#messier 86

[justforbooks]

Just when the world desperately needs wise elders, its fate is in the hands of old and ruthless patriarchs

The global order is being dismantled by a generation that will not live to see the wreckage they leave behind

Let’s attempt something delicate: talking about age without slipping into ageism. Never before in modern history have those with the fate of the world in their hands been so old. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are both 72. Narendra Modi is 74, Benjamin Netanyahu 75, Donald Trump 79, and Ali Khamenei is 86.

Thanks to advances in medical science, people are able to lead longer, more active lives – but we are now also witnessing a frightening number of political leaders tightening their grip on power as they get older, often at the expense of their younger colleagues.

This week, at their annual summit, the leaders of Nato – including Emmanuel Macron and Mette Frederiksen (both 47), Giorgia Meloni (48) and Pedro Sánchez (53) – were forced to swallow Trump’s demand for increased military spending. The average age of Nato heads of state is 60. Germany’s Friedrich Merz is 69, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is 71.

All bowed to a new 5% defence spending target – an arbitrary figure, imposed without serious military reasoning or rational debate, let alone serious democratic debate at home. It was less policy, more deference to the whims of a grumpy patriarch. Nato’s secretary general, Mark Rutte – himself just 58 – went so far as to call Trump “Daddy”. That’s not diplomacy. That’s submission.

This generational clash plays out in other arenas. Ukraine’s 47-year-old president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is resisting the imperial ambitions of septuagenarian Putin. Septuagenarian Xi eyes a Taiwan led by a president seven years his junior. Netanyahu, three-quarters of a century old, is overseeing devastation in Gaza, where almost half the population is under 18. In Iran an 86 year old rules over a population with an average age of 32. Cameroon’s Paul Biya, 92, has been in power since 1982 in a country where the median age is 18 and life expectancy just 62.

There is no gerontocratic conspiracy at work here – no senior citizens’ club bent on global domination. But there is something disturbing about a world being dismantled by the very people whose lives were defined by its postwar architecture. Khamenei was six when the second world war ended.

Trump was born in 1946, the year the United Nations held its first general assembly. Netanyahu was born a year after Israel was founded. Modi was born in 1950, as India became a republic. Putin entered the world in October 1952, months before Stalin died. Xi in June 1953, just after. And Erdoğan was born in 1954, two years after Turkey joined Nato. These men are the children of the postwar world – and as they near the end of their lives, they seem determined to tear it down. It almost looks like revenge. Dylan Thomas urged us to “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”. Rarely has the line felt so literal.

Yes, the rules-based international order was always messier in practice than on paper. But at least the ideal existed. There was a shared moral framework – shaky, yes, but sincere – built on the conviction that humanity must never repeat the atrocities of the first half of the 20th century and that dialogue and diplomacy were better. That conviction has now evaporated, not least in the minds of those who should cherish it most.

This is an unprecedented moment. The architects of the previous global disorder – Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mao – were all in their 30s or 40s when they rose to power. A new generation built a new world, and lived with its consequences. Today, that new world is being unmade by an old generation – one that will not live to see the wreckage it leaves behind. It’s easier to shout “drill, baby, drill” when you’re statistically unlikely to experience the worst of climate collapse. Après nous le déluge, as the French say.

You might think that a generation so fortunate to benefit from longevity would leave behind a legacy of care, gratitude and global stewardship. Instead, we are witnessing the worst resurgence of repression, violence, genocide, ecocide and contempt for international law in decades – waged, more often than not, by ruthless septuagenarians and octogenarians who appear more interested in escaping prosecution than preserving peace.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

After leaving office, Nelson Mandela founded the Elders, a network of former world leaders working to promote peace, justice and human rights. Inspired by African traditions of consensus and elder wisdom, the Elders are an example of how age can bring clarity, compassion and conscience – not just clout.

The problem isn’t old age. It’s how some have chosen to wield it. The world doesn’t need more ageing strongmen clinging to power. It needs elders who are willing to let go – and guide. The kind who think about legacy not as personal glory, but as the world they leave behind. In this age of age, what we need is not domination, but wisdom. And that, in the end, is what separates a ruler from a leader.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[mariacallous]

The aesthetics are compelling. Black and white photos of a Tehran University lecture hall with men and women seated side by side wearing the best of 1950s European fashions. Young girls—unveiled and in public—cheering to welcome the French president. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran, in a crisp suit, alongside his third wife, Empress Farah Pahlavi, who sparkles with beauty and grace.

With the latest U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, talk of regime change has gone from discredited to imaginable within the Western public sphere. Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the deposed king, wants to lead the transition, confidently issuing plans for his first 100 days after the fall of the regime. Some prominent publications are even asking whether he may indeed be the solution to Iran’s ills.

Following the disastrous U.S. interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the well-known consequences of Iran’s 1953 coup, how is the possibility of bringing back another Pahlavi to the throne even up for discussion? The cruelty and corruption of the current Iranian government are certainly a big part of the answer. But carefully cultivated Pahlavi nostalgia also plays a key part. Images of unveiled, stylish women in 1970s Tehran have been crucial to painting an idealized portrait of a modern, peaceful, and prosperous Iran supposedly stolen away by the mullahs.

Critics, of course, have been quick to point out that social media celebrations of pre-revolution Iran hide the realities of a dictatorial regime that tortured dissidents while its monarchs cavorted with European elites and feasted on Maxim’s desserts. For every photo of Farah posing with Andy Warhol, the thinking goes, there is a hidden image of death, pain, and squalor.

Criticism of the shah’s authoritarianism is eminently fair. Ironically, though, it often accepts the same assumption put forward by the shah’s apologists: that the Pahlavis were straightforward Westernizers, secularists who forcefully tried to drag Iran into full alignment with the West. The real story was much messier. As scholars like Ali Mirsepassi and Zhand Shakibi have shown, the Pahlavi’s self-presentation was never straightforwardly pro-Western or secular.

Increasingly during the 1970s, the Pahlavis relied on traditionalism, Islam, and mystical claims to legitimacy—forces that would later feed the revolution that toppled them. Farah herself was a leading sponsor of traditionalist thinkers who criticized Western materialism and sought to promote Iran as the shining example of Islamic spirituality. The full story of her reign shows her to be not merely a feminist icon or Persian Marie Antoinette, but rather a more complicated and cautionary figure entirely.

It’s no surprise that women populate the most striking “Iran before the Revolution” clickbait photo essays. As scholars who examine gender in foreign relations have long observed, women often symbolize the nation, their status being used as a marker of culture and civilization. While the forcefully veiled, “oppressed” Iranian woman is the primary symbol of the current Iranian regime’s awfulness, pro-monarchists seem to find the perfect symbol of their nostalgia in 1950s Dior gowns and 1960s miniskirts. In this context, the undeniably glamorous Farah continues to serve as a symbol for pre-revolutionary Iran’s pro-Western orientation.

If the 86-year-old former monarch, who currently divides her time between Washington and Paris, is following social media, she must be experiencing déjà vu. As the shah’s third and final wife, she represented Iran to the world from the moment she got married. After all, between 1959, when she first got engaged to her twice-divorced husband, until 1979, when they fled together into exile, the empress was at the center of a running debate about authoritarianism, Islam, and democracy. Supporters—including the Iranian state—promoted her as the perfect embodiment of Iran’s proper progress under righteous royal rule. Detractors, meanwhile, maligned her as a distraction, a “painted doll” who hid the realities of the Pahlavis’ corruption, cruelty, and servitude to imperialism.

Much like Empress Soraya before her, Farah initially became a symbol of Iran’s pro-Western modernization in global media. Specifically, she was associated with the shah’s ambitious development project, the White Revolution, which he launched in 1963. The program’s initiatives included massive infrastructure projects, land redistribution, public health campaigns, profit-sharing for workers, new literacy programs, and women’s suffrage. Domestically, these measures brought real shifts: Per capita incomes rose, old feudal ties weakened, and cities expanded rapidly. Abroad, they gave Iran—and its royal family—a much higher ranking on the West’s modernity scorecard, transforming the country’s image in just a few years.

Farah’s time in the limelight coincided with boom years for the world’s illustrated press, and the capitalist Western media gave the Pahlavi regime an image-driven platform that helped its national branding flourish. Western magazines listed the empress among the world’s best dressed women—sometimes over style icons like Jackie Kennedy Onassis—and offered the Empress’s famous hairstyle for adoption. However, they also praised Farah for staying “as simple and unaffected as when she was a commoner-school girl.” Betty Friedan, the leading voice of liberal feminism in the United States, called the empress “a feminist” in the pages of Ladies Home Journal, pointing to her understated makeup and busy schedule as proof. Such images of simplicity and working motherhood wrapped the monarchy in the aesthetics of Westernized femininity. Predictably, these images have found new life in today’s “Iran before the Islamic Revolution” meme wars. They imply that a renewal of Pahlavi rule will mean liberal development, respect for women’s rights, and pro-Western policies.

Inevitably, the critiques of these images also have their roots in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1967, the Iranian leftist exile Bahman Nirumand argued that while the monarchy staged impressive public diplomacy abroad, most Iranians still faced poverty and the brutal repression of SAVAK, the shah’s notorious CIA-trained secret police. The polished imagery of the Pahlavi White Revolution—with the youthful, glamorous empress at its center—was, in Nirumand’s eyes, purely a distraction from harsher truths on the ground. As he put it bitterly, “To make up for it, Iran has a beautiful Empress.”

