#the conservative party is legit like ''is it anything good? okay we hate it.''

[inkskinned]

it is totally okay to be hurt and tired and fed up with the american schooling system but i need you to understand that we need to be better about loudly and routinely defending public education.

yes, many teachers suck, many schools utterly suck. i also got bullied and was absolutely not given the right support for my needs. i am not defending public education because it was kind to me. i am defending it because it needs to exist.

right-wing republicans do not want an educated population. they want kids to be homeschooled or in private school. there is a huge religious undertone to this.

the most common argument is that despite high costs, the "result" is not "good" enough. they point to failing schools as proof that public education is just never going to work out. there will be arguments made here that you actually agree with: that teachers can be bullies, that we taught online for 2 years and still charged the same amount of tuition, that we have no recourse for students to actually have agency or a voice, and that schools are now unsafe for kids due to risk of illness and gun violence.

these are all placing the blame in a fraudulent way, one intended to get your parents to homeschool you. the less kids in a school, the less federally-awarded funding for that school, the less any school succeeds. they will not mention the fact it is their legislation that takes away important funding opportunities, that teachers are living at or below the poverty line, that buildings are not kept up to code, that administration is overpaid and forces specific curriculums, that corporations like (my personal enemy) Pearson Education control certain classroom goals because teachers can't afford other options. they pretend to be ignorant of the gun violence and say "oh just get a gun" - but these are the same people who will be sending their child to a private school with a bulletproof backpack. they don't care if your kid dies, though. they "don't believe" in covid, but they did get their kid vaccinated, because of course they did.

it is a closed loop. conservative parents hear the fearmongering and remove children from the system. frequently these parents are also deeply religious. the kids are raised without access to other media & learn to parrot their parents. you have now created a new generation of conservatives. additionally, one of the parents/caregivers must stay home and homeschool the children, usually for free. i will give you 1 guess which parent tends to stay home to homeschool the children. these parents are encouraged to have many, many children. those children are most likely not getting access to safe sex ed.

we might laugh at fox news suggesting teachers are forcing children to use kitty litter but: first of all, there is kitty litter in the classroom. it's part of an emergency kit in case children are locked in due to a shooter. so that's fucking dystopian, and the fact they've completely reimagined the scenario to somehow make the teachers look bad when it's instead a fucking huge symbol of our failure as a country to protect our children.... it feels a little intentional.

secondly: don't just dismiss the situation. because, yeah, obviously, no teacher is encouraging kids to be a catboy. but the actual undertone that fox news is trying to sew is an outright distrust of teachers and of public education. they rely on the dehumanization of trans people as a common touchstone to hide the fact they're pushing two agendas at once. (which is ironic. because the thing they accuse teachers of. is pushing. an agenda.)

whenever someone tells you they want you to read less, you should be suspicious of that. when someone tries to separate you and your education, you should be suspicious of that. i don't even like incel rhetoric nor would i want my kids exposed to it - but i would not take away my child's (age-appropriate) access to the internet. i would just provide more educational materials, not less. the difference here is that i believe we can resolve ignorance with knowledge; whereas conservatives believe that ignorance is bliss.

they misappropriate funding and demonize teachers. they pull the same trick each time - the same thing we are seeing with anti-trans rhetoric. they do not want you to have access to safe sex ed, so they act horrified, claim sex ed teaches you how to thrust deep, claim that we have no idea what "age-appropriate" means. since the mid-nineties, the united states has spent at least 2 billion dollars on abstinence-only education, even though to quote the above link: "a preponderance of studies has found no effect of abstinence education at reducing adolescent pregnancy". conservatives want you to think less of any person struggling with addiction so they can continue their racist "war on drugs", so they spend up to $750 million dollars a year on the DARE program which has absolutely no effect. acting like teachers "must" be "grooming" children is just the same thing - so they can demand that funding either goes to their causes or the funding doesn't "exist" ("i'm not paying for our kids to learn that thing!")

and they want you to feel uncaring about this. they are aware that you will hate some parts of your school experience. pretty much everyone does. they want to lean into the parts that you hate so that you don't put up a fight about it when they take it away for not being "good enough."

i know i maybe sound like a conspiracy theorist. but truly. truly. it is beneficial for conservatives to reduce your faith in the american public schooling system.

one of the explicitly stated campaign promises of the conservative party: to axe the Department of Education in 2024.

i know we are all tired and burnt out and there is so much else wrong with their entire platform. but maybe just - pay attention to this one.

