#but you cannot compare to sam

[haveihitanerve]

Lets be honest, if sam hadn't died, celaena never would have broken. She never would have gone with maeve. She would have lived. Lived. 

In the end, everything she did was for him. So that assassins and thieves and dreamers could fall in love and live together for eternity without fear or threat. In a better world. 

[quietwingsinthesky]

transmasc adam & sam in the cage is so funny to me. they're each sitting in their corner while michael & lucifer compete over who can manage to make their human the happiest and perform the best bottom surgery.

[vervepain]

Supercorp head canon: Lena does not grocery shop. Lena Luthor actually, is not entirely sure how grocery shopping works. In theory? Yes…but like she has never done it. Which is a fact she just keeps to herself. Once when Ruby was a five, Sam asked if she could pick up more milk on her way over…and Lena completely gave a group of teenagers a one hundred dollar bill, with the provision if they brought her a gallon of 2% milk they could keep the change. (She heard one of the teens ask if they should call someone for that nice lady?)

Kara meanwhile loves food shopping. It was one of the first Earth activities she really figured out and loved. And not like in a “she gets whatever she likes way.” No, she loves budgeting, comparing price per ounce, stuff like that. It’s one of the few times the Danvers didn’t mind her doing complex math in public. So yeah, on Sunday morning? Kara treats herself, buys a lil drink, and goes shopping.

And when she starts dating Lena, she assumes it would be utterly normal to invite her girlfriend to come. Except, apparently it is not. Lena cannot handle the grocery store. She is so confused. For instance, Kara mentions having brought coupons and Lena smiles in a way that suggests…Kara may have momentarily spoken Romanian. Finally, beside the dairy fridge, Kara asks: have you ever done this before?

And Lena Luthor must admit: no. No. The Luthor said food shopping is a staff activity.

Kara raised her eyebrows. A staff activity? She asked.

Yeah, Lena said, like cleaning the bath tub…or walking the lizard.

Kara readily does believe she wants to marry Lena one day, but there are moments she forgets Lena grew up around unfathomable wealth and status. She starts to get on her middle class high horse…until she remembers Lena was really just raised in a family that occupied the Earth equivalent space of the house of El. And so Kara slowly dismounts her high horse. Turns to her girlfriend, and begins to calmly explain how one should and should not grocery shop.

At the end of the trip, Kara suggests Lena select a candy bar from the shelf at the checkstand. And Lena gets so giddy, Kara’s heart melts.

[kizzer55555]

DP x DC: The Most Dangerous Card Game

Ok so Danny has essentially claimed earth as his. And he is fully aware that there are constant threats to the planet. Now he can’t stop a threat that originates on earth (that’s something he’ll leave to the Justice league) but he can do something about outside threats. Doing some research on ancient spells, rituals, and artifacts, he cast a world wide barrier on the planet to protect it from hostile threats so they cannot enter. This will prevent another Pariah Dark incident. However, barriers like this come at a price. You see, there are two ways to make a barrier. Either make one powered up by your own energy and power (which would be constantly draining) or set up a barrier with rules. The way magic works is that nothing can be absolutely indestructible. It must have a weakness. The most powerful barriers weren’t the ones reinforced with layer after layer of protective charms and buffed up with power. Those could eventually be destroyed either by being overpowered, wearing them down, or by cutting off the original power source. No, the most powerful barriers were the ones with a deliberate weakness. A barrier indestructible except for one spot. A cage that can only be opened from the outside. Or that can only be passed with a key or by solving a riddle. So Danny chooses this type of barrier and does the necessary ritual and pours in enough power to make it. And he adds his condition for anyone to enter. 

Now the Justice league? Find out about the barrier when Trigon attempts to attack, they were preparing after he threatened what he would do once he got to earth. How he would destroy them. The Justice league tried to take the fight to him first but were utterly destroyed, so they retreated home to tend to their injuries, and fortify earth for one. Last. Stand. Only when Trigon makes his big entrance…he’s stopped.

The Justice league watch in awe as this thin see-through barrier with beautiful green swirls and speckled white lights like stars apears blocking Trigon and his army’s advance. The barrier looks so thin and fragile yet no matter how hard the warlord hits, none of his attacks can get through and neither can he damage said barrier. That’s when Constantine and Zatanna recognizes what this barrier is. Something only a powerful entity could create. For a moment, the league is filled with hope that Trigon can’t get through yet Constantine also explains that it’s not impenetrable. And clearly Trigon knows this too for he calls out a challenge. 

And that’s when, in a flash of light, a tiny glowing teenager appears. He looked absolutly minuscule compared to Trigon and yet practically glowed with power (this isn’t a King Danny AU though).

And that is when the conditions for passing the barrier are revealed. And the Justice realize that the only thing stopping Trigon and his army from decimating earth. The only way he can get through….is by beating this glowing teenager in a card game. 

Not just any card game though. The most convoluted game Sam, Danny, and Tucker invented themselves. It’s like the infinite realms version of magic the gathering, combined with Pokémon, and chess. And Danny is the master. So sit down Trigon and let’s play.

(The most intense card game of the Justice league’s life).

After Danny wins, this happens a few more times with outer word beings and possibly even demons attempting to invade earth, yet none have been able to beat the mysterious teenager in a card game. Constantine might even take a crack at it and try to figure out how to play. He’s really bad though. Every time this happens, the Justice league worry that this might be the time the teenager looses. Yet every time, he wins (even if only barely). 

Meanwhile, Danny, Sam, and Tucker have gotten addicted to the game and play it almost daily. Some teachers might seem them playing the game are are like ‘awww how cute’ not realizing this game is literally saving the world. Jazz is just happy they aren’t spending as much time on their screens playing Doomed.

[peeweekey]

8:05 | SAM

word count: 3.2k

summary: sam’s ten heart event with a twist.

tags: winter, developing relationships, fluff, swearing, cuddling, hiding from his mother in his bed lol

a/n: this spiralled out of my control and into 3k words… enjoy!

it’s cold.

the fleece coat you’ve bundled yourself in cannot protect goosebumps from forming from the biting chill of the valley’s winter nights. your breaths come out in cloudy puffs of air, the heat slowly draining out of every exhale. it’s dark out, poorly spaced lampposts providing the bare minimum amount of light to navigate.

you got sam’s letter earlier, a clumsily written note that was stuffed haphazardly into your farm’s mailbox—the yellow lined paper he used, all crumpled and ripped.

meet me in front of my house! at 8 pm, i’ll be waiting. there’s something i want to tell you.

the ending sentence is somehow even more sloppily written compared to the ones before it. as if he was debating whether or not to add it in, but ultimately decided for it—it’s funny to imagine him hunched over his desk, stressing over what to write to you.

well, you won’t deny feeling excitement over the possibility of whatever sam has to say. if the subtle skip in your step is anything to go by.

you walk through the silent night of the town, it seems like everything’s frozen in place during the colder times of the year—everyone’s safe at home, toasty under their covers and you’d imagine thoroughly enjoying going to bed at 7 pm.

you do too, sometimes. there’s less to do when the ground is too frozen to plant any crop.

there’s a lot more free time out of the farm during the winter. you’ve really started integrating yourself with the townspeople—helping haley find her bracelet, befriending sam’s prickly coworker shane, and even discovering a shadowperson named Krobus in the town sewers. it really is starting to feel like home.

walking, you cut the corner passing by emily and haley’s house—and there he is.

he looks devastatingly handsome all dressed in winter clothing. his regular denim jacket switched out for a dark woolen coat, his pants are unripped and, surprisingly, not smeared with dirt.

though what you like most about his winter attire is his hair. those wild golden locks are laid flat under a woolen beanie—a stark difference from the spiked updo he usually does (though you like that one too). the tips of his hair are slightly curled upwards, revealing that family trait of curly hair.

you creep closer, just watching him wait for you—the way he folds his arms in an attempt to warm up, and the little shuffle he does on his feet. you laugh softly, he must’ve been waiting a while—just like you have for him.

sam turns at the sound of your laugh, his body unconsciously tilting towards you, like a magnet’s uncontrollable attracting to metal. “you made it,” he breathes, his nose, ears and cheeks pinkened by the cold.

you nod, unable to stop a bashful smile from forming on your lips. “i made it.”

a big grin splits his face, mimicking yours. underneath the lone lamplight he looks jaw-droppingly handsome. you feel yourself become warm just in proximity to him.

“i wanted to talk to you in private,” he says. sam’s buzzing with energy, surveying the dark streets before meeting your gaze with his. “it’s kinda cold out here though… i, um—i can sneak you into my room…”

your heart skips a beat, like you’ve skipped a step on a staircase. “what?” you croak.

your eyes catch onto him wringing his fingers, a nervous habit you can’t help but always notice (not because his hands are nice and interesting to look at, not at all).

“you don’t wanna?”

“no!” you inhale, trying to alleviate the twisting sensation in your gut. “i do wanna, ahem, lead the way.”

sam smiles at you, dimples and all. he leads you towards the tiny bedroom window in front of his house. the window is already open—you assume that’s where he jumped out of to meet you.

he climbs through the window with minimal effort, landing on the flooring with a dull thump!

you raise a brow. “have you done this before?”

sam stretches his hand out to you, waiting. his smile turnt sheepish. “i mean, i think we were all rebellious teenagers once.”

you resist the urge to snort—sam’s nervous, you can tell. he doesn’t have his quips and jokes tonight. and he’s shy, but eager. like a puppy, excited and curious about the world.

“o-kay,” you say, one hand in his hand the other set firmly on the windowsill. “make sure i don’t fall please.”

sam nods, eagerly. the curled ends of his hair shake along with the motion as he does.

how endearing.

you tighten your grip on his hand, hauling yourself through the small window, trying your damn best to not make any sudden noise. which is successful for the most part, only a tiny huff of exertion escapes you.

annoying, yes. but the chill of winter burns through any energy you have faster than other seasons.

your feet connect with the wood of his floor, hand still clasped in his and the chill merely at your back. it’s warm inside, with him.

his room is the same as it’s always been when you’d visit before—shelves, band equipment, posters—but the ambiance is different. a little more charged with tension so thick you could cut through it with a knife.

sam does not bother turning on his light, you don’t mind it all that much. but it takes some effort to avoid tumbling over stray objects that clutter his bedroom floor.

“look, I know I’ve been about nothing but the band for a while now…” he starts. “but I don’t want you to think that’s all i’m interested in.”

you chuckle, clasping your fingers behind your back. “it certainly takes up a big chunk of your interests.”

he pouts, literally pouts. it must be the love bug you caught because you think it’s just plain adorable. “i’m really trying over here!”

“sorry!” you grin, “okay, continue.”

