Being In My Silly Era

Scarlet Hollow stands out in the VN genre by giving players almost total agency in the story, and by having NPCs that think and feel independently of the player. No matter the morality of their actions, NPCs always have a traceable, authentic reason for the way they navigate the world. So, based off of your personal feelings towards them, and not as a criticism of their writing,

I know the midterm election is not until November 3, 2026, however I want everyone to be prepared and not say that they "didn't know" or "couldn't figure it out". This is a guide for everything you need to know about voting in the U.S. in the next major election - the 2026 midterm. I will be updating as needed. If you have a question about voting, registration, or anything else please send me an ask or message. State specific deadlines and info listed under the cut! Even if you have a super unique situation, I will absolutely research it for you!

Every seat in the House of Representatives is up for election!

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Who is my current rep?

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Critical House races

Governor races

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Senate races

Is there a senate race for my state?

What is the senate?

Who are my current senators?

Critical Senate races

General voting info

REGISTER TO VOTE

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What are the deadlines for registering to vote for my state?

State specific rules for registering to vote

I need to change something on my registration

Who is eligible to vote? - anyone who is a U.S. citizen and over the age of 18

I have been convicted of a felony, can I vote?

I am a student who attends school a different state than where I am registered to vote -> resource linked here

How do I vote if I am in the military?

How can I vote (by mail, in person, etc)?

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Can I register to vote online, or do I have to register in person?

How does voting in person work?

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Will my ballot be invalidated if I take a photo of it, or post a photo of my ballot on social media?

I've mailed in my ballot, how can I check that it's been received?

What are the deadlines for mailing my ballot?

Can I vote if I am living overseas/in another country?

Does my work have to give me time off to allow me to vote?

I have a disability, what accessibility resources are there?

I need to report an issue or abuse regarding my ballot or voting experience

When are the results of the election announced?

Resources for non English speakers

I am homebound, and need assistance with mailing or filling out my ballot

Does it matter what party I put on my voter registration?

I am going through, or have gone through, DV/stalking/harassment, and I am worried about my address showing up on public voter registries

Miscellaneous

School board elections

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Volunteer opportunities related to the election

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What is a primary election?

Free Harvard courses. Free Courses from Stanford. Free Courses from MIT. Free courses from Yale. Free courses from Princeton.

Free courses on Coursera.

Free Courses on EDx Free Courses on Alison

For paid, there's The Great Courses+/Wonderium. 20$ a month for unlimited courses.

And I also wanted to mention that humanitarian organisations have free courses too, like the Red Cross on international humanitarian law.

long story short (for anyone who hadn't heard of this before) the kids online safety act, aka kosa, is a bill that will censor online content and resources for lgbtq+ matters, reproductive healthcare, activism (INCLUDING PALESTINE AND LIKELY OTHER CRISES GOING ON LIKE IN CONGO OR SUDAN), mental health, etc. everywhere--its effects likely won't be contained to just america.

today, july 30th, 2024, the senate passed it 91-3. it has officially moved to the house of representatives.

is this a pretty massive setback? yes. do you have every right to be scared, sad, angry, or whatever else about this happening? absolutely. but should you give up hope completely? NO!

even though kosa passed the senate, the house is on break/august recess at the moment. we have around an entire month to get emails, calls, and faxes in to house reps, maybe more depending on when they decide to vote on it.

should it pass the house and get signed into law, we still have a whole 18 months before it actually goes into effect. this is plenty of time for digital rights orgs (e.g. fight for the future, the electronic frontier foundation) and other groups that oppose it to file a lawsuit against it. even if, worst-case scenario, it flies through the house immediately after the recess ends, we can still fight this up to march 2026.

so, yes, remember what's at stake here, but also remember that it's not over yet. we lost a battle, not the war.

