#who are trying to prevent you people from voting

[angrybell]

He’s so appalled he’s done…. Absolutely nothing.

Jews get harassed and attacked at rallies. Biden does nothing.

Jews get harassed and attacked on campus. Biden does nothing.

Jews get harassed and attacked at their synagogue. Biden sends a tweet.

Why is the majority of my community supporting this man and this party? He’s never been a real friend. He hates Jews when they defend themselves. He likes us as victim, but not enough to do anything tangible.

Has Garland been ordered to prosecute s1985 cases, treating these pro “Palestinian” thugs like the KKK as they should be? No.

He wants to import more of them.

He wants to reward their terror by supporting an independent “Palestine”. The only people who will profit from this are the terrorists who want formal recognition because it affords them more protections for when they launch their next 10/7 style attack.

So why are we supporting this man? He’s not good for us.

Oh that’s right.. Trump. Did Trump permit pogroms? Did Trump undercut Israel trying to destroy a terrorist organization?

No. He did worse. He said mean things.

Don’t tell me that Biden did things better than Trump. Most of Biden’s successes are continuations to Trump’s policies. Most of the failures are Biden’s personal or party initiatives.

Do you not see the absolute insanity?

I get that many in the community are unable to override three or more generations of indoctrination that American Jewish protection can only come from the Democrats. It makes absolutely no sense historically when you consider that the Democrats were the ones who

Was the party of the KKK.

Strictly enforced the immigration quotas against the Jews before and during

Did not criticize Hitler for his treatment of the Jews and other minorities by the Nazis

Obama embraced and provided funds to nations, most notably Iran, who had committed or orchestrated acts of terror against Jews in Israel and around the world. He then tried to make it possible for them to construct nuclear weapons through a deal that perversely was sold as a deal to prevent Iran from making nuclear weapons.

Have continually elected openly antisemitic members to Congress for the past decade.

Biden has tried to prevent Israel from rescuing American and Israeli Jews held by Hamas by establishing a “red line” when it comes to Rafah.

Our allegiance to the Democrats is a poisonous inheritance of our ancestors. Back in Eastern Europe, the socialists were the only ones not likely to participate in the pogroms while the Russian and Austrian-Hungarian Empires existed. And because of that, Jews were attracted to that. Yes, there are some aspects of their program that agrees with Jewish culture, but many of those same areas can also be found with conservative movements as well.

What worked, badly, for the Jewish community at the start of the 29th century does not work for us anymore. Remaining wed to the Democrats is like an abused spouse saying “they really will change this time.”

They’re not. They’ve promised to get worse.

So, are we going to vote for our own destruction? Or are we going to use our power and votes to support someone, or just as importantly to support someone?

I get that if you’ve gotten this far you’ve at least thought of something along these lines but then you get to the other option: Trump. He’s been more vilified than any politician in American politics in the last half century. He’s got a lot of faults. So maybe you’re not ready to vote for him.

Fine. At least don’t vote for Biden. And, if you live in one of the districts, don’t vote for members of the “The Squad”. Don’t donate to the Democrats or groups that are simply going to give it to Biden.

Otherwise, you’re saying you’re fine with where this heading. Another 4 years of Democrat rule is not going to fix the problems we’re experiencing. It’s going to make them worse.

[trash-goddess]

One of the worst things about being a teenager is being infantilized. You are expected to be (reasonably) responsible for yourself but do not have any of the respect, resources nor decision making power that comes with it such responsibilities as an adult.

Being an adult with a fully functioning brain, and the having the respect, resources, decision making power and responsibilities is a delightful experience. Taking control of my life and living on my own terms has made every aspect of my life much more manageable.

So. As a twenty four year old. Who works full time, and thus has saved and paid off my student loans. Who is capable of managing my finances, groceries, and living a healthy lifestyle. Who is by all accounts, a reasonable adult. I find myself frustrated by seeing myself described as a child who is incapable of making such decisions has become incredibly frustrating. It showcases a lack of maturity and understanding!

I refuse to be dragged back down into childhood by people who have never even met me and do not know what is best for me.

And you can take my voting rights from my cold dead hands.

[wilwheaton]

The GOP wonders why young people (and others) don't want to vote for them. Some wise scribe assembled this list.

1.) Your Reagan-era “trickle-down economics” strategy of tax breaks for billionaires that you continue to employ to this day has widened the gap between rich and poor so much that most of them will never be able to own a home, much less earn a living wage.

2.) You refuse to increase the federal minimum wage, which is still $7.25 an hour (since 2009). Even if it had just kept up with inflation, it would be $27 now. You’re forcing people of all ages but especially young people to work multiple jobs just to afford basic necessities.

3.) You fundamentally oppose and want to kill democracy; have done everything in your power to restrict access to the ballot box, particularly in areas with demographics that tend to vote Democratic (like young people and POC). You staged a fucking coup the last time you lost.

4.) You have abused your disproportionate senate control over the last three decades to pack the courts with religious extremists and idealogues, including SCOTUS—which has rolled back rights for women in ways that do nothing but kill more women and children and expand poverty.

5.) You refuse to enact common sense gun control laws to curb mass shootings like universal background checks and banning assault weapons; subjecting their entire generation to school shootings and drills that are traumatizing in and of themselves. You are owned by the NRA.

6.) You are unequivocally against combatting climate change to the extent that it’s as if you’ve made it your personal mission to ensure they inherit a planet that is beyond the point of no return in terms of remaining habitable for the human race beyond the next few generations.

7.) You oppose all programs that provide assistance to those who need it most. Your governors refused to expand Medicaid even during A PANDEMIC. You are against free school lunches, despite it being the only meal that millions of children can count on to actually receive each day

8.) You are banning books, defunding libraries, barring subject matter, and whitewashing history even more in a fascistic attempt to keep them ignorant of the systemic racism that this nation was literally founded upon and continues to this day in every action your party takes.

9.) You oppose universal healthcare and are still trying to repeal the ACA and rip healthcare from tens of millions of Americans and replace it with nothing. You are against lowering the cost of insulin and prescription drugs that millions need simply to LIVE/FUNCTION in society.

10.) You embrace white nationalists, Neo-Nazis, and other groups that are defined by their intractable racism, xenophobia, bigotry, and intolerance. You conspired with these groups on January 6th to try to overthrow the U.S. government via domestic terrorism that KILLED PEOPLE.

11.) You oppose every bill aimed at making life better for our nation’s youth; from education to extracurricular and financial/nutritional assistance programs. You say you want to “protect the children” while you elect/nominate pedophiles and attack trans youth and drag queens.

12.) You pretend to be offended by “anti-semitism” while literally supporting, electing, and speaking at events organized by Nazis. You pretend to hate “cancel culture” despite the fact that you invented it and it’s basically all you do.

13.) Every word you utter is a lie. You are the party of treason, hypocrisy, crime, and authoritarianism. You want to entrench rule by your aging minority because you know that you have nothing to offer young voters and they will never support you for all these reasons and more.

14.) You’re so hostile to even the notion of helping us overcome the mountain of debt that millions of us are forced to take on just to pay for our post K-12 education that you are suing to try to prevent a small fraction of us from getting even $10,000 in loan forgiveness.

15.) You opened the floodgates of money into politics via Citizens United; allowing our entire system of government to become a cesspool of corruption, crime, and greed. You are supposed to represent the American people whose taxes pay your salary but instead cater to rich donors.

16.) You respond to elected representatives standing in solidarity with their constituents to protest the ONGOING SLAUGHTER of children in schools via shootings by EXPELLING THEM FROM OFFICE & respond to your lack of popularity among young people by trying to raise the voting age.

17.) You impeach Democratic presidents over lying about a BJ but refuse to impeach (then vote twice to acquit) a guy whose entire “administration” was an international crime syndicate being run out of the WH who incited an insurrection to have you killed.

18.) You steal Supreme Court seats from democrats to prevent the only black POTUS we’ve ever had from appointing one and invent fake precedents that you later ignore all to take fundamental rights from Americans; and even your “legitimate” appointments consist of people like THIS (sub-thread refuting CJ Roberts criticisms of people attacking SCOTUS' legitimacy).

