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literaryavenger · 7 months

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Captain America: Civil War - 4

Summary: You make it to the airport but it looks like you're gonna have to fight your way out. Thankfully, Steve called some backup.

Pairing: Avengers x Reader, slight Bucky x Reader

Warnings: Descriptions of violence. Descriptions of injuries. Language. Mentions of Y/N and Y/N/N (=your nickname). My poor attempts at being funny.

Word Count: 3.6K

A/N: It took me a fucking long time to write this, I hope I did the airport scene justice. Here's to hoping the next chapters don't take me as long to write! I did my best, enjoy!

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

You get to the 6th level of the parking garage at the Leipzig/Halle airport and Steve parks next to a van and you all get out.

Steve gets closer to the van, followed by Sam while you stay behind with Bucky, both of you leaning on the car as you stand on the passenger’s side to be able to see over the car because you’re just that short.

You hear a little snicker from Bucky and look at him with your eyes narrowed as he seems amused by the sight but doesn’t say anything. Your attention goes back to the van as Clint loudly opens the side door.

“What timezone is this?” Scott asks, clearly disoriented as he gets out.

“Come on.” Clint encourages him and pushes him slightly towards Steve. “Come on.”

Scott walks to Steve and shakes his hand with an amazed look. “Captain America.”

“Mr. Lang.” Steve politely says as he shakes his hand.

“It’s an honor.” He says in awe. “I’m shaking your hand too long.” You try your best not to laugh as Scott fangirls over Steve.

“Wow! This is awesome!” He turns and sees Wanda and, in the same cheery voice, says “I know you, too. You’re great!”

Then he turns back to Steve and feels his shoulders saying “Jeez.” and you can’t help but giggle, seeing the scene and everybody’s reactions that go from amused to confused while Scott continues talking.

“Ah, look, I wanna say, I know you know a lot of super people, so… thinks for thanking of me” He says and you giggle more while looking at Bucky to make sure you heard right and his face is as confused as you feel. You turn back to Scott as he says, “Hey, man!”

Sam tries to play it cool by saying “What’s up, Tic Tac?”

“Uh, good to see you.” Scott says, seeming a little confused at the nickname but deciding to blow past it. “Look, what happened last time when I-”

“It was a great audition, but it’ll…” Sam interrupts him, shaking his hand with a chuckle. “It’ll never happen again.”

“It was hilarious!” You comment somewhat loudly and everyone turns to you, Sam glaring while Scott giggles quietly as you wink at him and wave at Wanda and Clint.

“They tell you what we’re up against?” Steve brings everyone��s attention back on the matter at hand before you and Sam start bickering.

“Something about some… psycho-assassins?” Scott says innocently and you keep in your laugh, hoping Bucky is not offended by Scott’s description of the Winter Soldiers.

“We're outside the law on this one. So, if you come with us, you're a wanted man.” Steve warns him.

“Yeah, well, what else is new?” Scott says casually and you grin. Dude is pretty cool.

“We should get moving.” Bucky says.

“We got a chopper lined up.” Clint says to the group, just as the PA starts announcing something in German, which you fortunately understand.

“Dies ist eine Notsituation." You frown. Emergency? “Alle Passagiere müssen den Flughafen sofort evakuieren.”

You’re about to translate when Bucky beats you to it. “They're evacuating the airport.”

“Stark.” Sam says and you roll your eyes. Yeah, that makes sense, that dramatic diva.

“Stark?” Scott echoes, sounding surprised and not in a good way.

“Suit up.” Steve says in his Captain voice and you know better than to disobey.

Steve is in his uniform now as he strides through an underpass, then jogs onto a private runway, heading for the chopper when an electro-disabler slams onto the chopper and Steve looks up.

Tony and Rhodey, both in their Iron Man and War Machine suits, descend and land in front of Steve.

You’re in the terminal with Bucky and Sam as the latter scans the airport to find their Quinjet. You can’t really hear what the others are saying, but you can hear Steve through the earpiece.

“Hear me out, Tony.” Steve tries to reason. “That doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this.”

You see T’Challa leap over a truck and after a moment Steve says “Your highness.”

You can see Tony talking, you assume trying to get Steve to surrender, before you hear Steve again. “You're after the wrong guy.”

Tony says something else you assume to be about Bucky because of what Steve answers back. ”And there are five more super soldiers just like him. I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can't.”

You can see Natasha talk next and then Tony makes a face and you know he’s done, then you can hear him yelling “Underoos!” through Steve’s earpiece.

Suddenly you see a guy in a red onesie swing in and shoot what looks like webs at Steve, stealing his shield and binding his hands before landing on top of a truck a little wobbly.

You furrow your eyebrows and look at Sam to your right but he’s busy with Redwing so you look at Bucky next to him and he looks just as confused as you do. He meets your eyes and raises an eyebrow in question but you simply shrug and look back at the scene when you hear Steve say. “You've been busy.”

Tony tries his hardest to reason with Steve while, as planned, the Captain patiently listens to him while Sam looks for their Quinjet. “You did that when you signed.” He answers calmly at whatever Tony said.

You can see Tony pleading with Steve, and you almost feel bad but are snapped out of it when Sam finally talks. “We found it. Their Quinjet’s in hangar five, north runway.”

You see Steve raise his arms and one of Clint’s arrows flies through the air and breaks the webs on Steve’s hands, freeing him. “Alright, Lang.” Steve says and Scott enlarges, taking the shield from the guy with the red pajamas with a flip and giving it back to Steve.

“I believe this is yours, Captain America.” Scott says and you chuckle. Dude has a serious man crush.

The two men next to you look confused at what is so amusing, and you merely roll your eyes and say “come on.” as the three of you start running.

As you’re going through the terminal, you see the Spider-man dude stick to the glass outside and all three of your attention goes to him.

“What the hell is that?” Bucky asks as you run.

“Everyone’s got a gimmick now.” Sam sounds really annoyed and obviously you have to tease him.

“That’s a person, not a metal bird, Wilson!” You say.

“Don’t bring Redwing into this!” He yells back, glaring at you as he runs.

“You brought Redwing into this!” You snark back and, before Sam can say anything, Spiderman breaks through the glass towards the three of you, Sam tries to protect you and that causes you both to go crashing into the wall.

You can see Bucky throwing a punch but Spiderman catches his fist easily, shocking all three of us while shouting “You have a metal arm?! That is awesome, dude!”

Sam goes flying into Spiderman and takes him away, while you approach Bucky.

“Did that sound like a kid to you?” you ask him, still looking after Sam and Spiderman.

“Doesn’t matter. Let’s go.” He says starting to go after the other two.

“Matters a little…” You mumble while following Bucky.

You can hear Wanda and Clint talking through the comms, to Tony you assume when Wanda says “You locked me in my room.” and then you hear Clint say “made you look.” just as you see through the window all the cars flying down thanks to Wanda’s magic.

