I wonder if, in superhero universes, the villains ever get contacted by those “Make a Wish Foundation” and similar people.
I mean, the heroes do, of course they do, kids who want to meet Spiderman or Superman or get to be carried by the Flash as he runs through Central City for just thirty seconds.
But surely there are also the kids, who - because they are kids and sometimes kids are just weird - decide that what they really, really want is to meet a supervillain. Because he’s scary or she’s awesome or that freeze ray is just really, really cool, you know?
Oh, man, that would absolutely be a thing. The heroes would be so weirded out by it. The villains with codes of ethics would totally band together to force the villains without one (should they be the one requested) to do their part for the cause.
But imagine the person who has to track down the villains and organise everything?
Like, the first time it happens, no one actually thinks it’s possible, but one of the newbies volunteers to at least try. They get lucky, the kid wants to meet one of the villains who is well known to have a personal code of ethics (eg one of the rogues), and it takes them weeks to track the villain down to this one bar they’ve been seen at a few times, plus a week of staking out said bar, but they finally find them.
So they approach the villain, very politely introduce themselves and explain the situation, finishing with an assurance that, should the villain agree, no law enforcement or heroes will be informed of the meeting.
The villain, assuming it’s a joke, laughs in their face.
At this point, the poor volunteer, who has giving up weeks of their time and no small amount of effort to track down this villain, all so a sweet little girl can meet the person who somehow inspired them, well, at this point the employee sees red.
They explode, yelling at this villain about the little girl who, for some unknown reason, absolutely loved them, had a hand-made stuffed toy of them and was inspired by their struggle to keeping fighting her own and wasn’t the villain supposed to have ethics? The entire bar is witness to this big bad villain getting scolded by some bookish nobody a foot shorter than them.
When the volunteer is done, the villain calmly knocks back their drink, grips the volunteers shoulder and drags them outside. The bar’s patrons assume that person will never be seen again, the volunteer included. But once they’re outside, the villain apologises for their assumption, asks for the kid’s details so they can drop by in the near future, not saying when for obvious reasons. They also give the very relieved volunteer a phone number to call if someone asks for them again.
A week later, the little girl’s room is covered in villain merchandise, several expensive and clearly stolen gifts and she is happily clutching a stack of signed polaroids of her and the villain.
The next time a kid asks to meet a villain, guess who gets that assignment?
Turns out, the first villain was quite touched by the experience of meeting their little fan, and word has gotten around. The second villain happily agrees when they realise it’s the same volunteer who asked the other guy. Unfortunately, one of the heroes sees the villain entering the kid’s hospital and obviously assumes the worst. They rush in, ready to drag the villain out, but the volunteer stands in their way. The hero spends five minutes getting scolded for trying to stop the villain from actually doing a good thing and almost ruining the kid’s wish. The volunteer gets a reputation among villains as someone who can not only be trusted with personal contact numbers but who will do everything they can to keep law enforcement away during their visits.
The volunteer has a phonebook written in cypher of all the villain’s phone numbers, with asterixes next to the ones to call if any other villains give them trouble.
Around the office, they gain the unofficial job title of The Villain Wrangler.
i adore how much Dirty Millennial Writers focus on found family as a central theme. we love it so much! we all just wanna move in together in a big house with all of our friends and marry everyone, and i think that’s nice
“Dr. Ellen Littman, author of Understanding Girls with ADHD, has studied high IQ adults and adolescents with the disorder for more than 25 years. She attributes the under-diagnosis of girls and women—estimated to be around 4 million who are not diagnosed, or half to three-quarters of all women with ADHD—and the misunderstandings that have ensued about the disorder as it manifests in females, to the early clinical studies of ADHD in the 1970s. “These studies were based on really hyperactive young white boys who were taken to clinics,” Littman says. “The diagnostic criteria were developed based on those studies. As a result, those criteria over-represent the symptoms you see in young boys, making it difficult for girls to be diagnosed unless they behave like hyperactive boys.”
ADHD does not look the same in boys and girls. Women with the disorder tend to be less hyperactive and impulsive, more disorganized, scattered, forgetful, and introverted. “They’ve alternately been anxious or depressed for years,” Littman says. “It’s this sense of not being able to hold everything together.”
