#think their vote doesn't matter or that it doesn't concern them

[hidekomoon]

just voted and the room was empty except for an old man who was so surprised to see a bunch of young adults walk in

please go vote something that isn't right wing or far right

[fabiansociety]

there's been a post going around in the last several days about how leftists need to stop demonizing men, and particularly young men, if they want to deradicalize them, and i honestly have no idea what the heck they're talking about. there are a ton of men in leftist spaces — a disproportionately large number of men in a lot of them. a lot of leftist movements aren't just skewed male, they're fairly aggressive towards even basic sorts of gender demography or timekeeping.

but even leaving that aside, i don't think i've seen any leftists bag on men as a class? on the patriarchy, sure, on toxic masculinity, absolutely, inasmuch as people talk about men at all, but criticizing the patriarchy or toxic masculinity isn't criticizing men, no matter how much MRAs and incels and the antifeminist crowd try to frame it that way. i'm deeply suspicious of people who frame calls for basic dignity for women, for queer people, for trans and intersex people, as attacks on men; that doesn't speak to a willingness to actually listen.

i think we really do need to acknowledge that many men are in favor of male supremacy, and vote accordingly, the same way that many white people are in favor of white supremacy and vote accordingly. they may not phrase it in those specific terms, but that's the effect of their choices. and those choices are rational enough: there's a big percentage of the country that is willing to accept increasingly severe income inequality rather than lose the privileges their race and gender accord them, because those privileges are concrete and economic.

this isn't to say this is inherent to men: male supremacy and white supremacy are both philosophies that are constantly and insistently propagandized. but whether you frame your concerns harshly or gently, it's not the tone that ultimately matters. there are lots of people who experience any criticism, no matter how mild or general, as an existential attack on their personal identity.

i don't know what you do with that, i really don't. but it's not just or even primarily a matter of tone. people choose systems of power.

[rikamae]

I understand now. I understand all of it.

All those times politicians claimed something was "too complicated" "not that simple" "we don't have the money" it's all lies to keep us complacent.

They did it about the situation is Israel. "It's too complicated" everyone said. It didn't look complicated when I did my own research, away from those shitty think pieces talking down to me. Israel was a state built off the blood of Palestinians, and they simply do not want you to think about it. Because there is oil in the middle east and Israel is our only "Ally"

Wow, so complicated! The complicated part being that our media is tricking us into thinking this is so complex so they can be evil in plain sight: yes, so complicated of a situation!!

And today I wake up to find that the House of Representatives (the lowest level of US government) has passed a bill offering 14 billion to Israel! It will go to the Senate to vote. Wow, billion with a B huh? I got a question for you.

Where the fuck did we get enough money to fund genocide? Where the hell was all this money when it comes to supporting the Americans you politicians claim to be representing? Where was this money for free college, universal Healthcare, covid precautions, the climate crisis??

"It's just too complicated! You'll make us do cuts on other programs! You'll make us raise taxes!! Think of the taxes!!!"

Then where did this money come from? Oh, the IRS, the fucking company that handles our taxes??? Yeah????? That was an option? Why wasn't it an option before but it is now? Were they over funded and we just didn't notice until now? Or are you taking advantage of the situation to cut funding to another service you hate?? The point being: if they really want something, they can find the fucking money. They haven't because they don't want to.

It's never been complicated. It's their job to move money around. It's their fucking job to raise our taxes and provide for us, but the only people they truly represent are the ones filling their pockets with lobby money. They could have done this long ago, given us what we've been demanding, but they coddled us and said it was too complicated and our baby brains couldn't handle it. And God forbid you be a woman!! That means you're double unable to understand!

Enough. Fucking enough. Every year congress votes to increase their wages and refuses to raise our minimum wage. Every year they take advantage of their medical insurance and benefits they get for "representing" us when nearly every adult I know is left to suffer with their conditions: untreated sicknesses, chronic conditions, the depression that looms over us because we live in the most wealthy country in the world but we can't make ends meet and our government is more concern with funding armies that feeding and housing us

Politics was never complicated. They just told us it was. To shut us up. To make us feel young and idealistic and stupid. And we fell for it. And now evil is moving through the wills of our leaders IN OUR FUCKING NAMES to support a genocide in the middle east. Their only crime was being born on that land. Their only crime is being Arab. That's not a fucking crime.

Our system isn't complicated. It's working as intended. Keep the people blind and claim that it's too hard, leave all the details to them. But we are smarter than they are. We are informed. The world is connected like never before and I refuse to let their propaganda ever reach me again.

Hold them accountable. Know their names. Write it in the history books. Let their legacy be known to the end of times.

Be loud about your anger. Go to protests. Write your reps to tell them your vote is on the line. And for God's sake vote in the damned elections!

THE IDEA THAT YOUR VOTE DOESN'T MATTER IS PROPOGANDA. THEY WANT YOU TO FEEL USELESS. THEY WANT YOU TO GIVE UP SO THEY STAY IN POWER.

They want you to think it's complicated. It never has been. Be loud. Vote. Use your right to protest. Use your right to free speech. Use your right to petition. Next Tuesday is election day. Make it fucking count.

[tirsynni]

I'm already seeing it: everyone complaining that Trump is going to win. Why? Because people are frustrated with Biden. So their response is... what? To passively let Trump win? Are you kidding me right now?

If Trump wins, I don't want anyone blaming Biden. Not a single person. Everyone has already made their position clear and have also made it very clear that they understand the consequences of those actions. Just instead of accepting blame, they're blaming Biden. For their own choices. For their own actions.

No. You need to be an adult to vote. Now prove you're an adult and that you can take responsibility for your own actions.

No matter how pissed you are at Biden, you need to recognize that non-Trumpers outnumber the Trumpers and it doesn't mean shit if non-Trumpers don't vote. Guess what. Trumpers are going to vote. They're going to go to the polls and they're going to vote. If they vote and you don't, guess how it's going to go, even if non-Trumpers outnumber Trumpers. Doesn't mean shit if your vote doesn't reflect that.

