#that the number of the donation is the month and day of his birthday is a nice detail... 🤍

[growingwithem]

Eunhyuk donate 40,04 million won to support children and adolescents taking care of sick family member at an age when they need to be taken care of ❤️‍🩹

On April 4, the Green Umbrella Children's Foundation said "On Eunhyuk's birthday, the Super Junior member donated 40,040,000 won to support children and adolescents who care for relatives (children and adolescents who care for relatives or relatives who have difficulties such as disabilities, illnesses and mental illness).

The donation delivered by Eunhyuk is the amount raised by adding the proceeds from Eunhyuk's fan meeting held on March 30th & Eunhyuk's personal expenses. Eunhyuk said, "Since I was a child, seeing my father working at a child welfare center, I wanted to become a person who can help children when I grow up."

Choi Woon-jung, director of the Green Umbrella Children's Foundation's Seoul Regional Headquarters 2, said “I am grateful to Eunhyuk for taking an interest in children and adolescents taking care of their families, a blind spot in child welfare, and spreading a good influence."

Eunhyuk continues to do good deeds since 2021, such as donations to support children's housin.

[dovesndecay]

It's June! It's Pride! It's (my) Birthday!

The Introduction Spiel:

Hi, I'm Reyah! (any pronouns! no really, go for it!) On June 21st, I'm turning 32, an exciting and mysterious age to be!! (So I've heard)

Warning: This is a post asking for financial help, and if there's one thing I would ask is that if you read the whole thing: please reblog.

I'm a multiply-disabled queer person of color, a writer, artist, and photographer. I live with three of my best-good-pal-friends, (@renthony, @kryptidkhaos, and @natalieironside) and our collective army of pets.

We all know it's damned hard to be all these things at the same time under the capitalistic hellscape we're living under, and we/I am always in need of a lot of help with the existing.

I ended the month of May with some smaller bills left still to pay, but am thankful to say that June already had fewer bills than usual due, and the amount I need to start the summer off right is actually less than I was afraid it would be! Woohoo!

What I Make

I mentioned my artistic endeavors, let me show you them!!

Writing

I write less often than I'd like, but I share poetry and shorts, when I have them, on my Patreon!

You must be over 18 to pledge, as I have, can, and will again share Adult Content occasionally. Patrons pledging at least $1/month get access to all content. But most posts becomes free to access eventually. :)

When I do longer form content, I primarily write fantasy with a focus on queer brown characters with disabilities, mental illnesses, and disordered attachments. Because therapy is expensive, and writing is free.

Photography

I do wildlife and landscape photography, primarily, but you can also check out my portrait and event work on my website! You can purchase PRINTS HERE.

And because it's my birthday, I'm offering a 32% discount code for all my prints! The code is good from June 1st to July 1st!

A Note, if you purchase a print: first off: thank you. (please feel free to send a photo of wherever you display it!!!) secondly: this will not go towards the received totals on my financial need because Pixels doesn't pay out until nearly 2 months after the purchase. Funds made from sales will go towards future needs.

CODE: PDHHTR

Artwork

I've been exploring art, both analog and digital, a lot more lately, and have shared both process photos and final drafts on Patreon! Here are just a few examples:

I admittedly don't post on patreon as much as I wish I had the energy to, but I try to make at least one thing a month, provided I have the spoons and time.

Creativity is, like, a level 5 spell slot when you're disabled and impoverished, and I appear to have exactly One (1) of those available at any given time.

The Needs:

The Bills: $1,100

Yeah, we had to get here eventually. Since this post is already pretty long, I'm putting the rest under a cut.

More than half of this, as always, is just for the car payment and insurance that keeps the regular day-job-haver getting to said job, and all our medical appointments, errands, etc.

I still owe around $13,000 total on Johnny Car, but I think we all know that's just not a real number.

The rest of the funds would go toward paying the small subscriptions, for my various medications, and the regular attempts to whittle away slowly at the $4,300 worth of other debt.

($2,200 of back taxes, and $2,100 of credit card debt, and gods, do I mean slowly. Interest piles up so much faster than I can seem to whittle.)

If you're able and willing to help with paying the bills, direct donations can be made here:

PayPal | (link)

Venmo | (dovesndecay)

Cashapp | ($dovesndecay)

If you can, and only if you can.

The It Would Be Cools:

Since every dime that comes in goes primarily towards food and bills, there's little left afterward to be put towards other life necessities like clothes, toiletries, let alone things I just think would be nice/neat/nifty to have.

I have a High Priority wishlist. It's mostly art supplies, bulk toiletries, etc.

I'm woefully low on clothes, being short, fat, and trans, so very little of what I own actually feels good to wear so much as it simply covers my body. I have a wishlist of clothes that would be nice to have.

For everything that firmly lands under the "I just want it" category, I have an Enrichment list. It's mostly stuffies, but also games, room decor, hobby supplies, books, and stim toys.

Our household keeps a big wishlist for things we need, want, groceries, accessibility products, and everything in-between.

Okay, now what?

Well, now, I'm gonna ask that if you got to this point, and if you can't/don't want to do any of the things listed above, then please reblog this post.

The more people that reblog it, the more likely I'm able to pay my bills for one more month this year.

But if you don't, it's not like anyone's gonna know. I'm not omniscient, I swear.

Anyway, I don't expect anyone to do anything if you can't or even if you just don't wanna, but if you can and you're willing to, it means the world.

I didn't think this is where I'd be at 32. But I never really expected to get here at all in the end, and it's a lot nicer than I thought it would be. Mostly because I am surrounded by amazing people who have the capacity to be so much kinder than I will ever have the words to describe.

Thank you, and to all, a happy pride!

🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤

[twstfanblog]

*~Mother's Day, Damn it~*

A/N: Hello all and a happy Mother's Day! Decided to queue this up since I knew I was gonna be hyper-busy the weekend and would honestly forget to post it XD Warnings: Mentions and vague descriptions of pregnancy and childbirth Pairings: YuuxMalleusxAzulxJamil, Mentioned Silver/Sebek, Mentioned Vil/Rook, Mentioned Riddle/Floyd Word Count: 4.3K

MALLEUS

Yuu made sure to apologize to Malleus once the egg was out. Well, once the egg was out, they had a quick bath, and regained mental awareness after a spontaneous three-hour nap. It wasn't their intention to interrupt his birthday party with their water breaking (they really hoped the seemingly ancient as dirt carpet survived it). Yuu didn't remember much from the egg birth. Apparently, Grandmother Draconia had made one of her rare appearances, walking into the room as though Yuu wasn't screaming on their knees and slamming the ornate headboard into the wall in an act of misplaced frustration. 

Lilia said she brought them fruit-flavored ice chips, which was very sweet.

Once they woke up, everyone had kept a good few feet away as they congratulated them on a successful birth. (Malleus told them later that night that Yuu had some…vividly creative threats made in their heat of maternal agony. One of which Malleus refused to repeat, only stating it made him physically leave the castle grounds for his own safety).

But now, as Yuu relaxed in a patch of rare sunlight with their egg baby, they felt content. Luckily, their egg wasn't as massive as Malleus's was. Though it had seemed to grow to said size as the months went by. An oil-like black, the shell shined iridescent in the light. The reflective surface was broken up by thin matte black webbing that increased in numbers as time went on. Grandmother Draconia had remarked the few times she'd seen the egg that she had never seen one with such neat growth marks, the pattern almost mimicking broken glass.

Though Yuu had their concerns, (they didn't have magic and dragon eggs needed family magic to hatch) their loved ones were more than willing to pitch in. Malleus, of course, gave the egg magic daily in the form of cuddling and kissing it before and after going about his royal duties. Lilia had given a few sprinkles of his limited magic, whispering blessings and sweet dreams to the youngling inside. Sebek nearly cried himself sick when Yuu offered to let him bestow the egg with his magic, he was one of the godfathers after all (A fact that made Sebek actually cry and hug Yuu tight enough to crack their back). Silver, as the other godfather in question, was more than happy to give his niece or nephew his magic in the form of naptime cuddles.

Even Azul and Jamil had made their way to the valley. Both to visit and to give their donation of magic to the egg. Though they had busy schedules with their own post-graduation lives, Malleus had convinced them to stay a few weeks past their original departure date. If he had to set a harbor on fire to do it, that didn't mean anything.

In the present, a strong gust tiled the egg from its upright position and onto its side in the lush patch of grass. Yuu watched in mild amazement as the egg did what it normally did, wiggling on its side for a few moments before rolling itself back to its starting position. Their child had become insanely active, a fact that Malleus and Yuu took great pleasure in. Nightly, they'd sit on opposite sides of their massive bed and call out to the egg to see who it'd roll toward (Yuu was only a little bitter that they were barely winning).

“Baby. Baby~.” Yuu laughed, watching the egg wiggle around in what could only be called joy at the sound of their voice.

But, their laughter was cut off at the soft sound of something cracking.

They looked at the egg with laser focus, the egg itself had gone deathly still as though the crack had startled them as well. Soon the egg gave another powerful wiggle, a hairline crack forming against the shell.

“...” Yuu turned toward the castle, panic clear in their voice as they screamed, “MALLEUS!”

Malleus had appeared like a bolt of lightning, eyes glowing and ready to kill whoever posed a threat to his mate and child. Only to have his attention pulled to the sound of shell cracking and Yuu's panicked question of “Do I help them!?”

Soon they were back in the castle, the wiggling and cracking egg placed on the ceremonial hatching altar. Malleus held Yuu in his arms, trying to keep them calm as they fought their own need to help their child hatch. Silver, Sebek, and Lilia had appeared after hearing all the noise. While Sebek shouted encouragement to the hatching fae, Silver tried to get his husband to stop yelling at the egg. Lilia was doing his grandfatherly duty of filming everything.

Finally, the cracks along the egg met. From the top, a small purple-tinted dragon poked their head through the opening, fighting against the remaining shell fiercely until they were able to crawl out. They squeaked, almost trying to roar at them with their wings flared out.

