#third parties are not 'doomed' if we ALL support them

[serethespider]

if you live in the usa and want to stop trump from taking office there's a candidate we can all rally behind that isn't wholeheartedly supporting genocide and is running on a platform of actual leftism and liberation!! IF THE LEFT CAN UNITE TO BACK BIDEN (and people on here scolding and berating people for not voting for him certainly believe we can and should) THEN WE CAN UNITE TO BACK SOMEONE ELSE. VOTE CLAUDIA DE LA CRUZ

[robertreich]

Why Big Money Supports Trump 

Fascism backed by Big Money is one of the most dangerous of all political alliances.

We saw it in 1930s Germany, when industrial giants bailed out a cash-strapped Nazi party right before Hitler’s election, thinking that Hitler would protect their money and power.

We are seeing something similar now. Earlier this year, the GOP was running out of money. So Trump turned to his wealthy backers for help. Many super-rich donors who once criticized Trump for stoking the violence of January 6 have since had a change of heart, deciding their profits are worth more than our democracy.

Trump has promised them that if elected, he’ll extend his 2017 tax cuts that went mainly to the wealthy beyond 2025 when they’re scheduled to expire, and hinting at even more.

He promised oil executives he would scrap regulations favoring electric vehicles and wind energy if they would give his campaign one billion dollars.

The Trump White House is for sale, and the wealthy are buying. 50 billionaire families gave at least $600 million in political donations as of May, with over two thirds going to support GOP candidates and conservative causes.

Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest men, who also controls and manipulates one of the world’s largest communications platforms, has committed to spending millions of dollars to elect Trump.

In previous videos, I’ve highlighted alarming similarities between fascist regimes of the past and Trumpism. The alignment of American billionaires with Trump’s anti-democracy movement is one of the most dangerous parallels.

The billionaires want the rest of us to fight each other so we don’t look up and see where all the wealth and power have gone, so we don’t join together and raise taxes on the super-rich to finance childcare, better schools, our health care system, and everything else we need.

They fear democracy because there are far more of us than there are of them.

We need to see through their fear tactics and vote in overwhelming numbers this November.

We can learn from history and spot the danger. We are not doomed to repeat it.

[simply-ivanka]

Trump’s Comeback and What’s to Come

By Karl Rove

Wall Street Journal

It seemed impossible a year ago, but the success of America is again in his hands.

And so it ended, almost abruptly.

Many pundits—me included—expected days of uncertainty, vote counting and legal wrangling. But before sunrise Wednesday, it was over. Donald Trump engineered the most astonishing political comeback in American history.

The former and future president appears to have swept all seven battleground states. He also is well ahead of Kamala Harris in the national popular vote, 51% to 47.5% as of Wednesday afternoon. If he carries every state he now leads, he will have a more substantial Electoral College victory: 312 votes to her 226. That’s a clear mandate.

President-elect Trump achieved his victory by assembling a new coalition. He added to the GOP’s traditional base working-class noncollege voters of all races; young voters, especially young men; the biggest share of the Hispanic vote since at least 2004; and the largest black percentage for Republicans in decades. He expanded his majorities in rural counties and small towns while building his numbers in cities and suburbs. His percentage of the vote ballooned in blue states like New York, New Jersey and Illinois.

Mr. Trump created this coalition by opposing Biden-Harris policies on the economy, inflation, the border and wokeness while promising to restore America’s greatness. He was aided by the sense that the economy was better and more prosperous when he was in office. And with two-thirds of Americans believing our country was on the wrong course, he became the change candidate.

When his re-election journey began in 2022, it seemed impossible to all but him, his family and true believers that he would win. The lawsuits, indictments and later the conviction would have doomed any other candidacy.

But he persevered, and his supporters grew in numbers. He knew what appealed to people in a way others—including me—didn’t see. A friend explained it to me on Monday as we walked a New York street. Pointing to nearby construction workers, he said the former president cares about people like them and they feel that. Millions of Americans who don’t believe politicians care about them, their challenges and their aspirations see Mr. Trump as their champion.

Mr. Trump also benefited from the mental and physical incapacity of the sitting president seeking a second term. It’s a scandal that Joe Biden and his inner circle thought it was in the country’s best interest that he run when he had declined so precipitously. They hid the fact that age had robbed Mr. Biden of what America needed in the Oval Office.

Challenges await Mr. Trump. The international scene is chaotic and dangerous, from Ukraine to Taiwan to the Middle East. He will have a Republican Senate but there’s still a slim chance of a Democratic House. It will likely take days to settle the final contests in California that may determine which party has the lower chamber’s majority.

America remains deeply polarized, and some of Mr. Trump’s proposed policies—such as the expensive sales taxes that his tariff ideas constitute—could prove unpopular. This could boomerang on him in the 2026 midterms. And second terms are rarely easy.

Early Wednesday morning Mr. Trump promised: “Every citizen, I will fight for you, for your family and your future.” He pledged “with every breath in my body, I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve.”

If the new president focuses his prodigious energies on this, he can achieve good things in the next two years. But if he makes a priority of settling scores with opponents—which he promised to do during the campaign—he’ll waste his limited time and precious political capital.

But Mr. Trump will do it his way. In Trump 2.0, there will likely be more people urging him to hit the accelerator on whatever policy idea, good or bad, occurs to him than in his first term and fewer counseling him to pump the brakes.

Some of his ardent supporters play this down. They remind us of journalist Salena Zito’s admonition to take Mr. Trump seriously but not literally. She may have a point, but it should be a greater comfort to nervous Americans that the guardrails of our system of government remain strong and effective.

This is the moment when both victors and the defeated traditionally set aside the election’s acrimony and, even if briefly, give the incoming president a chance to start fresh. Mr. Trump is the only president America will have come January. We should all wish him godspeed and pray for wisdom in his efforts. Our nation’s success is once again tied to him.

