#Children of 9/11

[darthkieduss]

Children of September 11

Shadows in the sky so high As the towers screamed to the ground Fear in the eyes of a child Echoes of silence all around

World turned to gray that day Memories in a young heart stay Flames and smoke lit up the screen Haunting dreams don't fade away

Hearts breaking everywhere Lives lost in the burning air I can't forget the screams and fire Living now in fear's desire

8 years old with eyes so wide Innocence lost deep inside Watching the world come crashing down Nowhere safe in my hometown

Years pass but the scars remain Living through this endless pain Trying to heal what's broken within Strength to rise and begin again

Hearts breaking everywhere Lives lost in the burning air I can't forget the screams and fire Living now in fear's desire

[crippledanarchy]

If you're in the US and you're concerned about Palestine, leave US Jews alone, and start asking your local evangelist how much money their christian church sends annually to support the genocide being committed by the state of israel.

[ash-shark]

Shitty post (mostly Black Dragon)

[catboygirljoker]

hey you ever think about how its implied that you have to be turned into a nobody to get norted, like, every member of the real org13 who isnt literally xehanort or literally possessed by xehanort is a nobody (except maybe vanitas but *gestures* thats a . different can of worms), and the people who were recompleted had to then become nobodies again in order to be in the real org13 and serve as a vessel for xehanort, like perhaps your heart has to be removed in order to make room for another heart,

and then do you ever think about the one character who canonically got norted before becoming a nobody and is still norted even after being recompleted and thus canonically didnt need to become a nobody in order to be norted, and then lose your mind a little bit

[jesse-pinko]

Honestly there are so many ppl I know irl that I will never be able to look at the same again… If you can hear “11,500 children killed” “crushed and buried patients alive with bulldozers” if you can look at videos of children with their limbs amputated screaming and crying because there is no anesthesia and your response is still “free the hostages!” or “but Hamas!” or “Israel has the right to exist” then you simply do not see Arabs as people, you cannot look at brown children and be reminded of your own kids because you see them as Other, and whether subconsciously or not your perception of the Middle East is of an innately war-torn, inherently violent place, and you have conveniently and utterly failed to comprehend how much of that is due to Western savagery and puppeteering. Why do you think it’s in any way acceptable for the US to regularly bomb other countries, but it was considered a war crime to the utmost degree when they physically retaliated against us? Why do you think Hamas holding hostages is the height of brutality when Israel is publicly expressing glee over killing thousands upon thousands of Palestinian children? If you think any of these things, you do not think of Arabs as people, you think of them as Other, unworthy of the protections and freedoms you take for granted.

[wizardofpalmsprings]

Too bad Siobhan isn’t there to translate “In nomine patris et filii et Santo Patron”. Wouldn’t break Brennan nearly as bad as “No Day Shall Erase You From the Memory of Time” but I feel like it would still get him

[therealblondebucky]

Chapter 7 of Not The Only One - A Winter Soldier Story

Rating: Teen to Mature

Word Count: 3.4K

Warnings: Canon-typical violence (with more specifics in the tags) and discussion about a traumatic real-world event towards the end.

June 26, 2016

No one slept well, but I had a feeling it had to do with more than just the poor bedding situation.

Steve got up and left the apartment at dawn. Once the door closed behind him, I cautiously opened one eye.

"Doll, are you awake?" Bucky whispered.

"Yeah?"

He rolled over to face me and gave a small smile. "Morning."

"Morning," I returned the greeting. "Do you know where Steve went?"

Bucky shook his head and we both went quiet for a couple minutes as the early morning stillness wrapped itself around us.

"Bucky?"

"Mmhm," he grunted in acknowledgment.

"Was I a good fighter?" I asked quietly.

His first response was a sad laugh and a wistful smile. "You were the best."

I waited for him to continue.

"You handed my ass to me more than once, including yesterday."

Frowning, I asked, "I fought you yesterday?"

He nodded. "Nearly beat me to death."

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry! I don't remember doing that."

"Listen, it's okay," he assured me. "You were scared and confused. Could've happened to anyone."

