#democratically decided shenanigans

[bumblewarden]

I need to gather opinions!

When Radka (my companion Brosca) leaves Orzammar for the first time after Paragon of Her Kind, she's going to panic about falling into the sky. Who should she trap in a bear hug to keep from falling up? Note that whoever she grabs is going to slowly rise to their tiptoes to prank her into thinking they're actually losing their grip on the ground

#dragon age #radka brosca #pavle amell #alistair theirin #zevran arainai #democratically decided shenanigans

[katakaluptastrophy]

We've heard the story about the young woman living under imperial oppression conceiving an unusual baby with god, but what happens after that?

The local potentate gets twitchy about succession and engages in a spot of mass child murder, of course!

It's the fourth day of Christmas, aka the Feast of the Holy Innocents, and it's time for more weird Bible study for goth lesbians!

A quick refresher on the Christmas story: following some hotel over-booking shenanigans, baby Jesus is born in a stable and after singing angels turn up to chivvy them along, is welcomed by some shepherds. A little while later, three enigmatic wise men from the East turn up with some rather odd baby gifts, having been led to Jesus by a star.

While cash, liturgical incense, and embalming ointment feel like they'd be considered practical new baby gifts on the Ninth, Gideon doesn't get such fanfare with her arrival. Just a few geriatric nuns who only manage to necromantically scrounge up a name between them.

However, by toddlerhood Jesus and Gideon are on a rather more equal level: people are trying to kill them.

In Jesus' case, it's the local king, Herod the Great ("the Great" is perhaps best read in the same way as "Democratic Republic" or "gentlemen's club"). Herod was a client king, ruling on behalf of the Roman empire. The wise men stop to ask him for directions and Herod is non-plussed to say the least, because prophecies of the birth of great kings who will deliver their people from oppression are not great news if your job depends on said oppression. Handily, the wise men are warned in a dream not to tell Herod where they found Jesus and they go home a different way to avoid having to see him again.

But since Herod knows the general time and location of Jesus' birth, he decides it's better to be safe than sorry and has every boy under two murdered. (It should be noted that historical accounts other than the Bible, while generally agreed that he was a bit of a shit, do not mention this). Mary and Joseph had also conveniently been warned in a dream and left town before the unfortunate incident.

If this story sounds familiar, it's because it's not the only political baby murder incident in the Bible: you may also recognise elements of it from the story of Moses in Exodus.

Meanwhile, Harrow's parents are also rulers of a small but significant province of an empire, whose power is threatened. Though in their case, the issue is not a birth but the total lack thereof. With necromantic fertility issues and approaching menopause threatening to end the line of Anastasia, they murder 200 under-19s to generate enough death juice to ensure a necromantic fetus in what must have been one of the worst date nights on record. This incident is also not widely reported, in their case likely due to their ability to necromantically bind people's tongues.

Gideon, of course, is probably not actually spared in Pluto's own Massacre of the Innocents. But she handily does not stay dead, thus escaping the fate of her fellows. As with Jesus, being god's child has its perks.

Churches that celebrate the Holy Innocents understand them to be among the first martyrs, often considering them saints who have the power to intercede with God, particularly in situations involving babies and children. That is, a collective group of infants (6-144,000 of them, depending on who you ask) have the ability to impact outcomes across time and space.

What metaphysical impact those 200 Ninth infants imprinted on Harrow's soul might have on the outcome of Alecto the Ninth remains to be seen...

#the locked tomb #tlt #tlt meta #pelleamena novenarius #priamhark noniusvianus #harrowhark nonagesimus #gideon nav

[pudding-parade]

OK, I'm sorry for posting about politics. Truly. I'll post something sims-related later to make up for it. But for me this is local politics, and Ken Buck -- a man with whom I vehemently disagree, politically, but whom I respect for his commitment to democracy and his stance on the 2020 election not being stolen and for his continuing denouncement of the January 6th insurrection despite things like death threats made against himself and his family by MAGA loonies -- has made my day today. I have literally (and I mean that in the true sense of the word) been spending my afternoon/evening periodically chortling from sheer schadenfreude, so I just have to memorialize this and hope that I don't have to eat my words in November.

For context, or for non-USians, or for just the (slightly) shorter version if you don't want to look at the article....

Lauren Boebert, a super-"MAGA" fascist, is, depressingly, my current representative in the US House of Representatives. She only barely won reelection in 2022 despite the fact that, while I live in a very blue, hippie spot of it, the district has historically leaned heavily conservative because most of the district is made up of very Christian rural ranchers, who are conservative, yes, but in their case, generally speaking, traditionally so. They're mostly not the weird, Trump-flag-waving, MAGA-cult breed of it. So, Bobo only won reelection in 2022 by a few hundred votes and, since then, Adam Frisch, the centrist (which, by non-US standards, is right-wing) Democrat who opposed her and is running again, has only gotten more popular, as the House has proceeded to get absolutely nothing done, despite having a majority, precisely because of the shenanigans of MAGA idiots like Bobo.

So, Bobo decides that for the 2024 election, she'll instead run for the district east of mine, which was Mr. Buck's and which is even more conservative. She announced this decision right after Mr. Buck announced that he was retiring and would not be running for reelection. It was obvious that Bobo figured that that district would be a much easier win than the traditionally conservative district she very nearly lost.

But just today, Mr. Buck announced that instead of staying in Congress until this coming January, he's out as of this coming Friday. Which forces a special election in his district to fill his seat until January. Our (Democrat) state governor announced that that election will on the 25th of June, which is by law the longest delay possible, thus leaving Mr. Buck's seat empty until then, thus eroding the Republicans' majority until then. And if Bobo wanted to enter that special election, she'd have to resign from her current seat immediately because you can't be a sitting congressperson for one district and run for and be elected in another. Bobo has announced that she's not going to give up her current seat. And, for various reasons, all of this means that her chances of winning Buck's district in the regular election in November are now worse. And, she can't change her mind and run for reelection in the regular election for her current district, even if she wanted to, because the deadline for entering that election has recently passed.

So basically it's (probably) bye-bye Bobo! (And probably hello, Mr. Frisch for me, and while I'd be happier with a progressive, I'll take a centrist over a MAGA idiot any day.) And also? Mr. Buck, who has publicly stated that his party no longer aligns with his values, has not only screwed Bobo with his well-timed decision to "spend more time with his family," but also Mike "Christian Nationalist Fascist" Johnson, the Speaker of the House -- who, as the icing on the cake, was not informed of Mr. Buck's decision in advance of the announcement of it -- as his parting gift to MAGA.

Why? Because the Republicans now have a majority of just four or five seats, and, from next Friday until July, when Mr. Buck's (most likely Republican but perhaps not MAGA) successor will be sworn in, they now have one less, with the next election only eight months away and at a time when the Repugs need all hands on deck, so to speak, if they have any hope of getting anything at all done and, therefore, of having anything "positive" (by the conservative definition of that word) that they can talk up and run on from now until November. I'm pretty sure this big "screw you" was Mr. Buck's intention before he announced even his original retirement plans, so...Well played, Mr. Buck. Well. Played.

The question is: Will other House Republicans with integrity (there are a few left) follow Mr. Buck's lead? Could we see the House change majority before the 2024 election? It's not likely, but it's possible! And either way, this one conservative man dealt a blow to the MAGAs today, and I, as an extreme leftie, am here for it.

#non sims #oh no! #US politics #i swear US politics is a goddamn soap opera now #it would be entertaining as hell #if people's rights hadn't been lost/put in jeopardy because of people who share Bobo's views

[nokingsonlyfooles]

“But dissent must never lead to disorder.”

I have too much on my plate right now. Of all the systemic failures that are eating my brain, among them deficiencies in healthcare; deficiencies in the language we use to talk about systemic racism, white privilege, and proximity to whiteness; lack of community, and all the other reasons people don't hear and respond to cries for help with actual help, this is the only one I can muster the energy to express, because it's so simple. I don't even know if it will make me feel better, but I want to SAY it.

This is not how dissent works. If you apply this rule to dissent, you are headed for a dictatorship with no brakes. If you already know that and don't need anyone to unpack it for you, you've identified the problem and you can stop reading right now. For your mental health purposes, please do.

This playbook is older than I am, and someone had a few things to say about in during the "disorder" caused by students agitating for Black rights and an end to the Vietnam War.

Internet Archive isn't exactly stable and I've had some issues getting it to load, but you should be able to find this somewhere for free. It's dated in a lot of places, but we knew. There's the evidence. We've known a long time. We decide the "disorder" was OK after the fact, as indeed we have about Vietnam and Civil Rights. But it sure wasn't OK when it was happening! We needed a Law And Order President to crack down and fix that!

We have such a person in office now, and, barring a total collapse, such a person will be in office after the election. Both candidates want to continue the genocide and both candidates want to silence the protests. Both candidates are subverting the democratic process to get into office, don't ignore the primary shenanigans and lack of choice the DNC is offering us. Both candidates are incompetent and I don't want either of them drooling on the nuclear button, but Biden has competent help, for the moment. He's actually in office, and he can actually do things. He has chosen to stake out a rhetorical middle-ground, while continuing the genocide and letting states tackle the student protests however they want - so far, that means arrests and injuries, and we'll have to wait and see if anyone gets shot.

