#bastion campaign

[unicyclehippo]

had a really fun session of dnd last night. one of the highlights:

me (dm): there is one guard that is known to be trustworthy. his name is.. derek. 

players: oh?? of greys anatomy fame? derek dempsey?

me: yes let me make a note. derek dempsey

players: patrick dempsey?

me: yes let me change that note

players: more like patrick DUMPsey

me: yes. let me change that note. ok. patchguard patrick dumpsey is known to be very trustworthy. he cannot sneak around anywhere because of his dumptruck ass.

[30403099]

dramatis personae

[rosykims]

absolutely devastating that whatever dlc larian ends up releasing for bg3 will probably most likely not be a 1:1 perfect replica of the rich vierynrae post-campaign lore that lives exclusively in my head :/

[neosatsuma]

can't emphasize enough that I don't care who uses this site except insofar as it has the capacity to usher in Brands and Algorithms (die) BUT the cringeposting is SO funny to me because like. Being Deeply Weird as a defense mechanism is exactly what my neighbor and I did as kids to keep my little brother away. This Is Our Club And You Can't Come In. it's just the "fandom vs hipster" era all over again but with more self-awareness. time really is a flat circle

[heckinwacky]

i once again played through the shadowlands campaign and will now write my own “fix-it” fics

[legionofmyth]

MUTANT: Elysium - Your Judicator

🎲 Master your role as a judicator in MUTANT: Elysium tabletop RPG. Make crucial decisions, shape destinies, and explore a post-apocalyptic world! #MUTANTElysium #TabletopRPG #FreeLeaguePublishing #TTRPG #RPG

MUTANT: Year Zero – [PDF]MUTANT: Elysium – [PDF]Master your role as a judicator in MUTANT: Elysium tabletop RPG. Make crucial decisions, shape destinies, and explore a post-apocalyptic world! Experience the post-apocalyptic world of MUTANT: Elysium, the tabletop RPG by Free League Publishing. Set in the same universe as MUTANT: Year Zero, this gripping roleplaying game plunges players into a…

[asmaayyad]

urgent: Help evacuate my family from the Gaza war

Dear humanity, my supportive friends

I am Asmaa from Gaza, from a family of 8, a lawyer and a graduate of Palestine University. I climbed the ladder to build my life and future step by step, but everything ended and was destroyed because of the war.

I've witnessed the evidence of the tragedy that has struck our lives in Gaza, where my family and I have survived amidst numerous previous wars. But today, we face the most dangerous and fierce battle in the current war. The urgent need intensifies for us, as we have nothing left and are unable to secure our basic needs such as food, water, and safe shelter.

Here is our story - On October 7th, our lives changed forever. My family and I left our home for southern Gaza, hoping to return soon, but that was not to be. Our home was besieged and then completely destroyed. Our home, once a bastion of hope, now lies in ruins, a stark reminder of our shattered dreams.

The night before we set off south was terrifying. The sounds of bombing were everywhere, making a great noise that was so great that it ripped through our souls. Every explosion shook the ground like earthquakes, sending intense air strikes of fear through our trembling bodies. Making us terrified. It was so great, and the blood was in the air, making it hard to breathe. When dawn came, we looked around us, and realized that our home was now a symbol of loss and despair.

We ran into the streets and with each step we took into the unknown streets, we felt as if we were plunging deeper into the abyss of our shattered existence, leaving behind everything we own in our home: Clothes, important official documents, the car, and literally it's almost everything - the enormity of our loss weighed heavily upon us.

I appeal to the world as a whole to hear my cry and the mournful cry of my family in Gaza. We need the helping hand that reaches out to wipe our tears and build a bridge to safety.

Your donation is not just a donation; it's an opportunity to rebuild life and brighten a better tomorrow. Be part of our hopeful story, for we need your hand to start anew.

The purpose of the fundraising campaign

The goal of this fundraising campaign is to rescue my family - my parents, my siblings, and me - through the Rafah Crossing to Egypt, which currently requires $5000 per person. This campaign is our only chance to stay alive, and I humbly request your assistance at this critical time. I will provide you with a comprehensive breakdown of the expenses, committing to transparency and clarity.