[camila-tyrell]

Only a few days after the 2024 presidential election, I am strangely feeling more at peace than I thought I would be. Not to say I don't think the US is f'cked in more ways than one for years to come, but rather that the doom in the horizon has left me looking around me and appreciating things I never did before. First of all, I don't think I have ever felt as much appreciation for Black people, especially Black women, as I do right now. Seeing the numbers for their turnout votes, seeing their work for Kamala and their presence at her rallies, and their passion and work for her was awe inspiring. I know the rest of the country messed up and let them down (my own Latino men & women included), and did not turn up as much as they should have, but dam, seeing Black people come together filled me with so much appreciation and love for them. Second of all I, selfishly, have a lot of newfound appreciation for California, the state in which I am lucky enough to be a part of. It ain't perfect, but it's home and I feel relatively safe in it, knowing that most people specially the ones in cities like the one I live in voted against the orange cheeto. I have never been the type to have "team spirit" for a sports team, or a state, or a school, or even a country to be honest. I thought those things were silly, but suddenly I find myself very proud and relieved to be a Californian. I'm also grateful for all the people who have kept on fighting/are preparing to fight. Immigration lawyers I have seen expressing their readiness to help should immigrants need it, people continuing to debate MAGA supporters and trying to make them join/at least understand us/our worries (I would never be able to do this as gracefully as many of them do), people who haven't stopped sharing Gaza newlines and trying to help them (AND acknowledged we live in a two party system, and should vote blue, never abstain or throw away a vote to third parties because we live in reality and not in fantasy land), and the many people in general just checking up on others, sharing helpful sites/numbers, and wishing others well. I hope this isn't too insensitive, seeing as I am aware many people are not lucky enough to be in places they feel safe in right now, but I do generally feel a sense of gratitude I did not expect to have after the rage and despair I felt at the results on Tuesday night. Anyways I'll end this long essay with my favorite LotR quote. A lot of you give me courage, and I'm grateful for that.

“Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? Perhaps because I am afraid, and he gives me courage.”

[clumsyhissingcat]

No. 1: RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK

Search Party | Panic Attack | “If only we could hold on.” (Icysami x Renegaderr, Strangers.)

OC Whump

Hi, this is my first time posting content and this is my first contribution to Whumptober. It's about OC, so if you have any questions about them or the universe…I'd obviously be more than happy to answer! Also, English isn't my first language, so i apologize for any mistake. Check the tags for TW and enjoy !

Damp corridor, metal doors, one, two, three, a staircase down to the right, a corridor to the left - stairs are slippery and narrow - a first flight of steps, a second, plunged into the gloom that only his wolf's eyes can pierce, then a step that opens onto a wide underground stone corridor. He lunges forward.

A hand grabs him by the shoulder, closes over the dirty, damp fabric of his hoodie, restraining him.

-Detection spell, Gend whispers in his ear.

With a complex gesture of his left hand, the man disperses the spell into oblivion. They'll know they've been compromised, but not to what extent. Silver barely waits the explosion of the spell before resuming his advance through the tunnel, Gend at his heels illuminated by a luminous orb floating in the air. They make rapid progress, a running pace that Silver would certainly turn into a desperate rush forward if the other entity let him.

They both know what's at stake. The stakes. They've had breakfast with him, filled out papers on his advice, exchanged reading recommendations. They've seen him smile, they've teased him, they've watched him bleed and fight and bandage their wounds.

It's not fatigue that makes Gend's heart beat so fast, nor stupidity that drives Silver to keep going and turn the town upside down while his whole body betrays a deep exhaustion that worsens with each passing hour.

There will come a time when they can't take it anymore.

The corridor leads to a larger, circling, rocky room with three doors and a continuation of the corridor a little further on.

Silver suddenly yelps, and the older man suddenly raises his hand, ready to protect the only other member of their Triumvirate left with all his might. But no danger threatens, and yet the werewolf drops to the ground with a deep breath. Gend stares at him, expectant. Clearly, his companion had found something. A lead, a clue, anything that could confirm that they were on the right track, that they weren't making a mistake and wasting time on something that would lead them nowhere. It's been five days.

Silver raises her head in a jerky movement. Large, gold-spangled eyes, glittering with the manic energy of a man who hasn't slept in days, meet Gend's.

-That's his scent. He was here, he was here !

Silver spins around, his nose twitching in a very non-human way, trying to gather all the information he can find. Gend focus on the tiny traces of aura he can still perceive. It's faint, very faint, but he manages to feel the trace of a cold, sharp energy, the one he associates with their third member. A knot tightens in his stomach as a wave of despair washes over him, numbs his frozen fingers. A burning bitterness rising in his throat and lodging just behind his tongue.

Armand was there, so close, so close of a rescue perhaps, they missed him by maybe a few hours, and now maybe this mistake will sign his doom...

Silver straightened up and opened one of the doors on the left. Whatever the room contains makes him freeze on the threshold, and Gend pushes the fear that's stirring further into his stomach so he can go and support his teammate. Reaching behind him, however, he understands his shock.

Thick chains hang from the wall.

Gend's sense of smell is not as good as Silver's, but good enough to recognize the faint,metallic odor tickling his nostrils. His chest constricts painfully.

They knew. They knew Armand was being tortured, of course, but it's different to find concrete proof.

For a few seconds, the only sound in the underground is their two ragged breaths, then Silver turns and strides off down the tunnel.

-Silver...!

-Come on, we must be close, if we can find more clues, if we can exploit this lead, we can...

The werewolf stumbles and barely regains his balance. He has to lean on the wall with one hand to keep from collapsing.  His heartbeat is strangely violent and irregular, and his magic erratic. The knot in Gend's stomach tightens. They're exhausted, they're clumsy, they're going to make mistakes, endanger themselves unnecessarily and endanger Armand. A few hours is a long time, and the trail is already cold.

-Silver, he repeats softly.

-Fuck, no, Gend ! Explodes his friend. No ! They're torturing him ! He's been alone with them for a week ! I'm not leaving him ! As long as I can breathe, as long as I can stand, then I can keep looking for him ! So go back to the guild if you want, but leave me out of it, okay ?!

His anger poorly conceals his fear and the sobs beneath his cries.

-You can barely stand, Silver ! hisses Gend.

-I can, chokes his friend. I can still stand. If I can just hold on a little longer, then I can find him, bring him home...

-Not like this ! Gosh, your body's giving out ! Just a few more hours. Just a few hours. Please. Five hours of sleep, one meal, and I swear we'll be on our way. There's an inn next to that building. Silver, please...

And reasoning with Silver Shein when someone he loves is in danger has never been easy, but the guardian is also one of Gend's loved ones and he has lost enough over the last week. If he has to use other means of persuasion, he will.

-Three hours, growls a hoarse voice. And you report our position to Brian so one of his teams can come and investigate the damn tunnel.

-Yes ! nods the bar manager.

He chooses not to point out to Silver that he would never have left this trail unexplored. His friend is beyond exhaustion, and Gend will pass on this unpleasant innuendo.

Armand is his friend just as much as Silver is, and every cell in his body is screaming at him to keep going, to plunge deeper into the darkness, motivated by the mad hope of finding the part of himself that's missing at the end of this tunnel.

But of the three, Gend has always been the most reasonable, the voice of reason. For now, he has the means to preserve one of the people dear to his heart. He won't lose one to another.

Silently, as he heads for the exit alongside Silver, he begs Armand to hold on a little longer.

[mariacallous]

Bulgaria is bracing for snap elections: after weeks of tension between the two blocs of the country’s governing coalition, GERB on Monday said the planned rotation of power won’t go any further and it will return the government-forming mandate unfulfilled. 

