Your perspectives matter. Your representation matters. You are not bothersome for demanding equal treatment in fandom. It is not your responsibility to make fandom more welcoming and inclusive to you. It is not your sole responsibility to create all of the Black-centered content. You are not "ruining" anyone's fun for demanding better for yourself, and anyone who says otherwise can go fuck themselves. Any fandom worth being a part of should have no room for racism in it.

Black people in fandom, you are wanted. You are needed. You are loved and appreciated. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Tumblr is rolling out a new reblog/notes system that completely disregards creators. In their new system, they're taking a twitter-style approach where reblogs will have their own notes that DO NOT contribute to the original post's notes.

Because of this, creators will no longer be able to see an accurate display of likes/reblogs/etc. This is completely altering the way feedback and responses to works are going to be received on this website.

If you come across a fan work that you enjoy, please take the extra step to go to OPs original post, and leave your comment/like/reblog there. Or go one step further and send an ask to OP directly to tell them what you liked!

a/n: rudo would find himself in a situation like this don't lie 😭

the jeep is parked crooked. 

not suspiciously crooked, just… enjin-clearly-owns-this-vehicle crooked. like he definitely meant to straighten it out and then got distracted by you climbing into the backseat and suddenly the concept of parking safely left his brain entirely. 

the heat inside the jeep is unbearable. partly because it’s summer. mostly because enjin is pressed against you like he’s trying to fuse your atoms together. 

his hands are rough – calloused, warm, stupidly big – and they don’t hesitate. one minute they’re braced beside your head, the next they’re gripping your waist like he’s afraid you’ll disappear if he loosens his hold for even a second. his mouth is on yours, kiss messy and unfiltered, all tongue and breath and that low sound he makes in the back of his throat when he’s losing control. 

you pull back just enough to breathe and he chases your lips immediately, dimples flashing because of course he’s smiling. of course he is. 

“you’re gonna kill me,” he mutters, voice deep and rough like gravel dragged over honey. “you know that, right?” 

you barely get a chance to respond before he’s kissing you again, one hand sliding up your side, thumb digging in like he needs the reminder that you’re real. the jeep rocks ever so slightly and the windows are completely fogged now – humid, cloudy, absolutely incriminating. 

enjin is melting. fully. this man who fights trash beasts for a living is undone by you in the backseat of his stupid jeep. 

and right when he’s about to start taking off his shirt– 

tap. tap tap. 

everything freezes. 

enjin goes stiff. not in the good way. 

slowly, painfully slowly, he lifts his head. his eyes flick to the side window. the fogged, steamy, very clearly “something is happening in here” window. 

outside stands rudo. 

rudo, who is fifteen. 

rudo, who is his student. 

rudo, who absolutely should not be seeing… whatever this is. 

enjin’s soul leaves his body. 

“oh my gosh,” he whispers, horrified. “oh my gosh. no. no no no–” 

before either of you can duck, rudo squints at the window, clearly confused. then with the most innocent energy imaginable, he lifts his sleeve and wipes a small circle into the fog. 

a face appears. 

his eyes widen. 

the silence is deafening. 

“… oh,” rudo says. just that. soft. polite. deeply awkward. 

enjin lunges forward like he can physically erase the last five seconds, slamming his hand against the glass. “NOPE. NOPE– DON’T–” 

too late. 

rudo is already turning bright red, staring anywhere except inside the jeep. he scratches the back of his head, panicking, but trying to be respectful, because of course he is. 

“s-sorry!!” he blurts. “i didn’t– i was just– uh– the windows were foggy so i thought maybe it was broken?? not like– like that–” 

he takes three steps backward immediately. 

then four more. 

then he spins around and practically sprints away. 

as he goes, you hear him yell, “I DIDN’T SEE ANYTHING!! I SWEAR!!” 

the jeep is silent after that. 

enjin drops back against the seat, hands covering his face. 

“… i need to move,” he says weakly. “maybe to the sphere.” 

you start laughing. like actually laughing. tears-in-your-eyes, can’t-breathe laughing. 

enjin peeks at you through his fingers, mortified, but still very much enjin, dimples betraying him when he sighs. “this is my fault. this is absolutely my fault. i should’ve known better than to park near HQ.” 

you lean over, giggling. “mentor of the year.” 

he groans, dropping his head onto your shoulder. “i am never emotionally recovering from this.” 

a beat. 

his hand finds yours again, squeezing gently. 

“worth it though.” 

you smile in return, not knowing that somewhere in the distance, rudo is walking faster than he ever has in his life, determined to forget what he saw and deeply regretting ever touching a foggy window ever again. 

then one evening, drunk at a party, you mention the Shouto Effect in front of him. you realize it's the first time you've said it out loud when he looks at you, handsome and bemused, and you patiently explain to him that he's the most beautiful man on earth and no one else gets treated quite the way he does. that most people don't get tongue tied that often, or flush beet red that often, or fall all over themselves to give others things in the hope that they might like them. that he's special.

shouto looks contemplative as you explain, eyes growing just slightly wider, before something passes over his face—a look of intense interest. you wonder if he's just learning the true way of the world, and coming to terms with the idea that he might be prettier than he realized, and having A Time Of It.

From the article:

Their metrics showed that — in addition to providing over 1.7 billion meals to 40 million people in need globally — food banks also diverted an estimated 1.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. By intercepting unspoiled food destined for the landfill, and redistributing food from local farms and wholesale produce markets, the 2023 report offered evidence that community-led solutions to addressing global hunger can also help protect the globe itself.  “Nearly a third of the world’s food is lost or wasted at the post-harvest, retail, and consumer levels, never reaching the people who need it,” the GFN team wrote in the report. “Food loss and waste proves costly for producers, takes up space in landfills, and emits harmful greenhouse gases, intensifying climate change.”

Reading this was one of those "oh duh!" moments for me. Despite being aware that food systems and food waste are major sources of fossil fuels, I had mentally placed food banks in a "addressing non environmental problems" category. But of course, food banks make our food system more efficient and less wasteful by making the most out of the food was have already produced.