Verified by :

⭐️@90-ghost

⭐️@aces-and-angels

Thank you for your kindness and support.

جزاكم الله خيراً

best wishes

Asmaa ayyad

[lqveharrington]

Guilty as Sin | C.S.

summary: Your relationship with Coriolanus must remain hidden due to his campaign for presidency. The funniest part? You were the daughter of his rival. The worst part? All the girls flaunted over him.

pairing: politician!coriolanus snow x fem!reader

includes: kissing, jealousy, coriolanus and reader being possessive, slight suggestiveness (that’s pretty much it, let me know if i missed any)

a/n: coryo my bb, i missed you 😕 (a really short one-shot to make up for my lack of coryo content)

Hidden. That was the extent of your relationship with Coriolanus Snow. From stolen kisses before interviews, to longing glances from across prestigious functions required for the running politicians; you were content enough to have him behind the scenes. Well, you were content enough until all the girls started flaunting over his sudden rise to power.

“It’s disgusting, really.” Your father scoffed and shook his head at the young Snow. “I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten backlash from all the ladies practically throwing themselves at him.”

Your hands twitch at the sight, red nails printing crescents into your palm. “You could always change that, father.”

He raised his brows at your sudden fierceness, “I suppose I could. But what good would it be to waste resources on him?”

Coriolanus glanced around the bastion in boredom when he met your icy stare. He raised a brow before tilting his head toward the hallway — excusing himself from the crowd of ladies when he saw you roll your eyes and take long strides to meet him.

“What is it?” You asked with irritation filling your voice.

He squinted at your tone before opening a door and shoving you through it, causing you to stumble across the marble floor.

“God— Coryo, this dress is expensive!” You catch yourself on the bathroom sink, glaring at him through the mirror.

“What are you making faces for?” He leaned back on the wall, hands tucked into his pants pockets. He tilted his head as he waited for you to answer, watching your expression change.

You cross your arms in front of your chest, messing with the golden necklace adorning your neck. “Which of those girls will you marry, Coriolanus?”

He raised his brows, “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing, except for the fact that you constantly have women swarming around you like you’re a bachelor.” You shift your gaze toward the door, frowning when you saw his foot blocking the bottom.

“You’re jealous?” He pushed himself off the wall and caught your chin under his finger. “That’s new, dove.”

You frown, “I’m not, I’m cautious.”

Coriolanus hummed, pressing a soft yet imperious kiss to your lips — using his free hand to tug your waist closer to his own body. He felt you melt into his embrace as he traced circles across your hip. “Those women don’t hold a candle to you. Why are you worried?”

“I’m not…” You murmur, eyes flickering from his eyes to his lips. Might it been a more private setting and gala, you would have done things you wouldn’t normally do. Meeting his stare, you find him wanting more than just two simple words. “No one knows about us. What if someone draws up a contract for an arranged marriage of some sort.” You take a finger and make patterned across his dress suit, refusing to meet his eyes. “Or what if my father draws up a contract for another? What would happen to us?”

He took your hands and held them tightly, urging you to focus and calm yourself. “I won’t let that happen, alright? Once I win the election, you’ll be right at my side as First Lady.” He brought your hands up to his lips and pressed two kisses onto the back of your palms. “If anyone dares to defy us, then off to the Districts.”

“And what happens if my father wins?” You whisper, terrified a noise louder would break your heart. “What will we do then?”

“Do you doubt my ability to win a presidential election, dove?” He asked whilst thumbing your hands. “Your father may think he has the resources to best me, but I assure you, Snow lands on top.”

You roll your eyes jokingly at the motto before capturing him in another kiss. “Then win, Coryo.”

As days passed, you watched Coriolanus speak with many ladies of the Capitol Elites. And each time you wished he would come over and claim you as his in front of everyone. With each passing moment, election day came closer and closer until it was day to recognize who won the Presidential Election.

“Miss, you must stop fidgeting at once.” Your handmaid, confidant, and past governess in your house staff spoke from beside you, creasing her brows at your state. “The cameras are watching.”

“Let them.” You pick nervously at the golden necklace, watching the voting count change every few seconds. “They’re about to find out who’s the new President anyway.”