Designated Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel blamed GERB’s coalition partners’ “coordinated refusal and unwillingness to participate in a cabinet” as the main reason for the failure of the talks.

Last week, We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria criticised GERB for announcing a project cabinet which had not been coordinated with them.

“Was a functioning judicial system, functioning regulators and reformed national security services the whole problem all along?”, We Continue the Change leader Kiril Petkov said on Monday on his socials, hinting at deeper reasons for GERB’s reluctance to implement reforms.

The current cabinet was established in June, following a two-year stalemate which yielded five general elections and a short-lived cabinet, again headed by We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria. 

The coalition, consisting of two opposing blocs – GERB/UDF and We Continue the Change/Democratic Bulgaria –  agreed on a strategy that would see the first nine months governed by Denkov of We Continue the Change and then replaced by GERB’s Gabriel, with further rotations between them until the end of the mandate. 

Gabriel, a former EU Commissioner, returned to local politics last year as a fresh face for GERB, at a moment when the party was increasingly dogged by corruption allegations and in need of a rebrand. With Boyko Borissov, GERB leader and a Prime Minister for much of 2008-2020, temporarily putting himself in the backstage, Gabriel was appointed Foreign Minister and was expected to succeed Denkov in the Prime Minister’s position after the rotation. 

Now the rotation strategy seems doomed. GERB’s decision essentially sends Bulgaria to another round of elections, while voters are increasingly election-weary. 

When GERB returns the mandate to President Rumen Radev, he will hand it to the second force in the parliament, the alliance of We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria, who have no chance of mustering a majority without GERB’s support. 

In that case, the President must select a party of his own. During the 2021-2023 election spiral, this was always the pro-Moscow Socialist Party, BSP, which has supported his two presidential campaigns. 

However, on Monday, BSP clarified that even if Radev hands it a mandate, it won’t attempt to form a cabinet. “Knowing [GERB leader] Borissov, who talks one thing in the morning, a second by noon and has a third different position by evening, I think that all options for a government have been dried up,” Georgi Svilenski of the BSP told the media, describing Bulgaria’s politics as a “schizophrenic situation”. 

Outgoing PM Denkov on Sunday accused GERB of “sending the country into chaos”.

The looming dissolution of the coalition has been welcomed by nationalist and pro-Russia parties. “This criminal gang has compromised Bulgaria’s politics and parliamentarianism – new elections is the best outcome”, far-right Revival leader Kostadin Kostadinov said.

According to the Central Election Committee, only 40.56 per cent of Bulgarians voted in the last general elections in April 2023, which were followed by the mayoral elections with a turnout of 36.04 per cent.

[aeoki]

SHINSEKAI - Empire of Fantasy: Chapter 10

Location: Tohoku Town (SHINSEKAI)  Characters: Mika, Shuu & Tsumugi

TL Note:

Deadwood (窓際族) - This specifically refers to people who were deemed useless in their job and would be given a seat by the window with no real work to do. This concept does not exist in my country (you’d most likely just be fired), so I don’t know if there is a proper English term for it.

Tale of Heike - This is an epic account of the struggle between the Taira and the Minamoto Clans for control of Japan at the end of the 12 century in the Genpei War. 

< The next day. VR space “SHINSEKAI”, main street. >

Tsumugi: “Ahahahahaha ☆”

Shuu: …………

Tsumugi: “You’re kidding, right? It didn’t end up being ‘fine’, right?”

“‘That’s because we’ve invincible artists’? Ahahaha, that’s no good at all!”

“You would be forfeiting all of ‘Valkyrie’s’ achievements that you’ve earned thus far in ‘SHINSEKAI’. You understand that, right? That sounds like what a wimp would say and it just weirds me out!”

Shuu: …………

Tsumugi: “It seems you’ve successfully completed a few missions and events here and there, but you’ve lost every PVP battle!”

“You already have many battles where you’ve lost by default by abandoning the battle as well…”

“Are you two okay? Do you have the motivation to do this?”

“At this rate, you’ll be targetted by the other idols as a ‘delicious opponent’ until you have nothing left, you know?”

“Ohh, is that what you’re actually aiming for? You’ll act like you’re easy game and then turn the tables on them when they have their guard down?”

“But of course not, right? You always take your battles head-on, don’t you, Shuu-kun~?”

“You’re taking it seriously but you’re not doing great, are you~!? Poor Shuu-kun! Ahahahaha ☆”

Shuu: Aoba.

Tsumugi: “Yes?”

Shuu: It was mentioned that the laws of the real world are not reflected within this “SHINSEKAI”, correct? So, if I were to kill you right now–

Mika: Nghahh, calm down, Oshi– Onii-chan!

Tsumugi: “That is correct~ I’m not the real Tsumugi Aoba, anyway.”

“I’ll be at a loss if you took your anger out on me. Besides, support characters like us don’t have the abilities to fight.”

Shuu: Who can trust those words of yours? You intend to hurt me by dressing up as an innocent third party, don’t you? You’ve always been that sort of person!

Tsumugi: “Ahaha. You sure hate Tsumugi Aoba-kun ♪”

“But I ended up agitating you because it started getting fun for me too. Please don’t do something unfitting of an idol and kill or curse another human.”

“You’ll be deducted points. In other words, ‘SSG’ will be confiscated as a penalty.”

“If you’re irritated, there are plenty of monsters walking about over there, so please hit the ‘characters that are meant to be hit’; the ones who don’t have personalities.”

“That way, you won’t have to hurt a single real, living human being.”

Shuu: Hmph. What fun is there, playing with an inanimate object with no soul?

Mika: I think we’ll be doomed if we say that, Onii-chan~ And it might be possible for dolls to gain a soul if they’ve been given a lot of love, though.

Tsumugi: “Fufu. Anyway, please treat it as though everything that happens in this ‘SHINSEKAI’ will be broadcast in the show.”

“In truth, scenes will be broadcast after careful selection, though. You two are a hot stock so it’s possible every one of your scenes could be broadcast across the country..”

“Please keep that in mind and act like an idol at all times.”

Shuu: Act like an idol, you say…? I do not enjoy indulging in the flattery of the public.

Tsumugi: “But if you do, you’ll have a rather good reputation in this ‘SHINSEKAI’ and that means you would have succeeded, you know?”

“Sometimes, when you’re given a few options during missions, if you choose the most idol-like option, they’ll end up being the ‘correct’ answer most of the time.”

Shuu: Hmph. So what of it? We’ll walk down the path we chose of our own accord. I won’t give in to peer pressure.

Tsumugi: “Hmm~ I’d like you two to stop being so stubborn and be obedient kids, though.”

