#i hit just vote

[exemplarybehaviour]

I keep seeing people say things like this: "You know what does matter to the politicians, even more than us voting for them? When we DON’T vote for them."

No, absolutely not. This is not how the US electoral system works. Under the current system, only votes cast matter. Only people who are going to vote matter to campaign strategists.

The last election, less than 20% of my district voted. The 80+% of the people who abstained? Their opinions on the results don't matter. The system does not take them into account. They gave up their right to have a say. Some strategists for future elections might look at the numbers and say: wow, why didn't those people vote, and can we GET them to vote? But ultimately, the system is designed so that if only one person votes, that person gets to decide the winning candidate. You get the representatives voted on by whoever shows up to the poll.

If a candidate thinks you cannot be swayed to vote (because, for example, you've joined a weird anti-voting movement), then ther campaign is not going to cater to you. Their strategists won't care about you. Someone in the next cycle might try for your vote, but you are giving up your right to have a voice for this cycle.... and voters with a history of voting are more promising targets for any campaign strategies.

(Your actual vote is a secret, but they DO monitor that you have voted. This will affect how much annoying campaigning materials you will get, because they do target active voters.)

Also, "if I don't vote, that will make a point!" is just a stupid take in general. If you don't vote in November, and then Trump wins, what have you really done? Do you think the Biden admin will care, as they're leaving office? Do you think the Trump admin will care, as they enter office? Republicans want fewer people to vote! Your abstention will be nothing but a footnote in history about how Trump won.

[murmurmurl]

ruikasa girlkissers edition

ft masc Nene

[coquelicoq]

my absolute favorite genre of tags to get on something is "idk anything about this media but i'm rbing anyway because [absolutely any reason whatsoever]". gets me every time. like aww you don't just have fuzzy feelings for this tv show or whatever. you like something that i brought to the table, enough to ignore the fact that you don't even know what the fuck i'm talking about. that is genuinely very nice to hear.

[bowenoke]

it sucks, but you have to put your oxygen mask on before helping the others around you- not because you're more important, but because if you pass out, you can't help anyone.

Biden has not done enough. he has done less than nothing about the ongoing genocide in palestine. We can argue forever about whether he will be easier to pressure into action than a republican; I don't think he will. i still need to ask you to vote for him, because for me to keep giving money to gazan gofundmes, i need a job. failing to elect biden means electing the guy who started his real estate career refusing to rent to black people. it means electing the party that wants to do away with housing and labor protections for queer people. it means electing the politicians calling for abortion bans and healthcare restrictions.

fighting for all those rights cost money and time, and not having them costs even more money and time. protest our shitty options by withholding your vote once Palestine is free.

i'm not asking that you donate to biden's campaign. I'm not even asking you to leave a protest to go vote instead! (Though- if you're enrolled in college, that's normally an accepted reason to vote via absentee ballot.) but if you can vote, and choose not to, I am asking that you not be surprised when other anti-genocide protesters and financial backers start saying they no longer have the resources or availability to do anything but survive.

[creekfiend]

whoever is elected president of the United States will immediately become a war criminal upon being sworn in if they are not one already and captain america was already about nationalism and if you didn't notice the MCU being racist about arabs in the very first fucking iron man film WHICH WAS SPONSORED BY THE US MILITARY I simply do not know what to tell you and I'm going to dunk all of you into a big old bucket of ice until you are damp and chilly

[000marie198]

It's done. Phew *passes out* here, please accept this little prologue, I've planned a multichapter for this.

Here's my entry to Nine Tailed Travel Guide Through the Multiverse. Juuuust short of time running out. Takes place in Synergy Au

.

.

Unsynched

The sea lit up in a thunderous white flash, lightning striking the mountaineous waves with vengeance, their turbulent surface swallowing million tiny craters and being struck by million more.

Rain fell in torrents, bulleting streams of water speeding downward lit by the blinding flashes every few seconds. Wind screamed and wailed as it hunted within the deadly storm, one of the bigger ones this area had seen since the Rift.

At the edges of a secluded shore, the rumbles of thunder sounded muffled inside a locked up facility, the safety of reinforced hangers and labs failing to hide the chill caused by nature’s wrath. Even as the world slept peacefully, most of the staff was on high alert. That included the operators dutifully running continuous scans at their respective stations.

A large computer set up at the radar control station began to beep in alert, one of its monitors displaying a red dot pinging offshore over the regional map. The agent stationed by it reached for the controls, slipping a headset over his ears to report what the monitor displayed.