“well, um… shoot, this is kinda hard, huh?” he forces an awkward chuckle. “and nerve-wrecking… but what i’m trying to say is…”

“i’m really happy that we’ve grown this close, and well…” sam looks at you, he’s stupidly red—the color spreading all over his face. “i—i’m just wondering, do you think of me as… just a friend?”

your breath stutters, and you feel yourself blushing before you can do anything to stop it. you stare at him as he does with you. the two of you locking eyes for a second, it feels like it’s just you and him in the world.

you feel your shy admittance at the tip of your tongue. no, you’d say, you’re more than that for me, if you want to be.

sam smiles at you, shy but so, so overwhelmingly bright—it’s blinding. your head is running a mile a minute when you finally get the courage—

“sam!” you hear jodi’s groggy voice from outside the door. your stomach drops with dread. “somebody’s at the door! go and check please?”

you lock eyes once again, this time for entirely different reasons, and with entirely different feelings.

“oh my god, sam,” you whisper hurriedly, panic gripping you. “your mom doesn’t know i’m here—what do we do—”

“hold on—” he replies, with the same sense of urgency as you. “okay, okay—i have a plan, just trust me, ‘kay?”

you think you might break out into a cold sweat. you look at him quizzically, “what?”

sam gives you an apologetic smile with that stupid beautiful face of his, he moves forward, grabbing you by your wrists, and moving you with him—towards his bed.

“sam!” you hiss, alarms are blaring in every corner of your mind as sam all but drags you under the toasty covers of his bed. he lifts the blanket and stations you by the edge, covering you in the blanket—which is now a lumpy mess.

this is his childhood bed you’re in, where his mother and brother are just by the door.

and his mother is calling him.

“i’ll get this over with quick,” he says to you, already heading towards the door of his room. “hang on tight, ‘kay?”

you breathe a sound of agreement, way too jittery to formulate any proper response as you quieten under the covers.

though the sheets do feel nice, and smells overwhelmingly of that specific cologne he uses (stolen from joja inventory, he told you once). you will yourself not to relax and melt into the sheets so fast. instead, you listen for each and every sound that may give hint to whatever the hell is happening.

there’s a commotion that you can hear happening, the door swings open, the hinges creaking along with it—this whole surreal experience feels a little like the confrontation part of a horror movie, the helpless victim hiding and the heavy footfalls of the killer.

though in your case, it’s not one set of footsteps, but two.

“what are you two doing here?”

“you’re the one who called us over, remember?” you can recognize the band’s shut-in pianist’s voice from anywhere. “you were all like, stop skipping practice, seb.”

sam’s voice is oddly pitchy when he responds. “…well, tonight’s no good!”

you hear the other person huff, you strain your ears harder to listen. the huffing person clearly fed up with the strange behavior sam’s putting out right now.

“my mom and vincent are asleep,” he adds hurriedly. “they’d wake up—”

you resist the urge to groan, stifling your mouth under a sweaty palm. jodie was just speaking to him minutes ago, there’s no way they’d buy that. he cannot be a more obvious liar.

thankfully they gloss over the fact. “sam, why are you acting so damn weird?” sebastian asks, straightforward as ever.

“yeah,” the other voice adds. feminine but strong. which you now identify as abigail’s, you hear a pinch of impatience in her voice. “and why are you red? did you sit outside in the snow or something—”

sam chokes, which he tries to conceal as an odd sounding cough. abigail pauses mid-sentence. the shift in the atmosphere is palpable. you screw your eyes shut, hearing the rapid rate of your heartbeat. it’s so loud you’re almost convinced the trio can hear the thumping from your hiding spot under the sheets. this is it, they’re going to discover you.

“oh, oh i see,” abigail grins. “on second thought, i wouldn't risk catching all those germs. i’m feeling starved, let’s hit the saloon, seb.”

the aforementioned man grumbles, seemingly puzzled by the sudden switch in abigail’s attitude. “huh… why?” abigail must have whispered something to him—you can barely hear over the muffle of sam’s blanket comforters. “ugh, alright. fine. you owe us one, sam.”

“oh, of course! mhm, yup,” you cringe at the immense awkwardness of sam’s response, feeling the overwhelming urge to pull out your own hair. “i’ll see you guys tomorrow, yeah? now shoo! wouldn’t wanna get you both sick or somethin’…”

“huh?” sebastian replies, rightfully puzzled as they’re forcefully pushed out of the room. “why would we see you tomorrow if you’re sick—”

“well seb,” abigail says smugly. “let’s just say sammy here is taking care of some important business—”

“okay, bye!” you hear the door click shut. to your utter bewilderment, sam shut the door in their faces.

the room is deathly quiet, the air is stagnant and stuffy. once you feel it safe enough, you crane your neck out of the blankets to check over him. to trace any lingering feeling the sudden visit might’ve given him. sam’s got his back rested against the wood of his door, his back slumped.

“i—i wasn’t expecting that,” you say quietly from your hiding spot on his bed. peeking the top half of your face, watching the door carefully. “kinda nerve-wracking.”

and embarrassing.

“i know—i’m sorry,” he sighs, rubbing his temples. “i didn’t expect them coming over.”

“sebastian said you invited them for practice, though.” you point out.

“maybe i did,” he admits, creeping closer to you on the bed, even if he’s guilty and embarrassed. “i totally forgot—i mean, i was really nervous! my mind blanks when i get nervous…”

sam stops right by the side of the bed, as if he’s waiting for your permission to get in with you—in his own bed. and to be perfectly honest, you really want him to.

“kinda ruined the atmosphere too,” he looks away from you, eyes downcast and melancholy. “i had this whole thing planned too, and i, just… ugh…”

your eyes soften. “sam, it’s really fine. okay, maybe a little shocking but you know it’s not enough to scare me away.”

he looks down at you, worried. his eyebrows are ever so slightly pinched—you wish you could run your fingers over it, and smooth it out yourself.

“plus,” you murmur, reaching over the small amount of space between the two of you to clasp his wrist. “i’m not just gonna leave… just tell me what you were going to say—before the… interruption.”

that gives you the final push to gather your courage to tug him into bed with you. sam follows, flopping onto the empty bedding next to you without a fight. for a moment, it’s just the two of you, side by side, slowly huddling closer and closer for warmth.

and sam is warm. he’s practically radiating comfy heat you wish to burrow into—or wrap yourself around. the perfect bed-partner for winter nights like these.

you find yourself becoming addicted to the feeling.

sam angles his body towards you. you on your back and him on his side, it feels intimate and special. and for some reason, it feels familiar—like you’ve always belonged by his side.

“i think you know already,” he tells you, his eyes are not clear in the dim light but you know, there are practically hearts in them. “that i like you.”

you giggle softly. “and i think you know the same about me.”

sam tentatively grasps your hand, the freezing fingertips thawing under his careful touch. the caress of his hand on yours sends tingling electricity down your spine, your whole body feels alert—alive.

he speaks again, but this time his tone is a whisper of what it usually is. “stay awhile?”

“yeah,” you swallow, squeezing his hand in your grip. a small smile on your lips. “yes, i want to.”

“good,” he smiles, his eyes crinkle at the edges so softly and the dimples on his cheeks deepen. there really is no one else who can compare for you. “hey, you’re really cold… let me warm you up?”

you turn to your side, facing him. at this angle, your faces are mere inches apart. you can trace every dip, line and curve of his face, and he yours. your hand tingles with the overwhelming urge to reach for him and squeeze.

“it is cold,” you agree. “i’d very much like that.”

“phew,” he softly sighs. sam drags his fingers up your arm, stopping at your elbow. wherever he touches, a whisper of him lingers on your skin—a bone deep imprint you yearn for him to spread all across your skin.

you roll into him with little to no effort at all. sam drags you to his chest, your ear perched right above his heart, you can hear the steady thump! of his heartbeat from underneath. sam winds his arms around you, intensifying the heat you feel by tenfold—it’s not uncomfortable at all, though. you like it.

your bodies fit perfectly together, just like puzzle pieces. a mess of limbs tangling together. the warmth of him making you shudder in honey-like delight. it feels syrupy and soft and warm wrapped in his arms.

his hand at your back travels downwards, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake you feel even through the thickness of the fabric separating the skin of your back and his fingertips. his hands feel rough and calloused at the small of your back—from playing guitar and his skateboarding incidents—but you enjoy the feeling.

you trail your fingers under the thick fabric of his jacket and shirt, feeling the smooth skin underneath—the action has no deeper meaning than you wanting to feel.

sam’s uncharacteristically quiet. his breaths are slow and long, like he’s on the verge of sleep. yet his arms are wound tight around you—like he never wants to let go of you. your nerves make you feel like a slow simmering soup. warm and slowly cooking over the fire.

you two stay entangled for a while, in comfortable silence. sometime during the night you’ve matched your breathing to his, and he pulled you somehow even closer to his body.

but, a thump comes from his window, a light tapping sound. soft but persistent. the two of you opt to ignore it, in favor of snuggling closer to each other. yet the taps continue, and become louder and faster.

disrupted by the noise, sam mournfully throws the covers from over him to check, untangling himself from your grip. leaving a very him-shaped indent on the bed left in his wake. you groan, sticking your bottom lip out, you miss the warmth of him already.

“oh shit.”

the expletive makes you sit up in his bed, the comforter draping off your middle. you can make out the shape of him even with the dimness of the light—sam’s back is towards you, and if your eyes dare deceive you, he looks like he’s shrinking into himself a tiny bit.

“what is it?” you whisper-shout to him.

he slowly turns to you, wide eyed, his shoulders stiff. sort of resembling a kicked-dog. sam bows down his head—with what you think is shame, for what reason, you can’t tell. rubbing your eyes of sleep, you furrow your brow, craning your neck to look out the window behind him.

abigail and sebastian are there, waving wildly at you. your eyes widen. abigail and sebastian are waving at you with smug smiles plastered on their faces.

your stomach drops for the umpteenth time that night. you honestly feel too horrified to speak.

you bury yourself under the sheets, a feeble attempt to conceal your mortification. so that’s why abigail was playing along with sam’s urgent ramblings—she knew (not that sam was any good at keeping a cool facade, he is totally incapable of lying smoothly). you groan, you feel like a rebellious teenager again, only the part where you get caught and utterly humiliated.

outside, you can hear the loud roaring laughter of the duo through the glass, alongside the awkward, embarrassed chatter of your newly-minted boyfriend. (not technically official, but the title succeeds to relieve your horror by the tiniest bit)

still, you stay put. through the mortification and embarrassment you still stick yourself to sam’s side, or more literally, on his bed—because you know, there’s no other place you’d rather be.

you spare another glance out of the covers at the trio—to your surprise, sam’s beat you to it. looking at you with heart eyes and the most lovesick expression (you’re pretty sure yours looks the same).

you know there’s going to be a lot more explaining to do in the morning. but it doesn’t matter to you, not right now when you’re in sam’s bed on the verge of sleep.

not when you feel so warm.

a/n: shoutout to the ass trio for making an appearance in the fic! i love you abby and seb.