19.) You support mass incarceration even for innocuous offenses or execution by cop for POC while doing nothing but protect rich white criminals who engage in such things as tax fraud, money laundering, sex trafficking, rape/sexual assault, falsifying business records, etc.

20.) You are the reason we can’t pass:—Universal background checks—An assault weapons ban—The ‘For the People/Freedom to vote’ Act or John Lewis Voting Rights Act—The ERA & Equality Act—The Climate Action Now Act—The (Stopping) Violence Against Women Act—SCOTUS expansion.

21.) You do not seek office to govern, represent, or serve the American people. You seek power solely for its own sake so you can impose your narrow-minded puritanical will on others at the expense of their most fundamental rights and freedoms like voting and bodily autonomy.

22.) Ok, last one. You are trying to eliminate social security and Medicare that tens of millions of our parents rely on and paid into their entire lives. And you did everything to maximize preventable deaths from COVID leaving millions of us in mourning.

Source: https://imgur.com/gallery/e8DBZLH

[vergess]

Buddy, when racist cunts illegally prevented me from registering to vote by just refusing to accept my papers, I PROMISE YOU shitty guilt trip memes about my inability to vote made everything worse.

You know what ACTUALLY helped?

More than every passive aggressive shit for brains on this website telling me I deserve to me racially harassed for not giving Democrats my soul?

A fucking email from a fucking HERBS AND SPICES STORE that unlike you wretched cunts ACTUALLY HAD VOTER REGISTRATION HELPLINES IN IT.

Every time one of you godforsaken freaks tells me to 'get out and vote' like its cutely trivial and didn't take months of desperate phone calls just to register (IF my registration even WORKED THIS TIME).

If you, like me, are struggling with registration or poll access, try contacting your STATE board of elections.

Request that they send you TWO copies of their registration guidelines. Collect any documents listed in them.

Then, contact your LOCAL board. Tell them you would like to register IN PERSON IF POSSIBLE.

Bring your documents and the two copies of the guideline AND a working cell phone.

If you get ANY trouble AT ALL tell the local person you will call the state board to confirm their registration requirements. Be polite, but do not leave. Put the phone on speaker.

Most of the time, the local person who is doing Actual Serious Federal And State Crimes will give up at that point. If not, the person at the state board will generally outrank and overrule the local one.

Make a note of the names of both the local and state official.

Then, and this is the most important part:

CONFIRM YOUR REGISTRATION WAS FILED.

It may take a day or two for your registration to appear.

Unfortunately, if it's been a week, you're going to have to repeat the process.

Take the names you noted previously, and contact the state board again. Report that these people denied you registration on this day, in spite of you providing these documents, then list all the required papers you collected.

The person at the state SHOULD be able to direct you from there, but the process varies hugely by state.

Good luck to you all.

ETA: I was able to vote eventually, BTW. It took far more work than it should have. Physical injuries were sustained. But I did get to vote!!

[justinspoliticalcorner]

David Badash at NCRM:

Republicans ground the House to a halt Wednesday afternoon after U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IN) objected to remarks made by Rules Committee Ranking Member Jim McGovern (D-MA), during which he delivered a short overview of the 88 criminal charges Donald Trump is facing, and civil court findings including one deeming him an adjudicated rapist. “Take down his words,” Congresswoman Houchin declared, interrupting Rep. McGovern. “I demand that his words be taken down.” For more than one hour, according to Fox News’ Chad Pergram, the people’s business stopped as Republicans, angered by the Democrat’s factual remarks, had them investigated by the House Parliamentarian. “Donald Trump might want to be a king, but he is not a king,” Congressman McGovern observed. “He is not a presumptive king. he’s not even the president – he’s a presumptive nominee.”

“At some point,” McGovern told his congressional colleagues, “it’s time for this body to recognize that there is no precedent for this situation. We have a presumptive nominee for President facing 88 felony counts, and we’re being prevented from even acknowledging it. These are not alternative facts. These are real facts. A candidate for President of the United States is on trial for sending a hush money payment to a porn star to avoid a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign, and then fraudulently disguising those payments in violation of the law. He’s also charged with conspiring to overturn the election. He’s also charged with stealing classified information and a jury has already found him liable for rape and a civil court. And yet, in this Republican controlled House, it’s okay to talk about the trial but you have to call it a sham.” The decision to strike McGovern’s “offensive” remarks appears to have come from U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl (R-AL), who was presiding over the chamber. He cited House Rule XVII, which Pergram reported “says House members are prohibited from impugning the motives of fellow House members, senators or the President. And in this case, the former President.”

Earlier, before Rep. Houchin demanded his remarks be stricken, McGovern also blasted Republicans for traveling to New York in their “cult uniforms,” to show support for Donald Trump at his criminal trial in Lower Manhattan. The Massachusetts Democrat told his colleagues, “my friends over the other side of the aisle have pandered to their most extreme members over and over and over again. They let the extremists kick out their own Speaker. They let the extremists dictate the agenda on the House floor. They let the extremists take down seven rule votes since January 2023 – a stunning indictment of their ability to get anything done. And speaking of indictments, Republicans are skipping their real jobs to take day trips up to New York to try to undermine Donald Trump’s criminal trial. No time to work with Democrats, but plenty of time to put on weird matching cult uniforms and stand behind President Trump with their bright red ties like pathetic props.”

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA)’s speech on the House floor calling out criminal defendant Donald Trump was delivering truth bombs left and right, and it made Republicans upset, especially the part in which he said that Trump “might want to be a king, but he is not a king” and the fact that he was calling out his criminality.

Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IN) was the Republican who ordered a frivolous halt to McGovern’s speech by demanding “that his words be taken down.” Floor Presider Jerry Carl (R-AL) granted Houchin’s request, and McGovern was barred from speaking on the Floor for the rest of the day.

See Also:

NBC News: Democrat McGovern ruled 'out of order' after listing off Trump's legal woes on the House floor

Daily Kos: GOP brings House to a halt to debate whether facts are allowed

[reasonsforhope]

do you have any good queer news? I'm a queer person and hearing all the shit thats happening across the world is making me bummed out

I do! All of this is from LGBTQ Nation's excellent good news tag

^Article date: July 6, 2023

"Only two months after its formation, the “No SB 180” initiative had succeeded at making the city of Lawrence, Kansas a sanctuary city for LGBTQ+ people. Last week, in a unanimous vote, Lawrence became the first city in the state to declare itself as such.

Ordinance 9999 bans the city and all of its employees from collecting or releasing information on a person’s “biological sex, either male or female, at birth” and from helping with any investigation, detention, arrest, or surveillance “conducted by a jurisdiction with the authority to enforce Senate Bill 180, as enacted.”"

^Article date: July 28, 2023

"A federal judge has told a group of anti-trans parents to mind their own business after the group filed a lawsuit challenging an Ohio school district’s bathroom policy.

The attempts to meddle do not “pass legal muster,” he wrote in his ruling, saying that the group has no reason to sue.

“Not every contentious debate concerning matters of public importance presents a cognizable federal lawsuit,” Judge Michael Newman wrote, denying their petition to stop the Bethel Local School District’s policy that allows a single transgender middle school student to use the restroom that aligns with her gender identity."

^Article date: August 8, 2023

"The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the independent federal agency responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance, has released its first-ever “LGBTQI+-inclusive” policy since its founding in 1961.

The four-point policy is meant to serve as a blueprint for USAID staff and partners around the world to champion LGBTQ+ and intersex development and the human rights of all queer people through the agency’s work, said Jay Gilliam, USAID’s senior LGBTQI+ coordinator, in a video explaining the policy...

In simpler terms, the U.S. will try to improve diplomatic relationships with other countries by investing in locally-led LGBTQ+-inclusive programs that are shown to positively impact communities in need."

^Article date: August 3, 2023

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled in favor of three transgender students who were forbidden by their schools from using bathrooms matching their gender identities. The circuit court upheld a lower court’s preliminary injunction that said the schools have to let trans students use facilities associated with their genders...

The case involves three trans boys in Martinsville, Indiana and Terre Haute, Indiana, who need access to the boys’ room at their middle and high schools...

The court took into account the fact that Title IX bans discrimination on the basis of sex in schools that receive federal money, which is most of them. Citing the 2020 Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton Co. that found that job discrimination against LGBTQ+ people necessarily takes sex into account and is therefore prohibited under Title VII, the appeals court ruled that the trans boys are likely to succeed in their case and that preventing them from using the correct bathroom while the case works its way through the court system could cause irreparable harm.

