#officer rogan

[drabbles-mc]

Interruptions

Angel Reyes & OC Evangeline Reyes & Ezekiel Reyes Franky Rogan x OC Evangeline Reyes

Warnings: 18+, pining, language, this really is just a fluffy little something

Word Count: 2.8k

A/N: For my next trick! I will pull out of my bag of wonders a character that the show-runners seemed to have forgotten about but I sure didn't! 😂 Shout-out to Franky Rogan- I hope he's doing okay lmao. I'm not really planning on turning this into a multi-chap per se, but I do plan on just writing some snippets/one-shots that all exist in this universe. This is our first look into this au, but definitely not the last if I have anything to say about it 😂 Enjoy! xo

As far as Evangeline was concerned, there was no real reason for Angel and EZ to be in her shop. She’d told them as much about five minutes after they’d walked in and started causing more ruckus than she wanted to be dealing with. She tried to shoo them away, tried to get them to pop one more door down to go and bother their father instead, but they weren’t budging.

Angel was sitting on one of the chairs by the dressing room and EZ was standing off to the side of the sewing machine that she was currently using. Angel was gawking around at everything as though he didn’t stop by every week, and EZ was studying over her shoulder like he was thinking of becoming the next family seamstress. If the shop had belonged to anyone else, the two of them never would have bothered to set foot inside. Not to mention if the shop had belonged to anyone else, they would’ve barred the two of them from entry ages ago.

“I can feel your breath on my neck,” she said, sounding annoyed for a split second before she started laughing.

EZ chuckled, stepping back and instead starting to pace around the shop. “Sorry.”

“Vete—go be sorry somewhere else. You’re gonna scare people off before they even set foot in here.”

Angel shook his head dismissively. “C’mon, Eva. Don’t think of it like that. Think of it like…we’re like protection, you know?”

Head still angled down at the pantleg she was hemming, her eyes lifted just enough to look over at her brother. “What, you two in the mob now too? MC wasn’t enough?” She shook her head and looked back down at the garment draped over the machine. “Protection,” she mocked. “Who you guys gonna protect me from, anyway? The high school girls coming in for me to tailor their prom dresses?”

EZ laughed as he watched his two older siblings go back and forth. “I don’t know,” he chimed in. “Think those girls might have Angel out-gunned.”

He sucked his teeth. “Fuck both you guys.”

She finally leaned back in her chair, taking her foot completely off the sewing machine pedal. “If you’d left when I told you to, you wouldn’t have to be going through this.”

Angel was finally laughing with her and EZ. “Nah, you know if we never stopped by you’d—” He stopped mid-sentence and stood up from his chair when he saw a police patrol car pull up to the curb right in front of Evangeline’s shop. “What the fuck is this?”

Evangeline mirrored his actions, standing up and carefully draping the pants she’d been working on back over the hanger she’d took them off before she had company. The tailoring job for them was a quick one, or at least it would be once her brothers left and she could actually do her job. She ran her hands over the fabric of her own pants, smoothing them out before looking out the window to see whatever it was that had elicited that reaction from Angel.

She laughed when she saw the cop car parked out front. “Oh, good. Maybe someone will finally be able to make you leave. You think if I ask real nice they’ll give me a couple pairs of cuffs specifically for you two?”

EZ was smiling and shaking his head at his sister, but then when he saw that Franky was the officer getting out of the car, both he and Angel became way more amused than they were annoyed at the cops being there. “Oh,” EZ said with a nod, “yeah I’m pretty sure he’ll give you whatever you want.”

Angel was on the brink of cackling as he nudged his sister’s shoulder. “He’ll give you a pair of cuffs as long as you promise to use them on him just once.”

She rolled her eyes. “I can’t stand either of you sometimes. I hope he knocks your bikes over,” Evangeline muttered with a tiny smile as she moved away from her little brother and went back behind the desk where the cash register was.

There were only a couple seconds between Franky shutting the door to the patrol car and him walking into the small boutique that Evangeline owned, but it was long enough. Angel was sitting back down again, this time just in a different chair that was towards the front of the store. He was leaning back, practically sinking into the soft cushions of it. His legs were spread farther apart than necessary, one hand on one knee, his other on the arm of the chair that he was sitting in. Meanwhile EZ was standing behind his brother’s seat, hands holding onto the edges of his kutte—his default these days.

Evangeline was looking at both of them with a mildly amused look on her face. It looked like they were pulled right out of a movie or a cartoon—stereotypical goons trying to look tough and not quite hitting the mark but they didn’t realize it yet. Her attention shifted off them when the soft chimes above her door signaled Franky’s entry.

He stepped inside, immediately looking around and greeting her with a casual, “Hey, Evangeline,” as he did. He looked at Angel and EZ, seeing the image they were trying to put off and also not being overly convinced by it. When it was just the two of them separate from the rest of the club, they weren’t nearly as intimidating. It was hard to be scared of the same boys he went to school with. He’d known them long enough to know that whatever macho act they were putting on, really was just an act. They had the same look in their eyes that they did back then when they were about to cause trouble after school.

It didn’t take long at all for his gaze to land on Evangeline, the real and only reason he’d even pulled up to the shop at all. She was standing behind the counter, leaning forward onto it so that her elbows were propped onto the wood and her chin rested on top of her interlocked fingers. Her hair was pulled back out of her face, a convenience style when she was using the sewing machine, but there was one unruly lock that had managed to escape and it was hanging just enough to the side so that her face wasn’t obscured at all. She smiled at him, head tilting slightly as it rested in her hands.

He'd known Angel and EZ for most of his life, and it made it hard to find them intimidating these days. In the same vein, he’d known Evangeline for almost his whole life too. Only instead of that fact making her less intimidating, it almost made her more intimidating—it was a different kind of intimidating than her brothers were aiming for, but still. Sure, it’d been so long since high school, and they were all such different people now in a lot of ways, but sometimes when she was looking at him like that Franky still felt like he was the dorky kid in class who was a little in love with his friend’s older sister. They were older now and he was much less dramatic than the teenage version of him had been. In love was an overstatement these days of course. Not that the semantics of it all really mattered in moments like the one he was in.

“Something I can do for you, Officer Rogan?” she finally asked, proving one more time over that she was the only Reyes sibling who could address him as such without using any sarcasm.

He turned so that he was completely facing her, purposely ignoring the looks he was getting from her two younger brothers. He shook his head as he walked over to her, standing on the opposite side fo the counter from her. “No. Just making the rounds and thought I’d stop by.”

She hummed in amusement as she stood upright again. “Got it. Thought your ears might’ve been burning somewhere out there.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “You talkin’ about me?”

She laughed and shrugged. “Was talking about getting someone to throw these two,” she nodded towards her brothers, “out of my shop. And then you rolled up.”

“Yeah,” Angel chimed in from where he was still sitting, “like an answer to all your prayers, right?”

Evangeline shot her brother a look. “An answer to one of them, at least.”

Franky turned and looked at Angel and EZ. “You know it’s bad when even your own sister is waiting for you two to get picked up.”

Angel stood up out of his chair. In two easy strides he put himself right in front of Franky. There was just enough of a height difference for Franky to have to tilt his head to look Angel directly in the eyes. It was something that would never stop amusing Angel in any close encounters the two of them had.

“I bet you’d be real happy to do that for her, huh, Officer?” he goaded.

Evangeline was standing, arms crossed over her chest as she shook her head at the two of them. EZ was watching her just as intently as he was watching his brother and Franky. The scene was amusing from every angle for different reasons. And, as much as he would’ve loved to see how far Angel was going to take things, he liked his sister too much to let it happen in the middle of her shop. It was one thing when they were at the clubhouse, or Vicky’s. But not here.

“C’mon, Angel,” EZ inserted himself into the conversation, “let’s go. Pop still needs help with the compressor anyway.”

Evangeline cut a small sigh of relief, flashing EZ the quickest of smiles to thank him. “Yeah,” she agreed, “go make yourselves useful somewhere. Por favor. I’m begging.”

She was half expecting Franky and Angel to crash shoulders as the two Reyes boys made their way to the door, but they didn’t. Franky did manage to get the last word in with them, though. Rebutting Angel’s, “Stay safe, Officer,” with an easy, “I’m sure I’ll see you two soon. With the lights and sirens on.”

The door chimed again to signal the two of them leaving. Through the glass windows that made up the storefront, she and Franky were able to watch as the two of them made their way next door to their father’s shop. They were both shaking their heads at the pair of brothers, but for very different reasons.

“Nice to see you boys all getting along still,” Evangeline joked once they were out of sight.

Franky laughed as he put his attention back on her again. “Saying that like I’m the one who started any of that.”