below are some resources to learn more about kosa and how to contact your reps (first link) + a page that lets you directly contact progressive house reps, sign an open letter opposing the bill, and view others' testimonies against it (second link):

that being said: it has been reintroduced to the house this year. please keep calling your reps and senators to voice opposition!! this is an even more dangerous time than before for KOSA to be signed into law. the people who will be most negatively affected by this bill are already having a terrible time under the new administration, so we need to do what we can. even if it feels like it's not much, it's better than nothing.

however there IS a version of it for the house. if it was and i was right the first time too, please let me know (and others too!)

article to learn more:

hi guys, it's been a while since i've last talked about this, but KOSA is back again.

the kids' online safety act has been but into a 19-bill "online safety" package, which also includes some other bad internet bills such as the STOP CSAM act, the interstate obscenity definition act, the SCREEN act, etc. this thursday, 12/11/25, that package is getting voted on in the house energy and commerce subcommittee. this is probably the worst time out of all the past years we've been fighting KOSA for it to become law.

the bill itself (house version only, to my knowledge) has been updated since my last posts on this. the infamous duty of care section has been replaced by a general requirement to mitigate various harms, and has been updated to include nonprofit platforms with the previously covered ones (source). the duty of care's absence also provides a bit of a silver lining, as the decision angered some pro-KOSA groups to the point they actually might oppose its passing if they keep this version (source).

so!! the plan is to:

drive as many calls as possible to members of that subcommittee, whose names and numbers you can find here (<- the linked google doc also contains more resources on KOSA including call scripts!). ideally, call all of them if you can. you can also email or fax.

spread awareness by any means possible!! we need mass opposition right now. every single time, KOSA was blocked by the endless pushback it got. tell anyone who will listen!

everyone is well within their right to feel tired and frustrated after this bill has been brought back again and again and again, but please don't give up and despair. the stakes are higher than ever right now, so we really need KOSA and its big, ugly family of censorship bills to lose. despite how terrible everything is right now, we're still seeing that good things can happen.

no matter what tomorrow's outcome is, no matter how small and ineffectual you might think your efforts are, it's always better to have fought than not. your voices are the reason i can still post about these issues.

I have a family friend who worked at our local Salvation Army headquarters as a a secretary. This particular office took all the Christmas donations for children in need, put them in a warehouse, and on a designated day the staff and their friends picked through them all, taking whatever they wanted. She saw people hauling away bikes donated for specific families. Some local children had hundreds of dollars of gifts donated in their name, and on Christmas they received three cheap things, items likely not even from the person who sponsored them.

My friend quit, and I’ve not given them a dime of my money since then.

I’m a wildfire and disaster logistics specialist.

I deal with a lot of agencies who provide disaster relief.

I used to say the Salvation Army’s disaster services were the one (literally the ONE) good thing they did.

They would come in, set up a canteen trailer, make and pass out hot coffee and donated food in a disaster, usually being one of the first agencies to get there and the last to leave.

Then I found out.

Every time they did this, regardless of if they were actually invited or deployed by the agency in charge (usually FEMA, sometimes others) they would SELF-DEPLOY. Meanjng they would just show up. Ok. That’s not TOO bad, sometimes agencies have to take initiative and get there before the red tape is sorted out. BUT. They, after they left at the end of the incident, they would send FEMA or the host agency a BILL. They used one or two paid employees (usually the driver of the truck and a supervisor); and many VOLUNTEERS, but they would bill for EVERYONE’s Labor at standard federal rates. They would bill for the food they distributed even though it was all donated by another agency or private parties. They would bill for the coffee they made and the supplies. Except they would use electricity from the shelter location, water from donations or from the shelter, and in many cases, they would get the coffee and industrial filters DONATED, but bill for them at retail prices.

Salvation Army reached out to Milknmuffins and asked what shelter she’s at with the promise to address the abuse in it. She…ended up saying where she was. She was thrown out onto the street. It’s also all on Twitter.

They invited her to a personal talk so she could explain the situation in person.

And then they threatened her with a screenshot of a rape-threat made supposedly by her:

And then threw her out into the street while claiming she broke house rules that

Something something criminal lays on his bed like a schoolgirl something something