[slcters]

 「 avan jogia. cismale. he/him. 」i hope that #lexsquad member「 SLATER MALIH SAVALIA 」adds me to the squad ! the 「 TWENTY THREE 」year old 「 LAW 」 major has been apart of the squad since 「 OCTOBER 2018」and seems to be the 「 DELPHIC 」of the group.「 SLATER」is a「 SENIOR」 and seems to enjoy 「 WRITING & PLAYING MUSIC 」but you can always find them at a squad party , too !

TW:  CHEATING, ABANDONMENT, PORN MENTION, DEATH, DRUGS

Anyways lemme give you some info about my man and try to keep it as short ( I lied ) as possible I’ll have some wanted connections at the end so hit me up to plot cause I live for that :) 

NAME: SLATER MALIH SAVALIA AGE: 23 MAJOR: PRE- LAW SENIOR @ LEX POSITION: A DADDY HOBBIES: givin 0 Fucks, living life to the full, writing, being an PI on his dad, spiting his family n causing problems as a FUCK U. BORN: LONDON, ENGLAND. SEXUALITY: A truE WILD BISEXUAL :”)

BACKGROUND: 

So Slater was born in London, England however when he was younger he moved around a lot with his parents until they settled in LA. Mainly for his dads business and his mum had previously lived there too.

His mum was a travel writer which explains why they traveled a lot, his father runs a few escort agencies + brothels ( nevada only we do it legal here )  and also started up his own pornographic production company / film studio in LA. it would probably now be one of the biggest in the world.  ( think vivid entertainment meets brazzers ) u know FILTHY RICH SHIT.

Both his parents were obviously away quite a lot, his dad ran so many businesses and hmm was hands-on lets say but the household was pretty calm when he was fairly young. his mum was super attentive and loving and just such an amazing role model and always wanted to take him with her to show him the world when she had to leave. i think he definitely was a mummas boy.

at about 8/9 however would’ve been when things kind of came crashing down for him. he really caught his dad cheating on his mum w/ one of the porn stars he hired from the studio. His dad would’ve really asked him NOT to tell him mum because it would break their family up. obviously, slater was like terrified of the chance of losing his family so he just pretended nothing ever happened.

he was so conflicted because he was keeping this huge secret and he had so much guilt but he didn’t wanna be the one to ruin things. Like his dad basically used him as a cover like expecting him to lie for him for a long time. it would’ve really eaten away at him. like it would’ve not been a one-time thing, but slater was in denial for sure.

i think one day slater would’ve slipped up in one of his lies for his dad and his mum ended up fighting out what happened and it was such a mess. it would've led to their divorce and god that was.. SOO messy. they defs didnt have a prenup and like the custody.

I think lowkey he was miserable being with his dad, he had so much resentment and sadness there. he would’ve been okay being with his mum the whole time.

His dad was really the type of parent that would use his kids against each his ex wife like they would use slater to pass on messages and being like no u can’t have him for that day etc etc And not taken slater into consideration.

his dad though really tried his absolute best to bring his mum down which was sooo sad to see, like watching her get put through the ringer by his dad and she just became a bit of a shell of who she was, because he obviously had more than enough money to do it and didn’t want her to see a dime of it even tho he.. RLLY BE LIVING THE HIGH LIFE.

slater would’ve just been back and forth between them both up until he was about 15 when his mum, unfortunately, passed away due to drugs. which was SO UNEXPECTED.  i think there was definitely a lot more to it, like she definitely was self-medicating to help go through the still pending divorce. which would’ve lasted years. 

anyways losing his mum devastated slater because truly she was like a best friend to him, she was. he always enjoyed the weeks at his mums more than his dad and now he knew he’d be stuck there.

he fights a lot with his dad still about everything that happened and what he did, he blames him for it and putting a LITERAL KID in the middle.

anyways though since the separation his dad had like a myriad of “ girlfriends” around who were probably all young enough to be like a step sibling tbh. he never took to any of them until his stepmom. who shockingly he actually really likes. shes one thing keeping his family together atm.

