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aingeal98 · 3 months

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Steph for the ask game?

three facts about them from my personal headcanons

-The first woman Steph was ever attracted to was Zatanna. She didn't realise this until later on when she was dating Cass and it clicked that it hadn't just been platonic girl crush appreciation

-She did actually die. The body they put in the ground was actually Steph. Due to reality warping from various villains she ended up in Africa with Leslie who admitted that she hadn't actually let Steph die but tried everything and saw her bleed out regardless. They were both highly confused how she was alive again and they never did fully confirm why.

-She has all the autopsy scars and long lasting damage from Black Mask's torture. She used to play the piano but when she came back her fingers didn't stretch the way they used to and the first time she tried it gave her a panic attack.

a reason they suck

They were created and written by Chuck Dixon, which often meant being a part of his shitty conservative propaganda. She was more of a victim than a perpetrator most of the time, but I'd love to have modern Steph reflect on that and be like "Damn that internalized misogyny was kicking my ass sometimes huh."

a reason they are great

What if the entire narrative was stacked against you, what if your writers and editors looked down on you for being a teenage girl and treated you as nothing more than a pawn in their shitty sexist manpain stories. And what if you survived and triumphed and became loved enough to carve your own narrative. What if people have come and gone from the "family" that once excluded you maliciously but you're still here and kicking, a core part of it now. They put you in the Robin uniform as a consolation prize before killing you but you're still here and you're clawing your part in that history with everything you've got. For everyone that'll say Damian is the fourth Robin there's someone who'll reply "Actually that was Stephanie Brown."

a reason I relate to them

Being an isolated teenage girl who feels a deep anger at the injustice of the world and doesn't quite have anywhere to fit in or fully vent that anger? I was literally two bad days away from going out on the street to fight crime when I was a teen. I tend to relate to Cass more because the specific mentality and issues she have resonate strongly, but Steph also has plenty of material for me to dig into.

(what I consider to be) the top tier otp/ot3 for that character

Stephcass. It's gotta be stephcass. I could give a million reasons but I've yelled about this so much on my blog already. They bounce off each other so well, they've got the backstory and angst and complex dynamic while also being funny and cute together. The accidental romantic narrative they created is so damn good it barely needs anything to canonize it at this point.

five things that never happened to that character that I believe should have happened

A proper go at being Robin. An apology from Bruce. A discussion with Tim about what they did wrong and an apology too. A long talk with Cass after she came back from the dead with (you guessed it) an apology from Cass. Getting to talk to preboot Jason about what it means to be a sacrificial lamb to give Batman manpain and hype Tim up as the perfect Robin.

five people that character never fell in love with and why

-Dean. Even if she hadn't gotten pregnant it would have never worked out. He was simply too old and for all Steph hates herself she would have realized it eventually

-Detective Gage, for exactly the same reasons as Dean.

-Jason. He died before she came along and by the time he came back it would never cross either of their minds to be anything but purely platonic. They can bond but neither of them appeal to the other romantically.

-Kyle Mizoguchi. He's sweet and they could be something but unfortunately she's in love with Cass at this point. Like the entirety of Batgirls is just Steph and Cass being in love and not realizing it. Kyle had the wrong timing.

-Dick Grayson. The hypothetical age difference isn't a problem for Steph. But obviously, it's an issue for Dick. If she were ever to fall in love with him in an alternate universe and confess he'd be highly alarmed to find out why she thought things were possible between them. It might actually be nice for Steph to get an understanding ear and a shoulder to cry on, someone to tell her that it's not her fault and those men were wrong, but that's all. For one thing Dick is not a scumbag who creeps on young girls and for another thing that's his little brother's ex. In no universe could this ever be more than a one sided crush.

#dc #dc rambles #stephanie brown #asks #thanks for the ask!

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 2 months

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

July 23, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JUL 24, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris continues her momentum toward the 2024 presidential election since President Joe Biden’s surprise announcement on Sunday that he would not accept the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination.

Today more than 350 national security leaders endorsed Harris for president, noting that if elected president, “she would enter that office with more significant national security experience than the four Presidents prior to President Biden.” As vice president, she “has met with more than 150 world leaders and traveled to 21 countries,” the authors wrote, and they called out her work across the globe from her work strengthening partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region to her historic trip to Africa and her efforts to expand U.S. relationships with nations in the Caribbean and North Central America. In contrast to Harris, the letter said, “Trump is a threat to America’s national security.”

Those signing the letter included former Central Intelligence Agency director Michael Hayden, former director of national intelligence James Clapper, national security advisors Susan Rice and Thomas Donilon, former secretaries of defense Chuck Hagel and Leon Panetta, and former secretaries of state Hillary Clinton and John Kerry.

In a New York Times op-ed today, former secretary of state Clinton praised Biden for his “decision to end his campaign,” which she called “as pure an act of patriotism as I have seen in my lifetime.” She went on to say that Vice President Harris “represents a fresh start for American politics,” offering a vision of an America with its best days ahead of it and, rather than “old grievances,” “new solutions.”

Clinton noted that her own political campaigns had seen her burned in effigy, but said, “It is a trap to believe that progress is impossible” and that Americans cannot overcome sexism and racism. After all, she pointed out, voters elected Black American Barack Obama in 2008, and she herself won the popular vote in 2016. “[A]bortion bans and attacks on democracy are galvanizing women voters like never before,” Clinton wrote, and “[w]ith Ms. Harris at the top of the ticket leading the way, this movement may become an unstoppable wave.”

Today, Harris held her first campaign rally, speaking to supporters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the Republicans held their national convention just last week. The energy from the 3000 people packed into the gym where she walked out to Beyoncé’s song “Freedom” was palpable.

She began by thanking Biden and touting his record, then turned to noting that in her past as a prosecutor, California attorney general, U.S. senator from California, and vice president, she “took on perpetrators of all kinds—predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So,” she said, “hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type.” She went on to remind the audience that Trump ran a for-profit college that scammed students, was found liable for committing sexual abuse, and “was just found guilty of fraud on 34 counts.”

While Trump is relying on “billionaires and big corporations,” she said, “we are running a people-powered campaign” and “will be a people-first presidency.” The Democrats, she said, “believe in a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by but to get ahead; a future where no child has to grow up in poverty; where every worker has the freedom to join a union; where every person has affordable health care, affordable childcare, and paid family leave. We believe in a future where every senior can retire with dignity.”

“[A]ll of this is to say,” she continued, “Building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency. Because…when our middle class is strong, America is strong.”

In contrast, she said, Trump wants to take the country backward. She warned that he and his Project 2025 will “weaken the middle class,” cutting Social Security and Medicare and giving “tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations,” while “working families foot the bill.” “They intend to end the Affordable Care Act,” she said, “and take us back…to a time when insurance companies had the power to deny people with preexisting conditions…. Remember what that was like? Children with asthma, women who survived breast cancer, grandparents with diabetes. America has tried these failed economic policies before, but we are not going back. We’re not going back.”

“[O]urs is a fight for the future,” she said “And it is a fight for freedom…. Generations of Americans before us led the fight for freedom. And now…the baton is in our hands.”

Meanwhile, MAGA Republicans are still scrambling for a plan of attack against Harris. One of their first angles has been the sexism and racism Clinton predicted, calling her “a DEI hire.” House Republican leaders have told fellow lawmakers to dial back the sexist and racist attacks.

MAGA Republican representative Andy Ogles (R-TN) has taken a different angle: he introduced an impeachment resolution against Harris, while others are demanding that the House should investigate Harris and demand the Cabinet remove President Biden under the 25th Amendment. The Republican National Committee has decided to make fun of Harris’s laugh.

But concern in the Trump camp showed today when Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio shared with reporters a “confidential memorandum” trying to get ahead of polls he says will show Harris leading Trump. He said he expects to see a “Harris Honeymoon” that will end quickly.

Trump has continued to post angrily on his social media feed but is otherwise sticking close to home. His lack of visibility highlights that the Republicans are now on the receiving end of the same age and coherence concerns they had used against Biden, and there might be more attention paid to Trump’s lapses now that Biden has stepped aside. CNN’s Kate Sullivan noted today, for example, that “Trump said he’d consider Jamie Dimon for Treasury secretary, but now says he doesn’t know who said that.”

As Tim Alberta noted Sunday in The Atlantic, the Trump campaign tapped J.D. Vance in an attempt to harden the Republican base, only to find now that he cannot bring to the ticket any of the new supporters they suddenly need.

