#not defending billionaires at all but holy fuck

[shitswiftiessay]

swifties will act like they’re against billionaires but then they’ll buy every single different version of midnights vinyls that taylor puts out, buy her merch, concert tickets, albums, buy tickets to her movie premiere so they can meet taylor.

like how about you STOP GIVING HER MONEY if you’re that serious about it??? if you think Taylor has too much money you have the option to STOP lining her pockets???

[inquirenorth]

It’s a slow day at work and I could do stuff I’m supposed to or I could complain about how fucking horrible of an episode Bound is.

Ignoring the puritanical bs and slut shaming for a second. This is the episode that starts the Lionel Luthor Redemption Arc™ that is just so disrespectful. Lionel Luthor is The Asshole of the show. He’s abused his wife and child (likely would have done the same to Julian). He framed his son for murder and when it didn’t work pretended it was all done for Lex’s benefit (???). He fired a whole ass company that employed the majority of the population in this small ass town. He coerced a high school student into investigating another high school student (Chloe had a hand in that sure but she’s also a lovesick teenager with abandonment issues and low-self esteem…easy pickings for Lionel). He lied about being blind so he could spy on people?????? He gifted a married woman a very “secret affair” watch?????? He only felt bad about subjecting his child to unnecessary electroshock therapy (twice) after he realized Lex knew Clark’s secret. He traded Clark for Lex at Summerholt, subjecting a minor to an experimental brain treatment without his prior knowledge let alone his consent, so that he could get to Clark’s secret. He fully planned to switch bodies with his son, letting Lex die in his place just because Lex had him convicted for a murder he was 100% guilty off. Like…this is a Bad Dude. Lex isn’t a saint but Lionel isn’t a sinner, he’s a whole ass monster. Not even going to mention the whole Lucas thing.

Then we have the Kent parents (specifically Johnathan) defending Lex by saying he’s just doing what he’s learned from his father (re: sleeping with women and sending earrings by courier just like his father did) in one breath and then in another saying the Luthors will never change. Like hey maybe don’t group a man literally in prison for murder with his son who sleeps with an average of one rando per month. Sure the fact that he doesn’t remember then hints at self-destructive tendencies and yeah he should maybe consider therapy but he won’t because the same man in prison for murder literally “gatekeep, gaslight, girlboss”ed his one and only son into a mental institution and had his brain fried so said son wouldn’t remember anything about said murder. And Lex’s therapist was in on it so of course he’s not gonna trust therapy. Regardless, yeah Lex won’t change if he stays in this lame-ass town where you can’t do anything fun without being branded with a scarlet letter (or if his best friend keeps gaslighting him like his father does or if everyone he knows is about two breaths and a small mistake away from going all “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted Lex.” Did Lex cut off that man’s hand? Did Lex try to kill Johnathan to get to Clark? Did Lex try to kill Chloe? Nope. Not even in that one episode where everyone else did try to kill Chloe).

Anyway, back to Bound. So the Kent parents are defending and slut shaming Lex and we have Clark acting like a jealous partner who just learned about their boyfriend’s body count and can’t be an Adult about it. And then we get our patent Loft Moment at the end of the episode where Lex says some stuff about how he kind of wishes he’d been burned to death because it would save the world a lot of grief???? Like he’s clearly in some pain and distress (and really should consider therapy but again…his last therapist drugged him as part of a plan to cover up his father’s first murder) and Clark is just like :| “okay”. Come on man, he’s Superman! His “friend” is Suffering to the point where he’s duct taped to a chair, sees fire coming towards him, and literally thinks “good”????? Let one of my friends ever say that to me and I’m selling a kidney to take us to Aruba. But no, Clark doesn’t do that. And you’re telling me he trusts Lionel Luthor more than his best friend because Lionel got a holy enema and was cured of his terminal liver disease and because Lex (a single billionaire who has to go to boring fundraisers as part of his job and who has literally maybe two friends) *checks notes* had consensual sex with women and gifted them expensive ass diamond earrings. Like sure some of them got their feelings hurt but that’s not a crime, not like…idk murder. You’re telling me this isn’t like…a great motivating factor to idk be a little bit nicer to this sad little bald man with a history of being emotionally, mentally, and physically abused by people he loved and trusted (let’s not even talk about Helen).

Idk if you weren’t already 100% on Lex’s side after Shattered/Asylum, Bound is guaranteed to have you foaming at the mouth with frustration. This episode makes me want to gnaw on dry wall while crawling on the ceiling.

[genericpuff]

k first of all , 5 years is a good start but let's absolutely make it more LMAO like holy crap I don't usually get political on this blog (for good reason, it's just a fandom blog) but man, if THIS is what it takes Musk and Rowling to shut the fuck up, I'm all here for it.

Second of all, I was really hoping this would be the case because - I AM NOT A LAWYER - I feel like there's an even bigger case that could be made in Imane's favor as an Olympian representing Algeria.

Like, y'all... Imane isn't just some random woman. The Olympics aren't just about sports and entertainment. The whole essence of the modern Olympics is meant to be a celebration of exceptional athletes and their cultures and countries around the world, coming together to participate in friendly competition. It's also an opportunity for these countries to make a shitload of money from a massively profitable event.

Outside of the money, though, even just qualifying for the Olympics - before you factor in any potential medals to win - is an extremely high honor that is taken very seriously by both the athletes, their coaches, and their respective governments of the countries where they hail from, and much of this DOES come down to politics. This sort of means that the athletes sent in to compete aren't just random people who are REALLY GOOD at their respective sport, but COULD be argued and defended as diplomats representing an entire country and its culture.

This is all with the hope that these athletes will put on a good show, represent the best of what their country has to offer, and - if all goes well - bring home proof of that representation in the form of a medal, which many athletes are additionally rewarded for by their countries when they return home.

Imane Khelif isn't just some 'random' woman who's good at boxing, she's an Olympian athlete recognized by the IOC as such and sent to the Olympics to represent Algeria as both a country and a political entity.

J.K. Rowling and Musk aren't just 'random' chronically online Internet randos punching at the air on Twitter. They are two globally-recognized chronically online billionaires who use their wealth to fund and propel their own political platforms and control shares of their respective industries.

And they used that power to create hate mobs rooted in blatant misinformation and bigotry-motivated delusion to specifically target an Olympic competitor who would go on to win gold for her country.

I'm not a lawyer, but this feels like something that should go far beyond a personal case of defamation and cyberbullying and into a case of deliberate abuse of political power towards a political entity.

I know Rowling and Musk will each pull their own cartoon villain stunts to keep themselves out of jail, but I am PRAYING that this kills two birds with one stone, not just out of wanting to see justice for Khelif, but to send a message that billionaires like Rowling and Musk are not above the law and should not be exempt from the consequences of their actions simply because they are billionaires.

MANIFEST

MANIFEST

[percontaion-points]

The Chemist chapter 9

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Chapter 9

She decided to wake Daniel up. Once Batman came around—which he probably would in about fifteen minutes or so—the conversation was not going to be very genteel. She wanted a chance to explain—and apologize— before the shrieking and the death threats started. 

The fact that she didn’t flee is giving “99 cents short of a dollar”. Kevin all but told her that she’d been set up, and it was also something that she acknowledged too. 

WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU STAY?!

“Now will you tell me what happened to your face? Did you have an accident?” 

Again with the concern. “No. My injures are related to that new information I mentioned.” She wasn’t sure how to break it to him. 

Sudden indignation. His shoulders tensed. “Somebody did that to you— on purpose? For hurting me?”

Holy fucking shit dude. The lady tortured you. I don’t care what she said during her apology, SHE FUCKING TORTURED YOU. 

I’m all in favour of nice guys. After reading an endless string of billionaire romances, it’s nice that somebody doesn’t take one look at Julie and say “Hey baby, I’m going to sexually assault you. And you’re going to like it because I’m hot. And also rich.”

But holy fucking shit. Daniel is going around and he’s flat out stupid about how nice he is. 

Alex suppressed a sigh, upset with herself for not worrying more about the file’s gaps in information, for not taking the time to find a faraway library where she could have safely searched all Daniel’s family connections. 

It’s this, but also the fact that she got the files, and then grabbed Daniel two days later. Like you literally never thought to look into literally ANY of this?

“I would say I was smarter, but I made some pretty huge mistakes in my security here. I think I was just luckier this time.”

No fucking shit. She had such huge, gaping holes that I could have waltzed into her little set-up. Me, an unathletic civilian with no training whatsoever. 

Was it safe to go back to her most recent home, the place she’d been living when Carston had contacted her? It would certainly be easiest. There was food there, and no one would have to see her face for as long as it took to look normal again. She didn’t think she’d compromised the house… 

But then what? How much of her nest egg had she blown through for this stupid trap? How long would she be able to keep going on what she had? 

Man, forget the house, forget the job, forget the money. The department tried to set you up… AGAIN. 

Exactly how long is it going to take for it to sink in that the department wants her dead? 

Girl, you willingly walked into an obvious set-up with that… What number did she use again? Oh right… THREE GODDAMNED PERCENT THAT IT WASN’T A TRAP. 

“But I think your brother can probably fill you in on the details. I imagine he’s better at hiding than I am.” 

Bitch, I’m fucking better at hiding than you are. AND YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE SPY HERE. 

“Are you kidding me? That psychopath tortured you.” 

“Not for very long. And she only did it because—” 

“Are you defending that—”

Finally, some goddamned common sense!

“You’re the one who pulled Danny into this—”

She literally told him that the mystery agency she works for handed her a file on Daniel and all but told her “Take care of this.” 

“So what does it matter? I died. Danny shouldn’t be a target anymore.”

The fact that you are here should have been a huge tip that it isn’t true. 

“You’re a problem for the CIA. I’m a problem for my department. At the top, the people involved in both our former workplaces are pretty tight. So they offer me a deal: ‘Do a job for us, and we’ll call off the hunt.’ They must have had it worked out pretty solidly before they contacted me. Fixed the files, got ready to feed me the crisis story I can’t turn my back on.”

Again, 100% of this could have been avoided if Julie hadn’t been so stupid and in a rush. If she’d spent literally any amount of time researching, she would have realised that it was actually a trap. 

There was a sudden earsplitting noise—an explosive fragmenting of wood. And then the enraged snarling got a lot closer.

Chapter 9 summary: Julie wakes up from her little catnap, and wakes Daniel up. She then apologises to him for having KIDNAPPED AND TORTURED HIM. He’s like “Ah, what’s a little torture?” The entire thing is maddening; Julie has no idea why he’s so goddamned nice, but tries to chalk it up to the drug she initially injected him with. (I’m not convinced.) 

Daniel is more upset when Julie reveals that Kevin is still alive. The two of them talk for several pages about stuff that I literally can’t remember, even moments after finishing the chapter. When Kevin wakes up, Daniel chews his brother out for having lied to him about his job (he wasn’t a drug dealer), where he was (not in prison lol), and then having faked his own death. Again, Daniel is way more upset about Kevin than the goddamned TORTURE. 

Julie then points out that obviously Kevin did a botched job of faking his own death. That’s what led to this situation. That both agencies got together and decided that no matter what happened in this situation, that one of their problems would be taken care of. She offers to write to her agency to tell them that she killed Kevin. That way, Kevin and Daniel can go back to whatever they were doing before all of this. 

At the end of the chapter, the dog breaks out from the room Julie locked him in. 

[anika-ann]

In the Strangest Place (We Just Might Find Love) - Pt.2

Type: two-shot, pretty much canon

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader     Word count: 2750

Summary: You’re hiding from your boss in a supply closet, minding your own business, when a stranger joins you unexpectedly.

Steve is not entirely a stranger anymore; he knows about your troubles and you know about his. And he’s determined to sort out yours this very moment.

Warnings: mention of sexual harassment, a bit of angst, language, something that might be close to a panic attack if you squint

A/N: There we go... hopefully I’ll make mid-week a bit sweeter for some of you ;)

Part 1

“Alright, kids. Let’s have a trip.”

And you just stared.

…what?

“W-what?” you stuttered, suddenly consumed by the familiar feeling of losing the firm ground under your feet at the idea of trying to confront Gregory head-on. Not even Steve at your side was helping at all as the four of you started walking towards the IT department.

“I-I don’t have any prove! I can’t-- he told me he would--- that he would-”

“That he’d twist it around, convince the HR that you were crushing on him and he turned you down, which turned you into a soulless bitch craving revenge?” the billionaire finished for you and you just uselessly opened you mouth, unable to let out a word to deny it. It seemed to amuse him, because he scoffed; and there was something very bitter in that sound too. “Kid, he’s not the first asshole to take advantage of his superior position. I’ve seen the types. Relax. If Cap here believes you, then so do I. Plus, I know a liar when I see one. And you ain��t lying.”

You breathed in shakily, a flicker of hope igniting in your chest. Could it really be so easy? That couldn’t be right…

“T-thank you, Mr. Stark. I-”

“Yeah, yeah, just name your first kid after me,” Mr. Stark uttered, waving it off.

The Falcon next to you chuckled and you shot Steve a confused gaze. Was that how Mr. Stark usually was? You had never met him in person; you had only ever heard him giving a speech on TV and you knew he had a certain reputation, but this was… different.

You were surprised to find Steve watching you; perhaps he worried about your reaction to such bluntness, since he had seen your outburst in the closet. Upon meeting your gaze – probably shy and undeniably surprised – he charmed a tiny smile for you.

“It’s gonna be okay, see?”

“What are you even worried about? You have three Avengers coming with you!” Mr. Wilson questioned lightly and you bit your lower lip as you thought of the source of anxiety indeed.

Yeah, I have three Avengers and they are all men. Sue me for not being sure which side they would take – not until now.

“You’re not a full-time Avenger, Wilson.”

Falcon gasped, clutching at his chest theatrically at Stark’s remark. “Ouch, Tony. My heart.”

You let out a breathy laugh at their banter and felt yourself relax despite your better judgement. You almost let yourself believe it truly would go alright. Well, as much as dealing with such shitty thing could.