She sighed and took your free hand in hers, squeezing it for reassurance. Although she — and many of the Capitol — believed you were hoping for your father to win, you couldn’t help but break into a bright grin whenever Coriolanus received more votes. Not before long, the big screen blackened, hiding the finals votes before they announced the winning candidate.

Your eyes met with Coriolanus’ before uproar took over your father’s stands, causing you to wonder exactly what happened.

“Maria—“

“Your father lost, Miss. Snow is our future President.” She squeezed your hand, carefully watching your expression change from confusion to surprise.

“Excuse me.” You released her hand and stood from your father’s box, running through the screams of your father’s supporters and stands. There were shouts of disbelief and anger as you ran, dodging angry men and women before your heels clicked against the floor.

You scanned the scene, watching your father walk down from his podium in defeat but not finding Coriolanus in his respective podium. You pushed through all the people near the blonde’s stands, hearing their cheers of happiness before your eyes meet his once more.

Your face split into a beguiling smile as you ran into his arm, grabbing his face and pressing a hard kiss to his lips. He spun you around despite his and yours image. You giggle into this kiss and rest your forehead against his, sighing contently at the outcome.

“What did I say?” He asked as the camera’s spun around to capture your intimate moment, your father seething alongside his supporters. “Will you be my First Lady?

You wipe lipstick off his lips before giving him another kiss, “Of course, President Snow.”

read more about coriolanus snow here!

©lqveharrington - all rights reserved. do not copy, translate or share my work on other media platforms

[esgaril]

just a friendly reminder, because in the god discourse some people seem to conflate the gods of Exandria with the Christian god (including Ludinus): the Prime Deities never claimed to be all knowing and all good. that is not a thing that their followers expect of them. the divide between Primes and Betrayers comes from the continued existence of mortals. the Primes are pro-mortals, the Betrayers are anti-mortals

from the Tal'Dorei campaign guide:

as shown above out of the Primes in Downfall 3 were neutral (Lawbearer, Wildmother, Matron of Ravens) and 3 were good (Arch Heart, Everlight, Dawnfather). Taliesin explicitly said that this version of the Wildmother comes from Caduceus, this is the god he was following through all of c2. Ludinus kept saying that the gods were supposed to be good and caring, but I don't think they'd actually claimed to be like that. if he broadcasts all of Downfall to the world, followers of the Wildmother (and pretty much everyone with close connection to real nature, like farmers, hunters, etc.) will be like "well duh. we already knew she's like this. only sheltered tower-dwelling wizards would think that nature is a carefully tended park in the middle of a city". similarly, the followers of the Matron of Ravens won't be surprised that she's not a warm, nurturing god, but instead does what is needed to protect herself when threatened.

and there's another part of context that's not coming up very much: the Calamity was a war between the gods specifically about saving mortals. it's frequently mentioned as a "squabble" between family, but it is usually left out that the subject was not whose turn it is to do the dishes, but rather that mortals should exist or not. the Betrayers explicitly stated multiple times that their goal is to kill all mortals so the Primes could be free from taking care of them and could be with their family instead. the Primes wanted to protect their creation at the cost of locking away their siblings to keep mortals safe. that was the stake of the war. so when people are like "why should we care about the infighting of the gods?" - that's why. Taliesin as Ashton even said that half of the gods want mortals dead, but interestingly left out what the other half is doing about it.. probably, because the aswer, that the other half is fighting for the life of mortals doesn't really provide much ground for the "therefore they deserve to die" kind of solution.

additional reminder of details that seem to be missed/skipped often: Aeor was not the last bastion of mortals, that's Vasselheim, which was fighting and taking in refugees constantly throughout the Calamity. Aeor wasn't even the last flying city, Zemniaz and Kethesk/Draconia both lasted longer. far from being the champion of mortals, Downfall has shown us how Aeor exploited their fellow mortals who were still living on the surface (aka the rest of the world) and did not help them at all in the fight. in Hawk's Hill when hearing about the enemy incoming, instead of bringing out those mages with the wish spells they picked up the loot and ran, leaving their fellow mortals to die. those who survived that assault did so partially because of the children of the Everlight and the champion of the Matron of Ravens who were fighting along with the rest of the mortals. Aeor did quite the opposite of helping: they were planning to kill those who protected the mortals on the ground and didn't look like they had a plan to take up the role of protectors themselves afterwards. on the other hand the Primes were personally fighting side by side with mortals on the surface of Exandria for a century by the time of Downfall. that's why the solars were upset, because they stopped fighting for a while to deal with Aeor. and they went right back to it after the threat on their lives was gone. and they kept on fighting until all the Betrayers were contained, sustaining long lasting damages in the process. that is how the Calamity ended and the current (somewhat) peaceful age is possible: the Primes and mortals fought together and defeated the Betrayers. so just keep in mind what happened concurrently in other parts of the world and also what happened before and after when considering the events of Downfall. it didn't happen in isolation.