Further, while a decrease in symptoms at puberty is common for boys, the opposite is true for girls, whose symptoms intensify as estrogen increases in their system, thus complicating the general perception that ADHD is resolved by puberty. One of the criteria for ADHD long held by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, published by the American Psychiatric Association, is that symptoms appear by age 7. While this age is expected to change to 12 in the new DSM-V, symptoms may not emerge until college for many girls, when the organizing structure of home life—parents, rules, chores, and daily, mandatory school—is eliminated, and as estrogen levels increase. “Symptoms may still be present in these girls early on,” says Dr. Pat Quinn, cofounder of The National Center for Girls and Women with ADHD. “They just might not affect functioning until a girl is older.” Even if girls do outwardly express symptoms, they are less likely to receive diagnoses. A 2009 study conducted by at The University of Queenland found that girls displaying ADHD symptoms are less likely to be referred for mental health services.”
Mitochondria may be the powerhouse of the cell, but I resent the fact that people don't care about its other functions! The mitochondrion isn't some goddess that dropped down from the sky to generate ATP! It's got a three dimensional personality and people keep type-casting it! Without mitochondria people would die of azotaemia, probably!
yeah! less typecasting and more three dimensional character development for the mitochondria!
Look at me. Look me in the eye. On November the 8th, 2016, one of two things will happen: Hillary Clinton will become president, or Donald Trump will become president. These are the only two possibilities. The superdelegates aren’t going to switch. An indictment isn’t coming. There is no third possibility. There is no space between the spaces where you can hide. Every vote for Donald Trump requires two Hilary Clinton votes to overcome. A Hillary Clinton vote can only be overcome by two Donald Trump votes. If you stay home, a Donald Trump vote doubles its power. This is the real, actual reality of the situation. There is not one other option.
And there’s no ctrl-alt-del for the election. Read up on 2000 if you doubt this.
yesterday i drove by an elementary school in dc called Horace Mann Elementary and their mascot was a centaur and it took me a second to make the connection and when i did i i almost started screaming but i was in the car with my coworker who i don’t know very well so i had to silently suffer for what felt like hours. horse man
But what if like exchanging different foods is how you get married on ALL desert planets in the Star Wars universe? Who does Anakin accidentally marry? Who does Shmi accidentally marry? Who does Luke accidentally marry?
Anakin and Padmé have literally been married since they were nine and fourteen; he’s VERY confused when she insists they have to get married AGAIN, but maybe that’s a Naboo thing?
-
“I’m sorry, I thought–you’re not already married, are you?” Cliegg asks worriedly, and Shmi gets a brief, wistful look on her face, thinking of a long-ago dinner table and the long, long-gone man who’d eaten her food and taken her Ani to a better life, who’d left her an empty house and half a box of rations from some far-off planet she will never see.
“No, he … he’s passed on, now,” she replies quietly. “And anyway, it wasn’t his people’s way.”
-
“Um,” Luke says, turning bright red. Lando gives him a puzzled look in return, wagging the mug of space hot chocolate he’s holding out to him.
“Yes or no, kid?” he asks, raising a pointed eyebrow.
“Yes!” Luke blurts, then looks horrified at himself, grabs the hot chocolate, and leaves. He comes back twenty minutes later with a triumphant, glowing expression and a bottle of Lando’s favorite space wine, which–odd, kind of, but Lando is NOT complaining.
When I first saw Deadpool on Valentine’s Day with my civilian partner, I remember leaving the theater on cloud nine, sure that my relationship could withstand anything. The movie made me feel like my job was not an obstacle to be overcome by romantic interests but a core part of me that could be embraced. I remember thinking that Morena Baccarin never had to go back to Joss Whedon to play a laterally whorephobic space courtesan because this film had allowed her to play an amazing sex worker.
…Baccarin as Vanessa is awesome and her relationship with the titular hero is everything I have ever wanted from a story about a guy dating a sex worker. And it also represented everything that I wanted from being dated as one, with the addition of bad guys, bullets, and the breaking of the fourth wall.