My shame and embarrassment shut me up while I berated myself. How could I have come so close to taking the life of someone who has shown kindness to me?

As sunlight steadily crept into the apartment, I saw the damage that had been done to his face—the damage I had caused.

"Bucky, I'm so sorry," I breathed.

"Don't worry about it." He tried to comfort me by saying, "You didn't do all of this. I was already pretty beaten up before you got a hold of me."

I had not only hurt someone who was trying to help me but also injured a man with one arm who had recently been assaulted.

Angry with myself, I began violently picking at my fingernails. The light brought my attention to the dirt and blood that was caked under them. Even after last night's shower, a red tinge clung to the skin around each nail.

I asked suddenly, "Do you have any nail clippers?"

"I assume Steve has some in his hygiene kit," Bucky said as he got up and went over to the bags in the corner of the room.

After a minute of rummaging, Bucky handed me the desired item.

"Sorry, I got my blood on you, Doll," he apologized once he saw my left hand.

"It's not just yours," I thought to myself.

I remained silent, unsure how to respond to someone apologizing to me because I had wrongly attacked them.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Bucky murmured before pulling something else out of Steve's things. "Little soap on the nail brush and some scrubbing, and everything should come right off."

"Uh - thanks," I faltered and then made my escape to the bathroom.

I made quick work of cutting off my five fingernails. After running the nail brush over my bar of soap, I scrubbed my fingers until they burned with pain.

I was able to breathe easier now that there literally was no blood on my hands. After splashing cold water on my face, I looked up into the shabby mirror. Common sense told me that the face that stared back at me was my own, yet I did not recognize it.

Steve and Bucky were both standing around the small kitchen island when I came out of the bathroom.

Steve called out cheerfully, "Good morning! I have breakfast!"

"Sandwiches?" I asked with a raised eyebrow after looking at the food laid out before the two men.

"Breakfast sandwiches. I would have got coffee to go with them, except these were kind of expensive," he replied.

I unwrapped the wax paper from around the bundle Steve handed me. Generous slices of warm whole grain bread, tender cuts of dark roast beef, thick pieces of juicy red tomato, and rich slices of creamy white Swiss cheese made an appealing and hearty combination.

After sinking my teeth into the sandwich, I told the two boys, "I have a lot of questions."

Steve nodded. "I'm sure you do."

"First off, where are we?"

"Odesa, Ukraine," was the answer.

I asked, "Okay. How did you two find me?"

"Steve and I got you out of a facility in Siberia two days ago," answered Bucky.

Steve added, "A man named Zemo came there to kill you."

Bucky's sad blue eyes met mine as he said, "You've been frozen for nearly 25 years, Doll."

"W-what? Frozen? 25 years? The hell are you talking about?" I choked out.

"You are a Super Soldier just like us. And for the past 25 years, you have been in a Cryostasis Chamber, which kept you in a state of suspended animation by lowering your entire body temperature to absolute zero," Steve elaborated.

In barely a whisper, I said, "So, I've been unconscious for the past 25 years?"

The pair nodded simultaneously.

"Then what year is it?"

Steve replied, "It's 2016."

"20? 2016?" I stuttered the information I could hardly comprehend.

"I know it must be a shock to you. There's a lot you need to catch up on," Steve told me. "But we'll get you up to speed."

Turning to Steve, Bucky asked, "Are you going to start with the Avengers or -"

I cut him off. "What's the 'Avengers'?"

Bucky chuckled, "You are probably the last person on Earth not to know who the Avengers are."

"It's sort of an 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type of thing," explained Steve.

"That's not overtly arrogant at all," I muttered.

Steve laughed. "I'm just on the team. I didn't come up with the name. Fury did."

"Fury?"

"Nick Fury, former director of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Steve's answer only left me with more questions.

"Who is Shield?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. was the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. It was an American-based extra-governmental military counter-terrorism and intelligence agency tasked with maintaining both national and global security. It was founded after World War II and was the most powerful and secret military intelligence agency on Earth for decades."

"Oh."

Steve continued, "Nick Fury was the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and founder of the Avengers Initiative. His goal was to form a team of 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' to protect the world from whatever threats it might be faced with."