Trump is SAYING he wants to crack down EVEN HARDER, on EVERYTHING, but your guess is as good as mine whether he'd actually pull it off. If we're caving to the idea that the protests must stop because they're too disorderly, though, that's fine. Why would that not be fine? We're just talking about the matter of degree and how much of a priority "restoring order" is. If the dissent continues (and if the genocide, and the horrors coming out of it continue, why wouldn't the dissent?), more and more people are going to be willing to throw in their lot with whoever they think will make it stop.

We're already killing lots of people for the sake or "order," at home and abroad. It's usually quieter, due to distance and method. Another trans child taking themself out of the equation is almost silent, and easily dismissed as some kind of unfixable personal problem, not a societal issue. And kids in Gaza? Well, we only see 'em in pictures. We don't hafta look. Gunning down college students on American soil is a lot scarier, that looks way more disorderly, that's harder for us to deal with. We prefer not to, but we're willing to do it. We have been and still are, that's part of our national identity, whether you want it or not. You dissent, we kill you for being "disorderly." And maybe we apologize later and give you a national holiday or something, way later. (Have a fun time admiring what's left of the Indigenous cultures that we're still trying to wipe out on this year's Indigenous People's Day!)

If dissent must never lead to disorder, we gotta give back BLM, right away. (And, conservatives, say bye-bye to January 6th and Charlottesville, and Ruby Ridge and whatever else you wanna call "patriotism" or "not as bad.") The Civil Rights movement goes back, too, with MLK and Malcom X together. And there goes Stonewall! Kent State? Justified! Armed Indigenous resistance to their own genocide? Inexcusable! (Same for Palestinian resistance and, indeed, the Jewish Resistance to the Holocaust. If you really wanted to be saved, you'd be better victims.) The Civil War? Well, the South isn't allowed to push back against the President, but neither is the North allowed to invade and infringe on states' rights. Call it a wash! And Dred Scott? Good call! You can't just be escaping from slavery all willy-nilly when it's the LAW. How 'bout that American Revolution? Oooh, yeah. Bad idea. Dredge the tea out of Boston Harbor and get right with King Charles, you freeloaders GOTTA pay your taxes, representation or no! Apologize and dissent better next time!

Ha-ha, of course, this is my autism talking. You don't mean that literally. You don't mean "never," Joe. I'm pickin up what you're layin down! You mean "not when it's inconvenient, and I get to pick."

And that's why we need to preserve the ability to dissent. (Even for the assholes who want to kill me - although I would like their ability to dissent to stop somewhat short of killing me, if we can manage that. I need to be alive to retain my ability to dissent!) If "disorder" is an arbitrary decision for the guys in charge to make, there is no check on their power. They crush what irritates them, and they may continue crushing it as long as they're able to stay on top.

Dictatorship is a fistful of M&Ms and Biden and Trump are two dogs sniffing around to see if they can snork some up when you're not looking. Biden is being a lot quieter about it, while Trump is howling and shitting and distracting. But we don't want either of them to eat the M&Ms! That's not good for them or for any of us!

Autocracy can look very, very orderly on the surface. And, in any case, it is very convenient for everyone not being crushed by it. They can just go on about their lives, knowing the tough decisions are being made for them and any voices trying to get them to think about that will be silenced. Some folks are up for it, as long as they're not the ones on the bottom. But for everyone else, dying for the convenience of others is disorderly AF.

Genocide is disorder. Saying "stop" is basic human decency. It's not stopping, so the message is going to get louder and more chaotic and more damaging, but that's not on the messengers. They can't fight fair. The people in power certainly aren't fighting fair, and they have a lot more weapons at their disposal. Don't give them more. Don't buy that everything's fine and you can quiet down and go on about your business. Don't simplify by designating a good guy and backing whatever he wants to do against the bad guy. When something is wrong, don't ask permission, SAY SO LIKE YOU MEAN IT. If you're going to wait for someone in power to tell you it's okay to push back... they never will.

#long post #us news #us politics #biden #trump #dissent #democracy? #genocide #free gaza #protests #the first step is admitting there's a problem #not sure about step two but we're not past step one yet are we?

[tayloralison]

Taylor never seems to fight against racism if there's anyone shes stood up for it lgbtq+ community and now it's fizzled to just saying something during pride month only or in regards to the legislation that was linked to yntcd and a lot of her activism was her speaking out against trump it was about her being publicly recognised as a democrat

In regards to minorities either race or sexulity she doesn't discriminate and employs people for example actors and dancers and her back up vocalists and she's good friends with minorities and in one on one interactions she's kind to people thinking back to secret sessions and outside of that she is nice to everyone she interacts with and maybe she thinks that's enough and that's actually what a lot of people especially white people think is enough and counts as being anti racist but it's not, it's the bare minimum and what should be the standard and to actually be anti racist is to challenge your privellege and listen to criticism especially when it's poc saying they are hurt by actions regardless of intention you have to recognise that there are consequences to what you say and do and you don't get to decide how hurt someone is allowed to feel by your actions

She's just a prime example of a lot of regular non famous people who don't actually understand what is meant by privellege

A lot of times where her privellege has been shown I have given her the benefit of the doubt especially because it's other people's actions and they reflected badly on her but in this case it's not only that it's someone else's actions but her own and her teams actions of being public with a racist and then doubling down on this idea that he is funny and is just doing a bit and it's all in jest and then turning it around into a feminism argument it makes me feel so icky towards her because she's a white woman and using the oppression she's faced being a woman as a shield against racism and while sexism is something oppressive that's she's dealt with in spades throughout her life her whiteness comes first in this situation and either she can't or she doesn't want or care to challenge past that and at her grown age with the life experience she has I can't give her the benefit of the doubt as I have in the past

No she's not the worst person in the world and I do not hate her I still respect her artistic merit but she's not as intelligent and as empathetic and as caring as I once thought of her so for now instead of a being person who I want to champion and cheer on and revel in her shenanigans like her easter eggs and celebrate her success, now she's just become another person in the world who is making music and when it releases I'll listen but that's all

yup yup exactly i literally don't have anything to add because you nailed it

#anonymous #asks

[odinsblog]

SMH. I heard Cassidy Hutchinson say something like, “I hated to see this after all the great things he did for the country.” She was talking about Donald Trump. Several others said the same thing. About Donald Trump.

Regardless of what you may hear Democratic leadership saying, calling Hutchinson and Liz Cheney “brave” or “good people” or whatever, please remember: they are self-described, lifelong Republicans and in the upcoming midterm elections and in 2024, they WILL be voting for other Republicans who want to keep Roe v Wade overturned; they WILL be voting for other Republicans who will vote for voter suppression and against the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Because they are REPUBLICANS. (If you consider yourself a centrist or a #VBNMW cultist, I’ll make it easy to understand: treat the Republicans like you would if they were Susan Sarandon).

SN: everything above includes Cheri Jacobus, the author of this tweet. “Never Trump Republicans” are still Republicans. Who are against bodily autonomy & voting rights, etc.

To be clear: I am thankful that the smaller minions are turning state evidence on the big criminal. Honestly, I am. But that’s what they are. Republican minions (who didn’t want to become the fall guy) making a deal, many of whom had to be subpoenaed. At the end of the day, they are the voters who empower the GOP to do all of the hateful, heinous, regressive things Republican voters support—before, during and after Trump.

Whoever runs shit at the GOP has decided they have had enough of Trump’s shenanigans—not because they dislike the 3 Christofascists he added to SCOTUS, not because they dislike all the tax cuts he got them—but because he became uncontrollable. Republican leadership has decided to go with Ron DeSantis. They’re trading up. Trump 2.0. They get the same racist, homophobic, Islaomophobic policies… they get the same Federalist Society SCOTUS nominees, and the same tax cuts, but they get rid of all the bad optics & unpredictability. With Trump gone, they can put the Republican mask back on, feign innocence and once again claim some modicum of “respectability”.

I missed seeing the Insurrection as it happened in real time, so I’m glad to see the January 6th Committee going in so hard and sO thoroughly. (iMho, the only reason they’re able to do so is because they have the blessings of GOP leadership). If you’re at all politically inclined, it’s really worth watching. Hearing Trump’s own voice behind the scenes was really …. something. Hopefully, hopefully Trump will be held accountable.

#politics #january 6 commission #january 6 #cassidy hutchinson #liz cheney #j6 #january 6th

[dybdahlsvisitportugalspainfrance]

Exploring Northern Spain (modified)

I am writing this on the evening of September 22 from our last destination of this planned trip, Oviedo, Spain. We have two days here before we leave for a trip with Annie & Carl to Brittany, France. I'm afraid my social life has gotten in the way of my journaling - so tonight I'm staying in and writing. It is NOT like I am cloistered though, we are in the center of the city and currently a marching band is passing our hotel. Mark is trying to figure out if this is just a Friday event or a pre-football event. Real Oviedo is playing Langroe tomorrow - and I know y'all know this is NOT pointy ball football but the real thing. Anyway it is awesome.