“You’re all my heroes,” you whispered timidly, which earned you a bright smile from Sam Wilson.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Cruel, Birdboy. You stole the old man’s line,” Mr. Stark hummed, amused.

“Heh! Sorry, Cap. But I’m sure you have a whole set of other lines to use on her.”

You choked on your own spit as Steve faltered in his steps, his grip on you growing stronger. What the hell did the Falcon just say?

“Oh my God, Wilson, shut up before we get stuck with another harassment report.”

“I don’t think this a subject for joking,” Steve interjected, slightly irritated, and you shot him a grateful look, because he definitely had a point.

Except… once you weren’t in such a sticky situation, you totally wouldn’t mind Steve Rogers using a line on you. Not at all. And his hand around yours felt nice for multiple reasons, the wordless comfort and support only being one of them. It was warm and slightly calloused, a reminder of his physical work, and it was bigger than yours, so sweetly and distractingly enveloping yours…

But now it was so not the time.

Your peculiar group approached the office and you didn’t even have the time to brace yourself as Tony Stark simply threw the door open, not bothering to knock.

“Thomas Ian Gregory, you are fired this very second,” the billionaire exclaimed dramatically.

You would think he was just being a drama queen, except he sounded deadly serious, using your boss’ full name which he must have read out on the door, and his eyes were throwing daggers at the man sitting behind the desk, looking as if he was the fucking king of the world.

Your boss blinked in surprise and eyed all four of you; Falcon with his arms crossed on his chest, Ironman minus his suit with a murderous glare and a hand raised towards him as if he wanted to point a finger and then Gregory’s gaze fell on your hand connected with Steve’s; you wanted to retrieve it quickly, but Steve wouldn’t let you, his grip growing firm. Anger flashed through your boss’ eyes for a second, before he composed himself and rose from his chair with an innocently confused expression.

You wanted to puke and you felt your legs turning into a shaking mess of jello. This was it. Now he would use his slimy words to turn this situation around and you were about to get fired and humiliated so much that jumping under a bus would be the most likeable option for you.

“Mr. Stark, it’s an honour. Captain Rogers, Mr. Wilson. What do I owe the pleasure?”

You couldn’t believe this--- this pig. Seriously. Who the fuck did he think he was?! How could he--- just lie so easily, pretending that everything was perfectly fine?!

But Tony Stark was not fooled by the charade and you mentally sighed in relief, sure they must have heard the weight falling off of your shoulders even in Jersey.

“I’m sure you heard me, Mr. Gregory. You quit and you’ll be hearing from the HR soon. And you’ll be damn lucky if this young lady right here won’t sue you.”

You honestly wished you were invisible when Gregory’s gaze flickered to you, subtle anger with a promise of consequences in his irises – consequences that would come should you not cut this bullshit right now.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand, Mr. Stark. If this is about the unfortunate feelings my assistant has for me-”

Tears of rage and baseless shame stung in your eyes at his words and you breathed in sharply to defend yourself; before you could, Gregory continued.

“Though I can see they weren’t very… honest. Obviously my inferior seems to be the ‘love them and leave them’ type, which I should warn you about, Capta-”

Breathless at his malicious made-out theories, you did not expect Steve to drop your hand in favour to tower over your boss, making him shut up with one single glare.

Alright, you could see why he had thought that simply appearing at your office would make Gregory tremble in fear. Your boss actually backed off and learnt onto a table, looking as if he was supporting himself under the weight of Steve’s judgement.

“I met this woman for the first time not half an hour ago, hiding from you, too scared of your dirty hands to return to her own workplace. Trust me, it left an impression, just like you are leaving one now,” Steve grunted menacingly, causing your heart to pound in your chest in fright even with his words not aimed on you. “If I can give an advice, you pack your things as fast as you can, apologize to her profusely, begging for her forgiveness and you don’t set a foot in this building or speak to her ever again. Do we have an understanding?”

You weren’t the only one affected. Your boss tried to reciprocate Captain America’s glare, but he failed miserably. He visibly gulped and circled his desk, still watching the soldier as if he was expecting to get hit; then his eyes just dropped to his desk and he frantically started picking random things from it.

You watched the scene in front of you, paralyzed. Your heart was beating its way out of your chest, pulsing in your temples, your breathing alternating between hitching and picking up. Your vision started to swim.

Holy. Shit.

“Cap, I think you broke her.”

Steve spun to you at instant, his eyes roaming your face; or you thought so. He looked worried now; or you thought so. Thinking and frankly evaluating the stimuli your senses were receiving was a bit difficult at the moment.

What the hell had just happened?

Gentle hands took yours, leading you out of the room. You blindly followed, unsure how to put one foot in front of the other, your body running on autopilot.

It was over. Thomas Gregory was no longer your boss and it had happened without you losing your job. And Steve Rogers had scolded him as if he was a five-year old kid – a very pervert one, but a kid nonetheless. Steve put a fucking fear of God into him. All of that happening within three minutes. And you just… couldn’t quite process all that.

You barely registered getting into and out of an elevator, being seated on a couch, having a blanket tossed over your shoulders and a cup of warm liquid pressed into your hands. You automatically brought it to your lips, only to be stopped by a tender fingers curling around your wrist.

“Careful. It might be too hot,” a pleasant voice warned you and you blinked, finally focusing your gaze, finding rather worried and very handsome face staring back.

You glanced at the cup, surprised to identify the drink as Steve’s hand let go of yours.

“Is that… is that hot chocolate?” you stuttered, bewildered. Well, more like… astonished.

“Yeah. You’re not allergic to milk or anything, are you?”

You looked up back to Steve’s face, only to find him with his brows furrowed in concern, lips thoughtfully pursed. It snapped you to action.

“No! No. It’s just… I didn’t have one in years. Thank— thank you.”

His expression cleared, as he was evidently pleased with himself. “Good. You’re welcome.”

The words fell off his lips so easily. As if he just hadn’t… hadn’t saved your career. Or your mental health, really.

You eyed the table by the couch, setting the cup down, only to fully turn to him. He seemed a bit confused at that; but God, you had something important to say and since you didn’t want to give up the blanket just yet, you decided to get rid of the mug at least to look less pathetic.

“No, Steve, I… thank you,” you whispered sincerely, feeling tears in your eyes for like a millionth time that day. His smile widened a little.

“You’re welcome. I’m sorry if I… if I scared you down there. It wasn’t meant for you.”

“You didn’t-” you blurted out in attempt to deny it and make him feel better, only to waver as his eyebrow rose, picture perfect of doubt. It made you chuckle at yourself self-deprecatingly. “It’s not your fault that I was… surprised by your little hulk-out. I guess I just didn’t see it coming.”

“Hulk-out, huh? How do you feel?”

You shrugged, exhaling slowly, thinking hard about your answer.

“Like I just watched my life take a way better turn that I would expect... and I’m still only watching,” you whispered honestly, which led to his face twisting in a grimace.

“Anything I can do?”

You couldn’t help it; you scanned your surroundings, realizing you were in something that looked fancy enough to belong to Tony Stark and was way too big to be part of an actual apartment. You ran your hand down the blanket covering your shoulders, reaching for the abandoned cup to blow on it softly and take a careful sip of chocolate. Steve’s questioning gaze observed you while you did so and you smiled blissfully into the cup as the delicious rich taste caressed your tongue.

“You mean besides comforting me despite being a complete stranger, getting my harassing boss fired and scaring the hell out of him, taking me to--- here, giving me a blanket and making the best cup of hot chocolate I had in years? Give me a second, I’m sure I’ll figure out something else,” you babbled and Steve’s smile grew, tense shoulders relaxing. “Seriously, Steve. This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. I owe you. I- I know you’re a hero and all that, but… yeah. I should be asking you what I could do for you in return.”

“That’s not-- I’m not--- ...you make a pleasant company,” he said in the end as if he realized he couldn't deny any of the things you had listed. You lowered your gaze to the chocolate as his eyes twinkled at the statement.

“Ditto.”

“Does that-” he blurted out and you tilted your head to side, watching him curiously when he stopped talking just as abruptly. “This is a terrible timing, but that’s apparently an infamous quality of mine, because usually I wait too long, and… uhm…”

Your heart skipped a beat at the suddenly embarrassed soldier scratching the back of his neck, peeking at your through his eyelashes. Was that--- was he trying to-? No, it couldn’t be.

“Yeah?” you softly encouraged him to continue.

He wetted his lips, causing your previously tight gut to warm up.

“I understand that it’s the last thing you’re thinking about right now, but… when you settle down again... and things are a bit calmer for you… would you- uhm,  like to… maybe spend some more time with--- with me?”

If he had blurted the sentence in one go, you would have dropped your mug in surprise despite suspecting this incredible thing when he had turned bashful. But he didn’t so your brain had enough time to process the words slowly leaving his lips, one after another, little shy, little hopeful. Your heart was speeding up with each of them, ready to burst when he finished with a tiny nervous smile.

Well. How could you possibly say no to that irresistible creature in front of you? You smiled into your drink.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

His face lit up. “Really?”

You wanted to chuckle at the pure surprise on his face, but it was just too endearing and so you had to fight the urge to make an embarrassing sound like an aww instead.

“Yeah, Steve. I’d really like that,” you repeated, hiding the teasing note in your voice. “But you’ve got to teach me how to make a chocolate that good, because seriously, it tastes amazing.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” you demanded, a bit hurt, rather surprised. “I don’t want you to give up your secret recipe right away! Just… in time.”

He grinned at you boyishly, leaning a bit closer to you. You held your breath in anticipating, a the change. “I could. But then I wouldn’t get to enjoy the process of preparing it for you and your smile in return.”

You stared at him for few moments, taking the statement in, wondering if he was teasing you or was being serious. The corners of his lips were quirked up as if he was indeed joking, but there was a certain spark of honesty in his eyes.

You decided to play along, whether it was a game or not. Perhaps it was the relief of newly found freedom from a sleazy man in your life that plucked up your courage and woke up your jovial side.

“Aww, Steve, that’s so sweet. Is that your way of telling me you’re planning on spoiling me? Because then I would need significantly less time to… settle down.”

His grin widened at your words. “Is that so?”

“Mm.”

“Well then…” he brought up lowly, torturing you with anticipation when he didn’t continue, only to watch you with a mischievous smile.

“...then?”

“What are your plans for Friday evening?”

Oh, you were so glad you were sitting, because otherwise the force of the moment in which Steve Rogers asked you out on Friday night would knock you down.

You tried to think of an answer that wouldn’t sound like an over-enthusiastic YES, but his blue eyes staring into yours made it very difficult for you.

Dammit, it was harder to talk to him when you could actually see--- you smiled smugly at the idea that popped up in your head and raised an eyebrow in silent challenge.

“I’m hiding in a supply closet. Why, you wanna join me?”

Steve burst out laughing, throwing his head back with that sound and the picture armed your heart so thoroughly it was unfair.

“Sure thing. Would you like me to bring muffins and coffee or do you prefer an actual dinner?”

You found yourself laughing too and you suddenly believed that your life would indeed get better. It already had, after all.

S.R. masterlist

Beautiful divider by @whimsicalrogers 

Thank you for the kind feedback on the first part and I hope you liked this one too :))

Thank you for reading!

[cloama]

If people say proporting this theory is harmful, let's step outside ourselves and accept that. Let's fucking pivot instead of defending your right to do this. Let's think critically. Wealthy oligarchs don't actually move in silence. They're very loud and they're right in your face. Christians created that idea of secret cabals to distract y'all from the shit they're doing in plain sight. They always accuse others of the shit they're actually doing. So if you're going to talk about groups working to destroy our modern world please discuss the modern covenants like Joshua Generation, Patriot Academy and the other fucks who are raising an entire race of Christian Fundamentalist sheltered kids, sending them to get elite educations so that they can intern in washington and literally reverse every bit of modernity we've fought for under the guise of making America the christian nation they wrongly believe it always was...because that's actually happening. Entire courts, circuits, representatives-- all being filled by christian fundamentalists in the weirdest, ickiest fucking coup ever. These fucks killed Roe. They'll kill whatever else they want to because they've got indoctrinated young adults ready to change the world into their weird god's image. So yeah, stop with the weird theories and look at what's happening for real right in front of you. All you have to do is look at what church your state reps attend and dig from there. It's actually got nothing to do with greedy billionaires. It's American fundamentalist christian leadership. They placate billionaires bc if the richest are happy and can do their weird sex shit on their boats/floating cities with impunity, they don't care if the christian fundamentalists take the goddamned country. The weirdo christians who took over the GOP are on a very specific schedule for total domination, they literally told us. Get your head out of your ass. Of course it's class war but the bigger overarching fight is actually a HOLY WAR above all else. You're at war with a shit-ton of christian fundamentalists who understand how to use money, politics, and power very well.

Fuck an old ass theory.

had to unfollow yet another leftist on tik tok after i heard them say “oh those conspiracy theories that say there are a group of elites ruling the planet aren’t conspiracy theories they’re true there really is a group of elites running the planet” BESTIES YOU CAN BE ANTICAPITALIST WITHOUT USING ANTISEMITISM AS A TOOL. WHETHER OR NOT YOU PERSONALLY THINK JEWS ARE THE SECRET CABAL OF RICH PEOPLE RUNNING THE WORLD YOU ARE STILL PLAYING INTO ANTISEMITISM BY USING THAT RHETORIC. PLEASE USE UR BRAINS!!!!!!!!!!

[0aurelion-sol0]

SNK 134: Why we need to move forward.

Well...

That's horrifying...

Oh but whatever they are probably bad people in there. Thieves, greedy people, hateful mothers, men who beat their wives , liars, bullies, killers, murderers, rapist, child rapist and racist babies.

Yeah...

This is a rhetoric that has been used for ages and is currently being used in this fandom especially on reddit and 4chan.

The justification of injustice.

When George Floyd was slammed on the ground and died because he couldn't breathe anymore, conservatives and republicans at large ignored the police brutaliy leading up to that.

He was just a cocaine or drug addict who one day pointed a gun at a pregnant lady. So he was a criminal and deserved that.

