#How to fund skill development programs

[fincrif]

How Can Students Use a Personal Loan for Skill Development?

In today’s competitive world, acquiring new skills is essential for career growth and personal development. Many students seek to enroll in certification courses, professional training programs, or specialized skill development workshops to enhance their employability. However, the cost of such programs can be high, making it difficult for students to afford them upfront. This is where a personal loan can be a viable financial option.

A personal loan provides students with immediate financial assistance to enroll in skill-based programs without financial constraints. In this article, we will explore how students can use a personal loan for skill development, its advantages, eligibility criteria, repayment strategies, and alternative financing options.

1. Can Students Take a Personal Loan for Skill Development?

Yes, students can take a personal loan to finance their skill development programs, online courses, certifications, and vocational training. Unlike an education loan, which is usually restricted to degree programs, a personal loan offers flexibility in fund utilization.

✅ Common Skill Development Programs That Can Be Financed with a Personal Loan:

IT and Coding Bootcamps

Digital Marketing Courses

Graphic Designing and Animation

Foreign Language Training

Data Science and AI Certifications

Photography and Film-Making Courses

Professional Certifications (e.g., CFA, PMP, ACCA, etc.)

Public Speaking and Leadership Training

Entrepreneurship and Business Management Programs

📌 Tip: Before taking a loan, research the course credibility, career prospects, and potential ROI (Return on Investment).

2. Benefits of Using a Personal Loan for Skill Development

Using a personal loan for career-oriented courses can provide several benefits.

✅ Advantages:

✔ Immediate Access to Funds: Enroll in courses without financial delays. ✔ No Restrictions on Usage: Unlike education loans, personal loans allow flexible fund usage. ✔ Fast Loan Processing: Approval and disbursal in 24-48 hours. ✔ No Collateral Required: Unsecured loans eliminate the need for security. ✔ Flexible Repayment Options: Choose a suitable loan tenure (1-5 years). ✔ Enhances Employability: Acquiring new skills increases job opportunities and higher salary potential.

📌 Tip: Choose a skill that aligns with your career goals to maximize the benefits of the loan.

3. Eligibility Criteria for a Personal Loan for Students

Not all students qualify for a personal loan on their own. Most lenders require a stable income source or a co-applicant (parent/guardian) to process the loan.

✅ Eligibility Requirements:

Age: 18 - 60 years

Co-Applicant Requirement: Most students need a co-borrower (e.g., parent or guardian)

Employment Status: Salaried/self-employed or dependent on a co-borrower

Minimum Income Requirement: ₹15,000 - ₹25,000 per month (for co-borrower)

Credit Score: 700+ for better interest rates

📌 Tip: If you don’t have a regular income, apply for the loan with a parent or guardian as a co-applicant.

4. How to Apply for a Personal Loan for Skill Development?

If you decide to finance your skill development program with a personal loan, follow these steps:

A. Check Your Loan Eligibility

Ensure you or your co-applicant have a CIBIL score above 700.

Review lender eligibility criteria before applying.

B. Compare Loan Offers from Different Lenders

Look for banks, NBFCs, and digital lenders offering low interest rates.

Compare loan tenures, processing fees, and EMI options.

C. Gather Required Documents

Identity proof (Aadhaar, PAN card, or passport)

Address proof (utility bill, rental agreement, or passport)

Income proof (salary slips, bank statements, or ITR for self-employed co-applicant)

Admission proof (course enrollment letter or fee structure from the institute)

D. Submit the Loan Application and Await Approval

Apply online or visit a lender’s branch.

Once approved, receive the funds within 24-48 hours.

📌 Tip: Use a personal loan EMI calculator to plan repayments before borrowing.

5. How to Repay a Personal Loan Efficiently?

Managing loan repayment efficiently helps avoid financial stress.

✅ Best Loan Repayment Strategies: ✔ Choose a Suitable EMI Plan: Opt for affordable EMI installments. ✔ Use Side Income for Prepayments: Freelancing or part-time jobs can help clear the loan faster. ✔ Set Up Auto-Debit for Payments: Avoid late fees by automating EMIs. ✔ Refinance if Interest Rates Drop: Consider a balance transfer to another lender if rates reduce. ✔ Make Partial Prepayments When Possible: Reducing the principal amount lowers interest costs.

📌 Tip: If your financial situation improves, consider prepaying the loan early to save on interest.

6. Alternative Ways to Finance Skill Development

Instead of a personal loan, consider these alternative funding options:

✅ Education Loans: If your course qualifies, opt for a dedicated education loan with lower interest rates. ✅ Scholarships and Grants: Many institutes offer merit-based financial aid. ✅ Employer Sponsorship: Some companies reimburse fees for skill-based programs. ✅ Credit Card EMI Options: Convert course fees into zero-cost EMIs. ✅ Government Skill Development Schemes: Check if your course is eligible for programs like Skill India Mission. ✅ Savings and Family Support: Avoid debt by using personal savings or parental support.

📌 Tip: Always compare financing options before taking a personal loan to minimize costs.

7. Final Thoughts: Should Students Take a Personal Loan for Skill Development?

A personal loan can be a great option for students looking to upgrade their skills and improve career opportunities. However, it is essential to borrow responsibly, keeping in mind the repayment obligation and future earning potential.

🚀 Best Practices Before Taking a Personal Loan for Skill Development: ✔ Assess career benefits before borrowing. ✔ Compare loan interest rates and EMI plans. ✔ Consider a co-applicant for better loan approval chances. ✔ Check for alternative funding options. ✔ Have a repayment plan in place before applying.

If you’re looking for the best personal loan options for financing skill development courses, visit www.fincrif.com for expert guidance today!

[capesandshapes]

If you're an American and you're really scared about the Trump administration overtaking the Institute for Museum and Library Services, I'm just going to quick break down how this works on the library side from someone who has worked in libraries, made the director handbook for libraries in my system, managed archives, and continues to engage with libraries pretty actively:

-Federal funding for the bulk of libraries in the US is far less than most people think it is. This is because the majority of libraries are sustained by local and state taxes in their area.

-Typically new developments like growing stem programs, hotspot services, and adding library locations is done through federal grants. In a few select states because of how they've structured their libraries and how new their libraries are to the system, Federal grants do technically still pay for ebook services and (less frequently) day to day operations in libraries that have less foot traffic, but still serve an important role to the communities surrounding them. A few libraries do pay additional staff via federal grants, but typically core staff are funded via state and local taxes.

-There's a whole lot of reasons why libraries are funded the way that they're funded, part of it is that conservatives at one point did argue that a library should provide enough value to its community that like it is supported only by the local and State taxes, which is a valid reason.

Another argument for why libraries don't take more Federal funding that's been popping up a lot in the 2020s is that taking a significant portion of your funding on a federal level would make you more beholden to the federal government and encourage them to begin making restrictions that impact the ecosystem of libraries and what you are allowed to have on the shelves, which likely wouldn't necessarily serve your patrons. It also would basically mean that book banners would have a place to go to push their agenda wide scale.

-all this is not to say that this isn't going to hurt libraries.

This is going to hurt a lot of rural locations, independent libraries, and summer reading programs-- which are important resources for education, socialization, and just the general well-being of our nation's youth.

These programs provide an important break for parents who have months-long stretches where their kids are suddenly home all of the time and don't have the same easy social access that they had before.

I cannot put into words just how important summer reading programs are for communities, they provide so many opportunities for kids to learn and interact and foster a lifelong appreciation of reading.

Even if you have just read a hundred books to get an ice cream cone, you were reaping the emotional and social benefits of reading, we learn so many cues in communication from reading and so much empathy.

I cannot put into words how much reading impacts child development. When you teach a child to read and you teach a child to read well, you are giving them tools to communicate with the world around them-- and summer reading programs help maintain and in some cases supplement the skills that kids develop during the school year. Learning is not something that should be restricted to just 9 months of the year.

Reading programs are important programs to the development of our nation's youth!

A lot of the additional summer programming is done through grants, and while a lot of states have really expansive Grant opportunities, the federal funding cuts in other areas are likely going to result in people looking really close at what we're spending on and why.

-one of the most important things that you can do for your state libraries is continue to use their services, show that you appreciate what they offer. If you want a program to remain, you have to be an active part of it.

Most libraries are allowed to count services in patron numbers to show interest in ebook catalogues and other things, but visiting in person and using community courses when you can helps further support the existence of branch locations.

Some states are likely going to get hit harder by this than others that have larger systems, but you using and talking about your local library helps make a case to hold onto the funding they have and look into additional ways to replace federal funding.

-what is an ungodly awful part of this is that we're going to see a lot of national libraries get hit hard by this. And national/federal libraries are typically legal libraries and special topics libraries.

It's a lot of historical preservation, information about our environment and agriculture, medical research, and technology AS WELL AS collections/limited libraries that were created via federal funding to inspire diversity and inclusion. A lot of these libraries don't have bustling locations to inspire funding via foot traffic, but they do provide resources to our library ecosystem. A really important way that they do this is by making large print, braille, playaways, and other ability aids accessible via the interlibrary loan system. They even scan items that are too fragile or precious for transport so that patrons and different systems can use them.

Just running down a short list of times that national, federally funded libraries have really helped my patrons via interlibrary loan services: one of the various libraries for the deaf and blind provided me with the cds that I needed in order to allow a patron to read the next cj box book while long haul trucking, I have received copies of photographs of people's parents on reservations via interlibrary loans and using grant funding have also uploaded photos of people's family members and newspaper articles that are relevant to their family history, I've actually received sheet music for a trombone player as a result of the various music libraries , and there was a niche queer library that mailed us so many books that were requested because we didn't have access to any of the 1970s queer pulp paperbacks and a patron desperately wanted to read the books that she had seen on shelves when she was growing up but never been brave enough to check out. (The art on their covers was wonderful)

THESE ARE IMPORTANT SERVICES TO OUR LIBRARY ECOSYSTEM. We want these services and access to these collections to remain, because you never know what is going to happen to you in this life, and because people deserve the opportunity to interact with their own history and their own culture. These will be lost if these libraries are no longer funded.

SO WHAT DO WE DO?

What can you as an ordinary person do?

1. Kick up a fight and make sure that you are hounding your lawmakers the moment you so much as sniff someone trying to defund your libraries.

2. Use all the resources that you can to show that they actually matter to you and do so while understanding that because life gets busy, your usage is also advocating for other people in the community who don't currently have the time to use those resources but would appreciate them later on.

3. Make sure you're talking about libraries and what they offer to other people, a lot of people don't know what their local library has going on.

4. Take the time to volunteer and look into ways to donate not necessarily money, but your time and resources to the library. Not every library takes old books, but some that won't put your books on the shelves will put them in the library book sales. Not every library allows volunteers to shelf, but they do often allow for people to join their friends of the library organization and help raise money and come up with community events and staff them.

5. You can donate money, but I want to note with donating money, that not every library is structured the same.

Please check with your local librarian how their donations work.

I have worked at libraries in the past where we got donated money that went into the city slush fund, and are late fees also went into the city slush fund... Which was used on a road. Not a road near us, but just a road. One that actually kind of fucked a lot of people over.

We actually had to come up with a separate method of donation for monetary things that classified them as being earmarked for specific services and usage so then the city couldn't take it. Which is insane but you know.

We would take money from patrons and ask them if they wanted to go into our general fund, or if they would like it specifically to go towards the repair of our roof.

A lot of people once they realize the reason why we were asking about the repair of our roof did in fact get heated about the way that the city was treating us, but the city still fought back about whether or not we would get to hold our own donations rather than specifically earmarked ones.

Just having people know how our donation system worked and fight for us to actually hold the money that had been donated specifically to us did make a difference in the end, because suddenly we had a roof. And, you know, some people lost seats in elections.

EDIT:

-YOU CAN ALSO START A BOOK CLUB THROUGH YOUR LIBRARY, WHICH IS SO IMPORTANT!!!

Most libraries will give you a free place to meet and promote your event, you can also engage with your community and make new friends,

aaand something that's really important is that you can show your support to the books that you love.

