#reading the responses to this one on other sites has been so funny

[hattedhedgehog]

This is the only important feature of Dragon Age: The Veilguard that anyone needs to know about.

Footage captured by me at EA's DA:TV hands-on press event.

[emmett6]

i am being attacked by antis.

this is emmett. emmettnet, emmettverse, emmettland, emmettundead, emmettlab. whichever blog you knew me from.

i am a whump creator. i've been in the whump community for a few years now. and now, i am unable to share my work with the community on here because people are mass reporting me for being a proshipper, and Tumblr keeps deleting my blogs as a result.

(if that isn't the reason why, i would be more than happy to get the explanation from @staff that i've been asking for.)

now, that is speculation on my part based on the timing of each termination (it's after i put my pinned post in the whump tags).

but here are the facts:

months ago, i became comfortable enough to share proshipping content. seeing as how every other artist would link their nsfw work on here, i thought it was acceptable for me to do the same so long as the preview image did not violate any rules.

an anon asked if i was a proshipper, and i said i didn't ascribe to that label*, but i agreed with the philosophy.

*i don't have any choice BUT to use it now because my posts get removed for describing what the content is

note that this anon asked multiple people in the whump community if they were proshippers. it was the same person each time, same copy-and-pasted responses.

i kept posting my proshipping content, all with links and extensive content warnings.

i started getting anon hate.

my account was terminated. after further reflection and rereading the terms of service AGAIN, i figured maybe links are not allowed and so i switched to DM only.

this time, the anon hate was consistent. every week was something new. every day felt like bracing myself to open my inbox. i kept anon on, since i have so many people who feel uncomfortable sending asks off anon and didn't want to take away their safe space.

months pass. i go on hiatus for all of July. i find out someone stole my old nsfw art and reposted their edited versions of it to rule34, a site that i never wanted my work to be on. this person waited until the exact starting day of my hiatus to do this.

i come back to more anon hate in my inbox.

suddenly, out of nowhere, my account is terminated again.

i make a new blog. more anon hate. another termination.

lather, rinse, repeat.

i stopped doing DM only stuff. i figured, if i just link my other platforms and only post safe things on Tumblr, there's nothing in the rules against that. everyone has links to their social media.

i still get terminated. and again, i keep getting terminated after i post my pinned post in the whump tags. which -- speculation again -- leads me and others to think that these antis are stalking the whump tags, waiting for me to show up so they can mass report me and get me terminated.

i have NO idea what they would report, aside from claiming i'm trying to "dodge being blocked". which, i'm not. in fact, i say every single time i come back that i WANT people to block me if they need to.

but regardless, it keeps happening.

i'm losing a place i considered home.

i'm being forced out of a community on here i love so dearly.

and you want to know something funny? for some strange reason, i'm unable to block my anons. yup. an 'error' message comes up. and i'm apparently unable to report them too -- like reporting the one who called me a 'tumblr tranny' and said i would 'always be a woman' for hate speech. oops, sorry. error message.

by now, i've been called evil. told to listen to my intrusive thoughts. told that i should be on a watch list. told that it's disgusting that someone's mutuals still interact with me. told that i have no place in the whump community.

i know that's not true.

i'm so sick and tired of being treated like this. i'm tired of being dehumanized. and i'm disgusted with this behavior.

at this point, i'm just screaming as many times as i can. i'll keep losing blogs, because i know my attackers will read this and just keep on reporting me. what do they have to lose? nothing. they don't have enough of a conscience to care. and why should they? clearly, i'm a monster. i'm a piece of shit. i don't deserve basic respect, and i apparently don't deserve to keep my 'platform'. to stay in my community and to keep my livelihood.

my discord is emmettnet. send me a DM if you don't want to lose me, because there is no point in following me repeatedly just for every blog to be terminated.

if you want to reblog this to spread the word and show your support, i would be eternally grateful. but i understand if you choose not to; i don't want anyone to be subjected to what i'm going through.

thank you for reading.

[thepaintedsable]

PYRO! It’s Pyro! Yippee e!

I accidentally inverted the colors all of the insignias and gave Blue Pyro Red Pyro’s flamethrower :( My professional explanation for the second part is that Blue Pyro beat the living shit out of Red Pyro and stole their weapon, my professional explanation for the first part is I am is have are stupid.

Close-ups and special sketch page below the cut!!!

I remembered TF2 existed and this happened.

I have to mention that I have never touched this game, but I’ve been fairly aware of it for a really long time. I strayed away from it all because I was not/am not the best at multiplayer games, especially shooters (especially team shooters), and I never exactly felt like I had the skill to draw any of the characters. Plus the comic’s whole “missing the last issue” situation. I just really, really, didn’t want to be let down by investing myself in something I couldn’t be invested in. But something about “Meet the Pyro” stuck in my head like a burr to a shoe.

Rewatched Meet the Pyro more times than I should have. Looked into more animations and the fandom. Finally broke down and read the comic LMFAO. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it! Even with the missing part, the format it’s presented in and the general wackiness was refreshing compared to what I normally read.

I still like Pyro, and when I remembered I’m better at drawing now, augh. There he go. They are all over, as they should be.

MF has a homemade flamethrower, canonically killed great value brand Smokey the Bear (on purpose), is/was the highly successful CEO of an engineering company, and is so efficient on the battlefield his teammates are horrified by him and his methods. Also there is no telling wether they even know what they are doing or where they actually are because of the pyro vision stuff. Plus the fun mystery of who they are under the mask. :) We don’t even know nothin about this guy.

Just a silly little guy. I’d like to take both the “They know nothing about what they are doing” and the “They know everything about what they are doing” and staple them to Blue and Red respectively. Which is which, though? Not important. Only need enough info to pit two bad bitches against each other, and also to consider how their teams treat them in response. They are both fucked up, but in opposite directions.

ALSO WHY DID I HAVE TO FIND OUT THIS FANDOM HAS THE CUTEST SHIP NAMES EVER ON MY OWN????? I don’t even really like ships in general, but like�� Texas Toast? Speeding Bullet? Brush Fire??? Can someone please please confirm that French Toast is another one oh my god???? I don’t even care about the ships, I care about wordplay and cleverness. If you look up Texas Toast on this site it is all Engineer x Pyro and that is SO FUNNY

I can’t promise that this will be the last Pyro page. He might be the one that’ll actually stay.

[jtargaryen18]

His Inheritance ~ Chapter 33

Part 33: Under Pressure

Series Masterlist

Words: 5k

Pairing: Mobster Steve Rogers x Mobster daughter reader

Warnings: References to mafia, reference to violence and violent acts, references to sexual violence. Strong language. This is a dark fic. Please read responsibly.

Disclaimer: The author of this work claims no ownership of characters aside from the reader, and original secondary characters mentioned. This work is not intended for those under the age of 18 due to explicit sexual content and darker themes. By reading this work or any works on my blog (jtargaryen18), you agree that you are at least 18 years of age. I do not consent to have my work hosted on any third party app or site. If you are seeing this fanfiction anywhere but archiveofourown and tumblr, it has been reposted without my permission.

Summary: For @alexakeyloveloki. Your father is the head of one of the most powerful crime families in Boston but he’s protected you from that life. In your quiet home outside the city, you’ve been cared for and protected. When the desires of a more powerful man with the will to dominate bursts into your life, all your illusions are shattered as he comes to claim what is his.

You had just sat down at the dining room table for breakfast and it was quiet. Luca stepped around the corner from the kitchen, winking at you when he spotted you. Before he could bring out your breakfast, Dyson came wandering out of the kitchen, coffee cup in hand. Pulling out a chair at the other side of the table, he took a seat and joined you.

"How are preparations going?" you asked, delighted that you were allowed to ask now.

Dyson nodded. He wasn't a bit surprised by your question.

"Things are coming along," he told you. "I called up some extra men first thing this morning. Clint and Scott are making the rounds, making sure we won't have security issues. We'll have it locked down well before everyone starts arriving."

You nodded, smiled. "Sounds good."

Luca hustled out with your breakfast, serving you fluffy eggs and fruit. You thanked him, grinning as he pulled out a chair next to Dyson. 

"What time is everyone getting here?" he asked Dyson.

"Four," Dyson told him. "That's the meeting time the boss set anyway."

Luca nodded, his gaze roaming to you. "What are you up to today, boss?" he asked.

Boss had you grinning. Plus, like Dyson, you could tell he was a little worried about how today would go from your perspective. You really appreciated that they noticed and cared.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," you told him after a moment. "I'm going to get in a little exercise, spend some time with Nat."

The two men exchanged a look and you had to laugh. "What are the two of you so worried about?" you asked. "Steve called a meeting today with the heads of the families to make sure everyone is on the same page. It's a good place to start. It'll put all the rumors to rest and Steve can start leading the families outright."

Luca's expression was bordering on comical. "I mean no disrespect but... You know you're not going to the meeting, right?"

That did have you laughing. "Yes, I'm aware."

"What's so funny?" Yelena's voice came from behind you as she walked into the dining room.

"These two making sure I'm okay with the meeting today," you explained. 

Nodding, Yelena made her way to the kitchen. You turned your attention back to the two older men across the table from you.

"Thank you for caring about me," you said, "but I'm fine with not being in that meeting. I promise."

"You are?" Dyson asked, skeptical.

"I am," you assured him. "Steve is letting me be part of the family business now. I don't need to be at the meeting."

Was that pride flashing in Dyson's eyes? He nodded as Yelena returned with her breakfast, taking a seat next to you.

"Any word on Barnes?" she asked.

Dyson blew out an exhale. "Someone is coming from the Barnes family," he said slowly. "I got an RSVP."

Luca scrubbed a hand over his face. "Could be sending Killmonger," he said.

"Barnes will be here himself," you said. It was just an instinct but you knew you were right. 

Setting his coffee mug on the table, Dyson's gaze met yours. "I think so too. He almost has to. Same reason as Steve. He has to show everyone he's still here."

"Male posturing," Yelena added and you chuckled. 

"Let's hope not," Dyson said. "Things are more than a little tense right now."

That had you thinking... "Do the other families know what Barnes pulled? I mean, do they know he tried to take Steve and his family down?"

"The Starks do," Luca said. "The Wilsons and Odinsons? I'm sure they're aware. They just tend to stay out of the drama unless it involves them."