Of course ignoring the racial segregation that happened from the very legalized slavery hundreds of years ago and how poor and racially stigmatized black people are being in America right now.

When the Uyghurs are being genocided by China, the world blinds itself because China is one the worlds necessary assets in economy as it basically produces a good chunk of what is being used in the world. Most made by children, " but it makes us live "... Apparently that's the only logical reason...

When Palestinians and Israelis are literally killing each other over some complicated non sense that no one ever really understands and also Israël basically doing Apartheid at this point,

When the totality of the Middle East has turned into a warzone because of the United States's violent imperialism,

When most far right or extremist group decided that Islam and Islamic terrorism are the same thing,

When xenophobes and racist always attack immigration,

"If she wasn't wearing that skirt, she probably wouldn't have been raped",

When we have homophobes, transphobes, LGBTphobes, telling us what's natural and always bragging about "\___-_-___/ God, Holy Jesus",

When you have people who tells you that poor people chose their way of living when there are a small percent of billionaires and soon to be trillionaires having such a gigantic amount of wealth,

When 6 millions Jews were genocided which was 40% of Jewish people at the time and 2/3 of European Jews,

When the prime minister of Israël is saying that the Holocaust wasn't Hitler's Idea but Haj Amin al-Husseini, (who was extremely anti semitic, don't get me wrong)who suggested it to him maiking the prime minister a revisionist but at the same time making his actions against Palestinians justified,

When around the world Christianic places of worship are being vandalized,

When entire SYSTEMS of segregations have made societies work,

When the South American continent has been attacked by the United States because of different political beliefs,

When people use their rape as a way to attack other communities of a specific religion or color,

When Black Panthers uses racism against White people because of the story of USA and are being anti semitic but essentializing a whole group,

When Nationalistic Israelis tells you what is a good Jew and what isn't a good Jew,

When dozens of groups have been forced to extinction,

Natives who were being murdered, yeah? YOU DON'T SEE THAT A LOT IN YOUR COWBOY MOVIES ?

When literal "feminist" calls for the destruction of men while they can't educate the kids about what to do and what not to do, OH, can also be transphobic apparently,

When you have entire websites who encourages pedophilia,

And pedophiles killed, left alone and live a life of endless torment while no one does nothing to help them and fight those who encourages it even in the highest places of our society,

Oh and Hollywood, that's all I need to say.

And let's not even talk about animal brutality and the destruction of ecosystems.

And there is more and more and more and more and more and FUCKING MORE,

All that because of reasons, reasons, reasons, reasons,

All stuck in a cycle of hate, violence and discrimination that just never ends.

The selfishness,

The greed,

And at end, everything is meaningless. There is just blood.

This is what this chapter represent the meaningless of it all. How everything goes to shit...

How everyone, whether it's the oppresor or the oppresed, will justify the violence, the injustice.

Society does nothing cause society right now runs for the entitled and the entitled only and creates it's own monsters.

I want to ask those people who defend the rumbling.

After everything we saw in this manga, after what the real world has commited, after how much these real events have inspired this story, how can you say it was the only way ?

After everyone hided Hange valuable informations including Eren who had information about KRUGER who was a spy in MARLEY. Who has created a civil war in Eldia and activated the rumbling while killing Eldian civilians in the way.

After seeing the mental breakdown of Bertolt, who we don't hear about anymore, Annie and Reiner's mental breakdown over GENOCIDING AN ENTIRE GROUP OF PEOPLE, by the way Reiner totally didn't develop another persona at that time to cope with what he was doing, HUH ?

After all the deaths, Carla, Grisha, Dina, Faye Marco, Levi's squad, Ymir, Erwin, Sasha, Hange, Hannes, Floch and many others, how can you go and be like "CHAD EREN, BEING DADDY, FUCKING HIS MEAT WAIFU, PHILOSOPHER FREEDOM SEEKER"

"104th crybabies... xDdDDDD Prfrpfr"

Come on...

This isn't serious at this point.

And for the H character, we're gonna come back for her but...

GODDAMNIT!

THANK YOU, DEATH.

This has sparked debates.

Some are thankful for this speech by the commander.

Others are finding it disingenous.

Others think it's too on the nose and not natural.

Others don't care.

On my part, I enjoy it but I take it with the context. Most of their airships have been destroyed and they are facing their doom upfront right now. It's more of a death plea at this point. Just like in the cave with Histor... GOD IT'S SO HARD SAYING HER NAME... with Historia who said truly horrible things at the point of an imminent death. At that moment, words like this can tell what you really are inside but even that is not enough to have a full picture.

It did have some interesting elements.

It is true, using, raising, breeding hate and shoving problems upon a group will always come bite you up the ass someday.

Marley in their extensive and violent coloniaslistic, imperialiatic behavior towards Eldia creates only weaknesses for them on an international field and create this monstruosity that is right now Eren.

Eren, a soldier who suffer from trauma and PTSD, who has terrible insecurities and everything to lose after losing so much and possibly in my book being influenced by another entity decides to kill them all.

But...

In no way does that justify Eren's actions, in fact it goes against it.

He is just as angry and hateful as they were back then but instead of destroying the system, he decides to genocide.

Essentializing the whole world as your ennemy and problem, and deciding to get rid of it is just continuing what has been started and continued for hundreds of years before.

No one ever thinks about the simple families, the innocent children, the homeless...

What about them Eren ?

What about the people who faced discrimination like Ramzi ?

What about the other groups that are almost extinct just like yours ?

What about the groups that tried to support the Eldians but were considered freaks ? HUH ?

What about the babies and innocent children ?

Isayama is even spelling it out for you this chapter.

Is he not worth it ? To stop all this ?

He was born into this world just like every other baby.

Look at that while everyone, is trying to jump off, their trying to save the baby. Even if it's probably impossible. That's humanity right there.

And... jesus christ...

I literally saw people who said that the mother was dumb to give it to the people because titans were behind them.

I can't even...

Imagine if Eren is the daddy of H's Baby and that he completes the genocide, killing his friends or even persuading them and at the end he is saying you are free to this baby.

So this baby is worth more than this baby ?

He is more legitimate to live than him.

I can't even imagine what the arguments would be like with the Eren stans:

"He's protecting his friends."

While literally challenging them to fight and right now trying to kill them.

"Well, you know the Rumbling is horrible but they got what was coming for them. They did nothing to help Paradise."

While forgetting the complexity of human nature, how banalization of these acts of violence have come to be BECAUSE...

These just like me and you are just simple people. With simple lives and not too much power who can't do anything about it.

Most of the people today sees all the suffering in the world, they just don't have the power, nor the will to go against such complex geo-political conflicts.

Would you be able to just resolve the Israelo-Palestinian conflict ? I don't think so, so shut your ass down with this argument.

These people can't change the world with power that they have and the one that has the power to change that, is killing them right now. BRAVO.

" Well, uh, the child is a child, parents might be racist and uh... child maybe is racist or will become racist..."

God...

Just because someone has done horrible shits or is an horrible shit doesn't mean he should die like this.

Here it is people, how we work as human :

Fuck redemption and possible solutions, let's kill everyone who did something bad.

Y'all would have been perfect during monarchies time.

And like... having an argument on a baby should face genocide is just fucking disgusting.

AND DON'T GIVE ME THE BULLCRAP OF FICTION DOESN'T EQUAL REALITY!

That you are interested into what could bring the Rumbling in terms of thematics and story is fine.

BUT ENDORSING IT ?

Do y'all even hear yourselves sometimes ?

You just sound like every racist, bigoted, fascist and violent person that has ever existed.

You're just excited to see someone die because he commited something wrong, sadistic pricks.

You're no different. Perhaps the guy who was talking to Grisha in chapter 97, who was a Marleyan and gave serums to Eldian is right. When he was talking to Grisha, Isayama use it to break the fourth wall and talk to the readers.

Why do we watch this, all this violence ?

" Because it's fun!"

" People take peace for granted!"

" Of course we're abnormal in society's eyes."

" We wish to exterminate all eldians!"

" Your sister did nothing wrong. Shame she was an Eldian!"

The fun fact is that this guy is a racist fuck but he dies pushed by Kruger and killed by his very own creation: a titan.

Why do people endorse genocide ?

" Because it's justice!"

" They got what was coming for them!"

" Isayama is just showing us that genocide is not really wrong if you just understand the concept of morals. Puritans."

" Humanity can die, they deserve it!"

" I'm sad for Ramzi, he didn't do nothing wrong but you know... maybe he didn't have good ideas about Eldians."

While also saying why children could deserve genocide. \____@-@____/

Of course I found most of these on Reddit and 4chan, the nazi propaganda website. Tumblr is a little free of it.

Babies....

Literally babies...

That remind me of somethin'...

OH YEAH!

QUEER NO MORE.

*put gloves on*

PUUUUUUUSSHH!!! COOOOOOOMMEEE OOONN!!!!

Breathe...

I SEEEEE THE HEAAADDD, IT'S HEREEEEEE!!!!

Natalie, bring the bucket, quick!

Of fuck she shitted on herself a little bit!

_________________________________________

So ?

Y'all like my fanfic ?

It's about how Erehisu is canon and how Historia is actually thinking about Eren right now because she is blushing.

But also about how Historia actually looks good and sexy while being pregnant and how she looks so happy!

She also is a lesbian that turned straight.

I'm so proud of my work.

_________________________________________

In all honesty...

This is... dissapointing and an insult to Historia fans. Why ? What is the purpose or the reason ? Being tragic ? To show how far Historia can go to protect her loved ones ? A female Eren so ?

I always leaned towards the fake pregnancy even if I don't know how something like that could be really pulled. I didn't understand this choice for his storytelling. The others I understand but this one...

O_o

What the fuck ?

So she really is pregnant ? But nothing leading up to it makes sense.

The character whose thematics still rings too much true for this arc is put in the background and as a breeding farm on top of that.

It even came to a point I started people to stop asking about her.

I had faith in her presence in the final arc. That she would have a role play.

But now ?

/\/\/\

For people who don't understand why this aspect of story is wrong, we have to break it down.

First off, Historia one of the first queer characters with Ymir in SNK. Others are suspected but these two are the few that holds a definitive representation as queer.

Most often in media or in real life, LGBT people have been forced into a situation that requires them to fall under heterosexuals lives. Here Historia is forced to be pregnant, yes in a way she agreed because of her people, but at the same time she didn't really want it.

For queer people, like me, this still rings true. Too much true. People literally forces you to go for your opposite sex everytime, to have a family.

No, stop forcing your view of your own life or desire of life on other people.

The fact that the fandom rationalizes that and says that she is happy and in love with Eren is just so fucking weird.

It either is blind ship following, heteronormativity or not understanding the story.

And I saw people saying she might be bisexual. This doesn't change anything. Also ignoring the fact that she hasn't shown any attraction to men other than women in the story.

If she is bisexual, it doesn't change anything, she is still queer. Not semi-straight AND EVEN IF SHE WAS A WOMAN WHO HAPPENED TO BE STRAIGHT, SHE IS STILL FORCED INTO SOMETHING SHE DID NOT WANT.

Bisexual is not semi-straight, semi-gay.

It's bisexual.

Bisexual, Straight and Homosexuality are not the same thing.

And if she was straight, that doesn't make it acceptable. It's just sick.

Just because you're a straight woman doesn't mean you are going to be more happy or have god like duty to have kids.

I just don't understand it...

A manga who was so progressive with his female characters reduces Historia to this.

Imagine...

Just imagine...

Eren is the father. I would shoot myself in the face. A forced straight relationship at the end for the pleasure of shonen readers and heteronormative readers.

" What if I have baby, Eren ?"

" Only if it is from me. I want him to live and have FREEDOM!"

" It's open bar, honey." *saying this after hearing the guy says he's going to genocide which goes against her own values and actions as queen*

Ew... Just ew...

And even worse she wasn't supposed to give birth right now, she was supposed to give birth in a few months.

She could DIE. SHE IS 19. This is dangerous.

Everyone is like this is normal.

THIS IS NOT NORMAL. *sigh*

This goes against what she is supposed to have as a character development.

The fact that she would be okay for genocide while as a queen she reached out to the most weak and in need is fucking incoherent.

No. This doesn't make sense. Even Eren said that Historia's action as a queen were to help others. How could she be okay sitting at her house ? Telling no one about what Eren was going to do ? And becoming a breeding farm ? What is the logic in that ?

Why make it suspicious than ?

The only thing that was able to make any logical sense to me was that the person we are seeing here isn't Historia.

I know if my theory is right, it's sick, even more sick.

The only times we saw Historia after the timeskip was during flashbacks, the reveal at 107 and possibly at the end of 123.

If this is her at the end of 123, I want to ask you why is she all prepared, why is she all dressed up and why is she wearing the same clothes in 134 that she is wearing 107. Something doesn't add up.

She is young, small-petite, blonde and her belly and face are hidden.

I was only able to go through the theory that this is a fake Historia. Than who it is than ?

Well, I searched for female characters who look like her or who could look like Historia right now. From all the characters that we haven't seen coming coming back and that has interacted with Historia, there is only one.

Rico Brzenska.

For those, who don't remember her : She was a Garrison Member who helped Mikasa and Eren during the Trost Arc and also helped Historia while she was exhausted during the Clash of the Titans Arc.

She hasn't appeared ever since the start of the Return to Shiganshina Arc unlike many of the older characters.

She is the only one I see who could pass as Historia I think.

I know this is still sick. But this is the only way I would be able to make Historia get out of this crappy storyline and play some relevance in the story. And if we look at Rico and Historia in 107, they kinda look the same. They have the heart shaped face, they are both small and they both have this sort of closed eyelids.

One line that just stuck with me of Rico was:

"Hiding/Lying about Eren's rampage in the report wouldn't have benefited humanity. "

This was during Eren's trial before joining the Survey Corps. What was discused was when Eren lost control of himself during the Trost Arc and attacked Mikasa.

The second line that struck was the one where she holds Historia who is exhausted in her arms:

"Wow! Who is this girl, is she okay ?"