She shook her head as she made her way around so that they were both on the same side of the counter. She leaned back against it, crossing her arms once more out of habit. “That’s not what I said.”

He watched as she crossed one leg over the other, the bright silky fabric of her pants distracting for only a moment before his gaze traveled back up to her face. He saw her knowing smirk and he cleared his throat, hands resting on his belt as he looked down at the floor for a second before getting himself together again.

“They give all the cops that hard of a time? Or just me?”

She laughed. “No one has an easy time with those two…” she trailed off for a moment before continuing, “but yeah you get it a little worse.” She saw the incredulous look on his face and she couldn’t pretend that there wasn’t something endearing about it. “C’mon, Franky. I know you were all friends in school but, you know, they grew up and became members of a motorcycle club. And you grew up and became a narc.”

He laughed, placing one hand on his chest. “Ouch, damn.”

She shook her head as she laughed right along with him. “Their words, not mine.”

They shared another quiet laugh about it before the conversation hit a pause. The only noise in the shop was the music playing from the speakers scattered around, a playlist the Evangeline changed from day to day depending on the mood she was in. Franky looked down at the floor, then around the shop, and then back at the woman standing next to him. He didn’t know for sure but he was fairly certain that she’d been watching him the entire time.

“Talk to me, Rookie,” she said, gently nudging his shoulder with her own. “What’s going on?”

That got him to chuckle. “Evangeline, I told you, I haven’t been a rookie in—”

“Franky, I told you, it’s not gonna make me stop calling you that.” She smiled. “I remember when you were slugging your way through the academy, before they got stupid enough to give you a gun,” she joked. “You’re always gonna be a rookie to me.”

“Almost as hurtful as your brothers callin’ me a narc.” There was a brief pause and he cleared his throat. “I really was just checking in. I think they told me that something about this job has to do with protecting and serving or some shit like that.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I heard the rumors.” Reaching back, she took her hair out of the loose, messy ponytail that she’d thrown it into earlier in the day. She continued to speak as the long, loose waves of hair fell down around her shoulders. “I appreciate you checking in. I’m alright, though. All quiet on the strip.”

“’Til your brothers get here.”

She cracked a smile. “Yeah, ‘til my brothers get here.”

He stepped away from the counter and reached into his pocket for his keys. “I’ll let you get back to work then. Don’t wanna be another distraction.”

Her smile was warm as she shook her head at him. “Very considerate of you.”

He stepped backwards towards the door. “Call if you need anything.”

“911 still a good number to reach you at?”

He grinned. “Yeah, that’s the one.”

She was laughing, mostly to herself, as he turned and let himself back out of the shop. She watched as he went back to his patrol car, noticing how he shook his head at her brother’s bikes on the way. There was a split second when she thought she was going to get exactly what she’d asked for earlier, that he was going to knock them over. But of course he didn’t, not looking to kick up that kind of trouble.

By the time that EZ and Angel came back over to her shop, Evangeline had not only finished altering the pants that she’d been working on earlier when they’d stopped in, but also taken care of another pair in between customers filtering in and out. She considered it a successful day, and the shop wasn’t even closed yet. Judging by the looks on Angel and EZ’s faces, she wasn’t sure if they’d had the same amount of success she did.

“Compressor got you beat?” she asked.

Angel scoffed. “Fuck no. We fixed that shit.”

She looked over at EZ. “Did you really?”

He flashed a grin. “Limping it along until the new one comes in.”

Angel’s head dropped back and he let out a dramatic sigh. “Dude, what the fuck?” He ignored the way that they were both laughing as he focused on his sister again. “So, what’d Rent-A-Cop want, anyway? Y’know, besides your hand in marriage.”

Evangeline rolled her eyes. “He was just checking in.”

Angel scoffed. “Yeah, gotta make sure his precious Evangeline is all good over here.”

She tilted her head. “Why are you saying my name like that?”

Angel gestured to the curb even though Franky’s car was long gone. “That’s how he fuckin’ says it! Swear to God, ‘mana, I haven’t heard that guy refer to you as Eva since he was like, twelve.”

Evangeline laughed. “How dare he call me by my actual name.”

“You know what I mean,” he shot right back, attempting to sound more annoyed than he really was.

She tried to divert the conversation rather than going deeper down whatever rabbit-hole Angel was trying to drag them down. “Why are you guys still here, anyway? Don’t you have motorcycle business to attend to? Parties to throw, windows to smash, all that fun stuff.”

“Party’s tomorrow,” Angel replied with a shrug. “You should come through.” He nodded towards EZ. “Prospect is playing barback.”

Evangeline laughed and nodded. “I’ll think about it.”

The two of them hugged her, taking her gentle cue to get going. Angel pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “Just don’t bring the narc as your plus-one.”

She laughed as she pushed him towards the door, but chose not to acknowledge his last comments. “Be careful out there.” She waited until the door to chime shut behind them before she muttered a quiet, “Pendejos,” to herself and got back to work.

Mayans Taglist (please let me know if you'd like to be added!):

@garbinge @withmyteeth @darqchilddaydreamz @artemiseamoon @proceduralpassion

@fanfic-n-tabulous @danzer8705 @justreblogginfics @cositapreciosa @narcolini

[chaoticeddie]

I gotta quit this job lmaooooo

[cynicalclassicist]

And Trump is approaching ever more the second childhood!

But all around he is utterly unfit for office.

Man baby Trump's diapers are proof of his lifetime addiction to amphetamines.

[castielsprostate]

spn groupchat:

danneel: WATCH LIVE!! NOW!! new BDSM set up for rugged twink COCK!! [ https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ?si=VV2eQguSxOqjD76O ]... Twinky Jens begging daddy Mish for release

jared: why the fuck would you send me this while im hanging out with my friend joe rogan

mark s: 👍 Very cool video, Danneel ! Are you and eJnsen still coming to Thanksgiving ??🦃🦃🦃🦃

eric: anyone down for spn revival??? got great ideas!!!!!!!!!!! very inspired by the video

misha: Automated Reply. I'm out of the office until December 15th.

jensen left the groupchat

[eofaquitaine]

Listen, we lost.

The US wasn't ready for it's first female president, and in reality this country wasn't ready to think. People who voted for Trump, people who abstained, people who voted third party. I'm sorry to say but they did not think. I disagree with Harris on a LOT of things. But I also see Trump for who he is, a wannabe dictator. Project 2025 is soft-core Mein Kampf, and Trump is ready to metaphorically suck the dicks of Putin and Kim.

To anyone not from the US who sees this, I'm sorry. I did my best, I voted, and I tried to explain and get others to vote with their critical thinking glasses on just like I did. It wasn't enough. I get if you are mad at the US, though, this world is so fucked and having a global superpower turn even more extreme right wing than it already was is, as they say, Not Great. I'm annoyed too.

I'm not proud of my country. I'm not proud of my generation who according to news outlets based their votes off of Kamala Harris not appearing on the "Joe Rogan Podcast". I'm proud that my state stayed Blue, but I'm disappointed in everything else we did as a country tonight.

But we move forward. I can't let hatred get the best of me, and I hope my fellow Americans do the same. Hatred doesn't do anything. Pandora let Hatred out, she left us with Hope.

I can Hope that the midterm elections will swing back to blue. I can Hope that one day I will see a woman in office. I can Hope that this nation's checks and balances do their fucking job and stop a fascist regime. I can Hope that our system will see change, but in the reality that it doesn't I can Hope that at least a few abstainers or third parties learned their lesson on how this fucked up government system works and that it simply is not a valid option for change.

But at the end of the day, Tumblr is still Tumblr. Tomorrow I'll freak out if Stranger Things actually releases something. I'll see fanart of a video game I like and I'll reblog it. We'll keep doing our thing, and we'll keep carving out the change we need to see from the ground up. I will keep fighting and I know you guys will too.

Also let's not spam the Destiel meme, it's a bit too sobering an occasion for those gay(?) dudes.

[patriottruth]

The Next Stage of This Chess Game to Protect All Democracies and Free Peoples of the World is Joining the Democracy-Loving Freedom-Fighters on Bluesky. This is my 47th message on behalf of the only legally qualified 47th President of the United States, Kamala Harris.

Leading up to, and immediately after the U.S. election on November 5, 2024, the MAGA/QANON trolls were feeling pretty emboldened here on Tumblr. Each one of you here on Tumblr have joined together and massively reduced the MAGA/QANON trolls influence in your Tumblr social/safe space.

You've literally driven away the darkness of their lies, hate, and misinformation with the light of your love, the truth, and the law. If you'd like to meet a lot of other like-minded democracy-loving freedom-fighters like yourselves, they're gathering, organizing, and fighting to protect all democracies and free peoples of the world over on Bluesky.