"Was he able to do it?" I asked, curiosity welling up inside of me.

Steve smiled. "Yes, he was. Six members were recruited. Tony, Thor, Natasha, Clint, Bruce, and myself."

The way he said the names told me these were obviously important people, but I did not recognize any of them.

"But you wouldn't know who any of those people are. So I'll just go through the list and tell you about each of them."

I nodded in agreement and continued eating my sandwich.

"Tony Stark was the very young and extremely successful C.E.O. of Stark Industries, which sold advanced weaponry until 2009 when he was kidnapped by a terrorist group in Afghanistan. They wanted him to make them a weapon and held him captive for three months. He did build a weapon, only he used it against them to escape to freedom instead of handing it over. Eventually, he perfected the design and became known as 'Iron Man.'"

Steve handed me a small, flat device with a screen. There was a picture of a well-dressed man with a unique goatee and a flashy smile. Steve swiped to the right, and then there was a picture of a red and gold armor suit with a hand extended out in front of it. A circle of light came from its palm, and another light was set in the center of its chest.

"He wears a suit of armor?" I asked.

"Yes," Steve confirmed.

"What's he like?"

"Eccentric genius, outgoing perfectionist, cocky billionaire, showy playboy, sarcastic pragmatist, and a brave fighter. Tony is a lot of things. He has his flaws and demons, but he is a good man and a good friend." Steve paused. "We just don't always see eye-to-eye."

I could tell that Steve and Tony had a close bond, but for some reason, right now, they were far from being on good terms with each other.

Talking about Tony unsettled something in Steve, so he moved right along, saying, "Then there is Thor Odinson. He is strong, blond, royalty, a few thousand years old, a mighty warrior, and has this hammer that lets him control lightning and thunder. You might know him from Norse mythology."

My mouth hung open for a moment until I remembered my manners. I swallowed my bite of food before blurting out, "Mythology?! He's a god?!"

"No, he is an Asgardian. Centuries ago, when he came to visit Earth, the Norse people mistook him for a god, and that is why he and his family are in Norse Mythology," Steve corrected me kindly.

"Oh... What's an Ass-guard-again?" I hesitated.

Bucky tried to hide his laughter but failed.

"Someone from Asgard," Steve stated.

"Ass-guard?"

My question drew more laughter from Bucky; even Steve was having a hard time keeping a straight face.

Steve replied, "It's one of the Nine Realms."

"The Nine Realms?"

These answers to my questions only confused me.

"It's a little complicated. He's not from Earth. Sometimes, he can be out of place here and have a temper, but ultimately, he wants to do what's right and keep things peaceful."

Steve swiped again at the little picture box, and a picture of a tall, muscular man with a beard and long blonde hair wearing an interesting maroon sports blazer appeared.

"No wonder they thought he was a god," I said under my breath.

Bucky and Steve chuckled before the latter changed it to another photo. In this one, the blond man was wearing a red cape and a set of armor unlike any I had ever seen. He was holding a large silver hammer in his hand like it was nothing.

"Next is Natasha Romanoff, aka the Black Widow. Raised from infancy in a Russian-run 'academy' called the Red Room, the girls there were made into the best spies and assassins possible. She graduated top of her class, and because of that, the K.G.B. recruited her, but fortunately, she ended up switching sides and defecting to S.H.I.E.L.D."

Steve showed me a picture of a beautiful red-headed woman wearing a formal suit.

Running my finger along the image, I felt a connection with her.

"And her Russian name?" I asked in a whisper.

For once, Steve did not have an answer to my question.

"Наталья Романов," Bucky replied. ["Natalia Romanov."]

"You must mean 'Наталья Романова,'" I corrected him. "'Романов' is the male form of the last name. 'Романова' is the female form." ["Natalia Romanova."] ["Romanov"] ["Romanova"]

Bucky just shrugged.

"What is she like?"

Steve changed the screen to a picture of her in a black full-body tactical suit before answering, "She's smart, funny, strong, and a huge flirt, but once she trusts you, she will always be there for you."

"I wish I could meet her."

