#not putting this in the main tag because. yeah

[azriona]

Okay, as a former expat who was connected to U.S. Embassies overseas, and an election official in the state of Virginia (where I worked at a poll during the 2025 presidential election), I'm going to first start off with this article:

The short answer is: yes, the pope can still vote in American elections as long as he maintains his U.S. citizenship (which isn't negated by being elected pope). He's currently registered to vote in Illinois; he can continue doing so as long as he maintains an address there, and if he doesn't, he's still able to vote by various rules that govern expats who don't have US-based addresses. (He apparently voted in the last election in November.)

Now, he might choose to revoke his American citizenship, or he might choose to not vote, but that's his own choice; there's no law saying he has to give up either right. (But this also answers Follow-Up Question #2: because yeah, apparently giving up your citizenship is sort of like becoming "dead" to the government? But only legally, in citizenship matters. He'd still be alive in terms of being pope and the fact that he's also a citizen of Peru and presumably the Vatican.)

But mostly I want to add, based on the following tag:

#i think it would be especially fun to watch him drop off an absentee ballot at the us embassy

I'm gonna yell a bit about overseas voting under the cut.

Just to clarify: you cannot vote in US Elections at US Embassies. Yeah, I know this is possible for other nationalities at their embassies, and that's awesome for them, don't think I'm not jealous like woah, but if you show up to a US Embassy on election day looking to cast your vote, you are going to be turned away. Also please do not assume that the embassy will take your absentee ballot; while a lot of embassies do have post offices within them, they aren't in the publicly accessible sections of the embassy and you generally have to supply your own postage (you can't buy it from them). So you're largely dependent on whoever's at the main entrance to the embassy taking your ballot and putting it in the right box for you. (And that person is likely to be either (a) local guard staff or (b) a Marine guard. Both very nice and very reliable but Not Being Paid To Mail Your Ballot.) Plus, every embassy runs a little differently; if you're thinking to use your local embassy or consulate as a backup plan for voting, call and verify they can help you and in what way.

Would it be easier if every embassy and consulate could operate voting booths? Hell yes. Voting from overseas is a fucking pain in the ass, even when you are connected to an embassy. But holy shit, they have enough to do already, on an ever-tightening budget. Trying to operate what is essentially over three thousand separate elections would be a madhouse. (Where'd I get that number? Because there are over 3,000 counties in the United States, total, and most of us know, ballots change not only from state to state but county to county and even within counties, there are usually differences based on your precinct, town, school zone, etc. My ballot in Fairfax County isn't the same as my neighbor in Loudon County.)

So yeah. If you're an American expat and you are living overseas and you can't get back here to vote: do not assume the US Embassy will help you out on the day. Or before the day. Call the embassy/consulate, verify what they can and cannot do, and then get your ballot yourself and make sure you mail it back with plenty of time.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled soapbox.

Can the pope continue to vote in American elections. Can popes vote. I assume you cannot vote in the US if you’re the head of another state but I’m just asking funny questions here

[narsildur]

So because of the length of the new DW seasons, Ncuti has been doctor for I believe only 5 more episodes than Christopher Eccleston. Now I love 9 he is one of my favourite Doctors I think it’s an absolute crime he didn’t get more time and the situation around that is criminal too, but I’m gonna put that aside for a second.

A Doctor who has had 2 companions, the return of multiple major Classic Who characters, references to the MASSIVE lore changes during the previous era, as well as involvement in currently two specials has FIVE more episodes than one of the shortest incarnations of the Doctor.

Now I can’t find anything concrete that Ncuti’s run is ending after this season, only comments that he hasn’t been ‘axed’ but no dispelling of the rumours of regeneration (or show cancellation lets be real), but if he is leaving??? That feels so wrong.

The length of these seasons is appalling we don’t get enough time to develop ANYONE properly, almost every episode seems to be out competing the others, and the huge classic Who things the entire fandom is talking about have taken place over what is to be THREE episodes. Obviously they’ll likely continue into possibly further seasons but now? With Ncuti? With Varada? It’s three episodes.

