#people are arguing over whether buck

[athenagranted]

the way i would pay for oliver to write meta about buck's character

#like. he Gets it. i've been thinking about buck in this ep for five days straight and he said it better in one sentence than any paragraph #i could ever come up with #people are arguing over whether buck #acted the way he did bc he wanted tommy's attention or eddie's attention or bc he was feeling left out or whatever but i don't think it's #any one thing i think it was just a general feeling of Wrongness when tommy showed up borne from thirty years of repressing his sexuality #and he tried to rationalize it as jealousy or whatever and worked through the fact that his behavior was completely unreasonable but #it wasn't until tommy kissed him that all of the rage that was trapped inside him was allowed to escape bc he finally had a name for it #he's been turning over parts of himself for years trying to find that final piece and getting more and more upset when it eludes him #n this kiss was the kind of cathartic relief that he so desperately needed bc it allowed him to understand what's been missing #anyway. oliver stark i love you so much i'm so grateful you play buck #buck #rae.txt #911

[seddair]

-

#the topic on whether or not 911 qb’d with buddie can be an interesting discussion #on one hand the show didn’t really practice the dictionary definition of qb with buddie #there were a few promos that featured them (hello 6b promo where eddie screams buck’s name when he was struck by lightning) #but nothing that really indicated that the relationship was going anywhere beyond where it already was #on the other hand #there were a few moments in the show that seemed to potentially hint at something more (or at least hints that only a queer audience would+ #pick up on) #this happened far more frequently in season 2 but i would argue the couch related scenes in 6x12 could count too #the show deliberately connected couches to buck’s love life #and to have essentially back to back scenes where we see buck struggle to fall asleep on his own couch and then very easily fall asleep+ #on eddie’s couch… like of course the fandom is going to pick up on that and i have serious doubts the show is that obtuse #so… that has to be some sort of baiting yeah? #they played into the metaphor THEY created to draw certain people in #that’s not nothing lol #i also HATE the argument that because h*nren exists that the show can’t possibly be qb’ing #like we know that not every queer audience member is looking for the same thing so some are going to look certain types of rep #it’s just such a bad faith argument to excuse the show of some bad behavior #anyway #this was just on my mind over the last couple days #and while i don’t think the show text book definition qb’d they definitely baited to a certain extent #and that’s still bad!

[alpaca-clouds]

Solarpunk is not archievable under Capitalism

Okay, let me make one thing very clear: We will never have a Solarpunk future as long as we live under capitalism. Again and again I will find people, who have fallen in love with the idea of Solarpunk, but are unwilling to consider any alternative to capitalism. So, please, let me quickly explain what that just is not gonna work out that way. There will be no Solarpunk under capitalism. Because the incentives of capitalism are opposing anything that Solarpunk stands for.

So let me please run over a few core points.

What is capitalism?

One issue that a lot of people do seem to have is understanding what capitalism even is. The defining attribute of capitalism is that "the means of production" (e.g. the things needed to create things) are privately owned and as such the private owners will decide both what gets created through it and who will get a share in any profits created through them. The ultimate goal in this is, to generate as large as a profit as possible, ideally more and more profit with every year. In real terms this means, that most of those means of productions in the way of companies and the like are owned mostly by shareholders, that is investors who have bought part of the company.

While capitalism gets generally thaught in schools with this entire idea of the free market, that... actually is not the central aspect of capitalism. I would even go so far to argue something else...

The market is actually not free and cannot be free

The idea of the free market is, that prices are controlled by the concept of supply and demand, with the buyer in the end deciding on whether they want to spend their money on something and being able to use that power to also enact control on the supplier.

However... that is actually not what is happening. Because it turns out that the end consumer has little influence, because they are actually not actively participating in the market. The market mainly is something that is happening between multimillionaires. It is their demand (or the lack thereoff) that is the influence. Investors, mainly. Which is logical. In a system, where the power to buy is deciding, the person who can spend multiple millions is gonna have a lot more power, than the person who has twenty bucks to their name.

Hence: 99% of all people are not participating in anything resembling a free market, and the remaining 1% are not interested in such a system.

Money under capitalism

One thing everyone needs to understand is, that for the most part money under capitalism is a very theoretical concept. It might be real for the average joe, who for the most part will not have more than maybe ten grand to their name, but it is not real to multi millionaires, let alone billionairs. Something that is going to be thrown around a lot is the concept of "net worth". But what you need to realize is that this net worth is not real money. It does not exist. It is the estimated worth of stuff these people own. Maybe houses and land, maybe private jets, maybe shares in companies and other things. These people's power and literal worth is tied to them being able theoretically able to sell these assets for money.

In fact a lot of these very rich people do not even have a lot of liquid money. So money they can spend. In fact there are quite a few billionairs who do not even own a million in liquidated money. The money they use in everyday life they borrow from banks, while putting their assets up as a security.

Why capitalism won't abolish fossil fuels

Understanding this makes it quite easy to understand why the capitalists cannot have fossil fuels ending. Because a lot of them own millions, at times billions in fossil fuel related assets. They might own a coal mine, or a fracking station, or maybe an offshore rig, or a power plant burning fossil fuels. At times they have 50% or more of their net worth bound in assets like this. If we stopped using fossil fuels, all those assets would become useless from one day to the next. Hence it is not in the interest of these very rich people to have that happen.

But it goes further than that, because politicians cannot have that happen either. Because the entire economy is build around these assets existing and being used as leverage and security for other investments.

Why capitalism won't build walkable cities and infrastructure

The same goes very much for the entire infrastructure. Another thing a lot of people have invested a lot of money into is cars. Not physical cars they own, but cars manufacturing. So, if we were building walkable cities with bikelanes and public transportation, a lot less people would buy cars, those manufactoring factories becoming worthless and hence once more money... just vanishing, that would otherwise be further invested.

Furthermore, even stuff like investing into EVs is a touch call to get to happen, because the investors (whose theoretical and not real money is tied to those manufacturers) want to see dividents at the end of the quartal. And if the manufactuerer invested into changing their factories to build EVs for a while profits would go down due to that investment. Hence, capitalism encourages them not doing that.

Why capitalism won't create sustainable goods

A lot of people will decry the fact that these days all goods you buy will break within two years, while that old washing machine your grandparents bought in 1962 is still running smoothly. To which I say: "Obviously. Because they want to make profits. Hence, selling you the same product every two years is more profitable."

If you wonder: "But wasn't that the same in 1962?" I will answer: "Yes. But in 1962 the market was still growing." See, with the post war economic boom more and more people got more divestable income they could spend. So a lot of companies could expect to win new costumers. But now the market is saturated. There is not a person who could use a washing machine, who does not have one. Hence, that thing needs to break, so they can sell another one.

The market incentive is against making sustainable, enduring products, that can be repaired. They would rather have you throw your clothing, your smartphone and your laptop away every two years.

Why workers will always be exploited under capitalism

One other central thing one has to realize about capitalism is that due to the privitization of the means of production the workers in a capitalist system will always be exploited. Because they own nothing, not even their own work. Any profit the company makes is value that has in the end been created by the workers within the company. (Please note, that everyone who does not own their work and cannot decide what happens to the value created by it is a worker. No matter whether they have a blue collar or a white collar job.)

That is also, why there is the saying: All profit is unpaid wages.

Under capitalism the profits will get divided up under the shareholders (aka the investors), while many of the workers do not even have enough money to just... live. Hence, good living standards for everyone are explicitly once more against the incentives of capitalism.

Why there won't be social justice under capitalism

Racism, sexism and also the current rise of queermisia are all a result of capitalism and have everything to do with capitalist incentives. Because the capitalists, so the people who own the means of production, profit from this discrimination. This is for two reasons.

For once having marginalized people creates groups that are easier exploitable. Due to discrimination these people will have a harder time finding a job and living quarters, making them more desperate and more likely to take badly paid jobs. Making it easier to exploit them for the profit of the capitalists.

A workforce divided through prejudice and discrimination will have a harder time to band together in unions and strikes. The crux of the entire system si, that it is build on the exploitation of workers - but if the workers stopped working, the system would instantly collapse. Hence the power of strikes. So, dividing the workforce between white and non-white, between queer and straight, between abled and disabled makes it easier to stop them from banding together, as they are too busy quaralling amoung themselves.

Why we won't decolonize under capitalism

Colonialism has never ended. Even now a lot of natural ressources and companies in the former colonies are owned by western interest. And this will stay that way, because this way the extraction of wealth is cheaper - making it more profitable. Colonialism has never ended, it has only gotten more subtle - and as long as more money can be made through this system, it will not end.

There won't be Solarpunk under capitalism

It is not your fault, if you think that capitalism cannot end. You have been literally taught this for as long as you can think. You never have been given the information about what capitalism is and how it works. You have never been taught the alternative mechanisms and where and when they were implemented.

You probably look at Solarpunk and think: "Yeah, that... that looks neat. I want that." And here is the thing: I want that, too.

But I have studied economics. Literally. And I can tell you... it does not work. It will not create better living situations for everyone. It will not save the world. Because in the end the longterm goals are not compatible with a capitalistic system.

I know it is fucking scary to be told: "Yeah, change the world you know in massive ways - or the world will end." But... it is just how the things are standing.