I don't know why it just pushed that theory. And I kinda believe it now, because no one can make me believe that there is something satisfying coming out of this. Why would she sacrifice herself for Historia ? Well, I don't really know but Rico was always a little wary of Eren, even after the Trost Arc but yeah ultimately for Rico being able to give her own life for Historia. I don't know about that. But with this manga you never now. It is a very dark and twisted theory but this is the only logical thing I can see right now since no answers have been provided.

Monkey is BACK

Zeke is back and like most of us predicted, Eren dragged him with him. And I'm not gonna lie, the way he was attached to the spine was pretty badass.

He is used as a puppet which reinforces the theory for me that all three of them: Eren, Ymir and Zeke are being used by the Attack Titan.

I cannot understand Eren's illogical behavior especially after seeing the train scene where he says he wants them to live long happy lives and than having him kill his friends.

Ymir the first being free and having eyes to returning to having no eyes just like before and Eren.

And Zeke would have never agreed to the Rumbling. And we can't see his eyes either.

And...

Thank you, 104th for existing.

Because...

After how much shit they have gone through and after how much the fandom, not just the Eren stans, have mocked them. Like the fandom has been the biggest asshole to the the Alliance while they were the ones who were able to survive through the sentence " Genocide is wrong!" that so many people seems to find to be so hard to say.

I will root for them until the bitter end, I don't care. They are the one who are fighting. You can call Cringevengers all you want but I am glad they are winning.

They all suffered like Eren but they didn't prioritize their own and only feelings above everything else and they stood by for the values they fought for since they joined the Survey Corps. Even if I have to admit they have, for most of them, conflicted feelings with what they were doing and have done things like trying to talk to Eren while it's obvious he wasn't going to talk and that in a situation like this I don't think someone would try to stop Eren by just talking.

Levi, and it would be foolish to not recognize it, is being consumed by his promise but he is restraining it and still is able to think about the bigger picture.

There's one thing I really like about this is Armin asking Eren:

"Eren... I'll ask you one last time... "What part of you is free" after we rip you out from there... "

Hehe... yes... what part of you is free ?

To be honest, there's many things I don't want for the ending.

A Lelouch Ending, it was all Eren's plan. Literally wouldn't make sense. No one would be questionning his free will and he wouldn't have these weird shits happening to him.

A Code Geass ending, why would Mikasa have to kill Eren, what does that add to her as a character ? More tragedy ? No she doesn't have the scarf, it's pretty telling what place she's at right now.

Eren being the daddy. NO, JUST NO.

Everyone dies, genocide is the right thing. You know all the worst shit that can happen.

But most of all I want important plot points to be explored and moved over because ever since the timeskip, there has been no important plot points out the way. Eren's behavior, Ackertalk, Bertolttalk, Historia's Condition, Paths stuffs, answers!

Whatever... Trust me Peace is not something I take for granted. Being proud of myself and having a life with the least conflict and problem is something you fight for. Having rights, being recognized as a human.

Never lose that, fight for it. But never with injustice, be smarter and stronger. Cause at the end what unites us is not only what we have in common but what the perspective of what we have not in common can make a bigger picture of what we are as humans. We all are different and have a different story with similarities but in the end, we are human and born into this world. And in that, we must move forward. In the present, because of the past and for the future.

We all wish for the problems to go away but if it's for the solutions to be rigged with injustice, it will not work. No one has acheived with genocide and never will.

It's kinda sad that this long of a post has to say this. Did y'all see that ? Pretty inspiring what I wrote. Oh well you know what ? If they can be bigoted why can't I myself.

Here's a song I wrote:

(Fuck everyone and you.

We hate women

There are only 2 genders, the breeder and the breeded.

Everything is degenerate.

We hate brown, Arab and Muslim people.

Genocide is cool

And Hitler was too.)

I know but you know what, at least if they want a spy for Nazi Germany someday. They'll know not to give it to me because I'd laugh at the stupidity of the people just like you and I are doing with the rest of world cause for all the shits it gives us, it's entertaining.

[bluskai]

ambient roar | s.r.

➤ pairing: steve rogers x female oc

➤ warnings: smut (female-receiving oral, soft vanilla sex), angst (goodbyes) 

➤ notes: this one is inspired by another friend of mine who is going through some stuff. so this one’s for her I guess :/

➤ more: masterlist | smut reblog blog 

He was her everything.

He filled her world with flowers, kisses, and glorious love. They met in New York. And, as much of a cliché as it is, it felt like love at first sight. 

They fought side by side, through Sokovia, the Accords. Then, Thanos.

She thought it would be the two of them till the very end. Steve Rogers and Laurélie “Em” Emery against the world. Even as the dust settled, and they looked around. Though he had lost Bucky, Sam and a lot of others he cared about, he still had her. 

She knew that he carried that compass with him always. But she never faulted him for it. That compass held a part of his past that would forever be lost to time. Maybe he did want to go back, maybe he would choose the past over everything they had built for themselves now. But Em couldn’t care less. So long as she had him, he would remain hers and she could continue pretending that he loved her as much as she loved him.

5 years passed. Clint went AWOL. Clint was a dear friend of hers, as was Nat. She was the rich little French girl dumped on the doors of SHIELD. Long hair, doe eyes and a sickly sweet smile. She was the daughter of some billionaire scientist, experimented on and tortured by her own father. Then SHIELD terminated him.

Fresh and soft at 16-years-old, Natasha took Laurélie under her wing. Teaching her to fight, to defend herself against men like her father. Men who would use her for their own gain.

Then she was 20 and still soft at the edges, but hardened a little inside. 

That was when she met him. Captain America himself, America’s golden boy in all his tormented glory. Em saw a chance to latch onto a man who seemed near-perfect, a side-effect of her past trauma and daddy-issues. Steve saw a chance to have a semblance of that life he wanted, that nuclear family he dreamed of. 

So it worked. 

But now? 5 years after the dust cleared?

The moment Steve saw Peggy, his heart ached in that way that it hadn’t when he looked at Em. A deep, almost ethereal connection to Peggy that he could only hope for with Em. 

So he had an idea. One that he kept at the recesses of his mind, keeping his eye on the prize. Defeat Thanos. 

Then Tony died. 

In a way that spurred his decision. Tony never allowed himself a certain selfishness, one that would have allowed him to live. To see his daughter grow up, and to die sitting at a porch swing in front of a lake. Maybe had Tony been less of a hero, and more selfish, he would still be here. That was when Steve realised, he wanted that selfishness. Perhaps he was, that selfish.

So he talked it over with Bucky. At first, his best friend was hesitant. Steve had found a great life here, an angel who loved him despite everything. But in the end, Bucky still understood. He always would. He made sure Bucky would be there for Sam, guide him and support him the way that Bucky once did for Steve.

Then came the hard part, telling her. He knew she wouldn’t take it lightly. She would probably hold on kicking and screaming. But maybe she would understand. In that sad, melancholy way she seemed to look at Steve sometimes. Something in her eyes told him that she knew. She always knew. Em knew him inside and out. The minute they realised time travel was possible, she seemed resigned. 

“So you’re leaving, tomorrow?”

He couldn’t even find it in him to be surprised at how well she knew him. All he did was look at her and sigh. He wasn’t always the best with words, so he hoped that she saw it in his eyes. 

I’m sorry that I took years of your life away. Years that could have been spent loving someone who could at least love you as much as you loved them. I’m sorry for never really forgetting about her. I’m sorry that after all this time and after everything, it was always going to be her. I did love you Em. I do love you. But-

Then she was grasping him in her hands, pulling him in and kissing him like it was the last time. Well, it was. Yanking at his shirt, her hands desperately trying to hold onto anything, and everything at the same time.

“Please-” Kissing him, “love me-” She breathed, “before you go.”

And how could he deny her that?

He poured as much emotion as he could into the kiss, praying to every god there was that Em would be ok. He knew she would, she was strong like that.

He tugged at her shirt and stripped both of them, as they moved towards the bed. Kisses pressed to skin, eyes shut in a blessed fantasy of ecstasy.

Peppering kisses down her chest, all the way to where she needed him most, Steve finally breathed against her core. Wet and wanting. 

“Steve, please.”

He delved into her pussy like a man starved, licking and sucking. Fingers plunging into her with obscene noises as he alternated between circling her clit with his thumb and sucking on it ferociously. His thick fingers reached a spot inside her she couldn’t ever reach on her own. When she moaned particularly loudly, Steve smirked, knowing he found it. He rubbed repeatedly over that one little spongy spot, making her writhe and whine in his hold. But he refused to relent, arms clamping over her thighs and keeping her steady as he brought her closer to the edge. 

“Holy-” 

And she came, all over his mouth and fingers. Steve helped her ride out her high, slowly pulling away as she got more sensitive. Then he moved up, pressing a sweet kiss to her lips, allowing her to taste herself. 

“Let me ride you.” She whispered.

He flipped onto his back and pulled her to straddle him, his cock achingly hard and dripping with pre-cum. She sighed, moving to sink down on him. As she eased down slowly, Steve squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. Warm, wet walls like velvet clamped down on him, milking him. 

Testing the waters, Em gave an experimental roll of her hips making Steve moan underneath her as she let out a breathy gasp of her own. She continued grinding down slowly, building the tension in the pit of her belly, coiling it tighter. 

Picking up the pace, she started bouncing. Each thrust causing Steve to bottom out, drawing breathy gasps and whines as he drove into her relentlessly. His hands gripped her hips so tightly, she was sure he’d leave bruises, as he matched her thrusts.

She was close and he could feel it, her hips stuttering as she clenched around him. 

Planting his feet on the bed he began plunging into her rapidly, as his hand went down and his thumb circled her clit. Her eyes fell shut and she fell over him. Her pussy spasming and her whole body trembling as her orgasm washed over. Steve continued fucking into her until he stilled, grunting and groaning into her shoulder as he came into her, filling her up. 

Em slowly moved off of him, movements slow and sluggish. She lay beside him in bed, eyes unfocused and seemingly staring at nothing. Steve turned to face her, pulling her into his embrace and kissed her temple. 

“I’m so sorry, my love.”

[maelor321]

First (looking at your blog's description) you could try not to mix up zionism, the support of the establishment of a free Jewish state, with the brand of imperialism that Netanyahu does.

Second, what other way is there but invasion? These hamas monsters hide in their tunnels, using the wider Palestinian populace as human shields.

The famine also is because Hamas, the government of Gaza (in the same way Putin's lot is the government of Russia), steal the aid to the people to build their tunnels while their bosses enjoy their life as billionaires on the other side of the Arabian peninsula

@freegazafromhamas showed many graphics that display how the air campaign is very restricted compared to any of their neighbors.

Here the thing, war is cruel, so yes, it is cruel that this is happening.

But, once again, this is a war, the ones who started it were Hamas, the government of Gaza, and those among the wider populace who, on a holy day, decided to go a on a rape-filled murderous rampage specifically targeting civilians.

And this, was not only during a ceasefire, but in their charter, your beloved hamas decree the intention of a genocide, and many times after including in recent years, the leaders have expressed said intent.

If hamas was fighting the Israeli forces with troops wearing distinctive uniforms while keeping their equipement away from civilians places, then you could have an argument.

But as it is? They do the opposate.

And yes, Netanyahu helped hamas, because he is a traitor and a xenophobic wretch, but any other leader of a nation would have answered to Hamas' vile deeds by marching their army into the region to crush the offender.

There is no right way to wipe out hamas but war, because Hamas is an actively genocidal organization, the actual nazis of the region (tfw you call zionists the nazis of Palestine when zionist only mean the support of the existence of a Jewish state, and there's literally a government espousing nazi rhetoric that rule Gaza).

It is sad? Yes, but the state of Israel bending its ass for hamas to continue fucking it because a bunch of whiny pro-terrorist wretches hate that jews are defiant and alive instead of cowering or dead is not the way.

I support Palestine's right for nationhood, but what your ilk don't understand is that there's a difference between supporting Palestinian nationhood+condemning how Netanyahu's rotten lot help people steal Palestinian homes, and denying Israel a right to their nation, which, newsflash, include the right of using military force to defend yourself, and that not only hamas is a terrorist army who is making it impossible for civilian casualties not to be present on purpose and who's actively genocidal, but the other Palestinian regional/national strong political faction is hardly good either, meanwhile, Israel at least have a legitimate way to make Netanyahu fall, even if it's limited, have their constitution giving rights to Arabs, have a large Muslim population who have its own party, and the IDF doesn't keep their bases in civilian centers.

This conflict is so bloody and long that both Palestinians and Israelis have legitimate grievances, but as it stand, hamas is the one at fault, and they must be wiped out, especially since Iran, on the other side of the middle east, is making sure that hamas can continue attacking and existing.

What would actually help palestine would be that you, the pro-palestine left, instead of doing marches in support of terrorists, you do march to demand that your governments pressure the nations who shelter hamas leaders to give them up.

Israel can't because if they actually attacked where hamas leaders are, your lot would not only call them war criminals, but all of Israel's neighbor would yet again try to genocide them and destroy their state through an invasion from all sides

Is Netanyahu a cunt, an imperialist? Yes!

Is he a traitor to Israel? Also yes.

But God have mercy, don't go supporting the terrorist who specifically hate the lgbtq+ community and women's rights, who's charter specifically declare the intent of genocide against all jews, and who declared many times the intention of jihad to destroy jews in the world, the wretches who kidnapped citizens from other western countries as well and raped them if women, the demons who steal the aid to Palestinians in order to help build their tunnels to be able to attack Israel safely behind civilians.

Does Netanyahu need to be toppled? Yes, Newsflash pro-hamas folks, most in Israel want him gone too.

Does Hamas need to be utterly wiped out? Also yes, and the fact Netanyahu supported Hamas' existence to screw over the Palestinians is one of the main reasons why he need to fall.

[angelhummel]

rank the seasons based on music? i’m curious :)

Oh that’s so hard because obviously there’s a mixed bag each season. But I’ll try my best. And this is mostly of the top of my head with minimum researching of what they actually performed lol. Let’s get into it...

