar behaviour, I apologise. I hope I've managed to make myself clear, both for you and for other people who might have interpreted it in a similar way. if this was just a general rant, then yeah. I totally get it.

[sympathyfrthedevil]

Is Ella Also a Miracle?

NOTE: The following theory heavily references the bonus episode listed as episode 25 of season 3 ‘Boo Normal’. The canon status of this episode is debatable since it was shot as a season 4 episode prior to Fox’s cancellation of the series.   Prior to the release of season 5a, I might have been on team NON-canon but in episode 8 of season 5 ‘Spoiler Alert’ Dan references his and Lucifer’s persuit of a suspect at Six Flags in ‘Boo Normal’ as justification for passing out in flight with Michael. “Come on man, I’m afraid of heights. You know what rollar coasters do to me.”   While the Dan/Lucifer dynamic in ‘Boo Normal’ in particular doesn’t fit with Dan’s grief-fueled hostility towards Lucifer in the aired season 4, this is still enough for me to accept the events of Boo Normal as canon.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In season 2 we learned that Chloe is a literal miracle, a blessed conception bestowed onto an infertile couple with immunity to Lucifer’s celestial influence so that she might impact his life.  But could there be another hidden in the midst? Season 2 also introduced forensic scientist Ella Lopez. A devoted Christian with an uplifting optimism and enthusiasm towards life despite her choice of career, and an addiction to hugs.  Although most of the time a spectator, remaining on the sidelines acting as a mediator for Chloe and Lucifer’s relationship, Ella has been a reliable source of spiritual support, guidance, and wisdom.  Is this just a coincidence or perhaps a divine altercation?  There are quite a few possible parallels between Ella and Chloe.  Ella was involved in a traumatic car crash when she was a child from which the angel of death had appeared to claim her.  Azrael wrote it off as a “false alarm” and said these weren’t unheard of which is realistic but just as Chloe was not meant to exist, perhaps Ella was not meant to survive that car crash. 

It could have been another blessing. Another blessing that led to Lucifer.  She was led into Lucifer’s and Chloe’s lives because Azrael wanted to bring her two favorite people together to compensate for her absence in their lives. Was Azrael an unwitting currier much as Amenadiel was? Curiously, it has never occurred to Lucifer to use his mojo on Ella therefore that is Schrodinger's cat but similar to Chloe, she seems to be immune to Lucifer’s magnetism and charm. She has never demonstrated a compulsion to please him and has established no remote sexual attraction to him as opposed to most of L.A’s population including Chloe. Compare Chloe’s reaction to his nudity in season 1 episode 4 ‘Manly Whatnots’ to Ella’s complete lack thereof in season 4 episode 6 ‘Orgy Pants to Work.’ Lucifer in turn seems to be immune to Ella as she is one of few women he’s never once hit on.  One could argue that her faith acts a barrier between them in much a similar manner to how the nuns’ faith in season 5 episode 5 ‘Detective Amenadiel’ drew them to Amenadiel but could this be God’s design? Remember the first conversation she ever had with Lucifer in season 2 episode 1 ‘Everything’s Coming Up Lucifer’: “I think the Devil gets a bad rap. I mean, what did he really do that was so bad? What, rebel against his dad? Ask some naked lady if she wanted an apple?” Fast-forward to season 2 episode 8 ‘Trip to Stabby Town’ when Lucifer requested Ella’s scientific resources to identify the person who dug Azrael’s Blade out of Uriel’s grave. She tried to refuse a deal, to tell him that favors are about Faith and when he insisted instead of wanting sex as he’s used to because most do, she wanted to take him to church. As unwitting as she was, she wanted to take the devil of all people to church! Now let’s jump to season 4 episode 7 ‘Devil is as Devil Does’ when Chloe asks for Ella’s advice on “celestial justice”. “Chloe, look at the Bible. It is so full of contradictions. Fine. Take the devil, for example. The devil's supposed to be pure evil, right? But he started out as an angel. You can't start good and then turn all evil.” 