Not only do book clubs encourage foot traffic, they help promote different niches of offers, and form lasting community bonds. Heavy book club usage has in my experience actually shaped when we had our library hours. Like to the point where we added an extra day a week because they were coming in so frequently and they had indicated that they would keep coming in with even more people if they were able to come in on the weekend.

It also allows libraries to show that our space is being used, and have like a solid number of formalized meetings that happened there and helped us exist.

You can start a book club for almost anything in most cases, though most libraries ask for a lack of profanity in the name of your organization, and if you formally affiliate with your library then most branches help clubs acquire their books at the same time and arrange resources for whatever events you have planned.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

What kind of bubble is AI?

My latest column for Locus Magazine is "What Kind of Bubble is AI?" All economic bubbles are hugely destructive, but some of them leave behind wreckage that can be salvaged for useful purposes, while others leave nothing behind but ashes:

https://locusmag.com/2023/12/commentary-cory-doctorow-what-kind-of-bubble-is-ai/

Think about some 21st century bubbles. The dotcom bubble was a terrible tragedy, one that drained the coffers of pension funds and other institutional investors and wiped out retail investors who were gulled by Superbowl Ads. But there was a lot left behind after the dotcoms were wiped out: cheap servers, office furniture and space, but far more importantly, a generation of young people who'd been trained as web makers, leaving nontechnical degree programs to learn HTML, perl and python. This created a whole cohort of technologists from non-technical backgrounds, a first in technological history. Many of these people became the vanguard of a more inclusive and humane tech development movement, and they were able to make interesting and useful services and products in an environment where raw materials – compute, bandwidth, space and talent – were available at firesale prices.

Contrast this with the crypto bubble. It, too, destroyed the fortunes of institutional and individual investors through fraud and Superbowl Ads. It, too, lured in nontechnical people to learn esoteric disciplines at investor expense. But apart from a smattering of Rust programmers, the main residue of crypto is bad digital art and worse Austrian economics.

Or think of Worldcom vs Enron. Both bubbles were built on pure fraud, but Enron's fraud left nothing behind but a string of suspicious deaths. By contrast, Worldcom's fraud was a Big Store con that required laying a ton of fiber that is still in the ground to this day, and is being bought and used at pennies on the dollar.

AI is definitely a bubble. As I write in the column, if you fly into SFO and rent a car and drive north to San Francisco or south to Silicon Valley, every single billboard is advertising an "AI" startup, many of which are not even using anything that can be remotely characterized as AI. That's amazing, considering what a meaningless buzzword AI already is.

So which kind of bubble is AI? When it pops, will something useful be left behind, or will it go away altogether? To be sure, there's a legion of technologists who are learning Tensorflow and Pytorch. These nominally open source tools are bound, respectively, to Google and Facebook's AI environments:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/18/openwashing/#you-keep-using-that-word-i-do-not-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means

But if those environments go away, those programming skills become a lot less useful. Live, large-scale Big Tech AI projects are shockingly expensive to run. Some of their costs are fixed – collecting, labeling and processing training data – but the running costs for each query are prodigious. There's a massive primary energy bill for the servers, a nearly as large energy bill for the chillers, and a titanic wage bill for the specialized technical staff involved.

Once investor subsidies dry up, will the real-world, non-hyperbolic applications for AI be enough to cover these running costs? AI applications can be plotted on a 2X2 grid whose axes are "value" (how much customers will pay for them) and "risk tolerance" (how perfect the product needs to be).

Charging teenaged D&D players $10 month for an image generator that creates epic illustrations of their characters fighting monsters is low value and very risk tolerant (teenagers aren't overly worried about six-fingered swordspeople with three pupils in each eye). Charging scammy spamfarms $500/month for a text generator that spits out dull, search-algorithm-pleasing narratives to appear over recipes is likewise low-value and highly risk tolerant (your customer doesn't care if the text is nonsense). Charging visually impaired people $100 month for an app that plays a text-to-speech description of anything they point their cameras at is low-value and moderately risk tolerant ("that's your blue shirt" when it's green is not a big deal, while "the street is safe to cross" when it's not is a much bigger one).

Morganstanley doesn't talk about the trillions the AI industry will be worth some day because of these applications. These are just spinoffs from the main event, a collection of extremely high-value applications. Think of self-driving cars or radiology bots that analyze chest x-rays and characterize masses as cancerous or noncancerous.

These are high value – but only if they are also risk-tolerant. The pitch for self-driving cars is "fire most drivers and replace them with 'humans in the loop' who intervene at critical junctures." That's the risk-tolerant version of self-driving cars, and it's a failure. More than $100b has been incinerated chasing self-driving cars, and cars are nowhere near driving themselves:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/09/herbies-revenge/#100-billion-here-100-billion-there-pretty-soon-youre-talking-real-money

Quite the reverse, in fact. Cruise was just forced to quit the field after one of their cars maimed a woman – a pedestrian who had not opted into being part of a high-risk AI experiment – and dragged her body 20 feet through the streets of San Francisco. Afterwards, it emerged that Cruise had replaced the single low-waged driver who would normally be paid to operate a taxi with 1.5 high-waged skilled technicians who remotely oversaw each of its vehicles:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/03/technology/cruise-general-motors-self-driving-cars.html

The self-driving pitch isn't that your car will correct your own human errors (like an alarm that sounds when you activate your turn signal while someone is in your blind-spot). Self-driving isn't about using automation to augment human skill – it's about replacing humans. There's no business case for spending hundreds of billions on better safety systems for cars (there's a human case for it, though!). The only way the price-tag justifies itself is if paid drivers can be fired and replaced with software that costs less than their wages.

What about radiologists? Radiologists certainly make mistakes from time to time, and if there's a computer vision system that makes different mistakes than the sort that humans make, they could be a cheap way of generating second opinions that trigger re-examination by a human radiologist. But no AI investor thinks their return will come from selling hospitals that reduce the number of X-rays each radiologist processes every day, as a second-opinion-generating system would. Rather, the value of AI radiologists comes from firing most of your human radiologists and replacing them with software whose judgments are cursorily double-checked by a human whose "automation blindness" will turn them into an OK-button-mashing automaton:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/23/automation-blindness/#humans-in-the-loop

The profit-generating pitch for high-value AI applications lies in creating "reverse centaurs": humans who serve as appendages for automation that operates at a speed and scale that is unrelated to the capacity or needs of the worker:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/17/revenge-of-the-chickenized-reverse-centaurs/

But unless these high-value applications are intrinsically risk-tolerant, they are poor candidates for automation. Cruise was able to nonconsensually enlist the population of San Francisco in an experimental murderbot development program thanks to the vast sums of money sloshing around the industry. Some of this money funds the inevitabilist narrative that self-driving cars are coming, it's only a matter of when, not if, and so SF had better get in the autonomous vehicle or get run over by the forces of history.

Once the bubble pops (all bubbles pop), AI applications will have to rise or fall on their actual merits, not their promise. The odds are stacked against the long-term survival of high-value, risk-intolerant AI applications.

The problem for AI is that while there are a lot of risk-tolerant applications, they're almost all low-value; while nearly all the high-value applications are risk-intolerant. Once AI has to be profitable – once investors withdraw their subsidies from money-losing ventures – the risk-tolerant applications need to be sufficient to run those tremendously expensive servers in those brutally expensive data-centers tended by exceptionally expensive technical workers.

If they aren't, then the business case for running those servers goes away, and so do the servers – and so do all those risk-tolerant, low-value applications. It doesn't matter if helping blind people make sense of their surroundings is socially beneficial. It doesn't matter if teenaged gamers love their epic character art. It doesn't even matter how horny scammers are for generating AI nonsense SEO websites:

https://twitter.com/jakezward/status/1728032634037567509

These applications are all riding on the coattails of the big AI models that are being built and operated at a loss in order to be profitable. If they remain unprofitable long enough, the private sector will no longer pay to operate them.

Now, there are smaller models, models that stand alone and run on commodity hardware. These would persist even after the AI bubble bursts, because most of their costs are setup costs that have already been borne by the well-funded companies who created them. These models are limited, of course, though the communities that have formed around them have pushed those limits in surprising ways, far beyond their original manufacturers' beliefs about their capacity. These communities will continue to push those limits for as long as they find the models useful.

These standalone, "toy" models are derived from the big models, though. When the AI bubble bursts and the private sector no longer subsidizes mass-scale model creation, it will cease to spin out more sophisticated models that run on commodity hardware (it's possible that Federated learning and other techniques for spreading out the work of making large-scale models will fill the gap).

So what kind of bubble is the AI bubble? What will we salvage from its wreckage? Perhaps the communities who've invested in becoming experts in Pytorch and Tensorflow will wrestle them away from their corporate masters and make them generally useful. Certainly, a lot of people will have gained skills in applying statistical techniques.

But there will also be a lot of unsalvageable wreckage. As big AI models get integrated into the processes of the productive economy, AI becomes a source of systemic risk. The only thing worse than having an automated process that is rendered dangerous or erratic based on AI integration is to have that process fail entirely because the AI suddenly disappeared, a collapse that is too precipitous for former AI customers to engineer a soft landing for their systems.

This is a blind spot in our policymakers debates about AI. The smart policymakers are asking questions about fairness, algorithmic bias, and fraud. The foolish policymakers are ensnared in fantasies about "AI safety," AKA "Will the chatbot become a superintelligence that turns the whole human race into paperclips?"

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/27/10-types-of-people/#taking-up-a-lot-of-space

But no one is asking, "What will we do if" – when – "the AI bubble pops and most of this stuff disappears overnight?"

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/19/bubblenomics/#pop

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

--

tom_bullock (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/tombullock/25173469495/

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

[mahmoudna]

“My Dream Is Still Alive Despite the Rubble”

My dream has always been to become a UX/UI designer and a web developer. This dream has been my compass toward a better future for me and my family, giving my life meaning and hope despite the challenges.

But the war in Gaza turned our lives upside down. We lost our home, my university, and even the laptop I relied on for learning and work. We were displaced to the southern part of Gaza, where we suffer daily from power outages and limited internet access. Despite these circumstances, my heart still clings to hope, and I refuse to give up on my dream.

I am not just asking for support to acquire equipment; I am asking for a chance to rebuild my future—not just for myself, but for my family as well. I believe that every challenge holds an opportunity, and I am determined to turn this hardship into a story of success.

Why Do I Need Your Support?

To continue my education and pursue my dream, I need some essential tools to help me learn and work under these harsh conditions:

• Laptop: $2,000

• Solar Panel: $2,000

• Power Inverter: $1,000

• 100Ah Battery: $1,000

Total Cost: $6,000.

So far, I’ve managed to raise €975 through my GoFundMe campaign, but I need to reach €7,000 to cover all costs.

My Vision for the Future:

My ambition is not just to complete my studies but also to use my skills to support my community in Gaza. I aim to train young people in programming and design so we can contribute to building a better future despite the challenges we face.

Why Your Contribution Matters:

Your donation is not just helping me personally but is an investment in a young man determined to empower his community. I aspire to become a role model for Palestinian youth, showing that resilience and creativity can overcome any obstacle.

A Heartfelt Thank You:

I live under difficult conditions, but I believe that goodness exists everywhere. Every person who contributes to my dream brings hope back into my life and gives me the strength to keep going.

How You Can Help:

1. Donate to the campaign:

GoFundMe

OR USDT

TLns8czyFHsJQWkaAEeza3of5cgEH7vi3n

2. Share my story with your friends and family. It might reach someone who can help.

3. Offer advice or opportunities that could help me develop my skills and achieve my dream.

Finally:

I promise to share every step of my journey with you—from acquiring the equipment to completing my education and realizing my dream. You are part of this story, and your support is the light I need right now.

“In the darkest times, there is always a ray of light. That light is you and your support, which gives me the strength to carry on.”

Special Thanks:

I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has supported me so far. A special thanks to:

@gaza-evacuation-funds @gaza-relief-fund @wellwaterhysteria @ayeshjourney @nabulsi @catnapdreams @vetted-gaza-funds @vetted

[sortagaysortahigh]

Through Time 1942-1945. | James 'Bucky' Barnes

Series Masterlist. This is part one

A/N: Okay yall, I've been writing this fic for DAYS at this point, it's so long and is still technically a work in progress, but I've decided to split it into a series. Big thank yous to @anxietyandtacos and @love-chx for sitting with me while i obsess over ts and reading/rereading my drafts <3 Follows canon events, but is not fully canon compliant.