[spidermanifested]

okay ive got to get this post out before april fools day so everyone knows this is important and serious information. i believe ive solved a mystery that i might have been the only person on earth who ever cared about and im taking you with me on this journey

For the uninitiated (aka people who have never looked at my blog in their whole life). there is this character called bido from fullmetal alchemist. hes greeds friend and goon and he shows up in like 5 chapters. he looks like this

and if youve never seen him before you are going to be baffled to find out that a large percentage of people who even bother remembering him seem to genuinely believe that he is a young child. and this goes beyond your regular fandom infantilization. i have had people comment on my very own posts, telling me "but wait, i thought bido was a kid".

for years i did not know how this misconception was even possible (look at him), let alone get so widespread, but that might be because the chiefest example of it exists... in the scanlation thats up on most "read free manga" websites. Aka; the one most people these days are reading. perhaps this is the mother of all other bido-child-takes. we may not ever know.

but either way, that scanlation team apparently decided at some point in their workflow, that not ONLY was bido a kid, but it made sense to have an ACTUAL kid* (*15-year-old) call him one. which at that point just feels like rubbing salt in the wound like come on

anyway the first time i checked the original dialogue to compare, i didnt know much japanese, but i was still pretty confident there was zero basis for the mistranslation. this scenes official translation makes no reference to bidos age, and aside from the obvious factor of "are you fucking serious just look at him", there was an ACTUAL reference to his age in the japanese dialogue of an earlier chapter; alphonse calls him "ojisan". which... surely the scanlation team would have seen. if they were translating the manga. but i guess it would be easy to forget a chapter you read that long ago if you arent similarly enamored of every detail regarding one of the least present background characters

Still. it seems like such a weird and out of nowhere choice to make and there didnt seem to be any reason for it. even replacing dialogue with lord of the rings quotes has a clear and almost understandable motivation (hubristically riding the coattails of sam and frodos legendary romance). so WHY did they just suddenly up and decide this bald middle aged man was some kind of precocious Crime Baby.

well in the past couple years i have learned a little bit more japanese. & since last night i think i have found the answer.

heres the original dialogue again, and then here it is simplified for one of the official video games.

"ビドーとやらが言ってた事も", aka, "and the stuff we heard bido say".

"言ってた事も", pronounced "いってたことも", aka "itteta koto mo".

Except. if you arent reading too closely, or your image quality sucks, and you mistake the と (to) for a ど (do).

言ってたこども*..............

*translators note: koto mo means "and stuff". kodomo means child.

i cannot stress this enough. the kanji for "koto" is right there on the page. this mistake would only happen if somebody was ONLY looking at the furigana and not even doing a good job of that. how did they get it this wrong. how did nobody second guess it. i know that scanlators are mostly a bunch of hobbyists trying their best and i do not mean to disparage them as a collective. its just , that i think these specific ones should maybe be pelted with an assortment of overripe fruits for a little while, for giving me this hyperspecific grievance to suffer.

At least maybe now that ive solved the riddle the truth will prevail in time. tell your friends, or something

[lowkeyhollland]

best of both worlds

peter park x stark!reader 4.2k words mix it all together & you know you get the best of both worlds

“I just don’t understand why I can’t know who Spider-Man is,” you grabbed yesterday’s unfinished iced coffee from the fridge and closed it. “I know everyone else’s identity, Dad. Why not this one? 

“Y/n, I love you, but–” Your dad started but was rudely interrupted. 

“You’re a yapper!” Sam yelled from across the kitchen and Bucky started laughing with him as you shot them a glare. 

“Okay, who taught them that?” You crossed your arms as the two kept laughing.

“I’m sorry, princess. But it’s true,” your dad laughed with them while you rolled my eyes. He messed with your hair and kissed the top of your head. “You can’t keep a secret to yourself.”

“You told the whole world you’re Iron Man,” You rebutted, and ‘oohs’ erupted from the small crowd. “Plus, the only person I tell is Peter.”

“What about when you told Ned you were going with us to Germany,” Bucky said.

“I had to tell my teachers I would be gone and he was curious,” You shrugged and took a sip from your coffee. 

“Hi, Mr. Stark.” Just then, the man of the hour, Spider-Man swung into the kitchen. Well, he walked into the kitchen. “I might be gone–” he stopped mid-sentence when he saw you. “Y/n! Hi!”

“Hello, Spider-Man,” You narrowed your eyes at him and he spun his head around. 

“Did I do something?” His voice squeaked and you narrowed my eyes even more. 

“She’s just upset that we won’t tell her your identity,” Tony informed him. 

“If I just keep guessing who you are, will you tell me if I’m right?” You batted your eyelashes at the masked hero as you put on the sweetest smile. You could tell he was smirking as he let out a soft chuckle while shaking his head.

“I doubt you’ll guess correctly, sweetheart.” He crossed his arms and Tony’s flickered between the two of you, a faint smirk forming on his lips. A small blush crept onto your cheeks at the nickname. 

“All I’m saying is everyone in the Hannah Montana universe was stupid because they couldn’t put two and two together,” you mumbled as you grabbed a granola bar from the pantry.

“But how were they stupid if they never heard Miley sing? They had nothing to compare her to.” Spider-Man started the counter-argument and you raised your eyebrows, turning to face him and straightening out your back. 

“At every concert, the artist speaks to the audience. How did they not notice that Miley and Hannah sounded the same when speaking? Or even her mannerisms.” You eyed Spider-man cautiously as he grabbed an apple. 

“Alright, one of you can’t be in here if you are going to remove your mask.” Your dad pointed to the both of you and you rolled my eyes.

“It’s fine, I’m leaving for school anyway.” You slung your backpack on and grabbed your car keys. “Bye Dad, love you. Bye, guys! See you later.” 

“Wait, are you picking up Parker?” Your dad yelled and your eyes widened. 

“Shit! I’m late!” You yelled and ran out the door to the car. 

“Drive safe!” You heard your dad’s voice in the distance while seeing a flash of red leaving the tower. Interesting. 

– – –

You frantically knocked on Peter’s apartment door. It swung open and Peter smiled and was breathing heavily. “Hi,” he sighed and smiled. 

“Hi,” You smiled back at him. “You ready?”

“Yeah! Let’s go.” He walked out and locked the door and the two of you hurried to your car. 

You were speeding down the road, not trying to be late for the second day. “Y/n/n! Slow down!” Peter grabbed the car handle and sat straight back in his seat. 

“Oh please, I’m only ten over. I cannot be late again. Mrs. Smith threatened to give me a week’s worth of detention if I was late to her class… again. ” You stopped at the red light and took a sip from your coffee and Peter scoffed. 

“As if they’d ever give Tony Stark’s daughter detention.”

“You’d be surprised,” you said under your breath. “Hey, weird question.”

“What’s up?” Peter looked over giving you, his chocolate brown eyes full of wonder and ready to tackle whatever question you had to say. 

“Did you watch Hannah Montana as a kid?” And just like that, all the wonder was drained from his eyes and his mouth formed a line. 

He knew he had to be careful of what he would say in this conversation in case it reminded you of Spider-Man this morning. It wasn’t that Peter didn’t trust you. No, not at all, he trusted you with his entire life. You were his best friend, but Tony had advised him to keep his secret identity to a limited number of people in case it spread like wildfire. 

“Not really, why?” 

“Nothing, I just got into an argument with Spider-Man today.” You grumbled, looking in your blindspot to switch lanes, seeing Midtown was coming up on the left. 

“It won’t ever shock me how easily you can just casually mention superheroes.” Peter took your coffee and took a sip from it. His face scrunched up and he immediately gagged. “How much sugar did you put in this?!”

“It’s from Dunkin’! You know I always get three packs of sugar with my Dunkin’ coffee.” Peter shook his head as he handed it back to you before you both got out of the car. 

“And every time, I forget how disgustingly sugary your Dunkin’ order is.”

“It's not my fault you like your coffee black. You know, you have to be some psychopath to like straight-up black coffee.” 

“Sorry, you have the palette of a five-year-old.” You gasped at the comment and lightly pushed Peter away as you walked through the school doors.

“Whatever, I’ll see you later.” You playfully rolled your eyes with a small smile on your face before walking away to your first period. 

“See you!” Peter exclaimed, a smile forming on his face as he admired you from afar.

– – –

“I was team Jake because I had a thing for blondes, but then when he cheated on Miley, I was so heartbroken my dad had to watch me to make sure I didn’t throw up from crying so hard.” Ned and Peter listened to you intently as you rambled on about your favorite childhood show. MJ would look up from her book now and then to nod at you to show she was listening. 

“How were you not team Jesse right away? I mean, even I was head over heels for him,” Ned argued with you about the teen heartthrobs. 

“I don’t know, Jake was so charming to six-year-old me. I just couldn’t not fall in love with him. He was always so smooth with everything.”

“So, the opposite of Peter?” MJ raised an eyebrow and smirked while you let out a giggle. 

“Exactly.” You agreed with her while Peter’s mouth hung open. 

“Okay well, Miley didn’t even have to tell Jesse she was Hannah. He figured it out himself because he was so in love with her while Miley had to put the wig on in front of Jake.” Peter smugly said. You stared at him as he proudly smiled at himself.

“I thought you didn’t watch the show,” you mumbled and Peter’s cheeks flushed pink. 

“I mean, not really, but– okay fine,” Peter sighed knowing you had caught him in a lie. “I was the biggest Hannah Montana fan out there. I used to perform just like her in our living room.” The whole table burst into laughter and his entire face went red.

“Please tell me May has videos!” You said in between laughs and you heard your best friend grumble something. 

“Is that why there were purple Hannah Montana sheets in your linen closet?” Ned asked, wiping away tears. 

“It’s okay, Pete. My go-to karaoke song is ‘Best of Both Worlds.’” You smiled in an attempt to make him feel better. He gave you a tight lip smile, knowing no one would let him forget about this. “But, back to this Jake and Jesse discourse,” you circled the conversation back on track. “Would you say Jesse only found out because he was so insanely in love with her?” You watched as Peter thought about the question for a while. You couldn’t help but smile as you admired the way his brown curls fell on his head perfectly or how he bit his lower lip a little as he concentrated. 

“Yes, I believe so.” And that was all the information you needed. 

– – –

Peter walked into the living room of the compound, following the echoes of your laughter. He furrowed his eyebrows together when he saw you throwing a laughing fit over something on your phone. 

“Are you… okay?” Peter cautiously asked. You motioned for him to sit next to you on the couch, still laughing. 

“Look– look at what May sent me,” you managed to get out. Peter looked at your phone and saw a video of six-year-old him singing ‘I Got Nerve’ into a remote, dancing around the living room like he was a pop star. 

“Oh my god,” he mumbled under his breath, horrified. He quickly grabbed your phone away and held it up as you protested against it. 