What this all adds up to is that she’s a devoted religious person who doesn’t just accept that the devil is evil incarnate because a book tells us so. Is that even a real thing?! I’ve never heard of it before and I know religious people all of whom are less devoted than Ella. If we backtrack again and examine season 3 episode 5 ‘Welcome Back Charlotte Richards’ Ella seems to have some level of clairvoyance. It is insinuated that she could sense Goddess possessing Charlotte as she recognized a change in the real Charlotte on a spiritual level.  “I used to see a light in you. But now, I don't know, something's different. All I see now...is darkness.” This is her first exposure to the real Charlotte meaning this light she saw was exclusively present when Goddess was in residence and the darkness was presumably from Charlotte’s time in Hell.  This is some awfully ironic commentary she’s provided over the course of the series. 

No! Stop that train of thought right now! I’m NOT suggesting that Ella IS God. That’s stupid. Especially since Dennis Haybert’s introduction as God.

I’m wondering if perhaps Ella might be God’s voice, an apology, and an attempt to reconnect with his wayward son. Come to think of it, Lucifer does get a lot more Ella hugs than anyone else I think.  I know there are still some holes here such as her not being able to tell that something was off about Michael during his act as “Lucifer 2.0″ as opposed to Chloe feeling it when she kissed him or her supporting Chloe’s relationship with Pierce but no one is perfect. 

I Just feel all her parallels with Chloe, interactions with Lucifer and unique qualities have to mean something.  Please let there be an Ella reveal in 5b or season 6! Quote source: https://subslikescript.com/series/Lucifer-4052886

[chronicbatfictioner]

Fast Car - Chapter 16

Damian Wayne, Bruce's son, was a... well, as far as Jason was concerned, Damian was the kind of kid Jason's grandpa would wash his mouth with soap with. Only Damian did not know cusswords so much. Apparently, he was raised until he was 10 by his mother in the Middle East in a royalty-like environment, in which he was taught that he was a royal. Like Bruce, he was bestowed with intelligence and quick wit. Unlike Bruce, who was raised in the US, he has no notion of congeniality and could come across as a bully.

Jason understood how he and Tim would clash spectacularly. Tim has no patience for those who has no empathy.

"Todd," Damian greeted him as he walked in to the garage. "why are you bringing Drake into this? He is of no use for anybody." he added.

"Because, Damian," Jason started, ushering Tim into Dick's hand as the latter started to open the boxes of Chinese food they'd ordered, before Tim could snap back at Damian. "I loved having him around, even if he doesn't like to get his hands dirty. I loved having him around to remind me of things I might overlook, even if he doesn't know a thing about cars." he said, spreading his tools around the car. "Now, Tim and I, we go way back. Right now, he's here to feed me spring rolls and dumplings." Jason glared at Damian, partly challenging the boy to argue, partly closing the argument.

Damian's scowling face morphed to that of slight confusion, then to a more confusion, then - apparently - he had an epiphany. "You're lovers." he stated.

"Yes. Problem?" Tim retorted.

"None with Todd, just with you." Damian shot back.

"Oh nooo, no, no, no. It's lunch time, and I don't want problems until-- oooo... next century. Preferably after I'm dead or apocalypse happened or something." Dick interjected, walking between the two warring factions blithely. "If you two won't get along - or at least be civil - I'm sending you both to the corners. Separate corners!"

"That's one in Manhattan, one in French Quarter - corners. And I'mma be helping him impose order." Jason quipped. "Now come on over here and give me my dumpling, Timbo," he added as he removed the car's AC compressor. Tim scowled at Damian. Hard. Damian responded with a spectacular scowl that would've sent lesser man running the other way. But Tim just sat on the car's roof, which put him roughly at Jason's head's height, and started feeding the dumplings to Jason. Both Jason and Dick warily eyed Damian, who crouched on the toolbox that Jason was using; and neither would admit they'd respectively released sighs of relief when no further battle cries uttered and/or acts of sabotage insinuated.