[rheas-chaos-motivation]

BY NOT SCROLLING YOU COULD SAVE A LIFE

If you can't donate, reblog, so we can reach more people that can!

Asmaa has a family of 8. She is a lawyer and a graduate from Palestine University. She worked hard to climb the ladder and build the life she had, but everything was destroyed because of the war.

This is their story:

"On October 7th, our lives changed forever. My family and I left our home for southern Gaza, hoping to return soon, but that was not to be. Our home was besieged and then completely destroyed. Our home, once a bastion of hope, now lies in ruins, a stark reminder of our shattered dreams.

The night before we set off south was terrifying. The sounds of bombing were everywhere, making a great noise that was so great that it ripped through our souls. Every explosion shook the ground like earthquakes, sending intense air strikes of fear through our trembling bodies. Making us terrified. It was so great, and the blood was in the air, making it hard to breathe. When dawn came, we looked around us, and realized that our home was now a symbol of loss and despair.

We ran into the streets and with each step we took into the unknown streets, we felt as if we were plunging deeper into the abyss of our shattered existence, leaving behind everything we own in our home: Clothes, important official documents, the car, and literally it's almost everything - the enormity of our loss weighed heavily upon us."

The goal of this fundraising campaign is to their my family - her parents, her siblings, and her - through the Rafah Crossing to Egypt, which currently requires $5000 per person. This campaign is their only chance to stay alive, and I humbly request your assistance at this critical time.

Fundraiser for Maram Rafat by Asma Ayyad : Help me and my family escape the war in Gaza (gofundme.com)

@asmaayyad

[ludinusdaleth]

-Critical Role Campaign 2, Episode 90, "Bathhouses and Bastions"

[h-worksrambles]

Sonic X Shadow Generations fascinates me. Because it feels like something I shouldn’t be excited for. And yet I absolutely am.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Sonic Generations. It’s my third favourite game in the series and my favourite 3D Sonic game (with Sonic Adventure 2 in a close second). I’m very happy to see it getting a re release to expose it to new audiences, and playing it in 4K60fps on my PS5 is a very enticing. Likewise, I really like Shadow as a character and I’m excited to play as him again.

And yet, his new bonus campaign promises to basically be a bunch of nostalgic pandering for Shadow the Hedgehog, a game which I consider to be, simply put, crap. It was boring, dull, colourless and embarrassing trend chasing. And pretty much everything I hated about it is on display in this trailer.

We’ve got gritty, grey cityscapes, we’ve got the rather blah alien villain, Black Doom returning, we’ve got the looming return of the series’…bafflingly executed lore. In a word, Shadow was a pretty much everything I didn’t want Sonic to be shoved into a blender. I’ve given my thoughts on revisiting past excesses and failures for the sake of nostalgia. I wrote a whole thing about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and my fears that it would go overboard pandering to the 2000s spin offs (which I dislike a for lot of the same reasons as a lot of Sonic stuff from the mid 2000s). A faux attempt at maturity that sacrifices Sonic’s camp and colour, and lacks the writing competency to make its tone shift work is pretty much my worst case scenario for the series. And now we’re invoking that for nostalgia? Again, I should hate this.

So if I dislike Shadow the Hedgehog so much. If it really is so emblematic of Sonic’s worst excesses that I want it to leave behind in the 2000s…then why am I so damn hyped for this? Why am I not feeling the same dread as whenever VII Remake implicitly threatens to bring back Genesis?