You can start small, though. Join a local party. Join a union. Join a mutual aid network. Help repair things. Help people just deal. Our power lies in working together. That is, in the end, what will get us a better future.

#solarpunk #anarchism #anti capitalism #unions #environmentalism #save the planet #explanation #sustainability #renewable energy #end fossil fuels #communism

[keepingmyoptionsfluid]

I don't know who needs to read this, but people who are pro Buck and Tommy having a healthy relationship with good representation on screen, whether it goes the distance or not, are not automatically against Eddie having a coming out arc.

Like guys chill the fuck out.

I would argue that 7x05 had too many storylines and felt rushed. I'd honestly rather have fewer stories an Episode and each is given proper time (so they don't skip over shit like Buck and Eddie talking post basket ball, or Chim and Buck talking post punch, or Bobby and Athena talking post ship disaster etc). They actually showed the Karen and Hen talks after the Eva storylines and that's so important and good.

Tommy isn't getting screen time without a main with him so stop pretending he is. He's a background character who is currently there to prop up other people's storylines. It's unlikely he will ever be a main as they already have 7 of them. Can you think if you've ever seen a Karen or a Ravi or a Lucy or a Taylor storyline that wasn't there to really be about one of the mains? No.

I am literally seeing BuckTommy enjoyers having to fucking preface their posts with the fact they obviously ship buddie too just so they don't get abused. It's genuinely disgusting that people are more fixated on their specific (and I would defo class it as fetishistic at this point with the obsession some people have with buddie) ship that they would actively damage other people's enjoyment of the show.

This accusation that people don't care bout buddie anymore because Tommy has kissed Buck and Tommy is white is fucking insane. This fandom regularly accuses anyone who says good things about Buck or Bobby of being racist. Maybe, and hear me out, people are happy that they are getting some bi representation? People who have been pro buddie since 2x01 are getting sent hate because they are happy that a character has come out, despite never turning against buddie.

It's literally normal to be watching a show and be like "yes, I want characters X & Y to end up together but currently they aren't and that's not an issue for me". It's a fictional show.

I want Eddie to get a coming out story line and I would not be upset if it didn't revolve around Buck because 1. Eddie is his own person, and 2. I KNOW that if it did revolve around Buck, you guys would immidiately say it's worthless because it's not an Eddie story but actually a story about the "white boy". Like you literally cannot have it both ways.

You can't beg for coming out story lines and then say "wait that's the wrong person they're kissing." It's a coming out story line. It's literally a gateway to a whole new world of stories in the show.

Chill out, go outside, maybe try to enjoy the show you claim to love instead of shitting on it, the actors and the other fans

#911 abc #911 spoilers #911 fox #eddie diaz #evan buckley #tommy kinard #do i want Buddie? yes #am i enjoying BuckTommy? also yes #mostly i want gokd stories about characters i love that feel truthful to the character #and i love that on the gay firefighter show we can add late life coming out to the queer story lines #give me queer firefighter bingo #weve already got gay teans and bi woman from lone star #and lesbian from 911 #so lets go for the full house with buck and eddie in a way thats fun to watch and feels real

[luna-rainbow]

Ross’s quote about the Avengers ignoring sovereign borders comes up a lot and is often used to accuse Steve of American imperialism, so let’s have a look into it.

You've fought for us. Protected us. Risked your lives. While a great many people see you as heroes. There are some... who would prefer the word "vigilantes". What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals, who routinely ignores sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind them?

Sooo. Civil War was a terrible piece of world-building. The first problem is that it came way too early in the franchise, not just for the fracture between Tony and Steve to be anywhere near meaningful, but also the number of missions preceding this that would actually fit Ross’s accusations.

Let’s look at all the MCU movies so far leading up to Civil War:

Iron Man 1-3

Captain America 1-2

Thor 1-2

Ant-Man

Avengers 1-2

Hulk

(Guardians of the Galaxy)

Cap 1 took place in WW2, Cap 2 took place mostly on US soil, with the exception of the Lemurian Star which was a SHIELD mission. Thor wasn’t part of Civil War but he was dealing with extraterrestrial threats that came to Earth. Avengers 1 similarly - the only time the team was out of US was to confront Loki in Germany, and again that was under the supervision of SHIELD. Ant-Man also happened in US territory.

The only person on the team who “routinely ignores sovereign borders and inflict their will” without any oversight was Tony. He did it in IM1 against the Ten Rings. In IM2 he opens the movie with:

I'm not saying that the world is enjoying its longest period of uninterrupted peace in years because of me (...) I’m not saying that Uncle Sam can kick back on a lawn chair, sipping on an iced tea because I haven’t come across anyone who’s man enough to go toe-to-toe with me on my best day.

It is implied - the showing was done in the first movie - that Tony continued his "peace-keeping" activities which consisted of zipping into other countries and blasting everything with fire.

Never forget that even Rhodey assessed Tony as:

As he does not operate within any definable branch of government, Iron Man presents a potential threat to the security of both the nation and to her interests.

Operating outside the law was started by Tony, not by Steve or any of the other (original) Avengers, most of whom were working for SHIELD until they had to bring it down themselves to stop Hydra from killing millions of people.

The narrative problem lies in the vacuum between Captain America 2 and Captain America 3. Avengers 2 deftly avoided discussing who was overseeing their operations, and by the time Cap 3 rolls around they're suddenly a privately operated group of vigilantes?

Speaking of Avengers 2, that's the time someone decided to make a “global peacemaking initiative” without involving his team, much less the global community.

Bruce Banner: So you're going for artificial intelligence and you don't want to tell the team.

Tony Stark: Right. That's right, you know why, because we don't have time for a city hall debate. I don't want to hear the "man was not meant to meddle" medley. I see a suit of armor around the world.

Tony knew the ethical implications and the risks of this but forged ahead anyway. Said murder-bot went all over the world intent on human extinction while the Avengers tried to chase him down. We can argue over whether it was appropriate for Avengers to intervene with Ultron before waiting for the UN to have their emergency committee hearing in 3 days, but I think the key is the Avengers risked their lives to tidy up Tony's their own mess, which is what accountability and dealing with the consequence is all about.

And that's the crux of Steve's argument, which I think a lot of people gloss over.

We are (giving up) if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blames.

The Accords passes the buck upwards to the UN…this means both the decisions and the responsibility for the decisions go elsewhere. The situation that riled Tony up in the first place was a mother telling him “I blame you” for Sokovia. Assuming we ignore Tony’s role in creating Ultron, how would oversight have changed the situation? They wouldn’t have been able to create Vision off the cuff, nor would they have been allowed to recruit the twins. The people in Sokovia? Would still have died, and likely far more of them because of a slower response.

But what Tony is saying is if they had oversight, the mother wouldn’t have marched up to him and blamed him. Or as Steve points out, he could shift that blame onto the UN.

Steve’s version of accountability is about taking ownership of their mistakes and finding a solution. Tony’s version of accountability is having someone else make the call and take the blame. (* I feel like this is a thing a lot of people - often young - get confused about. Accountability isn’t just about having someone telling you what to do. Some people and some organisations find themselves in the rare position of having no direct oversight, but they still need to have accountability measures in place - look at the UN Charter for example)

Going back to my original point, the only one shown to routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict his will wherever he pleases was Tony. The one operating outside government sanction for the majority of his appearances was Tony. The one actively seeking out “criminals” and trying to “win a war before it starts” has always been Tony. Tony might not be the one wearing the red white and blue but he’s the only one gloating about having done the job for “Uncle Sam”. The greatest advocate for American imperialism was Tony, not Steve.

#anti tony stark #anti tony stans #steve rogers #meta #long post

[fortheloveofbuddie]

Isomnia fic sounds great!

Hi anon!

Thank you, it’s one of my main wips rn but truth be told, I haven’t written much on it lately (or at all) 😅

Ask me about my wips 💌

Here’s some snippets and introduction to the storyline 🥹

Introduction here ✨

First snippet here and second snippet here ✨

And one more below for you 😘

As he decides to not address it any further, he walks up to the bar, rubbing his cheeks with a hint of frustration written all over his face. He leans against the bar, looking out at the people around, laughing and having a good time. He wants to enjoy this time off, he truly does but the effects of the alcohol is tiring his body and he has to force himself to stay awake by rapidly blinking his eyes as he turns away from the rest of the 118.

He orders another drink to keep his mind occupied but it doesn’t last long as Buck walks up from behind him, startling him but he doesn’t show it. Yet Buck seems to take notice of the tension that’s risen in his body, a gentle hand placed on his shoulder.

“Hey man, you okay? Things got a little… strained back there” Buck nods towards the crew who are still laughing and joking around loudly, not ashamed of drawing attention to themselves.

Buck’s choice of words makes Eddie snort and he’s seconds away from rolling his eyes until he sees big blue eyes watching him with a softness that he hasn’t noticed before. “That’s an understatement, don’t you think?” Eddie utters, tense shoulders dropping at Buck’s simple yet thoughtful act. He meets Buck’s eyes and he can feel a small smile playing on his lips as he does. Eddie knows that he can never be mad at Buck, not even when he has barely slept in the past month.

Buck chuckles, ducking his head as he shies away from Eddie’s gaze but only for a moment. He looks back down at him, only to find rich mahogany eyes, dark and mysterious, yet full of hidden depths waiting to be explored, carefully watching him.