Within an hour, the service work was done. Damian questioned a lot, and actually didn't protest when Tim answered some of the questions instead of Jason. Food was had, and somehow, Damian and Tim ended up bickering quietly - with no signs of actual battles - over a tablet, researching for components of air conditioners for the car.

"That--" Dick thumbed them. "--should we get ahead of ourselves and call 911? You know, they could still end up killing each other..."

Jason chuckled. "Naaah, they'll be good. Neither would have the last say on the component, no? I would." he pointed out.

"Yeah, I hope so." Dick smiled ruefully. "They're actually pretty similar."

"Actually, yeah." Jason agreed. "Just... less drama and tragedy for Damian, I think - knock on wood. But they are. I'm quaking at the thought of them getting along and plotting to conquer the world."

"Dude, you and me both. I think Bruce would, too." Dick chuckled. "Anyway, fun day, on Bruce's credit card. You think you have it in you to bring those two to the skating rink?"

Jason looked at Dick contemplatively. "I'd first asked him out at a skating rink." he confessed quietly. "I was working there. It was closed about a few months later. Haven't been in one since then."

"Welp, I don't see what would go wrong with reliving the memories, no? He's okay, you're okay."

"Yeah, okay. Let's." Jason decided, couldn't find the argument to that logic.

It took forty minutes in the rink to make Jason remember why he wasn't at all sad that the ice skating rink he'd worked at was closed.

He was on the ice, sliding easily while most people who'd seen him coming would give a wide berth. Tim hung on to him, laughing merrily as they made their way toward Damian. Dick was at the concession stand, ordering them hot chocolate. Damian was mostly sliding alone, a little carefully as he got used to the rented shoes.

"Watch it, kiddo!" Jason shouted instinctively as Damian veered into his way. He barely managed to swerve to avoid crashing into Damian and/or make Tim crash, too.

"Eyes on the road, man!" Tim scowled as he passed Damian, too.

Somebody else commented something that made Tim skidded to a halt and released Jason's belt, nearly catapulting Jason to a faceplant for the sudden lack of weight next to him. As he turned around in confusion, Tim was already face-to-face - almost literally - with a rotund man with shaved head. "Take that back!" Tim snarled. "You goddamn take that back and apologize or I'll send you home cryin' to your momma!"

"What." Jason breathed as he approached Damian.

"He wished me and 'my people' to go home," Damian huffed, his face stern, but there was an air of resigned dejection in his pose.

"He said all immigrants should go home." Tim elaborated, snarling. "I think he's right, all of you immigrants should go home. We Miagani people would really like to see a loser 'immigrant' like you white boy to go back to your caves, stop soiling our lands."

"You're not.. you're not..." the man spluttered, uncertainty creeping up to his expression.

"Oh yes I am, boy. My father's name is Drake. But my mother's maiden name is Galavan. Remember? If you're a true Gothamite you'll know that name well. The last Shaman of the Miagani tribe who was never sent to a reservation. Oh, and this boy. His great grandma happened to be one Catherine Van Derm. Know who she was? No? Well, she was the granddaughter of the last Chief of the Miagani tribe. That makes this boy the actual true native of Gotham. For your info, Miagani people, like most native tribes, are matrilineal. 

"You, buddy? You're just a sore loser who can't see those with different colors than you thrive and be happy. We don't need people like you here. So why don't you go home, from where your ancestors came? Oh what's that? You don't know because your ancestors were outcasts? Yeah, I figured as much. Those whose ancestors came here to look for a better life usually aren't as petty and repugnant as you are - picking on a child..."

The other man's face was, in Jason's opinion, showing some very interesting shades of red. Tim's mouth was merciless, Jason knew that from a good long while ago. But the other man definitely didn't look like someone who'd give up without physical violence. So Jason started to shift - he could step in, if needed.