According to Harry Enten of CNN, Vance is the first vice presidential pick since 1980 who has entered the race with a negative favorability rating: in his case, –6 points. Since 2000, the usual average is +19 points. Vance won his Senate seat in 2022 by +6 points in an election Republican governor Mike DeWine won by +25 points. Vance “was the worst performing Republican candidate in 2022 up and down the ballot in the state of Ohio,” Enten said. “The J.D. Vance pick makes no sense from a statistical polling perspective.”

Sarah Longwell of The Bulwark, who specializes in focus groups, noted that swing voters groups “simply do not like” Vance. “Both his flip flopping on Trump and his extreme abortion position are what breaks through,” she wrote.

The 2024 election is not consuming all of the political oxygen, even in this astonishing week. Today, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that eight large companies must turn over information about the data they collect about consumers, product sales, and how the surveillance the companies used affected consumer prices.

“Firms that harvest Americans’ personal data can put people’s privacy at risk. Now firms could be exploiting this vast trove of personal information to charge people higher prices,” FTC chair Lina M. Khan said. “Americans deserve to know whether businesses are using detailed consumer data to deploy surveillance pricing, and the FTC’s inquiry will shed light on this shadowy ecosystem of pricing middlemen.”

The eight companies are: Mastercard, Revionics, Bloomreach, JPMorgan Chase, Task Software, PROS, Accenture, and McKinsey & Co.

In the House, Republicans have been unable to pass the appropriations bills necessary to fund the 2025 U.S. budget, laced as they are with culture-wars poison pills the extremists demand. Today House members debated the appropriations bill for the Interior Department and the Environment which, among other things, bans the use of funds “to promote or advance critical race theory” or to require Covid-19 masks or vaccine mandates.

According to the European climate service Copernicus, last Sunday was the hottest day in recorded history. The MAGA Republicans’ appropriations bill for Interior and the Environment calls for more oil drilling, fewer regulations on pollutants, no new regulations on vehicles, rejecting Biden’s climate change executive orders, and reducing the funding for the Environmental Protection Agency by 20%.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Letters from An American #Heather Cox Richardson #kamala harris #election 2024 #surveillance pricing #the FTC #House GOP in disarray

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princessregoregitated666 · 5 months

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About me 💞🗝

🪞hiii !! i'm kayla anne, but u can call anne or kayla i don't mind !!

🪞i'm really into lucifer valentine, i find his pieces interesting and intriguing !!

🪞i love elvis presley and his music, love lisa marie and priscilla as much !! they all mean a lot to me !! 💞

🪞some of my favourite movies are - priscilla (2023), elvis (2022), pulp fiction (1997), girl interrupted (1999), blue hawaii (1961), king creole (1958), the virgin suicides (1999), buffalo 66 (1998), brokeback mountain (2006), grease (1978), and slaughtered v0mit dolls (2006) !!

🪞my birthday is the 26 of october !! i'm from south africa but i moved to western europe 1 year ago 💞

🪞my idols are - sylvia plath, kate moss, naomi campbell, shalom harlow, lana del rey, marina, lisa marie presley, marilyn monroe, sharon tate, ann margret, twiggy, priscilla beaulieu presley, elvis presley ofc 😭💞, aswell as zendaya and sydney sweeney !!

🪞my favourite shows are - euphoria (2019), brooklyn nine-nine (2013), south park (1997), american horror story (2011), and my little pony (1986 & 2010) !! 💞

🪞musicians i like are - lana del rey, alex g, jack of jill, slipknot, elvis presley, the little dippers, marilyn monroe, marina, melanie martinez, koRn, motley crue, guns n roses, oasis, nirvana, blur, my bloody valentine, metallica, the smiths, megadeth, skeeter davis, dr dre, snoop dogg, dominic fike, the beatles, david bowie, mitski, frank ocean, deftones, lalleshwari (katie jane garside), msi, tyler the creator, lesley gore, richie valens, buddy holly, amy winehouse, chuck berry, little richie, big mama thornton, lisa marie presley, and the excellents !!! 💞

🪞if you like anything that i mentioned lets be friends !! feel free to ask me anything !! 💞

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imzadi-caskett-huddy · 6 months

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It Started With a Kiss (1/?)

This idea came to me while watching “Knockdown.” Initially it was just gonna be a one-shot; however, lying in bed after watching the episode, I was struck with the idea that there should be several parts, at least covering a couple of episodes through the end of season 3. I’m not sure if I will extend it into some of the season 4 episodes or not…it just depends on how the characters speak to me as I’m writing. But there are at least several season 3 episodes that are going to be dealt with.

I’m starting it after that night in “Knockdown” when they had to save Ryan and Esposito. I figure Kate didn’t go to see Lockwood in prison until at least the next day, so this chapter will take place between the time we see her fixing Castle’s hand in the ambulance and when we see her at the prison.

The way I’m planning to deal with future chapters is everything up to the point I tell you the scene starts is going to be just like in the episode. The only parts I’m either rewriting or adding are what you see here. If anything else from an episode needs to change so that it fits my version, I’ll let you know in the beginning.

I’m also still working on Hell Hath No Fury, so I’m going to do my best to rotate updates between that and this one until this one is complete.

I don’t own Castle, unfortunately.

xxxxx

Castle is seated in the back of an ambulance getting his hand wrapped; he'd insisted he didn't need to go to the hospital. Once the medic finished, he climbed out of the vehicle. Castle winced at the tightness of the bandage and started to unwrap it, glancing up when he felt Beckett’s presence.

“Hey there, Chuck Norris. How’s the hand?” she asked, climbing up into the ambulance and taking a seat across from him with a small smile.

“Excruciating.”

She gently took his hand in hers and began rewrapping his hand. Her touch was delicate as she focused on his injury, her fingers caressing his skin softly.

“How’s Ryan and Esposito?” he asked her, trying to focus on anything but the way her soft touch was making him feel. After the kiss they shared earlier in the evening, the last thing he needed was more of her touch. As it was, he would have a very difficult time getting to sleep later, and he was sure the way she felt in his arms, the way she’d tasted when she kissed him back would monopolize his dreams for a few nights at least.

“Mild hypothermia, wounded pride. Guess which one will heal first?” she finished up with his hand and looked up at him with a smile. “Thank you, for having my back in there,” she said with a soft look in her eyes.

He gave her a smile. “Always,” he promised her.

She gently touched his knee to help her balance for a moment so she could hop down from the ambulance. She turned back to offer him her hand to help steady himself as he climbed down as well, keeping his good hand for a few moments longer than necessary once he was on his feet in front of her. “We’re pretty much wrapped up here for the night; I can finish up everything tomorrow,” she started. “I was going to offer to buy you a drink seeing as you saved my ass in there, but it’s pretty late to go to a bar. Can I offer you a drink at my apartment instead?”

“I’d like that,” he answered her with a grin. He’d take anything she’d offer him these days, and since she’d already told him earlier that Josh was in Africa, he was more than happy to keep her company after the case they’d had; at least he’d be able to pretend she wasn’t with the doctor for an hour or so.

“Alright,” she smiled. “Come on, Castle,” she nudged his shoulder lightly with hers, gesturing for him to follow her back to her car.

The ride back to her apartment was pretty much in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. She couldn’t get the kiss they’d shared out of her head. It was supposed to be fake, a ruse to distract the guard so that she could take him out. The problem was it hadn’t felt fake to her at all, from either of them.

She knew Castle well enough by now and trusted him enough to know he genuinely hadn’t meant anything by kissing her at first; he had just been improvising when his initial plan hadn’t worked. But the way it felt when his lips covered hers, even as innocent as it had been initially, set her entire body on fire in a way she’d never felt before…it certainly never felt like that when she kissed Josh. Then she thought of the way he’d jumped on Lockwood and literally beat him senseless with his bare hands to save her, and she suddenly wasn’t sure that asking him back to her apartment for a drink at this time of night had been her best idea.

He’d told his mother a couple of days ago when this case had started that it wasn’t about the books anymore. His need to be her partner, to continue to risk his life to be by her side had nothing to do with research and everything to do with her. His mother had been right in telling him it was time he was honest with himself about why he was doing it. He only wished he could be honest with Beckett about his motive as well.