^Article date: August 2, 2023

^Article date: June 21, 2023

"A federal judge has ruled on the side of trans rights after a conservative group tried to overturn an Ohio school district’s anti-bullying policy.

The national conservative group Parents Defending Education (PDE) tried to get a preliminary injunction passed on the Olentangy Local School District’s prohibition on misgendering trans students. The policy includes students, teachers, and parents and it applies to out-of-school hours and social media as well."

^Article date: August 2, 2023

There's literally a bunch more I wanted to include, by the way! Tumblr just stopped being able to load them. Going back to add a few more in the reblogs now.

I know it feels like everything is against us right now. But I promise you: that is not true. The bigots and bastards may usually be the ones moving faster (in large part because they suck and don't care about democracy or due process at all),

But in the end, we are going to win. I promise.

[hedgehog-moss]

Update on May 1st protests and how the french goverment handled them?

^ The May 1st protests were pretty violent esp. in Paris; two cops were set on fire (they're ok, one has 2nd degree burns), lots of destruction in city streets, and hundreds of injured protesters. The French gov is sticking to its M.O. of denying any police violence against protesters, emphasising protesters' violence and portraying it as mindless anti-democratic savagery rather than the result of their own anti-democratic policies.

There were more people protesting in the streets on Monday than at any other May Day protest in the past 20 years (by a large margin—7 to 10x more people than usual.) And the numbers are still impressive in terms of this current social movement—there were about 1.2 million people at the first protest against the pension reform in January, 900K at one of the February protests, around 1.1M on March 7 and I think 1.2M on March 23rd... We're in May and there were 800K people in the streets on Monday (using the police's probably low estimate). The first marches earlier this year were peaceful; people started destroying shit in March after the 49.3 (=the gov not letting elected representatives vote on the reform); in the following weeks we saw a brutal escalation of police violence + suppression of just about any means of non-violent protest, which results in more violence.

The vast majority of protesters are still peaceful, but in terms of providing context for the increased violence, well—people protested peacefully, peaceful protests got banned. People banged pots and pans, pots and pans got banned and confiscated. People started a petition on the National Assembly website which got a record number of signatures, the petition was closed before its deadline and ignored. MPs asked (twice!) for a national referendum on the reform to be held, their requests were denied. Electricity unionists cut power in buildings Macron was visiting, now he travels around with a portable generator. Unions tried to distribute whistles and red cards (penalty cards) to football supporters before the French Cup finale last week, so the ones who wanted could use them if Macron showed up (he ended up hiding and greeting the footballers indoors rather than publicly on the stadium lawn); the police prefecture tried banning union members from gathering outside the stadium to distribute these items (although the ban was struck down by the judiciary as it was illegal, like most bans these days...)

Confiscating saucepans was already so absurd it felt like a gratuitous fuck you, but now they're trying to prevent the distribution of pieces of red paper. Cancelling petitions that would have had no real impact anyway. Prosecuting people for insulting Macron. Arbitrarily arresting hundreds of nonviolent protesters to intimidate them out of protesting (guess who's left then?). The French gov is systematically repressing democratic or nonviolent means of making your opinion heard, and when people get more violent they're like "This is unacceptable, don't these terrorists know there are other means of expressing dissent??" Where? This week a 77-year-old man was summoned to the police station and will be forced to take a "citizenship course" for having a banner outside his house that read "Macron fuck you" (Macron on t'emmerde). Note that he would have been arrested (like the woman who was arrested at her home and spent a night in police custody for calling Macron "garbage" on Facebook) but they decided not to only because of his age.

So that's where we're at; on Monday two cops caught on fire (well, their fireproof suit did) after protesters threw a Molotov cocktail at them. (The street medic who tried to help them with their burns ended up getting shot by a cop's riot gun a few seconds later—with French police no good deed goes unpunished!) The media talked a lot more about this incident than about the fact that the cop who got most severely injured on that day (broken vertebrae) was injured by an explosive grenade that a colleague of his meant to throw at protesters (you can see it at the end of the video below). If police with all their protective gear get so badly injured by their own weapons, no wonder the worst injuries have been on the protesters' side. (nearly 600 injured protesters on May 1st, 120 severely, according to street medics.) I'm not including images of these incidents in the video but on May 1st a protester had his hand mutilated by a police grenade + a 17 year old girl was hit in the eye by a grenade fragment, may end up losing it (during the Yellow Vests protests, Macron's first attempt at repressing a social movement, 38 protesters lost an eye or a hand).

What you see in the video: cops charging the front of a march to tear a banner off people's hands then retreating and drowning the street in tear gas when protesters throw paint bombs at them (protesters have umbrellas because of police drones); at 0:30, a journalist saying "They're not even arresting him, just kicking him when he's down—they kicked him right in the face!" then police spraying with tear gas protesters who try to fend them off; at 0:46 when a protester being arrested asks a journalist if he's filming and starts reading out loud a cop's ID number, another cop shoves the journalist and throws him to the ground; at 0:54, an Irish journalist runs away from the police tear gas grenades that you hear going off, at 01:08, the incident mentioned above when a cop drops a grenade he tried to throw, which explodes in his group, breaking another cop's vertebrae. There's a lot more I'm not including, like how CNN said "there's so much tear gas in Paris, our foreign correspondent can barely breathe", how another journalist was hit by a sting-ball grenade (he was also bludgeoned on the head so hard it broke his helmet—even though cops know the people wearing helmets are journalists...), and yet another journalist who was calling out a cop for aiming at people's heads with his riot gun (which is illegal) ended up having the guy aim the riot gun at his head from 2 metres away (getting shot with this "less lethal weapon" from that distance would be lethal.)

All of these videos are from May 1st (most of them from this account monitoring police violence.)

So yeah, nonviolent protests followed by violent police repression and bans of nonviolent means of protesting result in more violent protests. The French government responds by a) pikachu surpris, b) condemning violent protesters and praising violent police to the skies, c) continuing to ban everything they can think of. Confiscating saucepans didn't work but confiscating pieces of red paper will do the trick! Let's prosecute people for bashing or burning an effigy of Macron, because banning symbolic violence always works to prevent actual violence! And this week after the May 1st protests we learnt that the gov is thinking of making street barricades illegal, because that'll definitely solve everything. It's going to be interesting for history teachers to teach students about the 1789 revolution that allowed us to take down an absolutist regime and become a republic, under a government that banned barricades because they see them as terrorist anti-republican structures.

^ Statue symbolising the French Republic (on Place de la République in Paris) dressed with a 'Macron resign' shirt by protesters on May 1st.

[botgal]

Greetings fellow proponents of a free and uncensored internet. We've been fighting a hard and stressful fight this year trying to ensure that the internet as we know it remains as it is. It's tiring and stressful and we all keep doing it because we want to keep from losing the internet that's given us freedom and the ability to do what we love. We've been sending our emails, calling our representatives, and signing our petitions to all do our parts and I'm very proud of every one of you for doing such.

And now, I come to you all with yet one more thing that you can do. Possibly even easier than constantly calling and emailing people. Something that's really quite simple for any adult to do.

Cut the hydra's head and burn the stump for good. This year, we actually have the opportunity to vote some of the biggest sponsors of the bills that pose the greatest danger to our internet out of office. Which could prevent any further attempts to keep popping up their bills over and over again. Including one of the two main backers of KOSA.

Below are a couple of Senators who are up for re-election this very November, and who you have a chance of giving the boot for a chance to salt the earth of at least a couple of these dangerous bills. Or at least make it harder for them to make a comeback.

Senator Marsha Blackburn (Republican - Tennessee) - One of the two major sponsors of the dreaded KOSA.

Senator Ted Cruz (Republican - Texas) - One of the major sponsors of the newer Kids Off Social Media Act that was introduced earlier this month.

Senator Christopher Murphy (Democrat - Connecticut) - One of the main sponsors of the Protecting Kids On Social Media Act.