"I hope that you will get to very soon," Steve said with a sad smile before moving on.

"Couldn't forget Natasha's best friend: Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye. He was an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., or I should say assassin of S.H.I.E.L.D. and still is a master marksman. Clint can do more with a bow and arrow than anyone else I've ever met can do with a gun," Steve told me before showing me a picture of an unassuming man in jeans and a long-sleeved flannel.

Confused, I asked, "So he's just a regular guy who is good at archery?"

Steve chuckled, "No. He is also a skilled martial artist, acrobat, and spy, not to mention a very valuable member of the team."

The next picture was of the same man wearing a black sleeveless uniform and holding a bow loaded with three arrows.

"Clint is brilliant, humorous, very competitive, extremely loyal, a caring friend, and a loving family man," Steve stated.

"Finally, there is Bruce Banner, the most gifted scientist of this century."

"A scientist?" I asked, unimpressed, looking at the picture of a very average man who wore glasses and a purple button-up.

In response to my question, Steve pulled up a picture of a huge, green, muscular monster.

"Holy crap! What is that thing?!"

Steve said, "He's the Hulk, a strong and primitive-minded creature who is fueled by rage. Bruce was exposed to high levels of gamma radiation, which changed his body and mind. Bruce and Hulk are both always in there; it's just a matter of who is in control."

"So he can turn into that whenever he wants?"

"He has to be triggered to transform into the Hulk," Steve explained.

Concerned, I asked, "But every time he gets angry, does he change?"

"Not necessarily. Bruce has gained considerable control over the Hulk and is still learning about him. Bruce is very intelligent, sometimes shy, and always kind."

"In 2012, Thor's adopted brother, Loki, entered the Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility in the Mojave Desert via some kind of portal; used a Scepter to mind control several agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., including Clint Barton; stole the Tesseract; and destroyed the facility and the surrounding area," Steve recalled.

"The Tess-er-act?"

Steve explained grimly, "It's a blue cube with unmatched power."

I nodded, and he continued.

"Fury met with the World Security Council, and they told him to forget about the Avengers Initiative, but he went through with it anyway."

"Natasha recruited Bruce, Fury recruited me, and Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited Tony."

"Natasha, Bruce, and I were brought onto S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first Helicarrier, which is a flying command center and an aircraft carrier. We found Loki in Germany, forcing a crowd of people to kneel before him. Tony and I were able to bring Loki into custody."

"That was the first time Tony and I ever met," Steve said quietly, reminiscing over the memory.

He ended the moment by resuming his story.

"Anyways, Thor boarded our Quinjet and took Loki with him. Tony and I followed. It took a bit of convincing, but Thor agreed to join us."

"When we returned to the Helicarrier, Loki was put in a cell and we discussed what Loki's plan was. Natasha interrogated Loki, while Tony and I separately but simultaneously discovered that Fury's 'Phase Two' was using the Tesseract to create weapons. We all had a big argument." Steve shook his head at this recollection.

"Clint and the other brainwashed agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. attacked the Helicarrier and took out one of our engines. It took a while, but Tony and I fixed the engine. The attack triggered Bruce to turn into the Hulk, and Natasha had to flee for her life. Thor stopped Hulk from hurting anyone until they were able to get him off of the Helicarrier, and he turned back into Banner unharmed."

"Loki escaped and then tricked Thor into his former cell. Agent Coulson tried to save Thor, but Loki ended up killing him."

I noticed a tear slide down Steve's face.

"Loki then ejected a still-trapped Thor from the Helicarrier. Fortunately, Thor was able to escape uninjured, but Loki got away."

"Fury told Tony and I that Agent Coulson was dead, and he also came clean to us about how his true plan was the Avengers Initiative, not Phase Two."

"Natasha had to fight and restrain Barton until he was finally free of Loki's control." Steve paused after saying this, as if the weight of his own words would not allow him to speak.

A moment later, he carried on, "Tony and I discussed Agent Coulson's death and realized Loki planned to open up a portal above Stark Tower in New York City."

"I found Clint and Natasha, and we took a Quinjet, which is an advanced piece of S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft, and followed Tony to New York City."