"That's smart," Yelena added.

"Or they lack the muscle," you said.

Dyson nodded, indicating you were right. 

"If Barnes decides to try anything, we're ready right?" you had to ask.

"We are," Dyson told you. "But along that line of thinking, we need to think about where you're going to be during this meeting."

"Yes, we do," Yelena said. 

You understood. "I'm sure Nat, Yelena and I can find something to do. Where would we be safest?"

"Steve's study," Dyson said instantly. "We have a quick way to get you out if all hell breaks loose."

You made a mental note of that. "Just let me know when we need to be where."

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Nat asked for the third time in an hour.

You sighed. You didn't know the young woman who Hansen held prisoner. It was disconcerting that she looked like you. Even though you had nothing to do with it, you still felt a heavy sense of responsibility. You'd arranged for her to fly back home to her family, sent Barnes' money with her. The best thing you could do for her was to get her out of Boston and back to where she had a support network. You made sure she had a way to reach you in case she ever needed anything.

"Barnes wasn't kidding when he said he was giving her a generous gift," you said. "It's a lot of money. I know that in no way makes up for what she went through but... She was in college. I'm just hoping she can take that and make a fresh start somewhere else. Finish her education. I hope in time she's able to heal."

Yelena was quiet in her seat next to Nat, across Steve's desk from you. You understood why. Yelena had been the sick bastard's captive too. Since you'd known Yelena, Hansen was the only thing that scared her. You knew why your friend and personal protection dressed in the suits she wore. Yes, she was trying to be like any other soldier, to earn respect. But it made your heart sink to think about the physical scars she was hiding. Scars that Hansen branded her with.

If the bastard was alive, and you thought he was, he'd better pray he never crossed your path again. 

"What did doc have to say today?" Yelena asked Nat, changing the subject. "Everything is healing well?"

Nat smiled. "Everything is healing. But then, I didn't get shot so..."

You laughed at that. "That's just about the only thing the bastard didn't do to you."

"I'm glad he's gone," Nat said after a moment.

You exchanged a look with Yelena, both of you happy to hear that. You knew Clint was happy about her reaction to her abusive husband's death. While you understood why he took Banner out with Yelena's help, you knew he was worried about the impact of his actions on the woman he loved.

"I am too," you told her. "Now you can just be with Clint the way you always should have been."

Nat's deep sigh was the only sound in the quiet office. "I'm not the only one worried about today, am I?"

It was actually a relief that she addressed the elephant in the room.

"No," you admitted. "I don't like this any better than you do. But it has to be done."

"Why wouldn't Steve let you attend the meeting?" she asked.

"He never said I couldn't." That was the truth. "It was my decision to sit this out."

You couldn't tell which woman was more surprised. Yelena knew you were good with not going but she didn't know that. That had you smiling.

"It's not the right time," you told them. "It may never be the right time for anyone outside our family to know that I'm part of Steve's council. And if that's how it goes, I'm fine with that. I got what I wanted."

"It's more than what you wanted," Yelena pointed out. "It's where you need to be."

You appreciated her faith in you. Nat's smiled told you she agreed. You weren't worried about weighing in on situations as they arose to keep the family, all of you, safe. You knew you could help.

"I am a little nervous today," you told them, "because Barnes is coming."

"He RSVP'd?" Yelena asked.

You shook your head. "Not necessarily. Dyson said they indicated someone was coming but they didn't name Barnes. But he'll be here. He almost has to. He has to show everyone he's fit. Just like Steve does."

"After everything he did to this family," Nat said, "he gets to just waltz into our home for this meeting?"

You nodded. "He does. For now. And Steve has to be careful here. The other families have heard things. This is Steve's chance to set the record straight. To make sure everyone knows exactly what happened."

"And then what?" Nat's face was darkening in her rising anger. "We just go on like nothing happened?"

"No, then we gauge where the other families' allegiences lie," you explained. "Until we know that, we don't know how best to move forward."

"Tony Stark and Sam Wilson have been friends with my brother since high school," Nat said. "They better not even think about siding with Barnes on this. Not after everything he did."

Yelena nodded her agreenment.

"Steve doesn't think we have anything to worry about with the Starks or the Wilsons," you said. "The others? We'll see."

"What if the other families decide they don't have a problem with Barnes' bullshit?" Nat was really pissed about this.

"The only ones left are the Odinsons," Yelena pointed out.

You knew there was practically no chance of that happening but... 

"If that should happen, and I doubt it will, we'll deal with it," you told her. "Barnes will be dealt with. It's the how he's dealt with that we have to be careful with."

"Didn't we lose men over this shit?" Nat asked.

"So did Barnes," Yelena said. "Plus he lost Hansen and that's a big blow for him."

Nat wasn't done. You could tell the way she was staring you down. She was just trying to decide how to frame what she wanted to say.

"Aren't you afraid?" she asked you. "Of Barnes? You could have killed him at that little meeting in the park."

Yes, you were scared of Barnes. Very much so. But the only person you'd admitted that to was Yelena. Steve had overheard you but in your defense, you'd thought he was in a coma and couldn't hear you. You steeled yourself to answer her because you weren't going to let anyone else know just how worried about Barnes you were.

"Steve will keep me safe," you told her meaningfully. "He'll keep all of us safe. The day in the park? We intended to kill Barnes that day. If I hadn't panicked at the last moment..."

From the window behind Steve's desk, you could see the cars arriving. The screen of your phone showed it was 3:35 PM. The meeting would start soon.

"You did so well," Yelena picked it up from there. "You should have seen her, Nat. He had no idea who was she until she wanted him to know. I'm not sure I could have done that."

"Bullshit," you said, smiling. "You would have done a better job. And you had to deal with him because I froze."

"It's my job to protect you," Yelena reminded you. "Not the other way around."

A light tap at the door got your attention. Clint was stationed outside the office, neither him or Nat would allow otherwise. His gaze met yours and he crooked a finger at you.

Walking around the desk, you went to the door, walking out when Clint motioned you. Clint walked into the office and closed the door, leaving you in the quiet of the hallway with your husband. 

Smiling, you let him pull you into his arms. Steve was healing but he wasn't back to full strength yet. Still, he felt more solid and alive in your arms now. The blood red tie stood out against the polished silver suit he wore. The sent of his cologne, of him, invaded your senses, made you wish you could stay here a while. 

Easing back, your stretched up to kiss his mouth and Steve took you off guard. His kiss was searing, demanding. He took your breath away, his kiss seeking and lusty. You tasted the need of so many nights when you couldn't make love, when you didn't know if you'd lose him. Your own need was just as strong and you rotated your hips against him, feeling the heated hard ridge you were hoping for.

"Stop," he whispered against your lips. "You keep doing that and I'll fuck you right here in this hallway."

You grinned up at him. "How much time do we have?"

Steve smiled. "Don't tempt me."

"It's almost time," you told him. "You've got this."

"Yes, I do." Steve's entire demeanor backed up his words. "And once this meeting is over, we'll have a better idea of where we go from here."

"You'll tell me everything, right?"

"I promised, didn't I?" Steve brushed a kiss on your forehead, his gaze locking with yours. "Stay in the office with Belova and Nat. If Clint wants you to move, you do it with no question. You understand?"

"I do," you told him, trying to fight back your fear. Your entire world felt like it was balancing on a knife's edge and you just wanted it to be over. To move on.

Steve shook his head, chuckling. "I'm not used to you being so acquiescent. I could get used to this."

"Don't," you told him. "Because I'm not always going to be so easy to get along with."

"At least you're honest," Steve said. He stole one more kiss that had your heart hammering against his. Every part of you was in knots right now. From tension, fear, and lust. When he broke the kiss, his breath and yours came fast. "Let me get through this meeting... I need you so much right now."

Just as much as you needed him.

"Just make sure you're up to it," you said. "I want you too but I'm willing to wait if that's what's best for you."

"You are what's best for me," he said with feeling.

It was then you spotted a tiny spot of your lipstick, smudged on the collar of his pristine white shirt. "Shit," you muttered, reaching to see if you could get it off. 

Steve caught your hand. "Leave it," he said. "I want Barnes to see it."

You just wished more than anything that Barnes wasn't coming to your home. A sense of foreboding had you shivering.

"Go back in the office," Steve told you. "I love you."

"I love you too," you whispered.

Steve tapped on the office door and Clint came out the door in an instant, ushering you back into Steve's study to Nat and Yelena. Somehow, with their company, you made it through the next two hour while the meeting took place.

"They're all here, boss," Dyson said from behind him. 

Downing the rest of his Scotch, Steve set the empty glass on Luca's small kitchen table and blew out an exhale. It was time.

"Barnes is here?" he asked.

"Sure is," Dyson said. "Brought Killmonger and Zemo with him."

Turning to face his man, Steve prepared himself.

"You're going to handle this, you know?" Dyson said. 

"As long as I know she's safe, yeah, I am going to handle it."

"Nothing is going to happen to her," Dyson said meaningfully. "I promise you that."

Well, then...

Steve headed for the conference room, not stopping until he reached it. When he opened the door to let himself in, he saw his own men posted around the room, led by Scott who stood just behind the chair at the head of the table. His.

Steve's gaze met that of Tony Stark, then Sam. Thor Odinson watched him with cool blue eyes, his raven-haired brother Loki sitting by his side. They were the only unknowns in the room. Steve knew he had Tony and Sam's loyalty.

Then there was the man of the hour, Bucky Barnes himself, situated between the Odinsons and the Wilsons. Killmonger and Zemo stood behind his chair.  Barnes had no trouble meeting Steve's gaze but he was thinner than the last time he saw him, his pallor uncharacteristically pale. Belova and his wife had done a number on him. 

And Barnes would seek revenge. Steve would need to be a lot more vigilant in protecing his wife, his family. Everyone considered Hansen was out of the picture, but it would be unwise to forget about him. And Killmonger had always been the one he respected most. He was quiet, calculating, and deadly efficient.

"Gentlemen, thank you for coming," Steve said to the room. Taking his time, he took his seat. 

It didn't feel the same sitting there now. He'd only held one other such meeting as head of the families. That day he'd been excited, eager to take over, to rule. He'd been naive.

