#at this point i think we should get single nancy just out of spite

[eskawrites]

sometimes i still think about the fact that nancy is one of the most powerful, plot-critical characters in stranger things, and how she has led her own arc every single season--from driving the search for barb to taking down the lab to figuring out the flayed to being a fucking general by the end of season 4. and about how she was taking care of the kids during the last half of s3 and how she was the leader of the hawkins group in s4. like, i really cannot emphasize that enough. once the main character with superpowers and the actual war veteran chief of police are out of town, nancy is the unquestionable leader. the person everyone turns to without thinking twice. i’m serious. nancy is a teenage girl who has her every move questioned and doubted and still the only people more powerful than her in the show are a girl with superpowers and a war vet.

and when danger--physical danger--shows up, she doesn’t fucking hesitate. she’s diving straight into the upside down. she’s leading the older group to safety again. she’s shoving aside the 5 different traumatic experiences she just witnessed to put together a multi-step military operation and she’s taking point to go shove a shotgun in vecna’s face. and yeah, they end up not being alone when they face vecna because el is there, but nancy doesn’t know that. she’s fully intending on going to kill an adult man who has control over an entire dimension and has been murdering people with his mind, even though she has no backup, no superpowered el, no hopper and his government contacts, nothing.

and yet.

AND YET

the vast majority of natalia dyer’s press for s4 was about a love triangle. and i get it, a lot of interviewers can’t get away with not asking those questions, but you know what else you could ask about? nancy’s growth over the last 4 seasons. how it felt being the leader of the hawkins gang. how she thinks nancy feels after losing another friend. what was running through her head when vecna had her. what her thoughts are regarding nancy’s plan, or what’s going through her head during that final scene when she’s *checks notes* standing behind the show’s protagonist and looking at The Plot as it rises from the ground.

or, i don’t know, ask her what it’s like being the person handling guns on set. what those upside down night shoots were like. what her thoughts are on nancy’s choice of college! what she thinks about the perm! for fuck’s sake there are only a thousand different questions that would’ve been far more interesting or at least personal to her character. but no. every interview boils down to team steve or team jonathan, as if a tired, already resolved love triangle is anywhere near as interesting as literally any other part of her character

#we're raging tonight lads natalia dyer deserved BETTER #can you imagine watching stranger things season 4 and getting the chance to interview one of the MOST CRITICAL CHARACTERS #and then asking her about this tertiary cliche plot line that you know she can't answer anyway #can you imagine #nancy wheeler #stranger things #natalia dyer #she deserves betterrrrrr #tbh i fully believe we got as much ronance content as we did just bc it was more interesting to talk about than jonathan vs steve #and i can't blame her for that! #i'd be talking about it too even if i didn't ship it #bc at least then you don't have to talk about which of her mediocre relationships she's gonna revive #give nancy wheeler (and natalia dyer) a break ffs #at this point i think we should get single nancy just out of spite

[femmeharringrove]

so we all know dream on is billy's snapping point song, but we don't have one for steve and i personally think it should be i don't care anymore by phil collins.

steve used to play the drums a lot. he's a guitar dude now but he still bangs out a beat every now and again, usually drumming against his thigh or a desk. when the drum in a song is good, he can't help but tap out the tune, muscle memory and trained ear guiding him through it.

and phil collins, well, he's simply the best drummer.

and he's good at catching steve's emotions in his songs. he's perched in the safety of his car in november - things are sort of back to normal, will isn't possessed and he drives kids around sometimes and passes by tommy's house and remembers that he fucked that up, he avoids billy hargrove as much as he can, avoids nancy and jonathan in spite of their efforts to hang out, he avoids everyone really. the town's golden boy is tarnished now and it's an isolating experience. he doesn't really have anyone anymore.

it's one of the last rain storms of the year and he glares at the rain streaming outside of the car, eyes hard with unshed tears. his knuckles and fingers move in a pattern he's aquatinted himself with over the years, and his voice sings along, barely above a whisper.

"well you can tell everyone i'm a down disgrace, drag my name all over the place, i don't care anymore. you can tell everybody 'bout the state i'm in, you won't catch me crying 'cus i just can't win, i don't care anymore. i don't care anymore, d'you hear?"

thunder growls at him and he blinks at the lightning that follows. he's so fucking tired.

"i don't care what you say, i don't play the same games you play."

he didn't come from the happy argumentative family of the hagans, or the sort of settled wheelers. and they didn't carry the name harrington on their shoulders, the weight ever-present and dragging him further and further down. he had never been like any of the people he'd grown close. and if they'd never been the same in the first place, how could he expect them to stay? to love him, to want him? steve's voice creeps up slightly in volume.

"'cus i've been talking to the people that you call your friends, and it seems to me there's a means to an end, they don't care anymore."

he thinks bitterly of every bastard in hawkins high who ever pretended to love king steve and spits a bitter chuckle as he pushes forward, tapping the drums against his thigh.

"and as for me i can sit there and bide my time, i got nothing to lose if i speak my mind, i don't care anymore, i don't care no more."

who'd listen to him anyway? steve's learned not to share his darker emotions because they get overlooked every time. so what would it hurt if he told nancy she was bullshit? if he told billy he was a coward, of he called tommy a flake and yelled that he'd trust the Devil before he trusted a single person in that school? nobody listened to steve, his voice is always drowned out by a roaring storm.

"i don't care what you say, we never played by the same rules anyway."

that's it, the whole key. steve gives his all to people who don't know how to keep it. and then he ends up like this - heart hollow amd stomach churning and eyes burning from the pain welling within his chest.

"i won't be there anymore, get out of my way, let me by, i got better things to do with my time, i don't care anymore, i don't care anymore..."

in the process of bringing a hand up to scrub at his cheeks, steve hits his hand against the wheel and it hurts. but it's good, so he leaves his tender thigh alone and raps his knuckles against the wheel. his knuckles may not appreciate it later, but - well, he doesn't care, does he?

"well i don't care now, what you say, 'cus everyday i'm feeling fine with myself, and i don't care now what you say, hey i'll do alright by myself, 'cus i don't -"

there's a battle being fought between his will not to cry and the emotion bubbling and festering in his chest, and he's losing. steve's drumming gets harder and his voice gets louder and he doesn't want to care but, god, he does. and the world's crying outside his car, loud and angry, why shouldn't he do the same?

why couldn't he?

"'cus i remember all the times i tried so hard, and you laughed in my face 'cus you held all the cards, i don't care anymore, and i really ain't bothered what you think of me, 'cus all i want of you is just a let me be, i don't care anymore, you hear i don't care no more!"

and yeah, he's yelling. and he is crying, and he hasn't cried in so long and it's like every hurt and fear he's faced is just pouring out, and he's banging against the wheel with more force than he needs to be using but he's so frustrated that it's all he can do. but it's still not enough.

because life's fucked him over at every turn and he's been hurting and scared and lost for longer than he's been dealing with monsters and it's not fair. steve doesn't understand what he's doing wrong, and for once he's angry at the world on his own behalf. he doesn't want to hurt, he doesn't want be get abandoned, he doesn't want to care.

but here he is, hurting and abandoned and caring so much he thinks it'll kill him.

and suddenly it's not enough to keep in the car. steve haphazardly turns the volume up loud and stumbles blindly out of the car and he screams the lyrics now, choking on sobs, he wants the world to listen this time. he wants hawkins to hear his heart breaking and he hopes to god they know it's their fault.

"i don't care what you say, i never did believe you much anyway, i won't be there no more, so get out of my way, let me by, i got better things to do with my time, i don't care anymore! i don't care no more! you hear me, i don't care anymore! you listening? i don't care no more!"

and as phil belts with the crescendo steve just yells, because nobody's listening anyway and he's struck with the realization that if he did leave, if he wasn't there anymore, nobody would care anyway.

and somewhere between the screaming and the crying he ends up on his knees and he thinks he's broken something inside of himself emotionally because he's never felt so much pain at once and it makes him cry like the grief is trying to claw it's way out of his chest. and he doesn't know when the song ends, if it ends, how long he sits there weeping, and roaring with the storm, but someone finds him at some point.

he's too charged to take note of who, but someone's on their knees with him, and he looks at blue eyes pooling with a sort of understanding he's not used to, and steve doesn't think twice before curling into their embrace, their bulk sheltering him from the rain.

"that's it, pretty boy, let it out," they soothe, and steve tries telling him he doesn't care anymore but all that keeps coming are those painful cries. and the whole time he cries, the other stays with him, and he feels less alone in that moment than he has in a while.

#have yall tried this it feels fucking good to scream in a storm #go feral babes!! #steebie writes #stranger things fanfiction #steve harrington #harringrove #because yall know who shows up at the end #also i'm just really obsessed with phil collins right now what is this

[lesbianrobin]

What are your thoughts on stancy in S2? More specifically the Halloween party scene?

Alright, so. St*ncy overall is... a very rough part of S2. To this day, I can’t understand why the fuck they chose to handle it the way they did. The whole thing makes Nancy look bad, it makes Jonathan look kind of bad too, and it absolutely beats Steve to an emotional pulp. This post is going to be so long I’m so sorry dklnckn...

It’s canon that Nancy wanted Jonathan the entire time that she was dating Steve. Almost a full year! Steve is planning his future around Nancy, talking about how he wouldn’t mind not going to college if it meant he could be around for her senior year. It’s clear that Steve thinks he and Nancy are in it for the long haul, which is reasonable considering that they’ve 1. Been together for a year and 2. Fought a monster together. Steve loves her, and he thinks that she loves him too. 

He goes to dinner with Barb’s parents for her every week, even though he doesn’t know them and barely knew Barb, even though he’s incredibly uncomfortable, but he does it to support her. When she has a rough moment in the library because of her grief, he pulls her into a private space, reminds her that talking about it in public could literally get them killed, holds her and comforts her, and then basically tells her that he knows it’s stupid to go to a Halloween party and act like normal teenagers when they know what they know, but it’s all they really can do, and he thinks they might as well try to be normal. He’s not belittling her feelings. He’s not ignoring her trauma. He’s just focused on making sure they don’t attract government attention and on trying to enjoy their lives as best as they can. 

Now, the party comes in. Nancy is being kinda shitty to Steve before she gets drunk. Billy and some other guys come up to Steve and start insulting him about the whole “King Steve” thing and how he’s a loser now, and Nancy just... walks away. She doesn’t even try to pull Steve away, tell them to knock it off, anything. Steve’s getting bullied, and she just leaves. Fine, whatever. Steve’s a big boy, she doesn’t have to try and fight his battles. Then he follows her over to the punch bowl, realizes that she’s chugging that shit like it’s going out of style, and he’s like “Hey, slow down.” Nancy, still sober, says something along the lines of (can’t remember exact words) “You wanted to get drunk like stupid teenagers!” before chugging down her cup of punch. 

This is why I brought up the dinners with Barb’s parents. Steve’s been doing this thing for Nancy every single week for a year. He’s kind to Barb’s parents, he does his best to make conversation and be polite, even when Nancy isn’t around. Then, he asks her to go to one party with him (that she wanted to go to as well, indicated by the fact that she enthusiastically pleaded with Jonathan to come and the fact that she and Steve had been working on their costumes for a long time). She responds by throwing his words back in his face, intentionally getting drunk at least partially to spite him. What the fuck?

Nancy’s grieving. She’s a teenager. She feels guilty about Barb’s death and blames Steve for it as well as herself, and she tries to suppress these feelings until she just can’t anymore. I understand that. All of this stuff honestly makes for an interesting plot! However, it falls apart the second she goes off with Jonathan, and it stops being the story of a girl struggling with complex survivor’s guilt and starts being the story of a girl who dated a boy she never loved for a full year while harboring feelings for someone else.

Steve and Nancy have an argument outside of the gym. He’s bitchy, tells her to go ask her other boyfriend what happened last night, and asks her to prove that she didn’t mean their love was “bullshit” by telling him she loves him. She can’t say it, and he tells her that she thinks she’s bullshit. Did they break up? I personally think it’s a bad argument and not a breakup, seeing as nobody actually said “we’re over” or anything, but you could argue that Nancy interpreted it as a breakup if you’d like to be charitable. However, I’m pretty sure that later on at Murray’s, Nancy and Jonathan refer to Steve as her boyfriend, so... Nancy cheats on Steve. Perhaps the cheating would be understandable as a result of her suppressed trauma and emotions surrounding Barb and Steve and everything, a moment of weakness, EXCEPT for the fact that she confirmed to Jonathan the night before that she waited for him and has essentially liked him the entire time. That, in my opinion, pushes it from “mistake made as a result of heightened emotions after a bad fight” to “opportunity taken that she’s wanted for a long time.” It’s a fucked-up writing decision that makes Nancy and Jonathan both look bad, as not only do they both know Nancy has a boyfriend, they also both literally owe said boyfriend their lives, and they still choose to sleep together.