“No! Peter give it back!” You exclaimed climbing over him to take back your phone. 

“Nu-uh!” A playful smile formed on his lips when he switched which hand held the phone. You were both laughing and messing around until you lost your balance and he caught you under his arm, pulling you close to him so you wouldn’t fall off the couch. Your faces were inches apart and you were praying your face wasn’t as red as it felt. 

“Hi,” you whispered to him, staring into his big brown eyes.

“Hi,” he mumbled back, his eyes flickering down to your lips. His action didn’t go as unnoticed as he had hoped when you smirked back at him. It wasn’t uncommon for you two to be so close to each other, but the position you were in was definitely different than most times. You know, being quite literally on top of him and everything. 

“Can I have my phone back, please?” You batted your eyelashes at him. Peter gulped and nodded, not trusting anything that might come out of his mouth. You slowly got off on top of him and sat at the end of the couch and Peter tossed you your phone as you threw your legs over his lap. 

“Now delete the video,” Peter demanded. You were taken aback by his tone and couldn’t help but laugh. 

“I top him once and I don’t even get a thank you,” you jokingly said and he rolled his eyes. 

“Y/n, seriously.”

“Fine,” you grumbled and deleted the video against your will. 

“Thank you, sweetheart.” He smiled at you but the nickname took you by surprise. You furrowed your eyebrows together and looked at your best friend.

“Wait, why are you even here? I didn’t invite you over.” You realize Peter just appeared out of nowhere. 

“She tops me once and thinks she’s in control of me,” he jokes around and you lightly kick his leg. 

“You fucking wish, Parker.” You laughed at how red his face had turned while his eyes widened. 

“I- uh, I have that internship with your dad, remember?” He answered your question, ignoring the comment you made. You silently mouthed an ‘oh,’ completely forgetting about the internship.

“What do you even do for the internship? I’ve never seen you here doing anything else but hanging out with me.” You eyed your best friend suspiciously as he squirmed around avoiding your eye contact.

“I– uh, you know, I do… stuff.” He scratched the back of his neck, his eyebrows furrowing together once more. 

“What kind of… stuff?” You raised an eyebrow at him and could’ve sworn you heard him gulp. 

“I… repair their suits! Yeah, I do that,” Peter said almost like he was trying to convince himself. 

“So why are you here today? No one has been on a mission in like a month.” Your suspicions were rapidly going up by the minute. Why would your best friend lie about what he does for your dad? Unless… No, that's crazy, you thought. 

“I was upgrading Spider-Man’s suit,” Peter’s face fell. Shit. Alarms were going off in his head, hoping you wouldn’t catch onto anything. But another part of him was hoping you would. He thought maybe he should just come clean. Right here, right now. He watched as you eyed him up and down, biting your lower lip. 

“Fun.” He sat there shocked. Fun? That was all you had to say? 

“Yeah, super fun.” He let out a sigh as he sat further back on the couch. You looked at him curiously, opening and closing your mouth like you had something to say. He looked at you, questioning your movements, but you just shook your head. “I should… probably get back to your dad.” He lifted your legs off his lap and you just nodded. 

“Yeah, don’t want to upset Tony Stark,” you scoffed and he smiled. 

“Maybe tomorrow after I’m done, we can watch a movie?” Peter suggested, but you had other plans. 

“Tomorrow’s Bachelor night,” you smirked and you could have sworn you saw Peter’s face light up.

“Oh, I don’t want to miss the girls fighting. Save me a seat next to you,” he winked and you felt your cheeks start to blush. “I’ll see you later.” Peter messed with your hair and kissed the top of it. You sat there in shock while he walked away, eyes wide and face red once he realized what he had done. 

– – –

“Mr. Stark, I don’t think I can keep it a secret from her any longer.” Peter stood next to his mentor as they worked on his suit together, the memory of him kissing your head replaying over and over again. Tony sighed and looked at Peter.

“If you want to tell her, kid, you can. No one’s stopping you.” He tilted his head to the side as he sighed again. His answer took Peter aback. 

“But you told me I shouldn’t tell her.” His mouth hung open, still shocked at Tony’s response. 

“I only said that in hopes of keeping my daughter safe.”

“But she’s constantly surrounded by other superheroes. And, no offense, but she’s your daughter.” Peter bluntly said and Tony let out a dry chuckle. 

“I know.”

“So, why did you tell me to keep it from her in the first place?” Peter looked around confused. 

“Because she’s already surrounded by enough heroes as it is.” Tony made it seem like it made total sense, but Peter just stood there stunned. 

“So?” He felt bad giving his mentor attitude, but he was so confused and lost at what to do and the responses he was receiving. 

“So,” Tony exaggerated. “If she’s seen with Spider-Man, she can, you know, attract danger.” 

“But she’s already seen with– I’m so confused, Mr. Stark.” Peter’s eyes pleaded for a clear response and Tony groaned. 

“Again, if she’s seen with Spider-Man, she can get hurt. I just want my precious daughter to be safe, is that too much to ask for?”

“But she’s always seen with you guys. I don’t understand.” Peter was so confused he thought his head was going to explode for feeling so dumb. 

“If she is seen with Spider-Man–” Tony tried to emphasize. 

“Yes, I get it, but–”

“Oh my God, do I have to spell it out for you? Kid, we all know you’ve been in love with Y/n ever since you met the girl!” Peter stood there dumbfounded. 

“What? I– no I am not– I mean no offense, but–” Peter’s words were all jumbled together as his cheeks flushed pink. 

“What’s Parker rambling on about now?” Steve asked as he walked through the doors of the lab. 

“Trying to convince me he’s not in love with my daughter,” Tony bluntly said, turning back to work on the suit. Steve burst into laughter and Peter’s face fell. 

“Oh, Parker, anyone can see that you’re head over heels for her from miles away.” Peter’s entire face had turned red from embarrassment. 

“Okay, so maybe I am—“

“And you are,” Tony mumbled. Peter shot him a look before continuing. 

“Why does that have to interfere with me being Spider-Man? She’s my best friend, I’m tired of lying to her all the time when she’s already a part of this sort of lifestyle!” Peter threw his hands up in frustration. 

“It’s up to you, Parker. But if Spider-Man is seen with any sort of love interest, criminals can take advantage of that. And it’s your responsibility to make sure my daughter gets home safe.” Tony pointed his finger into Peter’s chest. The kid gulped and nodded before returning their attention to his suit. 

— — —

“I’m home!” You yelled through the compound. Walking into the kitchen, you saw a familiar red suit rummaging through the fridge. “Hello, Spider-Man.” You announced. He whipped his head around, causing him to almost hit it on the door. 

“H-Hey, Y/n!” He scratched the back of his neck and you eyed him suspiciously. “What’s up?”

“Nothing much. It’s Bachelor night, are you gonna watch with us?” You swirled your iced coffee in your hand before taking a sip. 

“Yeah!” Spider-Man responded. “I mean, uh, well. I will be watching it just not… here.” Peter looked around nervously under the mask, debating if he should just tell you his secret right now. But Tony’s words rang in his head about the danger it could put you in. He watched as you used the straw to mix your coffee even more and nodded to his words. 

“You should watch with us,” you suggested. “You can finally meet my best friend, Peter.” 

Peter almost collapsed when you suggested that his alter ego should stay for ‘family night.’ You had never hung out with Spider-Man that often, always running around to see other people outside of the compound. The fact that you were inviting him was almost out of character. 

“Only if I get to sit next to you, pretty girl,” Peter smirked under the mask getting caught up in the moment, watching you almost spit out your coffee. 

“Woah there, Spidey. You’re getting bold over there.”

“Can’t help myself when you’re probably the most gorgeous girl I’ve ever seen.” You couldn’t help but smile because you assumed who might be under the mask. Getting up from your seat, you walked over to the masked hero and wrapped your arms around his neck. 

“Maybe I can say the same about you if you just, I don’t know, take this little thing off.” You wrapped your fingers around the edge of the mask and could feel his heartbeat going crazy. Peter gulped as you continued to mess with the mask. It was harmless flirting, right? If he told you he was Spider-Man, it wouldn’t put you in too much danger because you two were just… friends. Right? 

“Is that coffee good?” Peter tried to change the topic, now feeling very strange watching you flirt with his alter ego instead of his true self. You removed your arms from him and grabbed your coffee, handing it to him. 

“Do you wanna try it? It’s good. Trust.” You reassured him. He grabbed the coffee from your hands and lifted his mask just right under his nose. 

As he swirled the straw around to mix the coffee around more, you couldn’t help but notice Spider-Man’s thin lips. How familiar they looked. He brought the straw up to his mouth and took a sip but immediately gagged. 

“Is this from Dunkin’?” He asked and you smirked. That was all the information you needed. 

— — — 

You knocked on Peter’s door. He had texted you earlier, saying he had something important to tell you and it couldn’t be over text or call. You had a feeling that he was finally going to tell you his secret. Peter swung the door open and smiled, cheeks turning pink. 

“Hi,” he breathlessly said. You weren’t quite sure why he was out of breath, but you just assumed it was nerves. 

“Hi,” you responded back. He let you into his apartment and you followed him to his room. You took in his room, smiling at his dorky Star Wars posters. Walking over to his desk, you noticed a picture of you and him. It was blurry and you were both laughing, your arms wrapped around his neck while his arms were around your waist. “This is new,” you told him, picking the picture up. 

“Oh! Yeah,” Peter’s face turned red but he walked up behind you to look at the picture, placing a hand loosely over your hip. “MJ took that picture from a few weeks ago. It’s my favorite.” He smiled down at you, taking in your features as you continued to stare at the frame. 

“It’s cute,” you turned around, your breath hitched seeing his face just inches from yours. Your eyes flickered down to his lips, those lips, and it reminded you of why you were here. You set the picture back down and walked away from Peter, already missing the warmth he brought you. Sitting down on his bed, you brought your legs up and he sat down next to you.

“So, I did have something to tell you,” his voice trailed off toward the end and you gave him your undivided attention. “God, this is sorta hard to say.” His hands messed with the end of his covers, shuffling something.

“You’re Spider-Man!” You blurted out. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as you smacked your hand over your mouth, not expecting to say it so bluntly. 

“How did you–” 

“Peter, I’m not stupid. You don’t have to recreate the scene where Miley is holding up the Hannah wig to Jesse with your Spider-Man mask,” you gestured your hand to his that was still under the covers. He slowly lifted his hand to reveal the mask from the bed.

“Well, yes I am Spider-Man.” You smiled to yourself, proud that you figured it out by yourself. “But,”

“But?!” You interrupted him. He let out a dry chuckle and shook his head.

“But,” he continued. “That isn’t why I invited you over. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am so insanely happy you figured out this secret and I feel a weight lifted off my chest. You’re my best friend and–”

“Peter.”

“Yes?”