What do you think is going to happen with Palestine if Trump wins? If you're pissed about Biden's actions and inactions regarding Israel and Palestine, how are you going to feel about Trump? Because I promise, if you choose not to vote for Biden, you are voting for Trump, and he will be worse.

There is no third party option which is going to win against Trump. Your symbolic non-vote is a vote for Trump. If you don't vote for Biden, you are fucking voting for Trump, so I hope you're ready for that.

"But Biden --" I don't give a fuck. Be an adult. Accept that sometimes in life, you have to accept the lesser evil. There is no room for you to go "Well, I have to do what feels right." NO. That is self-serving, self-indulgent, selfish bullshit. You are helping no one but your own feelings. You will pat yourself on your back with one hand and stab your neighbor in their back with the other.

If you are really concerned about Palestine, vote for Biden, because I promise, he's still better than Trump. Vote in all elections, because they all matter and Trumpers are voting in all of them. Make phone calls. Raise hell. Sign petitions. Do whatever else you can. I fucking promise you, though, that for any of that to count, you need Biden in the office, not Trump.

Again, I don't give a flying fuck if you hate Biden. I sincerely don't. The US presidential election will be two party. Should it be? No. Doesn't matter. That's reality. The US presidential election will be two party: Biden vs Trump. We need to be adults, and we need to recognize what we're dealing with. I will say it again and again and again: any vote which isn't Biden will be a vote for Trump. Don't think to yourself, "I don't want to show the Democrats they have my support with all of this bullshit, so I'm going to not vote/vote third party/symbolically write something in." Be truthful with yourself. Be realistic. If you are pissed at Biden and decide that you aren't going to vote for him, say clearly to yourself, "I'm voting for Trump and all that entails."

If you really think that way, please let me know so I can block your selfish ass. Make sure to tell your neighbors that you're cool with fucking them over, because you need to do what feels right, and that means letting Trump back into office. If you want to brag about your integrity, then at least have the integrity to at least be that truthful with everyone.

[traegorn]

why do you think that voting for someone doesn’t endorse what they do? voting for a certain president doesn’t mean that you’re going to start a fight against them like you’re desperately trying to use as an excuse. people, even the young, remember 2016, and maybe they wouldn’t feel great with the idea that they’re supporting a genocide- i don’t care if trump is worse or whatever, you’re still supporting a man who’s actively funding an ethnic cleanse and doesn’t even care about trans people since that’s your main concern apparently.

"i don’t care if trump is worse or whatever"

That is the most arrogant, privileged thing you could respond with. Imagine telling that to the folks facing mass deportation under a Trump presidency. Look those people in the face and tell them you don't care what happens to them because you'd feel icky.

If you really cared about what you say you do, you wouldn't be taking this position. This feels more like you care about who you hurt than who you help.

It's a two party system, and one of two people will be elected in November. If you're going to challenge the person in power, it matters very much who the person in power is. It's not endorsement, because in an electoral system strategic voting is a requirement for survival. There is no magical option that doesn't put us under either Trump or Biden.

And they aren't even anywhere near each other on the one issue you say you care about.

Biden's position on Israel can be changed. Trump's cannot. Biden has threatened to withhold aid to Israel (which is remarkable to happen at all coming from a US President), Trump says he wants to "finish the job." Trump will escalate things, while Biden can be pushed.

Allowing Trump to get elected will literally make the genocide worse.

And there is no other possible result of the Presidential election.

You want to stop what's happening in Israel, right? How will you do that if you also have to also fight mass deportation, a rollback on trans rights, and further attacks on women's rights? What will you do when two more seats come up in the next four years on the Supreme Court? Will we flip the court back to the left or will a conservative majority stay in place for another fifty years?

So leave your doomerism, selfish, self centered bullshit at the door.

There are real fights to be fought, and you're telling me that not only. is my life worthless in your eyes, but so are millions of others. You don't care if anyone else dies if it means you can feel better about yourself.

[therealvinelle]

Would Carlisle/Alphard work? (Platonic or romantic)

... curse tumblr for I had drafted my reply to you. ALAS.

No.

Carlisle is not for Alphard

Alphard is an extremely cynical person who admires Tom Riddle for his strength and infallibility. Tom is the most extraordinary person in the room at any given time, and always true to himself. As far as Alphard is concerned Tom is a demigod among men, the sort of natural force who doesn't live by the same rules the rest of us do and wanting him to change is the last thing on Alphard's mind.

Would he admit this to Tom's face, never, Tom has enough of an ego. Alphard will call him a lunatic and ridiculous, and mean every syllable. Did he fall in love with a violent lunatic with impure blood who was beating up not just Alphard, but his closest relatives and all his friends in school, also yes.

It's the whole package of Tom that makes him appeal to Alphard, from the physical beauty to the uncompromising personality, to the way he can't ever be fully predicted, and the tragically romantic backstory. Being in love with him is just a point of fact for Alphard at this point.

Even becoming Lord Voldemort is something Tom never claims is anything but what it is, and while Alphard is horrified and heartbroken Tom remains the person he always was. Readers of The Man Who Would Be King will remember Alphard lasted one week before being married to Tom again.

Carlisle, by contrast, while unbelievably beautiful and just as extraordinary, is a man who has made self-delusion a cornerstone of his life. He loves his family and wants them to care about human life as much as he does, so he'll give them little nudges like going to their victims' funerals or have family votes where thankfully the majority voted against killing an innocent girl, and not think about what it says about Edward that he killed people for pleasure for four years because- well, he came back.

And he walks around talking about how great, how humane, how wonderful his family and their way of life is. While living among humans, thereby risking the deaths of innocents for no reason other than "it's our lifestyle!" (and the even worse, underlying reason of "if they don't live with humans they might forget humans aren't food...")

Loss of control isn't even a hypothetical, this happens to the Cullens semi-frequently.

Alphard would think he's a fool and a killer by proxy, and despise and pity him. To him, Carlisle is easily worse than Voldemort.