Spiderman wings through the rafters in the terminal, chasing Sam who flies backwards firing shots. Spiderman stops on a high beam and just then Bucky throws a giant piece of metal at him.

You can hear Spiderman yell back “Hey buddy, I think you lost this!” before throwing back the piece of metal, causing Bucky to cover you with his metal arm while it flies back, thankfully missing you both.

Sam takes the opportunity to kick Spiderman and try to bring him down, but Spiderman swings again and webs Sam’s wings, which sends him crashing to the floor. As he gets up, Spiderman webs his hands to the railing behind him and then sticks to a column and starts nerding out about Sam’s wings as you run to help Sam, Bucky right behind you.

You’re too focused on Sam to notice Spiderman swinging towards him at the same time that you get to him, luckily Bucky wraps his arms around you as all three of you crush into the railing and down to the floor on the level below.

As you all land Spiderman quickly webs Sam’s arms together, Bucky’s metal arm to the floor and then your arms, sticking you to Bucky since he was still holding you with one arm as you basically landed on him.

While Spiderman talks over you, you can faintly hear Sam messing around with his gear and you hope he’s doing something useful. Just as Spiderman is about to shoot webs again, Redwing attaches to his wrist and drags him off.

After a beat of silence Bucky says “You couldn’t have done that earlier?” to which Sam answers “I hate you.” and you roll your eyes and say “God, you two are children.”

You do your best to grab your pocket knife and, after a moment of struggling, you succeed then cut the webs off of you and Bucky with a little difficulty. You get up and cut the webs off of Bucky’s metal arm before going to Sam and helping him out of the webs too.

Your heads all snap to the window when you hear the sound of an explosion and can see it just as you hear Scott through the comms saying “Oh, man. I thought it was a water truck. Uh… sorry.”

You frown and turn to Sam and Bucky. “That can’t be good. Let’s go.” The three of you run out of the terminal as fast as you can and when you get outside you meet up with Steve, Scott, Clint and Wanda, all of you running towards the Quinjet.

“Come on!” Steve yells, but your run is interrupted when suddenly a yellow laser makes a line in front of you and you’re all stopped in your tracks. A fucking laser. You look up and see Vision hovering over you.

“Captain Rogers. I know you believe what you're doing is right.” He starts while the rest of Tony’s team gathers around him. Tony flies in while holding Natasha, Rhoday flies T’Challa and Spiderman swings down with one of Dora Milaje, T’Challa’s personal guards, that you saw at the FBI bunker and you think her name is Ayo. “But for the collective good you must surrender now.” Vision finishes talking and there is a moment of silence where you all just look at the opponent directly in front of you, which in your case is Ayo.

“What do we do, Cap?” Sam asks.

“We fight.” Is all Steve says and you hesitate for a second looking at him and then at Ayo.

“Anybody wants to switch?” You ask while looking at your teammates, some look amused but Steve kind of glares at you. “No? Alrighty, then.” You look back ahead as you all start walking, then jogging faster and faster until you’re full on running towards the opposite team.

Tony, Rhodey, Sam, Wanda and Vision take flight and then the first sound that can be heard is Tony’s fist meeting Steve’s shield.

Clint shoots an arrow at Vision that dodges it, Sam bumps into Rhodey mid-air, Scott shrinks and jumps on Natasha, Wanda shoots her magic at Peter while he shoots webs at her and T’Challa straight up jumps onto Bucky.

You lose track of what everyone else is doing once you come face to face with Ayo, who loses no time hitting you with her spear but you luckily dodge it, throwing a punch of your own that she easily avoids. The only thing you can tell is that Nat and Clint are near you fighting, and so are Bucky and T’Challa.

You take out your extendable baton, glad that Clint suggested it, and try to hit Ayo repeatedly, but you miss everytime. You’re getting frustrated when you finally land a hit to her cheek and grin, but you quickly regret it when she kicks you hard on the ribs, sending you flying back.

Ayo jumps on you and raises her spear right over your face, but before she can hit you Wanda sends her flying back far away from you.

You don’t have time to thank her when she’s throwing Natasha off of Clint and into a metal container.

“Geez, Wanda, go easy on them.” You tell her and she gives you a pointed look, before looking at Clint and saying “You were pulling your punches” before walking away.

You and Clint exchange a look but you get distracted by T’Challa throwing Bucky into a container near you. You get into action right away and just as T’Challa is about to claw at Bucky, you push the supersoldier out of the way and you both go stumbling to the side while Wanda throws T’Challa into a big metal container far away from you.

You and Bucky roll a little and, when you stop, you end on top of him. He looks up at you and whispers “Thank you.”

“Anytime, Soldier.” You wink at him and get up, helping him up too. Wanda joins you with an amused look on her face.

“Still think we should go easy on them?” She asks smugly, and you merely roll your eyes.

You’re thankfully distracted by Spiderman knocking Steve off his feet but when you go to help him, you’re intercepted by Natasha.

As you start doing hand-to-hand combat with her, you can hear Scott calling Clint “Arrow Guy” and you almost chuckle, but don’t let it distract you because you know Natasha could seriously hurt you, although it seems like she’s going as easy on you as you are on her.

“Nothing’s changed between us, right Tasha?” You ask, concerned about your friendship as you keep fighting, though it almost feels like any other sparring match you’ve ever had.

She laughs and nods. “Nothing, Y/N/N”.

You grin at the nickname and say “Good” before kicking her a little harder than you’ve ever had and sending her flying back, then you run to Steve and get to him as he points at himself and says. “Brooklyn.”

You frown at him and then look at Spiderman with one of those giant metal walkways people use to get to the planes and your eyes widen.

“That seems a little excessive.” You say, looking back at Steve.

“He’ll be fine.” Steve says shortly and starts jogging away, signaling to you to follow him, which you reluctantly do.

You and Steve are running when you hear Scott say “Uh-oh” through the comms and you frown. “Are you okay, Scott?”

You can hear him panting freaking out, saying “Oh boy. Whoa!”

You and Steve are joined by Bucky as you’re hiding behind some containers and you’re about to ask Scott if he’s okay again when Bucky talks and you turn to him. “We gotta go. That guy's probably in Siberia by now.” You can't help but think how fucking blue his eyes are.

“We gotta draw out the flyers.” Steve says, snapping you out of it and you make up your mind.

“I'll take Vision.” You tell him “You two get to the jet.”

You know Steve’s about to argue when Sam cuts in “No, you get to the jet! All three of you!” He says through the comms. “The rest of us aren't getting out of here.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, if we're gonna win this one, some of us might have to lose it.” Clint chimes in.

You and Steve look at each other and it’s like Sam can sense your hesitation as he says “This isn't the real fight, guys.”

