#normally i would just stuff this in my private discord server with all the other ideas and then maybe revisit them one day

[gentil-minou]

Anyways I saw this new merch art at like 5am and my brain exploded and I wrote the start of a half sleepy one shot so here

...extremely indulgent hybrid bunny witches wangxian childhood friends AU

EDIT: Now a one-shot

All witches are born with a hybrid form that they must learn to control by ten. At that time, they will be given their witch's name and join the coven officially as a fully fledged witch.

But Lan Zhan is nine and a half, and he still can't control his ears and his hybrid form...

They're big and unseemingly, embarrassing the way his Ge cam pull and tug on them. And every time he coos and calls him cuts, Lan Zhan puffs up with anger.

Rabbits aren't common hybrids, and he's the only one in the family. Ge learned to control his form at 7, why is he late?

He resolves to spend much of his time practicing on his own in the field behind thier home. He goes through all the meditation and steps, including envisioning the way his human ears might look.

He casts the spell, following the instructions perfectly...but nothing happens. Water wells up in his eyes and it takes all of him to hold them back from falling

Not with sadness, but with frustration. Lan Zhan is at the top of everything! The best in his class, an accomplished musician, and can performing spells his older peers can't even dream of.

But this spell... why is it that this spell is so impossible for him?

His ears droop down and Lan Zhan uses then to block the rest of the world, focusing on the ground he's sitting on. He starts ripping up the grass at his feet.

A voice calls from just a few feet away, "Hey! Don't do that, you're hurting it!"

Lan Zhan's head shoots up in surprise. No one is allowed on the back hills. Who is this intruder?

And there standing before him is another boy around his age, with fluffy black bunny ears and a smile brighter than the sun overhead lending him a halo effect, so dazzling Lan Zhan has to squint his eyes just to see him properly.

Lan Zhan has never met another rabbit before. He's not sure what to do, what's the proper etiquette?

It doesn't help that this other boy is very distracting as he runs right to him and plops down in front of him and starts patting the ground gently, consoling the grass.

"Poor little grasslings, is this mean gege hurting you?" The boy pouts but there's a teasing glint in his eyes when he glances at Lan Zhan.

Is he making fun of him?

Lan Zhan feels the blood rush to his own bunny ears and knows they're looking terribly pink, but he can't help it.

How dare this boy make a fool of him! He's just here trying to get his ears under control so he can't make his family proud, and the boy comes over to mock him!

Lan Zhan feels his lip quiver, and to his horror a tear falls from his eyes into his lap, followed by another.

He's crying in earnest now. It's been years since he cried in front of someone else and he's so shocked by it he can't get the tears to stop falling!

The boy looks at him wide-eyed with the same surprise, clearly agreeing that Lan Zhan is just a loser who is just a failure.

Until the boy finally speaks, "Whoa, whoa, it's okay." His voice is soft and gentle. "This Wei Ying only meant it as a joke. The grasslings don't mind, really, they'll grow back. You don't need to cry."

Lan Zhan huffs, unsure of how to say it's not the grass he's crying for.

Lan Zhan watches his hands as he twists them. His bunny ears droop, brushing against the side of his head as he sniffles.

But although this Wei Ying couldn't understand, he still leans forward so he can peer up at him. His dark eyes shine like the magical sparkles his mama used to cast before bedtime. Her own little stars, she'd call them.

One of Lan Zhan's tears catch in the boy's ears, clinging tight to the fur. But Wei Yung doesn't seem to mind.

Instead he hums contemplatively, before he bounces up to his feet and declares, "I know! I'll show you a spell! But you gotta keep it a secret, okay? No one knows it."

Lan Zhan can't stop himself from scoffing. Is this boy saying he invented a spell? This young?

Impossible. Shameless.

Wei Ying takes his skepticism in stride and grins down at Lan Zhan. "Just you wait, you're gonna love this."

Then he steps back, clasping his hands together and shutting his eyes tight, a furrow deepening between his brows.

He starts humming, quietly like he's trying not to disturb anything. It's not a tune Lan Zhan is familiar with, but lots of spells have songs. The problem is that when they backfire they can often create quite the mess.

Lan Zhan leans back slightly, his tears forgotten. He's somewhat wary this is all going to turn very bad, but he can't look away. He finds he has no desire to look away from this boy at all.

Then, to Lan Zhan's shock, a glowing circle appears around the boy. They're not scheduled to learn how to make arrays until they turn 13, but Wei Ying can make one already?

Wei Ying’s hair lifts by some unseen force as his ears stand straight up. His humming grows louder as Lan Zhan’s eyes grow wider.

Then, all at once Wei Ying stops humming and the circle disappears.

Wei Ying beams. "So! What do you think? Neat, huh!"

Lan Zhan blinks up at him. Nothing has changed, is this another trick?

Wei Ying gives him a confident crooked grin. "Look down, you'll see."

Lan Zhan looks at the ground in front of him and gasps.

Where before laid the remains of grass tearing is a patch of brand new bright green grass, growing proud and strong.

This...is creating life. This isn't something a regular witch can do. Most accomplished ones can't! Let alone a boy.

Just who is this magical boy?

TBC Honestly if I do continue it'll either be on the threadfic or in a one-shot on ao3 but they're just so cute ahh

[mx-smileo]

Hello guys!! I just want to address something real quick..., will be mentioning something that's been bugging me for a while, and has recently resurfaced because of the incompetence of @/littlehistorian to just accept they have done something wrong, and STOP MAKING PEOPLE FEEL BAD FOR SOMETHING YOU WONT ACCEPT YOU DID. 💀

This really quite annoys me...

what she is referring to in the image above is an incident where they took the idea and character of my CountryHuman china; who, if you dont already know, is the antagonist of my CHau; he harasses America at any chance he gets in a p3rv3rt3d way.

I've expressed my discomfort with hem making jokes such as these in my discord server, which was SUPOSSED to be a safe space for my friends and I, which at the time, I saw Historian as a friend.

Now, what is my problem with this if I am also using this character? Well, Historian was using this character, without permission, AND made recurring jokes of (S/H) about China with their OP countryhuman Oc.... which is the same age as them; 14, even thinking it was funny, normalizing it?? Like what the fuck.

first of all, I have never done that, and I never WILL do that, it is just downright horrible and gross, that OBVIOUSLY realize it's wrong, yet still jokes about it...

as a victim of it myself from close relatives- this agrovated me severely, but i tried to stay as civil as possible-

I had confronted them privately aswell, about how what they were saying, "reciting" even, was wrong, and that they shouldnt ever be saying stuff like that at ALL, since it is literally a form of gr00m1ng. They did not take well to this, however, as they victimised themselves near other friends that we share mutual friendships with, AND acted in self-sorrow. The image below is proof of this. You can also see that this was a while ago too.

seeing this topic coming back as Historian makes themselves the victim really aggravates me, and I WOULD keep this civil, IF It wasnt for the fact that they turned at least three of my friends on me and my server.

She also told nobody WHY she was kicked when they asked, making it sound as though she had done nothing wrong, making ME seem like the villain, as my (ex) friends constantly pestered and guiltripped me the way she did for kicking her out, as if I had forced her to lose contact with them.

Thank you for reading this, obviously this is only a shortened version of what has lead to this post, but I'm very thankful unlike some people you will be able to hear my side of the story :,)

I hadn't done anything of the sort, and had given her and others in my server OBVIOUS warnings beforehand, which they flat out ignored.

[sophieinwonderland]

What about the anti-endos who don’t hurt people? The ones who believe in endogenic systems, but use anti-endo as a label to prevent people who’ve traumatized them from interacting?

I think the label of anti-endo is inherently harmful because it normalizes hate. Even if you're not someone who is actively spreading hate, by using that label, you're signaling to people that it's okay. Especially when "DNI" is right there. (I don't really like these sorts of DNIs either, but it's at least better than calling yourself anti-endo.)

I'm truly sorry for the people who have had terrible experiences with the endogenic community... but being traumatized by individuals within a group doesn't give you the right to oppose every single person who falls under that umbrella.

I don't think that we would be okay with this labeling if it was basically any other group, whether a gender identity, a race, or a neurodivergence. If someone was traumatized by transgender people, that wouldn't make it okay for them to identify as anti-transgender. If you were traumatized by an autism group, it wouldn't be okay to call yourself anti-autistics. Many endogenic systems have faced harassment and been hurt by traumagenic systems, but do they call themselves anti-traumagenic? Would this be acceptable?

Not to mention that endogenic is just a HUGE umbrella.

You have soulbonders, daemonists, the former empowered multiples, tulpamancers, etc. And even those communities have sub-communities. Tulpas.info isn't the same community as r/tulpas which isn't the same community as the various tulpa Discords.

And the unique nature of the websites is never really taken into account when talking about the different communities.

A lot of the very worst stuff I see happening, the most toxic and even bordering on cult-like in extreme cases, is coming from Discord. This is because Discord servers tend to be very private, tight-knit communities. Moderators have absolute power with no oversight whatsoever, and the people most likely to want to be mods are those who tend to be charismatic and enjoy having power over other people, which is a dangerous combination.

I've heard horror stories from both endogenic and traumagenic spaces alike that are a direct result of the type of environment Discord creates.

Which isn't to say Discord is inherently bad, but people need to do a good job vetting the servers they join, and if something feels wrong, be prepared to jump ship. (But I realize the fact that you form friendships in these communities is what makes it hard to leave once you're a part of them, which is what gives them power over you.)

Every website has its own problems. Tumblr's is getting hate anons and death threats for everything from political opinions to drawing a character slightly thinner than they are in canon. Twitter's is a character limit that makes it nigh-impossible to have nuanced conversation. This is the flaw with Discord, and is the reason a lot of the horror stories to come out of it end up being much more personally harmful to the victims.

I'm sorry for the people that have been hurt by endogenic and pro-endogenic systems, but the fact is that there are bad people in every group, and that doesn't make it okay to harm and oppose everyone in a group just because someone bad in it did a bad thing to you.

I'm not saying that people's trauma isn't valid. Or that they don't have a right be hurt and angry. You absolutely do. But that anger needs to be directed at the people responsible. You don't have the right to be angry at me and other endogenic systems who are fighting for our right to exist and be recognized because someone else in an isolated sub-community hurt you.

Bigotry is never okay or acceptable.

Having said all of that, while I think publicly calling yourselves anti-endo might do passive harm, I don't really care all that much about them. I'm okay letting them be as long as they aren't actively attacking our community.

My main focus when I talk about anti-endos is the syscoursers, regardless of the label they use. Somebody calling themselves anti-misinformation while exclusively spreading anti-endo propaganda is far more dangerous to the endogenic community than someone calling themselves anti-endo while not engaging with syscourse at all.