While getting these three out of office would not fully solve the problem, getting them voted out could give us a fighting chance! So if you or any of your friends, enemies, frenemies, occasional acquaintances, or distant cousins thrice removed live in those states and want to give us a chance to get some of the hottest irons out of the proverbial fire, then keep your eyes on those elections, ensure your voter registration is all up to date, and use what little power we as voting adults have in this crapstorm of a nominally democratic system to get them out of there so we can have a chance to breathe a little easier!

While obviously there may be other considerations for some people when voting certain people out of office, and you may choose for certain people over others due to some issues outweighing others, these are my suggestions to you if you would like to focus on this issue in particular. Do what is best for you, but if the free and private internet is important to you, then I ask you to place some genuine consideration on this.

Thank you for reading. Best of luck to all of you!

[cherryredstars]

part 3 of 'The game' with Miguel perhaps? 🫢

Pairing: Miguel O’Hara x afab!reader

Warnings: 18+, NSFW, Anal Penetrative Sex, Pegging, Anal Fingering, Slight Edging, Subby Miguel

Summary: Is this game over?

A/N: Blame the 48.4% of people who voted for this. So sorry it’s so late, love!

Word Count: 2.2K (Not Edited)

Part 1 Part 2

“Will you ever get tired of this little game?”

You ask him, a snarky smile on your face. The two of you barely stepped through the front door when he was whining against your lips. His hips had pressed into you, his hard on rutting against your pants. I want to play the game he begged, Please play the game with me.

You threw your head back with a smile, fingers tangling into Miguel’s hair as he kissed your neck. He was already so desperate, humping your thigh through his clothing like a pathetic dog. You cooed down at him, tugging on his hair as he whined into your neck. His breathing was heavy, and his hands held your waist. He had you completely pinned to the wall, his body weight preventing you from moving. You gave his hair a harsh tug, forcing his face away from your neck so he could look at your face. His eyes were glassy, his mouth parted as he let out sharp pants. 

“First number?” You asked, looking down your nose at him.

Miguel whined, and you coaxed him to answer you by pressing kisses up the side of his face. You heard the hitching of Miguel’s breath at your kisses, his hips stilling momentarily. “Three.”

You hummed against his skin, continuing your kisses. You eventually reached his ear and you smiled to yourself. You slowly blew against the shell, giving his hair another sharp tug until his face was toward the ceiling. He whimpered against your hold, whining as you kissed and sucked at the shell of his ear. You gave his lobe a tiny nip, chuckling as he bucked his hips. “Second number?”

“Five,” he said instantly, causing you to freeze against him. 

His breaths were the only thing filling the room, and you slowly backed away from him. You let go of his hair, letting his face naturally meet yours. Your fingers massaged his scalp, causing his eyes to get droopy and his body to melt into you. 

“Are you sure, Miggy?” You asked, seriousness in your tone. The sudden shift made Miguel pause for a second, but then he nodded. 

You let out another hum, leaning down to kiss him. Miguel instantly moaned into your mouth, his lips parting for more. Your tongue massages against his, skimming over teeth and the roof of his mouth. It’s hot and heavy, muffling each other’s noises. His hands are desperate as they roam over your body, trying and failing to find a place to land. His clothed cock is rubbing against you again, and you snake your hand down his chest until you’re cupping him. He whines loudly into your mouth, pulling away and rutting into your hand. His breaths are labored, and he’s sloppy with his movements. He’s like a teenager trying to hump his pillow for the first time. Pathetic and desperate. 

With your mouth freed, it finds its place against his ear again. You give it a slow lick, causing a low groan from Miguel. Your breath against the wetness of his ear has him shivering as you instruct him, “Be a good boy and wait for me in the bedroom.”

For a moment, you’re unsure if he’s even listening. His eyes are foggy and he doesn’t stop his rutting. You’re about to repeat yourself before he whines, letting your hands slip away from his body. He looks like a wounded puppy, a small pout on his lips as he looks at you. You almost want to laugh as you grasp his jaw, giving him another kiss that has him perking up. His eyes are dopey as he takes you in for a few more seconds, but eventually he pulls away from you completely and towards the bedroom. You watch him leave, waiting until he closes the bedroom door. 

When it closes, you make your way to the hallway closet, it’s filled with the usual things like cleaning supplies and extra sheets and blankets, but in the corner is a lone box. It’s been sitting in there for a while now, maybe a month. It’s already opened, so you have no trouble lifting the cardboard flaps and being greeted with the main attraction of tonight. It’s a bright red, something that made you laugh when you purchased it. It’s not as long as Miguel is, maybe an inch or two shorter. But it is an inch thicker than he is. Faux veins are molded into the silicone, creating grooves and bumps. It’s slightly tilted upwards, creating a curve meant to make the bulbous tip hit and drag against fleshy walls. The strap is made of comfortable yet sturdy material, made to not irritate the skin. There is even a small bottle of water-based lubricant. 

You carry the box into the bedroom, balancing it in one hand as you turn the doorknob. When you peek inside, Miguel’s clothes are thrown onto the floor in a rush, and he lays on the bed in an antsy mess. His eyes instantly meet yours, and he tracks you as you walk in. His eyes stray to the box, and he watches as you set it down on the bed. You slide it over to him, keeping him distracted as you begin to strip. His eyes fight between watching you or opening the box, but eventually his curiosity wins. His hand opens the flap, and his body tenses as he takes in the strap-on. His cheeks warm the longer he looks at it, but he only looks away when you sit besides him on the bed. You’re completely naked, and Miguel takes the moment to trail his eyes over your body before meeting your eyes. 

“When did you-?” He asks, not finishing his question.

You only smile, shrugging slowly, “A month or so ago.”

Your hands come up to Miguel, massaging his muscles so his body relaxes again. Your smile dies away, and your tone turns serious, “We don't need to do it if you don’t want to. We can do something else.”

Miguel is silent for a moment, and his eyes move back to the box. He studies it for a second before nodding, “I… want to try it.”

He can feel his cock jump with interest, and he aches the more he imagines it. You chuckle at him as his cock begins to leak precum, and you reach over for the box. You empty the contents, placing the strap and dildo on the bed and placing the lube on the nightstand for the time being. Miguel watches as you assemble the strap, his skin flushed. He can’t help but admire your hands, watching them as they work to complete the toy, almost like you’ve done this countless times. When it’s finally put together, you slip it on, adjusting the straps until it clings to your body nicely. The sight of you makes Miguel’s cock jump, and he has to fist the sheet to stop him from touching himself. 

You walk over to the night stand, grabbing the lube and opening it. You hold the dildo steady as you squirt some of the lubricant on it, stroking up and down to coat the silicone. Miguel gulps as you turn to him, your hand still stroking the toy as you smile at him. 

“Hands and knees, Miggy. Need to prep you too.” 

Miguel gulps, hesitating before doing what he’s told. His cheeks flame as he sits in the center of the bed, resisting the urge to lose his position to bury his head into his arms. The bed dips when you join him, resting just behind him. He shivers when your lips brush up his spine, his eyes shutting as he lets out a breath. Your breath is warm as you giggle, hitting his skin. It almost distracts him from the faint path your fingers make over the side of his thighs. They move up, your nails dragging to his pelvis. His head hangs down as your fingers skim over his cock, his spine stiffening as you grab him at the base.

He moans softly as your hand strokes him, his hands fisting at the sheets. His cock twitches at your attention, his tip weeping precum that you swipe away with your fingers. He can feel the ball in his stomach tightening until it explodes, making you pull your sticky hand away. 

“One,” You call from behind him.

Miguel groans quietly, his eyes opening as he looks over his shoulder. The bottle of lube sits next to your knee, but you ignore it as you wipe your hand against Miguel’s puckered hole. His sticky cum clings to his skin, wetting it slightly. Your finger presses against his hole, meeting some resistance. You grab the lube, spreading him apart as you watch the clear liquid drip onto his skin. He flinches at the coldness, whining as your finger swirls it around his hole. His ass clenches when you slip your finger inside of him, the resistance from before gone. 

Miguel’s brows furrow, trying to relax his body. You reward his efforts with the slight curl of your finger and a kiss to the base of his spine. Miguel’s body jolts when he feels a second finger just outside his hole, his body collapsing forward when you push it in slowly. The two fingers bump against the untouched bundle of nerves, making Miguel choke on a moan. You smile, slowly pumping and curling the two fingers. You’ve never heard Miguel be so vocal as you tease his prostate, watching the way his body jolts and shifts. You make sure not to put direct pressure against his gland, wanting to save all the fun for the main event. It’s just enough to make a dose of pleasure melt into his spine, and you pull your fingers away when you’ve deemed him stretched enough. 