“Maybe, yeah. But I also know that you’re usually stubborn enough to not just let something like that go” Buck states as he sits down next to Eddie, their proximity perfectly reflecting the closeness of their bond as Buck’s warm knee rests against Eddie’s. “Something going on with you?” Buck asks, his voice gentle and curious as he tilts his head slightly to inspect the man in front of him.

Eddie opens his mouth to reply but before he has a chance to, a measurably drunk Chimney joins them, wrapping his arms around their shoulders and bringing the three of them close together. “Rejoin us for a good time” Chimney jokes, happiness beaming off him and he pats their shoulders before he takes a step back. “Hmm? Come on” He tries a bit more convincingly and both Buck and Eddie know that there’s no point in trying to argue with him - they’re joining the team again - whether they like it or not.

As they spend the rest of the night with their team, Eddie can’t help but to think about the way that Buck had been looking at him when he joined him at the bar, an unspoken gentleness written all over his face. In that moment, it had brought Eddie a sense of comfort that he hadn’t felt in a long time and parts of him were yearning to get it back. Buck has always been able to talk some sense into him, to calm him down in situations where it was needed and that’s why that moment had been different from the rest. He hadn’t necessarily needed the comfort, not by his own accord at least, but Buck had still been able to provide it, simply by being present.

Gonna use this as my wip wednesday 🌹

I was tagged by @dangerpronebuddie @tizniz , thank you babies 🫶

Tagging!! @watchyourbuck @daffi-990 @diazsdimples @cal-daisies-and-briars @wikiangela @jeeyuns @jesuisici33 @honestlydarkprincess @giddyupbuck @butraura @vampbuckley @steadfastsaturnsrings @hippolotamus @spotsandsocks @thewolvesof1998 @wildlife4life @theotherbuckley @disasterbuckdiaz @exhuastedpigeon @loserdiaz @evanbegins 🩵🦋

#buddie #buddie wip #wip tag game #the insomnia fic #eddies in his pining era #while running on essentially on no sleep and caffeine #eddie diaz #evan buckley #wip wednesday

[mrmallard]

The thing about Avery being banned right now is that people have been pushing back against the site's moderation for well over a year by now citing overzealous moderation - specifically, flagging trans selfies as sexual content even when the user is fully clothed - while dragging their feet on accounts that explicitly break the TOS.

We've seen users arguing between buying the checkmarks and the crabs to make the website profitable for the reason that this may be the first avenue of monetization to actually sustain the website, ever - and users who don't want to reinforce the haphazard standard that the website is being run by. We've even seen staff try to push users towards mass-buying the Tumblr crabs on a specific date, calling it "Crab Day", using the same rhetoric, only to be rebuked by users who are unhappy with the way the website is being run.

The issues that led to Avery being targeted by TUMBLR'S FUCKING CORPORATE BOSS have existed for well over a year by now. This is simply a progression in a direction that Tumblr has been criticized about before. What makes it notable is how explicitly targeted this has been towards a single user of the website, and how gormless and petty it reflects on a figurehead who singlehandedly reflects the management of Tumblr - the captain of the ship.

The core issues that led us to this point have existed for longer than this blowup, this is just the most public, unbelievably immature way that it could have crossed from "plausible deniability" to "explicit, textual confirmation".

And I just want to say: Tumblr users have never been beholden to the administration of the website. Historically, Tumblr users have rejected changes to the site whether it be the visual design, changes in TOS or whenever the website has changed hands. I remember when Tumblr was bought out by Yahoo for over a billion dollars, everyone was melting down over "yumblr" and fearmongering about a massive corporate entity forcing sterile corporate values onto our vibrant community.

That certainly did come to pass with the porn ban, but for most of the time it was just Yahoo flailing around trying to monetize the site and getting pushback at every turn, before ostensibly admitting defeat by selling the website for just over a million bucks. The porn ban sucked and we feel its effects to this day, and frankly it's probably the harbinger of this exact scenario - where again, the CEO of the website is beefing with a user after that user was harassed for years, WITH EVIDENCE, only for the administration to ban her for life and dismiss her concerns entirely on the way out.

But the sheer majority of the naysaying didn't come to pass, and the stuff we didn't want that Yahoo did try to push? Users fought back. People weren't afraid to say to management "this isn't why I use Tumblr, it sucks ass and we're going to bug the fuck out of you for it". People complained when post editing was taken away. People complained about ask limits and fanmail. Tumblr users have been complaining about Tumblr for longer than any other userbase on the internet. We have never been beholden to the administration of the website.

Are we bound by TOS? Sure, but look at all the cowards who flag users en-masse and send them death threats, who somehow come out the other side unscathed. Fuckfaces break TOS all the time. Being noticed by staff obviously puts a lot of pressure on you to follow the TOS, but think of every bastard on this website you've ever seen break the rules and go unpunished. Secondly, think about the raw, hyperbolic nature of Tumblr's comedy. This website has always had leaner guidelines than other social media sites. Short of making terroristic threats - and Christ, can't that be exploited by the world's most thin-skinned CEO - Tumblr users are known for taking a joke way further than it probably needs to go.

I'm getting off track, so here's my point.

Tumblr's culture, its norms and community, come from us. And that has always come at the expense of the reigning power over the website - whether it be David Karp or Yahoo before Automattic. Tumblr users have been enjoying the website at the expense of the website for years, but it might be time to become more vocal about it. Go back to your roots as Tumblr users. Complain. Make memes. Make sure this shit goes down just as noticeably as shit like Do You Like The Color Of The Sky. That has always been what we do.

This was not an isolated incident. It was the most visible instance of this happening, and given that once again, the CEO OF THE WEBSITE - THE CAPTAIN OF THE WORLD'S STUPIDEST SHIP - is the one going after this one disgruntled user in front of the entire userbase, this is arguably the most notable case of transphobic moderation happening since Automattic bought Tumblr.

It's not transphobic solely because the user is transgender - it's transphobic in the way that her posts were mass-marked by bad faith actors, those posts were slapped with sexual content disclaimers, the user disputed these claims (successfully, until the team reversed that decision later) and she was personally banned while nothing happened to the people whose harassment of her and admittance to abusing the moderation tools to make her a target were catalogued and submitted to Tumblr staff. As if to add insult to injury, they followed up as they banned her a second time, saying that they found nothing wrong with the evidence of harassment she submitted.

Trans users have been reporting unfair treatment ever since Automattic bought the site Avery is just one of multiple trans women who've had to deal with this treatment, and she arguably got banned for being the most vocal about it. A bit hyperbolic in what she said, but nothing that other users haven't said before and perfectly in the spirit of the Tumblr community openly and brazenly taking the administration to task for their fuck-ups.

I do feel sorry for the staff who chafe under Matt Mullenweg. A former staff member has come forward to answer questions and talk about their time working at Automattic, and there are people working there who are employed around the world, who are always putting out fires, who need the steady paycheck for the work that they do. This isn't a call to harass or single out staff.

But I do think that Tumblr users have rested on their laurels in regards to criticizing and challenging Tumblr's administration. The institution of Tumblr. And given that the foremost authority over this entire fucking website is singling out and personally banning users, and threatening to report them to the police and the FBI, I think that has to change.

I think Tumblr users have to rediscover their sense of civil disobedience and challenge this horseshit as far as it will go.

All that Matt Mullenweg can do is shut down the website. That's bad for sure, but WE are Tumblr. WE give this website its value ("value" as in the content of its character, its beating heart. Revenue-wise, we suck the place dry lmao). And I would rather take Tumblr down in a blaze of glory than let this malignant cunt fail his users and personally go after them when they get too loud in criticizing how he runs the site.

So do what Tumblr users do best, and complain. It's all we really can do imo. The worst case scenario is that Matt Mullenweg goes full meltdown, drops an orbital nuke on some tags and/or decides to ax the entire website. And that would genuinely fucking suck - I would lose a lot of longtime internet friends who have shaped my life for the better over the course of a decade.

But if the CEO of Tumblr got so ass-blasted he wiped out a bunch of tags, that's a point where we can point at him and go "that's wrong, you fucked up and broke your own terms of service, you literally cannot justify that outside of sheer petty anger". And if he nukes the website? That would genuinely be hilarious. There's no coming back from that. Dude would go down as the most high-profile ragequitter in the history of the entire tech industry.

I've lost my original point in the mix. Point is, Tumblr users have never taken this corporate dogshit lying down. Make memes. Bake this horseshit into the history of the site, and never let Matt forget the day he lost the trust of Tumblr's entire userbase. There's no way for Matt, or Automattic, to win this. So make it as hard as possible to justify what happened to Avery, and shitpost as hard as you can.

#long post #photomatt #matt Mullenweg #Automattic

[swifty-fox]

yo you post your fics on AO3? if so please share your user babe

omg yes I do! you can check my swiftywrites tag but

Masters of the Air:

Kingdom for a Kiss - WIP (34k written, 19k Posted) Long-form Postwar exploration of Clegan's relationship and their trauma. Updates weeky. Mature rating will be bumped to Explicit later

“I wasn’t the one all but begging to be shot by the guards for months on end there Bucky.” Buck shakes his head, laughing sharply. His anger was a living thing now and he aches with it “Nah, nah, not me. No, I was the one dragging your crazy ass back from the brink time and time again. Trying to convince those fucking Germans your sorry carcass was of more use alive than dead, trying to keep the men busy and motivated while you fucked about. You're welcome by the way.” He jabs a finger in John's direction, who stares at him taken aback. “So’s I don’t see much of a reason why I should let you come up into my home and cast your judgments around.”