I think it’s because of the specific relationship Sonic has had with its past for the last decade. So much of the stuff from that time period is material that Sega has seemed actively scared to touch again. Sometimes with good reason. But I think that’s why some material from that time has gained such a strong nostalgic cult following, and why they’re held up as such bastions of missed potential. There’s never been anything quite like Shadow or 06 since they came out with how safe Sega has subsequently played things. And in many respects, that’s a good thing. But I can see how it build a sense of mystique around them. It was kind of sad to see 2010s Sonic so…scared of itself. Terrified to invoke its own history but not really committed to a new direction either. And this is pretty much the exact opposite of that hesitancy.

Basically, the reason I react to seeing Westopolis or Black Doom with ‘holy shit let’s go!!!’ rather than ‘why, god, why?’ is because I genuinely never thought I would see them again after this long. It’s just exciting to see Sonic Team throw caution to the wind and embrace all the parts of their franchise. Even the parts I personally dislike. Plus, Sonic Generations is kind of the perfect game in which to reimagine that stuff and make it..actually good this time. This was the game that made Crisis City of all things into a banger level. The game that took Silver, one of the most notorious boss fights in the series, and gave him a kickass encounter.

If they can fix that, they can do anything.

Plus, the fact that the trailers already show all these trippy stage effects and anime af boss fights and set pieces tells me we’re not just gonna be running through the same drab washed out burning cities that made Shadow 2005 so boring. Again, there’s evidently an effort being made to rehabilitate and reimagine this stuff, not just repeat all the same mistakes. And that’s exciting.

So yeah, Sonic X Shadow Generations has somehow managed to get me genuinely excited for all the parts of the series I typically balk at. And that’s pretty impressive.

That said, if I see Mephiles again, I’m leaving.

[moon-song-and-star]

@graveyardparade look what you've done to me.