Dick approached from behind the man, and waved a badge right over the man's face. "No property damage is done here, yet, buddy. So I suggest you leave." he said, almost sweetly. "Unless, of course, young Mr Wayne wishes to file charges of hate speech?"

Damian glared at the man, then at Tim, and drew himself up. "No need, Officer Grayson. I reckon this man has experienced enough enlightenment via Mister Drake's history lesson to repeat his behavior; or to experience further enlightenment through my lawyers."

Jason almost smirked when the rink owner, previously hovering around, pretending to be invisible in the face of imminent ruckus, promptly made his way toward Damian, cooing, "Oh, Mister Wayne! That is so generous of you! I'd say it's time for you to leave, sir," he glared at Tim's opponent. "If you do not leave on your own, I might have to ask Officer - what was your name again...? --Grayson here to escort you out, and I will file a complaint against you."

Jason watched as Tim sidled toward him, half dragging Damian along with a tug on his sleeves. Damian followed, haughtily thanking the rink owner. Dick approached them about five minutes later with glasses of hot chocolates. "Courtesy of the rink owner, Mr Wellesley, for 'that lovely young Mr Wayne. My! He looked like his father!'- quote-unquote." Dick said, grinning.

Damian looked a little subdued, still. But after a gulp of hot chocolate, he turned to face Tim. "Thank you, Drake."

Tim blinked at him. "No need," he shrugged. "I hate bullies."

"I concur." Jason said. "The first time I met him, he chewed the asses of the teachers who were bullying me."

"Really?" Damian asked, looking interested.

"Oh yeah, they were calling me learning disabled because I'd been living on the street for a few years and didn't catch up on schoolwork, see. And Tim just like, 'no he's not and you teachers were stupid wrong' - only with longer words. Needless to say, I didn't end up in the Special Needs classrooms, and eventually graduated with 3.70 GPA."

"I don't believe people are stupid. Just either disinformed or misinformed." Tim scoffed.

"That's the same thing." Damian said.

"--or uninformed. I'm not done." Tim scowled at him.

"Regardless, I'm just amazed you'd stand up for Damian." Dick interjected.

Tim glared at him as if he was the stupid one. "I stand up for injustice. I may and will forever fight Damian over intellectual matters, but not because his skin is darker than mine. Besides, my skin is like, twenty shades lighter than even Jason's." he pointed out.

"...and that you were both Miagani descendants." Dick chuckled. "You're like, tribe-brothers, then."

"Oooh... might want to stop right there, Grayson..." Jason warned, suddenly having an epiphany on how the war between Tim and Damian would continue.

"Technically, I would be a closer descendant because it is from my father's side." Damian intoned.

"Ooooh, no, no, no... you're wrong!" Tim scoffed. "You see..." he started, and glared as Jason groaned out loud, and Dick face-planted onto the table. "what??"

"Stop." Dick groaned. "Just. Stop."

"I agree. Joy and goodwill to mankind, boys." Jason agreed, lifting his cocoa mug. "If either of you continue this argument, I'll pour this cocoa to your head."

[dixxymouri]

Let’s Talk About Georgia

All right so most of my followers including my international followers know that those of us in the US have been dealing with a giant orange toddler being placed in our highest office and everyone with a brain having a panic attack about it, while the dumbest and/or most racist, sexist, homophobic, and otherwise bigoted of our people think this is just great. You know, Russia meddling, Twitter tantrums, that whole thing.

Well, barring someone finding some truly damning evidence that the GOP can no longer ignore, the earliest the sane people of this country can get even a little control back in the long run in 2018, when our next big election year is. No we can’t get rid of the Orange Menace but we can reduce the strangehold his party has on our legislative branch of government, since about a third of one body is up for re-election and the entirety of the other house is also up for re-election, as well as a smattering of local and state level races as well. However, special elections do come up to fill vacanies, and we had two of those last night.