Summary: In the year 1940 you were recruited out of Tuskegee University's scientific research department to work for the SSR to aid in the Super Soldier Serum project. That recruitment led to you falling in love with a Sergeant that just couldn't leave you alone.

Warnings: 2nd person POV, Use of Y/N (not often but IM SORRY OK), angsty, spelling and grammar errors, cursing, mentions of violence, Racial themes/Mentions of racism, hydra trauma for my shaylas </3, SMUT: fingering, oral (f receiving), semi-public, bucky has a dirty god damn mouth!

Word Count: 8k

1940s!Bucky Barnes x WOC!Reader (Reader has vague descriptions, but it is noted that she is a woman of color!!!! Which is an important plot point!)

UGH MY SHAYLA <3333

1942

The Super Soldier Serum project was controversial as is. An army program that lied in the essence of discretion, secretly funded during the wartime in efforts of creating enhanced soldiers fit to win wars. One super soldier would be able to take down one hundred men. 

That was the goal at least. 

Super Soldiers would help win the war, but it was essential to pick the correct people for the job, too much power in the hands of the wrong man would lead to a downward spiral that the officials behind the program weren’t sure they could maintain. It was also a reason that the program had taken so long to develop. 

It started as an idea sparked following the first World War, an idea that would change the war and change the world. 

Working directly with Dr. Abraham Erskine and Agent Peggy Carter was easier said than done. Most of the men you’d interact with would doubt you, or they’d opt to speak directly to Peggy. It made sense, Peggy Carter was many things, of course, she’s a talented agent, and while your skill sets were the same, there was a major difference between the both of you.

Peggy Carter is white, you are not. 

That difference made your job much harder than it needed to be. Of course there were men who would treat you and Peggy as equals, but segregation was still very prominent, even if you were from the North. More specifically, Brooklyn, New York. 

Joining the military wasn’t a goal of yours, just as it wasn’t a goal for many women in the 30s and 40s.

Your mother and father had raised you with the end goal of completing your education and settling down with a nice man. Your father was a soldier, and after years of countless letters and scattered visits, you knew deep down that you’d never want to be with a man in the military, or have any real military involvement.

The risk was too high, there was too much stress involved, and honestly, you wanted a quiet life.

However, your scientific research conducted at Tuskegee University—where you’d traveled to pursue college—had landed you in the spotlight. The ability to understand and manipulate rodent DNA in correlation to human DNA wasn’t something common, it was something new—something so different that when you’d gotten the call from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s secretary of defense surrounding the strategic scientific reserve you couldn’t exactly run.

That call occurred two years ago, in 1940, a month after your twenty-first birthday. Now you were nearly twenty-three and had been working closely with the men in charge of the Super Soldier Program for two years.

Your research had also helped aid in the creation of the serum. They’d given you opportunities that were considered taboo at the time, having you work directly with white men, giving you a seat at their table and practically welcoming you in with open arms.

However, there were still flaws, you hadn’t been directly credited, most of your research was no longer just yours, and one day, you’d probably be another name forgotten in history.

Well, at least until Dr. Erskine showed up with a British special agent in tow. 

The german-born scientist had not only aided in your research, but he advanced it, and he constantly praised you for your workings. He’d given you credit on many contributions and did not hesitate to stand up for you when any Colonels or higher-ranking military officers tried to talk down to you.

You knew that Dr. Erskine was still in the process of recruiting more men, in search of the best candidate for the serum. It wasn’t long before you’d received a stack of files pertaining to the newest recruits at camp, more men that would be tested for not only their athletic ability, but their intelligence, and most importantly, their ethics and morals. 

A morally good candidate was necessary. There wasn’t any room for any slip ups.

You’d done more desk work lately, a lot of recruits had an issue with being the subordinate to a woman of color, and honestly, you didn’t have the energy to deal with their quips. Nor did you have it in you to punch more and more men.

Colonel Phillips wasn’t having it today, not when they had to pick the best candidate. Especially considering, Dr. Erskine had given much praise to Steve Rogers. A man from Brooklyn who couldn’t have weighed more than ninety pounds, with quite a lengthy list of medical issues that had been conveniently swept under the rug and redacted from his Army admittance file.

You were waiting, waiting for Peggy to arrive with Steve Rogers. A singular heeled foot rapidly tapping against the concrete floors as you impatiently sat in an uncomfortable stool. The underground lab is filled with men in white coats and a few soldiers here and there, most of them only present to secure the facility.

“You need to relax, trust me, Steve is the best choice for this, he has much potential as a soldier, and his character is outstanding.”

“Listen Doc, I trust you, but this—” you motioned to the sage-green machinery that would hold the candidate in place “—it’s crazy. I know the research adds up, but I’m nervous, the immediate cellular change could go so wrong in so many ways, we haven’t done this before. What if it doesn’t work?” 

He shushed you, sitting beside you, placing a singular hand on your shoulder. “Trust me, it will work.”

Then the doors above opened, and as you looked up, you noticed Peggy with a shorter blonde man. He was skinny, short, and you knew that it had to be Steve Rogers. You took a deep breath before standing up, running your hands along your waist, smoothing the wrinkles in your skirt out before adjusting your white lab coat.

You glanced at Howard Stark who simply shot you a wink. He was somewhat likable, a bit too full of himself, but the man was a genius and heavily ahead of his own time. He’d already done so much to build the Stark legacy, you hoped you’d get to see what it would evolve into one day. 

Everyone made their introductions, Steve offered you a genuine smile, placing his hand out for you to shake. You smiled back, shaking it while nodding. “I’m Dr. y/l/n, it’s a pleasure to be working with you Steve.” 

His eyes widened a bit. “Doctor, huh? Must’ve been a hard fight. Glad to make your acquaintance ma’am.” Steve was genuine as he spoke, and while he sounded nervous, your warm smile, alongside the few words of encouragement he’d received from everyone in the room, were easing his doubts. 

The next few minutes moved in a whirlwind, everyone was moving in different directions, the lights were dimming on and off, clearly impacted by the amount of power being pulled in by the greyish-green pod alongside the series of different monitoring systems in the lab. It was evident that they’d be pulling directly from Brooklyn’s power grid to make this work.

You hoped it would work. Standing beside Howard as you were both given the go to proceed on activating the Vita-Ray machinery, he steadily increased the machinery, and Steve’s screams were loud. You imagined the pain to be similar to that of a child’s growing pains, only heavily amplified.

Then suddenly everything was sparking and the power was flickering, and then the pod opened which led to your eyes widening and jaw dropping.

“Holy shit, it actually worked.” Your voice was quiet as you spoke, watching as everyone helped Steve out of the machine. Meanwhile Peggy was stuttering, blushing, and doing her best to avoid looking directly at Steve’s very toned and muscular body. 

That’s when the explosion hit, you were too mesmerized by the serum actually working to realize that something was off about the crowd in the room. You reached for the pistol in your thigh holster, shooting at a man running up the steps, however, he’d managed to shoot back—two bullets hitting Dr. Erskine, and one hitting you. The impact had your eyes widening as a burning pain shocked your entire system. You weren’t sure if you’d screamed, or if it was someone else’s scream echoing in your ears.

Suddenly you were unconscious. 

You woke up with a heavy gasp, wincing at the pain in your side, blinking a few times as the smell of antiseptic processed. This was one of the medical wards on base, the bright white lights made your eyes burn. You sighed, leaning back into the uncomfortably stiff bed and pillows, shutting your eyes for a few seconds before slowly sitting up.

Then, you were pulling the blankets away, grasping onto a large metal IV pole beside the bed, using it to pull yourself up—finding your own footing. It hadn’t taken more than fifteen seconds before you were ripping the IV line out of your arm and doing your best to secure the uncomfortable gown.

“You know, most people would wait for a nurse or doctor to arrive before taking matters into their own hands.” Peggy smiled at you as she walked into the room, a bag of what you hoped was clothes in hand while she approached your wobbly figure.

You sighed, nodding, grasping the cup of water on the small bedside table, practically chugging it. “Well, most people aren’t shot by a Hydra agent after seeing their life’s research actually come to life. Wait—how’s doc? Did he—” you paused, brows knit together as Peggy’s smile dropped, she shook her head.

“He didn’t make it. I’m honestly a bit shocked that you’re able to stand so easily, you’ve been out for a few days now.”

“Are they giving him a proper service at least?” She nodded at your question. Then as you two stood in silence, she set the bag on the bed before walking over to you. She’d spent the next twenty minutes or so helping you get dressed, then she’d called in a doctor to redress your wound. 

“So, have they started his propaganda tour yet? Peggy, if it was up to me, he’d actually be fighting in the war. But they don’t listen to women like me.” You sighed, glancing down at your hands while sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. 

“I’m going to head back overseas, maybe you should join me. I guarantee they’ll listen to you there, and with the success of your works, you’re quite the hot commodity now.”

You laughed at her, wincing at the pain radiating through your side. “You sure about that Agent Carter? I’m not exactly militarily trained.”

She shook her head “Oh please, your father’s a soldier, your mother’s a school teacher, and you are one of the few female doctors of color at the age of twenty three, you’ve fought enough battles already. Besides, you already know how to throw a punch and shoot, I’ll show you the rest. It’ll be better than being stuck here. I promise.”

Circa 1944-1945 Europe

You sighed at the sight of what was left from the 107th infantry, all of them had seen the horrors of war, several of them had even been captured because of it. You knew a few sergeants had been captured, choosing to prioritize their men over themselves, and you’d also been tracking their movements. 

Working overseas with Peggy wasn’t exactly fun, however, it did give you several freedoms you hadn’t expected. You’d work with the Captain America propaganda shows when the SSR wanted you there, but most of your job actually surrounded the war efforts. You worked directly with Colonel Phillips, and you’d also given more than enough classified information to Peggy Carter.

But that was neither here nor there. 

You were currently seated beside the Colonel, sorting through a few condolence letters as you tried to track the list of casualties from Azzano. Then in walked the star spangled banner himself, drenched in rainwater, with Peggy hot on his heels.

Steve practically demanded the list of casualties, that was a bit surprising, your brows knit together as you glanced at him, then at Peggy. Steve took a minute to look at you, confusion evident on his features at the sight of you there. 

To be fair, it wasn’t exactly considered normal for you—a doctor—to be seated with the Colonel overseas, in the middle of a war camp when you’d been known for your research a few years prior. However, times changed, and working with Colonel Phillips was better than working with the SSR and military back in the States. 

Plus, you were pretty helpful in the medic tent.

“I just need a name, Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes.” Steve’s voice was laced with concern, panic clear on his features while he spoke to the Colonel. 

You glanced at Peggy, shrugging slightly before flipping through the letters in hand, then glancing towards the small pile in Phillips’s hand. 

“I’ve signed more of these condolence letters today than I would care to count, but the name does sound familiar. I’m sorry.”

After watching Steve argue with the Colonel, you came to the realization that he was going on a solo rescue mission, which honestly was incredibly brave of the man. You hadn’t expected it, especially considering the man hadn’t seen a day of real combat before. Peggy was quick to chase after Steve, and admittedly you were curious about what would happen to Rogers.

“Go—make sure America’s sweetheart doesn’t make any bad decisions.” 

You groaned, standing up from your seat, shaking your head before grasping a coat, throwing it over your perfectly pin-curled hair and rushing out of the tent. You grimace as the mud below your boots squelched, but you were easily able to spot Peggy chasing after Steve.

Which is exactly how you managed to get wrapped up in co-piloting a plane with Howard Stark while Peggy and Steve talked battle plans in the background. Flying into enemy airspace was never a good idea, especially not with a civilian pilot who knew more about flirting than shooting. 

“You’re missing a key detail here Cap, the base is thirty miles into enemy territory, but you're gonna wanna get them to the treeline which is about eighty yards northwest from the main gate into the base. Also, hate to say it so bluntly, but there’s gonna be casualties here—and the blood won’t be on your hands, but it sure as hell will feel like it. You’re also probably not gonna find any ranking officers in the main prison, isolation is key to the Axis.”