Nirumand’s critique found sharp echoes in a scathing open letter from German journalist and Red Army Faction member Ulrike Meinhof, which circulated among student activists during the shah and empress’s 1967 visit to Germany. Meinhof juxtaposed glossy magazine stories about Farah’s privileged life with Nirumand’s evidence of corruption and state violence, mocking the empress as an Eastern Marie Antionette. For example, she sneered at Farah’s wistful comment about craving Iranian sweets after a stay in Paris: “You see, most Persians aren’t hungry for sweets, but for a piece of bread.”

For critics, this image of gendered and classed corruption was captured in the concept of gharbzadegi. The word, meaning “West-struckness” or “Westoxication,” was the title of a book in 1962, after which it quickly gained currency in vernacular discussions about the shah’s female family members.

Inevitably, the truth was more complicated. After all, the man who coined the term gharbzadegi was on the Pahlavi payroll: Heideggerian philosopher Ahmad Fardid was one of several intellectuals who critiqued Western secularism and modernity, advocating for a return to Shia authenticity. But before throwing his intellectual weight behind the Islamic revolution, Fardid regularly collaborated with the monarchy, explaining the shah’s one-party ideology to the people and appearing on state TV networks to malign the false worship of the West.

As a leading sponsor of cultural initiatives across the country, Farah played a key role in calling for an authentic Iranian authenticity that was not only royalist and Persian but also Shiite Muslim. Farah was crowned empress and designated regent in 1967. As such, she did not simply have the shah’s ear. She also ran her own special bureau with hundreds of employees, and oversaw countless artistic, cultural, educational, welfare, and public health initiatives. In the early 1970s, she also became more actively involved in foreign policy, notably representing Iran in China shortly after the shah’s 1972 visit to the Soviet Union.

As accusations of gharbzadegi spread, Farah continued to emphasize that she believed in developing Iran in accordance with “Iranity.” She warned about the dangers of superficial modernization, and voiced concerns about Iranian youth’s admiration for all things Western in her memoirs and interviews: “[C]ertain superficial aspects of Western culture and civilization—not their true values—can be extremely dangerous, particularly for young people, because they copy unthinkingly.” Ironically, this resembled the very critique the opposition leveled against the Pahlavis: that they privileged superficial modernization over substance, showcasing flashy projects and fashionable women, while ignoring the real needs of the population.

The empress also sponsored intellectuals who advocated for Islamic Iranian authenticity, including the philosopher Seyyed Hossein Nasr. In 1974, she directed Nasr to establish the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy, then later appointed him director of her private bureau. For Nasr, and other regime-aligned scholars such as Fardid, Henry Corbin, and Dariush Shayegan, Iranian Shiism held the roots of an authentic mystical vision that could heal the wreckage of Western modernity. Nasr saw his role as reclaiming the lost essence of Shia mysticism and limiting Western influence over Iran. He has subsequently said, “long before Khomeini attacked the West, I attacked the West in Iran.”

Farah’s husband was equally committed to the language of religious and national authenticity. The shah was often cast as a materialistic technocrat who reportedly “devoured [military] manuals in much the same way as other men read Playboy.” But, starting with his first autobiography in 1961, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi positioned himself as a mystically guided, fully Muslim and Iranian leader. In his final book, Answer to History, he doubled down on this, calling the university students who rebelled against him “soulless.” “I am a religious man, a believer,” he emphasized, “I follow the precepts of the sacred Book of Islam, precepts of balance, justice, and moderation.”

In fact, even the shah’s much-celebrated “granting” of rights to women was less a product of his own impulses than the persistent efforts and advocacy of Iranian feminists. According to Iranian politician and women’s rights activist Mahnaz Afkhami, in the lead-up to the 1967 family law reform, the shah offered no support or direction, only cautioning “that no topic that contradicts the explicit text of the Quran should be discussed, especially the topic of inheritance.” The shah showed little hesitation in dismissing women’s liberation and equality as misguided Western ideas. In an interview with Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci in 1973, he said: “This women’s lib business, for instance. What do these feminists want? What do you want? Equality, you say? Indeed! I don’t want to seem rude, but … you may be equal in the eyes of the law, but not, I beg your pardon for saying so, in ability.”

Although he was returned to power in a coup backed by the United States and the United Kingdom, the shah did not always act according to the wishes of his geopolitical sponsors. In his meetings with Western leaders, he bristled at being read as a pliant secularizer on behalf of the United States. In 1962, he told President John F. Kennedy that “America treats Turkey as a wife, and Iran as a concubine.” Nor was the White Revolution a straightforward pro-Western project. The shah launched it after dismissing liberal Prime Minister Ali Amini, whom he considered a favorite of Washington. Backed by oil revenues, he used these reforms to try to ease discontent among diverse groups, present the monarchy as the engine of “revolutionary” modernization, and entrench his one-man rule. Under President Richard Nixon and Kissinger, the shah was also able to direct a more independent foreign policy. To this day, some Iranian monarchists insist, conspiratorially, that this was why the West secretly backed the Iranian revolution.

Despite what critics and apologists still believe, the Pahlavi project was not simply Westernization by fiat. Instead, the monarchs offered an ultimately unstable blend of imitation, reaction, mysticism, and authoritarianism. The “pro-Western” shah wasn’t always pro-Western. Nor was he a feminist. As for the glamorous modern empress in those photos, she helped fund many of the anti-Western and traditionalist ideologies that we now associate with the Islamist republic—even as the opposition painted her as a Westoxicated Marie Antionette.

Farah’s story is another reminder of how celebrating supposedly pro-Western dictators or modernizing monarchs can backfire. Romanticizing her family’s rule isn’t just harmless nostalgia—it’s selective history that props up reckless policies in the present.

[cyberhughes]

#86 JACK HUGHES MASTERLIST.°˖✧

AUS

CAN'T REMEMBER TO FORGET YOU

𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇..jack hughes attends the university of michigan in an alternate universe, where he finds himself getting tangled with the magnetic captain of the dance team, estella green. the two play around as friends with benefits for a while, before a dramatic turn of events leaving the two to resent each other. yet, jack just can't get her out of his head, and estella can't seem to remember to forget him.

SERIES

CRUEL SUMMER

𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇...this summer was supposed to be filled with sunburns, skinny dipping and roasted marshmallows. but after the first body turned up, secrets, grudges and petty jealousies haunt the campground. because the only thing at camp evergreen that’s messier than drama, is murder.

INFRUNAMI

𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇...flirty jokes, lingering touches, and stolen glances are the norm for jack and naomi. they’re in love, everyone knows it—well, everyone except them.

ONESHOTS

ALREADY YOURS

𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇...this summer was filled with golden hours, pancakes, little feet and a baby boy still growing inside you. but underneath the joy, a quiet fear stirs within you with the season coming to an end.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACK!

𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇...baking a cake isn’t as easy as it seems, but your boyfriend loves you far too much to care.

LOVE POTIONS 18+!

𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇...there isn't a line your boyfriend wouldn't cross for you.

TAPOUT 18+!

𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇...the new social media intern for the new jersey devils gets a proper welcome from her favorite boys.

⋆˚✿ BACK TO MAIN MASTERLIST

[zespaceblog]

Messier 86 - Elliptical Galaxy

It looks like a giant hole in space, but looking at elliptical galaxies with low resolution tends to merge all the stars up to a point, while not seeing the ones that lie behind, the truth is, the star density reduces as you move out in more or less a uniform pattern.

The 2nd image was taken by Hubble, and gives a better idea of how the stars are arranged.

What isn't easy to see is a stream of stars that extend from NGC 4438, a disrupted Spiral galaxy to the left of the above image, which appears to have been stripped of some material from M86, and closer in to M86 are a few stream of stars that look to have once been dwarf galaxies orbiting but now stripped by the larger galaxy.

Much of the dust and gas of M86 has been stripped out due to ram pressure, as the galaxy is moving quickly through interstellar space towards the centre of the Virgo cluster, causing the dust and gas to be pushed out as it moves.

[pyroreadscomics]

Three Interesting & Oddball Catwoman Comics

So, I'm working on a full Post-Crisis Catwoman reading list (pray for me) but I've realized there are certain comics that, while they wouldn't make any but the most bloated (and / or obsessively complete) reading guides, I find fascinating in some way.

So, here's three issues that are completely optional Catwoman reading: (Below the cut to save your dashboards.)

GREEN ARROW (1988) #86

This comic on its own would be notable because Catwoman made shockingly few out of Gotham guest appearances during the New Earth era. Sure she’d pop up in Batfamily books every other month on average, but times when Selina broke out of the Bat-sphere are truly few and far between. In fact, in terms of guest appearances in other peoples solo titles there’s really only that one digital first Wonder Woman comic where Selina makes a very chibi appearance (it’s great) and… actually that’s the list. Even expanding out to the series of teams that don’t have Batman or Catwoman as members and aren’t Batman adjacent all you have is three pretty good issues of JSA: Classified and a debate about where or not the Birds of Prey being minimum half Gothamite at all times makes them bat-adjacent. 