“Alright, Sam, what's the play?” Steve says, his eyes darting between you and Bucky.

“We need a diversion, something big.” he says and you try to think about what you could do.

“I got something kind of big, but I can't hold it very long.” Scott offers “On my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half… don't come back for me.”

You frown and look at Steve and Bucky who seem just as confused as you do. “He's gonna tear himself in half?” Bucky asks.

“You're sure about this, Scott?” Steve asks into his comm.

“I do it all the time. I mean once… in a lab. Then I passed out.” He tries and fails to reassure you.

“That doesn’t make me feel better, like at all.” You say looking from Bucky to Steve, who seem to agree.

You can hear Scott mumbling “I'm the boss. I'm the boss. I'm the boss. I'm the boss. I'm the BOSS!” to himself and then suddenly he grows into a fucking giant of 60-65 feet.

“Jesus fucking Christ.” You say almost in shock.

“I guess that's the signal.” Steve says and starts running towards the jet, you and Bucky following closely.

You can hear Sam saying “Way to go, Tic Tac!” as you run, going past Scott, who stops T’Challa from following you by kicking a bus into him, then Rhodey almost gets to you, but he’s stopped by Wanda.

The three of you are getting closer to the jet when a tower starts falling over the entrance, courtesy of Vision, but Wanda keeps it up with her magic for you.

As you pick up your pace and approach it, you’re stopped by a spear landing right in front of Bucky, missing his foot by a centimeter.

Ayo is about to jump on Bucky but before either him or Steve can do anything to stop her, you throw yourself on her, sending her stumbling back and to the ground, enough distance between you that you have the opportunity to look behind you at Bucky, Steve just behind him with a look that’s both impressed and shocked at your reflexes.

“I got this. Go.” You tell the two men even though your eyes are fixated on Bucky.

“Are you sure?” he asks you with a hint of worry and you grin.

“It’s nothing I can’t handle, Sergeant.” Steve smirks and nods, moving towards the jet again, but Bucky hesitates. You know Wanda won’t be able to keep the path clear forever so you try to reassure him.

“Go, I’ll be fine. Go!” You yell the last word, which seems to snap him out of it and he turns around with a nod, running at full speed towards the Quinjet.

You turn around just in time to see Ayo running towards you, but this time you’re not fast enough and she sends you falling back. You quickly get up and do your best to keep her occupied while the tower that Wanda was keeping up falls to the ground.

Or, more accurately, you're taking her punches while landing little to none yourself.

Ayo gets distracted for a second when she sees Natasha stunning T’Challa and that’s enough to give you the opportunity to take the upper hand and take her down. Unfortunately you don’t notice how close the two of you are to her spear but then again neither does she.

You see Giant Scott get taken down and, while still holding Ayo down as best as you can, you say worriedly through your comm “Scott? Scott, talk to me, are you okay?” There's a pause while you hold your breath and then he says “Does anyone have any orange slices?” And you let out a breathy laugh, both amused and impressed by his resilience.

In the time it took you to check on Scott, Ayo managed to get a hold of her spear, almost driving it through your arm. Thankfully she misses, though it still leaves a pretty deep cut.

Your eyes widen and as you get off of her she wastes no time to go help T’Challa. You lay down on the ground while holding your arm where the cut is and can see the Quinjet taking off so you let out a relieved sigh.

You sit up and, when you see Vision going to Wanda, you smile and get up to gocheck on Scott.

“You alright, big guy?” You ask him as you approach him with a little bit of a limp and he nods chuckling.

“I am. Are you alright? “ He eyes your arm and you nod. “I’m fine.”

Clint approaches you and wraps an arm around you to help you stay up, knowing you’re not gonna ask for help but he can clearly see by your quickly paling face that you need it.

You look towards the Quinjet and your eyes widen when you see Rhodey quickly falling down, Tony and Sam both diving to help him. “Shit…”

You all watch in shock as he hits the ground, Tony lands right beside him and then Sam lands a little further away. You can hear Sam saying “I’m sorry.” right before Tony shoots him and he goes flying backwards.

“SAM!” You yell and try to start making your way to him even if he’s far, but Clint holds you back with his arm around your waist, Scott’s hand on your uninjured arm.

You hold your breath until you hear the faint “I’m okay” in your ear, followed by Sam’s grunts and you relax, mumbling “Thank fucking god…”

You look around the airport, all the destruction and the people you still love despite it all.

Steve and Bucky made it out of here, so you won. At what cost though?

You can just hope this was all worth it.

Requested taglist: @sapphirebarnes @aki-ham @mary-jinx @abbyyourlocalmilf @selcouthial @esposadomd @americaarse

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baphometboots · 3 months

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hello i am autistic i consider myself to be disabled. i'd like to talk a bit about my struggles

i deal with significant cognitive difficulties that make learning difficult, as well as maintaining conversations and navigating complex concepts. I do not think in language without effort, and never have. i struggle with language, having lagged behind several years in speech development, and having been unable to read until I was about 8, and struggled to learn from then on. my cognitive issues have been gradually worsening since my mid teens; i struggle immensely to string words together in the way i wish, not helped by having to translate my thoughts into words. the stress of being a queer person in america, and having an extremely isolated and educationally neglectful upbringing have made it more and more difficult for me to function. it's becoming increasingly difficult for me to maintain my relationships as basic communication is confusing and laborious. if you dont hear much from me as you used to, im sorry and i miss you. with hyperacusis, the ever presence of noise, of loud family and the ever-increasing traffic surrounding me, and lawn mowers and goat knows what else. my emotional regulation is awful so it drives me to breakdowns often. i cant use my head at all when the sound build up too much. and i have no quiet place i can go to. i just want a quiet place.

this diability month please take a bit of time for us with autism, to care, to accomodate. learn common struggles and try to do something to make room for those with them, if you can. keep those of us who dont have the ability to accomodate ourselves, either by poverty or dependance on others. thank you, and stay cool out there northerners, and keep warm southerners

#autism #asd #disability pride #disability pride month #hyperacusis #bootcreaks

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tea-and-secrets · 3 months

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Being disabled in Canada is so awful. I know it’s shit all around the world, and Canada is not unique in that. But god. So many people make jokes that Canada is better than America, that we have “universal healthcare”. Nobody understands that the universal healthcare is the least effort and cheapest thing possible. That the Canadian government is actively and violently hostile towards disabled people. That Canada isn’t “more progressive” than the states. That anti-indigenous racism here is soul crushing, evil, and incredibly common. I’ve had a doctor suggest MAID to me when I was telling her about my chronic pains. Canada fucking sucks.

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super-hero-confessions · 1 year

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Interesting that the people who hate or criticize Captain America do so because they think he's the classic American white boi like Homelander without realizing he is a more direct and nonsatirical criticism against what makes a Homelander or the Homelander mentality.