Bucks chest heaves, great gulps of air like he’s once again racing through snow-covered German trees. He can tell he’s shocked John into silence, the other man's eyes darting back and forth. Buck averts his gaze, brushing his hair back from his face. That’s twice now he’s lost himself at the people he cares about. Twice now he’s bitten a hand reached out in kindness.

Gale takes a deep breath to compose himself, tucks the jagged angry edges of himself back to face inwards. “You said you would write.”

Little Beast: Ongoing. Porn with a bit of Plot modern au of Burnout John and Priest Gale. 9k of them fucking and arguing. p2 is in the drafts and will be part of a series of stories. NSFW to the max

“It’s such a shame you’re cooped up in here like Rapunzel there Buck.” John drawls lazily. He makes a show of looking around “Is Mother Gothel nearby?” 

Buck has to fight back against another smile, wouldn't give him the satisfaction or the encouragement “Father Huglin is away at a conference today.”

“All alone without a chaperone.” 

press your tired hands against my lips darling: Finished. 3K word re-write of the Bucks final conversation in the cockpit. Loose prequel to KfaK but with some minor inaccuracies Mostly SFW

Gale takes John's hand, brings the scarred knuckles to his mouth and holds it there, turns their hands over til he can place his lips to the pulse point at John’s wrist. It’s not a kiss, there’s no press or pursing of lips, but tender nevertheless, intimate in a way that makes Gale shudder. Cautious of whether John will even allow this.  

“I ain’t prayed in a long time,” Gale says whisper-soft. He feels John’s pulse skip a beat, “but I prayed every day you were safe and alive and coming back to me. Every morning, and every night.”  He lets himself cry again, tears hidden against the scarred skin of John's hand. 

The Old Guard:

in another life maybe you and i would be walking down an aisle in white: Finished Joe/Nicky (18K) Art Professor Joe & Art Conservator Nicky reconnect after ten years. This one is uh. Sad. Mind the tags. It's an incredibly personal piece to me and probably one of my favorites .NSFW

Dear Joe, you have always been the brave one and I wished every moment for even a drop of that. Perhaps that is why I claimed you as mine, out of a desperate need to have even an ounce of what made you, you. I desired you but I would not, could not ever let you in. I loved you and kept you and hurt you, keelhauled you against the impenetrable ship that was my heart and when the ragged pieces were left behind I still asked of you your silence.  

It is no wonder our love was left in bloody tatters on that lawn. 

Make me a Saint: Finished (8k) Nicky and Nile mete out some justice to a corrupt priest. NSFW for violence. Mind the tags. As of right now, my most popular fic

“ I was a priest before your bible was even written old man ” Nickys voice thunders in the tiny room, crackling over the walls like fire. Even Nile flinches at the sudden volume. He takes another step forwards, bracketing Father Marcus’ arthritic twisted feet with his own.

His voice does not shake.

“I preached the word of God before your language was even invented . I have known the church for longer than you can comprehend. I have seen great men and evil men take up the word of the Lord and I have seen them all rendered dust. I have seen you and I have judged you, Father Marcus. The Church may practice restraint but I do not. The diocese may have turned a blind eye I but I do not. The courts may have found you innocent but I do not . 

Calcification of a God: Finished (4K) Nicky has a lil Menty B and then Joe gives him a bath. Mostly SFW if I recall correctly

“I think,” Nicky says “If I were God, it was you I modeled humanity after. I think if I were God I would have left my throne in heaven to walk beside you and I would have been richer for it”

Yusuf chuckles “Death makes you sentimental my darling.”

Wolfstar:

Oh Captain, My Captain!: Finished, 1.6k Drabble of Wolfstar cuddling and reciting poetry. SFW

He cups the back of Remus’s head, presses him further into the safety of his body with a hand on his mismatched, misaligned rib cage and rocks them slightly. Remus grunts slightly. Sirius hides the teeth of his smile against the follow of his own neck and allows the curtain of his hair to cover them both for a moment. He listens to the two of them breath, always slightly out of sync, out of rhythm. Remus quick and labored, Sirius racing to catch up only to find himself charging ahead only to drop back behind when he tries to slow down. 

“ If I vibrate with vibrations other than yours, must you conclude that my flesh is insensitive ” That doesn’t fit quite right, so he tries another, brow furrowed and fingers tracing the knobs of Remus’ spine like the knots on a tree, with reverence and a little hint of greed. 

#swiftytalks #swiftywrites #my fics #wolfstar #clegan #joe x nicky #the old guard #masters of the air #just thought i would take this chance to compile all the links

[mrsbuckybarnes1917]

FINDING YOU Chapter 6

Summary: You're in a relationship with Steve Rogers, but his best friend just always seems to be around!

Word Count: 1.7k

Warnings: Girl talk and guy talk

MASTERLIST

CHAPTER 6

Bucky wandered into the large hall looking around nervously as a multitude of people scurried around him. He glanced around looking for his best friend. Bucky finally spotted him with Peggy standing near the stage. He sauntered over feeling apprehensive about the mayhem that surrounded him. He loitered close by, not wanting to interrupt Peggy and Steve's discussion.

"It's not going to work, Steve." The frustration in Peggy's voice was unmistakable.

"Why not? I'm sure the band is happy to play anything you want. They seem pretty talented."

Bucky noticed one of the band member's eyes light up by Captain America's praise and he chuckled quietly to himself. He remembered a time when women wouldn't even look in Steve's direction, now he was the social pariah. Not that he minded, he was glad people now saw everything he had already known about his best friend. 

“When the gala was announced, we specifically said we would have live entertainment,” Peggy argued, looking harassed and frustrated.

“The band will be live!” Steve countered.

“We need someone to sing. That’s what they are expecting.”

“Why is this so important?”

“Steve, these people are the ones funding our endeavors. Without their financial backing, we’d have nothing to work with.”

Bucky could see how fed up Steve looked. He had never enjoyed being used as propaganda, which is exactly what Peggy seemed to be doing for this fundraiser. Bucky pitied his friend in that moment and the words that came out of his mouth were not ones he had planned. In fact, he regretted them as soon as they had left his tongue, but there was no way to take them back.

"Why don't you get Ace to do it?"

Peggy and Steve rounded on him, slightly surprised by his presence.

"Ace?" Steve asked, looking perplexed.

Peggy, on the other hand, seemed angered by his suggestion. "Bucky, we need a professional for this event."

"It sounds like you're pretty desperate from where I'm standing." Bucky couldn't keep the venom out of his voice and he was thankful that Steve didn't seem to notice.

"Ace can sing?" Steve asked.

Bucky frowned, had Steve never noticed?

"Are you kidding? She used to sing in the shower all the time."

Peggy frowned at him. "Why are you listening to her sing in the shower? And why would Steve have heard her?"

Bucky watched a pink tinge appear on the tops of Steve's ears. Had he not told Peggy about his relationship with you?

"The walls of your building are pretty thin. And we have great hearing." Bucky’s eyes flicked to Steve, trying to gauge his reaction. “Plus, I spent too much time listening to her sing in the car when we went to the Catskills.”

Normally Bucky was pretty good at being able to read Steve’s expression, but today he couldn’t quite distinguish whether his best friend looked ashamed or grateful.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask her. Have a backup plan in case we can’t find anyone else,” Peggy sighed.

Bucky felt furious at her attitude. He glared at Steve wanting him to say something.

“I don’t think that would be fair to her,” Steve mumbled.

Bucky rolled his eyes at his friend’s lack of conviction. He didn’t want to hear anymore. “I think you guys are busy. Steve, why don’t we do this another time.”

Bucky started to walk away without waiting for a response. He knew he hadn’t been friendly to you while you and Steve had been together. It was a defense mechanism for him, cutting himself off from any emotional connection that might hurt him. It was only now he was realizing how much of an impact it had had on you. He vowed that he would do everything to make up for his behavior.

Steve caught up with him as he made it out of the door to the hall.

“Buck, hold up!”

Bucky slowed down so that Steve could fall into step beside him.

“So you went to the Catskills with Ace?”

Steve’s tone was neutral but he knew his best friend was surprised and possibly jealous.

"Yeah." Bucky resorted to his monosyllabic demeanor.

"How is she?"

Bucky shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Maybe you should ask her."

"Are you angry with me?"

"No." He wasn't, not really.

"You obviously have something to say, Buck. So spit it out.'

"Do you think it's fair to them?"

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't told Peggy about her. It's been months!"

"What am I supposed to tell her?"

"How about the truth, pal? Look I know I wasn't exactly supportive of you and Ace, but-" Bucky sighed. "This seems really unfair."

"Do you think I'm happy about this?" Steve asked, a hint of defensiveness creeping into his tone.

"I know, bud, I know." Bucky put a consoling hand on Steve's shoulder.

After a few moments of silence, Steve spoke again. "So you two really went to the Catskills?"

"Yeah. Felt a bit like I was being held hostage," Bucky joked, a hint of a smirk on his lips.

"We were supposed to go together. It was on the list." Regret and sadness were etched across the blonde's face. 

