#Personal Fitness Training Center in Ohio

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Norfolk Southern has agreed to a $600 million settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit related to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023.

The settlement still needs to be approved by a judge.

"If approved by the court, the agreement will resolve all class action claims within a 20-mile radius from the derailment and, for those residents who choose to participate, personal injury claims within a 10-mile radius from the derailment," Norfolk Southern said in a statement.

The spill forced hundreds of nearby residents out of their homes and sparked fears, as five tankers carried vinyl chloride, which posed serious health risks, burned, sending a massive plume of black smoke into the sky. Burning vinyl chloride can create dioxins, which are carcinogenic, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Two days after the crash, residents were evacuated over fears the tankers could explode. The evacuation order was lifted on Feb. 9, with the EPA saying the air had returned to normal levels.

Norfolk Southern outlined how the settlement will be split up: $104 million for community assistance, including $25 million for a regional safety center, $21 million for a park, $21 million in direct payments to residents and $9 million to first responders; $4.3 million to improve water infrastructure; $2 million for "community-directed projects"; and a $500,000 grant for economic development.

"The agreement is designed to provide finality and flexibility for settlement class members," the company wrote. "Individuals and businesses will be able to use compensation from the settlement in any manner they see fit to address potential adverse impacts from the derailment. This could include healthcare needs and medical monitoring, property restoration and diminution, and compensation for any net business loss."

No one was injured in the derailment itself, but residents of the area have complained about a variety of nagging health issues in the months after the crash.

Ashley McCollum, a resident of East Palestine who lived in a hotel for a year after the derailment and chemical leak, told ABC News earlier this year that her family has experienced issues including "rashing, numbness and tingling in your mouth, ear pain, blood in your ears, hair loss."

The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report from its ongoing investigation into the derailment two weeks after the crash, saying surveillance video showed "what appeared to be a wheel bearing in the final stage of overheat failure moments before the derailment." NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy called the derailment "100% preventable," and said it was "no accident."

The plaintiffs in the case released a joint statement saying the settlement "will provide substantial compensation to all affected residents, property owners, employees and businesses residing, owning or otherwise having a legal interest in property, working, owning or operating a business for damages resulting from the derailment and release of chemicals."

"We believe this is a fair, reasonable and adequate result for the community on a number of levels, not the least of which is the speed of the resolution, and the overall amount of the awards residents can expect, which will be significant for those most impacted by the derailment," said Seth A. Katz of Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine, M. Elizabeth Graham of Grant & Eisenhofer, Jayne Conroy of Simmons Hanly Conroy, and T. Michael Morgan of Morgan & Morgan.

[albumsofthemonth]

Concert Review - LAMP / Mitski in Cleveland, Ohio

I'm rarely one to shy away from a trip specifically for a concert. I have driven long distances both solo and with friends for shows states away, particularly for artists who tend to sell tickets at alarming rates - Mitski is no exception. I'm lucky enough to have seen her 3 other times, once in New York City with Lucy Dacus opening, and twice in Colorado: one with her opening for Death Cab for Cutie and the other with Michelle opening for her. I love her performances, I trust that her openers will be incredible, and above all else I have enjoyed seeing how her shows have grown, even since the major success of Be The Cowboy. As soon as I saw there would be a tour for her latest release, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, I knew I needed to grab a ticket. With how quickly these tickets sell, I knew I would have to opt for a different city. So voila - Cleveland, Ohio it is.

Despite the horror stories I've heard throughout my life about Cleveland, I found it to be a very pleasant (and eerily quiet) city. We stayed in a hotel downtown and spent free time roaming around Playhouse Square and taking an emotional journey through the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (a must-visit for music fans). The water was beautiful and the area was overall very walkable.

The show was at Jacob's Pavilion, a lovely amphitheater on the water with a picturesque view of the bridge and various downtown buildings. The weather was clear with a slight breeze. My only complaint about the venue? The seats were a little uncomfortable. Don't let that discourage you from attending shows here, the complaint could easily have been resolved by bringing in something to sit on, which is allowed. Our seats were in section 4, row J which meant we'd be further to the left side of the stage, near the edge of the seating. Despite this, the view was still pretty good and the sound was of decent quality.

The opener was Lamp, a Japanese indie band formed in 2000. Their smooth, danceable, melt-in-your-mouth, city pop-esque tunes fit perfectly as golden hour lighting engulfed the water scenery behind the stage. I watched cars pull up across the river to listen to the show in the comfort of their hatchbacks. Others walked into the grassy area and listened on picnic blankets. Lamp, playing with 7 members, featured solos from a wide array of instruments: flute, trumpet, bongos - the band received well-deserved stomps from the crowd, the rumble reverberating mixed with whoops and hollers.

The anticipation for Mitski grew so much that when stagehands turned the flood lights off after setting up, the crowd had mistaken the sudden darkness as Mitski's entrance. Hundreds of phones sat with thumbs ready to hit "record," but her pre-show music (which was the same song on repeat) continued. A curtain was lowered onto a small circular platform center-stage, and a warm light was illuminated onto it, causing its appearance to resemble a gentle fire. The music cut and the crowd yelled, stomping their feet even louder and cheering.