This is pretty much our route with mini variations as we have veered off to see this or that amazing thing. Today we went went through Picos de Europa National Park. We are in España Verde (Green Spain) and it is simply beautiful. Here is a bigger shot of our route. Our eastern most point was San Sebastian or Donostia as it is called in the Basque language. That is what I will talk about today.

Sept 19, 2023

San Sebastian or Donostia

What an absolutely gorgeous place!!

This beach is protected on 3 sides by land (the beach is like a clam shell) and people swim here year round - although this is the North Atlantic. This place was was Queen Isabella II can 3 times a year to bathe to address her skin condition. Now - I'm going out on a limb here - but truly she bathed ONLY 3 times a year. I'm guessing had she bathed - let's just say once a month or every other week - or gods forbid DAILY - her skin condition would have gone away. But that is just me...

This might be a good time to talk about the Spanish Royals. Let me just say - What the hell?

Spain has a constitutional monarchy - like Great Britain. But there are a few differences.

Before the death of Franco, he had hand-picked his successor someone who would carry on his vision of Spain as a deeply conservative Catholic country, and thought he had found that person in Juan Carlos I, a member of the Spanish royal family. (His grandmother was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria.) In 1969, he named Juan Carlos as his successor, certain that the future king would keep Spain on its authoritarian path. But Franco badly misjudged his chosen successor. After the dictator’s death, Juan Carlos turned out to be a reformer. The constitution was rewritten, Spain transitioned to a democratic system, and elections were held soon after. Due to lots of issues Juan Carlos 1 - decided that this dictator of a Catholic nation was not really his gig - so he decided to be king instead and slowly transitioned the country to democracy. But even after passing laws saying every person was equal under the law EXCEPT the king, he realized he was not going to be free for long - so June 19, 2014, he abdicated while he had a parliament that was pro-monachy and would accept his son Felipe as king. Felipe is King and Juan Carlos is in exile - without the queen - who has had it with his shenanigans.

And the photo below is the queen and crown princess congratulation the women of the Spanish team after winning the World Cup this year. ( Notice - no kissing here)

With no male heir, Leonor, Princess of Asturias born 31 October 2005) is the heir presumptive to the throne of Spain as the elder daughter of King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia.

FYI - we are in the region (think state) of Asturian tonight. Just like the crown prince/princess of Great Britain is the Prince of Wales - in Spain the crown prince/princess is the Prince/Princess of Asturia

Enough about that. Back to San Sebastian or Donostia .

After Queen Isabella II decided it was "fashionable" to bathe, the trend was established and the who's who of money followed. It became all that - AND a bag of chips - so many historical figures dipped their toes in the water. People like Leon Trotsky and Mata Hari come to mind.

This town is know for its food and I could not fail to mention the Txokos, or private male gastronomic societies that characterize Basque culinary culture. These men cooking clubs are now accepting women - but they are forbidden to enter the kitchen. Sounds like something I would like.

If you can get an invitation you can expect to enjoy things like bacalau (salt cod) with browned garlic olive oil emulsion and piperade (basque pepper sauce), kokotxas (cheeks of hake fish), langoustine with serrano ham, and hard cider in the company of the other men who are members of the society.

We had these items in different restaurants but no doubt the men's club food would have been better.

This city has had some tragedies. It was a hot bed of fighting during the Civil War

From the city's website:

"31st August of the year eighteen thirteen – a date marked in red in the history of San Sebastián. On that day, blood and fire tainted the streets of our city, raising it to the ground. A huge civilian tragedy to which this building bore witness.

These were the years of the Peninsula War that pitched Spain against France. San Sebastián was under the control of the French army at that time. The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance, which had become involved in the war to support Spain, had started to gain the upper hand over Napoleon Bonaparte’s army.  In the summer of that year, English troops, backed up by Portuguese soldiers, besieged the city of San Sebastián. On the morning of 31st August, troops led by General Sir Thomas Graham, who was acting on orders from the Duke of Wellington, managed to breach the defences and enter the city. The French troops, who were completely overcome, withdraw to Mt. Urgull, seeking to protect themselves inside the La Mota castle. 

The locals endured a succession of unmentionable atrocities. Under the pretext that San Sebastián sympathised with French interests, English soldiers fired their guns the whole day at balconies and windows, gained access to houses and seized everything of value. The vandalism and looting spread throughout all the streets, houses and churches. As in all wars, many women were raped, and hundreds of locals were shot dead: children, the elderly…. nobody was safe. Ultimately, they set fire to the whole city. 

The huge fire reduced practically all houses to cinders in the old city. This building, below (San Sebastion Cathedral) is one of the few that remained standing and is the only one to maintain the façades and construction elements typical of the time."

Not much remained. The city was built back in standard at-the-time construction so the old town looks pretty uniform today. I was however intrigued by this:

This is the city square and during the Franco times, these homes faced the bull fighting arena. You may own your home - but the city owned your balcony and for event - like a bullfight - the city sold tickets to your balcony. Hmmmm..

We loved this place and enjoyed every minute there including this beach art. Sadly it will be gone in about 5 hours. But for now, it was awesome.

I snapped a picture of this guy in a store window:

¡Eguberri on! (Happy Christmas in Basque)

This is Olentzero

Some historians believe Olentzero's origins can be traced back to pre-Christian Navarre and are linked to pagan winter solstice traditions, although the character was later adapted to conform with Catholic rituals

The story goes that Olentzero began his life as an abandoned infant who is found by a fairy godmother.

After bestowing the child with the gifts of “strength, courage, and love," the fairy leaves him with a childless couple who raise him as their own in the foothills of the Pyrenees.

Olentzero whittles wooden toys and at Christmas comes down from the mountains to the villages to distribute his crafts among the children.

Then one day as he is taking the gifts to a nearby town he passes a house that is engulfed in flames and charges in to save all the children inside. After performing this heroic deed, however, he perishes in the flames.

But his fairy godmother grants him eternal life so that he can continue to make toys for all the Basque children.

So - a couple of things: Olentzero has been cleaned up a bit over the years. Now he is a pipe-smoking jolly drunk filled with love. But 100 years ago, he would come to your house and leave a gift IF you had been good BUT if you had been bad - he would slit your throat. Talk about some motivation to mind to your parents - hey?

This character and the celebration that welcomed him were banned under Franco's rule. Catholicism was required so only the "approved" Catholic way of celebration Christmas were allowed. Below is a photo from 1930 Pre-Franco times:

Did you know that under Franco rule parents had to name their children Franco approved names? And no Basque names made the list. If you were on the Franco team - times were good (unless you pissed him off). On the side against Franco - not so good.

After lunch we headed back to Bilbao for our afternoon at the Guggenheim Museum. But you already know about that - so tomorrow I will write about Castro Urdiales and Santander. Loving Northern Spain.

Stay tuned.

[collymore]

The blissful idiocy unsurprisingly of white British serfs and their global, likewise vile, genocidal kin!