“At this rate, you’ll simply lose all your money and you’ll fall into ruin. You’ve also finally obtained a ticket to take part in the ‘SS’ finals, so you’ll end up losing that as well.”

“Now that ‘SSL$’ are automatically converted into ‘SSG’, everything you did during the ‘Championship Match’ would have mostly been for nought.”

“It simply means the money you had in the first place would appear to be a lot more than what you currently own in comparison.”

“And if you continue to lose your money, it would be especially difficult for ‘Valkyrie’ to win the “SS” Qualifying Round.”

Shuu: I will repeat myself, but what of it? It’s not a loss for us if we’re unable to participate in the “SS” finals.

We won the “Championship Match” and we were able to prove our worth there.

And with no boisterous merrymaking from our side in this ridiculous unreality.

Tsumugi: “Ahaha. You may think that things are going swell for you two, but ES and the public only see you as ‘idols who only know how to perform’.”

“And currently, jobs other than performances are rapidly increasing. Under normal circumstances, idols are all about performing, though.”

“In such an era, how much do you think ‘idols who only know how to perform’ are wanted?”

“You two will gradually be washed away from the mainstream and you’ll lose your position at ES. And ES is a utopia created for idols by the hands of idols.”

“You two don’t have what it takes to be an ES idol and you’re just an artist…”

“It would simply be impossible for you two to do the same or even more than that in this current era.”

“You would be declined any funding, lose opportunities and be slowly deprived of your job. That’s where human resources who are difficult to handle and go against the higher-ups in this adult society end up.”

“I believe those sorts of people were called deadwood[1] in the past.”

Shuu: Hmph. Not an idol nor a person is what you want to say, isn’t it? You should reread The Tale of Heike[2].

Tsumugi: “You should, as well. You should be well aware of what fate lies before an arrogant ‘sovereign’ who stopped reflecting on himself. Isn’t that right, ‘Valkyrie’?”

Shuu: …………

← Previous Chapter ᠂ ⚘ ˚⊹˚ ⚘ ᠂  Next Chapter →

[anthonybialy]

Ballots That Should Be Kept Secret

I didn’t vote for him.  Or her.  I’m bipartisan all by myself.  Despising both options is my gesture toward unity.  There’d be amity if everyone agreed with me.  Until all the stupid jerks realize I’m right about everything, I’ll have to settle for the small comfort of knowing only people who hate the same things as me are coherent and appealing.

Most chose to go with one of two hideous possibilities.  You got to ride with either the game show host given an undeserved second chance by a handful of sucker primary voters or the jabbering borderline commie representing the party that confirmed its tendency to boss by telling their side who their candidate would be.  There was a third way even if one of the monstrous two was going to blight the next four years.

Living as a punk with nothing but integrity is worth about zero dollars.  Refusing to sell out is worthless.  Wait: there must be a different word for that.  Getting no financial reward for remaining a defiant outsider is still a greater prize than hoping your savior will remember how you cast and accordingly dispense a quasi-legal bribe.

I don’t mean to preen.  But supporters of the rather destructive final battle participants sure do, so make a show out of what you believe in their honor.  And refusing to align with mainstream characters comes in genuine dissent, which makes showiness slightly less obnoxious.

Declining to enroll in a contemporary political faction offers longterm effects beyond ignoring the border in the preferred way of the selector.  A Trump win means a couple trillion more dollars shredded just like if he lost, so the consequences of assisting either  disagreeable fiend are meaningless aside from shame provided by functioning qualms.

Writing in candidates is amusing, and we should strive to find entertainment in a most humorless process.  You can tell politics is horrifying by how the funniest person it churns out is Donald Trump.  The thorough lack of quality options should serve as the truest indicator that this should be condemned and minimized.  Ordering off the menu has been condemned as not taking dinnertime seriously when it’s exactly what a race between two unappetizing specimens deserve.  Marvel movies are soulless messes, note people watching Star Wars series.

A marked oval fills in an individual statement.  That’s what you’re supposed to be doing, since horde members seem to have forgotten.  The only thing worse than attention sluts on tickets who demand compliance are cultish goons who lustily enforce diktats issued by said indifferent worshiper harvesters.

I voted for winners.  I’m not talking about some stupid vote tally.  Finding the most awesome people I could support was a nice distraction from the doom ahead.  I’m not going to heed some heinous primary.  Instead, I made it a real choice by writing in full-time campaigner plus occasional rocker Alice Cooper, eternal candidate Dave Barry, and Iowa’s finest export David Burge for my last three dream presidents.  It’s not to brag, but I’m a consummate chooser.

Any of my personal hopefuls would be infinitely more competent and fun president than the ones with whom we’ve been burdened.  I know I’d rather have pizza with any of those great Americans.  Can fans of the semifinalists do the same?  Neither Donald nor Kamala carry cash, but I’m sure they’ll find your PayPal just like they promised.  That tricky part about knowing and utilizing free will is why particularly moronic mobs prevail.  Anyone offended should check the list of recent presidents.

Trying to organize mavericks makes each of them ruefully smirk.  Coordinating writing in remains a counterintuitive goal.  It’s same reason libertarians can’t win elections on account of despising government.  But at least there’s something to giggle about on the trip to face doom. 

It doesn’t matter and only matters.  The maxim that your one vote could make a difference is both the silliest thing ever uttered and personally valid.  Paradoxical contradictions spur smoking synapses in the type of people who felt inspired by looming federal overreach.  As with so many things about the entirely dreadful procedure of concluding who’s going to be in our faces gloating about getting more electoral votes, it’s all about context.  You’re unlikely to break a tie.  But you will decide how you perceive yourself.

Two candidates want to limit options.  Thinking government is going to encourage progress is why we should avoid having one.  Okay: maybe we can have some cops, firefighters, and firefighters with pepper spray.  But emergency services differ from an unwieldy government that defies the Constitution as it fails to defy economics.   Frame tariffs jingoistically, as we’ll all be screwed equally.

I neither voted for the professional clown who commandeered a party once occasionally known for restraint nor the embodiment of vapidness who believes only that her empty head should be making your decisions.  Backing one in an attempt to sideline the other put the nation on injured reserve.  The best strategy is to let the bums in the fight tire themselves out before deciding to view a less sleazy bout.

A clear conscience is the most valuable item.  That’s especially true in the era of presidents carefully molding the economy into flaming trash.  The only way to cope with cleared-out bank accounts is internal awareness of not joining in on a fad more damaging to psyches than Members Only jackets.

Your secret is safe with me.  You’ll always know what you did behind the closed curtain.  Whisper it to me if you need a cathartic unburdening.  I survived Catholic school and am thus qualified to provide such confessions.  Behavior when nobody’s looking constitutes character.  A lack of it leads to results a respectable country should be ashamed to go public.