[spikeinthepunch]

i made a post a bit ago before the reddit black out even happened, talking about how many AI written articles i find when searching for answers on stuff- usually things a little more specific (questions for video games, tech, everyday things but more specific to you, etc. not just "what city is this state in"). its bad- i basically get that or i get reddit threads when i google. and before the reddit black out, i hadnt thought too much about how those AI threads would be.... the only thing left behind if i didnt have reddit. still i watched the reddit black out live, i watched /r/funny go private at midnight. and yet it didnt really hit the importance of reddit until i went on the next day looking for help on a mac laptop i was restoring and realized all the reddits i checked were private. needing mod help for my server, all private. searching reddit for a game i couldnt remember, private.

theres a lot on the internet that needs to be preserved, kept alive, kept relevant. over and over i see people reminisce on old forums and how theyre gone and be brought back- and i think no ones follows through with the format because places like reddit at least fulfill that to some extent. staying with the mainstream is easier and its understandable, bc its relevant and trying to start up your little forum and advertise it isnt easy. Reddit being mainstream becomes the useful google option for a niche forum subject without being a lone forum you probably wont find in typical google search.

and now Reddit isn't available. the most mainstream iteration of those lovely little forums of discussion and support is not available. does it hit now? does it sink in now how bad this is? the past year- maybe even less than a year- has been so so chaotic and bad for the internet. instagram starting turning into tiktok a while back with its changes to feed and format. youtube has slowly followed suit with forcing short's as more relevant for creators than normal videos. twitter did... well, all of That, a lot of Things. Reddit goes along to make their API paid for. Discord turning to the methods on social media, with username changes and more. tumblr is also shifting so much of their entire deal, i think you should all be prepared for tumblr to become unrecognizable too because theres many hints of it happening- some already here.

when i made my personal website over a year ago, it was partially fun but it was a statement for myself too. it was recognition that social media had become unhealthy for me, and i didnt like how it was The thing that existed now, and that bigs corps suddenly taking more and more control of the web was bad and not something i wanted to be stuck with. but suddenly its not just a gentle step to the side i have taken, still knowing i can be on social media to see my friends and build an audience. but now it feels more like all the walls are crumbling around me, and soon i will have no choice but to jump ship entirely. i went from one, to the other, to tumblr where i had always been- the one site that stuck out from the others at least. had an 'old' format. in many ways you need social media.... because its how you made your friends, its how you stay in touch, its how communities get built these days!!

we can try to move back to the independent, the personal sites, the forums, but we all know its not easy. thats truth. its not going to spread as far as we'd hope, many will not follow suit or not know they can. i can only imagine all the old, tech unaware people who will continue to use the internet, never realizing why they struggle to get info or unknowingly follow nonsense AI articles, and have no idea that anything exists outside of the bubble theyre forced into. Not even the old people, but the young generations that will grow into that too and not get out of it.

im just waiting for the mainstream internet to just become entirely unusable from our perspective and its dreadful to me. trying not to be a doomer but i dont think its something you cant ignore when something as simple as googling slightly more specific questions brings nothing but AI nonsense articles or reddit posts and when one of those massive and only relevant sources is down, there is suddenly nothing.

[townofcrosshollow]

IRLS MIGHT NOT WANNA READ THIS OKAY. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

So my partner and I have started doing some lifestyle BDSM stuff, and one of our "rules" is that I have to follow a meal plan they make me for all of my breakfasts and lunches and send them pics in our private discord server as proof. Basically it's just motivation to eat better and stop buying so much food from Tim Hortons (and it's working!). So we've gotten into this daily routine of me making myself breakfast (and a packed lunch if I've got school), sending them a pic, and them responding like "Good boy!! ❤️💕" and other some such praise, often extremely obviously a kink thing (this channel could not possibly be disguised as "just some pics of food"). I'll also occasionally send them pics when I have a healthy snack or dinner because praise good.

I also happen to be a bit lover of cooking, and I enjoy taking pictures of nice dinners I make to share with my friends in our group discord server! Today I made some salmon tacos. Observe:

(I had already eaten one when I took the picture)

So I snapped a pic of my very yummy looking dinner and sent it to our friend discord server where we hang out with our mutual friends.

And almost instantly I saw this

Followed by the little notification saying they're still typing.

And I have this fucking split second panic response like if this motherfucker calls themselves master in front of my friends I am going to kill everyone in this server including myself

And I didn't know what to say without cluing anyone in so I just typed "DON'T" and instantly sent it. And bless their soul, my partner just sends a confused "Don't?"

I was thankfully able to move to DMs and confirmed that 1. They, in fact, did not notice that this was the wrong server 2. They were about to send something kinky, and 3. I was SO GODDAMN LUCKY that their first messages were relatively inconspicuous and not "Good boy! 💕💕💕💕💕" which is absolutely what they normally would have sent.

Nobody else commented on the fish tacos though. You win some, you lose some.

[tempural]

Artcade 2022 Post-Mortem

“Artcade” has been an event for the last two years’ summer: 2022, and 2021.  I meant for Artcade to serve as a creative trading and gifting event formed around our original characters, and for Artcade to serve as an alternative to events that do not allow NSFW, or non-illustration work.  

Sculpture, music playlists, writing, and any other form of creativity is allowed in my event.  Most NSFW content is allowed with descriptive warnings and a spoilered image, save for content banned from Discord because the event is hosted on Discord.

This year, the event took place from July 1st to August 1st.

25 different people created art for reach other.

All together, we made 218 pieces of art!  That’s an average of 8 pieces per person!  I myself made 16 pieces for the 16 other people who chose to create something for me.

More under the cut.

Setting up the event:

We use the discord server in which I host art events and zines for Artcade.  A couple different channels were dedicated to the event:

An information channel in which rules were posted, and a link to a google docs with more in depth descriptions.

A directory in which individuals would post their name, a link to character references (whether on refsheet or their own site), their likes, and their Do Not Wants (very important!).

An art channel in which individuals would post their art.  New to this year, a thread would be made on that piece so that each piece could get in depth comments and discussion without being interrupted by any new pieces.

A “sidequest” channel for individuals to post their pieces for the zine cover (more on that later)

A points-and-prizes channel to contain the usage of the discord bot which allocated points and prizes (more on that later!)

A event discussion channel, in which people could ask questions or just talk to each other about what’s going right or going wrong.

The event was open to anyone who signed up for my June newsletter, or if they were too late they could ask for an invite from a friend.  I made a few social media posts about the event and newsletter, but otherwise did not have open calls.  I reasoned that a small “screening” process would limit the amount of people (as I cannot moderate too many people in my server), and ensure that anyone who wanted to participate in the event had the patience to wait a couple weeks and read through the information in the newsletter first.

In the future, I would probably make the “screening” process a bit more selective than an open newsletter.  It seemed that some people joined without knowing who I was, or what my art was about.  This is not ideal, as my art can be considered disturbing and should not be seen by most normal people.

Because I purposely choose not to use the “proship” or “antiship” fandom buzzwords, it seems that some people who rally against whatever “gross” NSFW stuff got lost and found their way in the event.  This perhaps could be prevented if I used the fandom buzzwords, but I find it disgusting to have to use fandom terms in order to clearly get my point across about how I literally do not care if people draw porn of BBW caillou’s ass or naruto eating shit.

Another option for next year would be to use a form to collect contact information of people wanting to participate, and to privately DM them the invite link.  Individually sending links would require 20x more effort.  It would also necessitate some snooping and people willingly giving me their social media links so I can straight up tell them “dude your DNI says dni if you draw necrophilia and i draw necrophilia dude lol”.  If someone does not have an online presence, that would also make the snooping a moot point as I would hate to require a website or socmed in order to join the event.

In any case, most of the set-up was done in cleaning up the rules and guidelines from last year.  I tried to accentuate that people should practice self care about what art they choose to engage with, by adding a line about “Skip over the Romanian incest cannibal named Blammibal Erecter, and choose another character to draw. “  But y’know, it’s a long document and not everyone reads everything.

---

Points and Prizes:

Last year’s theme was a chuck-e-cheeze parody.  This year’s theme was an arcade!  Both themes were to set up the “point” system, in which points were awarded for pieces made.  

Certain milestones like “coding your own website” also rewarded points for behaviors I wanted to encourage.  Coding one’s own static website (i recommended neocities) was something I wanted everyone to get started on, as refsheet and toyhouse are not necessarily going to be up forever or allow all content.  We’ve seen that with tumblr purging NSFW posts, or various other character sheet websites going down.  I wanted everyone to be vigilant, and have fun having complete control over how their characters were presented!

The prizes were most jokes, like photos of my dogs for 60 points or changing my discord name for 200.  There were some physical prizes like zines (from my store, or the artcade zine we’d form with the art we create).  I did not want the focus of the event to be on prizes, but have them be fun rewards to redeem.

By far, the most valued prize was the “Movie Night” despite it being a paltry 20 points.  As such, it was accessible to most people who made just a couple things, and participants talked about what movies they were thinking of choosing for their One True Choice making the value very great in Community Value.  Movie nights were a thing in the server far before Artcade, but it was just fun to have that one big movie that you wanted to show everyone and force me and Shane to watch!  Are our opinions and live reactions to movies valued?!

Movies watched included: Amores Perros, Michael Collins, Rituals.  We have a few more lined up in the back when people choose a date.

Things to think about:

The point system is imperfect, but always will be because the act of making art cannot be assigned a numeric value, especially based on volume of art made.  I simply want them to be some representation of the progress one has made in the event, so one can look back and see how much they’ve made for others.

I would like to mitigate any and all focus on the points and prizes as the main point of the event.  The point of the event is to learn about each other’s characters, learn about each other, and hopefully have fun while building a supportive community.  No one should be fixating on getting 250 points so they can redeem a movie.

I will mitigate more of the physical prizes, as they take a lot of effort to make, and a lot of money to mail out.  The artcade zine has not been finished yet, but it may be the only thing I am willing to send out in the future.

The point system may be simplified further to only award points for each new person a piece has been made for, and return fires.  It has been made evident to me that I underestimate most writers.  I consider 2000 words (the max word count that counts for points) a very high amount to write in a week, but it seems that other writers can consistently write that much in just a day or two!

If the point system is simplified and deflated, we can deflate the points for the prizes to be less like 240 points.  It’ll be easier to think of them as individual pieces made.

---

Moderation:

By far the most difficult thing for anything with more than like 5 people.  No one is guaranteed to get along with each other, and no one is guaranteed to have read any rules.

The event was 99% smooth sailing in my opinion.

The thing we had to address the most was the use of “deviantart fetish” as a term in DNWs (Do Not Wants), along with “gross stuff” and similarly vague descriptors.  While it seemed a certain subsect of the population knew exactly what a deviantart fetish was, many others were confused as to what that entailed.  After many discussions with the server, I concluded that the term should not be used because it does not inform the reader and is used judgmentally (no one ever says they WANT a deviantart fetish in their art, and it’s designated as the “other” weird fetishes).  The event was supposed to be inclusive, and the server is described as kink-friendly.  As such, participants should not be using judgemental language.  You never know if I’m the one with the “deviantart fetish” :)

The Do Not Want section is supposed to be for the artists’ own safety.  It is not a place to put one’s personal judgements on display.  While one can be free to dislike pee and poo fart fetishes, there is never any need to elaborate on why it’s gross or even say that it’s gross.  Just say it and be done.  I would encourage artists to elaborate more on what they do like, rather than write huge lists of things they hate.