Alphard is not for Carlisle

The trouble with Alphard is that he is what Caius would be if Caius was worse. He's mean, he's judgmental, and he's cynical, all qualities Caius shares only Alphard is somehow worse. He's just so mean.

More troubling yet, he is very principled and harsh on himself but lives cease to matter to him where his loved ones are concerned. Had Aro said "Here is my Horcrux, it's a fifteen-year-old Aro who must be fed a soul to gain a body" Carlisle would have pressured him to either repair his soul, and left when Aro didn't do so. Alphard, by contrast, "Ope, guess we're finding him a soul then."

Alphard is a very ruthless person, he may be principled but should his line of reasoning lead him to murder being the solution to a problem a loved one is having then murder it is.

Alphard also reacts to Tom becoming Voldemort much the same way he would infidelity, as it's not really the suffering Tom inflicted that bothers him but the betrayal of his own character as Alphard knew it (and he'd have had a much harder time getting past actual infidelity. That would have been a crisis). His faith is restored because he sees enough of the goodness he fell in love with. His niece Bellatrix is much the same, of sure she's done bad things, Alphard is intellectually aware of this fact. It's getting hard to deny that she probably has tortured and killed people, and delights in it. Well, have you considered the fact that she's precious and perfect?

Andromeda's marriage to Ted is on par with Tom and Bellatrix's life choices in that Alphard's not thrilled with it, but he can look past it because he loves her that much.

To Carlisle this man is genuinely insane and terrifying. Carlisle can move past his friends killing to live because it's what they've always known and he sees the good in them in spite of that. Alphard would frighten him, there is plenty good in him but Carlisle would correctly put together that the man is one line of reasoning away from killing anybody at all.

Carlisle stays as far out of his way as he can, and warns others to keep their distance from this one.

Can these two even be in a room together?

I think if they meet in the library and only talk about books, they'll have a grand time. Just don't let them talk about anything personal, at all.

[ot3]

just more of me talking myself into circles about the election again since i got my ballot in the mail and i need to sit down and try and put my thoughts in order.

like ok no trump is not going to start rounding up lgbt people and put them into camps. categorically, logistically, that's not going to happen. it's ridiculous how many people are acting like the imaginary camps they could theoretically get put into is a treat to their wellbeing on par with the actual, already existing camps we have in this country for latino immigrants.

i think a lot of people are forgetting that we had 4 years of trump before and for the vast majority of americans life was more or less normal. the real problem the trump presidency has to offer is the gradual chipping away at hard won regulations that the dems seem to have no interest in reinstating once they're in office. yeah trump's presidency saw a lot of stripping back of food protections. but the massive listeria outbreaks currently happening are happening in Year Four of biden's presidency. I've done some cursory looking around and it doesn't seem like the dems have had much to offer in terms of protecting the basic health and safety of american citizens

covid is still ripping through the country and permanently disabling huge swathes of people, who have no choice but to infect others because our right to not be exposed to infectious diseases is trumped by the right of business owners to maintain a coercive workforce. not only that but state mask bans are going uncontested with federal action, denying people some of the only means of protection against covid they have access to. similarly, they're doing extremely little to grant federal protections to abortion and transition as individual states crack down further on that as well. remember how protecting roe v wade was one of this administrations most significant campaign promises? and like i mentioned earlier, putting brown people in prisons and camps has always been part of the dems policy but we're seeing truly staggering amounts of anti-immigration rhetoric that is borderline indistinguishable from what was considered hardline rightwing talking points for most of my life.

but ultimately. at the end of the day. even if the dems were perfect on literally everything else i would still be a single issue voter on genocide. that's the bottom line for me. it doesn't matter what other logistical or material concerns may be on the table, i can't bring myself to care about any of it when slaughter the likes of what we're seeing in palestine is occurring. even if i truly believed that the first action donald trump would be taking in office was bulldozing my house and making it illegal to be gay i still could not justify voting for kamala harris when her stance on israel remains as it is. i am willing to give up whatever concessions must be made in order to avoid consenting to genocide.

a lot of blue no matter who types have had the talking point that this mindset is just to instill in people like me a sense of moral superiority, who value our own perceived purity over any material reality. they say that this is not the time for trying to take the moral high ground. and i just don't understand that? for me my sense of morality is the baseline for all of my decision making. i'm not sure what criteria people are using to make their actions if right and wrong don't factor into this. why can we allow our politics to be separate from our morality? i just can't wrap my head around it.

not once have i ever told people not to vote for kamala harris and i'm not even saying that now either. ultimately everyones choice is their own. what i HAVE said and what i still stand by is that people need to at least be willing to pretend they wouldn't vote for her. the fairytale of pushing a candidate left once theyre in office is for children. the only leverage we have against our politicians is the means to deny them power, and in being unwilling to even threaten to use that leverage, regardless of whether or not you actually meant it, you have consented to the full suite of policies that comes with the administration. a vote for kamala harris is a vote for her stance on israel regardless of how personally torn up you feel about it.

a lot of people are quick to point out that there's not any chance of the situation in gaza improving under trump and that's absolutely not a point i have any interest in contesting. but what i do find interesting is that the people who are most vocally concerned about the integrity of the US political system don't seem to be of the opinion that successfully running a 'progressive' campaign with full untempered support for an ongoing genocide does anything to threaten this perceived integrity. having the only two viable candidates for president be actively genocidal is business as usual, but having the wrong person carrying out that genocide is the real threat to the fabric of our nation. Why?

obviously the answer is, whether or not anyone would admit to it, that they see arab lives as an acceptable bargaining chip in domestic issues. That's an Over There problem. Trump is an Over Here threat. Throughout my entire life, the overwhelming US sentiment towards arab nations and arab people is that they are at best disposable and at worst something that needs to be stamped out in order to Protect Freedom. there is no way for any severity of political turmoil in the middle east to reflect badly on the american people no matter what part we may have played in it because the presumption is that these conflicts just happen to spontaneously generate there as a result of whatever unfavorable characteristics Must be immutably present in the arab race if you're a conservative, and their culture if you're a progressive.

there isnt any takeaway here. it's horrible. it's all horrible. once, god willing, this all ends, i don't think im going to be able to look back and feel like i did anything to meaningfully help anyone. i dont even know what i Could do. but i do want to be able to look back on the actions i am taking now and be confident that i was not ever willing to give any ground to normalizing what we're currently seeing, even for a single moment.