Mitski emerged with a full band and played for about 2 hours. She molded many of her well-known songs into new renditions, bending their genres into something entirely new. Instead of the usual train-like churning beat behind Happy, she added qualities akin to Send Me On My Way. Slide guitar was added to Fireworks, and the tempo was slowed to a saunter. Mitski seemed significantly more comfortable on stage; more relaxed and playful - sporting a roomy button down with slacks, she got laughs from the crowd as she mimicked a dog during I Bet On Losing Dogs. She even did a fitting single-person line dance to Lonesome Love - overall, this performance was a joy to watch.

The use of lighting was immaculate during this show as Mitski made the lights fulfill different roles - they projected her shadow onto the curtain and side of the stage, it grew and shrunk with the swells of each song. The lights were also her dance partner during an emotional rendition of Heaven. Delicate strings of what appeared to be mirror shards hung above Mitski's circular platform, reflecting a brilliant bright red lighting onto the tent above the crowd. Mitski truly made the stage her playground through the duration of the set and it made for an entirely new concert experience, wildly different from shows I've had the opportunity to see in the past. Her movement in all that she did on stage was completely intentional and well-rehearsed, which captured the attention of the viewer and added more detail and context to her already thought-provoking lyrics. A simple pose drove the crowd to stomp and cheer even when music wasn't playing. After an entertaining set the crowd demanded one more song, and the band reemerged to finish the night with Nobody and Washing Machine Heart.

[millaphleb]

Open Your Career: Top Phlebotomist School in Los Angeles Revealed!

Are you looking ⁣to unlock⁣ your career potential in the ‌medical field as a phlebotomist in Los ​Angeles? If so,​ you’ve come ​to the right place! Choosing the⁢ right phlebotomist school ⁣is ​crucial for your success in this rewarding profession. In this article, we will reveal the ​top phlebotomist schools‍ in ​Los Angeles to help you make an ‍informed decision that will set you on the path to a successful career.

### Why⁤ Choose a Phlebotomy ⁢Career in⁣ Los Angeles?

Los Angeles is a bustling ‌hub of medical facilities that offer a wide ‌range of⁢ opportunities for phlebotomists. As a​ phlebotomist in Los Angeles, ‍you ⁣can ⁣work in hospitals, clinics, blood donation centers, ​and other‍ healthcare settings. The demand ⁤for qualified phlebotomists in Los Angeles is high, making it an excellent career choice ⁣for those looking for job security and competitive pay.

### Top Phlebotomist Schools in Los Angeles

1. **American Red ⁤Cross** – Location: 11355⁤ Ohio Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90025 – Program: Phlebotomy Technician Training ‌ – ⁢Duration: 8 weeks ⁤ – Highlights: Hands-on training, flexible class schedules, and job placement assistance

2. **Los Angeles Vocational Institute** – Location: 3540 Wilshire Blvd #410, Los Angeles,​ CA‍ 90010 ‌ ‍ – Program: Phlebotomy Technician Training ⁢ – Duration: 6 weeks – Highlights: Small class sizes, personalized instruction, and externship opportunities

3. **ProMed ⁣Career Institute** ⁢- Location: 111 N Atlantic Blvd #112, Monterey Park, CA ⁤91754 – Program: Phlebotomy Technician Program ‍ – Duration: 4⁤ weeks – Highlights: Affordable tuition, experienced‍ instructors,⁢ and state-of-the-art facilities

### Benefits of Attending a Top Phlebotomist⁢ School in Los Angeles

– **Hands-on Training**: Top phlebotomist schools provide hands-on ⁣training that‌ simulates real-world⁤ clinical settings, giving you the practical skills you need to excel in your⁣ career. – **Job Placement Assistance**: Many phlebotomy programs offer job ​placement assistance to help you secure ‍employment after graduation,​ giving you⁤ a competitive edge in the job market. – **Networking Opportunities**: Attending a top phlebotomist school in Los Angeles will allow you to connect with industry professionals and build⁤ valuable relationships that can ⁣help advance your career. -‌ **Career Growth**:‍ Completing a ⁣phlebotomy program ‍at ⁤a reputable school will open doors to opportunities for career advancement and professional development.

### Practical Tips ⁢for⁣ Choosing the‌ Right Phlebotomist School

When selecting a phlebotomist school in Los Angeles, consider the following factors to ensure you make the best choice for your educational and career goals:

– **Accreditation**: Choose a school that‍ is accredited by ⁤a recognized accrediting⁣ body to ⁣ensure that your education meets industry standards. – **Curriculum**: ‌Look for a ⁣program that ⁣covers all essential phlebotomy⁢ skills ⁢and includes hands-on training to enhance your learning‌ experience. – **Cost**: Consider ⁤the total cost of the program, including tuition, fees, and materials, to ⁢determine if it ⁤fits within your budget. – **Location**: Choose a school that is​ conveniently located and‍ offers flexible class schedules to accommodate your needs.

### Conclusion

Choosing the right phlebotomist school is the⁣ first step towards a ​successful career in the medical field. By attending a top phlebotomist school in ⁣Los Angeles, you will ⁤receive the training and support you need to excel in this rewarding ⁣profession. With high demand ⁣for qualified phlebotomists in Los⁤ Angeles, now is the perfect time to unlock⁢ your career potential and pursue a⁣ fulfilling career as a phlebotomist.