Steve nodded at you, Peggy raised a brow, an impressed smile on her face as she shot you a quick wink. 

“Oh and, based on what Doc told me a while back, they’re most likely doing experiments on people in that base. Pray your friend isn’t one of them.”

Before you knew it, Steve was jumping out of the plane, you were all being shot at, and Peggy was staring at Steve’s falling figure as if she’d just lost her one true love.

The entire experience was maddening. You should’ve stayed in the tent. 

-

It wasn’t long before you were back in camp on the base. Steve Rogers had been missing for a few days at this point, and it was clear that he’d be getting declared dead soon. 

Colonel Phillips was also overly irritated with you and Peggy, and kept stating that the division would be shut down because of you and her. So you opted to stay away from his tent, instead focusing on aiding the injured.

Until you heard word that people were back, loud cheers sounding throughout camp, so you’d left the tent, brows raised in shock at the sight of at least a hundred men back, Steve Rogers at the forefront. You smiled, nodding your head when Steve caught your eye. Then you made your way to the center of the commotion, sliding beside Peggy, but your eyes were on the man beside Steve.

He’d clearly been hurt, this was most likely the James Barnes that Steve had been talking about. Now that you looked at him, you did recognize him, you just hadn’t directly spoken to him in the past.

He met your gaze, a small smirk on his face as he shot you a wink. Admittedly, Sergeant Barnes was quite the looker, even in his disheveled-post kidnapped-state. His eyes were an icy blue, he had nice teeth from what you could see, the man was clearly tall, quite muscular, and you’d be a liar if you said he wasn’t handsome. 

So you chose to look away from him, gaze now on Steve who smiled at you. “Doc, some of these men are in need of medical attention.”

You  nodded at him, clearing your throat before loudly speaking. “Bring the wounded to the medic tent! The heavily injured take priority! I’ve got all hands on deck as is, clear the way boys!” Then you spun on your heel and made your way back to the tent with the large red cross on it.

Bucky bit his bottom lip as he stared at you, he’d cheered on Steve, and he was proud of Steve—undoubtedly. However, the pretty doctor had caught his eye—he knew she worked with the Colonel, but that was almost everything he’d known about you. You were a walking mystery, and now seeing that you knew Steve—this new buffed up version of Steve—it was clear that there was more than meets the eye.

It hadn’t taken long for word to spread about Steve’s rescue mission, he was set to receive a medal of valor for his work with the 107th, and he was now an active member of the U.S. Military.

James Barnes spent some of his time with his friend, but most of his time chasing after you. 

You had bandaged him up following his rescue, your gaze focused on the several different cuts, scrapes, and deep wounds along his abdomen. He winced as you cleaned the shallow ones—mumbling something about starting off with the easiest ones.

Then you were stitching him up and he was biting into his bottom lip with his eyes squeezed shut, taking several deep breaths as he spoke to you. “So, how’d a pretty thing like you end up in the middle of a war as ugly as this?” He blinked several times as you pulled the needle through his skin—trying to ignore the pain.

“Well, my dad was in the military. I never wanted anything to do with the military, but I’m a pretty good doctor and scientist all things considered. Roosevelt's secretary of defense called me in to work with the SSR and their super soldier program. Hence Steve being well—huge. Colonel Phillips likes me, so I stick by his side. Besides, you boys need all the help you can get.”

You spoke as your eyes remained focused on his side, you tried not to blush at the feeling of his defined abdomen below your left hand as you steadied yourself. Stitching men up wasn’t difficult inherently, but most of them didn’t strike up a conversation with you like James did.

“So, Doc, can I get your name? I’m sure it’s as beautiful as you are.” He tried to be smooth, but the evident wince from the feeling of you pulling his stitches taught interrupted that.

You raised a single brow at him. “Everyone calls me Doc around here. Isn’t a nickname enough for you, Sergeant?” 

He sighed, a smile on his face as he shook his head. “No ma’am, but if it helps, you can call me Bucky, since we’re on a nickname basis.” Then you told him your name, he nodded at it, saying it a few times. “I like the sound of your name, and I was right by the way, it’s fitting, Doll.” 

You shook your head. “Alright Sergeant—” he raised both brows, clearing his throat, which made you laugh. “Okay fine, Bucky, you’re good to go. Now please, I have other men to assist.” 

-

When the camp had moved from the woods to an actual base in the city, you couldn’t have been happier. The feeling of warm water against your skin was a blessing.

Peggy Carter was incredibly nosy though, and she couldn’t wait to question you about the Sergeant that just couldn’t leave you alone.

You were currently in the shower, letting the warm water run along your skin, a smile on your face at the feeling. Then the shower curtain was practically ripped open—your eyes wide as Peggy looked at you expectantly.

“Well! Are you gonna tell me about James Barnes—or rather Bucky? We’re finally somewhere that’s not full of eyes and ears and I’ve been dying to know! He follows you around like a lost puppy!” She then noticed the way you covered your breasts while turning away from her and laughed.

“Please! I’ve seen it all and you’ve seen me! This is not our first rodeo, must I remind you of when you were literally shot and I helped you get dressed, or the countless amount of times we had to stand guard for one another when showering at base camp? Now come on! Fess up already! He’s devilishly handsome anyways but he’s not exactly my type.”

You nodded at her, now snatching the curtain from her hands to cover your body, the shower still running. 

“Yeah because your type is clearly blue eyed blondes with big hearts and even bigger muscles!” 

She scoffed, blushing at the comment as she started pulling the pins from her hair. “That is not true!” 

Your pointed look had her hesitating.

 “Okay! Steve’s a good guy! Besides, he wouldn’t be a bad suitor to have! He’s very sweet, intelligent, caring, and optimistic! He went on a solo mission to rescue a unit out of the kindness of his heart!”

You nodded at her, now shutting the curtain again, rinsing the suds from your body as you spoke. “I was there, I’m aware Peggy. Just ask him out! We’re in Europe! Go dancing with him or something. I know it’s not common to make the first move but he clearly likes you!”

She scoffed. “Yes, just like your dear little Bucky likes you! Between me and you, if I were you, I’d jump his bones!”

You practically ripped the shower open, now wrapping yourself in a large towel. “Peggy! That’s not appropriate! I will not be jumping anyone’s bones! Even if he is kind of cute.” 

The two of you spent the rest of the night gossiping amongst one another, sharing several laughs, getting to relax for the first time in a long time.

The next week went by quickly, Steve was aiding in the mapping of several different Axis bases and even Hydra bases with the newfound knowledge from those rescued in Italy. You had also done quite a bit of research on Hydra’s previous experiments, pulling information about what they could’ve been possibly working on—and you knew it all revolved around the serum.

But it went beyond that, into the realm of mind control as well. It was honestly quite frightening how far they were willing to go, but it was your job to never underestimate the enemy.

Whenever you were situated and working in silence, it was as if that was the most opportune time for James Barnes to stumble into you, a smirk on his face as he’d pull a seat up beside you, pestering you for twenty to thirty minutes, asking too many questions that he truly didn’t need an answer to.

Honestly, he just liked the sound of your voice. Plus, he’d always liked a bit of a chase. There was a dance to these things, and it was clear you found him attractive, but you were also not giving him the time of day, which made him like you a bit more.

Tonight Steve was set to speak with his proposed team, he’d be asking them to follow him into enemy lines, onto their most dangerous mission yet. But it was also a joyous occasion, the Allies were winning the war and people had been celebrating on a global scale.

It made sense that everyone was drinking at the pub, smiles on their faces, loud boisterous laughter echoing through the building, and the sound of off-key singing had also caught your attention as you walked into the bar with Peggy.

She’d opted for a red outfit, still modest but also fitted, her hair looser than usual—you’d spent extra time on it for her while encouraging her to finally make ‘her move’ tonight. You all had a major mission that would start tomorrow, so tonight was for living.

Peggy had practically forced you into the fitted white outfit. A sweetheart neckline that you would’ve never considered wearing outside of a date back home. It accentuates your curves while leaving just enough to the imagination. The skirt was fitted, and it was a bit shorter than Peggy’s but she argued that you’d need it to be shorter for ‘whatever you choose to do with that Sergeant tonight.’

Even your hair was perfectly styled, a bold red lip and a pair of pointed toe stilettos being the finishing touches to the look.

There were several hoots and whistles at you two, a few of the men even taking off their hats, calling your name specifically catching your attention before calling out statements like “Oh Doc! I’m hurt—I need you to come patch me up baby!” plus the drunken “Doc! I think I’m sick and you’re the only cure!” You shushed them with a sincere smile, waving a hand.

Then Peggy spotted Steve, so you winked at her, practically pushing her in that direction. She swatted at your hands before motioning for you to follow suit.

You hadn’t noticed Bucky, not until you leaned against the doorframe, watching Peggy approach Steve. He stood up straight, eyes moving from Peggy to you—widening in the process. 

You crossed your arms over your chest, the motion pushing your cleavage up even further as your gaze shifted from Peggy and Steve to the blue eyed Sergeant that couldn’t get his eyes off of you.

“Ma’am.” Bucky wasn’t sure who he was acknowledging, Peggy was closer, but you—you looked like the embodiment of sin itself. A wolf in sheep’s clothing, the white should’ve given you an innocent glow, but the way your eyes trailed him only emphasized what he’d suspected. You were far from innocent, and he wanted to know more about you—he also wanted to be inside of you.

But James Barnes is a gentleman, he wouldn’t be that forward with you. 

“Evening boys.” You spoke, eyes moving to Steve for a quick second, he flashed you a small smile and head tilt “Doc.”, then your eyes were back on Bucky, who was currently looking you up and down—shamelessly.

“I’ve gotta say Doc, you clean up nicely.” he bit his bottom lip after speaking, eyes now on your own. 

“Thanks Sergeant, how about you buy me a drink?” Your flirtatious tone was clearly surprising to both Steve and Bucky. Then you took a step forward, grasping Bucky’s forearm, pulling him in your direction. “I wasn’t kidding Barnes. Don’t worry, I don’t bite.” 

Bucky quickly recovered, “What if I want you to?”

You smirked, raising a brow “let’s just see where the night takes us then, now if you’ll both excuse us.” You smiled at Steve and Peggy, now pulling Bucky behind you as you walked to the bar.

His eyes didn’t leave your figure, Bucky was positive he was blushing. His heart practically hammering in his chest. He was a ladies man! Bucky Barnes knew his way around women! There was an entire song and dance to things, but here he was stumbling after you like a bumbling idiot. 

There was only one seat left at the bar, thankful that the stool had a wide base as he sat down, then you sat in his lap, arm wrapped around his broad shoulders to hold yourself in place, fingers now playing with his hair. 

You laughed at the whistles coming from the table full of his fellow team members before leaning closer to him, lips barely brushing against his earlobe. “Is this alright Bucky?” You knew this was far from appropriate, but with the way everything was panning out, it truly was now or never.

Bucky nodded his head, one hand now around your waist, a firm grip holding you in place—he smiled at your light giggle. “Y’know, usually I make the first move with most women—but you are clearly not most women.” His eyes trailed your features as if he was committing every small detail to memory.

He was quick to call the bartender over, ordering two drinks while you kissed the side of his neck, leaving a red lipstick mark against his tanned skin. Bucky practically shivered at the feeling. 

“And to think, this whole time I thought you couldn’t stand me.” 

You laughed at his joke, shaking your head before taking a sip of your drink. “At first I tried not to like you. But two days into knowing you, you wouldn’t leave me the hell alone. And I haven’t known a day of peace since. I figured I’d take it as a sign.”

He nodded his head, smiling at you, eyes fixed on your lips “Yeah? And what’s that gotten you?”

You raised a brow. “I’m in the lap of a handsome Sergeant, that’s almost enough—though I could think of a thing or two that would make it better.” Your hands trailed his chest, grasping the collar of his shirt while you leaned a bit closer to him, lips now centimeters apart from his. 

Both of you should’ve cared that the bar was full of other soldiers. You should’ve cared that you both were easily identifiable and this wasn’t exactly the most ‘okay’ thing to do. But you didn’t care and neither did Bucky.

