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The elephant in the room. :: January 18, 2023
Robert B. Hubbell
The radicalization of the GOP is the elephant in the room of American politics. Most days, the media discusses the Republican Party as a legitimate participant in American democracy. It is not. Occasionally, the veneer of its respectability falls away, and we see it for what it is: An organization that uses violence and intimidation as political tools, has adopted deliberate falsehood as the lingua franca of politics, and peddles dangerous conspiracy theories to dupe, defraud, and incite its gullible base.
On Tuesday, three stories collided in the news to remind us of the elephant in the room—the politically motivated shootings in New Mexico, Kevin McCarthy’s legitimization of George Santos by appointing him to two congressional committees, and the right-wing’s most recent lies about the COVID vaccine allegedly causing cardiac arrest. If the media was doing its job, it would rise in unison to say that the GOP is a terrorist organization masquerading as a major party in American politics. To be fair, some news organizations did raise the alarm on Tuesday, but most spent the day engaged in “whataboutism” over Joe Biden’s document gaffes—a development that is not even in the same galaxy as the GOP’s offenses on Tuesday.
It is both aggravating and enervating to constantly call out the outrageous behavior of the Republican Party that threatens the foundations of our democracy. But failing to raise the alarm is even more dangerous. Part of the Republican strategy is to grind us into submission, to exhaust us, to disgust us to the point that we will look away. To preserve our mental health, we cannot—indeed, we must not—maintain a constant state of agitation over the GOP’s actions. But when circumstances warrant, we must tell friends, neighbors, and complete strangers, “This is not normal! As a nation, we are better than this. Our future depends on rising above the hate, lies, and ignorance that has become the stock in trade of the Republican Party.”
To be clear, it is not enough to complain about the conduct of the GOP. We must take action to persuade others that the GOP’s actions are wrong and dangerous—and that anything less than active condemnation is complicity. Strong words, I know. But that is where we find ourselves on Tuesday evening. I wish it were otherwise.
Let’s look at the latest developments as we continue our dedication to the truth and defense of democracy.
Failed GOP candidate for state legislature in New Mexico arrested for shooting at homes of Democratic officials.
A failed GOP candidate for the New Mexico state legislature hired four accomplices to shoot at the homes of Democratic state and county officials. In at least one instance, the failed candidate pulled the trigger on a shot aimed at a residence. In that instance, a bullet passed through the bedroom of the daughter of a Democratic legislator. The alleged perpetrator, Solomon Pena, is a MAGA extremist who attended the Stop the Steal Rally on January 6th and followed Trump’s playbook by refusing to concede that he lost his bid to become a member of the New Mexico legislature. See Washington Post, Solomon Peña's plot to shoot Democrats' homes was motivated by false claims of a stolen election, New Mexico authorities say.
Per the Post,
In an interview, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said he has no doubt that Peña was motivated by Trump’s false claims of election fraud following the former president’s 2020 defeat. Medina said Peña regularly expressed extreme views on social media and boasted of attending Trump’s Stop the Steal rally in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
On cue, Republicans in New Mexico expressed shock and dismay that someone would resort to violence in pursuit of a lunatic conspiracy theory about a stolen election—oblivious to the irony that Pena was following the GOP’s template established by Trump on January 6th. But belief in “rigged elections” has become part of Republican orthodoxy. A majority of the current House GOP caucus voted against the electoral slates of Arizona and Pennsylvania—as did GOP Speaker (McCarthy) and GOP Majority Leader (Scalise). When GOP congressional leaders are election deniers, it can be no surprise that the rank and file follows suit.
Indeed, the belief that the 2022 midterms were “rigged” is rampant among Republicans. A CBS / YouGov poll taken last week shows that a whopping 72% of Republicans do not believe that Democrats “legitimately won control of the Senate in the midterms! (See page 71 of polling crosstabs.)
Let’s reflect on that statistic for a moment. Nearly three-quarters of Republicans believe that the 2022 congressional midterms were rigged because Democrats retained control of the Senate. Nearly the same percentage of Republicans (76%) either approve of the insurrectionists’ actions on January 6th (15%) or do not want their congressional representatives to condemn the insurrectionists (61%).
Pretending that Pena’s actions are “shocking” or “unexpected” is ridiculous. His actions are consistent with beliefs held by three-quarters of Republican voters. Pena’s actions align with the core beliefs of the Republican base. Unless and until Republican leaders condemn the January 6th insurrection and disabuse their followers of the notion that any Republican loss is evidence of a rigged election, we will get more of the same.
Two weeks ago, a reader sent a note criticizing me for painting all Republicans with a broad brush of complicity in MAGA extremism. She pointed to the Republican Governor of Vermont, Phil Scott, who has opposed Trump for the last six years while he otherwise supports the Republican Party agenda. With respect and admiration for Governor Scott’s stance against Trump, Scott lends legitimacy to the Republican Party by remaining associated with a party whose members overwhelmingly support election denialism and support (or excuse) the violence of January 6th. As I wrote above, “anything less than active condemnation is complicity.”
I expect to receive criticism and pushback from (some) readers on my strong position on this subject. But we would be having an entirely different conversation if the stray bullet that entered the bedroom of an 11-year-old girl had not missed but had instead killed her. We cannot afford to wait until the next violent attack by a MAGA supporter who is acting on beliefs widely shared in the Republican Party. Anyone and everyone who maintains their association with the GOP in hopes of saving or reforming it should leave the Party and let it fail. Anything less is to ignore the elephant in the room—the radicalization of the Republican Party.
-Robert B. Hubbell
#Robert B. Hubbel Newsletter#Robert B. Hubbell#Debt Ceiling#US House of Representatives#Radical Republicans#slow civil war#Corrupt GOP#Criminal GOP#Mike Luckovich
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man, the world seems terrible and full of bad things, and then you read about the Chicagoan who started developing ramen recipes with meticulous (even obscene) attention to detail, or an Irish hurler who decried state-sponsored spending for sports complexes live on air, or well-considered analyses of films or animated television shows and whether they are narratively/dramatically coherent, and it's....well, it's okay to be here. I like it here.
#(imagine a narrator) ''well folks....it's that time....''#''find a special news site - that frequently updated lady''#''and tell her how much you love her. how much you care.''#[a tinny discordant waltz in punishingly slow 3/4 time wails]#(though I will say that article about the animated tv show reads you for FILTH if you've been on tumblr long enough#do you remember being here in 2014? well. buckle up.)#also the atlantic had a surprisingly affective article about the 1910s and grappling with the legacy of the civil war tbh#oh and there's a handful of nava//lny obituaries and articles that are very incisive and good.#I really just like news. when it's good it's very good.
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John vaguely remembers a quote from an old picture book about the civil war Sam had stolen from the library, towns and towns ago, when he was still a single-digit kid.
“You get hit anywhere? Arm or a leg and I can carry you back to camp, but if it’s a belly shot I’m gonna have to leave you.”
Belly shot, he think hysterically. It’s a belly shot, and they’re gonna have to leave me. It’s this thought that pulls him out of his own head, back into the pants and the grunts and the salt and the sweat and the splattered liquid on his knuckles that might be the dying gasps of his aorta or might be the tears that keep lining up on the long-lashed lower lids of Dean’s eyes, welling up behind each other and pushing each other off the brink into free fall like lemmings off a cliff.
#Uhhh so that “John dies by werewolf” fic I was talking about?#Have a ✨slice✨#The book about the civil war is an actual book I remember reading as like#A seven year old child at the library#I’ve never been able to remember what it was called#But something about the casual way that line was written really got in my head#It’s just#a literary punch in the face to me#The simple horror of acknowledging that if you were hit in the stomach#You will be left to a slow and agonizing death#Alone#because there is literally nothing anyone can do for you and as such you are no longer a priority#anywayyyy#wincest#spn#samdean#brotherfucking#fanfic
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He's wanted her almost his entire adult life, after all she's been his best friend for pushing twenty years, but it had been a lot easier to ignore before she lived there.
In which Tony pines, tells her he loves her, accidentally, to her face and starts a whole new, terrifying kind of adventure.
Tony Stark/OFC
#mcu#avengers#tony stark x original#tony stark/original female character#friends to lovers#tony stark#tony stank#smut#romance#angst#hurt/comfort#read on a03#a03 fanfic#iron man#slow burn#wip#marvel#marvel cinematic universe#no blip#civil war#the avengers
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Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy according to Abraham Lincoln, President of the US
"Well, I have got that job husked out. That is the largest shucking for so small a nubbin that I ever saw." - Abraham Lincoln after meeting with Alexander Stephens who had on a coat way too big for him that made him seem extra small when he took it off
#i appreciate that lincoln's coping mechanism was humor#would draw this but i'm focusing on other stuff#and i am slow at drawing at the moment :(#american civil war#acw#civil war#abraham lincoln#alexander h stephens#alexander stephens
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ADELIA ROWE
An abolitionist turned disguised Union cavalry soldier, Adelia met her death after succumbing to an infected gunshot wound from a small-scale battle against Confederate sympathizers broke out on the land that would become the Woodstone property. In death she’s accompanied by her devotedly loyal stallion, Freedom, who was shot down during the battle.