Miguel’s chest is already heaving against the mattress when he feels the wet tip of the dildo at his hole. His body locks as it slowly pushes in, hitting against his prostate. His cock twitches as he squeezes his eyes shut, still so sensitive from your fingering. You bottom out inside of him, giving him a second before slowly pulling back. It’s enough for him to moan loudly, his dick jumping as he spurts pearly cum onto the sheets. He groans, cheeks flushed from embarrassment at his premature orgasm. You have the opposite reaction, laughing as you coo down at him.

“Oh, Miggy. Was it that good?” You smile, pausing all movement. 

Miguel doesn’t respond, only panting. His hand comes to his cock, hissing when he touches his tip. He tries to sooth the orgasm with slow strokes, but he’s stopped when your hands pull him away. His cock is going soft, but it hardness up as you slowly push back into him. 

“Just need one more from you, Miggy. Just one more.” You whisper behind him.

He lets out a tired hum in acknowledgement. He sighs out heavily, his eyes feeling droopy. His mouth drops open again in a moan when you thrust fully into him for the first time. His prostate swells as the faux veins of the dildo rubs against it with each movement of your hips. His hands squeeze into the bed, burying his head into the sheets to muffle his whimper. He bucks his hips, pushing back into you lazily. Your hands rub up and down his back, small praises leaving your lips. It goes straight to Miguel’s head, making it foggy. He lifts his head, his chin sinking into the mattress. 

“Close,” he whines, “So close.”

You hum, dragging out and stopping until only the tip of the dildo is in him. The orgasm dies down, his prostate throbbing. Miguel mumbles, shaking his hips to coax the dildo further inside of him. You shush him, slowly pushing back into him. He sighs out in relief, grinding back onto you as you begin thrusting again. You surprise him when your hand reaches to his front, grabbing at his cock. You simply hold his heavy cock in your hands, speeding up your thrusts. The force of them jolts his body forward, making him thrust into your hand involuntary. He moans weakly, sniffling as tears prick his eyes from the sensitivity. He cock twitches, and you tighten your hold around him. 

Miguel lets out a shaky, broken moan as he cums. His entire body twitches with the release, and you stop your thrusting to quickly jack him off. He whines loudly, trying to escape your touch. You relent when he starts babbling pleas for mercy, squeezing his tip before letting him go. He sinks into the bed, moaning quietly when you slide out of him. His knees straighten up, allowing him to lay flat on the bed. He whines slightly, his knees aching slightly from being in the position for a while. His eyes close, only to open when he feels your fingers at the nape of his neck. He moves his head to the side, looking at you with sleepy eyes. You smile down at him, leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to his sweaty forehead. He smiles slightly at the soft affection, eyes fluttering shut. 

“You just stay here, yeah? Gonna go get you water and something to clean you up with.” You say softly, your hands pushing his hair away from his face. 

He simply nods, feeling you get off the bed and some shuffling before the door opens and closes. He sighs out, feeling his muscles relax and his mind begins to shut down. He feels the edges of sleep clawing into his bones, and he does nothing to fight it. 

God, this game is tiring.

[jonquilyst]

Total Drama Sims: Season 2

That's right, baby! We're back. Is your teenaged sim bored and wanting something epic and awesome to do to spend their summer? Does your teenaged sim want a brush of fame and notoriety? Well, you've come to the right place. Total Drama Sims, the freshest, awesomest reality show on simblr, is back for a 2nd season, and I'm ready for you all to send 14 more teenagers to compete in crazy, wacky challenges (safety/lack of danger not guaranteed) in pursuit of the grand prize!

WHAT'S NEW THIS SEASON?

To keep things fresh, TDS2 will be set in a new location and will have new gameplay mechanics! TDS has claimed an abandoned film lot in Del Sol Valley because this season, our challenges will be based off of movie genres, just like the 2nd season of TDS's inspiration!

As for our new gameplay mechanics, TDS2 will be introducing a double elimination (two people are eliminated rather than one), a team swap elimination (someone is eliminated, but instead of leaving the game, the eliminated person joins the other team), and purge challenges (instead of a vote, the worst-performing contestant of a challenge is automatically eliminated) to mix things up and keep the game interesting!

I am primarily looking for people who did NOT participate last season, or their sim got out early. However, everyone may still participate! I just want as many people as possible to get a chance to have their sim play 💖 A lot of people were interested last time and unfortunately spots filled up so fast that some people weren't able to participate because of it (That being said, to promote transparency, I am now REQUIRING RESERVATIONS! That means if you want to participate, you MUST contact me before submitting your sim. You can do this by DM'ing me or sending an ask).

Read on for a refresher on what this competition is all about and UPDATED submission rules (so if you had a sim compete last season, make sure to read them again!)

THE GIST:

This competition is, obviously, based off of the Total Drama series (a show that’s near and dear to me), but you do not need any background knowledge of this show to participate! The show (and this competition) functions similarly to a Bachelor Challenge, where contestants will be routinely eliminated until there is a sole winner.

This competition will also focus on the contestants building relationships with each other (hence the drama part, which is bound to happen when you put 14 teenagers together!)

SUBMISSION RULES:

Reservations for spots are first-come-first-serve. If for any reason you'd like to give up your reservation, contact me ASAP so I can give that reservation to someone else!

Your sim must be a teen

If you had a sim compete last season, you may not resubmit that same sim. I'm looking for an all-new cast!

No occults; contestants must be human only (to prevent unfair advantages)

Contestants must not have high-level skills (they can have some level of skill but nothing above lvl 5; also to prevent unfair advantages)

Any amount and type of CC is fine, just make sure to include it when you send your sim over to me ^^

Only one outfit per category please

Must be okay with slight changes in sims' appearances (as I may use different mods/presets than you do)

Must be okay with me writing dialogue for your sims (for confessionals (example from last season here). I read all entries down to the word and will try my very best to keep everyone in their intended character)

Must be okay with the possibility of your sim entering romantic relationships with other sims (PLEASE SPECIFY THEIR SEXUALITY/ROMANTIC ORIENTATION. Sims with unspecified sexualities/romantic orientations will be assumed to be pan). Nothing NSFW will be shown or mentioned, as of course I'll be portraying minors, but please let me know if you don't want your sim to enter any romantic relationships!

Please give your sims a backstory. The more detailed the better. Describe what they're like, why they're competing on Total Drama Sims, etc.

Your sim can have any traits/aspirations

HERE IS HOW THE COMPETITION WILL WORK:

The 14 contestants will be split into 2 teams of 7

The 2 teams will compete in challenges in attempt to win invincibility (safety from being voted off). The losing team will have to vote someone off (the winning team will not be part of voting)

This process continues until 7 contestants remain. Afterwards the teams dissolve and everyone competes individually (this is known as merge). This means that only 1 contestant can win invincibility; everyone else will be at risk for elimination

When merge occurs, all eliminated contestants at that point will be eligible to rejoin the game through a special challenge. The winner of that challenge will rejoin the game (bringing the number of contestants back to 8)

This process again continues until 2 contestants remain. In the finale, all eliminated contestants will vote for a winner

Challenges will occur half the time. The other half of the competition will be socialization days, where contestants are free to socialize with each other as they please

The competition will start with a socialization day first to establish relationships before the first challenge

If the numbers between teams get too uneven, then a team swap will occur to one random contestant on the larger team

Voting will be determined by relationship dynamics and how everyone did in the challenge. Contestants who do poorly are more likely to get voted. Contestants who have a negative relationship with each other are also more likely to get voted. Conversely contestants who have a positive relationship with each other are less likely to get voted. The contestant with the most votes at the end is eliminated. All of this will be determined by a spinner (in case of a tie I will use a random number generator to determine who’s out). This will also determine who wins at the end of the competition.

REWARD FOR THE WINNER:

This competition is mostly for the funsies, but whoever wins this competition will personally receive an actual reward from me! You have a choice between the following options:

Discord Nitro for 1 month

A tumblr badge

NO DEADLINE! Submissions will close when all 14 spots are filled/reserved. Please provide your sim's tray files as soon as convenient! (Lmk if you need help with this. I will teach you if you don't know how!)