You can find the Bluesky accounts for Marc Elias, Democracy Docket, CREW/Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Glenn Kirshner, Harry Litman, Michael Popok, Andrew Weissmann, Brad Moss, Adam Kinzinger, Democratic Leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, the MeidasTouch Network that's beating Fox News and Joe Rogan in the viewship ratings, the Lincoln Project, Brian Tyler Cohen, and many, many more by following those accounts and the people they've curated for you in their starter packs.

Here are a collection of messages with information that none of the democracy-loving freedom-fighters over on Bluesky are talking about. Please help me share this information with as many people as possible on Bluesky. Bluesky is where this information will go mainstream and spread like unstoppable and invevitable wildfire to stop donald trump from ever holding any federal or state office in the United States again; either now, or in the future. Thanks in advance if you choose to join the fight for all democracies and free peoples of the world over on Bluesky.

On 12/17/2024, state electors & governors attempting to vote for, & create certificates of ascertainment to elect, disqualified insurrectionist Donald J. Trump would be instantly disqualified from holding any office per Sec3/14A of the U.S. Constitution, thereby rendering all their actions unlawful.

Under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, any person who has sworn an oath to support the U.S. Constitution in order to hold either a state or federal office, and then engaged in rebellion against the United States, or provided assistance to any insurrectionist, is disqualified from being an elector.

Under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, any person who has sworn an oath to support the U.S. Constitution in order to hold either a state or federal office, and then engaged in rebellion against the United States, or provided assistance to any insurrectionist, is disqualified from being a governor.

Donald J. Trump is a disqualified insurrectionist attempting to hold federal office in violation of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. A U.S. electoral vote, or a ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court, can't clear his insurrectionist disqualification; only a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate can.

State electors and governors in AL, AK, AZ, AR, FL, GA, ID, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MI, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NC, ND, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, WV, WI, and WY attempting to vote for, or create certificates of ascertainment to elect, Donald J. Trump would be engaging in federal election crimes.

On March 4th, 2024, SCOTUS advised Donald Trump to have 87 Democrats in both houses of Congress remove his insurrectionist disqualification from holding any federal office again; because if he didn't, nothing could stop Democrats in the House and Senate from disqualifying him. He failed to do so.

SCOTUS can't force any state electors or governors to disqualify themselves from holding any state office by violating Section 3 of the 14th Amendment by giving aid & comfort to a criminally indicted and federally prosecuted disqualified insurrectionist presidential candidate named Donald J. Trump.

Kamala Harris' Existing Electoral College Votes: 226 + 89 Electoral College Votes From Democrat Governors in Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin = 315 Electoral College Votes (Better-Than-2020 Landslide Victory!). Those 89 votes belong to Kamala.

State electors and governors could be engaging in fraud by an elections official, conspiracy against the United States, corruptly obstructing, influencing, and impeding an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights by giving any assistance to disqualified insurrectionist Donald J. Trump.

The SCOTUS "Berger test" states that to disqualify ANY judge in the United States of America: 1) a party files an affidavit claiming personal bias or prejudice demonstrating an "objectionable inclination or disposition of the judge" and 2) claim of bias is based on facts antedating the trial.

Due to MAGA SCOTUS' ridiculous unconstitutional Anderson opinions regarding federal enforcement of Sec3/14A against Donald Trump; and per the SCOTUS "Berger Test," Donald Trump's MAGA SCOTUS can no longer accept any cases pertaining to any issue in any civil or criminal case involving Donald Trump.

Once you've stacked those messages up as your starter posts to identify yourselves to other democracy-loving freedom fighters on Bluesky, if you want to send a message to all the MAGA/QANON cult trolls and so-called "patriots," you can help them reevaluate their so-called "patriotism" and "special/superior knowledge" by parking/pinning this message at the top. And if you really want to address the darkness of their hate, lies, and misinformation, feel free to download this image and use it as your avatar. If there are hundreds or thousands of us using this patriotic avatar over on Bluesky, the MAGA/QANON cult will see us as an organized force of love, the truth, and the law that's come to drive them and their darkness of lies, hate, and misinformation off of Bluesky and back over to "Dark MAGA X" where they belong.

September 18, 1793 – The first cornerstone of the United States Capitol is laid by George Washington.

"IC"/I See on Earth's sun September 18, 2013 https://suntoday.lmsal.com/sdomedia/SunInTime/2013/09/18/l0193.jpg

[ravenkings]

increasingly wondering if the solution to the "democrats need their own joe rogan" problem is just to give jack schlossberg some podcasting equipment and let him rip

[grimesgirll]

how every walking dead character has voted in u.s. elections (and how they would vote in 2024)

rick grimes: voted republican like his parents until 2008 when he and lori voted for obama. switched back to the gop again in 2012 for romney and voted for trump in 2016, however, he didn’t like the way trump handled covid so he voted for biden in 2020 and is voting harris after everything with january 6th.

shane walsh: also historically republican. would’ve voted for obama in 2008 if lori or rick told him so, otherwise he’s always voted red. that’s until 2020 because he did not like the way trump handled covid - he had his elderly aunt jean to worry about after all!! and definitely voted harris in 2024 because he couldn’t sit with the violence and disdain for police shown by january 6th. officers died and that did not sit well with shane.

glenn rhee: i cannot see glenn voting anyway other than dem. he will be voting harris in 2024.

maggie greene rhee: voted for bush but then flipped her vote in order to vote for obama in 2008 and 2012. she would definitely vote hilary in 2016 just for the sake of voting in a woman from the south. would not vote for trump - her dad wouldn’t allow it. is voting for harris.

herschel: lifelong southern christian democrat and will be voting harris in 2024

t-dog: democrat! maybe he voted for trump in 2016 but he wouldn’t do it again. he’s voting harris in 2024!

andrea: merle said it, she’s a democrat. miss girl has always voted blue and she’ll be doing it again this year.

dale: same as andrea. dale loves election day and going to the polls.

carol peletier: voted dem in secret because of ed. is voting for harris today in 2024.

ed: republican every year and will be voting for trump this year.

michonne: definitely a democrat! her job before the apocalypse probably ended up with her around a lot of fellow georgia dems. she’s 100% voting for kamala harris in 2024.

deanna: we don’t know what her party was when she served as an ohio legislator, but i’ll assume the only time she’s voted republican was 1988. she’ll be voting harris in 2024 because she does not see donald trump as a legitimate candidate.

negan smith: historical democrat! he and lucille went to the polls together and will be voting for harris this year. (he’s disappointed by joe rogan endorsing trump.)

aaron: has always voted blue and is voting for harris, duh.

merle dixon: voted for trump in 2016 and that was the only time he’s ever voted. if someone held a gun to his head and took him to the polls, he’d vote trump but he’s not voting this year.

daryl dixon: has never voted in an election but will be voting harris in 2024 (his hot girlfriend probably dragged him to the polls)

if you’re reading this, go vote!!

[spade-riddles]

Spade!! Please tell us what is happening behind the scenes with Trump and Kamala. I would love to have some hope for the new year!! 🥂

I have been doing a LOT of research. There is too much to write in a Tumblr post. But, there has been so much happening all over the world in the past couple of months. Our election is not the only one Putin has interfered with. Several countries are now uniting very publicly behind Ukraine to bring him down.

Also, Kamala is a prosecutor. Biden is a very bright man. They knew Trump was going to try to rig the election years ago. In fact, Kamala wrote a book "The Truth's We Hold", and talked about election security. They were prepared well in advance. Do you really think these two patriots would hand us and our country over to organized crime and Putin, with a smile on their face? Let's be honest, Kamala and Joe Biden look much more relaxed right now than Trump.

Remember this post of mine on November 12th:

Biden and Harris are playing chess, while the criminals have been playing checkers. I was sick to my stomach for 48 hours after the election. But I quickly realized there was more to this than meets the eye. What Trump pulled off (winning every swing state and just enough votes to get the house and senate) would have been unbelievable for a normal candidate, let alone a 34 x convicted felon. This is the same clown that lost the popular vote in the previous two elections.

The first big tell for me was how quickly the race was called, and how quickly Kamala conceded. It made no sense. THEN, 36 hours after the election, law enforcement conducted a raid on Alfie Oakes' home and business (he is a huge Trumper and pals with criminal and fellow Trumper Mike Flynn). Both were involved in the January 6, 2020 storming of the capital. Flynn was at Oakes home on election night 2024. When Oakes home was raided 36 hours later, a notorious Russian crook was with him.

Federal agents from the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the IRS, and the Secret Service were seen at the packing plant. The DCIS investigates cases of fraud, bribery, and corruption, including cyber crimes and computer intrusions.  At Oakes' Florida home, multiple law enforcement officers were seen coming and going in unmarked cars this morning and afternoon. They were going in and out of his home through the garage, carrying boxes, including a man wearing an IRS shirt carrying out a computer.