Adelia is of about medium height, with short, scruffy hair cut into a masculine look. She has a fair complexion with freckles on her face, along with a few scars and gunpowder residue on the corner of her mouth. Her eyes are a deep brown with darkened circles underneath them, smudges of dirt and gunpowder littered across her skin. She still wears her cavalry uniform with deep blue fabric, a bloody wound beneath the right side of her ribcage wrapped half-heartedly with white bandages beneath her undershirt. She has her saber hoisted on her belt with bronze shoulder guards to protect from saber slashes, her pants and boots muddied from the earth.
In life, Adelia was nothing short of passionate and headstrong. A fierce abolitionist, she was raised in a relatively wealthy household in Upstate New York, and for a woman of her time she was well-read and intelligent, as well as athletic with a deep love for horses since her family bred racehorses. She knew and read about the injustices occurring in the South with the cruel system of slavery, and sought to be a factor in it’s eventual destruction - but was held back by her social status and gender. But once the Civil War broke out, Adelia made the choice to disguise herself and leave her family behind to join the Union Army, believing the war was the final turning point in dismantling slavery once and for all.
To her unit she was known as Sargent Adam Rowe, a fierce fighter with a deep loyalty to his fellow soldiers. And although Adelia would live to see the Emancipation Proclamation, she wouldn’t live to see the final takedown of slavery, dying in March of 1864 at the age of 23, making her the fourth oldest ghost.
Adelia’s ghost power is similar to Pete’s, as she can also go past the ghost boundary - but only if she’s riding Freedom. If they’re off the property for too long, however, it can physically harm the both of them.
As for how she fits in the bigger ghost group, Adelia can come off as blunt and sarcastic, but she’s a passionate and genuine person once you get past the tough outer shell she’s built up from centuries of being a ghost. And while the other ghosts of Woodstone can get under her nerves, she’s definitely grateful to not have to spend her afterlife completely alone - and she’s even managed to find love in a particular punk ghost on the property.
#yes by that last line adelia and riot are girlfriends if you’re wondering… it was very slow burn but they got there#if the actual show won’t give us wlw representation then i’ll do it myself#anyways here’s my second ghostie :] she is very beloved to me especially because the civil war has long been a history interest of mine#and i loved an excuse to nerd out about it a little HAHA#cbs ghosts oc#ghosts cbs oc#ghosts oc#cbs ghosts#ghosts cbs#ghosts us#ghosts#cbsghosts#i would maybe like some questions for either her or riot 👉👈 perhaps… don’t be shy
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Arcosian Headcanon: Clothing
Due to their ability to adapt under any sort of climate, as well as the fact their genitals are sheathed and therefore not visible, the Arcosian people don't actually need to wear clothing. In fact, the concept of clothing was only just a recent discovery to Arcos via King Cold's influence once he married Queen Froza, as his various conquests brought the planet all kinds of trades and intrigued the nobility, and thereby impacting the masses who sought to emulate them.
Therefore, if you were to attend a gathering with the nobility at the palace, you would find everyone dressed in various foreign fashions. The more expensive and intricate the outfit is, the more the noble will brag about it. Especially if its a rarity, such as the fabrics or style came from a planet whose populace was just wiped out or naturally went extinct, now making it a one-of-a-kind. To the Arcosian nobles, accusations of cultural appropriation or fetishism be damned, foreign clothing shows status and luxury, and they will gladly partake in it.
Because of this cultural trend, the other castes will attempt to emulate the nobles by purchasing more common fabrics or stitching together their own outfits from materials of their home-world's flora and fauna. For the middle class, such as merchants and military, you can occasionally see them in clothing from trades or their army uniform to show off their status and wealth. But for the people in the lower caste (or those who are outright casteless) It is common to see them without clothing.
Of course, there are some who just outright refuse to partake in the trend out of rebellion. Whether because their xenophobia towards foreign species is that strong, a growing resentment towards the nobility for indulging in expensive goods and flaunting it at the other castes, or simple decency to not glorify the appropriation a subjected planet's culture, it all very much varies.
While Cooler himself is not above bringing new crafts and trades to Arcos, he doesn't particularly care to wear clothing and only does so when attending an important royal gathering at his father's request. He finds them particularly restricting, and with how the nobles use them, an utter waste of resources when it could be distributed across all of Arcos, and not just its upper castes. This makes him come across as something of an eccentric individual to the nobility, while the lower castes see him as a cultural rebel and look upon him much more favorably.
#[arcos; the cold kingdom]#[musings; hidden depths]#[Cooler is much more popular among the lower castes than he is with the upper]#[Whereas with Freeza he is popular among the upper castes while the lower castes fear and resent him]#[Cooler sees an increasing alienation of the middle and lower class]#[and is doing his best to stop it before a rebellion hits from within and plunges the planet in civil war]#[also the fact that the caste system is stupid and is what's causing the planet's slow decline]#[with the Arcosians choosing to leave their home-world or because of their rigid systems can only marry within the same caste]#[thereby causing inbreeding and declining birthrates]#[Cooler: we need to reshape the system and become more inclusive or it will spell the end of our people]#[Arcosian nobility: haha look at the funny hat I just spent a million dollars on]#[this is a post about clothing how did this turn into a post about the unfair caste system lol]
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Oh no I’m thinking about VtM npcs again
#text#screaming into the void#vtm#I started doing prep :)#they’re all such horrid beasts#god hates some of them more than the average cainite#Davis just wants order she just wants things to be civil#she’s so human in her push to maintain and so ventrue in her enforcement of edifice despite being an anarch#what decent bulwark is so prone to cracking#I think she thinks about that a lot#the sins of her clan eat her alive and she can’t escape from them no matter how hard much she fortifies her defence#Saoirse is so similar but refuses to lock people out in the same way#she WANTS To see her clan used for good! she does! but she’s self-loathing in the extreme#and it’s easier to turn that hatred outward and pretend all of your loneliness isn’t the fault of a century of trauma#but could easily be fixed if your kin weren’t essentially an MLM cult supreme in a world filled with MLM cults#Mavka who is just. a freak. and knows it. knows that god hates them and hates god for it#perpetually confused in their own ostrasization until they have no choice but to revel in it#it’s funny to me at least that every time Mavka sees Sybil it’s just :> yay Sybil my friend Sybil#Very clearly they could try to be more normal but it’s also absolutely out of the question for them to do anything but wage slow war#against a god that they hardly know outside of resentment#I cannot talk about major villain themes bc that would be telling :)
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hey! I think my ask was eaten by tumblr given that it's been a few weeks, so I'll ask again. (If you just haven't found the fic I apologize for bothering you). Anyway, it was a time-travel fic that started off in Siberia right after the Civil War fight. It took Tony to the aftermath of the first Avengers. He kept feeling betrayedl at Steve. I know Natasha noticed something was off about him. It was loki/tony. Thanks!
Could it be this fic?
If You Had This Time Again (ao3) - dls loki/tony T, 268k
Summary: Tony Stark closed his eyes in a wrecked Siberian bunker and woke up on a demolished New York street. Four years earlier.
#Anonymous#answered#found#ao3#200k#superlong#frostiron#loki#tony stark#au#canon divergence#time travel#time travel fix it#fix it#civil war team iron man#violence#tony-centric#slow burn#post avengers (2012)
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The Dusty Toolbox -> Accepting All Meme // oh gosh @biitchcakes you just want to hurt us -> you haven’t called me that in years . (clint)
TWENTY THREE DAYS IN COURT. Several additional days before those days in court being in a holding cell. He wasn't allowed visitors, or he does not know if it was the other around. If no one was allowed to come in and see him. There was no phone call offered to him, and the fact that his hands haven't stop shaking.
Partly from minor withdrawal, and majorly because HE DID IT. Bruce Banner came to him and begged, pushed that arrowhead in his hand and told him what to do. VISION OF THE BIG GREEN. Clint followed him, waited in the trees and watched. He doesn't know if it was the right thing to do.
BRUCE ASKED. BEGGED. HE JUST WANTED THE HELP. NEEDED.
Clint knew what he would be doing; how he had to fight to explain why he broke the moral code of avengers don't kill. ULTIMATELY? He was someone who respected his friends wishes, who saw the desparation and did what they said would help.
It weighs too heavy on him, those twenty three days in court and he was looking for her because a conversation runs through his head over and over again.
CAN I TELL ANYONE?
No.
NOT EVEN JESS?
Especially not her.
YOU KNOW THIS'LL MAKE TWO YEARS. I WAS LUCKY SHE TOOK ME BACK AFTER WHAT I DID FOUR YEARS AGO.
I'm sorry.
He didn't see her, and when he was released? He knew that he had to get out of New York as soon as possible. Partly because he couldn't be here, he couldn't stand this.
The government ⸺ politicians with an agenda and fearmongering ⸺ taking Ulysses' visions as their spearhead to a greater future; whatever they had on Carol to make her the face of this? HE'S ALMOST GLAD HE'S IN THE ASSIST ONE OF MY OLDEST FRIENDS KILL HIMSELF SEAT THAN HERS.
Those same types of people were the kind that tried to rig his trial, ensure that he got the death sentence. It still sends a chill down his spine thinking of his conversations with Murdock, but he's glad he made his trial fair.
He became the most popular avenger to the general public, with the fearmongering around the Hulk, and the least favorite avenger among all the people he was friends with. Clint wanted to blackout, forget all of this, but there's one hurt that weights almost as much as the Bruce Banner one.
