Author: guardianharvest

systlin:

simonalkenmayer:

If you’re discouraged about the election results

Don’t be. You’re hearing media do what it does: harp on one person’s lack of enthusiasm and make it seem that that one opinion is held by thousands.

This race went precisely as I thought it would. Precisely.

And it was absolutely a massive success.

So let me tell you why, so that you feel better and can easily put down the annoying crowing that republicans are going to do, because they managed to cling to a few things.

If the votes fall as I believe they will, the democrats will have retaken the house by some 30 seats. This is impressive and somewhat unique in our country’s history. The GOP, upon taking the house originally, jerrimandered these districts in impressively screwball ways. Wherever that rigging has been overturned, the districts have gone blue. Which is, of course, why they did it. Democrats have the house now, 30ish flips in republican rugged districts. 15 of those being female candidates.

That is absolutely impressive.

A few key candidates to whom many people were paying close attention did not perform as people desired. Abrams, O’Rourke, Gillum. Well…I’m not surprised. Abrams faces absolute state wide fraud. Her opponent being the person also in charge of voter registration, withholding some 50k votes of which 70% were black. Voter intimidation. This is blatant corruption. And yet still…her race was very close. So too with Beto. Ted Crews was a presidential candidate! When he took Texas, he did so with a wide margin. Last night in Texas he was fighting tooth and nail. Gillum’s goobenatorial race for Florida was a figurative dead heat. 99% of the vote in—49% Gillum, 49.7% DeSantis. These are CLASSICALLY and FULLY republican regions in which Trump took the presidency by huge margins. That these races, with all those challenges, were as close as they were PROVES that something unprecedented happened.

3-400% voter turnout increases for a midterm election. Mostly with the youth.

But let’s talk about what it means to have the house.

Now I know you’re probably concerned about the federal judgeships that are about to pop up for consideration, and it’s true that the Senate was needed to stop approvals of those candidates, but…

Control of the house means that Democrats now take hold of some critical committees. These committees are the very ones that will be overseeing corruption allegations. Ways and Means, energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Intelligence, appropriations, foreign affairs, armed services, judiciary, transportation and infrastructure, and…government reform.

How do you feel now?

The worst political fallout of a GOP controlled government, the worst sound bites that weren’t Trump’s, the worst slaps across the face? All came from footage of those very same committees. Those committees now belong to Democrats.

Massive policy shifts also occurred in many classically conservative states—legalizing marijuana votes, Florida giving the vote back to former criminals who’ve served their time thus giving the vote back to a HUGE portion of the African-American Community that has been held in check by a racist and classicist policing method, then there were upsets in many small ways too.

I promise you…this is all excellent and it will have truly important and forceful impact. In 2020, if we can keep that same enthusiasm and rage, the entire government will shift. But that can only happen if we keep moving forward, if the candidates who won keep their noses to the grindstone and push back hard, if you and I and everyone on the ground continues to talk about this and force out bigots and greed.

Do not be discouraged. I promise you…this was an amazing election. Don’t focus on a few bright stars and think that all is lost because they fell. There is a great deal happening here, and one thing I know from being at sea—when a wave is building, there is first a terrifying shift, as the water level begins to build. The ship will begin to dip and then of a sudden, the swell will begin. The ship raises and passengers suddenly realize that the were much higher than before, with an incredible view. Then the wave crests and destroys what’s in its path.

We didn’t see a wave crest tonight. So what. That means it’s a much larger wave than we realized. It will crest in the future. But only if that fluid pressure is maintained.

This is good. It is. So long as everyone keeps working. This is good.

Calm down. Have a glass of champagne. A cup of tea. When they Trumpet all their noise…say nothing. Nothing needs to be said. You’re higher than you were with an excellent view of the ending. So relax. Don’t fret.

Listen to Simon, y’all. Simon is wise. 

elastigale:

Gail and her parents! (Not to be confused with her aunt and uncle, who did most of the actual parenting!) I don’t have names for Mr. and Mrs. Fowler yet, but a couple people have been asking about them so here’s what I’ve got so far:

Gail’s dad is a freelance musician who writes jingles for advertisements, tv shows, etc. Although he originally wanted to be a musician in his own right and felt like writing for TV was “selling out”, he learned to love his job because combines his love of music and dad jokes, and lets him work from home and spend more time around his family.  Although his work was always uncredited, he went on to create several popular superhero theme songs, including “Here Comes Elastigirl!”  (He made a theme song for Stratogale too, but as she never had her own cartoon spinoff it never got the widespread popularity other superhero themes enjoyed.)  His piano is by far the most expensive thing the Fowlers own, a painstakingly well-kept family heirloom that has been passed down for generations.  Some of Gail’s earliest memories are of sitting in her dad’s lap while he played on it.

Gail’s mom is a retired psychologist who specialized in therapy for children.  Since retiring, she has dedicated herself to all the hobbies she never had time for when she had a full-time job, and her interests seem to change almost daily.  Her latest obsessions are painting abstract mood-pieces and making fairy gardens, which clutter up every windowsill within reach.  To finance her hobbies, she sells crafts at various events and independent galleries.  (They don’t sell very well, but she has fun with it anyway.)

Because neither of her parents are Supers, they had a very hard time raising her when she was still learning to control them, and after several dangerous accidents and hospital visits, they handed her off to Gail’s aunt and uncle (who did have powers) in rural Kansas to raise her until she was more in control.  Gail moves back in with her parents when she’s 14. Although they love each other and get along well, there is sometimes the awkward feeling of being strangers to their own daughter, and Gail worries often that her parents are still afraid of her.  To her parent’s dismay, Gail moves out to live with Bob and Lucius almost immediately after graduating from high school, but she makes up for it by visiting often.

virtuissimo:

i know its real fun to talk shit about texas and to laugh it up about how stupid texans are but can we PLEASE acknowledge that this election made texas purple, and that there have been HUGE efforts to bring out people of color and poor people who have previously been disenfranchised, and that even though beto didnt win this is STILL A REALLY IMPORTANT STEP. especially the latino voting population grew enormously this election cycle. fuck the 71% of white men and 59% of white women who voted for cruz, and i dont wanna come off like im making some kind of “not all texans” argument, but the people of color here r fighting tooth and nail and it sucks that ppl r just unilaterally saying “texans stupid nyeh”

How should I go about sending you fan art?

kimbles:

GOSH!!! ;______; 

T-thank youuuu

If you’d like to post it here make sure you tag me in it @kimbles and tumblr should send me an e-mail (I don’t tend to see hashtags at all)! If I don’t respond to it it’s likely I haven’t seen it so feel free to poke me again.

I’m also on twitter @ k1mbles if that works for you, or you can send me an private message/chat thing though tumblr too! <333