Almost a week later, Polymarket’s CEO, Shayne Coplan's home was raided in New York. He is backed by another Trumper, billionaire Peter Thiel. The company is an election prediction market.

Trump also told his supporters before the election that he did not need their votes. He said he already had the votes that he needed. Elon Musk said prior to the election that he would be going to prison if Trump did not win. He is as involved as anyone in all of this. Joe Rogan (conservative podcaster) also said that Elon Musk knew the election results 4 hours ahead of time.

Merrick Garland hired Jack Smith from The Hague to take down Trump. It looks like The Hague is where Trump and his minions will be tried. Elon Musk, and many others, will go down with Trump.

This looks like it could be a December to remember. Again, this is based on my observations and research of domestic and international happenings. But what I posted above regarding specific events are factual and available on the internet.

[drabbles-mc]

Confidential

Franky Rogan x OC Evangeline Reyes

For @narcosfandomdiscord Book of Negative Spaces: Fanwork using a line from a diff show/movie as a prompt (i used: "let it rip" from The Bear)

Part of the Not My Brothers’ Keeper Universe

Warnings: 18+, language, light angst

Word Count: 3.6k

A/N: i missed them! i just want them to chitty chat forever. i want franky rogan to be pining always.

Franky hadn’t had it in him to stop by her shop since their last run in. The days had gone by so quickly and yet now that he was sitting in the driver’s seat of his patrol car with the engine still running, every single one of the seconds that had passed since he last spoke to her seemed to cascade over him like a mountainous wave.

Reaching over, he grabbed the folder that was sitting on the passenger seat. He was busy enough as it was when he didn’t have favors looming over his head. This particular favor, though, and the person who was asking for it, made him keep a little busier than usual. He could’ve still tried to make the time to stop by, but it would’ve been hard to look her in the eyes when he didn’t have anything in the ways of answers or explanations. She was kind, and she would’ve given him that look that asked all the questions so she wouldn’t have to say them out loud. But they were questions that he still wouldn’t have answered, and then all the look in her eyes would convey was sadness. And he couldn’t be the reason for that again.

He had the answers now, though. Or, at least, he had answers that would get them to the next set of questions. He had no idea what any of it meant. As he flipped through the papers, he wondered if Ezekiel was even going to know what any of it meant. Franky knew that the right thing to do probably would’ve been to show EZ what he’d found since EZ was the one who had sent him looking for it in the first place. That would’ve been the right thing to do, but what Franky was doing now felt a hell of a lot better than being right and he was willing to settle for that. EZ wouldn’t even have to know.

Looking out the passenger window, Franky saw Evangeline’s car parked in the driveway—she always took Tuesday’s off. Or, at least, if she was doing work she was doing it from the comfort of her living room. He stayed seated as he gazed out across her lawn, across the deck that branched off from her house. He remembered when they’d bought the house. It had always seemed exactly like the kind of place that she would settle down in.

Before he thought about it too much more, he cut the ignition and pushed the door open with the ball of his foot. The walk up the driveway was a short one, and Franky easily jogged up the few steps onto her porch. Taking a breath, and skimming through the papers in his folder one last time, he reached forward and gave a few firm knocks on her door.

Despite knowing that she wouldn’t just instantaneously appear, each second that passed while he waited there had him looking around, trying to find ways to fill the time like it was hours he spent there instead of seconds. He was gearing up to knock again when he heard her voice coming from the other side of the door. She wasn’t speaking to him, but sheer force of habit had Franky leaning in to try and see how much he could hear of whatever conversation she was having without him.

“It was good to hear from you,” she said as she undid the locks on her front door. “Don’t be a stranger, alright?”

Franky couldn’t hear whoever was on the other end of the line, but he did see a few moments later when Evangeline briefly peeked from behind the thin curtains that covered the glass panels on her door. He did his best to offer a smile, one that at concealed at least some of his nerves in a convincing manner. He pretended not to see the shift in her expression when she saw him, the small smile that had been on her face taking on the weight of worry.

Pulling the door open, she stood in the space that she’d created. Leaning against the side of the door, she gave him a purposeful once-over. “Hey, Franky.”

It felt good to hear her say it. Felt good in that silly, almost stupid way it felt good when she would give him a smile and a wave when they were back in school, when she was just being nice to him because he was Ezekiel’s friend. The why of it all hadn’t mattered to him back then, seems like it didn’t matter a hell of a lot more to him now.

“Evangeline, hey,” he responded, relief in his voice that wouldn’t have made sense to anyone else but her. He glanced over his shoulder out of habit before focusing on her again. “You got a minute?”

She pinched her brows together, trying to figure out what he was there for without having to tread into the waters of that conversation with him. “It’s my only real day off, you know.”

He managed a weak smile. “I know. Wouldn’t bother you if I didn’t think I needed to.”

Part of her knew that she could drag it out if she wanted to. She could’ve kept him standing right there on her porch sweating it out for the rest of her day off if that’s what she felt like doing, and he would’ve let her with no real complaints. But she didn’t like how things had been since their last conversation anymore than he had, so she pulled the door open wider and motioned for him to step inside.

“Next time I’m going to make sure you have a warrant,” she said, a little bit of the levity back in her voice.

“Only thing I’m looking for here is you.” Franky should’ve wiped the smirk off his face when he said it but he didn’t have a chance in hell at that.

Walking deeper into the house, she motioned for him to sit at the table, one that would’ve been big enough for family dinners if her family had been into that sort of thing. It was in the perfect spot, catching all the sunshine that came in through the sliding glass doors that lead out into the rest of the porch. Franky watched as she went into the kitchen, grabbing a couple of glasses from the cupboard before getting the pitcher of iced tea out of the fridge. He sat down, placing the folder on the table while somehow feeling like he should’ve been hiding it away even though it was half the reason he was there to see her.

“So,” she said as she filled both their glasses, “what’s going on?”

He knew the question was coming and yet he still felt flustered when she’d asked. All the words that he wanted to string together were jumbled in his head as he sat and watched her. Even when she was home, even on her days off when she didn’t think that anyone but her own reflection was going to get a look at her, she still looked beautiful. Denim shorts that were frayed along the bottom, an old t-shirt that she’d pulled apart and stitched back together to make something new out of it, a ponytail high enough up on her head that it swished with each step she took. Even if he’d come in with a clear and concise story to start with, she would’ve knocked him off-kilter anyway.

It was the sound of her setting the glasses down on the table in front of him that got him to snap back to attention. He blinked a couple times, dialing back in. Evangeline sat down in the chair next to him, studying him as she took a sip of her drink. She knew him well enough to know that she was going to have to ask again. There was comfort in those small consistencies.

“Are you getting someone into trouble or out of it?” she asked.

That got him to smile, even if there was a little bit of uncertainty in it. “I’m…not sure. Was hoping you might be able to help me figure it out.”

She nodded towards the folder. “State secrets in there or something?”

Franky knew that maybe it wasn’t the time for humor, but the two of them had a hard time escaping that. He allowed himself a small smile as he said, “Somethin’ like that.”

Reaching out, she pressed her fingertips onto the folder but didn’t try to pull it towards her. “This have anything to do with what EZ was talking to you about before?”

He nodded, not quite ready to let her take it from him yet. “Yeah. I’ve got…I don’t know, Evangeline. Doesn’t make any sense to me.”

She hummed in thought. “And you think it’s going to make sense to me? This very secret business that neither you nor my brother wanted to tell me about?”

He drummed his fingers on the folder. “This isn’t my busi—” he started and stopped, trying to figure out what exactly it was that he wanted to say. “Whatever this is doesn’t have anything to do with me. I just went digging. That’s,” he shook his head, “that’s all EZ asked me to do.”

She tilted her head. “He doesn’t know you’re here, does he?”

“Hell no,” he replied, laughing for the first time in what felt like a while.

She returned the favor with a genuine smile. Despite all of the mess and the tension, there was something about that that felt familiar, almost comforting. “Alright then, Officer Rogan.” She pulled her hand away, leaning back in her chair like she was giving him space for his next big trick. “Let it rip. I wanna see what kind of classified documents you’re bringing into my house.”

Franky had a smirk on his face as he shook his head, but he still pushed the folder in her direction to open. Once she pulled it the rest of the way towards her, he finally reached for the glass that she’d set in front of him. He took a sip, glancing around her house as he did. He could count on one hand with fingers left over how many times he’d actually been inside her house, past the threshold of the doorway. There usually wasn’t much of a reason for him to be. It felt warm, comfortable. It seemed like everything she touched was like that.