HIS GIRLFRIEND. Clint's got one hundred percent accuracy that she's EX again. He really had been falling for her too.
Bruce Banner is dead now. It's a long shot, but he never said he couldn't tell anyone afterwards. So he calls her, at the very least, to explain himself or apologize, or simply to hear her one last time. TELL HER GOODBYE.
She picks up, probably because it's not a known number he is calling. ❝ WAIT, CUPCAKE! ❞ He says when she's about to hang up on the phone.
You haven't called me that in years.
OH SHIT! She's right. Not even this second try at their relationship, he's used that nickname in a while. She's been BABE and sweetheart. Not Cupcake. It got her attention.
❝ I know nothing I could say or do would make it better or change; I could tell you what he told me, give you the answers. They won't help. ❞ None of that was helping him out.
❝ I'm sorry, Cupcake, I should have told you but it went against his wishes. AND I KNOW YOU'RE MY GIRLFRIEND, and I loved- LOVE you. He really felt like this was what would help him.... ❞ Perhaps she should have came first over what Bruce Banner asked, but both Jess and Clint were people who stuck to their guns, stuck to morals. Regardless of people, respecting Bruce's wishes came in front of his girlfriends.
❝ I'm sorry, I wish I- I just wanted to tell you goodbye, I'm leaving. I asked him to write you a note, I stuck it under our table at our favorite burger joint. ❞ Clint begged Bruce to at least give her that, this had nothing to do with Jess and Clint's relationship. He begged him to at least write her a note, just for her, because she deserved that. She would be losing a lot already, he'd promise to deliver it after the arrow had been used.
❝ So, uh, that's it. Thanks for staying on the phone. ❞
#let's blame the government and politicians more over carol for civil war ii and carol was just the unfortunate ->#''elected scapegoat / forced upon spear leader'' of this whole movement about ulysses or something#ANYWAYS HAVE THIS :))))#ic; clint barton#biitchcakes#clint barton; biitchcakes#CONTENT WARNINGS#murder cw#suicide cw#death cw#civil war ii cw#long post cw#ships; biitchcakes; and her kisses on his skin felt like wisps of butterfly wings turn to a slow inferno (spiderhawk)#verse; clint barton; how many more chances can i have with you (biitchcakes)#rp; biitchcakes
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the mandalorian should have been a planet-of-the-week style project showcasing different unseen backwoods parts of the star wars galaxy, with the overarching narrative being the development of din and grogu’s relationship, and moff gideon is occasionally there to add tension
they genuinely could have gotten so much out of this show this way because [noun] of the week styles really facilitate making more content. because theres so much more you can do with that. so if they wanted forever amount of seasons out of the mandalorian then this is how they should have kept it
BUT NO!! they needed endless cameos and they needed to push this stupid high stakes plot and just ruin what they had built. for what? now they want a bazillion mando seasons when its a plot driven show, not a character driven show like it had started out as, but you cant make endless content out of a plot driven show. as always they wrote themselves into a hole and ruined the potential it had and now we’re left with whatever the fuck the “Mandoverse” is supposed to be
#FOREVER MAD ‼️‼️‼️‼️#brot posts#mando posting#s1 was setting up such a great premise#like hey our main goal is to find a jedi#lets traverse the galaxy in search of a jedi for grogu#along the way finding all these weird little planets not really visited during the main ACTUAL PLOT HEAVY major movies#and yknow sometimes moff gideon shows up to throw a wrench in that plan. so theyre also simultaneously on the run during it#yknow like we can have a plot without being plot driven. you can slow down and not be so high stajes#high stakes for the characters involved but not like GALAXY WIDE POLITICAL RAMIFICATIONS high stakes#the greatest strength this show had - what made it so refreshing in the first place - was that it was more self contained. smaller. than the#typical star wars project#BUT NO! NOW WE NEED MANDO CIVIL WAR#LIKE WHAT!!7 im throwing up
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Mike Luckovich
* * * * *
LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN
August 10, 2023
HEATHER COX RICHARDSON
“Good Lord, Who Among Us Hasn’t Paid For A Clarence Thomas Vacation?” David Kurtz of��Talking Points Memo asked this morning. Kurtz was reacting to a new piece by Brett Murphy and Alex Mierjeski in ProPublica detailing Justice Thomas’s leisure activities and the benefactors who underwrote them.
Those activities include “[a]t least 38 destination vacations, including a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas; 26 private jet flights, plus an additional eight by helicopter; a dozen VIP passes to professional and college sporting events, typically perched in the skybox; two stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica; and one standing invitation to an uber-exclusive golf club overlooking the Atlantic coast.” The authors add that this “is almost certainly an undercount.”
Thomas did not disclose these gifts, as ethics specialists say he should have done. House Democrats Ted Lieu (D-CA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), Gerry Connolly (D-VA), and Hank Johnson (D-GA) have said Thomas must resign. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), who has led the effort to extricate the Supreme Court from very wealthy interests for years, commented: “I said it would get worse; it will keep getting worse.”
Thomas’s benefactors, Murphy and Mierjeski noted, “share the ideology that drives his jurisprudence.” That ideology made Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, who has been in the news for the release of his December 6, 2020, memo outlining how to steal the 2020 presidential election, speculate that Thomas was the Supreme Court justice the plotters could count on to back their coup. “Realistically,” Chesebro wrote to lawyer John Eastman, “our only chance to get a favorable judicial opinion by Jan. 6, which might hold up the Georgia count in Congress, is from Thomas—do you agree, Prof. Eastman?”
Last Saturday, Republican leaders in Alabama illustrated that their ideology means they reject democracy. After the Supreme Court agreed that the congressional districting map lawmakers put in place after the 2020 census probably violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act, a lower court ruling that required a new map went into effect. But Alabama Republican lawmakers simply refused.
Alexander Willis of the Alabama Daily News reported that at a meeting of the Alabama state Republican Party on Saturday, the party’s legal counsel David Bowsher applauded the lawmakers, saying, “House Speaker [Kevin] McCarthy doesn’t have that big a margin, that costs him one seat right there. I can’t tell you we’re going to win in this fight; we’ve got a Supreme Court that surprised the living daylights out of me when they handed down this decision, but I can guarantee you, if the Legislature hadn’t done that, we lose.”
Paul Reynolds, the national committeeman of the party, went on: “Let me scare you a little bit more; Texas has between five and ten congressmen that are Republicans that could shift the other way,” he continued. “How could we win the House back ever again if we’re talking about losing two in Louisiana, and losing five to ten in Texas? The answer’s simple: It’s never.”
Alabama attorney general Steve Marshall added: “Let’s make it clear, we elect a Legislature to reflect the values of the people that they represent, and I don’t think anybody in this room wanted this Legislature to adopt two districts that were going to guarantee that two Democrats would be elected…. What we believe fully is that we just live in a red state with conservative people, and that’s who the candidates of Alabama want to be able to elect going forward.”
The determination of Republican officials to hold onto power even though they appear to know they are in a minority is part of what drove even Republican voters in Ohio to reject their proposal to require 60% of voters, rather than a simple majority, to approve changes in the state constitution.
Meanwhile, today’s July consumer price index report showed that annual inflation has fallen by about two thirds since last summer, a better-than-expected number suggesting that measures to cool the economy are working without hurting the economy. Real wages have outpaced inflation for the last five months, and unemployment is at a low the U.S. hasn’t seen since 1969.
At the same time, the country is ending one of the last pieces of the social safety net put in place during Covid: the rule that people on Medicaid could remain covered without renewing their coverage each year. That rule ended in April, and states are purging their Medicaid rolls of those who they say no longer qualify. In the last three months, 4 million people have lost their Medicaid coverage, mostly because of paperwork problems. (Texas dropped an eye-popping 52% of beneficiaries due for renewal in May.)
Biden officials have tried to pressure states quietly to fix the errors—including long waits to get phone calls answered and slow processing of applications, as well as paperwork errors—but yesterday released letters it had sent to individual states to warn them they might be violating federal law. Thirty-six states did not meet federal requirements.
LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN
HEATHER COX RICHARDSON
#Heather Cox Richardson#Clarence Thomas#SCOTUS#corrupt scotus#Slow rolling coup#Civil War#Deep South#Letters From An American#Rule of Law#medicaid#coup#coup attempt
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I think it’s important to remember it’s like this because a few multi-billionaires/trillionaires would rather hold onto an amount of wealth they couldn’t spend in a lifetime rather than create a more equitable society for everybody.
We already know that a shorter workweek and working from home increases productivity, corporations just know that giving more free time and better quality would result ultimately to people working together to change society to make things better for everybody.
Which is why even though it’s pretty obvious that taking away the looming threat of starvation and homelessness would make for more productive workers (every study can prove that less chronic stress will lead to a healthier mental state and lead to greater productivity) corporations and the politicians that represent them (Republicans) will fight against changing that every step of the way.
But progress is being made.
Companies are experimenting with shorter work weeks and working from home (because greater productivity is good for corporations) and politicians are at least starting to talk about UBI.
And change is possible.
The government has shown time and time again that if the right people are elected: workers rights will be enshrined, companies will be regulated, monopolies will be busted, social programs will be passed, and working hours can be reduced (we used to work weekends)
I think the most important part is an informed society, because as January 6th proved, despite all of the corruption we still do have an actual functional democracy. And if our votes do matter, then we can change the system.