So, what are you waiting⁤ for? Take the⁣ leap⁢ and enroll in one of the top phlebotomist schools in Los Angeles ‍today to start your journey towards⁣ a successful career in phlebotomy!

https://phlebotomycertificationcourse.net/open-your-career-top-phlebotomist-school-in-los-angeles-revealed/

[onyxhealthclub-blog]

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[wowbright]

Fic: Of Good Report

Klaine Advent 2020: zealous

Words: ~9000 words

Rating: Teen and Up

Summary: It shouldn't be that hard for Kurt to come out to his new companion. But for some reason, it is.

Apparently I never posted my final installment of the Mormon!Klaine universe for Klaine Advent 2020. This one fits in right after Indispensable.

My Mormon!Klaine Masterpost.

Notes: One of the things I was thinking about writing today involves characters in this vignette monstrosity. I went looking for it and realized I had never posted it. May or may not post a new vignette today—this should take a while for people to get through, and I have baking to catch up on. Heads up for institutional and internalized homophobia, but it’s all very polite :/ If you have any questions or typo corrections, feel free to use my ask box!

--------

Coming out on his mission was a never ending and sometimes exhausting process. In high school, Kurt had avoided it as much as possible—at first, because he didn't want to admit it to himself, and later because it felt too sacred. He didn't understand why God had made him the way he was, but he had received spiritual confirmation that it was not a mistake. God had a plan for him. And telling people who hadn't earned his trust would be like gabbing about Heavenly Mother or Kolob in front of non-members. It would be throwing pearls before swine.

So he told his dad and his bishop, and he’d stopped denying to anyone who assumed he was. Carole and Finn knew, of course. Mercedes? He wasn't sure.

Before Kurt left for his mission, his bishop had advised him to be up front with his missionary companions so that any misunderstandings could be avoided. “Your mission presidents will know, of course. It’s in your file—”

Of course it was.

“—so they can fully support you. But your companions should know, too.”

“But why? They can't date girls while they're on a mission, I can't date guys … ever. I won't do anything inappropriate.”

“I know, Kurt. I’m confident in you. Your faith is so strong, and I have no reason to think you would stray from it on your mission. But you'll be living in close quarters with other guys. Missionaries can be a huggy bunch, and you’re encouraged to remind your companions often of your love for them. Personally, I think that will be good for you, learning to build loving, brotherly relationships with other priesthood holders. But there will be times you need to set boundaries. For example, I can't imagine it would be comfortable for you to have one of your roommates hanging around the apartment all the time in nothing but his garments.”

The words alone sent Kurt into the low-level dread he experienced every time he walked into a locker room. The feeling must have leaked onto his face, because the bishop merely nodded and continued without waiting for an answer. “So it's important for logistical reasons. And it's also important for your relationship with your companion. Your companion is the person you will be leaning on most for spiritual support and accountability. So they need to know who you are.”

Kurt didn’t like anyone knowing who he was. Not inside and out. Even his dad, who he would trust with his soul—there were things he didn’t share with him. That’s what God was for.

“You don't have to go into details, Kurt. You don't have to say more than you're comfortable with. You don't even have to follow my advice. But promise me you'll pray about it? The Holy Ghost will guide you in the right direction.”

*

“You've probably heard of me before,” was the first complete sentence spoken to Kurt by his very first companion. They were sitting across each other at the cafeteria table at the Missionary Training Center—everyone called it the MTC—and their assignment was to learn three things about each other to share with the group after lunch.

“Um …” Kurt peered at the boy’s name tag. Elder Saint James. It didn't ring a bell. Maybe he was a minor Utah celebrity? “No. I don’t think so. I’m from Ohio.”

“Ohio. That's somewhere out east, right? I think maybe I've flown over it before. I'm from California. LA. Near Hollywood. I know I'm not supposed to mention my first name, but maybe the last name rings a bell?”

“Not really. It's a pretty unique last name. I think I would remember it.”

“Maybe you never look at the credits. I'm sure you've seen my face before, though. I was in Thor, you know.”

“I … you were?” Kurt hadn’t seen the movie, but he’d seen plenty of posters and memes. He peered at Elder Saint James, trying to match anything in his memory with his new companion’s face. But it wasn’t very distinctive. He was white with mousy brown hair and light brown eyes, with a wide forehead and square jaw that would have made him look older than his nineteen years, if it hadn't been for round cheeks that kept him baby-faced. Something about him reminded Kurt of the kids who ate paste in nursery school. But maybe that was just the large servings of applesauce and tapioca pudding on his tray.

“Yes. In the Asgardian crowd outside the castle when Loki …”

From the detailed description that ensued, it became apparent that Elder Saint James had been an extra. “That’s cool,” Kurt said, then immediately regretted it when his new companion launched into a ten-minute resume that included several church-produced shorts and ended with “The week before I came out here, J.J. Abrams’ people called my people about me auditioning for a part in the next Star Trek movie. Between that and all the marriage proposals I was getting from my female fans, it was tempting to stay. But ultimately, the Lord's work is more important. Hollywood can’t beat heaven, am I right?” Elder Saint James stabbed his pizza with a fork. “What about you, Elder Hummel? You break any girls’ hearts by heading out on your mission?”