 Anyways as you can imagine slaters dads business was huge and his dad is truly raking in the money but slater has always felt uncomfortable spending or even benefiting off it which is why he’s extremely secretive considering he knows where it comes from and he doesn’t exactly support his dad let alone he doesn’t want to have to explain that to people and get them looking into his family.

his father has really tried and put up this front though as if he’s a huge family man now and is conservative and super religious and smh that pissed off slater to the max. he’s like that dont make no fucking sense..

 when he high school hit though they were going to country clubs all that shit slater hated basically. he truly didn’t mind acting out just to spite his dad knowing hey your a family man what are you gonna do about it??

this drove his dad so crazy and only meant more rules were put on him, it was about the only attention his dad gave him.

when hey fight though its really wild, you know slater throws it in his dads face basically just some fucking pimp and exploits people and he’s never gonna do that and he’d rather have nothing than follow in his footsteps

i think his dad has been fined multiple times for some shady shit going on in his businesses. plus its been common knowledge in the depths of the industry they heavily provide them w/ alcohol drugs etc. probably has had an issue with the treatment of the people hes hired. lawsuits.  there's more under the surface that even slater doesnt know.

there would’ve been a bit of a scandal where his dad employed one of his dumbass country club friends daughters aka someone even slater knew to star in one of his adult films

 but regardless like he knew he really was fortunate he lived an extremely privileged life, like he would be set for life, could sit do nothing and its good. he just never had a huge interest in it unlike his father who really always said that he would take over everything someday and it would turn into a huge family business. and he was like yikes someone come tell him.. no thanks. 

 His dad and him definitely had a rocky relationship after his moms death, he  didn’t parent very much and just left his stepmom in so many uncomfortable situations but honestly

 He saw her more as a friend though then a mum but she was the best parental figure he’s ever even had. She’d genuinely try so hard to make sure his dad was acting like one like telling him he’s going to his sons gigs or else even though slater knew his dad would come for 2 seconds to appease his wife then leave.

But growing up he’s always been super careful of who’s around him and who he lets into his life probably as a result of how secretive his family has always instilled in him to be.

 Like his dad keeps saying we’re family we come first, and he never wanted slater to be sharing that with people about what they did.

 But he has such a resentment to his dad, like he thinks he’s a mess he has a wife he doesn’t give a fuck about a son he doesn’t see, he does god knows what he just is so convinced he can’t turn out like him ever. 

I think people genuinely think he must not come from money because the amount of people who have ever met his parents or seen his house is a handful if that. 

Like he’s always hanging out at other people’s places and just he’s never been really extravagant unless its to purposely spite his dad yikes. that comes from anger.

Like he really got himself a job even though his dad said he could come work for him just cause he was like yeah I don’t want to run ur dumb company and make money off it u pos? 

His dad has definitely been investigated a few times for shady practices. slater definitely started looking into law for that reason, like he genuinely thought he wants to actually be able to put guys who screw the system and own huge corporations and think they can pay outta anything in jail.

meanwhile his dad thought great a lawyer who can defend our family business smh so he supports him He has no clue slater would rather take him down.

hes on the dl investigating his dad himself. who wanna help.

PERSONALITY

losing his mom AND one his best friends showed him that he needs to really do everything he wants to and in that moment which does make him selfish at times 

i think he has abandonment issues, i think like when  his best friend who was kinda the reason he came to lex, happened to pass away also triggered that again ( TBD WHY im leaving this open for plots ) and that really shook him all over.

he really almost feels cursed at this stage.

he was pretty sheltered tbh because his dad wasn’t trusting AT ALL and at first was homeschooled until High school so he didn’t exactly grow up outgoing or being able to have many people at his place or tell them about his life.

i think theres not many people who know he’s related to his dad business, even tho his dad business iS HUGE and legit is his last name. and hes like yeah ha coincidence right??? not my dad at all.