This is genuinely the only guest appearance outside of Gotham she makes that doesn’t come with a bunch of asterisks. As for the plot of the book, Oliver Queen, currently not in Star City, ends up tangling with some thieves who’ve smuggled Incan artifacts out of Peru. While looking to defeat them he ends up teaming up with early Balent Catwoman. 

The interesting thing, for me at least, is that Catwoman’s above board here. She’s not just stealing the artifacts to sell herself, she's been contracted by the government of Peru to return their stolen artifacts. This is, quite possibly, the origin of the “Catwoman who steals artifacts to return them to their country of origin” trope that pops up in fan content from time to time.

To be clear, the comic firmly establishes that Selina’s not doing this out of the kindness of her heart but more that a paycheck’s a paycheck and it’s less hassle than fencing the stuff herself. 

Still, it’s interesting to me that this trope both seems to originate in the comics, but also not be there a lot. I haven’t read the bronze age stuff. I haven’t read (all) the New 52 and Rebirth stuff.  But I have read almost 600 issues of New Earth Selina Kyle appearances and I'm fairly certain that this is the only appearance of “Catwoman, Government Repo Agent” or “Catwoman, reverse British Museum” in the entirety of the New Earth timeline.

And ain’t that interesting?

BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE (2013) #6/4 "She Lies at Midnite"

Well first things first. Yes this issue was published after the New 52 reboot. However it’s very clearly set in the New Earth continuity. For those unaware, Selina’s personal history, interpersonal relationships, character depth and character development all got nuked by the reboot and this story has tied to several elements that a Non-Canon to the New 52. As such I, like the wiki, am counting this as “basically New Earth”

Secondly, while the other two stories are interesting to me for various meta reasons, this one is simply a compelling story (which also, makes me conscious of not wishing to dissect it like a frog to an audience that might enjoy a blind read.). Though being a Batman centric story, it explores the messier aspects of Bruce and Selina’s relationship in a way that adds a bit of nuance to their relationship while keeping  everyone in character (well… there's some lines of dialogue I don't quite vibe with, but everyone's actions, motivations and dynamics are in character and those are the important bits)

Also because it's one story in an anthology it's really short, only 7 pages.

So tell y'all what, I'll talk about the last story first, and then I'll do the full spoiler breakdown of why I find this story fascinating.

CATWOMAN (1993) #89 (HARLEY QUINN EDITION)

This is, I believe, the only issue* of Catwoman where Selina never makes an appearance

Even when Eiko or Holly took over the role she at least made appearances in every issue even if they were minor. Here though? She's only referenced, though she's referenced alot.

(Note: yes Selina doesn't appear in either the first annual or Catwoman 1,000,000. But counterpoint, those are basically Sci-fi and Fantasy AUs and that’s a level of pedantry even I don't care for)

The plot itself goes like this: Doctor Harleen Quinzel goes to a TV company and pitches a show based on the adventures of Catwoman, as seen through Harley’s eyes. It’s a version of events where Harley Quinn is Catwoman’s best friend, and they commit crimes, team up with Poison Ivy, and fight Batman and Commissioner Gordon. The TV executives (who somehow seem oblivious to the fact that A) Catwoman’s a real person and b) the person they’re talking to is a supervillain) start reworking the pitch of the show to be more corporate and kid friendly, much to the anger of Harley who murders the executives with Joker Gas, ending the issue.

Now, talking about a story within a story is always going to get a bit meta, but I’m going to start small and then work my way up to the scene that inspired this whole post.

Firstly… Harley’s TV pitch is where we get specifics on Selina’s parents background. Sure in they’re last appearance Brian was a racist white guy and Maria was clearly a Latina immigrant, but this is I believe the first (and potentially only) time Maria is labeled Cuban and Brian is labeled as Irish. Which also means, unless I'm forgetting another instance of this information being brought up, we’re just taking Harley’s word on this.

Secondly, Harley casting herself as Selina’s best friend is, amazingly, not necessarily incorrect.

For context, this is a year and a half into Harley Quinn’s run as a canon character. Despite that she has interacted with Selina once before. It’s a bit of an involved story but the short version is, Selina get sent to prison. The person in the next cell ends up being Harley Quinn, who Selina ends up telling all about her childhood, then the pair escape, though Harley stabs Selina with a knife to pull it off and then, once they’re free, drugs and hypnotizes Selina into helping with a plan to kill Batman.

Now you’d reasonably think that that’s disqualifying behavior for best friend status but… counterpoint, who else is it? Her sister Maggie? They haven’t talked in a decade (both in universe and out). Holly? Same as Maggie. Arizona? She’s an amnesiac child and even if she remembers Catwoman, the writers have forgotten her. Zee and/or Clutterbuck? They were at best work colleges and ones who haven’t appeared in years at that (also if you remembered they existed at all i am genuinely impressed). One of the other rouges? She’s not great terms with any of them, even the ones who haven’t tried to kill her (which is most of them).

(also "Which orphanage were you in?" damn Selina) Harley meanwhile is actually the first person in canon that Selina told her backstory to. Harley knew before Bruce about how Selina’s parents died. Also, despite Harley’s mind control gambit, Harley is insistent she cares about Selina, and Selina clearly doesn’t hold that big a grudge as, the same month this issue came out, she was in Harley’s solo for a party.

90s Catwoman, with a few brief exceptions, was so against maintaining a consistent supporting cast for Selina that Harley is the clear winner for the best friend award, at least in this moment of time.

Third, minor point but I Harley’s little fanfic contains not merely the specific Catwoman/Harley/Ivy team up in comics, but also, the first time Ivy and Catwoman have teamed up outside of the Long Halloween (where all the rogues end up working together in the end). Indeed the last time Catwoman and Ivy were in the same comic it was Cataclysm and Selina ended up force feeding Ivy a seed that grew roots out of… everywhere. Needless to say, they weren’t friends at the time. Though, in Harley’s world, they were.

(In fact, for those unfamiliar, during the original Gotham City Sirens run, Selina and Ivy were somewhat antagonistic towards each other, but tried to get along for the sake of their mutual friend Harley Quinn.)

Lastly, and most metatextually interesting, is Harley’s exact words when her story got sanded down for boarder market appeal.

“This isn’t my Story! Catwoman is a grownup! Her Friends are grownups! That big,dumb lump of a Ratman that she flirts with is a grownup! She Steals stuff, she fights with people, she outsmarts the cops! You don’t need to make all those stupid changes— she’s fine just the way she is!”

This story has a cover date of February 2001. Within a year, Brubaker’s run of Catwoman resets the numbering and radically overhauls the character. Catwoman’s characterization pivots out of “selfish loner thief who’s a bit of a bastard with a heart of gold buried so deep it takes mass tragedy to get it to show just a little” to “a vigilante with a found family who’s deeply concerned about the welfare of her one specific run down corner of Gotham.” She becomes a hero.

Now, I personally really like Brubaker’s run, he’s easily one of the three best writers the character’s ever had, but there’s no denying that it’s a change.

And so, reading that line of Harley’s struck me as… shockingly prophetic. Sure Selina didn’t get aged down into a teenager who solved crimes for the government, but she was toned down into a more explicit robin hood and made less adversarial with Batman. Now I doubt the line was written with knowledge of where Brubaker’s reboot would take the character, or even that Brubaker had even agreed to helm Catwoman when the script was turned in but… I can’t help but wonder why this issue was written. Because stories about stories are always meta in some way.

BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE (2013) #6/4 "She Lies at Midnite" (For Real this Time)

Right spoilers ago: This story starts with Selina paralyzed.

Bruce takes a bit longer then me getting there but that is how we start. With a explainer that Catwoman got involved in a gang war that was targeting sex workers and got her spine broken for the trouble. And now the doctor is saying that she'll never walk again.

This deeply affects Bruce who has a flashback to Barbara’s paralyzation.

Bruce tracks the two gangs down to a standoff and... to quote Bruce:

I'll spare you the details. Skylight. Gunfire. Screams. The usual.

It's not until he's done breaking "every leg in the house" that he runs into a surprise appearance: Slam Bradley, who's taking care of the mooks outside. (for the Catwoman readers: firstly, thanks for reading this far, secondly, Slam’s… honestly an important character overall but the short version is his a bar brawling P.I. who was one of the few love interests Selina’s ever had that’s long term relevant)

Bruce is unsurprised to see him, given his connection to Selina, and tries to commiserate with him in his own Batman-y way, but that's all thrown for a loop when Slam reveals that he's here because Selina asked him to handle these gangs earlier that night  (You know, when she should have been conscious in the hospital)

And… honestly I can’t put this next bit better than the comic itself.

Jesus fuck Selina that's cold

Anyway, Bruce immediately tracks Selina down (It's not hard, she's robbing the leaders of the gangs houses while Batman was putting the membership in a hospital) bringing Slam along just cause I guess.

Bruce is beyond pissed off and wants answers and after this... wonderful panel, Selina explains

When Bruce asks why Selina didn't just ask for help, Selina laughs and says "Slammy here, him I could just ask! You'd put it on your tp-do list, somewhere way down, past Joker's latest attempt to poison the water supply or Eddie's latest Head-Scratcher"

That wasn't fast enough for Selina, and given she wasn't up to the job she certainly didn't want it handed off to one of the Robins. Therefore, if it was a job that needed Batman, but it wasn't important enough, Selina had to make it important to Bruce.

Hence... faking being paralyzed and also deliberately invoking one Bruce's old traumas against him. Which I get but also damn Selina.