They wrote a lovely post about how justifiable Riz's fear of being alone is as an Aroace person who's only seen financial stability in romantic couples, I'll link in at the bottom.

~~~~~~

Adventures end, and Riz is terrified of the inevitable settling down of his party. One day, the Bad Kids, all grown up now, finish a campaign and leave for separate houses, and Riz just knows it'll be the end. They'll fall apart, like Lydia Barkrock's party did, and he'll be alone. He fights tears tooth and nail that night.

Then, it happens like this:

Fabian's never not lived in a big ass house, why change that? So he buys that big ass house and immediately hates it. It's lonely. He stumbles through an awkward, fast confession style explanation of this to Adaine and both of them hear an invitation when it's over.

Adaine's living in a shitty apartment with Aelwyn. This Elvin Oracle gig still doesn't pay. Adaine loves her sister so much, but damn does that woman not take care of herself. She's ace and comfortably single, and she immediately agrees to move in. He's got a tower, come on, that's her thing.

Neither Fabian nor Adaine remember when Kristen decided to stay. Grown up though she is, she's still a fucking mess when her relationships end, so crashing the guest bed and crying about her ex girlfriend eventually turns into fully living there. Kristen remembers. She'd had thought that she'd never been happier, and started calling it home the next day.

Eternally stable mechanic Gorgug and his chill partner buy the more orc acessibly sized place across the way, and they eat dinner at the house Fig lovingly calls Bad Kids Headquarters, or BKHQ, nearly every night.

Fig and Ayda don't settle. Both of them want to travel the world, and Aydas got her nest in Compass Points already, but there's a door from the HQ that goes straight there, and they come and hang at least once a week. Fig has a bi-weekly jam sesh with Gorgug, and her room has a rad four poster bed.

When Riz gets back from his (admittedly a little time-fucky) undercover gig for Angel Dad, a guest room's been converted to an offic space. It's got one door to five places (Bastion City, Leviathan, Fallinel, home in Elmville, and Gravalvia in the Baronies, which Fabian thought would be funny) and another door to the conjoining room, also redone. Said room includes a second and third murder board, a desk, a fully stocked mini fridge for the hyperfocus hours and no bed. All the walls are decked out like a cat tower with plenty of places to obsess, theorize, scramble around, and hunker down when sleep finally comes to catch him. His friends smile at him when they tell him it's his. Kristen and Fig drag him around the rooms, pointing, and Adaine tells him about spell building with Ayda for the Howl's Moving Castle style office door, while Fabian grabs his suitcase and Gorgug mentions the Small size accessibility stuff they'd just finished installing.

Riz was wrong. As if his friends (no hey, The Ball, we're family, don't you know that by now?) sorry, family would ever give up on him.

Riz cries. It feels better than he thought it would.

Link to the post that inspired whatever the fuck that was:

[ghelgheli]

To understand the full context of the American-led ‘53 coup against Mosaddegh in Iran it is imo critical to recognize anti-communism as a proximate cause. Write-up below:

It is commonly understood that the early decades of the 20th century in Iran are characterized by British colonial extortion of material resources (mostly oil) within the boundaries of “Persia” (pre-1935) / “Iran” (post). The penultimate monarchical dynasty, the Qajars, were ousted in 1925—but the exile of the last Qajar Ahmad Shah was the direct result of the 1921 military coup led by then-Reza Khan (later the first “Pahlavi”, Reza Shah) which was directed by Britain. And at this time, British anxieties heavily featured concerns about Bolshevik encroachment from the Caucuses (not just through the newly-formed Azerbaijan SSR, but also through domestic sympathizers that fueled such projects as large as the transient Persian SSR, put down by Reza Khan after Soviet withdrawal).

This is stage-setting. Of course, by the 50s, in tandem with Cold War thread-pulling, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company constituted a thirsty tentacle of British imperialism sucking Abadan dry and contributing pittances to the local economy. It was in the midst of decades of growing resentment against this presence that Mosaddegh became Prime Minister in 1951 as the leader of the broad National Front coalition, and we are familiar with how intensely he campaigned for nationalizing the country’s oil and how pissy this made the British (here’s one and another post on the subject if not).

Here’s the detour: you may know that it was the CIA, an American institution, that orchestrated the ‘53 coup to oust Mosaddegh. But we were just now discussing threats against British colonial power in Iran. How did things get from B to A, as it were? We can’t take this for granted.

The British in fact spent the intervening two years trying to get Mosaddegh out by mobilizing the Shah and various right-wing (often clerical and mercantile) interests in Iran (this point, and much of what follows, draws from bits of Darioush Bayandor’s Iran and the CIA and Mostafa Elm’s Oil, Power, and Principle). They spent the same two years desperately trying to get the Americans on board with their efforts. But—here it is—the Truman regime and American foreign policy was in general intensely hostile to this strain of British interventionism in Iran, going so far as to issue warnings against it.

Why? Well, as you would expect, the Americans were concerned about Soviet influence in the region. Then-U.S ambassador in Tehran Henry Grady claimed that “Mosaddegh’s National Front party is the closest thing to a moderate and stable element in the national parliament” (Wall Street Journal, June 9 1951). This summarizes the American position at the time: Mosaddegh’s nationalist movement constituted the bastion against communism, and the US was very interested in the survival of this bastion lest Iran align with the USSR. 