Then his lips were on yours. You smiled into the kiss, tugging on his collar, pulling him a bit closer to you as your lips moved in sync. Bucky tasted like a mixture of whiskey and tobacco—and part of you wanted to hate it but you couldn’t. It was practically intoxicating. 

His large hand cupped your face, caressing it as he kissed you deeply, tongue gliding against your bottom lip—asking for entrance. He knew you were trying to play hard to get with him, so he squeezed your waist a bit tighter, earning a small gasp and the opportunity to slide his tongue against your own. 

Bucky Barnes kissed like he’d been dehydrated, left in the desert for months without a single drop of water. He kissed you like it was the last time he’d ever kiss anyone.

You were the first to pull away from the heated exchange, resting your forehead against his for a moment, lipstick now smeared around your mouth and onto his lips. 

He laughed first, then you followed. 

“I hope you’re alright with us just doing that tonight—as much as I’d like to do even more with you. I’m a gentleman.” As Bucky spoke he used his thumb to swipe along the corner of your lip, then under your bottom lip, wiping away the lipstick smears. “Besides, this is my only chance to get to know you Doc.”

You smiled at that. “As long as you let me kiss you again before the night ends, I’m an open book.”

Bucky asked you questions you’d never expect. He asked about your family, a few questions about your father and why you hadn’t wanted much to do with the military. Bucky also asked if you were a cat or dog person, which had you laughing. He asked about your hobbies, favorite colors, foods, restaurants, and came to find out you two were from the same city.

“So, you’re a Brooklyn girl huh? When this is all over, we should go dancing like Steve and Peggy over there, I’ll take you to dinner, parade you around town like the beauty you are.”

You raised a single brow.“That’s real smooth Bucky, but unfortunately for you and I, outside of the military—outside of this—guys like you don’t go for girls like me. We might be up north, but you know how it is.”

He sighed and nodded his head, free hand now resting against one of your knees, thumb lightly rubbing it back and forth in a comforting manner. “Y’know, change has to start somewhere—and besides, if we’re not hanging around where I used to go, I’m sure I can swing around your way.”

You laughed at his optimism, shaking your head at him. “Yeah, maybe huh?”

Bucky smiled, leaning in to kiss you again. 

It was nice kissing you, as your lips moved against his, he felt like he didn’t have a care in the world, as if everything had paused temporarily and it was just you and him. It’d been years since he’d felt like this with anyone. But maybe he was being too hasty, you two had barely met a few weeks ago, but it was as if he knew you were the one for him.

He couldn’t say that to you though, he wasn’t about to scare you off. So instead, he opted to kiss you softly, in a crowded rowdy bar, like it was his last night with you.

-

The three weeks following the night at the pub were hectic to say the least. Battle plans were constantly changing, Steve and the Howling Commandos were on the move every single day. They’d come back to the main base camp three times total. 

It was apparent that the war was leaning heavily into their favor, and with their increased efforts of taking down enemy bases and Hydra operations, but the closer they got to the main Hydra base, the riskier the missions got. 

The first night that Bucky had been back he’d waited until the debriefs were over before stealing you away. He shushed you quietly as he pulled you into an empty storage closet, your back against the door while he stood in front of you. It’d been nearly a week since you’d seen one another last.

“I missed you, y’know. But I gotta say, you sound incredibly sexy giving us coordinated locations and directions over the radio.” He peppered open mouthed kisses along your jaw and neck as he spoke, kissing you softly between each word. 

You couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Bucky! We should be working! This isn’t junior high where you sneak off to kiss pretty girls!” You hadn’t pushed him away though, instead you were trying to hold back your laughter while speaking in a rushed whisper. One of your hands on his chest, the other grasping his forearm slightly. 

“I am working right now, I’m doing anatomy research—what if they try to throw a beautiful woman at me to distract me out there?”

You scoffed at his comment, shoving him back playfully. “Oh so that’s all it takes huh? A beautiful woman and you’re all over her?” You raised a brow at him, waiting for his response while he opened and closed his mouth a few times as if he was thinking.

“No, if she’s not you I don’t want her.” He sounded so serious, it actually caught you a bit off guard. 

Then you were grasping him by his tie and pulling him closer again before smashing your lips against his. You felt him smile against your lips, practically melting against you. Then you slid your free hand down his chest, towards his belt, lightly tugging on it.

Bucky moaned against your lips before pulling back. “Doll, that’s something you’ve gotta wait for.” He smirked as he spoke, watching you pout slightly before rolling your eyes at him. Then you pulled him into another heated kiss.

“Tell you what, next time I see you, I’ll give you a parting gift you’ll love.” 

You raised a brow at him, nodding slowly. “Yeah? And what would that gift include?” His mischievous smile told you everything you needed to know.

“Guess you’ll just have to find out.” 

That night Bucky had helped you climb onto one of the high rise fire escapes of one of the buildings, the both of you spent hours talking about his past as you stared at the stars. Meanwhile he was too busy staring at you, admiring your beauty under the moonlight.

The second night he was back, he surprised you. 

You knew their unit would be back, but you were also stumped with work. There was more information being intercepted about Hydra’s current fixation on recreating the super soldier serum and the Red Skull. There was also an emphasis on Odin’s treasures—some mythical powerful object that they were in search of.

Typically you would be present during major debriefs for any updates to the current war maps, however you were in a smaller office, focused on translating Russian messages. You’d gotten the hang of major key words with the help of a few other Agents, but you had to fill in the blanks by cross referencing documents.

When the door opened and lightly shut you assumed it was just another Agent coming back to give you more information, however the sound of the lock clicking shut caught your attention. You were quick to sit up straight and turn towards the door, a relieved sigh falling from your lips at the sight of Bucky.

He looked a bit disheveled, however he was alright and in one piece. He also held a small bouquet of flowers in his hand, smiling at you. Then he took off his hat, handing you the flowers before sitting beside you.

“So this is what you’ve been up to Doc? My smart girl’s over here learning Russian?” Bucky spoke with a teasing tone, a smile on his face while he leaned into your space, eyes scanning your messy handwriting as you took off the large headphones, placing them on the desk before pausing the intercepted message.

“Yeah, Phillips has me working through these, pretty sure I’ve almost got them all cracked. But I’m just tired of listening to Russian—and thank you for these by the way” you motioned to the flowers “They’re beautiful.”

Bucky nodded, “Beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl. Now c’mere—” he leaned a bit closer, hand on the back of your head, gently pulling you forward as he kissed you. 

Your lips moved in sync with his, however he cut the kiss short, instead opting to kiss along your neck, hands moving to unbutton the top few buttons of your white shirt, lips trailing down your jaw, to the column of your throat. Then as he lightly pushed your shirt back, he nipped and sucked a mark into your skin, earning a soft moan as you grasped onto his bicep.

Bucky moved away from you for a few seconds, a lopsided smile on his face as he looked at you. “Promised I’d give you a gift you’d love.” Then he was out of his chair and lowering himself onto his knees, hands on your skirt covered thighs. His hand found your hip, fiddling with the skirt’s zipper before finally tugging it down—fabric now looser around your body.

He didn’t hesitate to push your skirt up, nor did he hesitate to tug you closer to the edge of your seat, laughing at your sudden gasp as he pushed your thighs apart, making enough space for him to fit between them.

Then he looked from your clearly damp panties, to your face. “You okay with this Sweetheart?” Bucky bit his bottom lip as you nodded, then he sucked against his teeth lightly before continuing “I need you to use your words pretty girl.” 

“Yes—yes I’m okay with this.” 

“Good girl.” Bucky kissed along your thighs, the closer he got to your core, the meaner he was with his kisses. They were bruising and consuming, he even moaned against your skin before biting down on your inner thigh—sure to leave a mark in its place.

James Barnes knew how to please a woman. This wasn’t something he did for every girl he’d courted, however, it would be something that he’d do for you anytime you’d ask him. 

His fingers grasped your panties, gently pulling them to the side before he moaned at the sight of your weeping cunt. “Fuck—she’s been waiting for me huh? Been thinking about me lately baby? Greedy cunt’s already dripping.”

Bucky’s words had you whimpering, back arching as he licked a flat stripe along your center. Your hands immediately in his hair at the motion, thighs spreading impossibly wider to account for his broad stature. Then he was picking up your left thigh and practically swinging it over his right shoulder, giving himself more space to work with.

He licked along your slit several times, gathering your nectar, groaning at the taste before teasing your hole a few times, slowly dragging his tongue around it—listening to your whimpers above him. Then his tongue was on your clit, lapping at it with the perfect amount of pressure.

Your toes were curling and you were quick to kick off your heels, the shoes making a loud clacking sound against the tiled floors while you writhed against Bucky. You felt his finger against your entrance before he could even say anything, and you rocked your hips forward.

“Yeah—you want my fingers too baby?” he licked his lips as he looked up at you.

“Yes—Bucky please—want everything you’ll give me.” your voice was higher than usual, and whinier as you rolled your hips against him. Then you were moaning his name as one thick finger slid into you—the stretch delicious.

You were close, that much you knew, and with the way he was lapping at your clit and curling his finger inside of you, it wouldn’t be long before you were cumming all over his face.

Then Bucky slid a second finger in, now sucking on your clit, the newfound sensation and stretch sent you directly over the edge, toes curling as you moaned his name like a prayer—thankful the large concrete walls were practically soundproof.

He finger fucked you through your orgasm.

Then he was pulling away, sucking your juices off of his fingers with a loud moan.

“Taste so good, baby. Fuck, if it was up to me, I’d stay between these thighs all day.” 

You were flustered now, watching as he fixed your panties, then your skirt, then Bucky placed each of your shoes back on your feet as he peppered kisses to your calves. The last thing he did was after standing up, he leaned forward, fixing the buttons of your top.

“Gotta make sure you look put together—can’t let everyone know what we’re doing in here. Don’t want them getting jealous.”

You laughed at him, shaking your head as you instinctively wiped your thumbs around the edges of your lips. 

“Besides, you’re my girl—this is all for my viewing pleasure only.” He motioned to you and your body, which earned another laugh from you.

“Yeah? I’m your girl huh.?”

He nodded his head, the same lopsided smile on his face “course you are Doc, can’t wait to scream it from the rooftops.”

The third and last time you’d ever see James Buchanan Barnes occurred six days later. 

It was later into the evening, and you knew tensions were high, this was it, everyone was finally closing in on the base and Armin Zola himself. To say everyone was nervous would’ve been an understatement. 

You’d been working through the last and final intercepted communication about a train transit when Bucky had found you. 

He approached the same way as usual with a wide smile and a few kisses. Then he sat beside you, and he was tense. You sighed, placing your pen down while turning to look at him.

“What’s the matter, Bucky?”

Bucky sighed, relaxing at the sound of your caring voice. “Just tired is all, missions getting longer, harder, but it’s nothing we can’t handle. I just want to get this over with y’know, so we can all relax for a while. Then maybe I’ll get to settle down with a beautiful woman and be a family man.”

You laughed at his insinuation, raising a single brow “and what makes you think I’d want to settle down with you?”

He nodded a few times “Well because you really like me and I really like you. Besides, we look great together, I’m thinking we get a cute little place on your end of Brooklyn, we go steady for a while, I inevitably ask you to marry me because I’d be an idiot not to marry you—we get married and have two kids, or four, whatever you’d prefer.”

You smiled at the domestic thought. “Yeah? Maybe even get a couple of pets too? I’d probably start a garden, my mother loves to garden—figured I’d follow in her footsteps.”

He laughed, a wide smile on his face as he looked at you. “Doll, I’ve known you for a few months, and I might be absolutely insane for saying this—but I think I’m falling in love with you.”

Your eyes widened at the statement. Completely caught off guard by the sentiment, but there was something about him that pulled you in, from the moment you actually laid eyes on him. “Don’t worry Sergeant, I feel the same way.”

Before he could respond the radio started again, a thick layer of static over two distinct muffled voices, you shushed Bucky, grasping your pen, jotting down what you could—clearly a direction of some sort laced in a riddle. 