…Wade thinks this woman is hot and if paying is what he needs to do to spend time with her, he will. He respects her job. He doesn’t haggle. He’s kind of a douchebag, but Vanessa seems to respond well to that. At no point is there any indication that Vanessa quits her job in order to date Wade, though she does seem to stop doing full service work after he leaves. Wade makes Vanessa happy and she is the one who decides to upgrade him from client to partner. He makes his own good money so he never mooches off of hers. And she is shown to make good money, free styling in a mercenary bar, so she also doesn’t need his. Their relationship isn’t about dependence on either side, but rather seems to be based on dark humor and some really amazing sex.
…[A]fter being tortured, mutated, and disfigured by the bad guys Wade goes looking for her. Nearly dying for real and then gaining some sweet healing powers has him knowing he can go back to her. It’s all going to be okay.
Except for the disfigurement. Some strangers on the street stare at him and Wade shells up. He lets Vanessa go, convinced his looks are the only thing he has to offer her. Wade’s whole thing of killing people to get to the head bad guy isn’t just about revenge for his torture. It’s to force the head bad guy to fix his face so his girlfriend will love him again.
This entire movie is about a guy trying to be hot enough for his fiancée.
Which is one of the more progressive things it does. On the surface, this seems to demonstrate that he thinks his sex worker girlfriend is shallow. But on a deeper level, this is an action hero expressing a deep sense of insecurity. Wade honestly thinks that without his good looks he’s not worthy of a woman like Vanessa. It’s an extension of him not wanting her to see him go through cancer because that would not only rob him of his looks but also his virility and physical capabilities. It’s not just that she would watch him die, she’d watch him be weak. And when you’ve got a girlfriend who is already the strong one, who holds her own against career killers and takes charge of fighting your cancer? Well, that might make you feel like you constantly need to impress her.
The patriarchy really can fuck with men too, and it has fucked Wade hard.
And the woman Wade really wants to impress? Whom he loves more than anything? She just happens to have sex for a living. It’s not a big deal in the script and that’s why this is such a big deal. Because Vanessa’s job is a vehicle for them meeting, but it’s not her whole character. Vanessa is tough, resourceful, funny, caring, and so many other things in this film before she is her job. But because she’s introduced through her job there’s no denying that this amazing woman is a sex worker. There’s no Breakfast at Tiffany’s vagueness on the subject here. If you like Vanessa, then you like a sex worker. And if you want to be friends with Deadpool, you gotta be chill with his girlfriend being a sex worker.
WHY IS THE FILIBUSTER NOT ALL OVER MY DASH. Six hours and they’re still going. You go, Senator Murphy (D-CT).
Senate Dems are taking a stand to support background check measures, which are supported by 92% of Americans, including 87% of Republicans, and to oppose the terrorism loophole that enabled the Orlando shooter to buy an AR-15 with the ease of buying a fucking pizza. These are no-shit common-sense bipartisan measures that have ONLY been prevented because of the massive financial influence of the NRA.
Earlier today, Jo Cox, a Labour MP in Northern England, was stabbed and shot at an event in a library.
It has just been confirmed that she has died due to the attack.
She was a great campaigner and humanitarian, and has left behind a husband and two children.
This kind of event happens rarely in the UK, and so this is terrifying and destabilising that such a horrific thing has happened to such a compassionate person.
Can thoughts on Tumblr turn to the UK today please, and turn to remember a woman who has been brutally murdered after a lifetime of trying to build a better country.
Hey, I know this is super petty but I’m having a really rough day mentally and I was wondering if you could just reblog this with one (1) thing that you think is worth living for. I don’t care how trivial or whatever that you might think it is. I want to go through them all and read them because I need to read something positive tonight. Thanks, guys
The way the sun feels on your face in mid summer.
tfw you’re enjoying the perfect tea, and the dog invites himself for a cuddle on your lap
The crackle in the air right before a thunderstorm breaks, when it feels like you could just step off the edge of the world and fly.
i appreciate when characters on tv speak their native or mother language with eachother and there are subtitles in english, rather than pretending that everybody in the world speaks accented fucking english
I swear it’s like all f/f ships are like knowing you are boarding the titanic.