Bruce is actually so pissed off it looks like he's about to fight Selina, but Selina surrenders instead and the story ends with Selina in the batmobile, in cuffs, (though Bruce agrees to stop for ice cream on the way to the station, indicating he's... maybe cooling off a bit).

While it's not actually the worst thing Selina's ever done to Bruce technically, this incident didn't even draw any blood. It's.... It reads like a profound betrayal of trust. Selina took an insecurity of Bruce's she could only know about after being inducted into the Bat family and used it against him without remorse. (Which... post: Tower of Babel Bruce does not get to criticize this move but it's still cold).

And then, there's the fact that Selina did this because she, reasonably, couldn't actually trust Bruce to help her out without that manipulation. It's not even Selina acting selfishly for once, it's Selina trying to protect innocents.

And the weird thing is, outside of a few dialogue choices, everyone's perfectly in character here. This is a stunt canon Selina would easily pull if the circumstances lined up the same.

I will say, I totally get where Selina's coming from, even sympathize with it a little. Batman is someone who's constantly pulled in a thousand different directions and can't actually be relied on to help in a weird way. There's a reason the worst sections of Gotham keep getting dedicated superheroes (Onyx for the Hill, Catwoman for the East End) and that's because Batman doesn't have the time to help these areas as thoroughly as they need.

And of course, being a part of these communities in a way Batman just can't be, they end up seeing the problems much more up close and personal.

Like, take the original storyline where Selina commits to being a vigilante rather than a supervillain. In that storyline there's a serial killer going after sex workers and while Selina has reason to be invested (She used to be sex worker, she finds out because a friend who is a sex worker shows up at her safe house looking to hide,) the thing that tips her over the edge into action is those things PLUS the inaction of those who should be dealing with the situation. The police straight up do not care (there's a scene where they find a body and they instead of trying to record evidence go through her wallet for cash and crack jokes) and Batman, while he's... not malicious like that, it is called out by Selina that while they may be victims, to Batman they are still criminals in his eye and thus not high on his priority list, even if they are being murdered.

That's all canon.

So... what's Selina to do? There are two gangs tearing up the streets and killing sex workers (which, conversely to Bruce, is something that always sits at the top of her priority list). If she can't just rob them out of existence, doesn't have the skills to fight them on head and win, and Batman ain't doing shit... what opinion does she have but to manipulate Batman into action. (and, to be clear, if Selina had already decided the correct solution to this problem was manipulating Batman, and also had enough time to set up the whole deception, then Batman had time to respond to the situation on his own and didn't.)

To Selina, this whole operation, while a punch below the belt on Bruce and potentially permanently damaging their relationship, would save lives. Her motivations were pure.

It's just...

It's still betraying Bruce's trust, using knowledge of his private pains against him. Skipping right over the asking for help step because she didn't trust him to help. And yet, the only way any of this works is if Bruce trusted Selina enough to let her in, and Selina trusted Bruce to avenge her. (Also side note: very much the only reason Slam's here is as a counterpoint to Bruce as someone Selina trusted to help without manipulation. Which depending on when this is supposed to be timeline wise (are they dating, is this before or after Selina lost his granddaughter) potentially speaks volumes about Selina's trust in Slam.)

It's such an emotionally messy story for only 7 pages and it’s the sort of shit I live for.

[irlusa]

top five nebulae! :)

Bestie u can't just ask a man to pick only 5 nebulae

....

anyway here's 5 (+1) of my favorite nebulae in no particular order

1. The crab nebula!!!! We all know her, the crab nebula is one of the most recognizable nebulae as well as one of the closest to the first mental image I associate with the word nebula. Also known as Messier 1 and born in 1054 as a supernova remnant, the crab nebula is one of the few supernovas we have record of that was visible to the naked eye! But this may actually be my top nebula, partially because it contains a prominent pulsar aka one of my favorite celestial objects.

Look at that pulsar she's gorgeous!!!!

2. Barnard 68, a dark absorption nebula (or Bok globule) in Ophiuchus, formed by a dense and super cold molecular cloud that blocks the visible light attempting to pass through. Barnard 68 may undergo gravitational collapse in the next few hundred thousand years and become a star! It's also only ~500 light years away, making it one of the closest nebulae to us here on earth.

3. Red square and red rectangle nebulae (yes it's two but I'm putting them together). The first sits in the constellation Serpens while the second sits in Monoceros. I do like the red rectangle a little bit more, but I just think the symmetry and shape of them are really cool!!! The current theory iirc is that there's a dense ring of dust that pinches the flow into its visible path. They're protoplanetary nebulae, but they won't be around in this form for very long, the protoplanetary stage only really sticks around for <10,000 years.

4. The eagle nebula (also known as Messier 16). Is, as the name implies, one of the Messier objects. Another popular one, the eagle nebula is also in Serpens, and part of it contains the pillars of creation. Though, these pillars are only 4-5 light years in size, while the nebula as a whole stretches around 70 light years at the longest distance across. But the whole thing is gorgeous, not just the pillars! I wish the rest of the nebula got more attention, even if the pillars themselves are really cool.

5. The tarantula nebula sits at ~160,000ish light years away (compared to our lovely Barnard 68) and is the largest and most active star-forming region in our local universe. It's like, over 300 light years across in size and just SO pretty like omgomg. She's stunning and contains chemical composition very close to the peak of the universe's star-forming days.

Shoutout/honorable mentions to the shark nebula, g306.3-0.9, hen 2-47, cat's eye nebula, cassiopeia a, rcw 86 and many more.

And as a bonus specifically for you, my lovely friend, the lemon slice nebula. The original false color photo gave it a yellow color which earned the nebula its name- with current data tho i think it kind of looks like a funky lil cell, which also fits u :]

[gonzalo-obes]

IMAGENES Y DATOS INTERESANTES DEL DIA 10 DE ABRIL DE 2024

Día Internacional del Rosa, Día Internacional de la Homeopatía, Día Mundial del Síndrome de West, Año Internacional de los Camélidos.

San Terencio.

Tal día como hoy en el año 2019

Por primera vez en la historia de la astronomía, un grupo de 200 científicos de varios paises publican la foto de un agujero negro. El fotografiado es el que se ubica en el centro de la galaxia Messier 87 situada a 55 millones de años luz de la Tierra. La imagen se ha logrado sincronizando 8 radiotelescopios durante cinco días, actuando como una sola antena parabólica del tamaño de nuestro planeta. (Hace 5 años)

1972

Cerca de 4.000 personas mueren en un gran terremoto en el sur de Irán. El epicentro del temblor se sitúa en las cercanías de la localidad de Ghir, una ciudad agrícola ocupada por alrededor de 7.000 habitantes, que resulta totalmente arrasada junto a unas 60 aldeas situadas en su inmediaciones. La cercana ciudad de Jahrom también se ve afectada, y los temblores se sienten también en la antigua ciudad de Shiraz, a 160 km de distancia de Ghir. (Hace 52 años)

1970

Aunque la banda tiene problemas desde hace aproximadamente un año, es en el día de hoy cuando Paul McCartney, que ha intentado por todos los medios mantener unido al grupo, emite un comunicado de prensa publicado en el diario británico "Daily Mirror" en el que anuncia la separación definitiva de "The Beatles". Con la muerte del grupo, nace un mito. (Hace 54 años)

1968

En las cercanías del puerto de Wellington, Nueva Zelanda, a primeras horas de esta mañana, un frente cálido tropical choca con una masa de aire frío originando una de las peores tormentas que ha sufrido este país, dando lugar a gigantescas olas y vientos de más de 160 km/h. Al tratar de entrar a puerto en estas inclementes condiciones meteorológicas, el ferry Wahine se ve empujado contra los peligrosos arrecifes Barrett, que dejan inutilizado el sistema de radar del buque, zozobrando a continuación con el trágico balance de cincuenta y una personas fallecidas. (Hace 56 años)

1938

En Austria tiene lugar un plebiscito controlado, tras la invasión de Adolf Hitler el 12 de marzo, donde el 99,7 por ciento de los austríacos mayores de 20 años aprueba el Anschluss (en alemán: "Unión") para la unificación política de Austria y Alemania. Cabe destacar que el voto no es secreto y los votantes han tenido que cumplimentar la papeleta delante de los miembros de las SS sin poder introducirla en la urna directamente. (Hace 86 años)

1912

Con inusitada expectación zarpa el lujoso trasanlántico Titanic desde el puerto de Southampton (Reino Unido) con destino a Nueva York. El buque está comandado por el veterano capitán Edward John Smith, el más experimentado y prestigioso de la compañía White Star Line, quien va a realizar su última travesía antes de ser jubilado, para "pasar más tiempo junto a mi esposa e hija", según ha manifestado. Lamentablemente, poco antes de la medianoche del 14 de abril, el trasatlántico colisionará con un iceberg en las gélidas aguas del Atlántico Norte. Por desgracia, al pensar sus constructores que el buque es indestructible, no se halla preparado para una emergencia de este tipo y, por ello, no cuenta con suficientes botes salvavidas para el pasaje y la tripulación. Dos horas más tarde, a primeras horas del 15 de abril, el barco se hundirá definitivamente dejando un trágico balance de 1.513 personas muertas y 705 supervivientes que jamás olvidarán esa fatídica noche. (Hace 112 años)