Things were different now. Yes, he'd sat on the throne, won the wife and her heritage. And he'd almost lost all of it because of arrogance. As he took in the heads of the other four familes, one by one, he knew he'd never take this position for granted again. Now he could feel the weight of all the responsibilities that came with it. Steve wanted to make his father proud. Her father proud. 

Mostly, he wanted to keep pride in his wife's eyes. The way she'd looked at him in the hallway. She believed in him. She loved him. And there was nothing he wouldn't do for her.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dyson standing behind him. Yeah, he didn't want to let him down either. Dyson was his right hand, yes. But he was a father to him. He was a father to her. 

He had no intention of failing Dyson either.

"What's on the agenda today?" Tony asked with his characteristic smirk.

"I'm just going to be direct," Steve began. "There has been some dissension in our ranks."

"Dissension?" Thor asked.

Steve nodded. "Since I took the leadership of our five families, my family has been attacked numerous times." He caught Barnes' gaze and held it as he continued. "Barton was shot, Lloyd Hansen brought goons to my house in an attempt to kidnap my wife, my wife and my sister have suffered considerable injuries, and all the while my leadership has been called into question."

On that last, Barnes grinned. But before he could speak, Steve absolutely could not let anyone steal the floor from him at this meeting, Steve cut him off.

"All of it stops today," Steve said slowly, dragging out each word.

Loki grinned from his seat, his gaze sweeping around the room. "This is going to be fun."

His brother Thor looked skeptical. "Word on the street is that Banner is the one who shot Barton. Barton was having the man's wife, right under his nose. He dealt with his wife. None of these personal items have any place in this meeting."

"Dealt with his wife? My sister?" Steve kept his demeanor nonchalant but on this inside he was fuming. "That's what I thought too until I learned Banner had been talking with Barnes about business without my knowledge. My own consigliere. See, Barnes' consigliere is about to retire. Banner was under the impression that if he helped Barnes bring my family down, he'd be serving the Barnes family as their new consigliere. That changes things."

Thor's gaze cut to Barnes who now wore his poker face. Still, he looked unrepentent.

"No one has seen Banner," Thor pointed out. "Has that been dealt with? If what you say is true, that's quite a betrayal."

There it was. A subtle challenge to his leadership, but a challenge nonetheless.

"Banner has been dealt with," Steve said. "Barton found him hiding in Stark's turf... Why was he hiding there? Why wasn't he under your protection, Barnes?"

The pure anger in Barnes' steely blue eyes told Steve he was hitting his mark. When he remained silent, Steve continued.

"I allowed Barton to deal with Banner how he wanted. And anyone else who ever tries to deal with my sister? That man will  meet the same fate. Is that in any way unclear?"

A low murmur across the table. Tony wasn't doing even trying to hide his enjoyment of the meeting so far.

"You had proof of Barnes' traitorous actions before you made these decisions?" Thor asked, not letting it go. "I'm sure you realize these are serious allegations."

"Do I owe you or anyone a fucking explanation?" Steve shot back, pissed.

"Yeah, you do," Barnes chimed in. "Because the evidence suggests you're not managing your own turf all that well, boss." He put an ugly emphasis on the word "Boss." "You've taken hits to businesses you're supposed to be protecting. People who depend on you are losing business, people are getting hurt."

Smiling at the reminder, Steve sighed. "People getting hurt. Like the murder and rape your men committed in that shop on my turf? Like the girl you allowed Hansen to kidnap from a donut shop in my territory? She got hurt. He kept her for days."

"I didn't give him that order," Barnes said cooly.

"Doesn't matter," Stave said. "He still acted under your authority."

Barnes was now staring him down and Steve silently willed him to say something else. Say it. Tell them you were poisoned by my wife's guard. See how much respect you get for that sloppy shit.

"Anything else?" Steve dared him.

Cold silence.

"I get that you're still raw I took the lead," Steve told him, rising from his chair. "That's why you promised Banner a position at your side that I don't think you ever meant to give him. It's also why you turned Loguidice against me, got him to give you inside intel. You got him killed by Hansen."

"That was on Hansen." Barnes couldn't produce much color in his anger, likely from the poison, but his face darkened enough for Steve to see that he was really getting to him. "He knifed me, betrayed orders."

Like my wife's guard knifed you? A woman?

"You all know why, right?" Steve walked around the table even though Dyson had advised him against it. But he liked to pace when he talked. "Hansen and Neal took Dyson which I think was your plan. Right? They were supposed to draw me out, finish me off."

Thor listened intently to the exchange, not as amused as his brother seemed. No, he was dead serious and Steve had him on the hook.

"Hansen decided to lure my wife out instead," Steve told them. "Shot Loguidice in the face. What did you promise Neal for turning on me anyway?"

Barnes' smile didn't reach his eyes. "I didn't have to promise either of them much at all."

"The point is," Steve went on, "that you couldn't even control Hansen. Your own man. And you think you'd make a better leader of these families than me?"

Barnes was out of his chair, ready to lunge at Steve. Killmonger struggled to hold onto him. 

Steve chuckled, watching the scene he'd created. Around the table, Tony and Sam watched passively, the Odinsons were attentive. Dyson looked proud and that was everything to him in that moment.

"Are you really the one leading your family, Rogers?" Barnes yelled. "Because all the nasty little presents you sent me just didn't seem like your style."

"What are you implying?" Thor asked him.

"Word has it Rogers got shot that day," Barnes said to the room. "After that, I got some none-to-subtle reminders of the bad blood between us. But they weren't his style at all. I think he got shot and he's struggling. I think Mrs. Rogers had a hand in this."

Tony's gaze moved from Barnes to Steve, almost comical interest so plain on his face.

"You're so fascinated with my wife, aren't you?" Steve said. "Why don't you tell them all of it?"

Tell them that you were bested by a woman and let's be done with it.

"Wait," Loki said with an artificial calm that didn't match the sheer glee in his eyes at the scene he was witnessing."Not to be indelicate, but isn't Mrs. Rogers your half-sister, Barnes?"

If looks could kill, Loki would have been dead on the floor. Steve had a hard time not laughing at that.

"She's not my anything," Barnes hissed, still struggling in Killmonger's hold. "She's an evil fucking bitch that you'll regret marrying one day, Rogers! I'd watch my back if I were you! Remember what her mother did to my family?"

"I thought she was a ballerina," Tony chimed in. "Huh."

Loki laughed out loud as Barnes managed to shake off his man's hold and charged at Steve. Scott and another of Steve's men caught him first. That didn't stop Steve from approaching, getting up in his enemy's face.

"You got shot, didn't you?" Barnes demanded.

"If I got shot," Steve said, "why are you the one who looks physically weak right now? Something you want to tell us?"

Steve could have shamed him there. He could have told the entire room what really happened to Barnes. But considering what Barnes had just shouted to the room about his wife, it was best to draw no more attention to her.

"I'm the head of these families, Barnes," Steve said in a calmer tone. "I won't tolerate any other challenges to this position."

The warning was clear, the room quiet now. Shoving Scott to the side, Killmonger took Barnes' arm to take control of the situation. Barnes' had broken out in a sweat, his face unnaturally pale and he was struggling to breathe.

"We understand," Killmonger said to Steve, struggling to keep his boss up because he looked ready to pass out. 

Steve tipped his head towards the conference room door, giving his consent for Killmonger to get him out of there. Zemo, looking more than a little alarmed, followed them out.

The tone of the meeting was much calmer with their departure, tension thick in the air. Even Thor had nothing else to say as Steve went over his plans for the families moving forward. When the meeting dismissed, Steve lingered until it was only him and Dyson, Scott and another soldier outside the door.

"You made the statement," Dyson told him. "That means if Barnes so much as breathes wrong, you know what you have to do."

Steve nodded. He would have to take Barnes and his family out, ensuring nothing was left.

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it," Steve told him.

Dyson nodded. "Still, it was a good meeting. It set the right tone."

Steve nodded but inside, he was elated. Dyson approved of the way the meeting was handled, how he dealt with Barnes. It was a new start, it was everything.

He couldn't wait to tell you about it.

When Yelena didn't answer your question, you glanced her way. 

She was looking out the window. "The meeting couldn't be over yet," she said.

Was someone leaving?

Getting up, you walked to the window. Your first instinct was stand back and not make it obvious you were watching.

But wasn't this your house? You could stand in the window if you wanted to.

So you did. And sure enough, one sleek black luxury sedan was moving in the circular drive. It startled you when it stopped in line-of-sight from your window. The rear passenger window powered down and Buck Barnes was staring out that window in your direction. At you.

After a moment, the car started moving and the window went back up. You shivered at what the simple gesture meant for your future. The meeting only started fifteen minutes ago. That wasn't a good sign. At least no one else seemed to be leaving.

I'll get you!

 Bucky Barnes' threat ran through your mind as you watched his car drive away.

A/N: There's a marathon smut scene coming next and it was either shorten it and tack it onto this chapter or make it a chapter on its own so... Very soon. Thank you!

@valsworldofcreativity @21stcenturywitchcraft @coconutqueen21 @bval-1 @caffiend-queen @sadlittlecountess @candy-and-writing @capsicle-shield @chaoticfiretaconerd @chrisevansgirl @chris-evans-indian-fanfic @coldmuffinbanditshoe @daughterofthenight117 @hv-chw3 @iheartsebstan @imanuglywombat @just-one-ordinary-fangirl @justrae9903 @lokislastlove @mariaenchanted @maxwelllee2020 @nekoannie-chan @nerdwholikesword @notyourtypicalrose @optimistic-dinosaur-nacho @peaceinourtime82 @rainbowkisses31 @rayofdawnworld @richonne4life @rissysthoughts-blog @saiyanprincessswanie @scarletsoldier21-blog @shygirl-00 @supernaturaldean67 @sweater-daddiesdumbdork @team-iron-wannabe-man @titty-teetee @tonib666 @villanellev @vitamingummies @what-is-your-plan-today @what-is-your-wish @xoxabs88xox @rosalynshields @naturalthrone22 @marvelovernfan @gotnofucks @eralen @kawairinrin @bluemusickid @geminievans1 @daughterofthenight117 @sunmoonandbuckyrecs @jesevans @kandis-mom @salvatoreitmeanssaviour @kmc1989 @curiousandjoyous @marvelouslyme96

[pluckyredhead]

hi! i'm new to comics and i got in through reading your fics and wayne family adventures. i've since started reading more of the mainstream verse and i realized that most comic fans consider wfa to be totally fanon. you're one of the few i saw that disagrees. would you mind elaborating a lil on why? i'm too new to really form an opinion either way but i'd like to know your's!