"List?" 

"Things we both wanted to do. We promised that we'd do them together."

"I- I'm sorry, I didn't know." 

"I can't exactly expect her to not do them because of me."

"I know I'm the one who suggested this but… maybe asking Ace to do this isn't a great idea."

"Why not?"

"She'd do anything for you."

Steve rubbed the back of his neck, at a loss as to how he should respond. 

"It's not a bad thing, but-"

"But?"

"Maybe it would be kinder to … let her go."

"You two seem to be fast friends all of a sudden."

Was there a hint of jealousy in Steve's voice? Bucky couldn't quite tell.

"The shrink said I don't have enough numbers in my phone. And she seemed like she wouldn't object to- I haven't been very friendly before and-" He decided to stop talking, not quite able to express his feelings without sounding like his behavior was out of pity for you.

He couldn't quite put his finger on it but the fear he had felt that you were another person who would judge him had long since evaporated. He had been afraid that you might come between him and Steve, now he regretted that he had often been the one who had come between the two of you. He didn't want to admit how drawn he was to you, secretly craving your non-judgmental company. You made him feel comfortable, unquestioning of his thoughts or demanding updates on his progress. 

"You're a good man, Bucky."

Bucky scoffed quietly.

"I hope you start believing it soon. How are things going with Dr Raynor?"

Bucky shrugged noncommittally.

"Still getting nightmares?"

"Sam said something to me a while back that's actually been helpful. But they're still there, maybe a little less intense."

"Why did you move out, Buck?" 

Steve's question caught him a little off guard, but Bucky smiled sadly. "I don't want to burden your relationship with my problems."

"Buck, you're not a burden. Never."

Bucky kept walking silently, just not quite able to believe his best friend's words.

"Come on," he said eventually. "I'll text Ace and tell her we're coming over. Peggy seems pretty desperate."

Steve looked like he needed a win.

Sitting on the chair in your makeshift dressing room, you adjusted your dress for the umpteenth time. You'd been cursing yourself all day. Why did you agree to doing something so stupid? Yes, you'd been told that you could sing, and yes, you could belt out a good tune in a karaoke bar, or in front of your friends, but a banquet gala in front of hundreds of people? What had you been thinking?

Well it was obvious what you'd been thinking. That stupid part of your brain which would do anything for Steve. That wasn't helping your nerves at the moment.

A knock on the door paused your spiraling thoughts.

"Come in?" You called out, wondering who was here to see you. 

Peggy popped her head around the door with a bright smile, her lips sparkling.

"I just wanted to say thank you again for doing this."

"It's no problem." It certainly felt like a problem.

"It's a pretty impressive skill you have hidden away."

You shrugged, not quite knowing what to do with her praises. You hadn't spent much time with her, mostly because you'd done your best to protect yourself from the pain of her presence. It was unsettling to find her here now, engaging in conversation.

"What made you do this?"

"You needed help, I- it's a good cause."

"Not because Steve asked you?"

You frowned at her. "Well he did ask me."

"You care about Steve."

You shrugged again. "We're neighbors, friends."

"I think it's more than that." Peggy's tone was soft, contemplative, almost questioning.

Was Peggy threatened by you? You stayed silent, feeling anxious. 

"You love him," she concluded.

You didn't know why your heart was thumping so hard. Why did her words frighten you so much? You hadn't done anything wrong but she made you feel like you had.

"There isn't anything between us now."

"But there was?"

Steve really hasn't told her? Never had you wanted the floor to open up and swallow you more than you did now. Your silence told her everything she needed to know.

"He chose you, you know? There wasn’t ever really a question."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, you haven't done anything wrong."

"Steve never had a very good understanding of women."

"He didn't tell you, did he? About us."

Peggy shook her head.

"I think he didn't want to hurt you, or me. Not that that's an excuse. He struggles a bit to express his emotions."

Peggy chuckled appreciatively at your analysis.

"Look, I know I've not been that approachable. It's not because of you."

"I understand. And I appreciate you doing this. Even if it was for Steve."

"It's for a good cause."

"I should let you finish getting ready." Peggy rose from her perch. "Good luck out there!"

"Thanks!"

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x female reader #bucky barnes x f!reader #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes fan fiction

[evita-shelby]

No one but you

Or Buck and Diane won't leave me alone and they demanded an au of them getting together.

Cw: unplanned pregnancy, mentions of illegal abortions, cheating, spoilers for Masters of the Air (and some for Peaky Blinders since Diane is a Peaky Blinders OC)

Link to No one has to know

They shouldn’t have let come this far, and yet they are meeting up in a hotel room because neither can stop themselves from this. They loved each other, they were each other’s peace in this hell and yet, there was no guarantee this would change for the better tonight.

She waits for him on the bed that might as well be theirs considering how often they come here. She’s nervous, she’d broken up with Tom last time he was on leave because she knew he would never raise a baby that wasn’t his. It had hurt, she loved him, but she loved Gale, and it was his baby she was having.

He didn’t know yet. He would leave this room knowing that but whether he is willing to leave his Marjorie to raise a child with her is another thing entirely.

Diane had known of someone here who could take care of it before it even showed, and yet, she hadn’t wanted to erase a future with a blond-haired baby boy that was a perfect mix of them both.

John Gale Cleven, blonde haired with his smile and her mismatched eyes. Conceived in love and sin under a tree.

“Are you feeling better, Di. Helen said you weren’t in today because of it.” He asks with concern as he left his jacket on the hook and, for a moment, became Gale Cleven, not Major Gale Cleven with a sweetheart back home.

“Yeah, just needed some time off.” She smiles nervously and hates herself for not being careful. This was the last thing they needed, but she doesn’t want to get rid of it, and it’s better if she tells him now. “Actually, I need to talk to you about that.”

Buck knows exactly what she means and goes through every stage of grief--- except anger----as he crosses the room and joins her on the bed. “How far along are you?”

“A month, maybe more.” Diane answered avoiding his eyes, she has no idea why she’s bracing herself? Rejection? No, Gale Cleven isn’t the type to do that. Shame? Actually, both were already keeping their entire relationship a secret because both had someone waiting for them, so it could be that.

“Does your Tom know?” Gale held her hand in comfort, and she shook her head. He knew she’d ended things with Tom, but never the specifics of it.

“He thinks it’s just the guilt of our arrangement that led to me breaking things off with him. I didn’t want to make it worse when I still wasn’t sure if I was pregnant.” Diane leaned against his shoulder knowing her fears about him tossing her out like last week’s trash for getting pregnant. “You don’t have to do right by me, I have enough money to not care what people think of me as an unwed mother,”

That is a lie, the word whore will be thrown around enough for Gale to feel the insult all the way in America.

“I’d marry you even if there was no baby, Diane. At least we won’t have to hide any longer.” A small consolation even if it means setting themselves on fire to make this wrong into a right.

“A small consolation, isn’t it?”

And it is.

While what men did off the clock was no one’s business, Gale’s reputation of an honest and principled soldier does take a hit.

Bucky is angry on Marjorie’s behalf, and angry at him for not listening to him. Even worse for not telling him.

“I love her, Bucky, and she’s having my baby. I feel terrible for what I did to Marge, but its too late for that now.” He can’t just abandon his own child, and even if everything’s gone to hell, Buck can’t regret choosing Diane over Marge.

She understands what he’s going through, she is here and perfect and this was their only chance to be together.

“Can’t argue with that, Buck. So, when’s the wedding?” he gives him a pat on the shoulder, still smarting for this betrayal of their friendship and yet still there for him as always.

“As soon as her folks come from Birmingham, and we get a license. I don’t want to risk the baby being born on the wrong side of the sheets if I don’t come back.” Buck answered getting to the good part. “I was thinking of you being my best man.”

“Only if I can sing at your wedding.”

Even with Bucky’s caterwauling and the night bombings, it’s one of the happiest days in his life.

It’s September, when Gale Winston Cleven marries Diane Elizabeth Shelby a month and two weeks since they made love under their tree.

She looks beautiful, in a plain white dress and whatever flowers the children at the base managed to make into a bouquet for her.

He gets three days in London as his honeymoon, three days and two nights in a townhouse owned by Diane’s father, a man who understands why he can never accept a medal in this godforsaken war.

“I’ll come back; I promise. Take care of yourself and the baby, Di.” He said before every mission and kissed her goodbye because now she was Mrs. Gale Cleven not the nurse he pretended was only his friend.

The letters from home had come, angry, disappointed, and resigned. Marge’s had tearstains from crying, his mother was happy for him even if she compared him to his father, but they understood why he did this and wished them the best.

If she makes you happy in ways I couldn’t, then I hope the two of you will be happy together, Marge had written and with that her letters ceased all together, her photograph sent back and replaced with Diane on their wedding day.

When he asked her what she thought Tom did with his picture of her, she shrugged and answered, Tom had torn it up, burned the pieces, and tossed the ashes in the shitter.

But Tom and Marge were their past, Buck and Diane were now each other’s present and future.

“I love you.” The words still come as whispers, and yet they no longer carry the guilt or shame they used to come with.

He has six more missions to go.

Six more and he will get to see the mysterious Arrow House before going to train boys in the States. They’d have to face his family and friends sooner or later, sooner seemed better if it took them away from the bombs.