He’s super fucking blunt though like he may be secretive with his personal life but his ass does not hold back which has gotten him into way too many problems. 

He just feels like he grew up lying about so much, his dad was like we don't want people taking advantage of you if they find out who you are and use things against me.

 he hated that and all the secrets about his dad he kept so don’t expect him to hold back on feelings or thoughts back at all 

LOVES to spite and piss his dad off even if that means 30+ students at his dads place during a business meeting lets do it.

He acts a lot without thinking like he sucks at planning anything and a lot of time he seems a little flighty and that he doesn’t take things serious enough esp his relationships

.He’d really go above and beyond though for anyone who’s proven to him that they can be trusted like he’s been known to be all in he either gives it everything or nothing so he goes extravagant

will try everything once.

wild child tm.

 his ass was kinda like living it up. he’s like on the brink of i dont want to just use my dads money but he’s like if i am though i wanna use it to actually do something decent, like get a law degree and be something, travel like his mum did. hes obsessed with the thought of like following in her footsteps BUT HE. NEVER ADMITS IT.

feelings who are u?

 He’s definitely a realist and a little bit cynical too, like he’s seen way too much shit to really have some ideal look on life. 

He doesn’t believe in some fairytale or things just happen for a reason or really in fate or anything like that. 

Like he doesn’t think love fixes everything and someone can be your happiness at all . hes like clearly its only problems so.

He’s only ever really had one serious relationship and a bunch of other casual things but that was just nothing to him

 He’s not closed off to them but he picks and chooses what he gives, but he’s just doubtful how someone’s gonna mix well into his life 

He definitely seems aloof and a bit cold but I mean after a drink and 5 minutes he’ll be picking your brain on just about anything 

loves writing in general, usually lyrics and music though.

secretly Loves a good midnight dnm overlooking the water with a trusted friend

 Awesome at getting himself out of situations he can be pretty convincing lbr

lowkey has abandonment issues. 

connections: donnt say im trash i know.

extra drama - his STEP sibling. aka child of his step mom. 

his best friends sibling, aka the one who passed away :”(

someone whose mum dated his dad WILD.

A TABOO FLING OR CRUSH, basically he got with someone he shouldn’t of, we can decide reasons HOWEVER I’D LOVE if the other chara was the ex of his friend who passed away. HED FEEL LIKE SHIT for having feelings. the angst. and the we cant do this its wrong.

I mean... someone who actually WORKS FOR HIS DAD. i would die, could be an escort, a sex worker, someone who is signed to his dads production company, can be a pornstar or more like a cam star too.

someone who is a huge tease and rlly makes his ass beg to be with them. make him work for it honey.

ooo a really GOOOOD friend and they’ve always been “ platonic” but theres this weird sexual tension and they both know it, but like ooo it could risk the frienndship n makee it weird and like ugh.

like someone whose parents hates them hanging around w/ slater bc of his family, maybe bc they ran in the same circles from back home but they just.. cant stay away from each other.

someone hes kinda dated but they realised we’d be better off as friends even tho weve seenn each other naked, it was fun.

One of the people from back home that found out all about his entire family when the scandal was exposed. They could’ve been friends or enemies.

AN ex!! pls he defs has broken some hearts or THE ONE WHO BROKE HIS :) IF U DO THIS U WILL GET SO MUCH LOVE

An enemy Maybe someone against his family or someone he just can’t stand!

THE damn girl his fucking dad tried to employ to be in his damn movie! My ass would do wild shit for this one wild WILD SHIT.

unrequited love, someone's heart he broke without even realising it

A confidant someone he can really confide in tell-all his dumbass shit too, like his protective ass would really care for this person

Someone who’s into music as much as him pLS!! like someone who can just jam with him late nights

He needs that dnm kinda friend 😂

A fwb that’s self explanatory:)

RIDE OR DIES etc

CHILDHOOD FRIENDS.