Cap's meant to represent what Americans should strive for while harshly critisizing the worst of what America is and has done. True patriotism is recognizing the problems at hand and doing your best to work on and improve them, especially when you have the power to do so. And 616 Cap has. When he's wrong he admits it and tries to do better. Having consideration and compassion for others. This would be why he has lost faith in the flag many times, wore that gaudy awful Nomad suit and literally fights against the U.S. government when he knows what they're doing is wrong.

Also why he has multiple enemies that are actual white supremacists or pro-America propaganda white bois. And why those in universe assuming he is an authoritarian propagandist who works solely for government interests are portrayed as obviously wrong or being proven wrong. Almost all of his enemies are Nazis which is more than can be said about 99.9% of Golden or other Age comics trash.

Being the "1940s white man" and a "disabled Irish kid no one looked twice at" as Steve Rogers who disagrees with everything his time period supports helps drive the point home that it shouldn't matter what you are or where you come from, you should always try to do what's right. Hammered in further by the Cap mantle being taken on by others of different backgrounds and experiences following the same philosophy and trying to spread that same beautiful and essential message.

"Doesn't matter what the press says. Doesn't matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn't matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world -- "No, you move.""

"We must all live in the real world… and sometimes that world can be pretty grim. But it is the Dream… the hope… that makes the reality worth living. In the early 1940s, I made a personal pledge to uphold the Dream… And as long as the Dream remains even partially unfulfilled, I cannot abandon it!"

But basically and ironically, who he is and that the Cap mantle's been passed around is ignored. He's hated for all the wrong reasons of what he literally isn't and it makes them massive hypocrites who refuse to see past their own prejudice and bias, just like the racists who 'love' him for the same wrong reasons.

Fascinating and a bit hilarious. But also deeply tragic.

Think it may be time for them follow Cap's example and start learning to do better instead of just being bitter.

Oh, and Cap and Co. would definitely vote for Bernie. He even dated a Bernie!

#confession #homelander #captain america

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solarsunshine · 1 month

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what’s really disheartening about the maya/tori situation on tiktok is seeing maya adopt white supremacist suppression tactics (the fake smiling, tears, and the muting of tori) in their dialogue. to me at least, this just shows that the way non-poc leftists have been centering themselves in the movement of palestinian liberation here in the united states has been not only successful, but welcomed, going off of the reactions to the livestream.

historically, black american activists have been some of palestine’s biggest and longest supporters. activists and diplomats like ralph bunche was critical of the development of israel before they (israel) even declared themselves a state. malcom x was deeply tied to the palestinian cause, eventually visiting gaza before his assassination. james baldwin, angela davis, the black panther party, and more recently, the ferguson protesters have all had close ties and even direct communication with palestinian liberationists. there legitimately has not been a bigger or more vocal group in america for palestinian liberation than black americans as a whole.

the lack of intersectional interest in the face of kamala harris’s campaign has been insane. the assumption that black americans are ignorant to harris’s sins as attorney general is so far from reality that i am genuinely in awe. black americans were more affected by her stances in california than any other minority group, and the assumption that we forgot is so baffling that i am almost speechless. kamala is not a perfect candidate, however, many lgbtq+, black, and disabled folks can recognize that she is the lesser of two evils. neither candidate is ideal, but it is common knowledge that third party candidates have no chance of even denting the polls this close to the election. (for even the smallest chance of a third party candidate winning, we would have to start voting in every election year round, big or small, but that’s a conversation for another day!) so that leaves us with the 2 big party candidates. the american government is so deeply entrenched in the foundations of israel that realistically, this is not a one election catch-all. the best we can do with this election is harm-reduction, not elimination. it is NOT ideal in any way, shape, or form, but it is a base we can develop on. trump is genuinely terrifying for the idea of democracy, and the fact that people equate that whole mess to the harris campaign, is so lacking in common sense that i genuinely had to take a breather. freedom of speech, civil liberty, and the right to protest are in the direct line of fire in this election cycle with the current rise of trumpian laws being put in front of both congress and the supreme court.

intersectionality is based on the idea that we can limit the harm to oppressed people in facing multiple oppressors, NOT having tunnel vision onto one form of oppression, because all oppressive ideologies are inherently linked. a large group of non-poc, pro-palestinian liberation supporters are not grasping the true basis of this mindset, and are actively bringing more harm to the palestinian cause by rejecting a more multi-faceted understanding of how to actually achieve liberation. there is a lack of understanding that we as americans can only support the liberation of palestine. trying to center the idea of palestine’s liberation as something that american activists can only achieve is based in the same ideology of the “white-savior” phenomenon. palestinian people have given us direct ways that they want support, and largely, american supporters have either de-stabilized or suppressed the original outreach and replaced it with more performative activism. the rampant racism, suppression, de-centralization of both black voices and palestinian voices goes directly against the beauty of palestine’s multi-ethnic, religiously diverse, and multi-faceted history as one of the most diverse areas of art, culture and thought in history.

#sooo many unfinished thoughts here #but i had to put my thoughts down #or i was going to start screaming and never stop💀#black-palestinian solidarity #and its current status #maya ayooni #tori grier #tiktok #palestine #kamala harris #2024 elections #pro palestine #i am a black + puerto rican woman btw #i don’t normally post like this #but i’m so fucking ticked off😭#racism #antiblackness #antiblackracism #misogynoir

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faesystem · 1 year

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I am quite simply saying Luigi canonically says he has bad knees in the Mario Movie.

Is someone else going to create content about disabled Luigi or do I have to do everything myself?

(Broken up into sections for ease of reading.

---Childhood---

---High School---

---Pre-Movie--- (For the record, the other stuff is more generalised and not really movie based)

---Bowuigi---)

---Childhood---

I would imagine (cough project cough cough) that it is something like elhers danlos. I would also say he seems to have some form of balance/co-ordination problems during the scene where he was being led around by the shy guys. Which is me trying to justify giving him post orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.

Anyway, I imagine that Luigi was always a sick kid but never had access to the medical care he needed. I would imagine it would be this mix of financial reasons, him downplaying his symptoms, and his family not taking it seriously. I imagine the only person who would take it seriously when he was younger would have been Mario.

I would say ever since they were little Luigi always appeared to be unathletic compared to other kids. It was not for a lack of trying. After all, Mario is very athletic and Luigi followed his brother everywhere. He followed him to soccer games during break, sports carnivals (do you have that in America??) at school, anything and everything. But it always seemed like he was tired quicker than other kids. Especially as he got older, he seemed to trail further and further behind.

Mario would be worried sick wherever his brother got dizzy and fell over as a kid. As he got older, it would always worry him more and more. It got to the point where eventually he dropped most physical activities aside from teams he had to try out for, because he knew he would get in and Luigi would not. He always felt guilty about this, like he was excluding his brother because, well, he was. But it was better than seeing him collapsing. And he swears, no matter how much everyone around him downplays it, Luigi getting so tired after running around that he 'can't stay awake' and he falls asleep is so not normal.