[studyverses114]

prayer . Night prayer _ Quran 🌹

Keep up prayer from the decline of the sun, until twilight a night; and [observe] the Reading at daybreak, since reading [the Quran] at daybreak will be witnessed! ( Al-Isra 17:78 )

At night, wake up and pray during it[s reading] as an extra bonus for yourself; perhaps your Lord will raise you once again to a praiseworthy standing. 17:79

SAY: "My Lord, let me enter through a proper entrance and leave by an honest exit! Grant me supporting authority from Your presence." 17:80

—

O you the (sleeping) enwrapped one! ( Al-Muzzammil 73:1 )

Stand up in Prayer by night, all but a small part of it; half of it, or reduce it a little; or add to it a little; and recite the Qur'an slowly and distinctly. Behold, We shall cast upon you a Weighty Word. Surely getting up at night is the best means of subduing the self and is more suitable for uprightness in speech. You are indeed much occupied during the day with the affairs of the world. So remember the name of your Lord1 and devote yourself to Him with exclusive devotion. 73:8

(O Prophet), your Lord knows that you sometimes stand up in Prayer nearly two-thirds of the night, and sometimes half or one-third of it, and so does a party of those with you; Allah measures the night and the day. He knows that you cannot keep an accurate count of it, so He has shown mercy to you. So now recite as much of the Qur'an as you can. He knows that there are among you those who are sick and others who are journeying in the land in quest of Allah's bounty,

and still others who are fighting in the cause of Allah. So recite as much of the Qur'an as you easily can, and establish Prayer, and pay Zakah, and give Allah a goodly loan. Whatever good you send forth for yourselves, you shall find it with Allah. That is better and its reward is greater. And ask for Allah's forgiveness; surely He is Most Forgiving, Most Compassionate 73:17

Your Lord knows how you stay up close to two thirds of the night [in prayer], half of it, and even a third of it; and [so do) a group of those who are with you. Allah (God) measures out both night and daylight; He knows that you (all) will never measure them up [or sustain doing it], so He has relented towards you. Read whatever seems feasible from the Quran. He knows that some of you may be ill while others are out travelling around the earth seeking Allah (God)'s bounty, and still others are fighting for Allah (God)'s sake. So read any of it that seems feasible, and keep up prayer and pay the Zakat (welfare tax), and advance Allah (God) a handsome loan. Anything good you send on ahead for yourselves, you will find [later on] with Allah (God); it is better and more important as earnings. Seek forgiveness from Allah (God); Allah (God) will be Forgiving, Merciful. 73:20

—

and remember the name of your Lord, morning and evening; ( Al-Insan 76:25 )

and prostrate yourself before Him at night, and extol His Glory during the long watches of the night. 76:27

—

Save worshippers. ( Al-Ma'arij 70:22 ) Who are constant at their worship . And in whose wealth there is a right acknowledged . For the beggar and the destitute; And those who believe in the Day of Judgment, And those who are fearful of their Lord's doom - 70:27

—

they used to sleep but little by night, ( Adh-Dhariyat 51:17 )

and would ask for forgiveness at dawn, 51:18 and in their wealth there was a rightful share for him who would ask and for the destitute.51:19

—

We have sent you as a witness, herald and warner, ( Al-Fath 48:8 ) so you may (all) believe in Allah (God) and His messenger, and revere and honor Him, and glorify Him morning and evening.

— pinterest study the pins https://pin.it/1lUxpPA

[jaythelay]

The cope is real ya'll. But the saddest part is not taking advantage.

All the violence and white supremecists coming out in numbers, all the times it was a minority victim before. Finally it's clear as day who the threats are to you, me, democracy, and everyone in the country.

But sure let's not point out the obvious because it hurts fee fees ):

Really is sad that the left is incapable of actively doing anything. This would've ended the political party in 2008. Their own political party tried to kill them, several, fucking, times.

All the political violence gushes forth from Republicans. After nearly a decade of constantly claiming the left was this super violent and crazy geoup of terrorists, when it finally came time, it was Once Again, a Republican.

The sheer number of examples you can use to mock this situation is incredible. But no. "That's uncouth" So is the right growing predictably more violent. But sure. Being a little mean would be the worst possible thing someone on the left can do. Forget that the right Once Again tried to kill someone in politics.

We don't wanna look bad! Tenacious D can't make jokes either! But god forbid we hold the right accountable for the exact same shit the past decade! God forbid we point out the fucking most obvious of situations for what it is!

Ya'll actively Do Not Do Politics.

You do morals. You do ethics. And because of that, you will Never Be A Worthy Ally. Just more noise that baffles those trapped viewing reality while ya larp away a perfect world.

We were given the Best Possible Political Scenario to doom the right because all of their narratives and conspiracies and finger pointing literally always points right back towards them. And instead of taking advantage, we're gonna pretend we don't know the shooter was Once Again a White Male Republican Youth.

Seriously Leftists. There's a reason the right has support. Because even when it comes to assassinations, I can't actively envision a single one of you even standing up without fear it'd offend someone disabled. I can't imagine ya'll NOT taking advantage of this situation, but the fact we're here? Goes to show, if Dump did come out on third street and shoot someone, ya'll'd Solely Condemn it, but you would forget about it in a week because it somehow helps Dump to acknowledge it or mock it. The victim might be upset at a chuckle held on behalf of the situation!

Bro. Fight back. Show R's why their rhetoric is awful. Show that you're untouchable because they themselves told you this was expected, acceptable, and normalized. The Right Told You It's Okay To Mock Political Assassinations Years Ago. They're bullying you into pretending it's wrong now.

Do Not Let Them Have That. We live in an era of online vitriol where support is drummed up in humourous verbal take downs and memes. If you do not point out that THEY ARE THE VIOLENT GROUP they will continue to treat minorities and the left as a violent group when it's Actually the biggesr cabal of pussies any country has seen yet.

If you don't? This just becomes the standard. And it won't be an R that Republicans go after next. Imagine Bernie or AOC going down? How fucked the left would be with a bunch of lazy centrist larpers in office? AOC is doing impeachments on SCOTUS, Bernie is pro-palestine.

Imagine up and coming candidates actually wanting to make sweeping changes, gets shot by a Republican. There is no progress we can make when we let Republicans murder elected officials and pretend they don't out of courtesy.

But again. The left is okay with this.

Because somehow they think a registered republican with classmates describing him as a loner with strong conservative opinions with a family that hated Biden, somehow is a good thing for Dump and a bad thing for all minorities.

Ya'll. This is why I say third party. Ya got an anemic wheelchair bound, cancer stricken triple amputee 11yo boxing the average 79yo man in a diaper. No teeth. No balls. No courage. No effort. Only morals. That mean nothing anymore when the world has become so unsafe due to republicans.