By Stanley Collymore Whatever faults allegedly that Joe Biden has at least, and very significantly so, he’s a democratically elected figure who is undoubtedly the legitimate President of one of the world’s really, foremost important nations that is discernibly the United States of America. Also, he can similarly at the very end of his generally, statutory four years term in office, be either removed rather democratically from office by this very same US electorate, if they basically decide to do so, or otherwise simply collectively vote him back into office again. Charles Windsor, in marked contrast however, is quite discernibly not elected by anybody to any office, including the plethora of those he basically vaingloriously holds, amongst them being the irrefutably and patently literally undemocratically held position of being actually, Head of State of the United Kingdom. Very significantly so because no one was essentially truly asked their opinion on these matters in a public referendum much less so ever accorded a realistic opportunity to aptly vote on them democratically in a real nationwide general election. Therefore, Charles and his naturally widely expected, successor William, rather arguably assuming of course the British monarchy does naturally exist that long, cannot be voted out of their actually unearned, blatantly unwarranted and consequently too undemocratic, feudalistic mind-set positions, on open merit alone; far less so, their irrefutably numerous individual and likewise collectively odiously embarrassing adulterous shenanigans; or their significantly and additionally, quite undeniably numerous individual and likewise collectively crudely embarrassing very immoral as well as distinctly nefarious, monarchical activities!   So literally, having monarchical brownnosing clowns far too intellectually challenged, dimwitted and evidently also pathetically gullible for their own good, vociferously and hatefully, nastily ranting on about Joe Biden’s supposedly unsuitability for the prime position, of President of the USA, significantly bearing in mind what these lowlife, and truly repellently fawning scum happily put up with in Britain, forces any intelligent person, to essentially clearly logically outline to them for their own good, specifically why they ought realistically, to take that very unquestionably hard look in the mirror, solely and advisedly at themselves. Then seriously ponder if the world wouldn’t be a much better off place if a few deliberately launched Russian, Chinese and also North Korean Thermo-nuclear weapons, plus additionally likewise for good measure some similar USA ones were intentionally very accidentally on purpose similarly unquestionably also used to permanently eradicate Britain of its burgeoning plethora of noxious, odiously malignant; and a thoroughly, distinctly evil profusion, of arrogantly toxically verminous scum! Obviously, because no one will ever miss them! (C) Stanley V. Collymore 12 July 2023. Author's Remarks: Whatever the alleged faults of Joe Biden are he is none the less the democratically elected President of the United States of America. The American electorate had their reasons for voting for him as their President and that was their lawful and democratic choice, which they naturally and in massive numbers utilized. You might not like their choice which is your right to do so, but if you claim to believe in democracy but then can’t or won’t accept the democratic will of the majority of voters in a free and fair election, then you’re nothing but a bloody, self-centred and repulsive idiot and I will further add a quite disgustingly and sickeningly, markedly ostensibly pathetic loser in my estimation of the matter. Additionally, if you’re not a citizen of the USA and don’t live, let alone have any voting rights there what the American electorate do in their own domestic elections is none of your god dammed business. As for white Britons and their global genocidal kin still currently usurping the countries of the several indigenous people worldwide that were barbarically and most arbitrarily, and far from any democratic process, taken over as their own and who with sickeningly pathetic irony knowingly fawn over and worship a hereditary and patently unelected monarchy and its attendant taxpayers funded family in the UK ; who, these intellectually challenged prats are diametrically opposed to even having a referendum in the UK to determine with absolute certainty whether the wider citizenry, as apart from the dim-witted and gullible serfs, actually want to have this outmoded Middle Age mind-set and Dark Ages concept as the epitome of British politics and culture in a supposedly modern 21st Century; and on top of all of that are baying that the House of Lords is undemocratic and should be scrapped because it’s actually opposed to these vile cunts ingrained racism towards non-white migrants to Britain, while clearly having no problem at all these evil pathetic racists in welcoming white Ukrainian Nazis whose likeminded parents and grandparents were hard-core elements of Germany’s Waffen SS killers, with their own distinctive units, during World War II; and they sure as hell weren’t fighting for Britain or hoping that the Germans lost. But yes, get rid of the House of Lords because there are some members there with moral rectitude and honourable consciences unlike these baying mother-fucking idiots and lowlife scum, most of whom, and one doesn’t have to be an aficionada of Long Lost Families to know that the overwhelming majority of them don’t even know who they biologically are or which bin or doorstep of some charity or other they were dumped on; and primarily so because their whoring mothers hadn’t an honest clue, of among the several johns they shagged with, who actually got them pregnant. And yes, these are the dim-witted twits that boast how they voted to take Britain out of the EU, even though it was by the narrowest of majorities, but that’s democracy they claim; and in a manner it is. But mention a similar referendum requisite to the British monarchy and it’s a different tune they want to play. Well, one thing is certain in the USA. In 2024 the USA’s electorate will have the opportunity to re-elect Joe Biden or ditch him; and that’s their choice. A choice that the British electorate doesn’t have currently requisite to Charles or any of that mob. So to all you monarchical fawning, racist Karens, likeminded Gammons, delusional white Empire Loyalists and clapped out and dried up, menopausal, white old aged pensioners and paedophiles who relish Britain as it is and long you openly yearn for what you perceive as the old glory days, carved out of the genocide, misery, resources and slavery of others you considered then and still do as inferior to yourselves, while earnestly but with the utmost delusion wanting an all-white Britain, a situation not only confined to white Brits in the UK but equally so their odiously evil kin in the quite barbarically genocidally acquired countries that they rigorously control without reference to and certainly not in the interests of the clearly indigenous peoples like the Aborigines and the Maoris who they callously ignore and ill-treat in their own indigenous and quite deprived of indigenous homelands  – the very noxious equivalent of Camilla Parker Bowles applying for the position of Mother Superior at a Roman Catholic Convent, or incredibly to be put in charge as the odious and intransigent whoring adulteress bitch that she was and in every probability still is, as the CEO of an honest marriage guidance organization that does specify in actually preserving marriages not callously and self-servingly destroying them. So very candidly from me to all you vile, toxically verminous scum I unequivocally say this: Go get a fucking life, assuming of course that you know how to go about doing so, and specifically leave Joe Biden alone and to the distinctively democratic will of the USA’s electorate.

#racism #Hate

[opedguy]

Media Hounds Trump in New Hampshire

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Jan. 29, 2023.--Saying former President Donald Trump, 76, spread more lies in Salem, New Hampshire at his first campaign event, the press continues to spread falsehoods about the former president, a cottage industry in the Democrat-controlled press.  Trump talked about the dubious outcome of the 2020 election, something Democrats call the “big lie.”  House Democrats blamed Trump for fomenting an insurrection Jan. 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol, first saying he whipped up a angry mob at the Washington, D.C.’s Ellipse, encouraging his audience to ransack the Capitol.  What’s a bigger lie, saying he didn’t like the outcome of the 2020 presidential election or saying Trump incited mob violence on Jan. 6, 2021?  Trump was impeached for “incitement of insurrection” by House Democrats only to watch Trump acquitted in the U.S. Senate Feb. 13, 2021, with the FBI admitting the riots were planned for months.

If you listened to lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) at Trump’s impeachment trial you’d think he told his audience to go to the Capitol and crack heads.  Trump, in fact, told his audience to protest peacefully, let their voice be heard.  But the “big lie” found in the Senate Impeachment trial was that Trump told his followers to break in and ransack the Capitol.  Trump told a Salem, New Hampshire audience that he was more committed than ever to win the 2024 nomination, to get the country back on the right track with the economy, immigration and most importantly the Ukraine War.  Trump opposes the Ukraine War, thinking it’s only making the U .S. look weak.  Trump sees no benefit to funding Ukraine and the war without any outcome in sight.  Funneling more cash-and-weapons to Ukraine hasn’t led to the breakthrough beating the Russian Federation promised by Biden.

Trump told the Salem Audience that everyday is April Fool’s Day in America.  “I think of the United States.  Every days is April Fool’s Day,” Trump said.  “We have open borders when they should be closed.  It’s April Fool’s Day . . . We have prisons—people from mental institutions and terrorists—being dumped into our country when they should not be accepted.  April Fool’s Day, right?  Who would do that?” Trump asked to loud applause. New Hampshire’s big donors and GOP party officials aren’t willing to commit to anyone candidate this far out.  Trump was the first declared candidate Nov. 15, 2022, with others looming but not declared.  Like in 2016 and 2020, there’s a substantial body of Republicans that oppose Trump running again for president.  Whether the party can field another viable candidate is anyone’s guess.  Most New Hampshire voters haven’t decided who they’ll back.

University of New Hampshire poll showed 44-year-old Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leading Trump by 12% with New Hampshire voters. Whether that holds up or not is anyone’s guess.  Most New Hampshire voters like Trump’s policies but don’t like his baggage and drama that he brings to the race. Trump plans to refine his message heading into South Carolina where he’s expected to announce his opposition to the Ukraine War.  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) emphatically backs Biden’s Ukraine proxy war against the Russian Federation, promising more sparks to fly.  Graham pushed recently to add U.S.-made Abram M1 tanks to Ukraine, thinking it would help Kiev beat back Russia from its sovereign territory.  Trump’s in the GOP minority, calling Ukraine a “crazy war,” another costly boondoggle to the U.S.  How Trump’s views on Ukraine play out is anyone’s guess.

Trump doesn’t have any competition now because he’s the only GOP candidate to announce for 2024.  Whether his “first mover” strategy helps his cause or not can’t be determined this early in the race.  Most prospective voters still haven’t gotten over voter fatigue from the 2020 race, with all the shenanigans on Jan. 6.  Democrats hoped at this stage Trump would be charged by the Justice Department with more felonies related to his role in the Jan. 6 riots and classified docs found at his Mar-a-Lago resort.  Partisan Democrats like Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) still make up stories about Trump’s alleged ties to Moscow, something disproved by the Mueller Investigation that concluded March 23, 2019 that Trump or his 2016 campaign had no ties to the Kremlin. Yet that doesn’t stop Schiff and other House Democrats from hurling unproven accusations against Trump even now.

Once Trump refines his 2024 message to include President Joe Biden’s dangerous Ukraine proxy war, Trump could win back skeptics.  There’s enough growing concern about the U.S. throwing taxpayer cash down a rat hole in Ukraine.  Trump expressed confidence that he could reclaim New Hampshire’s independent voters, looking for a change in 2024.  “I don’t think we have competition this time, to be honest,” Trump said.  “We are so far ahead in the polls,” Trump said, not knowing how things would change once other candidates declare for 2024.  For whatever reason, DeSantis has strong appeal for GOP voters looking for a fresh face in 2024.  Growing numbers of GOP voters want to try something different in 2024, boding well for other candidates.  Whether they can compete with Trump can only be decided by GOP primary voters.  Only time will tell whether Trump still has the same magic.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[ask-the-eu6]

Buff Belgium vs Germany. Who would win?

Luxembourg: Well the results are clear.

Germany: I cannot believe this...

Belgium: *Pats Germany on the head* There, there, little one... It will be alright.

Belgium: Thank you for your ask!

Some mun shenanigans below the read more...

We got the ask and decided to hold it up to a democratic vote.

So yeah yet another win for democracy!!!

Ideas that didn't make it but should be mentioned:

Memes that need to be shared:

In the end we decided to do a little collab between two of the muns... which is why the mix in art styles!

Anyway this is just to say this is a Buff!Belgium appreciation blog!

Thank you for your ask! We all had fun!