---High school---

Anyway, fast forward to high school and Luigi is missing a lot of it due to being a sick kid. There is a lot of tension in his house because of it. Luigi had always missed a lot and always been good at catching up, but it was getting especially bad. And worse yet, he would avoid P.E. like the plague. Whenever he had to go, it would leave him in bed for days in agony.

It was looking like he was not going to graduate due to not getting his P.E. credits.

Which is where my ideas get a bit funny, as I do not know how it works in America. Here in Australia, you can drop out in grade 10 if you have a job or apprenticeship.

I would say that in this headcanon/AU, Mario becomes a plumber because it looks like his brother will have no option other than being a tradie. He and his brother plan it out. They look at the options they have available to them and decide being a plumber would be the best. It would be strenuous, of course, but if they work together then Mario can do anything Luigi cannot.

But Luigi is still hesitant. No matter his brother's reassurances that this is what he wants, he cannot help but feel awful that he was the reason his brother plans on dropping out. And worse, their family would never forgive him for it.

Mario really did not care. Honestly, he was not very smart, unlike Luigi. While he was definitely going to graduate, his grades were not really something to write home about. But he was always physically strong, he figured being a tradie was sort of inevitable.

So he hatched a plan to make sure no one would be mad at Luigi for their plan.

One night at dinner he told everyone that he was doing m dropping out to become a plumber. That he had an apprenticeship lined up. After people realised he was serious, they were furious with him. But after weeks of arguing and him refusing to go to school even after being dragged there and him running away (it was for two days, but Luigi had never been more scared the poor boy) his family accepted he was doing this.

Once everyone was sure there was no changing his mind, he revealed that Luigi was going to join him. Luigi was out at a friend's when he told everyone, and he spent the hours they argued about it making sure his family knew he was dragging Luigi down with him and not the other way around.

When it came to speaking with Luigi about it when he got back, thankfully they did not give him too much of a hassle. Aside from gentle and half hearted attempts to change his mind (they knew they could not, he would follow Mario anywhere) he was left alone.

When it came to their apprenticeship and actually working, they made a killer team. Luigi was more than capable, although he never knew his own limits. In fact, he excelled in it, he always managed to figure out what was wrong almost instantly. Mario could never quite wrap his head around how his brother figured it out, since for him it was always a lot of guess work.

But that's what made them such a good team, in Mario's eyes. Obviously he was more than capable of figuring out and fixing the problem on his own, and Luigi was very skilled and capable in manual labour. But he always took a bit of time, and Luigi never knew his own limits and would end up dizzy and in pain.

Mario always knew Luigi's limits. But he always had to toe a careful line, making sure to remind himself that Luigi is not incapable so he did not smother him. Luigi spent his whole life either being expected to do things he can't, or being infantalised and not acknowledged for what he can. Mario always spent a lot of energy finding genuine work related reasons Luigi should not do things like some of the manual labour work or should do things like lay down. It was worth it to see his brother in minimal pain and happy and satisfied with the job he did.

---Pre-Movie---

I would say it is a very interesting thing to explore if a big part of why they left Spike was because Spike refused to accommodate Luigi. Like Mario hated how Luigi would have to mask his symptoms and hated how he would be in so much pain and hated all the times he would see his brother collapse as soon as he got home and be 'unable to stay awake due to being tired'. At that point Mario figured out that was just fainting with a long presyncope, even if Luigi refused to accept it. (A syncope is a faint, a presyncope is the symptoms before a faint. Dizziness, spotty vision, ringing ears. I headcanon Luigi can get presyncopes for hours without actually fainting, because same.)

He especially hated how Spike would talk to Luigi. Mario made it very clear to Spike that he will only work for him if his brother works too, and Spike made it very clear he thought Luigi was useless. Luigi was not useless. He was just forced to be on his feet for far too long. I mean, Mario has no idea what it's actually like, but Luigi had described how his vision would get spotty and his hands would shake and it would be impossible to think.

Not to mention, him refusing to accommodate Luigi not only hurt his brother but made what makes the Super Mario Brothers work not work. Luigi was the brains, he was the brawn, and that dynamic falls apart when the brain can't think due to presyncope. It was actively hurting their ability to do their jobs. Mario was sick and tired of Spike getting in the way of their jobs.

And I have been saying this from Mario's perspective, because I believe that Mario would be the one to take the biggest issue with it. I also believe that Mario would not tell Luigi this was the driving factor behind leaving Spike, because he knew his brother would feel so guilty.

Anyway.

It is 01:30 and I should sleep.

I have so much more to say about this but I should sleep.

If you want more, please ask. Please.

---Bowuigi---

I will just leave this with, as a Bowuigi shipper, I would love to see how this impacts their relationship.

Like imagine an enemies to caretaker senario where, perhaps not in the movieverse but at some point Luigi got a dislocation or fainted during battle. And Bowser saw how worried Mario gets and knew that kidnapping Luigi would really piss him off. So he did.

(I just love Bowser kidnapping Luigi to upset Mario. It is so funny to me. Like he does not harm him, he treats him more like a guest than anything else, but it makes Mario so mad. Bowser finds this hilarious.)

This would not be the first time this happened. I would say this was a semi regular occurrence for the reason I mentioned in brackets above. So Bowser noticed as he personally tended to Luigi's wounds that Luigi was acting really weird.

And Luigi had been hurt before during battle. Actually, hurt way way worse than this. One particularly memorable time he woke up in Bowser's castle after being caught in an explosion. But this felt particularly vulnerable to Luigi, since its because of his disabilities.

Fuck I should sleep. 01:41.

Well. Anyway. Luigi revealed he's disabled. Bowser is ridiculous levels of accommodating to Luigi, you know, his prisoner. Like moves him from (a very nice proper bedroom in) the dungeon to a guest room in the family suite because that is the coolest part of the castle. (Heat + POTS = bad)

And Luigi fell madly in love. Gay gay gay. So gay

And Bowser, who is now getting to know Luigi beyond just being a way he can piss off Mario, becomes quite infactuated with Luigi. Like at first he was genuinely just trying to be accomodating. But the morning after he moved Luigi's room to near his own he got to see Luigi all sleepy and half awake in the morning. He fell hard and fast and trying to be accomodating quickly became an excuse to pamper Luigi a bit.

1:50. Bed time.