(This got long so I’m going to do my followers a favor hide the rest of the post from their dashboards)

Democrats (those would be the good guys) decided to throw all of their money and backing into one of those elections, although the guy in the other race apparently did a lot better than anyone predicted he would so maybe they should have gone after that race? Either way they didn’t, they went after the seat representing Georgia’s sixth distract.

What’s interest about both races is that they are VERY conservative districts that, in any other election, Democrats probably wouldn’t have bothered with because there just isn’t a path to victory in those places...normally. And while both Democrats lost the chance to give our side some much needed ground in the legislative battles ahead, it does paint an interesting picture that I think a lot of people are missing.

Deep red districts are suddenly competitive in this political environment. Imagine what would happen in a swing district under the same circumstance. 

While a lot of people are decrying “close isn’t good enough they still lost”, well, that really isn’t all there is to it. Again, these are deeply conservative districts and the GOP was fighting tooth and nail to keep that seat out of Georgia in a district where they have had to do it. Unless, you know, the leader of their party is an extremely unpopular idiot. 

Again, I would have been THRILLED to see the SC or GA races go blue this time out but that didn’t happen. And while that’s going to make legislative battles until 2019 nightmare fuel for anyone who isn’t a straight white dude that understands how bad this administration and the GOP at large are, it still bodes well for the next big election cycle. People are mad and in more competitive districts that’s going to be HUGE.

I’ve got a friend on Facebook (really one of my mom’s friends) who is a die-heard Clinton fan to the point where she might actually hate Bernie Sanders even more than Tiny Hands McGee and seems to be of the opinion that Democrats shouldn’t change anything - they won the popular vote, after all, so who cares about moderates and independents?

Well, she should - like, oh boy, she really, REALLY should. 

Here’s the thing - the Democratic base is going to go for the Democratic candidate most of the time and the mouth-breathers voting for the GOP really just need to see the troglodytes they vote into office go “look, a gay person exists!” to be whipped up into a foaming at the mouth hate frenzy in the voting booth. You’re not going to get me to vote for a Republican unless the Democrat has done something completely abhorrent (which is not the non-story that was Benghazi and certainly not over a fucking email server) and you’re not going to get GOP voters to vote blue unless their guy like, brags about sexually assaulting women-wait, no, they actually did that time, maybe if they assault a reporter-no, no, they voted that guy in, too, maybe insinuating children should starve OH COME ON GOP VOTERS WHAT THE FUCK!?* No, the voters both parties need to be clammoring for are independents and moderate voters, the people in the middle who don’t feel strongly about one side or the other. Last year those people either stayed home, wrote in Bernie in their own version of a foaming at the mouth temper tantrum, or got nervous because of the 2016 version of the Comey memo**. These are the people whose votes ACTUALLY MATTER. Moderate and independent voters living in swing states are the ONLY people who matter in US elections.

Does this suck? YES. YES IT DOES. The US probably needs to get at least one more major party into the fray in order to balance things out a bit, but that’s a whole different blog post because there’s issues with that aren’t really relevant here. The point is that whether we like it or not, this is the state of American politics right now. You have TWO choices for the most important political figrues representing you - sometimes, SOMETIMES you get an Independent or Libertarian governor or senator somewhere, but NEVER the POTUS - and that’s IT. Americans had to choose between Hillary Clinton, a flawed but otherwise incredibly qualified candidate, or Putin’s Pee Pee Tape Puppet. Moderate voters in a small number of swing states decided this election. And while those people failed us this time, those are the people who CAN be won over and we need going forward. 