Eight episodes will NEVER be enough to tell stories like these. Longer seasons allow for an episode or two that feel a little out of character because we have enough to come back around with whereas eight episodes doesn’t do that - Belinda’s immediate forgiveness and affection after seeing the Doctor torture someone is the best example so far, she literally Would Not Act Like That.

I hope this isn’t the end for Ncuti, him as the Doctor is what’s keeping me watching every week because I LOVE where he’s taking it. I just wish the plot and scripts allowed for more exploration of his version of the character and his wants and wishes (lol) and Ruby and Belinda’s character arcs (if you can even call them that).

I hope I eat my words I hope he gets more time I hope characters start to feel fully fleshed out. Mostly I hope we see the end of 8 episode seasons and go back to actual creative freedom and not a streaming set up show. I hope a lot of things.

[fmab]

doing a little tattoo removal surgery. As enrichment <3

[sforzesco]

some "new" designs for different crassus and pompey, specifically for a side project I've been playing with that's so removed from anything relevant (action/adventure/horror standalone story lmao) that they kind of needed their own thing. this story's pompey has a neck scar from an Incident™, crassus has shorter hair and wears (checks notes) jewelry sometimes.

[mel-loly]

Thanks for the tag, Luz!!🧡

I believe that Mel Ravagear/Creator is my main oc.. I KNOW, Mel-Loly and Primrose are my main ones, but it's because I draw him all the time and also because I decided to make this template involving all my ocs, that is, it's not just the ones in my story.

I really want to explode David (and Windy) from hugging him(them) so much......(and actually, all my ocs for real-)

Without a doubt, without a shadow of a doubt, my most original OC possible and who has a very unique design is Pinkobot (and Windy, who didn't fit but... anyway).

Do I need to say why the Calopsita is my favorite......? *sigh*.... Ok! I'll say it! It's just that... I literally love her sick, melancholic and dramatic story, and also because she's a little like me irl.. There! I said it!

Axel (and David.... I love their aesthetic, and the couple as a whole), honestly, after Calopsita, he is my favorite OC too. And for the same reason, he has some of my characteristics, and his hair literally has the two colors I love the most (pink and yellow), as well as his eyes (blue eyes, which are the same color as mine/Melissa's).

I honestly really like Sabryna's design, but...... She's a much more VERY annoying/difficult oc to deal with in the story and in everything itself.... And also because she simply bothers my favorite ocs a lot... That's why I put her in that position.

But yes, actually, I really like/love all my ocs. They are all important to me and are part of my whole life, so... Yeah, I love each and every one of them (even Sabryna) with all my heart, really!! ^^🧡

Also- tagging: @anyone <3

OC Template ✦ ORIGINAL!

(🧁) Yes you can use it. Be sure to credit me and DO NOT remove the watermark. I made this whole template myself.

" Can you make this with my oc's? "

NO.

Make it yourself. Be independent will you?

" Can I decorate it? "

Of course you can! Edit it to the fullest! Take my attempt using the template for example <3

" What does 'cute aggression' mean? "

You place your oc who you want to squish so bad you just explode. That's cute aggression.

[gaywarcriminals]

To me in my opinion Qijiu is praise kink x degrading kink.

Reason being Shen Jiu has probably never been praised once in his life, but the one time he was praised it surprisingly turned him on since it wasn't something he was used to.

And for Yue Qi it's the same thing. As the sect leader he's highly respected and has never been degraded, but everytime Shen Jiu insults him, he has to hold back a moan.

I agree with the premise, but my reasoning varies! 