ANYTHING IM SOOO OPEN FOR PLOTTING

[365daysofmchart]

Reflecting on McHart: 3x02

Well, my post on last week’s episode was well received (thanks for all of the likes and replies!) and this week’s episode gave us SO MUCH, so I’m back with another post breaking down and delving into every little thing relating to Mr. and Mrs. McVeigh! (Yes, I did just say that.) And I essentially do mean everything, because my God, this thing is so freaking long it is absolutely ridiculous and I am so sorry... but you should all definitely read anyway ‘cause I spent too much damn time on this for you to not, LOL! (What a pitch, that was! HA!)

Once again, spoilers below! Hope you enjoy!!!

Breaking down scenes:

1. Diane is doing a full on investigation because she is still determined to find out exactly what happened when her husband was shot by the lil Trumpkins, NDA be damned! He’s told her he’s fine, I’m sure that at this point she can see herself that he’s fine... but she still just needs to know every detail of what happened because THEY SHOT HER HUSBAND AND THEY CANNOT JUST GET AWAY WITH IT JUST LIKE THAT. And yeah... I’m sure the politics factor in too, but I think that most of it is genuinely her grappling with how these men boys shot him and acted like nothing happened, silenced him. I think it breaks her heart a little bit and she just needs some kind of justice, even if it only means her herself learning the truth.

2. His little “bows,” oh my heart! And I very intentionally used quotations because he really just tied little ribbons around the bottles with little knots, but HE TRIED. Oh, he tried! And if he’s this helpless here, then that definitely means that every gift we’ve seen him give her he’s taken to be professionally wrapped, which I really don’t think is a Kurt thing at all, but he knows she does appreciate things like nicely wrapped gifts and he just wants things to be so nice and pretty and perfect for herrrrrr. Also, I feel as though Kurt is thoughtful, but not necessarily romantic, but they’ve been working towards creating this life together for so long now and it’s finally here, and so this man that hates anything “girly” decided that he and his wife have something to celebrate, and you know what would make this news even better, what will make her happy? Little bows. (And she is delighted!) But he’s not very good with those. BUT HE TRIES. Ugh.

3. “Are we celebrating?” “We are. We got a job.” WE. I mean, he got a job, but apparently he’s using “we” ‘cause they’re a unit and they share victories and also it means that THEY FINALLY HAVE THIS LIFE THAT THEY’VE BEEN FIGHTING FOR TOGETHER. And she’s so excited for him and she does that little, bitty, mini fist pump, but then you can see how deflated and concerned she suddenly is when it occurs to her that perhaps it will take him away, BUT NO, IT’S BASED IN CHICAGO AND OH MY GOODNESS SHE IS SO ELATED AND SO IS HE.

4. “Yes, Mrs. McVeigh.” “Oh!...  Mr. McVeigh!” “Well, uh, you might decide it’s time to take my name.” SO MUCH TO UNPACK HERE, OH MY GOOD LORD!!!! Breaking this whole exchange down into subparts, okay?

    a. When he refers to her as Mrs. McVeigh, there’s no significant reaction from her, meaning THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME HE HAS REFERRED TO HER AS MRS. McVEIGH!!!!! So just how often does he refer to her as such? Does she ever refer to herself as Mrs. McVeigh? What happened the first time he uttered those words to her? How often is Mrs. McVeigh used as foreplay? I need to know all of these things!

    b. For a singular kiss, that was a good kiss, guys--a solid liplock. And her hand on his cheek and his arm around her back that slowly moves up higher and higher to the back of her neck to pull her in closer, then her “Mmm...” as they pull apart? YES, I WOULD LIKE MORE OF THIS CONTENT IN THE FUTURE, PLEASE.

    c. And between kisses, he’s talking but they’re still holding each other so close and sort of swaying in each other’s arms and looking at each other with such adoration and joy, and my God, those two are so in love and so happy with one another and YES, THIS IS EVERYTHING THEY DESERVE, AND DAMN IT, IT IS EVERYTHING THAT WE DESERVE TOO.

    d. Taking his name. She might “decide” it’s time to take his name. Even while joking he's respectful of the fact that it is very much so her decision! And he is, in fact, joking--surely he would be honored and thrilled if she did so, but he’s not making a serious pitch here, he’s fully accepting of her decision and not at all pushing.