1864

El Archiduque Maximiliano de Habsburgo es coronado Emperador de México en la Catedral de Ciudad de México. Su imperio será breve y agitado debido a los choques entre la guerrilla republicana y los ejércitos imperiales de mexicanos y franceses. En 1867, el avance republicano hacía el centro del país será imparable. Finalmente, el 19 de junio de aquel mismo año, Maximiliano I será fusilado en el Cerro de las Campanas (Querétaro), junto a Tomás Mejía y Miguel Miramón poniendo fin al Segundo Imperio Mexicano. (Hace 160 años)

1741

En este día, durante las primeras etapas de la Guerra de Sucesión de Austria, se libra la Batalla de Mollwitz entre Prusia y Austria. Es la primera batalla del nuevo rey de Prusia Federico II, en la que ambos contendientes cometen numerosas equivocaciones militares aunque, al final, Federico II el Grande obtiene la victoria. Esta batalla consolida su autoridad sobre el territorio recién conquistado de Silesia y le da una valiosa experiencia militar. (Hace 283 años)

1606

Se crean compañías para colonizar el Nuevo Mundo y así Jacobo I rey de Inglaterra concede a dos grupos ingleses, la Compañía de Londres y la Compañía de Plymouth, permiso oficial para colonizar la costa este de América del Norte entre los paralelos 34º y 45º de latitud norte. Tras esta autorización, el primer embarque de colonos partirá el 19 de diciembre de este mismo año. (Hace 418 años)

[chibinotan]

Elliptical or Lenticular

[softsnzstuff]

Sicktember Day 6 - Sick on Vacation

@sicktember Day 6

Prompt: Sick on Vacation / paired with an ask: Streamer Steve and Eddie at a convention? Steve has a cold but was insistent on coming to meet his fans, he even made little signed photo cards for the first few people. Eddie makes him wear a mask and follows him around, doting on him during the entire day. Has tissues, cough drops, and water for him 🥹

Fandom: Stranger Things, streamer AU

Word Count: 2.6k

CW: None

“Are you sure you don’t just want to cancel?” Eddie pressed.

Steve had been booked to come out to StreamCon in San Francisco this weekend to livestream, meet fans, and do a few panels.

Steve folded a shirt and added it to the suitcase, “No, Eddie, I told you already. The fans would be so disappointed and I already made snFF some signed cards for the first 25.”

“Steve you’ve had this stupid cold for like three days…” Eddie’s voice now tiptoed into concerned territory.

“Yeah snF, three days already it should be practically gone by thehhh-”

“Bless you!”

“HEH ISSSSH! Tisssssh! EHH’ktchEW!”

The last sneeze had been messier than anticipated. Eddie grabbed a couple tissues from the box and handed them to Steve who still had a wrist in front of his face.

“Christ Stevie, what am I gonna do with you?” Eddie scolded slightly, “You should wear a mask when you’re meeting fans since that was more than a little disgusting.”

“Already planni’g od it.” Steve mumbled from behind the tissues.

**

The next day, the boys were at the airport waiting to board the flight to SF. Steve insisted on lunch and Eddie insisted on Burger King.

“Smile Steve!” Eddie laughed as he snapped a photo with his phone.

Eddie tapped away at the screen for a minute and then held the phone at arms length to show Steve what he’d posted.

“Who’s sick, a streamer and coming to a city near you? If you guessed Steve and live in San Francisco - it’s your lucky day! Be prepared to wash your hands a LOT ! Steve is like. Super gross rn.”

“Great Tha’gks. Really captured m’by charmb…”

Eddie laughed as the worker called order 86 and they collected their food.

The four hour flight was pretty uneventful. Steve was asleep, restless against Eddie’s shoulder in business class. every now and then, the older of the two would reach over and pull the younger closer to him, rubbing his arm to comfort him.

The rest of their evening was filled spent checking into their hotel and going out to find some early dinner so Steve could rest before StreamCon started tomorrow. They settled on a small Mexican restaurant.

When they’d finished eating, Eddie noticed one of the waitresses staring at them. He chuckled and ushered her over with a smile.

“Oh my gosh, hi. Sorry I didn’t want to interrupt you guys but I’m a big fan of Steve’s streams.”

A huge smile crossed Steve’s face. “I’d shake your hand, but I’m a bit sick this week. What’s your name?”

“I’m Cassie! I’m actually coming to StreamCon tomorrow! I requested the day off MONTHS ago!” She exclaimed. She couldn’t be any older than 22.

“It’s so nice to meet you Cassie. I’ll see you tomorrow alright?”

The girl nodded enthusiastically with a “thank you”.

“Take care, love.” Eddie said. He was always soft with Steve’s fans. He popped into some streams every now and again - enough that the fans knew who he was.

Eddie glanced over to Steve who was coughing into his shirt collar.

“Let’s head back to the hotel. You sound like you need some rest.” Eddie suggested, Steve nodding tiredly in agreement.

**

Eddie woke up at 8am the next morning. Steve was still snoring beside him, so Eddie quietly left the bed and hopped in the hotel shower, letting the warm spray wake him up.

“Hey sleepy,” Eddie placed a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder and kissed his forehead, “Today’s your big day.”

“Wha times’it?” Steve groaned.

“It’s almost 8:30.”

Steve groaned again, triggering a cough that Eddie didn’t like the sound of.

“Why don’t you take a shower. Might help with some of the congestion.”

Steve nodded sleepily and slowly got up, grabbing his outfit for the day and then heading into the bathroom.

The younger man turned on the water, stepped inside and breathed in the steam, immediately feeling the shift in his sinuses.

“AGKTchew! Tsschiew! Snfff SNF EHH’ktchEW!!”

He sniffled for a minute as he applied and then rinsed the shampoo from his hair.

“TSSSCHEW!”

On the other side of the door, Eddie winced. Steve definitely sounded worse for wear this morning. Thinking ahead, the long haired man had packed a small Fanny pack that had tissues and cough drops. He packed it away for the moment just as Steve opened the bathroom door, a small steam cloud billowing out. Steve emerged, drying his hair with a towel.

“-ssCHEW!”

“Bless you! How are you feeling babe?”

“Ummb..” He coughed, “Ndot great but uh… I’ll be okay.”he did up the top buttons of his shirt and kissed Eddie on the cheek.

Twenty minutes of hair drying, hair styling, and putting on rings (for Eddie), they were out the door ubering to the convention center. They were dropped off at the special backstage door for guests only.

“Hi Steve, Eddie! Thanks so much for coming. We’re just wrapping up the opening ceremony and people will be on the floor soon. I think we’re going to start with some photo ops if that’s alright?” The woman had a managerial vibe about her.

“Sure.” They both nodded.

“Alright, follow me please.”

She led them down a corridor that led to some double doors. She opened them and it led them out behind a curtained area where the photo ops would be held.

“I’ll have you guys in booth B for now. This is Tracy and she’ll be your handler for the day.”

“Nice to meet you guys! Everyone is so excited to see you, Steve.” Tracy was a mid 20’s Asian woman with an artistic air about her. She seemed lighthearted and fun. “So we’ve got about ten minutes before the attendees start lining up, is it okay for the photographer to get a few test shots?”

“Sure! I’ll just stand here?” Steve pointed at a tape ‘X’ on the floor. “Eddie?”

“They’re not here for me, man. This is allll you, big boy.”Eddie smirked and took a seat on a stool just out of frame, near where the attendees would be exiting.

“Alright Mr.Harrington, my names Greg and I’ll be the photographer. If you could just look right here for me… aaaaaaand big smiles!”

The flash went off, bouncing off the light reflectors all over the room.

“And one more please Steve.”

Once more the flash went off and Steve could feel a prickle in his nose.

“Heh-issssh! Hhhh heh’Tisssh!”

“Bless you! Sorry my lights can have that effect sometimes.” Greg joked. He was an older man in his 40’s and was very near bald but very friendly.

“Steve-” Eddie called over now that Greg was done with his test shots.

Steve walked over towards Eddie to see him wearing a Fanny pack and holding out a tissue. He choked back a laugh as he swiped the tissue.

“Is that a fandy pack Mudsond? Where?? Why???”

“It’s full of the good stuff for you today, don’t question it!”

Steve blew his nose and tossed the tissue in the trash can to Eddie, looking a little unsure of what to do with his hands.

“Are you looking for this?” Eddie asked, holding up an industrial sized bottle of hand sanitizer.

“Actually yeah.” Steve cupped his hands and held them out while Eddie squirted some into his hands.

“I’m on sanitizer duty for the fans now.” He smiled.

“Sorry to interrupt Steve, the attendees are lining up whenever you’re ready.” Tracy had left a few minutes ago and was now poking her head back through the curtain.

“Yeah, go ahead and send them in!” Steve resumed his spot on the X as two more volunteers filed in, one at the curtain to let them in, and the other by Steve to help get them in the photos.

A chorus of screams rang out as mostly late teen to early twenties girls came in, a few dudes in there as well.

“Oh my god STEEEEEEVE!! HES HERE!”

“Okay my love, you’re first.” The volunteer ushered her over to stand next to Steve.

“Hi, I’m Steve. It’s so nice to meet you.” He greeted her.

“Thanks for coming!! I know you’re not feeling well. Can I have a hug?”

“Sure.”