“No. I haven't dated many girls.” Now was the time to take his bishop’s advice, Kurt supposed. He glanced at the pairs of missionaries sitting on either side of them to see if they might be paying attention. They were happily absorbed in their own conversations, one about basketball and another about Boy Scout badges. But if they did overhear … well, it would be good practice for the rest of Kurt’s mission. He took a deep breath and straightened his spine, enunciating clearly like he was reading lines for an audition. “I have same-gender attraction.”

“Oh. What’s that? Some sort of medical condition?” The interest on Elder Saint James’s face was pronounced, but Kurt couldn’t tell if it was genuine or the feigned interest in others cultivated by perennially networking shmoozers.

Also, what was there not to understand about ‘same-gender attraction’? “You know what gender is, don’t you?”

“I know German grammar has three of them. So it’s something to do with parts of speech.”

He wasn't wrong. “It’s also called same-sex attraction. It means someone’s attracted to the same sex.”

Elder Saint James continued to look confused.

“To people of the same sex.”

No dice.

“Like … gay.”

Elder Saint James’s face lit up as if an actual light bulb head had flashed on above his head. “Oh, fascinating. I didn't know gay guys could go on a mission. Good for you.” He seemed sincere.

“We just have to follow the same rules as every other missionary. Keep the law of chastity, no flirting, no dating.”

“But what about ... attraction, as you called it? If you feel attraction, will you have to leave?”

“Feelings aren’t a sin. Just dwelling on them.”

“Oh, good. Otherwise, the next week will be a nightmare for you.” Elder Saint James shook his head slowly in what looked like it was meant to be a hair toss, but his hair was too short to move much. “I'm irresistible to women, so I assume it would be the same for anyone attracted to men. I'll do my best to tone down my magnetism, though it is a natural gift, so … I completely understand if you fall for me.”

Kurt was definitely not going to fall for this guy. But he tried not to bristle too much at Elder Saint James’s vanity. At least he wasn't repulsed by Kurt. That was a good sign. “You’ll be okay. I'm not attracted to you.”

Elder Saint James frowned. The news was clearly a blow to his ego. “Well, I wouldn’t be offended if you were attracted to me. I’ve been around it before.”

“Oh?” Kurt said. But it made sense—Hollywood and all.

“Did you do the church’s 12-step sex addiction program?”

Weird turn. But maybe not. Mormons weren’t the most astute people when it came to understanding what it meant to be gay. And this guy seemed as dumb as a bag of bricks. “No. I’ve never had sex. I follow the church’s teachings.”

“You can be a virgin and still think you’re a sex addict. At least, that’s what they said in the sex addiction group. We had lots of gay virgins there. And I’m a virgin too, of course, but I was sent there.”

Kurt felt his head spinning. He wasn’t squeamish about virginity. That was something to be proud of. It was just that his brain was about to explode, trying to hold the concept of someone being a virgin and a sex addict at the same time. “I’m sorry. I’m not following. How can you be addicted to sex when you don’t have it?”

“My bishop sent me there for porn addiction.”

Oh. Kurt swallowed uncomfortably. Porn was something he’d heard plenty of warnings about in elder’s quorum, but it always seemed like a vague, distant threat to him, something committed by the desperate and depraved, not by everyday people. He'd never looked at porn, never had an interest in doing so. Sure, he’d snuck guilty peaks at men’s bodies in art history books, but actual porn? Just hearing the word made him feel dirty. Lust was a sin next to murder.

It didn't compute. If Elder Saint James had strayed that far from the gospel, how could the church possibly put him forward to represent it now? That kind of sin took years to fully repent of, didn’t it? He couldn’t possibly be worthy to serve a mission. “I … um. No judgment here, but how do you end up on a mission if you look at porn?”

“Well, it turns out that it was a bit of a misunderstanding. It wasn’t technically porn I was looking at.”

A knot formed in Kurt’s gut. Please don’t say you looked at art books.

“You look confused. Let me step back. I went to my bishop because I felt guilty about looking at show choir costume catalogs—did I mention my team won the California show choir championship every year I was in high school?”

Kurt shook his head. This kid and his resume. He was like an airheaded, deeply perverted version of Rachel Berry.

“Anyway, I told him how I kept looking at the show choir catalogs, you know, because of all the sleeveless dresses that the girls wear—and he asked if I, you know, touched myself—” Elder Saint James mouthed the last two words rather than speak them “—and, well, I had to tell the truth. So he sent me to this sex addiction group. Only,” Elder Saint James leaned across the table, dropping his voice to a whisper, “talking about nothing but porn for an hour every week, and then going through the exercises in the workbook and thinking about porn the rest of the week … It got worse. So I went back to my bishop. By then, the bishop was a new guy, and younger, and when I confessed to him about my addiction and how it was getting worse, and he asked me how many times I've … you know … to the show choir catalogs, and I told him. And he said I was not a sex addict. I was just a teenager who needed to learn self-discipline. Which … not easy at first, but every time I’m tempted I just take all that energy and redirect it into acting exercises. No Twelve Steps needed.”