SJ's Praise Kink:

this one is a little complicated because it’s not an Acceptable Desire in his mind. I don’t think it’s something SJ realizes he wants, and even if he did he would be loath to admit it. What kind of weakling runs around desperate for someone to say good job and pat their head in approval? Pathetic. I also really don’t believe he would be turned on the first time he was praised because he would be having too many complicated emotions about it. Part of the reason I usually give him dommy fetishes is I think he is more mentally and emotionally comfortable demanding or dragging affection out of someone— that way it’s not about the gnawing emptiness he’s trying to fill, but his power over the other person. A much less psychologically taxing way to receive affection! (Side note: this is part of why I see sub SJ as more brat-leaning).

Still, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be into praise! The root a lot of SJ’s potential fetishes is his longing to be loved unconditionally, as he sees himself as inherently rotten and therefore unlovable. SJ is someone who has a lot of trouble believing the words “I love you”, and certainly one of the ways to approach that problem is to just tell him how lovely he is over and over while gently fucking him round after round until he cries— just something SJ would take time to warm up to, and longer to believe. If YQY called SJ a good boy in bed out of no where he’d for sure get hit/kicked/clawed lmao. 

YQY's Degradation Kink:

first off Yue Qi was also a slave until age 15, he experienced no shortage of degradation and dehumanization as a child. While there are absolutely s-types who are into it because it’s the opposite of what they receive or what’s expected of them in their real life, I don’t believe that’s the case for YQY. Off the top of my head, his reasons are:

Xiao Jiu has always been harsh with how he shows affection. Yue Qi spent many years hearing “idiot” or “fool” from SJ’s mouth and knowing it meant that SJ was worried, jealous, loved him, etc. 

Once SJ’s persona as Shen Qingqiu is firmly in place and he’s more likely to employ an icy distance than a fiery rage. YQY would rather SJ demean and insult him than coldly ignore him. 

Yue Qingyuan lives with an immense amount of guilt that makes him feel as though he deserves to be punished, particularly by SJ. I think even after qijiu have theoretically resolved their major conflicts he lives with this feeling that SJ shouldn’t have forgiven him, that YQY deserved to suffer to his failings, that he doesn’t deserve the life they’re building together, etc. Degradation fetish is a safe way for him to excise those feelings.

As my Local Degradee Expert pointed out, there can be a relief in being called stupid, worthless, etc, and your partner still loving or forgiving you! Yue Qingyuan is an idiot and and failure and yet here SJ is having sex with him anyways, and curling up against his side afterwards. 

[northstarscowboyhat]

Haven't been uploading art as much because I'm kind of going through an art style crisis again LOL. Not very happy with my art at the moment, so I've been trying to experiment and practice!

So I've started a new project to help work out the details of my art style. Working on my take of a Deltarune Yellow setting, so have some experimental Clovers!

[sebdoesthings]

I'm so glad i watched Sk8 the Infinity as an adult and not a teen so I didn't turn into one of those annoying idiots who complain about "renga not being canon because they didn't kiss"

[sweatermikewheeler]

There are three types of Will fans that I’ve observed:

1. “I hope nothing really bad happens to Will in s5 and he gets the break he deserves and lives happily ever after with an art studio” (Understandable, but uninteresting. Not based.)

2. “I hope Will goes through absolute hell again, suffers more than ever, gets his screentime back, dies violently, then comes back to life and solos Vecna.” (Based)

And finally: 3. “I just hope Will gets absolutely railed by Mike in season 5” (Simple request. I love a fan who knows what they’re about. Also based).

[orlopsexdungeon]

many have said that in today's modern web 2.0 era internet hickey would be scammin as an influencer (correct) and i wanna say also that before that he had a web 1.0 blog with a title like "outside the widening gyre: musings of a nietzschean rentboy" or some shit equivalent that garnered a surprisingly large following before he had to nuke his entire web presence because along with blogging his bizarre and terrible takes on life and politics etc he'd been using the blog as a public crime diary (in his own words "doing a bit of a jean genet thing") and that caught up with him after he got in a beef about the true meaning of the prisoner's dilemma with a rationalist blogger who realized they could just call the cops on this guy

[spw-art]

Imagine being Jorge. Dear lord. Scary.