“You’re rambling.”

“Oh, right, sorry.” He sheepishly smiled and looked at you. How your hair fell perfectly over your shoulder as you ran your hands through it, an anxious tic Peter found you do often. 

“I wanted to tell you that…” he spoke slowly as you hung onto every word that came out of his mouth, your heart about to explode from your chest. “I am in love with you.”

The room was silent. You could hear a pin drop. You stared at Peter in disbelief, your brain running a thousand miles an hour. 

“Y/n, please say something,” his voice was low, barely coming out as a whisper. 

“I…” you started, “I’m in love with you too.” His face broke out into the biggest smile you have ever seen and you mimicked him.

“Really?” 

“I mean, you said it yourself. Jesse was so in love with Miley that he knew he was Hannah before she even told him,” you smirked as Peter rolled his eyes. 

“Only you would bring up Hannah Montana in the middle of a moment like this,” his hand cupped the side of your face and you smiled sheepishly. 

“Only with you,” you closed the gap between the two of you. When you kissed, it truly was like fireworks were going off behind you. You smiled into the kiss, but the fireworks seemed to be getting louder– wait what?! “Do you hear that?” You pulled away from Peter, his eyes half closed. 

“Mm, no,” he leaned in again to kiss you, but you pushed him away. 

“Peter, my dad is blasting someone a few blocks away.” You saw out his window and he immediately jumped up. 

“I’m so sorry to leave right now but–”

“Go get ‘em, Spidey.” You winked at him and he smiled. He put on his mask and took off his hoodie to reveal the suit.

“Will you be here when I get back?” He asked, his eyes pleading for an answer. 

“Is Hannah Montana one of the best Disney Channel shows?” Peter rolled his eyes. 

“On second thought, you can go home,” he was about to climb out the window before you pulled him back. 

“Yes, I will be here. You,” you poked his chest, “be safe.” You lifted his mask and kissed him one more time and Peter melted into the kiss. 

“I could get used to this,” he mumbled against your lips, but you pulled away making him frown. 

“Peter.” You said sternly. 

“Yes, sweetheart?” “Go help my dad, idiot."

“On it!” And with that, Peter swung away. This really was the life and he just had to hold on tight. 

[abarbaricyalp]

I'm still trying to comprehend an archive deciding it's a good idea to retroactively change the definition of a general tag to be more specific

14 years after the tag was established

6 years since Chris Evans was Captain America

6 years since Sam Wilson was given the shield

4 years since Sam donned the shield for the first time with the title Captain America

In what world do you not just keep the "Captain America Movies" tag and add in the 'let racist fans ignore Sam easier' new tags as sub tags????

Sam!Cap fics have been written since 2014 (and probably before) and the MCU introduced the movies-canon concept in 2019. Why would fics with Sam as Captain America written in the last six years now have the asinine Evans tag instead? Why is this not an opt in thing? Why is this not a "going forward" thing?

AND ANOTHER THING

WHY is TFATWS not considered part of the Captain America tag? It is a story about Captain America????? It is called CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE WINTER SOLDIER by the end of the show. He is Cap for the whole last episode! It's as much time as Steve is cap in TFA.

"Well if fans want to read the continuities of the Evans movies only--" Bro you mean the continuities that lead directly into Sam becoming Cap?????? There are no other continuities! Sam!Cap and Steve!Cap are the EXACT SAME canon! There are no multiverses and what ifs here!!!

The implementation of this is WILD. You cannot assign a narrow definition to something people have been broadly using for a decade and a half! You're really gonna change the tag that people have been using this whole time????? You're gonna tag all of my sambucky fics as Chris Evans???? Get a grip.

This isn't a new franchise. This isn't a reboot. You're comparing apples and oranges here by bringing up Spidermen and 007s. Also someone correct me if I'm wrong, there was not a general Spiderman Movies/ James Bond Movies tag that was changed fifteen years later to only mean Tobey Macguire or Sean Connery.

"People who want to read about Steve--" Can use 1) character filters 2) ship filters 3) additional tags 4) summaries 5) scroll past all the things that aren't what they want to read the way Sam fans have been doing for years and years and years and judging by the fics in the tag now will have to continue to do

It's an established tag. There is no new franchise. This will disproportionately (negatively) affect Sam-centric fics and searches. I'm never going to get over how bad an archival practice it is to blanket change a decade and a half old tag to be more specific than it has been before.

[contract-crawdad]

The gang's all here!

What's the deal with these guys? What do we know about them?

Let's dig into it.

The Nightmares. The Shadows. The Darkness. They've got a lot of names, but none of em are official. Their overworld sprites are referred to as 'shadowmonsters' in the game files, but that's almost certainly not their intended name. One key detail is that Dan’s chat will identify them as ‘shades’, but that’s now what they ARE, just what type of enemy they are, like how Jennifer is listed as ‘cursed’ even though she’s clearly a human/house centipede hybrid. So the closest thing we have to go on is the fact that their battle sprites are referred to as 'danger(insert number)(large/medium/small)' in the game files... which is similarly very utilitarian, but I think it's very fitting.

Danger. The Dangers. That's what they are. That's all they can be.

It’s also a bit more distinctive if a name than ‘Shadows’ so I’m gonna stick with that. Not one single line of dialogue in the entire game acknowledges the Dangers directly. Part of the difficulty in analyzing these guys is just how little is concretely known about them, but that's not to say we don't know anything!

The most relevant piece of information to keep in mind is that they can appear all over the place, with odds influenced by your danger meter. The higher it is, the more likely you are for them to appear. This has led some to conclude that this implies Dangers are a shared hallucination by Sam and his party, but I do not believe that to be the case for reasons we will circle back to.

…And that’s it! That’s the only relevant spawning criteria! A few sources claim that nightfall or stress are relevant factors, but this doesn’t seem to be the case at all thanks to information from my sources. All that matters is the danger meter!

Dangers on the overworld (even when you can see them) are notable for their rapid flickering in and out of reality. Where they're flickering from and to is unknown, but they make a lot of eerie hissing and clicking noises while they do it. These noises are evidently Quebec curses played backwards, which is funny, but certainly does seem to imply that these things used to be human!

That said, we cannot accurately say whether or not Dangers are cursed or not! Don't get me wrong, they're definitely associated with the Visitor somehow! But I think it's either a Frederick situation where some as of yet unseen cursed human is creating more Dangers, or a Baby Teeth situation where a cursed human is actively spreading their affliction. Otherwise, it seems unlikely that so many humans would warp in such specific and similar ways entirely independently from one another.

Support for the theory that something is spawning the Dangers lies with Dan’s chat system: while his chat lists the small and medium Dangers as ‘shades’, the largest sizes are actually listed as ‘cursed’, possibly implying they were once humans that saw the Visitor, and are spawning the lesser Dangers! This one’s far from explicit canon, esPECIALY since Dan’s chat has a lot of labeling , but very strong evidence that the bigger ones used to be human.

In combat, any Danger can perform various basic attacks, absorb stamina, and have between 0-2 skills entirely unique to them. Their smashing attacks have the ‘shadow’ element. Additionally, they are resistant to crushing, slashing, piercing, bullets, and cold damage. They are weak to fire and to explosives. Compared to other enemies, they have abnormally high evasion (20% compared to the 5% pretty much everything else has). They generally give very little EXP for how difficult they can be, and have a chance to drop a 'Black Ooze' on defeat, with the largest Dangers being guaranteed to drop it.

These basic facts, while limited, actually give us a lot to work with!

Dangers are able to physically harm humans despite their strange habit of dipping in and out of existence.

Dangers all have the same resistances, implying that they are all made out of (approximately) the same stuff.

Dangers are able to inflict various stratus through a wide variety of physical and mental means.

Dangers DO HAVE unique attributes from one another beyond appearance.

Dangers leave behind a physical trace of their existence when killed.

The fact that Dangers have the same resistances and weaknesses is especially interesting because it implies that Dangers do have some kind of biology/physiology to them! This alongside the fact that their damage is considered shadow element is primarily what kills the 'they're hallucinations' theory... well, that and the black ooze.

Black ooze, oh how you vex me.

This stuff is the most solid evidence that the Dangers aren't purely psychological terrors, that they are instead very much REAL. While black ooze can be 'used' on a character, all it does is deal a massive chunk of damage, somewhere between 72% and 108% of a character’s max health. Ouch. No shopkeeper in the game will buy it, and it is left up to interpretation whether they simply do not want otherworldly filth (understandable), or if they can't even see the stuff. Which is very possible!

No character other than Sam will ever react to the presence of a Danger. For example, one can appear in Lyle's room, but it ignores him and he ignores it. There are other examples of rooms with NPCs that can have a Danger spawn near them as well, but the key is that these characters are in their homes. And where is the one place you are always safe from Dangers? That's right. Inside your home.

I propose that that primordial feeling of safety that being home provides is an active shield against the Dangers. Resting at home, even, is enough to make the Dangers either unable or unwilling to attack you. But the Dangers are still there, one must assume.

Look Outside is not a game that pulls 'it was all in your head' twists. Ultimately, it's more horrifying that the Dangers are real and we just have absolutely no clue what they are. But they're all over the building, even if you can't always see them.

But they can see you.

And they just cannot wait for your fear to allow them to touch you.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thus ends the compilation of all known information! I could have mentioned the possible connection between the Dangers and the Shadow, or the idea that the Dangers could be connected to the teased 'infinite dungeon' that the creator wants to implement, but those are nothing but raw and unfiltered speculation on my part!

Did I miss anything about these goobers? Feel free to let me know!

Credit to @goawaypopup and @lily-wisp for some juicy 'under the hood' information, as well as @nastymajesty! Compilation images of all the Dangers are by me, feel free to use em.

Here's a bunch of Dangers exposed to the light as a reward for making it all the way through! Look at them. Nakey.