    ...That being said though, I wonder if this is something that bothers him at all, deep down. Again, he obviously accepts her decision and I’m sure he knew very well that that was going to be the case before it was even discussed. However, he is very much a man’s-man, and he has conservative leanings (also see my notes from last week’s post, in point 8), and I think it wouldn’t be entirely shocking to discover that deep down there is a part of him that wishes she would take his name (even if only to have that bond of sharing a name). I don’t know if he has ever broached the subject seriously in the past (again, I’m sure her keeping her name was an assumption from the start), but I think it wouldn’t be totally surprising if he (or perhaps she???) carefully brought it up once she retired (if that day ever comes, lol), when there were fewer practical reasons for her to keep her name. Or perhaps, if it actually is something that bothers him (and it very well may not), he’ll still forever keep it buried within because he’d never want to pressure her in any way, and though a part of him wishes they could have that, another part of him loves her for being a strong woman who has worked hard and built her name/reputation and wants to keep that identity intact in every way. ...Just some thoughts.

5. "Is it possible for you to get past your hatred for them?" Point taken, Kurt, but also... THEY LITERALLY SHOT YOU. (It's not just political! ...Though it is that too, haha.) Does he keep forgetting that??? Also, we haven't had all that many opportunities to see his protective side, but I have a feeling that, if their roles were reversed, he'd have a little trouble getting past someone shooting his wife and delaying medical attention, too!

6. "Can we just be happy for a minute?" Are we slowly spiraling from (or into?) that season-opening scene? (Update: Christine Baranski actually talked about this a bit in a video posted by The Good Fight)

7. SHE THOUGHT SHE’D SURPRISE HIM WITH COMING HOME EARLY.

8. Their whole little exchange, their repartee, is so adorable! ...But also, within that, they’re joking around about him going on a date with two other women (and Diane brought it up) and I think that really speaks to where they are in having moved past the whole Holly ordeal. (Again, while she had suspicions last week, they were based on his legitimate lies, which makes those suspicions totally valid.)

9. And we get both a “Whoa-ho, you look sexy,” and a “What’s up, handsome?” in under 60 seconds, and then there’s her tucking in his shirt and fixing his tie, and also, since when is Diane like a foot shorter than him??? LOL! Oh my God, I love it so much! 

And, well, Kurt tried to keep her away, but no such luck! HA! And I think the poor man knew it was over as soon as she declared she was coming. AND OH, THAT SARCASM AND SASS I LOVE IT!!! And I think I said this last week too, but while it may annoy him a bit at times, Kurt definitely loves it too!

10. Oh, Kurt and his pre-Republican function pep talks! He tries... he knows his wife and he’s gotta at least try. It doesn’t work, of course, clearly. But he tries. And then apparently after a certain point of it not working he resorts to subtly stepping on his wife’s foot to get his message across, LOL!!! 

I must admit, I really love the irony that she’s having a way better time at this Republican fundraiser than he is, haha. ...You know what I love more though? How uncomfortable Kurt looks that entire time. Look, I’m sure that some of it has to do with Diane, but I think a lot of it has to do with his morals alone. He may be conservative politically, but he’s not down with racist bullshit, so at least we’ve got that going for us. ...Or, rather, he’s got it going for him.

11. *Siiiighhh* Kurt is such a party pooper! But okay, real talk though... how confident are we that Diane actually deleted that recording? Cause look, I want to be confident, but... Diane is in a certain kind of place these days and I would not quite put it past her to have deleted another random recording instead. But I hope not. Because, really guys, could you both please just do the honesty thing this time around??? 

Anyway, assuming that she wasn’t bullshitting him, I find that whole thing very sweet. Yes, she had her fun, but she sees that perhaps she’s pushed it just a bit too far for her husband and she gives in, deleting it, to make him rest easier.

(As your resident McHart investigator, I looked closely at the deletion and 1) the file is only 9 seconds, which seems a little short 2) ...The file name still exists in there after it’s “deleted”??? There also weren’t any recordings above it though, so that’s something, meaning it was likely the latest. ...All of that being said, I would not advise reading too much into it because it’s graphics and her phone also reads 12:01 PM (when it is clearly not noon) as well as shows 80% battery--the latter is totally plausible, of course, but also doesn’t seem entirely legit either, ya feel?)