He watched as your brows knit together, turning the volume dial up a few times, now decoding the riddle. Then you glanced at him, asking for his compass. He fished it out of his pocket, handing it to you as if it was second nature.

When you opened it, you were caught off guard, a photo of you inside of it smiling, clearly cropped from one of the papers that had been published following the rescue of the 107th infantry. You showed it to him, raising both brows “you really do like me huh? You miss me that much when you’re away?”

He shushed you, an evident rosy blush on Bucky’s cheeks while he looked from the locket to your smiling face. “Y’know what—Yeah, I do. Besides, you give me something to look forward to, someone to come home to, and I picked up this in Italy. I was gonna save it, give it to a great girl one day—but I think you just might be that girl.”

Bucky handed you a small box, and when you opened it you couldn’t help but smile, a golden chain with a heart shaped locket on it, and as you pulled it out of the box to open the heart, a photo of him was right inside of it.

“That way you can always keep me close to your heart. Consider it a good luck charm.” 

You didn’t hesitate to kiss Bucky, you kissed him until you couldn’t breathe.

Saying your usual goodbyes felt normal at that moment.

“See you on the other side, Sergeant.”

“I look forward to it, Doc.”

You knew you wouldn’t be seeing him for a few days at least, and you knew this was a big deal, which is also why you hadn’t hesitated to kiss him in front of everyone, ignoring the whistles and applause in the background.

Except, Bucky didn’t come back.

When you first heard the news you thought maybe they’d find him before getting back to the base, maybe he would be alright, maybe he would land in a river and wash up on shore. There were so many useless maybes floating through your head after hearing about what happened on the train car.

But when the Howling Commandos came back to base, Bucky wasn’t there. 

James Buchanan Barnes was pronounced dead seven days later on the 12th of March in 1945.

Steven Rogers avenged his best friend in another reckless solo mission. His decisions single handedly led to the war being won. However, he would also be pronounced missing in action, then later pronounced dead. But he did leave behind an incredibly impactful legacy that would also lead to a new generation of heroes.

Mostly everyone had fled the main base in Europe after the war ended, you’d stuck around, choosing to help archive information—which was a bad idea in and of itself, considering one minute you were filing paperwork and the next you were knocked out cold.

-

Thanks for reading sexies!! Feedback is always appreciated <3

Series Masterlist

[mesopelagic-zone]

PROTECT Educational Resources for the Under-served. Protect PBS and NPR.

Signing this petition is FREE and it takes LESS THAN 2 MINUTES.

"The Trump administration has proposed eliminating all federal funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)."

To protect public broadcasting is to protect underprivileged groups for which programs like PBS were designed to serve. Public broadcasting is crucial to empowering the accessibility of education.

Public educational broadcasting is incredibly beneficial for childhood development of social, emotional, cultural, and academic skills outside of the classroom.

Personally, PBS and NPR taught younger and current me a wealth of information spanning a wide range of topics from how many arms an octopus has to the Black Panther Movement to so much more.

Protect educational programming for all.

SIGN AND SPREAD THE WORD.

!!! Below Are Some Cool Ways to Share !!!

REBLOG this post with your favorite program on PBS as a kid!

POST this link to Bluesky or Twitter or your dating app profile or whatever media you use most frequently! Increased visibility for this issue is super sick and cool!

SEND this petition to the family group chat! Or your Discord server! Or by mail! Or by any communication platform you enjoy!

And for my poor disheartened American brethren! No matter how small you might feel in this political climate, remember: COLLECTIVE ACTION MAKES CHANGE!

[stoutstoatpress]

VAST Guides are here!

By using VAST, you can learn how to add accessibility tags for screen readers to your PDFs, by using Adobe InDesign and Adobe Acrobat.

I'm super excited to release a brand new publishing community resource: VAST (or Visual Accessibility Skills Toolkit).

>> WWW.VAST.GUIDE <<

VAST is a collection of short articles aiming to spread awareness about what visual impairments are, and how folks in the small press industry can accommodate them.

The guides are split into four sections:

Visual Impairment 101 explores what visual impairments are, how visually impaired people navigate digital content, and introduces some current language and definitions (circa 2023).

Screen reading PDFs explores the basics of how screen readers navigate through digital content. Includes video examples!

Using InDesign introduces different tools that designers can use to make their documents more accessible.

Putting Into Practice presents case studies of common structures in roleplaying games, and how they could be given accessibility tags using tools covered in section 3. (Coming soon!)

VAST was developed by Brian Tyrrell (me!), and disability advocate and accessibility consultant Yubi Coates. Visually impaired consultants and InDesign experts were brought in to corroborate the guides.

All of the information in the guides is up to date, and we’re committed to reviewing and updating the guides in 2024 and 2025.

This project was completed using a small pot of funding provided by Creative Scotland’s Create: Inclusion program in 2022.

[rottenpumpkin13]

Given the geography of the ff7 universe, some form of the Olympic Games could exist, but of course, it’s a thing that Shinra would probably fund and control. Say Shinra does host a form of Olympics in Midgar, and it’s to show-off their soldiers’ strength and skill. What kind of events do you think our bois would be competing in? How well does it go, and what kind of events do you think they’d excel/ or flop in?

Things That Happen At The Olympics, A List

• Zack takes part in the athletics event. When the sprinting event rolls around, he runs so fast that he doesn’t stop even after crossing the finish line. Angeal has to chase him down the track.

• Sephiroth and Genesis go head-to-head in table tennis. Both are equally skilled and determined to beat the other, so the match goes on for three hours. It would have gone on longer, but Kunsel in the audience can’t take it anymore, and throws his helmet on top of the table to end the match. The cameraman curiously pans to Kunsel in the audience, but somehow he still has his helmet on.

• Genesis participates in archery. He steps up to the firing line, he's sophisticated, he's confidend, He declares, "The arrow has left the bow of the goddess," releases the arrow, and misses miserably. He struggles to keep from swearing, trying to maintain an air of good sportsmanship, but the look on his face is something Sephiroth will forever hold dear in his heart. He literally made this face -> ( : ౦ ‸ ౦ : )

• Sephiroth keeps winning gold at sports he's never played in his life and it's driving Genesis nuts.

• Sephiroth participates in javelin throwing. He deliberately turns and hurls it toward the crowd, aiming to pierce Professor Hojo. He misses, but receives a round of applause from all of SOLDIER.

• Angeal participates in weightlifting but is visibly flustered, unable to keep his composure as Zack, Genesis, and Sephiroth shout and whistle at him. Something about Angeal’s toned skin glistening in the sun, with sweat dripping down his abs, drives them feral.

• One of the break dancers gets sick, so Zack jumps in and begs the board to let Cloud compete.

Zack: Pleeease, director?? He's really good! We promise!

Lazard: I appreciate your confidence in your friend, Zack, but this is a competitive program, and I can’t risk us being embarrassed.

*After Cloud wins gold*

Lazard: I'm not even going to ask.

• Competitive cooking is part of this Olympics. Angeal is the chosen participant, but when he sees others failing their dishes and throwing them out, he protests by grabbing the discarded food and stacking it on his station to highlight the waste. They try to drag him out, but Angeal fights back by using the leftover food as a weapon, throwing it at security and yelling, "AT LEAST WE FOUND SOME USE FOR THEM!"

• Kunsel’s career as a commentator is short-lived when he’s announcing a basketball game. He says, "And Zack goes for the ball! At least this one won’t ghost him after a bad date," and is promptly dragged off the mic by Director Lazard.

• Sephiroth is selected for dressage but withdraws from the competition at the last minute because he, quote, "developed a deep bond with the horse and cannot bear to have him compete merely as a show animal."

• The guy who was supposed to participate in the shooting portion gets sick, so Zack begs Director Lazard to put Cloud in his place instead. The participants keep disappearing and Lazard is growing suspicious. Anyway, Cloud wins gold.

• Years of childhood fencing training pay off as Genesis takes home the gold medal. He will not stop talking about it for the rest of his life.

• Zack participates in freestyle swimming, zooms through the water but miscalculates and slams his head on the inside of the pool. This goes viral on the internet not because of Zack's injury, but because the cameras capture the moment Sephiroth stops swimming to help, approaching Zack’s floating body and blood in the water slowly, like a shark, with only his eyes visible above water.

• Sephiroth participates in pole vaulting but uses the pole as a javelin, launching it into the crowd, aimed at Professor Hojo.

• Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal face off against Zack, Kunsel, and Cloud in tug of war (the guy who was originally supposed to be in Cloud's place mysteriously disappeared and Lazard is growing anxious).

Everyone assumes AGS is going to win, but somehow, it only takes 0.3 seconds for KZC to pull them over the line. At one point, Cloud pulls so hard that Sephiroth just becomes a silver blur being violently yanked forward.

• Zack is about to win gold at surfing but gets wiped out by an entire school of fish.

• Life-saving is one of the sports. Sephiroth and Angeal are paired up to rescue Genesis from drowning, but they can’t agree on the best method. While they argue, Genesis theatrically "drowns" but by the time they finally compromise, Genesis is drowning for real. Cloud jumps in and saves Genesis, winning gold. Lazard takes out his special pills.

• Drama that happens at the olympic village includes:

- Zack breaking his cardboard bed three times because he has the tendency to literally jump into bed at the end of the night. He gets a reputation for picking up dates and rolls with it "because it gives him street cred"

- Genesis practices his flute when be can't sleep, a hobby that deeply disturbs his neighbors, namely Angeal who has four times barged into the room, grabbed the flute and threatened to shove it in places that intrigue Genesis.

- Everyone notices there's never any apple muffins available. Until they discover that Zack has been hoarding all of them in his room, stockpiling enough to last the entire event.

- Sephiroth testing the fire alarm one night to see if it actually works, pulling it and then having the brilliant idea to turn this into a fire safety lesson or really he just wants to end the Olympics early because he's so over it, so he sets fire to the hallways.

- The combined sight of Sephiroth fleeing the scene with a cat no one knew he had adopted, Zack running out of his room with a wheelbarrow full of muffins, Angeal trying to save his cardboard bed by running through the halls with it over his head, Genesis playing the flute as everything burns around him, makes Lazard quit on the spot.

[scholarinbookland]

I think (in my very naive and limited experience as an actually dedicated music fan to a living artist) that the most important thing to keep in mind as a fan is, “Don’t put words in your artist’s mouth, and don’t assume you know the inner workings of their mind, including their level of professional agency.”

The biggest thing I’ve noticed in K-pop in general and occasionally in certain BTS fan spaces (thankfully not in my experience with Jimin’s individual fan base) is a tendency towards either infantilizing grown adults (especially the men somehow) or assuming they have an absurdly unrealistic amount of power and agency that anyone who’s ever been an employee should not assume exists in any business. Both extremes are putting words in the artists’ mouths.

Instead of creating or passing around narratives in-fandom either positively or negatively discussing their level of agency, fans should instead think critically about the power dynamics at play in their professional lives.

What education level did your favorite star achieve before signing their first contract? Even Western artists who signed with labels before graduating high school have reported being cheated or otherwise exploited. Someone in K-Pop who signed their first contract before graduating high school is more likely to have become inured to unfavorable working conditions than someone who was already attending university when they auditioned or were scouted.

What was their childhood economic level? Someone raised in a lower-income or economically unstable situation is less likely to have access to a lawyer that can help them catch unfavorable terms or unreasonable conditions, and will be more likely to take the first opportunity instead of shopping around.

How much can an artist’s specific company be reasonably expected to invest in their career? Compare your artist to whomever is roughly equal in popularity level within the same company (if debuting groups being funded equally, for example, or perhaps comparing the funding given to each soloist and checking if any differentials are due to expected return on investment). If they’re being promoted over equally popular colleagues, they may have more bargaining power. If the reverse is true, they may have less.

What is the artist’s temperament, judging by how they react in off-stage content and interviews? While they still may be playing their assigned persona offstage, if a generally circumspect or mild-mannered individual lets slip dissatisfaction, take note. Conversely, if someone is known for being assertive and outspoken, trust that they will let their fan base know if something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

How much did the company invest in training/creating/developing the artist? Companies in the music industry run on big egos and greed. Promoting trainees which you discovered, mentored, or provided extra lessons for is an exercise in ego stroking, ensuring loyalty, and potentially having to pay that trainee less for longer. A trainee that needed minimal polishing and/or had skills gained outside of your company doesn’t raise company cachet as much when their star rises.