But when Franky looked back over at Evangeline’s face while she was flipping through the pages he’d brought, all the warmth was gone, her face almost pale as her eyes racing across every line that was typed out in front of her. He’d shown up hoping that, at the very least, it would ease some of the tension that had been lingering between them since he last saw her. Best case scenario, she’d tell him that this was all some wild goose chase on EZ’s part, or club things that she didn’t know anything about and wanted to keep it that way. Now, though, seeing the look in her eyes, he was wondering if he was creating a whole new slew of problems between them.

“Wh-why,” she cleared her throat, taking a sip of her drink before looking at Franky and trying again, “Why’d Ezekiel want you looking into this guy?”

“You know him?” Franky asked, dodging her question, feeling more like a cop than he usually did when he was sitting next to her.

She started to nod, and it dissolved into a shrug. “I don’t know him. I, I met him once.” She couldn’t peel her eyes away from the photograph in front of her. “Why was my brother asking you to look this guy up, Franky?”

He shook his head. “Didn’t say.”

“You didn’t ask?” The words came out sharper than she’d meant for them to. She caught it immediately, her expression softening as she shook her head. “Sorry. I just,” she held up the slip of paper that had Happy’s mugshot on it, “I sat next to this guy and had a beer with him.”

He was better at hiding his surprise with other people, but his eyes always said it all with her. “Jesus—”

“Is all this true?” she asked, shaking the seemingly endless list of crimes on his rap sheet. Evangeline was many things, but naïve had never been one of them. She knew that the types of men who found their way to clubs like the Mayans, or the Sons of Anarchy, had all done things. They had done things the same way EZ had done things that landed him in prison for all those years. She knew that, it weighed heavier on her chest than she ever liked to admit. But knowing it and having it all spelled out in black and white in front of her were two completely different things.

He wished that he could give her the answer that she wanted while also not telling her a lie. Knowing that those two things couldn’t coexist in that moment, he nodded. “Yeah. If anything they probably…” he trailed off, instantly wishing he hadn’t started expanding on his point, but he wasn’t going to be able to backpedal now, “probably missed a few things along the way.”

She set the paper back down, staring at it for a few seconds longer before shutting the folder. Even though there was nothing but a blank manila cover staring back at her, she was still picturing it all in her head. She tried to peel it all apart in her head, reorganize it in some way that would make sense to her. For a brief moment she wished that she could think the way that EZ always seemed to, not just with his flawless recall but the way that he could treat things like jigsaw puzzles, finding out how to perfectly fit them together to create just the picture that he was looking for. Franky had just given her someone’s entire life story and she had no idea what she was supposed to do with any of the information that she was now privy to.

Franky watched her, wishing not for the first time that he could read her mind. He could see the worry on her face, and the confusion. There was a tightness in her jaw that wasn’t usually there, her brows pinched together harshly, not in the focused way they would be when she was working. He was regretting that what had started off as a show of good faith was now turning into something else entirely.

He wanted to reach out and take her hand in his but he stopped himself. He kept his hands busy instead with taking the folder back, getting the feeling that it wasn’t something she had any interest in keeping even if he’d offered it to her.

“I ruined your day off, didn’t I?” he asked, just enough humor in his voice for her to know that he was doing his best with what he had.

It got her to smile, got her to look him in the eyes. “You? No, you didn’t. Your folder full of classified information? Maybe a little, yeah.” She slumped back in her chair. “I have no problem blaming my brother for that if you don’t, though.”

Franky chuckled and nodded in agreement. “Works for me.”

Reaching forward, Evangeline reached and grabbed her glass of iced tea. Taking a long drink from it, for a moment she wished that she had spiked it with something stronger. Cupping the glass in her two hands, she stared down into it for a moment before looking at Franky again.

“Talk to me about something else.”

He raised his eyebrows slightly. “What?”

“You came and played bad cop with all of that,” she motioned to the folder in front of him. “So now you need to play good cop and tell me something else.”

He laughed. “I don’t think that’s how good cop, bad cop works.”

She took another sip of her drink before setting the glass back on the table. Leaning forward, she propped her elbows on the tabletop and rested her chin in her hands. “Give me some good news anyway, Rookie.”

The answer was always going to be yes, or as close as he could get to it whenever she asked him for anything. Whatever she wanted to hear, he’d tell her. He’d always do that for her, but after he’d seen the look on her face just a few short minutes before, he was willing to say damn near anything.

“Lizzie asked about you the other day,” he said, smiling as he looked out the glass doors and then back at Evangeline again.

Her expression instantly warmed at the mention of her. “Yeah? How’d my name come up? Talking to your niece about me now?”

Franky laughed and shook his head, lying to himself that he didn’t feel warmth creeping up his neck towards his face. “Nah, alright, calm down with all that. She was the one asking.”

Her smile grew a little wider. “What was she asking about?”

“She’s got her quince comin’ up.”

Evangeline laughed, partially because she couldn’t believe how old his niece was already, but also because she knew how much of a to-do it was all going to be if Lizzie’s mother had any say in it at all. “Your brother must be so excited.”

Franky smiled and nodded. “He’s trying to pretend that it’s all her mom but,” he shot Evangeline a knowing look, “he’s not foolin’ me.” The two of them shared a laugh at that before he continued. “She’s gotta get her dress soon, and she was wondering if you’d do all the, you know,” he made a motion with his hands, like he was gesturing to a gown that wasn’t there.

Evangeline was almost doubled over with laughter. “Alterations?”

He laughed and nodded. “That, yeah.”

She playfully swatted at him. “Franky Rogan, how long have we been friends and you couldn’t remember the word for alterations? That’s,” she gestured around like she was at her store instead of her house, “that’s half my job!”

He held his hands up in surrender. “Sorry, sorry. That’s my bad.”

Her laughter quieted into a hum of amusement. “The answer is yes, though. I’d be happy to work on her dress once she picks one out.”

He nodded. “I’ll make sure to pass along the good news.”

The conversation tapered off into comfortable silence as the two of them continued to sit at her table. Franky was vaguely aware of the fact that he should probably leave, but he had no real desire to. It also didn’t seem like Evangeline was in any big rush to send him away. He was fine enjoying a good thing while it lasted.

Evangeline could feel Franky looking at her as she looked out the sliding glass door. She could see her porch, her lawn, Franky’s patrol car parked alongside the road at the edge of her yard. Her grass was longer than it should’ve been—if Felipe came over at any point within the next week he would get the lawn mover out of the shed and take care of it himself, chastising her the entire time he did. The mental image of it made her smile. Then she brought herself back inside to the reality she was in, with Franky Rogan sitting at her kitchen table with her.

She wished that she could sit there and pretend that this was just a social call, like all those other times when Franky would pop by the shop under the thinnest veils of excuses she’d ever heard. She enjoyed those, even though she liked to give him a bit of a hard time about it in the process. It almost felt like those times, but the folder on Happy Lowman was still resting on her table.

Franky could feel it, too, the little bit of tension left looming in the air. Different than how it’d felt last time he saw her, different even from how it’d felt when he had first shown up. This was the kind of tension that he couldn’t just make dissipate by apologizing—that would’ve been so much easier.

She walked him back to the door, not looking at the documents that were tucked underneath his arm. As she pulled the door open, she asked, “Are you gonna tell EZ that you stopped by here first?”

He stepped out onto the deck before turning around to face her again. He studied her expression for a moment. “You want me to?” When she shook her head in response, he asked, “You gonna talk to him about any of this?”

She nodded, pressing her forehead against the side of the door. “Eventually.”

He frowned. “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “It’s…it is what it is, Franky.” She saw the way that he was going to try and apologize again, or try to come up with explanations that neither of them could really put too much stock in, so she beat him to the punch. “Call me when Lizzie wants to come by, alright? I’ll make sure my schedule is clear for her.”

He smiled. “Thank you.”

“Should be thanking you,” she joked as he started to backpedal away from her doorway, “since you’re out there talking me up and drumming up business.”

He laughed and shook his head as he turned around to continue walking away. “Bye, Evangeline!”

She was grinning in a way that he could hear in her words as she said, “Stay safe out there, Officer!”

(divider by the lovely @saradika-graphics 💞)

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[justinspoliticalcorner]

Michael Stratford at Politico:

Elon Musk said Wednesday that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should be abolished, calling for the elimination of an agency that would potentially regulate the future payments business of the Musk-owned X platform. “Delete CFPB,” Musk, who is leading an effort on behalf of President-elect Donald Trump to shrink the size of the federal government, wrote in a post on X. “There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies.” Trump on the campaign trail called for easing regulation of the financial industry generally but didn’t explicitly call for the elimination of the CFPB, which Republicans have railed against for years. The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint, which Trump sought to distance himself from during the campaign, recommended the agency be shut down.