And the good news is? They’re already pissed. Toupee the Terrible has a whopping 64% disapproval rating, the highest the rating has been for the last several presidents (as in I’m not even sure RICHARD NIXON ever had a disapproval rating that high and that guy resigned in shame). He also got there in record time - he’s yet to have a net positive approval rating (though he cited one pollster that gave him a 50% but I’m suspecting that pollster may have mostly polled GOP voters) and since his approval rating is about a 35-36, that means its basically his base of die-hard racist fans vs. literally everyone else. Yeah, maybe those people weren’t enough to win Georgia or South Carolina but they represented a massive swing towards the left in those districts, like 20 percentage points worth. Now imagine those kinds of numbers in districts that were a lot closer than 20 points. 

Now this is still really bad - like, SUPER bad. And sadly, this administration probably will kill people. Ever see this picture floating around Tumblr?

Yeah, the height of the AIDS crisis happened during the Reagan administration and was largely ignored because it mostly affected the LGBTQ population and the GOP doesn’t really give a shit about them. They probably didn’t act until they realized that straight people, especially straight white people, could be infected via blood transfusions. Today’s GOP has done a LOT of stuff to hurt people, though the big two are pulling out of the Paris Accords (for fuck’s sake NORTH KOREA has the moral high ground over us on this issue***) and the AHCA, which is basically just a giant tax cut to rich people at the cost of healthcare for everyone else. There is a six year old CHILD in DC lobbying to save the ACA because it’s believed that there’s a good chance the new bill will get rid of the ban on lifetime limits, meaning if an insurance company sees you’ve already spent $1 million in medical bills over the course of your lifetime you don’t get any insurance for the rest of you life, and this poor kid reached that TWO TIMES before he was even a year old. 

This is going to get voters angry. Most people know someone with a pre-existing condition and once voters see those people they love getting screwed by the new healthcare bill they won’t be happy. You all know someone in your personal life with a pre-existing condition, and if you somehow don’t, I am both an asthma patient and a cancer survivor. EITHER could get me dropped from my insurance if the GOP gets their way. 

Okay that started to get off topic as I increasingly couldn’t figure out a way to end this so...yeah, go vote blue in 2018. 

*Yeah you know who the first one is but the second two? Those are both real GOP candidates who really won elections in 2017. Apparently the GOP is now the party of reporter punching and starving children.

**This number is a lot harder to pin down but unfair voting laws also probably blocked people from voting. See, unless you’re a minor or a felon, you cannot be denied the right to vote in this country, but that doesn’t mean the GOP hasn’t figured out ways to make it REALLY hard for “certain voters” (usually this means minority voters) to get to the polls. This usually comes in two flavors:

1. Limiting the number of polling places in left-leaning neighborhoods. This means the lines at the polling places that ARE open are a lot longer, so voters will a) get frustrated and leave or b) leave because they have other commitments, such as their jobs, that they have to return to. Employers HAVE to give you time off to vote but it’s like, two hours or something like that. It’s very feasible that a crowded, left-leaning neighborhood with only one polling place when they should really have two or three or more may have wait times even LONGER than that. Pretty sure that in these cases lots of polling stations open up in right leaning neighborhoods. 

2. Voter ID laws. Now in theory this one isn’t completely terrible, it’s what they do with these laws in practice that makes it a problem. A lot of these voters the GOP doesn’t like (remember, minority voters) may have a harder time getting a state-issued ID, either because there aren’t enough government offices issuing IDs (similar to the insufficient poling place problem) and the ones that do exist may be hours away from left-leaning communities, the office has a difficult schedule to work with (as in sometimes these offices may only be open for something like a few hours a couple of days a week) or they’re cost prohibitive to people with already tight budgets to work with. 

Other flavors usually involves getting rid of or not implementing programs that make voting easier, such as early voting, same day voter registration, or mail-in ballots, all of which make it MUCH easier to vote.

***Yes, North Korea is a part of the Paris Accords - so’s Russia and basically every other country the US doesn’t play nice with. The only other countries that aren’t in the agreement are Syria, which is currently engaged in really brutal civil war right now so they aren’t really in a position to get involved in stuff like this right now, and Nicaragua, which didn’t sign on because they didn’t think it was strict enough. I suppose there are probably some micronations and unrecognized nations that probably aren’t on the treaty, either, but we’re talking about a microscopic segment of the world population. Lord Dampnut pulled us out to make his buddies in the energy industry happy and/or to continue erasing President Obama’s accomplishments because of that one time he made fun of him at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner. Because he is a petulant child. 