[aroaceleovaldez]

Hello, if you still have Nico di Angelo thoughts, I have a curiosity. How likely do you think it would be for Nico to express some of that internalized homophobia (that he got over way too quickly imo) towards others too?

Not violent homophobia, but little comments that make others go "huh, something about what you said feels off"

Nico doesn't mean harm by them, but he has views that are accurate to the time he was born and raised and I don't think there've been many opportunities for those views to be challenged enough for them to change (at least from what we've seen in canon, TSATS dni)

(Of course I know this is a sensitive topic so if you're uncomfortable with it feel free to ignore the ask)

I actually do have a very specific thought about this! Thank you for asking - So my take on it is I don't think Nico would have his internalized homophobia externalize at others - he's a very tolerant character in general and it's implied Maria generally raised him to be very tolerant. I think the majority of his internalized homophobia manifests mostly as a subset of his self-loathing more than anything, because he is actually very assured in his identity in general! Most of his problems with his own identity aren't actually grappling with any specific identity itself, but his concerns with how other people perceive him about said identity (being gay, son of Hades, etc). (I do agree though that in canon he moved on from that WAY too quickly.)

That being said I do think people around him would mistakenly assume he's homophobic at first, LOL.

A.) I think his language is VERY outdated, because he probably has never had the opportunity to educate himself on English queer terminology back in the day, and absolutely has never had the opportunity to educate himself on modern queer topics/terminology, nor would he probably be brave enough to do so on his own. If he's had any brushes with modern English queer stuff it'd probably be the kids at Westover saying slurs and Nico internally quietly going ("??? is that the word for it?") He knows it's considered crude but he can't tell if it's because it's impolite terminology or just general homophobia and he's too afraid to ask, so he just awkwardly avoids saying anything at all or just VEEEERRRY SLOWLY starts letting out the most hesitant "...f-?" until his friends cover his mouth going "no no no no, don't say that-" (Nico di Angelo voted most likely to say "Is he... yknow... [gestures vaguely]...?")

B.) Nico kind of goes deer-in-the-headlights about queer topics in HoH and I imagine that would be something that continues for a bit until he learns that he's in a safe space for it. Like anybody starts mentioning queer stuff and he just freezes up a little bit and starts awkwardly trying to read for what reaction he should be having based on everybody else while remaining polite as possible, but also he can't tell if they're being sarcastic or not so he's just trying to leave just in case someone starts being homophobic, and also he's very confused anyways because he's not caught up on the terminology. But everyone else just reads that as "oh, queer topics make Nico DEEPLY uncomfortable. Is he homophobic but like, trying to be nice about it?" (cause the majority of camp probably still thinks Nico has a crush on Annabeth and has no reason to believe he likes guys, or anyone for that matter). And then people find out he's from the 1930s and proceed to filter his behavior through that lens and just assume "Oh, it must just be him being from the 1930s" and leave it at that.

Also its just REALLY funny to me to have the dynamic of Will looking at Nico, mistakenly assuming he must just be mildly homophobic, and going "I CAN FIX HIM-" while there is Nothing To Fix he's just old, gay, closeted, and confused.

[statementlou]

i feel like i can talk to you about this because you have rational opinions. so louis bought a starbucks coffee at the airport and the fandom on twitter are eating him alive, calling him evil and wishing he goes to hell. i’m disappointed since starbucks is on the list of brands to boycott but i feel like this reaction is too much? someone even said jay would be disappointed in him, but people said that was taking it too far. i don’t know, i love louis and i’ll keep supporting him and his music but the fact he can be a careless millionaire is disappointing

1. thank you sweetie I would boop if I could 2. oh my god it's a fucking cup of coffee and if people think that's the worst thing Louis, a multi millionaire, has ever done financially they need a reality check! His money will be handled by bankers who are putting it into all kinds of evil fucking shit that he won't even know about, it's actually very hard to know or control that and there is no way trying is even on his radar. That's a passive thing and not on purpose; but the fact that people don't bother to know about that or care really speaks to how performative this kind of online approach to activism is, that they only care about image rather than effect (the effect of his investments would be easily thousands of times more than any number of coffees or even of the promotion Starbucks might get from him holding it.) But furthermore buckle in cause you hit a nerve: Starbucks isn't even an actual organized boycott target as concerns Palestine because THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT financially! The official BDS movement calls for boycott of very specific and pointed targets of which Starbucks IS NOT ONE it's literally just an online trend which is not the same as an actual boycott to materially impact a target! Losing them money is always great, they are a crappy union busting small business killing corporation, but it has zero direct effect to help Palestinians unlike supporting the meaningful boycotts called for by BDS. I don't think Louis has decided to buy starbucks because he has this analysis, but to me it's a pretty important point. Him crossing an actual picket line (playing Israel, playing Eurovision [lmaoooo that thought tho], waving an Israeli flag god forbid) would be a very different situation and something that would trouble me so the distinction matters to me. But I get that to people on twitter, that's what they feel like he has done. To which I would say...