Trump is widely expected to rein in the Biden-era CFPB’s regulatory agenda and ease enforcement against companies, as he did during his first term in office. But eliminating the agency entirely, as Musk appears to be proposing, would require an act of Congress. Republicans and the financial industry have long targeted the CFPB for what they consider its overly aggressive regulation, though efforts to take down the agency in Congress and in the courts have largely been unsuccessful. GOP lawmakers, even under Republican control, have lacked the votes to eliminate or defund the CFPB. And more recently the Supreme Court earlier this year upheld the agency’s funding structure as constitutional. Musk’s statement comes less than a week after the CFPB finalized a regulation that would expand its oversight of big tech companies that offer payment and digital wallet apps. That would potentially include X, which has explored ways to enter the payments business. Musk said when he purchased X, previously known as Twitter, that he wanted to transform the site into an “everything app” that included the ability of users to store money and send payments. Since then, X Payments has obtained licenses to transmit payments from dozens of state regulators.

[...] Musk’s post came in response to a video clip of the prominent investor Marc Andreessen telling podcaster Joe Rogan that he believes that the CFPB was “terrorizing” tech firms and start-ups that want to compete with big banks. Andreessen’s venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z, invested in a company, LendUp Loans that was shut down by the CFPB over allegations of illegal marketing and fair lending violations. At the time, the CFPB noted that the company, which pitched itself as a payday lender alternative, had been backed by Andreessen’s firm, among other prominent venture capitalists.

Anti-workers’ rights extremist Elon Musk calls for the elimination of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). A move to eliminate the CFPB is an attack on accountability and consumer protections.

[odinsblog]

Since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched his campaign challenging President Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, he has given hours of interviews to podcasts, magazines and TV networks. He paints a dark, conspiratorial picture of the world, bristling with debunked theories, misleading claims and outright falsehoods.

Wi-Fi causes cancer and “leaky brain,” Kennedy told podcaster Joe Rogan last month. Antidepressants are to blame for school shootings, he mused during an appearance with Twitter CEO Elon Musk. Chemicals in the water supply could turn children transgender, he told right-wing Canadian psychologist and podcaster Jordan Peterson, echoing a false assertion made by serial fabulist Alex Jones. AIDS may not be caused by HIV, he has suggested multiple times.

There's no credible evidence for any of these assertions or for Kennedy's longest-running false claims: that vaccines cause autism and are more harmful than the diseases they're designed to protect against.

Yet Kennedy is building a campaign for the highest office around these conspiracy theories and the idea that fact-checking or criticizing them amounts to censorship. His throughline is the bedrock conspiratorial premise that “they” (the government, pharmaceutical companies, the media) are lying to you, but that he is telling the truth.

—RFK Jr.’s presidential campaign is built around conspiracy theories

[palestinegenocide]

Biden ‘quietly’ gives massive bombs to Israel — even as establishment voices say, Stop the genocide

The devastating news from Washington this week was that in spite of lip service against Israel’s war on the people of Gaza, the Biden administration “quietly” approved the transfer of more massive bombs to Israel.

Biden is sending along more than 2000 one-ton bombs and 500-pound bombs, the Washington Post reported (per Common Dreams).

“This is cowardly,” Yousef Munayyer wrote. “If you are going to be full backers of genocide, own it. We see you and history sees you as well.”

“This is obscene,” Bernie Sanders wrote. “We must end our complicity: No more bombs to Israel. The U.S. cannot beg Netanyahu to stop bombing civilians one day and the next send him thousands more 2,000 lb. bombs that can level entire city blocks.”

We can only imagine how horrifying such armaments are here in the West. Gazans don’t have to imagine. These instruments of annihilation have generated a neverending nightmare. Even the Washington Post says these bombs “are almost never used any more by Western militaries in densely populated locations due to the risk of civilian casualties.” But Israel has used them extensively.

Which is why more than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed, the vast majority women and children. Israel justifies the slaughter of civilians by arguing that a majority of Palestinians approve of Hamas’s attack of last October. So, collective punishment is policy.

At least Biden’s hypocrisy is being reported in the Washington Post. And we are seeing a broad movement in progressive circles to end Israel’s immunity to international law.

Harvard Law School’s student government voted for the university to divest from Israel. The global activist network Avaaz has got half a million signatures calling for a cutoff of U.S. aid to Israel.

America is Israel’s biggest arms dealer. You are giving American weapons to a government that is blocking life-saving aid and violating international law. This will only stop when you demand it stops.“

Public opinion is also horrified. A Gallup poll finds that 55 percent of Americans oppose Israel’s months-long military campaign (while 36 percent approve). “A mere 18% of Democratic voters approve of Israel’s effort.” And 75 percent disapprove.

Gallup poll published March 27 shows that American Democrats’ support for Israeli actions is plummeting over three months.

Biden is not only defying his base. The liberal political establishment has now turned against Israel’s war. The head of the Democratic party think tank, the Center for American Progress, called for a cutoff of aid.

The United States, by its own imposed standards, cannot heedlessly deliver offensive weapons as the Israeli government continues to bombard and starve innocents on a mass scale. These actions have nothing to do with self defense; they are clearly intended as collective punishment and are resulting in the complete devastation of Palestinians as a people.

The former top State Department human rights officer told NPR that it is time to apply the same rules to Israel as other countries. Charles Blaha:

[T]he State Department has said publicly that the same policy applies to Israel as apply to every other country. In practice, Israel gets special treatment…. You may recall the Biden administration suspended items that could be used in offensive air-to-ground operations for Saudi Arabia because they were causing civilian casualties. Those civilian casualties are nowhere near the civilian casualties that Israeli air-to-ground operations have caused so far. Yet unconditional transfers of air-to-ground munitions continue.

Joe Rogan called it “genocide” and a “holocaust” this week. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Israel was going too far. Atlantic Editor Jeffrey Goldberg, trying to run from his own past, ran a piece saying, “U.S. Support for Israel’s War Has Become Indefensible.”

And at the Stimson Center this week, when Barbara Slavin said it’s not genocide because it’s not equivalent to the Hutus and the Tutsis in Rwanda or the Nazis killing 6 million Jews, Lara Friedman of the Foundation for Middle East Peace shot down that defense.

The definition of genocide under international law does not require it to meet that bar… It does not have to rise to, Trying to kill every member of a race in the world [to be a genocide. The idea that] ‘it can’t be genocide if it doesn’t kill everybody.’ That isn’t what it means under international law.

So the genocide is having consequences, even in the cowardly seat of empire.

[taylorwright27]

I fucking hate this

I keep seeing people blaming third party voters, which even if all those votes went to Harris (which there is no guarantee they were going to) She still wouldn't have won, and I just saw someone on tik tok talk about how people on the left who were critical of Harris and the party were taking the excitement out of voting. And that is complete bullshit, it is not the lefts job to make you feel good about the democratic party they should be doing that themselves. The Harris admin ran a dogshit campaign plain and simple.

People wanted Biden out, it took months but the party finally listened and replaced him with Harris, this made people excited. It seemed like maybe the democratic party was actually listening to its voters, then they picked Walz as VP and we got more excited. No more Biden and a VP who believes in free lunches for students, healthcare, abortion and education! It seemed like the party was moving a different direction. They started calling the Republican party weird, pointing out how crazy their ideas were and how actually invasive theri policies were.

Then the fucking DNC happened, they rejected Palestinian voices and gave the most bullshit fluff speeches imaginable. They made it clear that they had no intention of trying to get undecided and independent voters on their side, they just wanted republicans. They decided that the road to victory was to shift to the right. They now supported a border wall and deportations, things that would be unimaginable 8 years ago. They touted around ex-republicans that switched over, like Liz Cheney (whose father drove the country into useless wars and left the VP office with 13% approval). They decided that it was more important to adopt right wing framing on issues, then to actually listen to what their voters wanted. They sent fucking Bill Clinton to yell at Michiganders that Palestinians were going to die either way so vote for the other things on the ballot. They agreed with the narrative that illegal migrants are ruining the country with drugs and crime, when they should have been pointing out that the Haitians were here on legal status (and clearly not eating pets that was disgusting that they even allowed for that to be a talking point) that the Venezuelan "gangs" Trump was complaining about were also here legally (by Trump), not gangs, and not terrorizing the city. They did not point out the vast majority of fentanyl and other drugs are brought into the US by US citizens, that illegal immigrants commit way way less crime that natural borne US citizens, and that they pay into taxes much more than they use.

But no, the democratic party decided that they need the republican vote, and could do that by effectively saying "Trump was right". They did the same thing with fracking in Pennsylvania. Fracking in was not Pennsylvanians number 1 issue, not even close and the few people who would vote on that would not all the sudden see Harris as the "Fracking candidate" that would still be Trump.