"Tony tried to talk to Doctor Erik Selvig, a renowned astrophysicist and also another one of Loki's personal puppets at the time, about shutting down the portal device he had created using the Tesseract, but it didn't work. So Tony took off his suit and faced off against Loki mind to mind."

"It didn't go well. When Loki couldn't control Tony with the Scepter, he just threw him out the window. Tony was able to get into one of his suits and not fall to his death, but the portal had opened, and Loki's alien army had already arrived."

"Thor took his turn at confronting Loki, but to no avail. Loki took out one of the Quinjet's engines, and we were forced to crash land."

"Sirens were going off everywhere. The police officers and firefighters were doing all they could. Debris dust was thick on everything. The aliens just kept coming. Seventy-four civilians died, along with several NYPD officers and National Guard members, though I don't remember the numbers for them," Steve said quietly with a faraway look in his eyes.

No one spoke until Bucky gently said, "It's okay, Steve. What happened next?"

Steve blinked a couple of times. "umm- Thor and Bruce joined us. Bruce turned into the Hulk. I helped Natasha catch a ride up to the top of Stark Tower."

"There were a bunch of civilians cornered in this bank. The aliens had this bomb. It went off and blew me out of a window. I think I ended up landing on a car," Steve laughed dryly.

"Selvig was free of Loki's mind control when Natasha finally made it to the top of Stark Tower. He told her how to shut down the portal. And Hulk beat Loki down."

"The World Security Council decided to nuke New York City as the solution to the alien problem."

"I'm sorry! They decided to 'nuke' New York City?!" I interrupted.

Steve nodded and continued, "Tony took the nuke up and into the portal even though it was a suicide mission. When Tony hadn't come back out, Natasha was forced to close the portal. His suit had run out of power, but thankfully he free fell back to Earth before the portal fully closed. Once Tony came to, we finished our business with Loki."

"Thor took the Tesseract and Loki back to Asgard. We all went our separate ways after that. The world has never been the same since that day," Steve finished.

"Why would someone attack New York like that?" I asked soberly.

Steve and Bucky looked at each other.

"Actually, this wasn't the first time New York has been attacked since you were put under," replied Steve.

"On September 11, 2001, nineteen members of the terrorist group al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airliners. One plane crashed into the World Trade Center North Tower. The second crashed into the World Trade Center South Tower. The third plane was flown into the Pentagon."

"The fourth plane's target was either the Capitol building or the White House, but it never made it to either. The crew and passengers of the flight fought against the hijackers after they had learned about the fates of the three other hijacked planes. When the hijackers realized that the passengers and crew would likely overcome them and gain control of the plane, they rolled the plane and intentionally crashed it, which killed everyone on board."

"Both of the towers ended up catching on fire and came down. Nearly 3,000 people were killed, over 25,000 were injured, and we will probably never know how many got sick or even died because of all of the contaminants and carcinogens that were in the air," Steve said, his voice filled with nothing but sadness.

I had no words. I could not even cry. I was in so much shock over the tragedy.

In a firm tone, Bucky said, "I think that's enough history for today."

I do not remember much about the rest of that day.

Steve went out again and did not return until after dark.

Bucky made himself a peanut butter sandwich around noon and offered me one, but I declined.

Steve brought back three thrifted sleeping bags, some basic groceries, and three takeout servings of okroshka. The cold summer soup was good, but I only ate my portion to appease Steve and not because I was hungry.

As I crawled into my sleeping bag that night, so many thoughts churned in my head.

- I had hurt someone and had no recollection of it.

- Someone had tried to kill me.

- I had missed 25 years of living.

- A beautiful city and the innocent lives of its people had been devastated by evil men.

[tinytimism]

anyone else notice that there’s nothing to watch on youtube anymore

[yayawantstodraw]

The Stark sisters are truly my roman empire, apparently being a fan of both is unpopular here on Tumblr but i love them. I think their relationship is so realistic, anyone with a sibling will tell you about the times they didn't get along, i think this fandom thinks their relationship is cruel because they think their age gap is bigger than it actually is, they're just two years apart and don't understand each other's ideals so they have conflicts but it's so very obvious how much they love each other from Arya thinking of needle for all her siblings "even for Sansa" and Sansa imagining her daughter would look like Arya ☹️ Doomed sisters how i love you

[leafith]

The Valley of Triumph (2); 1-2-3-4-5-6

(every paragraph is a chapter!)