Some things to think about:

Simplify the rules on Discord to just the basics, and have an outside site like dreamwidth to elaborate on the rules.  The google docs is not quite accessible on mobile, and laggy.

Zpires had a great page on “ID”, which was basically a great “likes/prompts” list with elaboration on why that pings the brain.  I would encourage people to focus on writing that rather than the DNW.

If someone has a great amount of fetishes they do not want, to the point that they need to use a vague term like “deviantart kink” or “gross stuff” to try and cover all bases, I would encourage them to simply say that they do not want NSFW or sexual art, unless the kink is specifically listed in their “wants” list, or the art has been discussed beforehand with both participants.  

I need to make it absolutely clear that there should be no shaming of ships, fandom, interests, kinks, or anything else.  It’s much more productive to focus on things you do like, rather than make everyone around you silent and uncomfortable because you are making fun of things they may enjoy.

I should make the join link for next artcade accesible only if the reader presses a specific checkbox or hidden button LOL.  Like “press here if you love necrophilia and spiderman 2002″.  Just to hammer in the atmosphere of the server.

I should not be afraid to just kick people if they seem like they are misunderstanding everything and do not fit in the climate I am trying to cultivate.  No one is meant to get along with everyone, and they are free to participate in any other art event that does not involve making me uncomfortable.

---

That’s about all I can think of for Artcade!  I feel like it was an astounding success, twice as much work but twice as much art from twice as many people!  It really warms me heart hearing people say that they enjoyed the event, and had their creativity stoked in a art community that uplifts personal expression and original ideas.  Now to get to work on the zine... that’ll make everyone jealous cuz no one will get one except particpants!!!! >:)

[shadowsageingempress]

I’m not feeling too great.

This is probably going to be a long story. But before I go on, I want to say that what I said was wrong, and I am sorry for it.

So, here’s what happened.

Several months ago, I joined a discord server with a few others. It was based on something we all liked. It was really fun. We would talk about all kinds of things, fictional, real world and everything in between.

I genuinely thought, and still think, of these people as my friends. I truly care about them. I loved getting on the server because I loved seeing what everyone had to say. It was truly a bright spot in what is a pretty mundane life.

But then yesterday came along. And I messed up.

See, one of the things we did was make ocs and aus. This was something that I had fun doing. On this particular occasion, the au we were talking about was where we were replacing canon characters with our ocs. There are quite a few characters we came up with, and they aren’t just in the au, so some details were different between the “official” oc and the au oc.

So, a Friend and an Admin and I were talking about this au, and some of the original characters. I think the conversation was about Character A and Character B. A and B are in the same relative age group (relevant soon).

I took a break to do real world stuff, and forgot much of the details of our conversation.

So when I came back, I didn’t really notice that the conversation had somewhat shifted to focus on Character B and Character C. Friend and Admin were joking about their (platonic) dynamic.

Then… Then I made my mistake.

I, confusing B for C, made a, what I thought before I sent it would be funny, comment about how C was somewhere between fearing and falling in love with A.

That was my mistake.

Because you see, Character C (in this au at least) is 26. Character B is 15-16.

Friend and Admin were horrified, and once I realized (was told) about the age difference, I was just as horrified and disgusted with myself. How could I have fucked up so horribly? How could I have not realized who I was talking about? I still don’t know the answers to those questions.

After profusely apologizing, the Admin suggested that I stop for a while, as to not create a spiral. I agreed and went offline for a bit to try to clear my head.

I came back a little bit later, and resumed normal activities of sharing memes and complimenting people’s pets. I had hoped that we could just laugh this off and chalk it up as an honest mistake.

I was wrong.

I went offline again a bit later to do some chores irl. I came back onto the discord and saw that I wasn’t on the server any more. Strange, I thought. So I rejoined and tried to return to normal.

Then Admin messaged me in private. They said that I should’ve asked to rejoin. I agreed, as they were right. It probably would have been a good idea if I could ask to rejoin instead of just doing so. I just didn’t think of it. I apologized for that, and for the awful mistake I had made.

After a bit, I decided to ask to rejoin, as they had told me. Admin then informed me that I had been banned from the server, so I couldn’t rejoin even if I wanted to.

And I was. I was even banned from the similar server that Admin also ran.

I wasn’t angry. I was just sad. I was sad that I wouldn’t be able to talk and laugh and joke with these people, my friends any more. I loved seeing everything they could come up with, and I loved discussing new ideas for my own creations with them.

I cried a lot over the next several minutes, and once again at night.

I was even more devastated when I saw that Friend had blocked me here as well. This Friend was one of my favorite people on the server. They were always kind to everyone, they gave great inspiration and made great artwork, not to mention that they had some emotes that I find hilarious. This Friend, I think, was truly a friend.

It’s the next day after the “stunt” that I’m writing this. I’m crying while typing this out, my heart feels like it’s about to burst into flame, my stomach feels sick.

I know that the fault is mine. Had I known what was going on, had ai not confused the characters, I would have never made that mistake. But I’m afraid it’s too late now. I don’t know if this ban is temporary or permanent, but I will accept it either way. I made a mistake, and those are the consequences.

If Admin or Friend are reading this, I want you to know that I am truly sorry, and I am going to miss you both, from the bottom of my heart.

If any of my other former server friends are reading this, I hope you now know while I am gone. And I hope that we can still be friends.

[hazelhavoc]

Hello! My name is Hazel and this is a post about Dragon Ball! OG, Z, GT, Super, even the Manga and fanmade mangas!

I love to Roleplay I have have specifically made original characters for Dragon Ball that I would love to write about. This is for anyone who can literately write and control canon characters of the show. Though, if you have an OC too, you can put them in as well. But I would prefer generally...you be the CC's (canon characters). I'm more comfortable as my OC's.

I have been roleplaying for 9+ years, so I've got lots of experience.

Rules:

❗NO MINORS❗ I am an adult and am looking for people above at least 18. Please don't interact if you're a minor (though you can boost this if you'd like to help me find someone suitable).

I write a lot, so I'd also like someone who can match me in those terms as well. Literate like me. Roleplays regularly too. Though if you write normally and want to roleplay, I can explain how to do it. (It's easy lol)

Preferably, I would like to roleplay on Discord since in general. It's better. I can make a private server for us too, and we can keep everything nice and tidy.

NSFW is alright! I just don't want it to be the main focus. I do love myself slow burn, romance, and angst. Among other things too. And please tell me what you don't want, so we can be on the same page.

Please don't spam me if I don't reply right away. I might be away, eating, or just doing something else.

Please don't contact me just to ghost me. It's happened before and it's not appreciated. If you really have to go, tell me. If you don't want to rp anymore, just give me a heads up. It's just common courtesy haha.

There will probably be canon divergence from the main plot but if it's the main we won't go TOO far. I'm also down for AU's and the like. As well as starting at certain times, like Planet Vegeta's rule and stuff! As long as you're alright with that.

If do do canon, then as long as we follow the general overarching story, we should be fine.

~•~

Dragon Ball Series I know:

Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball Z

Dragon Ball GT

Dragon Ball Super

Dragon Ball Super (Manga)

The Dragon Ball Movies (all of them)

-

Fan-Made Manga

Dragon Ball Kakumei

Dragon Ball Multi-verse

~•~

Thank you for reading it all the way through if you do get down here. If this fit you, that's fine- please boost it perhaps? You don't have to, but it would help.

I've been wanting an RP with Dragon Ball characters and my OC's for a while. But you know how the Dragon Ball fandom can be haha.

I hope you have a good day! See ya!

[brainrot-buffet]

i love your modern arcane with the vander kids !! can i request modern arcane and how the others would react if powder got her first boyfriend (…maybe ekko) or just if she got into a relationship !! thank you and i love your work 💗💗

Oh my god THIS IDEA IS GENIUS JFOJFIOWJFIOWFJ I had so much fun writing these holy shit. This post's gonna be longer than most of my previous headcanons cuz I had so many ideas for this one. Thanks so much for enjoying my work!

Characters: Powder, Mylo, Vi, Claggor, Caitlyn, Ekko

Notes: Fluff, Crack

---

Powder gets her First Boyfriend (Modern!AU)

Powder doesn't start dating until she's around her junior or senior year of high school

It's just something that hasn't crossed her mind even though she's a sucker for romance anime

So imagine college boy Mylo visiting Vander's apartment one day, fresh out of the shower with a toothbrush in his mouth as he passes by Powder's room, freezing up when he overhears his sister being all giggly and gushing on the phone with someone

Powder: Yeah dude... HAHAHA awwww you know you love me babe... Yeah date night on Friday sounds good to me... You fucking rascal shut up!!

Mylo's just standing there in absolute shock, eyes wide, toothpaste-slathered jaw dropped as his toothbrush falls to the floor

The sound of his toothbrush alerts Powder as she quickly hangs up, Mylo stuttering while gesturing to her and her phone

Powder: You better not tell everyone.

Mylo: SINCE WHEN DID YOU GET A BOYFRIEND?!?!?!

Powder: NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!

Mylo: WHO IS HE?!

Powder: *covering her ears* BLAH BLAH BLAH GET OUT OF MY ROOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!

Mylo: I'M NOT EVEN IN YOUR ROOM!!!

With the door shut at his face, Mylo cleans up, rushes outside the apartment and gets in the family car, whipping out his phone to text in the Vander Crew Discord server (He, Vi, and Claggor have a private channel so they can talk about "big kid" stuff)

walmart junkrat: GUYS GET TF ON CALL RIGHT NOW

vi stands for violence: what do u want

cLagg: I'm in philosophy lecture I'm almost done though

walmart junkrat: POWDER HAS A BOYFRIEND.

...

cLagg and vi stands for violence are typing...

The chat overflows with messages popping up left and right (mainly from Vi); A few minutes later, they all join their private voice channel

Vi's phone is shaking in her hands as she turns on her camera looking out of breath, sweaty, and still in her workout clothes, pretty clear that she just sprinted out the campus's gym just to join the call

She's too stunned for words as she tries to let it all sink in, just staring blankly ahead as she states to herself, "Powder has a boyfriend. Powder... has a boyfriend."