Steve wrapped his arms around the girl as Greg snapped the photo.

“Come get some sanitizer, darling!” Eddie called as she exited frame.

“OH MY GOD EDDIE!!” Eddie laughed as multiple girls screamed, only noticing him sitting in the corner when he spoke.

Steve managed to get through a a good twenty photos or so before his nose once again got the better of him.

“Hi! What’s your nahhh - IKT’chEW! Excuse me. What’s your name?”

Steve twisted to the side to sneeze and walked over to Eddie for some more sanitizer before returning to the X.

“Bless you! I’m David. I saw Eddie’s post,” the boy looked to Eddie who smirked, “how are you feeling?”

“I’ll level with you, man, I’ve been better, but I’m having such a great time meeting you all.”

The boy nodded and asked to recreate their characters’ poses from the game and collected his squirt of sanitizer on the way out.

Another 50 people come and go, a few of the girls in their 20’s asking Eddie to join their photo, which he happily does, throwing up the rock n roll hand!

“Ahhhhhh thank you Eddieeeeeee! Thanks Steveeeeee!” They squee as they run out, remembering to collect sanitizer from Eddie.

The girls leave and Steve turns away, pulling the neck of his shirt over his face.

“AK’tchEW! TsssCHUH! Snfff H’NYesshEW!!”

Tracy steps to the side, getting a message in her earpiece. “Steve they’re asking if you’d like a break before we start autographs?”

“I um- TSSSCHEW! Fuck!”

“I think a break would be great Tracy, thank you.” Eddie steps in, standing up and putting a hand on Steve’s back. He was doubled over gearing up for another couple sneezes.

Greg, taking use of his break as well, steps out to give them some privacy. The volunteers following.

Eddie had pulled some tissues out of his Fanny pack and held them up for Steve.

“H’MPTssch!” Steve’s chest expanded as he inhaled suddenly. “Hehh H’AESSSH!”

“Bless you! Damn. That sounded like it hurt…” Eddie handed off the tissues to Steve who started cleaning himself up.

“That’s because it did hurt.” Steve winced rubbing at his throat.

“Here babe.” Eddie unzipped the Danny pack and pulled out a cough drop for Steve.

“You’re the best.”

“Told you I had the good stuff.” Eddie winked and rubbed some sanitizer on his hands. “You want a hit?” He quirked an eyebrow at Steve who nodded and he squirted some for his boyfriend.

“Im gonna go wash my hands actually.” Steve said as he left the curtained area, Eddie in tow.

**

The table for autographs was behind a curtain, trying to give a little privacy, though both Eddie and Steve were aware it was slightly see-through. Fans were already lined up on the other side chatting amongst themselves as volunteers explained how it would work.

Steve was really thankful they had waters already at the table for him. He took a greedy swig and then pulled out the special cards he had made and signed for the first 25 fans.

“Stevie don’t forget-”

“Mask, right. I got it.” Steve pulled out a disposable surgical mask and slipped the loops around his ears.

“Good boy.” Eddie grabbed Steve’s head with both hands and pulled him in for a kiss on the forehead.

Steve rubbed his hands with some sanitizer before gesturing for Tracy to start letting them in. A controlled trickle of fans made their way behind the curtain, giggling with excitement when they could see them.

The first was a group of three girls - about 18. They were all cosplaying as their characters. Steve started signing some of their things, “Wow, guys those costumes are incredible. Did you make them?” He asked.

One girl nodded frantically, tears forming in her eyes. Steve glanced at Eddie, who made a sympathetic face. Steve reached across the table and took her hand. “Hey it’s okay, what’s your name?”

“Julia!” She choked out.

He looked up to get her to meet his eyes. “Julia how about I sign this for you okay?”

Her two friends shrieked. “She’s been watching your streams since you had short hair!!”

Eddie snorted from his seat.

“Oh Jesus…and you still stuck around? Well thank you for your support Julia it means a lot to me.”

“Ohmygodthankyou!” She screamed as her and her friends started to walk away. She turned to one and said “OMG IM NEVER WASHING THIS HAND AGAIN!!!”

Eddie cupped his hands around his mouth to make a megaphone, “PLEASE wash your hands! Steve is SO gross right now!”

Some of the fans chuckled, familiar with Eddie’s humor. Steve just elbowed him as the next several people slid through. Quite a few guys had the case of their game signed. A few had prop swords or costume pieces.

A bigger group of girls mid 20’s came up to the table and started chatting up Eddie while Steve finished signing for a little boy.

“Hey Eddie! We’re so glad you came too!”

“Who me? I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Eddie joked. “I’m just here to dote on my favorite princess.” He leaned towards Steve and smiled. Steve would’ve flipped him the bird if there wasn’t an eight year old and his mom standing in front of him.

“Thanks bud, you have a grehhh a great dayyy..”

“Here he goes again…” Eddie teased for the girls.

Despite wearing his mask, Steve turned away,“ihh’TKtchEW! hehh-NGK’tchIEW! snffSNF isssCHIEW!”

“Bless you bless you bless you.” Eddie opened his Fanny pack and handed a couple of tissues to Steve, who started tending to his nose using his mask as a shield.

The girls “awwww”ed at the whole ordeal.

“Sorry! How are you all doing?” Steve turned his attention from his nose to the girls in front of him while signing their things.

“Better than you it sounds like.” One of the girls said.

“We saw Eddie’s post yesterday. Just wanted to bring you these.” Another girl added, placing a small bag on the table.

“Aw you shouldn’t have.” Steve cooed, looking inside. He chuckled when he saw it was a box of tissues. “Thank you, I’ll treasure it dearly.”

“Looks like someone’s already got you covered.” The third girl glanced at Eddie who smiled.

“Great minds think alike, eh?” He reached out and gave the girl a fist bump.

Eddie motioned to Tracy to pause the line for a short break after these girls. Steve was wrapping up signing their fanart and handed each of them one of his special cards that he prepared.

“Thank you so much Steve! We hope you feel better!”

Steve clasped his hands together and smiled gently, “Thank you!”

He sighed and leaned back in his chair after the girls had left the curtained area.

“Think you’re up for another six hours of this?” Eddie asked, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“Mmmm yeah I think I’ll be alright.”

“Okay. I’m gonna get you some tea and come back.” Eddie stood up and gave the shoulder a squeeze.

Steve took another sip of water and cleared his throat before giving Tracy a tired thumbs up to resume the line.

“Hi! Nice to meet you guys, I’m Steve-”

[aurieeeeeenyx]

weird asks: 86, 90, 96 :D

86. cookies or cupcakes?

hhhh this is so hard because i love both,,,, on the one hand cupcakes are messier because of frosting, but on the other cookies are more. basic idk

i think i'm gonna have to go with cupcakes because i like the texture better and also i love frosting <3 frosting my beloved <3

90. luckiest mistake?

bold of you to assume i remember my mistakes /j

uhhh i don't think this counts as a mistake but i went ice skating today for the first time in three years (and i hadn't really skated for another four years before that) and at one point i sorta did a waltz jump on a whim, like i didn't think about it too much, and when i landed it i think that really gave me the confidence to keep trying it after because otherwise i definitely would've overthought myself into not doing it at all lol

96. desktop background?

the default windows background akjsjdfiqwh although my old computer's background was a picture i took of when me and my friend kept ripping a piece of paper in half til we couldn't anymore and we arranged them the way they were ripped if that makes sense (i don't know why it's my background but it is)

thanks for the ask!!

send me an ask!

[andromeda1023]

Messier 87 (M87), also known as Virgo A or the Smoking Gun, is a supergiant elliptical galaxy located in the core of the Virgo Cluster, in the southern constellation Virgo. The galaxy has an apparent magnitude of 9.59 and lies at a distance of 53.5 million light years from Earth. It has the designation NGC 4486 in the New General Catalogue. Virgo A occupies an area of 7.2 by 6.8 arc minutes of apparent sky, which corresponds to a linear diameter of 120,000 light years, roughly the same size as the Milky Way. It is the second brightest galaxy in the northern part of the Virgo Cluster, second only to Messier 49.

M87 can be observed in small and medium-sized telescopes. These reveal the galaxy’s core, which is about 45 arc seconds in apparent size. The jet emanating from the nucleus of M87 is difficult to see without photographic equipment.

In 10×50 binoculars, M87 appears only as a faint patch of light. Small telescopes show a fuzzy ball of light, elliptical in shape, with a slightly brighter centre. Being an elliptical galaxy, Virgo A appears mostly featureless even when seen in larger telescopes.

Messier 87 is positioned near the border with the constellation Coma Berenices and can be found just over halfway along the line from the bright star Denebola in Leo to Vindemiatrix in Virgo. Another elliptical galaxy, Messier 89, lies just over a degree to the east, while Messier 84 and Messier 86 are about 1.5 degrees to the northwest of M87. Virgo A can also be located using the M84/M86 pair, positioned almost exactly halfway between Denebola and Vindemiatrix. Two fainter ellipticals, NGC 4476 and NGC 4378, can be seen in the same low power field of view as M87. Other galaxies in the vicinity include NGC 4478, NGC 4486A and NGC 4486B. The best time of year to observe M87 and other galaxies in the Virgo Cluster is during the spring.