One year has passed, and it is Sentinekka's fourteenth birthday, the day she is supposed to see her best friend, Symphony, and her "guide", Ojtaro, again. She and Orlando are running through the Village to begin the Daily Quests they have to do for the Village of Dreams (in my AU, during the Season of Remembrance the Elders create a little assignment for the sky kids. They can decide whether to be a Missionary or not. A Missionary does the quests that a village needs daily). In the meanwhile, Ojtaro is reaching the Village with his family and Joyz, who he still doesn't like at all. They're coming with him to see Sentinekka, but also to see a show of the Theatre. The Performances Guide organized it and invited the whole Village of Dreams and more friends, and Passage is a friend of Performance soo... Yep. After walking through the Forest, the group finally comes to the Valley.

Sentinekka sends Orlando home since he was tired because of nightmares, so she remains alone in the Vault. And, in the Village of Dreams, Ojtaro goes on his way to search his friend. Suddenly, someone bumps into him: it's Judylia, but he doesn't know her yet. He asks her about Sentinekka and gives a description, since he doesn't know that she knows his little Moth. Judylia tells him that Sentinekka is in the Vault to do quests for the Village, and that she has become an amazing person that always speaks about him and Symphony. So, he goes to the Vault.

In the Vault, he hears Sentinekka's voice as she sings A Temporary High by AURORA. He sings it too while following the voice. Sentinekka is singing just to lose some time and relax a bit: she needs to complete one last quests for the Vault, then she'll have to go to the Forest and then the Prairie. The quest is to ride a Cosmic Manta (in my AU there are more different quests!). At the end, they meet on the top of the Vault and hug each other with excitement.

After that little embrace, Sentinekka tells Ojtaro that she knows his secret, she knows he's an Elder, and he gets agitated and scared. She isn't supposed to know. After taking her behind the statue of Lamed, Vault Elder, he lets his stress break free and asks her how she knows all of this. She doesn't really tell him how, but she reassures him that his secret is safe with her. So he calms down. To change topic of discussion, Sentinekka asks him how he has been during the time they've been separated, and the two begin to speak.

The future Elder and his friend are in the Forest. They speak and listen to each other, they talk about being a Missionary or an Elder. Sentinekka became smarter, and now she even knows all the name of the Elders. They were written in old books. She knows so much. It's like the student has surpassed the guide. While he explains to her his feelings about being an Elder, she tries to find solutions to set him free. But there are three only: death, Darkness or the rejection of the Light. And "the Megabird" chose him. Well, she corrects him and says that it's "Megabird" and not "The Megabird". Lmao. But, ANYWAYS: while they speak, Symphony is going away from the Sanctuary Islands to reach Sentinekka. Tewezo and Youssef would like to come with her, but she warns them to not do that since she wants to go alone. She can't wait to see her best friend again... <3

Sentinekka updates her diary about what happened and about the quests she must do in the Prairie. She needs to admire the sapling for some time, then to meditate in the Fields, then go take the Golden Light still in the Fields and then to ride a Manta. When she finishes with her diary, Ojtaro asks her why she's so organized. She explains the duty of a Missionary, and that she loves helping people at her best. He should understand that feeling more than her, that's what she tells him, since he has helped so many Moths like her and Symphony. During that discussion, Ojtaro accidentally says something in a language he must study, as a descendant of the Elders: Yoruba, an ancient language of the Sky Kingdom. Sen' recognizes it and, fascinated by the past, asks him what it means: Ori me means My Friend, he explains. He really doesn't like the stuff a future Elder must know.