(also yes i really did stalk your blog back years worth of posts i'm sorry! 😭😭)

Aw I love this! Welcome!

So I think it's really important to be clear on definitions here:

Canon means it's part of an official text. It's literally in a comic (or book or movie or other property) published or licensed by DC.

Fanon means it's made up by fans. That doesn't mean bad or good, it just means that it comes from fandom and is not part of the official text.

Wayne Family Adventures is an official licensed comic by DC, so by definition, it cannot be fanon. That doesn't mean everyone has to like it, but it's not a fan comic. It's an official DC product. It's not fanon.

Now, WFA isn't part of the main DCU canon. It takes place in a separate universe. The Jason in Batman #138 and the Jason in WFA are not the same and they are having very different experiences. (And I'm sure the Jason in WFA would be grateful if he knew.)

But that's no different than a comic that takes place in an alternate universe, like Dark Knights of Steel or DCeased, or a movie like Blue Beetle or a show like My Adventures with Superman. They all take place in their own universes, but all of those universes are canon. None of them are fanon.

What I think most people mean when they say WFA is fanon is that WFA draws on tropes and characterizations that are popular in fandom. Which...yes, absolutely. This is on purpose, and honestly, it pisses me off when people complain about it. (Not you, anon! Your question was lovely, you just triggered my unskippable cut scene of dialogue. Sorry lol.)

Wayne Family Adventures is probably the single best idea DC has had in the 20 years I've been reading comics. (The second best was the kids and YA graphic novel lines.)

I just checked, and WFA has 1.3 MILLION subscribers. That's more than every floppy comic starring Batman sells in a month, combined. It's more than literally any superhero comic has sold in decades - in this century! The combined strips have over A HUNDRED MILLION VIEWS. That is bonkerstown. That is a readership like DC hasn't seen since the 1970s. That is unparalleled success, and it's introducing characters like Kate Kane and Duke Thomas to a whole new audience.

Now, WFA was clearly designed to appeal to Batfans who were active on social media and fanfic sites like AO3 and Wattpad, and Webtoon readers. The readership of Webtoon is mostly young and female. Fandom as a whole is mostly female. The writer of WFA is female.

And maybe I'm not being fair here, but when I see people dismiss WFA as "just fanon," I always catch a whiff of "It's not a real Batman comic. It's a girl comic for girls."

I have spent the past 20 years begging DC (and Marvel, DC is not alone in this) to see women as a viable audience - as their largest potential growth audience! I have watched in dumbfounded frustration as they ignored the juggernaut success of Raina Telgemeier and Ngozi Ukazu and Alice Oseman running rings around the NY Times bestseller list and counted a 50k shipment here and there as a resounding triumph. I have literally seen them throw out survey responses from women because "those women had an agenda." (This is a true story. 2011 was rough, y'all.)

And all of a sudden, they gave us a comic actually catering to women and young people and fandom, and they put it on the most popular, current, modern platform for comics availably - and it's brilliant. It's smart and funny and stunningly drawn and every episode makes clever, inventive use of the scrolling format. They FINALLY gave us a girl comic for girls, and it's a masterpiece.

And yes, it riffs on fanon concepts. It also has its roots firmly in mainstream DCU canon. It references deep cuts. CRC Payne and StarBite know their shit. Jason Todd being a bookworm may be a fanon staple, but he does plenty of reading - including Jane Austen - in the 100% canon mainstream DCU comics.

It's not going to be for everything, because nothing is. It's completely fine if you don't like WFA. No one has to read it or enjoy it. If you're into Batman for the darkness and the crime and the ongoing plotlines and the angst, WFA won't be for you, and that's totally fine!

But to finally, finally be valued as a reader by DC, to have them do something smart and innovative and so, so well executed, and have the exact people they made it for dismiss it out of hand because Bruce has a "World's Okayest Dad" mug or whatever? Yeah, that chafes.

[project-sekai-facts]

hii !! very new to prkect sekai and i cant play the game ,, so information wise is there someplace specific i can start ?

hi! sorry for the late response but hopefully this can get you a start on prsk without the game

to get yourself quickly familiar with the characters, here's the JP webiste's character page (EN site doesn't have one so just use google translate). This page also allows you to switch between the old pre-3rd anniversary bios (aka the point EN is at currently) and the current bios.

in-addition, here's a link to fan translations of the original in-game character introductions. The official character intro translations can be found on the EN YouTube channel.

----

the best place to start story-wise would be the main stories! they give you an introduction to the characters and plot of each unit. they're pretty hefty (21 chapters and roughly 2 and a half hours long each), but it's knowledge you'll need for going further into the story. link to fan translations are below:

Leo/need

MORE MORE JUMP!

Vivid BAD SQUAD

WonderlandsxShowtime

25-ji, Nightcord de. / Nightcord at 25:00

but if you'd rather read the official translation and don't mind the typos and occasional dialogue changes, they can be found on the EN YT channel as well, or on the fandom wiki.

There are also animated shorts based on these stories, which you can watch instead, but I do suggest reading the full stories as well since the animations condense 2.5 hours of story into 5 minutes and miss out some key details. You can find the animations here (they have english subs).

There's also sekai.best, a fan-operated database that has the official translations (where applicable) and original JP text for every event and basically everything else in the game including virtual lives, area conversations, card stories, etc.

^ If you want to use it to view the official translations just go in the settings page and make sure the server region is set to English.

EN has also been uploading the official event translations to their YouTube channel, and is uploading 1 chapter per day. As of writing they're on the 14th event.

If you want fan translations, here's some playlists I compiled. For each unit I included their "key stories", any mixed event that is focused on a member from the specific unit, plus some other stories I think are important to or heavily feature certain characters in the unit regardless of if they're the focus character (e.g: I put Buddy Funny Spend Time in the MMJ folder as well as the VBS one because it prominently features Minori and Haruka and provides a lot of character development for the former, despite it being a Kohane event).

Leo/need

MORE MORE JUMP!

Vivid BAD SQUAD

WonderlandsxShowtime

25-ji, Nightcord de.

And because I genuinely put the effort into this, here's a playlist of fan TLs for literally every story in the game in release order.

(Note: as of posting these playlists are still a WIP but they currently have everything from 2020/21)

----

Stories aside, music is a big part of the experience! You can find all the units on streaming services like spotify and youtube music. Some songs also have MVs, which I'll link playlists below.

2DMVs

3DMVs

Producers' MVs for commissioned songs (aka Vocaloid version)

I hope this is helpful!! ^^

[skyepixels]

The Welcome Home Website!!!!! She is Beautiful~! And She Leaves Us With So Many Questions!

First off, I am absolutely astonished at how beautiful she is!!! Clown, Puzz, and everyone else has worked so hard and they've exceeded everyone's expectations with the site!!! What a wonderful little Home they've made, and I'm excited to experience it as a fan!!!

I know that everyone's combing through the new website update with a fine toothed comb so I won't be sharing anything we've already found. I don't think I've found anything new in the site that others haven't already found, but oh boy!!!! Does everything there only raise more questions!

What I do love is how all the audio files we've been given through the "bugs" has really shown what everyone's personality is like! I love every one of them, and the voice actors captured them perfectly! Oh and the little tidbits of history with the merchandise, the telephone calls, the little skits! Be still my beating heart~!!!

AND THE WALLY LIVE INTERVIEW. I CANT! It's sooo darn cute!! And Nick Nocturne (I know it's him, that interdimentional cat demon) as the interviewer was such a lovely touch! I cannot wait to hear about that from his YT channel!!! And Wally was so coy with the romance question~ and I think that's the perfect way to answer it for everyone who loves him! Keep it vague, let everyone make their own conclusions and be happy! (I know I certainly will for the time being, and will love him no matter what!) I am so curious about the underlying story here: there's so much to think about it's driving me crazy! They gave so much and answered so little! We can only theorize from here! So here's my little thoughts! None of it's cohesive in any way, nor does it really have all the details or tell full story yet, so just take it in sections if you decide to read it! ______

!~OBSERVATION TIME~!

I think that Wally, Home (And maybe everyone else, not sure) are trapped somewhere. Where exactly isn't certain, but very trapped indeed. My first indication of this from this response in the guestbook for Tayla (Page 8):

"eu não sei onde estamos" - I don't know where we are (A bonus for the multi-lingual side of things there, it makes me really happy to see it!)

I have no concept of what happened to everyone else, but from the little drawings he's made on the guestbook, he's constantly telling people things like "Oh, I'll tell Eddie." or "I'll tell Frank." these messages, but we never get a direct response from any other neighbor! It's always him talking! Just him. He tells people their responses, but we never hear anything direct from the other neighbors! The quick reference I can bring up is the hearts PNG in the guestbook for Kazoo:

itoldhim_hesaidhesflattered_idontknowwhatanyoneistalkingabout_.png I feel like those collections of audio clips with all the neighbors (1-14 to 14-14) are a recount of events throughout an entire day that previously happened that may give insight into what happened to Wally. I think this is the case based on the last audio in the list, 14-14 bh audio, when Barnaby notices Wally acting strange:

BARNABY: Yeah, yeah, real funny! A poor little guy like me deserves some sympathy! A clown without a kazoo is like… Like an artist without his paintbrush! Go on kid, tell ‘em! …Hello? Buddy? Pal? …Hey, you stopped paintin’. Everything alright, Wally?

Well, something happened there. Maybe a change in his psyche, how he perceives things - some strange realization that terrified him. Maybe he got angry at something. What it was? I have no clue.

Another addition that I think is interesting! Frank wrote to Wally describing the unusual bug he found. In the beginning of that letter, Frank says this:

"I know you would ask if you are here." Where is he?

The nature of how Wally and everyone communicates is so vague and weird! I think the telephones, the mail, the TVs - all these things are means of communicating, but there's no direct connection to us! Any time a phone call is made, they can't hear us. This I have inferred from the "It's for you!" Talking telephone toy! They can talk to us and we can hear them, but they can't hear us! What's causing this disturbance? That's the real bug here, and I'm clueless on what that means or how to break through the surface!