Nobody wants to go back to the way things were.

But that doesn't mean you let Dump and co. run the narrative.

Do not be afraid that a Republican shot Dump. Be envigorated that his own rhetoric came back to bite him, and that he has forgone any attempts at empathy by telling parents of school shooting victims to get over it. The same group that wants a firing squad for Fauci and make halloween costumes when Dems were being attacked with hammers, when Dump sent out tear gas on protesters and held a bible upside down, that group wants you to be ethical in this situation.

And ya'll pussies are actually listening to them. You're letting them bully you when you not only did no wrong, but were told By Trump and his cronies and voterbase, that this is okay and expected from republicans, but not leftists.

Simply being upset the shooter missed IS SEEN ON THE SAME LEVEL AS THE REPUBLICAN SHOOTER, SHOOTING DUMP.

Absolutely pathetic. Ya'll fucking suck. Vote third party or don't vote at all, straight up. Christ. You'd think with all those strongly held beliefs you'd do something with it other than coddle republican domestic terrorists and tell people to vote.

Ya'll gotta strike verbally some fuckin time, but ya always manage to make me feel like I'm putting all my trust into a kindergarten teacher during a school shooting. Sad shit.

Genuinely. Ya took what was fun and creating (Literally the easiest) social awareness and made it depressingly impossible. Fucking sad ya'll turn the other cheek for political assassinations but cry like bitches when the right doesn't.

You let them have the narrative, and it may as well have been a transgender, or a "Brown", or democrat. It wasn't though. It was a republican. As expected. But sure. No jokes, no pointing out hypocrisy, no pointing out how he orchestrated this event. Nah. That'd be petty, and lord knows that the left can't be petty.

Oh yeah this is the website that made a guy who sent a rocket to space, in a shirt with bikini clad women, go on TV crying and apologizing for...wearing...wearing a shirt. Again, in tears. On TV.

Leftists, folks. Our enemies are people with...shirts. Not political assassins or domestic terrorists... Don't...don't wanna make them upset...But people in shirts are clearly a bigger threat than...political assassins forming on the right. Solely.

[game-boy-pocket]

Who and What would you want for the next Super Smash Bros?

Who:

idk man I got K. Rool Ridley and Banjo, it's hard for me to say there's anything left that I want super badly at this point. There's several I wouldn't mind having but won't be bummed if they got in. If I had to make a list of characters I'd like to see...

Toad

Dixie Kong

Impa ( at this point she could be a replacement or echo of Shiek )

Tingle

Geno ( yes I'm one of those, the Mario RPGs should be represented in some way besides another form of Mario. )

Krystal

Porky

Raven Beak

Samurai Goroh

Black Shadow ( My idea here is just give him Ganondorf's old moveset so it actually make sense, and give Ganondorf a moveset that actually, you know, represents how he behaves in the Legend of Zelda series )

Mike Jones

Starfy

Shadow the Hedgehog ( Absolutely bonkers he wasn't a Sonic Echo Figher )

Dr. Eggman

Doom Slayer

Crash Bandicoot

Spyro the Dragon

And lastly, this is going to be my biggest wish that nobody is going to support... Agumon.

Or maybe more accurately, the whole Digimon version 1 line. Because my vision for this character would pay homage to the original LCD screen virtual pet, you start off as an Agumon in the fight. Your HUD has a hunger meter, and the down B will feed Agumon a piece of meat. If you take good care of Agumon, he will become Greymon, and if Greymon performs well in battle, he can become Metal Greymon.

Neglect to feed Agumon and he will evolve into the weak and sluggish Numamon. But even Numamon can have the potential to evolve into a powerful fighter in the form of Monzemon.

I suppose this complicates the final Smash a little bit, but we could borrow from the anime and have them warp evolve into Omnimon or something to perform a powerful mega hit. The actual rules of evolving with Digimon seem to vary depending on the virtual pet, the game, or the anime. I don't see why Smash Bros couldn't also bend the rules a bit.

I worry that the next one is just going to be another parade of third party characters, most of whom I probably won't care much about. ( Yes I know my next "big pick" is third party, i'm operating under the assumption that things aren't changing ) I feel like they made a huge mistake when they shifted their focus to mostly third party characters after the Smash Wii U DLC, now this is all anyone ever talks about and insults the shit out of people who ask for Nintendo characters, but who knows, we can only wait and see. I just hope that, if there are any cuts ( which seems inevitable ) I hope they keep most, if not all of the first party characters that they own the rights to. I'm not saying purge all guests but like, maybe not so many, and maybe only the ones with a strong history with Nintendo please?

As for What...

A real Adventure mode, I know Sakurai doesn't like people uploading the cutscenes, but I feel like axing it out of the game completely was very petty and punishes everyone, not just the people who uploaded/watched the cutscenes online, besides, I wouldn't mind if they scaled it back to melee style platforming levels with a few enemies here and there. Personally I would prefer that to a Subspace Emmissary 2, with a bunch of baddies that aren't from any specific games.

I'd want more alternative costumes, they did a lot better with this in Smash 4 and Smash Ultimate but it still didn't go far enough in my opinion. Why was the fusion suit for Samus STILL just a recolor? I'd also like more character alts like Alph and the Koopalings, sometimes you just don't need to become a whole ass echo.

I don't know if there's really all that much more I'd want out of Smash from a gameplay standpoint. It's essentially perfect for me.

[freesidexjunkie]

I'm gonna get political for a second abt the election so if you don't wanna read it pls just skip, I get it and I don't care

But I feel like this election is going to be a disaster and could very well be what does us in. Biden supports genocide, the Democratic Party cares about nothing but getting votes and consolidating power. I agree. I am very much in agreement and I will never stop speaking out against them for that.

But like literally everyone has said at this point: Trump is so much worse. He will actively relish in supporting genocide. He has admitted to wanting to overthrow the government and set himself up as the only person with power. He will be so infinitely worse for everyone.

I'm not saying anyone should blindly support Biden or democrats, because they are being horrendous and we should hold them accountable for their actions. But it feels like no one remembers 2016 anymore. Hillary was a terrible and very weak candidate, but the DNC shoehorned her in anyways. We knew we didn't want Trump but we split those votes between her and multiple third party candidates anyways. We wanted so badly to affect change but we couldn't get on the same page, and we rolled out the red carpet for four of the worst years most of our generation has lived through.