6) Season Four - Automatically last. 90% of the songs were just whatever was popular and it was boring. Good moments for me were the two songs from Company and basically any number Isabelle was involved in. But Grease was like the most boring and basic and crowd pleasing show they could’ve picked, and all the other songs were just like top 40 and had nothing to say. Yawn

5) Season Six - Obviously s6 was a waste of time in general, but let’s look at the music. Too many gd Rachel solos and duets. The Sue/Schue duets were awful. We get back to Mr. Schue rapping. No thanks. And there’s like. There’s incorporating the songs into the story so that it works with the plot or gives you insight to a character’s feelings etc. And then there’s just. An event is happening. We need to sing some songs. And those are mostly competition episodes. But in this 13 episode season we get a competition, TWO episodes focusing on nothing but an invitationals event that hasn’t been a thing since s1. A bar mitzvah, a party, and a wedding. And the songs are just nothing. They’re boring. They’re basic. Heya? All About That Bass? Uptown Funk?? I barf. It was ridiculous. And I do hate it because the newbies all sounded great and I’m sorry they were wasted in this horrible season. I do like Cool Kids, Chandelier, Take Me To Church. As well as any Klaine duet, the Brittana mash up, I Lived, Home. But the season was garbage and the music does a good job of reflecting that

4) Season Five - I do hate to put this so low but oh well. So what I don’t like: The Beatles are overhyped and they did not need to waste two episodes on them. Billy Joel is nothing to me and I don’t care about a whole episode tribute to him. This Christmas ep has the worst soundtrack, imo. City of Angels has the worst competition music. And redoing all their old songs was a waste of time. Not to mention we get Blurred Lines and The Fox so. That’s that on that. A few good things: Another Gaga ep, even if it’s mixed with Katy this time. I’ll take what I can get. Just the Way You Are. Brave. Anything Elliott or Kurt’s band was part of. Anything Funny Girl or Sondheim. Yep.

3) Season One - Yet again, hate putting this so low. But Mr. Schue’s many instances of rapping is enough to knock it down a few pegs. There’s just too much from characters I don’t like. Too much Finn, too much Rachel, too much Schue. Too much Journey. Also, Funk?? Case closed. Good things: Any Mercedes or Kurt solo. Any time Santana got to open her mouth. True Colors, Like A Prayer, Dancing With Myself

2) Season Two - Let’s not pretend this season isn’t iconic. Coming in hot straight out the gate, we get a whole Britney ep, Rocky Horror, River Deep Mountain High, and The Warblers. Amazing. But this season does have some of my absolute least favorite musical moments of the show. Billionaire, Hey Soul Sister, The Only Exception, Need You Now, Friday, a fucking Justin Beiber episode. Please. On the flipside, it also has some of the most iconic moments in the show. Landslide, Teenage Dream, Tik Tok, I Feel Pretty/Unpretty, Born This Way, Back To Black AND Valerie. Credit where credit is due. Oh, and all the original songs. Those are great 

1) Season Three - I don’t know if this comes as a surprise to anyone reading this bc I constantly bitch about how much I hate season three. Because I do hate it. A lot. But wow if this isn’t the most iconic season musically. They cover Michael, they cover Whitney, we even get a fucking disco episode even tho they could’ve found better less white disco music but oh well. We get fucking Unique gracing our eardrums this season. We get Harmony. We get the goddamn TROUBLETONES. Need I go on?? I will anyway. Iconic songs of the season: Candyman, Rumor Has It/Someone Like You, Perfect, Jolene, We Found Love, Smooth Criminal, Love Shack, Cough Syrup, Shake It Out, Paradise. Holy shit the list goes on. Best Christmas episode soundtrack. Best competition set list with the Jackson family tribute I will go to my grave defending their victory over the Troubletones sorry not sorry. And yeah yeah usual gripes about too many Rachel solos you already know it. But there’s nothing like downright bad or offensive this season. Well, except for Mr. Schue as usual, but thankfully it was actually framed as offensive by the show. Plus I think this has the most variety of any other season. We get the popular songs, we get the Broadway, but we also get some disco, some rock, some country. It’s just a good mix and there’s something for everyone 

[tbhwhocaresanymore]

Nancy Drew 1x15

I HAVE FINISHED THE NEW NANCY DREW EPISODE AND NOW NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT.

LET’S GO.

Okay I will start with my three disappointments. First, I was hoping when they were going down the “you don’t have first-hand exp with the Aglaeca spirit” path they would bring in Victoria. They did not. WRITERS. WHERE IS MY DYSFUNCTIONAL CLAIRVOYANT. Two, they went to the historical society. They MENTIONED HANNAH GRUEN. And then she just wasn’t there, and I was Let Down. Three, Owen and Nancy had sex.

...

No further comment.

Alright to break this down, I thought this episode was fantastic. Nancy coughing up teeth was so metal (the seaweed was a little gross) and they brought back fan favorite Ace’s dad. Side note, I really love what this show does for sign language, just how it is so casually interwoven. And also Ace and his dad’s shock to see Nick knew it, pointing out how uncommon it is which is kind of sad when you consider it’s one of deaf people’s only means of communication. Maybe now that Karen is you know ARRESTED Ace’s dad whose name I do not know will be our point person on the police since the writers have apparently become allergic to Chief McGinnis.

Speaking of Ace, him and Nick being all dude detective duo this episode was fantastic and I loved it. Pair them up more often. And even though I have no idea if they’ll ever be written romantically or not, Nancy has exponentially more chemistry with Ace than with Owen and I would much rather see them explored. I also want to know if anything has even really changed since the last time Owen and Nancy kissed. He asked her out and she said no, and we didn't see what happened the morning after this time around but she clearly spent the night. Bess is bound to bring it up since she spent the night at Nancy’s house and Nancy wasn’t there, and also Owen is her cousin.

I love the bond between Nancy and her dad, it has grown so much and is so beautiful. Her absolute faith and conviction in his innocence and belief that she will get him out of this, especially when he seems to have given up. *chef’s kiss*

I will say going back to Ace and Nick’s detective work, why didn’t they just go ask Claire in prison? “Hey you know how you murdered a bunch of people? We’ll knock like five years off your I presume lifelong sentence if you tell us if you sold this guy poison.” Like admittedly she didn’t, but they didn’t know that at the time. And CAN WE TALK ABOUT KAREN? As soon as it was revealed it was her, I knew she must have known about Ryan and Lucy’s fight before Nancy gave her the emails. Lucy started drawing away after the Velvet Masque but she and Ryan were already dating when he took her, which is probably something Lucy would have told her best friend. And honestly I feel the poison was a little justified? Like at this point Ryan obviously didn’t kill Lucy because the writers know that’s what we’re expecting, but he was involved somehow and if my best friend had been murdered twenty years ago, the case was still unsolved, and her billionaire ex boyfriend was involved and untouchable? I may have also slipped the friend’s brother an untraceable poison. On that note, I love how the writers brought back the Claire episode. At the time we were like, oh it’s just a fun little killer of the week one-off episode, and now a few weeks later here they are like “PSYCHE. What, you thought everything we did wouldn’t have a meaning? Fools.” And honestly, more power to them. I support this kind of intricate planning it speaks to my obsessive perfectionism.

Everything except the Mr. Drew x Karen romance apparently 😂. Like they really did just include that in the pilot to create more drama between Nancy and her dad didn’t they?

Since it turns out Bess is a founder’s descendant, maybe she will be more interested in Marvin family history, get involved in the historical society and we will see Hannah Gruen more often. Make it happen writers. On the topic of Bess, please tell me someone gets that girl a therapist for her kleptomania before she breaks into a museum. Or a bank. Or a mausoleum. Or something high profile.

I did really want to see the Aglaeca, I was looking forward to seeing how costume and makeup pulled it off, but the blackness spreading through the water was really cool too. And considering this episode ended with Nancy like coughing up seaweed for not paying the toll, maybe we will see the spirit next episode as the gang tries to appease it? Let’s talk about the toll for a minute. Did the Aglaeca want to kill Owen or just like want a blood donation? Why? And if it demands a victim for every favor it grants, I can see why the ritual was not handed down through the generations.

NANCY AND NICK. Oh the moments were sparse but they were quality. At the beginning, watching the fight footage when Nick tensed up and Nancy looked away, and she almost rested her head on his shoulder. His continued concern for her. Nancy’s immediately going to the police station when he texted, compare and contrast with episode 7 when Nick kept calling and she kept ignoring. Nick’s reaction when Nancy was about to drink the “poison”.

CAN WE TALK ABOUT ACE’S LEVEL OF TRUST IN NANCY TO STRAIGHT UP DRINK POSSIBLE POISON. COME ON NOW.

George had a very small role this episode which is not exceedingly unusual, but she was funny to watch, falling for Nick, and a great friend to Nancy. All good things. I just hope she doesn’t fall too hard for Nick, since he and Nancy will most likely eventually find their way back to each other. Maybe she can get together with Ace since I ship him with literally everyone apparently. I also like how they brought back that blood bucket she kicked I was beginning to wonder if they’d forgotten about it.

One last thing guys where tf is Josh? Like he walked into a cabinet thing and vanished, maybe Karen is storing him somewhere. Also HOW DID HE SURVIVE GETTING FUCKING ELECTROCUTED. HOW.

Could we really be solving Lucy’s murder next week in The Haunting of Nancy Drew? We will now discuss possible suspects and where the show could go after this.

The episode summary reads “blah blah using forensics and spn stuff Nancy unravels what happened the night Lucy died.” I am going to discount the Hudsons as suspects since we already know they’re involved via the seance.

Owen Marvin. We know the Marvins have family secrets and shady pasts, he is about the same age as Lucy/Ryan and if there was some sort of love triangle

Holy fuck.

Hear me out.

Okay what if Owen was in love with Lucy, and he somehow broke them up (there was a fight and Lucy broke up with Ryan, but in the emails Ryan calls Lucy the whore, so I’m thinking there was definitely some sort of misunderstanding) and he went to profess his love and she turned him down and he killed her? AND NOW, assuming Nancy is Lucy (and Ryan’s) daughter that’s why Owen is so determinedly romancing her? I have absolutely no proof for this theory and it probably didn’t happen since he is helping them out with the investigation but I like it anyway.

There is Lucy’s mother, who I am now convinced was involved because of her trance thing last episode. You can read my last review for more detail (it’ll be under my Nancy Drew tag) but basically upon seeing crime scene photos of Lucy she started singing the Lucy Sable song and was very focused on how Lucy is in the water. And sure parents go crazy over their children dying, but this feels like a little bit more than that? In the transcripts Lucy said if anything happened to her it would be her mother’s doing, and we know they had some kind of falling out before she died over her dating Ryan.

Katherine Drew 😈. Again no evidence but I like to speculate. She was Lucy’s guidance counselor, it gives Mr. Drew a reason to not try very hard to defend himself, to spare Nancy the pain of her mom being a killer. It would make such great drama. That’s it those are the reasons.

Let’s take a moment to examine some untied threads that could be pulled upon in the solving of this murder. Lucy and Josh are only half-siblings, but we don’t know via which parent. So maybe Lucy’s biological mom/dad could have somehow been involved. There are the emails between her and Ryan following the unknown betrayal (you’re a whore like everyone says). I think this one could be tied to what Candice Weaver (sea queen runner up) mentioned, about how there were rumors Lucy slept with the judges to win the title. Maybe Ryan’s parents, especially his mother, were trying to discredit Lucy or frighten her off? Ryan was scheduled to meet with Lucy the night of her death, maybe he saw something he hasn’t come clean about. Back to Josh, right after Lucy died some developers offered Josh and his mom a LOT of money for their house. We know the Marvins deal in real estate, maybe they were trying to get them out of town to cover up for Owen? We also still don’t know for sure how Lucy died, maybe she wasn’t even stabbed at all. And finally, the crown Nancy’s forensic chemist friend examined proves that a woman was up there on those cliffs (KATHERINE DREW) with Lucy because the hair that wasn’t Lucy’s came from a female.

Assuming we do indeed find out who killed Lucy next episode, here are some things the writers could fill the last six episodes with or use to set up season two/things I really want to happen. The episode where Nancy broke into the morgue Ace mentioned Lucy haunts it, looking for her body. Three kids broke in a few years ago, one died, one went missing, one went insane. It was mentioned once and never picked up again. Since Lucy apparently knew where her body was this whole time, maybe a different spirit haunts the morgue and Lucy just gets the blame cause she’s famous. There is George’s blood bucket, which I admit was brought up this episode, but aside from that has not been touched since episode 4. George and Nick’s relationship, Nancy and Owen’s relationship, the Bess/Lisbeth/Amaya love triangle. Whatever sort of closure Mr. Drew needs from Karen or something idk. George could start to become psychic like her mother. There’s the trial of Mr. Hudson for the sinking of the Bonny Scot, along with the haunted dude who survived giving testimony. Maybe he will be killed and Nancy and Co will have to find another piece of evidence really fast like the urn from the Bonny Scot that Ryan is still hanging on to. MAKE BESS AND GEORGE COUSINS WRITERS. MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Even after Nancy solves Lucy’s murder, I want Lucy to stick around. She is my favorite character on the show. She and Nancy can be roommates, she’d be a really great security system. Some guy tries to break into the house only to be greeted by a drowned girl screaming her head off? I’d drop dead. And from next week’s trailer, towards the end when she says “I am trying to solve your murder!” Is it just me or does she sound a little exasperated? Maybe because Nancy is working her ass off here and all Lucy does is scream at her and make her cough up teeth 😂. Yes I want Lucy to find peace, but I also just really really want her to stick around.

Last thing before I wrap up. I know the show is astronomically different from the books but Nancy traveled in the books. She went to different cities, states, countries. As much as I love the creepy superstition loving town of Horseshoe Bay, I am hoping maybe in the later seasons the show’s location branches out a bit? It probably won't because it’s the CW and they use sets and yada yada yada but a girl can dream. See you next week!

[chocoboinspectorbalduin]

Personal Stuff

I was going to say something ... but I decided against it.  Civilians have the right to speak their minds on whatever subject they please.  Whether they’re right or not is none of my business.  So, thanks for the entertainment and you’re welcome.