It was a lot to take in. Kurt had never gotten used to people talking about these things, despite all the raunchy chitchat he’d sat through in glee club and locker rooms throughout high school. “I assume your aborted membership in a Twelve Step sex addiction group is not one of the three things I should be sharing about you.”

Elder Saint James waved a piece of pizza on the end of his fork. “I try to be an open book, because then the paparazzi can’t get anything on you later, but … It’s probably not the right message for this stage. And what about your condition? Is that just between companions?”

Kurt’s stomach flip-flopped. “No. I mean, I don’t think it’s necessary to announce it to everyone, but it’s not a secret. The mission president knows. And it's not a condition, either. It's just part of who I am. Like having blue eyes.”

Elder Saint James peered at him. “I don't know. Your eyes are more blue-green. Aquamarine, maybe?”

Kurt flushed. He really wasn’t attracted to Elder Saint James, but he also wasn't used to having his eye color scrutinized by other young men. “Bluish eyes, then. I was born with bluish eyes. There are bad things and good things about it. People with blue eyes are more sensitive to light and, when I get older, I’ll have a higher risk for macular degeneration. But blue eyes aren’t a disease or something that needs to be changed. They just are. And same-sex attraction is the same. It has drawbacks. But it’s also brought me closer to God. It makes me rely on the Holy Ghost more, because I can’t just follow the map laid out in the plan of salvation. Not all of it, anyway.”

Elder Saint James chewed thoughtfully on a bite of pizza. “Can I ask you a question?”

In Kurt's experience, people only said that when they were about to ask something they shouldn’t. But he couldn't exactly say no. That was the whole point of their lunch, to ask each other questions. “Shoot.”

“If it's not a condition, if having same-sex attraction isn’t something you’re trying to fix, then why use that term at all? Why don't you just call yourself gay?”

Kurt was thrown for a loop. He had expected a much dumber question, or possibly something offensive. This was the opposite. “I do, sometimes. It’s just … same-sex attraction sounds more appropriate in a church context, don’t you think?”

Elder Saint James shook his head. “Nah, it sounds like an illness. I wouldn't say I have opposite-sex attraction in a church context or out of it. It sounds so … clinical. Like I need to go to the dentist or a twelve-step group to have it fixed. I’d just call myself straight if I had to call myself anything.”

It was, perhaps, the most erudite thing Elder Saint James said during their companionship. Maybe that's why Kurt thought about it so often. At night when the snores of the missionaries in the neighboring bunks kept him awake, Elder Saint James’s words would worm through his brain: “Why don’t you just call yourself gay?”

Kurt could probably count on his hand the number of times he had said that word out loud to describe himself. He'd mouthed it in the mirror a few times, trying it on like a new shirt. He'd used it with his dad when he'd come out, and he'd used it with his bishop. But all the church literature used same-gender attraction or same-sex attraction. And the apostles warned against making your sexuality the center of your identity. Kurt had worried that using the term gay would wash out the more important parts of who he was: son, brother, creator, friend, child of God.

But Elder Saint James was right. It sounded like something that would diminish through time or through treatment, like a twisted ankle or grief. It led to embarrassing prayers in elders’ quorum for those who “suffer same-sex attraction” the same way they would pray for those “suffering sickness”—even though it wasn’t the attraction that caused the suffering, but was fighting against it. (Kurt suffered less than he used to because he had learned not to fight it. If his heart skipped a beat at a boy’s sympathetic smile, he let himself feel it. He just didn’t dwell on it. He let the feeling go. Because that was the other thing that caused suffering—wanting things he couldn’t have.)

*

Kurt requested a meeting with the MTC president.

“Are you doing all right, Elder Hummel? None of the other missionaries are giving you trouble, are they?”

“No, President Kimball.” That wasn't exactly true. There was that boy from rural Idaho who'd made fun of his voice and asked him if he was a queer, but Kurt had dressed him down so severely with a pastiche of conference talk quotes and his own biting sarcasm that he didn't think that particular kid would be a problem again. “I just want to talk to you about something that's in my file. About …” Ugh. It was so embarrassing to cough this phrase up to a man who was older than disco. “Same-sex attraction.”

“Oh.” President Kimball looked worried. “Are you having temptations?”

“No. Not at all.” Not even remotely, Kurt realized when he stopped to think about it. He was so busy with classes and study and scheduled recreation and exactly eight hours for sleep every night that he didn't have time to think about boys, even as he was surrounded by them.  “I just … my bishop, before I came here, he said I should inform my companions. To avoid misunderstandings, you know? And so they can offer support.”

“I think that's wise, when done at the appropriate moment. It's good to share your struggles.”

“Well, I was just wondering … I mentioned it to my companion because he was asking about girlfriends—”

“I hope he doesn’t have any.”

“Past girlfriends, I mean. So I told him. But he didn't understand what same-gender attraction was. Or same-sex attraction. So I finally just explained it was like being gay. But … is that okay? To use the word ‘gay’ on my mission?”