Lilia cooed, making sure to capture the scale pattern on the squeaking dragon's forehead, “A little girl! She's much smaller than I-”

The egg tilted on the altar, another small dragon crawling its way from the opening their sister had left. Stepping out and looking around the room unaware of the edge to the altar. Silver had rushed forward, catching the teal-tinted infant before they hit the ground. He held the squeaking dragon in both his hands, unneeded from how small he was but wanting to grip him securely, as he placed him back on the altar, “I...twins? Can there be twins?”

The shock was barely settling in when more cracking echoed in the room. From the bottom of the egg, another head poked out. A frustrated green-tinted dragon flapping their uncoordinated wings to remove leftover yolk. This one was much more tired than his siblings, once free from the egg he had huffed and laid down on the altar.

…

Yuu tilted their head back, giving themselves a high five before moving out of a stunned Malleus's limp arms, “Secured the fuck out of this bloodline! Babies! Babies~!” They gathered the chirping dragon infants into their arms, each of them growing overjoyed to finally be with the voice they always knew.

June 13th, a great blessing was gifted to Briar Valley. Three healthy and powerful heirs born in record time. The country had celebrated for weeks in joy and in blessing of the three new members of the royal family. May Malgona, Malathew, and Malicent Draconia-Crewel live long and be loved.

AZUL

Yuu had fallen pregnant again not long after the triplets' first birthday and it was all Azul's fault. A successful opening weekend of his lounge had made the cecaelian's mood all too happy and frisky. Azul, in a flustered state, claimed that wanting to mate when resources were bountiful was basic biology and he wasn't going to apologize. Jamil started the argument that Azul had done such a thing on purpose to push back his and Yuu's wedding, since Malleus's wedding planning was taken over by grandmother Draconia, and Azul didn't want to marry Yuu until he had a sizable amount of money in his savings for reasons.

While the two bickered, Yuu and Malleus marveled over the ultrasound of a tiny pea-shaped blob.

Malleus would have easily housed Yuu for their pregnancy again; What better place for an expecting mother to be than waited on hand and foot in royal luxury? An idea that Azul surprisingly vetoed, bringing up the fact the triplets would not leave Yuu any time to relax as the one-year-olds had a 6th sense for when their mother was trying to so much as sit.

“They'd run her more ragged than the pregnancy would in the first place…”

While Jamil offered, they all knew Yuu would decline; Since Jamil was currently staying in the Scalding Sands, prepping with his family (and Kalim) for their now pushed-back wedding. Yuu would not last long in the desert normally, asking them to do it while pregnant was cruel and unusual punishment.

So Yuu and Azul made their way to the Sunshine Lands where he had actually inherited a sizable beachfront property from his grandmother. How and why the elder cecaelian had even got her hands on land property, she wouldn't say. But the seaside villa Azul had built on the land was perfect, having a hand in every design aspect right down to the adorable ocean-themed nursery.

And while Yuu's pregnancy tracked along nicely, Azul's sleep schedule and mental well-being had suffered.

Malleus had rarely complained of Yuu during their first pregnancy, but now that Azul was dealing with them first hand he wondered if Malleus was simply…unbothered by the absurdity that escaped Yuu's mouth. The fae had asked how Azul was dealing with Yuu's ‘strange cravings’ during a visit. Jamil had rolled his eyes and jokingly asked if Yuu wanted pickles or ice cream during their pregnancy with the triplets. And Malleus answered she had wanted to drink molten metals, gnaw on gemstones, and wanted to eat a very specific map that was made when his grandmother was a child.

Jamil, having been around more pregnant women than the average person in his life,  stated that was…normal…ish. Pregnancy cravings could tilt to the material if the body felt it was lacking nutrients. So Azul was prepared. He had supplement potions of all kinds, he's looked up the most common pregnancy cravings; he had pickles purchased by the barrel and ice cream by the freezer load on standby. Hell, he stocked up on a non-toxic clay that was safe to digest. If Yuu asked him to, he'd crush up shells and pearls into fine dust to mix into their food and drinks to satisfy their cravings.

Instead, he was awakened almost like clockwork every night to make some type of horrific food combination that Yuu insisted would be amazing.

Ground beef and banana smoothies, corn on the cob with a cherry compote and mustard dipping sauce, chocolate-covered pan-fried shrimp. One night they simply asked for a whole, raw artichoke. He watched them eat it like it was an apple and fall back asleep as though they hadn't mentally scarred him in a matter of four minutes.

Azul could put his foot down, he could deny them these hellish cravings clearly caused by some type of demon masquerading as a baby in his date-mate's womb. But whenever he did, Yuu's eyes would fill with tears; sobbing and crying that Azul didn't love them OR the baby.

So Azul would get out of bed and make them their cursed offering. His pride as a chef was strong, but he couldn't last long against his dear pearl's tears…

But, demonic cravings aside, Yuu's pregnancy was progressing as normal. Azul would spend his evenings from the lounge resting gently on his date-mate's stomach and cooing at the tiny being waiting to be born. He had theorized their little girl was in a merform that matched his own; it would explain how they were able to kick him no matter where he kissed on Yuu's stomach. With only a month to go, his child would be the perfect belated birthday present.

Then three days before said birthday, Yuu was rushed to the hospital against their will, once again. The past few weeks they had been plagued with random bouts of false contractions. Each time Azul would panic and rush his pregnant love to their chosen hospital and demand they be looked over. The doctors would humor him, he was an up-and-coming influential member of their community after all. But, Yuu quickly grew annoyed with it, to the point they'd started hiding and waiting for the contractions to stop before even telling Azul they had them.

But now they were back in the hospital, Yuu pacing their examination room as Azul gently grilled the doctor.

“I understand that they're common, but this has been happening for weeks. Is there another test we can do or a specialist we can refer to?”

“Well, Mr. Ashengrotto, as head of labor and delivery and your personally chosen doctor, probably not.”

Yuu sighed, still walking around the room with a hand over their stomach, “Azul, just drop it. I wanna go home and-”

The sound of water hitting the tile floor made them all freeze. Yuu looked down, seeing the ‘water’ had come from them and soaking into the edge of the maxi skirt they were wearing.

…

“Fuck.”

Hours later, Yuu was in a hospital bed and Azul was still on the phone with his mother pacing outside of the room. The mer panicking over the potential health risks of a month early birth and where he could have gone wrong in his prenatal care and how he was a failure-

Yuu spoke calmly into their phone, watching Azul pace past their window again, “Yeah, no. He’s still in the hall crying…I don’t know! The doctor hadn’t said anything was wrong the past few checkups…No, Jamil, I didn’t ingest poison…Why would he give me poison!? Why would I be craving poisons!?...Wanting to drink metal is different.”

Azul had returned to the room after a nurse talked him through his breakdown, sitting at Yuu’s bedside and helping them through the labor pains. He walked them around the room, screened calls from their worried friends and family, and even managed to magic up the fabled fruit-flavored ice chips Yuu had started to demand as the labor continued. Two days before Azul’s birthday the doctor had finally stated Yuu was dilated enough to try their preferred birthing position. With Azul’s hand vice gripped in their own, a few hours into the afternoon, they felt a pressure suddenly rush out of them. The standby nurse quickly swooped in to make sure the baby was fully out and taken to be properly weighed.

Yuu and Azul both sigh in relief at the sound of their little girl wailing her head off. Azul felt tears coming to his eyes seeing she had been birthed in merform, much bigger than any normal mer child but that was to be expected when she had a personal grotto to grow and feed in for eight months; lovingly tucked away to be pampered and protected. He took in his daughter’s form with a tender eye; pale purple skin that ombred into chubby black and speckled tentacles that wiggled around fiercely. A head of stark white hair with delicate newborn curls. Gurgled cries only stopping when the nurse placed her onto an exhausted Yuu’s chest. The infant following her instincts; curling into her mother for warmth and safety, tentacles wrapping around Yuu's arm as an anchor and finally calming.

The doctor smiled at the happy family, both parents cooing over their baby. They moved to exit the room to allow them space to bond, giving Yuu one last glance to ensure there was no ripping that needed immediate attention. The smile on their face quickly fell. At a moment of silence, they moved back to position and gave Yuu a pat on their calf, “Okay! Round two!”

“...” Yuu lifted their head from the pillow, their grip on Azul’s hand somehow getting tighter, “I'm sorry…what?” The loving light of a mother quickly faded into a focused rage.

“...The…There’s a second baby-”

“A second what!?”

Azul struggled to escape Yuu’s hold, feeling his bones trying to liquefy to slip out of what his instincts were screaming was a death trap, “Darling? My pearl? Let go, please let go of my hand-”

“No! I’m gonna eat your fucking arm! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN THERE’S A SECOND-”

February 22nd, Yuu uploaded a photo welcoming Charysa and Scylar Ashengrotto-Crewel into the world. Yuu smiled in bed with two identical cecaelian infants curled against each arm, one of them blinking open a dark blue eye to stare at the camera. Azul sitting at their bedside with one of his arms in a sling and bandages wrapping his fingers together. To this day he stands firm on his twins being the best early birthday present he ever received, and all they cost him was a broken hand and a dislocated shoulder.

(Yuu happily called the Leech twins once their arms were free, telling them they could stop fighting over who the godfather was to be since they could now both be the godfather to a baby).

JAMIL

Jamil and Yuu’s wedding was gorgeous.

Kalim took the fact it was a party for extended family and friends and turned his party planning skills to a whole new level, footing the bill and offering whatever venue the Asim family had at their disposal for the event. Jamil tried to deny his friend’s generous offers, but his mother shot him down so hard he physically felt the impact. He and Yuu had the final say in any decision of course, but against his mother’s cold unmoving stare and Kalim’s small suns for pupils filled with hope, Jamil crumbled often. He wanted to hate the end result, but it was honestly something out of a dream. And his favorite part was his bride.

Yuu’s lehenga was made from the finest red silk, embroidered with enchanted gold thread and precious beads that shimmered in the light. Henna was painstakingly painted on their hands and feet in ornate and fine patterns, their hair and make-up done by a personal beautician of one of the Asim wives, Finally they were coated in ruby-encrusted gold jewelry straight from the royal family's treasury that Kalim had gained permission to borrow from. Yuu was presented to him and he felt like he had found an oasis of paradise, no longer searching for a diamond in the rough as the sands had produced a perfectly cut and shining turquoise into his hands. A vision of beauty and now legally his wife.