#MLK didn’t just give speeches#he organized voter registrations and mobilized voters#after the Civil War politicians saw a new pool of voters#and of course the path towards the Civil Rights Act took way longer than it should have and there was a bunch of bloodshed along the way#but I think it’s really important to study#because the Democratic system didn’t need to be burned down#in fact it was able to be molded towards the will of the people#Democracy does exist#but there are many ways to slow the will of the people#and we can learn from the past to continue making the world better today
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BAD HABIT
18+ / mdi
summary: hiding his secret crush on you was already hard enough for jungkook, and after getting bit by a spider, he'd now have the grueling task of hiding his brand-new superhero identity from you.
content: spiderman!jungkook, f2l!jungkook, based on mcu's spiderman and is supposed to take place during/after civil war but with an aged up spiderman, college-aged Jungkook and reader, picture tattoo-less 2019 jungkook, pining, slow burn-ish, afab reader, smut, dry humping, fingering, penetrative sex, etc.
wc: 9.4k
a/n: despite the spiderman aspect of it, this is just a cute little love story between two besties there's no angst or action here lol sorry</3
masterlist | kofi/patreon
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"Oh my God, did you see what he did last night?", you excitedly shoved your phone in Jungkook's direction, showing him yet another news article detailing Spiderman's newest act of bravery.
"What, did he stop another bank robbery?", Jungkook showed disinterest in your interruption, continuing to pay attention to what was playing on the TV.
"Okay, booo! Why are you so lame about him? He's so cool," you complained, setting your back against the couch again with a frown.
"I dunno," he shrugged, "Just don't see what the big deal is about him. There's cooler superheroes out there."
With the light from the TV shinning on the two of you, you allowed the content from the movie to consume you for a bit before arguing back. You always argued back when it came to Spiderman. This was practically routine to Jungkook by now.
"Like Iron Man? Sure, Tony Stark's cool, but think about it — Spiderman's probably just a regular person like you and me. Can you imagine doing all he does while keeping it all undercover?", you rambled on, "Also his body's crazy," you added as an afterthought, almost whispering it to yourself.
Jungkook couldn't help but chuckle at this, inadvertently looking down at his own abdomen before responding, "How do you know he's got a nice body under that suit?"
"You can literally see his abs through the suit! Duh!", you tutted at him as if he were an idiot to question you.
"Ah, right. My bad," he chuckled, "Okay, whatever. Just pay attention to the movie. You can ramble about him all you want after we finish, okay?," he held up his pinky towards you in a childish fashion, grinning when you giggled at him and intertwined your pinky with him, grumbling a 'fine' in mock annoyance.
Now with you both putting your focus on the movie, — Jungkook's all-time favorite, Back to the Future — Jungkook had the opportunity to lose himself to his own head, thinking about your recent obsession with Spiderman — New York's newest hero.
After Spiderman's recent appearance at an encounter with the Avengers in Germany, followed by a more prominent presence in the streets of New York with a revamped suit, you had instantly formed an intense interest in the masked man. Prior to that, the hero was mostly a man hidden in the shadows — a myth to all those in Queens. Almost immediately upon his return to New York he became a sensation across the world, but specially around the area in which he'd serve the people and fight all evil around.
Among all those fans stood you, maybe the biggest of them all.
It didn't take you long to develop a liking to the masked man upon his sudden resurgence. Jungkook had known you to get overly invested in your interests (there had been a few instances throughout your friendship where you'd demonstrated as such), but he never thought you'd be the type to develop such a blatant crush on someone you virtually knew nothing about. Past the fact that he was the youngest addition to the Avengers, there was not much information about Spiderman out to the general public, yet you were quite loud about your crush on him to everyone you knew — especially to Jungkook, who just so happened to be your best friend.
Unfortunately to Jungkook, you were entirely unaware that the man you were actually crushing on was your best friend in disguise.
And even more unfortunate to him, you were even more unaware of Jungkook's own crush on you.
Did this count? Were you technically crushing on Jungkook?
He chose to go for the most pesimistic answer and assume that your interest in Spiderman would immediately die upon finding out his real identity. Throughout your many years of knowing each other — all through the ups and downs of middle school and high school all the way to university — you'd never once shown anything but platonic interest in him.
To be fair, Jungkook also never gave you any clear indication of his feelings for you. He liked to think that he was discrete about it; that you had no idea of the embarrassing crush he'd been cultivating since freshman year of high school. Fortunately, you appeared to be far too oblivious to it, leaving Jungkook to hold not one but two life-altering secrets, never once considering letting you in on either of them.
For now, all Jungkook could do was make up lame excuses for his sudden absences and to grumble any time Spiderman's name was brought up. Part of him held disdain for Spiderman due to having to keep him a secret from you, but most of his dislike was born out of jealousy over your interest in him. What did he have that Jungkook didn't? Nothing! But he could never tell you that, leading him to a never-ending dilema that he could entrust in no one.
The movie left his mind for the next of the night, much more so when you seemed to become disinterested again, cuddling against him as you prepared to let yourself fall asleep. This was common in your relationship, though it was always strictly platonic. It always left Jungkook wanting more, but still content at having you by his side.
The next time you brought up Spiderman was the morning after. That night, you'd fallen asleep soon before the Back to the Future marathon ended, which was coincidentally the same time in which he usually went out to patrol the city looking for crime nearby. Leaving you comfy on his couch and cuddled against some of his plushies, he made his way out to check in on the city. That night was particularly calm, as he only prevented two street burglaries before making his way back to a still-sleeping you.
Naturally, he fell asleep next to you, only waking up the following morning when you'd woken him up by shaking his side, exclaiming something about some news you'd just seen online. Before even coming to his senses, he could already tell what you were so excited about. It was a conflicting feeling really, consisting of half cockiness and half annoyance. He felt pride at how impressed you were at his actions (despite not having knowledge that they were his), though he also felt annoyed that it was his secret identity who took credit for it.
With a yawn, he finally turned to you in order to entertain your insistence on raving about the masked man who'd been spotted once again last night.
"Oh my God! Jungkook, look! He stopped some burglars just a few streets over! Do you think he passed by here? — What if he climbed on our walls? That's so crazy," you went a mile a minute, "Fuck, I can't believe I slept through it," you pouted by the end of your rambles, practically huffing and puffing.
Once more, he couldn't help but chuckle at your antics. Despite his internal annoyance at the mere existence of Spiderman, he was also thankful his presence gave him a first row seat to how adorably infatuated you could get.
"Not like you could've met him anyways," but then he burst your bubble anyways.
"Stop! I could never meet him, I'd embarrass myself too badly. He's too cool for me anyways," you laughed to yourself, beginning to get up and taking some clothes from one of the drawers nearby, — Jungkook's apartment housed some of your clothes specifically for nights like these — heading over to the bathroom and presumably beginning to get dressed as soon as you were outside of his line of sight, not even bothering to close the door.
"Really? He could just be a loser under that costume," he commented, knowing it'd get under your skin.
Leaning back against the couch with his arms behind his head in a relaxed manner, he didn't even need his spidey reflexes to predict the shirt you threw his way in defiance due to his comment. He simply let it land on his chest, chuckling at your cute childishness.
"C'mon! You don't have to defend him from every little comment I make. He's a superhero, right? He's got tough skin," he whined at you, crumpling the shirt into a ball and tossing it into the clothes bin nearby with an expert precision.
Finally coming out of the restroom fully dressed, you grumbled at him as you ransacked his living room in search for your makeup bag, "You're just jealous of him," you hummed, disinterested in his complaints.
"Jealous? Of what? Not having to risk my life on a daily basis?"
Oh, how he wished that was the case sometimes.
"Spiderman must have so much game. Meanwhile, when was the last time you had a girlfriend?", you mocked him, finally spotting your makeup and sitting on the floor in front of his full length mirror in order to do your makeup.
Getting up, he sat on a beanbag nearby, watching you through the reflection with a scowl.
"M-me? Without game? You're the one crushing on a nameless man who probably doesn't even have a place to live! At least I have my bachelor pad — which, by the way, you stay at free of charge!", he rebutted, somewhat offended but not really. He just really needed to win this fight against himself.
"Please, I could totally pull him if we were in the same room for five minutes," you smirked at him through the reflection, somehow grooming your eyebrows to absolute perfection despite the current argument going on.
"You literally just said he was too cool for you," he recalled back.
"Under that suit, he's just a man. And I could pull any man."
Pull me, please! a desperate gremlin in his head practically whined as soon as you said the words.
With a shake of his head, he cleared his mind of that thought, "Okay, valid. So, you mean to tell me that you're just waiting for the chance to catch him alone? Is that why you haven't dated in months?", he genuinely wondered.
"Maybe," you mumbled, now moving onto your blush, one of Jungkook's favorite touches in your makeup regimen, "How about you? How come you haven't seriously dated a girl in years? Any secret crush I need to know about? I'm very open about mine," you dug in, unknowingly making Jungkook break a sweat at the questioning glare you sent him through the mirror before refocusing your gaze on yourself.
Facing Captain America and the Winter Soldier had made him less nervous than this very moment.
He squirmed in his seat a bit before managing to let out a credible response, "Just- just not into anyone these days," he lamely responded.