This is not an exhaustive list of why I find some reports of company mistreatment or benevolence more credible than others, but it’s a good starting point to the reason why I was fairly convinced it’s not all sunshine and roses at HYBE. I’ve watched some deep dives into the way their particular training program works compared to others, some honestly unconvincing justifications for their incompetence regarding spacing out album releases, read some interesting think pieces on the things Jimin values the most (stage performance opportunities, artistic connection of some sort to his material, the ability to practice and refine his efforts until they are perfect, achieving the vision and concept for each project), and those questions among others led me to believe that he is, at the very least, a threat to the justifications for their frankly baffling financial decisions this decade.

I’m neutral regarding initial FACE-era decisions (denial of a visual album, short promotion period, overlapping releases splitting fandom energy) being anything more nefarious and personal than neglect for his debut in favor of accommodating the rap line’s solo projects both financially and scheduling-wise (March and April 2023 had a lot of overlap just for BTS soloists), but the handling post him topping the BB H100 feels like a result of damage control regarding their Western expansion policy. Similarly, MUSE’s handling by Geffen feels more like a combination of retaliation to his fan base for upsetting their plans for Western record-setting the previous year and a devaluation of his financial importance to company investors by releasing it with minimal promotional budget and straddling two financial quarters.

This view allows me to only feel aggrieved by the things confirmed by the artist as not to his satisfaction (he wished he was given more time to prepare for FACE, he would have liked to have a full visual album) without kvetching about what we don’t know to be as meaningful to the artist (chart minutiae, record acknowledgement by the company or band mates). Reframing fan expectations to not dictate how your artist should feel about a situation and instead focus any group efforts on being conducted to show your appreciation for their artistry really improves the motivation of the fan base. It’s also way easier to motivate with love than spite, so I stream and vote because I really enjoy FACE and MUSE, not to beat any other artist or show up the company. But everyone curates their fandom experience differently, so mileage may vary on this philosophy.

[titleknown]

So, context: I'm in the Tucson, Arizona branch of the Democratic Socialists Of America. They need to get this out to more social media sites, and I volunteered my Tumblr. So here we are.

For further context, there's currently a debate in Tucson on what programs and services to cut. There's a lot of things they want to cut that they really shouldn't, including our big Free Mass Transit program.

So, this is to get folks to do the survey (Deadline is Friday, April 11th, 2025) to tell them no, don't do that, just increase the taxes by a bit and cut the cops. So, if you live in Tucson, please take the survey, and if not, please boost this so someone in Tucson might find it.

Full transcript past the break, because it's way too long for an alt-text:

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

Your Money Matters! City of Tucson is asking YOU what services they should KEEP & what they should SLASH this year. TELL THEM!

This guide is for those who want to engage in collective action with others when filling out the FY2026 Budget Survey for Abolition & Housing Justice!

Don't Wait! The Survey Closes Fri, April 11th (Date changed from Friday, April 8th on the original) at 4:59 PM

Tucson’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Survey:

People should feel free to follow their hearts on the survey. Your voice DOES matter. If you choose to use your voice for collective action, here are some recommendations.

Words and phrases in BOLD are ones we want people to use specifically. 

There are some #hashtags suggested. Feel free to use all or none of them! 

Q1) Choose 8 Priorities:

Affordable Housing

More Firefighters

Fund early education 

Substance Use Help

Homelessness Support

More Shade and Trees

Job Skills Training

More Arts and Culture

Q2) Are there expenses in the City's General Fund that you consider to be wasteful/unnecessary that the Mayor and Council should examine cutting? Limit to 4 sentences.

Example:

#lesspolice #carenotcops 

Nearly 1/3 of the general fund is taken up by police personnel. The current high number of uniformed officers and surveillance technologies like cameras are a waste of city money when many tasks TPD does could be eliminated with a better public safety strategy.

Q3)

Are there city service changes you think would save money and or improve impacts for the community and visitors that the Mayor and Council should consider adjusting?

Example

#replaceTPD #freebuses #CBVI #morehousing

Replacing police services with community-based violence prevention and intervention would be a big improvement. Moving money away from police services upstream towards social services, transit services, & climate resiliency would be more cost effective.

Q4)

What options should the city explore for new or increased dollars to help solve its projected deficit? Number with 1 being your top priority, and 6 being your last priority:

Suggestion:

1) Increase the local per-night-stay Bed surtax

3) Advertising tax

2) Secondary Property Tax

4) 1/4 cent sales tax

5) DO NOT SELECT 

6) DO NOT SELECT 

Transit fare -DO NOT SELECT - do not add a 5th or 6th priority

Please leave transit fare unranked

Q5) What additional Thoughts or comments do you have regarding the City's FY26 budget development? Limited to 4 sentences:

For this question, we wanted to highlight how badly the city manager’s office had bungled the public participation for FY2026. 

Example:

The budget should be participatory

A rubber-stamp public participation program conducted like this, rushed & inaccessible to Spanish speakers, lowers trust in the government

Stop lumping fire service with police

Keep transit free, fund housing & services to unhoused, raise unarmed city worker wages

[dngrcpckwithmurdericing]

BTS Suga helps fund Korea's largest artist-backed autism center at Severance

Severance Hospital said on Monday it has partnered with BTS member Suga, whose real name is Min Yoon-gi, to establish a pioneering treatment and research center for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

The “Min Yoon-gi Treatment Center,” named after the artist himself and funded by his 5 billion won ($3.6 million) donation, held its groundbreaking ceremony at the hospital on Monday.

The new facility will provide long-term, multidisciplinary care for individuals with ASD, offering integrated services such as language, psychological, and behavioral therapy.

It aims to fill a significant gap in Korea’s mental healthcare landscape by supporting not only clinical treatment but also research-driven, individualized care models over the course of a patient’s development.

Suga, known for his ongoing philanthropic activities and interest in mental health -- especially adolescent depression -- was inspired to initiate the project after meeting Professor Cheon Keun-ah, a leading authority in child psychiatry at Severance Hospital, in November of last year.

Through a series of follow-up discussions, the two agreed on the need for a dedicated, mid-to-long-term center that could provide sustained therapeutic support for ASD patients, beyond the short-term interventions currently available.

The donation marks the largest contribution ever made by an artist to the Yonsei University Health System, which oversees Severance Hospital.

Building on these discussions, Suga and Professor Cheon co-developed the MIND program -- a group-based therapeutic model that integrates music into social communication training for children with ASD.

The name MIND stands for Music, Interaction, Network, and Diversity, reflecting its core mission, which is to enhance sensory experience through music, foster social interaction, build relationships in group settings, and promote understanding of individual differences within a community.

From March to June this year, Suga personally participated in weekend sessions with ASD patients to test and refine the MIND program.

He played instruments, encouraged children to express themselves through rhythm and melody, and helped them develop interpersonal skills through group musical activities.

The pilot sessions produced notable results. Children who had previously shown limited verbal communication began expressing their thoughts and emotions through music and lyrics.

Some of the participants displayed musical talent by selecting and keeping rhythm on their chosen instruments. Notably, a patient, who previously showed minimal verbal and emotional expression, began responding to praise and interacted more openly with peers during ensemble play.

Professor Cheon emphasized the importance of these outcomes, noting that the program enables children with limited language ability to build meaningful social connections.

“Suga’s involvement went far beyond financial support,” Cheon said. “His sincerity, consistency, and intellectual engagement throughout these past months deeply moved all of us involved.”

Through music, the Min Yoon-gi Treatment Center aims not only to help children with ASD grow into independent and socially integrated individuals but also to challenge public stigma and reshape perceptions around autism, Cheon added.

Following the center’s completion in September, Severance plans to scale up the MIND program and launch additional music-centered therapeutic projects for individuals with developmental disabilities.

Traditional services such as Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and speech therapy will also be expanded. To ensure clinical rigor and sustainability, the hospital will conduct trials to validate the program’s efficacy, publish academic papers, and train specialists across disciplines.

“Over the past seven months of volunteering and preparing this program with Professor Cheon, I’ve come to realize just how powerful music can be as a bridge between people and emotions,” Suga said. “Being part of these children’s journey has been both humbling and fulfilling, and I will continue to support their integration into society with everything I can.”

Source: Lee Han-soo for Korea Biomedical Review

Published 2025.06.23 09:34

[mariacallous]

With the stroke of a pen, President Trump and his administration have cut education investments and weakened the United States’ global competitive edge—in stark opposition to the government’s America First Priorities. Using executive orders to debilitate the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID), and universities, the administration is creating an education shock where a system is suddenly compromised by attacks that leave it struggling to breathe and thrive. 

Only 4% of the U.S. federal budget goes to education, yet ED’s work touches most American schools and children. For example, nearly half of public schools receive Title 1 funding, which helps cover staffing, tutoring, and other critical services for schools that serve a high proportion of low-income students, including those in rural areas. Meanwhile, China has been increasing education funding to exceed its 4% benchmark. Cutting funds to U.S. schools, eliminating research on how to close learning gaps, and killing innovation grants will prevent children across all states from reaching their full potential as successful innovators and leaders. This education shock will not only hurt American students and communities but will also ultimately stifle the U.S. economy and force businesses to recruit more foreign workers. 

The education shock is also hurting the roughly 85 countries that rely on USAID for education programming to keep their societies and neighboring countries safe. These programs prevent youth migration to the U.S. in search of work and safety. Additionally, eliminating USAID forces hundreds of U.S. businesses that provide goods and services to schools worldwide to close their doors and lay off workers. Taxpayers spend only about $3.95 a year on education programs through USAID—about the same as a cup of coffee at Starbucks —but these programs have improved education and life outcomes for children living in some of the most dire circumstances. 

If the administration wants to put America first, it must quit throwing education shocks at our children and families at home and abroad as this will ultimately suffocate the U.S. economy. The U.S. needs to prioritize education, or it will fall behind other countries like China in development. Here are five reasons why education cuts will hurt American children, communities, and employers.

The US will lose in the global competition for talent and innovation

The U.S. has long been an education, research, and innovation powerhouse which has enabled it to foster some of the world’s best and brightest talent and innovators. Federal funds have fueled this excellence. Cuts to ED’s Institute for Education Sciences, the National Institutes for Health (NIH), and more, put the education, research, and innovation space in jeopardy and threaten the United States’ development as a nation. The domino effect of research cuts through NIH is already being felt at American universities, which rely on federal funds to ensure they are producing cutting-edge research and innovation and training young people to be at the forefront of new frontiers like AI. 

The U.S. economy depends on skilled labor, and by hurting research and our universities, we are threatening our supply of skilled workers. As Elon Musk said, “There is a dire shortage of extremely talented and motivated engineers in America. If you force the world’s best talent to play for the other side, America will LOSE.” Without an investment in education, research and innovation, the U.S. will lose the very people it needs to maintain leadership in global innovation. 

The best and brightest no longer will come to the US for higher education

The United States’ status as a top education destination for international students ensures universities remain at the top of the innovation game. International students also provide critical funding to universities, which benefits U.S. students. During President Trump’s first term, international student enrollment went down by 15% in 2020/2021, dipping below 1 million students, due to government policies and the COVID-19 pandemic. Post-pandemic enrollment increased by 11.5% in 2022/2023, returning to the 1 million student mark. International student enrollments are likely to go downward again due to the volatility of U.S. policies. On the other hand, the number of international students seeking to study in China, Canada, the U.K. and several other countries, is increasing.

International students also contribute financially to the U.S. economy and fill critical workforce gaps, especially in areas like health and technology. In the 2023-2024 academic year, international students at U.S. universities “contributed $43.8 billion and supported 378,175 jobs to the U.S. economy.” Many international students have become CEOs of U.S. companies (Satya Nadella) or taken leadership globally at the United Nations (Kofi Annan). Educating future global leaders is form of soft power that enables the U.S. to influence and shape the global political and economic environment. Throwing education shocks at our universities makes it impossible for them to attract and produce talent. 