There are so many fewer ways to help Palestine than we would wish, and it's SO hard to deal with feeling so powerless right now in the face of such horror, so I love that people feel so strongly about doing whatever they possibly can. But worrying about consumer spending, even on BDS targets, is perhaps the least effective of the things a person can do. Note that BDS boycotts do not mostly focus on asking people not to buy things; they list the products that are especially complicit, but the main work of the movement is to get large investors (corporations, public institutions, whole governments) to divest from the companies targeted because that actually hurts them enough that it becomes less profitable to continue to collude with Israel than to drop them as clients. Consumer spending is not enough to do this. It's easy and doesn't require doing actual work but it's basically virtue signaling, not organizing. Just NOT doing something (yes including voting) is not enough! I personally choose not to give my money to certain corporations because it feels bad to me and I can't stomach doing it, even if they never notice me doing it. But if I was running out of fuel and the only nearby station was a Chevron, I would spend a few bucks there and not beat myself up about it because it will have zero impact on their overall profit reports but a LOT of impact on my life. And if I was in the airport for the second time in mere days after circumnavigating the globe and playing a massive show and doing press and fan service before even having time to adjust time zones and about to get on another flight to another country I might buy a fucking coffee from whatever coffee shop was in there too! But Louis isn't me and I'm gonna be real honest I would be real surprised if he KNEW there was a boycott or gave a shit- he is not a political activist! It's reasonable to be disappointed if someone behaves not how you want them to, but just in general responding to being disappointed in people by lashing out at them is... not it. Not useful, not rational, and not actually an okay way to act to other people. Louis is an awesome sweet caring person who I believe tries hard not to have a negative impact on anyone directly and who cares very much about others; if that's not enough for someone to be a fan of him, okay then they should not be a fan of him! But warning: they're not going to be able to be a fan of anyone else either. No one is pure and perfect... maybe that energy would be better spent trying to make a meaningful difference in the world, and a great first step in that IMO is to recognize and challenge your inner cop. The better world I want to live in doesn't include policing other people, not on twitter and not anywhere.

[thesupernaturalhouse]

This started out as a funny snipper. How tf did it turn into a fanfic?? Also this took me so long anyways, pt3 of the accidental overlord vaggie fic

Alastor: shoves Vaggie between him and Rosie and drops Frank onto her lap

Vaggie: trying to process how tf a giant dragon got through an elevator among many other things

Carmilla: thank you for coming today. I've gathered you all here to talk about the millions of souls-

Vaggie squeaks so quiet no one hears her: I'm sorry fucking how many??....How- How do you check that?? Gets ignored

She's just squeezing poor frank like a stress toy

Carmilla ignores her: You own. And how their at risk with the new extermination schedule. And how we minimize the damage going to be caused by it.

Finally looking aorund the room

Carmilla: Zestial, so god to see you- ....Alastor?? And- eyes narrow the protective overlord

Alastor, leaning over to block vaggie form view because he's petty as fuck: hello! Yes yes, I know, I've been absent for a longgg time and I'm sure youre all DYING to knwo where I've been~

Carmilla:...no. not really, shrugs but welcome back anyways I suppose....I am interested about who you've brought though....

Vaggie: just staring out into space, regretting her life choices and trying to count how many people owe her 'favors'

Carmilla slgihtly concerned/unnerved: In any case, this year's extermination was brutadal. A good 16% of the population was killed off. With them coming back in only 6 months I think it prudent that we-

Velvette: just fucking kicks the door open Yeah, I've got it handled Vox? Are you doubting me? ME might I remind you? Yeah, no. That's what I thought. Yes, yes, I know, thank you V, see you later Okay, bye, kisses darling!

Carmilla: nice of you to finally join us, Velvette. Will you.....colleges? be joining us?

Velvette: What? No way. They have better shit to do than to listen to some old windbag who think she's tough shit! Haha, no. Immm here to represent!

Carmilla:...charming. now, back to what I was saying, we need to-

Velvette: waves her arm frantically

Camilla feeling like a preschool teacher: yes??

Velvette: well, on the topic of discussssss throws exorcists head down let's discuss

Alastor: oooo tasty!!

Vaggie: ohhhhh my god....whispering to herself is that Tuff?? Wtf- how??

Carmilla:......where...did you get this?

Velvette: doesn't matter. We found it, though. And if these angle fuckers can be killed, then the game of cat and mouse has changed, the boys and I have-

Vaggies distressed squeaking as Velvette continues, Zestial jsut slumps his tea

Velvette:....the fuck is wrong with you two?? Looks at vaggie leans downs to get closer....also you're new

Vaggie: uhhhhh......thank?? You??

Velvette: narrows eyes before her head snaps ti zestial

Zestial: we shouldn't go to war with such meger proof.

Velvette:...meger- MEGER PROOF!? ITS a dead fucking Exorcist!!! What more do you WANT!? A video of it being killed?? No- this is definitive proof- if you can't see that, maybe you're going blind old man.

Zestial: it may be dead but how? It could be by a demon, but mayhaps it died due to unrelated reasons

Vaggie: Well, angles have hurt their own kind. Wouldn't be suprised if killing was another option for them

Everyone's heads snap to her

Vaggie:.....did....I say that out loud?

Carmillas narrows her eyes: how do you know that.

Vaggie: I um...I....I saw it happening?

Velvette:....wait aren't you the princesses whore? What are you doing out if your bird cage hm?

Vaggie: I....what??

Carmilla shaking her head: we're getting off topic.

Zestial: Carmilla is right. If we rush to war the angles would purge all of the sinners for daring to even TRY an uprising

Overlords: muttering

Alastor: why don't we put it to a vote?

Vaggie: depends is one of the options 'can we all just go home pelase?'

Alastor: hmmm no!

Vaggie grumbling: I hate you.

Velvette narrows eyes: ohhh okay I see. Grandpa's to scared to make a move! So then there's no point in it huh?

*the respect less song which I am not writing*

Zeezi: pft, what the hell? we literally JUST got here!

odette:....mom??

Carmille:....meeting dismissed.

Vaggie: uh, does this mean we can go home?- gets glared at .....okay sits back down like a scolded kid as she thinks about wtf jsut happened

Vaggie to herself in a defeated tone:.....she never told me how to see how many souls I own.....how many people owe me favors?

Proceeds to try and calculate and count on her fingers and Alastor watches in amusement, after sending off frank, and Rosie watches slightly concerned as to wtf her friend did to this teenage child....and maybe also finding it a bit funny

Part 2 | Part 3(here!) | Part 4

[cuubism]

I get it- about the parents thing. My mom was like "I'm just so relieved and thankful" meanwhile KNOWING that I (her eldest) identify as non-binary/trans. I'm so sorry you're having to go through it too.