Mylo's being loud af talking to them inside the car, his camera buffering with crunchy audio as he keeps tumbling from the driver's seat into the backseat and into the passenger seat again (it's his way of pacing around when he can't stand up); People passing by the car think he's an unhinged man

Claggor's the only one trying to get everyone to calm down, but he himself is sweating bullets just from dealing with the other two; Our man had to stop in the hallway, take off his glasses, and rub his temples as Mylo's crunchy audio blasts his ear drums

Now the reason why they're all freaking out is because it's POWDER - Normally they'd be chill if it was any of them getting into a relationship but Powder's the baby of the family

Considering this is also her first relationship, you bet their big sister/brother instincts kicked in immediately

Vi takes a deep breath and calmly swears if this dude EVER hurts Powder, she'll need them all to bail her out of jail; Girl's prepared to commit a double homicide if she has to (I'm not kidding 8/10 she won't hesitate)

Hypothetically, if Claggor were to encounter someone Powder's dating that he doesn't know personally, he'd have dad-like aura like Vander - welcoming and friendly but with underlying intimidation, enough to show the guy if he fucks this up, Claggor will fuck him up

Like imagine him with a wide smile and patting the guy's back but squeezing his shoulder WAY too hard; Yep, THAT kind of intimidating

Mylo may act like he cares more about how all his siblings have been able to date someone at least once (and salty that Powder got a date before he did), but lowkey he's mentally listing all the possible crimes he will commit if Powder comes home crying because of the guy

Once all of them settle down, they agree to visit Vander's on Friday and ask Powder about it (and maybe threaten her boyfriend when he picks her up for their date idk)

---

In the days leading up to Friday, Vi talks about the situation with Caitlyn, who then just casually does an extensive background check on every guy following Powder's Instagram account

Caitlyn busts out an extra cork board for the wall, littered with pins, threads, photos, post-its, notes scribbled in marker, and scrap paper listing names and connections tacked all over it

She shows Vi her notes on which guys Powder interacts with the most in terms of likes and comments, who are tagged or featured in her photos, which guys tag and feature HER, reading into the content of what comments she gives and receives, identifying what types of guys she familiarizes herself with (mainly nerds and outcasts), etc.

Caitlyn: *showing Vi a folder with photos and notes* There's Peter Singh...

Vi: Hm... Not bad. Looks like a wuss but he seems nice.

Caitlyn: Kevin Nguyen...

Vi: Robotics club, volleyball... I like his vibes.

Caitlyn: Jake Harrison...

Vi: That guy has no chance.

Caitlyn's able to hone it all down to a handful of names, which Vi sends to Mylo and Claggor (so they can all mentally prepare what to expect; Mylo says he's gonna chug vinegar if it ends up being Jake Harrison)

In her research, Caitlyn's first "lead" was Ekko, based on how frequent his and Powder's interactions are as well as how he talks to her differently compared to other people

Vi shoots it down saying Ekko's a different case cuz he and Powder have been best friends since they were kids, which explains their closeness; Besides, Ekko had lamented that his feelings might be one-sided several times

She doesn't say it, but Caitlyn still has her suspicions

---

Friday comes and the college kids straight up ask Powder who she's dating

She's shocked at how upfront they were about it and tries denying it, until they press on and she berates Mylo for not keeping his mouth shut

Chaos ensues: Mylo and Powder are roasting each other, Vi's yelling at Mylo to shut up, and Claggor's in the middle of it all, trying but failing to calm everyone down

The only thing that makes them quiet is the sound of the door buzzer

Powder: ...He's here.

The college crusties are scrambling and pushing each other to get to the door, but Powder quickly maneuvers through all of them and reaches it first

Powder grips the handle, glaring at the three of them as they all stand anxiously in the hallway, Vi kicking Mylo's foot and aggressively muttering, "Be CIVIL."

Powder groans, tired of their shit, and opens the door revealing a very confused but well-dressed boy holding a small bouquet of flowers

The College Crusties: ...

Powder: ...

Ekko: ...

Ekko: Wassup?

Mylo's going apeshit, Vi lets out a HUGE sigh of relief, and Claggor relaxes his shoulders as a smile spreads across his face

Mylo: AYOOOOO LITTLE MAN'S A BIG MAN NOW!!!

Vi: THANK GOD I'M NOT GOING TO JAIL-

Claggor: So you finally asked her out, huh? I'm proud of you man :)

Overall, they're very supportive of Powder and Ekko's relationship :)

BONUS:

Mylo: Man thank GOD it wasn't that Jake Harrison guy. Have you seen that wet uncooked ramen hair??? I just KNOW he blasts trap music in the halls.

Powder: Wait how do you guys know about Jake?

Mylo: ...

Claggor: Hahaha ehem so Powder how was your date?

[eulangelo]

callout for @genderfluidlucifer

google docs

tw for transmisogyny + TERFs + emotional manipulation

Transmisogyny

Lucifer is a huge transmisogynist who will complain 24/7 about how TERFs hurt the ace community, but the moment @randomclustermissile , a trans girl (who is not an exclusionist at all) tries to point out transmisogyny in inclusionist circles (in the most vague and general way possible, without pointing fingers nor calling anyone names) Lucifer will immediatly jump to block her and so they did with me (another inclusionist) and i have to suppose to everyone else who agreed with that post, even arriving to vagueing about us in private group chats to suggest that we were “sympathizing with exclusionists”. all because we dared point out transmisogyny in inclusionist circles. lucifer is TME but apparently they think they’re the authority on TERFs and their talking points but actual trans women are not, according to them, since this is the stuff that they would go and spew to other people. (screenshots from @enbyoctoling​)

here’s more examples of Lucifer (again, a transmasc person) going deep in detail about how according to them, TERFs/SWERFs hate aro/ace people and are an active threat to us

1. link

[Image ID: Three screenshots of a post by Genderfluidlucifer. The first screenshot is of a paragraph that reads, "Hey. So I can actually answer this. Anon your commentary about how you thought terfs would approve of sex repulsed aces is sort of it. Except...not. Basically terfs hate ace people for not wanting sex in the approved by terfs way. Terfs are actually extremely interested in [forcing] amatonormativity onto everyone. Because for as sex negative as terfs are...they don't want to actually acknowledge or change the fact that amatonormativity is at the root cause of rape culture and misogyny."

The second screenshot is a zoomed in section of the post that reads, "So yeah no I have NO idea where exclus allies are getting this idea from that terfs would even remotely care about the sexual rights of ace people. Terfs generally hate any sexualities in the LGBTQ+ acronym that aren't LGB because they can't force a gender binary onto those sexualities. At least, not as easily. That's why it's actually a massive sign of someone who doesn't call themselves a terf being a crypto terf if they use the term LGB in a positive manner. Along with the term SGA, as it is deliberately exclusive of nonbinary and not inherently SGA centric queer-aligned sexualities. /END ID]

link to the full post, these are just excerpts but the whole thing is just a very long rant about how TERFs hate ace people and so on (i think it’s worth noticing that although the actual post is kinda long, trans women are never once brought op in a conversation about TERFs issues and the only time transmisogyny is mentioned is not relevant to the conversation)

2. link

[Image ID: A screenshot of a reblog by genderfluidlucifer. The original poster is nothorses. It reads, "Because apparently I have to say it: Testosterone is not a 'violent' hormone. It doesn't make you 'more aggressive' or a worse person, it doesn't make you 'dangerous,' or 'toxic.' Transmascs do not need to be 'warned of the dangers of T.' We do not need to spend our transitions terrified that we're going to become a danger to those around us - that HRT is going to turn us into a monster.

Everyone experiences mood swings during hormonal shifts (pregnancy, menstruation, menopause, estrogen HRT, etc.) and while you might have grumpy moments or feel anger/frustration that you need to learn to handle differently, that doesn't make you a bad person.

Testosterone can change the way you access/process emotions somewhat, but if you're already thoughtful about how you handle your feelings and treat others, you're going to be fine. It's normal to lash out on occasion, by accident, then apologize and work to do better. It doesn't make you a bad person. Everyone on HRT is prone to this, and everyone experiencing hormonal changes is prone to this.

Getting HRT should be positive and affirming; you should not have to spend your entire transition terrified of becoming a monster."

The post then has a reblog by captainlordauditor that reads, "The big danger of T is that needle ouchy." /END ID]

here’s them reblogging from known transmisogynist user @nothorses (once again, the irony that a post about how testosterone is seen as the "aggressive hormone" does not mention transfem at all which are literally the main victims of this rethoric in the first place)

3. link (1), link (2)

[Image ID: Two screenshots of posts by genderfluidlucifer. The first screenshot reads, "Queer exclus: We're not repackaging terf rhetoric! Saying that is transmisogynistic! Also queer exclus: Remove the plus from LGBT!" and has tags that say, "I will pay these people to grow some god damn self awareness. Imagine being this dense. Queer discourse." The post has 15 notes.

The second screenshot reads, "Honestly it is so stupid and frustrating to see ace exclus continue to deny that the ace discourse was started by terfs. Proof was given countless times. And a big name terf like galesofnovember even admitted to starting it. Those of you who demand proof but ignore all of this never wanted proof to begin with." and is tagged with, "ace discourse. The post has 38 notes. /END ID]

heres another two post of theirs conflating TERFs with ace exclusionism

4. link

[Image ID: A screenshot of a reblogged post by furbearingbrick. The original poster is boxlizard, Lucifer's old account. The original post reads, "By the way for people still in denial about it, here's galesofnovember, a terf, admitting that she intended to start the ace exclus movement. She's taking credit for it. Normally if the victims of this behavior weren't ace/aro or other queer identities y'all be ready to rightfully lynch her. But since it's us, y'all just still wanna stamp your feet and go, 'Nuh uh!' instead of acknowledging facts." The part that says, "admitting that she intended to start the ace exclus movement" is a link to a galesofnovember post.

There is then a reblogged addition from furbearing brick that reads, "archived versions of the receipts" and has two links to the webarchive. The tags read, "Bringing this back since it's apparently still relevant. Terfism mention. Aphobia mention. Queerphobia mention. Blocklist." and has 1,455 notes. /END ID]

this is their post that ive already talked about but basically they found a 52 notes post made by a TERF in 2012 and this one person said "i dont know why i dont get to be the princess of the anti-ace-brigade" and apparently they are convinced that this means TERFs started the ace exclusionism movement and that this is one of their goals. which is insane when TERFs in real life only care about making life miserable for transfem people first and foremost.

5.link

[Image ID: A screenshot of a reblog by genderfluidlucifer. The original poster is yu-gay-fudo. It reads, “Just in case you happen to be unaware, some of the “radfem lite” they post to warm you up to their rhetoric, just off the top of my head:

- Ace/aro exclusionism

- Bi exclusionism or claims that bi people are “less queer” bc of “straight passive privilege”

- Saying you have to be dysphoric to identify as transInvalidating nonbinary people

- Calling queer a slur regardless of context, saying people can’t identify as queer, and saying that it can’t be reclaimed

- “Mogai hell”, “kweer”, or otherwise mocking less common labels and claiming they are “just cishets who want to feel special”

- Excluding sex workers from feminist discussions or claiming that sex work is inherently evil

- Basically anyone who thinks they can determine what other people identify as”. The tags read, "queerphobia tw. twerfs tw. no id." and has 70,727 notes. It was reblogged on March 22nd, 2021 /END ID]

another example of conflating radfems to things that, while wrong, have little to nothing to do with them because being a radfem, again, is something very specific that has all to do with transfem oppression.