What happened between 1951 and 1953 is that British pressure, operating through the Shah and more conservative elements of the Iranian government, jeopardized moderate support for Mosaddegh. With the right and center-right against him an entire wing of National Front coalition was falling off, and Mosaddegh found himself leaning more and more on the strengthening Tudeh Party, which had grown in numbers to militaristic significance during Mosaddegh’s tenure (including a network of at least 600 officers in the state military). Tudeh, of course, was the pro-Soviet communist party in Iran. And now the threads come together.

It was in this context of Mosaddegh, backed into a corner with almost only the communists behind him, that the CIA released a memo on November 20th, 1952 singing a very different tune:

It is of critical importance to the United States that Iran remain an independent and sovereign nation, not dominated by the USSR...

Present trends in Iran are unfavorable to the maintenance of control by a non-communist regime for an extended period of time. In wresting the political initiative from the Shah, the landlords, and other traditional holders of power, the National Front politicians now in power have at least temporarily eliminated every alternative to their own rule except the Communist Tudeh Party...

It is clear that the United Kingdom no longer possesses the capability unilaterally to assure stability in the area. If present trends continue unchecked, Iran could be effectively lost to the free world in advance of an actual Communist takeover of the Iranian Government. Failure to arrest present trends in Iran involves a serious risk to the national security of the United States.

And (!!!)

In light of the present situation the United States should adopt and pursue the following policies:...

Be prepared to take the necessary measures to help Iran to start up her oil industry and to secure markets for her oil so that Iran may benefit from substantial oil reserves...

Recognize the strength of Iranian nationalist feeling; try to direct it into constructive channels and be ready to exploit any opportunity to do so

It took two tries for the CIA to bring about a coup that removed Mosaddegh from power, but the objective of this coup was not the preservation of British control over Iranian resources; it was the maintenance of the Western sphere of influence against communist revolution (this was further prioritized by the arrival of the Eisenhower administration). In fact, after the coup the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now renamed British Petroleum) had to make room for six other companies from the US, France, and the Netherlands as part of a consortium, and this consortium would split profits with Iran 50/50. This is, to be clear, still colonialist extraction! But it constitutes a huge blow to British economic interests, because they were never the CIA’s goal. This is part of why the post-coup government is characterized far more as a US puppet than a British one.

It does remain that this was a sequence of events very much set in motion because of actions taken by the British government; by the time they managed to get shit to hit the fan, though, it was very much no longer in their control where the shit was flying.

[razberrypuck]

SO scared about whatever edyn's been doing btw. we know she's in kahoots with the navy in some way she didn't try to call gillion back the first time he called and just Hung Up she didn't answer her shell either times he called her in all-port (granted the second call came from her bosses shell rather than his own) and when chip checked the compass before they left for the black sea it said she was somewhere in the viridis sea which is where: 1. the solstice stronghold (where the artificial leviathan was being made) and 2. the undersea are located. and with all the Implications recently abt the state of the undersea (jayson claiming that "all of [gillion's] gods are dead," and the first non-tidestrider triton of the campaign dying in front of gillion, in the promise bastion, after saying that gillion abandoned the undersea, etc etc) I. oauahdhhgh. I don't know how deep in the operation she is and I'm horrified to find out. even MORE horrified of what gillion's reaction will be.

[mariacallous]

Americans love to focus on presidential campaigns. The House of Representatives and Senate receive some attention every now and then, but our political love affair tends to center on the race for the White House. When congressional elections gain some attention, it usually happens during the midterms when political junkies don’t have much else to talk about.

But this is a mistake. Congress matters. The outcome of congressional elections during a presidential campaign is crucial to shaping the first two years of an administration, the period when the opportunity for legislating is greatest. In the coming months, the fate of the Democratic Party agenda—regardless of who wins the presidency—will depend as much on how power is distributed on Capitol Hill as who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Even after a mandate election, just one chamber of Congress can be sufficient to check a new president’s agenda. This was the story in 1980. The election was devastating to Democrats. Ronald Reagan, who was a key figure in the modern conservative movement that took hold in the 1970s, promised to move the national agenda sharply to the right after the one-term presidency of Jimmy Carter. And then, for the first time since 1954, Republicans won control of the Senate with a majority of 53 seats.

The saving grace for Democrats that year was the House, where they remained on top. While Reagan defeated Carter in an Electoral College landslide, 489-49, Democrats exited Election Day with a 243-seat majority. Though the number of conservative Democrats had increased, the caucus as a whole was quite liberal compared with the Republicans. Under the speakership of Tip O’Neill, the lower chamber became the last bastion of liberalism. Using this as a base of power, Democrats were able to veto many of Reagan’s boldest initiatives while continuing to push forward their own agenda, even as the chances for passage were minimal.