He’d come close to telling her earlier in her apartment when she asked him why he kept coming back, but he’d chickened out; this case, anything related to her mother’s case, made her

vulnerable. He didn’t want to be the jackass that added to her problems by being selfish; besides, she had a boyfriend, so he highly doubted she would return his sentiments.

But now instead of going home alone, she had asked him to join her for a drink at her apartment where they would be alone. That had to mean she felt something, right? And she had kissed him back earlier; sure, it was under the ruse of a fake kiss. But fake kisses didn’t require her tongue in his mouth, didn’t require her moaning or her hands in his hair or her body pressed against his quite so tightly.

“Come on, Castle,” she said softly, once she parked her car on the street near the front of her building, which she was allowed to do because of her police plates.

Her voice shook him out of his thoughts, and he got out and followed her inside. The elevator ride remained quiet, as did the walk down the hallway to her apartment.

“Make yourself comfortable,” she told him, closing and locking the door behind them. She moved to her kitchen and grabbed a couple of glasses as well as a bottle of whiskey. She carried it over to the living room where he had made himself comfortable on her sofa and sat them down on the coffee table in front of it. Taking a seat, she poured a half a glass for each of them and clinked her glass against his. “To the best partner a girl could ask for,” she smiled, downing about half the liquid in her glass.

Her words made him grin and his eyes light up as he downed about half the liquid in his own glass as well. “Really?”

She nodded. “Except he doesn’t really help with paperwork,” she teased, setting her glass on the table and standing. “I’m going to change, I’ll be right back,” she told him, disappearing into her room.

He grinned a little more, pretty satisfied with himself at the moment, and finished the liquid in his glass before pouring himself a refill from the bottle. He leaned back into the cushions and relaxed, enjoying the drink in his hands as he waited for her to return.

It didn’t take long for Beckett to change her clothes. She’d remained in her jeans, only opting to change out of her work shirt into a more casual and comfortable t-shirt, and she’d removed her heels and placed her gun and badge in her nightstand. She offered him a smile as she rejoined him on the couch, taking her glass and curling her legs up comfortably as she turned her attention to him.

Almost an hour and a half later, he had her laughing hard as he told her a story about his mother. He was a couple of drinks ahead of her; he hadn’t drunk enough to not know what he was doing or saying, but he had definitely drunk enough to be looser and braver with his words and

feelings. He stopped laughing and got quiet for a moment, getting serious. “You know, you asked me why I keep coming back. I told you it’s because I’m your plucky sidekick…but that’s not entirely true,” he started softly.

She stopped laughing when she realized he was getting serious. His words had her finishing what was left of the alcohol in her glass and placing it on the table. She hadn’t had as much to drink as he had, and she’d always been great at holding her liquor. She was relaxed and loose, but she wasn’t sure if she’d had enough whiskey to handle where he was taking their conversation; then again, maybe it was better that she hadn’t had any more than she'd had at this point. She wasn’t sure yet. “Castle…” she tried to stop him.

“A wise woman told me that I should be honest with myself about why I’m doing this," he started, echoing the words of his mother from a few days ago. "She pointed out to me that I wrote 22 novels before I met you, and didn’t have to spend every day in a police station. It’s not about the research anymore. It hasn’t been about the books for a long time. Even Vulcan Simmons saw it, Kate.”

“Rick…” she tried to get his attention, to stop him before they went down this road. She hadn’t had a chance to process everything from the last few days, much less the kiss they’d shared earlier, the way he’d so bravely saved her life, or her own feelings about him and what it all meant. She certainly was not in a position to deal with everything tonight after 3 glasses of whiskey, despite the fact that she wasn’t drunk.

He placed his empty glass on the table as well and shifted closer to her. “So if I’m being honest with myself about why, I want to give you an honest answer too,” he said softly, drawing a deep breath. “It’s because I’m in love with you, Kate,” he continued in the same soft voice. “I keep coming back, I keep showing up to murder scenes in the middle of the night and hanging around because I love you.”

His words made her freeze; not only had he said them once…oh no…Castle was an overachiever and said them twice. She knew he’d had a couple more drinks than her, but she also knew that he wasn’t drunk enough to not know what was coming out of his mouth. This wasn’t a drunk confession that he wouldn’t remember tomorrow.

She had no idea how to respond to them. She cared for him; she knew she felt more than friendship for him, but she had a boyfriend. Even without dating Josh to complicate things, he’d ended things with Gina only a couple of weeks prior, and now he was here professing his feelings for her? It was making her head spin.

Why couldn’t he have had this epiphany back in May when she was trying to tell him she liked him? Why couldn’t he have just not asked Gina to go to the Hamptons immediately after she’d turned him down? Why hadn't he given her a little time to reconsider, or even gone alone? Now

there were 8 months of…complicated and significant others…between them.

Before she even knew what was happening, his lips were on hers, soft and tentative. After only a couple of seconds, she placed a hand on his chest, pushing him back slightly. “Castle…I can’t do this tonight…” she murmured.

He sighed and hung his head. “I’m sorry…” he immediately began to apologize.

Her hand on his arm stopped him. “You don’t have to apologize,” she told him softly, standing and pulling him to his feet. “But it is late. And you’ve had enough to drink.” She decided playing it off as the alcohol would keep things from getting weird between them; at least that's what she hoped.

“I’m not drunk, Beckett,” he told her, wondering if that’s why she had stopped him.

“Maybe not. But you’ve had enough whiskey to kiss me, which I know you wouldn’t have done without the alcohol, so it’s time for you to go home.” She began to gently guide him towards her front door, grabbing his jacket along the way.

“I kissed you earlier without alcohol,” he tried to reason.

She shook her head. “It was fake, Castle...a distraction to get past the guard.”

“Didn’t feel completely fake to me,” he pointed out.

She sighed softly, handing him his coat at the door. “Castle, it's late.” She opened her door for him and gave him a small smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, ok?”

He sighed deeply. Her rejection had been gentle, but it still stung. “Goodnight, Kate,” he said softly, leaving her apartment.

She closed the door behind him, locking it, before leaning back against it and closing her eyes. What the hell had just happened between them? She had known he was attracted to her, but his confession had completely taken her by surprise. And while she knew she definitely felt something for him other than physical attraction, she had a boyfriend...a safe boyfriend...whom she might be able to love if she just stayed with him. She had no idea if she was ready to risk her heart with him; he’d already broken it once in May. She’d already ended one relationship to be with him and gotten burned. She wasn’t so sure she was ready to do that again.

Castle rested his head against the wall of the elevator as he rode down, telling himself he’d been an idiot for confessing his feelings like that. “What did you think was going to happen? She has a boyfriend, you idiot...she isn't the type of woman to cheat on her boyfriend for you,” he

murmured to himself. Maybe she was right, and he had had too much to drink; he was sure he wouldn’t have thought to confess his love for her…or kiss her…without the liquid courage he’d had.

When the cold January air hit his face as he walked outside, he suddenly realized what word she'd used. Tonight. She’d told him she couldn’t do this tonight. That left him with hope that maybe she wanted to do this one day. She didn’t say never, after all. She had been nice about letting him down. She hadn’t shot him…or even smacked him…when he’d kissed her. She had simply said she couldn’t do this tonight.

He decided then…he would wait, he would fight for her. Maybe not in a completely obvious way, and definitely not in a physical way because he was sure she wouldn’t like that. But he would be there; he’d keep showing up for her. That was already one thing he had over Josh…he wasn’t halfway around the world when she needed someone. He was actually there. And he would be there for her whenever she let him be. She may have been dating another man, but she didn’t have a ring on her finger yet; she didn’t seem as committed to Josh as he’d thought...she still told him things she didn't confide in her boyfriend, like the murder board she kept hidden in her apartment; he still had hope. And in the meantime, he wouldn't be stupid enough to start dating other women; he would wait for her.

xxxxx

Alright, that’s the first chapter. Hopefully you guys like this one. It will get to Castle and Beckett happiness, trust me. You’re just gonna have to go on the journey with me.

As always, I love hearing feedback if you feel so inclined! Thanks for reading!