Emotional manipulation

Lucifer has done nothing but block, break boundaries, spread lies and vague about people, some of which were even mutuals with them knowing they would see the posts. when confronted about it Lucifer's only answer was "just say you hate me and block me" but they actually ended up blocking everyone first, making it impossible for anyone to set some boundaries with them or even just to calmly confront them about anything.

[proof: Io(popncourse) and Lucifer had a disagreement in a shared discord server, which prompted Lucifer to vague Io in a vent post. Io confronted them, as being vagued is one of buns triggers, to which Lucifer initially agreed to delete the vent post, but then proceeded to victimize themself and immediatly blocked Io. later on, Jude(malewifedeckard) was confronted by Lucifer, then after Jude told them “I’m worried that you’ll vague me just like you did with Io” they proceeded to block Jude and vagued about him too. when Io made a post (which was not a callout, it was just bun setting buns boundaries) explaining what Lucifer did, Lucifer immediatly jumped to victimize themself, acting like they were being called out and straight-up lying, even going so far as to say that no one tried to hear them out, which is a blatant lie if you consider the aforementioned Io and Jude’s attempts at doing so, with Lucifer immediatly blocking and cutting ties with the both of them. ] 

(screenshots taken by @popncourse and @malewifedeckard)

as seen in the proof above Lucifer’s behaviour is not ok because they don’t accept any kind of confrontation and immediatly jump to blocking, and after blocking, they'd immediatly go and vague about the people who confronted them pacificly, spreading more lies and painting themself as the victim and even arriving to say “no one hears me out at all” which is simply not something you can say when you block people who are trying to hear you out in the first place.

this is by no means an invitation to go and harass them, send them hate or anything like that. i absolutely don’t want anything even remotely hateful or negative to be sent their way after this post. 

this post was only made because:

1. as an ace person who fully supports the inclusion of aspec identities in the lgbt+ community i don’t want to support an enviroment that costantly downplays transmisogynistic oppression in order to be taken seriously. there are hundreds of ways to make aspec activism without acting like we(as in TME aspecs)are the victims of a system that seeks for the annihilation of transfemenine people in real life everyday. i especially don’t want to support TME individuals who act transfem-friendly but then block any transfem who tries to speak on transmisogyny without a second thought.

2. Lucifer’s behaviour has hurt two friends of mine and i don’t want to associate with someone who actively breaks people’s boundaries without taking accountability when messing up.

3. i cannot associate with someone who spreads lies about me accusing me of sympathizing with exclusionists all while having me blocked so that i can’t see it nor defend me. they complain about people not hearing them out but they’re the very first person who does not try to hear people out, and instead jumps to spread baseless rumors. this is not someone i can nor want to associate with. 

(image descriptions provided by @malewifedeckard)

[cyndavilachase]

I’m Looking Forward Now 💖Thank you and good bye

So, it’s been a little over a week since Steven Universe Future ended… 

I’ve been hesitant to write this, honestly, but I’m tired of holding myself back from properly expressing myself in fear of appearing overly invested in the media I consume, even in private. Writing helps me organize my thoughts and feelings, and I feel like these thoughts in particular may resonate with many, so I want to share them. I want to talk about what Steven Universe has done for me personally, both as an artist, and as a person.

I’ve been around since the day the first episode of the original series aired. I actually remember when Steven Universe was just a logo on Wikipedia’s “List of Upcoming Cartoon Network Shows” list, back when I was a freshman in high school. It piqued my interest, but when commercials finally dropped for it, I thought it was going to be bad because of the way marketing handled introducing Steven as a likeable character. There was still something about it that made me want to give it a chance though, so I went online and watched the pilot before the first episode's release. I was hooked immediately. I knew I was going to love it, and I did. I fell so absolutely in love with Steven as a character, and the world that he and the gems lived in. I became obsessed. I was always so excited for new episodes to come out. Little did I know what else it would do for me as I went through my adolescence alongside it.

As the show progressed, it was evident that what I wanted out of a western animated childrens’ cartoon was finally coming into fruition: this show was becoming serialized. There was continuity, there was plot, there was character development-- it was getting deep. It was pushing the groundwork that Adventure Time laid out even further (thank you, Adventure Time).  

I will give credit where credit is due: earlier western childrens’ cartoons I grew up with like Hey Arnold, and Rugrats, among others, also touched on heavy topics, but Steven Universe was able to take similar ideas (and even more complex ones, concerning mental health and relationships) and expand on them outside of contained episodes and/or short arcs. These themes, which were a part of the show’s overarching story, spanned across its entirety. Continuity was rampant. 

What did this mean? It meant kids cartoons didn’t have to be silly and fun all the time and characters weren’t just actors playing a part in 11-minute skits. Steven and the gems would remember things that happened to them, and it affected them and how they would function and play a part in their story. This was a huge deal to me as a teenager. I always wanted the cartoons I grew up with featuring kid characters to feel more. In my own work, I often felt discouraged when combining a fun, cutesy western art style with themes as dark or layered as anime would cover. I always thought it had to be one or the other because an audience wouldn’t take a combination of the two seriously enough, based on discussions I had with classmates, friends, and online analysis I read at the time. Steven Universe proved to me otherwise. This show was opening the door for future cartoons exploring in-depth, adult concepts. I felt so seen as a kid, and was inspired to stick with what I love doing.

I was actually very worried about the show’s survival. It was in fact immensely underrated and the fandom was miniscule. Then in 2014, JailBreak dropped, and it’s popularity exploded. Part of it was because of the complex plot and the themes it was covering like I mentioned, but also because of its representation. 

I remember when fandom theorized that Garnet was a fusion due to grand, tragic reasons. Turns out, she’s simply a metaphor for a very loving w|w relationship. This was huge. I cannot stress how important it is that we continue to normalize healthy canon queer relationships in childens’ media, and Steven Universe finally was the first to do that proper. Introducing these themes offers the chance for a kid to sit there and ask themselves, “Why is this demonized by so many people?” I asked myself exactly that. Ruby and Sapphire were my cartoon LGBT rep. They were the first LGBT couple I ever ecstatically drew fanart of. I was dealing with a lot of internalized homophobia at the time, and they showed me that I was allowed to love women and feel normal about it. The process of overcoming this was a long one, but they played a part in my very first steps into becoming comfortable with my sexuality. I could go on and on about it’s representation in general-- how it breaks the mold when it comes to showcasing a diverse set of characters in design, in casting, and in breaking gender roles. It’s focus on love and empathy. Steven himself is a big boy, but he's the protagonist, and the show never once makes fun of his weight, or any other bigger characters for that matter. It wasn’t hard to see why the fandom had grown so large.

Fandom was always a joy for me. It was a hobby I picked up when I was in middle school, like many of us here did. I would always cater my experience to fun, and fun only. I only started getting more deeply involved in SU’s fandom when I had just turned into an adult. During the summer of 2016, between my first and second year of college, I drew for the show almost every day non-stop when the Summer of Steven event was going on and posted them online. This was a form of practice for me in order to become not just more comfortable with experimenting with my art, but also to meet new artists, make new friends, and learn to interact with strangers without fear. I dealt with a ton of anxiety when I was in high school. When I was a senior applying to art school for animation, I decided I was going to overcome that anxiety. I made plans to take baby steps to improve myself over the course of my 4 years of college. Joining the fandom, while unforeseen, was definitely a part of that process. I started feeling more confident in sharing my ideas, even if they were fan-made. I fell in love with storyboarding after that summer, when I took my first storyboarding class, and genuinely felt like I was actually getting somewhere with all of this. I remember finally coming to a point in my classes where I could pitch and not feel hopelessly insecure about it. I was opening up more to my friends and peers. 

But this process, unfortunately, came to a screeching halt. 

My life completely, utterly crumbled under me in the Fall of 2017 due to a series of blows in my personal life that happened in the span of just a couple weeks. My mental health and sense of identity were completely destroyed. All of that confidence I had worked for-- completely ruined. I was alone. I nearly died. My stay at college was extended to 4 and half years, instead of the 4 I had intended. I lost my love for animation-- making it, and watching it. I could no longer watch Steven Universe with the same love I had for it beforehand. It’s a terrible thing, trying to give your attention to something you don’t love anymore, and wanting so desperately to love again. I dropped so many things I loved in my life, including the fandom.

Healing was a long and complicated road. I continued to watch the show all the way up until Change Your Mind aired in the beginning of 2019, and while I still felt empty, that was definitely a turning point for me with it’s encapsulation of self-love. I was hoping James Baxter would get to work on Steven Universe since he guest-animated on Adventure Time, and it was incredible seeing that wish actually come true. The movie came out and while I enjoyed it and thought highly of it, I was still having issues letting myself genuinely love things again, old and new. It was especially difficult because cartoons were my solace as a kid, when things got rough at home. I remember feeling sad because the show ended, and not getting the chance to love it again like I used to while it was still going.

By the time Steven Universe Future was announced, I was finally coming around. I was genuinely starting to feel excitement for art and animation again. I wasn’t expecting there to be a whole new epilogue series, but happily ever after, there we were! Prickly Pear aired, and the implications it left in terms of where the story was going did it. I was finally ready to let myself take the dive back into fandom in January of this year. My art blew up, something I wasn’t expecting considering my 2-year hiatus. Following this, I was invited into a discord server containing some of the biggest writers, artists, editors, and analysts in the fandom. I had no idea there were so many talented people in the fandom, some already with degrees, some getting their degrees-- creating stuff for it on the side just for fun. The amount of passion and productivity level here is insane, and so is the amount of discussion that has come out of it.

I didn’t realize it at first, but it was actually helping me gain back the courage to share ideas. I lost my confidence in pitching while I was taking the time to heal, and graduating meant there would no longer be a classroom setting I could practice in. This group helped immensely. 

I have made so many friends through this wonderful series, and I have so many fond memories talking to like-minded creatives, getting feedback and a myriad of sources for inspiration, as well as all of the memes and jokes and weekly theorizations that came about as we all waited on the edges of our seats for episodes to air. I needed this so badly, I needed to get back in touch with my roots, when I would go absolutely hog-wild over a cartoon I loved with people who loved it as much I did. Future has been a blessing for me in this way. I graduated feeling like I was back at square-one, but now I feel like I’m on my way again.

It’s 2020 and while I’m doing great right now, I am honestly still recovering from the total exhaustion that followed after graduating a few months ago, and finally leaving the campus where my life fell apart behind. Needless to say, watching Future was like looking into a mirror. Watching one of my favorite characters of all time-- one that grew up with me-- go through so many of the same things I went through not too long ago was absolutely insane to watch unfold. It’s such an important thing too, to show a character go through the process of breaking down over trauma and all the nasty things that come with it, and to have them go on the road to healing. Steven got that therapy. He wasn’t blamed. The gems were called out. The finale was everything I could have ever hoped for. The catharsis I experienced watching it was out of this world.

