#future voter

[whenweallvote]

Gotta start them young‼️

Know a future voter turning 18 this year? 👀 Make sure they’re registered to vote, text them this link 👉 weall.vote/check

[dwuerch-blog]

I Am Proud to Be an American

I Am Proud to Be an American

So proud, that I am all in – not just in early voting for these mid-term elections but being among the first ones to vote in my precinct. AND, I’m also an Election Official Clerk. I love the whole experience of watching people pulling out their photo id with pride to receive their ballot, determine their choices at the polling booths and then input their ballot into the voting machine. THEN,…

[iersei]

i still do not know this man but bribe accepted!! maybe this is how i get into the podcast who knows

could you do a queerplatonic lapidot from steven universe? :]

[VOTE GLENN CLOSE IN THE GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP -> GET A SKETCH REQUEST]

they're like the queerplatonic pairing ever actually i think they should do silly things together forever

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Solarpunk Sunday Suggestion:

Register to vote

[dead-salmon]

i'm gonna either leave the continent or kill myself what the actual fuck

[cowardlycowboys]

should I drink tonight yes or no

[badolmen]

The ‘vote blue no matter who!’ crowd is starting to get on my nerves. Like, I’m trying not to give away the game, but do they even know that we’re playing?

The point of loudly denouncing Biden and the Democrats NOW is to threaten them into stopping a fucking genocide that’s happening NOW. It is the only (legal) way we can threaten them as their constituents. It’s a game of fucking chicken! If the Dems were legitimately concerned about ceding office to Trump, they would take action NOW to try and recapture voters. But they don’t because they think they can get away with literal genocide and still win the Oval Office because voters like you are too chicken or too paralyzed to make a simple threat.

I don’t give a fuck what you do in the ballot box come November but jfc this is about collective bargaining and you cowards can’t even pretend to give enough of a fuck about a genocide to threaten your reps like??? Grow a fucking spine and do the bare fucking minimum of voicing your solidarity.

[hug-your-face]

Bulleting the key points in @beatrice-otter's most excellent ask reply to reach the TLDR crowd:

There are 4 choices America has in dealing with Israel. One of them is a Marvel-movie fantasy with dire consequences. Two of the others keep America's hands clean at the price of even worse outcomes. Biden is taking the most emotionally painful but best choice for Palestinians.

Biden isn't supporting Israel because he supports genocide; he's doing it so that he can continue to maintain diplomatic pressure on Israel to stop the violence.

Biden is maintaining the relationship with Israel to use that relationship to try and influence things to curb the violence and pave the way for a just peace settlement of some sort.

We've been hearing reports for months that Benjamin Netanyahu (Israeli Prime Minister, and a far-right-wing demagogue) hates Biden's guts, because Biden is pressuring him to stop the genocide and work towards peace.

If Biden stopped US support for Israel, it wouldn't force Israel to stop what it's doing ... but it would let them ignore us. It would remove any leverage or influence we might have.

Trump is good friends with Netanyahu and backs Israel to the hilt. Trump would use American influence to encourage further and more widespread Arab genocide.

Biden has also mentioned the possibility of a two state solution where Palestine becomes its own completely separate country. That's huge, because up until this point the US position has always been that Israel is the only possible legitimate nation in that territory.

And finally:

The lower voter turnout, the more likely a Republican win. Not voting is a decision that (a) supports the genocide Netanyahu is pushing right now because it supports Trump; and (b) shows the rest of the world "if you do awful things, Americans will be so horrified that they will check out rather than act. So go do more awful things."

Doomscrolling saps your will to act and pushes you toward the apathy that supports these horrors. Take care of yourself and others.

There are other ways to act in addition to voting. See all @gacorley 's notes on the original post. Then go do them.

This is this SHORT version of a longer post. If you can't be troubled to read through all of this one let alone the longer post, maybe pause and take a breath and do so before replying.

[gamebunny-advance]

Baseless NSR Theory #82: Gigi & Mystery Man

Y'all should know better than to get me hyped up about my own theories, but let's run with this since I haven't done one in a while.