Most importantly! I think that Wally specifically trying to communicate with that one person on the WHRP team. That person... is experiencing a lot of heavy sh*t, because I think they remember Wally and the show. They're the closest person right now that's able to help him (either willingly or not!)

I also believe he's specifically working with that WHRP member because in the phone audio (the one you click on when interacting with the toy telephone on the merchandise page), he says:

"You have to go too. You have work to do."

From what I can interpret from the live interview, I think that it implies some semblance of back story! Wally did interact with people and the outside world during his prime in the 70s, when the show was really starting to pick up speed. He was calmer, more in tune with his character and fame. He was in character most of all, and I think being in character was a sense of identity for him that he could rely on!

But those secret audio files we hear from him now? He sounds desperate, like he can't breathe. He's practically breaking from his usual character. What did he realize? What does he know? All of those things boil down to this sentence:

"I will help you understand. I will find a way soon, Neighbor."

Wally (and Home?) are working away at a solution wherever they can I think that WHRP member is the key to that! (Although the methods of how they're doing it, i.e the black paint that apparently you shouldn't touch with bare hands, the mind-boggling phone ringing in that person's ears, the complete distortion of reality - definetely implies a few things.)

I also think that the highlighted in invisible ink is Wally's words throughout the email compilations and other documents! The one where he says "Im so sorry." - I feel like that's him showing some remorse for his actions there, but it's like a sorry that says "I'm sorry, I have to do this." kind of deal (which is... oof)

Also - quick note! Wally keep insisting on being let in, rather than being let out. "Let me in." - Let you in to where? Our world? Reality? Oh so many questions!!!

I also am curious about the WHRP staff too, and their interactions with the Question-Answerer, the Marlo company, the Playfellow Workshop! There's two sides to this story; the human side and the puppet one, and it's so multilayered here that at this point, I'm inclined to distrust what anyone on that website says until we know what's going on!

Lastly, I'm not certain how much we as viewers of this story are involved. While I believe that he's working to get that WHRP member to let him in, he does acknowledge us through the guestbook. Although, I don't think truly aware of how much we see him. i.e "idontknowwhatanyoneistalkingabout" line from the heart PNG.

While I want to believe that Wally can see us through our art, specifically when we draw or recreate his eyes, for engagement's sake (audio from this link), I also am inclined to believe he's refering to the eyes that the WHRP team member keeps drawing on those sticky notes and other places throughout the restoration site:

And and and!!! I think that there's got to be something upcoming with this link: https://www.clownillustration.com/error404

You find this link on the staff-only page at the bottom with the text "It's in here." And I think that with any future updates, the next section of the story will be coming from here.

AHH~! I rambled on too long! Hope you enjoyed it!

[emohorseboy]

I'm so interested in all of your posts about mad liberation. I've never seen anything that puts my thoughts on the whole psych complex into words. I'm really curious to learn more about this. No pressure if not, but do you happen to know of any more comprehensive resources on this? Like books maybe?

Hi, I can definitely give you some recs! My list is a little bit UK centric because that's where I'm based but hopefully it's useful:

In terms of books:

I read 'Mad World: The Politics of Mental Health' by Micha Frazer-Carroll this summer and I can't recommend it enough.

I'm also making my way through 'Call Me Crazy: Stories from the Mad Movement' by Irit Shimrat, which I think is out of print but can be read as a PDF here (hopefully)

I've only dipped in and out of his books for my dissertation but Andrew Scull has written several well regarded books about the history of psychiatry ('Museums of Madness' is the one I've read bits of, 'Desperate Remedies' is on my TBR)

Some books on my TBR: 'The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease' by Johnathan Metzl, 'Drop the Disorder!', 'Searching for a Rose Garden: Challenging Psychiatry, Fostering Mad Studies', 'Anatomy of an Epidemic' by Robert Whitaker

Some really good articles:

'Abolition Must Include Psychiatry' by Stella Akua Mensah

'Mad Activists: The Language We Use Reflects Our Desire for Change' by Lisa Archibold

'Not a naughty child: people’s experiences of service responses to self-injury' by Alison Faulkner and Rachel Rowan Olive

More resources!

The Campaign for Psychiatric Abolition - UK based, they have a lot of really great resources including an extensive recommended reading list, a Psych Abolition 101 Zine, and a resource for making a crisis support plan.

Asylum Magazine - again UK based, radical mental health magazine. To read full issues you need to subscribe (I recently paid for a subscription for a year of digital editions for £10, physical copies are a bit more) but the website has plenty of articles that you can read for free so well worth exploring.

Psych Survivor Archive - US based this time, there is so much on here, the Psych Survivor Zine is the main event but they also have a really great resource list (some of the links are dead though).

Mad in America - publish a lot of really interesting and impactful stuff on their website, I also really like their podcast (particularly recommend this episode about ECT, this one about esketamine, and this one about 'prolonged grief disorder'). There is also Mad in the UK and a number of other country specific sites that exist as part of their Mad in the World Network.

Folks to follow:

Dolly Sen - UK based artist who does and is doing a lot of cool stuff, notably at the moment they are the lead artist for the Birdsong From Inobservable Worlds project. This podcast episode they did is also great.

Nicole / lacey_art_ - another UK based artist, she wrote a poem about a bird recently that I can't stop thinking about (she does a lot of other cool things too).

Rachel Rowan Olive - brilliant and funny artist, she is also on instagram and etsy.

Luna Tic - artist and activist who has been involved with a lot of really brilliant stuff, including the successful StopSIM Coalition here in the UK which managed to bring an end to SIM.

There are so many more I could name and so many more things I could recommend but this post is already so long! I really hope it was helpful. I started trying to be brief and then gave up but I did cut out a fiction and literature recs section because I thought that was overkill lmao. Thank you for giving me an excuse to make this list I had a great time.

Learning about the Mad and psych survivor movements has been so transformative and empowering for me and I could honestly talk about it all day. Please do feel free to send me a message if you want to chat about it more!

[clearancecreedwatersurvival]

Okay so here’s my thoughts on the staffcon thing.

I still think collapsing reblogs so posts look more like other social media isn’t gonna work as a feature but they will probably roll them back a little and at least add a toggle off for it if they try it and enough people submit feedback. Edit: this is actually less of an issue, most of the discussion is based on a misrepresentation of what’s happening. They’re just making it easier to scroll past long posts. EDIT AGAIN: actually some people already have the initial roll out of the feature and it. Is bad.

I think submitting feedback is a takeaway. There was a pretty clear effort to just remind the user base that there are real humans on the other side of a paycheck having to read and respond to the inputs of every feedback method on the site, which is fair. It’s easy to be an asshole online in any semi anonymous platform and that is something that tumblr culture takes a certain bloodthirsty pleasure in.

And yes, of course, user complaints about issues such as accessibility and the many ongoing glitches and bots and the search function, etc. are valid and do need to be addressed. But at the very least it would be cool if we as users maybe try to cultivate a slightly less pitchforky social norm when submitting feedback about changes to the site. The ceo is not reading every @ to his blog. One of his employees is. The people reading all of the feedback are just people doing their jobs. All jobs suck under capitalism, maybe we could try not to make their jobs actively worse.

Would you be rude to an overworked server in a restaurant? No? Cool also try to not be a dick to the person getting paid to answer customer or user complaints.

Related to that, funding. Many current and former members of staff have been pretty frank about funding in the past. The company is trying to at the very least breakeven, which not a single company who has owned tumblr has managed because the hosting fees for this site are insane due to all of the stuff on it.

If they don’t get it to breakeven they’ll hopefully best case just open source the website which is a method they’ve done in the past. And it would probably work, and then the website would to my understanding be being maintained by users. Now this is where my understanding gets fuzzy so anyone with more knowledge of how this would shake out feel free to chime in. But my understanding is that the source code for the site would be opened up and maintained by the community likely through mostly volunteer work. I would guess largely uncompensated.

So personally I think maybe the vitriolic response to every change they make going forward to try and monetize the site and pay even some of the cost of operation is perhaps a bit overblown, because they’re still trying to find a way to keep paying those people to work on tumblr, and I think people continuing to be paid for the work they do is better than volunteers doing unpaid labor.

I do also think there’s a secret third option for automattic and every other company finding themselves with a worse outlook now the Silicon Valley bubble has started to really burst, and that is for all existing staff members to unionize and then turn the whole thing into a worker coop. Much more stable organizational structures. Worker coops are also one of my favorite short term solutions to many other systemic problems we are currently experiencing.

I do hope this site continues to exist for many years, especially as it is one of the only places on the internet where the culture makes it safer to talk about some of the more permanent and long term solutions to various systemic issues that function within societies. Also funny text posts.

[budgie-city]

THE ORIGINS OF BUDGIE CITY

Welcome to this informational article where I will be explaining what exactly this "Budgie City" is, where it came from, and in which direction it will be going. So, sit down comfortably - there are some interesting things waiting ahead of you! If you are interested in the lore, visit this article.

What exactly is "Budgie City"?

It is a fictional world that I am actively developing. At the moment, I’m in the process of writing it in the form of a paper draft. I write long texts by hand, and it seems to me that spelling out each letter, unlike typing, helps to approach the composition of sentences more thoughtfully, and to more successfully avoid strange and crooked constructions that will then have to be rewritten and corrected. It is far from the final, but I want to warm up people's interest in this world before the release of a full-fledged work, which is what I am doing now. I will not publish too many pieces of text until I have finished the story completely (though I probably will show some sneak-peeks). For now the content on "Budgie City" is mostly limited to drawings — concepts, sketches and character designs. Gradually, I've been starting to bring this topic to my YouTube channel in order to introduce the setting and concept to my viewers.

You may have seen my first video of Budgie City since 2014, which I have released quite recently — “I am not insane”, a video that focuses on one of the secondary conflicts of the story.

Where did this concept even come from?

It's quite a long story, and it's funny that this year is the ten year anniversary of me registering on the forum called "Budgie City". Yes, it all started with a regular internet forum — a by now almost extinct site format, which in the early 2000s and until about 2016-17 was the main place for interest groups on the internet. Now this has moved almost completely to social media, but before almost any hobby or interest had its own forum with different sections and topics. It saddens me a little that the golden age of forums has already passed.