As I continue my own healing journey, I will always look up to the storyboard artists, revisionists, and designers that I have been following over these past 7 years, as well as the new ones introduced in Future. It's been such a joy watching these artists release their promo art for episodes, talk about their experiences working on the show, and post the work they've done for it alongside episodes airing.

Thank you Rebecca Sugar, the Crewniverse, and the fans, for making this such a truly wonderful and unique experience. Thank you for reminding me that I am, and always will be, an artist, a cartoonist, and a fan. Thank you, my followers, for the overwhelmingly positive response to my artwork. I have had so much fun interacting and discussing the show with you all again over these past few months. Steven Universe and it’s fandom will always have a special place in my heart, and it will always be a classic that I will return to for comfort and inspiration for decades to come. I am sad that the cartoon renaissance is over, but so many doors have been opened thanks to this show. I am so, so excited to see what this show will inspire in the future, and I hope one day I get the opportunity to be a part of that. 

Goodbye Steven, thank you for everything. I wish you healing, and I wish Rebecca and the team a well-deserved rest. ♥️

-Cynthia D.

[desktopdonnie]

OK so my guys in TMNT and artists in the fandom you need to hear this.

There is a person called @hamsterandturtlesoup and @hamstermastersamster

Who is 40 something year-old.

They pretend they're younger and post a TMNT fanfic comic. On it's own I think that's not a big deal. Like maybe they're a super autistic dude right needing a outlet? But the plot thickens.

So the deal is I joined tumblr last year and through the Rise TMNT fandom I came to follow this hamsterandturtlesoup (HATS). In like a week after following I got an ANON message saying to avoid them because they're not whom I think they are. Curious yes? Someone has there eye on HATS and is warning people off following. Why?

I guessed this was spam. I ignored it until September 2021 when I got way too curious after school restarted. Yeh I were bored....

So.... I read the anon message yesterday and it got weird. That's where I read that HATS is middle aged. But it's worse. There's a load of screen caps and reddit history to put together, but I got reading and here's the plot:

The TLDR deal is they (HATS) went loopy in covid 2020 and had a psychological stress meltdown. They took out there angst on a friend of 20 years who was in hospital during covid (not clear if it was from covid). HATS axed the person from there life because HATS didn't like being inviting to online socials (during covid). Like what a crime lol. I don't understand if the friend was still in hospital at the time but it is weird to go mental at a friend when they're fresh out from major surgery....just because HATS was upset about a discord server the friend invited them to. I read the screen caps and you got to assume that HATS is mentally ill or deeply autistic because they really go all out on there bud's ass for inviting them to an online party.

No big deal you think? Personal domestic. But it gets weirder.

The person that HATS axed was a good artist that drew loads and was good friends to HATS for many years. They swapped art on deviantart for like 15 years. And the guy was pretty busted up over this weird behaviour by HATS so they posted for help in dealing with it. They're thinking HATS was needing mental help. The reply from reddit was to reach out to HATS to see if they were in mental crisis.

But by Jan 2021 that friend died after another big surgery and didn't get to speak to HATS again over the lost friendship.

This choked me up big after I looked at the art they made. Knowing they had surgery they made beautiful art in honor of Qinni but then died soon after themselves. It's kind of like they knew they were going to die....

So what happened next with HATS?

@hamsterandturtlesoup didn't care and didn't go to the funeral and acted like nothing happened. Twenty year friendship. RIP. Didn't react. On there deviant they even deleted the friend's name. That's damn savage af.

You might think they grieved privately?

I doubt. They then blocked everyone who ever asked about it. If you ask them they block you. Seriously try to ask them and you will get blocked!

Like no one knows the real reason these friends broke up. Is there a real reason? If the reason really is because of an online invite then I think HATS is not normal. I would never axe a friend over a discord chat. A twenty year friend is family.

Then HATS deletes everything online except the TMNT obsession. That's all they do. TMNT stuff on tumblr and deviantart (like who uses that anymore except millenials?).

Are they a predator?

It doesn't sound much when you break it down, but I read so many screen caps and stuff from so many different people on this. I had a session with two people who both confirmed HATS was middle aged and in a kind of denial about the death. It was mega dark reading how they behaved. Combined with HATS sadistic TMNT fic, they come off as really sinister.

I'm guessing HATS freaked out over more then just being invited to voice channels. Like why didn't they want to talk to other people online? I'm thinking because they wanted to hide there age or gender and predatory behavior. I think the dead friend had some sort of dirt on HATS that HATS wanted to stay hidden. Because who just deletes there online life and friends but keeps there creepy TMNT comic obsession?

HATS does.

Why cut all ties and people linked to them and there behaviour if not suspect?

Something is going on here that's deeper.

I think HATS might be one of those predators you're told to avoid by your teacher?

Before I get cancelled I did ask HATS what there side of the story was. They said nothing but blocked me in seconds. Seconds guys! So I guess I'm on the nail when I said they're kind of like a predator mingling with my GenZ in tumblr. They were chatting me up, but when I ask about em being 40 and the dead friend....I'm blocked.

I dunno what they're doing in there private chat history. But 40 years old and pretending to be a teen on tumblr isn't normal and I think it's gross. Erasing a good bud is gross. Not paying respects at there funeral is scummy. Blocking people who ask is sus.

Is this a true predator? Be careful who you talk to in the TMNT fandom.

[arlakos]

MLB AU “A musical friend to lean on

Ok, I had this idea for an AU which gives Luka more of a bigger role in earlier seasons starting from season 2, and also for adding in some actual character progression in the story:

Instead of the whole guitar thing that we got in Captain Hardrock (which in my opinion is kinda rushed) they just kinda awkwardly introduce each other because...they kinda dont know eachother at all at this point.

Instead of the whole boat fiasco thing and Captain Hardrock, a random akuma attacks, which ends up occuring near the boat. Marinette manages to sneak off from the boat and defeat it, but decides to come back to the boat to detransform. 

This ends up being a bad idea ... because Luka comes in and see's Marinette detransform right in his room. There this huge pause of silence, where both characters are trying to say something, only for Anarka to come in and ask if both of them are alright. Marinette, feeling sick with fear, runs off.

Cue a few days later, and Marinette is avoiding going back to the boat despite Rose and Juleka asking her to come. After all she is scared. What if Luka tells someone? What if he already did?

Eventually though, after some encouragement from Tikki, Marinette decides to go back. 

Marinette returns to the boat, but is unable to speak privately with Luka because of the music preparations, which justs makes marinette nervous again. Eventually however, Marinette finds Luka in his room, mirroring their first awkward meeting.

At this point its very awkward for either of them, and both of them are stuttering and interuppting each other trying to get their words out. Eventually however they are able to talk.

Cue a bit of a fanfic writing that I wrote about on the Sugar and Spice Server:

At this point, the story would play out like a slow-burn, but rather than romance it would just be two people that have met each other (in the most awkward way possible) trying to get to know eachother and eventually becoming friends

Marinette would at first be hesitant with Luka because she would be afraid she would tell someone, but after a while she would grow to like him and eventually consider him a close friend

However, it would only be after a few akuma battles and some friendship moments after that reveal that she woud begin to trust him as a confidant for her hero life.

Like say after a particualarly rough battle, she would want to talk with someone, but cant because everyone she knows doesnt know who she is...except for one.

So after a while and some hesitation, she would begin to confide in him as someone who knows her secret identity, Essentially, Luka becomes her other best friend. Or as I put it, her “ Best Secret Identity Friend” (BSIF for short!)

As she gets more comfortable in him, she would begin to talk with him about her hero stuff and discuss things with him that she cant with anyone else due to various reasons.

She's not a guardian at this point, but she is a hero who’s still relatively new to the whole hero thing and is trying to manage her normal and hero lives, so at this point she really needs someone to confide in, especially about stuff that troubles her.

It changes the story a fair bit as though Luka, Marinette learns to trust in others more, and she also gets a bit more confident as both a hero and herself, especially when it comes to intereacting with Adrien (though she still cant confess to Adrien yet)

TLDR Luka finds out Marinette is Ladybug after an awkward first meeting, but slowly they become friends, and Luka becomes a closet friend Marinette can confide in, especially about her double life.

Many thanks to @twin-books for discussing my AU with me and helping me shape up my ideas, as well as for helping me realise a similar platonic AU idea featuring Kagami and Adrien (more on that soon). As always, if you feel like joining our Sugar and Spice discord server, feel free to do so with the link below!

Invite Link

[joieorbeia]

i literally left tumblr to focus on irl stuff and come back to this for the end of the day. oh well, things must be said i guess.

quite a lengthy post, but i’ll try and address it as best as i can:

first — i think it’s an unfair assumption that you @ufo-ikawa (and juno @andromedalis ) would attribute that hate anon (and others) to me. believe it or not (although i’m thinking you’re leaning on the not), i didn’t send it. haven’t sent anything to anyone that wasn’t an anon with my name on it or in private message with my last blog. i even made a new blog to reach out to juno and augustine @augustinewrites and your new friend ori @ahtsuwu separately and they all just blocked me without hearing me out. what am i even supposed to defend myself towards when i don’t know what is being said about me? how will anyone know if it’s the whole truth or not?

second — i didn’t realize thinking you “didn’t like” me was already considered talking shit, or stirring shit. it’s called an opinion and i’m allowed to have it? when i told augustine that she said it’s “not the case,” when i told juno about it she mentioned that when we’re in the same spaces we don’t interact, even in the gen chat, and she’s right. there have been instances where there were entirely separate conversations in the same channel and you ignore me, opting to discuss a different topic and replying over me and what i was talking about. i never took that against you, though? if i made you feel weird about it, i’m sorry. but it wasn’t my intention.

also, i never called you ‘ungrateful,’ and if i did, i’m sure it was along the lines of ‘feels kind of,’ probably bc i didn’t have a better word for it. bc it WAS kind of weird that when i literally got your hate blog terminated, you went “thanks for doing that but i feel bad” — which i NEVER made you feel bad for by the way, check our chats — but i just felt that it was kind of weird that you were kind of making me feel guilty for helping you. so i felt bad that i got involved.

third — when have i ever belittled people for writing on tumblr? was it when i said i couldn’t find good smut? was it when i complained about characterizations that don’t fit the character? why would i shit on my own craft like that. i even made a post calling out YOUR AND AUGUSTINE’S PLAGIARIZER (remember that?) about how writing is super fucking hard and people are dumb for talking shit about it being “just stupid fics.” just because i find some writing bad doesn’t automatically mean that i’m shitting on writers. (although i have done that in the past but bc i really thought they were terrible.)