12. THEY ARE IN BED HOLDING HANDS FOR THE SECOND TIME IN AS MANY EPISODES, WHO DOES THAT?!?!?! (OUR SHIP DOES THAT and I am HERE FOR IT, HOLY SHIT, WHY ARE THEY SO ADORABLLLLE) And then her little 🎶 Back together agaaain... 🎶 I can’t. SO FREAKING CUTE. On that note though, it also felt oddly narrative to me, as though it was a sort of nod to the audience. I’m not sure if it was because it sort of punctuated the scene--their scenes of the episode--if it was the sing-song tone, or how it ended with a blackout, but yeah... it just felt like somewhat of a statement to me. Anyone else get that vibe? (I’m obviously not going to weigh this too heavily, but just thought I’d share how I read it all.)

Standout Lines:

“Hans and Franz, your safari buddies...”

“...Their baby zebra barbecue that they scheduled?!”

“...And that trumps everything else.” “Oh, DON’T USE THAT WORD!” “And that’s more important than anything else.” “ERRRRRR...” *MOMENT OF APPRECIATION FOR KURT’S FACES THROUGHOUT THIS EXCHANGE*

“Oh, I’m coming.” “Diane...”

“Eric and Don?! I have lived my life for this moment! Oh! ...Ooh, what should I wear?” *Got this whole damn thing italicized cause that sarcasm tho

“Me?? I’m just here to be a supportive spouse!” “Uh-huh.”

Other things:

I need that plaid wrap of Diane’s in my life!

We’ve seen Kurt in a white button-down both last week and this week (with only seeing him in one in a single other instance in nine past seasons, on their wedding day) and look, I’m not complaining, but... idk, it feels weird?

I’m going to spare you all a solid two paragraphs on the closet situation (...for now, anyway), but just... the closet situation.

By the end of this season I’m definitely gonna need a Diane-in-Pajamas roundup post.

Why are they always (and by always I of course mean in the two scenes we’ve had of them sleeping in bed thus far) only under the sheet with no duvet??? Does anyone else sleep like that on a regular basis (when not in a tropical climate/it isn’t summer)? I certainly don’t and no one else in the Good-verse has (including them in the past), so WHY IS THIS A THING?!?! Totally appreciate Kurt's shirtless sleeping habit though.

Was kind of hoping the axe throwing was going to start out as a cute McHart date night, but I suppose Diane getting out her aggressions is nice too. ...But I would 110% not be opposed to her bringing him along one evening!

In conclusion:

Guys. The unintelligible noises and flaling that came from me while watching this episode... I could. not. deal. Their scenes were all just so entirely lovely. And after everything (and by everything I don’t only mean the Good Wife finale aftermath, but also how drawn out their relationship was before that) it’s so wonderful and rewarding to see! And it’s funny--I remember a few seasons into TGW I came up with a McHart wishlist of sorts, and now, a few more years (though admittedly quite the journey) down the road and... I think that just about everything has been checked off??? (...Except for her wearing one of his shirts. And given they’ve got her in fancy robes and pajamas and slippers WITH HEELS this year, I’m not gonna hold my breath on that one, lol.) HOW LUCKY ARE WE?!?!? (Still could’ve gone without that affair though, and I’m still bitter.)

What’s still on your McHart wishlist?!?! (DON’T JUST TELL ME A SEX SCENE GUYS THOUGH. COME ON, ISN’T THAT ON JUST ABOUT EVERYONE’S LIST?!?! Be a little more creative! LOL!)

It’s looking like no McHart next week but WE STILL HAVE SO MANY MORE EPISODES TO COME!!! ...Two down, five to go!

Now, with that, this has gone on for long enough (too long,) and so, I’ll wish you all a good week! As always, fell free to message via ask or reply!

-E

...Oh, and once again, I am so sorry that this was so long! ...But, hey, I guess the last one was pretty long too, and you all seemed to like that one just fine, haha.

[magnetocerebro]

Lord help me... 