The whole “thing” with J*ncy is shared trauma, right? They have the matching scars. Shared trauma, that’s “the real shit” according to Murray. But... what trauma do they share, exactly, that isn’t also shared by Steve? Steve was just as much “as fault” for Barb’s death as Nancy (of course neither of them were remotely responsible, but they were both there and they both had sex while Barb was dying out back in the pool, so). Steve fought the Demogorgon with them. Steve actually stood in front of both of them and held the Demogorgon off, protecting them! Is the “shared trauma” meant to be losing someone to the Upside Down? Will survived, but even if you do count him as a “loss,” then Joyce, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin all share that trauma, too. 

None of that really even matters, because the concept of shared trauma as the basis of a relationship is a mess that the show literally dismantles themselves in the form of, you guessed it, St*ncy!

Steve and Nancy both know about the Upside Down. Steve and Nancy both ignorantly had sex as Barb died, and now have to live with that knowledge. Nancy lost her best friend, and Steve has to wake up and go to sleep right next to the place Barb died every single day. They both fought the Demogorgon. They were both told by the government that they absolutely cannot tell anyone about what happened, and they will most likely be killed if they do. This shared trauma is what makes Nancy lash out at Steve, it’s what makes her get wasted, it’s what makes her blame him for Barb’s death, and it’s presumably what prevents her from loving him even though she clearly wants to (why else stay with him for a year?). So why should we, the viewers, accept that J*ncy’s shared trauma will provide the basis for a healthy relationship when the very same thing caused St*ncy to crumble?

So Nancy and Jonathan sleep together. They come back, Steve can tell what happened, and he says that it’s fine. I think that we’re supposed to take this as character development, or something? When he first thinks that Nancy has cheated on him with Jonathan, he responds by publicly shaming them and insulting Jonathan, but now, when Nancy ACTUALLY cheats on him, he takes it lying down, says that it’s fine when it clearly isn’t, and... this is a good thing?

We already know Steve is a better person now. We knew it back in S1, when he cleaned off the movie theater sign, went to Jonathan’s house to apologize, and then literally risked his own life to save Nancy and Jonathan! We knew it when he went to dinner at the Hollands’ with Nancy. We knew it when he ignored Billy’s jabs during basketball and at the party and let the insults roll off his back instead of allowing himself to be goaded into a fight. We knew it when he went to Nancy’s house with flowers to apologize, when he helped Dustin look for Dart, when he fought off the Demodogs, etc, etc.

I’m getting off topic, but my point is that St*ncy is a mess in S2 for a lot of reasons, but the way it ends is the worst part. Steve, for whom infidelity is a big fucking deal due to his parents’ strained relationship as a result of his own father’s cheating, gets cheated on by Nancy. Nancy never properly apologizes to him. They never really talk about it. Steve says it’s fine, his heart is broken, and Nancy and Jonathan are happily in love and never have to own up to the fact that their relationship began as infidelity.

The whole S2 St*ncy narrative essentially functions to grind Steve’s heart into the dirt while making Nancy and Jonathan, protagonists who we are presumably intended to like and root for, seem like terrible people. I have so many more thoughts about St*ncy, but most of those are already up in some other posts, so this is it, I guess! Thanks for asking!

#em talks #asks #stranger things #long post #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #stancy #lesbianrobin.canon

[whitehotharlots]

Previewing the 2024 Democrat Primary

Within a couple weeks of his being sworn in, just about every person on earth will wish Joe Biden was no longer president. Sure, the few surviving John B. Anderson voters will be thrilled to see 4 years of crushing austerity and half-assed attempts at Keynesian stimulus. But most people will begin dreaming about a brighter future.

Good news! The 2024 Democratic primary field is going to contain dozens of options. Bad news! They are all going to be disgusting piles of shit. 

The “top tier”

While it’s too early to do any handicapping, these are the candidates the media will treat as having the most realistic chances of securing the nomination. 

Kamala Harris

Kamala did not win a single primary delegate in 2020. This is because she dropped out before the first primary, and that was because no one likes her. She has no base beyond a few thousand of twitter’s most violent psychos. Her disingenuousness approaches John Edwards levels: any halfway incredulous person can see immediately beyond her bullshit. She has no principles whatsoever, and while that may be par for the course for Democrats, she lacks even the basic politician’s ability to intuit anything that might, hypothetically, constitute a principle. 

Even better: she is an awful public speaker. She sounds like how a talking dog would speak if he were just caught stealing people food off the kitchen table. She communicates in weird grunts and faux sassy squeaks, which is how she imagines real black women sound like, but something about her is unable to sell the bit. She begins her sentences in halfhearted AAVE, stops and panics halfway through as she realizes that maybe this sounds fake and offensive, and then reminds herself oh wait, no, this is okay since I’m black. This doesn’t happen once or twice per speech. This is how every single sentence sounds. 

Kamala is like Nancy Pelosi in that no sketch show will ever impersonate her correctly, because anything that came close to authenticity would be considered far too cruel. This might benefit her in the primaries, as she exists in the minds of Democrats as someone and something she absolutely is not in reality. Nominating her would be like allowing your child’s imaginary friend to attempt to drive you to the store. 

Andrew Cuomo

Easily one of the 50 worst people alive, Cuomo has a solid chance because Democrats, same as Republicans, are unable to differentiate between electability and self-serving ruthlessness. Cuomo used the deadliest public health crisis in American history as a pretext for cutting Medicaid and firing 5,000 MTA workers, and his approval rating increased. New York Dems are little piggies who love eating shit. If we assume that the political media will continue their habit of refusing to discuss the legislative history of right wing Democrats, Cuomo might well cruise to the nomination and then lose to literally any human being the GOP nominates by an historic margin. 

Joe Biden

The party loves him because he is a right wing racist. “Progressives” tolerate him because black primary voters over 40 supported him, and their opinion is supposedly a magic window into god’s truth. Everyone else can tell he is manifestly senile. I don’t put it above the DNC to pick a candidate who is in horrible health, dying, or even dead--whatever the financial sector wants, they’ll get. But I would be shocked if his approval rating is above 39% by mid-2023, and by that point deep fake technology will be advanced enough they’ll put out a very lifelike video in which the Max Headroom version of Joe explains he’s proud of his accomplishments--that budget’s almost balanced already--but, man, I gotta abd--I gotta abdica--, uhh, I gotta, I, uhh, I gotta move down, man. 

Wild Cards

These candidates would have all have a chance if they ran, but they could all much more easily retire to Little Saint James off of kickbacks they’ve gotten from Citibank and I.G. Farben. 

Rahm Emanuel

Rahm is going to receive some hugely influential post in the Biden administration. Let’s say he becomes Secretary of Education. His signature achievement will be replacing all elementary school teachers with Amazon’s Alexa, which saved the taxpayers so much money we were able to quadruple the number of armed police officers we put into high schools. This will give him several thousand positive profiles on network news programs and the near-universal support of the Silicon Valley vampires who will own 99% of the country by the time Biden’s term ends. They will use their fancy mind control devices to convince geriatic primary voters that Rahm’s the one who will bring Decency back to the white house. His candidacy will be the paragon of wokeness, as expressing concern toward the fact that he covered up the police murder of a black guy will get you called a racist. 

Rahm has a bonus in that Jewish men are now Schrodeniger’s PoC. When they are decent human beings, they are basic, cis white men who are stealing attention from disabled trans candidates of color. When they love austerity and apartheid, they become the most vulnerable people of color on earth and criticizing them in any way is genocide. No one will be able to mention a single thing Rahm has ever done or said without opening themselves to accusations of antisemitism, and that gives him a strong edge against the rest of the field. The good news is that an Emmanuel candidacy would result in over 50% of black voters choosing the GOP candidate--which, I guess that’s not really good but it would certainly be funny. 

Gavin Newsom

Newsom is every bit as feckless as Cuomo, but he doesn’t put off the same “bad guy in an early Steven Segal movie” vibes. He will mention climate change 50 times per speech and no one will bother to mention how he keeps signing fracking contracts even though his state is now on fire 11 months of the year. If anything, this will be spun into an argument about how he’s actually the candidate best suited to handle all the water refugees gathering on the southern border. Look for his plan to curb emissions by 10% by the year 2150 to get high marks from Sierra Club nerds. He’s also a celebate librarian’s idea of what constitutes a handsome man, so he’ll have some support from the type of women who claim to hate all men. 

Larry Summers

I mean, why not? Larry, like most members of the Obama administration, has politics that are eerily similar to those of Jordan Peterson. In normal circumstances, this makes a person a dangerous fascist who should not be platformed. But if that person has a D next to their name this makes them a realistic pragmatist who has what it takes to bring suburban bankers into our tent. If current trends in Woke Phrenology continue apace, Larry’s belief that women are inherently bad at STEM will be liberal orthodoxy by 2023, and his dedication to the Laffer Curve could see him rake in massive donations. Seriously, I’m not kidding: cultural liberalism is now fully dedicated to identity essentialism and balanced budgets. Larry is their ideal candidate. If he were black and/or a woman, I’d put him in the very top tier. 

Jay Inslee

Unlike Newsom, Inslee’s attempt to crown himself the King of Global Warming won’t be immediately derailed, since his state is only on fire because of protestors. This, however, poses a different problem. He’s going to be a good test case for the Democrat’s uneasy peace with the ever increasing share of the electorate who become catatonic upon hearing a pronoun. On the one hand, you need to take their votes for granted. On the other hand, they’re not like black people or regular gays: most voters actively, consciously despise wokies, and associating yourself with them will ruin a campaign even in deep blue areas. There’s still gonna be riots in a year. Biden’s gonna announce the sale of all our nation’s potable water to the good folks at Nestle and some trans freak named Sasha-Malia DeBalzac is going to use that as an opportunity to sell their new pamphlet about how it’s fascist to not burn down small businesses. No matter what Inslee does in response, it’ll end his career. 

AOC

I’m not one of those “AOC is a secret conservative” weirdos, but I am aware enough of basic reality to know she has zero chance of coming close to the nomination. The right and the center both regard her as a literal demon. The party is already blaming her for the fact that a handful of faceless Reagan acolytes failed to flip their suburban districts even though they ran on sensible pragmatic proposals like euthanizing the homeless. The recriminations will only get more unhinged when the Dems eat shit in the 2022 midterms. She will be a Russian, she will be white male, she will be a communist, she will be a homophobe: any insult or conspiracy theory you can name, MSNBC will spend hours discussing. Her house seat challenger will receive a record amount of support from the DNC in 2024 and it’ll be all she can do to remain in congress.

Larry Hogan

Don’t be dissuaded by the fact that he’s a Republican. Larry is the DNC’s ideal candidate: a physically repulsive conservative who owes his entire career to appealing to the most spiteful desires of suburban white people. He’s an open racist in a material sense--if you’re old-school enough to think racism is a matter of beliefs and actions, rather than the presence of cultural signifiers--but his is the beloved “never Trump” style of racism that Dems covet. He’s also a Proven Leader who thinks the role of government should be to finance the construction of investment property and give police the resources they need to run successful drug trafficking operations. Few people embody the Democrat worldview more than Larry. 

The Losers Bracket

These people will have at least a small chance due solely to the fact that the Democrats love losing. They have lost in the past, and in the Democrat Mind that makes them especially qualified.

Joe Kennedy

The man looks like a mushroom-human hybrid from a JRPG. Trump proved that physical hideousness need not doom a presidential bid, but a candidate still needs some kind of charm or oratorical abilities or, god forbid, a decent platform. Joe aggressively lacks all of these things. A vanity campaign would be a good way to raise money and perhaps secure an MSNBC gig, so Joe might still run. 

Mayor Pete 

I am 100% convinced that Pete’s 2020 run was a CIA plot meant to prevent working class Americans from ever having a chance of living decent lives. I am also 100% aware that Democrats are dumb enough to enthusiastically support a CIA plot meant to prevent working class Americans from ever having a chance of living decent lives. If we have some sort of military or terror disaster between now and 2023 the Dems are sure to want a TROOP, and wait wait wait you’re telling me this one is a gay troop? Holy hell there’s no way that could lose!

Stacy Abrams

Never underestimate the power of white guilt. She lost the gubernatorial race to Gomer Pyle’s grandson, and her spiritual guidance of the Dems saw the party lose black voters in Georgia in 2020. Nonetheless, she is regarded as a magic font of fierceness within the DNC. She might stand a chance if she can establish herself as the most conservative non-white candidate in the field, but there’s going to be stiff competition for that honor.

Elizabeth Warren

Liz is probably angry that the party so shamelessly sold her out even after she was a good little girl and sabatoged Bernie’s campaign for them--yet another example of high ranking US government officials reneging on their promises to the Native American community. Smdh. The fact that this woman hasn’t been bankrupted a dozen times over by various Wallet Inspectors genuinely astounds me. So Liz is probably going to run again, and her campaign will be even sadder the second time around. 

It might surprise you to hear this if you don’t work at a college or NGO, but Liz diehards actually do exist. She’ll get even less support this time because there will be no viable leftist in the field for her to spoil, but she’ll still hang in long enough to make sure the very worst possible candidate beats out the second worst possible candidate. Maybe she’ll fabricate a rape accusation against Sherrod Brown. Maybe she’ll spend her entire allotted debate time doing a land acknowledgment. With Liz, anything is possible--so long as it ends in failure. 