Beyond that ... it’s been a hellish week at work.  Finding someone competent at their job seems to be a miracle nowadays.  I only say that because I have to clean up other peoples messes - because they were too lazy or too ignorant to do their job correctly the first time.  The ignorance ... I can mostly forgive, but as an NCO - it’s your job to know how to do your job.  The pure laziness I get to witness is just completely astounding.  How did you get this far in life?  How many dicks did you suck to make it here?  Hoooooooly fuck.  I’d go into more details, but I can’t.

I saw a post earlier about using triads in stories and I got caught up on the Freedom vs Justice vs Peace one.  That’s an interesting one.  I started digging into the whole thing.  What is freedom?  What’s the opposite of freedom?  What is Justice?  What is the opposite of Justice?  And so on and so forth. 

I came to what I thought was an interesting parallel between freedom and justice.  The first word that came to mind when I thought of the opposite of freedom (in this case extreme Justice) was - Oppression.  That was even before I got to the dictionary and thesaurus.  So, I tagged on two other antonyms - dependence and heteronomy.  Feel free to look it up.  And then for the opposites of Justice (Extreme Freedom) I found - Prejudice, Inequity, and corruption.  What I’m basically getting at - with too much of either freedom or justice, you always get a form of oppression.  There has to be a balance.

Now, since we’re speaking in triads - You’ll notice I didn’t mention anything about peace.  And that’s because it doesn’t quite fit within this triad in the the way it was implied.  What is peace?  If you look through the definitions on Merriam-Webster, you won’t go far without seeing “freedom” or “law” (Justice, in this case).  Peace cannot exist without either one in this situation.

I don’t know.  I just feel like it was something super interesting to think about.  Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Bouncing around those same notes though ... I started digging around into all sorts of crazy tangents.  I got to thinking about some of the things that I used to hold strong opinions upon and now I’ve changed my position (growth!).  I would like to think that being in military helped to change my mind on some of these - bigger worldview and stuff.  But let’s be honest, it’s probably because I stopped being stupid and did my own research. 

1. LGBTQTIA - I don’t know how much bigger this dang acronym can get - Whatever.  Y’all should be free to marry or not marry whomever the hell you want /and/ have all rights afforded to a traditional marriage.

2. It’s a woman’s body.  Men have no right to dictate what a women does with her body.  Period.  (Hah)

3. I’m starting to heavily lean toward heathcare becoming a right.  The vast majority of civilized countries have adopted health as a basic human right.  I don’t know how “life” (don’t get me started on liberty or the pursuit of happiness) got interpreted into “insurance”, but obviously that’s wrong.  HOWEVER ... there’s a big disconnect.  Funding.

I ended up dragging myself into taxes.  Nothing fancy, just simple normal people taxes.  Honestly, I was floored.  If you make under ~$10k a year (single person), you are still taxed 10% of your yearly income.  Holy fuck.  Really?  It’s 12% up to just short of $40k.  And then 22% once you reach an actual livable wage zone.  If you make more than half a million dollars you are taxed 37%.  That’s it?  You’re telling me that BILLIONAIRES ONLY PAY 37% OF THEIR INCOME IN TAXES!?!  You could tax the top 10 billionaires 75% of their income and they’d still be billionaires.  That’s fucking ridiculous.  If billionaires actually paid a fair share of their taxes - we could cover heathcare - schools could get actual funding - gods, don’t get me started on education.  You’ll also take note that a vast majority of billionaires are also “philanthopists”.  All the offense, but the money they give away is literally pocket change to most of them.  But yeah, the tax system is fucked.

I had other things written down, but they weren’t changes at all.  Just things I still agree with.  Things like ARs and AKs belonging the the hands of mentally stable Americans.  I mean ... the 2nd Amendment is literally there for us to rise up against the government should we feel the need to change it.  And if you think for one minute that the vast majority of the US military would stand in your way - you’d be dead wrong.  But by all means - regulate gun control until we have absolutely nothing left to defend ourselves from the government with.  Because that’s what’s going to happen in the long run.  Don’t say it’s not when there’s already one open Democratic runner saying it.  Hey, but don’t tell me everything will be fine.  Tell the Native Americans that.  Tell the Jews that everything will be fine.  Look, I’m all for extremely stringent mental health checks.  I’m all for having guns in one locked safe and ammo in a completely different locked safe somewhere else.�� Aaaaand ... that’s about it. 

If you read this far - good on you.  Thanks for sticking around I guess.  I just had a lot on my mind.

[princess-of-france]

13 and 22 for Cordelia for the headcanon meme? Thank you so much! :)

Oh my goodness, thank you so much for asking me about my violet girl! ♥ It’s always such a treat when I get to write about her.

13. What gets them flustered?

Very little. Cordelia doesn’t embarrass easy—growing up as the youngest daughter of the richest man in the Western hemisphere, while situated firmly in the eye of the ferocious American media, forced her to develop, from a very early age, a kind of social exoskeleton. I don’t think it’s uncommon for modern royals and celebrities under the age of 25 to hone strategies that allow them to circumvent possible scandal and humiliation; it’s all about knowing how to present in public and how to deflect the questions that could lead down a gnarly path. 

But also, Cordelia just isn’t the type to get flustered? She has a uniquely balanced equilibrium. Marianne used to say she was “rooted in the ground, like a flower or a tree.” Kent thought she must have been born with a “low center of gravity.” Lear, in a characteristically Incorrect assessment, chalked it up to his youngest daughter possessing “her mother’s calm, peaceful nature.” None of those things are true exactly, but it’s true that Cordelia has never been the blushing, hand-waving, word-burbling type. If she’s uncomfortable, then she just clams up. Or she gets drunk.

The exception to this rule, of course, is the damn bastard. 

The first time Cordelia ever recognized a pang of attraction for Edmund—the jerkwad frat boy who scrawled Machiavelli quotations all over her notes on Montaigne and never missed an opportunity to stick his used cigarette butt in her coffee cup—she was all of 15 years old and immediately turned beet red and vomited her lunch into the nearest waste basket. 

Not him, she’d thought, staring at her pale, pimply, braces-bound face in the bathroom mirror, trembling from head to toe. Not that prick, not our godbrother’s brother, not Regan’s drug dealer, not the FBI’s Most Wanted Manwhore, please oh please God no no no no no

For the next three weeks, Cordelia couldn’t so much as look Edmund in the face, she was so horrified and ashamed by what she felt stirring in herself. Edmund, meanwhile, who’d long since grown accustomed to receiving dirty looks and disparaging mutters from Regan’s prissy, straight-A younger sister, was so startled by Cordelia’s sudden skittishness, he actually asked Regan if Cordelia had grown some kind of mutation or been diagnosed with fast-acting Tourrette’s. Regan had rolled her eyes at this and replied that, as a general rule, ostensibly heterosexual freshmen high school girls should never be expected to speak in complete sentences in front of male law students.

Edmund felt very smug about this for about five days, until he made the mistake of quoting Thatcher within earshot of where Cordelia was studying. She raised her hand to flip him off without even thinking twice…and that was pretty much the end of her “flustered” phase.

22. People who have influenced them greatly

Omg EVERYONE IN HER LIFE. Is that a cop-out? Maybe it’s a cop-out. But oh holy lord it’s so true. Everyone has influenced Cordelia, even the Frenchwoman she never knew: her mother, Luce.

Her father is the reason Cordelia has been NYC’s Most Eligible Bachelorette since the age of 18. He’s the reason she has $600 million waiting in a locked war chest at a bank in Midtown. He’s the reason she went to France with a lifelong bodyguard at her side. But he’s also the reason she carries a load of guilt the weight of a US military tank around on her shoulders every single goddam day of her life. He is the cause of the contradictory hurricane that is her life. It’s no small thing to be the daughter of a billionaire, especially when you feel called to be a far left-wing politician. And when that billionaire insists on calling you his “favorite,” and the “great white hope” of the corporation, it adds a whole other layer of existential crisis into the mix.

Darling Kent, on the other hand, is her man, her champion, her ultimate defender. She doesn’t even want to think about how alone she’d be without his twinkly wisdom and wry sense of humor. 

Goneril is a lot of work—imperious, vain, masking self-doubt with self-righteous anger. And 11 years is a big age gap, so it’s always been hard for Cordelia to view Goneril as anything other than a young, rather hoity-toity aunt. But Goneril is sharp; she misses nothing, like a bird of prey. And almost through osmosis, she’s taught Cordelia how to think like a chess player: how to research, strategize, deploy, mislead, etc. Their arguments cut like razors, because Goneril knows precisely how to wound the people in her life and Cordelia is too proud ever to bleed alone.

Regan just worries Cordelia. Has ALWAYS worried Cordelia. It used to be just simple stuff: bad grades, school suspensions, cigarettes, a swiped hip flask here and there. Now, at 27, with the padlock on her trust fund fully blown off, Regan is causing Goneril, Cordelia, Kent, and everyone else a hell of a lot of stress. For one thing, there’s the coke habit (fueled by Edmund, surprise fucking surprise); the’s also the part-time pole dancing at a strip club in Midtown…and now the wanton seduction of her 45-year-old, very very married boss, Vaughn.

Uncle G is kind of an idiot, but he gives good hugs and Christmas presents. And his wife was the only mother Cordelia ever knew. Compassionate, sensible, brisk, generous, Marianne Gloucester was the ultimate stand-in mother for Cordelia and her sisters, and she loved them every bit as fiercely as she loved her biological child, Edgar…that is, until the day she was hit by a drunk driver in an accident on 18th and Broadway. Cordelia was only 9 years old when it happened, but she remembers every detail. That is a pain that will not fade.

And then there’s Edmund. Edmund, whom she hates. Edmund, whom she loves. Despises. Needs. Fears. Condemns. Craves. Deserves? Edmund, who has always seen and pointed out the things in her that she most fears and loathes about herself: 

Holier-than-thou judgmentalist do-gooder with a head full of empty words and a heart that’s just plain empty. Princess. Spoilt little Daddy’s girl with too many credit cards and not enough common sense. Princess. WASP-y Francophile. Princess. Penthouse-owning philanthropist. Princess. Moralistic harpy. Princess. Foreign Diplomat Barbie. Princess. Princess. Princess. 

Edmund, who kissed her like he wanted to kill her. Edmund, who made her see constellations in the back of her head. Edmund, who told her in a low, cracked voice that he didn’t realize he was capable of feeling his atoms split apart. That the poets were right all along. Edmund, who told her about the bet with Regan on the day she showed him her acceptance letter to Columbia. Who confessed there were other girls. Who told her to embrace this opportunity to come to grips with the fact that there’s no such thing as love. Edmund, the boy she grew up hating, then learned to love, and then learned to hate all over again. The boy she ran away from, then thought about every day. The boy she cannot get out of her fucking bloodstream, no matter how many years go by. The boy who will probably be the death of her.

[anika-ann]

The Troubles Are Lurking in Queens - Pt.2

Of  Not So Funny Billionaires and Terrified Husbands

Pairing: Matt Murdock x reader        Word count: 2960

Type: Two-shot, reader insert

Summary: When an arrogant lawyer demands his paperwork right now or better yet this very moment, you’re a good wife to Matt and decide to deliver the documents yourself – for your husband’s mental health sake (and for the sake of the meeting he’s running to).

The catch is the said lawyer has his office in Queens – and whoever said Hell’s Kitchen was the least safe place in NYC was clearly lying. Also, Tony Stark is... Tony Stark.

Warnings: swearing, mention of attempted assault, mention of past torture, some blood, Tony being a jerk

Part 1

◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦◦

Spiderman apparently didn’t take no for an answer.

The office wasn’t on the way, but Spiderman delivered the papers anyway; you thought Davidson’s secretary’s face was priceless at least as Spiderman with a woman in his arms knocked on the window of her office, but anyway. Your way included a lot of not exactly secure flying around in the vigilante’s thin and somehow strong arms (enhanced strength?), only holding onto buildings via some sort of a web fibre and it was a fucking wonder you hadn’t either ended up smashed on a side of some building or hadn’t puked by the time you magically landed on the roof of the Avengers Tower.

Also, you were pretty sure some of your blood had rained down on someone and it was an awful idea you couldn’t shake off.

You were clutching your chest trying to catch your breath as the kid let go of you slowly, gentlemanly making sure you wouldn’t faint. Well. Now he was concerned about that?

“Welcome, sweetheart!” Stark’s voice sounded behind you as the billionaire walked in your direction with his arms wide open.

You on the other hand looked at him murderously. Was this really necessary?

“You know Mr. Stark?” the kid asked in awe.

You swallowed the ‘unfortunately’ line and pressed your lips together.

“Tony. What a wonderful surprise. How are you these days?” you wondered with a fake smile and he grinned wider, enveloping you in a hug. You didn’t reciprocate the gesture too happily, but you… tried.

“On a first name basis with Mr. Stark and hugging him? Holy hell!”

You rolled her eyes and spent a precious second thinking what the kid would say to what was coming next. The moment Tony withdrew, you slapped him, because you really needed to slap someone today. Tony was lucky your dominant hand was cut and you used your weaker one.

He tried to set his jaw right as if it really hurt anyway. The Spiderkid fell into shocked silence.

“That’s for using a poor kid for dragging me where I don’t want to go just for your fun or whatever,” you hissed and Tony licked his lips.

“Yeah, okay, I deserved this one.”

“Glad you acknowledge that.”

You tried not to think too hard about that you slapped a man who had once saved your husband’s life. You sighed, coming for another, this time gentler, hug, still wary of not staining his t-shirt with your blood. You probably failed.

“Sorry I couldn’t make it to the wedding.”

“We were hoping you wouldn’t,” you teased, feeling a bit guilty for a) slapping him and b) being cranky. Tony was a bit of a dick, but a good guy. That was why you had decided to send him an invitation along with the other Avengers, who had saved Matt’s life one of the times he had got over his head and you walked into the Avengers Tower begging for help.

“I bet it was boring without me.”