[cryptidjeepers]

Just putting this out there, i would absolutely be okay with paying to be a memeber of watchers youtube like i do with dropout, if it meant all their NEW content was now behind a paywall that allowed them to make bigger and better projects. Putting your entire content library behind a paywall on another site is just insulting to the fans that have supported the channel the last few years.

Youtube sucks and their monetization and predatory advertisers are awful and i respect any decision to get away from that, even if it means paid content. But this isnt it. My main complaint is how Watcher has only existed for 4 years, i truly do not think it's been around long enough to make this kind of move with stability.

[quibbs126]

I love how like 90% of the “Sonic 3 spoilers” tag is just stobotnik related

I mean yeah, that is the first thing I looked for when I came back from the movie yesterday, but still

[roseworth]

honestly i don't think any jason after his death seems to really match the one before it? hard to say he's in character at any point then. they might as well have introduced some new guy and told his story through flashbacks. at least the new guy would presumably have someone that cared enough about their oc to give them consistency

can i say something controversial. i disagree with this

i think you have a great point about how robin jason is a lot different than red hood jason, bc a lot of robin stories have him as just an average happy kid so the whiplash from barr tec jason -> utrh jason is insane

on the other hand,, that adds to it for me. this was not winick's intention but i love the idea that jason was just a happy robin that loved his dad & loved being robin then immediately gets crushed because he was living his happy life and thought everything was great, then went through an insane trauma and realized that everything was not as great as he thought so he decided to start killing people. in my head theres a great narrative where he basically becomes unrecognizable to who he was before because thats how bad his death & resurrection fucked him up

but also heres where im gonna get even more controversial! i dont think hes that different!

i loooove barr tec but i think barr has specifically said that he wanted to be writing dick so he just pretended he was. a lot of robin jason writers didnt bother to give him any character of his own, he was just dick 2.0 until starlin

i dont love how starlin wrote jason because his only reason for writing jason like that was that he hated him and wanted to kill him. but. starlin's jason was so distinct from dick that its one of the only times that it feels like jason. honestly if you take early post-crisis robin jason and compare it to starlin jason, its not that different. hes a little aggressive & angry but does it for a good reason, he fights with batman and can be impulsive but has strong morals even if his morals arent always what batman believes, which is very similar to who he was when he first became robin post-crisis

and because starlin jason is one of the only times that jason is distinct from dick (not to mention, in terms of general robin jason knowledge, most of jason's iconic robin stories come from starlin), it makes sense that that version of jason was used in utrh. and the version of jason that had empathy for victims to the point that he wanted to kill the perpetrators makes so much sense for red hood jason. he believed that the best way to get vengeance for the victims was to kill the person who did it, which is why he was so mad that bruce wouldnt do that for him after he died

in my mind there is a very clear progression from the version of jason that died and the version that comes back to life. he had a lot of empathy for the victims when he was robin (to the point that bruce told him that he should sit out the garzonas case bc he got too emotionally invested in it) so it makes sense that when he is the victim of a gruesome murder from someone like the joker, who has killed and done horrible things and isnt going to stop, that he would be extremely pissed that bruce wouldnt let his morals go just to kill the person that killed jason, since thats what jason, even as robin, believed was the best way to get vengeance for the victims

[cherry-bomb1985]

I keep thinking about Hell's words: "This is the only way it should have ended."

Should. Not could. *Should*.

Like V1 should have been mass produced, obliterated all the Earth Movers, and then the next machine should have come along to counter it in turn and continue the war. Like all that fighting and the cycle of violence should have been perpetuated.

Like Mankind should never have finally gotten their act together, and tried to continue on even in the absence of divinity and in the face of total climate collapse.

There's a notable difference between 'could' and 'should', and the fact that those words are spoken by the only one who would've been *extremely disappointed* by this outcome has me raising eyebrows.