Amy Klobuchar 

Amy was the most bloodthirsty of the 2020 also rans. She will double down on the unpopular failures of the Biden administration, explaining that if you weren’t such a selfish idiot you’d love the higher social security retirement age and oh my god are so such a moron you think you shouldn’t go bankrupt to get a COVID vaccine? There’s a non-unsubstantial segment of the Democratic base that’s self-hating enough to find this appealing, but it won’t be enough to make her viable. 

Martha Coakley

She lost Ted Kennedy’s senate seat to a retarded man who was pretending to be even more retarded than he actually was. Then she lost a gubernatorial race to a guy who openly promised Massachusetts voters that he would punish them for electing him. Her record of failure is unparalleled, making her perhaps the ideal Democrat standard bearer for the twenty twenties. 

[astralaffairs]

secret agent laf delivering the final blow like “this is for france!” and thomas like “i have literally no idea what youre talking about”

im sorry but u KNOW that his dumb ass just jumps to the stupidest conclusions he could possibly find 🤡

---

Thomas was sick of monotonous Fridays, but this wasn't exactly the antibiotic he was looking for.

He was still half asleep behind his desk. His secretary had long since left for the evening; by then, it was the receptionist on the ground floor, his dying potted plants, a few abandoned draft reports, and him. The quiet almost would've been peaceful had the siren song of the couch in his office not been seducing him into a much-needed slumber. It was only a few feet away; who'd know in the morning that he'd slept in the office.

But no -- he needed to focus. If he finished everything he needed done that night, the rest of the weekend could actually be relaxing, which seemed all but a pipe dream from where he was sitting. He'd just managed to lock himself into his most daunting task when the call box on his desk buzzed. He furrowed his brow, leaning over to respond.

He pressed his thumb down on the call button. "Hey, Nancy, who's here at ten PM?"

"The Marquis de Lafayette says he has a meeting with you."

His eyebrows shot up. What could Lafayette possibly be doing there? No matter what it was, he was sure it was more exciting than poring over financial records for the remainder of his night. "Alright. Yeah, send him up."

In the few minutes from then until the elevator dinged, signaling that Lafayette had reached the floor of his office, Thomas's focus was all but nonexistent. His curiosity (and deep, deep desire for a distraction) had the better of him, so when he finally saw Lafayette approaching, his face lit up.

"Hey, Laf, what're you doin' here so late?" Thomas raised an eyebrow, wore an easy smile as Lafayette let himself into his office. However, his unexpected visitor seemed far from lighthearted.

"I am 'ere on a bit of urgent business."

Thomas's eyebrows shot up as he heard the door lock, and his concern only grew at Lafayette's grim expression. "Yeah? What's up?" he asked hesitantly.

"As though you do not know."

Thomas creased his forehead at Lafayette's scowl, but when he whirled around toward him with a gun clutched tightly in his grip, Thomas jumped back, pushing his rolling chair away from the desk as though the distance would protect him.

"Woah, there. Hey, now, Lafayette, whatever's goin' on, I'm sure we can try and talk about it first."

Lafayette let out a mirthless laugh as Thomas took in his stature. He was dressed in black from head to toe, wearing leather gloves to keep his fingerprints separate from his handgun. "It is far too late for talking. Zis is for France." His tone was as hard as his gaze. However, his words just pushed Thomas's confusion further.

"...Wait, what?" Lafayette looked unamused by the question, but Thomas was asking in earnest. "I love France; you know that. I mean, 'm sorry I haven't been back in a while, but don't think I've abandoned the whole country, or anythin'."

The scowl written across Lafayette's face deepened, and Thomas could feel his heart pounding against his ribcage when he heart Lafayette cock his gun. "Save it. I 'ave no time for your games." When Thomas didn't respond, Lafayette rolled his eyes at his blank expression. "I know all about your entanglement with Maximilien Robespierre. Your affairs 'ave not gone unnoticed."

"...'My affairs'? That's what this is about? You think I've been cheatin' on Y/N?" Though the action felt audacious, Thomas rolled his chair back toward his desk, wearing what he hoped came off as a reassuring smile. "I swear, I'd never--"

"Do not play dumb with me, Thomas," he cut him off, low voice bordering on a snarl. "I did not come 'ere to listen to you try to make excuses."

Thomas swallowed. Apparently, whoever Lafayette's informant was, they were extremely convincing. "Now, really, even if you did think he 'n I were together, wouldn't this be a little extreme? 'S nice that you're concerned about Y/N and all, but..."

"Stop stalling! I know all about your lies and treachery." When he took a step forward, Thomas was staring down the barrel of his gun, eyes wide, but he didn't move his chair back, didn't make any more to run. Bringing a stapler to a gun fight seemed like it'd be a losing battle.

"'Lies and treachery'?" Thomas repeated, disbelief heavy in his voice, and Lafayette nodded expectantly. Searching the spite in his assailant's eyes, Thomas let out a soft sigh. "Oh, this is really 'cause we never invited you drinkin'? Laf, really, I would've, but I didn't think you knew anyone in the group."

A beat passed in complete silence when Thomas shrugged. It was Lafayette's turn to be stunned, then. Either Thomas was an impeccable actor, or the misunderstanding was genuine. The conclusions Thomas was drawing seemed to indicate the latter; Lafayette doubted his ability to hold his own at an improv club.

However, he drew in a shuddering breath, steeling his gaze down at Thomas. "I did not know any of zem because I do not associate myself with such scoundrels," he spat, and Thomas pursed his lips, hands raised in defense.

"It's alright to be jealous, but you don't gotta stoop to the level of attackin' my other friends over it," he said, and Lafayette's eyes widened. His front of aggression was slowly being shaken into annoyance by the pity in Thomas's gaze, and his gun had nearly fallen to his side. "Promise I love you every bit as much as I love them, alright?"

"Zis is not about my own feelings!" Lafayette yelled, striding toward him until he stood against the front of Thomas's desk, the cold metal of the gun just a hair away from the bridge of Thomas's nose. However, the man in question looked more startled than afraid.

"Hey, no need to hide it. You shouldn't bottle things up; 's not healthy," Thomas said, and though he was trying to play peacemaker, Lafayette could only take his gentle tone as condescending. "All you need to worry about it how you act on it."

"I am not 'acting on my feelings'! I am 'ere to make you pay for your betrayal," Lafayette scoffed, and Thomas pursed his lips. Unbeknownst to both of them, they were on opposite ends of two different conversations.

"Don't you think the gun's a little bit extreme, though?" he asked, creasing his brow. He appeared to be more worried for Lafayette's mental health than for the threat on his own life, and Lafayette wasn't exactly elated about the turn of events. "Listen, let's get outta here. I'll buy you a drink, and we can talk everything over, alright?"

"I 'ave no interest in associating with ze likes of you." Lafayette's glare deepened, and Thomas's concerned frown fell into a disappointed one, the empathy in his eyes fading.

"Really? Now you're gonna degrade me over this?" he asked, reaching back for his computer mouse. He seemed to quickly be losing interest in the conversation Lafayette was trying to have. "You're bein' unreasonable, Laf. I'm allowed to have other friends."

Lafayette huffed. "Not zat kind of friends."

"For the last time, I'm not sleepin' with Robespierre!" Thomas looked beyond incredulous when he turned back to Lafayette, and Lafayette furrowed his brow. His hard stance faltered as he searched the conviction in Thomas's expression, and the other man continued, "C'mon, let's take a breather and then we can talk this all through."

There was a skip. "Do you really not know what it is I am talking about?"

"No, no, no, I get it. Believe me," Thomas said quickly, and he'd managed a kind smile by then as Lafayette's arm fell to his side, the point of his gun dropping far from its target. "I don't mean to invalidate your feelings, or anythin'. 'S just nothin' we can't work out, okay?"

Lafayette's brow was furrowed; his shoulders relaxed, but he was still squinting at Thomas as though trying to see past his expression. "... 'Ave you truly not been colluding with Maximilien?"

"Nah, we're just old friends. Nothin' more, nothin' less." Thomas shrugged, and though he hesitated for a long moment, Lafayette tucked his gun back into its holster. "We've honestly lost touch over the past couple years, but I'm over it."

"I..." Apparently, he and Thomas weren't quite on the same page. Lafayette couldn't gauge for the life of him how genuine Thomas's confusion was, but he also couldn't find a single flicker of inconsistency in his kind expression. He'd finally been presented with the circumstance he'd been looking for throughout the past three years, but his reasonable doubt was holding him back. "I am sorry, Thomas. I believe I am going to need to... touch base with someone. Zere may 'ave been a misunderstanding."

To Lafayette's surprise, Thomas chuckled lightly. "'S alright. It happens, right?" When Lafayette didn't respond, his struggle with his conscience was written across his face, and as Thomas leaned in to power off his computer on his desk, he added, "Know you'd forgive me if the roles were reversed."

"Of course." Lafayette's words were weak, but Thomas's smile in response was bright. He adjusted the jacket of his suit, glancing back out the window to Thomas's office, and sighed. "I should go."

"No, no, c'mon; you don't need to get outta here just 'cause we had a little miscommunication," Thomas reassured him, and Lafayette raised his eyebrows, gaze heavy with disbelief. Perhaps Thomas was simply a better man than he, but being interrogated at gunpoint was far from Lafayette's idea of 'a little miscommunication.' "I'm about to head out anyway. Wanna come get drinks with me 'n Y/N? 'M sure she wouldn't mind the company."

Thomas pushed himself up out of his seat and pulled on his coat, began packing the files he'd sorted into his briefcase. "Zat is alright," Lafayette said. "I am sure I 'ave already put enough of a strain on your evening."

"Hey, c'mon, don't worry about it, okay?" Thomas nudged his shoulder playfully as he stood, beginning to button up his jacket, but Lafayette sighed.

"You are too quick to forgive me."

Thomas grinned. "Nah, that's just what friends do. Now, you comin' out with us to the bar on West 26th, or what?"

Lafayette eyed his hopeful expression for another long moment, and the offer seemed entirely to be in earnest. All his trust was vested in France's Directorate-General for External Security, but he was praying by then that he'd simply been fed misinformed intelligence. Thomas quirked a brow.

"... I suppose."

"Good. 'M glad we could work this out."

"As am I, Thomas," Lafayette sighed, and they started together toward the door. "Believe me."

#send me asks! #hzl talks #secret agent!laf #lafayette imagines #lafayette fanfic #lafayette fic #lafayette fanfiction #lafayette #lafayette imagine #lafayette smut #lafayette scenarios #lafayette scenario #marquis de lafayette x reader #marquis de lafayette #thomas jefferson fic #thomas jefferson fanfiction #thomas jefferson imagines #thomas jefferson fanfic #thomas jefferson #thomas jefferson scenario #thomas jefferson scenarios #thomas jefferson imagine #thomas jefferson x reader smut #thomas jefferson x reader drabble #thomas jefferson x reader #hamilton fic #hamilton fanfic #alexander hamilton #hamilton #hamilton one shot

[petriichvrs]

DAY SIX   :   one final word   /   a letter to noxtms.

dear :  alyssa, amanda, atlas, bee, beth, birdie, blo, cherry, chris, daisy, dew, gabi, gia, hunter, j, la, lex, lucy, maeve, mozzie, nancy, plume, r, rosie, sam and last but never  least, vicky.

here’s the thing. i try as much as possible to say how much i appreciate all of you having joined nox as often as i can, because i think as a person i have a tendency not to be entirely present of all the time, even while i seem it, and it’s important to me - as both admin and as someone who’s befriended what feels like everyone here - that you all know. the thing is, i’ve admined a lot of roleplays over the time i’ve been writing, some of them for longer than others, and i’ve met a bunch of you both in those groups and outside of them. i have a lot of experience, but i had never broken into the harry potter fandom ( in spite of it having formed such a key part of my childhood ) and i hadn’t realized that when i opened nox, i was going to discover such a community. 

it’s really not me just saying it when i say that nox wouldn’t be NOXTMS without each and every one of you. i’m proud of the work i’ve put into the group and i accept however much i’m allowed to of the praise for it, but i’ve put maybe more into other groups and never had them feel the way that nox does. we’re all aware, obviously, it takes every writer in a group to make it something special, and i think that it’s every single one of you who has turned this group into my absolute favorite. there’s things in nox right now - like the marauders verse, but even just movie nights and a successful points system and little ic meetings - that i never could have done in another group because they just wouldn’t have worked, the combination wasn’t there, but i feel like... i struck gold with each of you, as members ? i feel like i got beyond LUCKY, and i have a tendency to over worry about nox, but you guys always make me feel a little bit safer in the knowledge that the group is okay, it’s doing good, and it’s everything i could have ever wanted.