#castle #caskett #kate beckett #richard castle #castle fanfiction

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bikinikillarchives · 1 year

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does everyone know about kathleen hanna's t-shirt company, Tees 4 Togo, where they work beside Peace Sisters to support young girls' education in Togo, West Africa? 100% of the profits go to Peace Sisters, a non-profit started by Tina Kampor who's mission is to provide equal education for girls in her hometown, Dapaong, Togo. every $40 t-shirt sends a girl to school for one year.

working besides local artists, these tshirts include art of: Joan Jett, Ad-Rock, Carrie Brownstein, Brontez Purnell, W. Kamau Bell, John Waters, Kathleen Hanna, Fugazi, Chuck D, Billie Joe Armstrong, Kim Gordon, Grimes, JD Samson, Justin Vivian Bond, Joey Soloway, Patton Oswalt, Hari Kondabolu, and Kristen Schaal. sizes ranging from a unisex small to unisex xxxx-large. not intrested in a t-shirt? you can still donate $40 though Tees4Togo, or donate directly through Peace Sisters!

#kathleen hanna #tees 4 togo #peace sisters

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canonmisogynyvictimstournament · 1 year

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PRELIMINARY ROUND - DC COMICS

PROPAGANDA

Stephanie Brown (CW: Pregnancy)

1.) Steph was created by noted conservative Chuck Dixon, so, off to a good start. She's was a superhero called the Spoiler and was Tim Drake's (the third Robin, yes there's multiple Robins) love interest. From the start, she's consistently framed as a wannabe vigilante who doesn't know what she's doing, who needs to be protected against herself. Pretty much everyone in her vicinity but ESPECIALLY the men thinks she's incompetent, and completely dismissing her vigilantism, constantly telling her to stop, condescending to her non-stop, and we're clearly supposed to agree with them. Her relationship with Tim was fraught with misogynistic tropes, from her relentlessly pursuing him like it's her job to him being one of her #1 condescenders. She gets a teen pregnancy arc by, again, noted conservative Chuck Dixon, where she's used as a mouthpiece for his pro-life stance. Eventually, she gets made Robin for like six weeks as a consolation prize. A consolation prize for what? Being violently killed off in a crossover event, where Steph, after being fired from Robin in an attempt to prove herself, kickstarts one of Batman's plans without understanding the consequences, resulting in an all-out, violent gang war where Steph gets tortured to near-death, and then left to die on purpose by her doctor (a character massacre in its own right btw). She does eventually get retconned as surviving the event and hiding out in Africa (don't ask, it does not make more sense in context), and eventually, things start looking up for her when she's made Batgirl, after the previous Batgirl (yes, there's more than one Batgirl) got forced out of the mantle for entirely DIFFERENT misogynistic nonsense reasons. Her Batgirl run has its issues but is mostly pretty good and deals with the lack of support she received from everyone around her. THEN the universe got rebooted entirely (just roll with it) and bc there were a lot of ppl up high (specifically a guy called Dan Didio, who we all hate) who REALLY hated the idea of Batgirls that weren't Barbara Gordon, Steph not only got forced out of the mantle in favor of a Barbara Gordon (who got magically cured of her full below-the-waist paralysis in one of the worst acts of ableism DC has ever seen and that's saying a LOT), but for years, there was a complete, editorial-enforced ban on even mentioning her or the other previous Batgirl, Cassandra Cain. This eventually got lifted and she was brought back with a completely mangled backstory. Dan Didio has since left the company and she's in a better place now, but her character never recovered from All That imo. DC has SO MUCH sexism it's laughable, and even writing this down I needed to skip or skim over huge examples of misogyny like Barbara's treatment in The Killing Joke and Cass's villain arc, but Steph is one of those characters who's just barely gotten any kind of break ever since she was created. At least Barbara got a cool hero identity which specifically challenged and deconstructed her fridging in The Killing Joke (until she was forced into Batgirl again but that wasn't misogyny towards her it was ableism) and Cass had a long-running, extremely popular Batgirl solo prior to being character massacred. Poor Steph just gets consolation prize after consolation prize bc nobody can be normal about her for some reason.

2.) what if you were introduced to be Robin’s love interest had the most batshit teen pregnancy storyline rooted in the writers views of women and theeeeen after all that when ur boyfriend quit being robin batman took you in as the next batman only to try and make your now-ex jealous to get him to come be robin again and you never got a real shot at it? what if then he fired you, the first time a robin has ACTUALLY gotten legitimately fired without getting to come back and then died after being tortured for his secret identity? and what if this all happened due to the editors mandating you should die at the end of their massive event and the main batman writer at the time thinking you should get to have “a bit of happiness before he crushed you like a bug” (paraphrasing here but. “crushed like a bug” is a pull). what if the whole reason you were fired is because they didnt want to saddle bruce with more guilt in having another dead robin despite the hand he had in your death. and then what if the year after you died jason todd came back from the dead. but this only brings more attention to the fact that he got a memorial as robin and you didnt in canon writing and also from the editors and writers themselves. and then what if years later it was retconned that you faked your death to recover from your GRIEVOUS INJURIES so then writers wrote basically everyone being “betrayed” by you “faking” your death. and it cheapens everything about your death which was already a fucking misogyny hat trick. and all the emotional depth of your death is gone and you come back and only get to be batgirl because once again editorial is having problems and cant decide which of the previous batgirls should come back for the new run so you get thrown in as the noncontroversial pick. and what if after this run ends youre doomed to be written as quirky teen girl supporting cast member for like years up to literally present day in canon AND fanon and are almost always reduced to a girlfriend, a supportive friend for your exs endeavors in dating men, or the super put together girl to “get [x man]’s head out of his ass” for various men you have to play second string too. and what if you finally get a series with other women and even then are a Quirky Teenage Girl before anything else despite literally going to college over ten real life years ago and its taboo for literally anyone to talk about your death-not-death or your teen pregnancy or any of your various problems outside superheroics, which include but are not limited to: your mother being a recovering addict and you two trying to mend your family, your criminal father, your issues regarding your relationship to family as an ideal, and mothers and fathers, in differing ways because of these things, the fact that you are an underdog amongst underdogs in the batfamily to the point where your relationships with all of them should be much more fraught than in canon, considering the shit theyve said to you, and dont get to have any real relationships to the superhero community outside of them, the fact that youre one of the few in the batfam to never be on a team. And of course, the fact that not only do the people in canon hate you but also a decent part of the writers, editors, and fans do too. and if they dont hate you you still are almost always portrayed as a caricature of yourself. even if you just look at how steph was treated next to jason irt their deaths, steph should EASILY advance in this damn competition.

3.) Literally tortured to death in a sexualized manner for shock value:

"There was some controversy in the fan community about both the character's death by torture and the fact that even though she served as Robin for a time, she received no monument or memorial in the Batcave during the years of her apparent death unlike the second Robin Jason Todd.[5]

Regarding the former issue, at the 2011 Auckland Writers and Readers Festival, the former Batgirl writer Dylan Horrocks said that the writers were told from the start that Spoiler would die in this crossover and she was made Robin "purely as a trick to play on the readers, that we would fool them into thinking that the big event [War Games] was that Stephanie Brown would become Robin". The decision was unpopular with both him and Nightwing writer Devin Grayson, and he felt "pleased and vindicated" over the eventual controversy.[6]

Stephanie Brown on the cover of Detective Comics #809 (2005). Art by Jock.

During a Q&A at a convention in March 2007, DC executive editor Dan DiDio responded to questions about the absence of a Stephanie tribute from the Batcave, saying that the official position of DC Comics is that "She was never really a Robin", despite on-panel claims to the contrary.[7] When Alfred Pennyworth asks if Batman's acceptance of Stephanie as Robin was conceived by him as only a temporary measure from the outset and constituted part of an effort to lure Tim back to the cape, Batman evades the question. However, when a dying Stephanie asks, "Was I ever really Robin?", Batman answers, "Of course you were."[8] However, her memorial has been present in different publications since the controversy arose.[9]"

Katma Tui

1.) Katma Tui had her head cut off by Carol Ferris (possessed by the Star Sapphire gem) simply to provoke Hal! She got killed to make mad Hal Jordan. She's been ignored and barely referenced for 30 something years, and whenever she is referenced, its only as John Stewart's dead wife, not as a completely capable gl. She's the worst treated Green Lantern character which is saying something given that gl comics are where the phrase "fridging" comes from. Just god there's so much misogyny in her story.

2.) Prior to her death Hal Jordan talked her out of her impending engagement even though he was planning on getting engaged to his girlfriend Carol Ferris.

She is kinda fridged cause her death focuses on the men that it affected, including her husband John Stewart. Especially Hal because it changed his dynamic and relationship with Carol.