[reynardinepttr]

The weird things

The important thing to remember is that I don’t think I’m special or clairvoyant or particularly different in any way. But, there are things that have happened to me over the years that I can’t entirely explain away.

The nicest have happened more than once, and are actually quite comforting. I was sitting in the kitchen of a friend’s house, gaily chatting away and drinking tea like the young Brit I am, when I unexpectedly felt the unmistakable warmth and pressure of a cat winding its way around my calf. I jumped a little and tried to look down, but the tablecloth was in the way and I couldn’t see. I delightedly asked my friend when she had got a cat, and why hadn’t she told me? She looked at me oddly and said “I haven’t got a cat”. Standing quickly and looking all around in case a neighbour’s pet had somehow snuck in, we came up empty. We haven’t talked about it since, and now she has a dog.

The second, similar happening was with my grandparents’ cat. A true stray, he had followed them home after a walk one day and never left. No one locally had lost a large, ornery ginger tom and so he was welcomed into the household. He had obviously been living rough for a long time, as he wasn’t very trusting, but he wasn’t feral - he had moments of softness when he would deign to sit in your lap, and was housetrained. After a few years of belligerently accepting a warm retirement, he died of old age. The next time I came to stay with my grandparents, I kept catching little movements out of the corner of my eye, exactly the quick darting moves a cat would make if he was skirting around the outside of a room. Again, I asked my grandmother when she’d gotten another cat, and jokingly wondered if this one was another vagabond who had insinuated himself into their lives. She smiled and said that no, she hadn’t adopted another stray, but that she had also been seeing glimpses of Corky and assumed her memories were just filling in what she expected to see. I thought it odd that my brain, far less used to his presence, would also automatically play back the cat’s daily routine, but didn’t dwell. In time, he faded, and we’ve not seen anything in years. They never did get another cat.

If it were just phantom remembrances of pets, it wouldn’t be so bad. But there’s more, and they are less warming.

My grandparents live in part of a converted Georgian mill house, on the banks of the mill race. Being Georgian, it is solidly and squarely built. All the rooms and corridors run parallel to the mill race, giving views over the marshy garden and willows down to the original beck on one side, and looking over the rest of the old mill complex (stables, barns and storerooms around a courtyard) on the other. The room I stay in is at the end of the house on the top floor, at the end of a corridor. Between my room and the head of the stairs are ranged one other bedroom and a few built-in cupboards. On this occasion (post-Corky), I had travelled up by myself to stay with my grandparents - I assume my parents were working and my brother was still busy at school. It had been a fairly ordinary day, and as is normal I had gone to bed and stayed up to read until I fell asleep. I was just thinking about putting the book down and turning the light out when I heard footsteps, a child’s footsteps, running down the corridor from the stairs to my bedroom door; hesitate; and then dart back the way they came. In my early 20s, I was the youngest one in the house. And while my grandparents were still pretty spry, there was no way they were sprinting around the house at nigh-on midnight.

I did not tell my grandparents, and I left the light on that night and the next.

The fourth incident was more than auditory.

I did a year of university in York. At the time, archaeology was split between the main campus, and rooms and a shared specialist library at King’s Manor, right by the old city centre. If memory serves, Henry VIII had a hand in its construction, or else stayed there for an appreciably long time. There were the usual ghost stories of a lady in grey, probably one of his unfortunate wives, and/or the ever familiar hooded monk. I didn’t pay it much mind; why would I? Most old buildings have identikit stories of a similar ilk, and it’s not unlikely that grizzled academic veterans would pass on the knowledge to the latest batch of freshers out of a sense of tradition, nay, duty, to those who had gone before.

