Banshees' Captain 16

got a major pest problem this year actually

god I could be so wealthy if I had no ethics. that's so fucking frustrating. I'm living paycheck to paycheck because I'm not grifting vulnerable idiots on TikTok. I feel like I have the ability to very easily scam people. I could make a killing with AI. but god. I have morals and ethics and so I get to be poor as shit. I hate this fucking world

As an alternative to 'sugar, spice, and everything nice'

I present: 'salt, vinegar, and everything sinister'

I can never tell which of my posts are going to explode (it is never ones I put work in) but I pray to God this one does

The past few weeks I have seen an explosion in doomerism and defeatism about Trump. Some people seem to have just decided to call the election for him for reasons that don't even make much sense

(He was almost shot and that always helps! Look at Reagan and Teddy Roosevelt! Reagan was already president and incredibly popular, and the shooting happened 2 months into his first term; Roosevelt was shot when he was campaigning in 1912....in an election he lost)

Trump has never been popular, he has never won the popular vote, and he has never had popular support. For the past 3 years, especially post Roe V. Wade, Democrats have increasingly overperformed especially in special elections. There were so many polls predicting 2022 would be a Red Wave, that turned out to be false due to faulty and biased polling. I'm not saying a Dem loss is impossible, but it is a lot less of a sure thing than the doomsayers are making it out to be

How does Trump win? Apathy. Despair. Low Turn Out. While many of the "Trump is guaranteed to win" posters I'm sure are real people who are justifiably scared, I think we underestimate just how many are people at home and abroad, who want a lower turnout, who want Trump to win.

I used to hear a joke growing up that "If voting did anything, they would make it illegal" Well considering how hard Republicans are trying to discourage voting and making it hard to do, it must do something.

Don't despair. Don't panic. Don't retreat. ACT

So what can you do?

Are you registered to vote? 🗳

You can register to vote here! ☑️

Do you know what/ who will be on your ballot? 📄

Do you know your state voting requirements? 📥

Do you know your polling location? 📍

Can you vote early? 🖊

Can you vote by mail? 📬

Do you need disability services for voting? ♿️

Do you need to know your voter’s rights? 🧑🏽‍⚖️

Do you need a ride to register/ vote?

Spread this far and wide. Tell your friends and your family. Make clear to them what is at stake if Trump wins.

Additionally, here are two volunteer organizations that I help out with

Vote Forward - write letters to encourage turnout

Working Family's Party - an organization working to help progressives win in primaries and general elections. I particularly like working in their text bank program. Want to help in a phone bank but don't like talking on the phone? this is perfect as you send texts to encourage support and voting

Spread this far and wide. Tell your friends and your family. Make clear to them what is at stake if Trump wins. Feel free to add other resources and organizations that

The way ISAT starts at the end of the story is so effective for the themes of loneliness and isolation. At the point in the story the party is at, they're as close to each other as they've ever been. It's the last two days they're going to spend as a team. But they're also all so closed off to each other. Mirabelle is quietly hating herself for not wanting to change as much as she thinks she's supposed to. Odile still hasn't found what she's looking for, and she's probably beginning to think she never will. Bonnie refuses to look at Siffrin's face long enough to think about what happened to his eye. Isabeau can't work up the courage to open up to Siffrin about how he feels. And Siffrin doesn't even know anything about his own past! They deflect with jokes even in their own thoughts!

Yes, they're already a family by the start of ISAT. But the only one who actually expresses all of their emotions is a child who's still trying to navigate what exactly they're feeling. The only one who constantly pays attention to how his friends are feeling is secretly too shy to express how much he cares to the one person who needs it the most. The real hero of the story doesn't think she's grown as a person at all. The smartest person there is also really bad at recognizing when something she's said offends one of the people she's come to care for. And then there's Siffrin, who doesn't actually believe that any of his friends will remember him, and maybe he's afraid he won't remember them either. They think Isabeau is just nice. Baseline behavior for anyone he talks to. They understand Odile better than anyone in the party, but they misunderstand her style of banter just feels like she's being brutally honest. He cares deeply about Mirabelle and can't express it as anything but teasingly making sure she's alright. And he thinks Bonnie hates him because losing an eye to save a kid was something he sees as completely worth it, and he doesn't see how much that terrifies them.

If there wasn't a time loop, they'd all go their separate ways at the end and they'd all feel like shit about it. Bonnie would never forgive themself for being the reason Siffrin lost an eye. Isabeau probably wouldn't go home to Jouvante because none of his fellow defenders were willing to risk their lives to defend Vaugarde. Mirabelle would go on a pilgrimage and fail to recognize how much she's changed once again. Odile would return to Ka Bue, still feeling like she doesn't fit in there. And Siffrin would be alone again, until one day, they wouldn't even remember the faces of the people they'd come to love.

I needed this drag. Let’s change guys and not look back

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