I will be updating the number of spots reserved periodically and will announce when all 14 spots are taken, but if you're ever unsure, don't be afraid to DM me/send an ask!

That should be it! Please comment, DM me, or send an ask if you have any questions, and feel free to reblog or share this with anyone who might be interested in participating!

[decolonize-the-left]

ICJ Rules Israel Must Prevent Genocide in Gaza

The court did not rule at this stage on the core of the case brought by South Africa – whether genocide has occurred in Gaza – but an overwhelming majority of its 17 judges presiding over the case voted on Friday for the emergency measures to be implemented.

Delivering its interim ruling, the court said Israel must take all measures within its power to prevent its troops from committing genocide, prevent incitement to commit genocide, allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, and bring more measures to protect Palestinians, which it called a protected group under the 1948 Genocide Convention. The ruling also called for Israel to report to the court in one month on its steps to implement the measures. However, it did not order a cessation of hostilities in Gaza, where Israel’s military action has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians since the war began on October 7. Delivering the judgement, Court President Joan E Donoghue said there is sufficient evidence of dispute for the genocide case to proceed, and that the ICJ has the jurisdiction to rule on the matter.

This is what we needed to happen! Israel and the USA may try to spin this as a win since the court didnt order a ceasfire, but it's Good.

As others have said, this whole trial has become more about the integrity of the world. These orders for example are not enforceable by the court. World leaders are supposed to lead and respect those decisions.

If this case and this ruling are meaningless then that means everything is. They'd let us all die when told directly that what they're doing is approaching genocide and needs to stop? For Amazon's "freedom of navigation" through the Suez? Leaders who think they're above the law and above the people of the world but serve...profit?

This case is everything and all eyes need to stay on Palestine.

Points I wanna address since this is my post:

When told to prevent genocide only a gaslighting, manipulative piece of shit would say, "well you didn't say that meant I had to stop killing them completely now did you so if I do then who's fault is that?"

Further, a person in charge of an entire country shouldn't need a call for violence to be spelled out when they've already been told to stop commiting genocide. Again: gaslighting piece of shit.

The court didn't call for a ceasefire because they called for genocide prevention which is what they were brought to court to rule on. Genocide and it's prevention. Of which they ordered Israel to prevent immediately and that Israel does meet a couple requirements for commiting genocide as defined in the Geneva conventions.

There's no excuse but Wanting to kill people after this. They've been formally informed that they're approaching genocidal levels of destruction. Not stopping means genocide is the goal and always was and nobody is gonna humor the ppl denying it anymore. What rational person wouldn't stop at this point?? What rational people would continue justifying it? They wouldn't.

[tamamita]

hey papa sal, how do i counter people trying to claim that islam as a whole sucks because of the slavery in the quran? theyre also one of those liberals who specifically hate islam because of how conservatives in the religion treat queer people.

First of, Islam was founded in a slave society 1400 years ago.

Second, I want you to ask your friend if there are any verses in the Qur'an that encourage Muslims to take people as slaves, if not, I want you to let them know that there are plenty of verses in Islam encouraging Muslims to emancipate them. The truth of the matter is that Islam introduced various rights for slaves, but could not go the extra mile to "abolish" slavery at that time, because it was not materialistically viable given how slavery was a practice all over the world. It was not only practised by Muslims, but even Jews, Christians, Atheists and etc. Such was the socio-cultural norms of that time. The only circumstance in which a Muslim could take a slave was during war. Either way, slavery within Islam is a dead practice.

Third, I assume your friend lives in the imperial core. If they're so concerned about slavery, then they should know that slavery is institutionalized in the prison system and sanctioned by the 13th amendment. You have prison farms, prevalent incidents of sexual exploitation of people, including lgbtq people, the disproportionate amount of black people behind bars, and various rights revoked, such as voting. Doesn't sound all that different from ISIS now, does it? All of this is sustained and maintained by your tax dollars. So instead of complaining about a long-dead religious practice, why don't they start working for the abolishment of the prison system, which is controlled by the ruling class for the sole purpose of exploiting the working class and to prevent dissent?

[for-a-longlongtime]

V. Sometime Around Midnight

Pairing: Frankie Morales x Marcus Pike

Rating: Explicit, 18+ MDNI Words: 839 A/N: This one took a while to figure out, so I appreciate y'all hanging in there - and all the love you've been spreading about this little series. For everybody who voted to see Marcus x Tim in this chapter (the poll currently is a tie!): don't worry, Tim will be here next time! This is unbeta-ed, dividers by @saradika.

< Previous Part

“Tell me about him.” Frankie bites into his taco, narrowly avoiding the spill of the salsa that drops dangerously close past his shirt. It’s 1 am, and at this point he can’t even recall how long it had been since he’d met up with Marcus at the air force base that morning. Exhaustion sits heavy in his bones as fragments of the day flit through his mind.

Their messes in that helicopter, quickly cleaned up with his hoodie. Driving silently to his apartment with a quick stop at Walgreens for condoms, lube and refreshments. All of that falling to the floor when he backed Marcus up against the front door, so eager to kiss him again - and for a brief, mad moment actually considering to fuck him right there. 

The slippery trail from the shower to his bed, sheets immediately damp from their wet bodies because finally - finally - he got to map all of Marcus’ body with his mouth, fingers, tongue, teeth. Hear the whimpering turn to moaning, begging, urging, until Marcus cried out his name eventually when he came. Not far behind, Frankie had tried to keep it down - trying to prevent a noise complaint from the neighbors -, which he only managed with his face buried against Marcus’ shoulder, coming harder than he’d had in months.

There had been cold drinks to share on the balcony, some snacks he found around the apartment, and the view of Marcus dressed in a pair of Frankie’s boxers - which turned out to be a lot more distracting than Frankie had expected it to be. Marcus hadn’t just been easy to chat to; he was fun to be around. Enthusiastic and animated, whether it was about food or art or travel; he easily talked about all kinds of things without it being too much chatter. 

Perhaps what Frankie liked most of all was that Marcus didn’t try to fill any silences. He didn’t seem to mind that Frankie was introverted, didn’t try to push anything, and didn’t ask invasive questions about the time Frankie had served, leaving it up to him to offer whatever information he wanted. That was something Frankie wasn’t quite used to. He wasn’t used to spending this much time around new people without feeling the urge to withdraw, to call it a day and unwind with some quiet time. Instead he found himself here, well after midnight, next to a food truck with tacos and beers. Asking about the one subject that hadn’t quite come up yet. 

Marcus swallows a bite of his food. “Tim? What do you want to know?” 

Frankie shrugs, tugging at the damp label on the beer bottle with his nail. “You mentioned you’ve been seeing each other for about a year and a half,” he says eventually, not quite sure what it is he wants to know about Tim. “You guys serious, or casual, or…”

“Or?”

Frankie laughs softly, shaking his head. He didn’t expect that to get turned on him; most people would’ve just filled in the blank with their own answer. “Or something else. You tell me.”

“If you’re wondering why else we’re fucking other people…”

“No,” he says after a moment as he leans back in his chair, not missing how Marcus’ eyes track the movement, lingering on his biceps for a long moment. “If so, I would’ve asked that.” 

“Yeah. You would’ve.” A smile plays over Marcus’ face as he nods. “Tim and I are serious, yes. But when we decided on that, we wanted to be realistic and leave some room for options. Nothing wrong with being into people other than your partner.”

Frankie thinks about it for a moment. “Neither of you get jealous?”

“Can’t, really. If things get too complicated, it doesn’t work, so we’re just open about everything.” Marcus hesitates for a moment, then continues. “We don’t really see anyone more than three times tops. To avoid getting attached.” The last words are surprisingly softer than the others.

“Mmm. So you get to see me one more time.” Frankie is not going to be coy about it. Spending such a long day together, and having fucked four times meant there was no mistake about the mutual interest. That last time Frankie had woken up from an evening nap, with Marcus still asleep against him, cock hard and leaking on Frankie’s thigh. Instead of feeling self conscious about his own refractory period, Frankie had woken him with a slow, lazy blowjob and then took his time to make Marcus fall apart under his hands one more time. “That’s how it works for you.”