President Kimball leaned back in his chair. “I haven't always been comfortable with that word. It denotes a certain … pride, I suppose, and we all know pride’s a sin. And I think for some people, it can become an identity. It defines who they are. And that’s not good, either. But I suppose that just because some people misuse it doesn't mean it's off limits. I noticed recently the church is even using it in some places on its website. And I suppose that’s because, in the church, we strive to use language that people understand, no matter what walk of life they’re from. That's part of why you're here at the MTC: to learn how to speak to investigators in a way they can understand, so they become open to the message of the gospel. So if using a specific term helps people understand what you’re trying to tell them, then it's fine. As long as you understand that it’s not your identity. It’s just one of the many challenges facing you on your mortal probation. Your true identity is as a child of Heavenly Father.”

*

By the time Kurt arrived in Germany, he had memorized a new approach: “I'm Elder Hummel, I'm from Ohio, I come from pioneer stock on my mom's side and my dad was a convert. I was born in the covenant, my favorite ice cream flavor is Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk, and my favorite high school extracurricular was glee club. And if you think that sounds gay, you'd be right. I am. Will that be a problem?” Kurt glared sternly at Elder Weston, his new senior companion, a broad-shouldered, chisel-faced New Yorker who was twenty-one but looked closer to thirty.

“Wow, kid. You’ve really got to learn to chill out.” Elder Weston laughed and patted Kurt heartily on the back like he was a golden retriever who’d just done a cute trick. “For starters, you don’t need to include your name in your introduction because I already know. It was in the notice and I can read your nametag. But let’s see … You already know I’m Elder Weston, I’m from New York, I have pioneer ancestors but I was not born in the covenant—long story, a little scandalous, mostly boring, let’s just say my dad was all set to go on his mission and had to get married instead, and I’m here to make it all up to the grandparents—and I’m not really into ice cream because of those freezer headaches. But the missionaries who like it rave about the gelateria on Theresienstraße, so we’ll hit it on P-day if we don’t make it before. I wasn’t in glee club but I was in musical theater, so close enough, and I’m not gay, but if you are? Good. You do you. And if any of the missionaries give you crap about it, tell me. My brother back home is gay, and I raised the money for my mission by being a fitness and underwear model, so with all that and show choir—I assume that’s why the mission president put us together.”

“Oh,” was all that Kurt could think to say. The wind had been completely blown out of his sails. Except— “Underwear model? Isn’t that … Your bishop was okay with that?”

Elder Weston shrugged. “It was before I went to the temple. And I wasn’t modeling butt-floss. Just regular old underwear, the occasional ugly jock strap. Which, frankly, is the world’s loss.”

Just because Elder Weston was fine with the gay thing did not mean their companionship was easy. They were both opinionated, but usually on the opposite end of any spectrum. Elder Weston met the minimum requirements of the missionary routine, but he was nearing the end of his two years and Kurt could tell he already had one foot out the door. The only things you were supposed to read on your mission were the Scriptures and relevant readings from the Gospel Library, but Elder Weston had picked up a little blue paperback of short stories by some guy named Thomas Mann and was burying his nose in it every night before bed. He was blasé about the schedule, sometimes sleeping in as late as 7:15 instead of getting up by 6:30 like they were supposed to. He spent half of companionship scripture study talking about his life as a model and show choir star. (He reminded Kurt a bit of Elder Saint James.) He left his dirty dishes to soak in a tub on the kitchen counter until the next meal. He didn’t rinse all his hair out of the sink when he shaved.

And Kurt had no way of getting away from this guy. The mission rules stated that you could never leave your companion alone. You needed to be with them 24-7. Kurt had heard horror stories of some senior companions who took the rule so literally they made you leave the door open when you used the bathroom so they could make sure you weren’t up to any mischief in there. Elder Weston didn’t do that—his only redeeming quality, in Kurt’s mind—and maybe he wouldn’t have cared if Kurt had wandered off on his own. But a rule was a rule, and Kurt felt compelled to stick with it. He had to buckle up and accept it all because he was a greenie and Elder Weston was his senior companion.

At least they didn't live alone. They shared their apartment with another companionship, Elder Sterling and Elder Duval, who served as a buffer. They were both closer to the midpoint of their missions—Elder Sterling had been out for eight months, and Elder Duval for fourteen—and while they had no control over Elder Weston’s training style, Elder Duval had no compunction about chewing Elder Weston out for dirty dishes and disgusting sinks. Or at least, that's what it sounded like he was doing. Kurt's German wasn't very good yet, and trying to understand the language through Elder Duval's French accent was enough to make his head ache.

Kurt didn’t think he could have a senior companion less invested in his mission than Elder Weston. And then The Thing happened.

It came two weeks into their companionship and three weeks before Elder Weston was scheduled to return home. Munich’s supposedly mild late summer took a turn for the scorching. The apartment was even hotter than outside, thanks to their top floor location, no air-conditioning, no electric fans, and windows that only opened halfway. At night as he tried to sleep, Kurt’s supposedly wicking nylon garments stuck unpleasantly to his thighs and crotch, and when he switched to the cotton ones, they became heavy from sweat. It didn’t help at all that Kurt couldn’t fall asleep without the reassuring weight of a blanket over his legs.

“Screw this,” Elder Weston murmured sometime in the middle of the second night, waking Kurt and everyone else out of their miserably light slumber. Kurt heard bare feet slap the floor, then impatient fumbling.