[appleflavoredkitkats]

sometimes i think about l'manberg as meaning-makers.

they are what made the dsmp transcend minecraft as a statistical, skill-centric game into something where meaning is arbitrary. this works in both an in-narrative and meta angle. on one hand, power in the dsmp before l'manberg was centered on pvp and resources (and ultimately, that also dictated how power is gained and lost for the rest of the dsmp's lifetime). that's the main thing they were fighting against, yeah? that people in l'manberg were not as physically skilled in a more strategic, game-like minecraft sense compared to the dteam and their allies.

l'manberg is literally the introduction of power derived from personal meaning and interests, something more supposedly "arbitrary" than, let's say, being able to pvp like techno or dream. it's the one thing you cannot measure compared to physical power (like dream's insane pvp skills) or resources (dream's ability to build the prison with sam, or dream and the emerald duo being able to blow up nlm). l'manberg literally sets the precedent of the dsmp being controlled by! arbitrary means!

it works in good and bad ways, because i mean like. defying the status quo of power is one thing, but how is a completely other thing. how every l'manbergian viewed l'manberg isn't the same with each other, especially wilbur. besides all the principles he designates to the idea of l'manberg, we can't ignore that he literally brings up geopolitical constructs into the dsmp like discussions of economy (salmon being their main produce) or police (his answer of what they'll do abt pet deaths). but of course meaning-making isn't bad, because, i mean, look at the discs! at the pets everyone owns!

i joke about everyone needing to apologize to the dsmp after the minecraft movie trailer dropped because. the dsmp will forever encapsulate the meaning of minecraft better than that movie ever will. there is always a constant discussion of power - entertaining that this game, this server is winnable. the closemindedness people can have when dictating how minecraft should be played (ie. dream on the pvp side, wilbur on the narrative side) versus minecraft being something entirely up to your decision, something that is a shared space of people with varying opinions and thought processes.

yeah i'm crazy about l'manberg actually, and the precedent it set in the dsmp. what it challenges and what it's caused. what it challenged and reinforced. what a crazy nation

[peachhcs]

halfway through! → social media post

samy + will universe (hughes!sister x will smith au)

lowkey crazy that everyone is halfway through college already!!! here's the group's instagram dumps from the 4th semester as promised

i've also lowkey realized that these social media posts aren't usually just samy + will anymore so they're now being classified as the samy + will universe but still under their au masterlist to find and i'll be hyperlinking their masterlist still. enjoy :)

au masterlist

samyhughes how fun to be halfway done! 🌝

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hannahduke EVERYONE WAKE UP I MADE FRONT PAGE

hannahduke mom i made it 🥹

hannahduke it's been so fun getting to spend these 2 years with u

hannahduke kiss me

| samyhughes girlll i love u sm can't wait for 2 more

| samyhughes my girl foreverrrrr how'd we get this far together??

| hannahduke let's compare us from end of sophomore year of hs

julianne_gelinas aww wait there's me!!!! ur my icon i love u

| samyhughes i love u more my julie

ryan.leno_4 wait i really enjoyed all of these photos

| samyhughs wait thanks ry that means a lot

user1 why does she look so hot in all of these???

user2 whichever camera they're using pls tell me they look soo good

user3 that pic of will is so good wow

gabeperreault44 can't believe we're so old

| samyhughes tell me about it..

drewf2 when do i get a feature in these?

| samyhughes uhhh great question

lhughes_06 aw wait ur on roll with these appropriate pics

| samyhughes why don't u hop off my back

jackhughes they grow up so fast 💔

| samyhughes don't cry yet i'm only a junior now

aram_minnetian yuhhhh wow will u look good in that one pic..

| _willsmith2 wow thanks aram

jacob_fowler24 what are they feeding u over there??

| samyhughes overpriced mac and cheese

zeevbuium28 veteran gf

| samyhughes wow i made it to veteran status

user4 she's sooo pretty

user5 i want all of them tbh

_willvote 4th summer?

| samyhughes you know it

teddystiga_ this is a really good selection of photos

| samyhughes ryan said the same thing i feel so honored

jameshagens_4 @hannahduke u look pretty in these

| hannahduke i love u

| samyhughes end of brainrot finally???

_quinnhughes baby sister not so baby anymore

| samyhughes this was u 5 years ago?

| _quinnhughes not too much now

tyler___duke5 ew what's hannah doing there

| hannahduke ill kill u

tj_hughes13 good stuff hughesy

| samyhughes back at ya tj

nick_moldenhauer year 3 soon

| samyhughes got me feeling so old

markestapa wait this is making me bitter and sad..

| samyhughes don't start w me mark...we have summer still

edwards.73 more like favorite seniors send off 🥲

| samyhughes i'm actually crying

user6 her and this school >>>

user7 what are we gonna do when no more hughes go to umich???

marcieevans11 babee ur gorg

| samyhughes no that's literally u

blairestevenson wow ur gorg omg

| samyhughes my bby i love u

rutgermcgroarty good stuff samy

| samyhughes come home kay misses u

kayleighdocherty_ ur so pretty sam!

| samyhughes i loveee u kay

samanthaminnetian can't wait to see u this summer

| samyhughes literally counting down the days

danielleminnetian beautiful beautiful

| samyhughes u flatter me

mackcelebrini how do u not run out of replies for everyone??

| samyhughes idk tbh i kind of am

beckettsennecke_ cali trip??

| samyhughes omw

thombordeleau_ obligatory gf post comment

| samyhughes hey bordeleau

eklund_72 wow u got pup looking good there

| samyhughes honestly one of my best pics of him

graceccsmith ur adorable samy see u so soon

| samyhughes cannot wait for this reunion

emmagcooper hot stufff

| samyhughes no u

dylanduke25 HALFWAY THROUGH?!?!?!

| lhughes_06 feeling old yet??

colecaufield have never felt more old

| samyhughes u and me both

_willsmith2 wow you're stunning

_willsmith2 fuck i miss u

_willsmith2 how'd u make me look that good??

| samyhughes u look that good in general babe

| samyhughes i miss u sm pls come home i love u

hannahduke uhh so how'd we get here??

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samyhughes babe ur so gorg i love u

samyhughes my super awesome best friend roommate

samyhughes wow we look great in 5th pic

| hannahdule i know that's why i posted it 😉

julianne_gelinas i been waitinggg for this one u loook sooo good wow

| hannhduke ur making me blush

blairestevenson i gyattt to see closer

| hannahduke HAHAH PLEASE so funny

farahlipetz sooo cutie hannah

| hannahduke such a good semester w u farah

user1 these posts get better every semester

user2 soo cutie aww

user3 i love them smmm

ryan.leno_4 haggy made it twice!

| hannahduke new record i think?

gabeperreault44 so far ur beating samy by 2 bc u included 2 pics of haggy and she only got one pic of smitty

| samyhughes i didn't know it was a competition...

| hannahduke helll yeah

drewf2 omg 2 posts from hannah in two weeks??

| hannahduke i know so rare of me

dylanduke25 ur so old now

| hannahduke yeah tell me about it

tyler___duke5 yeah good sem i guess

| hannahduke u guess???

tj_hughes13 hannah supporter

| hannahduke thanks tj means a lot

nick_moldenhauer can't wait to do it all again

| hannahduke for sureee

user4 i still haven't figured out how to be their friends

user5 to be a fly on the wall in their summer lake house

emmagcooper aww love

| hannahduke 🥰

michaelhagens_11 wow i spy j 2 times

| hannahduke he'll be so happy to see himself here

zeevbuium28 i can see why u and samy are roommates

| hannahduke is that a good thing??

| zeevbuium28 yes

aram_minnetian big recap

| hannahduke totally

jacob_fowler24 how many years have i been friends w u all and i still haven't gotten a feature in any of these???

| hannahduke fowler 😭😭

_willvote hannah truther ☝️

| hannahduke yuhhh

_willsmith2 @samyhughes damn u look hot

| samyhughes 🥰😏

samanthaminnetian adorable hannah

| hannahduke i love u

danielleminnetian ur posts always eat

| hannahduke 😊

jameshagens_11 woah i love u

jameshagens_11 omg me twice!

jameshagens_11 tbh i looked respectfully

| hannahduke LMAO please

| hannahduke i love u can't wait to see u

gabeperreault44 got it done, gonna miss it

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ryan.leno_4 what a sentimental post

ryan.leno_4 good shit gp

| gabeperreault44 i try i try

drewf2 omg i made it on

| gabeperreault44 glad to make u feel honored

aram_minnetian got it done alright

| gabeperreault44 🤫🤫

jacob_fowler24 maybe i'll be featured one day..

| gabeperreault44 i love u man

user1 so much hockey in one post

user2 this is so hockey post core

user3 no emma??

_willvote good to have ya

| gabeperreault44 gonna miss it fr

teddystiga_ blessing to play w u for 2 years

| gabeperreault44 keep it up stiggy

samyhughes wow it's like we didn't know u even played??

| gabeperreault44 shut up

hannahduke the landscape pics is like calm in the storm

| gabeperreault44 what does that mean??

jameshagens_4 best thing to ever come out of bc

| gabeperreault44 ur next

user4 wait did him and emma break up??

user5 i'm sensing a breakup..

_willsmith2 proud of u man

| gabeperreault44 see u on the big stage

mackcelebrini tuffff

| gabeperreault44 😉

lhughes_06 good to see u off man good luck in ny

| gabeperreault appreciate it hughes

tyler___duke5 and he's off to the races

| gabeperreault44 never felt soo good

tj_hughes13 been a pleasure gp

| gabeperreault44 back at ya tj

user6 the hockey lingo always goes crazy

julianne_gelinas this is such a man post

| gabeperreault44 is that an insult??

nick_moldenhauer been a real pleasure

| gabeperreault44 see u out there

rutgermcgroarty proud of u big boy

| gabeperreault44 gotta hand it to u rut

michaelhagens_11 bitter

| gabeperreault44 clinch em next time for me

will.skahan yeahhhh fire

| gabeperreault44 🔥🔥

colecaufield onto the next

| gabeperreault44 good things ahead

zeevbuium28 freshhh pics

| gabeperreault44 thanks zeev

marcieevans11 proud is an understatement

| gabeperreault44 thanks mar ☝️

ryan.leno_4 all for them thanks for the 2 boston 🦅

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gabeperreault44 did it for them

gabeperreault44 good 4 with u lean

gabeperreault44 i see ur taking tips from will

| ryan.leno_4 gonna miss it

| ryan.leno_4 felt inspired

aram_minnetian dude ur crazy

| ryan.leno_4 i think that's a good thing

drewf2 what a long 4 with u

| ryan.leno_4 wouldn't have wanted it any other way

jameshagens_4 always gonna remember u

| ryan.leno_4 can't wait to play u again

user1 these hockey boys are something else i swear..

user2 the friend group makes so much sense tho

user3 yeah i'd show it all off too tbh

_willvote tuff shit

| ryan.leno_4 real tuff

jacob_fowler24 trip to washington?

| ryan.leno_4 i'll have a bed open for u

teddystiga_ my mentor

| ryan.leno_4 ❤️

julianne_gelinas wow what a photo choice

julianne_gelinas at least i'm included

| ryan.leno_4 u love it don't deny it

user4 they're so funny

user5 we're only gonna get these from samy and hannah now 💔

hannahduke if i had to choose who was more hockey between u and gabe i'd choose u

| ryan.leno_4 is that a compliment??

mackcelebrini washingtons got a good one

| ryan.leno_4 see u and smitty out there

_willsmith2 my boy

| ryan.leno_4 i learned from u

| _willsmith2 glad to see i'm rubbing off on the trends

samyhughes giving julie the love she deserves i see

| ryan.leno_4 thanks for the pic

mariceevans11 congrats ryan

| ryan.leno_4 thanks mar see u soon

rutgermcgroarty my man my man looking good

| ryan.leno_4 reunion soon?

eamonpowell_ good work this season lean

| ryan.leno_4 thanks pow

will.skahan tore it up out there

| ryan.leno_4 all u man

zeevbuium28 mhmm yeah

| ryan.leno_4 lake house soon

lhughes_06 good shit man

| ryan.leno_4 thanks hughes

_willsmith2 second..half?