“Commander, we've picked up on an energy anamoly fifteen miles west.”

“Another beast?” The gruff voice on the other end inquired almost immediately.

“Negative,” the agent responded, “this signature does not match the one given off by the Breachers.”

There was a pause on the other end, likely due to the other consulting about their next course of action, before another voice crackled through the comm links.

“We are at Hanger 5, prepared for deployment. Allow clearance for investigation.”

“Commander?” The agent prompted for confirmation.

“Send off The Tempest,” the first voice ordered. “We cannot take any chances.”

“Affirmative.”

An intensifying hum sounded from Hanger 5 as mechanisms powered up and the reinforced gates slowly rose, the icy claws of the storm reaching in with a vengeance.

……….....................................

Expecting to appear on solid ground as he had the past few times he walked into a new world, Nine hadn't anticipated the portal to deposit him thirty feet high, in the middle of the ocean.

A startled yelp escaped him, quickly turning into terrified scream as rain, wind and lightning blinded his senses, flashes preceding blasts of thunder that shook him to the core.

The world was an earthquake and he was at its epicenter.

His heartrate sped up as he fell. Loud beats thudding through his veins mirrored the thunder’s claps like symphonic war drums. Pupils shrunk into pinpricks and something buzzed across his fur, skin, flesh– every single cell.

Adrenaline.

He was familiar with adrenaline. With its fight or flight instincts.

He had honed them for years to choose fight. With practice and struggle, pain and blood, a lifetime of suffering. Nine squeezed his eyes shut and let them take over, trusting them to keep him safe.

Seven metal tails clicked apart and spun, two organic ones joining them and the kit slammed to a halt midair, the harsh shift in momentum barely shocking him. Black waves below and grey clouds above sandwiched the wind and rain that tried to push him down but he held on, though barely.

Raising an arm to block the droplets, Nine squinted through the shower, flinching as more strikes lit the stormy horizon. He needed to find someplace to land. Now. Being in the air increased the risk of his metallic appendages attracting lightning.

Just stabilizing while hovering in same place was difficult enough, if he couldn't find land soon- he pressed his lips, glancing down at the MTC- he'd have no choice but to leave this universe unexplored.

For the first time in many multiverse adventures, he wished Sonic and Tails would show up. He had internally complained about it before but he could really use some help right now.

Well, no matter, if they couldn't find him, he'll do it himself. A harsh gust pushed at him from the side, Nine grunting as his tails strained to fight against it. Right, he'll try to find them after he was sheltered and not under the mercy of a heavy storm.

Reaching for his yellow handheld, he turned mid air so his back was to the rain’s direction, shielding his front just enough for him to huddle over the device and activate its wave scanner, trying to find a satellite signal he could hack.

In any other case, he would've shot down the thought immediately, considering he's been through universes where such technology didn't even exist, but Nine had checked the readings of this particular world before deciding to teleport here. It seemed to be advanced in technology just as much, if not more, than New Yoke. And it had a strangely strong reading, similar to the fixed Green Hill did compared to the other shatter spaces. He'd looked forward to exploring it.

If only he hadn't ended up in the middle of the storm.

“C'mon, work,” Nine muttered with frustration as the device took longer than it usually did to pick up a signal, the weather hindrance still playing its part.

Finally, it pinged with an alert, the fox not taking another moment to jump on the frequency, launching codes to bypass firewalls and access the available GPS and maps. As he pulled up the one which showed his location, he paused, brows furrowing up in confusion.

“What?”

The live map had his coordinates, which made sense considering he connected through the database, but it also showed location of another signal, heading straight towards him.

He felt the air trmeor with a deep rumbling thud, it's sound blending with the storm’s so well, he hadn't realized it could have a different source.

Nine froze, his fur pricking up as another rumbling thud sounded, louder. Closer. The lightning that would accompany the thunder impossibly staying static, not flashing off within milliseconds.

Nine was not alone.

He held his breath as waves rose like curtains, a deep groan vibrating the moist air like whales’ songs after a last thunderous thud. Glaring beams shone down at his back, framing his sharp shadow flickering with the waves as he hovered with his handheld gripped tight, the other signal blinking right behind his own.

Swallowing back his growing fear, Nine turned around, finding himself face to face with a gigantuan mech’s dark visor, piercing beams from its shoulder pads focused directly upon Nine.

.......

To be continued in Unsynched

[m-kyunie]

Karma

[ray935sworld]

Dear MotoGP riders, I NEED Y'ALL to be on your GAYEST BEHAVIOR this weekend. PLEASE.