She was later resurrected just to be killed again, by Hal this time. Was turned into a black lantern and then killed for the last time.

#polls #preliminary round #cw pregnancy

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mrs-johansson · 8 months

Text

Chapter 6 - Dark Phoenix II - Emergence of conflagration

Part 1:

“It’s our biggest sighting of Klaue in six months. Our destination is Casablanca, Morocco. We all know he operates mainly in Africa. Our sensors have found Vibranium in the biggest amount yet. Our mission is to retrieve the Vibranium. Klaue has become one of our highest priority targets, if anyone messes up this mission I will fire them myself, understood?” Looked around the room of agents. There were about 10 agents plus Sam and Natasha. “We leave 0500 sharp. Vibranium is the strongest metal on Earth, so prepare yourself.” Everyone stood up and took their files before leaving the conference room. “I’d hate you to be my boss,” Sam walked up to me. “I am your boss,” I chuckled dryly knowing he still doesn’t think I’m his boss. “Okay, fine. Is there anything else for the mission? I’d like to be prepared,” he said and I looked up from the leftover papers. “You know your way around raids, we can use your experience with this many recruits. You have to take this seriously, Sam. I count on you in this one,” I said and he dropped his smile and put on a serious face instead. “Absolutely, thank you for trusting me with this.” I gave him a small smile and patted his shoulder before he left.

“Any notes for me?” Natasha leaned against the table, crossing her arms in front of her chest, a slight smirk on her lips. I looked her up and down before going back to the papers. “Notes… Romanoff, I don’t know if I could give you any useful advice. Just don’t vandalize my mission, I heard that’s kind of your thing,” I said without looking at her otherwise I would have laughed straight away. “Yeah, that’d be fun though. Anyway, I was thinking you and Katarina could come over later. I’ve got something for her,” she suggested and I chucked. “Natalia, you have to stop buying her new stuff every week,” I grabbed the papers and made my way to my office, Natasha following close behind. “But I love seeing her face when she's surprised. Y/n, she stopped abnormally fast, we need to spoil her while we can,” her arm gently snuck around my waist pulling me closer so she could leave a kiss on the side of my head. A smile came along my face feeling so much happiness and calmness in our relationship.

The last 6 months were a growing experience. Natasha and I started going to couples counseling. It was my idea and Nat was pretty skeptical about it at first, she needed some convincing but eventually she agreed to do it. After six months of doing it, she actually became fond of it. It keeps us in line I think.

Natasha and I haven’t moved in together yet which I think was a healthy balance to our relationship. We made sure to build it up securely and honestly, trying to be as independent as possible while also being in a loving relationship.

Of course, we spent all of our free time just us two and Katarina. We always try to spend some quality time together, either going to the zoo or some museum that Katarina could enjoy too.

So that’s been great, I love our relationship and I feel like we will be good.

Katarina had stopped growing fast and since the surgery, her hearing and speaking abilities became better and better. She’s gonna turn 4 in just a month and she’s the most amazing little human. Nowadays, she talks your ear off if you’re not careful enough. It became a tradition that every time Natasha was over at our place, Rina read Nat a chapter of Harry Potter.

Her abilities still don't fail to amuse us. She’s reading like she’s in high school and her vocabulary is insanely high. My dad has offered that he could teach her physics and math but I denied it. She’s 4. I want her to have a childhood. Watch her play the snow carelessly, scrape her knee on the playground, cry because she can’t stay up too late, or smudge her face into her birthday cake. I don’t want her to grow too fast unnecessarily. She deserves every little moment there’s to enjoy.

“What did you get her?” I asked Natasha while we entered my office. She took a seat in my chair very quickly. “A set of the Harry Potter movies. Special edition,” my mouth fell open, and looked right at her. “I wanted to get that for Christmas. Oh my god, you have to stop at least until her birthday. You’re gonna steal all my gift ideas,” I said. I packed away all the files and got my bag. “Fine. Ready to go?” She turned with the chair but did not care to stand up. “Just one more thing,” she stood up and closed the door before turning on the shades in the glass windows. “What are you doing?” I asked and she just walked back to me and took the bag out of my hand, dropping it to the ground, making me gasp. “That’s a really nice bag, why would-“ She cut me off with a kiss. Very unexpected at the moment but not complaining.

Her hands were quick to get a grip on my waist, moving to the edge of the table. I pulled myself back for a second, taking heavy breaths. “We need to pick up, Katarina,” I panted. “We have an hour, calm down,” Natasha kissed down my neck, hands roaming my body. “Thank god, I couldn’t have left this room,” I put my hands on her face and pulled her back into a kiss.

***

“I have to make this room soundproof,” I mumbled to Nat as she closed the door behind us. “Maybe next time keep it down a notch,” she bumped her shoulder to mine with a smirk on her face. “Maybe next time-“ “I hate that my office is next to yours,” Maria walked past us.

After I basically ran to the car and Natasha took her sweet time we finally made our way to Katarina’s school and picked her up. I ordered the groceries on the way and once we got to Natasha’s place it just arrived.

Rina ran inside the apartment as Nat chased her while I took the groceries from the delivery guy. “Wow, I’ve never delivered anything to an Avenger, you guys are really cool. Thanks for keeping us safe,” said the man, and I appreciated how nice he said it. “Our pleasure,” I smiled at him. “Is it possible for me to take a picture with you?” He asked a little hesitantly. “Of course, no problem,” I stood next to him and we took a picture before he said thank you and left.

“Was there a problem with the order?” Asked Natasha as I entered the kitchen. “No, he just wanted to take a picture with me. He was really nice,” I said.

Unpacked all the stuff we ordered and after a little while I cooked something real quick, not in the mood to make anything big. We sat down and ate then Nat spoke up.

“I’ve got something for you,” she said, pinching Katarina’s side. The little girl’s eyes widened and a big smile appeared on her face. “Really?” She asked. “Yup, stay here,” Nat stood up and went off to her room and a couple of seconds later walked out with a bag in her hand and a cheeky smile on. “What is it?” Asked my daughter curiously. Natasha handed her the bag and Katarina was quick to rip open the box and when she saw it she gasped loudly.

“Oh my god, yes!” She said excitedly and observed the package of Harry Potter movies like it’s a treasure. “Thank you,” Rina jumped out of her seat and was quick to shower Natasha with hugs and kisses. “You’re welcome, baby,” she kissed her head while hugging her close. “I love you, Natty,” Katarina mumbled against Nat’s shoulder and the smile that pulled on the redhead’s face was remarkable. “I love you too, Bean.”

The rest of the day went by really fast. Clint was nice enough to take Katarina to school so I could go to the mission in time so at 4 am sharp I was already at the HQ, preparing for our departure. Got my guns and knives ready and met with Nat and Sam at the deck ten minutes before 5.

“Be aware of the trainees. I don’t want any of them to mess this up or get killed on my watch, but stick to your mission too. Be safe and don’t do anything stupid,” I said to the two of them. “She’s talking to you,” Sam glanced at Natasha who scoffed at this. “She’s definitely talking to you,” she said. “I’m talking to both of you.”

At 5 we took off with the team, flying straight to Morocco. Our estimated arrival was 6 which was successful thank god because I didn’t want them to slip away this time.

“Sam, I’ve got you new glasses, you have to wear these,” I handed him a box and he took it with a smile. “Wow, a present for me,” he opened it but the smile dropped from his face. “They look the same,” he said. “Yeah, but they have a Vibranium sensor in them. It detects metal, which makes our job a little easier.”

“Okay everyone, it’s showtime. Team R leaves first then Team W and then Team S. Comms are on at all times, you see something you share, yeah? Don’t die,” I said then we were ready to go.

Nat left first with her team then Sam and lastly me. I was very protective of this mission because I’ve been after Klaue for the last six months and he always seemed to be two steps ahead of me.

I neared the main entrance with four agents behind me, Nat and Sam’s teams already making their way inside.

It was a bigger building than these compounds usually look. Security was way more advanced and a lot more guarded. “We can get through, but there are way more guards than we expected, Y/n,” heard Natasha over the comms. “Yeah, I got that. But I’m not leaving until I have Klaue.” “You’re the boss.”