#hetalia eu #hws belgium #aph belgium #hws germany #aph germany #aph south italy #aph italy #aph Luxembourg #aph netherlands #Buff belgium our beloved! #slight #gerbel #but only slightly

[dreamteamfanblog]

Y'know, I don't actually have a well defined stance on the "Should We All Be Treating Dream Better In Prison" debate, partially because I haven't been watching the Smp regularly for a while and am most likely not up to date with everything and from what i've heard/seen I am kinda on the fence, so like, i'm not arguing for either the stance that Dream should be treated better in prison than he is or for the stance that nobody's obligated to be nice to him after the moral event horizon's he's crossed. Like. I am not making a stance on which is correct.

But I will say the debate in Dream's favour makes me a bit uneasy solely for the fact that it really seems like the long standing Dream Apologism (or at least tolerance) tendency back in full force. That's not me saying "We can't criticize the way the prison is set up rn", I myself don't know how I feel about the conditions in the prison. It's not the suggestion that conditions should be better in of itself that puts me on edge. It's the sheer unadulterated passion and fury and intolerance towards characters who aren't Dream next to this very lackluster mumbly noncommittal "hahh yeah that was really bad and not good :(" certain parts of the fandom extend when it comes to what Dream's done.

I see lots of people incredibly passionate about how Dream's mental health is bad now and he's not getting enough nutrition and he's being mistreated, and i'm not going to go on record and say I even disagree necessarily but I will ask where that energy is from these exact same people while Dream's continuing to regularly commit atrocities?

A lot of the "Dream Deserves Better Treatment In Prison" crowd will vaguely acknowledge that Dream is Bad and has done Bad things, but they never match the passion they extend in Dream's favour to criticize him with the same fierceness when it comes to things like his consistent and continued abusive behaviour towards poor Ranboo, the fact that he beat a child to death while locked in the prison together then laughed about it (then smugly taunted about how he could do it again and again and the people on the server were still his puppets), murdering Ghostbur/reviving Wilbur with no remorse or hesitance, etc.

I mean sure all but the most diehard out of touch Dream Apologists will very briefly acknowledge these things with a neutral-negative tone but it's literally so blatantly lackluster besides the same people's impassioned fury over how Dream's treated in prison.

And this isn't a new thing!

People are quick to downplay Dream's corruption in the early days of the Smp before the revolution, people are quick to minimize Dream's role in everything Schlatt did, people were a bit too hasty to insist back when the exile conflict first happened that he very possibly really was just upset with Tommy for griefing and probably wasn't even planning to hurt L'manburg or use Tubbo (which...we know is false now and honestly knew was false then too lets be real), hell, there was this whole cognitive dissonance mental gymnastics thing going on throughout season two where people tried to juggle both the fact that Dream's actively psychologically torturing a child all season and the idea that he's not really a tyrant per say and we don't necessarily need to shove him out of power cause has he really done that much to deser-

you get the idea

It's not apologism per say. When pushed people will acknowledge that Dream's a bad person or that specific things that are pretty impossible to ignore were really awful of him.....then cha cha slide right into "But is it REALLY okay to do/say/feel ____ regarding him???".

It's not apologism. But it is tolerance. And the expectation that his victims be tolerant as well.

During the early days of the Smp, Dream unfairly asserted an authority over people who did not want him to govern them. He dished out punishments, made up rules, dictated the lives of others, involved himself in conflicts that were not his business, etc, and when he was told to leave just a few of these people alone in just a tiny little area of land because his governing was unwanted? He asserted himself supreme authority, named his friend king, and then repeatedly killed and destroyed the land of like four people who literally just asked him to leave them alone and stop bossing them around for no reason. He was oppressive, he killed, he stole, he destroyed everything around him with no mercy because someone asked him to stop bothering them and not enter a plot of land that literally took up like a hill in a plains biome and nothing else at the time. There are one person houses on the server bigger than the original L'manburg land plot. Dream was a tyrant who took five canon lives in one day because he was so entitled he couldn't fucking handle the hit his overblown ego took over such a reasonable request. However many people, even people who will vaguely acknowledge that Dream wasn't a good leader back then, will actively ignore or even openly flippantly downplay his atrocious behaviour while also getting weirdly fixated on, like, the 'drug' van thing. Wilbur is a very corrupt person and he has been since before the Pogtopia arc, I will die on that hill, but within the context of the Independence War....L'manburg was entirely in the right? And didn't really do anything?? Like first off I really don't care how often they do the whole bit of calling them drugs, they're potions, the implications are not the same. Secondly, they literally just scammed Tubbo, and not even out of much all things considered, which are like, standard Dream Smp shenanigans, come on now, and like, when it was blown up and made into this big thing where now Tommy and Wilbur are going to jail.....everyone was kinda just like "wait what the fuck". Like. Eret and Tubbo both literally switched sides to side with Wilbur and Tommy midway through the arrests cause like...what the fuck. Like, as Wilbur himself pointed out, they didn't even do anything illegal, Sapnap just decided on the spot that it was and he's taking them into custody. Tubbo was literally the one person scammed and he was a L'manburg citizen from its very conception. The fact that people have always been so ready to minimize Dream's corrupt bs at the time while fixating on bUt ThE dRuG vAn is really weird. And while most people don't take it so far as to claim that independence was a bad thing to ask for full stop, they're also way too fuckin' keen on making L'manburg's side look a lot less innocent than it was and making Dream and his soldiers look a lot less corrupt, unreasonable, and power hungry than they clearly were at the time, instead implying that L'manburg somehow took things too far or had disingenuous origins despite not actually doing anything illegal or super immoral anyway, they were literally just asking Dream to back off from their absolutely tiny little patch of land and stop telling them what to do, and Dream was the one who declared war outright and then started murdering/stealing/pillaging/burning-and-exploding shit all over the place. A lot of people, even as they acknowledge he's Bad, expect an unreasonable amount of tolerance for Dream while being rather overly critical and judgmental of the other side of the conflict in question to an unfair degree. They aren't defending Dream per say, they're just fixating heavily on the other party's perceived wrongdoings while Dream is doing horrific atrocious things and just kinda gets vaguely handwaved at. Sometimes this dips directly into the "Dream was bad obviously, but was starting a revolution and war against him really necessary when it caused so much bloodshed :( ?" argument as well.

This carried on very neatly into the Manburg-Pogtopia arc, Dream's tyrannical oppressive destructive violent acts are acknowledged by a little "Dream's bad and all" and then is followed up by heavy criticism of the other side for doing something completely reasonable as the "Well, Schlatt was TECHNICALLY legally elected!" argument takes hold and it's implied that Pogtopia maybe shouldn't have staged a coup, I mean, that wasn't legal, y'know? Are they Just As Bad actually? Or if not just as bad at least also bad and therefore worthy of criticism? What right did Every Single Member Of L'manburg have to overthrow a democratically elected leader even if he did wrongly imprison them, exile his political opponents, tear down historical monuments, raise taxes unreasonably, and execute a child in front of a crowd? What about the Law? Aren't Pogtopia technically usurpers??? Isn't that Wrong™? I cannot stress enough how often i've seen people trying Really hard not to look like they're defending Dream while actively downplaying his actions and criticizing the rebellion on its legality as if Schlatt was not literally the only citizen of L'manburg left because he executed/exiled/chased-off literally every single other person in the nation wanted him gone because he was a tyrant and obviously his Legal Election doesn't counteract that despite people's attempts to argue that while Dream was bad (and schlatt too, though we'd be lucky to get any sort of description of what 'bad' entails here, much less one that does justice to how monstrous these people are) did we really have a right to force them out of office so harshly with violence?

Or going into the exile conflict, I like, instantly clocked that the plan was to isolate/hurt Tommy, drain L'manburg of whatever resources he wanted out of them, then destroy them. I think most people with two braincells to rub together at least picked up on some of his plan, and of course it's very obvious that what Tommy did was not exile worthy and that Dream would have picked up any excuse he could think of here. But of course you had a ton of people downplaying Dream's actions/intentions/motives. And somehow the weird hyper criticism of the victims got even more severe. Like. To the point where some parts of the community almost seemed to be engaged in a contest to see who could find the most ways to tone police Tommy, Quackity, and Fundy the most for being upset about tyrannical governmental abuse that put all of them in danger and functionally destroyed one of their lives. Like. They will literally downplay or brush right past Dream's shady horrendous bs so quick to jump right into their best point of how Tommy brought this upon himself or was too emotional or needs to learn how to control himself or is so Selfish because he dared be....baffled and angry by the random unfair disproportionate punishment when he didn't do anything wrong. This exact same bullshit extends to when Quackity and Fundy get upset and snap over the exile decision, people sweep right past how horrifically agonizingly atrocious Dream's actions were and then immediately start calling Quackity and Fundy hysterical at the absolute best but much more commonly manipulative or power hungry for the high crime of being deeply upset that a good friend of theirs was just unfairly exiled on the whims of a tyrant, to the point where there were people outright criticizing them for the fact alone that they dared be upset/question the decision instead of immediately politely accepting it and just letting the leaders responsible get on with their lives with no complaint!