"Boo," you boo'd him, "That's lame. Maybe if you wingman me with Spidey I could help you out with some girl," you suggested.
"Yeah, maybe," and that was that for that subject.
After that, the subject wasn't brought up again for the rest of the day. You and Jungkook followed your usual plans, walking over to uni side by side as soon as you finished getting ready and spending any of your down time together. Unlike last night, you opted to head back to your own apartment for the night, leaving Jungkook to freely roam the city in disguise while you probably daydreamed about the guy he wasn't. He kept you in his mind for the rest of the day, sighing any time he remembered how easy it was for you to want to pair him off to another girl, knowing his feelings surely would never be mutual.
Unfortunately for Jungkook, it was extremely difficult for him to ignore your intense interest in Spiderman. His supersonic hearing would not allow him to do so anyway.
He wasn't really in the habit of getting into your private business. Despite his superhuman abilities, he had sworn to himself that he would never spy on you or use any of his newfound skills to ever insert himself in places of your life where he wasn't openly invited.
However ...
Okay, it's not like he meant to be so quiet when he came into your apartment. And it's not like you hadn't invited him beforehand. It was very likely that you wouldn't have minded him hearing the conversation you were currently having with your friend on the phone since it technically did not concern him, but he still couldn't help but feel guilty at being made privy of the details of it.
And the details were harsh to listen to — but not in a bad way.
His nails dug into the edge of the wall as he began making sense of what you were saying — of who you were talking about. His eyebrows furrowed, not sure if in annoyance or if in frustration. Your commentary simply had an unexpected effect on him.
"Oh my God, don't ask me that!," you giggled, scandalized at your phone, "I can't think of him that way, I like him too much. It feels almost disrespectful," you whispered the last bit, as if ashamed yet still giddy.
Without any context, the hopeless romantic side of Jungkook's brain might've allowed him to think you were talking about him. His bionic hearing could make out your friend's words on the other side of the phone perfectly, however, which proved to him that you were in fact speaking of someone else — kind of.
"What, you're talking about him all the time but you tell me you've never had any thoughts of fucking him?", your friend teased on the other aide of the call, causing you to whine in response.
"Of course I have!," you argued back, making Jungkook mentally wince at the thought, "Everyone and their mom knows I'm into him, of course it's not just some elementary school crush, dude. I want him," you put extra emphasis on your last statement.
"Tell me more," your friend pushed.
Jungkook could hear you shuffling in the sheets, likely kicking your feet around due to the giddy emotions thinking about your crush caused within you.
"There's nothing to tell ..." you murmured, avoidant.
"There is, c'mon! It's not like you can talk about this with Jungkook. He hates him," she reminded you, causing Jungkook to nod to himself from the other side of the wall.
"He doesn't hate him. I think he just finds my crush ... dumb," you responded. You were right. Well, kind of.
"Okay, I don't care about that. I wanna hear more about him. You said you were going to try and see him. Have you?", your friend continued to push.
This made Jungkook pause.
Would you actually go as far as to try and seek out Spiderman? How would you even find him?
"Well," you started, dragging out the vowel, "I caught a peak of him the other day — don't say anything!," you interrupted yourself, "Jungkook doesn't know, it just happened the other day. And he'll call me reckless or something."
"What'd you see?", your friend was clearly excited at the news, ecstatic to heat more. Jungkook was more so anxious to hear more. How had he not spotted you?
"I caught him in the middle of changing out of his suit ..." you whispered, as if someone could possibly be listening in — if only you knew.
"What?!," if your friend was excited, she was over the moon now.
"I saw him making his way through the city with his little webs and he stopped by near me. It was total luck, but I recognized the alley where he stopped and ran there," you recounted, "All I could see by the time I got there was a guy speed walking away from the alley while adjusting a black sweatshirt — it was obviously him! Even speed walking he was too fast for me," you finished with an intake of breath.
"So you're saying you saw his abs, basically," was all your friend responded.
"Stop!," you whined, "But yeah ... I might've gotten to see his happy trail ... He had a mask and beanie on, so I didn't catch his face at all," he could hear the pout on your face, "Not that I wanted to! I'd never wanna find him out without his permission. I just wanted to see him up close."
Jungkook believed this. He knew that you'd respect anyone's privacy, specially someone who you had grown certain affection for.
He was still shocked by this information, though. You'd spotted him? How had he not noticed you? And on top of it all, you'd almost caught him suit-less. A tiny, and frankly stupid, part of him felt a little cocky at knowing you'd seen him in action — at knowing you'd seen part of his body and liked it. His regular self was quite modest around you, not wanting to cross any boundaries nor cause you to feel liberal enough to walk around bare near his vicinity (his brain would just not he able to handle that). It was already hard enough for him to see you in those tiny little shorts and tank tops you'd wear to sleep during the summer. He hoped he had a similar effect on you, and knowing he somewhat had it made him feel like he was on top of the world.
And then your conversation continued.
"You should've followed him, you dumbass! Don't you wanna know where that happy trail leads?," your friend encouraged.
"As much as I'd love to get him in bed, I can't just stalk him! Iron Man's secret identity didn't last too long, we'll probably know who Spidey is within a few years and I'll be first in line to get to him," you giggled.
"What are you gonna do once you get to him?"
"Not to get nasty, but the first thing I'd do would be–"
That's when Jungkook stomped his feet and made his presence to you known, acting as if he'd just arrived. There was no way he'd be able to hear your thoughts and still be able to look you in the eye afterward.
"Y/N? You home?", he stealthily made his way back to the front door before calling out to you, surely interrupting your conversation.
"Shit, never mind, Kook's here. Gotta go," you said a quick goodbye to your friend before making your way to the living room and welcoming Jungkook.
"Kookie! I forgot you were coming," you walked over to him to give him a quick hug; your usual greeting.
"You should just assume I'm coming at any time," he mumbled into the hug, pulling away and immediately finding his rightful place on your couch, soon joined by you.
"So, what's new?", he turned to you with interest.
You cocked your head to the side in a questioning manner, "Nothing? You just saw me yesterday," you scoff.
"Nothing new with your spider boy?", he feigned disinterest.
"You never wanna hear about him. Why do you ask?"
"Maybe I want to be more supportive," he mumbled, avoiding eye contact.
From his peripheral he could tell you were looking at him with curiosity in your eyes, likely pondering about his change of heart. It took you a few seconds of silence before shrugging off his unusual interest and continuing the conversation.
"I might've spotted him the other day ...", now you were the one to mumble, looking down to avoid what you likely believed would be a judgmental reaction from him.
"R-really?", he scratched the back of his head, "Where? What'd you see?"
"Y'know, just him swinging around. Saw him heading home, I think. Then I lost track of him," you told him once you'd realized this wasn't some ruse to scold you for your interest again.
"What would you do if you actually met him someday?", he asked nonchalantly. Or at least as nonchalantly as he could manage while recalling the prior response he'd interrupted when you'd been talking to your friend.
Shrugging, you pressed your lips into a line as you pondered it for a bit, "I'd just tell him I'm his fan, I guess. I'd probably be too shy to even speak to him. It's like talking to your high school crush; you just avoid them as much as you can til it goes away," you chuckled to yourself.
He hummed, "Well, if the day ever comes, I think it'd be worth a try to talk to him. Maybe he'll like what he hears."
You nodded along, seemingly mulling over it inwardly, but saying nothing more regarding the matter. Jungkook joined you in dropping the subject, moving on to your usual movie night whilst also thinking over your sudden spotting of his masked self. It was odd to him how you'd somehow spotted him, but that was really the last thing on his mind. What concerned him the most was the sudden desire he felt to fulfill that need to see you while he was in his suit. He craved for you to return his feelings and there was a thoughtless side of him that wanted to get that reaction out of you, even if it meant you'd be reciprocating it to someone else.
Jungkook knew this was a stupid and reckless thing to do.
If Tony Stark were here in this moment, he'd probably take away the brand new suit he'd recently made for him. However, Jungkook was only 21, his hormones were still going crazy; crazy enough for him to make dumb and uncontrolled decisions just based off his feelings.
This was how he came to find himself pacing back and forth on the terrace of your apartment building whilst suited up. Muttering out loud to himself, he fought against himself as to whether or not he should go through with what had been bugging at him since speaking to you about your almost-encounter last week.
After mulling over it for a bit, he came to realize that there was no true harm to actually granting your wish of meeting Spiderman. He knew you to be a reasonable person (despite your claims of wanting to fuck Spiderman — who was a complete stranger to you) and felt reassured that you wouldn't put his identity at risk. On top of that, you had claimed that you probably wouldn't be able to even speak to him if you were to meet him.
The biggest issue was to come up with a reason as to why he'd be paying you a visit in particular. Maybe you were completely clueless as to your best friend's secret identity, but you weren't an idiot. His motives and identity would be immediately suspicious to you due to the strange nature of his apparition. Sure, he could hide his face and voice and even demeanor, but you'd be able to piece the pieces together too easily, anyone would.
Unluckily for him, this was not something he had to worry about for too long, as his plans did not go as smoothly as he had hoped. Just in between his nonsensical rambles to himself, there was an interruption orchestrated by you, with your sudden presence in the terrace throwing him completely off guard. Thank God he hadn't had a chance to take off his mask before you showed up.
"Oh my God," were your only words as you slowly made your way through the door leading to the terrace, choosing not to make your presence unknown.