So though it was only a month after Yuu had birthed Chrasya and Scylar, barely two weeks after their wedding night, they had learned Yuu had gotten pregnant again, much to their displeasure. Jamil’s mother was boosting at hearing the news, stating that her efforts of sneaking a yellow sapphire into their marriage bed had been the trick to such a fast pregnancy (Apparently, she claims that’s how she was blessed with Najma so soon after having Jamil). Now freshly re-impregnated, Azul and Malleus stated that Jamil should be the main one to care for Yuu as they had for their own children's respective pregnancies.

A challenge he accepted with only mild annoyance.

One of Kalim’s many wedding presents to his dear friends had been a townhouse located in a capital city of the Shaftlands. It was placed within a gated community with plenty of resident-only amenities, it was even a ten-minute walk from the downtown area. A perfect location to keep his pregnant, troublesome adventurous wife safe, yet close enough to events to keep them both entertained. One surprise meeting at the local farmer’s market later, Vil and Rook had become frequent visitors along with Azul, Malleus, and their other children to their townhouse home. However, the older Pomfiore duo had stopped visiting at the end of August as they were finally welcoming their own bundle of joy. 

A fact that Yuu quickly pointed out as a reason to visit Vil instead.

“I’m allowed to hold his baby. I’m pregnant and basically the blood sister he never wanted.”

“I’ll be honest, from how Rook’s been describing Vil's hyper possessiveness since they brought Finley home, he may actually fight you if you go over there.”

“I'm pregnant, I can do what I want.”

“Yuu, he will body slam you. Stop trying to put your shoes on.”

Once again, the pregnancy was smooth with frequent checkups and clean bills of health. Jamil remained hyper-vigilant during each clinic visit. Demanding the doctor do two or three extra ultrasounds from multiple angles, paying out of pocket for each surplus check. Only one baby was shown on the screen each pass, but Jamil never lowered his guard. Yuu had two pregnancies prior and a total of three surprise babies that managed to slip by completely undetected. Though everything pointed to one baby, that meant little to Jamil from past experience.

Even at their over-the-top baby shower, once again with Kalim as the head of the planning community, he didn’t stop his double-checking. As the triplets and the twins shoved their tiny hands into a cake to show the bright blue frosting inside, Jamil had gripped Kalim by the collar off to the side and demanded to know if the sex reveal had anything pointing to a second child. Kalim had sworn that nothing had stated there was anything out of the ordinary. Jamil had released him, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose before remarking he couldn't handle another kid. It had already taken him so long to pick Kalim as the godfather, he wasn't sure if he could pick a second person ( Kalim burst into tears at hearing Jamil had chosen him as his son's godfather. Picking Jamil clean off his feet in a hug that ended in them both falling into the pool).

Now, on New Year’s Eve, Jamil and Yuu made their way to Vil and Rook’s snowy mansion to attend their party. They had shown up a few hours early, Yuu shoving Vil out of their way once the blonde star had opened the door. Vil scowled as Yuu quickly waddled deeper into the house to coo over a four-month-old Finley, raising an eyebrow at Jamil, “And you say they're easier to handle pregnant?”

Jamil shrugged, slipping the bag of last-minute groceries Vil had asked him to bring from his shoulder and into Vil’s waiting hands, “I can placate them with food and physical affection. They sleep at least 11 hours a day and at some point running becomes a chore to them. I have half a mind to knock them up again the second this one is out.”

“They’d kill you.”

“They can’t do anything reckless or stupid when pregnant, it’s a dream come true.”

By the late evening, the party had calmed from the large soiree it started as to an intimate get-together of the original NRC group. Children were put to bed upstairs while the adults all talked and caught up with personal lives. Yuu had excused themselves to the bathroom, Kalim taking the opportunity to ask Jamil if he was doing ok.

“You’ve been bouncing your leg all night…”

Jamil sighed, leaning forward and placing his nose and mouth into his clasped hands, “...” He pulled his mouth from his hands, “Something is going to happen.”

Vil rolls his eyes, pouring himself another glass of champagne, “Honestly.”

Riddle hummed from his place under Floyd’s arm, fighting off his drunken sleepiness to soothe his former classmate's concerns, “Jamil…from what I’ve been told, Yuu’s had perfect screenings, you’ve kept them on a strict prenatal diet, and you only have two more weeks until their due date. I believe you are as they say…in the clear.”

“That means nothing when Yuu is involved and you know it.”

Malleus chuckles, stroking a hand through Jamil’s loose hair, “I don’t think there’s any need for concern. Yuu hasn’t had any strange cravings this pregnancy, nor early contractions. I agree with Riddle on you managing to conquer these dreaded ‘surprise pregnancy’ events we’ve been having.”

Rook nodded, humming as he stood from his chair to pat Jamil’s shoulder, “Worry not, monsieur multi! You’ve been so vigilant in monitoring your bébé’s status that I don’t believe the poor boy could hope to kick without you knowing about it.”

Yuu walked back into the room, a hand braced under their stomach and the other pointing behind them toward the bathroom, “Hey remember how I went to the bathroom?”

…

Jamil’s eyes moved from looking directly ahead of him to glancing at Yuu, “Yes…what about it?”

“So I thought, I was just actively peeing; which is why I went. Turns out, Aha…my water broke.”

…

Everyone had watched in a shared muted silence as Jamil picked Yuu into his arms and basically threw them into the back of their car, peeling out of the mansion’s driveway in a barely contained manic episode. They had sheepishly continued the party for an hour, midnight barely two hours away before Vil texted Jamil and Yuu, asking if they had safely reached a hospital.

Azul and Malleus crowded around the phone when Vil let out a delighted scream. Jamil had responded by sending a single photo of Yuu in a hospital bed still in their party dress, a bundle of blue blankets in their arms. While Malleus and Lilia had playfully lamented the loss of another January birthday boy, Cater had remarked how Yuu looked to be fighting back the urge to either laugh or fling the baby out of their grasp.

Jamil texted back, ‘We checked into the hospital, Yuu laid on the bed, and he just fucking came out.’

The doctor and nurses had to be called in, no one expecting Yuu to have birthed so quickly since the ink on their forms had barely dried. Luckily, the baby had no health issues, fully formed with feathery wisps of black hair and giving loud cries to show his airways were clear. Once he was placed into their arms, Yuu had jokingly asked the peaceful infant what had been so important that he needed to be born two weeks ahead of schedule in less than an hour. A joke question that the baby had seemingly answered by blinking open his little coal-colored eyes, opening his tiny mouth and burping. With that single act, he closed his eyes and nuzzled back into his mother’s embrace to sleep.

…

“Jamil, get this motherfucker away from me-”

Two hours before the new year, December 31st, Jamil Jr. (J.J) Viper-Crewel decided he was ready to be born.

(“I didn’t agree to that name. We had, like, twelve names picked out, why are you giving him my name?”

“Jamil. Look at him. This is just you, what the fuck else am I supposed to call him?”)

[cocogrrrl]

soft launching

yn, a streamer, eases the audience into the slow reveal of their boyfriend, kyle.

kyle broflovski x streamer!gn!reader no cws all fluff 😾 wc: 1399

CinnamunHunny donated 5$!: can you say “yn has zero pull” it’s my dog’s birthday please please please it would make her the happiest dog in the world

You read the donation sent on your screen. You jokingly scoffed, rolling your eyes. This was just typical usual banter between you and your fans. Sure, sometimes they were absolutely ruthless, but you loved them despite that.

“Chat, that’s not nice! I’ll have you know that I actually have a boyfriend.” You pouted.

Immediately, the responses were polarizing. Some asked to see him, and some said that you were making him up. You laughed at a few that said he was just a figment of your imagination.

m30wm30w: i bet yn’s js gonna say that their bf is paul dano or something

“Okay, whoever just said that I’m gonna fake out and say my boyfriend is Paul Dano is wrong because it would actually be Michael Cera.” You laughed, seeing the rest of the comments flood in quickly, not even getting enough time to read a good number of them. “I do have a boyfriend, though. I promise!”

For the remainder of the stream, the chat kept on bringing up your boyfriend. Sometimes you’d tease them a bit, describing how he is but never revealing too much. Most of the time, though, you decided to ignore it in the most polite way possible.

What would your boyfriend think about you revealing his identity? Honestly, he doesn’t care. You two have talked it out long ago already. When you started dating around six months ago, you came to the conclusion to lie low.

At first, he wanted things to be kept secret, having only your friends and family know. After a while, though, when the conversation was brought up again, he noted that he didn’t mind if you mentioned him. He said you two could slowly build up to his reveal whenever the both of you are ready to do so.

And so that’s what you did.

That night, you finally broke the news to him. It was after your stream. You were snuggled up on his chest as you scrolled through Twitter, noting your name slowly trending because of the news you broke earlier.

“Babe,” you called, sitting up straight to look at him. He answered you with silence, attention was placed on you. “Finally told them about us.”

Kyle immediately knew what you meant by ‘them.’ “Yeah, you think I didn’t see it?”

“Hmm, I was debating on it.” You hummed, finding your place back on his chest again. “You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be? We’ve already talked about this, and you already know I’m fine with it.” He smiled, grabbing your face by the sides and laying a swift kiss on it.

“Yeah, thanks, Kyle. I love you.” You giggled, rising once more to return the kiss.

So that’s how it went on for the next few weeks. You continued to tease the chat with the idea of your boyfriend, most of them believing you despite the numerous amount of “I’m sure he’s just a figment of your imagination.” jokes that came along the way.

That was all great until you actually confirmed his existence from the perspective of your chat one day.

You were in a Just Chatting stream, not really having the energy to do your usual act but still wanting to interact with your fans. Kyle was across the room, scrolling through his phone as you were streaming. The chat was flaming you once more since the topic of your boyfriend was brought up.

“He is real! In fact, he’s here right now.” You said, turning your head to Kyle, who looked back at you with a wave. “Babe, say ‘hi’ for me.”

“Hi, chat!” He called from across the room. “I’m YN’s partner, and I love them very much.”