i tried to find praise in other places for you all over the course of this meme, but i’m just going to go for one quick fire round. alyssa, you really are so fucking funny, and you created something really special with avalon and the king arthur myth thing she’s got going on. amanda, mary is the most thought out oc i’ve maybe ever seen and we might’ve had to wait a while for a ron, but he’s brilliant. atlas, you have a tendency to not see yourself the way you ought to, but heather and jo are two showstopping characters that we’re so lucky to have, and you yourself are a wonderful member who i’m so glad came back. bee, i’ve seen what you can do with harry elsewhere and i have you to thank for the fact nox even exists, really : you reminded me through your writing how much i love the world, and your takes on marietta and charlie are perfect. beth, lavender is such an unfairly hated character in canon, and she deserved someone like you picking her up and breathing fresh life into her, which you’re doing amazingly. birdie, for someone who likes to admit they haven’t done much in groups, you’ve really slotted yourself right in here, and i can’t pluck one character from your lineup - you do something admirable with all of them, and i really do hope you’ll RECONSIDER your stance on a fifth. blo... i love everything you do, i really always have, and your writing is a testament to just how talented you are, but i don’t know one person who puts as much continuous thought into their characters as you do, and it really shows.

cherry, i made a joke once about how if you could do something special with jughead jones i shouldn’t be shocked about what you can do with better source characters, but it’s not even a joke anymore... what you started with hermione you’re continuing with lucius and percy, and i love everything about them. chris, this is the second time you’ve joined nox as someone who doesn’t know much about it, but i’m so grateful you did it as my characters kid - i love when we get to play family dynamics most of all, and oriana is an absolute gem. daisy, chatting with you is a dream, and your mind is just... amazing - you do something with george that plays into my favorite sort of character tropes, and zephyrine is something so different and fun that i can’t wait to write with them too. dew, not just anyone would pick up gregory goyle and try and do something amazing with him, so i’ve been not-so-patiently waiting to toss everyone i’ve got at him since your intro. gabi, knox is one of my favorite ocs and for someone who only brought in an oc, to start with, you’ve managed to slot her in brilliantly. gia, what can i even say for you... as always you bring everything you have to the table, and i get to write not just connections that are genuinely FUN ( damien and niko, anybody? ) but also my favorite sort, which comprise of... family and friendships like molly / ginny & tonks / ginny with one of my favorite writers, yet again. hunter, i’m so glad i borderline peer pressured you into picking up pansy, because she’s been a joy to see in action, and a pretty great addition to your roster of characters - that already includes angelina and mason, two characters i love reading the replies of. 

j, most astoria’s i’ve seen have gotten lost on the ‘draco’s dead wife’ thing and have forgotten to turn her into her own, unique character - the same can’t be said here, and astoria has fast become one of my favorite individual characters because you’re at her heart. la, i haven’t gotten to see enough of beatrix yet, but i think anyone who wants to play into an umbridge family is so brave and so talented, so i can’t wait to see and do more. lex... absolute love of my fuckin life ? not many people would join a group even though they don’t know much of the source material and absolutely immerse themself in it, but you’ve done this now... more than once- and each and every time, you manage to craft characters i really do ROOT for and love so much. please be fuckin nicer to yourself always, you’re so talented and i love you so much. lucy, gabrielle deserves to be given a character arc beyond ‘damsel in distress’, and so far, i’ve loved everything you’ve done with her. she’s a breath of fresh air on the dash and i think we’re lucky to have you ! maeve, LISTEN. LISTEN TO ME. I’M HOLDING YOUR FACE BETWEEN MY HANDS RIGHT NOW, BECAUSE THIS IS SO UNBELIEVABLY EMBARRASSING: YOU ARE SO TALENTED, YOU ARE SO IMPORTANT TO THE FUNDAMENTAL SOMETHING THAT MAKES UP WHAT NOX IS, YOU HAVE BROUGHT ME CHARACTERS I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW I NEEDED SO BADLY ( HELLO THEO N OLIVER ) AND I LOVE THEM SO MUCH, YOU’VE DONE SOMETHING SO WONDERFUL WITH EVERY PORTRAYAL AND YOUR AESTHETICS FOR DENNIS MADE ME CRY.  mozzie, you are ALSO so fucking funny, and you are yet another writer that i feel.. so lucky has been drawn to nox - blaise and luna are fascinating characters in canon, sure, but you have done something so much BETTER with them here and i cannot stress that enough to you. nancy, selene is such a fun oc, and i really, really mean that. she’s something different to the status quo, and i feel blessed that i get to have as close a connection as i do with her. 

plume, you yourself have been nothing short of the most lovely ooc presence, and i’m so glad that it’s someone like you who’s bringing parvati patil ( the noxtms variant ) to life, and so happy whenever i see her on the dash. r, i could go on for paragraphs on you alone - you were always one of my favorite writers in eq, and i was always so HOPEFUL you would finally cave and join nox. thank you for being here, and thank you for my daughter, thank you for my sister, thank you for these characters i love. rosie, you haven’t gotten a chance to even settle in yet, but that isn’t going to stop me from expressing how excited i am to have a bill weasley, finally, and to see what you do with him ! sam, the other love of my life... you don’t get enough CREDIT for just how brilliantly you’ve characterized viktor krum, especially, but you also don’t get enough for how you gave us the loveliest child of severus snape we could have ever asked for, and the hottest dowson i ever did see. you go through it far more than you should have to, but you’re such a talented writer and such a staunch friend who i feel lucky to have made. and vicky, once again : last in alphabetical order, but certainly not in my heart. did i expect in 2020 to bond with someone over buffy ? not even a little. but i really was so fuckin’ DELIGHTED to have something i could talk to you about cause you’re just... cool, vicky, you’re so so cool, and you’re so talented at seemingly... everything ? making gifs, being a pal, writing characters like dudley dursley but also somehow making alicia and penelope equally different and fascinating and cool ? have i said cool ? have i said it ENOUGH ? 

i don’t want to be done, here, but i didn’t expect for this to take so many words, so i should probably wrap it up fairly snappily : thank you all so much for joining this group i love so much, and please know regardless of all else, i love everything you’re all DOING, and everything i see. i don’t say that enough, for certain, but i’m going to try and be better about it. beep beep, bitches : it’s my undying love and affection. 

not to sound like severus snape but like. always,

rachel.

#nox.task #how am i meant to claim like .. points for this #this feels like something i cant claim points for

[kaypeace21]

Byler hints in the background of s1-3

Honestly, this should just be called- ‘my autistic brain casually (and without even trying) notices shit in the background, but never mentioned it- because I thought it sounded too crazy to talk about’ XD. But the symbolism and Easter eggs give my byler-shipping heart so much life. So I thought, since you guys prob. didn’t notice it- I’ll mention it anyways.  So here goes.

Drawings/rainbows

There has been a theme in s3 about how Mike equates ‘falling for girls’ as a part of growing up, and his feelings for Will as something childish that he has to has to grow out of. 

- confessing to El : “A feeling … yeah, like, something… like OLD PEOPLE say it sometimes”.

- “And Will too. I was thinking we could all have new presents to play with and *scoffs* Sorry, that made me sound like a 7 year old... (apologizing to El)

- Mike getting in a fight with Will (after d&d), and saying they can’t be close anymore: 

Mike says, “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!”, and then he tries to ½ apologize only to say, “I’m not trying to be a jerk. Ok? But We’re not kids anymore.” Explaining, this is just the way things are-boys fall in love with girls, get girlfriends, and this is just a part of growing up (heteronormativity).  He tells Will “I mean, what did you think, really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends? We were just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?” And poor Will who is probably more aware of his feelings just responds. “Yeah, I guess I did. I really did.” And of course Mike immediately apologizes for being an “ asshole”, after this.

But here’s the thing! Mike actually does wish he didn’t have to grow up and that he could play games with Will (without girlfriends) for the rest of their lives. His room, in s3, SCREAMS that he’s trying to grow up/act straight... but he can’t let go of his feelings for Will. 

He literally takes down his old childhood poster from s1-2 for a more mature/adult poster. But on the same wall (where the old poster used to be) he hasn’t removed a single d&d drawing Will has given him. He’s pretending that he’s grown out of d&d when Lucas is around- because he’s emulating how (the straight) Lucas acted, all season. But Mike has it BAD (and is seriously pinning) for Will! Like, I love Will but his art at 11 years old isn’t so great to justify it still be on Mike’s wall at age 14.  He’s just that whipped (and literally can’t part with a single drawing Will has ever given him) XD

Like... it’s cannon that Mike caresses Will’s drawings 

He’s that ‘ dumbass blinded by love’ who thinks anything Will’s draws is a perfect- masterpiece. Mike could literally see Will draw scribbles and think it’s amazing! Like in s2 he just guides his hands through the scribbles he drew on the wall- no joke! XD

However, what’s interesting though is the one other things he took down from his wall. In S1 Mike (before he even met El)  has a heart sign, with a red heart being propelled by a rainbow. Yet in s3 , the season where he’s ‘obsessing’ about El- it mysteriously disappears. However, in the first ep of s3 when Mike is making-out with El we see a emergence of the heart being propelled by a rainbow (in El’s room) as a drawing. Probably signifying Mike participating in compulsory-heterosexuality and that no matter how hard he tries- he’s not straight!

So given the fact he can’t part with any of the pictures on the wall...you better believe Mike still has that giant binder filled with every drawing Will has given him . And he’s probably hidden it away , with the rainbow heart sign (because he knows it would look suspicious to have laying around). 

-Also, Mike literally has more rainbow symbolism than Will (and has had it through every season) XD

-the s2 ref being the most on the nose) Forbidden fruit + rainbow = queer forbidden romance. And during the 80s, that rainbow-apple poster in the AV Club was suspected to be in reference to Alan Turning (the gay ‘father of computers’).

Animal easter eggs that relate to byler and the upside down/supernatural-plot .

tigers- Mike keeps a tiger poster (which was right next to that rainbow-heart sign) in his basement through s1-3. In s1 we see Will also has a tiger drawing, which is later put on the wall (like a poster) in s2.  Sara Hopper (like Will ) had her death faked by the government (and had a tiger plushie in s1)- and Kali probably had something to do with it since in the prequel novel ‘suspicious minds’ had Kali talk non stop about her fav animal , tigers.  Theory  here. But again, Jancy is also connected to tigers as a romantic symbol (just like byler).

sharks- The Duffer brothers themselves said they based the s1 demorgorgan off of sharks, which Nancy even references in s1. Mike and Will have shark iconography in their room/basement. Will has a jaws poster shown in s1-2, and Mike has shark toys visible in s2. The shark (and bear) symbolism hint at the fact that Will created the upside down/demorgorgans/mind-flayer using his powers- theory here.

bears- Will since s1 has had bear symbolism around him. Bears symbolically represent  “wisdom” like ‘Will the wise’ and were associated with the demorgorgan/upside down in s1 and 2 as well . Max and Nancy compared demogorgans to bears- and Nancy and Jonathan used a bear-trap to capture a demorgorgan in s1 . 

But s3 made bears a romantic symbol- Mike was going to buy a golden teddy bear for El as a romantic gesture. The golden bear had a bowtie (it’s male). And the gray bear that Mike gives to her, was originally Will’s (as shown in s1 &2). This gray bear is coming right in between Mike and El (at the end of s3). They even kiss , while El presses the bear right in between them.  In conclusion these romantic bears represent Will. * I mean that whole awkward kiss (where Mike’s eyes are open and he doesn’t kiss back- happens in Will’s room, in front of Will’s open closet,  with Will’s bear smushed between them (pretty blatant foreshadowing).

dinosaurs- This one is probably a stretch but we see this boy has tons of dinosaurs (at least 6). He starts to info-dump on El about how much he loves them. But, she has no interest. And if the wtf look didn’t make this obvious.

She even gets up and walks away, ignoring his tangent about dinosaurs. 

She literally couldn’t care less about his interest in them. 

But in spite of this, we see Mike gave her Rory in s3 (since it’s in her bedroom). And in s2 we see him sadly look at Rory, with 2 other dinosaurs in frame. This, along with s1 implies he has a huge collection of various dinosaurs .But his collection is missing one of the most popular dinosaur species... the brachiosaurus (the long necked dinosaur).

And right after this scene in s2 scene, we go to Will’s room. And he has a huge brachiosaurus! This boy couldn’t even afford a halloween costume and had to have his hand-made by his mom... but he could afford this huge -fancy dinosaur replica? I bet Mike bragged about his dinosaur collection to Will (like he did with El). But Will being a nerd, was actually impressed. So Mike actually gave him his best/fav toy in his collection- kind of like what he did with Rory.

frogs- This is the most hilarious thing to me. I laughed for like 20 minutes on my rewatch. In s1 Will has a GIANT stuffed plushie of a frog next to his jaws poster and teddy bear. I’m dead! Will doesn’t even disagree with the “frog face“ insult. 