In 2012, for the New Year, my parents bought me my first budgie — a classic green one, and I named him Gesha. At that time, I was not a regular "user" of the Internet yet. I only started to comprehend the vastness of the virtual network a few months later, and at first it leaned purely on me viewing memes in Google pictures and all sorts of videos on YouTube.

But in the spring of 2013, I discovered these wonderful things known as forums. And it was that point in time when I, having had a budgie with me for a year, decided to find a forum thematically fitting. Upon the request from my country, Google led me straight to the “Budgie City” forum.

The topics on there were something like rooms in a big house. The users randomly surfed through them and followed each other's daily lives. Therefore, Budgie City did actually feel really like being in a virtual society where everyone knows each other. I was getting used to the frequent people, getting to know each person individually. I went to their topics to write comments and answers, they wrote in mine. That's how we existed as this cozy club of interests.

There is an interesting thing with almost every child that is on the Internet — no matter where, in which community — a person with the admin/moder status is perceived as an absolute authority, any response from which causes awe and delight. And there were certain, more active and sociable admins in Budgie City — Anya under the nickname "Phoenix Bird" and Olga under the nickname "Olivka". The "Phoenix Bird" nickname spoke for itself — the image of a large bird of fire that walks around the city and receives admiring glances from everyone, was drawn in my head almost instantly. Olivka didn't have an image yet; I started turning her into a character much later.

Phoenix and Olivka in their modern designs (2022)

In the early summer of 2014, I read "Warrior Cats", and that’s where the whole story took off. I suddenly felt like I should become a writer too and write my own book. And 12-year-old me, who was spending 80% of my online traffic on the forum, decided to write a story, turning part of the admin staff and the budgies of familiar forum members into their own characters. Phoenix and Olivka turned into birds, the latter in particular acquired an image in the form of a wompoo fruit dove with olive-tinged wings, the budgies of the forum were also turned into their respective characters: Gesha and Yasha (mine); Glasha and Gosha (Hoatzin); Clementine, Jack, Fenya, Nira, Mouse, Castorka, Mithril and Small (Phoenix); Kuzya (Dmitriy68), Milana (Radujniy), Raisin (yyna) and others.

Sections of the forum have turned into parts of the city — the restaurant, the mayor's office, the registry office and nursery, and suburbs with parrots of other species, located on trees surrounding baobabs.

This is how the novel of the same name with the slogan "Feathered Metropolis" was born from the "Budgie City" forum. I posted it in its own topic, had about a dozen readers and, judging by the reviews, they all really liked reading the story. Although, looking back at the writing now... I wouldn't call it something breathtaking. Rather the opposite. But then again, I am now judging from the perspective of a third-year animation director student, and not the fifth grader I was at that time.

A couple of my original illustrations from 2014

The story was successfully brought to an end in about seven months, and after a while I started writing a sequel — however, the central conflict wasn’t thought out the slightest, so the plot quickly crumbled and was abandoned after several chapters.

Now the original text is lost in the vastness of the web — somewhere there is a piece of the prologue, somewhere even a couple of chapters. But the full version no longer exists — it was published only on the forum, and the said forum, unfortunately was — somewhere around 2019 — ruthlessly deleted from the Internet due to the desolation. All that's left of it are snapshots in the Wayback Machine.

Rewriting from the old version into a new one

In 2017, three years later, I made an attempt to rewrite "Budgie City" from scratch — leaving only the main conflict, the structure of the world, and the set of characters the same, to write a new text out of this "skeleton". Progress did not go beyond the prologue and the first chapter however, and rewriting was abandoned.

The same story with 2019 — a couple of pages, that’s all.

Two artworks from 2019

The next approach took till early 2021 to happen, when the original story turned almost six and a half years old. At that time I was already in the middle of my first year of animation directing at SPbGIKiT (Saint Petersburg State Institute of Film and Television). I wrote the prologue and part of the first chapter and went to proudly tell our master Galina Voropai about my "really cool" world. Galina interrupted me in the middle of the impromptu presentation, after which followed a forty-minute roast, thoroughly and in detail explaining that the "Budgie City" in its concept is a piece of junk that does not have the right to exist in its current form. And all this was in the presence of my classmates in the workshop. I gave up trying to defend myself halfway through, and when it was all over, I got up, quietly thanked Galina for a detailed objective analysis of the shortcomings of my project, went down to the first floor, huddled in a bathroom stall, and burst into tears.

It was the first (and yet the only) time in my life where I was literally crying over my work, and the girls from senior courses came to my howls, and we sat together on the windowsill of a public toilet. I was all red, shaking, and dropping snot, as they tried to calm me down.

(my mental state that day)

After that, I did not return to those written several pages for about a year and a half. I began to doubt whether I should continue at all or if it would just be a waste of time.

After the roast from the master, I went through all five stages of grief:

Yes, that was tough. But after so much time, I was finally able to evaluate the message of this scolding with a cool head and understand that most of the comments were actually really helpful - the conflict and the world did require a lot more careful study and rework. With the next approach, I wrote out all the conflicts, all the character motivations, and made a proper plan. And since the end of last autumn, I have returned to writing. Now I know where the story will begin, where it will head, and how it will end. All the actions performed by the heroes are finally based in actual logic. And, although Galina will not see the final result (she sadly passed away at the end of 2021), I hope that the new version will be one that she would have approved of.

A small FAQ:

Q: When will the book be released?

A: I don't want to make any promises as of now, because writing is a rather spontaneous and uneven process. I write more when I am inspired, and inspiration is impossible to predict. So the answer is simple — it will come out when it's finished :D

Q: Will it be released electronically or in a printed book form? Will I have to pay for reading it?

A: I plan to release the final version "Budgie City" in the same way as the old one — in open access, so that everyone can read it at any time. I will not charge money for reading the electronic version, but if there will be a demand for physical copies, I may release a small print run, which will cost money for those who want to get a copy. But it's a little early to think about that anyway.

Q: How does the world in Budgie City work? How do they live? What is the main conflict of the story?

A: All of this you can find out in this article!

Q: Where can I find more content to this world and story?

A: On this very blog or on my YouTube channel

I hope this article was helpful and informative enough for you to know where "Budgie City" comes from and in which direction it is currently heading. Thank you for reading!

Huge thanks to @annchanorsomethin for helping with translation of this article!

[isca-rambles]

6x06 aka why does this show hate joy and my emotional stability Smitty...really should've been fired by now, right? Look, I love a good comedic Smitty but...you know. Lucy messed up at the clown crime scene, even though she wasn't the first officer on site and wasn't responsible for securing the scene, and she got the pissed taken out of her. Do they just not even bother writing Smitty up anymore? Lucy, my love. Also her poster bed is gone :( I only just noticed. fic has me convinced that it's because of sexytimes, but i'll miss that gorgeous massive bed. i always wanted a four poster bed. Tamara baby no don't leave your mother. Lucy being so supportive when her entire life is falling apart. Honestly, Angela, no. You don't get to tell Lucy to sit back and do nothing and then go check on Tim yourself and then not tell Lucy afterwards. She was meant to be your friend too. I know Tim's your best friend but you can't just let Lucy spin out like this. Lucy has his back too but he won't let her be there. GAH. I'm so angry. I do get it, Angela has her priorities and Tim is above Lucy, but it still sucks.

70 degrees? Look, 21 celsius is no joke. I don't know how y'all cope in anything above 16/60 tbh. Also, why would you think it's a good idea to have a bunch of inmates mixed in with a crowd of people constantly changing with multiple escape routes? And no perimeter guard? Angela just tell him to tell Lucy. Better yet, tell her yourself. It's her choice if she puts her career at risk. Gaaaaaaaaah. Stop taking things away from Lucy and that includes her choices. I can't even pay attention to the side plots, or the main plots. Though I do find it funny that Angela just disappeared from work to do this with Tim. Unless she was leaving shift when she ran into Lucy. But this lot do have a habit of disappearing when they should be working. Angela please recognise how in over his head Tim is. Please tell Lucy and the others. Would you be happy if Lucy helped Wesley with something like this and didn't tell you? Told you to just sit back and leave it alone? Yeah, didn't think so. Maybe if Ray hadn't shown up, Angela could've gotten some sense into Tim and gotten him to talk to Lucy. Maybe. Would it have killed you to tell this to Lucy, Tim? You think she wouldn't be willing to keep this to herself? You've seen the lengths she's gone to to protect the people she loves and cares about, even if she's had to work around the law to do so. I want to feel for Tim. I really do. And part of me does, but knowing how this ends up just destroying Lucy, I just can't. I can't. God I wish we'd been able to see Lucy kick Ray's ass. And I'm so glad nothing happened, because obviously I do not want Tamara and Lucy in any danger, but the fics where Ray does do something are just that hit of angsty goodness. But god, I'm so glad they're not canon because that would've destroyed everything with zero chance of rebuilding. Oh Lucy, her rage and terror and sheer frantic anger are so understandable. Tim, please. For the love of god, please. Let your wife help you. He's her fierce protector and he's so focused on keeping her safe from his past, he doesn't see how much he's hurting her. He can't and won't stop protecting her. He's physically unable. The terror and conviction in his voice when he says that to her. He's trying to protect her from his past, but he's still hurting her so much. That amazingly gorgeous and angsty fic where Angela tells Tim how he broke Lucy's heart, the one thing he was meant to protect? That. So much that. With the lies, the break-up, pretending it was all to keep her safe and make her life better. God Tim, you need to recognise how much pain you caused her. Please. I want a full ass apology and a full ass adult conversation in S7. Full. Oh, Percy West. God, we need more of him. We need him with Lucy as well. I've read some gorgeous fics where they have the best father/daughter relationship before and after Jackson's death. God Tim, I know it's killing him to lie to West and Grey. But this is not the right route to go down, Tim. Please. Honey. Honestly, all I can repeat is what Lucy says. Why are you doing this? This entire scene is killing me. It's so well done, it really is, but good god it hurts. The way she's waiting for him, pulls him into a hug. He knows what he's going to do and he lets himself get drawn into that hug because he knows it might be the last one. The way she cradles his head like he usually does to her. She sees him breaking and she tries to hold him and support him. It's killing her to see him break like this. And the look on her face as she realises what he's saying. Good god. These are two very talented actors. I wish I could dissect this scene better but honestly I'm just too upset. Her holding his hand. Clinging to his shirt. The forehead kiss. Her looking so utterly lost and destroyed as he leaves. Tim please. I mean, the man obviously needs help and he needs to work on his own shit, so the break-up isn't an awful idea. But the way he went about it is just the worst. He can't make decisions for Lucy if he loves and respects her. AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[radfemfox5]

LOL that guy you were arguing with a few days ago changed his entire blog. i think you radicalized him LMFAOOO

here's him still malding about your argument: https://www.tumblr.com/mommabearlaciii/732929534465359873

It's been 3 days, honey. Why are you acting like a martyr? Please move on. Get a job. Or a hobby.