Messier 87 is one of the largest, most massive and most luminous galaxies in the local universe. It has an estimated mass of almost 2.7 trillion solar masses and an absolute magnitude of about -22. The galaxy is home to at least 1 trillion stars. The stars form only a fraction of the galaxy’s mass. M87 has an estimated mass to luminosity ratio of 6.3, which means that about one sixth of M87’s mass is in the form of stars. The total mass of the galaxy may be 200 times that of the Milky Way, even if the galaxies are similar in size.

Giant elliptical galaxies commonly form after a series of mergers of large spiral galaxies like the Milky Way. Elliptical galaxies outnumber other types in the central region of the Virgo Cluster and, as the cluster members move toward the cluster’s core and merge, M87 will only grow larger.

Currently, M87 is still dwarfed by IC 1101, a supergiant elliptical galaxy at the centre of the Abell 2029 cluster and the brightest galaxy in the group. IC 1101 is the largest galaxy in the known universe. Also located in the constellation Virgo, it is almost three times the size of M87 and home to about four times as many stars. However, IC 1101 is more than a billion light years from Earth, or 20 times farther away than M87.

Deep long exposure photographs have revealed that Virgo A extends far beyond 120,000 light years, showing that the galaxy’s outer regions are quite elongated rather than circular and occupy an area of over half a degree, more than the full Moon. This apparent size corresponds to a spatial extension of over 1 million light years. The outer regions of M87 are considerably distorted, likely as a result of encounters with other galaxies in the intracluster neighbourhood, with the giant M87 absorbing material from the smaller cluster members into these regions.

The galaxy has a jet of energetic plasma emanating from its core and extending at least 4,900 light years outwards. The jet consists of gaseous material expelled from the galaxy’s nucleus and travels at relativistic speed. Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope in 1999 revealed that the jet was moving at four to six times the speed of light. The gas clouds have an apparent superluminal motion, which is likely an illusion caused by the fact that the jet is pointing in our direction. The discovery of such motion supports the theory that quasars, radio galaxies and BL Lacertae objects may all in fact be active galaxies, only seen from different perspectives.

Continue reading/pics: https://www.messier-objects.com/messier-87-virgo-a/?fbclid=IwAR29jZp0ET_BD8PB3SMuCemECGOAccIpJuHXAwAVYxJ9POj9hIkMU9t0BDY

[misscrazyfangirl321]

72-78 and 82-88 for Rebecca! (I hope you don't mind I asked so many LMAO)

I absolutely do NOT mind, I would LOVE to talk about my daughter. Also, just so you know, Rebecca's whole character came from "Sean Renard wore a wedding ring for nearly six seasons and it was never explained, but him taking it off was a big emotional moment. Who was his wife?"

Presenting, Rebecca Renard.

72. What is their motto? "I'm not defined by anyone else." Or something to that effect.

73. Do they have any markings on their body? Some scars from fights along the way, but no tattoos or anything.

74. Have they ever been abused? Not physically, for sure. Emotionally... Her parents were kind of controlling, and isolated her a lot growing up, because they were trying to prepare her for her Grand Destiny. They didn't think that Destiny had room for friendship, much less romance. So while they never meant to hurt her, there were definitely Consequences to that.

75. What is their biggest fear? Losing her family.

76. What are their goals? To protect her family and prove that she can be a different kind of... *Spoiler alert* .. Grimm.

77. How do they go about achieving their goals? Mostly by trying to live her life and have a normal one, but in the end, she sacrifices herself to protect her family from the Royals. She also recruits the help of a trusted friend to protect her child.

78. Do they have a fight or flight response? Generally she leans toward fight when it comes down to it, but she's also pretty good at knowing when a fight is too big for her, and it's time to run/get backup.

82. Are they good at mental math? Theoretically.

83. Do they get along with others? She struggles with that sometimes (thanks to how she grew up), but she has a big heart and is unapologetic about giving to people who need it and loving people around her, so it helps.

84 Are they lazy? Not at all.

85. Are they self motivated? Yes.

86. How do they cope with anger? She tends to bottle it up inside because she doesn't want it to come out on others.

87. Have they ever been in a situation where they were helpless? Not often. Even in her death, she managed to outwit the Royals, and ensure the survival of her child.

88. Are they organized or messy? She wasn't a complete slob or anything, but she definitely was a lot messier than Sean. A free spirit, so to speak.

[lovemesomesurveys]

girl talk

GENERAL WOMANHOOD:

1. Do you like the color pink? Yeah, various shades of it.

2. How easily do you cry? I’m a crybaby.

3. What food do you eat the most of when you’re sad? Lately I’ve been eating a lot of Wingstop. That’s been my thing. I also like my bowl of ramen every night.

4. How often do you experience boob sweat? That has literally never happened to me as I have small boobs. <<< lol same.

5. What time of month is your time? I don’t have that anymore.

6. How moody are you when you are on your period? I got really bad PMS/PMDD and was extra sensitive and moody. I’m like that all the time now even without that.

7. Have you ever thought you were pregnant because your period was late? Nope. That was never a possibility.  8. Have you ever been on the pill? No. 9. Have you ever thought about having children someday? What is your current opinion? I don’t want to have kids. 10. Have you ever given birth? If not, would you ever want to? No. 11. How much do you like decorating for holidays? Christmas is the only one I really decorate for anymore and I go all out.  12. How good of a cook do you consider yourself? I can’t cook at all besides ramen.  13. What is your favorite thing to cook? ^^^ 14. Do you prefer cooking, baking, or both equally? I like making ramen. lol. That’s literally all I cook if you even want to count that cause it’s so easy. Besides that, anything I else I make is oven or microwavable. or a sandwich. 15. Can you sew? Nope. 16. How feminine do you consider yourself? How do you determine that? I mean, if it means makeup and dresses, then not very cause I haven’t worn makeup in over a year and it’s been a few years since I’ve worn a dress. I’m all about comfy casual. That doesn’t make me masculine, though. I’m curious what you think makes someone feminine or not. 17. Have you ever been told that you are too girly or feminine? No. 18. Do you consider yourself a feminist? I mean, I care about women’s rights and believe we should have equal opportunities and such as men and all that.  19. How do you define “girl power”? Uhh, I don’t know. A strong, confident woman.  20. How much of a neat freak are you? I used to be more of a neat freak, but I don’t have the energy or motivation anymore. My room isn’t a disaster, but it’s messier than I ever used to let it get. It’s just cluttered. I need to go through and get rid stuff, but blah. 21. How you ever wished you were born a male? No. 22. Breastfeeding or formula? Mothers should do what they feel is best and works for them and the baby. 23. What is your opinion of equal pay? I think payment should be individual but obviously not based on sex. <<< Yeah, like everyone can’t be paid the exact same. There’s other factors. But people doing the same job and putting in the same work should be paid the same. 24. What is one profession you think needs more women? I don’t care, I think everyone should just do what they’re interested in. <<< 25. Are you pro-life or pro-choice? 26. Have you ever experienced any sexism? If so, please explain. Not that I can think of. 27. Have you ever been called a blabbermouth or a chatterbox? I have my chatty moods now and then. 

28. What is one thing about women you think most men don’t know? I don’t know. 29. Is there anything you dislike about being a woman? Menstrual cycles sucked, but I don’t have those anymore. 30. Complete this phrase: I’m so glad I am a woman because ______. I just am. 

LIFE EXPERIENCES:

31. Did you ever play with Barbie dolls as a child? Yes. I was obsessed with Barbies, I played for hoursss.

32. Have you ever dotted lowercase Js and Is with hearts or smiley faces? Yeah, when I was younger I did sometimes.

33. Have you ever been a Girl Scout? Yes.

34. Have you ever been a ballerina? No.

35. Have you ever been a cheerleader? No.

36. Were you ever voted as homecoming or prom queen? Nope.

37. Have you ever hosted a sleepover? Yeah, with my cousins all the time as kids.

38. Do you belong to a sorority? Nope.

39. Have you ever kept a diary or a journal? Yeah. I had a physical one in middle school up to my sophomore year in high school and then I moved on to online journals. This is my journal now.

40. At what age did you get your first period? 13.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:

41. What is the longest your hair has ever been? Would you ever grow it that long again? Down to my butt, which is how long it was until I cut a couple inches off recently. It was like that when I was a kid, too. Perhaps even a little longer.

42. Have you had a hairstyle above the eyebrows? Uhh, do you mean bangs? If so, yes. I had them until college and then I did the side swept thing for awhile.

43. What hairstyle do you wear the most? Pony tail, bun, or braid.

44. Have you ever died your hair? If so, how often? Countless times now. I first got highlights in middle school and did that for awhile before dyeing it black my sophomore year. I then went back to highlights until dyeing it red in 2015. I’ve been doing that ever since.

45. What is the heaviest you remember ever weighing? I think 90lbs.

46. How muscular are you? I’m not anymore. :/ I used to have toned arms, but I lost my muscle mass over these past few years due to health stuff and just not being active like I used to be.

47. Do you have any piercings anywhere besides your earlobes? Nope.

48. Do you have any tattoos? If you, where are they and what are they of? Nope.

49. Do you like wearing lipstick or lip gloss? If so, how often do you wear them? I haven’t in a long time.

50. How often do you paint your nails? It’s been a few years since the last time I painted them.

51. Have you ever worn any fake nails? Once. I got them done for my 8th grade promotion. 

52. Have you ever worn fake eyelashes? Yeah.

53. How often do you shave or wax your legs? I don’t have to shave my legs often. It’s never been an issue, like hair doesn’t really grow there.