[hershelwidget]

wait hang on

HANG ON

DO YOU SEE MY VISION

[ningtual]

had a really long talk with a friend on the weekend abt having no sense of self and body dysmorphia and while on the one hand it felt good to talk abt it with someone who tries to understand, it was on the other hand also kinda sad how much we were relating to one another too

[sainthomura]

Me scrolling through 9/11 memes after being traumatized as a child by being forced to watch people jump from the burning buildings in elementary school (I’m not even American)

[ash-shark]

I want to belive that this Kabal is married with Stryker but we can't see them together because Stryker is dead and Kabal become a widow old man with two kid

(Don't ask me anything, i'm going insane)

[blatantescapism]

Ah yes, it’s that special day where once again I find myself wondering what the ever-living fuck Joe Finigan was thinking.

This is the story of how I utterly failed to have the appropriate emotional reaction to 9/11. Mind the trigger tags. I’d add more but I ran out. This story is insensitive by nature and I probably shouldn’t share it, but it’s also such a weird slice of American life that I kinda feel like I gotta.

So, context.

Columbine happened in 1999, when I was in 5th grade. Schools across the US started to be like, “hm, maybe it’s time to actually address this issue somehow.” Our elementary school brought in some random police officers to talk about it. Police who, if anything, had been trained in how to make kids more traumatized.

We didn’t have active shooter drills back then. They were just like, “Hey kids, I want you to imagine this fucked up scenario that I am vividly describing. What would you do if it happened to you? Do you have a Plan? Will you be able to stick to your Plan even while your classmates are screaming? You should think about it hard, in graphic detail, so that when the time comes you won’t hesitate to make Tough Choices. Breaking your leg because you jumped out a window is still better than being dead! Listen to this story of a girl who hid under a desk, but then the gunman found her and she couldn’t escape because there was no room to maneuver and so she was trapped and the gunman shot her while she bravely said her prayers, we have a weird creepy obsession with painting the victims as modern Christian martyrs and we totally invented the entire story but you won’t realize that for at least a decade. And remember: don’t run in a straight line, run in zigzags so that you’re harder to shoot.”

So yeah, that was 1999, we were 11 years old, and we took that shit very much to heart.

Two years later, it’s 2001. There have been 15 new US school shootings in that time. My sister and I are in middle school, it’s early in the school year but we’ve started to get into a normal rhythm,

Suddenly there is a totally unexpected blare on the intercom. It’s Principal Joe Finigan, he is about to make the most significant announcement of his career, and for some fucking reason he decides that THIS is the best thing to say:

“There has been a, uh, a terrible tragedy. Everyone should go home now. Uh, ask your parents what happened. As far as we know, we are not a target at this time.” Click.

We don’t have any other sources of information. The teachers aren’t telling us what’s going on, but some are crying.

Obviously there must have been a school shooting in town. But what the hell did he mean by “as far as we know, we are not a target at this time”? That makes it sound like the gunman is still at large. Is this a sniper situation? Is it even safe to walk home? Are we going to have to line up in the office and take turns using the school telephone to call our parents?

We cautiously head outside, and there’s a line of parents already out there waiting in their cars to pick their kids up. Oh shit, it must be bad. Was it the kindergarten? Or the Catholic prep school?

Our mom is upset. She says she doesn’t want to talk about it while driving. She’ll show us the news on the TV when we get home.

We get home and steel ourselves to face the news, fully expecting to see the names of close friends and neighbors listed among the dead.

So please imagine how appalled our dear mother is when we say, “Wait a minute- all this fuss is because some buildings are on fire in a completely different state?!”

“As far as we know, we are not a target at this time.”

Dear Joe Finigan. What the fuck made you say that. Please tell me, did you genuinely imagine terrorists being like

“At this time, our target is the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. But next, we shall target a mediocre school in a bland suburban town that nobody has ever heard of! Ohoho! Ah hah ha ha!”

Anyway, there’s something to be said about how after both events, the US response was, “You see, this is why we need more guns. We tooootally promise they’ll only be used to hurt Bad Guys! After all, we’re the Good Guys! USA! USA!”

[walterdecourceys]

i love working with this director so much. not because i love him necessarily but just because he's so ridiculously eccentric. and also he writes all the shows he directs himself and they're always such a wild fucking ride