Being Mrs. Cleven is great, they are out in public as husband and wife with nothing to stop them. Some dirty looks are there because everyone knew about Tom and Marge and yet none of them can truly judge them because everyone sought comfort any way they could.

They are given a tiny house on the base because, they do provide space for married couples serving together. She does her work he does his and at the end of the day they are each other’s peace here.

Gale kisses her hungrily when he comes back from his missions, seeking release from his torments in her and relishing having no reason to stop loving each other anymore.

“Twenty-two. Three more and we get to go home.” Buck trails his fingers on her arm and kissed her shoulder so sweetly Di wished he didn’t have to go.

She had a bad feeling; she’d seen the results in the cards and felt a stab in her heart when Gale’s card came next in the sequence and known this was a mission he wouldn’t come back from. The young witch had told him about it, but he assured her he’d always come back to her.

He loves her and she loves him even if death tries to part them.

“I know, can’t wait to see where you grew up.” She pushed back the preemptive grief and smiled through it. She has good news too, something that will give him some bit of joy before everything goes to hell. “The cards say it’s a boy.”

He smiles broadly, almost silent in his joy as he embraces her tightly as they lay in bed. “Would you mind if we named him John?”

“Not at all, love.”

They decided on John Egan Cleven when he leaves for Bremen. Bucky would be his godfather, of course, and the godmother would be Janey Dogs, one of Diane’s best friends who happened to be Romani as well. Janey’s father, Johnny, had two wives even if it went against tradition and the law, but he was the exception amongst the families they traveled with, something Buck still couldn’t wrap his head around.’

“I’ll come back; I promise. Take care of yourself and the baby, Di.” Those are the last words he says before he goes on the mission he did not come back from.

No one save for Bucky understands the pain she feels and promises he will be avenged when they part ways, Bucky to Germany and Diane to her parent’s home in Birmingham.

Bucky’s captured two days after.

She writes to his mother to comfort her; she promises to use her dad’s and her own money and influence to find out what happened and if necessary, demand they return his body home.

He's not dead, Di feels it in her heart that he’s alive and tells his mother so.

They begin corresponding, taking comfort, and learning every little thing they can about Gale’s life before the war, during the war and now as he is held in a German Prisoner of War Camp.

Diane writes letters to him the moment she learns where he is, assures him they are fine here in Arrow House. She tells him about the estate, the gardens, about her family and how well she gets on with his mother through letters.

All of them holding anything that can help them survive long enough to escape the Germans. It takes a while for him to write back and sends Bucky’s apologies for getting captured too and asks her subtly what they should do next.

“You used to do the same with Marge’s letters,” Bucky points out as Buck inhaled the still fresh smell of Diane’s perfume in her letters.

It was as comforting as Marge’s had been back at Thorpe Abbotts, he had almost forgotten that. He still felt guilt for hurting her that way, but Gale couldn’t say he regretted choosing Diane and his son that day.

“I know. If I hadn’t fucked it up, they could’ve been friends.” The blond admits to seeing the similarities in the two women.

“What does Mrs. Cleven say?” Bucky asks as the most trusted of their men gather pretending to listen go on about his wife.

News from the front and what her readings say they should do are hidden in meaningless phrases, made up gossip and anything she can make up under the guise of a lovesick young bride. He writes back in a similar code asking her to ferry the information they manage to hide in love letters to anyone important enough to be of use.

Gale sees his twenty-sixth birthday at Stalag Luft III. He doesn’t tell her what he did to stay healthy enough to live, as far as she knows he’s being kept well. She tells him his namesake, Winston fucking Churchill, has put her in contact with Allied Intelligence to come up with a fool-proof escape plan when the invasion begins.

Stay put, stay safe, we will be waiting for you as we always are, she wrote.

Winter of 1943 turns to the spring of 1944 and on May 14th of 1944, John Egan Cleven is born in great health contrary to the lie of him being premature like they told his family.

On June 18th of that year, as his Father’s Day gift, Buck receives a photograph of his son and a lock of blonde hair wrapped in a thin ribbon with a code.

While the invasion of Europe had begun that summer, they couldn’t escape safely until 7 pm, January 27th, 1945.

“Di says evening of January 27th of next year. Do you think we can stay put until then?”

“Gives us enough time to plan this shit right.” Bucky lights up at the news and quickly forgets all the times he doubted Diane’s abilities for telling them to stay put. “Nurse, heiress, psychic and spy, you sure know how to pick them, Buck.”

“Meatball picked her, if anything I should be thanking DeMarco for the mutt.”

Seven months to have the allies close enough for them to escape safely.

And they do, with minimal casualties they reach allied soldiers after escaping during the Moosburg March on January 27th of 1945 at seven in the evening just as Diane had said.

“I told you; I’d come back, I always do.” Twelve days later, on February 8, 1945, he is reunited with his wife and his son at the same tree they fell in love under.

#diane shelby #buck cleven #buck cleven x diane shelby #masters of the air meets peaky blinders #gale cleven #masters of the air fanfic #no one has to know fic #mota fanfic

[olderthannetfic]

The "writers don't have to read and if you think they do, you're ableist" wank is getting heated again on Twitter. As someone with ADHD and other mental challenges that I was shamed for in my childhood who often lacks the spoons to read for fun, I'm tired of seeing reasonable writing advice from qualified professionals twisted around into some kind of oppressive language. No one's allowed to be an expert any more.

--

Wow, people are arguing that?

People are insecure because they want there to be one magic thing they can do to be a writer. The reality is that it's a lot of work, and a whole host of things make it more likely that you'll succeed or not succeed. (And that's true whether "succeed" means "be traditionally published" or just "finish the piece".)

So when a writer gives the advice to read, they're talking about a trend and about your cumulative knowledge accrued through reading over your whole life whether or not you have spoons today, not "Read ten minutes per day and you'll for sure be a writer". But idiots determined to be mad about things hear it as "There is a magic potion, but not for you."

Sometimes, I think people are angry about being told their disability makes things harder. But... yeah... disabilities often make things harder. I'm sure if you, a non-jerk, approached those experts, they'd have some advice for how to be a reader despite not having the spoons: how to rely on reading you did in the past or how to choose things to read that will give you a lot of bang for your buck since you won't be reading as much as some. They wouldn't be like "Hahaha! I'm here to gatekeep writing!"

I too find it annoying when people hate experts for stupid reasons.

[leandra-winchester]

I was saving all of this for a longer post I wanted to write, a nice, calm and factually argued essay on why I do not support the current TRA movement (but do support trans people). I wanted to take time to point out how the TRA movement employs fascist and cultish methods to dictate a narrative, prevent any kind of criticism and critical thinking. I wanted to do all that, but no. That post just now drove me over the edge.

I could not bear seeing that on my dash without replying.

This is a PSA.

If you think this movement is right in the way it a) frames and b) executes its protests (i.e. dictating who to listen to and threatening women with rape and other violence, and even committing it sometimes), unfollow me.

If you think women do not deserve protections based on their biological sex (i.e. being fine with violent male rapists being sent to female prisons just because they claim to be trans women), unfollow me.

If you aren't even prepared to listen to detransitioners, to gender clinic whistleblowers and read recent studies and publications on the detrimental effects of puberty blockers; if you're not at least ready to re-assess the stance that children even as young as pre-teens should be affirmed in anything they say; if you cannot do that and admit that good intentions sometimes lead to bad conclusions, unfollow me.

But if there's even an ounce of doubt in you about any of those issues and whether the current movement is always so right, then please, please approach this with an open mind. Listen to other people. Read their accounts.

Listen to other trans people, too, those who are not inside this TRA bubble, like Buck Angel, Debby Hayton (and yes, Blair White, controversial as she is and as much as I don't agree with her on many things).

This movement harms trans people TOO! Do you seriously want to lumped into the same category as people like Barbie Kardashian or Jessica Yaniv? Do you want the general public to see you as that - as what are clearly men abusing the flawed self-ID system? Do you think honoring their chosen identities and pronouns - as the media and authorities do - is more important and noble than siding with the victims of their crimes? You cannot truly feel that way. I refuse to believe that the majority of you do not care about their victims.

We can still turn this around, we can go back to supporting each other and respecting each other despite our differences. But it's getting harder and harder to achieve the more damage these "activists" are doing.

I've been holding back for almost 3 years now. 3 years in which I've listened, read, watched and continuously re-assessed my own views based on the information - from ALL sides - I was able to obtain.

Please do the same. Form your own opinions, and don't just blindly follow the mob.

#trans rights activism #feminism #personal PSA #this activisim harms everybody except violent men #trans people included #trans activism is a cult

[bewilderedbuck]

(Prompt anon) Oh, great! I’d love to see s3-besties-era Benvi arguing over the best restaurant to order takeout from. They just seem like people who have strong feelings about that sort of thing HAHA

Crossposted to AO3

It's become a weekly thing: Thursday night dinners at Ben's place. At first, it was just an excuse for them to catch up on their chemistry or physics homework together, with Devi hitching a ride with Ben after the final bell rings. The first few weeks were filled with study sessions and note comparisons and project ideas, the two of them actually working together instead of competing. It felt odd to Devi at first, working with Ben instead of against him, but it was a welcome change. Turns out, they do make a pretty good team after all.