One day while researching an essay, I needed a book from the library at the manor. Retrieving it from the shelf, I found a quiet desk next to the staircase and set to work. After a while, I heard footsteps on the creaky floorboards behind me. I didn’t pay it much attention, but as they got closer I could feel the boards flexing under the legs of the chair and through my feet. There were shelves behind me to the left, so I assumed someone was looking for something. Suddenly, I felt a light touch on my shoulder and heard a gasp of air being sucked into lungs. I turned around, thinking it was one of my course mates. There was no one there, and nowhere anyone could possibly have hidden. I didn’t go back alone again, and found another source for my essay in the regular library on campus.

The fifth is less certain, but still makes my skin crawl. I was in the bedroom of my first flat, on the second floor of a modern building. Normally once I eventually fall asleep, I stay asleep. However, for whatever reason I woke up very late at night, or bloody early in the morning depending on your point of view. My cohabiting boyfriend, pre-proposal and pre-wedding, slept the undisturbed sleep of the righteous by my side, as he infallibly does every night. It wasn’t him who had woken me, then. As I rolled onto my other side, listening to find out what it was that had disturbed me, my eyes landed on a darker patch of shadow on the carpet. It looked dense, and for a while I thought perhaps it was a t-shirt or something that rightly belonged in the laundry basket. But no, I was sure I’d put things away properly the night before. Puzzled and still groggy with sleep, I looked more closely. And then, it moved. Slowly slowly crawling along the floor, towards my side of the bed. I sat bolt upright in silent alarm and quickly flicked the bedside light on. Whatever it was had gone. On the plus side, it definitely wasn’t a shirt, and if it weren’t for the creeping sense of dread that lingered until dawn I would have put it down to a bad dream, or an imaginary shade born of half-wakefulness. But I do wonder what disturbed me in the first place.

The sixth is the last for today, and for me the most concerning. I, a young female, decided it would be a good idea to walk back from the pub alone at closing time. In all fairness, in deepest darkest rural Hampshire, this is not a great risk. Added to the fact it was cold as well as late, there was no one else around and no one heading in the same direction as me. I would have heard anyone coming behind me, rustling through the still air, I was tipsy rather than drunk, and the moon was high, giving me ample light to see by - which was fortunate as I’d forgotten my torch, and it was before the days when every phone had the capability as standard. The lack of torch but still having good visibility is an important point. No torch means that there were no bobbing and weaving shadows as I walked home; everything was static except for my own image ahead of me on the pavement, cast by the moon.

In this small out-of-the-way village, there were no cars passing through at this time of night either. Perfectly silent, frost already forming, gentle clouds of steam from my breath as I made my way back up the hill. On my left, right by the pavement, was a row of what used to be workers’ cottages, long since knocked through into one larger house. There is a small gap between the end of this row, and the high garden wall of the grander residence ahead, wide enough to walk down to get to the back garden. With the moon behind me, it was in total darkness. As I passed by, every instinct in my body yelled that there was something there sweet Jesus fuck it’s going to grab you IT’S GOING TO GRAB YOU GET OUT OF THE WAY GET OUT GO. Absolutely terrified, I leapt sideways into the road, yelling, flailing my arms to prevent whateveritwas from getting a hand hold. I have never, ever, felt so scared or flooded with adrenaline. Not in near misses in the car, not when I have fallen from horses, not during arguments with angry people twice my height and width. I quickly turned to look down the alley, to prepare for whatever or whoever was surely halfway across the space between us already.

There was nothing.

I stared long and hard to make sure, looking all over the wall of the house and the garden wall next to it. No movement, no glint off buttons or knives or teeth or claws or godsdamned wings for all I knew. No foliage that could have moved to give me a shock. Absolutely piss all.

I ran home, and next time I was sure to cross over the other side of the road.

Is it just me? Or does this sort of thing happen to other people, too?