#gxg #black widow x female reader #black widow x reader #black widow x you #marvel #natasha romanoff #black widow #black widow x y/n #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff x you #black widow x stark!reader #natasha romanoff x stark!reader #natasha romanoff x female reader #natasha romanoff x female #natasha romanoff imagines #y/n stark #stark!reader #sam wilson

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batsplat · 24 days

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which motogp tracks would you love to see back on the calendar? and which ones would you get rid of?

the main one I wanted back was brno, and they've done that!! that one was a no-brainer

I get the sense argentina won't be coming back any time soon, which is a real shame. it's one of those tracks with a lot of character, feels quite different from everything else on the calendar, often quite slippery and quirky and lent itself to some decent racing. I'll miss it. another obvious pick is welkom, even if they'd have to update the track to make it more suitable to modern motogp. a big part of the appeal here is admittedly the geographical factor and how hosting a race in africa again should be a priority, but I have also enjoyed the welkom races I've watched! I'm going to set aside racing in the lower categories in this post because I kinda feel like they can have decent racing pretty much anywhere. but even for the few premier class races they held there, where I mainly remember 2002, 2003 and 2004... from those 2004 stands out for obvious reasons - which, hey, at least we know for a fact that the circuit can produce classic duels. which is not true of all the circuits that will be mentioned on this list

there's always the laguna question, which does feel particularly academic since motogp definitely isn't returning there for a whole host of reasons. am I sad about that? hm, idk, it was a terrifying track even with the older bikes. with the new bikes, you feel like it would have to be changed a lot to be remotely feasible. it was never a track particularly suited to motogp, you have to say. while it did constitute a thrilling riding challenge, it also wasn't particularly conducive to exciting racing. and yes, I'm aware that they did have one of the races of all time there, but that was very much the exception that proved the rule. (the 2011 casey on jorge blind corner overtake slapped too, yup.) I'm kinda fine with it staying gone - I reckon I'd always feel uneasy watching it and we've probably got as much out of the circuit as a sport as we were going to get. there's a few other ones that get mentioned in these conversations... estoril, for instance, but I'm also not too fussed about that one being gone idk. donington also gets brought up a fair bit and I am kinda fond of that one, but it also wasn't exactly churning out classic races either. don't really feel like the sport has that many lost gems it desperately needs to return to - and any track that hasn't been on the calendar for a while would have to be updated a lot to be feasible now anyway. as long as they don't return to indianapolis, it's all good

moving on to the ones I'd prefer to scrap. first off, portimao - word on the street is that they're not returning next year, which I'm not too upset about. my main problems with this one are the well-documented safety concerns. last year was of course particularly horrific and I'm glad they finally made some changes this year, but it's still a bit of a scary track. it's also one of those that feels like a great riding challenge more than a great race track. I do really enjoy watching riders navigate the roller coaster, it's a good track to watch practise sessions and qualifying and all that... which is lovely, but has the racing really been all that spectacular? I don't know, one that I'm very much in two minds about - but given it just feels like a bit of an endless safety nightmare, it's hard to be too upset to see it go

I kinda feel similarly about some aspects of cota. it's a cool track to watch someone chuck a bike around, clearly a very interesting technical riding challenge, but it doesn't lend itself to particularly good racing. now, I admit that this stance has aged poorly this year, given we randomly had an absolute banger race there that with benefit of hindsight will probably end up being one of the top three races of the season. who knows what that was about! kinda the first good premier class race we've had there! I'd like to see more of the same in years to come to be convinced, but in general I'm not militantly opposed to the track's existence. I'm also not a big fan of motegi, mainly because it's got quite a dull layout - a bunch of straights and copy-and-pasted corners. you compare it to something like sepang, which is such a cool track because it's got so many different fun things going on... with motegi, they kinda had one idea and it wasn't a particularly good one and it's a bit whatever. just not a big fan of stop-and-go centric tracks icl. I don't massively mind it and we've had some decent races there in the past (albeit often aided by the weather), but I also really wouldn't miss it

perhaps my most controversial pick is austria. look, I know we had three back-to-back classics there. it's clearly a track that has produced some great races in the past... though, let's be honest, that really was just a specific era of racing where a good way to produce a classic contest was 'let marc loose on dovi at a circuit that heavily favoured ducati'. there were always some extremely obvious safety concerns with its layout, which very very clearly was not designed with motorcycles in mind - and we came within literal centimetres of tragedy in 2020. I know motorcycle racing is a dangerous sport, I know we still go to tracks where riders have died... but there's a difference between threats that are close to impossible to avoid in the sport and threats that are clearly accentuated by the circuit layout. they did finally make some changes in 2022 by adding the chicane... but in doing so, they've made the racing a lot worse, and the last three editions have been absolute snoozefests. (both 2020 editions were mostly exciting for the wrong reasons and 2021 was exciting literally only because of the weather.) and it's still a circuit where it's way too easy for the bikes to end up back on track!! so now the track has lost quite a bit of its character and it's still dangerous and the on-track action there is poor even by the standards of the current era... also, and this really is just a personal preference - this one's got a lot of very stop-and-go hard braking corners too, which I'm not like... inherently opposed to obviously, but when given the choice I do prefer more fast and flow-y bits and ideally a mix between different types of corners. certainly more a mix than THIS track, it just all feels so same-y. idk, I'm not a fan. it's a nice, simple little car track, not a bike track. we can always lovingly remember the 2017-19 editions and go somewhere else, because that's the best we'll ever see from that circuit

actually y'know what, aleix and luca said it for me:

my main enemy, however, is valencia. first of all, *casey stoner voice* FOUR races in one measly european country is kinda pushing it. obviously, you're not getting rid of jerez. while I do agree that the tyre munching qualities of the catalunya track paired with the current bikes isn't making for good racing... well, that track has enough of a history of great racing I'm hoping we can return to its former glory. aragon this year was admittedly a bit valencia-like for my liking... still, in years where the grip levels aren't quite so fucked and it's not quite this dirty, we have seen some pretty decent racing there. it's generally not a bad overtaking circuit actually - as both 2015 and 2021 showed, the tricky thing used to be making the overtakes actually stick. anyhow, valencia is clearly the worst of these four, but I'd want it abolished wherever it was in the world. it has always been shit. it's narrow, slippery and dirty. when it's dry, it can produce some of the most tedious racing known to man. it's kinda like aragon this year except it's like that every year and the track is also tighter... you can't dare to stray off line because it's all so dirty, so any overtaking tends to happen because someone's made a mistake. the definition of processional. riveting

which would all be bad enough, but then it also has the audacity to be the last race of the season. sure, we've sometimes had interesting races in valencia; title deciders are so nervy that even watching paint dry can be interesting if you're worried the paint's going to fuck it. these are not, however, classic races... these title deciders could be so much more interesting if they were held literally anywhere else. why is it that we've decided to hold potentially our most dramatic race of the season at a track where it is virtually guaranteed you won't get a duel? obviously, race long duels aren't really a thing currently in motogp at any track - but even in eras with way better racing, most valencia races are pretty unwatchable. the best valencia races in the premier class were 1) 2011, where a battle for bragging rights between dovi and dani is low key as good a duel as I've ever seen there, while casey ended up in an uncharacteristically dramatic final lap battle for the victory (albeit one that only happened because of the changing weather conditions), and 2) 2013, where jorge was the most aggressive he'd been for quite a few years while attempting to push marc back into the pack and managing the dani situation (even there the battle doesn't last all that long until jorge gives up and fuck off... of course jorge also wouldn't have ridden that way if it hadn't been the title decider). that's it. throw the rest away. a quarter century's worth of races, mind you - and even those two races I would label 'pretty decent' rather than 'actual classics'. we will never have a classic race that also happens to be a season finale because we insist on always going to that godawful track. literally bomb the site if that's what's needed. appalling circuit, appalling slot in the calendar. it will not survive the revolution

#brr brr #//#batsplat responds #current tag

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wyattlife · 8 months

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I will absolutely disrespect you by cooking you with a dishwasher and then chucking your discombobulated chicken ass into an air fryer, cover your disgusting chicken in crude oil, light my house on fire just to cook you and then dump Africa’s entire supply of spices just to make you taste good and feed you to the big annoying black and gold snake called @rudeicicle just so he can delete you with his big well

- @notakoollad & @tweakxkwazii

Yeah there's no way Mad Ladz would say this they don't really swear lmao

#ask

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shadows-2ndshadow · 1 month

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Maria Robotnik & Chris Throndyke AU

Maria and Gerald were found frozen in capsule and are now alive and well. They both “work”/are under investigation by GUN but are able to live their lives well enough.