---------

After thinking about it some more, I feel pretty confident that Gigi is NOT Mystery Man (MM). The stained-glass portraits are a little abstract from the characters they represent, but the broad strokes are always there. No character is depicted with a completely different skin hue, and Gigi's face and features are a little round for the angular MM.

Granted, given the mysterious nature of MM, I can't completely rule out that his portrait is an outlier. Let's consider that the only (human) characters depicted with gray skin are also the nameless NPCs: the ones that are almost literally supposed to be a part of the background. If MM's nature is truly about secrecy and blending in, then having a giant accurate portrait of him in your main office would probably work against that.

Still, in other "official" pieces of art depicting MM, he's always shown with sharp, angular features that Gigi just doesn't have, so I'm going to go forward with the assumption that Gigi and MM are not the same person.

(Art by Ddaddystar, a concept artist for No Straight Roads, Source: 1 | 2 | 3)

However, they could still be related in someway. It's possible that MM has underlings that help him with whatever he does. Even though we never see them, we know that DJSS has at least one other person working under him related to his work as a rocket scientist, so it's very possible that all or most of the other Megastars also have staff directly under them for their non-music roles in NSR.

If MM's role in NSR is related to secrecy, perhaps spying, given his stereotypical spy outfit, it's possible that MM has set several spies around the city to aid in that work.

(duckduckGo image search of "cartoon spy")

And since this is a setting that works on "cartoon logic" where the spies might have a uniform, it's possible that MM's underlings have calling cards connecting them to him. Perhaps, something like a hat and glasses and a toothy smile.

Oh, would you look at that.

Of the evidence that Gigi is working for NSR under MM, there isn't a lot to directly connect him to them. However, he has a few of the same, "he knows more than he should" moments that also implicated Kliff as untrustworthy in the opening parts of the game, so I do believe that the player is supposed to have some doubts about him even if it's only to be a red herring.

For starters, he's one of the few NPCs that force-triggers an interaction to continue the story. The same thing happens when Zam stops you to join the revolution. This implies that in both instances, it's the NPC stopping you to talk instead of vice versa. Given how casually they all talk to each other, the implication at this point is that he was friends with B2J before the events of the game, but as will be revealed later, this isn't actually the case.

Mayday and Zuke later mention that neither of them are actually familiar with Gigi and just assumed he was a friend of the other. This never gets commented on further, but it does confirm that Gigi is just so naturally charming that he infiltrated their friend circle without either of them really noticing until much later.

Mayday isn't even certain about his name while Zuke doesn't know it at all, implying that he may have never directly told them, or didn't tell them unless asked. This would be natural behavior if he assumed that they already knew his name, but then is this a case of Gigi also thinking that Mayday and Zuke are supposed to know him, like they've met in the past and B2J just forgot him, or is he purposefully concealing his identity?

Let's also consider the meaning of his name. "Gigi" in Malay translates to "teeth/tooth," an obvious reference to how his teeth are always showing. While it's possible that this is his real name, it's more likely that it's a nickname or an alias. So the matter is if he told Mayday that that's his name, or if she and others just started calling him that when they realized they didn't know his real name. Something like people originally calling him, "That guy who's always showing his teeth." then morphed into just calling him "teeth." Either way, he's concealing his true identity, which would be necessary for a spy.

I do assume that most of the time the characters are actually speaking Malay, but is shown in English for the benefit of the player. When Mayday encounters DK West, she doesn't ask why he speaks a different language, she asks why he speaks with a different accent, possibly implying that all the characters are actually speaking Malay, DK West just has a different dialect.

Both times Gigi stops you, it's to talk about how he's seen what B2J have been up to (first their audition and later their battle with Sayu) and to offer them a drink. He seems really insistent on giving them those drinks he offered, since after he was turned down the first time since B2J were busy, the next time he prepared for another rejection by having the drinks with him and just inviting himself to the underground hideout, which is supposed to be secret.

Granted, (I lost the source, but I swear this is at least *80% true), the reason why Kliff found out about the hideout without being directly told is that Mayday apparently posted that info online, so it's not impossible that Gigi found out about it the same way. B2J didn't react to him knowing about it the same way they did Kliff, but it's possible that by this point they realized that their hideout just wasn't as secret as they originally thought.