"Shit," was his sole response, wincing from behind the mask.
"What- what are you doing here? Is it really you?", you asked, slowly making your way closer to his frozen self.
Attempting to switch over to his usual confident demeanor, Jungkook stood up straighter, hands on his hips as he waved over at you. The eyes displayed on his mask replicated his actual facial expression, squinting at you in a friendly manner as he tried to introduce himself in the least awkward way he could muster whilst deepening his voice in order to mask it.
"Hello! I- Yes, it's me! I- uh, was not expecting anyone to be here," he managed, walking over to you and giving you a handshake — something quite out of character for Spiderman, which he hoped you didn't pick up on.
Unfortunately, you did pick up on it, tilting your head to the side in curiosity before returning his handshake. From Jungkook's perspective, you seemed like a mixture of nerves, excitement and genuine curiosity. He couldn't blame you. Your idol/crush had suddenly showed up on the roof of your apartment and was nonchalantly trying to make acquaintances with you.
"I'm so sorry!," you suddenly chirped, letting go of his hand mid handshake, "I wasn't following you, I swear! I live downstairs and sometimes I come up here for air and I saw you and I thought it was you — and it is you! Wow, I- Fuck, hi. I'm Y/N, it's so nice to meet you," you rambled on and on, inflicting pain in Jungkook's heart at how adorable you were.
"Hi, again," he smiled under the mask, "It's fine, uh, this happens more than you may think," he lied, attempting to cover his tracks.
"Really? Do you get spotted a lot?", you wondered.
"It's not super rare, but it's usually while I'm on the run, not like, uh, like this. I was just resting for a bit," he went to casually lean against the railing next to him but pathetically slipping a bit and having to readjust his standing.
He cleared his throat, "So, I take it you're a fan?", he attempted to make conversation.
"I'm literally obsessed with you. I keep up with every article that comes out about you and any sighting of yours," you beamed before cringing to yourself, "Shit, I'm not playing it cool at all, am I?"
He couldn't help but chuckle, "No, you're good, trust me. Most people just scream and run away or ask me to do a backflip — which I can totally do, but it gets repetitive. Others attack me sometimes. It's rare to actually start conversation with me."
"Oh, so am I special, then?", you giggled, taking a few steps forward as you moved to lean on the railing next to him.
And just like that, you took the upper hand in the conversation. The mood shifted the moment you decided to start a flirtation with him, and Jungkook knew he was completely doomed.
Yes, you were absolutely special. Sure, he would occasionally interact with regular citizens of Queens, but he had never actually sought them out for conversation nor even entertained any fanatics of his. For you, however, he was willing to make an exception. God, he had been itching to do this from the moment he found out you had an infatuation with the superhero.
"Y- you- yeah," he cleared his throat, trying again, "You're the only person who hasn't alerted everyone around me of my presence," he regained his suave vibe by the end of the sentence.
"Why would I ever do that?", you pondered out loud, using a flirtatious tone Jungkook had never been on the receiving end of, "Then I wouldn't get to have you all for myself."
Were you closer? Had you moved closer in proximity? He could swear that the distance had lessened from just a few moments ago. This wasn't good, but it was also great.
"O-oh? That's ... Yes, hah, thank you for not exposing me," was all he managed to say. Fuck, his usual wit and ability to banter under the guise of being Spiderman seemingly dissipated when it came to interacting with you.
You giggled at him, likely taking note of how easy it was to fluster him. Jungkook knew you were aware of how attractive you were, also having the ability you turn up the charm whenever you so wished — except he had never dealt with it firsthand. It was both exhilarating and nerve wracking at the same time. He had truly not prepared for this.
"It's no problem," you smiled at him with a hint of something else in your eye, "Since you're such a good guy, y'know, maybe you'd like to return the favor?", you tilted your head at him, lifting your eyebrows suggestively.
"R-repay? How would you suggest?", he managed to regain some of his confidence, now leaning his body a bit more towards your own, smiling under his mask as he attempted to keep his heart rate normal.
"I'm sure you're super busy saving the world and all that, but maybe you'd like to visit again? No one ever comes up here, so it'd just be the two of us," you suggested, biting your lip in anticipation. Despite your confidence, Jungkook could still hear the rapid thumping of your heart — you were nervous about shooting your shot with a certain superhero; understandably so.
He decided to take advantage of the newfound realization that you might've been just as nervous as he was, clearing his throat and ensuring he didn't stutter this time around, "That'd be unfair, though, wouldn't it? To show you favoritism over all my other fans?", he said in flirtatious jest, hoping you caught on.
A pout far too enticing for Jungkook made its way to your lips, "But you just said I was special?", your hand went up to his chest, finger tracing the spider symbol on it.
"I never said that, you did," you couldn't see the teasing grin on his face, but it was there to stay.
"Oh?", you feigned offense, "So you don't think I'm special? Wow, now you really do owe me."
"You're right. Wouldn't want any unhappy citizens in Queens when I can help it," he agreed, taking hold of your wrist and tracing the back of it.
You smiled to yourself then, letting air out through your nose before looking back up at him, "I really do mean it. If you ever need a place to lay low, you can always come," you paused, "And ... If you ever want company, I'm just downstairs," you suggested.
Biting his lips from behind the mask, he nodded, letting go of your hand, "Yeah, I'll take that in mind," he checked his wrist despite there being no watch there, pulling a chuckle from you, "Unfortunately, I have to get back to patrolling now, but I'll see you around?", he asked as he climbed up the ledge of your building, ready to swing away.
"That's up to you, Spiderman," were the last words you said, though they were spoken with a confidence that told him you knew he'd be coming back.
Within just a month, Jungkook had lost count of the times he'd coincidentally found himself on your roof, always showing up at a similar time as that of your first encounter.
At first he played it off as a coincidence, cheekily claiming that he was just passing by and needed some rest. Other times, he'd show up due to legitimate exhaustion as he sought you out for comfort. It was very quick that you began a genuine friendship with one another, having an unspoken agreement of seeing each other there a few times a week late into the afternoon.
The flirtation was still present, but a friendship between you overtook that. This made Jungkook glad in a sense, as he knew he would've felt guilty if anything romantic ever came up without you knowing his real identity. He already felt badly about befriending you without your knowledge, but he felt like he was too late to back out now.
Today was yet another day in which he decided to show up, though this time a little later. Since you lived at the highest floor of your building, his mere presence on the roof was enough to alert you of his arrival, causing you to walk through the door leading to the staircase just moments later.
You were in your pajamas — just some small shorts and a tank top, but it was enough for his eyes to bug out of his head (figuratively, of course). Any time he'd stay over with you, you'd usually opt for a shirt long enough to cover halfway through your thighs, but since Jungkook wasn't present tonight it seemed like you'd chosen a tank top tight enough it'd give him the perfect view of your nipples peaking through the fabric. It bugged him to think you were doing this for Spiderman and not Jungkook, but he was too distracted by the sight of you to mind it too much.
"Hey," you greeted him as you headed his way, "A little late today, huh?"
"Yeah, uh, I was busy with a robbery," he explained, leaning against the veranda as you joined next to him.
"Oh? That sounds dangerous? Are you hurt? Maybe I should take a look?", your hand went up to his chest, pretending to check for injuries.
He laughed and you joined him, biting his lip under the mask, "You're even more dangerous than any bad guy out there, you know that?", he grabbed your wrist and took your hand off his chest, opting to shyly hold onto it instead.
"Me? I'm not the masked man showing up at an unsuspecting girl's apartment in the middle of the night," you teased, hand playing with his own.
"I thought I wouldn't be a stranger by now. We've been meeting for what, a month now? I'd say that's enough to get to know a person," he reasoned.
"Hmm," you pretended to mull over it, "Does that mean there's no chance you'll let me see what's under that mask?", you pouted at him.
This was not the first time you teased him about his secret identity, often bugging him (in a way far too entertaining for him to be actually bugged by it) to let you in on his secret. You swore up and down you'd never tell, offering up your pinky to intertwine with his. Jungkook liked you so much that there were various instances in which he had to catch himself before he ended up agreeing with your request.
"You know I can't do that, gorgeous," it was his turn to flirt. To be fair, as Spiderman, he did have a flirtatious streak to his personality. You weren't the only one on the receiving end of it, but you sure were the only one he meant it with. You also always giggled or blushed when he turned up the charm, which always instigated him into doing it more and more.
"But you said I was special," you reminded him with a smile, "And! We've been meeting for a while. Don't you wanna trust at least one person with your identity? Y'know, if something were to happen to you," even Jungkook could tell you were pulling your reasoning out of your ass, but he couldn't help but feel endeared by you.
Before he could fire back with an equally cheeky response, you interrupted him again, "How about you let me see you some other way?"
He cocked his head to the side with curiosity, unknowing of what you meant.
Hesitantly, your hand let go of his, now engulfing it with both of your hands. Your fingers traced his hands through his gloves, looking up at him for a moment to seek permission for what you were going to go next. Silently, he offered you a nod, allowing you to take off his gloves.
Jungkook couldn't help but feel slightly scared that you might recognize his hands, but finding no reaction in your eyes or heart rate (which he could hear perfectly any time he neared you), he felt calm. Your hands traced his own bare ones, eventually holding them in your own. The entirety of the interaction was soft and intimate in a way Jungkook had never experienced.