Gerald being a historically great scientist has a big fan in Chuck Thorndyke (Chris’ grandfather) and he insist on letting the Robotnik’s stay in one of their many houses. Shadow is less than pleased but he knows at least they will be fine. Shadow is pretty much joined at the hip with Maria at this point, being her major bodyguard/protector/etc etc.

Now the first time Maria visits Chris’ house for their grandparents to discuss, she excuses herself to use the bathroom. When she is coming out of the bathroom she becomes mesmerized with the window in the hall looking out to the big backyard, fountain, garden, pretty much everything she had dreamed Earth would be.

“You know Sonic almost drowned in that pool.” She heard a voice say.

She gasped and turned to him. “You must be Maria. I’m Chris Throndyke, I’m the professor’s grandson,” he explains as he places out his hand for a handshake.

Handshake. Right, Maria thought. People touch hands. It’s okay, I’m healthy now. I can-

“I’m sorry. Do you-“

“Maria, there you are.” Shadow says at the end of the hall.

Both human teens turn to the ultimate lifeform walking into the hall. “I was worried something had happened,” Shadow explains.

“I’m fine,” she responds, “I just bumped into …Chris, was it?”

“Yes, it’s Chris.” He smilies. A soft warm smile.

“I was about to tell him, Shadow, that he has a wonderful backyard,” Maria explained, “They even have Goji berries! Can you believe it!”

Shadow calmed down as he now held Maria’s hand. He had been doing that more than usual now. And while she is thankful that it calms down her nerves as it did when she was younger, it’s still feels a lot different. Shadow’s been awake for a little more than a year and still remembers very little of what she does.

“Yes, my mother absolutely loves them so my dad had a few trees shipped from West Africa.” He explained.

“Is that environmentally conscious?” She asked

“What do you mean?”

“The plants are in different regions for a reason. Could they harm the ecosystem of this region? Wasn’t this area of the continent supposed to be a desert? Wouldn’t-“

Maria stopped mid rant. Darn Robotnik genes and their need to be argumentative for something that seemed totally fine to everyone. Now he’s just going to go away and think she’s the wierd girl who cares too much about berries.

“Uh, well I’m not sure. “ Chris responded, “I never thought about that, I’ll talk to our horticulturist about it. Thanks for the advice!”

“There you guys are!” Sonic exclaimed with Tails coming by behind him, “I just wanted to warn you that they are giving you the beach house and between you and me, you guys got the short end of the-“

“A BEACH HOUSE!” Maria exclaimed, “Like the ocean! Shadow, I’ll finally get to see the ocean isn’t that exciting!”

Before Chris could say anything, the ark siblings were gone and Sonic couldn’t quite put why Chris had a small smile as he looked down to the ground. “Hey Tails,” Chris asked, “What do you know about Goji berry ecosystems?”

#sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #maria robotnik #chris thorndyke #Sonic x

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comicbookhyperfixationtime · 9 months

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Uncanny X-men #196- What Was That?!!

CW: racial slurs

Last Issue Recap: The Power Pack made a cameo and Wolverine did not disembowel a child. Callisto in the Morlocks did show up and they are as skrungly and terrible as ever. And then there was Secret Wars 2 which I have mentally blocked out of my brain because it's too pointless and annoying to take up important Nightcrawler Obsessing Space.

Anyway, HOLY HELL, how did this cover make it to print?! Its literally a woman in a gimp suit! Have I talked about Rachel's Mutant Hunter gimpsuit before? I feel like I have, but I would once again like to say, what the actual fuck.

It's Chris Claremont so I expect to be using this a lot in the near future. Also, in this cover there are spikes around her crotch that form a thong/triangle shape (super umcomfy 😬) which (spoilers) are not there when she wears the suit in-issue. Which just makes this worse.

Gimpsuit aside I don't like this cover. The composition is meh, and its the same sort of misdirection we saw in the last issue. Is Rachel going to beat the shit out of the X-men and get stabbed by Wolverine? Of course she's not. The splash panel on the first page is pretty striking though.

The title is uncreative, but I do adore when writers try to work their issue title into the first page's dialogue or onomatopoeia or something (Thor #366 is my absolute favorite example of this). This is a fantastic first page, not only does it immediately set up tension, mystery and stakes while quickly delivering exposition, but it cleverly uses the in-universe curtain behind Professor X as a tool for adding motion and energy, whilst directing the reader's eye around the page.

I half forgot that Professor X is actually a professor and that he didn't just make that title up to sound cool. Hell, since he has a PhD it should actually be Dr X but that sounds a little too much like a porn knockoff of Dr Strange for my and Marvel's liking. Jesus Christ I bet he's the sort of proff who never ever grades essays in time because he's too busy fucking off fighting Godlike entities in space. I'd give him a 2 on Rate My Professor so fast.

Several students in this packed classroom are smoking. Oh 1985, how the times have changed!

As his students leave, Professor X laments that he cannot simply read their minds and figure out who's thought this was. Not because this would be highly unethical, but because his mind and body has been weakened ever since he got the shit kicked out of him by anti-mutant muggers a few issues back.

Meanwhile, Storm is home in Africa on her self discovery tour, where she is- shot in the head and left for dead by the racist poachers she'd fought before?!

I know logically this is just a fakeout but I'll be damned if it isn't some good tension! Also; the racist poachers are a brother-sister pair named Andreas and Andrea. Their parents must have hated them even more than I do.

We immediately cut to Kitty talking about Ororo's letters at a team meeting just to hammer the stake further into my goddamn heart. The Gang has gathered in a deli to discuss Professor X's mystery, including Magneto (whose presence goes undiscussed, probably because it was explained in Secret Wars 2) and some blonde lady named Aleytys who I have no idea who she is. (Edit: I know who she is- Lee Forrester, Scott Summers ex-girlfriend who apparently hooked up with Magneto in New Mutants. What an absolute power move.) Something I haven't mentioned yet because it hasn't come up is that Chuck has been hiding his growing frailty and power loss from his friends and teammates for some reason I've forgotten but which is probably stupid. Also he can walk at this point in continuity but that's not important.

Rachel sees the Beyonder shows up for his editor mandated plot interruption for a few pages and I'm not going to discuss it because I Don't Care.

My thoughts exactly Kitty.

Speaking of the best boy, he is off at his parish, talking to the priest about his crisis of faith.

I cannot imagine what it must be like to go into confessional with a superhero he has heard some shit someone redraw this man in that one stock photo of the priest.

The monster Kurt is talking about his the Beyonder because goddamnit I guess I can't just ignore that motherfucker. TLDR, he was the ultra-powerful being who started the excuse plot for the original Secret Wars. In Secret Wars 2 he comes to Earth to learn the meaning of life or some bullshit and wanders around causing problems before turning himself into a baby (probably, idk I never finished it, Jim Shooter did that before so he'd probably do it again.) Kurt's faith has been completely destroyed by the Beyonder's sheer power which is like no being he's ever seen before- oh please.

This whole scene sort of pisses me off. First off, its more wanking off about the Beyonder and I really don't want to hear about this guy. Second, its another reason to leave Kurt out of this weeks plot and that pisses me off, give my boy more screentime! Third, this really doesn't feel justified by the Beyonder. Nightcrawler saw Dr Doom hand him his ass in Secret Wars, he knows he's not omnipotent. Nightcrawler having a breakdown is fine but there's way more interesting stuff for him to break down over.

Back on the main plot, a group of shadowy figures sneak into Professor X's office and plant a bomb under his desk! I see someone has been reading Hitchcock's quotes on suspense.

Rogue and Rachel are flying over Columbia U having a dramatic irony-laden conversation about how much less nasty this current timeline is than Rachel's home time whilst she mind-scans for the culprits. They don't find them, but they do find a mugging in progress and stop it.

I'll tell you what else is a crime, that hairdo! Yeesh.

It turns out the civilian they saved is a anti-mutant jackass who was grafitti-ing the words "Muties die!" when he got jumped, because Marvel civilians are assholes. Kitty and Wolvie take a quick break from crimefighting and have an conversation that's too cute for me not to share.

Kitty phases into a building because she sees a light on in a lab after hours. She finds some of her student acquaintances skulking about and, despite having doubts that any of them could be murderers, is immediately suspicious. I personally think the fact they ordered pizza with anchovies on it would be enough to peg them as supervillains on the spot, but Kitty is more of an optimist than me. The terrorists realize Kitty is a mutant and confront her about it.

