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Poem from The Backwater Sermons by Jay Hulme. 

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Fear of flying, Daniel Gebhart de Koekkoek

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- Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios

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LOKI (2021) + Text posts.

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BLACKWIDOWHUB’S 1K CELEBRATION ⧗ Top 10 Natasha Romanoff Moments in the MCU (as voted by our followers) ↳ #8: Natasha and Yelena’s Budapest apartment fight

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Gotta say, though, I liked being your schmuck. It was fun while it lasted. It was.

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BLACK PANTHER (2018) dir. Ryan Coogler

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WILL GRAHAM & HANNIBAL LECTER ⤷ hannibal ✗ 2x09 - ‘shiizakana’

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please please please please please

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thinking about how britney spears, brendan fraser and chadwick boseman were all memed at incredibly low points in their personal lives for clout and how poeple only apoligised after learning the context of those images for them. maybe a better goal than ridding the world of celebrity worship is treating famous people with humanity, not worshipping, not villainising, not joking, not assuming- but just treating people in the public eye with the humanity you’d extend to any other person that you don’t know.

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btw the thing she couldn’t ignore was someone calling her out for saying anti-depressants/hormone therapy are only perscribed by lazy doctors

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Iron Man 2 (2010) dir. Jon Favreau

bonus:

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so apparently some people feel like it’s annoying when someone engages with a lot of stuff from the same person, like going through their ship tag and liking all the content there. 

hearing about this, i was immediately paranoid about reblogging literally anything from anyone i don’t talk to on a regular basis.

so to save others from the same paranoia, i’m gonna say that if you like every single post on my goddamn blog it is okay. i might be kind of concerned about your level of time management, going through 23,000 posts, but it wouldn’t bother me. 

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sorry. the happiest moment of his life (he's billions of years old btw) was telling a man he's in love with him

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Ronon Dex & Teyla Emmagan

Stargate Atlantis | 2x06 Trinity

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9/11 happened 20 years ago today. I remember being confused about why they were sending us home early from kindergarten, I remember seeing the man I was told was President Bush speaking on TV, and I remember for the first time in my life seeing teachers and adult strangers who truly looked scared. I was 5 then, and I am 25 now.

About 3,000 people died in the 9/11 attacks. Well over 100 times that many people have died as a result of the US response.

Our government’s response could have been simple, a narrow mission aimed at capturing or killing the architects of 9/11. We eventually achieved that objective, but only as part of a massive, world-changing Global War on Terror which has made us all both less safe and less free. The tragedy of 9/11 was used to justify a campaign that likely ended over a million lives altogether, including:

Brutal invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, which were some of the longest wars in US history. Along with the damage caused directly by these wars, they also prompted the creation of ISIS and the complete Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

Drone warfare in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Niger, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and other places we don’t even know about.

The use of internationally banned and discouraged weapons in our wars, including cluster bombs, depleted uranium shells, Mark 77 firebombs, incendiary white phosphorus munitions, and anti-personnel landmines.

Torture, both in US military detention and illegal “black sites” run by the CIA and others in numerous different countries. This includes the illegal, unaccountable, and sadistic activities at Guantanamo Bay, stolen territory which is used to commit blatant human rights violations. This came alongside a rise in the US use of extraordinary rendition, a form of kidnapping which is a violation of international law.

The empowerment of the Saudi government (which had actual ties to Osama bin Laden), and the aggressive provocation of the Iranian government (which reached out to help the US in the immediate aftermath of 9/11).

Massive spending on “counter-terrorism” training for governments around the world, often strengthening the grip of corrupt and violent police forces on local populations.

An expansion of secret US Special Operations missions in countries around the world. In the mid-2010′s, journalist Nick Turse revealed that US SpecOp soldiers are deployed in the majority of the world’s countries each year.

A massive reduction in civil liberties and privacy rights in the US, including the PATRIOT Act, the 2008 FISA Amendments, the 2012 NDAA, the rapid growth of the NSA and the surveillance state, and more.

The creation of the Department of Homeland Security, which is today one of the most scandal-ridden departments in the federal government. This includes the 2003 creation of ICE, who have been responsible for the creation of prison camps for immigrants.

A rise in Islamophobic discrimination and government policies, with the US government approach to surveilling Muslims serving as an inspiration for policies which oppress Muslims around the world today, from France to China.

Accelerated militarization of US police, as surplus military equipment from our foreign wars flowed straight into local police departments.

Trillions of dollars wasted on enriching private military contractors and weapons companies, money which is then funneled into lobbying for even more war.

Large, untold counts of lives lost as an indirect result of all the above. These deaths have mostly been imposed on the countries where we’ve intervened, but I would argue for the inclusion of many of the 30,000 suicides of US veterans since 9/11.

Growing up against this political background was hugely influential for how I came to view the world, and the War on Terror was ultimately one of the things which got me interested in politics in the first place. With time, I learned that we were not obligated to do all of this by the loss of life that occurred on 9/11. We are not honoring the memories of the dead when we create more dead. 

The War on Terror has been a global disaster of gargantuan proportions. All of its architects have blood on their hands, and we will suffer from the consequences of their actions for decades to come.

Today, 20 years later, I will not be honoring 9/11 by giving a speech about the bravery of our military generals. I will not be cashing a check for writing the exact same 9/11 anniversary essay that gets written every year. I will not be announcing a special 20% discount on inventory, nor will I be giving a lecture about the dangers of foreigners.

This September 11th, I am going to go on a hike, to sit in a bookstore, and to eat a meal outside in the cool breeze of a warm evening. Doing this- living my life normally- is the only reasonable response to two decades of attempts at using this day to stir up fear and hatred. As for the future, I look forward to continuing to fight with others for true peace and security: an end to war, military aggression, and imperialism.