“Okay, don’t flatter me too much. I might combust if you do.” You laughed, blowing him a kiss. You felt your cheeks heat up, and so you found yourself rubbing your temple to hide them.

hhhhdong: nawhhh i cant believe yn actually paid an actor to act as their bf 💀💀💀

“Chat, I did not pay an actor! I don’t have enough money to do that.”

After the stream, you and Kyle were cuddled up again. Your social battery was completely drained, so spending some time in his arms would help you recharge again.

“Your chat is ruthless, YN.” Kyle laughed, burying his face in the crook of your neck.

“They’re funny, though. Besides, I’m not really hurt at all.” 

You felt like this whole “build-up reveal” thing was fun. It felt like Kyle was a secret you had to yourself. In a weird way, this whole thing felt sweet and exciting to you. You knew why you kept things private, of course, but it was fun to slowly show the world how much you loved him and how proud you were to have him as your boyfriend. Granted, a bunch of the comments still just claim that Kyle’s just a life-size cardboard cutout of Michael Cera.

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

“When do you think you’ll be ready to, like, show your face?” You asked, leaning onto his shoulder as he did his work.

“Well,” he sighed, sitting up to look at you. “I think I’m ready for it. I barely have a presence online.” He laughed. “The question is if you’re ready for people to peer their heads in your life even further.”

“I suppose you’re right.” You hummed. “I wanna show you off, though, Kyle. I want everyone to know that you are the most perfect person alive—and that you’re not a customized photocard of young Jack Black.”

He laughed in response, cupping your face as he gave you a peck on the nose.

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

A week later, you find yourself promptly naming your stream “BF REVEAL (REAL) (NOT CLICKBAIT).” You set up your camera, tested your mic, and all that jazz as you waited for your fans to come in. Kyle was beside you the whole time you were preparing things, just barely out of the camera’s sight.

Once you turned on your camera, comments started pouring in, asking where he is. You wanted to ease them into it, ready yourself as your chat did. After a bit of banter between you and the chat, you were finally prepared to show your boyfriend. 

“Okay, chat. Here’s my boyfriend, Kyle!” As soon as you said that, he came on screen and waved.

“Hello,” he greeted with a sense of meekness to it. “I am, indeed, YN’s boyfriend. I’m not being paid or forced to do this at all.” He lightheartedly joked.

“Oh, my god. Not you too.” You laughed. “But yes! This is Kyle. We’ve been together for about eight months.” You had the biggest grin on your face as you talked to and about him, rocking back and forth in your seat as if you weren’t able to contain your happiness.

You got mixed reactions, some driving the “He’s being held hostage” joke to home, but mostly comments invested in your relationship. For the former, you two just made a silent understanding to just skim through those, ignoring most of them.

“So how are you liking them so far?” You whispered in his ear, bringing your mic farther away from you two.

“Overwhelming, but definitely fun.” He murmured back.

“Yeah, that’s what you said to Stan after our first date, right?” You laughed, your voice a little louder now but still mostly indiscernible to your viewers.

“My god,” he rolled his eyes, moving his hand to your scalp to mess it up.

“You aren’t denying it, though!” Your voice was now booming, your audience could definitely hear you now. 

“I’m not confirming or denying anything!” He laughed.

“Uhuh,” you sarcastically replied, nodding as you leaned into him briefly to give him a kiss on the lips. “Totally.”

Your chat was now exploding.

mattstonestoes: PDA WTF

csvismz: theyre so cute i 🥹🥹🥹🫶🫶

gorrilass: get that shit away from me 

ppp0ppy: this is not for the eyes of god!!!!!!

lkkopi: MICHAEL CERA NO I THOUGHT YOU WERE MARRIED

rosesandlavenders: WAHHHH 💗💗💗💗

dennysofficial: MY OTP ☹️☹️

You shared a laugh with Kyle, reading the comments. This went better than you would’ve expected. Despite everything, you were just glad that you could finally go public and show the world your wonderful boyfriend.

[copperbadge]

Radio Free Monday

Good morning everyone, and welcome to Radio Free Monday!

Ways to Give:

lilly_c has been off work for several months and is struggling to cover expenses with the small amount of sick pay aid she is getting; she is fundraising to cover bills for the next two months. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.

like-the-midnight-sun is fundraising on behalf of her wife, Veronika, a queer Jewish programmer, game designer, and teacher, who needs oral surgery after having a badly fractured tooth removed; she now needs a bone graft and the tooth rebuilt, and insurance is only covering a small amount of the cost. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.

Anon linked to fundraising info for foster fathers Chip and Zach, who have raised their eight year old daughter Emily since birth. When they applied to adopt her this year, Emily's biological father sued for full custody and they were forced to surrender her; they have filed an appeal and have 30 days to raise $15K in attorney fees and court costs in order to have a chance to get Emily home with her dads. You can donate via cashapp at $ChipPalmer, Venmo at Zpalmer24, or PayPal at zacharyapalmer@icloud.com.

gwydion is recovering from a total shoulder replacement and zir washing machine has just broken; ze cannot carry laundry and is also looking at a costly car repair that will wipe out anything not already taken by insurance and rent. You can donate to help out here.

krja is fundraising to purchase a tallit for his birthday this year, a huge gender-affirming step he has been dreaming of; you can read more and find giving information here.

Recurring Needs:

thelastpyler is raising funds to help with food, transportation, and other expenses after a string of financial issues; you can read more, reblog, and find giving information here.

loversdoom is a college student from the Philippines, studying away from her family, and her parents are unexpectedly unable to support her education; she is dealing with a number of expenses and is now looking at a costly dental procedure for pain that is causing her to miss school and work. You can give to the fundraiser here.

Anon linked to a fundraiser for prototrans, a disabled artist who needs help with rent money; they are also offering commissions. You can read more, reblog, and find giving and commission information here.

Anon linked to a fundraiser for killiel, who needs help to cover bills and debt; you can read more, reblog, and find giving information here.

chingaderita's partner recently lost their job due to a house fire that also destroyed the house; they're raising funds to keep food on the table for a family of nine, to try and get a supply of water to keep clean and do laundry, and for various bills until they can find new work. You can read more, reblog, and support the fundraiser here.

Anon linked to karla-hoshi or Hoshi on TikTok, who is raising funds for cancer treatment for her cat Naku; they caught the cancer early and hope that he can survive it, but can't continue treatment without funding. You can read more and support the fundraiser here, as well as find links to her updates on tiktok.

And this has been Radio Free Monday! Thank you for your time. You can post items for my attention at the Radio Free Monday submissions form. If you're new to fundraising, you may want to check out my guide to fundraising here.

[tua-five]

Season 3 Episode 10

"Oblivion"

There's a couple references to all seasons here

The last episode of season 3. Tomorrow is the day.

Ben flicking the tail 😭

This is so sad. I'm not ready. I'm so scared. Just thinking that Luther and Klaus died... I mean, I know everything is fine at the end of the episode, but right now... they're like, dead dead.

It's crazy how Klaus doesn't like pineapple on pizza. Him out of all the siblings, should.

"Nah, it's like the old man said. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, and three times ain't gonna happen 'cause I'm not a gibbering idiot." Fair enough.

"Hey, buddy 🤗"

"You 👿"

Speaking of the bouncy house. When Klaus lands, he says, "This is someone's idea of heaven?"

There's a couple of things with that. First of all, yes. Second of all, the fact that it is, means it's most likely a kid. And it's really sad to think that a kid died. There's a whole birthday party behind them... so that just makes me curious.

Also, him saying this means that that is how it works. When you die, you go to a place that you imagine to be heaven.

Reginald does have a point. Ben says that he made it happen. Being in Hotel Oblivion. But seriously. He did nothing to contribute to that fact.

Love how Five came out of the room, and it changed to number 5.

Reginald is genuinely surprised when Klaus comes. Just thought I'd point it out.

"You're going to ruin everything!"

"Oh, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that, I'd have a dollar."

Well, you know. Maybe this time, it's better to ruin everything.

They're all like, which idiot sibling rang the bell, when really it was the idiotic manipulative Sir Reginald Hargreeves.

Diego panicking and asking what floor is so real, though.

"Revenge looks good on her."

"Would you shut up and help us kill this thing?"

And then Ben just sits there. Watching.

And again, Five with the axe 😭

Love that for him.

Oh, yay. Ben finally contributing. I think part of it is because part of him is still umbrella Ben. And scared of his powers.

That or he's just a wimp.

And I love the Lila-Viktor duo. "This feels oddly familiar."

"At least this time we're not aiming at each other."

Very true. Now kill it.

Great. Now Five has lost his arm.

And Luther... 🥺😢

And the life being sucked out of them... (for some of them again if we go back to season 1).

The most impressive thing about reginald isn't that he is an alien. It's that his monocle stayed on when he fell over and died.

Ray being here, in this timeline, isn't right. He said it himself in season 2. He didn't want to come with to 2019. He had to stay for the movement. And now he's here. That's got to mess things up. The huterrfly effect. I don't care if it's a whole new timeline and it's reset. It isn't supposed to be like this.

"Obsidian Memorial Park. Graciously donated by Sir Reginald Hargreeves this 1st day of October 1989."

That date seems to always pop up. We all connect it to the Hargreeves's birthday. But it was never about them, was it? No. It's always been about Reginald. And Abigail. I'd say it's the day she died, but that isn't true. Reginald came to Dalas after she died way before 1989. So something else happened.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?"

"Live our lives." Yeah. And that's what you do. For six years, five months, and two days. Because you guys will never get peace.

What I don't like is Five looks so distraught. Confused. Yet there are no words when he looks at Viktor. Then turns and leaves.

And they all live their lives separately. Trying to figure out how to be normal again. For some, just trying to figure out how to be normal, how to live, for the first time. While Allison and Reginald get the life they wanted.

And Ben goes away on train. After being rude and grouchy, he smiles.

Here's a few gifs, but I'll actually create separate posts of just todays gifs.

[mountainstogo]

This is going to be a long rambling post about nothing and everything. I have a lot of feelings that I want to yell into the void

Hmm where to start..

My dad ruined Christmas again. It’s more complicated than that but I am very close to just going no contact? Very low contact? I don’t think I can go much lower, we speak twice a year. Once on my birthday and once around the holidays for him to inevitably disappoint me. Idk why I actually thought this year would be any different.