Kitty Pryde just said the N-word. This isn't ok. I don't know how the editors at Marvel ever thought it was ok, and it speaks volumes that they did. "Mutie" isn't a real swear. "N-----" is. That word is hateful and terrible and affects real people and it is not ok at all to equate it to a made-up slur. The X-men are supposed to be an allegory for suffering that empowers minority groups. This just hurts them more. Hell no to all of this.

I took a hot minute to absorb what I just fucking read and then moved on with the issue. The terrorist kids get the jump on Kitty and chloroform her before she can phase out, with intent to kill her. Meanwhile, Magneto, Professor X and Rachel Summers are in the Prof's office, discussing the case and the Beyonder's continued presence because he's been stalking them like a weirdo. Rachel tries to psychically link the three so they can sense the Beyonder like she can, but using her psi-powers sets off the bomb, which is actually not a bomb but a "psi-scream," a device that amplifies and reflects psychic energy back to its source. This is a massive plot-hole; how did they know Xavier was psychic?! As far as I'm aware its not common knowledge Professor X is a mutant at all, let alone what his powers are! And these are just normal Columbia U college students with no connection to any supervillains or secret organizations whatsoever, there's no way they'd have access to this info!

The bomb overloads Rachel and she accidentally destroys the office, sending out a shockwave of energy that sends Professor X and Maggie flying. Rogue has to catch them both which I find sort of curious because its always so inconsistent whether Magneto can fly or not (my personal headcanon is that his costume has metal soles and he levitates them). Rachel senses Kitty's distress through their psychic link and freaks out so bad she manifests her BDSM Mutant Hunter costume. She flies over to the lab, explodes the anti-mutant students and rescues Kitty in a very hetero way.

Cannot imagine what goes on in Kitty Pryde's head. Must a beautiful and terrifying place to visit.

The guy in the pink jacket from before regains consciousness and tries to shoot Rachel, but its a bit like trying to stab a rhinoceros with a butter knife. She's about to kill him, when Magneto shows up to stop her from making the same mistakes he has.

I don't know bout you but if Magneto in a suit told me to do anything I'd drop whatever I was doing immediately. I love reformed Magneto, such a richer and more interesting character than racist whiny asshole villain Magneto. I sure hope Marvel lets him continue to grow as a person and don't constantly regress his character for the stake of a stupid status quo! Haha. I hate the Endless Wheel of Comic Book Samsara.

The conversation between Magneto and Rachel is honestly really beautiful. Two people who've never interacted before, but understand each other's pain better than anyone else can. Its a fantastic scene only slightly marred by the final panels being of the Beyonder observing the scene and giving some pointless, longwinded commentary. Its too long for me to screenshot and post here so I super recommend you check this out for yourself!

On the plus side, next issue is Dr Doom!

Final Thoughts: This issue had some really high highs and some really low lows. I'm honestly super shocked the panel of Kitty Pryde saying the N-word isn't more infamous than it is, because holy fuck that was awful.

#comic books #marvel comics #x men #professor x #storm #ororo munroe #kitty pryde #nightcrawler #kurt wagner #wolverine #rachel summers #magneto #rogue #way too long #way too many tags #i didn't proofread this

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religion-is-a-mental-illness · 6 months

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New Rule: Identity Crisis | Real Time with Bill Maher

And finally, New Rule: now that we're all recovered from St Patrick's Day, let's make it the last one. You know, I never understood Irish Pride or any pride in anything other than what you've actually accomplished. And as holidays go, St Pattie's is kind of malarkey. You don't get presents like Christmas or candy like Easter or joyless appointment sex like Valentine's Day. You don't even get a Peanuts special.

There's just a parade. And what rights are we marching for? The right to drink in the day? Do we still need to take to the streets in a public expression of support for Irish migrants?

I think now more than ever we need to stop talking about the things that make Americans different from each other and start honoring the things that make us the same. So let my people, the Irish, lead the way because again, the Irish think I don't give a shit.

But, I do give a shit who wins the next election. And outdated racial pandering is one reason Democrats lose elections. When Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi put on Kente cloth, I don't think it earned them one vote for their powerful emotional ties to Ghana.

Here in California, we're now segregating kidnapping. Really. California doesn't just have amber alerts for missing children, we have ebony alerts for black children and feather alerts for Native American Kids. What is that we look for them by listening on the ground?

Look, even if you like identity politics, this kind of thing is antiquated. From 2010 to 2020, the number of people identifying as multi-racial in America went up 276 percent. One in five newlyweds now are in an interracial marriage. And that number goes up to 100% in ads for Subaru.

You couldn't do a remake of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" today because almost 100% of Americans approve of interracial marriage. Especially with rich in-laws. And 95% of white women would leave their husband to marry Idris Elba. Idris Elba who says, "As humans we are obsessed with race and that obsession can really hinder people's aspirations." Actress Raven-Symone agrees. She told Oprah, "I'm tired of being labeled. I'm not an African-American. I'm an American." She says, "I don't know what country in Africa I'm from. My roots are in Louisiana."

And you don't have to agree with that, but it's a point of view a lot of people have. It should be respected. Morgan Freeman says the way to finish off racism is, "stop talking about it. I'm going to stop calling you a white man and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man."

There's even a movement now to ban racial questions on the census, and many of its leaders are people of color like Professor Sheena Mason who says, "to undo racism we have to undo our belief in race."

The liberal group moveon.org formed in 1998 to urge Republicans to move on from the Clinton impeachment. Today's Democrats should move on from identity politics. It's not working. It's not working for them or for us. Democrats are hemorrhaging the very voters they think they're pandering to.

The Financial Times writes, "Democrats are going backwards faster with voters of color than any other demographic," and suggests the reason is that, "A less racially divided America is an America where people vote more based on their beliefs than their identity." Exactly. Far-left liberals are living in an old paradigm. Americans don't fit into into neat little boxes anymore.

Who has the number one country song right now? Beyonce. Lil Naz X won a country music award, and he's black and gay. And a brand ambassador for the waspiest purse in America, Coach. The biggest new star in country is Jelly Roll who was a drug dealer, then a prisoner, then a rapper and then a face tatted country music star. Not to mention a giant middle finger to the idea of staying in your own lane.

No, in America now, you're allowed to be many things all at once and that's a good thing even when it's really stupid.

Look, we're all Jelly Roll now. We're sloppy, complicated and contradictory. Two-thirds of Republican voters support weed legalization. And 41% of Democrats own or live with someone who owns a gun. Ms Marvel is Pakistani. And the winner of the last two NBA dunk contests is white. The new Captain America is black. And Spider-Man is black and Puerto Rican, just like AI George Washington.

Latinos make up half of the Border Patrol. And the name of the coolest black dude on the planet is Lenny Kravitz. Ru Paul has a ranch in Wyoming that does fracking. Really. And has a fortified compound with a bunker to die for. And somehow the leader of the Village People was straight. Really. Je just went to the YMCA to work out. And the leader of the Proud Boys isn't an old white guy he's Enrique Toreo, an Afro-Cuban. He burns crosses on his own lawn.

Caitlyn Jenner is a pro-Trump transwoman who supports a ban on trans athletes competing in women's sports. And there's even an LGBTQ organization called "Gays for Trump." And why wouldn't there be? Gays love drag queens.

Our black president was half white. And our black vice president is half Asian. And Tiger Woods is, oh we don't even have the time.

My point is, look, you're still building your politics around slicing and dicing people into these fixed categories. Democrats need to get the memo that you can't win elections anymore by automatically assuming you're going to get every voter who's not these guys.

The more you obsess over identity, the more you ignore the bread and butter issues that win and lose elections. The real issue is class, not race, and the real gap is the diploma divide. And the real future of the party and maybe democracy depends on Democrats figuring that out.

Prediction: Trump will win, because even if the Dems wanted to change course on this identity politics bullshit, there are far too many identarians who have been elected into it on that exact basis. Look at The Squad, where every single one of them is a pathological liar who plays only by identity cards.

They can't undo a decade of abandoning their core constituency, the working class, in favor of privileged woke academic elites in the span of only six months. Even if they wanted to. Not with the wingnuts still around, doing what they've been doing for years: sucking up all the oxygen and screaming about their imaginary oppression. And there's no sign they do.

#Bill Maher #Real Time with Bill Maher #identity politics #us election #us politics #democratic party #democrats #religion is a mental illness

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