Hi from Canada! Please vote and not fuck the rest of us over as well, thanks.
I’m italian…i don’t have reasons to care about USA-voting stuff…still i care bc some followers of mine are from the USA…so i invite them to do the sweetest and sexiest thing ever: vote
I live in the US. I’m a mixed race minority woman.
This shit is scary and I’ve been having low-grade anxiety about it all day.
PLEASE VOTE
I’m British and terrified by what’s happening over the pond.
• Because Minerva McGonagall isn’t gonna let an eleven year old kid beat her at sudden death chess and get away with it.
• Ron is a really good president just ‘cos all he expects from members is that they try. You can be horrible at chess (Harry) or extremely good at it (Dean Thomas and his deft hands), and it doesn’t matter in the end because Ron’ll clap you on the back anyway and say, “Good game, mate.”
• Meetings are held in the library because Madam Pince has always had a softness for wizard chess and trusts Minerva when she promises that no one will [probably] get blown up. (Seamus Finnigan whistles innocently somewhere in the background.)
• The library is actually the perfect place for it. The atmosphere is charming. Books are floating around their heads all the time—some leaning down curiously to watch, others being plucked lovingly from the air by Hermione. The usual quiet is exchanged for whispered exclamations and barely stifled sniggers, and just this once, Madam Pince doesn’t mind. Oh, and the light coming in through the colored windows shines on the pieces in a really beautiful way, I tell ya—reds, blues, and golds flickering off kings and queens like badges of honor. (Everyone kinda loves it.)
• THE GOOD: (i.) Dean Thomas: Vice President. His games are works of art. Dean Thomas is a work of art. (ii.) Justin Finch-Fletchley: He used to play chess all of the time with his muggle grandpa. It took him a little bit to get used to all the moving pieces, though. (iii.) Susan Bones: She learned precision from her aunt and applies it nicely to the chessboard. (iv.) Astoria Greengrass: Boredom and a desire to do something interesting has bred a mean chess player out of little Miss Greengrass. (v.) Cho Chang: Cho doesn’t get to attend all of the meetings because of Quidditch, but she’ll pop in occasionally and make fools out of anyone who dares to cross her. #RavenclawPride
• THE OKAY?: (i.) Hermione Granger: Hermione’s not bad per say. She’d be better if she would stop overthinking every, single move. (ii.) Michael Corner: He’s a bit of a sore loser. (iii.) Neville Longbottom: He’s actually a pretty decent player—just needs a bit of polishing around the edges. Neville likes the patience of chess, how he can sit and think a little while before he has to make a move. (iv.) George Weasley: In many of his and Fred’s wonderful schemes, he’s been responsible for the finer details of the prank, the complexities and the nuances. His attention to detail makes him a player to contend with.
The UGLY:
(i.) Harry Potter: Harry J is constantly distracted by everything and everyone in his tragic life to be any good at chess, but he wouldn’t miss a meeting for the world. Ron gets this big, stupid grin on his face when he’s playing that’s worth every second of it. (ii.) Draco Malfoy: “Did you see the way Potter moved his chess piece? It wasn’t very graceful, was it? I’m much better than Potter. Besides, chess is for inferior people. LIKE POTTER. Have I mentioned that I’m better than Potter?” “Oi, Draco, you lost.” “Oh.” (iii.) Daphne Greengrass: She only joined because her sister made her. Most of the time, she just sits in the corner and reads a wizard comic. Nerd. (iv.) Ernie Macmillan: Brags ceaselessly when he wins. Threatens to quit when he loses. Finally acts on his words when Astoria creams him with many pawns to spare.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: (i.) Seamus Finnigan: Did not blow a single person up. (ii.) Fred Weasley: Isn’t really interested in the chess part, but enjoys alternating between cheering his brothers on and pranking them. (iii.) Hannah Abbott: Her weary apologies for Ernie’s pompous behavior should be duly noted. (iv.) Luna Lovegood/Dobby: Their collaborative banners for the club are lovely.
• In light of Dumbledore’s Army, the Hogwarts Chess Club is later renamed Dumbledore’s Pawns. Too on the nose?