#the super mario bros movie #mario brothers #super mario brothers #smb #smbm #tsmbm #mario #luigi #bowigi #disabled luigi #spoonie Luigi #elhers danlos luigi #pots luigi #headcanon #au #alternative universe #super mario bros #Wowza That Is A Lot #Fandom Subsection

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nexility-sims · 1 year

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what's something you'd like to see more of on royal simblr?

the timing of this was brilliant, actually, because i had been thinking for several days that i would like to make some sort of entirely uncalled for, roughly edited psa post about What I Think Royal Simblr Needs To Prioritize More :^) anyway, you also touched on this in your own answer, so it’s an echo of that too :^) it's very long, but i had a lot to say about the topic i've chosen. i should also preface by saying that it's not meant as a blanket negative statement or even an objective prescription; it's just based on my own observation and anecdotal experience.

in short, royal simblr needs more cultural diversity !

there are two big reasons why i feel this way: one, the entire premise is suspect because it so easily verges into uncritically reproducing and whitewashing an awful institution; and two, cultural diversity is actually more engaging and interesting than a community that feels monocultural (esp when said culture is a hegemonic colonial product whose dominance is based on plunder, oppression, and destruction of both entire peoples and the planet itself).

personally, i want to be part of a community where folks are 1) actively curious about the wider world and its cultures and 2) comfortable incorporating their own cultures in their stories. it’s true that the bias is perhaps partly because many royalty references in the real world may not have great english sources for a predominantly english-speaking community to use. but, i don’t think that’s a get-out-of-jail-free card. i am absolutely not a person who likes to consciously write myself into my stories, to be clear. that being said, i do ask myself, “what experiences or knowledge do i have that deserve representation?” we write our stories for ourselves but, frankly, i would venture many of us have internalized messages that make us devalue our own backgrounds or doubt others will be interested in content outside of the often white, often western mainstream. in my experience, the royal simblr community places high value on researching and replicating the norms of contemporary western european royalty—particularly the british royal family. the truth is that same care and respect could be put into other histories and perspectives, if the motivation existed to do so.

so, another approach, beyond drawing on your own experiences, is doing the research to respectfully depict or be inspired by a culture that isn't your own. the onus for representation cannot be squarely on the most marginalized of us, even if we'd likely produce the best version of it. if i had chosen to write a story about a fake british royal family, i'd have felt guilty about not writing a story full of brown people from the americas; that representation wouldn't really exist if i wasn't making it for myself. consequently, culture shifts require everyone to do their part, whether as creators, collaborators, or readers. i'd also venture that most of us appreciate when outsiders believe our cultures are valuable and beautiful—when they want to know or experience our clothing, food, and music in ways that are not fetishizing, exploitative, or appropriating. that's part of why tumblr is filled with guides and tutorials to writing characters from all walks of life, from ethnicity to disability to gender; the resources exist, and people want to see them used. it doesn't even have to be your entire story ! individual characters or plot lines can give good representation if you make that a priority.

in my own story, i've blended the two approaches. i think about my own, my family's, and my friends' experiences of indigeneity in what's currently the united states; i've also blended it with my interests in iberian and latin american histories, especially indigenous mexico, among other elements closer to u.s. history. my story isn't a direct replica of any real world place or people, but the culture is based on imagination, research, and feedback. if someone has a critique or feels offended for whatever reason, i want to be humble enough to accept it and make changes. one of the amazing things about this corner of tumblr is that our community loves to help others. learning in public—experimenting, sharing parts of yourself, being creative—is never easy, but it's easier to do when you're part of a community that offers grace and encouragement. my opinion is also that people are more willing to share their expertise and welcome your work if you demonstrate, not just good intentions, but that you've done your homework to the best of your ability.

i want to be clear, too: there's a place for storytelling as conscious critique of the institution, and there are storytellers in this community whose cultures happen to be the ones that are overrepresented. this isn't an indictment of the good stories and good fun people are having. i'm just taking this as an opportunity to offer constructive criticism and give people the encouragement or permission to try something different. why not use your creativity to incorporate other sources of inspiration—or to imagine a different and better world, even?

at the end of the day, everyone can do whatever they want with their hobbies. we can't all be doing social justice on simblr dot com and, frankly, probably shouldn't be ! it is nonetheless true that some of us don't get to enjoy our hobbies uncritically. we can't log onto tumblr and scroll through sims stories and be blissfully unaware of the politics of representation. "royalty" doesn't just connote pretty tiaras and fancy titles for all of us. people who are marginalized in the real world are part of this community. its representation signals to us how welcome we and the stories we have to tell really are.

most or all of us are imagining our countries to be part of the same fictional world. it's just my personal opinion, but i don’t think that world should be mostly fake europe plus specifically the settler colonial parts of fake non-europe. my challenge to everyone would be to think about whether your story could or should meaningfully contribute to a fuller, more realistic representation of the world we've created as a collective within this community.

#these are my thoughts & feelings #we all have blindspots & i don't wanna like #turn simblr into a job for anyone or w/e but #sometimes it feels like we have the world at our fingertips #& too many people default to what's under their nose u kno #if u feel attacked do not @ me bc i do not care !!!!!!#anyway this is my essay & i wrote it w/ love for the community #i am part of it after all :^) and there's great work here :^)

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athenaalexandria · 10 months

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I’ve also been thinking about ableism in America. Did you know researchers who taught sign language to chimps didn’t actually know sign language itself. They just took floating signs and modified them for ape hands and gave this new language spoken grammar. So not only are we saying that sign language isn’t a language and not respecting it, but we are also trying to force animals to communicate our way when really we should be trying to learn how to communicate their way. Like this is why so many neurotypicals are AWFUL pet owners. They don’t listen to their pet because they refuse to learn how and so even though they may love their pet they still hurt them in a myriad of ways simply because they refuse to understand that animals aren’t people and also aren’t toys but their own unique creature with their own unique communication.

Also continuing on the ableism side, why is it that when I am so depressed I want to go on a sewer slide and have to leave work for a few months, everyone’s first question is when I’ll be back to work. Not if I’m ok, not how they can help, but when I’ll be better and can get back to labor. Also there are companies that exist purely to say “you don’t deserve this time off so we won’t be giving you your pittance to live off of while you are sick”. It’s almost as bad as health insurance.

Also, why do people always assume the worst of your words? They never give the benefit of the doubt. They find the worst possible reading of your words and go off of that. Like I express frustration around getting my ADHD meds, and I get yelled at for wanting addicts to die. Like what??? Or I want to share a fun thing I made, and I get “called out” for advertising and being a shill. Like no we were talking about TikTok, I made a TikTok I was proud of that was getting traction and wanted to share my joy, and I get shut down.

Also I hold grudges for so long. Like these things happened 2 years ago and I’m still mad about it. I have to fight off the urge to message these people to this day. I blame being a Pisces because I’m hilarious.