54. How white are your teeth? I could use a Crest white strip or something.

55. Have you ever been told that you look like a certain celebrity? No.

56. How much do you look like your mother? I have a lot of her features, but a lot of my dad’s, too.

57. How much do you look like your father? ^^^^

58. What do you think is your best physical feature? I like dyeing my hair red. 

59. What do you think is your worst physical feature? Everything.

60. How good are you at communicating through facial expressions? I think my facial expressions give it away. It’s obvious when I’m annoyed or in discomfort.

FASHION STYLE: 61. What type of clothing do you own the most of? Leggings and graphic tees. 62. How big is your closet? Not big at all. 63. Have you ever looked through your closet and though “I have nothing to wear”? Ha, yeah. 64. What is your favorite fashion brand? The only brand I really care about and have a lot of is Adidas.  65. Do you wear skirts and dresses at all? If so, how often? I haven’t in years. 66. What is your dress size? Small. 67. What is the shortest length of skirts and dresses you are comfortable wearing? I like the length to go to my knees and I wear pantyhose/tights underneath. I’m very self-conscious about my legs.  68. How expensive was your prom dress? I think it was like $80. 69. What is the most expensive piece of clothing you currently own? My Adidas clothes. 70. Do you wear high heels or stilettos at all? If so, how often? No. 71. Have you ever worn high heels casually? Nope. 72. How often do you take an OOTD (outfit of the day) selfie? I only take a picture if I really like the shirt I’m wearing.  73. Have you ever worn the exact same outfit from head to toe more than once? Yeah, while at home. 74. How often do you wear a bra when out in public? I wear one whenever I go somewhere. 75. How often do you wear a bra when bumming it at home? I don’t.  76. When you get home from work, how soon does your bra typically come off? I don’t work, but when I get home from wherever I’ll likely just wait until bedtime. 77. Have you ever carried a spare bra with you in your purse? Nope. 78. Which are you more likely to go without: A bra or panties? Bra. 79. Does it matter to you if your bra and panties match or not? Nah. 80. What type of underwear do you typically wear? Hipster/hip huggers whatever you wanna call ‘em. 81. How much of your underwear is white? I don’t have any plain white pairs. 82. Have you ever carried a spare pair of underwear with you in your purse? No. 83. Do you like eyeshadow? I used to wear it sometimes back when I wore makeup regularly.  84. Do you like mascara? That’s a must when I wear makeup. 85. How much makeup do you typically wear? I haven’t worn any in over a year. 86. Have you every gone out in public without any makeup on? I do all the time. A few years ago I never would have done that. 87. How much jewelry do you typically wear? I was wearing earrings I got for Christmas for awhile, but I took them out a couple weeks ago cause my ears were irritated. 88. Is there any kind of jewelry you pretty much always wear? Just those earrings for awhile. Before that, it had been a few years. I used to have 3 rings I wore literally 24/7 for a long time until one day I took them off for some reason and never put them back on.  89. Do you carry a purse at all? I’ve been using a mini backpack. 90. Do you like tube and halter tops? No. 91. Do you like crop tops? No. 92. Are you comfortable showing off a little cleavage? This girl does not have cleavage lol.  <<<  93. One-piece swimsuits or bikinis? I don’t do swim suits. 94. Does it matter to you if your bikini top matches the bottom? I don’t wear them, but if I did yeah I would want them to match.

WEDDING CRAZE:

95. Have you ever been a bridesmaid? If so, how often? Nope.

96. Do you have any desires to get married? No.

97. For how long have you thought about your wedding? It’s not something I put much thought into at all. I’m not the type of person who has dreamt of their wedding day since they were a kid or anything. I honestly don’t see myself ever getting married.

98. How much of your wedding do you have planned out already?

99. Would you rather have a big or a small wedding?

100. Would you rather have a lot of bridesmaids or just a couple?

101. Would you rather have an indoor or an outdoor wedding? Does the same go for the reception?

DATING & RELATIONSHIPS:

102. What is your current relationship status? Single.

103. What is the longest relationship you’ve ever had? 3 years if you count the Joseph situation.

104. Do you consider yourself a hopeless romantic at all? No. I think I’ve just been hardened by life ha.

105. Are you a virgin? If not, which gender did you lose your virginity to? Yes.

106. What personality trait are you most attracted to? Just nice, caring, genuine, patient, understanding guys with a sense of humor. 

107. Have you ever been on a blind date? No. I have no interest in that.

108. Has anyone you know ever tried to set you up on a date? I had a friend who always wanted to do that.

109. Do you use any dating apps? If so, have they ever worked out for you? Nope.

110. Do you kiss on the first date? If it felt right.

111. How often do guys hit on you? It’s been years since that has happened and even when it did, it wasn’t often. 

112. Have women ever hit on you? A friend I had always got flirty when she was drunk. 

114. Have you ever kissed another woman while sober? If so, did you like it? No. I’ve done that while drunk either.

115. Have you ever dated another woman? No.

116. After how long of dating do you typically consider a relationship to be serious? There’s more factors than that.

117. Would you rather your lover give you chocolate, flowers, both, or something else? Something else, honestly. Like coffee.

118. Are you friends with any of your exes? Not anymore.

119. Is sex before marriage wrong? That’s a personal choice. Do what feels right to you.

ENTERTAINMENT: 120. What celebrity do you most admire and why? There aren’t any I admire specifically, I just like keeping up with the celebrity gossip and entertainment. It’s entertaining and a distraction from my own life. 121. Do you like romantic comedies? Do you have any favorites? I’m a sucker for romantic comedies. 122. Do you have a favorite romantic movie? I have several. 123. Who is your favorite Disney princess? Ariel.

124. What is your favorite Disney song? “In a World of My Own” from Alice in Wonderland, “Part of Your World” from Little Mermaid, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”  from Toy Story, “Hakuna Matata” from Lion King, “Bare Necessities”  from The Jungle Book, “Winnie the Pooh” from Winnie the Pooh... that’s just to name a few, there’s several others. Disney songs are catchy. 125. Do you watch The Bachelor or The Bachelorette? Nah, I never got into that. I can’t believe they’re on their 16th season now. 126. Have you ever watched Sex & The City? I’ve seen parts of it here and there. I never got into it.  127. Have you ever watched any shows such as Project Runway or America’s Next Top Model? I used to watch America’s Next Top Model. Even the last 2 recent seasons. I’d watch it again if they brought it back. 128. Do you like watching any beauty pageants such as Miss America? No. 129. Do you like watching the red carpet arrivals before award ceremonies? Not usually. Sometimes I will. 130. Beyonce or Taylor Swift? Beyonce. 131. Oprah Winfrey or Ellen DeGeneres? I like both.

A PILE OF RANDOMNESS: 132. Are you named after anyone? Nope. 133. How many male friends do you have? I don’t have any friends. 134. Have you ever been considered the mother of your group of friends? Yes. 135. Have you ever called your friend friends your ‘girlfriends’? No. 136. Have you ever called a non-lover a term such as honey, babe, dear, or darling? Jokingly, yeah. 137. How many items do you own that are of a floral print design? I think I only have a few. 138. Have you ever scoffed at something because you thought it wasn’t feminine enough? No? 139. How healthy do you eat? I don’t. 140. What is your preferred way to carry a purse: Clutched in your hand, on your elbow, or on your shoulder? On my shoulder. 141. Besides you phone, money, wallet, and keys, name five things you always have with you in your purse. Hand sanitizer, mini hair brush, chapstick, medicine, and maybe a water bottle.

142. Have you ever lost anything inside your purse? It seemed that way a lot in my bigger purses. I always had to dig around for everything. 143. Have you ever used your bra or your cleavage as a purse or a pocket? No. 144. Do you consider shopping a sport No lol. Especially not when you do it from home in bed like I do. There’s nothing active about that, ha. 145. Do you shop more in physical walk-in stores or online? Online. 146. What is the most amount of money you remember ever spending in one single shopping trip? The most was when I got my first MacBook.  147. How often do you have a girls’ night out? I don’t anymore. I used to sometimes when I had friends and social life.

148. Do you prefer coffee or tea? Coffee, always. 149. How polite do you consider yourself? I think I’m pretty polite. 150. Can you do the splits? Nope. 151. Do you like doing any yoga? No. 152. Have you ever been told that you have cute handwriting? No. My handwriting is shit. 153. How well can you write in cursive? My cursive is awful. 154. Have you ever successfully been on a diet? No. 155. Do you currently or have you ever belonged to a book club? Well, I’ve done a few online Bible study groups.  156. Have you ever talked yourself out of a driving ticked by using your looks? I don’t drive so I’ve never been pulled over. That wouldn’t work, though. I’m ugly and I don’t have the personality or confidence either. 157. Have you ever drunk a non-alcoholic beverage from a wine glass? Yeah, like apple cider. Especially when I was a kid to be “cool” haha. 158. Do you prefer showers or baths? Showers. I haven’t taken a bath since I was a kid. 159. Have you ever snorted while laughing? Yeah. 160. How strict are you about manners? I think they’re important.

[quiltofstars]

Part of Markarian's Chain in the Virgo Cluster // Patrick Stevenson

From left to right: M84, M86, and the Eyes Galaxies