![woman-2712315_640.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbHM2y8Tw63jhSHV8unLUjfxXvjh6NsiTGBTi654vLdYY/woman-2712315_640.jpg) ^{[credit](https://pixabay.com/photos/woman-protester-mask-protest-2712315/)} Can I just say… Holy shit Steemit. I came back at exactly the right time. Though just before an explosion might not seem like the best time to step into a minefield, it totally was. I put out a post yesterday venting a bit about the situation, went back into the discords until I had a skull splitting headache. Last night when I went to bed I wasn’t feeling that great. We’re all a little amped and emotional right now, and it left me feeling drained and pessimistic. When I woke up, two of Justin’s exchange goonies backed out and we had two top twenty witnesses. When I got home from the gym, we hit four. Last I checked before I started this post… we had five. FIVE. That’s enough to stop a hard fork plus a couple. Not only did we STOP THE FUCKING HARDFORK, we’re growing. We’re regaining control of the blockchain AS A COMMUNITY. Is it possible that Justin is going to pull out another underhanded trick? YEP… but my goodness Steem creatures I’m so proud. I’m so proud to be a part of this community. When I joined Steemit back in ’17 I joined because of the community. Mostly @Adept because he was relentless. I didn’t come in here with big dreams of getting rich off my posts. In fact, I didn’t even post for quite a while, I just let @Adept use my account for… Adepty things I guess, I don’t even know (now that’s complete trust). Until @MrViquez came along with his pretty eyes and persuaded me to post because I make pleasant words, I thought he was just being nice because he wanted to bang me. I never believed I was talented enough to get anywhere. Until some Steem creatures told me I was. I didn’t know them from Adam. I came across the posts, really enjoyed them and kept reading, then commenting. I’m sure many of you already know how many great writers we have here, writing that is technical, interesting, and engaging, they’re good. Then they came and told me I was good. Mind blown. If I don’t know them, and they’re good and they tells me I’m good… maybe I’m good? What? Then came the curation votes. I woke up to my $1 post at $85. I damn near shit myself; I’m not kidding. Naturally I hit up @MrViquez freaking out and he told me what exactly the curation groups of Steemit do and to be honest I was over the moon. I’ve been hit by most of the major and many minor curation groups at one point or another. Then I found more Steem creatures that I thought were fabulous, and more, and more. Life gets tough, so I stopped for a bit. I came back and I found projects to join, projects meant to support the community, to create things for the community, which led me to even more creatures of fascination. But again, that pesky life thing. When I came back this time, I found the likes of Steem creatures I’d never seen before, and they were awesome! More creatures who are super helpful and supportive with no personal gain, new hilarious creatures who are fun and witty. I maybe leave Steemit sometimes, but I always come back. I come back for this, for the community. For the amazing people that make it what it is. Now I get to watch this community that I can’t seem to let go rally; to come together in a way I certainly hadn’t imagined possible to defend itself. I get to be a part of it. I get to be a worker hornet. Word is spreading about us across platforms because we stood up and proved that we are what we’ve said we are from the start… a community of quality content creators, a SOCIAL network owned and operated by its USERS. #### So yes, Justin was right about one thing; the Steemit community is stronger than ever… he’s just not a part of it. If he ever wants to be, he should really start thinking of it as the living, breathing, thinking creature, full of heart that it is. WE are not a simple blockchain business deal. WE will not give up on our blockchain. WE will stand, because WE are Steemit. ^{@Accio out bitches.}