“If you want to-...”

“Shut up, you know the answer.” Frankie laughs as he grabs Marcus by his shirt, tugging him over for a deep kiss. Lips tasting sweet from the pork and pineapple salsa, a hint of beer still. “You know I like you.”

Three more weeks. He’s stationed here in LA for three more weeks, with only one more opportunity to see Marcus.

That’s gonna become a problem.

Main masterlist | < Previous part Follow @longlongtime-updates for fic updates!

[qqueenofhades]

Something that gets me is not folks who are refusing to vote: I don’t agree with them BUT I understand the moral pain and can be empathic to that. I also understand people threatening not to try to convince policy changes. But there’s also a crowd that’s like “if you vote, you’re a piece of shit” and like, guys, im not gonna chase you down to vote but i will spend one day doing a small task to try to prevent as much death as possible.

See, maybe it is just because I am An Old and didn't come of age in the whole leftist social media "voting is at best morally neutral and at worst actively evil" Discourse TM that predominates today, but I just... don't sympathize at all with this "oh no it hurts my tender fee-fees to pick a flawed candidate in a flawed system" thing. I voted for the first time as a freshman in college in 2006. I registered when I turned 18, I walked to the polling place a couple blocks from my dorm, and I felt really excited to do it. I didn't come from a particularly active political household, though George W. Bush-bashing was a popular sport and my parents, once conservative Christian Reagan voters (ugh) were consistently voting for Democrats in the presidential race no later than 2000 or so, but are still technically unaffiliated. It was just because I had taken it in that voting was a good thing to do and part of becoming a responsible adult, so I did.

Since then, I have done two things I am proud of, which is a) never voted for any Republican ever anywhere (straight blue tickets for... almost 20 years CHRIST I AM OLD), and b) only missed one or at most two elections in that time (and certainly no presidential or major midterms). This included voting from overseas in two presidential elections (2008, 2016), voting by mail in others, changing my voter registration across multiple moves/states and to places where it would be more electorally useful, and otherwise making a conscious effort to keep it current and to use it every time. As I said, I don't know if this is because I'm old and therefore my perceptions were not shaped by this constant social media need to caveat and excuse and apologize for voting, or having to argue everyone really hard into doing it, but it is just not a moral burden for me. Voting is good. Voting is always preferable to the alternative. Voting is not something that needs to be extensively disclaimed. Just do it, you fuckers. Get off my lawn.

[palms-upturned]

The “anyone who says both Trump and Biden are equally bad or otherwise discourages you from voting is a Russian bot/Trump supporter/some other flavor of evil infiltrator” shit is really driving me up the wall. Especially the particular flavor of post that I sometimes see that’s like “anyone who says things that make you feel despair at the current state of the world and your own helplessness are not your friend and are trying to discourage you from your civic duties.” As if victims of genocide expressing their own anger and despair should be ignored when some of that anger and despair touches your own heart and makes you feel bad. As if the people abroad who will suffer the most from your choices can be disregarded because they’re not real people. Some of you motherfuckers are completely unwilling to face the consequences of your own politics and what other people will extrapolate about you from the things you say and do. If you’re going to vote for Biden, if you genuinely think that doing so is the only way to reduce/prevent harm, at least have a fucking spine and be prepared to accept that the colonized people facing genocide under his administration aren’t going to trust you or take you seriously as an ally. If you can’t even do that, then you’re just lying to yourself. You don’t care about colonized people, you don’t even care about the marginalized people in your own country who have been telling you that things have only grown worse for them under Biden because all he’s paid us is lip service. What you care about is optics, and about your own peace of mind. Nothing more.

[knightofthenewrepublic]

Percy would have worked with Octavian, but the Augur never gave him a chance

(or Why Octavian's actions weren’t justified)

As people spend more and more time critically examining the Riordanvese (often to a fault, it must be said) one of the most common revisionist arguments is to try and absolve the mortal villains of the consequences of their action; usually by exaggerating their motivations. That includes the argument that Octavian was so quick to war partially because he was treated poorly by the Greeks. Particularly by Percy Jackson. 

But does that actually hold up?

People will argue that Octavian was not evil, because attacking Camp Halfblood was justified from his perspective; he thought they had broken a truce with New Rome and attacked it. And that would be a fair argument, IF that was the only bad thing Octavian had done, or even the worst thing. It wasn’t. And Octavian had begun trying to trigger conflict well before that. Percy, on the other hand, did his best to prevent it.

The first scene where Percy meets Octavian, is also the first time we see his sinister side. And that is of course when he tries to blackmail Hazel into supporting him for Praetor.

Now there is an aspect of the context of this scene that I think a lot of people overlook; their ages. Octavian is 18, or near enough, and Hazel is 13. This is a guy old enough to vote, (the only one of them who isn’t a child soldier) blackmailing a girl too young to get a learner’s permit. Just before this, Percy says Octavian reminds him of someone; which is obviously a reference to Luke Castellan. This type of nearly grooming behavior would have really reinforced that impression; which explains Percy’s hostile reaction to it.

Percy slipped his hand into his pocket, and grabbed his pen. This guy was blackmailing Hazel. That was obvious. One sign from Hazel, and Percy was ready to bust out Riptide and see how Octavian liked being at the end of a blade.

But Percy keeps these urges internal. He doesn’t voice his anger, and doesn’t give any visible reaction. The other two keep talking like he’s not there. This is a pretty good demonstration of Percy’s hard won self control; on his first day at Camp Half-Blood he doused Clarisse with toilet water for less, without even meaning to.

The next interaction he has with Octavian isn’t much better.

“Recruit,” he [Octavian] asked, “do you have any credentials? Letters of reference?” Percy shifted. “Letters? Um, no.” Octavian wrinkled his nose. Unfair! Hazel wanted to shout. Percy had carried a goddess into camp. What better recommendation could you want? But Octavian’s family had been sending kids to camp for over a century. He loved reminding recruits that they were less important than he was.  “No letters,” Octavian said regretfully. “Will any legionnaires stand for him?”

Now just asking this question is obviously standard practice, so Octavian isn’t wrong for that. It’s his condescending reaction that is the unsubtle putdown.

But then things come to a head very quickly, when that night’s game of capture the flag ends in a visit from the god Mars, and the command he delivers; a quest to retrieve the legion Eagle, and free Death.

Now what’s really important here is that, while people often think of Leo attacking Camp Jupiter as the point where Octavian turned against the heroes, THIS is the actual point. THIS is where he goes from being a nuisance to being an antagonist.

It starts in the Senate meeting the next day, when Percy tries to make sense of the situation:

“This Giant, the son of Gaea--he’s the one who defeated your forces thirty years ago. I’m sure of it. Now he’s sitting up there in Alaska with a chained death god, and all your old equipment. He's mustering his armies and sending them south to attack this camp.”

Percy is just repeating what Mars literally told them the night before. Octavian’s reasonable reaction to this is:

“Really?” Octavian said. “You seem to know a lot about our enemy’s plans, Percy Jackson.”

Him, and everyone else who was conscious at the end of the war games.

In spite of being almost outright accused of treason, Percy still keeps his cool. This shows a lot of growth on his part, compared to where he was in the second book of the previous series:

This was so completely unfair, I told Tantalus to go chase a donut, which didn’t help his mood.

After a bit more discussion, Octavian makes his move. First he gets in another insult. 

“Mars has clearly chosen the least likely candidates for this quest. Perhaps it is because he considers them the most expendable.”

And then he argues that the senate should not give any of the support that would normally be given to a quest. The odds of them succeeding are already so low; better to use their resources to protect the camp.

It’s pretty easy for us, the readers, to overlook what a dick move this really is. Of course WE know that the heroes are going to come back alive; but in universe, there is nothing to guarantee that. Even a small magical trinket could be the difference between life and death. And Octavian is trying to deny them that.

This could be understandable, if there was any sincerity to it. A sad but necessary sacrifice for the greater good, to protect the camp. But after arguing that all their resources have to be saved for the battle, Octavian proceeds to do nothing with them. When the giant’s army arrives, the legion simply marches out and fights them with conventional ranks and swords. Aside from a few roman scorpions (large crossbows), no specialized weapons are brought out, no magical items are used, they didn’t even build a wall or a trench. So there was no real reason not to give them anything; even if he sincerely believed the quest was doomed, that was all the more reason to help. The right magical tool might have at least given them the chance to get back alive. Depriving the questers served no purpose other than to make them fail.