You're racing in Saxony, a state in which a party will probably gain the majority of votes (like it did at the European and local election - 31.8% for today's time that's a lot) in the state election that has been declared as "certainly right-wing extremist" by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

They are quite homophobic.

PLEASE. BE GAY. DO "CRIMES" ON THEIR GROUND.

Links to my statements under the cut, they are all in German so if anyone wants more explanations/ translation please reach out

[buddie-or-tevan]

There are so many different ship names going around and I think you can tell what a person thinks about the ship by what ship name they use. Thus:

[thevioletcaptain]

if you as a fic reader ever become possessed by the urge to do a popularity bracket with the fics other people wrote and shared for fun and for free, consider:

don't ❤️ 

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

if dorian didn't show up, do you think louis would have shot minnie?

I do. I know some people think either he wouldn't have or he would've missed so that's why the writers had him shoot Dorian instead, but mmmmmm no, I don't personally think so. I like to think that if he had taken the shot, his shaky hands would've caused him to shoot her fatally.

Mostly because I'm already so normal about the fact that of the Ericson crew, Marlon and Louis are the only ones with a body count. Well, that we know of, but shown to us in the game, at least. Plus, we know it's Louis' first kill.

Like yeah, Clementine and AJ become part of the crew and they have bigger body counts, and if we're counting indirect kills caused by actions, then Tenn has a count... and I guess everyone has blood on their hands for blowing up the boat... but I'm talking about killed directly with a weapon like....... I lied, I'm not normal about that at all, Louis and Marlon are the ones who have killed someone in Louis' route. I'm also not normal about the fact that Louis kills Dorian and then even as he's clearly in shock, he tries to go with Clementine to get AJ, and then later on when they talk about it, he says it feels like bile but not quite and he's glad he has it in him to do it.... listen, listen, listen... I'm obsessed with that.

Anyway, so if Louis shot Minerva, I think he would've accidentally killed her and can you imagine? He's already enough of a mess after killing the woman who pinned him down and tried to cut his finger off [or succeeded] but he knew Minerva, they were friends before the twins were taken. Even Violet couldn't kill her even though that would've been the smarter thing to do, and we know thanks to meta knowledge that killing her would've saved lives, but Violet couldn't, and I don't think Louis would intentionally either.

Speaking of Violet, if Louis killed Minerva, I hate to think about what that would've done to Vi. I think she might've actually left at that point, like what was planned before it got changed to her being burned. I don't think she would've attacked Louis over it, though, like yeah she attacked Clementine in the cell but Louis? I don't know, but I don't think so just because it's Louis and he'd be a mess about it anyway.

Though if he did kill her, it would be a neat parallel to draw... y'know, because Louis forgave AJ for killing Marlon even though he was pissed and heartbroken, and Violet was annoyed with him the entire time... but could she ever forgive Louis for killing Minerva? Y'know? We already have a similar parallel with AJ shooting Tenn, but still.

If Clementine killed Minerva in that moment, though, then I could see Violet attacking her since in her eyes, Clem proved her right.

So yeah, I get why they added the Dorian kill to his route. It adds another compelling element to Louis as a character, but we also need Minerva alive for episode 4; Louis can't kill her, he can't miss, and he's not going to stay with her because we need Violet to stay on the boat and him to be on shore for all routes.

[shierak-inavva]

[insert mom & dad joke]

[ctl-yuejie]

the projected results for germany are fucking dismal

[adriancatrin]

been thinking about this for a while and wonder if my opinion is “““controversial””” so. figured i’d just ask

[bandzboy]

clé: levanter era is so underrated and it's quite insane to me because i think levanter is one of the best skz title tracks since they kinda did something different they didn't do previously but i do feel like it was one of their best songs in terms of vocals (lino falsetto we love you) BUT ALSO.... that album is so crazy?? and so important because it was delayed (if you know you know... if you were there you know what i mean) and so songs like you can stay and sunshine had such a big impact on the fandom back in the day especially sunshine it means a lot to me to this day and it's one the best skz bsides and i think about it all the time but the bside from this album that i think is criminally underrated is booster like booster is so good?? it's such a skz standard sound but it was so fresh at the time i remember being so obsessed with it when it came out and i was so mad nobody talk about her WHERE IS THE BOOSTER LOVE??? LIKE CMON GUYS but in general, that album an era are so significant in skz and stay history and it felt very much a gift to fans at that time it was pretty rough but i feel like getting these songs after everything went down was so worth it! it's genuinely one of my fav skz eras