Anyway I love this stupid holiday and I don’t refuse to let this man completely destroy my joy. My roomies and I decorated and the house looks really cute, although it’s missing a few things still.

I’m feeling pretty ok on money?? (Such a stark contrast to this time last year) I can afford to buy people presents this year and splurge on a few things myself. Turns out it may be a very quiet Christmas and there aren’t that many people to buy presents for. So I might spoil my roomies and friends and s. I’m also motivated to donate and collect food/clothes to bring to displaced migrant families that have been bused to a major city near me.

So maybe Christmas isn’t totally ruined. But my relationship with my dad certainly is.

I pupsat for my boss in his nice house last week. He lives in the foothills and his house and property were just gorgeous. I could hike up a mountain right from his backyard.

Complicated feelings about work rn. I fluctuate between thinking everyone hates me and I’m failing and doing a horrible job; to maybe I’m actually doing ok and I need to cut myself some slack. Regardless, I’ve been super anxiety ridden over work and I need to figure out how to manage that better.

Last update is in re: to weight gain and fitness stuff. I’ve gained weight (around 136 this morning but that might still be turkey day and alcohol bloating from the weekend). Anyway I’ve been coming in around 132-134 for the past few months. My lowest weight was 122lbs (that was too low and prob not sustainable); I think I feel my best at around 128-130, so I could lose a few lbs and I know my diet is the culprit. I don’t want to obsess over the numbers since I look much different now than the last time I was 136. I’ve gained a lot of muscle mass and need to just focus on eating more protein and less processed foods. That’s all, the numbers on the scale will do whatever they do 🤷🏻‍♀️

Everything feels messy and busy. There are too many things to do and the days are too short. But I’ve had really good times too, first day skiing!!! A lovely Friendsgiving, quiet times at the barn.

[atzupdates]

[221105] Naver Article Exclusive [ATEEZ, a leading idol, donated 100 million won to support the Itaewon disaster...Conceptual walking]

According to multiple officials, ATEEZ donated 100 million won (~$72,000 USD) from their Seoul concerts’ proceeds to the National Disaster Relief Association in support of the Itaewon accident.

On the 29th of last month, a large-scale crowd gathered around Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, for Halloween Day, causing a crush. According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on the 4th, 156 people were killed and 191 people were injured. ATEEZ donated some of the proceeds from their concert to express their condolences to the victims of the disaster.

In fact, ATEEZ is a 'good boy' hidden in the entertainment industry. They have secretly donated to various relief organizations such as Good Neighbors, Children's Foundation, and UNICEF. Members Mingi and Yeosang also participated in donating voice talent to read fairy tales for the vulnerable, and Hongjoong said he will hold a free photo exhibition ahead of his birthday on November 7 to donate support for children dreaming of music under the name of his fans.

ATEEZ is currently showing off their global upward trend. They successfully completed their world tour in North America and Europe within four months of their debut and gained extraordinary popularity overseas, ranking fifth on the Billboard World Chart and first on the iTunes album chart even before their first anniversary. In addition, the 2020 world tour "ATEEZ World Tour The Fellowship: Map the Treasure" attracted 100,000 viewers, setting the record for the largest number of tour attractions in the shortest period since its debut in K-pop history. This year, they have also been able to enter the third place of Billboard's main album chart, "Billboard 200," and "The World EP.1; Movement" has surpassed 1 million copies in total sales, making it a million seller. In the first half of the year, they met 180,000 fans around the world on a world tour.

With this momentum, ATEEZ will continue its world tour, "The Fellowship: Break the Wall," starting with a performance in Seoul on October 29. They will leave the country on the 3rd and meet with global fans through 15 performances in 10 cities, including Oakland, Anaheim, Phoenix, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Newark, Canada, and Chiba, Japan.

[evalineart]

Hi everyone.

I want to share what is happening in my life right now.

A little over a month ago, my beloved dog passed away.

We have been together since my childhood, he was always there and supported me. I will always remember this period of time with great warmth and love.

It happened somehow too abruptly. Until the end he was cheerful, ate well, was very handsome, played and enjoyed life. We didn’t notice at all that the number of years was already critical, we thought that since he was in such good shape, it would mean he would live longer, but, unfortunately, a dog’s life is very short...

To be honest, this situation completely knocked me out of life. I’m depressed and still can’t get out of this state. It’s very hard for me to draw. I can do only a little, I can’t earn a living as I used to. It was too much of a blow for me.

Today is my birthday and I would like to ask you for help.

I’m not used to asking anyone for anything, but now I really can’t cope alone. The best gift for me would be a donation for a new puppy. I understand that a new puppy will not replace my Lorien, but at least I can be distracted by taking care of him, I can return to my usual way of life. You can’t imagine how hard it is to walk along the same streets alone. My home have become completely empty.

I often gave gifts in the form of art to my regular customers, made free edits and did not inflate prices, so that everyone could order a drawing during this difficult time for everyone.

If you want to thank me for my work and help me while I am out of shape and cannot work at full capacity, I would be incredibly happy.

I really can’t cope alone now.

You can donate on Boosty, but it’s only working with credit cards at the moment.

I have one more option. You can buy my special art for this day for 11$.

Here are the instructions on how you can do it:

And this is the link for you to buy special art:

Thank you🤍

[kmp78]

GUESS WHO? His father left him when he was 3, his daughter died at 8 months, his wife died in a car accident, his best friend died of an overdose. And through it all, he never lost his shine, his world never fell apart. While filming the movie “The Lake House”, he overheard the conversation between two costume assistants, and one woman cried because she would lose her house if she didn’t pay $20,000 He transferred the money to her account. On his birthday in 2010 he went to a bakery alone and bought himself a cupcake with a single candle. While he was eating out, he offered free coffee and bread to all customers. This was his lavish birthday. With what he made from the Matrix trilogy, he distributed $50 million to the special effects team because he believed they were the real heroes of the movies. He almost never used stuntmen, except for very special things like stunts, and that’s why he recognized the work of his stuntmen by gifting each of them a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. To this day he regularly uses the subway and other public transport like the bus when necessary because it is the most practical thing, and he is never ashamed. A large number of hospitals claim to have received tens of millions of dollars from him. He donated 90% of his salary to some movies so the production could hire other stars. In 1997, a paparazzi found him on the street, sitting next to a homeless man, listening to the homeless man’s story and having breakfast with him. All the good we know about Keanu Reeves, he didn’t tell us himself but those who benefited from him. He never said anything about it. For all that he’s been through, he could have had a sadder and more pessimistic outlook on life, but despite everything, he’s chosen to be some good out of all the bad. Great role model for many wealthy people🙏

A man too pure for this wretched world. 🫶

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday to the actor Tony Curran born 13th December 1969 in Glasgow.

Tony took to acting while still in his teens, he recalls the days in the Scottish Youth Theatre with Gerard Butler. Young Anthony Curran went on to attend the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama before gaining notoriety with a prominent role on the BBC series This Life. He would go on to make a name for himself in movies with a sci-fi/fantasy bent, like The 13th Warrior, Blade II, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Beowulf, of his small screen credits, our old favourite Taggart returns after not appearing on Kenneth Cranham’s CV yesterday!

Curran has made a name for himself in over the Atlantic in a number of US shows which include, Numb3rs, Medium, 24, Sons of Anarchy and Elementary. His most notable appearances over here have been in  the ITV series Ultimate Force, Dr Who, as Vincent van Gogh , and more recently in the  E4/Netflix original series Crazyhead.

Tony appeared in the 2018 Netflix film Outlaw King about Robert the Bruce and the Wars of Scottish Independence, where he played the part of Aonghus Óg of Islay, ( Angus Macdonald) chief of Clann Domhnaill.  Back over in the states he has recently been in Ray Donovan, which is a great series series and few episodes of the CBS show SEAL Team.  He also turned up in the mini series, Your Honor, which also stars the excellent US actor Brian Cranston of Breaking Bad fame, it’s great hearing Scottish accents in US shows, don’t you think?

Tony is another guy I follow on twitter, the guy has a heart of gold, I remember  he tweeted “Me and my lass woke up this morning temperatures dropping compelled to help our homeless, loaded up some blankets pillows clothes, sweaters jackets, I’m sure we all have stuff we can donate, it all helps.” He was then out on the streets handing them out to the homeless, Tony was involved in a  charity weekender with all funds raised going to St Mary’s & St Alphonsus and the great community work they do. He has in the past played charity football matches in Glasgow.

In the past couple of years Tony has been playing Despero in the Super Hero series The Flash, Tony has also appeared in the  US movie,  Two Deaths of Henry Baker where he plays a town Sheriff, this year he appeared in the US crime series The Calling,  the show has some good reviews on IMDB with a 7.1/10 rating, and in an episode of the US show For All Mankind

The good news is Tony is about to hit our screens this month  in a homegrown project. The two part “series”,  Mayflies is set in a Scotland and Manchester in the 80′s Martin Compston co-stars along with new Shetland star Ashley Jensen, it is on BBC1 on December 28th.  The show  is based on a novel by Scottish author Andrew O'Hagan's book of the same name. It tells the story of Jimmy (Compston) and Tully (Curran) who ignite an “unforgettable friendship” defined by music, films and their shared rebellious spirit in a small Scottish town in the 1980s.

On fame Tony commented;

I've been lucky. I don't for a minute take for granted the good fortune I have had. You don't like to get ideas above your station, especially a boy from the south side of Glasgow.