• Over the course of the club, there are certain match ups that everyone gets really hyped over: Dean vs. Ron, Draco vs. Harry (even though both of them are horrible at it), Astoria vs. Ron, etc. But no game is more anticipated than the occasional one that Minnie McGee and Ron play. It’s epic. The pieces are all but broken by the time they finish up. At the end of Ron’s sixth year, the record is in his favor, but only just.
• (Quite a few Weasleys have come and gone in Minerva’s time at Hogwarts—many of them extremely gifted and well liked by her—but for this, for his prowess at a game that she loves, she will always have a particular fondness for Ron.)
• Other teachers stop in to play, too. Flitwick and Pince have a delightful rivalry. Snape has never beaten Minerva McGonagall for all his sneering. Lupin is okay, but his main contribution to the club is giving chocolate to unsuspecting members. (Where does he get his supply??? Does it just randomly appear up his sleeve?????) Dumbledore himself once popped in, won against Ron and Minerva alike with a twinkle in his eye, and then Apparated out of the library just because he knew Miss Granger’s mouth would fall open.
• You have to admit, that man has style.
• Just Hogwarts chess club, y’all.
• I think Ron would love it just as much as his Chocolate Frog card. (Okay, maybe a little less.)
Okay but I kind of feel like Luna would be in the top five players, at least. Here’s why.
A lot of what makes a player good at chess is knowing your openings and knowing your lines. I think Luna would know hundreds of obscure variants, generally considered inferior and therefore neglected to the point that, at the school-age level, most players wouldn’t know how to play against them. It’s a long time before you get past “Queen’s gambit is bad” to “Here is why nobody plays Queen’s gambit, this specific response to it leaves you hopelessly devastated by move 20″ to “well actually it turns out if you both play the best lines, Queen’s gambit is a bit of a toss-up” and Luna would play things like Nimzo-Indian that the chess world has largely moved past but that only McG and Dumbledore (and maybe Snape) really know how to play against. Ron doesn’t actually know the lines, but can usually play her to a hard fought draw or a very narrow victory or loss just by his good instincts for the game.
In short, Luna’s the player that the older students watch her and think “what is she doing, she’s so awful, ow do you people keep losing to her” and the teachers are thinking “here is a dangerous person who is going to get a lot of mileage out of making people underrate her” and Luna’s thinking “no, that move isn’t pretty enough, because the Knight doesn’t get to dance with the Queen.”
i will literally never forget the senior year of my american politics degree. our professor did a show of hands for who was going to vote in the election and i was one of 4 people in a 60 person class that raised mine. “both candidate were bad” and it didn’t matter because we were in a blue state anyway, right? the day after the election, the little brother of a friend got called a racial epithet and beat up at school. it was the first incident of that kind in that school in years–the first of many since. my friend didn’t vote in that election. both candidates were bad, after all.
i think what she didn’t get, what most people don’t get is that voting isn’t about you. it isn’t. it’s about the society we’re trying to have here, the society you are a part of no matter how nihilistic you think you are. you’re never too good for kindness. this is the most basic test of that.
so i’m begging you: vote for people that don’t have a vote because they got illegally purged from voter rolls. vote for the environment. vote for kids that are going to have to deal with this stuff for the next 80 years. vote for the lgbt community. vote because it’s better than nothing. vote because if you don’t and then you turn around and complain about anything wrong with this country, you’ve given up your best shot at doing a goddamn thing about it. if nothing else, vote for spite. vote to scare them. here’s a post that has every piece of information you need to vote tomorrow. please do it. it’s not about you or about your single vote making a difference. it’s about caring enough for the weak and underrepresented in this society enough to do your best by them.
you have to at least try.
I know I’ve been pounding this drum nonstop for months now. And guess what? I’m tired of it too! But I’m frankly terrified and I have been for two years, so here I go again: bang bang bang, please help fix this nightmare!
What I will never understand when people say ‘my vote doesn’t matter’ is how they don’t see that no one single vote matters by itself. It’s the cumulative vote that matters–and the cumulative vote only gets that way when every single person votes. You’re not out there doing a solo project; you’re a part of something big. An important part.
No, you may not be Mulan–you may not be the ‘single grain of rice that tips the scales’ or the ‘one man’ who stands between victory and defeat. But your vote is still adding to the cumulative numbers we need. Your vote matters.
Please, please. Vote.
Yes, I’m gonna be on this all day.