And then the rest of the season was the same shit with people acknowledging Dream as bad but pearl clutching at any sign of action against him or people not being polite and tolerant of him. I think I damn near cracked when people watched Quackity call Dream a tyrant and insist he couldn't get away with treating people the way he does and immediately jumped into how dumb and reckless and mean spirited and power hungry and whatever Quackity is. Literally any time he spoke out against Dream for like any reason in any way! This also extended to anyone else whenever they weren't super palatably polite and tolerant of Dream and wound up immediately labeled all sorts of distasteful things because they actually tried to take action against him or even just had the 'audacity' to say some mean things to/about him or the people who help him commit atrocities! Dream gets away with just vaguely being Bad™ but his victims, whenever they aren't the picture of grace or respect or obedience for two seconds, become any number of very specific and very passionate insults and accusations.

They aren't Dream apologists, they don't condone or defend his actions, they acknowledge him as Bad, but they're so much more angry whenever people DO something about it!

Dream is bad™ but wasn't L'manburg escalating to independence like that so quickly in bad faith, especially after the Drugs™? Dream is bad™ but like he has a point that Schlatt was elected so did the people really have a right to stage an illegal coup there? Dream is bad™ but Tommy shouldn't have been so angry and reactionary when Dream tried to get him exiled for no reason, right? Dream is bad™ but can we really say it's right for Quackity to engage in mild skirmishes with him and insult him??

This weird tone policing in which anytime one of Dream's victims is harsh or mean with him they're suddenly *insert wide range of very harsh insults/accusations* is really weird. Dream is bad™ but if anyone does anything about it besides quietly/politely asking him to please stop that sir? They get harshly critiqued to hell for it wheras there's never any suggestion for what they should be doing besides Giving Him What He Wants Very Politely Until He Goes Away. Any insults or acts of rebellion or god forbid violence against Dream is so unacceptable and the people who do any of the listed things are just indescribably bad. Even when Dream hurts and oppresses everyone to this very day and shows no remourse about a single thing, I still see people out here doing this shit.

And, well, I see a lot of the "Dream Needs Better Prison Conditions" crowd be very critical of people who aren't Dream and literally every time they do anything that could be considered even remotely Mean To Dream and they get so much more heated about that then about the actual horrific things Dream has done.

So while I don't take a stance on the point itself at the moment, i'm at least very wary of the whole situation because there's this long standing precedent of fixating in on people not being palatable™ and respectable™ in how they handle interacting with the person responsible for brutal and consistent oppression against them, this long standing precedent when it comes to narrowing in on how Dream's effected by the people who's lives he's ruined acting out against him or not treating him well and absolutely refusing to extend empathy to the other party who, even when they do end up doing 'bad' things at any point, never do anything near as bad as what Dream's done and yet get significantly less sympathy or tolerance than he does. And while i'm neutral on the topic itself i'm deeply suspicious of this whole debate by nature of this precedent and how a lot of the Improve Prison Conditions For Dream crowd are openly much more empathetic towards him than any of the people he victimized and are more likely to brush by his honest to god unforgivable sins than literally anything at all from the objectively much more sympathetic/justified people he's hurt. It just all feels very familiar and i'm inclined to feel like a lot of the debate can read as worryingly disingenuous on that premise alone?

#dream smp #dream smp discourse

[firealder2005]

A Little ‘Bout Me (And Some Shameless Advertisement 😀)

Okay, first post that isn’t a drawing.

Let’s do this.

Hi! I’m FireAlder2005. She/Her pronouns please! I’m Demiromantic PanAce, a Catholic, pro-choice (*gasp* yes we prochoice Catholics do exist).

I like to draw (when the mood hits me: see #alderdraws) and write (also when the mood hits me: see #alderwrites)! I’m into many fandoms, too many to count really, but my current obsession is The Trials of Apollo (and a bit of Hunger Games).

You can find me on Ao3 under FireAlder2005!

Other blogs:

Fandom Blogs

@apollosgiftofprophecy - Greek mythology/Trials of Apollo blog

@firehollyalder - Warrior Cats blog

@fireofamockingjay - Hunger Games blog

@pinesndimes - Gravity Falls blog

@hells-greatest-poison - Hazbin Hotel blog

Fanfiction Blogs

@a-writers-nook - collection of writing prompts/stuff

@burning-thistles-bt - Warrior Cats AU blog

@kittypets-read-the-series - Kittypets read the WC series

@time-travel-shenanigans-galore - blog for my Warrior Cats A Vision of Series

see below the cut for fanfics and tag list

Warriors

Burning Thistles 

In Progress

I collaborate with my pal @alollinglaughingcat on this. 

We currently have 172 chapters posted as of Apr. 1st, 2024. We have a tumblr for this: @burning-thistles-bt

A Vision of A AU

Complete

(see: #a vision of a au)

Kittypets Read

In Progress/Haitus

(see: #kittypets read au)

However, I have decided to remove KPR from AO3 since it’s just stressing me out. Please visit @kittypets-read-the-series

Star Wars

One-Shots

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Luke Skywalker & Leia Organa

Whumpcember 2022: Finished Series

Sequel Trilogy Fix-It

In Progress/Haitus

Young Life: 2/2 Chaps about Rey’s life on Jakku pre-TDF

The Dawning Force: 1/? Chaps. TFA

RiordanVerse

The Works of Apollo - A collection of fanfics about Apollo throughout the RiordanVerse

Thanks for reading!

🤗

My Aus

#warrior cats superpower au (feel free to ask. came up with this nugget and it makes me smile :) )

#the last ones standing - if you want Luke Skywalker bonding with his cousins it’s right here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43545942/chapters/109486980 (3/9 Chapters)

#have a very merry haunted christmas! - sequel trilogy gang go ghost hunting. Read here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43481979/chapters/109311969 (1/? Chapters. On Hold)

#espionage assassinations and bodyguards au - a Senator of Naboo Luke fanfic I’m thinking on right now.

#bt ideas (READ AT YOU’RE OWN RISK. SPOILERS MAY BE ABOUND)

#avoa ideas (AGAIN. SPOILERS MAY BE ABOUND)

Me Tag List

#alderposts - any posts that I make

#alderreads - my book ranking

#alderwatchs - stuff I post as I’m watching something

#alderargues - filter this tag if you want happy fun times and no me getting into arguments with someone. I want to provide the resources for my followers to curate their tumblr experience.

#aldertheories

#aldertalks

#tumblr funny

#tumblr things

#tumblr stories

#tumblr polls

#blorblo - any of my blorblos can be seen here (Luke Skywalker, Luna Lovegood, Hollyleaf, Firestar, Reyna, Percy, Alderheart, Reva, ect.)

#lol - anything funny

Astronomy Stuff

#nasa

#nasa being funny

#black holes

#supermassive black holes

#neutron stars

#protostars

#astronomy

#space

#stars

#night sky

#galaxies

#galaxy

#milky way

#solar system

#planets

#astrophysics

#astrophotography

#universe

Weather Stuff

#weather phenomena

#tornados

Animals Stuff

#animals

#favorite animal posts

#kitties

#pretty kitties

#baby kitties

#kitty funnies

can you tell i love kitties?

#[insert animal here]

Religions

*Disclaimer! I support all religions! Any discrimination on this account will result in an immediate block! Additionally, if I need to add any tags, please let me know!*

#catholicism

#catholic

#pope francis

#religion

#islam

#islamic

#islamophobia - filter if you don’t want to see.

#muslim

#judaism

#antiseminism - again, filter if you don’t want to see.

Politics

#politics

#american politics

#democrats

#republicans

#british politics

#uk politics

LGBTQIA+ Stuff

#queer funnies

#lgbtq+

#queer

#[insert lgbtq+ label here]

Self

#tw [insert trigger] - filter any triggers you don’t want to see

also i have started to just put the trigger and not the “tw” since it’s easier for tumblr to filter it then btw! just let me know what posts to properly tag please!

#self care

#self love

#kindness matters

#writing memes

#fanfiction memes

#ao3

#ao3 fanfic

#ao3 writer

#fanfiction problems

DIY/Art

#arts and crafts

#paper art

#chocolate guy (if you know, you know)

Awareness Posts

#awareness post

#[insert awareness] post

- depression

- lgbtq

- transgender

- lesbian

- bisexual

- mental health

- rascism

- antiseminisim

- poc

Minecraft

#minecraft

#stampylongnose

#polly reindeer

#william beaver

#iballisticsquird

#fizzy elephant

#hit the target

#veeva dash

Fandom Tag List

~Star Wars~

#star wars funnies

#disaster lineage

#shatterpoint lineage

#star wars incorrect quotes

#star wars fanfiction

#star wars fanart

#star wars behind the scenes

#star wars polls

#the original trio

#favorite star wars aus

#dinluke

#lukemara or #skyjade

#dinlukemara or #skyjadlorian

#clan of three - luke, din, & grogu

#clan of seven - luke, din, mara, grogu, ben skywalker, rey, & finn

#favorite luke and vader stuff

#favorite luke and beru stuff

#favorite luke and owen stuff

#favorite luke and palpatine stuff

#favorite luke and the naberries stuff

#everything’s fine au - star wars au where everything’s - you guessed it - fine and happy!!!