They ignored popular issues like healthcare and student loan forgiveness, raising the minimum wage and instead championed a tax break for small business owners and a credit for first time home buyers. These things do not help the average american, so many more people are struggling to live off of minimum wage jobs than are small business owners, and the anyone I know who the house credit would have made it possible for them to buy a house could only do so because their parents were also able to chip in.

They also did nothing to earn the young vote. I think they though abortion was enough to carry the youth, but newsflash men don't fucking care about women. they show it time and time again, Trump went on Adin Ross and Joe Rogan (2 of the biggest pieces of shit to exist) and that won him a lot of votes. There were people at the voting booth who said that they voted for Trump because of the Rogan interview. Men were not left behind by the campaign, but Trump and Vance were able to convince them that they were.

Harris and the democratic party gave nothing for people to vote for, so don't fucking blame Dearborne Michigan for not voting for someone who said she wouldn't change anything done in the last 4 years and instead blame the Democratic party for a shitty campaign, shitty messaging and choosing republicans votes over yours.

[mariacallous]

Republicans and Democrats sank ungodly amounts of money into creating content for TikTok this election year, but there’s a chance the app might not be around in the US come next cycle. Or even president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.

Quickly, a refresher: President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act in April, creating the state of affairs we find ourselves in today. The law put in place a system that would ban TikTok if the app’s parent company, Bytedance, didn’t sell to a US-based owner by January 19, 2025. Once that deadline rolls around, the president can decide to extend it an additional 90 days. We’re supposed to find out by tomorrow if a federal appeals court will uphold the law requiring Bytedance to sell off its stake.

Soon, we’ll know whether the court will strike down the ban bill or if TikTok’s fate is left in the Trump administration’s hands.

Right now, two things stand in the way of this ban going into effect. First, the deadline. And second, a lawsuit. Shortly after the bill became law, TikTok sued the US government for violating the free speech protections of the company and its users by, effectively, banning the app. That’s the decision we’re waiting on this week.

There are a few different outcomes that could play out. The court could agree with TikTok’s arguments and strike down the law on First Amendment grounds. If that were to happen, TikTok would be safe unless the Justice Department decides to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court or the full DC circuit. Even if the feds appealed, it could take months or years before the justices take up the case, leaving us in an even lengthier limbo.

The court could also uphold the law, setting TikTok up for an outright ban. But if the court sides with the Justice Department, the incoming Trump administration may still find a way to keep the app around.

In September, Trump posted to Truth Social, saying “FOR ALL OF THOSE THAT WANT TO SAVE TIK TOK IN AMERICA, VOTE TRUMP!” (caps his, not mine). “I’m a big star on TikTok,” he said in the attached video. It was an odd statement coming from the man who was the first president who tried to ban the app. But according to The Washington Post, the Trump administration now plans to find a way to halt any ban of TikTok once the president-elect takes office, though it hasn’t announced any official plans.

Trump warmed up to TikTok over the course of the election year, promising to protect the beloved app. One of the TikTok’s biggest investors, billionaire Jeff Yass, was also one of Trump’s biggest donors. He also used it to his advantage: Over the summer, Trump joined TikTok and racked up millions of followers and collabs with popular streamers that played a huge role in his campaign’s appeal to young voters. His many podcast appearances with people like Joe Rogan, the Nelk Boys, and Andrew Schultz were also clipped and shared in bite-size pieces throughout the app.

More than 170 million Americans use TikTok, according to the most recent numbers shared by the company. Only 32 percent of Americans support a TikTok ban, according to a recent Pew survey. When a similar study was conducted in May 2023, 50 percent of Americans supported it.

Trump’s inauguration is scheduled for January 20, the day after the deadline to give TikTok more time to find a buyer. I’d bet that Biden would decide to extend it, making TikTok’s future Trump’s problem, but the current president hasn’t given any signals on what he could do. The White House did not respond to a request for comment from WIRED.

While Trump may have won TikTok this cycle, Democrats don’t see the app as a lost cause. In fact, the Democratic strategists I’ve spoken to have argued that a presence on the app is more necessary than ever.

“I’m against the ban. Not only will it hurt us with younger voters, it will eliminate a channel where Democrats can compete to get their message out,” says Ryan Davis, cofounder and chief operating officer at People First, a political influencer and relational marketing firm that partnered with the Biden and Harris campaigns. “Trump may have won TikTok in 2024, but it’s a channel Democrats demographically should be highly competitive on.”

I genuinely have no idea whether TikTok will come out on top this week. When oral arguments were presented in September, the judges didn’t sound too sold on the idea that the law was, well, unlawful. More likely than not, we’ll still be stuck in this limbo of not knowing whether we’ll be able to scroll and watch important and groundbreaking content like this.

[gennyrthewriter]

Is the wait for book II just too long and you can't take it any more?

How about a short story that takes place 4 years before the events of The Backwater? Paul and Wickham kiss in it. You're welcome.

I plan on writing and posting more of these canon-until-proven-otherwise little short stories here, so keep a look out for them! Click under the cut and get reading <3

Building Halcyon

The General woke up in bed sheets damp with sweat. He hadn’t been sure if he dreamt until he felt his clammy skin. He must have. He sighed and massaged his face with his gruff, cracked hands. He rose slowly, achingly rotating his body to the edge of the plush inn bed. He stretched his nude legs outward, reaching with his torso to meet them with his fingertips. His back popped as he inhaled, and he sighed as he let the breath out.

His Captain must have heard the sigh, as he delicately opened the door and entered the room.

“Winters,” the General stated, bidding him a good-morning. “Who was on guard with you?”

The Captain quietly closed the door behind him. “Sergeant Rogan. I already sent him away, to get his sleep.”

“You should do the same,” Madino grunted, rubbing his forehead. “I have a busy day with many appearances to make. I won’t need you running any errands while we’re here in Bathe.” 

Winters grinned. “I know,” he started, brushing the curls across his face away with a finger. “But I wouldn’t want to miss your address, sir.” He adjusted his black greatcoat, then bent down to the General’s eye-level. 

The surly man gently brought a hand behind Winters’ neck and pulled him softly to his lips. “These are the times our nostalgia will lust for, my kingfisher.”

“You told me our idyll was yet to come, Paul” Winters whispered back, not yet leaving his lips. 

He opened his eyes and slowly pulled back, beginning to rise from the bed. “That will depend on how the day goes,” he said, stoutly. He approached his trunk, filled to its walls with a heap of gray tunics and black trousers. Any set was as good as the next. “My armor, Wickham? Is it ready?”

Wickham nodded. “The smithy down the street should be done polishing it by now. I’ll fetch it for you at once, sir.” He made for the door, and left as gracefully as he had come in. 

The city of Bathe was the most elegant jewel of the Home Isles. It was ancient, with ruins and ancient baths in its center dating back to the days of Primii colonists. The tall towers of Aredian Trinite churches rose from every corner of the city. A weaving network of white marble roads connected medieval stone buildings, that now fetched a hefty price from Aredian urbanites desiring to live in such a historic city. 

The most important aspect of Bathe though, and the reason General Madino had been summoned, was its university. For the past generation, the Aredian Empire sent its civil servants and military officers to study in its prestigious halls– those that could afford the privilege, of course. Madino had not attended, nor Winters. 

This year’s graduating class, the class of 1703, had sent a special request for the General to speak at the commencement ceremony. Had Wickham come back alone to squire for him and help don his armor, Madino was going to practice the speech one final time, but Wickham was accompanied by Major Ficker, who carried the lower half of Madino’s armor. He wordlessly stood and let the two men clad him in his signature black plate. 

“Just a reminder of your schedule, sir,” Major Ficker started, tightening the armor around Madino’s left calf, “you have your meeting with the Emperor in the University Gardens just after breakfast tea.”

“I don’t think I’d forget a meeting with his eminence,” Madino growled.

“Of course not, sir,” the Major replied, meekly, “but you are nearly late for your first meeting with the professor.”

Madino jolted away from the officers, who had no sooner finished affixing his armor. He played a glare at Wickham and scolded, “you should have got me up earlier.” The officer did not respond with anything but a smirk.

The inn had been completely cleared for Madino and his Blackguard entourage to lodge in. A handful of officers ate bread and sausages in the modest pub on the first floor. The wood tables were plain, and lacked the typical tablecloths they would normally be adorned with, as no civilian tavernkeep nor housekeeper was permitted to be in the presence of such high officers, and as such, there was nobody to set the table. The bread and sausages must have come from a street merchant. 

The officers all stood and saluted the General, who eased them with a wave of his gloved hand. “Where is the professor?” he asked. 

“He’s outside, with some books,” Major Keventer replied. “Shall I let him in?”

“Yes,” Madino grunted. “And all of you, leave us.”