“Elder Weston, you can’t do that!” shouted Elder Duval in German.

Kurt leaned over to see what was happening. Elder Duval had jumped out of his bottom bunk and was grabbing at something on the floor. Elder Weston was … buck naked.

There wasn’t that much light in the room, but Kurt could clearly make out his bare butt in the dark. Fortunately, Kurt was not new to bare butts—he’d had to ignore them in locker rooms for years and the MTC shower room for eight weeks. Elder Weston’s butt was okay, but surprisingly unappealing given he’d been an underwear model.

Elder Duval thrust something—no, things, two pieces of bunched up fabric—into Elder Weston’s hands. “You can’t throw your garments on the floor.”

“I just did,” Elder Weston said.

“Put them back on. Remember your covenants.”

“‘Members who have made covenants in the temple should be guided by the Holy Spirit to answer for themselves personal questions about wearing the garment.’” At least, that’s what Kurt thought Elder Weston said. He didn’t understand all the German words, but he’d read similar phrases in English often enough to fill in the blanks. “And the Holy Spirit tells me I need to be able to sleep.”

“Then pray for sleep. I was asleep in my garments before you woke me up. You can sleep in your garments, too.”

Elder Weston responded with something Kurt didn’t understand, but it sounded defiant. Elder Duval said something else Kurt didn’t understand. It sounded angrily resigned.

The battle continued the next morning, when Elder Weston showed up to breakfast the same way he’d spent the night—naked as the day he was born. This was so outside of Kurt’s realm of the possible that it took him several seconds to realize what he was seeing. At first, it was just a pale canvas with a … thing … bouncing around under a dark stripe of hair, like Snuffleupagus’s trunk swinging under heavy eyebrows. And then—

Oh. The realization hit him. Kurt adjusted the cereal box to block his view, but the image of Snuffleupagus—the actual Snuffleupagus, not Elder Weston’s penis—remained. Why had Kurt ever, in his most heated and embarrassing dreams, ever thought he might enjoy one of those in his mouth?

“I’ve had enough of stupid mission rules and I’m not ashamed of the body God gave me and it’s so hot in here I would take my skin off too if I could,” Elder Weston announced as he grabbed the cornflakes from in front of Kurt’s face and sat his bare butt down in one of the plastic kitchen chairs. He repeated himself in English for Kurt’s sake.

“I know what you said.” Well, everything except the part about taking off his own skin, which Kurt would have preferred not to be explained. It was even grosser than the idea of Snuffleupagus in his mouth.

“Good,” Elder Weston said proudly, as if it were just a normal day of training and not one that began with a naked missionary at breakfast.

“It can’t be comfortable to sit your naked butt on plastic,” Kurt said in English. Elder Sterling whispered a translation to Elder Duval.

“You’d be surprised.”

Kurt ate his breakfast in silence while Elder Duval and Elder Sterling teamed up to lecture Elder Weston. For Kurt’s part, it was too hot to fight and, anyway, he didn’t have the authority to argue with his superiors. Such things might not stop Kurt outside of the church, but within the church, obedience was an opportunity for growth. Besides, Kurt was rather enjoying the fact that he was sitting at breakfast with a naked young man and nothing, nothing at all, was stirring downstairs. Kurt’s patriarchal blessing had promised gifts and miracles on his mission, and in the North Star chat groups he’d read stories of gay missionaries who had their attractions lifted for the length of their mission, removed through the blessing of the Holy Ghost so they could focus on the work. Kurt didn’t feel not gay, but he certainly felt not interested in Elder Weston’s naked body. It was heavenly.

If only Elder Weston had stopped there. But no. It became a routine. Every morning it was the same: Kurt moving the cereal box so he didn’t have to see Snuffleupagus at breakfast.  And Kurt tired of it. He was sick of Elder Weston’s junk on the furniture. He was sick of Elder Duval constantly reminding Elder Weston of his covenants to no avail. He was sick of living with someone who flouted his covenants. He was sick of having to remember which kitchen chair was the naked-butt chair. And he was sick of having a senior companion who didn’t care.

This was Kurt’s mission, for goodness sake. He’d waited and worked for it his whole life. These two years were supposed to give him the discipline he needed to thrive in the church, the spiritual nourishment to sustain him as he endured to the end. And Elder Weston didn’t care. He was wasting the precious days of Kurt’s mission on his own selfishness.

“You do realize I’m gay, don’t you?” Kurt finally spat out in frustration on the fifth consecutive morning of Weston nudity.

“Yeah. So what?” Elder Weston said, reaching for the cornflakes.

“So, aren’t you worried I’ll check out your junk?”

Elder Sterling did a spit-take, his orange juice flying backward from his mouth into his glass. Upon recovering, he politely translated for Elder Duval, whose eyes went wide.

“No,” Elder Weston answered confidently. “You’re not attracted to me.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yeah, I do. I’ve spent a lot of time in gyms and musical theater. I’ve been checked out by guys before. And you … For some reason, you’re not interested in this pillar of perfection.” Elder Weston flexed his pecs.

Kurt balked. “Stop that. You’re grossing me out.”

“Me, too,” Elder Sterling chimed in.

“See? No harm, no foul.”