Blobos:

#luke skywalker

#reva sevander

~Warrior Cats~

#warrior cats funnies

#warrior cat fanart

#warrior cats aus

#firesand

#grayfire

#grayfiresand (OT3!!!!!!)

#bramblesquirrel (THE HEALTHY VERSION IN MY HEAD DON’T @ ME!)

#puddlealder (they cuuuuute <3 )

My blorbos:

#firestar

#brambleclaw (MY Brambleboi. Not canon’s!)

#alderheart

#hollyleaf

~RiordanVerse~

#percy jackson funnies

#percy jackson fanfiction

#percy jackson tv series

#percabeth

Blorbos:

#reyna avila ramirez arellano (QUEEN ACE ICON)

#apollo

#percy jackson

~Harry Potter~

#harry potter funnies

#harry potter fanfiction

#harry potter theory

#harry potter headcanons

#harry potter behind the scenes

#hinny

#romione

#the golden trio

#trans luna lovegood (CUZ FUCK JKR!!!!)

#pansexual luna lovegood

Blorbos:

#ginny weasley

#harry james potter

#luna lovegood

~The Owl House~

#the owl house funnies

#the owl house theory

~The Ascendance Series~

#the ascendance series

#ascendance funnies

#jaron eckbert

#jarogen

#tas tobias

#roden harlow

#tas imogen

#tas fink

#ascendance darius

Blorbo: All hail King Jaron Artolius Eckbert III !

~Other Fandoms~

#the hunger games

#narnia

#the copernicus legacy

#the paladin prophecy

#divergent

#spirit animals

#the waterfire saga

#the last dragon chronicles

#the gallagher academy series

#greek mythology (yes it’s a fandom lol)

#warrior cats #warrior cats aus #star wars #alderposts #star wars aus #harry potter #harry potter aus #percy jackson #percy jackson aus #reyna avila ramirez arellano #demiromantic #demiromantic panromantic asexual #panromantic #asexual #pansexual #lgbtq+ #lgbtq+ writer #ao3 writer #fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #the owl house

[socialistexan]

Do you know, if Trump wins PA, NC, AK, and GA, and Biden wins NV, will Biden win the election? Sorry, I’m not American so I don’t know how the process works.

Short Answer: Yes. Theoretically pending no shenanigans in the actual electoral college vote, it will be 270-268. 

Long Answer: Now the electoral college (which is a real thing separate from this election) itself will vote in December, this election is to pick a set of electors picked by each campaign to send to the electoral college (yes, really) who then do the actual vote to pick the President (yes, really).

There is this thing called a “faithless elector” where a chosen elector from a state goes rogue and picks someone else. This is rare, but it happened a few times in 2016, with some electors ended up picking Faith Spotted Eagle (Washington) and Bernie Sanders (Hawaii) - the first two non-Christians to receive electoral votes - 3 from Washington went to Colin Powell, and 2 electors in Texas chose John Kasich and Ron Paul.

So, if there is an elector in any state won by Biden that decides they want to not vote for Biden, then he is stuck at 269 and the election then is decided by the House of Representatives and the state delegations of Reps then vote as a block and whichever candidate has the most delegations wins. Despite Democrats holding an overall seat lead, the Republicans actually have more state delegations (26-24), so Trump would likely win.

At that point, the country might actually really implode. 

[coffee-in-that-nebula]

Snowpiercer: S3E10 “The Original Sinners” - season finale review :’)

So, the 3rd season of “Snowpiercer” is over and it’s honestly been a roller coaster ride for me! I expected this season to be a lot different and I looked forward to it. What happened, instead? Well, most of the episodes really disappointed me and I know I’m not the only one.

Surprisingly (I didn’t expect it, really lol) I liked the final episode! Was it that good? Nope. Was it better than the rest of the episodes of this season? Definitely yes, which is promising for season 4, but you know, I don’t wanna get my hopes up too high.

To start with, it’s nice having Melanie back. I like Melanie because she’s a conscious character (I see myself in that) and she reflects on her actions and the consequences they might have. That’s exactly what she does in this episode. She knows what her actions caused but she doesn’t regret them and admirably, she stands by the truth she knows. She knows she must be honest this time and after all the years she spent lying, I don’t think she wanna do it ever again.

At the same time, Wilford gets back to normal – for real. He’s back to being confident and gross (is overweening the right word, maybe? Pardon – me Greek) and he’s ready to take over the train again. He has the impression that he has used Melanie and that makes him feel disturbingly powerful. So, he wears his usual attire, he claims Audrey like he owns her, and he reunites with his followers – seriously, I get seriously Voldemort and Harry Potter vibes overall on Snowpiercer, lol. That’s where I expected to see an Icy Bob, but I got an Icy Boki instead. I wasn’t excited over this, but I gotta admit it's interesting. I wanna see if he could pick a side in the next season – like is he even capable of it or his fate is completely determined like Icy Bob’s?  

Meanwhile, and despite Layton’s lie, the Tail, in the most NOT surprising way, decides to support him. Tailies once together, always together. Well, I’m really bored of this plot – thing at this point, so I’m not gonna say anything more on it – that says it all, lol.

Things have changed for Wilford, though. Audrey is no longer “his” because she flew back to her season 1 version with no actual plot supporting this change. Sorry that I’m not buying that the few hours she spent with Till actually changed her life, lol. As for Wilford’s followers… well, I don’t know about them. At this point, they remind me of the Loch Ness Monster. Everyone has heard of them, but who has seen them? I mean, later in the episode, they literally throw Wilford out of the train, but there’s nobody who cares or tries to find out what happened to him, lol.

The Original Sinners of the episode are Layton and Melanie. On a phone call that reminds me of a 2000’s Greek film [Cheap Smokes for the reference], they talk about their actions as a leader to a leader, in a scene that I immensely enjoyed. And then Melanie makes her decision – because she’s a mother. In a nice plot twist, she doesn’t collab with Wilford, but instead, she and Layton trap him and pretty much throw him out of the train. That was really nice, although I don’t really get why they didn’t just kill him.

After this, things get kinda messy and funny. First of all, Wilford doesn’t seem that stressed after he’s being thrown out of his beloved Snowpiercer. That proves that he’s always a man with a plan so we’re expecting to see his new shenanigans in season 4. The suspension fluid will last him for 6 months and his last line is memorable: Now we’ll see who’s the real survivor.

Then, Layton and Melanie decide to be democratic for a change, letting the passengers vote if they would prefer to go and possibly find New Eden or continue the eternal (?) journey with Snowpiercer.

Here is where useless drama occurs just for the sake of season 4. Friends and families have to say goodbye in the most predictable way, Ben decides to stand by Melanie with his usual puppy stance and Till does the real plot twist when she decides that she had enough of Layton (LEGIT) so she stays on Snowpiercer for Audrey’s eyes (not legit, in my opinion).

So, this is when the best scene of the episode happens: LJ finally dies! I mean, the writers did what they could with her, but it was obvious that her character didn’t have any more potential. I got that when I saw her, a few episodes ago, playing with her father’s eye again – that scene in season 1, btw, gave me the most disturbing feelings so I’m very glad that the eye choked her to death. She had her bright moment anyway in season 3(I mean she killed Kevin) and I think that was it about her.

Then, new drama arises since Snowpiercer is an old lady that could collapse anytime (I mean, we kinda had our suspicions but it just came up in episode 10 as a real problem) and the New Eden mission train only survives because Layton is on it and Layton *can’t* die.  

Of course, Layton was right (I mean if I was a fictional character, I wish my writers would love me THAT much) and New Eden apparently exists. New Eden is almost like Santorini, there’s water, sun and there’s no snow. That was a big “huh”. Did I see that coming? YES, but not to that extent. Don’t take me wrong, it was REALLY nice to see the passengers getting off the train and enjoying the surroundings – especially the younger ones that had no idea about Earth but eh, it was like Tailies always supporting Layton. Layton is just never wrong and even when he lies… oof, it’s fine. So now they’re stuck there, and I have no idea with what resources.

At the end of the episode, the writers go with a cliffhanger, and we know how they love a good cliffhanger.

Three months later, Melanie sees a rocket in the sky. Is it from the New Eden-ees? Eh, probably it’s Wilford. And I wonder if that’s the CW-7 thing that ended up freezing the entire planet in the past. I mean there’s a W on it and there’s the fan theory that Wilford is the one who made it and maybe intentionally froze the planet… and yes, I can see it.

Still, the best and most surprising thing about Season 3 is that Sean Bean’s character is still alive.  

#snowpiercer #snowpiercer spoilers #snowpiercer season 3 #andre layton #melanie cavill

[foreverlogical]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Getting nowhere in the courts, President Donald Trump’s scattershot effort to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory is shifting toward obscure election boards that certify the vote as Trump and his allies seek to upend the electoral process, sow chaos and perpetuate unsubstantiated doubts about the count.

The battle is centered in the battleground states that sealed Biden’s win.

In Michigan, two Republican election officials in the state’s largest county initially refused to certify results despite no evidence of fraud, then backtracked and voted to certify and then on Wednesday flipped again and said they “remain opposed to certification.” Some Republicans have called on the GOP statewide canvassers to so the same. In Arizona, officials are balking at signing off on vote tallies in a rural county.