The officers all stood, leaving their food on the table, and promptly shuffled out the door. Ficker followed, and Winters brushed Madino’s armor as he passed. They left the door open, and submissively, a small man appeared in the doorway. He wore a plain brown coat and possessed only a few tufts of hair upon his head. He carried a small stack of four books, and nearly dropped them as he stepped up into the doorframe. 

“Professor, please come in,” Madino said, as invitingly as he could. 

“Thank you, sir,” the professor said, clearing his throat to muster courage. “I– I brought the books you requested.”

“Excellent. Please, sit,” Madino said, pulling a chair out for the man before taking one for himself. 

“The third book is in Madradian, written by a Gremshawn. The newest books about ancient Ruinian magic all are– I trust you have someone who can translate it?”

Madino shook his head. “Not currently, but I’m sure I can find someone trustworthy and reliable enough.”

“I have a student,” the professor began. “She’s in the School of Naval Logistics– I believe her parents forced her to enroll– but she’s got such a knack for linguistics. She can speak fluent Herman, and some Madradian too.”

“Is she in this year’s graduating class?” the General inquired.

“No sir,” the professor replied. “She’s quite young– only 15. It’s her first year here. But I can have her write to you–”

“I appreciate it, professor, but I can find a translator anywhere in the world,” he said, dismissively. 

“But the girl– if I may, sir. She came into my office as I was getting these books together and expressed her interest in ancient Ruinian history. She said it was an interest of her’s as a child, and she even taught herself to read their language.”

Madino perked up and raised an eyebrow. “Are her parents in the Order?” 

The professor shook his head. “They’re far from ascetics or communards. She’s a Thompson. Her parents are well-off entrepreneurs in the Isles. I believe she is just a bright spark.”

“I’ll reach out to her in time,” Madino said, appreciative of the connection. “These books are excellent, professor. Is there anything else to know about them?” 

The professor wrinkled his nose. “No, I believe they’ll serve you well. Though– the book about the connection between Ruinian magic and Shioi magic has been a hot commodity, so to say. It’s from a small press in Echo, from the college there. There may be more copies of it in the colonies.”

“I’ll do well to safeguard it then, and search for others,” Madino said, standing. “I appreciate your efforts, professor. These books will be locked away, where none will be able to retry what the Coalitioners were attempting.” He chose not to speak of his own role in their emulation.

The General followed the professor out into the street, and was wordlessly joined by Winters, who indicated that he would escort him to his next appointment. The two walked through the city, as the pedestrians on the streets parted before them. Some even bowed. All knew to show reverence to two Blackguard officers. Veterans who recognized the General saluted him as he passed. One such veteran, a man living out of a crate on the street, attempted to stand on a peg-leg and honorably salute the two as they passed. He stumbled, falling to the stone. Madino could not bring himself to turn to acknowledge him. 

The University was not far from the inn. A platoon of royal guards formed a perimeter around an ornate wrought-iron fence that bounded the University’s magnificent gardens. Flowers of every color bounded geometric paths that intersected each other in a design made to evoke the diagonals of the Aredian imperial flag. At each intersection was a set of colossal, ancient gray stones. They were the Druidstones, a set of mysterious, rectangular slabs that had stood in a field near Bathe for millennia. When Watson I took the throne of the newly united Home Isles, he moved them to the University as a show of imperial might. Whatever purpose they served in antiquity was lost now. They were reduced to garden decorations. 

Madino approached a gate to the garden and, wordlessly, with a snap-salute, the guards parted to allow him in. Winters waited outside the reformed ranks. 

He was surprised to find the Emperor with somebody else, but Madino immediately recognized the squatty man. The two were virtually opposites; the Emperor was a lanky man, dressed elegantly in an all-white greatcoat to compliment his white hair, while the other man was in a weathered red general’s coat with faded gold piping, in a size that had clearly not been tailored to him in a very long time. 

“Ah, Madino, I’m sure you recognize Ambrose,” the Emperor said, acknowledging his presence. “He was here for the council meeting yesterday.”

He quickly bowed his head before the Emperor, then extended his armored arm to allow his gloved hand to meet Ambrose’s plump hand in a firm shake. 

“Of course, your eminence,” Madino replied. “It was an honor to defeat von Daun alongside him in ‘98.”

Ambrose let out a deep laugh. “It was your lads that won it, Madino. You had it wrapped up before my boys and I could cross the Krummer. We didn’t take so much as a handful of arrows.”

Madino tried to grin, for courtesy’s sake, but the reminder of the battle stung inside. Like any of his victories after the Valley Campaign that liberated Sheffold, it came at a tremendous cost. “You wanted to speak with me, your eminence?” he said, turning to the Emperor. 

“Indeed, Paul,” the Emperor said, walking, indicating that they were to follow. “I’m just trying to figure something out,” he began. “You didn’t attend the University– nor any other college for that matter, correct?”

He nodded. “Correct, your eminence.”

“And you pleaded with me to, as you put it, escape working on research in The Capital in the Coalitionlands, yes?” 

He nodded again, slowing his pace as the Emperor slowed his own.

“And four weeks ago, I received your letter requesting that you accompany the colonization efforts of The Southern Colonies.” He stopped, turning to the Generals. “I get it, of course. I don’t lack all semblance of empathy, Paul. I understand wanting to get off the battlefield– and with your record, I knew it would probably help the war cabinet balance its recruitment quotas too. So I allowed it. Working intelligence and logistics has its merits as well, and I admit, it’s been useful to have you rejuvenate the Blackguard like you have.”

“I understand your hesitation to allow me to go to the south, your eminence.”

The Emperor looked at his own reflection in Madino’s Black plate armor. “Surely you understand that it’s a bit of a waste, yes? A man of your experience and loyalty? The Southern Colonies are a backwater. They’re only valuable because they’re land the Bulians might claim for themselves, and we can’t allow them to have a flank on Falconhold.” 

A big frown worked its way across Ambrose’s face, but Madino spoke before he had any chance to express whatever worthless thoughts he was thinking. “Your eminence,” he began. “The country is in a period of unprecedented peace. Despite our plans to end the occupation of the Coalitionlands, it will be a generation before they’re in a state to reunite. Allow me to go with George Hosk and shepherd the colony. He and I can tend to it like the groundskeepers tend this garden. The Southern Colonies will look like Echo in twenty years– God willing I’m around to see it–”

The Emperor laughed. “If the Three had his way, you’d be in hell already.”

Madino stiffened his brow. “Your eminence, the Old World is secure. There are no threats here. Allow me to cultivate something new in the south; Hosk is a master in administration– he’s proven it with his service to the Bysench in their 4th World colonies. Falconhold is a strong military fortress, but sir, permit me to build a Blackguard agency just a few weeks to its south and you’ll find that it could become so much more than a backwater archipelago.” 

 The man in white made an exasperated sigh and put his hands up in exasperation. “What do I care, Paul? If you want to waste away your days in the farthest corner of the world, be my guest. I needed someone to monitor the Shio anyways, as they’re being relocated down there too– I’m sure you know.” He walked towards Ambrose and slung an arm around him. “But at the first sign of catastrophe, at the first sign of another great war–” he pointed two fingers on his left hand at Madino and Ambrose respectively– “it’s you two back at the front. I’ll go down there and pluck you up myself if I have to, Paul. The fat man needs you beside him!” 

Ambrose chuckled, nervously. “Who else could you call upon besides us, your eminence?” 

It was enough for Madino. He had at least a few years of isolation secured ahead of him. Days of peace somewhere beyond war and plotting, beyond dark magic and twisted experiments, somewhere he could focus on figuring out a way to stop it, somewhere he could love alone with– 

As he exited the garden, he was quietly rejoined by Winters. “We’ll be going south for some time,” the General said, enticingly. The Captain couldn’t hold back the smile on his face. 

They strode in tow to the grand colonnade at the face of the university. Two thousand white and red-robed graduates stood in ranks resembling military regiments in parade dress. An array of soldiers formed long lines, with their halberds affixed to a point above Madino and Winters’ heads as they passed beneath them. 

Everything became blurry as Madino approached the stage. A dozen professors and administrative staff saluted him– others outstretched their hands for him to shake. A scowl overtook his face and he considered walking back the way he came. Then came a light brush against his armor– the unmistakable brush of Wickham’s hair against a shoulder pauldron– and he was brought back– though Wickham disappeared into the crowd. 

The General greeted the receptionaries as warmly as he could, and ascended the stage to the podium, where he cleared his throat and began his address. 

“Graduates,” he projected, and all became silent, permeated by the presence on stage, giving their full attention to the suit of armor that facilitated their metamorphosis into imperial armors of their own. The words he had carefully rehearsed left his tongue, but even after the applause, his mind was already a thousand leagues away at the bottom of the world.