I'm so sorry to hear that :( in my experience the Trump supporters who aren't as actively hateful end up wildly underestimating how hateful the administration is. There are plenty who passively support queer rights, are neutral/apathetic to it, or are anti-lgbt but in a "I just don't want to hear about it" way rather than "I think it should be illegal" way. The problem is they're still willing to align themselves with a party that's more hateful. They also have a position of "those things you're afraid of won't actually happen." They think fearing the Trump administration's homophobia and transphobia is alarmist. My parents are... maybe kind of passively homophobic in a 'why do they have to be so visible' way, in a 'we'd prefer our children to be straight' way, but they've moved somewhat left on it over time and would probably agree that gay marriage should remain legal, etc. Didn't stop them from voting for Trump. If I express concern about the roll-back of queer people's rights or women's rights, they would tell me 'that won't actually happen.' Same with Trump's threats to be a dictator. 'That's hyperbole' 'that's just how Trump talks' 'that can't actually happen.' It Can't Happen Here.

I think It Can't Happen Here is a blind spot of the so to speak "less radical" Republicans (and to an extent apathetic Democrats too). There's a certainty that no matter what, American democracy can't fail, that won't happen, not in the greatest country in the world. Autocracy happens to other people. America is free after all. Our national mythos blinds us and makes us arrogant.

Of course there are plenty of Trump supporters who would love for America to be less free in the specific way they want ie. Rules For Thee Not For Me, or they want to be free from other people's freedoms and equality. But I think it's inaccurate to assume all Trump supporters are pro-dictatorship, they're just complacent to it, or don't understand the threat. It's not very much less hurtful, though, to have family dismiss the threat against you as not real.

Rambling. I'm sorry we're in the same family boat. The queerphobia and misogyny in the country, and apathy towards it, is weighing heavy on me. I'm not even out to my parents because I take a position of People aren't owed information about you especially if they've proven themselves unsympathetic about it. Maybe more openness or an impassioned plea would have swayed them--who knows. I still love my parents but there's been a rift between us for years and I know they don't fully grasp why. Which hurts me.

I hope you have other friends and family who support you more 😔 the level of hatred towards trans people is sickening and worse when family doesn't have your back.

[whoishotteranimepolls]

maybe you received so many messages and asks because its really weird to jump through all of these hoops to explain allowing "high school age" kids in polls

At this point, I'm concerned for the future of our species because I thought people could separate fantasy from reality, but apparently, we cannot.

Because I have stated this a thousand times, it is wrong to prey upon minors in real life. But these are fictional characters, and they are not real. You cannot hurt them.

But the way some of you are talking, it sounds like you guys think I should go to jail because I still have a crush on my first anime crush I developed when I was 12. He's 13. That's okay back then, but I'm in my twenties now. So, if this were real life, he would be my age, too, but he's fictional, so he's still 13. So, is it wrong for me to still have a crush on him? If it were real life, yes, it would be illegal, and I probably wouldn't find him attractive because he would act a little too much like my idiot younger brother, not like the cool anime character. But, again, these characters are not real, and I can separate fiction from reality.

Hotter doesn't have to mean sex, people, and the fact that so many of you do tell me you all have dirty minds. It's very much open to interpretation. To you, hotter could be the person that is datable, marriageable, one-night stand material. You would allow them to ruin your life and thank them for it. I don't care. Some people vote for the guy with fire powers no matter what because they're hotter. They can make fire. I love getting comments about people who are asexual that breaks down how they define hot to vote or even lesbians or gay guys when they have to vote for an all-girl or all-guy poll because they're like, I'm technically not attracted to any of these people, but here's how determined how I found the hotter person. And a lot of times, it has nothing to do with physical attractiveness, so it's fascinating

So, can we agree to separate fantasy from reality, or is that just too much to ask people?

Now, I am fully aware of the website I am on because I have had people give me the ick with the comments they have left when I clicked on their blog. Guess what? I found a pedophile Pride flag that is a thing. People should Google it. If you see it on someone's blog, immediately block them. That's one of the few ways to earn an immediate block for me. But they left comments on an adult character that was drawn like a Loli girl. Not a character that was actually a high schooler

[daniyummy]

I'm sorry for this being late! I was sick all week and just had zero motivation, but here's the fanfic from my voting, and they have spoken, they want a Colby fanfic! Genuinely excited for this!

I want an angsty story, so, here I am!

Part 1 | Part 2

Use of Y/N and cussing

Happy reading!

—————

Sure, Colby had hooked up with plenty of girls, but never a long term relationship. And, yeah, he's had a few girls that stayed for maybe two months but he got bored of just sex and them begging to go public after barely two months. How was he supposed to react when he got a woman?

"Girls and women are the same thing, brother. Just another girl after your fame." His friends would tell him, and as much as he knew that his precious woman would never treat him like the girls in the past did, he was still scared. How could he not be? He's never had a real woman. He didn't know how to act. It was just different. Naturally, he started acting like a douche. staying out late with no clear answer on when he'll be back, and most nights be won't even come back until the next morning.

You, obviously, were getting tired of this behaviour.

"Colby, what the fuck? Where were you all last night?" You look at him in frustration, so close to screaming at him. "Calm the fuck down, jesus christ. I was with Sam and a few friends." He replied, not sounding the least bit interested in having this talk again. "Do not tell me to calm down. You could've at least texted! I was worried!" You're voice on the brink of raising. You were fucking pissed. Nearly five months of this shit.

"Does it really matter that much? I'm safe." Colby replys, he groans, his head pounding from the hangover. "That doesn't mean I don't deserve a fucking text. You're treating me like I'm just an annoyance to you at this point." You huff and cross your arms. He snorts. "Not wrong there." He mumbles and your eyes widen, you laugh. "You know what? Fuck you, Colby Brock. I'm done with this shit. We've been dating for nearly five months, and you still treat me like a hookup! We're done. Get out of fucking house, now." You demand. Colby sits up and looks at you. "Over a text, Y/N? Grow up." He chuckles, yet in a condescending manner. What a prick. Did he think he was too good to be broken up with?