This is doubly hilarious to me because he warns others not to waste their time speaking to radfems while wasting multiple days seething about our conversation, to the point that he changed his whole blog...

Guess I have to address this in its entirety since he won't shut the fuck up about it. Buckle up, gyns.

For some added context as to why I immediately assumed this was a troll when I saw his post, this is what his blog looked like:

Jeez, I thought, what a terrible troll. It was so on the nose as to be comical. I soon realized that he was anything but a troll.

I was incredibly tame in my response to his insanely misogynistic post, to the point where I chided myself afterwards for not going harder on him.

In retrospect, being "civil" with him was the best way to go, as my reblog is simple, concise and clear: woman = female. That's literally it.

In spite of how simple my comment was, he still went on an unhinged rant mere minutes after I pressed reblog. It's honestly not worth reading, but for the sake of transparency I'll include screenshots.

Honestly, I was shocked to see how quickly he typed this whole thing out. Rage must increase your typing speed.

It's pretty funny to me that someone whose blog name used to be "adult human female" got so incredibly mad at me for stating that women are female. Shouldn't you agree with me, if you think trans women are female? Hm.

Following this, I wasn't planning on interacting with him again. I left a one word reply and thought that would be it. He kept replying with questions, which devolved into an extremely long exchange in the replies that had some interesting moments. Like him elaborating on why he believes trans women become female, which boils down to "amalgamation of female-approximate traits = female."

Source for his claim that sex is a bimodal distribution between two poles? No clue.

Basically this:

The graph he provided in lieu of a source:

I'm confused about this graph for multiple reasons, namely, the fact that it conflates sex and gender. Mostly, I'm confused about the extremities. Are the people on the far left of the graph "ultra female", and people on the far right "ultra male"? It's complete nonsense, not to mention that he doesn't provide a link to the source this graph is from, it's a commentated screenshot of a tweet with the graph.

Looking into it, the graph comes from a blog post by a transgender real estate agent. I would not consider this a reliable or credible source whatsoever, especially when the post goes on to say this:

You heard it here first, folks, having a small penis means you're less male, and a larger clitoris means you're less female. That makes total sense. I was half expecting them to include this image:

Back to the post: I attempted to explain to him that being in the female range of a specific trait doesn't mean you're female, without much success.

Speaking with him felt like trying to capture a feral cat. It was like I kept having to appease him with treats to keep him from hissing and scampering off. I've never had this feeling when speaking to any other trans person on this webbed site, they usually either block me immediately or have a conversation and then block me when they realize I actually have valid arguments to make. It was definitely a new experience for me. I have screenshots if anyone cares enough to see the full thing.

He did end up realizing I wasn't as complacent as he thought, and blocked me after leaving another beautiful essay in my DMs. The post that pushed him over the edge? The one where I made fun of the breastfeeding fetishist nominal.naomi. Why? Because I implied that males are ugly slobs that can't take pictures. Lol.

It's funny that this interaction seemingly got him to reconsider his time on Tumblr, to the point that he did a complete 180.

You know what, I'll take it. Some of his posts unintentionally call for gender abolition and acknowledge gendered labour inequalities. Sure, he reinforces gendered stereotypes while doing so, but at least he's saying something.

If I can get a misogynistic lesbian fetishist to change his entire blog to regurgitate basic feminist talking points and think he's owning Le TERFs... That's probably the funniest thing to happen to me here.

To be clear, that doesn't make him any less violent towards women he disagrees with.

To conclude: This entire exchange has made me realize that I don't have that many serious posts on this blog compared to my previous blogs. I'll start working on some more serious posts. If you gyns have any suggestions for subjects I could discuss in more of a serious or analytical tone, feel free to shoot me an ask or a DM.

[terraliensvent]

Civ and Coy have left the species altogether as of today due to disagreements with the current staff. They didn’t want to cut back on making adopts so they removed all the pet info and split apparently.

What’s your opinion mod? Need screenshots?

gonna talk about this whole sitch in one go since i got a bunch of asks all together about it (asks above isnt all of them, just what i thought was notable)

first of all, imgur gallery of relevant screens in chronological order for you all. i am nothing if not a diligent journalist: https://imgur.com/a/8JlrfUs i recommend reading through that all because i dont feel like adding transcripts atm

now me personally, this is how i feel about the announcement

it astounds me how far coy will go to show their own ass in these situations (being impulsive, breaking in to the site to delete shit, shit talking the community THEY CULTIVATED??) and the funniest fucking part is that all this started because they were asked to maybe not profit off the species more than the people who are actually working hard on it (which, genuinely i think the new team has done more to further the species than anything ever under civ and coy. we have actual tangible evidence of work being done in the staff wip channel and FINALLY FUCKING TRAIT GUIDES, but anyways)

coy is a modern day furry icarus; all you had to do was shut your stupid mouth and you could have continued to rake in cash from the species you essentially left to die. i mean hell, cal (tycho) was being incredibly generous in saying you would be allowed 1 adopt per month as opposed to every two months like every other damn member of staff has to follow. you flew too close to the sun and now youve lost your easiest source of cash flow you dumbass

AND ON TOP OF THAT, to go on your instagram story to bitch and whine about it and show even more your lack of empathy for the people trying to piece together the mess you made, its just such disgusting behavior honestly. like terra staff is asking so little of you and yet you feel the need to shit your diaper over it because "well i created this initially so i should get to profit more than the staff team who are actually doing shit" youre acting like some CEO of a company who gets to rake in cash just because they slapped their name on a project being run by other people. its corny as hell and insanely childish that you cant be an adult (coy is 19 now guys!) and either abide by the fucking MINISCULE request they made of you, or be a civil human being and wash your hands of it instead of continuing again and again to try and wreck shit for other people who dont even want to gaf about you anymore. again, you had the easiest option in front of your face that would allow you to keep making money from your "brand" while doing essentially nothing, but you just could not be an adult and put away your impulsivities for a goddamn minute. that really exemplifies every single drama this species has ever been in, shit fits rising up because you and your staff (not current staff) couldnt grow the fuck up for five minutes and think before you type

and then to act like theyre not in the wrong about it really is the cherry on top of the shit sundae. coy has such an echo chamber around them that any bad decision is never critiqued and they just continue on this self-righteousness. maybe stop misconstruing the situation like "wah wah they keep changing things and pulling the rug out from under me" (which, funny enough you would know what was going on if you actually faced your consequences for once and tried to be a part of your bastard childs life) because you know thats not what happened. i hope their fans see how shitty their behavior is, because if i was someone with this sordid of a history especially relating to cs, i doubt anyone would want to work with me.

oh and civ left too lol. honestly i find their lack of response a million leagues better than whatever the fuck coys got going on. new terra staff keeps raking in the dubs i guess, i mean getting coy and civ to stop money grubbing over the species is awesome and now it can probably flourish even better than before. im sure the new pets will be cool too, seeing as the old ones were not really anything to lose your mind over. barely anyone wanted them as part of the species, and now that theyre gone theyre probably gonna be tossed into the void. at least now it might be cool to see what new staff team comes up with in the way of pets

mega rant over now but feel free to keep talking in my inbox about it, terravent fans rejoice because we finally have something to talk about

[pro-sipper]

(i totally get it if you don't wanna answer this ask, feel free to just delete it if i'm makin you uncomfortable or anything!)

i used to self-identify as an anti, but i've been reading through some more stuff on either tag and now i'm kinda unsure which label to use.

before my thinking was, "i don't want to be associated with anyone who find gratification in fictional portrayals of incestuous/pedophilic relationships (or anyone who would want their blog to act as a safe space for said people), and from what i've heard, that's what proshippers do. proshippers dni."

but see... aligning myself with the "kill yourself and die" people isn't much better. i'd really rather people didn't assume i send death threats OR think it's okay to ship siblings together, personally. i'd rather say with words what i think and who i don't want on my blog, but i'd also rather not get a million "are you a proshipper/anti?" asks constantly. because god knows people on this site can't read.

this whole thing is stupid. why must i pick one or be bombarded to pick one 24/7, and then bombarded some more for whichever one i do pick, even when i don't agree with either 100% completely. i just wanna post my funny guys man

My honest answer would just be ignore the haters and post your funny guys without worrying too much one way or the other! But if you'd like to read my thoughts a little more in depth...

I think most people don't care about, and think they're above pro/anti discourse. So if you just do your own thing, no one should care.

I don't ship siblings or anything else that would really raise any alarm bells, so I'm basically stealth proship on all my other blogs. I've even reblogged some very heavy proship posts that say everything about what we believe, minus the exact label "proship" and no one has sent me any asks saying like "umm what was this post about exactly..?" But that's just my experience.

At the end of the day, being proship is just about minding your own business and remembering that fiction is fiction. You don't have to be comfortable with everything out there (god knows I'm not) but you have to accept that avoiding it is your responsibility. Block the appropriate tags, turn back if you encounter something upsetting, and most of all do not harass whoever made it because they're well within their right to do so

But going back to what you said about proshippers... Like you said, "from what I've heard that's what proshippers do". I think it's important to recognize that some things you've heard could be misleading, depending on where they were coming from. Because most antis seem to think that proshippers are constantly one degree away from violent sexual real life crime when that just isn't the case.

Thought crimes are not real. Thinking bad things in your head doesn't make you a bad person. Your taste in fiction doesn't dictate the kind of person you are. All that matters is how you treat real people in real life.

[lavellenchanted]

I absolutely loved your take on Jackson and April in Boston in your drabble! It really felt like them, April misinterpreting things and Jackson being angry about it. Love your writing!

If you're ever interested in writing another one about them, would you be interested in prompt 14 - kiss on the neck?