What scares me even more is the piss poor job of campaigning Biden is doing. Last year (or the year before?) in Virginia, we held elections for governor. Our incumbent was a Democratic candidate who was a really shit candidate; he was in hot water over racist shit surfacing from college and he really didn't seem to do too much as governor. He got shoehorned in as the candidate anyways, running against a very pro-Trump, MAGA aligned Republican. The incumbent's entire campaign hitched on nothing more than "we can't let the other guy win!" They got complacent assuming that, in the aftermath of 2016, no one would risk letting another candidate like that win. The Republican candidate, however, campaigned like crazy and promised fantastical things to his supporters. It's not hard to guess who won. The new governor has come after our education system hard, trying to wipe out anything he doesn't like from the curriculum and trying to make the state's schools less safe for LGBT students. Our incumbent was a weak candidate, yes, but he wasn't actively harming us in these ways.

Biden is setting his campaign up the exact same way, and I feel like I'm watching the sequel to a shitty movie I didn't wanna see the first time. He's not going to do the hard work of actually convincing us that he is a good candidate. And that's sad, because he has actually made some quality-of-life achievements in his presidency before this. He could campaign on those. He could listen to his constituents about Palestine. But he's not going to, because the Democratic Party thinks bashing Trump is a viable campaign strategy.

The other side of this election is unified and passionate. I am terrified of what will happen if Trump wins. I am terrified that the entire country will never be a safe place again. I am terrified that he won't let us vote him out again in four years. I am terrified that our collective "that could never happen here" attitude is what's going to doom us all.

My main point is: keep fighting against genocide. Keep fighting against injustice and corrupt politicians and power seeking party behavior. But please, for the love of everything that matters, don't make it harder by letting Trump take power again.

[xtruss]

Image: KAL

The Case For A Third-Party Campaign In 2024 Is Actuarial, Not Ideological

No Labels wants to be political insurance for the democracy, yet may doom it

— July 20th, 2023

Nothing in American politics is more quixotic than a third-party presidential campaign. Thus, to political insiders, nothing is also more pathetic or else more cynical: in the best case, the campaign is detached from reality, and in the worst (and, to insiders, the more probable case, since this is politics for God’s sake) it is serving some hidden motive, some interest in the shadows.

Yet, because nothing is more quixotic than a third-party campaign, might it not actually be the most idealistic expression of American politics? Americans may have elected only one candidate to the presidency from a third party, but he was Abraham Lincoln. And good third-party politicians always seem so pure. They know the odds are stacked against them, but they also know Americans yearn for something different, for big ideas and hard truths. It sounds good to anyone who is in fact yearning for something different, which is pretty much everyone who is not an insider.

Enter Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, one of the more cynical American politicians or possibly one of the more principled, weighing a third-party bid in the latest twist of a presidential melodrama no strike-breaking screenwriter could pitch with a straight face. Whatever further criminal indictments, mislaid cocaine, unacknowledged grandchildren, unvaccinated Kennedys, old-age pratfalls or attempted Russian coups may yet await, Mr Manchin’s eventual choice could prove decisive.

Craggy and folksy, Mr Manchin has won in a state Donald Trump carried twice by about 40 points, but by casting votes that made progressives despise him. What Mr Manchin has seen as wise positions for an old-school blue-collar Democrat from coal country, they have seen as evidence of racism, truckling to special interests and egomania. As the spotlight of presidential speculation shines upon him, Mr Manchin is doing nothing to dispel that last suspicion. A fellow Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, recently called him “America’s biggest political tease”.

If Mr Manchin runs for president, he would do so as the candidate of No Labels, a centre-left organisation that argues Americans are dissatisfied with their emerging choice, between President Joe Biden and Mr Trump. The group intends to raise tens of millions of dollars and petition its way onto the ballot in every state. On July 17th, in the early primary state of New Hampshire, Mr Manchin appeared at a town-hall meeting organised by No Labels alongside a Republican, Jon Huntsman, a former governor of Utah, ex-ambassador to Moscow and Beijing, and past presidential candidate.

“I truly believe that all 435 people elected to Washington want to do good,” Mr Manchin said when asked about a radical House member. But the “business model” of both parties leads politicians to motivate supporters by creating or exaggerating division rather than compromising. Through No Labels, he said, “We can talk about the real problems. We don’t have to villainise the other side just because they might think different than I do.”

All of this is driving some Democrats crazy. The more sensible a No Labels candidate sounds, they fear, the more he will undercut Mr Biden’s advantage among sensible people. They argue that polling shows more Republicans identify with their party’s extreme than Democrats do with theirs, meaning a centrist candidate will take fewer votes from Mr Trump.

No Labels insists its polling shows it would hurt Mr Trump at least as much. It says it will field a candidate only if, after the Super Tuesday primaries next spring, the choice does come down to Mr Trump and Mr Biden, and only if the No Labels candidate has a clear shot at winning. “Those are deeply subjective judgments,” warns Matt Bennett of Third Way, a centrist Democratic group organising against No Labels, “and so far at least we have no faith they are making those judgments correctly.” The day Mr Manchin turned up in New Hampshire, some political luminaries opposed to Mr Trump launched Citizens to Save Our Republic, a super pac dedicated to fighting No Labels. The Arizona Democratic Party is suing to keep No Labels off the ballot there.

Unfortunately for those opposed to No Labels, such machinations are classic grist for the third-party idealism mill. In New Hampshire Mr Huntsman remarked that he had previously heard only Russian and Chinese officials discourage more political participation. Mr Manchin argued that fear of No Labels would force the Democratic Party to embrace more centrist positions. “Why are they scared that they may be threatened to do the right thing?” he asked. “Why are they scared to say, ‘Hey, you’re too far to the left and it doesn’t make any sense’?”

Better Angles

Yet No Labels is also playing games. As a non-profit organisation, it is not obliged to disclose its donors and it does not. Struggling to defend that practice, Mr Manchin fell back on saying that Republicans and Democrats also benefited from “dark money” and that he would vote, if given the chance, to do away with it.

There is no reason to doubt the sincerity of Mr Manchin or No Labels in seeking more public debate about the national debt, the need for national service or the decline of patriotism. But after the attack on the Capitol, only cynical political calculation could pinpoint the sensible centre of American life as equidistant from both parties. A party in thrall to Donald Trump is dangerous in ways a party resigned to Joe Biden is not.