[eggtrolls]

can't begin to express how much I hate this variety of posts. what did you ~fixate~ on during the lockdown - sourdough? yoga? knitting? marathoning a hit tv show you never watched?? BITCH I was working 70 hours a week in a New York hospital watching people die every day, not eating not sleeping. fully lost track of time and could only measure how the pANdeMMyyyyyy was going by the number of daily death notifications. my nursing friends wearing trash bags. coworkers lying to their families about their work so they wouldn't worry. my girlfriend working as an EMT and leaving people in not-bad-enough medical distress in their homes because the ERs were so overcrowded, plus if they didn't have COVID, they would definitely get it, not by choice but by protocol. my great uncle dying DNI/DNR and everyone saying it was a blessing because of how quickly it happened. my parents called me more times between April and June 2020 than ever before in my fucking life because they thought I was going to die at my job. an elderly couple dying one day apart from each other. the 32 year old who died, the same age as my roommate. treating people with drugs that didn't work but their families were begging them to be on trials anyways because there were no other options. bacterial cultures from ventilator-associated pneumonia. being able to eyeball when someone wasn't going to get off the vent and being right. the formerly homeless woman who had no friends, no family, no one who knew her but a former caseworker who had retired and seeing the social workers scramble to just find anyone who would care that a person had died. creating a control cohort for a remdesivir study and reading dead people's medical records to watch them die in reverse. the day our first research patient died and I saved his birthday in my calendar under a pseudonym for HIPAA reasons so I can donate to the charity he ran. the medical director of our sister-hospital's ER working for three months straight, finally going on vacation, and shooting herself in the head. what the FUCK do you think I was fixated on during the first covid lockdown you stupid asshole.

[sokokoko]

I will not answer or reblog anything that asks for money/has to do with donations. Please understand 🙏 Any messages I receive about such things will be presumed to be a bot and deleted.

‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❝ 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 ❞・ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ︵‿

/ ❝𝑰'𝒎 𝑺𝒐𝒌𝒐❞ /

/❝𝑰'𝒎 𝒂 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍❞/

/ ❝𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒆❞/

/❝𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝑰 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆, 𝑰 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒘❞/

/❝𝑰'𝒎 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐❞/

/❝𝑴𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏❞/

♡✨𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒈; 𝒍𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔✨♡

I should probably mention my alt is @all-eyes-no-dragon because you will see me use it some places

𓁹 Insta 𓁹

❀ 25/03 birthday ❀

𓁹 purple is my favourite colour 𓁹

❀ You may also call me Nova ❀

If I write something stupid, feel free to poke holes in it! Thinking is hard 🥲

Also! If you feel like it, I would love an @ if you use any of my word prompts or writing prompts. It's not required, I'm just genuinely intrigued as to what you might've written. Only if you want to share though 💜

Down, down, down to read my stuff ⬇️

Resources:

✎ Writing piece classifications

Definitions and more. Ever wonder how many words it is to be considered a novel? What is a novelette? What is the average word count for different types of genres? What's the word count of a drabble? I got you.

✎ Really good name website: behindthename

❀ Look at: #writing prompts or #writing prompt in this account for a few ideas to spark inspiration in that wonderful Brian of yours

❀ In #whispers you'll see things I think all writers should get to hear

❀ #word of the sometimes is random words that I challenge you to write something based off

❀ #qfmn is random out of context things pulled from my notes (quotes from my notes)

❀ #​random honesty is just that.

❀ #writing quotes is pretty deep as well. You'll find some wisdom nuggets by searching this!

My Personal Works:

✎ All the stories I want to write from A-Z

A vast majority are only concepts, characters and worldbuilding. I can count the number of stories I've fully outlined on one hand. Some stories I am holding off writing as I one day hope to make them into comics.

🎆 The PPU (Paranormal Powers Universe) 🎆

✎ Universe layout + descriptions

Stories:

✩ After School Guardians

✩ Dreamer

✩ Nighttime Live!

✩ The Boy Who Grew Wings

✩ Keepers Of The Sun

✩ Lovers Of The Moon

✩ Gateway To The Stars

✩ Children Of The Clock

✩ Made In Mechania

✩ Wisteria's World

✩ The Bee & The Boy

✩ An Alien's Observations

✩ Hand Me The Moon

✩ Zingy & Zesty

✎ The Raven & The Dove

Completed novelette. 13 chapters, 10.8k words and my only finished story, discounting a cringe 8 chapter short story I wrote when I was 12. Am I proud of this? It's not my magnum opus, that's for sure. I wrote this in 2 months. However, I'm happy that I finished a story and hope to write many more in future.

Summary:

Shadowed by a civilian woman who knows of his profession and yet doesn't care, the assassin for hire known as "The Raven" can't help but act more human.

When the woman, Hannah, worms her way deeper and deeper into the wretched life he lives, The Raven wishes that he was strong enough to turn her away. But his infatuation and her damned persistence won't let him.

As the two spiral deeper down a path of no return, The Raven has to wonder, “Who’s ruin will this lead to?”

His own? Or Hannah’s?

🪻 One Shots 🪻

✎ He, The Whisper (Dreamer adjacent)

POV of a character I don't plan on giving a POV in the actual book. Secondary main character of "Dreamer" and a powerful entity stripped of his original rank. This one shot goes through his thoughts as he's trapped in the Nightmare Realm. 200 words.

✎ Synth-thia, Sin-thia

Quick crack about my OC Zinthia from After School Guardians meeting her original concept who was made by me as a young, cringey child. 994 words.

✎ The Storm Called Death

Vivien from The Frost Prince's Paramour? feeling cold and angry for 195 words. This is only significant because there's a curse on him that causes him to always be cold and will eventually freeze him to death. The only thing that can stave it off is human contact but his family want him to die so he's forbidden from being touched. Otherwise, this is just him having a pity party.

I really wanted to share the newer piece a wrote for this WIP (A Pane-ful Scene) because I love it so much but I think I should keep it in my pocket cuz I might actually use it.

✎ Poor, poor, Mayor Mendler

High key fanfiction of A's Academy For Gifted Girls set post story. It's basically that one prompt about the hero and villain's rivalry being a prank on their brother the mayor except these guys are girls. 1360 words.

✎ Horology

730 words. Father Time stops time because he's disgusted with mortals but the birth and commands of some entities born outside his reach scares him into letting the timestream flow once again. Based off of a line I wrote for a companion piece song to Nighttime Live!

"Once upon a time seven powers arose

Born to a land where time itself froze

The Netherworld let out a quake

Father Time began to shake

In fear of what his God could make"

✎ Monster Knows Best

A young Kai from Pyre & Frost talks about the monster that lives with him in his house. Murder is mentioned and covered up. 374 words.

✎ purple; out of reach

What the colour purple means to Shadow, a Boogeyman from "After School Guardians" who was born wrong. 290 words.

[emmetrain]

You have searched for Subway Boss Emmet & Ingo. What do you know about them? (Heavy topics may come up.)

Public Domain - Semi-Public Information - Confidential Information

Public Domain :) (Anyone can know, though some require brief research.)

Emmet and Ingo are the Subway Bosses of the Battle Subway, a battle facility in Nimbasa City, Unova, where they oversee both public transportation operations and they facilitate battles in multiple battle lines, as well as facing challengers after certain conditions are met.

Approximately 5-6 years ago, they appeared out of blue as Depot Agents working at the Gear Station, and were given green light to work on their "Battle Subway" project as the new Subway Bosses.

Subway Boss Ingo conducts the Singles Line for single battles, Subway Boss Emmet conducts Doubles Line for double battles, and they conduct the Multi Line for multi battles together.

There have been many events, mainly birthdays and Halloween where new costumes and many baked goods are to be expected in the celebration. People participating in these events have blog posts online about their experience and how good of a cook /baker both twins are, especially Ingo with his cake/confectionery sculptures.

Nimbasa City is used to their chirpy manners and singing on their way to work and home day and night. The twin brothers are as close as they can get.

Subway Boss Ingo went missing one day, when they were both 24. It is speculated that Subway Boss Emmet was with him and was attacked, since he was admitted to the hospital the day of.

Subway Boss Emmet has a page where people can share tips regarding the disappearance of Ingo, and he posts various updates that can be shared with the public.

However, there are still gossip and controversy, with many news articles on Ingo's disappearance having comment section mentioning the possibility of foul play and how Subway Boss Emmet has been a suspect in the case.

There have been events held to remember Subway Boss Ingo in the Gear Station.

Semi-Public Information (A friend, someone who was in right place at the right time, may access this information.)

Verse dependent, subject to change;; The twins had Klink each as their starter, and afterward, they also got a Tynamo for Emmet and Litwick for Ingo, who evolved pretty fast and became their ace.

They are close friends with Gym Leader Elesa.

Emmet has Astraphobia (fear of thunder and lightning) but more importantly, Ombrophobia (fear of rain). The twins stay at the Battle Subway or Emmet takes a day off if he was at home during rainy days. It is a very rare sight to see Emmet when it rains.

Emmet is afraid of ghost pokemon, but he hides it well.

Emmet had a modeling gig before he got a position as a Depot agent, and some of those photographs are still around (Emmet finds the photos embarrassing though they are objectively fine.)

Though they claim only to know the basics of every common language (simple greeting and directions) to help their passengers, both Subway Bosses knew Kalosian and can be heard gossiping in Kalosian.

Subway Boss Emmet has eidetic/photographic memory, where he can recall an image from memory with high precision after seeing it only once.

Subway Boss Emmet is into fashion design and the Subway Boss uniforms were designed by him. He also knits sometimes between the battles, some scarves, gloves, and blankets, which are donated to shelters by him.

Subway Boss Ingo is a food sculptor as a hobbyist, and has worked on or donated many sculptures for charity events/employee birthdays.

Subway Boss Emmet has a big number of Joltiks from his project to get a Galvantula who has Cross-Poison move. Some are his frequent passengers on his shoulders or pockets.

During Pride Month, some passengers were told that Subway Bosses are trans. The twins do not exactly hide it, but do not make this information public either.

Subway Boss Emmet has been drastically getting worse and passengers who are used to his old appearance have trouble recognizing him (sunken eyes, drastic weight loss, more serious despite the signature smile).

Subway Boss Emmet scarcely uses his twin brother's team, however, a pattern can be noticed where he is partnering with every pokemon but Haxorus.

During an event to remember Subway Boss Ingo, Subway Boss Emmet has been publicly arrested as a suspect in the case. This incident was covered up.

There is a theory on online forums that Emmet had orchestrated Ingo's disappearance and they assume and fear the worst. These forums sometimes willingly or through neglect, let planning of attacks on Emmet, especially on the birth date of the Subway Bosses.

It is not possible to find Subway Boss Emmet on his birthday.

There have been photographs shared around in the forums which uncovered Subway Boss Emmet getting into physical fights and getting injured on many occasions.