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ryan.leno_4 realizing i'll prob never be featured in these again..

| _willsmith2 ok don't say that

| _willsmith2 this summer for sure

gabeperreault44 damn i feel single??

gabeperreault44 got em good

| _willsmith2 what can i sayyy

| user1 gabe and emma breakup confirmed???

user2 god they're so hot

user3 pic 3 and 4..wow

user4 i love how in love samy and will are

drewf2 bestttt time

| _willsmith2 see u this summer man

aram_minnetian the master himself provides always

| _willsmith2 🤫😏

_willvote congrats on ur first season!

| _willsmith2 thanks vote!

zeevbuium28 damn u don't play

| _willsmith2 gotta show off my girl

jacob_fowler24 how u get these??

| mackcelebrini me :/

| blairestevenson mostly me tbh

user5 oh i know he doesn't play about her

user6 i love seeing pretty people together

blairestevenson cuties

| samyhughes mwah mwah

edwards.73 i forget it's like summer in cali all the time

| _willsmith2 the besttt thing ever

markestapa they grow up so fast

| _willsmith2 see ya out there??

rutgermcgroarty hypeeee smitty

| _willsmith2 thanks rut

lhughes_06 it's never both of u posting appropriate pics..

| _willsmith2 what's inappropriate about these??

tofff73 these are getting better

| _willsmith2 i try

thombordeleau_ gfff alert

| _willsmith2 back to back

eklund_72 u always post crazy pics

| _willsmith2 is that a bad thing?

nick_moldenhauer sj treating u real good

| _willsmith2 i love it here

mackcelebrini my parents

| _willsmith2 my child

graceccsmith so adorable will

| _willsmith2 thanks gracie see u soon ❤️

user7 hottt couple

user8 i loveee how he always posts her every time

user9 they BETTER not break up again

julianne_gelinas shitttt @samyhughes looks hottt

| samyhughes i'm blushing

| _willsmith2 i agree

hannahduke my roomie

| samyhughes my roomie

jameshagens_4 bagged that shit

| _willsmith2 only took me all my life

michaelhagens_11 come back to boston? | _willsmith2 soon!

teddystiga_ mind u this is what i open the app to

| _willsmith2 the first pic is literally me u can't complain

colecaufield u totally fall asleep to these

| _willsmith2 i mean...

| samyhughes COLE

jackhughes congrats on a good first year smitty

| _willsmith2 thanks j!

_quinnhughes celebratory drinks when ur back in town?

| _willsmith2 obviously yeah

beckettsennecke_ gooo sharks

| _willsmith2 roll sharks

tyler___duke5 these people hating but i'd soo show it off if i had it

| _willsmith2 u get it

tj_hughes13 mhmmmm i see i see

| _willsmith2 see what?

samyhughes i am so in love with you

samyhughes i wanna kiss you

samyhughes my favorite boyyy

| _willsmith2 i'm so in love with you all the time

| _willsmith2 prettyyyy prettyyyy girl come kiss me pls

[erulasse23]

Frodo & PTSD: Healing

At the end of Frodo’s journey, he is left feeling isolated, alone, and without joy. It says in “The Grey Havens” that he withdrew from Shire life. When he becomes “ill” on the anniversary of being stabbed (by the Nazgul and Shelob), he hides it from Sam and says nothing. We know that his self-concept has been irreversibly changed. He set out from the Shire as a kind gentle-hobbit, with the idea of adventure being exciting and fun, only to be confronted with suffering, the reality of evil, and his own perceived failures. 

In the end, he cannot conceive of a life outside of his trauma and how he has been changed by his journey. He decides to sail to Valinor. Now what is interesting is that while the fandom (at least recently) has interpreted this as Frodo going to find healing in Valinor since he could not in Middle Earth, Tolkien never says that he is going for the purpose of healing. Rather, you get the impression that he has given up on healing. That his wounds are too deep and his joy too far lost. Sailing does indeed mark an end to his suffering, but not necessarily because he has healed. 

I want to interject a bit of historical context here. While Tolkien was writing the Lord of the Rings, post World War II, research on mental health was lightyears behind where it is today. The diagnosis of PTSD would not be added to the DSM until 1980, after wide study in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. In Tolkien’s time, it was called “battle fatigue” or “combat stress reaction”. Treatments ranged from electroshock therapy, to sedatives, to psychotherapy. The field of psychotherapy was a bit chaotic then, with the emergence of several new styles such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), still widely practiced today. 

The problem with these treatments, including CBT, is that they do not address the actual cause of PTSD. As previously discussed, PTSD occurs when the body’s stress response is overwhelmed and becomes “stuck”. CBT aims to change our rational thoughts and ideas, which then change the resultant emotions. This is a “top-down” approach. People who have experienced trauma do not necessarily respond to this because symptoms don’t come from a thought or belief from our rational brain, they come from our subconscious brain being stuck in crisis mode. Therefore, a “bottom-up” approach works much better.

Currently, some of the most-recommended treatments for PTSD include DBT (dialectical behavior therapy), EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing), and neurofeedback therapy, all aiming to create a sense of physical sensation of safety, allow for traumatic memories to be processed appropriately, and to “unstick” our brains. A sense of community and mindfulness, fully inhabiting our bodies but not being alone in them, is essential to recovery. 

So let’s compare Frodo to Eowyn. Eowyn also suffers a grievous blow from the Witch-King himself and is left afterwards with the same symptoms: despair, dark dreams, and she is cold and pale. The difference between the two, however, is that, “Her malady begins far back before this day,” as Aragon says. Eowyn, for a variety of reasons (that’s a whole other post if we’re going to discuss her trauma), rode out with the feeling that her only purpose was to die in battle. She says that she does not want healing, she only wishes to return to the battle and die. Her injury and the Black Shadow of the Nazgul are not a new experience for her, they do not change her self-conception. They only make her more determined. 

Healing for Eowyn begins when Faramir takes the time to listen to her and validate her feelings. He does not tell her she is wrong, or attempt to change her belief. He sits with her, and eventually, he explains that he loves her for herself, fully separate from her trauma or depression and regardless of what emotions she is feeling. He enables her to see that she is more than her grief. He shows her a life where she is not alone and where she may feel happy again, and she allows herself feel that happiness rather than clinging to death. Her character evolution is almost an inverse of Frodo's in this way.

Now this is not at all a criticism of Sam (I love that hobbit to death!!) but Sam does not provide this same sense of community to Frodo. Sam loves Frodo, but his attention is divided between Frodo and Rosie (and the regular Shire goings-on). Sam struggles to understand why Frodo cannot enjoy the Shire as he once did, and he isn’t able to offer the same sort of validation. But I think Sam is the reason that Frodo stayed as long as he did, and the reason that Frodo was able to complete his quest. And I like to think that once Sam arrived in Valinor, he was reunited with a Frodo who, while not the hobbit he was before the Fellowship, has regained a sense of joy and togetherness. 

If you want more information about any of the topics that I briefly touched on here, let me know! I’m always happy to yap about my interests :)

Part One | Part Two

[inwhichiramble]

Okay Marvel. I see your New Avengers carrying the shadows of the old, but I must disagree about the reflection choices.

Bear in mind, I’m only comparing powers to a certain extent, because let’s face it—every single one of them (except for Bob) is nowhere near on the same level of power as the Original 6. What I raise you is the personality and function they serve as team members. That being said…

Yelena = Natasha

Bucky = Steve

This is easy. Both of them have dealt with some level of “carrying the mantle”. Yelena is Natasha’s sister—the one she was fighting for, her Red Room counterpart in skill set and in struggle. They are the heart of the team… but Yelena has the opportunity to step into a role of leadership. When Steve went back in time, left two legacies: Captain America and Steve Rogers (Sam and Bucky, respectively). Yeah, Bucky is resident “old man”, but he also is learning to lead as well as act as counsel and support, just like Steve did for the OGs.

I also will agree with them that

Ava = Clint

Both underdogs, both with unique and under appreciated skill sets—but Ava is starting to get more notice and appreciation from her team. There’s also the fun dynamic with her and Yelena that calls back to Nat and Clint’s friendship.

Now, here’s where things get different.

Bob = Bruce

Now this is definitely more of a power comparison, but because of how much their personalities/temperaments affect their powers, I think it’s a fair side by side. If it were up to them, they’d both just be hanging out as the resident chill guys, trying to keep everyone else alive. But unfortunately they are both sad little guys with big scary monsters inside of them that are begging to come out. Already we’ve had jokes about getting Bob to unleash the Void at will, just like Bruce and the Hulk. Plus, of course, you have the electric friendships with Yelena/Natasha as the one’s who are able to calm and comfort them, and see them for their true selves.

Alexei = Thor

I cannot be the only one who saw the end credits scene and thought that if Thor understood marketing on any level, he would have been the one thrilled about the Wheaties. He loved being adored—just look at the scene with him and Loki on earth during Ragnarok! Both Alexei and Thor are the resident protective dad/golden retriever characters, who bring the joy and enthusiasm to each mission—which is why it’s more poignant when they endure struggle. And of course there is the ego factor lol

Speaking of egos…

John = Tony

Now I’ll admit that I’m not the biggest fan of John, but I went through the same thing with Tony for the first few movies. Both of them are just a tad insufferable until they finally start to wake up and remember they aren’t the only people who’s lives have sucked. They’re the best in their respective fields, until someone bigger came along and gave them a reality check. But if John continues the way he has been, I think he has the potential to serve people well the same way Tony did. And of course the John/Bucky rivalry doesn’t hurt the comparison.

Anyways, those are my takes. I’ll never compare Valentina to Fury because she doesn’t deserve the respect, but Mel is Maria Hill and I stand by that.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Qasim Rashid at Let's Address This:

In an arguably unprecedented case on the meaning of free speech, a 42-year-old Florida woman named Briana Boston has been arrested and charged on terrorism charges against Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurance corporation. According to the arrest affidavit, after BCBS denied her health insurance claim, Boston responded, "Delay, deny, depose. You people are next." Apparently, though Boston does not own a firearm, has no violent criminal history, and indicated no acts of violence whatsoever—this statement amounts to a threat of terrorism and mass shooting. Let’s Address This. Briana Boston has little engagement in political activism, with a single $1 donation made to a New York political race years ago. But like millions of Americans, she received the hurtful news that her health insurance claim had been denied.