But midterms were last week, and their teachers have given them some reprieve recently after the grueling weeks leading up to their tests. (Seriously, they have watched seventeen episodes of Bill Nye The Science Guy this week alone.) Devi still slid into Ben's passenger side after school today, just out of habit, and Ben hadn't questioned her.

So here they are now, sitting in Ben's living room, each of them scrolling through DoorDash, trying to agree on a place to order from.

"I'm just saying, In-N-Out never disappoints," Devi pitches. "I could really go for some animal fries right now."

"Well, of course you'd say that," Ben says, rolling his eyes.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, In-N-Out is pretty basic, and you're—"

"I swear to God, if you call me basic, it will be the last thing that ever comes out of your pretentious mouth," Devi threatens.

Ben raises his eyebrows at her, then looks back down at his phone. "Whatever. I still vote for Buca di Beppo."

It's Devi's turn to roll her eyes at him. "Not all of us can drop twenty dollars on a pasta dish, dude," she grumbles.

"I can cover it," Ben offers. "I've got my dad's card saved, so..."

"Really? You'd do that?" Devi asks. It's not like it's out of character for Ben to pay for her when she's short a few bucks, but she's still not one hundred percent used to this, him offering with no expectation from her to return the favor.

He's generous. Kind. She likes that about him.

She likes a lot of things about him, if she's being honest with herself.

"Of course," Ben says, like it should be obvious to her. "But only if we order from Buca. I'm not wasting my dad's hard earned money on the artery-clogging grease pile you call 'food'," he says, one hand raised in air quotes.

"Fine," she concedes, pulling her feet onto the couch and tucking her knees under her chin. "But I want the cheesy garlic bread, not the regular one."

"Already added it," he says. Because he knows her, she thinks. Knows her better than almost anyone.

Later, after he's dropped her off at home and she's laying in bed, she feels her stomach turn in knots, unsure of whether it's the mozzarella garlic bread and cheesy manicotti messing with her digestive system, or whether it's something else — someone else — letting loose a swarm of butterflies in the pit of her stomach.

#benvi #ben x devi #devi x ben #devi vishwakumar #ben gross #benvi fanfiction #nhie #never have i ever #never have i ever fanfiction #nhie fanfiction #nhie fanfic #asks #anonymous #this is so cute i am so happy with this lol

[outrunningthedark]

I have to say your take on the Buckley parents is always so intriguing to me not only because you have learned experience but also because you are so open to differing opinions. I don't have children and honestly don't believe that anyone who hasn't had children and lost one of them can truly say what they would do in that situation. I had a cousin that died at 11 years old and my Aunt was never the same. Her two other children had consequences growing up because of it. But when people in this fandom villainize the Buckley's and morally proclaim that they would never do that if they were a parent just completely miss the point in my opinion. And that is there is no one way to grieve. Each person is different and while their actions will have consequences for those around them, telling people they are grieving wrong is just sanctimonious. I think there are a lot of lessons to be learned by the behavior of people we watch - good, bad and ugly. And I think a lot of times the fandom forgets this. Not everything is supposed to go your way. You aren't supposed to like how everything is done. But we can learn from the behaviors we see displayed on our screen and with these characters we have latched onto and apply these experiences in our own lives to shape what we want out of our lives.

Hey, thanks for being polite with your message, nonnie! Not everybody has been as thoughtful. ;) The way this fandom talks about the Buckley parents is so...funny? to me, because they, too, have their own "I understand this story line better than you because I've been through it." moments (for instance, Maddie's past with Doug), but it's the Buckley family's grief (or say, a story line like Shannon's) were personal experience does not apply because they believe what they want to believe, lol. Truth be told, I think there's two areas of this arc where people have their blinders on: - the savior baby detail of it all. they're terrible parents for having a third child to try and save another, fine. i'm not gonna argue about that. but buck hasn't been the only child that suffered in the aftermath of his brother's death; the neglect was part of maddie's upbringing, too. the fandom makes everything about buck's feelings and buck's "purpose" and i'm just...how can we not see that the pain over a son's death was so strong that they took it out on the daughter who wasn't involved? it's not about buck as much as it about losing daniel. i will continue to maintain that margaret, in particular, found it easier to keep her distance because she felt like she'd failed as a mother and didn't want to put herself through that kind of pain again. (was it fair to her kids? absolutely not. but i understand such reasoning.) - too much focus on whether the parents are "good" or "bad" and not enough reflection on whether their story is an authentic take on a tough situation. i remember in s4 when maddie "defended" their parents behavior and people were mad because she was "excusing abuse" or however they put it. no. no no no no. maddie is the sibling that got to witness/to feel her parents' love before buck was born. maddie is the sibling that remembers how quickly everything changed after daniel died. when she said they were grieving, and still are? that's her acknowledging how fucked up it is that their parents had to bury an eight-year-old. she's not excusing anything. she's saying she understands where it came from, how it started. there are layers to the story that buck didn't know, and that made it harder for him (and the audience, apparently) to comprehend/sympathize with the parents' actions and words.

The Buckley parents biggest mistake was acting like Daniel never existed, making Maddie stay silent. I think we all agree on that. But it's not uncommon. Not discussing a sibling who is no longer living is comparable to never mentioning a sibling that was given up for adoption. If a parent has a part of their past they don't want to relive because it's too painful or they have regrets...they won't talk about it. It's selfish, sure. But people need to understand that, a lot of the time, the immediate response is to feel like you're the only one experiencing that pain and nobody else can relate. It's why the "Why me?" mentality exists. For example, my mother has always referenced *her* when grieving and my sisters and I have to remind her that we lost out, too. She was ours, too. It's not our fault that we weren't old enough to offer comfort and support. It's not our fault that two of us weren't even old enough to realize someone was gone. TL;DR Idgaf if anyone thinks the Buckley parents are awful parents. Idgaf if you hate them, because I (honestly) think that was the initial goal. They're the antagonists in Buck's story. (Drawing off of something this nonnie wrote) But to say "I would never do that" or question how a parent could do that is just being angry for the sake of being angry. You have no idea what you'd do. You have no idea how bad it can get on the darkest of days. The Buckley parents are an example of what not to do. But you gotta work at it. You gotta want it. Otherwise... you will end up hating yourself more than anyone else can ever hate you.

#this isn't about their decisions!!! it's about the story being realistic!!! #anonymous #tina speaks #tv: 911 #tv: 9-1-1 #evan buckley #maddie buckley

[concubuck]

✨🍼 Alastor & Alastor's Baby Registry 🚼💝

Gooood evening, Hell! I'm given to understand that these days, the custom is for new parents to create a little shopping list of everything their baby needs and then send it to everyone they know, to see whether their friends will do the shopping for them! And who am I to argue with such a cherished modern tradition?

So, here's @smiledotdeer's and my list! I'm also told that gifts are usually handed over at a baby shower—which is something like a bachelor party for parents-to-be? Now, we don't have one of those planned yet, but if that's something you people are into, say so, maybe we can figure something out.

Now, without further ado—!

[Like any other real registry, all of the above items link to the exact items the Alastors want to buy. Many of them don't link to common baby stores, but to auction & secondhand sites selling antique and vintage items. Some have back-up items listed in case somebody else buys up their #1 picks first.

Examples of the aesthetic of what's on their list: their chosen co-sleeper crib, glider chair, and baby monitor:]

[In other words: gothic-looking old-fashioned wooden furniture, cozy-looking old-fashioned wooden furniture, and unexpectedly whimsically cute items.

The "claimed" clothing is being made by Cal and they expect the "claimed" bedding to be made by @deerly-beloveded Beau. Everything else is open for anybody to give to them as gifts.

The list is only distributed to people Buck & Cal know; this can include a very broad range of acquaintances, but notably does not include anyone Buck considers only a fuck buddy.

Other important notes about their list below:]

- Although there are a few electrical items (like the baby monitor), there are no "smart" devices and nothing that can connect to the Internet.

- Wherever possible, they prefer everything BUT plastic (wood, fabric, metal, glass...) and avoid minimalist-style modern products.

- Trying to click on "babysitting" will lead to a contact page for the Alastors that says "we're accepting volunteers!" Trying to click on "bouncer" leads to the same. They don't know what a baby bouncer is and assume it's like a nightclub bouncer to turn away uninvited people who are trying to visit the baby.

- Most of their book choices were either published over a century ago or are very clearly from Hell (such as a rainbow picture book that teaches babies the colors and the order of Hell's rings.

- Freezer meals leads to recipes they're saving. They want homemade-and-then-frozen meals, not store-bought frozen meals.

- Their baby registry template had many things they didn't include, such as: nursing items like bras, pillows, pads, and creams ("nursing can't be that hard"); home goods like blackout shades, shelving, burp cloths, white noise machines, and infant bath tubs ("we already have curtains/shelves/towels/radios/pots"), transportation items like strollers and car seats (they don't have a car and think they can carry the baby everywhere); disposable diapers (they plan on fabric diapers); and products like tummy time mats, humidifiers, cabinet locks, and nasal bulb syringes ("those sound like ridiculous products for fake problems"). They may or may not live to regret these omissions.