*I can't remember if it was just that she posted her phone number online so that's why Kliff was able to text her, or if she posted all their info. Either way, she's unintentionally created a paper trail that could lead people to her.

However, after he enters the hideout, Gigi is effectively written out of the game as he has no other interactions with B2J besides seeing them off when they leave.

This seems odd as the other two guys who join the hideout but do nothing (Robot and Yiruk) still appear above ground to talk, whereas the two guys that actually do something (Zam and Kliff) only appear underground after they're recruited. If Gigi also wasn't doing anything important in the sewers, then you'd think he'd also stay above ground to talk like the former group.

Unless he is doing something.

It's possible that Gigi is collecting intel in the hideout. Since Kliff is apparently already monitoring how the fights are going, Gigi could theoretically just get the info he needs from Kliff instead of directly watching himself as he appeared to do earlier. That would also give Gigi the time to focus on other areas of interest. Perhaps something like leaking B2J's main source of outside communication: Zam FM.

When Tatiana calls into the radio show, she admits that she's been spying on them the entire time, though by what means aren't elaborated on. At the time, the implication seems to be that she was just listening to the show, which theoretically could be listened to by anyone who knows their signal and wouldn't necessarily need additional spying to achieve, but that doesn't exempt that she could have had other spying methods.

Let's consider that Tatiana didn't consider B2J a threat until after DJSS's defeat, but doesn't get actually angry about them until Sayu's defeat. Gigi's first attempt to get info from B2J was directly after DJSS, but he failed to stop them from meeting with Kliff who gave B2J the tools to defeat Sayu. After Sayu, he finally just forces his way in, possibly as a response to Tatiana's rising stress over the situation.

However, I must concede that if Gigi truly is a spy for NSR/MM, then why wouldn't he report about Kliff's involvement? Even if he didn't know the personal history between him and Tatiana, I think it would be pretty important to report that they have a significant ally that they should keep tabs on and then naturally Kliff's involvement would make it to Tatiana.

But also keep in mind that in this theoretical, Gigi is still reporting to MM first. So if MM disregarded anything he deemed irrelevant and then sent that revised report to Tatiana, then Kliff's involvement could have been lost even if Gigi made note of him. The message could have been diluted from, "Kliff is an ally of B2J." to, "An information specialist is an ally of B2J."

It's not like NSR was trying to destroy B2J from the inside. NSR's main goal was to have B2J defeated by a megastar to strengthen NSR's political support/make an example of B2J, as to maintain order. To do this, they needed to prove EDM's superiority over rock by its own power. Using any sort of foul play to defeat B2J would conflict with those ideals and likely lead to chaos irrupting in the city had they won or even significantly hindered them in this way.

For example, an easy way to discombobulate B2J could have been to shut down Zam FM, which they actually tried to do before he got in contact with them. However, after he was able to get set up, there wasn't much they could do without rousing suspicion. Gigi theoretically could have taken down the show while he was there, but if something had suddenly happened to cut off B2J's communication with their fans, then the fans might suspect NSR of foul play and start revolting on their own or at least spread the word that this happened, which could weaken NSR's support.

With that in mind, Gigi's orders might have been to report on B2J's activities and plans, but not to directly interfere, thus explaining why B2J didn't have many major set-backs and why NSR didn't have any meaningful advantages over them even if they had someone on the inside.

In conclusion, I think there's a strong case that Gigi is actually an NSR spy, and a weaker but still compelling case that he's also connected to Mystery Man, who might be the director of NSR's spies.

[dynamics-of-an-asteroid]

do you think andrew could have been nominated for an oscar?

I honestly think he had a solid chance before award season started. His name was top five of everyone's lists, and he even did some of the pre-award show press gigs like the roundtable discussion and the actors on actors series. Then as the award season progressed after the Golden Globes and he didn't make the Emmys or the Critic's Choice awards, that's when he went from definite top five to a strong alternate to the top five with Barry Keoghan and Leonardo DiCaprio thrown in the mix with him.