You can also see this, in the fact that all Octavian’s stated reasons don’t actually win over the senate. 

The senators’ eyes moved back and forth between Octavian and Reyna, watching the test of wills. Reyna straightened in her chair. “Very well,” she said tightly. We shall put it to a vote.”

No one gives their support to Octavian before this. The senators are waiting to follow the person they see as more powerful, not the argument that was more convincing.

As for motivations, there is only one that Octavian could have; with the election just days away, he wants to prevent a rival for the praetorship.

Is the fulfillment of an epic quest a silly basis for entrusting someone with supreme executive power? Yes, in the real world, it is. But demigods don’t live in the real world; and in their world, everything revolves around quests. Quests drive every important event in the series, and are the ultimate standard by which the skill and power of a demigod are demonstrated. As Annabeth puts it in TLT:

“At camp you train and train. And that’s all cool and everything, but the real world is where the monsters are. That’s where you learn whether you’re any good or not.”

If Percy returns from a land that wiped out half a legion of demigods, with the long lost legion Eagle, the mob that is Rome will raise him up on the fanciest shield they can find. And Octavian isn’t the only one who has put that together. The very next chapter sees Reyna tell Percy that he could stand for praetor if he succeeds; and we are reminded several times that Octavian is far more politically savvy than she is. If she’s put it together, you can bet that he has.

But going back to the senate meeting itself; we see another example of Percy choosing not to start a conflict with Octavian, even when he seems to be trying to get him killed. Instead, he focuses on the important issues:

Frank jumped to his feet. Before he could start a fight, Percy said, “Fine! No problem. but at least give us transportation.”

Percy is more concerned about succeeding in saving the camp than satisfying any grudges. Octavian is more interested in how many insults he can fit into one meeting.

“A boat!” Octavian turned to the senators. “The son of Neptune wants a boat. Sea travel has never been the Roman way, but he isn’t much of a Roman!”

(The insult proves to be quite a hypocritical one in BOO, when Octavian has boats built to surround Camp Half-Blood.)

Octavian’s next attempt to start a conflict with Percy is slightly more subtle.

They were only halfway across the forum when someone called, “Jackson!” Percy turned and saw Octavian jogging toward them.  “What do you want ?” Percy asked. Octavian smiled. “Already decided I’m your enemy? That’s a rash choice Percy. I’m a loyal Roman.” Frank snarled. “You backstabbing, slimy–” Both Percy and Hazel had to restrain him.

Why is Octavian talking about being enemies? It doesn’t say Percy asked angrily, or Percy growled, or Percy glared at him. It’s a very dramatic reaction.

And Percy has done nothing to suggest that he wants to be Octavian’s enemy. Sure he has grown to dislike the augur, as most people would with someone who insults them and blackmails children:

Nico put his finger to his lips. Suddenly all the lares went silent. Some looked alarmed, like their mouths had been glued together. Percy wished he had that power over certain living people . . . like Octavian, for instance.

But he’s been keeping those critical thoughts to himself. He even avoided arguing in the senate meeting so as not to escalate things. The worst thing he’s done was knocking Octavian out during capture-the-flag which was both a perfectly fair move and a good strategy. Hardly something to base a feud on.

Most likely, this is a freudian slip on Octavian’s part. He’s already started to see Percy as an enemy, for no other reason than he might be a rival. That, or it’s an attempt at gaslighting Percy into thinking he somehow provoked Octavian into trying to get him killed. In any case, the augur hardly seems unhappy to see him, and the two legionnaires at his side, go off to their deaths.

Octavian smiled wickedly. “The last person she [Reyna] had a private talk with was Jason Grace. And that was the last time I ever saw him. Good luck and goodbye, Percy Jackson.”

If he’s happy to see them go, he’s certainly not happy when they come back alive. 

The look on Octavian’s face was priceless. the centurion stared at Percy with shock, then outrage. Then, when his own troops started to cheer, he had no choice except to join the shouting: “Rome! Rome!”

Not the appropriate reaction when Percy is saving the city, not to mention Octavian’s own life. The auger doesn’t have a single kind word to say.

The Roman symbols burned into Percy’s arm: a trident, SPQR, and a single stripe. It felt like someone was pressing a hot iron into his skin, but Percy managed not to scream. Octavian embraced him and whispered, “I hope it hurt.”

Just before this, Octavian kills a teddy bear and reads the future from it, announcing:

good omens for the coming year–Fortuna would bless them!

It has been suggested that Octavian actually had a very different vision at this moment; that he saw the Argo II opening fire on New Rome, and kept that to himself, but turned against Percy and the other Greeks because of that. This doesn’t seem likely. It would serve his purposes better to share that information; and he would have seen that vision in front of hundreds of demigods hardwired to notice small details, none of whom notice him having any visible reaction to it. Besides which, this can’t be the point when he turns on Percy, since he’s already been trying to sabotage him for most of the book.

Now if there is some big conflict between Percy and Octavian, this is the time for Percy to win it decisively. To use his new power and authority to put the auger in his place.

But Percy doesn’t do that.

“Why should we trust these Greeks?” Octavian was saying. He’d been pacing the senate floor for five minutes, going on and on, trying to counter what Percy had told them about Juno’s plan and the Prophecy of Seven.

Rather than simply steamroll over the discussion, and try to use his authority to silence any opposition, Percy allows Octavian a reasonable amount of time to air his concerns, before finally stepping in with his counter argument.

When Percy lays out the details of why they must join the Greeks, Octavian never comes up with a logical counter argument. Instead, when a messenger reports the Argo II has been spotted, he resorts to paranoid rambling.

“Praetors!” The messenger cried. “What are your orders?” Octavian [who is not a praetor] shot to his feet. “You have to ask?” His face was red with rage. He was strangling his teddy bear. “The omens are horrible! This is a trick, a deception. Beware Greeks bearing gifts!” He jabbed a finger at Percy. “His friends are attacking in a warship. He has led them here. We must attack!”

Yesterday when he last read the entrails, Octavian said the omens were good. Now, they’re suddenly horrible. That pretty well justifies Percy’s growing disregard for Octavian’s auguries.

Not only that; he is accusing Percy of treachery, while at the same time suggesting they attack a ship that can be seen bearing a white flag.

And this is before a single shot has been fired on New Rome. That false-flag attack by Gaea can not be the inciting incident for Octavian’s hostility to the Greeks. Not if what he wanted to do before it happened is the same as what he wanted to do after it happened. The attack is just what incentives the rest of the camp to support him.

The last interaction between Percy and Octavian is pretty much the first two chapters of MOA, where Octavian does his best to offend the Greeks.

“You’re letting these intruders into the camp!”

When Reyna orders Octavian to go make a sacrifice to the gods, Percy adds:

“Good idea. Go burn your bears Octavian.”

An insulting way to put it; but no more so than calling the Greek ambassadors (including a Roman praetor and Percy’s own girlfriend) “intruders.” And no more harsh than the insults Octavian has used for legionnaires below himself, like Frank and Hazel. And Percy has been given enough reason not to trust Octavian’s auguries any more than he trusts him.

The last exchange between them is about the praetorship:

Octavian snorted. “Which means we have three praetors! The rules clearly state we can only have two! “On the bright side,” Percy said, “both Jason and I outrank you, Octavian. So we can both tell you to shut up.” Octavian turned as purple as a Roman T-shirt. Jason gave Percy a fist bump.

I can only imagine how long Jason has been waiting for someone to say that to Octavian. It has been suggested this is an abuse of power on Percy’s part, but there is no reason to think so. They are surrounded by the senior officers of the legion, some of whom will be on Octavian's side, and no one raises an objection. And it's not like Octavian actually treats it like an order.

“I’ll step aside for Jason,” Percy said easily. “It’s no biggie.” “No biggie?” Octavian choked. “The praetorship of Rome is no biggie?”

No need to go into detail about how the rest of the series goes. Gaea triggers a war between the Greeks and Romans, and Octavian walks right into it. There is no reason to think he was working for her; but he was plainly looking for an excuse to start hostilities.