The moves don’t reflect a coordinated effort across the battleground states that broke for Biden, local election officials said. Instead, they seem to be inspired by Trump’s incendiary rhetoric about baseless fraud and driven by Republican acquiescence to broadsides against the nation’s electoral system as state and federal courts push aside legal challenges filed by Trump and his allies.

Still, what happened in Wayne County, Michigan, on Tuesday and Wednesday was a jarring reminder of the disruptions that can still be caused as the nation works through the process of affirming the outcome of the Nov. 3 election.

There is no precedent for the Trump team’s widespread effort to delay or undermine certification, according to University of Kentucky law professor Joshua Douglas.

“It would be the end of democracy as we know it,” Douglas said. “This is just not a thing that can happen.”

Certifying results is a routine yet important step after local election officials have tallied votes, reviewed procedures, checked to ensure votes were counted correctly and investigated discrepancies. Typically, this certification is done by a local board of elections and then, later, the results are certified at the state level.

But as Trump has refused to concede to Biden and continues to spread false claims of victory, this mundane process is taking on new significance.

Among key battleground states, counties in Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin have all made it through the initial step of certifying results. Except for Wayne County, this process has largely been smooth. Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia still haven’t concluded their local certifications.

Then all eyes turn to statewide certification.

In Wayne County, the two Republican canvassers at first balked at certifying the vote, winning praise from Trump, and then reversed course after widespread condemnation. A person familiar with the matter said Trump reached out to the canvassers, Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, on Tuesday evening after the revised vote to express gratitude for their support. Then, on Wednesday, Palmer and Hartmann signed affidavits saying they believe the county vote “should not be certified.”

Time is running short for Trump. Across the nation, recounts and court challenges must wrap up and election results must be certified by Dec. 8. That’s the constitutional deadline ahead of the Electoral College meeting the following week.

Matt Morgan, the Trump campaign’s general counsel, said last week the campaign was trying to halt certification in battleground states until it could get a better handle on vote tallies and whether it would have the right to automatic recounts. Right now, Trump is requesting a recount in Wisconsin in two counties, and Georgia is doing an hand audit after Biden led by a slim margin of 0.3 percentage points, but there is no mandatory recount law in the state. The law provides that option to a trailing candidate if the margin is less than 0.5 percentage points.

Some in the Republican president’s orbit have held out hope that by delaying certification, GOP-controlled state legislatures will get a chance to select different electors, either overturning Biden’s victory or sending it to the House, where Trump would almost surely win.

But most advisers to the president consider that a fever dream. Trump’s team has been incapable of organizing even basic legal activities since the election, let alone the widescale political and legal apparatus needed to persuade state legislators to try to undermine the will of their states’ voters.

Lawsuits have been filed by Trump allies in Michigan and Nevada seeking to stop certification. Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani argued to stop vote certification in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, the first time he’d been in a courtroom in decades. And the same day, the Arizona Republican Party asked a judge to bar Maricopa County, the state’s most populous, from certifying until the court issues a decision about the party’s lawsuit seeking a new hand count of a sampling of ballots.

The party is also putting pressure on county officials across the state to delay certification, even though there hasn’t been any evidence of legitimate questions about the vote tally showing that Biden won Arizona.

“The party is pushing for not only the county supervisors but everyone responsible for certifying and canvassing the election to make sure that all questions are answered so that voters will have confidence in the results of the election,” said Zach Henry, spokesman for the Arizona Republican Party.

While most counties in Arizona are pressing ahead with certification, officials in Mohave County decided to delay until Nov. 23, citing what they said was uncertainty about the fate of election challenges across the country.

“There are lawsuits all over the place on everything, and that’s part of the reason why I’m in no big hurry to canvass the election,” Mohave County Supervisor Ron Gould said Monday.

Officials in all of Georgia’s 159 counties were supposed to have certified their results by last Friday. But a few have yet to certify as the state works through a hand tally of some 5 million votes.

“They are overwhelmed, and they are trying to get to everything,” said Gabriel Sterling, a top official with the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office. “Some of these are smaller, less resourced counties, and there are only so many people who can do so many things.”

In addition, a few counties must recertify their results after previously uncounted votes were discovered during the audit.

Once counties have certified, the focus turns to officials at the state level who are charged with signing off on the election. This varies by state. For instance, a bipartisan panel in Michigan certifies elections, but in Georgia it’s the responsibility of the elected secretary of state, who has already faced calls by fellow Republicans to resign.

In Nevada, Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske’s role in certification is largely ministerial, but she still got a batch of emails urging her not to certify “potentially fraudulent election results,” a spokeswoman said Wednesday. The Justice Department had been looking into one potential case of fraud in the state over voter rolls, but an AP analysis found the case doesn’t appear to hold much water.

In Pennsylvania’s Luzerne County, a Republican board member, Joyce Dombroski-Gebhardt, said she will not certify the county’s election without an audit of at least 10% of the votes to ensure that some voters did not vote twice.

Trump won the county, where the election board is made up of three Democrats and two Republicans. A Democrat on the board, Peter Oullette, said he had no doubt that the rest of the board will sign the certification on Monday.

Philadelphia also had plans to certify results on Monday.

And some delays could still happen given the crushing workload election officials faced this year during the pandemic, according to Suzanne Almeida with Common Cause Pennsylvania, a good government group that helps with voter education and monitors election work in the state.

“A delay in certification doesn’t necessarily mean there are shenanigans; sometimes it just takes longer to go through all the mechanics to get to certification,” Almeida said.

___

Cassidy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Bob Christie and Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Kate Brumback in Atlanta; and Ken Ritter in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

VISIT WEBSITE

[robotslenderman]

More stuff on Jonathan Grey, aka the dude who Meredith was married to that gets ghoulified in the 2030s and vampified later on.

Been thinking about this guy.

I think his domitor is a Brujah Anarch that needed some extra income. Have decided she doesn't have as many ghouls as I intended for her to have originally, maybe three or four, and she’s not Camarilla.

She's not the one who embraces him. A rival of hers in the Camarilla, a Lasombra, is the one to do it - the Lasombra starts systematically destroying the Brujah's life through attacking her ghouls and their livelihoods, and Jonathan is the most resilient of all of them. If anything, he seems to take the shit the Lasombra pulls way better than most and has backup plans within plans because he’s been waiting for his Brujah to piss someone off for years. He doesn’t realise immediately that his life is being fucked over because of vampire shenanigans, but the plans are still useful anyway. The Lasombra is pretty impressed and ends up embracing him.

He enters kindred society strongly disliking the Camarilla but loathing the Anarchs.

Jonathan is a pretty good guy as far as Lasombra go, even if he has to struggle with some social Darwinist instincts (thank you, Lasombra bloodline!), but he definitely does set his sire up to be fried in the sun once he's established as a Neonate because fuck her. It’s much easier emotionally than he thought that would be, which disturbs him.

He takes well to being a Lasombra in terms of abilities, and to being being Kindred, but he fucking hates other Lasombra in general because he finds so many of them are complete and utter assholes, and most vampires aren't much better. He’s spent decades helping out other ghouls, and old habits die hard.

He hates Anarchs and strongly dislikes the Camarilla, but at least the Camarilla have a system he can work with - Anarchs just want a disorganised mess of people and think that somehow improves things. His favourite thing to do is take out other vamps who are big enough dicks to people to be worth getting rid of, regardless of affiliation, but easy enough targets he can get away with it. Most of his targets are actually Camarilla, because unlike Anarchs, they actually have enough power to make people miserable.

He has not forgotten what the ghouls did for him when he was one, and is considered a very good friend to them. He has been known to sic his old SI contacts on his enemies but otherwise he doesn't do much Jyhad. More interested in getting by and helping others get by than climbing the ladder himself, in which he is completely disinterested in beyond being comfortable. 

He admires some of the goals of the Anarchs but thinks they're too stupid to accept that their way of doing things is going to make things worse, not better - he basically thinks of the Camarilla vs Anarchs thing as Aristocrats vs Republicans when he's the equivalent of a Democrat. IE, his political beliefs aren't even on the kindred radar, let alone with a lot of representation. He strongly believes in the importance of government, just that kindred government is so shit that everyone seems to think throwing the baby out with the bath water is somehow a viable solution.

(Did I mention he hates Anarchs? He really hates Anarchs. He thought maybe his old domitor had poisoned the well there, but the more he talks to Anarchs the more he’s like, oh, birds of a feather.)

He is aligned with the Camarilla, but has few friends within it and all his best vamp buddies are Autarkis. He's only Camarilla out of practicality which, if you think about it, is a pretty Camarilla thing to do. He will freely admit this, while also adding, “At least my motivations aren’t selfish.”

He really does struggle with his Lasombra nature from time to time, but ironically it's his Lasombra nature that inspires him to deal with it. If he is strong enough, he will keep it under control instead of submitting to it. Very Lasombra.

One day he's going to check up on his family, discover both his twin girls are grandmothers, and have a total "WTF WHEN DID I GET OLD" reaction to that.

Anyway. Yeah. I just had this mental image of Jonathan stepping through shadows and fucking up CCTV and frying phones when he tries to pick them up and somehow it fit him better than any other clan.

#Jonathan Grey #VTM #Lasombra