Ahh, thank you so much!! I'm so glad you enjoyed it :) It is especially flattering as I've read your drabbles and loved them - you write Jackson and April so well.

This was a fun one to write - I hope you like it.

--

Usually when they have an event to go to or a reservation to make, Jackson’s the one that’s more likely to be late. For as long as he’s known her, April has always been scarily - and, often, annoyingly - efficient with her timetables and itineraries, planning everything out with what in more recent years is possibly quite literally military precision.

So it’s something of a novel experience for Jackson to find himself in his tux, entirely ready, watching the minutes tick by and realising if they don’t leave soon they might miss the gala opening. Which he wouldn’t really care about, except that he is now president of the Foundation, and his absence will probably be noted.

“You okay up there?” he calls up the stairs after a while, and when there’s no response he frowns and starts climbing up them. “April?”

He throws open the door to their room and then pauses, eyebrows raising as he takes in what looks like the site of a very small hurricane. Clothes are strewn everywhere, dresses and skirts thrown haphazardly across the bed, the floor and April’s dressing table.

April herself is stood in the centre of it all, in a lilac dress that fits snugly to her hips where it flares out into a loose skirt that falls almost to the floor. It sets off her hair, which she’s wearing in loose red waves, brilliantly. Seeing her in it does things to Jackson that he’s going to have to get under control if he wants to present a professional demeanour tonight but . . . damn. 

He shakes his head, trying to focus, and as he steps inside April glances up from where she seems to be trying to shove things into her purse with one hand while pulling on a pair of heels with the other.

“I know, I know,” she says before he can speak. “We’re running late. But my blow-dryer cut out halfway through doing my hair and then when I went to get dressed I realised Harriet must have gotten into my closet at some point.”

She gestures with the hand clutching the purse and when he looks down at the various abandoned dresses he realises all them bear the tell-tale marks of having been handled by a toddler with sticky hands. 

(That was something he was surprised no one mentioned when they were giving him parenting advice - that somehow, no matter what you do or how often you clean them, your toddler will always have sticky hands.)

“Oh, no . . .”

“Oh, yes. I’m pretty sure this is the only clean dress I have left - or at least, I didn’t see any marks on it so if you do, do me a favour and just don’t tell me, okay? But yeah, we’re gonna have a pretty big dry-cleaning bill in our future.”

She seems exasperated more than really mad about it, so Jackson doesn’t feel too guilty about finding it all a little funny. 

(He won’t find it so funny later when he realises Harriet also got her hands on his favourite hoodie.)

April just gives him a flat look and then glances over at the clock on her bedside table. “But I’m nearly ready, and we should still make it in time if we leave now - I already checked the traffic and it’s fine so it should only take twenty minutes to get there. What do you think?”

She’s finally managed to get her second shoe on and now straightens up, giving him a little twirl that makes the ends of her skirt flare out. His stomach tightens and he almost groans, because all the urges he thought he’d gotten under control come rushing back with force.

“It’s . . . ” He shakes his head again. “You’re beautiful.”

After all these years he knows that she knows damn well when he wants her, and the satisfied little grin on her face tells him she did that deliberately. She’s a menace.

“I think it’s missing something though,” he says impulsively, and April stops, brows knitting together in confusion.

“It is? What?”

He crosses to his own bedside table and rummages around in the drawer for a moment before pulling out a square box in a very recognisable shade of mint green that makes April’s eyes go wide.

“Jackson?”

“I was saving this for your birthday, but since our daughter has wreaked havoc on your wardrobe I figure you deserve to have it now.”

Lifting the lid, he has to bite back a laugh at the almost comical gasp April lets out when she sees the necklace within. It’s a simple chain of white gold, but hanging at the end is a round pendant made up of one centre diamond surrounded by a halo of smaller diamonds. 

“Oh, Jackson. It’s gorgeous.” April brings up a hand to touch it but lets her fingers just hover over it, looking up at him in disbelief. “Are these . . . real?”

He nods. “Diamonds are your birthstone, after all.” 

“You really shouldn’t have,” she says, but the look on her face tells him she’s thrilled that he did. 

“Of course I should.”

What he doesn’t say out loud, because he doesn’t want to spoil the moment by bringing up painful memories, is that it’s not just a present for this birthday - but for all the ones he missed when he was being too stupid and stubborn and angry to let himself admit that he still loved her. 

She bites her lip - which does nothing to dampen the desire to rip that dress right back off her - then spins around and lifts her hair up. “Put it on for me?”

He drops the box back on to his bedside table, then steps up closer to her so he can slip the necklace around her beautifully slender throat. Fortunately it’s not the first time he’s put jewellery on for her, so it only takes him a moment to fasten the hook. 

His hands linger on her shoulder, thumbs brushing over her warm, soft skin, and then lets himself give into impulse and ducks down to drop a kiss on the back of her neck, just above the necklace fastening. 

But one kiss isn’t enough, so he press another one higher up, and then another, and soon his lips are trailing kisses along the side of her neck up towards her jaw, his hands sliding down her back to her hips to pull her flush against him. 

April lets out a quiet moan as he reaches a spot just where her neck and jawline meet that he knows is particularly sensitive and stops to linger, tracing circles with his tongue, and he can hear her breathing faster.

“Jackson, we can’t - we’ll be late -” she says, but she’s also reaching backwards to cup the back of his head with one hand, like she wants to keep him there.

“So?” he murmured between kisses. “They’ll wait.”

“Jackson, this is your first gala as president. You can’t be late.”

She’s right, and he knows she’s right, but that doesn’t mean he likes it.

Reluctantly, he kisses her neck one last time and then lifts his head - but he doesn’t step away, turning her around so they’re face to face and he can look her in the eyes (and he’s gratified to see that her pupils are blown wide and that she’s just as frustrated as he is that she’s decided to be responsible and make them stop) as he says, “Fine. We will go and be on time. But we will leave early and as soon as we get home we are going to resume this and I am going to peel you very slowly out of that dress.”

Her cheeks flush almost as red as her hair, and she grins up at him. “Now that I can agree to.”

kiss prompts

[fromtenthousandfeet]

i can get behind your backing of new jeans, but the way you defend min hee jin is funny because that woman is crazy. you hate hybe so much that you think she's absolved of any guilt.

Hi Anon. Thanks for your message. I usually delete these asks, but I decided to answer yours.

I have a few questions for you before I share my own opinions.

Why is she crazy? Can you be more specific? Please don't answer with "she's a pedo, witch, groomer." Do you have clear examples of her craziness? What is she guilty of?

Have you ever worked under or lived with a narcissist? Have you experienced narcissistic abuse? What do you know about the effects of narcissistic abuse?

Why is it important for me to view her as crazy?

Do my opinions about her, BSH, NewJeans, or any of the members of BTS matter? Why is it important for me to agree with ARMYs about her?

You think your assessment of MHJ is correct and I think my view of her is correct. Which one of us is right? What if we're both wrong?

Now for my response. I follow a bunch of blogger on this site who don't like MHJ and criticize her. When I read their comments, I make a choice to either shrug it off and accept that we don't all have to see eye to eye, or in some cases, I just stop following them. I have never sent an anonymous ask questioning their views of her. Like seriously, who cares? We are all entitled to our own opinions. Nothing I say on this platform has any importance or impact whatsoever.

Contrary to popular belief (apparently), I am not some MHJ super fan. I don't have an altar of her set up in my home. There are things I like about her, though.

I enjoy her taste in music. You can see her playlists on her IG account. I like that she sources songs from up and coming indie women songwriters like Erika de Casier and Benee. I like that her creative directors are a woman and an openly out gay man. That's basically unheard of in highly misogynistic and homophobic SK. I like that the members of NJ aren't emaciated. I like that they're dressed like teenagers/young adults instead of Lolitas meant to appeal to middle-aged men. I like that she wants to change the K-pop industry, because it desperately needs an overhaul.

As for Bang Si Hyuk. I don't hate him as much as he saddens me. It's hard to watch him piss away all the money BTS made over the years. And now he's pissing away their creative legacy with his weird obsession with Western validation. To be honest, watching BSH move is like watching a Greek tragedy. Maybe he started out as a hero (yeah, no), but along the way he became blinded by hubris, ego, and greed. Sadly, he has the potential to bring down many other with him if he falls and fails.

Finally, all I want is for the members of BTS to be free. I want them to make the music they want to make, together and/or solo. I want them to have the freedom to live normal lives, speak their minds, have relationships, and so on and so on. I REALLY want Jimin out of the company, because they have never treated him fairly or equally, and they never will as long as BSH is at the helm.

Keeping tabs on HYBE is a diversion for me and blogging about what's going on is a hobby. That's as far as I take it. For entertainment purposes, I'm really looking forward to season 2 of BSH vs. MHJ! Let the battle continue! The NJ girls are likely days away from terminating their contracts with HYBE. Now everyone - Tokkis and ARMYs alike - should be happy.

I shared this article about MHJ a few months ago. I'm not sure if anyone read it or not, but it's really good. The interview with her took place before all the drama began and it's so interesting to read her thoughts on the industry. For those of you who don't want to read it, here's what she said about BTS:

Some BTS fans want to compare how well one member’s album does over another member’s. BTS is a group that’s been around for 10 years now. They did their duty, basically. So I think it’s time to focus less on the stats and just enjoy their music—[let them] do what they want to do. 

What she said about working with Taehyung was really nice, too. Anyway, here's the article again. Basically, she and BSH are polar opposites when it comes to their approach to music and the industry. For the life of me, I can't get this article to embed. Sorry.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91113146/k-pops-leading-company-has-declared-war-on-itself-this-never-seen-interview-profiles-the-creative-legend-at-the-center-of-it

P.S. One last thing on this already too-long post. I believe the parallels between MHJ and Jimin are strong. They're both super creative and have high standards. They're also both at the center of BSH's ire for being successful without him. MHJ's so-called crazy outbursts and press conferences are in line with someone who is new to gaslighting and narcissistic abuse. She was also a full grown adult when it started. BTW, gaslighting DOES make you crazy. I know first hand. Jimin's response to the years of mistreatment - pulling away, keeping a low profile, operating in self-preservation mode - is also indicative of someone who has been on the receiving end for a long time and from an early age. That's my armchair psychiatrist's take on things.