He’s just like ‘well, he’s my frog face’ . Time to snuggle with this frog that looks just like Mike . Will is so in love but also low key savage dragging Mike like that. I can only imagine Dustin and Lucas saying “nah, you don’t look like a frog”. And poor baby-Mike asking Will what he thinks, and Will not being able to lie, just saying “ Well... some people like frogs.”  XD

We also see that in s2 the frog is missing but the Jaws-poster, coin jar, and the bear (we later see El holding in s3) remain .Probably to indicate this is when Will started to subconsciously suppress his feelings for Mike. Although @theclericwill pointed out -that , instead, Mike may have used the frog-plushie as a pillow... for his frog-face XD

Throwing shade at Mileven/mileven shippers in s2 

In the Montauk pitch (later named Stranger things) they describe the Mike and El dynamic by saying “ If Mike is the Eliot of our show,Eleven is our Et.” (AKA they’re from different planets)

-In s2 , Erica  is forcing He-man and barbie to make out. Lucas angrily separates the two. And then this discussion happens.

Erica: “Hey , They’re in love!”

Lucas (livid- and standing right next to a rainbow): “No, actually,  they’re not. They don’t even exist on the same planet.”

Not to mention I doubt it was a coincident they had a (bratty) pre-pubescent girl be the proxy for most mileven shippers.Like not all mileven shippers are bad, but almost all the toxic ones (that the Duffers have to deal with) are tween girls. And to the Duffers, only a child could think 2 people are ‘in love’ after a week of knowing each other. Or that El could understand such things like romance- given the fact that her and Mike are from different planets (given how El has no experience with the outside world).Mike even says in s2,  he can’t hate Max because he ‘doesn’t know’ her (despite knowing her as long as he knew El). Meaning he doesn’t love El since he doesn’t know her. 

Plus, El told Mike, he treats her like ‘garbage’ and ‘a pet’ . And Finn after s1, said that the Duffers told him Mike thought of El as a puppy, and she is even compared to Dart (a demo-dog in s2). Mike asking Dustin, angrily “What, You have a bond? Just cause he likes nougat (eggos)?” Being a  blatant dig at people obsessing over this shallow aspect of their relationship.

Mileven was also compared to that  of family members. In s1, right before they kissed, she asks “will you be like my brother?” (while wearing Nancy’s dress). And Mike also referred to her as his ‘cousin’ . Not to mention, El loved ted’s laz-eboy chair (and Nancy said Karen and Ted “never loved each other” ). And right before Karen is about to cheat on Ted - she looks at him sleeping in the chair (and the lyrics are ‘I should have walked away’). 

It’s pretty hilarious, since so many people try to ‘no-homo’ byler by saying Mike thinks of Will as a brother/or family- yet, their relationship has never been directly compared to a sibling (unlike mileven).

People also seem to not realize Mike lied in s2 (just like he did in s3). He thought El was dead in s2. He told Max it “got her like it did bob” and then he made a spectacle in front of everyone saying “I never gave up on you”. Which was a blatant lie (since he just told Max a few minutes earlier, she was dead -_-). Mike simply blamed himself for her death (he said they needed her to save Will and even referred to her as a “weapon”). So when she died he felt the most responsible- and was hoping she was alive (and would answer his call) to alleviate his own guilt. Not because he loved her (that was an act). When he saw Will’s dead body, but heard his voice, he went on a rescue mission to save Will (from another dimension). But, Mike didn’t even bother going into the woods after seeing El outside his window (something he did for Will in ep 1, during a storm). And then in s3 Mike couldn’t even bother to call El and apologize- but ran to apologize to Will in the woods during a storm (bringing that whole parallel -full circle).

Plus, El told Mike, he treats her like ‘garbage’ and ‘a pet’ . And Finn after s1, said that the Duffers told him Mike thought of El as a puppy, and she is even compared to Dart (a demo-dog in s2). Mike asking Dustin, angrily “What, You have a bond? Just cause he likes nougat (eggos)?” A blatant dig at people obsessing over this shallow aspect of their relationship.

Bob and Mike parallels- the Rubik cube

Both are unathletic, smart, love comics, the only 2 to not treat Will ‘different’- and would do anything to protect their loved ones. And they also had crushes on Byers in childhood, and tried to give their Byers normalcy (despite them not being a ‘normal family’). They purposely display, and have Will -mirror Joyce- and Mike -mirror Bob- in multiple shots, throughout s2.

And both Mike and Bob are AV club leaders. Bob mentioned in one of the  earlier episodes  that he founded the Hawkins Middle AV club . And Mike later grabs Bob’s Rubik cube, and mentions this after his death (to solidify the connection- even if subconscious in our minds. He even proclaims after this “we can’t let him die in vain” . And this is when Mike makes the plan to help Will (before El shows up). 

gif credit: cath-avery, dailystrangerthings

#byler #byeler

[unless-we-choose-to-reverse-it]

A Biden presidency would be worse for the long-term goals of progressives in the United States than a second term for Trump would be.

So now that I’ve gotten your attention with a title like that, I should explain what I mean.

There are some posts going around progressive Tumblr that I’ve seen that amount to “hey, Biden isn’t all that bad, you should vote for him,” and I want to offer a counterargument.

The short answer: conservative Democrats hate you, and if Biden wins, they will never listen to a single thing that progressives and socialists have to say ever again.

The long answer: did everyone just forget that politicians lie to score brownie points, and fail to live up to their promises? This is a thing that politicians are infamous for doing. But now that Joe Biden has very suddenly released a list of progressive platforms that he “”“intends”““ to realize while in office, everyone has forgotten that.

Let’s be frank about Joe Biden’s record. He supported segregation way past the point of it being a dominant position. He was good friends with arch-segregationist Strom Thurmond, to the point of delivering the eulogy at Strom’s funeral.

Joe Biden acted as the architect for the modern war on drugs in many ways, including the use of harsh prison sentences for tiny amounts of drugs, both of which are currently being used to terrorize black and brown communities and uphold what is essentially a system of legalized slavery.

Joe Biden acted as a bag man for the banking industry during his time as senator for Delaware, consistently killing any legislation that might prevent banks to avoid taxes by basing themselves in Delaware.

Joe Biden supported the war in Iraq. This alone should be disqualifying.

Given his record, his sudden adoption of progressive policies should be interpreted as being a little suspicious. He is representative of the conservative wing of the Democratic Party, which has done little to oppose the worst excesses of modern capitalism, and has, in fact, done a great deal to exacerbate those failures. But now, there’s a more progressive wing; a wing that the conservative wing has routinely expressed their opposition towards, from Nancy Pelosi dismissing the Squad to Hillary Clinton’s assertion that Bernie Sanders never got anything done.

Do you really think that these people are suddenly going to adopt all those progressive policies, just as it looks like their guy is winning the race?

If you answered “yes” to that previous question, I think I have a bridge to sell you.

The Democratic Party believes it does not need to go left, because in their minds, there is nowhere else for progressives to go. American politics are expressly designed to make third parties an impossibility, so if progressives have nowhere else to go, then they don’t actually need to cater to those progressives in any way other than lip service. That’s what these promises amount to: lip service. I promise you, the second a Biden presidency takes power, all of those promises will go out the window. What’s more, progressive political forces will be ignored. After all, there’s nowhere else for them to go, so in the minds of the conservative Democrats, they cannot represent a meaningful threat to the Democratic party.

Of course, they’ll posture towards progressivism. But they’ll do so without actually making it happen, which will poison the politics around it. I believe that Justin Trudeau has done more harm to left-wing politics in Canada than any conservative politician, because his posturing towards progressive positions angers and energizes the right, but his politics fail to achieve left-wing goals.

And that’s the other side of why a Biden presidency would do so much damage. The right is going to think you’re a communist no matter what you actually do; think of what they did to Barack Obama, another man who ran as a progressive but governed as a conservative. It would energize the American right, it would sap the power of the American left, all the while the centrists prevent any meaningful change and the situation in the US just gets worse and worse.

And that’s the brutal reality. Neither Trump nor Biden will make the situation better. Both will make the situation worse in their own special ways. There’s no chance in hell that the Democratic party would actually make an effort to prevent the caging of children at the border, or the Gestapo-like behaviour of ICE; they’ve had four years to do that, and they’ve done nothing aside from complain about it, even when they’ve held Congress.

The fact is, the current Democratic party knows that progressive ideas are popular. But they have no intention of actually realizing those ideas, or fighting for any position, really. They maintain power through fear, by telling voters again and again that to expect anything better is a sure road to defeat, that the only way to win is to pick the most milquetoast, conservative candidate possible. They hate us progressives far more than they hate the Republicans; they can take the moral high ground over the Republicans, but we can take the moral high ground over them. Therefore, they will never change, unless forced to.

So, what’s my conclusion?

Just don’t vote.

I can already hear people calling me a privileged brocialist for suggesting that anything is more important than beating Trump, probably some people who are going to say that I don’t actually care about people and just want my team to win. To those people I say: I do care about people. That’s why I’m making this argument. A Trump win and a Joe Biden win hurt the American people in their own ways, and while a Biden presidency might help a bit in the short term, the long-term consequences will be disastrous.

I don’t want to be right. It would be fantastic if Joe Biden starting putting out progressive policies all over the place, and started listening to the progressive wing of the party. But I don’t think that’s a realistic assessment of the situation. Everything I’ve seen leads me to a different conclusion: Joe Biden will not help us.

So that’s why I say to not vote.

Because there’s a possibility that if the Democratic party loses here, they might actually start to consider that they actually need to move left in order to remain relevant. They will curse and spit every second of doing so, but it might convince them that serving progressive interests is necessary, that they can’t just rely on progressives caving to pressure and voting no matter what. It might force them to come to the table.

For my evidence, I turn again to Canada, and to the province of Quebec. People often wonder why Quebec gets so much attention in Canadian politics. It’s a large province, sure, but the sway it has on federal politics vastly outweighs its size. Some have suggested political correctness overrepresenting French Canadians, others have suggested political tradition, given how long Quebec has been a part of Canada.

I suggest that it’s because Quebec turns on a dime, politically speaking.

Basically every federal election in Canada of the past few decades has seen Quebec switch almost entirely from one party to another, sometimes inexplicably. The fact is, no party can call Quebec safe territory, and if the Quebecois feel like their needs are not being met, they tend to go for an entirely different party. Party loyalty isn’t really a thing in Quebec. So when election season comes around, every party is clamouring for Quebec’s attention, and after the election, they put in a lot of effort to make sure that the Quebecois like them. This means actually following through with their election promises.

The same is true for swing states in America. If you want politicians to meet your needs, then you need to make it clear that you might vote for them, but only if they’re serving your needs.

It’s gonna hurt like a sonofabitch, it’s true. But if you want progressive policies to have any hope of reaching the halls of power, it is your obligation to not vote in the American election in November, to demonstrate to the conservative wing of the Democratic party that victory is only possible by giving progressives a seat at the table. That can only be done by showing them what happens when they don’t have it.

Also, don’t vote for Trump to spite the Dems. That’s actually moronic. Just don’t vote.

#never biden #politics #us politics #bernie sanders #socialism #yeah it's a long post #but goddamnit #i needed to get this off of my chest #the democratic party is not your friend #no political party is your friend #they are organizations which seek power #you should treat your relationship with them as transactional #you only support them #if they support you #otherwise they're just gonna take your vote and never actually help you #treat this as a boycott #like you'd boycott a business that you dislike #force them to do better

[roboticonography]

Fic preview: The Fixed Foot

Pals, I regret to inform you that the fic I had planned to post today is not done. I was hoping to put the finishing touches on it today, but out of nowhere it got a lot longer and somewhat sexier, so I hope you’ll forgive me for posting just this first part, a small taste of things to come.

The title is a reference to John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” which has been in the back of my mind ever since Agent Carter’s S1 finale episode.

Extended metaphors about compasses for the win.

This is for Day 1 of Steggy Week 2019: It’s Endgame, Baby!

===========

He starts with a date range. He doesn’t want to risk making things too complicated. This is going to be tricky enough as is.

He reads up on Peggy. He’s avoided knowing some of the details thus far; she wasn’t able to tell him directly, and using the internet felt intrusive.

There isn’t a lot of detailed information to be had through official channels. Employment forms and tax forms give him a dry chronology of cities, addresses, changes in marital status.

Howard’s butler’s unpublished memoirs are more illuminating. Edwin Jarvis uses pseudonyms for all of Howard’s associates, but it isn’t hard to figure out the identity of “Nancy,” who nearly knocked Jarvis unconscious the first time they met. In spite of that—or maybe even because of it—he seems to have really liked Peggy. (Steve can’t imagine meeting her and not liking her, but he is, of course, biased.)

Steve discovers that Peggy and a friend lived in one of Howard’s Manhattan penthouses for a period of time in the late 40s, after both of them were “asked to vacate�� a women’s boarding house. He suspects there’s more to the story than that. He hopes he’ll get to hear it in person.

In one entry, Jarvis specifically mentions that Peggy is single. He seems to be one of those types who loves being married so much that he thinks everyone ought to try it at least once.

Steve decides on a date.

He collects the things he’ll need: a set of clothes, a paper map, some valuables he can hock for cash when he gets there, and a few keepsakes that won’t give him away.