The Titanic had a 38% survival rate, wlw on television score a whopping 16% survival rate (calculated from theselinks). Yeah. The Titanic is safer compared to the gauntlet wlw characters run on television.
damn u right
And yet none of these writers seem to be learning from their mistakes or even realising that this is a problem
OK though serious time now. (ps. the word poisonous was used ironically)
Here are a few points I would like to make.
A snake does not see humans as a source of food. There are only 4 species of snake (out of around 3000 species.) That could be considered large enough to even consider eating a human… And even the big boys would much rather avoid humans than eat them. So, putting this into perspective, most snakes you are likely to encounter have no interest in biting you… because you are not a food source…
Snakes are not malicious. Contrary to popular belief a snake does not crawl around in the grass looking for humans to bite.. What they do want is to find a nice sunny spot to bask, a secure place to hide, maybe find a nice snake mate and a few rodents to eat… Oh what? no humans in that list? No…we humans are actually not the centre of the universe! Wild snakes want nothing to do with us and essentially all they want is to survive like every other animal…Unfortunately because humans believe we are indeed the centre of the universe we have built our homes on top of the snakes habitats and created areas where their food sources thrive so snake/human conflicts happen more…. Not the snakes fault.
A Snake does not have any arms or legs... Now this may seem like an obvious one. But..I feel like it needs to be stated here. When you come tramping along and tread on them. Or when you corner a snake or try to kill it..shrieking at it about how “terrifying” it is….It has only one defense. It’s mouth. And of course its going to try to defend itself if it thinks its life is threatened. You know the best way to avoid a snake bite? Don't interfere with the snake. Give it a wide berth. leave it alone and it will do the same because… if you remember from above.. They really don’t want anything to do with us…
It is YOURdutyto educate yourself about any potentially dangerous snakes in your area. Why don’t they teach this stuff to people schools ffs . If there is a snake in your shed, garage or home… If you can’t ID it or If you suspect it is venomous. Don’t touch it. Call a professional. If you are 100% sure the snake is non-venomous depending on its size and your confidence you can drop a large towel or sheet over it and scoop it up and remove it or for a less hands on approach you can coax it into a large bin turned on it’s side. The snake will have a hard time crawling up the smooth sides of a plastic when you flip the bin upright so you can safely remove it.
So.. to end that chapter. Snakes are not evil and out to get you. There life is worth just as much as any other animal and in fact snakes are an extremely valuable part of the ecosystem and also valuable to us!
If snakes were eliminated rodent populations would explode to such a level that food security would be a serious issue… Rodents can have a huge impact on crop yield and without snakes there numbers can get out of control. This means farmers have to drives up the cost of food…Lets not forget rodents also spread disease.
Speaking of disease… Snakes are helping us cure them! It’s true. There are compounds isolated from black mamba venom that could provide a painkiller more effective that morphine without the side effects [x]. Venom is also a promising canditate for cancer treatments [x] and new antimicrobials,[x] which the world is seriously desperate for…. That is just a few examples. There are loads of ways that snake venom is being used in medicine right now.
So please REBLOG and spread this info… If anyone wants to message me to know more about snakes that’s fine! Me and I’m sure a lot of the reptile community love to talk about our animals and I would love to change a few peoples minds about these misunderstood creatures. I will not call you an idiot. I will have a civil conversation with you about it.
But not me or any one else in this community will be able to remain civil if you post a picture of a snake you have killed and brag about what a hero you are…..
There is NO REASON to kill snakes. They are living creatures which are a vital part of the ecosystem, important to agriculture and they are saving lives.
They deserve our respect.
Even more important is that 80-90% of the people who are bitten by venomous snakes were trying to kill the snake. Trying to kill a venomous snake does not keep you or others safe from the snake; it turns a very mildly dangerous situation (for example seeing a bear from very far away) into a MUCH more dangerous situation (running up to the bear and trying to kill it; of course it’s going to fight back). If you see it in nature leave it alone; if it’s somewhere in your shed or house then call someone trained in snake removal.