"No, Colby, not over a text. Over your lack of commitment. I get it, you've haven't had healthy relationships in the past but you can't just assume the worst." You look at him in anger. "Don't raise your voice at me, Y/N." Colby ordered, you laughed. "Shut the fuck up, Brock. Do not tell me what to do. And get out of my apartment." You yell, he rolls his eyes and stands up, grabbing his phone and walking out of your room to grab his backpack, not realizing the gravity of his actions. "Leave the key." You cross your arms. "What?" His eyes widen.

"You heard me, leave my key." Those words pull him back to reality as he reaches in his pocket for your spare apartment key you gave him. He sets it on your counter and leaves your apartment, his shoulders slump as he heard the door lock and he walks downstairs, taking his phone out and calling his friend, Sam. "What's up?" Sam asks, Colby sighs. "Can you pick me up?" Colby sighs. "Thought you were with Y/N until we leave tomorrow?" Sam questions confused. "Yeah, well, she broke up with me.." He mutters, shame and sadness in his voice. "Oh, shit..why?" Sam's concern evident in his tone. "I don't want to talk about it right now, too hungover. Just please come get me, man.." He rubs his eyes. "Yeah, of course, send your location."

After a long 15 minutes, Sam's car slows down in front of Colby and Colby gets in, Sam looks at him with a raised eyebrow. "I was a dick. I rarely told her when I'd get home, where I was and who I was with. I messed up, man.." Colby voice breaks and he covers his faces, trying not to cry. Sam looks at him in pure shock, he's never seen him nearly cry over a girl, hell Colby barely cries in front of same. "Shit, brother..you must've really liked her.." Colby looks at Sam. "I loved her.." He mumbles, love is not a word he throws around a lot.

They arrive home and Colby immediately goes to his room, he lays in his bed and holds back tears. How could be be such an idiot? He lost an amazing girl. He grabbed his phone and went to check social media, his eyes starting to water as he noticed that you blocked him in everything, besides Instagram. You didn't use it much, so you most likely forgot. He was quick to make a post, he posted a picture of you two, you cuddle into his chest as he smiled and took pictures, he typed a caption explaining how he was a douche and how much he was sorry, asking you to talk to him and ending it with a "I love you, Y/N. That's not a word I say to everyone, you're the first girl that treated me good and I took advantage of that, and I'm sorry. Truly."

He posted it and it got over a a million likes and hundreds of thousands of comments tagging your account and asking him if he's okay.

He just hopes you see it.

—————

The end! Yes, there will be a part two and I'm happy with how this turned out, let me know if you have any suggestions for part two and feel free to send requests as well, tell me something I could do better for future fanfics! Reblogs, comments and likes are appreciated!

Thanks for reading!

-★⋆Dani⋆★-

[therosielord]

I'm Pro-Palestine and I'm voting for Harris and YOU SHOULD BE TOO.

We are getting so close to the US election so I feel compelled to say that if I see ONE more person saying that Trump and Harris will be the same for Palestine I am going to SCREAM.

Let's just go over their stances on the matter real quick:

Harris:

Called the genocide in Gaza a "humanitarian crisis" and publicly acknowledged the suffering of the Palestinian people

Specifically, she said that she has a "serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians"

Has called for a ceasefire

Aims to reach a resolution where both Israel and Palestine can be free and independent

Trump:

Wants Israel to "finish the job" because it's "taking too long"

Uses "Palestinian" as an insult

Told Netanyahu to "Have victory, get your victory and get it over with" (DIRECT QUOTE)

Criticized Harris for calling for a ceasefire, saying that she wants to "tie Israel's hands behind its back"

Said that Israel doesn't have the backing that it once had and that he would give it to them

Has repeatedly said he wants to put pro-Palestinian protesters in prison or DEPORT THEM.

Called himself the "best friend the people of Israel have ever had in the White House"

Do I wish Kamala was more strongly Pro-Palestine? Do I wish she'd take a stronger stance against Israel and call them out for their war crimes? Yes, obviously. But if you think that the situation in Palestine will be the same regardless of who gets elected, you are simply not paying attention.

You can criticize Harris' stance all you want. I encourage you to. Hell, I'll join you. They could be doing SO much more than they are. But if you aren't voting because you claim to care about Palestine, not only are you screwing over all of the millions of people in the US whose lives will be endangered under Trump, you are screwing over Palestinians.

Because the fact is that MORE PALESTINIANS WILL DIE UNDER TRUMP THAN UNDER HARRIS. We have one candidate who has a soft-hitting "We should all get along" stance and one candidate who is openly rooting for the country committing the genocide to "FINISH THE JOB." And you think there won't be a difference between them? Really????

I understand if it's hard for you to vote for someone who won't condemn Israel's war crimes. I get it, I really do. But please remember that voting for a candidate does not mean wholeheartedly supporting every opinion and policy they have. You are not sacrificing your morals by voting for a candidate who isn't fully aligned with those morals if voting for them means a real, tangible harm reduction for millions of people.

[qqueenofhades]

People are apparently saying "well I'm not gonna vote/vote for trump if tik tok is banned!"

I'm pretty sure they were already going to do that, this is just their excuse of the week

But more importantly, if a stupid app matters more to you than the actual lives trump and the republicans will deliberately destroy, well that says more about them don't it?

But wait... I thought they weren't going to vote because of Gaza/because Biden hasn't personally forgiven THEIR student loan/because something something corporate centrism/because something something garble garble??! Does this mean their excuses just change by the week according to whatever's in the headlines and have no actual logical coherence or adherence to a guiding principle? Surely you jest, good internet sir and/or madam. Shocking.

Anyway, also... they realize that this effort is being spearheaded by Republicans and is pretty transparently an attempt to get another huge social media platform (after the Bird App Formerly Known as Twitter) into the ownership of an ex-Trump Cabinet official and an investor group with Russian ties? And that voting for Trump would directly play into those people's hands? And that... wait, never mind. I still expect logic or reason to have any place in this discussion, and it doesn't. Just tell me Why They Aren't Voting For Biden!!! next week and maybe I can get ahead of the curve for once.