I’ve been failed by nearly everyone in my life so consistently and egregiously that I don’t think I will ever be able to live a normal life. I am forever dealing with the consequences of other people’s choices on how they treated me, and that hurts more than the original acts themselves. Cutting off contact with parents cut my souls into ribbons. My “friends” only spending time with me out of pity cracked my mind. The crushing loneliness broke my body. And I was only 10. I’m a shriveled version of what I could have been. I don’t dislike who I have become, but I will never be thankful for the pain I’ve been through. Trauma doesn’t have silver linings, damage isn’t good, it’s just pain. You could have been who you are now with no hurt.

Anyways I’m really high, and I’ve been battling the realization that I might have DID or OSDD or something and I’ve been feeling a lot of emotions especially since I’m back on my HRT again. Not sure what this is but honestly I’m using tumblr as a diary at this point and that’s ok with me. I like the idea that nobody sees these posts so I can vent with the chance that maybe one day someone will stumble upon my blog diary thing as like an archeological find. Like oh wow here’s some ancient writings from a transgender lesbian with chronic pain and many mental disabilities! What a rare find!

Oh also I meant to bring up therapy is great but you have to show your cracks so they can put bandaids on and teach you the exercises to heal the breaks.

Plagiarism is bad, I’m sleepy? Goodnight

#highposting #diary entry #disability #ableism #animals

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erin-is-bored · 10 months

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What is happening in Palestine is f'in awful. Like how do I go on living a normal life after my eyes being opened to this. How do I draw or do anything outside of surviving.

How do I go into this holiday season and everyone asking what are you thankful for. And everyone acting like I'm an ungrateful child because how can I be thankful during a genocide. A genocide in Palestine, a genocide in Congo, a genocide anywhere.

We always asked ourselves in school, what would I have done during the holocaust. Apparently f'in nothing. Barely survive. I'm poor, I'm struggling, I'm disabled, but what does that matter. People are dying and I feel like I've done nothing.

I helped work cows to help my family and fell asleep immediately afterwards because its way more work than my body can handle, but someone has to help them. They are elderly. But I feel horrible I didn't stay awake a little longer, do a little more to help others going through this genocide.

That's what America wants, to work you to the bone. So you can't rise up, you can't help anyone. I'm just so tired, but what does that matter at a time like this.

What does that matter.

At a time...

like this...

#palestine #congo #i'm so tired #what do i do #how do i even tag this #erinisboredart #erinisbored #just trying to be human

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terraliensvent · 2 months

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im NOT defending either of the old owners but smth an anon said really rubbed me the wrong way. $300 adopts will not go as far as ppl act. It wont pay rent, and may only cover groceries for a short time. In america at least, the cost of healthcare is awful, and pair that with all other living expenses u have and its near impossible to make a living off adopts. saying “i wish u were poor so u understood hardship” is really fucked up cuz u dont know their situation or what theyve been thru. they built their own followings over the years so acting like their buyers were handed to them is also rlly weird. getting another job also aint easy in this market esp if u have a legit disability. mod pls try to atleast see where im coming from w this cuz im legit uncomfortable w how this is being talked abt. u dont have to like them to agree this is fucked up to say

post related

these are fair assessments to make (also light reminder that the opinions of anons posted here may not directly align with mine)

however, my main point of contention especially regarding civ is not “wow they must be rolling in cash from all this furry money” because obviously i know art is an unstable career (off topic fun fact thats why i had to quit my dream of becoming a storyboarder and got a more stable career)

my point regarding civ is that: many people in their comments of the bulletin are acting like civ is the ONLY person struggling. for example theres a comment calling terra mods “ableist” for even daring to restrict the amount of adopts civ makes (because again, they had to restrict the amount of adopts STAFF makes. is it fair for civ and coy to get a disproportionate amount of opportunities to profit off of terraliens, when they have both left staff and do no work on maintenance, moderating, upkeep, and progression?), the “ableist” comment acts under the assumption that civ is the only disabled, struggling artist connected to terras. it doesnt take into account that many of the staff team are also autistic/disabled, cal in particular even said how much stress he is under at the moment because of irl and species responsibilities.

and then we add on to this the fact that, from a “struggling toyhouse artist” standpoint, civ is incredibly privileged, at least probably more privileged than some/most of the staff team. civ can usually if not always rely on the fact that their adopts or commissions will sell. they can rely on the fact that they have a large fanbase, and that their friends have large fanbases. they can rely on the fact that theyre viewed favorably in other cs spaces like chams and isopups. this isnt a matter of “theyre rolling in it,” its a matter of “hey why are we acting like civ isnt still at an advantage when it comes to selling art, why are we acting like terra mods are just punching down on them when many are in the same, if not worse circumstances?” civ has the ability to sell oneoffs very reliably, and no shade to the mods or anything, but there are members of staff who were pretty unknown before terras, do you think they could leave and still be able to rely on selling one-off adopts?

THAT is what i really mean in regards to this argument, sorry i should have elaborated more before but i had a pretty heavy influx of asks coming in

#closed species vent #terralien #closed species #terraliens #vent #coy and civ are over party

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taylovelinus · 3 months

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I think it’s super duper interesting and not at all absolutely horrific how nearly half (40%) of all kids and teens in the US right now are unable to read at a basic level, most of them have no critical thinking or media literacy skills, and are a generation that largely feel lost and without purpose. and they’re living in a society in which it’s nearly impossible to get any kind of job that will pay your bills and keep a roof over your head… unless you have extensive higher education. Meanwhile, the US Navy has lowered the required test score to the lowest level allowed by law while also removing previous education requirements (such as required a high school diploma or GED).

So, let’s put this together, shall we?

1) An economy in which you need a well paying full-time job — i.e. one that pays at LEAST 2-3x the minimum wage — just in order to keep yourself out of poverty, not even to be comfortable. But most jobs at that pay level require you to have at least a bachelor’s degree, although that standard is quickly shifting to become a masters degree, which is difficult to attain and when all is said and done can cost tens of thousands of dollars, if not more. This sets the stage for…

2) A generation of children who cannot read, cannot think critically, are struggling with the most basic educational concepts, and are disillusioned with higher education as a whole. Undereducated in the public school system means they are therefore unable to pursue higher education in any meaningful manner, and a higher education is critical to survival in the US right now. But since they can’t attain this…

3) The military sees this and is lowering its standards accordingly, knowing that most kids will be unable to achieve anything else for themselves, and the military needs to hit their recruitment quotas desperately.

The military needs bodies to ship off, so why not use the entire generation of illiterate children who don’t have the critical thinking skills to see through the military’s marketing and misinformation, nor the educational or financial resources to attain a better future for themselves? Those kids will need a paycheck to survive, and the military will be the most easily accessible and comparatively lucrative option (when compared to the rest of the job market and any other career fields they could’ve potentially been interested in).

and look. I’m not one of those “hurr america bad everything is the US’ fault” morons (let’s not pretend like the military and their recruiters aren’t incredibly predatory in MANY other countries on earth, too). But war is always hell, and the US military is an awful fucking space; International geopolitics aside, the military will chew kids up and spit them out, and then refuse to give them the benefits they both need AND rightfully earned, especially if you become disabled during your time in active duty. Don’t let them trick you into thinking they’ll give you your “free ride to college”, because they’ll give you the runaround about that, too. They will say ANYTHING to get you to enlist so they can hit quota. The military is very much a numbers game.