You know what’s weird?
The fact that, on the one hand, the ‘Half-Blood Prince’ film tried to copy the books’ coding of Ron and Lavender’s relationship as gross due to being physical.
And yet, the ‘Goblet of Fire’ film basically implies that Hermione and Viktor Krum’s relationship was largely physical, with that scene where Hermione says that Viktor is “more of a physical being”. Granted, she then tries to argue that she just meant he wasn’t very wordy, but it just comes across like they spent a lot of time snogging and she just doesn’t want to admit that.
It just makes the clear favouring of Hermione’s pre-Ron relationships over Ron’s pre-Hermione relationships even more obvious. Like, one is clearly treated as gross despite having very little different to the other.
Also, why would she tell Harry this? In the books, it’s implied that Harry suspected that she’d kissed Krum, but she never explicitly told him, possibly due to the fact that Harry might end up telling Ron.
So, yeah, you’ll have to forgive me for not really buying that film!Hermione actually fancied Ron. At least in the books, she avoided talking about Krum unless it was to judge whether Ron was jealous. In the films, she comes across like she doesn’t really care either way.
1. To protect: human rights, civil rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, Muslim rights, Latinx rights, workers rights, women’s rights, the environment, your soul, everything worth protecting on this earth.
2. BECAUSE POSTING ON THE WEB ABOUT ISSUES WITHOUT VOTING IN PEOPLE WHO CAN ADDRESS THOSE ISSUES IS BRINGING THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS TO A GUNFIGHT.BRING YOUR VOTE TO THIS FIGHT.
3.ACTIONS ARE WORTH MORE THAN WORDS, ESPECIALLY HERE.
5. Give the hatemongers bad news. When the folks who want to overturn Roe V. Wade, ban trans people, build up those new concentration camps, and rewrite the laws to make a permanent one-party state, wake up on Wednesday to check the news, here’s what they’ll see:
6. The satisfaction of watching the BLUE WAVE POP THAT RED BUBBLE.
Rupert Grint, Bonnie Wright, Matthew Lewis, Katie Leung and Evanna Lynch attend the A Celebration Of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando (January 29, 2016)
in Alabama, Amendment 2 would restrict abortion rights, completely banning it if Roe v. Wade is overturned, which is now likely.
in Arkansas, Issue 2 would disenfranchise voters by requiring photo ID.
in Florida, Amendment 5 would make it much harder to raise taxes.
in Louisiana, Amendment 1 would ban people with felony records who’ve served their time from running for office for 5 years, even if their offense was just e.g. marijuana possession.
in Oregon, Measure 105 would repeal its sanctuary state law protecting immigrants, and Measure 106 would restrict abortion rights by banning public funds from being spent on abortions.
in West Virginia, Amendment 1 would completely ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned, which is now likely.
in Arkansas, Issue 5 would raise the minimum wage to $11.
in California, Prop 2 would fund housing for the homeless, and Prop 10 would allow local rent control.
in Colorado, Amendment A would fucking ban slavery as punishment for a crime. (yes, that’s a real thing.) Amendments Y and Z would hopefully limit gerrymandering. Amendment 73 would tax the rich to pay for education. Proposition 111 would crack down on predatory payday loans.
in Florida, Amendment 4 would restore voting rights to people with felony records who’ve served their time, and Amendment 9 would ban offshore drilling (and also vaping in the workplace, because Florida is weird).
in Idaho, Proposition 2 would expand Medicaid eligibility.
in Maine, Question 1 would fund a universal home-care program for disabled people and older adults.
in Maryland, Question 2 would allow election-day voter registration.
in Massachusetts, Question 3 would protect the state’s transgender anti-discrimination law which is under attack.
in Michigan, Proposal 1 would legalize recreational marijuana, and Proposal 3 would strengthen voting rights by instituting automatic voter registration, expanding absentee voting, pushing back deadlines, and more.
in Missouri, Amendment 2, Amendment 3, and Proposition C would all legalize medical marijuana (but they’d tax it different amounts and use the taxes for different things — you be the judge). Amendment 1 would make reforms to lobbying, campaign finance, and redistricting, and Proposition B would raise the minimum wage to $12.
in Montana, I-185 would expand Medicaid eligibility.