“Totally,” you laughed, letting go of him.

“So… I understand this is some sort of a reunion, but a) I’m not a kid,” the teenage vigilante defended himself and you bit your cheek to stop yourself from protesting. “And b) shouldn’t her hand be handled? I mean, that’s why I brought her here?”

You smiled at the kid. He was cute. “Yeah, Tony. Shouldn’t my hand be handled?”

It was handled, by doctor Cho, who was usually taking care of bullet wounds, knife-in-liver wounds and stuff like that. She was incredibly nice, especially when you considered the shit she was dealing with.

The doc was just finishing your bandage – you only needed two stiches – when your ringtone cut the air and all four present – you, Doctor Cho, Tony and Spiderman – jumped a little.

“Hand me the phone someone, please?”

“FRIDAY, who’s calling?” Stark called out and you were kinda hoping it was just for show. They wouldn’t know that without looking, right?

“Contact saved as Matt, sir.”

How the fuck the AI could tell that? Also… ah-oh.

“That’s a little boring  I was expecting something more original. Sugar-bear. Bumblebee. FRIDAY, put it on speaker.”

You just gaped. How?! And was he serious?

“Oh, and mute her voice.”

“What?!”

“Are you okay?” Matt’s panicked voice demanded from the speakers in the corners of the room and you breathed in to calm his fright – wherever it came from. “Davidson called there was blood on the papers and-“

Oh crap, learning that must have been terrible. Also, you were sure Davidson had been a dick about it as well, probably complaining about dangerous biological material in his office.

“I’m fine, Matt,” you reassured him.

His terrified voice called out your name. “Are you there? Can you hear me?”

You opened your mouth uselessly. Was this for real? Could he really not hear you somehow? What the fuck?! Why would-

“Hey, buddy!” Tony chipped enthusiastically and your blood ran cold. Oh no. No, no, no, no…

Even through the phone, you could hear your husband’s breath hitch. “Who are you? How did you get this phone?”

You could only imagine Matt’s sightless eyes flickering wildly as he was trying to figure out the worst possible bloody scenario.

“I’m-“ you started, but Tony rolled his eyes at your attempts.

“Relax. I’m just having a little fun-“

Spiderman rose to his feet as he apparently wanted to protest too, but Tony shushed him.

“Who are you? What did you do? What do you want?” Matt’s voice changed dangerously, switching to the Daredevil persona and demanding answers. “I swear if you touch one hair on her head, I’m going to tear your limbs off one after another-“

Spiderman shrieked at the cruel threat and the way it was delivered. You gently pushed away Doctor Cho, standing up and making your way to the billionaire with your blood boiling.

“Tony, stop this right now,” you growled, your voice resembling the one speaking through the phone. He was scaring Matt out of his mind. Couldn’t he see that this wasn’t fun?

“Come on! Light up! I’m just gonna-”

“Don’t you dare to hurt her!” Matt thundered and Tony actually jumped at the sound of Matt’s teeth grinding.

“Alright, alright! Jeez, can’t you recognize an old pal? Jesus, DD,” Tony complained and the room was suddenly very quiet.  

“Tony, let me to talk to him.”

“Let her talk to him, Mr. Stark,” the kid supported you and you were sure he made some sort of puppy eyes behind his mask.

Matt didn’t react to learning the name of your ‘captor’. Which meant he was probably really pissed or too shocked. Or that Stark somehow blocked his voice too.

“Tony-“ you pressed and he sighed in defeat.

“Yeah, yeah, FRIDAY-“

There was a beep.

“Matt, it’s me. Are you there?” you asked softly, hearing his sharp inhale. “I’m okay-“

“She’s injured-“

“Shut up!” you shouted Tony down, spinning to him with your hand raised in warning. He had already said enough.

“Well, you are,” Spiderkid noted carefully and you gritted your teeth.

“I’m okay, Matt. I’m in the Avengers tower-“

“Medical wing,” Tony supplied helpfully and you grabbed the nearest thing – which happened to be a metal platter – and lashed it his direction. He shielded his face, silent ‘ow’ escaping him as the improvised weapon hit his hands.

“I’m on my way,” Matt exclaimed.

“Wait-“

There was only a dialling tone and you whined. You measured to Tony with fire in your eyes.

“I’m sorry?” he offered, shrugging with his palms up.

“You are such a dick! Complete and utter dick! You scared the shit out of him!” you yelled at the man who wore almost genuinely apologetic expression. But you didn’t care if he was sorry. He almost gave Matt a freaking heart attack! He had no idea what had-- you squatted for the platter, fully intending to use it again as the idiot was in your reach. “You fucker, you dickhead! You careless fuck-up!”

Each of the insults was accompanied by a hit with the platter. No one stopped you. Tony wisely covered his head. You were sure you it hurt as hell anyway, but somehow it didn’t sooth your nerves.

“I’m sorry, okay?”

“The last fucking time someone had my phone and talked to Matt was when I was kidnapped by Wilson. Fucking. Fisk! He threatened to break my spine to paralyse me, you. Selfish. Arrogant. Bastard!”

Fuck, you were crying and your hands were shaking, suddenly feeling too weak.

You let go of the platter, overwhelmed by the memory yourself; the knife cutting through your skin when the huge man hadn’t liked your answers to his questions, his threats, Matt’s terrified voice on the other end of the line-

The clatter of the platter on the floor snapped you back into reality, but the images didn’t disappear. You brought your hands to your mouth to muffle the scream that drew to your lips.

“Madam?” sounded hesitantly behind you and you tried to blink away the freaking tears and chase away the nasty memory, unable to respond to the kid. It’s gone now, it’s in the past, I’m okay, I’m okay, Matt’s okay— just give me a fucking minute dammit. “Madam, can I hug you?”

You burst out laughing at the request; hysterical laugh during an emotionally heavy situation, the first sign of insanity.

“Oh my god. Yeah, yeah, you can, kid.”

The vigilante obediently wrapped his strong but toothpicks-like arms around your shoulders, embracing you tightly yet gently. He avoided applying a pressure against your belly with surprising grace. He didn’t even call you out on the ‘kid’ addressing. You were really starting to like him.

Maybe it was the costume – the armour – but it was kinda soothing. Maybe it was the knowledge he had to deal with Tony too often, so it felt like he was an ally of yours. You leaned into the hug gratefully and he caressed your back.

“You’re good at this,” you mumbled into the strange material of his suit.

“Thanks, madam.”

You chuckled at the addressing and asked him to call you your first name.

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Tony bullied you into a check-up; like the periodical check-up all pregnant women had to attend.

“Tony, I was at doctor’s three days ago-“

“But I upset you and stressed you big time. Don’t you think you should have another examination? Just to be sure?” he pressed, trying to make puppy eyes. Vainly – you had enough training at resisting the puppy eyes master Matt Murdock himself, Tony’s attempts were nothing compared to that.

“Tony, honestly, I just want to get the hell out of here ASAP,” you cooled him down. You were still pissed at him. A lot.

“FRIDAY! Call Doctor Cho back!”

And just like that, the poor doc who had silently disappeared during the fight had to come back and examine you again. With USG and everything. You didn’t have the strength to argue anymore and you didn’t want to make Doctor Cho’s job harder than it already was by working for Tony Stark in the first place.

You didn’t expect anything being wrong – yet, you couldn’t supress the relief washing through your body as the doctor told you both you and your baby were fine.

Also, the check-up filled the time, so you didn’t get the opportunity to pace nervously. You were getting dressed again when Matt’s voice entered the room.

“(Y/N)!” he called out and you wordlessly asked the doctor to get rid of the curtain separating your and the rest of the world. Not that it made a difference to Matt – it did to you.

“Matt, hey!” you greeted him, rising from the bed so he could see you were perfectly healthy. The impression was ruined a bit by your head spinning and the need to support yourself onto the bed, but hey, you tried.

Matt was crossing the distance between you two in rapid pace, his cane folded in his hand, his glasses covering too little of his worried expression.

“What happened? Are you okay? I mean, of course you’re not-“

“I’m okay, Matt,” you assured his softly as he threw the cane away carelessly and enclosed you in a bone-crushing hug. He nuzzled his nose in your hair, breathing in deeply. You kissed the side of his neck. “I’m fine, Matt, I swear.”

“I smell blood,” he protested, wounded by the lie. “When I heard someone else on the phone, I— I-“

You wrapped your arms around him gently, one of your hands interweaving in his hair, stroking comfortingly. He squeezed a little tighter.

“Tony is a dick. I’m so sorry he scared you. And… I’m sorry if Davidson was being an asshole about the papers-“

“Do you really think I care about some arrogant self-important asshole right now?” he asked hoarsely and you sighed, your lips caressing his skin again.

“No. But I’m still sorry.”

“ ‘kay. Noted. God, I’m glad you’re okay, sweetheart. I shouldn’t have let you-“

“Don’t even finish that thought,” you warned him, smacking his back a little. He caressed your lower back in return as an apology for trying to make a guilt trip. You knew he would be still blaming himself even when not saying it out loud, but you could work with that better. And later. In private.

“So… this is the guy who threatened to tear your limbs off, Mr. Stark?” the kid asked slowly and you bit your lip, loosening the hug just slightly in favour to glance his direction over Matt’s shoulder.

Yeah, you could see how this was confusing. After all, Matt was blind and right now looking like a cuddly teddy bear. God, you loved him for how caring and loving he was.

“This is the guy who saved me from getting mugged… potentially shot,” you whispered, feeling Matt’s body going tense at the reminder of the danger you had been in. His hand clutched at your shirt before letting go of you, turning in the direction of the young man’s voice.

“Thank you,” Matt said in earnest, extending his hand for the Spiderkid to shake. The vigilante squeaked, but lost his glove and accepted Matt’s hand.

“You’re— you’re welcome, sir. She… she was a great help actually, it was pleasure to save her, though she almost saved herself on her own-” he babbled nervously and Matt covered the back of kid’s hand with his left palm.

“I’m still grateful. And it’s Matt.”

The younger vigilante let out a surprised sound. “No prob, sir— Matt, sir.” The corners of your lips twitched. “I’m Spiderman. But you probably know that… or not. ‘cause you haven’t seen me in the news— oh god, oh frack, I’m really putting my foot in my mouth-“

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Spiderman. Thank you again for saving my wife’s life.”

The two men finally released each other’s hands and Matt immediately turned back to you as you approached him. He wrapped his arm around your waist, kissing your temple lovingly, his thumb stroking your hip.

“So…” Stark started, making you both spun in his direction involuntarily. You couldn’t help but shot him an annoyed and angry look. Matt was significantly better seeing you were okay, but make no mistake, you were still incredibly pissed.

“Mr. Stark-“

“Alright! I’m really sorry, okay? Really, really sorry. It was a dick move!” Tony admitted and you were almost surprised at him acknowledging his mistake so openly. He turned rather to Matt then. “But you don’t need to worry, Murdock, I got her checked up and both of your girls are fine.”

Your heart stopped. Matt froze in the middle of his soothing periodical motions. The room fell into silence. You were afraid to even breathe in.

Did he just… did he-

“Both— both of my girls?” Matt choked out at your side and your slow brain was still processing the information you were just given. Oh my god.

“Yeah, Cho managed to check them up both.”

“Both… my— my-- girls,” Matt stuttered and his posture shifted slightly so he could face you without stopping touching you. “We’re-“

You and Matt had never asked your doctor whether you were having a boy or a girl. You had refused to know when the doctor had offered, because you didn’t want to know before Matt would and then you had talked to Matt, learning he wouldn’t want to know either.

Well.

Hell.

You were… having a girl. You didn’t know which option you had wanted until this moment, you just knew you somehow felt you were having a boy. Apparently, you were wrong.

And it was beautiful. So beautiful you felt tears in your eyes. You were having a girl.

You gulped, reaching out to uncover Matt’s eyes, putting his glasses away before squeezing his hand on you lightly. You raised your face to his; his brown eyes were… shining with gold threads and twinkling with tears just like yours.  

You couldn’t let out a single word. It turned out you didn’t have to.

Matt’s free hand reached for your cheek, cupping it tenderly and his lips met yours in a careful light touch. And another one, And one more.

“…they didn’t know the sex and I just told them, didn’t I?” Tony’s voice sounded from an awfully huge distance and you smiled into the kisses you kept receiving, curling your fingers in Matt’s hair, returning his affection.

“I think so, Mr. Stark. I don’t think they mind too much though,” Spiderman hummed, sounding a bit amused and absolutely moved by the scene in front of him.

“Cover your eyes kid, the adults are having a moment.”  

“Cover your eyes yourself… this is way better than a movie,” the teenage vigilante mumbled and they all pretended they didn’t hear it. You just secretly decided you adored the kid.

But you could never love the kid more than your own; your own babygirl.

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M.M. masterlist

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So… this happened? Somehow? Oh no, I made it fluffy… :D

Thank you for reading!

[magesona]

YO EVERYONE HEY

BERNIE IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT AGAIN

REPEAT - BERNIE SANDERS IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN THE 2020 ELECTIONS

This is the turn of the era everyone, honest to everything holy and whatever you hold dear, i really truly believe this is our opportunity to fix the fucked up shit Trump has been doing, and to lead America and humanity into a more positive and progressive future! This isn’t a petition or asking for a donation (though it will ask after you sign, you don’t have to, but y'know it’d be helpful if you can afford it), Bernie just wants to know and be able to show we’ll all be with him during this campaign!

This is all it takes, for real just sign!! Sign if you’re with this wonderful sweet man who has been screwed by elite class countless times, he wants to and can do so much to help our people, but we have to work together on this!! Believe me, even if the system is corrupt, even if it may not work in the end, it’s worth a shot! I’d say it’s worth the biggest shot we have, don’t let pessimism hold us back! Things have changed over the past few years, we have more of an advantage now with people realizing just how wrong they were to trust the man we’ve put into power. It’s the only way we can fight him and the broken system, TOGETHER!!

https://act.berniesanders.com/signup/em_bern_message/

Below the cut, i’ve included the rest of Bernie’s email. It includes all the promises he’s making for us, explains what we’re up against, and why he thinks we have a chance this time. It’s astounding how many important topics he addresses, universe bless this precious man, please don’t let the system fail him again.