The impact of a Democratic House was evident in both domestic and foreign policy. Republicans were forced to back away from many of their most ambitious plans to slash the social safety net. When the administration moved to reduce Social Security benefits for early retirees in 1981, O’Neill mobilized a coalition as he warned that the president aimed to dismantle this popular program. Republicans were shaken. Rep. Carroll Campbell was frustrated with the electoral impact: “I’ve got thousands of 60-year-old textile workers who think it’s the end of the world. What the hell am I supposed to tell them?” Democrats also approved a budget that raised taxes, a move that was anathema to Reagan’s acolytes. In 1983, the administration worked with congressional Democrats to shore up the financial strength of the program. The Democratic majority would be bolstered in the 1982 midterms, which took place in the middle of what O’Neill called the “Reagan recession.” The political scientist Paul Pierson showed in Dismantling the Welfare State? the limited progress Reagan made on cutting most major programs.

Similar effects were evident with foreign policy. Reagan’s hawkish posture toward the Soviet Union had been defining as he rose in national prominence during the 1970s. He railed against Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Carter for practicing the policy of détente, easing relations with the Communists, while ramping up rhetoric against the Soviet Union, calling it an “evil” empire in moralistic terms that presidents had traditionally avoided. He also curtailed negotiations over arms agreements and increased support for anti-communist operations in Central America.

House Democrats responded in force. In 1982, 1983, and 1984, they passed the Boland Amendments, which curtailed Reagan’s ability to provide support to the government of El Salvador and the anti-communist rebels in Nicaragua, the Contras. The global nuclear freeze movement also found strong support on the Hill as a number of members supported resolutions for limitations on nuclear arms production. “I can’t remember any issue, including Watergate, that has moved so many people so quickly,” Democratic operative Robert Squier noted in 1982.

None of this meant that Reagan could not achieve big changes. After all, the president pushed through a massive supply side tax cut in 1981 that made deep inroads into the finances of the federal government and began a path of ongoing cuts that privileged wealthier Americans and business. Scared to oppose him, many House Democrats voted for the cuts of their own accord. Reagan increased the defense budget, and his administration used illegal methods to direct support to Central America. And House Democrats couldn’t stop the enormous impact that Reagan had on pushing national rhetoric toward the right, either. Nonetheless, House Democrats played a pivotal role in restraining conservatism while protecting the liberal legacy of the New Deal and Great Society.

The reverse has also been true. Some congressional elections are extraordinarily dramatic. For all the attention paid to the legendary political prowess of Lyndon B. Johnson, the fact that the 1964 election produced massive Democratic majorities in the House (295) and Senate (68), while shifting the balance of influence within the party away from conservative southerners toward the liberal North, was instrumental to the passage of the Great Society legislation: Medicare and Medicaid, the Voting Rights Act, higher and secondary education funding, immigration reform, and more all became possible because of the size and structure of the Congress that Johnson was able to work with. “The once powerful coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats appeared to have been rendered impotent, or nearly so,” the New York Times noted in 1964. Once the 1966 midterms revived the conservative coalition of southern Democrats and midwestern Republicans that had ruled Capitol Hill since 1938, Johnson’s window for legislating closed.

Most recently, there was the 2020 election. One of the most important outcomes was Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock winning in Georgia, giving Democrats two Senate seats and effective control of the upper chamber. As soon as they won, the Biden administration’s fortunes changed dramatically. With unified control of Congress, Biden’s path to legislative success opened. Although the administration would have to struggle to placate the demands of Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, Biden kept his party united enough to move a series of major bills on COVID-19 relief, infrastructure, and climate change. In so doing, he racked up an impressive record.

When Biden was still at the top of the Democratic ticket, one of the greatest sources of concern for Democratic legislators such as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff was that he was making a Republican Congress almost inevitable. Democrats in many parts of the country watched as their polling numbers plummeted.

With the energy and momentum that Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have brought to the campaign, the odds for Democrats to win control of the House and possibly the Senate have vastly improved.

As much as Democratic voters will be focused on raising money, canvassing, and promoting their presidential candidate, they would do well to devote as much energy to key congressional races—whether the seats in Long Island that Republicans picked up in 2022 or Senate races in states such as Montana and Ohio.

Johnson always understood how Congress controlled his fate. In 1968, when Treasury Secretary Henry Fowler told the president, “You are the master of the Senate and always have been,” Johnson responded: “I’m not master of a damn thing.” As a veteran of Washington, Johnson always understood that his legacy would ebb and flow based on the composition of the Congress.

This time around, Democratic control of one or two chambers will be pivotal, regardless of who wins. If Donald Trump is reelected as president, congressional power will be essential to impede his inevitable efforts to aggressively deploy presidential power and dismantle the administrative state.

If Harris wins, on the other hand, congressional power will be essential to ensuring that she can use the limited window she would have to expand on and strengthen the legislative legacy of Biden—and to start tackling new issues aimed at exciting an emerging generation of voters.