He debates whether to get a different haircut, whether to grow a beard or get a pair of glasses. He wishes Natasha were here to help him with this part.

He wishes Natasha were here for a lot of reasons.

He reads everything he can get his hands on: what’s happening in politics, movies, music. Who made it to the World Series. It’s a sobering reminder of the time he’s returning to, and the battles that will lie ahead.

He has Bruce explain how time travel works, again and again, until it finally feels like it might be starting to sink in. He doesn’t want to do anything that might cause harm to his loved ones—those in the here and now, or those in the past. But he also knows himself. He knows he won’t be able to sit idly by.

Bruce assures him that there’s nothing he can do in the past that will alter what’s already taken place. His actions will create a new timeline, with its own outcomes; once he’s there, he won’t be able to take anything for granted.

Last but not least, he makes sure he has a backup plan. He loves Peggy, and he knows Peggy loves him, but it’s got to be her choice.

Bucky figures it out, of course. 

Sam doesn’t.

*

The one thing he should have thought to check was the weather report. The night he lands, it’s raining in sheets. The sidewalks are flooded.

He finds a spot to disable his quantum suit and change into the clothes he brought, which are instantly soaked as soon as he goes outside. Naturally, he didn’t think to bring an umbrella.

By the time he makes it over to Howard’s building, he looks like a drowned rat. The concierge eyes him suspiciously when he asks if Miss Carter is in.

“Who?”

“Margaret Carter. I know she lives here. She’s a friend of mine. Please.”

“I’m sorry, sir, I can’t help you.”

He scans the cavernous lobby; he doesn’t particularly want to have their reunion here, under the watchful eye of the building’s staff, but he may not have much choice.

Mercifully, the place is empty, aside from a single resident. Her back is to Steve, but her arrow-straight nylons and her tidy blonde pincurls remind him of Peggy, and he feels a heady rush of longing and anticipation. 

Watching her collect a letter from a bank of tidy pigeon-holes along one wall, he has a brainwave: he’ll leave Peggy a note. She might not believe it, but it’ll probably at least make her curious enough to want to meet him. And it’ll give her time to adjust to the idea before seeing him in person.

He borrows a sheet of paper and a fountain pen from the concierge, and makes an effort not to drip on the counter as he ponders what to write. He tries to think of a place nearby where they could meet.

“Is there an all-night diner anywhere around here?”

The concierge has just opened his mouth to reply when Steve is distracted by someone tugging on his sleeve.

It’s the woman who was picking up her mail. She’s young, and looks strangely familiar, though Steve has no clue where they might have met. Hopefully not at a USO show.

Fortunately, she doesn’t seem especially star-struck. “If you’re just looking for coffee and pie, I know an okay place,” she tells him, pointing to the waitress’s uniform under her rain slicker.

“Great, thanks.”

“Did I hear you asking for Peg earlier?”

Steve nods.

“She went to the pictures. I’m the roommate.” The blonde loops her arm through his. “You can wait upstairs, it’s okay. I’ll even scare up a cup of coffee for you, pro bono. Come on.”

He knows he shouldn’t; he needs to get his story straight with Peggy before he starts interacting with her social circle. But he’s been on the move for days, and it’s miserable outside.

“Sure. Thanks.”

*

The apartment is huge, a carefully curated monument to old-school wealth: antique furniture and oil paintings, dark wood and heavy fabric. The only thing that keeps it from being oppressive is the elegant simplicity of the architecture: long, clean lines and tall windows.

Angela—Angie—has the kitchen send up a tea tray. It’s enough food for six people, which is a blessing, because Steve is starving. He has to force himself not to be a pig.

“Nice spread,” he observes. He’s trying to remember the way he used to talk. It feels like he’s back in his USO days, playing a parody of himself.

Angie doesn’t seem to notice anything amiss. “I know! Oh, how the other half lives,” she says, comically, shoving half a raisin scone into her mouth.

Steve suddenly realizes where he knows her from: a 1951 movie musical called Life of the Party. She was billed as Ella Martin, but the cheeky grin is the same, and the strident voice. She couldn’t sing worth a lick, but she had razor-sharp comedic timing.

“So what’s your story?” asks Angie, still chewing. “How do you know Peg?”

“We met overseas during the war.”

“Oh yeah? What’s your name?”

He hesitates before replying, “My friends call me Steve.”

“That your way of telling me you want to be friends?”

“I’d like that a lot,” he tells her, with absolute sincerity.

She licks her fingers and eyes him suspiciously.

“I promise I’m not…” All the euphemisms he can think of are modern ones. “Trying to get anywhere with you,” he finishes, awkwardly.

“Good.” She nods in agreement with herself, and tops off his teacup.

Angie supplies the deficiency of the small talk, while Steve quietly polishes off most of the pastries. For the first time in days, he feels like he can let his guard down a little.

He starts to sink deeper into the plush sofa, his mind drifting pleasantly as Angie regales him with a story about a customer who tried to smuggle a cat into the automat in a briefcase.

Down the hall, the elevator dings.

“Angie?”

The sound of Peggy’s voice hits him like a sucker punch. It must show on his face because Angie asks, “You okay?”

“Fine. Thanks.” He sits up straighter, suddenly uncertain of where he should put his elbows.

“In here, Peg!” Angie hollers.

Steve can hear Peggy talking quietly—and a distinctly male voice whispering back.

“There’s someone with her,” says Steve.

“Probably just Daniel.”

“Who’s that?”

“Oh boy.” Her voice is suddenly soft, sympathetic. “Been a while since you saw her, huh?”

Before he can get the answer out, Peggy strides into view.

Her hair is different—longer than he’s ever seen it, swept over to one side in soft waves, like Veronica Lake. Her burgundy dress is perfectly molded to her magnificent figure, and has a very appealing neckline. She even has a tan, as though she’s just come home from a long beach holiday. 

She looks youthful, beautiful, vital. Happy.

“How was the picture?” calls Angie, oblivious.

“Absolute rubbish,” Peggy proclaims.

“It wasn’t that bad,” says her companion, helping her off with her coat. He’s young, good-looking, also tanned, and clearly smitten. “You’re just not very romantic, that’s all.”

“Oh!” She tosses the coat over a chair before turning to smack him on the arm. He chuckles, jokingly fending her off with his crutch.

Steve suddenly regrets not leaving a note.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

#steggyweek2k19 #steggy #robofic #dun dun DUNNNNNN #robot is back on his pretentious title bullshit

[megacircuit9universe]

Hand Basket

TUE OCT 29 2019

So, over the weekend, Trump had something of a win, announcing that special forces had cornered the leader of ISIS, who then killed himself. 

that announcement came on Sunday, and then later the same day, he decided to attend a home game of the World Series in DC, hanging out in a skybox with his entourage.  But when Trump and Co. appeared on the Jumbotron... there came enormous boos from the spectators in the stands.

Those boos lead eventually to a prolonged chant of, “Lock him up!” from the crowd.

Granted, this was DC, which has a very liberal voting base, but this was also the World Series, which draws fans from all over the country.  Also, being the World Series... this was a globally televised event... making the boos and chants of the crowd all the more bold, because they knew the world was watching.

While some, even on the left, have condemned the actions of the World Series crowd for stooping to a level as low as that of the average Trump rally... it should be noted that there was no demagogue present to lead them on. 

This was a spontaneous reaction from ordinary people who had come to see a baseball game, and did not know beforehand that Trump would be in their midst.  Yet when they saw his face on the Jumbotron... even despite his big win earlier in the day... all they could think do was boo and call for his imprisonment in front of the world.

Needless to say, this is what might be called... a bad sign, for Trump.

When polls of random citizens are reporting fifty to fifty-five percent approval for both his impeachment, and his removal... and then you have this “poll” of a crowd of random sports fans, all of whom have enough money to have purchased world series tickets and traveled to DC for the game... and more than half of them also boo and chant, “lock him up,” it suggests that the GOP in both the House and Senate, are in for a very bad day come November 2020... and that they are still in deep denial about it.

In the last entry I talked about the strange phenomenon in which GOP power players have been tending to accidentally incriminate themselves in front of reporters, from Trump himself, to his Chief of Staff, to even Rudy Giulianni who accidentally butt-dialed not one, but two reporters late last week, allowing them to listen in on mysterious conversations in which he trashed Joe biden, and talked about the need for huge sums of money.

I speculated that perhaps pro-humanitarian bots might have subliminally manipulated these players into playing themselves... because it’s not really that hard to do when you’re dealing with individuals who already self delude daily about their own intelligence, and the justifiability of their actions.

And we’re talking about a group of men in the White House and Congress who, as I’ve pointed out before, already fought a two year campaign against Special Council Mueller... trotting out every play they had in their play book... until, in the end, they felt they had won.

Lying, distraction, confusion, and illegal power plays (such as firing Comey, McCabe, and even Sessions... and replacing the latter with a crony, Barr, to be the new AG, as fast tracked through confirmation by the Senate, and who quickly killed the Mueller probe) had won the day!

So now they had the green light to start throwing the 2020 election by extorting Zelenski into investigating Biden... on pain of no Javelins to defend his country against Russian invasion... a move made the very day after Mueller’s public testimony, dazed and doddering, had landed like a dud... in July of this year.

But only two months later... that call to Zelenski was exposed... and has lead to this impeachment juggernaut we are witnessing right now.

And since the whistleblower’s complaint first hit the news, the GOP has been thumbing through that same playbook that they convinced themselves had defeated the Special Council... and every single play has fallen flat.

So... it’s becoming painfully more clear by the day that the GOP does not have any idea what they’re up against this time around, in this new battle that came out of nowhere after they were kicking up their heels and celebrating the winning of the war.

It’s not just Trump and Mulvaney admitting to a quid pro quo and saying, “get over it” or Rudy butt dialing reporters, or idiot House Republicans storming the closed hearings to demand open hearings... that will definitely destroy them... it’s Trump thinking he can kill the leader of ISIS on his way out of Syria, and then go to a baseball game and think all will be forgiven.

And it’s GOP leaders saying for weeks that the whistleblower’s information was just third hand hearsay... confident that no first hand account could ever come to light... as it did today, in explosive fashion on the hill, when Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, of the NSC, decorated with a purple heart, came to testify as a first hand “earwitness” to the Zelenski call as it went down.

He not only corroborated everything the whistleblower said in that original complaint, but also every other line of testimony so far saying that this was not just one phone call, but a large scale, long term orchestration to force Z into publically announcing an investigation against the Bidens before he would ever see military aid, or meet with Trump in person, or get any other help or validation by the U.S.

In other words, this playbook... is worse than useless!  It’s working against them with every play.  Distractions don’t distract.  Deflections don’t deflect. Lies are immediately exposed. And that’s not when they’re just outright confessing their guilt in front of reporters by accident.

So how does a playbook that worked so well through 2017 and 2018... even through to July of 2019... suddenly become so toxic and worthless?

The short answer is Nancy Pelosi.

But the longer answer is the 2018 mid term elections.

There was a huge push to make sure Democrats got out the vote last November, with many online, and even in the mainstream warning that it could be the most consequential election of our lifetimes... because it could decide the fate of American Democracy itself.  It could be... many warned... the LAST time a free and fair election might ever be held.

And on election night, when the returns started to come in... even the left leaning news outlets were playing it like it was a big disappointment.  

It was only in the weeks to follow that the real implications of that election were fully grasped by the media... with several close races still contested, but leaning Democratic... that the House had been given a bigger mandate than any since Nixon was in office... the Senate had taken damage, even though it was supposed to be a safe year for them... and state Governorships and Legislatures across the board had turned blue.

The GOP continued to play this down through December, but by January, Trump knew he’d been slapped in the face by the electorate, and as a fuck-you, he fired Sessions and nominated Barr to replace him as AG.

Then as a second fuck-you, he refused to sign the new budget... shutting down the government for over a month... demanding money for his border wall, and then declaring a national emergency in order to steal funding for the border wall from the military.

But in that first face off... Speaker Pelosi won the shut down.  She forced Trump to capitulate, even though many were fearful she was being too inflexible.  And his national emergency declaration has also been over ruled by the courts all these months later.

I’m going to take a second to echo back here, the words of that Pronunciation Book Video from 2013, “I have been trying to tell you something for five years.”

Five years later was September 2018... a few months before this critical mid-term election.

I’m arguing now, that this election, handing the house back to the Democrats, and the Speakership back to Pelosi, was the decisive moment in which Trump’s playbook... along with his aspirations to dictatorship by decommissioning the Constitution... turned from shiny gold to poisonous lead, for the GOP.

They didn’t see it that way, because it seemed to have helped them defeat Mueller in SPITE of the elections. 

It confirmed a delusion... first created by a fluke electoral upset in 2016, that they were destined... and they were invincible.

Sometimes that shit flies.  Sometimes that shit does bring down democracies and turn them into dictatorships.  

But sometimes... that kind of thinking is exactly what leads would be cult leaders and their brainwashed flocks... straight down to Hell in a hand basket.

Trump... well known by this point for projecting... told us Baghdadi died screaming, crying, and wimpering.