in Nebraska, Initiative 427 would expand Medicaid eligibility.
in Nevada, Question 5 would allow automatic voter registration, and Question 6 would require renewable energy.
in North Dakota, Measure 3 would legalize recreational marijuana and expunge existing marijuana convictions.
in Ohio, Issue 1 would downgrade drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors and provide for some criminal justice reforms.
in Utah, Proposition 2 would legalize medical marijuana, and Proposition 3 would expand Medicaid eligibility.
in Washington, Initiative 940 would train cops not to murder people, and Initiative 1631 would charge polluters a fee on carbon emissions and fund environmental programs.
the outcomes of these and other important initiatives will be determined at the ballot box. you can make a direct impact on these issues in your state by doing your research and voting.
can’t vote? search for an organization supporting (or opposing) the initiative you care about, and consider donating your time or money to help them out.
(please note that i’m not an expert on all of these initiatives. you may conclude for example that one of them sounds good, but isn’t implemented well so you can’t support it. that’s fine! but now you know what’s going on in your state and can have your say, and that’s a good thing.)
Prop 2 in Michigan is designed to rectify the gerrymandering fiasco there too. All three Michigan proposals are good progressive steps!
Ditto on Michigan’s Prop 2, I volunteered with the group that got it on the ballot. It’ll make it so the voting districts are drawn by an independent commission and they’re going to put the whole process out in public. (Currently the state legislature does it, so whichever party has the majority on census year gives themselves the advantage for the next decade).
oh yeah. I’m named after بكر عائشة بنت أبي (may Allah be pleased with her.) She had an important role in early Islamic history.
2. When was the last time you cried?
last night. i cry all the time
3. Do you have kids?
Apart from Ron Weasley? No, I don’t.
4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?
idk you tell me
5. What’s the first thing you notice about a person?
i’ve never thought about this but their eyes I guess?? for a while I was obsessed with eyebrows so that used to be the first feature I looked at.
6. What’s your eye colour?
dark brown
7. Scary movie or happy ending?
both
8. Any special talents?
i’m not really talented at anything but I enjoy doing craft
9. Where were you born?
Karachi, Pakistan.
10. What are your hobbies?
Reading, writing, procrastinating (sorry riz im copying you) and stanning ron weasley
11. Have you any pets?
nope
12. What sports do you play/have you played?
Cricket, tennis, badminton.
13. How tall are you?
5’7’’
14. Favourite subject in school?
Maths but I love English too
15. Dream job?
my dream job would be to get paid for appreciating ron weasley but realistically speaking? a novelist/reviewer/editor/graphics designer/interior designer/science writer/a good person
I’m not sure…also i don’t wanna say my real name here so my reply will be about my nickname: i just like the sound when i say Saya, like i feel like a nice nurse or a gentle vet xD
2. When was the last time you cried?
Two days ago about a romance scene from mass effect(trilogy/1,2,3)
3. Do you have kids?
Hell no, they can handle me but i can’t handle them, also i can’t even be near my little cousins without having a panic attack(bc usually they come to visit me and destroy something mine, so i don’t like myself for even being a kid xD)
4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?
Just when i’m pissed or bored about something/someone
5. What’s the first thing you notice about a person?
Eyes mostly
6. What’s your eye colour?
Not So dark brown(i mean they aren’t so dark or light but something in the middle xD)
7. Scary movie or happy ending?
i’m a fluff-bitch give comic movies or happy endings
8. Any special talents?
i feel like i’m a good listener and a good observer(?) i mean i can’t draw, my fanfics are shit….and i can clean a house quite fast(but please there is a reason if my brother cooks my toasts…bc usually i burn them by myself xD)
9. Where were you born?
Naples/Napoli, Italy
10. What are your hobbies?
Music, Reading stuff, Videogames
11. Have you any pets?
A dog, but it’s my brother’s bestfriend…he comes to me only when i’m eating something…
12. What sports do you play/have you played?
Only during P.E but volleyball and basket…so i guess not.
13. How tall are you?
Last time i was 1,74 m
14. Favourite subject in school?
History, Italian literature, Anatomy
15. Dream job?
Those girls who travels around the world just for making video of food they eat like that asian girl on Food Insider but realistically anything payed enough to live by myself
Headcanonsandmore 