fourth — if i ever came across as passive aggressive to anyone, i sincerely apologize bc i never meant to come across that way. (actually, i don’t even know how that happened, bc i’m normally aggressive aggressive. in any case, i’m sorry if you felt uncomfortable with how i said things. if i have a problem, an ACTUAL PROBLEM, with you, not a feeling, i’ll tell you. which i did to juno/andromedalis and augustine and ori/ahtsuwu, but they all blocked me without responding so 🤷‍♀️)

now, for everything else:

i did leave my blog bc of my mental health. i’ve been talking about this since JANUARY, it’s not a fucking secret. i deactivated discord as soon as i deactivated tumblr, which probably explains why i didn’t see any of the messages. (i think tho discord doesn’t mark you as deleted until the 14th day, which probably made my username look normal and made it seem like i just ignored your messages.)

eta: also had a hard time discerning whether or not i should deact bc of the collab i had, the server i owned, and the small writers who were involved in both and wanted to make friends in the fandom. not to mention the ukraine fundraising.

hinatawa was becoming such a toxic space for me to be in, discord was becoming such a toxic space for me to be in. but i still wanted to write, and i wanted to write what i wanted. i didn’t want attention on the blog AT ALL bc i wasn’t ready for it, but i didn’t want to be an asshole and just ignore everyone, which is why i sent you all nice messages on anon, even tried to leave june an anon but she doesn’t accept anons. (and I don't know about you, but that’s not ghosting to me.) but obvs when i rejoined the server you were all backstabbing me in i finally found out why you didn’t answer them. 

the only people i interacted with were people OUTSIDE the very large ecosystem of sfw readers that i know did not overlap with my usual audience. i made it no secret that minors ruined the experience for me, freely writing whatever i wanted. i only started reaching out to people after a few days, and i had to warn everyone i came out to that i was writing nsfw. when i came out to @miyasann she even asked if it was okay for her to reblog from me, which i said i was still thinking about. THAT’S how much i didn’t want to reenter the space. i didn’t want a repeat of hinatawa, point blank. i wanted to do everything i could to avoid it, and unfortunately that meant waiting until i’ve erased myself from recent memory in order to feel like i don’t need to keep my guard up when writing and posting what i wanted to write.

i never complained about anyone not following me or interacting with me. I DIDN’T WANT IT. my feelings about being unwelcome aside (it’s the anxiety), i didn’t want the attention i know our group (well, your group, now) would bring my blog. not that you wouldn’t respect it, but i personally was just not ready for it. i wasn’t ready to see works that i know would pressure me into wanting to reveal myself into a space i no longer wanted to be in simply bc i wouldn’t have to start from scratch. i wasn’t ready to see you all be friends and me hide myself bc i wasn’t ready to just get back out there after the shitty experience i had with my last blog. i didn’t gaslight anyone, i didn’t send death threats to anyone — in fact i was one of the people who rallied behind you for that suicide baiting blog. i was super vocal about the plagiarizer. if those blogs targeted me, i would have a hell of a time getting attention from readers i wanted to avoid in order to defend myself. 

also, i can’t believe i’m saying this, but i have every right to keep things private? i just didn’t want to deal with people from the old blog. that was it.

and my favorite piece of all:

truth be told, my main apprehension was that you would use that hate blog against me, and i was right. i do regret that bc it was dumb and i was mad and i just went off, and i fully apologize for the problems it caused people. i think it should be said that i wasn’t the only person running that blog. they’re not on tumblr but they had some choice words to say about it, and at the time i felt like bc i was on the platform, i had to say them for her. 

also, i hope you know that juno/andromedalis was egging me on nearly every step of the way on that blog, and when it reached its inevitable end, she even apologized bc she “felt bad” that i was taking all the heat even though we were literally chatting about it behind the curtain. i never tried to pin that on her or implied her involvement, but i’m saying this now bc well... here’s to hoping i’m not being made the scapegoat 🤷‍♀️

all that being said, i just want to repeat: i have the right to keep things private. i apologize if you all felt like i ghosted you, but please do not blow things out of proportion. you say you told people the “full story,” but tbh it’s YOUR story. it was never full, bc no one asked for my input. how will anyone know if what you’re saying is the full story when i didn’t even know what specific things you were sharing behind closed doors? you assumed my thoughts and feelings along the way. you assumed you knew EXACTLY what was going on. hopefully this clears some things up.

anyway, leaving my asks open in case any one has any questions. throw hate my way, too, i don’t mind. i’d appreciate it if my former mutuals told me exactly what they thought of me bc i’m tired of this bullshit that goes on behind closed doors.

say it to my face, bc i just have to yours.

[faireth-reed]

I had to comment the Activision Blizzard situation

It's obvious that I'm incredibly mad at this. My anger has no limits right now, as I'm pretty sure that happens to most of you as well. What happened can't be hidden, can't be ignored.

Everyone's here explaining their lifes. Venting is understandable, but it's not a matter of explaining your backstories or future plans, but how you react to this situation.

Are you still in shock? It's normal, but you have so many possibilities:

First of all, don't doubt. The cases have already been investigated and confirmed. They are not false accusations, the only thing that could happen is that more cases were revealed. I'm sure we don't even know half of it.

Never blame the victims, or players who critisized Activision Blizzard for previous things, not even knowing about this. You can't hide everything behind "oh, this youtuber abandoned WoW for FF". That's what AB did and they failed miserably.

Don't explain why you keep paying them. It's not my business if you do, but it would be appreciated to have you stop giving them extra money for boosts or other stuff that you don't need at all.

If you want to stop paying but not playing, consider doing so in a private server. As a private player myself (so I don't give a single euro to AB), I think it's the appropiate time to promote this. Checking the enviroment of these places and their behavior is much easier, since they don't move the money that would free them from being judged.

Do not delete your accounts if you consider that these criminals can be judged and the workers renewed to a significant point, just consider it a pause. Take your time to get to know new games, so you won't just depend on WoW and others.

If you choose to keep playing, no one will attack you. But please, stop shouting it everywhere. We know there are many innocent workers who did a lot for the games. We all have a game that chsnged our lives, or more than one. But that can never invalid everyone's reaction to crimes. Support those people that need help even if you keep playing. Do not feel attacked because others are taking distance.

Also, please, don't do the typical "oh, I stopped playing ages ago, so this doesn't go with me". I literally heard an incel I know thinking he was "pure" because he left when Blizzard was being greedy by releasing Classic. We don't care. Are you helping or not?

Basically, we need to be heard. Harrassment happens every fucking day. It's so disgustingly normalized that each one of us could provide a different story and still have a common pain. Let it be known. That's it.

If you are in a vulnerable situation where you need to "evade from reality" or something, seek actively for help. Even here on Tumblr people provide many useful links and official contact numbers in order to help on this situations. Check them.

And if you are afraid of losing contact with your in game friends, create a discord server, or use any social network that doesn't require personal information. Interact in groups instead of 1 vs 1 situations. Do not pressure your acquaintances to send names, pics or anything. Just use the server as a forum, where you can keep chatting in a healthy way.

[whenihaveyouromione]

When I Have You - Chapter 39

Read on Fanfiction.net and ao3!

Also, I now have a Discord server set up for people who enjoy books and like talking about books. It’s new, but eventually we will have Secret Santas, reading challenges and group read-alongs. Please join if you are interested! The more the merrier!

For my oneshots and other Romione stuff, please follow @firethecanonsfanfiction

----

Chapter 39

Ron landed with Hermione in her parents’ garden, hidden by the large hedges that fronted their house. Hermione was gripping his arm tightly and didn’t let go once they had Apparated. Ron had to pry her off.

“Are you worried they won’t approve?” Ron asked, teasing as he gave her hand a squeeze.

“Of course not,” Hermione said, though he could tell her mind was a little distracted. “Still, it’s nerve-wracking trying to find a way to tell them.”

“They’ll be fine,” Ron assured her calmly. “They like me well enough, don’t they?”

“They love you,” Hermione said. “It’s still a little scary.”

“They were fine after you told them about their memories, so they’ll be fine with this.” Ron kissed her forehead as the front door opened. 

“Is there a reason the two of you are standing out the front?” It was Robert, and he was watching them both with that look he often wore — the look that said he was confused, yet amused at the same time. 

Hermione flushed and pulled away from Ron, turning to head into the house. 

“You know,” Robert said as they entered. He closed the door after them and followed them into the living room, “if you wanted some time alone, you could have come five minutes later rather than standing in our front garden. Honestly, we wouldn’t have minded if you were a little late.”

“We were just talking,” Hermione said, giving her mother a hug. Ron noticed that she quickly pulled away, tucking her left hand in her pocket. 

“It’s good to see you both,” Jane said, now hugging Ron. She barely seemed to notice Hermione’s odd behaviour. 

“You too, Mum.” Hermione smiled. 

“Do either of you care for a drink?” 

“Just some water. Thanks, Mum.” Hermione sat down on the two seater sofa in her parents’ living room, Ron beside her.

“Ron?” Jane asked. 

“I guess the same, thanks,” Ron said. The Grangers were keen on their wine for lunches and dinners, but they and Ron seemed to share different tastes and opinions about what was good. He was safest with water here. 

Jane went into the kitchen to get their drinks, while Robert flicked through the TV channels until he found one that was suitable for background noise. He joined Ron and Hermione by sitting in his favourite armchair. 

Ron glanced at the television with curiosity. Robert had settled on something Hermione had referred to as a sitcom in the past. Whatever that meant.  

“How’s your week been?” he asked, looking at them. “Work treating you well?”

“It’s fine,” Hermione said, resting her back against the sofa. “Busy, of course, but fine.”

Ron looked at her questioningly, for he’d given them the perfect opportunity to announce their engagement, but she gave a small shake of her head that went unnoticed by her father. He also noticed her hand seemingly tucked nonchalantly between her legs. 

“Ron’s been preparing for his final tests, so he’s been locked away in the study a little. There’s a lot of theory involved, along with all the aptitude tests he has to do as well. It’s going to be a busy next few weeks.” She smiled brightly. “But, it will all be worth it in the end. He’ll be fully qualified soon.”

“Wonderful!” Robert said with a genuine smile. It always amazed Ron just how pleasant her parents were toward him. How involved they were in Hermione’s (and now his) life, and how much they seemed to want to know about what was going on in a world they couldn’t be a part of. “I know how hard you’ve been working for it, Ron. Three years is a long time to persevere with training, regardless of what job it is.”

“Would be similar to university, I think,” Hermione said. “University can be longer, even.”

“What’s university?” Ron asked curiously. She’d never mentioned that before. 

“It’s... like another school,” Hermione began. “For adults. People our age. It’s what you study to get a job in the Muggle world. Like dentists.” Hermione indicated her dad. “You need to go to university for that.”

“So what’s the point in going to school all those other years, then?” Ron wanted to know. “You said you started at six or something, but all of that is worthless?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s worthless, Ron,” Robert said. “Just… different.”

Ron wasn’t sure he agreed, but said no more on the matter. He didn’t want to offend her parents, of all days. 