---

I am writing to let you know I have decided to run for president of the United States. I am asking you to join me today as part of an unprecedented and historic grassroots campaign that will begin with at least a million people from across the country.

Please join our campaign for president on day one and commit to doing what it takes to win this election.

Our campaign is not only about defeating Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in modern American history. It is not only about winning the Democratic nomination and the general election.

Our campaign is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice.

Our campaign is about taking on the powerful special interests that dominate our economic and political life. I’m talking about Wall Street, the health insurance companies, the drug companies, the fossil fuel industry, the military industrial complex, the private prison industry and the large multinational corporations that exert such an enormous influence over our lives.

Our campaign is about redoubling our efforts to end racism, sexism, homophobia, religious bigotry and all forms of discrimination.

Our campaign is about creating a vibrant democracy with the highest voter turnout of any major country while we end voter suppression, Citizens United and outrageous levels of gerrymandering.

Our campaign is about creating a government and economy that work for the many, not just the few. We are the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. We should not have grotesque levels of wealth inequality in which three billionaires own more wealth than the bottom half of the country.

We should not have 30 million Americans without any health insurance, even more who are underinsured and a nation in which life expectancy is actually in decline.

We should not have an economy in which tens of millions of workers earn starvation wages and half of older workers have no savings as they face retirement.

We should not have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country on Earth and a dysfunctional childcare system which is unfair to both working parents and their children.

We should not have a regressive tax system in which large, profitable corporations like Amazon pay nothing in federal income taxes.

Make no mistake about it. The powerful special interests in this country have unbelievable power and they want to maintain the status quo. They have unlimited amounts of money to spend on campaigns and lobbying and have huge influence over the media and political parties.

The only way we will win this election and create a government and economy that work for all is with a grassroots movement – the likes of which has never been seen in American history.

They may have the money and power. We have the people. That is why we need one million Americans who will commit themselves to this campaign.

Stand with me as we fight to win the Democratic nomination and the general election. Add your name to join this campaign and say you are willing to do the hard work necessary to transform our country.

You know as well as I do that we are living in a pivotal and dangerous moment in American history. We are running against a president who is a pathological liar, a fraud, a racist, a sexist, a xenophobe and someone who is undermining American democracy as he leads us in an authoritarian direction.

I’m running for president because, now more than ever, we need leadership that brings us together – not divides us up. Women and men, black, white, Latino, Native American, Asian American, gay and straight, young and old, native born and immigrant. Now is the time for us to stand together.

I’m running for president because we need leadership that will fight for working families and the shrinking middle class, not just the 1 percent. We need a president who understands that we can create millions of good-paying jobs, rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and construct the affordable housing we desperately need.

I’m running for president because we need trade policies that reflect the interests of workers and not multi-national corporations. We need to raise the minimum wage to a living wage, provide pay equity for women and guarantee all workers paid family and medical leave.

I’m running for president because we need to understand that artificial intelligence and robotics must benefit the needs of workers, not just corporate America and those who own that technology.

I’m running for president because a great nation is judged not by how many billionaires and nuclear weapons it has, but by how it treats the most vulnerable – the elderly, the children, our veterans, the sick and the poor.

I’m running for president because we need to make policy decisions based on science, not politics. We need a president who understands that climate change is real, is an existential threat to our country and the entire planet, and that we can generate massive job creation by transforming our energy system away from fossil fuels to energy efficiency and sustainable energy.

I’m running for president because the time is long overdue for the United States to join every other major country on Earth and guarantee health care to all people as a right, not a privilege, through a Medicare-for-all program.

I’m running for president because we need to take on the outrageous level of greed of the pharmaceutical industry and lower prescription drug prices in this country.

I’m running for president because we need to have the best educated workforce in the world. It is totally counterproductive for our future that millions of Americans are carrying outrageous levels of student debt, while many others cannot afford the high cost of higher education. That is why we need to make public colleges and universities tuition free and lower student debt.

I’m running for president because we must defend a woman’s right to control her own body against massive political attacks taking place at the local, state and federal level.

I’m running for president because we need real criminal justice reform. We need to invest in jobs and education for our kids, not more jails and incarceration. We need to end the destructive “war on drugs,” eliminate private prisons and cash bail and bring about major police department reform.

I’m running for president because we need to end the demonization of undocumented immigrants in this country and move to comprehensive immigration reform. We need to provide immediate legal status for the young people eligible for the DACA program and develop a humane policy for those at the border who seek asylum.

I’m running for president because we must end the epidemic of gun violence in this country. We need to take on the NRA, expand background checks, end the gun show loophole and ban the sale and distribution of assault weapons.

I’m running for president because we need a foreign policy which focuses on democracy, human rights, diplomacy and world peace. The United States must lead the world in improving international cooperation in the fight against climate change, militarism, authoritarianism and global wealth inequality.

That is why we need at least a million people to join our campaign and help lead the movement that can accomplish these goals. Add your name to say we’re in this together.

Needless to say, there is a lot of frightening and bad news in this world. Now, let me give you some very good news.

Three years ago, during our 2016 campaign, when we brought forth our progressive agenda we were told that our ideas were “radical” and “extreme.” We were told that Medicare for All, a $15 an hour minimum wage, free tuition at public colleges and universities, aggressively combating climate change, demanding that the wealthy start paying their fair share of taxes, were all concepts that the American people would never accept.

Well, three years have come and gone. And, as result of millions of Americans standing up and fighting back, all of these policies and more are now supported by a majority of Americans.

Together, you and I and our 2016 campaign began the political revolution. Now, it is time to complete that revolution and implement the vision that we fought for.

So here is my question for you:

Will you stand with me as part of a million person grassroots movement which can not only win the Democratic primary, not only win the general election, but most importantly help transform this country so that, finally, we have a government that works for all of us and not just the few? Add your name to say you will.

Together we can create a nation that leads the world in the struggle for peace and for economic, racial, social and environmental justice.

And together we can defeat Donald Trump and repair the damage he has done to our country.

Brothers and sisters, if we stand together, there is no limit to what we can accomplish.

I hope you will join me.

Thank you very much.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

[elcorhamletlive]

i’ve seen so much gorgeous art of a “holy shit you’re alive” hug that would be so incredible and amazing but now i can’t stop thinking about stony scenes for A4

they see each other for the first time and there’s. like. no hug. they just stop and FREEZE and stare at each other for what it feels like a lifetime and then one or both of them kind of lift a hand or reach forward for ONE SECOND but they Can’t Do It and they just BREATHE staring fixedly at each other until tony turns around and you can SEE IT, like all over their faces and bodies how much they want to touch but they Can’t...........

they hug later in the movie after such a scene and it’s like this incredibly slow awkward hug, like think nebula and gamora hugging in guardians 2 except with ten times more tension, they’re both so hesitant, so nervous, not even sure they’re allowed to do that so they give each other plenty of time to back out of it and then suddenly they’re there, they’re touching, hugging, and for one second one of them (or even better BOTH) closes their eyes

a scene before tony goes back to earth where steve is just like. sitting somewhere contemplating the pain of his existence. and maybe natasha or thor sits next to him to attempt to get him to talk and he’s just like... casually holding the flip phone in one hand, just touching it, and if it’s natasha she just gets that sad knowing look on her face that says she’s seen him doing that so many times before

or EVEN BETTER a scene where tony is already on earth and they’ve reached a middle ground and are slightly more comfortable around each other, working together, and something happens and for some reason steve pulls out the flip phone - like, casually, looking for something else in his belt or whatever - and tony just gets that Moment of realising steve’s been carrying it around too, and maybe he comments it in some way and steve just Looks Away and shrugs and he’s like “I said I’d be there if you needed me” and tony just looks at him so intensely, rdj’s eyes basically spelling out an entire sonnet of unspoken feelings and thoughts as he goes “...yeah you did.”

idk if they’re even gonna talk about the accords or siberia specifically but if they do i think it’s gonna start out as this really tired talk, like none of the furious fights they usually have in fics but something way more melancholic, and since they’re both adults neither of them grovels at the other’s feet, but they Talk and somewhere during the talk tony kind of loses it and accuses steve of not caring - not about the accords or the team or whatever the fuck else but about him, like you never trusted me, never thought of me as a friend, i cared so much and you never did, and then steve just............ breaks. like he’s been keeping it together for the entire movie after watching everyone die because that’s what he does, he bottles everything inside because that’s what everyone else needs him to do, and that’s like the breaking point because how can tony even think that, how could this happen, and then he just..... doesn’t break down sobbing or crying or anything but he takes off his helmet/hood (because we know he will wear the uniform again at some point, and because he needs to look at tony as Steve Rogers and not as Cap, he needs to try, needs him to understand) and LOOKS at tony and his eyes are red and his voice is choked up and then idk what he says, he can say he’s sorry or he can ask if that’s what tony really thinks or whatever, and tony is just STARTLED because how, how is that happening, why is steve rogers that upset because of him, Does Not Compute, and then again idk what happens - maybe tony apologises too, maybe they both agree it doesn’t even matter anymore -, but there’s this one moment where they just look at each other and steve lets tony see a glimpse of how broken he really is, how much their fight destroyed him too, and tony Gets It and the sight of steve so hurt is painful and he does the reaching-forward-to-touch-but-not-really-managing-to thing again, and then idk something interrupts them

and since they’re time travelling maybe they end up in the 40s somehow and tony is talking to bruce/someone like ‘i know i know i can’t be seen, i will be discreet, nobody will ever know i’m here’ and then he turns around and there’s pre-serum!steve in all of his glory, kind of weirded out and charmed by this random gorgeous man that just showed up talking to himself, and they chat a little and steve thinks tony isjust some rich guy that got lost in brooklyn and asks him if he can... call his butler or something (pre-serum!steve’s thoughts: “...rich people have those, right?”), and tony is so shocked because that’s pre-serum steve, pre-war steve, steve who still has a living mom and a poor and rough but generally bearable life - it’s such a different steve from the one he knows, he looks so young, and then maybe before they part tony offers to idk give him some change (maybe steve’s drawing and tony offers to buy something of his), because honestly who the fuck cares about fucking up time and space, tony’s heart is really aching right now. and then steve immediately goes “no no sir there’s no need, really, please don’t bother” in that definite tone and tony’s expression softens a little because that’s the steve rogers he knows, stubborn and unable to ever ask for any help, steve who has no idea he’s going to die and wake up 70 years later to carry the burden of the world on his shoulders, and suddenly tony understands a little of steve’s breakdown, even after all that crap between them, and he now knows steve does care a fucking lot, and he has this sad but fond look on his face as he says goodbye and says “take care”, and steve smiles “you too”.

a scene where steve notices the new reactor and tony just casually goes “oh, oh yeah, it’s something i came up with recently” and maybe it’s just after a battle and steve just saw the bleeding edge armor for the first time so he just gets that holy shit you’re the most amazing thing i’ve ever seen how are you real look on his face and tony watches it and thinks for a moment and goes “...do you wanna see it?”. and steve’s eyes widen and he’s like “what?” and tony gets that nervous but eager look on his face and just pops the reactor off like it’s nothing (it’s everything and they both know it) like “yeah take a look it’s pretty cool right???” and maybe he starts quipping a bit because he’s nervous for reasons he doesn’t know (they both know) and steve just... holds it in his hands like it’s THE most precious thing he’s ever touched (because it is), and tony’s rambling to lighten up the moment but steve almost can’t breathe, can’t believe tony’s trusting him to touch the reactor again, and he just looks at him and goes “...it’s amazing” and tony stops mid-sentence and they just smile at each other for a moment

and then later when they get get the chance to talk they’re much softer and friendlier (because they finally got the chance to see, to understand), and they have a moment where they can talk and smile

maybe there’s a callback to their first fight in the helicarrier, maybe they wonder how it will be like if they manage to win and survive (it’s wishful thinking, they don’t have many chances, but they allow themselves to have this moment) and tony goes ‘well i guess i should retire but tbh we saw how great that went before, i mean what even am i without a suit right?” - like not bitterly, honestly playfully, recognizing himself as someone who will always Be Iron Man, not even thinking about steve’s words at this point - and steve just goes “...genius billionaire philanthropist...? what’s the last one?” and tony grins “playboy”, and steve’s like “that’s right, i always forget one” with that one Tony Smile he does

we know scott motherfucking lang is going to be the one who comes up with the time travel to save everyone and there’s that picture of him and tony and steve wearing the wrist devices, so if they travel back in time all three of them i want poor scott to be deeply uncomfortable because of the constant Tension and then when they have this softer moment he just. Gets Up To Leave immediately like he does in ant-man when hope and hank are sorting their shit out. steve and tony look at him because they suddenly remember he’s there and he’s just like “DON’T MIND ME please go on i’m gonna go make some tea” and when he gets out they both laugh

at the end i want them to die together and this can happen in so many ways like they can face thanos side by side, or they can hold down thanos’ army while carol fights him, or WHATEVER i just need them to fight together and they shouldn’t work together so well after being apart for so long but they do just like in the battle of new york, they just trust each other and know what the other’s gonna do and they kick some alien ass

and if they do die i hope ONE of them tries to sacrifice himself for the other, like tony tells steve to go back because we need you, Cap, or steve tells tony to save himself because EARTH CAN’T LOSE ITS GREATEST DEFENDER, and then when the one that stayed is fighting thanos/doing whatever he’s supposed to do to sacrifice his life the other one goes back and there’s the ECHO of That Moment that we all know - steve looks at him shocked but can’t hold back the relief of seeing him by his side (this time he doesn’t have to die alone), tony takes a sharp breath but can’t fight back a smile (this time he won’t fall through space alone), they respect each other’s choice, and thanos or whoever asks them how they’re planning to do this and steve immediately answers “together” and thanos like shakes his head sadly at their stupidity and says “you’ll lose” and tony’s not even looking at him. instead he looks at steve, smiles and goes “then we’ll do that together too”.