People keep saying, “what if men did what you did to ghostbusters but the other way around!!!!!” but 1) You can’t. There isn’t one major blockbuster from the past 30 years with enough girls to do that with, and 2) Don’t assume that I wouldn’t completely support an all male cheetah girls reboot
Officially hit 13 hours (it’s after midnight in D.C. right now)
Started with just 7 Senators head by Sen. Chris Murphy from Connecticut, now it’s grown to 40 from varying states
They’ve hit topics all over the place: the need for the Equality bill to pass (which would protect the LGBTQIA community from being fired at work and other equality laws to protect us), the call for religious tolerance involving the Muslim community, how the incident with Matthew Shepard affected the LGBTQIA community, etc.
But the main topic has been how unbelievable it is that people on the no fly list can’t get on a plane, but they can still legally buy guns at a gun show or on online venues, such as Facebook and Instagram
Some standout speeches (that I’ve personally seen) include those by Sens. Tammy Baldwin, Cory Booker, Mazie Hirono, Brian Schatz, Sherrod Brown, Bob Menendez, and Angus King
Each speaking Senator has explicitly called out Republicans for accepting money from the NRA and doing “absolutely nothing” to help their constituents
Sen. Brown basically called them cowards for deferring to them when confronted with decisions on gun control (it was fucking awesome)
Sen. Murphy asked why Republican Senators even signed up to be Senators if they’re just going to ignore the slaughter of people they’re supposed to protect (again, fucking awesome)
Every mass shooting we’ve had has been talked about in depth, including Orlando and its impact on the LGBTQIA and the Latino communities alike
There’s so much more that I know I’ve missed, but I’ve been watching for like 7 hours now and it’s all running together
one of my favorite tropes is when your group of main characters has been split up for questioning and they’re all answering the same questions in a neatly-spliced montage
Nothing is going to change. Americans love their guns more than they love people and after Sandy Hook we decided that killing over 20 children was acceptable and not outrageous enough to make reasonable restrictions on guns. This is America, a country that has been around for 200 years, a superpower, a 1st world nation, and one of the wealthiest countries on the planet and we refuse to protect our own people. We respect guns more than we respect the lives of people.
What specific gun control measures would you propose and how would they directly and effectively make society safer?
Absolutely get rid of all AR-15′s and the like.
Intense background and criminal background checks and anything violent automatically disqualifies you.
Make getting a gun/gun permit more like getting a driver’s license:
permit to learn
includes an exam with 18 or more questions on the policies, laws, and etc of guns and gun ownership
if you get more than 8 questions incorrect you must retake it.
30 hours of practical experience at a gun range with a licensed teacher
Must take a 5 hour class on the dangers of guns and how to use them safely which will then yield you a certificate that grants you to take the practical exam and lasts for one year. If you don’t gain the license within the allotted year you must retake the class.
A practical exam with a licensed instructor who will grade you on various skills. If you pass you may be granted a permit on the weapon of your choice, the exams may differ on the type of firearm you want.
Follow the Japanese model where you must have two gun safes in different areas of the house, one to store the gun and one to store the bullets and you must provide the police with information on where those safes are.
No concealed carry and only handguns may be allowed to be out in public.
If transporting a weapon, it must be in the trunk of the vehicle, in a bag or some other case, safety on and unloaded and may not leave the vehicle until you are at the destination.
If you’re a hunter or some other gun hobbyist that requires a functional weapon other than a handgun then the gun must stay on the premises, whether that is a gun range or the Fish and Wildlife facility.
If you live in a rural area where police (and people, for that matter) are few and far between, something akin to a deer hunting rifle should provide plenty of protection from predators and poachers, you still have to follow the aforementioned steps.
This doesn’t cover everything but I think it’s a good place to start.
Can you show me evidence that this would directly and effectively create a safer society?
I have never laughed so hard at a gun law post. Like seriously, the evidence is in fucking reality. The proposed restrictions are just fucking logic.
i just want each of you who is scared and isolated right now to know that you are so loved. you are so extremely loved and supported even if you feel like you’re the only lgbt kid in your small town, or you don’t see a way ever out of the closet, especially now. you are precious and important and loved and if nothing else, you’ll always have someone to talk to. stay safe and stay strong, and know you are loved.
The reincarnation fic every Les Mis author writes eventually. This has been chilling in a random document for, like, literally months. Completely finished, mind. So. Here. *offers to Internet*
Reblogging for the “why were you posting fanfic at one in the morning Moran” crowd.