A crowd of baseball fans, later that day, chanted, “Lock him up.”

It seems only a matter of time before we see this other, equally dangerous leader, acting out his descriptions about the former.

[tigerlover16-uk]

Update on GT re-watch

well, I just finished watching the start of the Baby Saga, the mini-arc set on that robot planet I already can’t remember the name of. Aaaaand... I’ll give it credit, it was better than the vast majority of the Black Star arc before it. But that’s not saying much because that saga was boring as heck.

I dunno, the whole time I was watching this little arc something just felt off. I mean, the animation was fantastic, the music was pretty good, and the idea of these episodes sounds great on paper... buuut, the episodes themselves were just kinda meh at best. I don’t know if it was to do with the writing or that I already wasn’t that invested because of the last string of episodes, but a lot of things in this episode just didn’t work for me. Giru’s supposed face turn was probably the most interesting thing they do with him in the series from what I remember, but honestly he was such an uninteresting character and kind of annoying in some of the previous episodes (Though episode 15 was a good showing for him, if not Pan) that as a result, I didn’t really care much for the supposed drama of his betrayal, and the twist that he was actually double crossing the villains and helping our heroes, while it was pretty clever, it still didn’t make me care. The little guy’s kinda cute, but he feels like such a pointless and dull character most of the time that I didn’t feel any weight to this little character arc.

Pan was arguably at her best here that she’s been in the series so far, but that’s only a minor step up. General Rilldo was an awesome idea for a character and I like what we got from him, he feels like he could have been an interesting arc villain on his own, but he’s killed off in such an anti-climactic fashion. For a villain that was stated to be more powerful than Majin Buu and had some unique characteristics and abilities, he never really got to amount to much apart from a decent fight with Goku. Speaking of, the action was alright, better than the short and dull fights we’ve got so far, but nothing on the level of Z’s fights so far. Dr Myuu, honestly when I first saw him I liked him and I thought he was going to be an interesting or at least entertaining villain while he was around, but he turned out to be pretty boring by the end. He was just a generic insane evil scientist with delusions of grandeur that’s willing to do horrible things for his own greedy purposes. His personality was flat, he had generic motivations and dialogue, and while I think it had more to do with the delivery of the dub actor his breakdown at the end of the arc really wasn’t as sad as I think the writers wanted it to be. He was lame, and honestly he makes me miss Dr Gero a little.

Even Baby felt kind of underwhelming. I know he was fresh out of his pod, but going down after a single hit just felt kind of lame, and while the ending should have been really cool and a great twist... the voice they gave him was just really dumb that I couldn’t take it seriously. I remember that scene being a lot better in the dub I watched as a kid. Does Baby sound better in the Japanese version where the scene plays out better? I dunno, I don’t understand Japanese so I couldn’t judge the performance if I wanted to, though next time I watch the series it’ll be the subs to see if it is an improvement. If I even want to re-watch GT when I’m done with this.

Other than that? Everything just felt sort of... okay...ish? Nothing all that bad, barely anything great apart from some cool moments and dialogue scattered about, a few jokes here and there that made me grin a little but nothing that funny. It was just meh from start to finish.

Which is odd, because it feels like I should have liked these episodes a lot more than I did, but as I was watching I just got an increasing sense of “Yeah, yeah, just skip to the good parts” and they never came. I know I’m doing a poor job explaining myself here, but I’m having a hard time making sense of my feelings on these episodes myself. I’ve been watching plenty of saga’s from all three other Dragon Ball series lately, and they all left me feeling a lot more positive emotions than I did here. Even the Pilaf Saga, which I feel was the weakest of the Dragon Ball sagas and had a lot of jokes I didn’t like, mostly the really pervy ones, had me suitably entertained and invested all the way through. Even with all the problems the arc had, I still had a blast with the Future Trunks Saga, so much more there I could enjoy and get invested in. Heck, the Resurrection F retelling was less underwhelming than this. And in Z I can easily sit back and enjoy a long stream of episodes from any point in the series. Yet with most of GT so far, it’s felt like a chore to sit through.

And I don’t like that this is the feeling I’m getting. I remember enjoying this show as a kid and I’ve wanted to defend it for years from people saying how completely awful and worthless it is, how it really did have value even in spite of it’s faults. And while I’m still confident that everything in this saga going forward is a ton better written and more enjoyable, I’m having a hard time believing it’s going to be worth it by the end to have first had to sit through all this boredom. Honestly, it’s no wonder everyone was so mad at this series back in the day. For every interesting idea it has, the good animation and the occasionally good moments of action and character moments, it’s a slog to sit through and really boring, with none of the charm of the previous two Dragon ball series.

And people say this show is better than Super? In my last post on GT, I mentioned that episode 16 of Super made me laugh more and left me more entertained than the entirety of GT up to episode 13 with maybe the exception of episode 2 which was pretty fun. And so far, that still holds true. I don’t know, maybe part of it is just me and I’m still having a hard time trying to work out exactly what it is that’s going on here, but this re-watch has been a real revelation for me... in a bad way.

I really didn’t want to be a negative nancy. I still want to be one of those people that can confidently say he likes GT even if it was flawed, but so far I’m feeling really down about it. Oh, and I’ve still got the Super 17 arc to look forward to which I vividly remember was pretty bad, and watching the Gogeta vs Omega Shenron fight on YouTube proved how boring that fight was leaving me with little enthusiasm for that part of the Shadow Dragons arc. (Shakes fist half heartedly in the air with a sarcastic “Woo hoo”).

sigh. Do I sound like a jerk? I really don’t want to be a jerk, i thought i was going to like this show by now and have a good time, especially hearing testimonies from other fans about how underappreciated GT is, but i just can’t force myself to enjoy what I’ve seen so far. At the very least, i should be at the part where things start to really pick up if memory serves, so here’s hoping the excitement picks up soon. But I’m just not feeling the magic I’ve come to associate from watching Dragon ball so far with this series.

#Dragon Ball GT #Dragon Ball GT thoughts #dragon ball #disappointed #but still hopeful #please get good GT

[lesbianrobin]

Okay now I’m craving Stranger Things snow day headcanons. But also can’t stop thinking of the Party in place of my own friend group that one year where we nearly broke my friend’s nose playing “snow football” lmao

FULL STORY PLEASE....

also my personal snow day headcanons are as follows:

steve refuses to wear a hat he just won't do it so he walks around freezing with red ears and constantly complains about how cold it is and everyone is like well put on a fucking hat and hes like that is a ridiculous request and i will not respond to it

he also wears ridiculously impractical footwear he just wears sneakers and his toes turn into blocks of ice

steve: refuses to dress for the weather in order to preserve his Look and ends up freezing and soaking wet

also steve: why do people like snow so much it's terrible

robin bundles the fuck up she wears a tank top and then a t-shirt and then a long sleeve shirt and then a sweater and then a jacket over the sweater and then a puffy coat, scarf, toboggan, and gloves to top it all off

steve makes fun of her for it and she pretends like she isnt actually kind of hot even though theyre outside

the two of them are less snowball fight types and more sitting inside with a fuzzy blanket and warm drink types

nancy just wears a sweater, coat, and gloves like a normal person if she Has to go outside but she'll generally take a snow day as an opportunity to sleep in late and fuck around and reread her favorite books

jonathan literally goes out in the snow in a jean jacket because he's an animal but if joyce catches him he gets yelled at and then he feels bad

the kids are all still young enough that their parents check them before they go out the door when it's snowy but max hates gloves and won't wear them and will can never find his scarf and mike will take off his hat as soon as he's out of karen's sight out of pure spite so the kids all end up in various states of chilliness which stresses steve out so he starts wearing scarves and gloves and hats just so he can take them off and make the kids wear them

he's like "max you'll be able to throw that snowball at lucas a lot better if you can feel your fingers" and she's like damn.... you got a point....... gimme those gloves

the kids go fucking APE

will and el kind of hate the cold and snow in general bc of Trauma but as they help the others build their dnd characters out of snow and help max dump snow down the back of mike's shirt (by distracting him and then by holding his shoulders so he can't run away) they kind of get caught up in the fun and the snow isn't so miserable anymore

lucas is like Determined to do all of the Snow Stuff with el he's like "okay we gotta make a snowman and have a snowball fight and do snow angels but those have to be last because then your back is all wet and gross and then we need to go inside and warm up with hot chocolate-" and el is like "oh okay cool by the way-" and just shoves a bunch of snow in his face which kicks off The Great Hawkins Snow War of '85 and it lasts a full two hours

dustin slips and eats shit like constantly even though he's got snow boots on and someone manages to be watching every single time which is just unfair

mike Does Not Slip Ever he just likes chillin on the ground okay he's a chill kind of guy alright he's just relaxing he did NOT slip!!!!!

lucas builds an elaborate snow fort and makes it Base of Snowball Operations for his team (mike and will) so then obviously el, max, and dustin have to make their own fort and while max is out running a guerilla mission against the other team el cheats a little with her powers to make a somewhat unbelievable snow fort directed by dustin's grand architectural vision

it has two floors

joyce makes them knock it down

hopper drives over to the byers place just to be like "hey joyce just uh making sure you and jonathan have your snow tires and you're all good :) just a friendly visit :) because i love you :) buddy :)" and she's like yeah we're good but you need a hat jim hopper and they banter and it's cute and all of the kids are like retching in the background

once they make a "no powers" rule for the snowball fight the teams are pretty evenly matched (although lucas argues that having mike on his team should count as an official handicap when evaluating each team's performance)

they ask jonathan to judge and he's just like "uh dustin has the most snow on him?" and they're like you're useless

ultimately they call it a draw and go inside to warm up but they argue about the True Winner until the next snow day

that's it for now :)

#em talks #asks #long post #stranger things #define-lying

[ask-80s-rinandlen]

Drabble

"I'm not doing it."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not doing it." Len repeats, slow and deliberate, as if his wife hadn't heard him the first three times they'd gone over it in the last-- he shifts in his position to crane his head towards the clock-- hour. "I'm not going back out there."

"We have to see if he's dead."

"Oh, I promise you he's dead."

Which had been the truth, because Len had seen the blood streaked across the floor of the gas station they were stuck in now, and if he'd been just a touch wiser, he would've left after that. But no, he'd felt somewhat detective like creeping around the counter to the store bathroom, peeking in while Rin danced around the shop picking her snacks for the road, and that's when he'd found the body. Which was, admittedly, as dead as Len could describe somebody as, which was motionless and pale. And absolutely out of blood if the puddle that had surrounded him had meant anything, because it'd been thick and deep like spilled paint. More than a person should ever have or need.

"You don't know that. Who made you an expert?" Rin argues, although there's not much fight left in her tone, just bordering on fear. She shivers in the cool air, crouched low behind a few unopened boxes, keeping her eyes on the door of the walk-in. They'd heard a scratching noise by their car outside when they'd tried to flee back to safety and call the cops. Len had barely missed being backhanded by someone (the memory was blurred by the adrenaline and quickness of the whole situation), forcing them back inside the convenience store with the body of What's-His-Name.

The whole situation was almost funny, because despite the name of the store, the whole situation was not very convenient.

At all.

But Len digressed.

"I'm not an expert, but he was stabbed. Like a hundred times. I'm pretty sure he's dead."

Rin frowns, "Uh-huh."

"Well fine, don't believe me."

They settle into a momentary, anxious silence. Len strains to hear anything that might indicate somebody was outside the door, but it was quiet besides the buzz of the overhead light and the rattling of the cooling system.

"We could make a run for it…?" He suggested, which wasn't the best idea considering he didn't know who was out there lurking, or where the killer was exactly. But there wasn't much they could do hiding in the walk-in cooler like sitting ducks, and it was a matter of time before the guy found them anyway.

"And if he's out there waiting?" Rin shoots back, already pulling her blonde hair up in her bright baby blue scarf, tying it around her hair like a model right out of those cheesy magazines she liked so much. "Or he's still out by the car?"

Len thinks it over quickly, reasoning with that. It was true, that was a big possibility. As much as he hoped that the guy had decided to leave, there wasn't much hope for that. The guy was a killer, apparently, and he'd seen them. God, it was almost like a play-by-play of every single bad horror movie that he'd ever watched behind Rin's back.

(Not that it ever really was behind her back. While she preferred not to watch them, it wasn't hard to tell when he had. Len grew jumpy, every muscle going jittery and wild with unnecessary adrenaline, and thankfully they already slept in the same bed so he didn't have to go through the embarrasment of having to ask to sleep with her when he managed to freak himself out in the dark of the night.)

It was like they were mid-way through a scary movie. They were trapped, alone, in the middle of some backwards, Children-of-the-Corn-like, country-bumpkin nowhere in Georgia, after having gotten off at the wrong exit going towards Atlanta. It was past midnight, they had been alone on the backroads for as long as Len could remember, as it had been only their headlights shining in the pitch black of the road for a few hours with maybe one or two other cars. Even this gas station had been out of the way, tucked up in between a long stretch of fenced in fields and a thick black forestry on the other side, so there was little doubt that nobody would be coming by anytime soon.