In fact, some of his Democratic colleagues acknowledge, Mr Manchin deserves credit for blocking Mr Biden from moving farther left in the heady years when Democrats had majorities in both chambers, and for helping achieve landmark bipartisan legislation. Partly thanks to Mr Manchin, Mr Biden can justly claim to be the centrist’s alternative to Mr Trump. Only should Mr Biden’s health fail might Americans be lucky to have No Labels on the ballot (though Mr Manchin is 75). That is the only real argument for this third party, and it is the most cold-blooded one imaginable. ■

—This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline "Manchin in the Muddle"

[mzannthropy]

Nice contribution!

~~~SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS~~~

Let me argue in favour of Their Finest (one of my fave movies actually). I don't think his character had a chance and would have died in every version of that story. Like Phyl says: "sooner or later he'll end up in a uniform like every mother's son". Buckley was not a fighter, he would not last long on the battlefield. Also, he pretty much foreshadows it, when he remarks on the death of the producer's son (or was it grandson?) who came back from the front for a break, only to get run over by a tram. "It's never for anything." And even if he had managed to dodge the uniform, how would he be after the war ended? When all men his age would be coming back home celebrated heroes? I think of Rowley from Agatha Christie's book Taken at the Flood. He felt a bit inferior bc he never went to the front (he stayed at home bc he had to look after the farm, he and a friend drew lots on who will go and his friend ended up going and was killed). I just don't see his character as someone who is, not to be a tumblrina about it, anything other than "doomed by the narrative."

Adrift, yeah, that's what I meant when I said sometimes there was a real person who died. Same for Duncan Edwards, the Manchester United footballer (and people still remember victims of that plane crash, I know this bc I live in Manchester. Not long ago I saw a book about Duncan in a bookshop, decades after he passed away.)

I didn't count the villains bc you expect them to die (like you expect Bill to die in Kill Bill). Like you say, the Nightingale, ofc you want him to die. Same for Every Breath You Take, if you remember the trailer gave everything away, it was clear he was the bad guy and bad guys in psychological thrillers are almost always psychopaths/sociopaths. But yes I also made a better story of it, in fact very similar to what you say--Sam and the psychiatrist wife driving off into the sunset in that nice car! While the psychiatrist is the real villain (and the emo girl, idk, she can get taken in by a good relative of her mum's or something). I mean, anything we come up with will be better than the actual film, lol.

Me Before You is actually the only one where he actively chooses to die. Yet it remains so beloved. Surely, if him dying in films is a problem, then why are you (rhetorical you, not literally you) still supporting the very film where he does so voluntarily? At least all the others were accidents/fighting or kills. MBY is the bane of my existence.

FWIW I don't think he will die in any of his upcoming projects (apart from maybe All The Devils Are Here, I suspect the thieves will all kill one another by the end of the film and the money claimed by a third party).

I always want to talk about how people say that Sam Claflin's characters often die on screen, but you can't do it without spoilers, so it's difficult. I don't think it's as bad as everyone makes it out to be, but it's also important to look at the story as a whole and what it's trying to say. And let's not forget that some of these were films based on real life where a real person actually died.

Honestly, I think it's bc of that dumb fucking bumblebee tights idiotic flick (stupid bitches watch it 234 times and see him choose death every time, instead of staying with the woman he is supposedly in love with (lol he isn't, Will doesn't love Louisa), so ofc they think he 'dies in films' bc they see him die, by choice, over and over again) and bc of Finnick. Now, that one is down to the author's bad decisions in the last book of the trilogy. The films could have let him live and correct this mistake, a change I bet so many would welcome, but they didn't. Although I can argue that Finnick indeed lives (It's very simple: Katniss, our narrator, is not telling the truth. Sorted.), that is still only a headcanon.

And then, him being alive at the end is not always better. His Mycroft in Enola Holmes was already a character assassination. (Mycroft is not like that, they turned him into a cartoon villain for the sake of an original character.) Billy Dunne was not helped by the show's writing. They killed a female character too early so that they could have their overrated rocknroll ship. Alistair in Riot Club is alive, and what of it? I can't imagine many people like him. Philip in My Cousin Rachel (a film that everyone ignores anyway) is alive but he is tormented. (Although there's an argument to be made that he can heal, bc the film had him marry Louise and have children with her. In the book, Philip foreshadows his going insane. But it's open.) Oswald Mosley didn't die until 1980 and you wish he did sooner.

So, you know, it's not just about dying or living.

[redbone135]

Spike's lines in Walk Through The Fire - the two at the end - stick out to me as being played as exceptionally silly in a song that is incredibly serious when you listen to the rest of the lyrics.

We get it, Spike is a little confused and emotional, hahaha.

But isn't the curse that they are doomed to sing their honest and true feelings? Thats why it's a curse, cause they're going around spilling all their secrets? So how can he be *feeling* both? How can he be *meaning* either one?

Except what if he is? What if there are two very clear intentions behind both contradicting lines?

1. "First he'll kill her, then I'll save her!"

It's the pronouns here that get me. This is the only time he uses "he" and implies that in this statement, Sweet will be successful. Spike already knows he's lost and going to be late to the party - a party that he thinks none of her usual support will be showing up to, and Buffy dying is a very real possibility here. So then how is he going to save her after she's already dead?

Well, Spike is uniquely positioned among the Scoobies (at this point) to be the only one who CAN save a dying or freshly dead person. It's a mindset we've seen before in Drusilla and Spike, who after spending a century together share a lot in common with their thoughts on love, death, and vampirism - Dru when she 'saves' Darla and Spike when he announces that Dru saved him from the mediocrity of his life. I think, in this line, Spike is considering making Buffy into a vampire. That's how he'll save her in *his* perfect outcome.

BUT

While Tara and Buffy are singing their parts he realizes two things: A. She wouldn't be the same (and damn if he's going to relive what happened with his mom here and now with Buffy) B. This isn't what Buffy would want at all. To make her a vampire would be just as selfish and pain-inducing as what her friends have already done to her, so he changes his mind and we get our next line:

2. "No, first I'll save her, then *I'll* kill her!"

James Marsters really does emphasize that extra "I'll" doesn't he? Theres a lot of anger and frustration there. Anyway - obviously the first part refers to saving her from Sweet... but the second part? At this point in the show, Spike is still unaware that his chip doesn't work on Buffy... so maybe he's talking about powering through a terrible migrain for the sake of adding a third slayer to his list... but what if...

Spike thinks there is a loophole to the chip. This is already established in the way he has Buffybot programmed. He thinks he can bite when given permission. Can hurt when asked to first. Could kill someone who wants to be dead?

At this point he's so done with the Scoobies it isn't even funny. They brought her back, she's put on a brave face for them, and now they've all turned their back on her and Dawn? I think in this line Spike is planning to do what none of them can. What Buffy really wants. He's going to get her permission to send her back to her afterlife.

It's not till he shows up and sees her dying in front of him that he realizes what he told Xander is true, he can't do it and he's not going to let anyone else do it either because he loves her too much and too selfishly to let her leave again.

He wants to, but at this point is still soulless.

Anyway, that's how I read those two lines.

Join me next week, when I talk about how "I hope she fries, I'm free if that bitch dies, I better help her out" are all true, but three very SEPERATE statements and why I suspect Buffy doesn't actually sing to Spike until the final scene.