OH MY GOD YOU LIKE MIRACULOUS LADYBUG TOO I AM SO EXCITED THERE'S ANOTHER ONE EEEEE I COULDN'T EVEN RESIST NOT REBLOGGING A TON OF IT, THE FLOODGATES WERE OPENED AND I AM PAST THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Oh my God people have like come out of the woodwork to yell with me, I should have given in and started reblogging shit months ago. YES Miraculous Ladybug is FANTASTIC, to be honest I’m not up to date because I didn’t have time during the second semester of school so I’ve only seen like the first dozen or so episodes, but IT IS AMAZING. I have NO REGRETS about this show.
Actually, come to think of it, I have a ML prompt waiting in my document, I should write that.
Also, PSA, now that I’ve started reblogging Miraculous Ladybug stuff…buckle up because I know three blogs with meticulous tagging systems and a host of ML posts and two of them are open right now. Brace yourselves.
Also the shattering realization that a lot of the adults your respected as beacons of wisdom and authority back in your childhood was also basically winging it
here is an idea: normalise the idea that adopting kids is a valid option even for parents who could conceive a child themselves, and not just an inferior backup option for parents who can’t
Yesterday one of the girls in the unit who’s about my age was complaining about her period and expressing a wish for the doctors nearby to “Just take me down to the OR real quick and give me a hysterectomy.”
Immediately half the nurses (all mothers mind you) start telling her about how she’s gonna regret it and she doesn’t know yet if she really doesn’t want kids, blah blah blah.
Anyways, I was walking past so I said, “You know what, you do what you want. If you want end up wanting kids later go adopt some, we’ve got plenty that get left behind on the second floor [our labor and delivery unit].”
All the older nurses shut down so fast and the girl I was talking to suddenly threw up her hands and me and said, “See??? That’s what I mean! THANK YOU.”
NORMALIZE THIS SHIT!! WE REALLY DO HAVE WOMEN COME INTO L&D TO HAVE A BABY AND THEN JUST LEAVE IT HERE AND TAKE OFF.
ADOPT!!!
Also, don’t ask the parents of adopted children if they had fertility problems. That shit is personal. My sister adopted her son and when asked if she is infertile, she likes to ask them what position their children were conceived with, because that’s on the same level of appropriateness.
Like, some people really DO want to experience pregnancy on their own, but that’s not the only way to be a parent? On the other hand, some people want kids but DON’T want to be pregnant themselves. Adoption is awesome. Birthing a baby is awesome. Hiring a surrogate is awesome. Stop judging parental options, as long as the kids are safe and well taken care of!
She didn’t trust Frank one iota. as far as she knows, he just shot at her, just murdered the District Attorney, just let his stray bullets fly where they may. one of these bullets his Foggy–her friend, now laid up in the hospital.
So what does this mean about his words to her earlier: “you were safe, i needed you to know.” but Foggy wasn’t safe? Foggy got shot. Foggy never did anything wrong. So is Frank a lie? Is he full of shit? Is he here, in her apartment to finish the job he started all that time ago, with Grotto? Has her faith been misplaced AGAIN?
So she’s terrified and alone in an apartment with a #confirmed, admitted mass murderer who just knocked out the two cops assigned to protect her. the only thing between them is her guts and her .380. He could disarm her in a second, have her gun leveled at her and pull the trigger before she registered his movement.
And then all of a sudden guns are going off. Bullets are whizzing past her ear, exploding the drywall of her apartment. Her first absurd thought is “well there goes my security deposit” and then she thinks maybe this is it. Guns are going off and this brick wall of a man is lunging at her, the Punisher come back to bring her what she’s due for her brother, for Wesley, for Ben, for…
But instead she feels his arms around her, his shoulders curl around her body. He tucks her head neatly in just under his chin. There’s not a sliver of her exposed to the window–because all of him is. And in that moment, she KNOWS that it wasn’t him at the DA’s office. Knows he’s been framed. Because he just showed that he would literally take a bullet for her. He didn’t leave when she got too tough to handle, when she got inconvenient, when something more interesting came along.