It was just them. Alone.

"We have to run. As fast as we can. And if he's out there, I'll fight him off."

Rin gives him an incredulous look, her entire face pinching up in disbelief. "Are you kidding?" She asks, almost like she's trying to kid herself into believing he didn't say what he just said. "Even, I have more muscle than you, babe. What exactly are you going to do in a fight?"

Len flushed.

"I can fight."

She raised a single eyebrow, arms crossing against her chest. Leans back onto her heels, and rests her weight onto the wall behind her, shifting.

"Okay," He amends. "I can body-block and tackle him, just to give you enough time to escape. Go get help, or call the cops, or...or run him over with the car or something."

With emphasis on something, of course, because he was out of ideas, which wasn't the first time he'd lost his ability to function when he was on the spot. Len's face drops into his hands, trying to stifle the groan that almost escapes him, shaking his head.

"This is worse than the time we lost Family Feud."

Rin snorts, "We lost?" She wiggles her fingers in the air for exaggeration. "No, you lost. 'Tell me something many people do just once a week, Len.' Tell me." As if to add insult to injury, she deepens her voice and does a mockery of the Ray Combs' own questioning.

Len can't even meet her eyes. "How was I supposed to know the answer was church?"

"Sunday, Len." Rin says, so gently that the mocking was soothed into the underlying implications, but the shame lingered all the same. "What do people do on Sundays?"

"We don't go to church, how was I supposed to know?"

"It was an easy question. You made us lose Family Feud for nothing!"

Len rolls his eyes, "If you want to talk about blame, how about the fact that we would probably be in Atlanta by now if you hadn't thrown our map out of the window?" He shot back at her, although to be fair, neither of them were that great at reading maps, so it probably wouldn't have helped much.

"I don't need some stupid piece of paper telling me where to go."

"Well that stupid piece of paper would have saved us from getting cut up and eaten by some backwoods murderer."

Rin shrugs her shoulders, opening her mouth to add some sort of witty retort or maybe to just insult him again, but a noise outside the freezer makes them both freeze. Len's muscles tense, his entire body going rigid as the sound of footsteps seem to drift inside like a final warning. Somebody was definately out there.

The footsteps shuffle closer and closer, getting louder and louder. Then they suddenly stop, hovering right outside the door. Rin's eyes widen, and her hand clamps down across her face to hold back whatever it is that she's dying to get out. But Len slowly and quietly jumps into action, his heart pounding in his chest like a hammer against wood. Boom. Boom. He wiggles out of his windbreaker, letting it across the floor and stretching out his limbs.

He hasn't ever been much of a fighter, if he's being completely honest, in fact the biggest fight in his entire life was against a mob of middle-aged, Aquanet-smelling, bedazzled-sweater women all wrestling for a Cabbage Patch. And if he could get through the Riot of '83 without dying a miserable, heel-bludgeoned death and still get a doll, he could probably hold off or even beat a killer if he tried. And if not, well then,Len is confident in his ability to be a human blockade, and he's completely prepared to give Rin enough time to escape if that's the situation. If he can just give his wife a chance, then it would be worth it even if it cost him his life.

Unfortunately, Rin doesn't seem to have the same instincts for self-preservation. She slaps something heavy onto his chest, jolting him back to himself, and it takes him a minute to realize her shoes are in his arms now.

"Rin…?"

She rolls her shoulders, pulling a bedazzled pocket knife out of her white leather jacket, flicking it open with a single motion. "I'm not letting this punk murder either of us." Rin tells him firmly, standing up and pointing the blade at the tip of Len's nose. "Till Death Do Us Part and all that, but absolutely not today. We have that photoshoot in Atlanta in two days, I'm not missing that. To Hell with this guy, I'm not afraid of him. If we got through Miku's mullet phase and Aspen sodas, we can survive this."

She strolls forward, shoulders back and chest puffed out. Her grip on her knife is practised and taut, and Len blinks dumbly as she silently goes towards the door, barefoot and padding slowly.

"Rin!" He whisper-yells, jumping to his feet, clutching at the white go-go boots in his arms. "Rin, put your shoes back on. What're you doing?"

Rin whirls around, lips pursed and eyes hardened in quiet annoyance and a spiteful determination. "Those are vintage. You can't find that lined white leather just anywhere, and those are the exact kind that Nancy Sinatra wore on the cover of her album. Guard those with your life. Don't let any blood or dirt get on them."

"Rin, they're just shoes. Now, you can't do this. Get away from the door!"

Rin scoffs, "I'm handling it. Guard the boots."

"Rin. Stop, you can't do this."

"You're right." Rin agrees, finally showing some sort of sense, nodding along. She stops dead in her tracks, and he breathes a quiet sigh of relief at her reaction, like a weight has been lifted off of his chest. Except then Rin's hands reach up and tug restlessly at her earrings.

She tosses them into his fumbling hands, "Here, this is better. Hold my hoops, too. I'd hate for something to happen to them."

"Rin!"

And then she swings the cooler door open, diving forward with her pocket knife and a wink.

#thank you so much for writing this #sorry i didn't post this sooner #so uhh do they get away? #damn you for leaving it on a cliffhanger #maybe if enough people like it maybe theyll write an ending hopefully #submission

[theconservativebrief]

Democrat Deb Haaland is poised to make national history in November: If she’s elected — and she likely will be in New Mexico’s blue-leaning First Congressional District — she will be the first Native American woman in Congress.

Haaland, the former chair of the state Democratic Party, is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna. There are just two Native Americans serving on Capitol Hill right now, both Republican men from Oklahoma: Reps. Markwayne Mullin and Tom Cole. The significance of Haaland’s history-making bid for Congress isn’t lost on the candidate, but neither is all the hard work that has gotten her to this point.

“I think we’ve been working toward this for a long time,” she told Vox recently. “Just because you’re the first Native woman doesn’t mean you get any breaks. … It’s not something that’s freely given.”

Haaland will face Republican nominee Janice Arnold-Jones, a former member of the New Mexico House of Representatives, in November. Arnold-Jones lost in 2016 to Democratic Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is currently running for governor.

Haaland has drawn plenty of support from liberal groups for her litany of progressive stances on issues. She supports Medicare-for-all and a federal $15 minimum wage, and has promised to fight for debt-free college and universal pre-kindergarten programs if elected to Congress.

But top on Haaland’s list of policy issues is renewable energy and solving climate change. As she spoke to Vox last week, she mentioned the drought currently wracking her home state. More than 80 percent of New Mexico is in “severe” drought or even worse, according to the state’s Drought Monitoring Workgroup. Riverbeds are completely dry, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

New Mexico has also experienced a serious shortage of snow in past winters — something that impacts the state’s economy (its mountainous regions are home to ski resorts) and amount of water. If Haaland gets to Congress, she has pledged to vote against any new fossil fuel infrastructure and instead vote only for renewable energy sources — including solar and wind.

Haaland is alarmed about climate change, and she’s not sure why more people in Washington aren’t.

“I wish I knew, because if we don’t have our Earth, we don’t have anything,” she said.

I recently spoke to Haaland about her history-making candidacy, her plans for increasing renewable energy, and whether she plans to vote for Nancy Pelosi. Our interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Ella Nilsen

Obviously, a lot of what’s been written on your candidacy focuses a lot on the prospect that you could be the first Native American woman elected to Congress. What is the importance of New Mexico potentially sending the first Native American woman to DC?

Deb Haaland

New Mexico has for a while done a really good job in ensuring that native folks, native Indian tribes, tribal leaders, have a seat at the table. In fact, during the term of Gov. Bill Richardson, who was a strong Democrat, he was really good for Indian tribes. He signed a lot of legislation that put us on equal footing in many respects, and one of the things that was passed during his term was the State-Tribal Collaboration Act, which requires the state to consult with tribes on matters of importance.

I feel like we’ve done a good job; we have a number of Native American state legislators. However, we’re still kind of behind. I ran for lieutenant governor in 2014 — I would have been the very first Native American statewide elected official. We lost in the general election.

So I think we’ve been working toward this for a long time. As you might know, running for a congressional seat is a big job. You’ve got to raise a ton of money. Just because you’re the first Native woman doesn’t mean you get any breaks. I think we’ve been working toward this moment; however, it’s not something that’s freely given.

Ella Nilsen

If you are elected, do you plan to try to introduce legislation to increase representation for Native tribes? Do you think Congress should do more to support Native tribes?

Deb Haaland

I don’t know if it’s actual legislation as much as it is just really advocating to make sure that Congress recognizes the fact that the United States has a trust responsibility to Indian tribes. So at every possible opportunity, I’ll work really hard to make sure tribal leaders have a seat at the table when there’s issues of importance.

I’ll give you an example — when the Republicans passed their tax plan, tribal leaders really wanted a say in what that tax plan looked like, and they were never given an opportunity for any hearing or anything like that. So I hope I can change some of that.

Ella Nilsen

What are some of the issues you’ve been hearing from people on the campaign trail?

Deb Haaland

Climate change and renewable energy — that is always, always a large issue. Health care is a huge issue. Everybody needs to have health care; there’s no dispute about that. Everyone across New Mexico deserves to have health care, and they definitely need it.

I get asked a lot about my stance on renewable energy. New Mexico has close to 300 days of sun per year, so we could easily become a leader in renewable energy. I have signed a “no fossil fuel money” pledge.

Ella Nilsen

You mention New Mexico has close to 300 days of sun per year. Do you think the state is harnessing the full potential of the renewable energy power it has right now?

Deb Haaland

We are doing a really good job here, but I just think right now every single state or federal building should be using renewable energy. We should have solar panels or ways to fuel those buildings with solar energy already. If you were a homeowner and you look to put solar panels on your home, you need to get a loan for $20,000 unless you have $20,000 sitting around in the bank. [In] our state, half of our population is Medicaid-eligible, so that tells me we don’t have a lot of income to spend on things like that.

I think it’s the government’s job to work at finding a way for folks to move forward with that, in spite of the fact that a lot of folks are poor here. The future of our planet depends on us doing whatever we can right now. And instead of us giving the richest people $1.5 trillion [in] tax cuts, I really feel like we could have paid for some renewable energy infrastructure.

Ella Nilsen

From my experience talking to Democratic candidates this cycle, I feel like climate change is usually not on people’s lists of the top policy issues they’re talking about. As someone that’s very vocal about it, why do you think more people aren’t talking about it as much?

Deb Haaland

I wish I knew, because if we don’t have our Earth, we don’t have anything. Everything we have, everything that we’ve made, every city that we’ve built or car that we’re driving around, is from materials we get from the earth. Not to mention the fact that we need food to sustain ourselves.

I’m just of that thought; I’m always going to be extremely passionate about climate change and renewable energy. I guess it’s up to everyone what’s important to their districts, and I completely respect that. But for me, I am going to always talk about that.

Ella Nilsen

The other policy question I had was about immigration … especially given the fact that the Republican you’re running against in the general election seems fairly conservative. I’m curious how the immigration issue — especially during the Trump era — is playing out in your race.

Deb Haaland

Certainly, my opponent has stated she is not in favor [of] “sanctuary cities.” She would be in favor of cutting all funding to sanctuary cities, for example. And I wholeheartedly disagree — we need to make sure that we are watching out for our community members. It seems that they target immigrants without being provoked. I just don’t like the fact that oftentimes, folks treat immigrants like they’re criminals, and that’s not the case; that’s not always the case. Yes, there are some people who break the law, but for the most part, people are just working and trying to find a better life.

With respect to DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] recipients here in New Mexico and across the country, I wholeheartedly advocate for them to have a path to citizenship. We need to have more humane immigration policies across the country.

Ella Nilsen

Given all the talk, nationally, of Democrats who are embracing progressive policies, do you think voters in your district are really ready for Democratic candidates offering bolder progressive policies?

Deb Haaland

I think they are. I think they want candidates who are going to truly stand up for things, right? For example, there weren’t a lot of folks talking about moving to 100 percent renewable energy, and I have said that many times and have gotten a tremendous amount of support for that stance. To me, it’s now or never. Climate change is wreaking havoc on our world, and we have to have folks who are going to go hard on that issue. It is super important for the future of everything that we have.

Ella Nilsen

Have you given any thought to whether you’d vote for Nancy Pelosi for House speaker if you win?

Deb Haaland

Just for the record, Nancy Pelosi has not asked me for my vote for speaker. However, I have a tremendous amount of respect for her. Without her, we would never have gotten the Affordable Care Act passed, not to mention the Lilly Ledbetter Act and many other pieces of historic legislation we have needed to move our country forward.

If you compare her record to any Republican speaker, she has been far more effective than any Republican has ever been. In that regard, I have a tremendous amount of respect for her. And when the time comes, I do hope to vote for a woman speaker — I can say that. I think it’s the year of the woman! I’m focused on winning my election, of course. I won’t be doing anything unless I win.

Original Source -> Deb Haaland could make history as the first Native American woman in Congress

via The Conservative Brief

#IFTTT #The Conservative Brief