Confidential Information (Heavily guarded and some of them would cost higher-up people lose positions if they got out.)

Emmet and Ingo were the children of a wealthy Unovan family. Privately tutored and sheltered all their life, most family records have been destroyed and their past lives have been thoroughly cleaned. However, though the name cannot be found, admittance to the hospital when Emmet was 11 and the involvement of a hero depot agent saving a little kid who got caught in a Pokemon fire attack can be tied back to Emmet with the right resources.

Emmet has blackmail on many influential families from his teen years where he gathered evidence and material on every family that come into contact with his, and used this to erase their records and forge new identities for Ingo and himself 'legally'.

Their childhood was not a happy one, and they had to run when they were 18, leaving their starter pokemons (Tepig who was Pignite at the time, Emmet's starter & Oshawott/ Dewott at the time, Ingo's starter) behind.

Emmet and Ingo were homeless and crashed in Gear Station after hours or under bridges, for almost two years (age 18-19).

Emmet has a private nightlife, and he has one-night-stands frequently with no ties attached /no names disclosed to keep this information to himself.

Subway Boss Emmet has been tampering with criminal organizations' operations in Unova ever since Ingo had gone missing. This vigilante work is carried with only Haxorus by his side to hide his identity, and Emmet had been injured many times. He refuses to hit back, only plays by the rules of Pokemon battles, and tries to get information on Ingo in these evil teams' files.

Due to these vigilante work, Emmet has a few deep scars, got a spleen injury that needed a surgery, and has compromised immune system and anemia.

Haxorus is crazy powerful with the additional EXP, and Emmet sees him as his ace equally with Eelektross.

Emmet has serious financial problems with the private investigator bills, taking care of Ingo's pokemon, and keeping their home, with only one salary. Many belongings of Emmet has been sold, and he falls behind on paying the rent/bills many times, except for the P.I ones.

Despite the blackmail, the twins' bio family still holds onto the starter pokemons as a bargaining chip, and would be willing to hire the right people to bring Ingo home and deal with Emmet, or if need be, deal with them both. However, their hands are tied for now.

Emmet's phobia of rain and thunder comes from a childhood incident where he was left behind during a trip, and had to fend for himself a full day and night despite the terrible weather (rain and thunder). Rain reminds him of those feelings of abandonment, and is capable of rendering him incapable of moving, as well as causing him panic attacks.

[chrisburke]

1. favorite song?

Oceansize - The Frame

2. favorite type of dog?

Shar pei or chow chow

3. least favorite scent?

Bacon

4. mustard or mayonnaise?

Neither, I've never tried any sauce

5. hotdogs or burgers?

Burger (Filet O'Fish)

6. favorite type of melon?

Cantaloupe

7. ever eaten playdough?

Not that I can remember!

8. what was one weird thing you ate as a kid?

Thankfully I can't recall eating anything strange

9. favorite number?

7 (thanks to David Beckham)

10. favorite dwarf from snow white?

Dopey

11. what do you think is/would be the hardest language to learn?

Russian, Chinese or Japanese

12. strangest word you can think of?

Onomatopoeia

13. four jobs you would never want?

Meat factory worker, lawyer, doctor, cleaner

14. which color do you never wear?

Pink

15. what's your least favorite thing to go shopping for?

Everything! I'm not a fan of shopping

16. what's you favorite body part?

idk

17. any weird traditions in your family?

Nope

18. what is your most irrational fear?

Crumbs

19. favorite internet friend?

Tink, hands down. She's awesome!

20. dumbest movie you've ever seen?

Dubbed and Dangerous

21. favorite season?

2013-14 winning the league cup (or summer)

22. worst grade you've ever gotten?

F

23. What's your (full) name?

Christopher Paul Burke

24. highest floor you've ever been on?

86th floor of the Empire State Building

25. what's the longest you've gone without sleep?

3 days

26. what did you want to be when you grew up?

Footballer when I was 7-12 and musician from 12 onwards

27. what's the longest you've ever grown your hair?

Shoulder length! I just got it cut last month and donated my hair to the Little Princess Trust

28. favorite toast topping?

Everything - I don't like toast

29. most disgusting food combination?

Crisps on a sandwich

30. left or right handed?

Right

31. ever accidentally injured someone else?

Unfortunately yes, I broke a kids leg while playing football at his birthday party :/

32. most embarrassing thing you've done/said when you were drunk?

I don't drink so thankfully no regrets!

33. favorite foreign food?

Prawn dansak curry with pilau rice and peshwari naan

34. ever been banned from a public place?

No, I try to behave myself!

35. ever destroyed a library book?

No way!

36. most money you've ever had in your bank account?

Good try HMRC...

37. most jumps on a pogo stick?

Not a clue. I've not been on a pogo stick in about 20 years!

38. favorite fastfood chain?

Hmm... Carl's Jr

39. favorite german/french/whatever term?

German: Swingie

40. are you a hat person?

Not really tbh

41. how much did you weigh at birth?

9 pounds

42. least favorite boys name?

Barack

43. least favorite girls name?

Ryan

44. favorite boys name?

Paul

45. favorite girls name?

Bueno

46. do you know what bread pudding is? have you ever tried it? what's your opinion on it?

I know what it is, but I don't think I've ever tried it

47. if you could change your ethnicity/where you were born, what would you change it to?

Change my place of birth to Laguna Beach, CA

48. have you ever stolen anything?

Never!!!

49. would you rather be cremated or buried?

Frozen!

50. have you ever donated to a charity? what charity?

Yes, to lots of charities. Most recently I've donated to The Orangutan Project

[mariacallous]

Meduza's The Beet: Reimagining Mariupol

Hello, and welcome back to The Beet!

Eilish Hart here, the editor of this weekly dispatch from Meduza covering Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. In store for you today is a fascinating piece by journalist and architecture critic Asya Zolnikova. But before we get to the main event, I hope you’ll join me in celebrating a very special occasion. 

September 29, 2023, marks The Beet’s first anniversary

I can hardly believe a year has passed since we published our inaugural edition. And yet, here we are, with 48 feature stories under our belt covering more than 20 countries and regions. Of course, none of this would’ve been possible without our network of freelance contributors and the support of readers like you, so please pat yourselves on the back. If you’re feeling generous and would like to send The Beet a birthday gift, we’d gratefully accept a donation to Meduza’s crowdfunding campaign. And if you haven’t done so already, there’s no better occasion to join our mailing list. Our audience now numbers more than 6,500 subscribers, and there’s always room for more! 

And now, over to Asya for a story about Mariupol — or rather, the Mariupol of the future. Today, this city in southern Ukraine remains under Russian occupation, as it has been for the past 16 months. During that time, the Moscow-installed authorities have been cleaning up the wreckage from Russia’s brutal 2022 siege, which lasted more than 80 days and reduced much of the port city to rubble. With hundreds of bombed-out buildings undergoing demolition, unrecovered bodies and evidence of war crimes are being hauled away along with the debris. Reconstruction efforts, happening under Moscow’s master plan, seem primarily aimed at erasing the traces of war and the city’s Ukrainian identity rather than accommodating the population’s needs. All the while, however, a team of Ukrainian architects and designers have been creating an alternative vision for post-war Mariupol, driven by their faith that Ukraine will one day liberate the city. This is their story.

Reimagining Mariupol 

Meet the Ukrainian design team with a new vision for reviving the seaside city Russia destroyed 

By Asya Zolnikova 

As Russian forces lay siege to Mariupol in the spring of 2022, Sergii Rodionov began developing a plan to revive the city. 

The 34-year-old, who was born in Mariupol, had years of experience working as a graphic designer and art director on projects aimed at improving his hometown. In particular, he oversaw the development of a new transport scheme and created a new visual identity for the city that was in place from 2016 until the 2022 Russian invasion.

Having worked in Moscow and New York throughout the 2010s, Rodionov moved to Kyiv in 2020. But he didn’t experience the full-scale war in Ukraine. When Russian troops rolled across the Ukrainian border on February 24, 2022, Rodionov was in Rotterdam, where he had arrived just weeks before to study at the Independent School for the City. 

Rodionov recalls that he couldn’t concentrate on anything after February 24: “I was just lying face down.” And while he was initially urged to develop a project dedicated to Rotterdam itself, he decided instead to focus his studies on Mariupol, “to avoid going crazy.” It was already clear to the designer that his hometown would have to be rebuilt.

A view of Mariupol during the Russian siege. May 10, 2022.

AFP / SCANPIX / LETA

Rodionov’s mother was still in Mariupol at that time, and he had no contact with her for more than a month. He finally managed to bring her to the Netherlands in late April 2022. By then, the designer had finished his project — a “visual manifesto” titled Re: Mariupol that focused on the city's development after its eventual liberation.

The project didn’t go into great detail, but it created a buzz on social media. Eventually, the mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boichenko, who was elected in 2015 and forced to flee the city during the 2022 invasion, contacted Rodionov with an offer to expand the project with a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). 

As a result, four other Ukrainian architects joined the Re: Mariupol project: Yana Buchatska, co-founder of the Kyiv-based architectural firm Sets Studio, Anna Kamyshan, co-founder of Mriia (a think tank dedicated to the future of Ukraine), and the co-founders of the Berlin-based e+A Studio, Pavel Zabotin and Viktor Kopeikin (who was born in Mariupol). 

Lessons from Rotterdam

Between February and May 2023, the Re:Mariupol manifesto grew into a 116-page book. On June 28, Rodionov presented the project at the Lviv Urban Forum as part of Mariupol.Reborn, a broader strategy for rebuilding Mariupol that’s part of an initiative by Ukraine’s wealthiest billionaire, Rinat Akhmetov. (Akhmetov has allocated $1.5 million to the project so far.)

Working with sources and conducting research took several months, Rodionov says. The Re:Mariupol team spoke with Ukrainian and foreign experts in geography, history, economics, and ecology and also considered the results of surveys Mariupol.Reborn conducted among residents who had fled the city during the war.