#((if anybody WANTS to fling baby gear at buck & cal this is ur opportunity now that they're openly accepting gifts)) #((if ur like 'I wanna get them something but idk if my character would receive the registry?' ur probably OK but feel free to ask)) #((mainly buck IC doesn't want gifts from the faceless NPCs he's screwed off screen; but out of character I don't wanna exclude folks!)) #smiledotdeer #radio baby #on air and online (broadcasting) #encrypted frequency (private conversation) #art #uh oh #open post

[kitkatopinions]

I hope that more people learn that “We’re clearly supposed to read them as romantic” is not the same thing as “this is a canon romantic relationship,” because the act of trying to get audiences to recognize romantic undertones while never actually confirming the relationship in canon is kind of the whole point of both queercoding and queerbaiting, and it does not guarantee that something will be canon later either.

I’ve seen tons of people (even and especially it seems, queer people) get accused of homophobia for saying they want LGBTQ+ characters to be actually confirmed as queer and saying they want LGBTQ+ relationships to be confirmed as real with the argument of “of course we’re meant to see romantic subtext here, of course we’re meant to interpret their actions as romantic, of course we’re supposed to see them as queer, so if you missed all the little signs that that’s what’s going on, you must be a homophobe.”

Those signs. Are there. To try to make it clear to gay people that there’s gay. WITHOUT CONFIRMATION. So that homophobes can sit comfortable. Not realizing that the characters are meant to be gay. Or can easily pretend that the relationship is ‘sibling-ish’ like the ‘History Hates Lovers’ song says they do. So that the writers or company heads or whatever can either not get their show canceled, or make a quick buck. You know, depending on whether they’re queercoding or queerbaiting.

The signs are romantic, the undertones are romantic, the scenes are charged with energy, the characters are giving queer vibes, their looks are lingering, their lines are hinting at a romantic relationship under the surface, most people who aren’t deeply heteronormative usually can read between those lines and know that something’s going on. I myself have this thing where if a character caresses' the face of another character of the same gender, I kind of automatically start headcanoning that character as queer, even if the face caressing was when the other character was dying. Idc, I read caressing someone’s face as romantic and therefore I start headcanoning characters as queer if there’s a face caress. But that isn’t confirmation. Group hangs that are meant to be read as dates aren’t confirmation if they specifically go out of their way to make it clear it’s not a date, they’re just trying to evoke date-like situations. A character known for casually winking at everyone including their sibling winking at someone else is not confirmation, because they specifically go out of their way to let you know that this character winks at everyone, they just also make them have lingering looks with this other character to try to clue you in on the fact that the wink probably means more with them, without confirming it at all. A character saying ‘I love you’ to another character isn’t even official confirmation if the writers have gone out of their way to also pepper in ‘you’re my best friend, we’re friends, we’re close friends, I’m so glad we’re friends’ talk because love isn’t exclusive to romance, so despite the fact that their scenes are tender and they keep looking at each other with dopey in love expressions doesn’t make their relationship canon when the writers go out of their way to say over and over that they’re only friends. Characters pressing their foreheads together and grasping each other’s hands isn’t confirmation of a relationship when both characters are in long term wlm actually confirmed relationships. Characters who live together that lean hard into ‘arguing like an old married couple’ and other usually romantic tropes still aren’t canon confirmed if neither of them has ever out and out expressed real attraction to the other, they’ve never been on a real date, they’ve never so much as kissed on the cheek, and they sleep in separate beds. Actors and producers and animators and official social media accounts saying ‘they’re definitely queer you guys lol’ still isn’t confirmation in the actual piece of media. Actors saying ‘I tried to play them as gay as possible’ still isn’t confirmation in the actual piece of media. (And before anyone jumps down my throat about any one ship, I’m thinking of tons of different examples here.)

Yes, we’re meant to read it as queer. Yes, the only people who miss the signs are most likely people who are heteronormative or homophobic. Yes, the characters’ actions are clearly coded as romantic or the characters are clearly coded as otherwise queer. But it is not canon confirmed if there is nothing that you can point to in the whole show as proof that they’re queer and/or in a relationship. If a character has never once expressed attraction to anyone other than the opposite sex, if a character has never once been on an official date with anyone other than the opposite sex, if a character has never once openly discussed feelings for anyone other than the opposite sex, if they have never kissed anyone other than the opposite sex, if they have never discussed having a relationship that was anything more than friends with anyone other than the opposite sex... Than they are not canon confirmed. It is not canon.

I know that this post is so far a huge bummer, but I just... As a queer person, I am starting to get very frustrated when I repeatedly am told that queer characters and queer relationships are canon confirmed and that something is great rep for queer people, and then when I actually look at the content, it’s just coding or active queerbaiting. I don’t mean to be mean, but for me, it does not feel helpful to apply the ‘canon’ label to ships or characters where it doesn’t actually apply. It feels like giving the writers and/or the company (because sometimes the writers are not at fault for the lack of canon status) too much credit, and playing right into the hands of the people who say that sprinkling in coding is gonna be enough to get the woke points without inciting the wrath of homophobes. It’s settling. (And as a quick side note, to be clear, I’m not saying that every single character or ship has to have a label and has to be out and out confirmed, I understand there’s some nuance here. But I do believe that we still haven’t gotten far enough for canon confirmation to be unimportant and the pieces of media that can get away with heavy coding without confirmation are few and far in-between and I do not trust any author that doesn’t already have a good track record when it comes to queer representation to do that.) (Also, new side note, but this conversation obviously gets more nuanced when you look at older works that absolutely one hundred percent could not have any canon confirmation, because coding is all most people could do... But that still doesn’t mean that things are ‘canon’ when they’re just coded, it’s just a much sadder situation knowing that they could have been canon if not for bigots.)

I sincerely think that this misunderstanding between the difference in coding and/or baiting and actual canon confirmation is born from the mentality that liking anything that’s even slightly problematic is morally bad. It makes ‘your ship isn’t canon’ feel like a pointed attack on a person’s morals and ‘I think this is queerbaiting’ feel like condemning a person just for enjoying content or characters that are important to them. That sucks, but people need to break away from this mentality. Calling out famous people and especially corporations - or even just pointing out a fact like ‘Gravity Falls has very little queer representation because Disney imposed heavy regulations on Alex Hirsch that he hated - is not saying “you guys shouldn’t ship this” or “you guys shouldn’t headcanon that” or “I think this shouldn’t be canon.” And if someone is asking for more and better queer rep, it’s very illogical and frustrating to accuse them of queerphobia because they actually want company’s to out and out confirm something, instead of just pretending that it’s already been said and done when it hasn’t been. It’s not ignoring or rejecting the coding to say you want more than coding. It’s especially not ignoring or rejecting things to point out queerbaiting, when people actually don’t have anything standing in their way of canonizing their queer characters and people complain about it. When it’s 2022 and their are gay characters in Disney products, when you realize that the company refusing to canonize any main character as queer are actively selling ‘pride month’ products with those characters faces on them, it is not wrong to ask for or demand actual real, solid representation to back up their merchandise.

Listen. A queerphobic person will watch all the way through a show with queerbaiting or queercoding and come out of it 1. not having even realized that the characters were meant to be read as queer, and might attack anyone who read it that way while crowing about how ‘brave’ it is that the writers and/or company didn’t ‘succumb to the gay agenda’ and ‘force’ any gayness. 2. notice that the characters were meant to be read as queer, but say things like ‘at least they didn’t shove it down my throat’ and ‘at least it’s easy to ignore’ and ‘the poor oppressed creators probably had to do it to look politically correct.’ 3. Laughing at the ‘jokes’ of intimacy between people of the same sex, or the ‘jokes’ of gender-non-confirming men, or ‘how hot it is when two girls get close’ because homophobes hate to be ‘made uncomfortable’ by anyone being actually confirmed gay, but love to make and hear and perceive jokes about our identities.

A queerphobic person will turn off a show that actually has confirmed queer characters in it. A queerphobic person will try to ban it and will forbid their kids from watching it. A queerphobic person will post online about how the company that made it has ‘gone woke’ or say they’re no longer ‘family friendly’ or say they used to be funny or cool or interesting before they ‘sold out to the leftists.’ A queerphobic person will warn the people they know that the piece of media is ‘no longer safe,’ or preach against it from a pulpit. A queerphobic person will burn merch and boycott and write one star reviews about how devastating it is that they’re ‘getting gayness shoved down their throat by the alphabet mafia.’ Or, you know, a queerphobic person will still watch the show, but make it a point to talk about the ‘SJWs’ that are ‘making it hard to enjoy the media’ and threatening to walk out over one canon confirmed character or one canon confirmed relationship. 

And company’s are greatly aware of that difference. They’re greatly aware of the fact that sometimes toeing the line is going to get them more money. Even company’s that are now starting to dip their toes into actual LGBTQ+ rep have a large history of suppressing it in the past. Because they want the queerphobic people to keep watching. Because they don’t want to deal with the backlash. Because they know their audience has both left-leaning queer people or queer allies who want to see queer characters and relationships and raging bigots who think being queer is a sin or simply ‘gross’ and will throw tantrums if they don’t get their way, and they don’t want to lose the bigots.

It isn’t at all wrong to love a character or a ship that’s been coded as queer. It isn’t at all wrong to find them empowering, or to feel represented in them, or to want to make content for them or to talk to everyone you can about them. That’s great! I’m glad you guys like it, I’m glad you guys are happy, I’m glad you guys feel more seen, and with some of these ships I’m right there with you. But they are not canon. They just aren’t. And presenting them as canon when they aren’t might be more harmful than people realize.