This, however, is likewise why I oppose this rushed and Republican-driven move to "ban TikTok!!" in a highly consequential election year and think somebody needs to talk some sense into Biden and/or the Senate that this is a stupid idea and should be shelved (or at the least, heavily revised or modified). Yes, TikTok being owned by a group with Chinese government ties isn't great, but there's no morally pure ultra-megacorp that's going to rush in to fill the void. Forcing the Chinese owners to divest will just create an opening for Trump's ex-Treasury Secretary and his Russian businessmen buddies to step in instead, and I don't know about you, but I don't think that's a net positive in terms of keeping Americans' personal data out of the hands of hostile foreign entities. We already have Musk shilling for the alt-right and the Russian government every chance he gets, using Twitter to prop up their narratives and their operations, and selling TikTok to a Trump/Russian-linked consortium in fucking 2024 would be an incredibly massive own goal and give MAGA and company virtually hegemonic control over American social media content. That is why I think this is a stupid idea and should be opposed, but also, I agree that people who are using this as their Excuse of the Week to not vote were deeply, deeply unlikely to vote in the first place.

This is also a perfect example of why "well now I won't vote >:[!!!!" as a threat/temper tantrum backfires every single time. If there are young people who are concerned about TikTok possibly being banned, and their response is to immediately throw temper tantrums about not voting, all that does is reinforce to elected officials that young people never vote, there is no need to make legislation that champions their interests, and they don't need to fear any electoral backlash because these people have already spent years announcing their intention to Not Vote at every opportunity and clearly aren't about to start now. They remove themselves further from the civic process at every turn, and they reinforce the narrative that young people as a group are not worth having their concerns or ideas prioritized, because even when politicians do other things that young people like and/or support, young people are poised to turn against them and urge No Vote!!! :( at the drop of a fucking hat. So, yeah. "Don't vote!" is always a stupid and self-defeating message, but I can't see how it's possibly supposed to convince politicians that a group of people already predisposed not to vote is going to make any difference from what they already do. So yeah. Like. Not that this surprises me, but it's literally the same threat they've echoed at every single turn, doesn't represent anything new, and will probably be changed 10 times before the election anyway.

[palmettoshenanigans]

As someone who is also touch averse a lot I just can’t stop thinking about Andrew. Like a popular head cannon is that he reads a lot.. and like couples are always cuddling or casually touching in books and shows, and I’m just thinking about him seeing that and seeing Neil and just, having such intense bursts of wanting to do that. But then when thinking about actually doing it it’s immediate revulsion… anyways just projecting once again onto my favs… but I think of Andrew a lot

Hello Friend I have so many thoughts and I'm actively vibrating with the opportunity to talk about this hold on

I'm like,,, both. I am touch averse AND touch starved for a Encyclopedia of reasons. Details aren't important but the result is “I wanna be held but I'm doubly scared of being hurt and also of being rejected therefore I shall stand here and stare at you really really hard and hope somewhere within you is a desire to hold me and no desire to harm or leave and maybe this time my body won't revolt maybe this time or this time or this time or”

And look, despite my crippling desire to be Objective in my literary analysis of Andrew and Neil and Jean and all my other beloved Foxes and Floozies I KNOW good and well that I project on them anyway so like,,,

I imagine Andrew as having those Bursts of Wanting just like you described, but he's often able to dismiss them.

With Nicky he doesn't concern himself with boundaries enough to be safe that way. Nicky has to be reminded of boundaries at knife point sometimes while Neil has to be told only once (and that's if he didn't already infer them himself).

With Aaron there's too much barbed wire between them to be safe that way. Aaron has been so hurt by Andrew that some resentment might poke out even when he does try to reach out, while Neil holds zero resentment towards Andrew even for things Andrew actually did to him! Neil mastered the art of Letting That Shit Go For The Sake Of Moving Forward while on the run with Mary - doing it with Andrew is a cake walk.

Kevin is so self absorbed and Exy centric that even the ways he wishes to express his love and care for others is filtered through the lens of what HE thinks is Right and Good and Safe and that's not safe enough for someone who wants to be considered in their own right without any qualifiers, while Neil will look at Andrew and even his own opinions on the matter get reduced to secondary considerations in the face of What Andrew Said. He might still express his opinion but he values Andrew's comfort and safety often more than his own opinions.

It's easy to shut down the Wanting when it arises because of others since the Cons are obvious and plentiful.

I'm betting that's part of the reason the Burst Of Wanting is so much MORE when directed at Neil because,,, the cons are, what? That Neil might die? That's everyone sweetheart, the fragility of humanity is the ever present Sword of Damocles hanging over everyone's endeavor for intimacy and connection, join the club in our inexorable march onwards ever onwards.

But the other shit, those other cons… Neil took care of those already. Neil honors Andrew's boundaries. Neil would hurt himself to keep from hurting Andrew. Neil actively tries to see things from Andrew's perspective instead of coloring everything with his own Bias Crayons. I'm not saying Neil is Perfect In Every Way, but on all perceivable accounts, Neil is safe. Safe to Want. Safe to Reach For. Safe to Touch.

Safe to Be Touched By.

How fucking scary is that?

Andrew looks at Neil, feels that Burst of Want followed by that stomach pitted drop of Fear like standing on a rooftop edge and fucking,,, what is he meant to do with that??? What is he supposed to do about Neil’s siren song of Safety??? Give in to it??? Body says No. Brain says No. Heart says Yes but we don't listen to that bitch, they don't get a vote.

But then the Brain starts getting convinced. And then the Body starts getting convinced. And then the Heart started revolting against their cage. And Andrew is sitting there like… are you so fucking for real right now?

And then Neil asks “Yes or no?” And then Neil accepts “Nothing” at face value. And then Neil accepts “I hate you” like it was a gift. Like Andrew is a gift.

What is a man to do then?

Of course we can't stop thinking about Andrew.

Projecting onto your favs again? Me too Bestie. Me too.