“How about you, Hermione?” Robert continued after a brief silence when Jane returned with two tall glasses of ice-cold water. “You still enjoying what you do?”

“Yes,” Hermione said. “It’s great.”

“You said you’re starting Saturdays soon?”

“Unfortunately. It’s not forever, though. We just need to get a law written. My hours should go back to normal after about a month. Which…” she looked to Ron, “will be when his hours will change. Training is pretty standard, but Auror work is shift work. Not sure how often we’ll see each other to begin with.”

“You’ll work around it, I’m sure,” Robert said. “Maybe you’ll both end up with a Wednesday off together instead of a Sunday.”

Hermione looked at Ron and smiled. He smiled back and took a sip of the water Jane had just handed him.

“And what about you?” Hermione asked her parents. “How’s your week been?”

“Same as every other week, Hermione,” Jane said. “Nothing new. Life is pretty dull in London these days. Especially since we closed the practice.”

“I thought you were enjoying your retirement,” Hermione said. “You two should definitely take a holiday somewhere. See the world. You’d have the best time, I think.”

Both Robert and Jane laughed. 

“Oh, we’ve thought about it, I assure you,” Jane said. “We’ve discussed it, and we’re thinking maybe next summer we might hire a caravan and travel through Europe. It’s still in the works, though. It would be for the whole three months of summer.”

“Croatia was nice,” Ron said. “When we were there last year. It’ll probably be even nicer in summer.”

“Oh, yes, we’ve been there,” Jane said. “Absolutely stunning. Greece, too. We’re going to put Lithuania and Estonia at the top of our lists. Would love to go there. And maybe even travel up north to Scotland, across to Wales… Ireland as well.”

“Oh, that reminds me!” Hermione set her own glass of water on the side table next to her. “Harry and Ginny have decided they’re going to move across to Wales. At least while Ginny is with her team. It’s easier for them to manage it that way, and Harry hates where he lives at the moment, so it was an easy decision for them.”

"And they're enjoying their engagement?" Jane asked. “It’s all so exciting when it’s new, and then comes all the planning.”

"Oh, yes," Hermione said. Again, Ron watched as she refused to move her own hand where she wore the engagement ring. Her desire to hide it was beginning to make him a little uncomfortable. She wasn’t embarrassed, was she? "They're so happy. I don't think I've seen Harry so happy since… since he won his first Quidditch match.”

"He's grinning like an idiot," Ron added. "Almost making training unbearable with his happiness. And they’re not really the type to get stressed over the planning side, I don’t think. Given their — um — popularity in our world, they’ll want to keep things pretty quiet and private."

"I'm so happy for him!" Jane said. "If anyone deserves to have something so mundane and normal happen to them, I would think it's Harry. The poor man, and I probably wouldn't even know the half of it."

"You wouldn't want to, Mum," Hermione said. “I don’t think Harry has even told us what’s going through his head half the time.”

"You two want another drink?" Robert then asked, noticing the two had already finished their water. 

"Thanks, Dad," Hermione said, holding out her glass for him to take. "Maybe some wine this time."

Robert accepted the glass from his daughter, and then paused. Hermione tried to wrench her hand back — she'd forgotten momentarily to hide her left one. 

Robert caught her hand in his and then looked at Hermione with a slight smirk. "Seems like you two had a more eventful week than you shared with us," he said.

Hermione flushed and returned her hand to her lap. 

"We were going to tell you," she said. "Over lunch. It was going to be a surprise."

"Tell us what?" Jane, whose view had been blocked during the short exchange, came over to stand beside her husband.

Robert looked down at Hermione with a smile on his lips. Hermione stood up, Ron also doing the same.

"Well…" Hermione looked at her mother. "Ron and I are… also getting married."

"What?" Jane said. "Since when?" She looked between them, her mouth slightly open.

"Since Friday," Hermione said. "Two days ago. Ron asked me."

There was a short pause in the Granger's living room, and then Jane wrapped her arms around her daughter in a warm hug.

"That's such wonderful news!" She turned to Ron and hugged him as well. "I’m so happy for the both of you.”

Hermione beamed at her parents. "Thanks!" she said. "It was all really sweet, was really unexpected…" She clutched Ron's arm excitedly. "We really wanted you to be the first to know."

Robert came forward to hug Hermione and shake Ron’s hand.

“Congratulations,” he said. 

“This just makes lunch so much more special,” Jane continued. “We’ll break out the best champagne we have.”

“Mum, you don’t have to —”

“This will be the only time we get to celebrate an engagement for our daughter,” Jane said. “There’s no better time.”

Hermione smiled, looking up at Ron. He placed an arm across her shoulders. 

“But before we do that, while you’re here, come upstairs with me. I’ll give you a few things that might help you start planning.”

“Mum, it’s a bit early —”

“It’s nothing wedding-y,” Jane assured her. “Just some planners I was given a while back that you might find useful. There’s a bit, though. Might need a bit of your… magic to help transport them.”

Ron dropped his arm from around Hermione. “Have fun,” he said, kissing her temple. 

Hermione followed her mum into the hall, their voices trailing up the stairs. 

That left Ron alone with Robert, which in this moment, unnerved him. His relationship with Hermione’s father over the years had been… interesting. While the man seemed to like Ron well enough, his sense of humour didn’t always gel with Ron’s, often leaving Ron wondering if he was being serious or joking. 

It had never occurred to Ron before just how Robert would react to finding out his only daughter was getting married, and learning about it in such a surprising way. If Ron was in his position, if Ron had a daughter, he’d probably be a bit… well, he didn’t actually know how he’d feel. It was hard to imagine him being in Robert Granger’s position one day.

He looked uncomfortably over at her dad. The man smiled. But was it just Ron, or did his smile not quite meet his eyes? No, that was how he usually smiled. 

Though, the impulse in Ron to prove himself as a good match for the Grangers’ only child had him stupidly saying, “I really do love her.”

“I’ve never had any doubt about that, Ron,” Robert said. “And if you said that because you feel I’m suddenly going to turn against you because you asked my daughter to marry you, you can relax.”

Ron shifted where he stood. He wondered if he could sit down, but decided against it. “Right.”

“I’ve been there before,” Robert continued. “Proposing. Anyway, it’s not my opinion that matters, even if I didn’t approve — which is not the case. Hermione’s an adult, she’s more than capable of making her own decisions, and I like to think she makes rather smart ones. She always has, so I can’t see why this would be any different. She knows what she’s doing.” He smiled wryly.

At this, Ron smiled. He relaxed slightly. 

“I’m happy for you, I really am,” Robert continued. I’ve not seen her happier since she’s been with you. You make her happy, and after what you’ve all been through, I think some happiness is well-earned.” He smiled at Ron in a very fatherly way. “The pair of you have a very strong relationship — that is obvious. You make each other happy, you love each other deeply. And I think that’s wonderful.” He held out a hand, offering it to Ron. “Welcome to the family, Ron. Officially.”

Ron accepted Robert’s hand and smiled. “Thanks,” he said. 

“You know,” Robert then said, his hand dropping to his side, “Jane and I do like our wine, but I think this might call for something… different.” He looked at Ron with a wry smile. “How do you feel about beer, Ron?”

“I’ve not had it before,” Ron said. “Unless you mean Butterbeer.”

“Is that one of your weird drinks?”

“Yes,” Ron said. “It’s not very potent, though.”

“Well, I don’t know if it’s in any way similar, but —” He indicated for Ron to follow him into the kitchen and combined dining area. 

Ron obliged, not wanting to disappoint. 

Robert went to the refrigerator and took out two identical bottles. He passed one to Ron. Ron watched him twist the lid and open it, and instantly felt very stupid when he couldn’t do the same. He flushed as Robert had to do it for him. 

“I suppose if you’re not used to this, it might be tricky,” Robert said drily. 

Ron turned an even deeper red, certain he was making a horrible impression and that Hermione’s dad was reconsidering his congratulations. “Actually, it’s just… we use… magic.”

“Ah,” Robert said. “Well, don’t let me stop you.”

Once opened, Ron brought the bottle to his lips and tasted the drink. He almost gagged at the bitter flavour, but managed to keep a straight face.

Robert chuckled. “I can see it’s not really your thing.”

“It’s just different,” Ron said, taking another sip. It was slightly better this time. 

There was silence for a moment. Then Robert spoke. “You strike me as the romantic type, Ron. How did you ask Hermione to marry you?”

Ron drank from the bottle again before answering. “Er, well… not as I had planned it. I was going to take her to this lake we visit often. I’d asked my brother to organise fireworks and everything, but… you know what she’s like. She kind of figured it out before I got the chance.”

“That’s Hermione,” Robert said with a nod. “Very intuitive.”

“Yeah, well, she also was ready to kick me out because she learnt that I had taken a lot of money out of our account. So, I had to tell her the reason before she got the chance. I used the money for her engagement ring, by the way,” he said at Robert’s quizzical look. 

“It’s a nice one,” Robert replied.

“Yeah, it is.” Ron smiled slightly at the image still in his mind, as clear as day. “I kind of asked her on the floor of our bedroom. But she said yes after deciding not to murder me for spending so much on her. I’ve been wanting to do it for a year, almost. I just… couldn’t afford to straight away.”

Robert smiled. “Well, I really am happy for you, Ron. She loves you very much. You’ll have a very happy life together, I’m sure.”

“I hope so,” Ron said. “She makes me —” He wanted to say a lot of things, but didn’t think some of them appropriate to say in front of Hermione’s dad. “She makes me happy,” was what he settled on. 

Robert nodded. “I know.”

Hermione and her mother came back after that, Hermione clutching a few folders and looking pleased. “These will be perfect, Mum. Thanks.”

“What are they?” Ron asked, taking one from her hands and flipping through it. It was a book with blank pages. 

“Mum said we can use them to plan our wedding. She’s been meaning to get rid of them for ages.”

“I find writing things down and making lists is very beneficial,” Jane said. 

Ron smiled at Hermione, and she smiled back. If they weren’t in her parents’ kitchen, he’d kiss her where she stood. She was in her element with all those empty folders, and Merlin did he love her when she was in her element. 

“So, does your family know, Ron?” Jane asked, breaking Ron’s gaze from Hermione. 

He startled. “Not yet. We’ll let them continue celebrating with Harry and Ginny. We haven’t even told Harry or Ginny yet, either, actually. We probably won’t. They think it’s happening next week.”

Hermione placed the folders on the bench. “Ron’s family has a lot to celebrate often,” she said. “So we told you first.”

At that, Jane beamed. “Well, I think we should get lunch sorted, don’t you? I think we should even maybe head out somewhere nice for this occasion.”

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Robert said. 

Hermione looked at Ron, and he took her hand. “Sounds good to me,” he said, beaming, and she kissed him quickly. 

Everyone smiled and Ron squeezed her hand tightly. 

He loved her so very much and now that he’d asked her to marry him, he couldn’t wait for their wedding day.