So anyway. Super normal and cool and not at all completely dystopian and absolutely terrifying. We need to do everything we can to increase literacy rates and give our kids a better chance at not being forced or shunted into the military. RIGHT NOW, kids are entering adulthood and emerging into a society that they find unsustainable and will believe that they have no other choice. Devastating. If you identify as anti-war and pro-peace, one of your biggest advocacy points needs to be literacy — it starts with our kids. Everything begins there.

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liminalweirdo · 3 months

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Practicing a Love Ethic in the Ongoing Pandemic

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I witnessed a type of collective spirit that I had never seen before in North America. There was common discourse in BC, in other parts of Canada and around the world about collectively working together to protect the health of everyone, especially those of frontline workers and high-risk populations. I remember being in awe because I had never seen this type of collectivism in North America, in contrast to my parents’ home country of Korea. However, by the end of year 2, the BC government followed suit with other provinces in spring 2022, dropping institutional protections and encouraging “back to normal life.” Little had changed about the threat of COVID-19 the virus, especially for at-risk populations, but through the removal of institutional safety practices, the BC government followed the rest of the world in centering abled peoples’ convenience over immunocompromised and disabled peoples’ lives.

While my community members with shared politics were quick to critique the Freedom Convoy’s anti-vaxx and anti-mask demands that had occurred a few months before the mask mandate was dropped, I watched them abandon their own COVID-19 safety practices. I acknowledge the grief and tiredness that have led most people, including those of the so-called left, to go back to “normal” and yet, it is important to name the implication in systemic ableism. Given that abled supremacy is normalizing disabled death, what is needed to resist the disposability of the most marginalized, such as poor and working class, disabled, queer and trans, Black, Indigenous, people of colour, in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic? Those of us in the so-called left who care about social justice are invited to embody and commit to a love and care ethic that is rooted in Disability Justice, interconnectedness, and collective responsibility, rather than solely relying on public policy to determine our practices.

read Ji Youn Kim's essay here

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creativealmonds · 1 year

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Steve Rogers: What Was and What Is

Warnings for mention of rape. It’s mentioned and used as an example. I’m not saying the person was right; he was wrong, and nobody deserves that and never will deserve that.

Modern Steve Rogers and Steve Rogers 1930s addition meet.

It could be a dream, or it could be time travel bullshit. Endgame or pre-civil war shenanigans

Steve, 6’2, 240 lb, strong and healthy as an ox and horse, respected and admired; meets Steve, 5’4, 95 lb, a disabled, sickly scrap of a kid with too big a mouth and not enough sense to step down.

The way I see it, in the first movie, Steve wanted to be somebody more than himself. Somebody that people would listen to. Bucky tells him, “You’ve got nothin to prove.” But in Steve’s eyes, he wants to be respected without having to kick and fight for it. People see him and see a weak man; to those people, the weak are not respected.

Post serum Steve has that respect, but it’s respect for Captain America. The personality and persona of the first Avengers movies, “Language!”, of that white, American man, not from anywhere specific to America, just America, that stands up for American beliefs. The people like Coulson want him to sign stuff and speak on behalf of their causes, not because they want Steve Rogers’ opinion but because they want Captain America’s backing.

Steve gets the respect he wanted, along with hero worship, awe, and someone who is not a person but a title, a set of ideals.

In Greek mythology, Zeus sleeps with moral women, with and without their consent, and Hera punishes the women and their children for this. On a moral, human level, Hera would be a victim-blaming shrew, and Zeus would be a serial rapist.

But the Greeks weren’t interested in what these people would be as people. Zeus and Hera are mouthpieces that the authors are using to get a story across. The gods in ancient Greek myth weren’t good; they weren’t ideals to strive for; they were a reflection of the world they lived in.

The Ancient Greeks didn’t treat women well, and Zeus reflected that. Hera was the goddess of marriage. Anyone breaking their marriage vows would have desiccated her domain.

Captain America is like Zeus and Hera in the way his image has been used for years to oust certain ideas and beliefs. He’s respected, and people listen when he speaks.

There’s a purity to Steve in the first movie; he’s an idealist who believes in the good of others. By the time he goes back in time and steals the tesseract from himself, he’s tired and worn out. Slowly, we see him change from an idealist to an idealist that knows that ideals can’t change things on their own.

He knows he has power. In civil war, all he has to do is ask people to join him, and they do. Some of that is Captain America mystique, but once the rose-tinted venire comes off, people see the same Steve Rogers from 1930s Brooklyn.

I wonder sometimes what he thinks about. “Would they listen to me if I didn’t look like this? If the serum had kept me the same size, but I still got the strength?”

Because he was disabled. He wasn’t given the time of day. Some fans speculate that he was premature, and his mother might have been told to let him die. That he was too much trouble, that he would have too many health issues, that he would cost too much money, and that he wasn't worth keeping alive. Some fans speculate that he is an Irish Catholic, the son of immigrants. In that time, being an Irish immigrant was bad enough; add Catholic on to it, and he’s fighting an uphill battle starting at the bottom of a creek. A poor kid, disabled, and part of a marginalized group would crave respect—to be looked in the eye and not seen as some bug under someone else’s shoe. That type of thing isn’t easily forgotten.

I can see pre-Steve seeing his future self, what he could be, and asking questions. How did this happen, when did it happen, and what changes? The man he wanted to be is standing in front of him.

Post Steve is seeing who he once was. A kid that doesn’t know what the world can throw at him—the world war, fighting best friend, dying, getting thrown in the future, several alien invasions, super hero shenanigans—is green, naive, and hopeful, and he sees how far he’s come. He’s still Steve “I can do this all day” Rogers but that shine has come off the world. He knew it was there before; he lived in America during the Great Depression and World War II and didn’t take shit from bullies. He knows that the world is cruel. And that sometimes you can’t stop people from being hurt, that you can’t fix things, and that no matter how hard you fight, you can lose everything.

I want to see how future Steve would see his past self and how past Steve would see his future self. The wonder and not quite belief that this person is you. The nostalgia and reflection of what made you who you once were.

If a fanfic got written about this or something in this ballpark, I would read it immediately.

#steve rogers #captain america #avengers #marvel cinematic universe #mcu #Irish Steve rogers #Catholic Steve rogers #Irish Catholic Steve rogers #Post serum Steve rogers #Pre serum Steve rogers #Time travel

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