The nail in the coffin was the lack of a BAFTA nomination, though. If the market (British) his movie should ideally do the best in didn't stand up for him and go "Listen - we know the movie is limited run and even that's not officially out everywhere yet - but he is that good and one of the best we have to offer", then who else was? I was telling some other people on here the day the nominations dropped that was the one award I wasn't even worried about because I thought that was a no brainer. Like, the night before the announcement I actually checked the website because they're a few hours ahead of me to see if the names were listed yet. Instead I found some pictures, posted those, and went to bed saying I'd just reblog the news when I woke up. So imagine my confusion in the morning when I saw the ENTIRE internet was scratching its head about what happened.

After that, there was a slight chance the academy would do a 'passion pick' of sorts since his performance was so universally adored from fans and critics alike. But the best actor race was tight this year, and the little extra nugget of Oscar bait he carried with him (being the first gay person to win best actor for playing a gay person) wasn't going to be enough to push him across the line. It felt very much like all the voting bodies said "we enjoyed your performance immensely, buuuut we already have who we want (and truth be told had since the start of the season)", and he was kept in the conversation that long because it would have been dubious not to have him in it to begin with.

I wasn't deluding myself to think he could have won (this was always gonna be Cillian's to lose), I just wanted him nominated. He deserved at least that. But this will not be the last time he's in the running - trust and believe.

[thewickerking]

OOPS i shouldve added a poll option for wasnt online/voting after it happened. well. erm. whoops

[whenweallvote]

Who are the future voters in your life that YOU vote for? 👪

[loumandiel]

Iwtv not getting anything at the emmys was predictable but it further confirms that the marketing and campaigning for the show has been weak. If it had been shut out just from the main categories you could chalk it up to the voters not liking it or preferring other shows and performances, but it not getting any nods in technical or minor categories indicates that it just isn't on the voters' radar at all and most of them haven't watched or even heard of it. Notably this year also had several genre shows and lgbt centric shows and performances nominated and i don't think voters are as averse of those qualities as they used to be. I really feel all iwtv would need to become a big hit with viewers and award show voters alike is to have more and better marketing, and amc's money problems sadly seem to prevent that. It's not only iwtv's issue though because the market is so oversaturated that lots of shows, even great ones, are nowadays flying under the radar if they don't have huge marketing budgets and/or quickly capture the cultural zeitgeist. Voters often don't watch many shows even though that should be their job, and it's easy to see when looking at the nominee lists that the ones they do watch are often those that they are already familiar with or and have gotten lots of publicity. Shows like Wednesday get nominated mainly because everyone watched them, not because the voters necessarily thought they were extraordinarily good

[tomorrowusa]

Republicans think that their high profile homophobia can squeeze a few more votes out of their shrinking and aging base. But they are doing serious damage to themselves in the medium to long term with future voters.

The LGBTQ+ high school students and their allies will not forget for the rest of their voting lives the GOP “don’t say gay” laws, anti-trans persecution, and homophobic hate speech condoned by high ranking Republicans and their buddies in the rightwing media.  

About 1 in 4 high school students identifies as LGBTQ, according to a report the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released on Thursday, using data from 2021.

In 2021, 75.5 percent of high school students identified as heterosexual, the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) found.

Among high school students, 12.2 percent identified as bisexual, 5.2 percent as questioning, 3.9 percent as other, 3.2 percent as gay or lesbian and 1.8 percent said they didn’t understand the question.

The CDC says the number of LGBTQ students went from 11 percent in 2015 to 26 percent in 2021.

Here is the Obama White House after the 2015 Supreme Court ruling on same sex marriage.

A President Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis would never allow that. More likely he would try to dismiss the Supreme Court for being too “woke”. The same is true of almost all the other GOP presidential candidates. The GOP is officially homophobic.

To preserve freedom and democracy in the US: Vote Blue No Matter Who. 🏳️‍🌈

[the-lady-general]

I really wish it hadn't taken the fucking state election, but here's the proof: stupid idiot wankstains who are too dumb to read vote nazi (AfD) and anti-semite (FW). (Graph on the left is voters with "simple education", graph on the right is voters with "higher education"). Anyone who plans to visit Bavaria in the next five years: those two parties got 30% of the vote.

[imaginepostingonmain]

i wanna submit more blorbos to polls but :( i know they'd just get obliterated lmaooo