"Can I see more?", you asked after a while, voice almost a whisper.
"What- what would you like to see?", he whispered back, gulping at how close to you he suddenly felt.
Once more, your hand silently went up to touch him, but this time it reached his chest, laying flat against it before slowly finding the opening in the middle, allowing you to peek at a sliver of his bare chest. Without hesitation, Jungkook grabbed onto your hands on his chest and helped you open his body suit a little more, just enough to reveal his chest.
Your hands softly traced at a few cuts and bruises found there, pouting to yourself as you stared at the firm muscle under your hands. Silence engulfed you for a few moments as he enjoyed your affections.
"Well, this seems kinda unfair," he started with a quiet voice, "You're getting me naked, feeling me up. Making me feel like a piece of meat," he joked.
You stifled a chuckle, "Don't think I didn't notice you looking at my boobs when I got here, you perv. I'm just getting my payback," your hands went back to his hands, taking them in your own.
He gaped at you from under his mask, "I- I would never!", he rasped out, "The fact that you would even accuse me of that- I- I am appalled, Y/N Y/L/N," he gave you an exaggerated gasp.
"Okay, whatever," you rolled your eyes, "Can I keep going now?", you asked as you went back to tracing his suit with your hands, this time reaching up to his neck.
You wrapped your arms around the back of his neck, pulling him closer as you stared up at him. He knew that all you could see was the comically large eyes featured on his mask, but he was still affected by the look on your face. Your mouth was agape and your eyes kept going down to where you knew his lips would be. Without being able to help himself, his hands wrapped around your waist, feeling the sliver of skin between your shorts and your tank top. In all your years of friendship, Jungkook had never been able to hold you like this. It was exhilarating.
There was no need for any words as your hands found his mask, lifting it up to uncover his lips and lay right below his nose. Jungkook knew he should've been more careful in letting anyone — even you — even make contact with his mask, but his eyes had been trained on your lips from the moment you got your hands on him. His mind was in another planet at the moment.
There was, again, no reaction from you that could've led Jungkook to believe you had recognized him. Was the shape of his lips not obvious enough? Were you too distracted to notice? It truly made no sense to him, but the proximity of your lips had him too distracted to think about it too much.
That was when the moment Jungkook had been waiting for for years finally came to fruition. Your lips made contact with his own, very tentative and shy in their movements. Mere seconds happened until he opened his mouth to deepen the kiss as he held you against him.
It was a bit awkward due to the obstacle the mask proved itself to be, but Jungkook didn't care. He was far too drunk in you to consider anything around him, specially when the kiss grew heated within moments. Pressing you up against the veranda, Jungkook let out all pent up need against tour mouth, hoping in the back of his mind that you wouldn't realize it was him you were kissing.
Sadly, it all ended before Jungkook could really lose himself in it. You pulled away with a giggle at the way his body insisted on following yours, attempting to trap you in another kiss. He couldn't help but chuckle back, still not letting go of you.
"Hmm, ever let any of your other fans go that far?", you hummed when he buried his face on the crook of your neck, pressing shy kisses on the bare skin.
"N-no, just you," he muttered, pulling back to readjust his suit, now covering himself back up.
"Boo," you complained once he was completely covered up again, crossing your arms petulantly, "What, time for you to go?"
"Sadly, yes. I'm a busy man, pretty. Need to get back out there to ensure pretty girls like you remain safe," he coo'd at you jokingly, pinching your nose adoringly before beginning to climb the veranda in order to leave.
"You know this isn't a one-time thing, right?", you called from below him.
"Oh, I'll make sure it's not, baby," he chuckled before saluting you as he jumped down, disappearing from your view almost immediately.
He arrived home soon after that, too giddy to even consider patrolling that night. The smile wouldn't leave his face, and his skin was covered in goosebumps. He felt like such a teenager at the excitement cruising through him, but the remnants of the feeling of your mouth on his simply wouldn't leave him.
He knew that sooner or later he'd have to tell you about who he was, but he wanted to enjoy your newfound relationship as much as he could. So far, you hadn't told him about your frequent encounters with Spiderman, which led him to believe you felt the same way. Clearly you wanted to keep him as your own little secret, which only made him the giddier about it all.
There were occasions in which Jungkook simply didn't plan things out to well. Today was one of those days.
Having no one aware of his identity proved to be more bothersome than he had first assumed. Sure, he could lie about his location to his friends and family with ease, keep any troubling encounters with criminals to himself, but it was the aftermath of these encounters that sometimes came to be too much for him to handle.
He had been reckless tonight, somehow miscalculating every single one of his moves when taking down a crew of armed robbers. He hadn't even meant to come across them nor fight them on his own (Tony Stark had warned him about this before), but it's not like he could've walked away without at least attempting to deal with the situation.
In the end, he was victorious, and his current state proved as much. It was not a simple fight, resulting in his suit getting mangled all over, with many of the injuries penetrating into his actual skin.
Battered and covered in bruises and scratches all over, Jungkook had no idea where to go. This was one of the first times in which Jungkook found himself limping and unknowing of how to patch himself up before the sun rose. His plan had been poor, which only reminded him what a stupid decision it was to try and handle the situation on his own rather than to leave it up to the police.
But his terrible planning skills did not stop there. They evolved into finding himself standing on the fire escape that led directly to your apartment. With his arms holding onto his sides to try and alleviate the pain, he reached out to knock on your window, hoping 2AM wasn't too late for you to come find him.
It was only moments when you showed up in your pajamas, a shocked yet worried look on your face as you opened up your fire escape entrance to him.
"Oh my God, what happened?", you asked whilst ushering him in, providing him with support so he could make it over to your room and lay on your bed.
"You should see the other guy," he rasped, coughing out.
"Stop! Fuck, how can I help you? What do you need?", you frantically went over to your restroom, returning with a makeshift first aid kit.
You sat next to him on the bed, helping him sit up so you could check out his injuries. His suit had multiple scratches that revealed slivers of his skin, but there was nothing you hadn't seen the previous time he had been over.
"It was just a robbery gone wrong. Nothing to worry about," he finally said, wincing when you began to open up his suit to better check his injuries. Your hands immediately went to try and take care of the cuts on his stomach, moving anything out of the way in order to reach them.
"You idiot," you muttered, "This is gonna hurt, okay? Just breathe deep," you warned before moving on to dab on his injuries with some ointment. Hissing at the burn, his stomach hardened, causing him to recoil a bit.
"Jungkook, be still," you hissed back at him, scoffing when he suddenly stilled at the mention of his name.
"W-what? What did you just say?",
You paid him no mind, still putting all your focus in his injuries, "Do you think I'm dumb, Jungkook? You show up to hang out with me and let me feel you up and you think I won't recognize you? You really are an idiot," you chuckled by the end.
"You- you knew?! This whole time?", he gaped at you, throwing off his mask as he groaned at the way you blatantly laughed at his shock, "God, you suck."
"C'mon, Jungkook. You're a horrible liar. And I'm your best friend, you can't hide anything from me."
"Whatever," he huffs, followed by a wince from your manhandling of his injuries, "You could've told me," he muttered petulantly.
You finally looked back at him, with a stern look in your eyes Jungkook only ever saw whenever you were about to tell him off, "Oh, like you told me? Dude, you were more than fine pretending not to know me," you jabbed at him, "Dickhead," you muttered once you were done.
It was his time to chuckle, jabbing at your leg with his own and smirking when you pushed back.
"So, is this you admitting you've wanted to fuck me all this years?"
You scoffed, "Me? I wanted to fuck Spiderman. Not my fault it turned out to be you," you argued as you wrapped some bandages on the cuts found alonh his torso, "You're the one who came after me cause you wanted to fuck me."
"Okay, fine," he relented, patting at the wraps you'd just secured on him, "What's the verdict now? Still want to fuck me?", he leaned in with a smirk, smirk growing even bigger at your playful scowl.
"Shut up and come here," you practically growled at him, pulling him to you by his shoulders and catching him in a kiss.
It was almost effortless the way in which Jungkook pushed you back on the bed, easily climbing on top of you as he kissed you. His hand was on your back as he lowered your body to lay flat on the bed, ignoring any injury he may have had. Everything left his mind as he kissed you — the burglary, the secret he thought he had been keeping from you, the relief you now knew; everything.
"Kook," you sighed when his lips reached the length of your neck, softly nibbling at your skin every so often.
"You're so bad," he murmured, "Lying to me this whole time ... Making me look like an idiot while I tried to keep my secret from you," he reprimanded with a love bite.
"You're the idiot who- oh," your complaint was interrupted by the sudden presence of his hands on your breasts, feeling at your nipples through the thin barrier of your tank top.
"Shh, baby. You may have had the upper hand all these years, but now I'm in charge," he shushed you, "Never looked my way, but kept tryna get in my pants as Spidey? Bad, bad girl," he murmured as his lips came closer and closer to your chest, eventually reaching your nipples and wrapping his mouth around the clothed skin, engulfing the cloth with his saliva as he abused your nipple with his teeth.
You writhed under him, both frustrated at the barrier and affected by the stimulation, "Hmm, and you're good at dealing with the bad guys, right, Kookie?", you murmured, already delirious with his touch.
In the meantime, his hands went up to your breasts, lifting up the shirt and smoothly managing to throw it off before his hands went right back to playing with your tits.