Rodionov’s studies in Rotterdam also played an important role. As the designer has emphasized repeatedly, the Dutch city is similar to his hometown in many ways. Both are large industrial centers with seaports — and both were razed to the ground. Nazi Germany’s Air Force bombed Rotterdam in 1940, destroying 2.6 square kilometers (one square mile) of the city center and nearly 25,000 homes. After the war, the city was radically reconstructed, and with this came mistakes worth considering when rebuilding Mariupol. 

According to the Mariupol.Reborn plan, the Ukrainian city will be revived with financial support from Akhmetov and money from USAID, the World Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The specific amount of funding has not been publicly disclosed, but Mayor Boichenko said in an interview with The Guardian that the sponsors have “a genuine vision to build a new city on the ashes of the old.” According to his estimates, it will take $14.5 billion over 15 years to rebuild Mariupol.

At present, Mariupol remains under Russian occupation. But the Re: Mariupol team doesn’t entertain the idea of Ukraine failing to liberate the city. “We’re proceeding from our love for the city, our belief in de-occupation, and the [project] brief we received from the city administration,” Rodionov says. 

Though he’s unsure whether it will be possible to implement all of Re: Mariupol’s vision, Rodionov believes that it’s important to develop a plan as soon as possible, so as not to waste time and also “to give people hope.”

Polish architectural researcher Kuba Snopek, the former undergraduate program director at the Kharkiv School of Architecture, welcomes this approach. “[Mariupol’s] future is absolutely unknown. But now is the time to start imagining it!” he wrote in a Telegram post about Re: Mariupol back in June. “Let’s take Poland as an example: Warsaw was completely destroyed during World War II. Reconstruction formally started in January 1945, but the discussion about how to rebuild was underway while the city was still being destroyed. Architects dreamed of a new Warsaw for years, and as soon as the war ended, they knew exactly what to do.”

A military base and a clean Azov Sea

According to the architects’ vision, post-occupation Mariupol will have a population of 600,000 by 2040. That’s almost 100,000 more than before the war. The project explicitly aims to attract newcomers to the city; A “big construction project” will require the participation of specialists from many countries, Rodionov explains. 

At the same time, Rodionov says he has no illusions about the return of Mariupol residents: some of his relatives and acquaintances don’t want to go back, especially older people (including his own mother). A third of the city’s pre-war residents simply do not have homes to return to: Fighting during the siege of Mariupol destroyed roughly 45 percent of the city’s buildings — and 90 percent of the damaged structures were residential. 

The plan also includes an international military base. The distance from the city to the Russian border is only 40 kilometers (about 25 miles), so it needs a “security hub,” Re: Mariupol architect Anna Kamyshan explained during a presentation at the Lviv Urban Forum. The military will determine the location and size of this facility, Rodionov says. 

Kamyshan’s presentation emphasized another particularity of the new Mariupol: Post-war, the city is “going to become a dead-end in terms of logistics.” In the past, Mariupol was oriented towards the economy of the USSR (and, before that, of the Russian Empire), with roads and railways that connected it to Moscow. “If Ukraine successfully integrates into the E.U. and NATO,” Kamyshan pointed out, the city will be on the periphery of the European Economic Area. Therefore, the city will need new infrastructure, renewable energy sources, and domestic production. 

The project also aims to tackle one of Mariupol’s biggest and most enduring problems: the environmental situation. Industrial waste from the city’s many factories has been leaking into the air, soil, and water for decades. Re: Mariupol proposes solving this problem immediately by removing pollutants from the Azov Sea and other water systems, building a factory for environmentally-friendly building materials, creating parks, and generally planting more greenery. 

Mariupol

ELIZAVETA BECKER / ULLSTEIN BILD / GETTY IMAGES

Streets will also be redesigned according to the “15-minute city” concept, allowing residents to reach most necessities and services within a quarter of an hour. Theoretically, this scheme will reduce the need to use transport, resulting in less energy consumption and emissions.

Turning to the water

Re: Mariupol envisions building Mariupol’s post-liberation identity around science, education, and tourism. The heavy industry for which the city was historically so well-known was completely destroyed during the early months of the war, and Mariupol will struggle to attract new investors. Production is slated to resume only at the Illich Steel and Iron Works, which Rinat Akhmetov himself owns. 

The architects propose turning the grounds of other damaged factories, including the Azovstal steelworks, into landscape parks, cultural centers, and museums. The former Mariupol railway station, meanwhile, would house Mosaic Campus — “a think tank for the revival of Mariupol” named in honor of the Metallurgists mosaic. (Located in the railway station’s lounge, this modernist mosaic by Mariupol artists Lel Kuzminkov and Valentyn Konstantinov was significantly damaged by shelling in 2022.)

A center for sailing and rowing sports, as well as a promenade, will be built in the coastal zone. Currently, all transportation routes in the city lead to industrial areas, not to the sea. Rodionov wants to change this, arguing that the city “must turn back to the water” after two centuries of industrialization. This transformation would require new pedestrian routes and public transportation, as well as the construction of a new railway station, a shipping canal, and a ring road around Mariupol. The project also envisions a new international ferry terminal, 100 kilometers (62 miles) of bike paths, and several high-speed tram lines. 

In addition, Re: Mariupol covers plans to build new neighborhoods and restore historic buildings. This includes the restoration of the entire city center and its 19th century buildings, which were all but leveled. The original street grid will be preserved, but it will be densified with new housing. Traces of bullets and shells will be left on some facades, as was previously done in cities like Warsaw and Sarajevo. 

Some of the ruins will be preserved, as well. For example, the burnt gable and the remains of the auditorium of the bombed-out Drama Theater will serve as eternal evidence of Russia’s war crimes. Inside, there will be a memorial center dedicated to the hundreds of people killed when Russia bombed the theater on March 16, 2022. A new amphitheater will be built in front of the destroyed building, and a metal-and-glass shell in the shape of the former building will cover the ruins themselves. The city's main theater venue will be relocated. 

The Azovstal steelworks will also be turned into a memorial center, complete with a large sculpture of a soldier with his arms outstretched — referencing a famous photo from the Azovstal siege.

The architecture outside of the steel mill will preserve Mariupol’s industrial spirit, incorporating concrete, oxidized metal, brick facades, and other “brutalist” and “industrial” textures. Other local materials are also expected to be used: ceramic tiles, earthen walls, mosaics, and terrazzo.

‘The anchor that pulls us back’

Rodionov describes his vision for post-war Mariupol as “quite modernist.” There’s a lot of fundamentally new, often glass architecture — like that built in Rotterdam after the end of World War II, “when people thought that the worst was over and the world was heading towards an era of prosperity and the triumph of humanism.” 

The plans show, for example, a main railway station made of glass located on “city island,” a peninsula at the mouth of the Kalmius River (the city’s railway station is currently located on the central beach). This is the geographical center of the city, but before the war, its territory was empty save for boat garages and railway tracks. The new station is designed in the form of a giant Cyrillic letter “П” — a nod to both the image of a triumphal arch and the Ukrainian word “перемога” (peremoha), which means “victory.”

It’s very important “that the history of the city isn’t limited to the current war and several preceding centuries, when Mariupol was part of the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union,” Rodionov underscores. 

Mayor Boichenko has expressed similar views. “We have asked Mariupol residents [around the country] what we need to remove from the city and what to leave,” he told The Guardian back in June. “That’s when the idea came up that we should remove everything Soviet from the city. This is the anchor that pulls us back, and Putin is clinging to it.”

At the same time, Re: Mariupol doesn’t address the question of what to do with the buildings that the Russian-occupation authorities built since the city was captured in May 2022. “This is an open question, we will return to it at later stages. But in any case, it will have to be decided collectively,” says Rodionov. 

Indeed, while Ukrainian architects and designers have been developing a vision for a post-liberation city, Kremlin-appointed authorities in Mariupol have been erasing both traces of the war and Ukrainian cultural heritage on a massive scale. 

According to Russia’s Master Plan for the Development of Mariupol through 2035, the occupation authorities are expected to build housing for hundreds of thousands of residents. Some of these buildings have already gone up, in the form of faceless, poorly-built, prefabricated high-rises.

Apartment buildings in Mariupol’s new Nevsky micro-district

At the same time, the occupation authorities are demolishing damaged buildings by the hundreds, claiming that they cannot be restored (according to Boichenko, they plan to destroy approximately 1,000 structures in total). However, Ukrainian officials surmise that the real reason for the demolitions is to cover up evidence of war crimes. Petro Andryushchenko, an aide to Mariupol’s mayor, has repeatedly claimed that many of the city’s destroyed high-rise buildings contained 50 to 100 bodies each. 

The occupation authorities demolished the remnants of the Mariupol Drama Theater in late 2022. All that remains is a portico with a pediment and sculptures of grain farmers and part of the amphitheater, basement ceilings, and the foundations. Many of the bodies of those killed in the theater bombing were allegedly left inside. “All the people are still under the rubble, because the rubble is still there — no one dug them up,” Oksana Syomina, a Mariupol resident who survived the bombing, told the Associated Press. “This is one big mass grave.”

An aerial view of the destroyed Drama Theater. Mariupol, February 2, 2023.

ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO / REUTERS / SCANPIX / LETA

Occupation officials claim they plan to turn the theater into “the most modern venue in the Donetsk People’s Republic” (Russia’s official term for the occupied territories in Ukraine’s Donetsk region). Earlier, the ruins were hidden behind fabric-covered scaffolding emblazoned with the portraits of Russian writer Leo Tolstoy and poet Alexander Pushkin.

The occupation authorities have also restored the Soviet-era names of certain squares and streets (renaming Peace Avenue and Freedom Square after Bolshevik revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, for example), painted over the well-known Milana mural, and dismantled a monument to the victims of political repressions and the Holodomor (a Soviet-engineered faminethat killed millions in Ukraine). Occupying forces also burned and looted the library of Mariupol’s St. Petro Mohyla Cathedral, a Ukrainian Orthodox Church known for its decorative Petrykivka paintings. 

Re:Mariupol’s vision for the city is diametrically opposed to the Russian occupation authorities’ destructive approach to reconstruction. According to Rodionov, this dissent has been crucial for his team. “It was important for us to make this project as a contrasting response to the master plan Russia created last summer,” Rodionov explains. “To highlight our values, our differences, and to show that for us Mariupol isn’t concrete boxes, but people and their stories.”