When Lakeland Police contacted Boston at her home, she admitted to using the “Delay, Deny, Depose” phrase and added, “healthcare companies played games and deserved karma from the world because they are evil.” She went on to say that she used the phrase, “because it’s what is in the news right now.” Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor responded that, “[Boston has] been in this world long enough that she certainly should know better that you can’t make threats like that in the current environment that we live in and think that we’re not going to follow up and put you in jail.” But what actual threat did Boston make, especially when compared to the violence corporations actually and knowingly impose upon the American people? As an attorney who represents women who are survivors of domestic violence, I cannot count how many times a survivor sought a restraining order against an abusive partner, and could not attain it because despite past abuse, and despite the new threat to “bash your face in” was too vague and unclear. What makes Blue Cross and Blue Shield so special that they deny a woman’s healthcare claim and then get her arrested for terrorism because she peacefully and verbally expressed frustration?

Likewise, as a human rights lawyer who has also literally survived violent death threats made against me and even testified in federal court against the man who threatened to kill me, I have to ask—what about her statement is a threat? The phrase “Delay, Deny, Depose” is a common insurance statement, used for decades as official policy to actively prevent having to make payouts. And the results of this policy are not hypothetical, they have been punitive, deadly, and are ongoing.

[...] Class warfare against working people is when billion dollar insurance corporations can live by “Delay, Deny, Depose” for decades—even as their policies actually and knowingly enable tens of thousands of annual deaths—but when a working person denied healthcare merely says that exact phrase—it’s terrorism. The logical conclusion then, if we are to understand this, is that corporations ARE people when enacting policies that kill people, but NOT people when we demand arrest of the corporate executives who enact the policies that kill people, but ARE people again when a person repeats back to them the exact policies they use to kill people. Again, the hypocrisy is beyond glaring.

[...] Understand that the point of arresting Briana Boston goes well beyond her. The BCBS CEO knows full well she alone is incapable of causing any violence or harm to their corporation. The decision to charge and arrest her with terrorism for an innocuous statement of frustration is an intimidation tactic meant to suppress dissent and force compliance. I do not advocate for violence, but I do study history. And the history of every violent economic revolution is such that when the billionaire or elite class pushed working people to the brink of human desecration and berated them until they had nothing left to lose, the only people that actually lost everything, were the elites.

Throwing Briana Boston in jail for using the words “Delay, deny, depose. You people are next” while on a call made to BCBS over being denied health insurance coverage is overkill. Thankfully, she was freed from jail.

See Also:

Ken Klippenstein: Mom Charged With Terrorism for Health Insurance "Threat"

[lsd-astronaut]

Hi!! Would you be willing to write some cute headcanons for what it would be like to date the hobbits? The main four (Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Merry) and also Bilbo if you’d like! Preferably a fellow hobbit reader, I wanna live in the Shire so bad haha. Can’t wait to see what you come up with! 😊💛

Hello! Thank you so much for your request, you're a sweetheart 💕I relate SO much to your wanting to live in the Shire, I feel like that could solve 99% of my problems. How lucky that we're getting that Tales of the Shire game in July of this year, eh? Anyways, I hope you enjoy, but keep in mind that this is my first time writing anything for LoTR so I apologize if it's not good.✨

Dating the hobbits (x Fem!Hobbit!Reader)

✦ Frodo

Book dates! He is a certified bookworm and would love to either read to you or do some parallel play where both of you are reading different things in the same room, and there aren't even words exchanged except maybe he is lying on your lap or viceversa, and it's super cozy. If you're not much of a reader but show enough interest, he would still try to recommend you something he thinks you'd like.

Following this line of thought, I believe he can read you so well! He is very perceptive of your moods, and is always two steps forward. However, he won't say anything, and just hand you the thing you need and just smile sweetly as you stand there like "...how" Those blue eyes can bore into your soul.

Can I also say tea parties? I feel like he would love tea (what happens when you have Bilbo as an uncle), and every time he knows you're coming over, he will literally plead for Bilbo to let him use his best tea set, and who is Bilbo to be in the way of young love?

He would also invite you every time he goes to the Green Dragon, and is delighted that you get along with Sam, Merry, and Pippin so well. Frodo just loves the people he considers his family and his heart has space for one more.

✦ Sam

Yeah, this hobbit cannot believe how lucky he is when he asked you out and you immediately said yes. He still cannot believe it as the years pass. It's a feeling he thinks will never go away, which is a good thing because it makes your relationship something that will never lose its shine.

Honestly, I didn't see him as a poet guy, but I'm warming myself to that idea. However, I feel like he wouldn't be writing long sonnets about your beauty, but instead little poems of a few verses, comparing you with a flower of your garden. You can tell when he's writing one of these because he will blush red like a tomato, but you've decided not to tell him for his poor heart's sake. Besides, you love his face when he sees you reading and reacting to one of his poems!

His go-to gift in anniversaries or special days, or sometimes when he feels like it, is bouquets of flowers he picks from his garden. Merry and Pippin tease him for being so down bad for you that he's willing to do that (honestly, you're the only person, not even Mister Frodo gets the privilege), but he chooses to ignore them. He also loves to cook for you on these days and loves to see your face as you try his food.

His family is constantly asking him to bring you over and his poor nerves can only handle so many questions about you two, but he is secretly glad they love you almost as much as he does.

✦ Merry

Certified little shit #1 whom I love very much.

He knows he's pretty and he's not humble at all (secondary effect of rich kid syndrome) but when he started dating you, he was like "wait, I think I actually want to be better for them."

Dates would either consist of full on philosophical conversations fueled by so much pipeweed that would give the two of you the biggest munchies known to man hobbit, or drinking contests in the Green Dragon topped by dancing on top of a table in true hobbit fashion.

Now, on a more serious note, he is SO good at remembering every single little detail about you. You are pretty sure he has a little notebook where he keeps everything you tell him, but alas you haven't seen it, and his lips are sealed. He also keeps strict schedules for dates on more important days, and gets a bit nervous when something happens outside of what he's planned for, but a kiss will surely steer him back on track sooner than you can say 'shire'.

Adores how well Pippin took to you (see what I did there lmao) and is happy to see you both get along even if it sometimes comes back to bite him in the ass when you two team up to either tease or prank him.

✦ Pippin

Certified little shit #2 whom I love very much.

Once again, he knows he's cute and yet he, like Sam, still can't believe you choose to stay with him, but Yavanna forbid if he won't make use of this opportunity he has been given.

He makes so much effort in the relationship. He has to be the best boyfriend ever, and will break his back to make sure you're happy. This would lead to a conversation about your expectations in the relationship and how Pippin does not have to prove his worth constantly. You are not going to get mad at him if he makes a mistake, and he appreciates that.

Sweetheart that loves to talk about you to whoever is present and willing to listen. Frodo, Merry, and Sam still try to listen to him, but if Pippin is drinking, he will just go on and on, and they will probably just tune him out after a bit.

He asks Merry for advice when planning dates for you, and Merry is more than glad to exercise his role of older cousin. The success of said plans between these two is better left to your imagination.

Bonus: Bilbo

He is an indoors hobbit so dates are mainly spent in Bag End with you reading and him writing (parallel play well done is so relaxing and I will die on this hill), or both of you drinking hot cocoa in front of the fireplace as he tells you some stories from his little adventure to the other side of the world.

Dating him would be so entertaining in the sense that you'll always receive visits from so many different relatives. The first time, Bilbo was very apologetic but after seeing you dispatch Lobelia swiftly and politely, he found his heart beating very fast and knows you don't need his protection as much as he wants to keep you safe.

For me, no one died in the Battle of Five Armies, so he would invite you to his yearly trips to Erebor. The dwarves do come by Bag End every once in a while, but he likes to go to the Mountain to see Thorin and Fíli, who can't really go anywhere because of their duties as King and Prince Under the Mountain.

When Frodo's parents die, Bilbo is conflicted between adopting him or not. He doesn't want to impose a whole ass child on you so he sits you down and hears what you have to say about this entire thing. Feels very relieved when you tell him you see no problem in adopting the little hobbit.

Very happy with his family, both hobbits and dwarves.

My first request done! I have no idea why it took so long, I had so much fun writing for this, even though I know these are very general daring headcanons, but you can only get better by writing. Anyways, I hope you like it, and that I did them justice!

Please, like and reblog!

[angel-fruitcake]

How is it canon when it’s unrequited u make no sense whatsoever is it delusion or memes

first of all- 'unrequited' means distinctly not returned. Dean's stunned lack of response in the moment was not a rejection of Cas' feelings, and should not be considered as such. therefore, Destiel cannot be considered unrequited.

second of all- Cas' love for Dean has been confirmed many times on multiple different occasions, by both Misha and Jensen themselves, as well as Robert Berens, to be romantic love. that is not up for interpretation. based on that fact alone, it is canon. whether or not Dean's feelings are ever explicitly and/or verbally expressed does not change the fact that Castiel is canonically in love with Dean Winchester. that makes it c a n o n.

third of all- the fact that Dean's feelings have not yet been verbally confirmed is of very little consequence when compared to the monumental amount of very compelling evidence suggesting that he does, in fact, return Cas' feelings, even if Dean himself hadn't yet realized it at the time of the confession.

if you have watched this show and actually picked up on the frankly staggering amount of very clear context clues, it is quite obvious that, aside from his brother, Castiel is the most important person in Dean's life, full stop.

i don't have the patience right now to list every single instance that suggests Dean's feelings for Cas are mutual; there are far too many. but i will remind you of the most significant ones:

when Cas died in the s12 finale, Dean mourned that loss unlike he had done with any other character death up to that point in the series, and the way in which Dean grieved Cas was very purposefully portrayed in such an undeniably different way than how Sam grieved Cas. even the loss of his mother seemed to almost pale in comparison to the immense weight of Cas' sudden absence in Dean's life. Dean mourned Cas like a spouse rather than like a brother or family member; it is known as the 'widower arc' for a reason.

Dean was nearly suicidal up until the very moment he learned that Cas had come back. when Cas inevitably returned, the sudden change in Dean's demeanor was so immediately apparent and extreme, it gave Sam whiplash.

in the final seasons, Dean no longer showed much if any interest in having any romantic or sexual partners, a stark contrast to earlier seasons. the last committed relationship he had was with Lisa, which was quite a few years prior. this is in direct contrast to Sam, who had several romantic love interests over the course of the show (Jess, Madison, Ruby, Amelia, Eileen). the role of closest person to Dean other than Sam was always filled by Cas, the only difference being the lack of romantic label.

Dean and Cas' relationship has been directly paralleled in multiple different instances with canonically romantic couples, the most significant ones being: Sam and Jess, Cain and his wife Collette, John and Mary (during the widower arc), and Sam and Eileen in the final season.

additionally, directly following Cas being taken by the empty, Sam's attempts to call Dean were completely ignored, despite Dean knowing that his brother needed confirmation that he was alive. the sole thing occupying Dean's mind at that moment was Castiel; nothing else in the world mattered.

do you get it?