"Oh, yeah. Gonna take care of you, baby. Gonna fuck all the bad out of you," he sighed at the sight of your nude torso, hips unable to help themselves in beginning to grind against you.
He trapped you under him, using you for his own pleasure. However, if your moans were anything to go by, he had a great idea of his current effect on you. Holding you down, he kissed you up and down, going from your breasts to your lips all while his hips danced with your own. At some point his hands snuck down to help you pull off your shorts and panties low enough to give him access to you. By now, you were basically completely nude while he remained in his scratched up suit. Seemed unfair, but it worked for Jungkook.
With curious hands, he reached down to your bare cunt, beginning to finger his way to your clit. His thumb found it with a swiftness you could only expect from a man like Jungkook. Synchronizing his hand and hips, he ground down on you while thumbing at the puffy pearl between your legs.
"Right there, huh?", he murmured at your increasingly high-pitched sighs, "That's where you need it, huh, baby?"
Warm eyes stared down at yours, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he worked you all the way to your peak. Not a single part of him was occupied with anything but you — his lips tended to your own, his hand to your clit, his hips to your cunt, he was consumed by you whilst consuming you himself.
All his senses were heightened. His superhuman hearing allowed him to take in every noise of wetness coming south and every cry coming north. He could smell you perfectly, which only added to the delirious feeling you always provoked in him.
"I- Kookie, I'm gonna cum ... Keep going, I'm almost there, fuck," you cried as his movements sped up. Unbeknownst to you, he let out a sigh of relief at realizing your orgasm would come before his own. He was bursting inside his suit, almost ready to pounce you.
"Yeah? Cum for me, pretty. Need you to cum for me, okay? Promise I'll ... I'll fuck the bad out of you right after," he swore, lips finding their way to your ear as he whispered words of encouragement to you.
With a desperate nod, you continued to cry out his name, hands finding his bicep for support as you let yourself go. Jungkook took in every sound, every move, every single reaction coming from you. He memorized every bit of your orgasm and let himself be ruined by it.
Upon the crescendo of your orgasm, wet sounds filled up the room once more as his lips made their rightful way to yours once again. He sighed praise into your lips, calling you his good girl and his dream, claiming you to be the greatest reward he could ever receive.
"Thought I was bad, Kook? What happened to that?", you teased him, beginning to slowly rip off his suit in order to get him equally as nude as yourself.
"Baby, shut up. Just let me fuck you," he scolded, annoyed your words were interrupting his kisses.
"Hmm, do superheroes need condoms, or are you going in raw?", you asked so casually it made Jungkook's grip on you tighten involuntarily.
"Don't talk like that, fuck, I'll cum," he winced before backtracking with wide eyes, "Shit, wait. You'd let me do it raw?", he gaped at you, interrupting the kiss.
You laughed at him, giving him a single peck, "Course, Kook. Trust you more than anyone," you said, sharing the first moment of pure softness of the night.
Jungkook loved how easy it was for you to share friendly banter and bug at each other even under this context, but he couldn't lie when he said he adored those moments of unadulterated adoration you'd share any time you looked up at him while he was Spiderman. This was reminiscent of those moments, but so much better — especially being now aware that every single one of those looks had been directed at Jungkook, not Spiderman.
"Yeah?," he smiled at you, intertwining your fingers above your head, "Trust you too, beautiful," he let go of one of your hands to line himself up, groaning as he traced his tip up and down your folds before finally entering you.
"God, Kook," you sighed, arching your back at the feeling.
"I know, fuck," he matched your tone, burying his face in your neck while he gave you some time to get used to him, "Let me know when I can move, okay, baby? Feel so fucking good already."
You nodded wordlessly, using your free hand to dig your nails on the skin of his back. After about a minute you gave him the green light to move, dragging your nails down his back when he began to thrust, slowly building up his speed snd intensity.
"That feel good, pretty?", he murmured into your ear.
"Mhm!", you practically whined, attempting to move your hips to his rhythm, "D-don't stop."
Unburying himself from the crook of your neck, his hands went to your face to make you look into his eyes. He looked at you silently for a few moments with softness in his eyes, proceeding to locking your lips in a kiss as he continued to fuck into you. It was all very intense yet it carried an air of intimacy Jungkook knew he would never be able to replicate.
"Tell me you're almost there, shit. 'm gonna cum soon, pretty," he warned, thrusts accelerating in both speed and intensity.
"Yes! Almost there, just- keep going," you whined, hands reaching his hips to further encourage his movements. Wrapping your legs tighter around him, your body took control and did its best to follow his movements, making Jungkook's orgasm even more imminent.
"Think I can count you down?" he grumbled, eyebrows furrowed and demonstrating the amount of restraint in him at the moment.
"Yes, c-count me down," you nodded aggressively.
"Kay, pretty. Cum with me, yeah? In three," his hand went to toy at your clit once more, making you hiss in pleasure, "two ..." his hips readjusted to hit at that one spongey spot he'd been ramming at, but now harder, "one," he groaned the last word, almost falling limp against you as his movements stilled.
He could feel himself emptying inside you, kissing at your skin endlessly at how intimate the act felt. Meanwhile, you mewled nonstop under him, not helping his situation at all. He felt as if life halted for a moment, with everything aligning perfectly as he enjoyed both his and your orgasm.
"God ... Fuck, I can't believe it took us this long to do that," he sighed when it was all said and done.
You pushed at him, making him remove his weight off you and lay beside you, staring up at the ceiling just like you, "You're the dumbass who wouldn't tell me you liked me," you huffed.
"Well, if I'm that much of a dumbass, why did you never tell me you knew who I was- Which, by the way! How long have you known?", he was still fairly breathless, but entirely too curious.
You took a pause to laugh at him for a moment, only stopping when he gave you a menacing stare, "Since the first day you came to see me," you started, "You moved and talked just like Jungkook, and it made no sense for you to come see me out of all people," you revealed.
His body turned to its side, arm reaching out to make you cuddle against him, "Why didn't you say anything?", he pouted.
"I don't know," you shrugged, "Wanted you to tell me about your identity on your own. Not my fault you're too dumb," you murmured that last part."
"Okay, whatever. You're my Spidey girlfriend now anyway, so it doesn't matter anymore," he huffed.
"Oh? I don't recall anyone asking me to be their 'Spidey girlfriend,' do you?"
"Fine," he groaned, "Give me ten minutes and I'll give you a full-on confession of love, okay?"
"Can't wait," you laughed.
to read short 1.3k word continuation (+ all other previously written bonus content) you can go join my jk monthly tier on kofi or patreon!
content: smut, afab reader, dry humping, teasing, penetrative sex, etc.
wc: 212 (teaser); 1308 (full drabble)
sneak peak:
"You're the vain of my existence, you know that, right?", you groaned at Jungkook's sudden presence on your fire escape.
"Is that how you talk to your boyfriend? I spend all day fighting evil and come back to nothing but disrespect," he complained jokingly, making his way into your room as if he owned the place.
"Boyfriend? Last I remember, I'm dating Spiderman, not Jeon Jungkook. Jeon Jungkook never asked me out," you trailed behind him, guiding him to take a seat in your couch.
"That joke's getting so old," he boo'd at you, "Plus, I literally have the suit on. Should I put on the mask? Is my face that ugly?" he continued his complaints, taking a seat on your couch and pulling you towards him, his inhuman strength managing to get you straddling him with minimal effort.
"No," you coo'd, "I like Jungkook's face just fine," your hands went to play with his hair, kissing at his cheek softly, "So, who were the bad guys today? Robbers? Bullies?"
"Nothing much today, just some guy stealing a bike and then a lost cat," he mumbled, "Still spent most of the day patrolling, though," he said as he buried his face in your chest, allowing you complete access to playing with his hair.
...
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#bts scenario#bts fanfic#bts x reader#bts imagine#bts smut#jungkook smut#jungkook fanfic#jungkook x reader#jungkook scenario#jungkook imagine
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Tony Stark/Original Female Character
How she came to live there, how they came to be, how she's always saved him. Now it's his turn.
#mcu#avengers#tony stark x original#tony stark/original female character#friends to lovers#tony stark#tony stank#smut#romance#angst#hurt/comfort#read on a03#a03 fanfic#iron man#slow burn#wip#marvel#marvel cinematic universe#no blip#civil war#the avengers
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As someone who’s living with a middle school social studies teacher, all the posts along the lines of “why did we never learn about this historical event in school” just make me go “because your teacher was supposed to cover all of US history in one year, and they didn’t get to the Revolutionary War until Halloween because they were urged to slow down the progression of the lessons because a more senior teacher was running behind, and they didn’t get to the Civil War until Valentine’s Day because the school kept scheduling every special event during social studies because there’s no end-of-grade testing for that subject, and they didn’t get to WWI until May because they were sick for a few days and the substitute couldn’t do much more than babysit, and now they’re having to do the entire Cold War in two days, so that’s why you didn’t hear about the lesbian inventor of the circus peanut. They would have loved to tell you about the lesbian inventor of the circus peanut!”
#this is us-specific obviously#the thing about history is that no class can cover everything#and you can continue learning about it as an adult really easily#I had one shitty history teacher (bizarrely paranoid about communism and also very boring and he let jordyn l. bully me)#but the rest were good
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