The US is setting the stage for further learning losses

In addition to economically strangling American schools, cuts at ED are laying the foundation for deeper and more enduring learning losses that will put children further behind. The 2025 Education Recovery Scorecard indicates that students in most states are not achieving at the same reading and math levels as they were in 2019, pre-pandemic. While the losses vary by state, many red and blue states are not on track for their students to graduate and thrive in the workforce. 

Cutting research and data collection that tracks how well children learn is bad practice. No one wants to take medication that has not been well-researched, yet schools are expected to figure out how to curb learning loss without robust data. 

Dismantling ED funding is already creating uncertainty in states and schools as they make their budgets for the next school year. While most schools are funded locally, federal funds fill gaps for rural schools, schools with large numbers of low-income students, and services for students with disabilities. The energy spent fighting federal cuts will lead to a chilling effect in schools with lower returns on investment. Student disengagement and declines in boys’ participation and achievement in education are already on the rise, as are poor mental health and skills mismatch. Schools need more funding and support, not less. Preventing kids from learning better prevents them from doing better when they become adults and from obtaining 21st century jobs. 

US security will deteriorate

Dismantling USAID’s education investments that provide stability and services across the world makes our communities less safe.Young people without viable and safe employment and educational opportunities are connected to rises in violence, extremism, and other threats to their communities and across borders. Instead of discussing knowledge and resource transfers to help young people serve productive lives in their communities, the U.S. is discussing transfers of criminals. 

Donor funded education and youth programs in the Northern Triangle (Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador), for example, have helped to address social exclusion and to ensure that young people have alternatives to gang violence and a viable option for staying in their countries as opposed to being pushed to migrate to the U.S. With the United States’ recent stance to deport migrants and cut USAID funding, governments such as Honduras suggest that this approach pushes them closer to China who can support them through a funding vacuum. Fewer efforts to tackle the roots of migration and security mean that the U.S. is setting up a situation where security will further deteriorate across borders. 

US funding cuts will create lots of harm for little gain

Proposed funding cuts to education at home and abroad will do little to reduce the national debt, but as discussed above, undermine the U.S. role in the world and undercut its economic potential. Only 4% of the U.S. federal budget supports education through the ED. Less than 1% of the federal budget went to USAID programming in 2023, with a fraction of this (less than 2% of the $40 billion) going to USAID’s education programming. Education is the foundation for poverty reduction and economic growth. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio said when he was senator, “95 percent of the people on this planet who buy things live outside the United States … . We are helping people to emerge from poverty and ultimately become members of a global consumer class who buys American goods and services.” 

Conclusion

Making governments more efficient and accountable is a good goal for all administrations. However, creating education shocks through the rapid and haphazard dismantling of education investments is not just bad for children and their families, it is bad for the U.S. economy and security. Cutting education without a clear long-term strategy is an America last and not an America First approach. If the administration wants to “improve the education, well-being, and future success” of young people in the U.S., it needs to have the structures, systems, plans, and skilled workforce in place to do this.   

[askagamedev]

I'm a recent computer science graduate and finished my military duty, where I also developed a strong concept for my first game. Game development is my passion, and I’d love to pursue it full-time, but I’m unsure if going indie can provide enough financial stability at the start. Should I focus on funding and self-publishing, or look for a stable job in the industry or another field and keep game dev as a hobby for now? My friends think I could succeed as an influencer if I started streaming, but I’m also unsure if I want to specialize—programming might be an option.

It's important to remember that you're still in your early levels and there's a lot of the tech tree you haven't yet explored. In the ideal scenario, you'll manage to find a job in the industry and use it to level up your skills. You'll be able to earn the skills and experience needed to make your dream game real while building other games and seeing some best practices in action.

Outside of the ideal scenario, I think that finding a job that can pay the bills and leave you with enough free time to spend on your passion is a worthwhile endeavor. The amount of crossover from regular software engineering and game development is not nil, and leveling up in software engineering is a net positive towards making your dream game work out too... and programming generally pays a lot better than indie dev work. You can even consider the day job as a means to earn some funding to build a demo that you can use to shop around for investors and further funding.

I would caution against starting off with streaming too - these are two entirely separate pastimes and require different sets of skills. I don't know how you operate - maybe you're naturally gifted at juggling multiple things at once or perhaps you have the gift of the gab so that you can keep an audience engaged while speaking into the void and also concentrating at the same time. I just know that it's difficult enough getting started without a lot of experience in one thing, let alone multiple things at once.

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[my-deer-friend]

Hii I have a bit of personal question, if that is alright. I am very interested in the American Revolution but I do not live in America. I would like to become a historian or researcher of that time period one day. As a student do you think it is difficult to be a historian of the American Revolution when you are not American? I get a lot of books and information online, but I do not think it is the same as being in a place? Do you think your school program a good stepping stone to get into an American graduate school? Is that something you want to do one day?

Sorry for all the inquiries, you are just the only person on here who is in a similar situation as myself! Best wishes to you!

Hi Anon! This is a really good question, and I'll do my best to answer it as both a history student and a university professional.

(First, I'll note that my interest personally is not primarily in the American revolution, but rather in the 18th century more broadly. That includes lots of angles that I can pursue in Europe, not least looking at relations in the Atlantic world, the "republic of letters" and the enlightenment, and thematically I'm interested in queer history, which can be studied everywhere. I also have no desire to live in the US. But, yes, let's assume AmRev is the focus.)

There are different considerations for undergrad vs postgrad.

Undergraduate

At undergraduate level, it doesn't matter too much where you study. At this point in your journey, broadly speaking, the focus is on developing your academic skills, learning established content about your topic, and exploring a range of scholarly interests (not just the topic itself, but how to research that topic – i.e. methodologies). As long as your university has a department for American history, or even better a major, you're fine.

While you're busy with your degree, you can supplement your learning about the period in a lot of ways, including:

Using your own library to access books, journal articles and databases (and getting materials through inter-library loans if need be)

Using the vast and ever-growing online resources on American history provided by institutions like the Library of Congress, American universities and libraries (e.g. NYPL)

Where something isn't already available online, contacting the archive that has it and seeing if you can get a copy (I wrote a post about that)

Talk to your history prof about your interest, and they will probably be able to suggest some avenues to pursue. One very useful tool is to look up the AmRev curriculum or syllabus from other univerisities and see what readings and topics they cover (just google: "american revolution" syllabus). Here's one that came up.

And then – and I'll put this point in bold because it's the most important thing I'll say here:

👉✨Attend conferences✨👈

Conferences are where you make invaluable connections with like-minded scholars, hear about new research, find out about opportunities (scholarships, programs, funding, etc.), discover what a career in academia actually looks like, get advice from people already doing the job you want to do, and so on. There are even conferences specifically for undergrad students, or there might be a track at a generalist conference that allows emerging researchers to present on a topic. Lots of these take place online (hence, cheaper), or you might be able to apply for funding from your university to attend (or idk you have a fabulously wealthy great-aunt).

Postgraduate

While undergrad is more about learning, postgrad is more about finding out. The higher up the ladder you go, the narrower your focus becomes, and you start to need more specialised guidance. To get the most out of your learning, you need to go where the experts are, and naturally, many of the most cutting-edge scholars on American history are, well, in America. You'll want to be surrounded by a community of like-minded scholars. And yeah, "being there" can be important not just for better access to primary materials, but also for insights that come from physical, social and cultural proximity.

That said, I don't think it's impossible (or inadvisable) to study the American revolution outside of America; it's just trickier. Doing that successfully comes down to 1) finding the right advisor and 2) choosing the right topic.

By this point, you should know who the leading scholars are in your particular niche of interest. Nobody really studies "the American revolution" writ large; rather, they (and you) will focus on the political or racial or sociocultural or regional or culinary or-- whatever aspect of it. It might just happen that the people in your field are located near you.

You can also approach the topic from a different angle – start from a local point of interest that you can to relate to the AmRev. (Maybe you're Italian, and you know about Italian History Blorbo who went to fight in the war, and there's a story to tell there. Maybe you're Dutch and you have things to say about the intricacies of the financial and political support the Netherlands gave to America. And so on.) This might, in fact, lead to novel insights and perspectives that haven't been explored yet.

Good luck to you!

If anyone wants to share their own experiences, please feel free!

[mahmoudna]

“I Need Your Support to Continue My Studies and Build My Future from Gaza🍉🍉

My name is Mahmoud Naeem Abu Hatab, from Gaza.

I am a university student majoring in Software and Databases at Al-Azhar University. Since the beginning of my academic journey, I have been passionate about User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) design, as well as website development. These fields inspire me, and I dream of advancing my skills and building a professional career in them.

Unfortunately, during the recent war, I lost my laptop, which was essential for both my studies and work. I was forced to flee my home and relocate to southern Gaza due to the difficult circumstances. Despite my efforts to replace my laptop, the financial situation has made it impossible to afford a new one.

Without a laptop, continuing my studies or seeking job opportunities in programming and design has become extremely challenging. This directly affects my academic progress and future career.

Today, I am reaching out to ask for your support to help me purchase a new laptop. Having a laptop would allow me to resume my studies and work on programming and design projects that are crucial for improving my skills. It is a vital step towards completing my education and pursuing my dream of becoming a professional in programming and UX/UI design.

I know that the situation in Gaza is difficult, but I believe education is the only path to building a better future for myself and my family. If you are able to contribute any amount to help me get a new laptop, it would be a real opportunity for me to get back on track academically and professionally.

I am determined to keep learning and working despite the challenges, but I need your support to achieve this goal. Every donation or act of help, no matter how small, will make a significant difference in my life.

If you’d like to support me, you can donate through:

GoFundMe

OR

USDT

If you can assist in any way, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

Thank you for your support and kindness! 🌿

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[m2iconsulting]

Training of Farmer Producer Organisations by M2i Consulting

In recent years, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) have emerged as a crucial model for empowering small and marginal farmers in India. These organizations help farmers gain better access to markets, financial services, and agricultural inputs, ultimately improving their livelihoods. However, for FPOs to function effectively and sustainably, proper training and capacity-building initiatives are essential. M2i Consulting plays a vital role in this regard by offering specialized training programs tailored to the unique needs of FPOs.

Why is Training Important for FPOs?

Enhanced Management Skills: Effective governance and leadership are essential for the success of an FPO. Training programs help in developing managerial skills among FPO members.

Financial Literacy: Many small-scale farmers lack knowledge about financial management, bookkeeping, and accessing credit facilities. Training helps bridge this gap.

Market Linkages: Understanding supply chain dynamics, price negotiation, and quality control can significantly improve the revenue generation of FPOs.

Sustainable Agricultural Practices: Training ensures that farmers adopt eco-friendly and efficient farming techniques, leading to better productivity.

Policy Awareness: Awareness about government schemes, subsidies, and regulatory compliance ensures that FPOs can leverage available benefits.

How M2i Consulting Supports FPOs

M2i Consulting is a leading organization with a strong focus on training and capacity-building programs for FPOs. Their approach includes:

Customized Training Modules

M2i Consulting designs training modules that cater to the specific needs of different FPOs, ensuring relevance and effectiveness.

Hands-on Capacity Building

Training sessions involve interactive workshops, field visits, and case studies to provide practical learning experiences.

Financial and Business Management Training

M2i helps FPOs understand bookkeeping, cash flow management, and financial sustainability, enabling them to manage funds efficiently.

Market Access and Value Chain Development

Through strategic training, FPOs learn how to establish direct market linkages, negotiate better prices, and improve the value chain.

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M2i promotes the adoption of digital platforms for e-commerce, digital payments, and online marketing to help FPOs scale their operations.

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FPOs receive guidance on legal and regulatory requirements, ensuring they meet compliance standards and leverage government support.

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The training provided by M2i Consulting has resulted in several positive outcomes, including:

Increased income and profitability for FPOs

Improved governance and leadership skills

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Conclusion

Training is a key driver for the success of Farmer Producer Organisations, enabling them to become self-sustainable and competitive in the agricultural market. M2i Consulting, with its expertise in capacity building, provides essential training programs that empower FPOs to thrive. By equipping farmers with the necessary skills and knowledge, M2i contributes significantly to the growth and sustainability of the agricultural sector in India.