a bank: hi i noticed you don’t have any money in your account, so I’m going to charge you an additional $30 for not having any money
Capitalists: “let’s keep investing in oil despite the fact that science tells us it’s The Worst Idea and we’ll only make money in the short term with it! Who needs green energy and a safe future when you can have dirty energy and money now?”
In just about six weeks, on November 6, you will have the privilege of exercising your right to vote in the midterm elections. You, the people, will determine one-third of all U.S. senators and all 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. And we want you to feel empowered as hell as you make it happen.
But you can only make a difference if you’re registered to vote.
National Voter Registration Day is on September 26.
Take a few minutes right now and visit NVRD (@nationalvoterregistrationday) to register anytime between now and then. Don’t forget: if you’ve recently changed your name or moved across state lines, you need to update your registration. Have questions? @plannedparenthood wants to help! This Monday, September 24, they will be answering your questions about voting. Go ahead and head over to their ask box now.
What else can you do?
Stay informed. Over the next six weeks, right up until election day, we’re going to highlight and partner up with a number of organizations that can help you stay educated about issues that matter most. We’ll put a spotlight on some of our old favorites for educational resources, like @everytown for sensible gun laws and Fight for the Future (@fight4future) for net neutrality. You can also look forward to hearing more from:
Women — There are more women running for office in 2018 than there has ever been in U.S. history. Huffington Post and and MAKERS (@makerswomen) will be interviewing some of these incumbents and newcomers.
Headcount— Headcount (@thefutureisvoting) stages voter registration drives at concerts and runs programs that translate the power of music into real action. Their goal? Change the culture of voting to turn every election—local, state, and federal—into an event worth celebrating. It shouldn’t feel like a chore.
When We All Vote — @whenweallvote is a new national, nonpartisan, not-for-profit that promises to spark new conversation around the responsibilities we all share in shaping the promise of our democracy. Namely, the responsibility of registering and voting.
#VoteTogether— #VoteTogether offers grants of $2,500 to local organizers to hold and promote nonpartisan block parties near polling places. This year Tumblr will be the financial sponsor and partner of two #VoteTogether events.
10/25 — Black Girls Vote + Tumblr present: #VoteTogether in Baltimore. BGV focuses on organizing Black women across the country to participate in local, state and national elections. Tumblr will be supporting BGV for an all-day event led by 50 of their student leaders from Morgan State University. We will then lead a march to the polls followed by a #VoteTogether block party with announcements of scholarships for some of the incredible students.
10/27 — Equity Alliance + Tumblr present: #VoteTogether in Nashville. This year will be Equity Alliance’s third #VotingIsLit celebration. EA is planning on hosting a Halloween-themed and family friendly event in the Antioch neighborhood of Nashville, and we want to see you there. The spookiest costume? A person who forgot to register to vote by September 26, National Voter Registration Day.
Be on the lookout for more information on these events in the coming weeks! We want you there.
Phew. That was a lot. We know. But this is important stuff. The past few years may have felt particularly exhausting to you. You’re not alone. Take care of yourselves however you can, and remember that you and your vote matter. Let your voice be heard.
And one more time, for good measure:
National Voter Registration Day is on September 26.
I met a fan artist from the Hobbit fandom who’s 40+ years old, who sent me a postcard a couple of years back for Christmas with her art on the card.
When I was about 14, I once befriended, and lost contact with, a 40 year old woman with a full head of gray, curly hair, who was one of the best known Good Omens fan artists of the community. She had apparently been in and out of asylums for years, and I worried for the longest time. I even sent her an email when I was around 18, asking after her well-being. But then she resurfaced when I was 21, here on tumblr. It was one of the greatest and most memorable fandom experiences I’ve ever had.
When I was 15 and using slurs I didn’t know were slurs, 30+ year old LGBTQ+ comics fans on scans_daily patiently but firmly corrected me. I felt mortified, but they never attacked me or treated me as anything other than a dumb kid who made a mistake.
I have a long time friend of close to a decade, who was late twenties when I met her in the comics fandom, and I was a teen.
OLDER FANS ARE CRUCIAL TO THE SURVIVAL OF FANDOMS. Not ONLY because they’re literally the ones keeping fandom afloat (AO3 wasn’t created or maintained by kids, let’s just say), but because older fans generally don’t attack or bully or fuck up a fandom by being aggressive or volatile or overzealous, destroying any enjoyment of a medium.
Single women, married women, LGBTQ+ fans, all in the range of 30-60 years old. I’ve met all sorts of older fans, from when I was 12 on deviantart to now, in my mid-twenties, and not a single one of them has ever hurt me or treated me like dirt. I’ve always felt safer with older fans than with younger ones, because of the people I’ve seen harass, accuse, doxx, bully, and generally engage in harmful behaviour in this fandom, they’ve largely been in the 13-21 age bracket.
Obviously most young fans aren’t like that, but the toxicity is palpable regardless.
@younger fans, if somebody older in a fandom acts in a creepy way, then feel free to avoid them, block them, report them.
But this apparent DELUSION that younger fans have that older fans are “creepy” just for existing needs to be eradicated. Just. Stop. You do not deserve the fandoms they built, they maintained, they keep alive in themselves and all the younger fans they took care of, if you cannot RESPECT THEM.
john mulaney looked so stunned to win the emmy because now his immortal life is recorded in history, so 100 years from now when a historian asks him why he looks so much like that emmy award-winning comedian, he’s going to have to throw his money clip in order to distract them
Artisan Scribbles 