I generally try to believe the best of people. I exercise cautious optimism, and I feel like it’s helped me to develop empathy and to become a better person. Which is good, because I’m a millennial Democrat living in the Deep South with some very, VERY conservative friends and family.

For the most part? It’s been my experience that a lot of the Republicans in my life are of an older generation who believe in what the party platform was like several decades back and who aren’t at all aligned with people like Steve King. I can respect old-school Republicans while disagreeing on a basic political level. We don’t share the same philosophies, but we largely agree on basic truths like being kind and working together on what we can agree on.

But because I grew up with like a legit racist grandpa who still hasn’t forgiven me for my Black prom date let alone the fact that there was a *gasp* gay couple in my prom group, I can usually tell which people are actual old-school Republicans and which ones are white supremacists co-opting the party.

So you can imagine my surprise when a good friend of the family, a very sweet older woman who has been nothing but kind to my family through two recent deaths and three messy divorces (my family is a nuthouse okay?) posted an Islamophobic article on her Facebook page.

I legit did a double-take. This was the same lady who spent hours after my uncle’s funeral sitting with his two daughters and holding their hands while they cried and who I thought had nothing but butterflies and sugar plums in her heart! So I took a minute, counted to ten, and tried to see if I could decipher where she’d gone wrong and if this situation was salvageable or if I’d lost another one to the dark side.

To spare y’all the gruesome details, let’s just say a certain website (cough Breitbart cough) is painting up a two-sided conflict of violence in Nigeria to be “Muslims are killing Christians oh no!” and she was all UPSET and HOW DARE and WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO in her Facebook post. 

(insert sigh here)

(also insert link to what’s actually going on if you want to read about it because facts matter)

Now, I know this woman. And I know she has an actual soul. So, optimistically assuming that she wasn’t a Nazi and that I could course-correct her before she fell off the deep end, I sent her a message. “Hey, here’s some facts on what’s actually going on and also I felt like I needed to say something because this feels REALLY tone-deaf at the least right after what happened in Christchurch. We as Christians need to call out atrocities against anyone being murdered for their faith, not just fellow Christians.”

And her response was actually very considerate and kind! She had NO idea that the truth was anything other than what she’d seen in that article, had NO idea that she was perpetuating a one-sided lie. She legitimately thought that she was spreading awareness of a tragedy going on in the world. She was HORRIFIED to hear that there was more to it than that and promised that she would do better about fact-checking. (Though, to be honest, when I suggested she use AP or NPR to fact-check and she refused, I don’t have terribly high hopes for her news sources, but at least I got her thinking outside of the bubble!) 

But here’s the kicker.

In this whole conversation about making sure to get all sides of a story and making sure to check facts and not falling for clickbait (all of which are good things to talk about) the thing she said that I can’t get out of my head was this:

“Oh, I didn’t even realize that the Christchurch attack was anti-Muslim!”

....

Y’all. 

She had seen articles about the attack. She knew that New Zealand was implementing gun control. She wasn’t ignorant of the attack itself. But she was getting her news from such biased sources that the fact that it was a terrorist attack against Muslims specifically never ever touched her radar.

THIS is the problem we’re having right now. It’s not just about Steve King or Nazis in the streets (though that is also a real problem). It’s more insidious than that.

It’s the simple fact that there is a large section of our population that has been so systematically bamboozled that their REALITY isn’t even the same as our own. And it’s not just your racist grandpa. It’s your sweet aunt who gets all her news from Facebook and who has been genuinely brainwashed to believe that the Associated Press - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - is a biased and untrustworthy news source.

We can’t even begin to get on the same page fighting hate when there are people out there who don’t even know there’s a fight to be had. And the worst part is that, for many people, this is genuine ignorance and not maliciousness. But how to you begin to fight that when the damage is so deeply done that people like this have been trained not to trust fact-based reporting?

I know this isn’t new. I know it’s been going on for a long time. I know i’m not really adding anything to the conversation here that hasn’t already been said. 

But I swear to you, I have never felt my hope for humanity crash so hard as when I read the words: “I didn’t even realize that the Christchurch attack was anti-Muslim.”