“Auf Deutsch, bitte,” said Elder Duval.

Elder Weston reluctantly repeated himself for Elder Duval’s benefit.

“There is harm,” said Elder Duval in German. “To you. It’s sexual impropriety. You’re disrespecting your body and you’re disrespecting us. Waving your snake in our faces when we've all told you we don’t want to see it. Waving your snake in our faces at all.”

“Echt,” agreed Kurt. The gears in his head began to turn. He peered at Elder Weston. “Wenn ich den Missiondpräsident anruf, und ihn sage, dass du  …” Wait. Was it sage or säge? Should he have held the verb until after the dass clause? Should he have said ruf an? Ugh. He couldn’t do this in German. Elder Duval could forgive him later. “Elder Weston, if I went to the mission president with a sob story about my companion trying to test me—a poor, weak homosexual who only ever tried to do the right thing—he’s going to come down on my side.” Kurt wasn’t sure about this, but he delivered it with enough conviction that he persuaded even himself it was probably true. “Sexual impropriety could get you sent home early from your mission. What would the folks back home think of that?” Kurt remembered what Elder Weston had said on the first day about being born outside the covenant and went for the jugular. It would be messy, but it would be the fastest way to end things. “The boy born out of the covenant getting sent home early when he was so close to making it to the end? The fruit born of his parents’ inability to keep it in their pants? You, a failed missionary, just like your father?” Wow, it felt good to say those things after almost three weeks of pointless obedience. Adrenaline spilled through Kurt’s veins.

Elder Weston’s face turned purple. “You’re an asshole, Elder Hummel. A self-righteous prig who doesn’t have any idea what he’s talking about. You’d think someone gay would be less judgmental.”

Kurt shrugged, aiming for casual and failing because every muscle in his limbs shook from righteous anger. “I’m not judging. Just pointing out that other people do.”

Elder Weston stomped off into the bedroom and slammed the door.

“You went too far, Elder Hummel,” Elder Sterling said. “You’re going to have to apologize.”

Once he’d had it translated to him, Elder Duval agreed.

*

A violent thunderstorm tore through Munich later that morning, breaking the heat wave. They stayed home because of that, and then because Elder Weston was too angry to look at Kurt, and then because Elder Weston just didn’t feel like going.

Elders Sterling and Duval told them if they didn’t hold an impromptu companionship inventory, they would put them both on permanent toilet-cleaning duty.

So now they were sitting across from each other in the kitchen, Elder Weston’s butt planted in his naked parts chair. Only this time, he had clothes on.

Elder Weston launched things off with a scowl. “You shouldn't use your sexuality as a weapon.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Kurt. He didn’t want to hear any of it. Elder Weston was the one in the wrong here.

“Threatening to call up the mission president and complain that I need to be sent home because I’m trying to tempt you. When we both know I’m not interested and neither are you.”

Oh. That. “I could say the same thing about you. Using sexuality as a weapon.”

“No, you couldn’t.”

“Right. Of course. Repeatedly strutting naked around the apartment when all your roommates beg you not to isn’t a misuse of your sexuality.”

“First, please don’t use sarcasm in companionship inventory. It’s not conducive to the Spirit. Second: no. The bare body isn't inherently sexual. It's just a biological fact.”

Who was Elder Naked to tell Kurt how to talk? Kurt wasn’t the one breaking his covenants. “I'm pretty sure For the Strength of Youth and every living and dead apostle would differ with you on that. If the bare body isn't inherently sexual, then why do girls have to cover their shoulders at church dances? Modesty and virtue are core principles of the gospel.”

“Also? That self-righteous tone has got to go, Elder Hummel. I mean, I get where it comes from. I’m sure it’s come in handy through the years of having to defend your right to exist in a church that pretends you don’t. But I’m not going to attack you for who you are.”

“The church doesn’t pretend—” No, Kurt couldn’t really support that argument. He switched tacks. “Don’t bring the church into this.”

“I kind of have to, Elder Hummel. That’s why we’re fighting.”

“We’re fighting because nobody but you wants your naked butt on our kitchen chairs.”

Elder Weston sighed. “We’re fighting because you guys are freaked out about howI live my temple covenants. And because you’ve all heard the modesty talks so many times you can’t think like rational human beings. Like, if I can take off my garments to go swimming or take a shower, then why can’t I take them off when it’s boiling hot outside? God just wants me to sweat in them until I get jock itch?”

Kurt wrinkled his nose.

“What if that’s all just cultural? What if that doesn’t have anything to do with God? I mean, how do you know if the cart is leading the horse or the other way around, Elder Hummel? Do we cover certain parts of our bodies because they’re sexual, or do sexualize certain parts of our bodies because we cover them?”

Kurt took a deep breath. “Elder Weston, it’s clear you are mentally checked out of this mission, possibly this church. I’m sorry about that, but it’s not my fault, and it’s not fair for you to take that out on me or the other guys.”

“Maybe not. I just—I’ve spent the last two years telling everyone I meet that I have the truth and if they just listen to me, they can have it, too. And I had my doubts all along, but I just kept stuffing them down because my family expects this of me. And I kept turning to the scriptures hoping to find answers, but they make it worse. The Book of Abraham says black skin is a curse. The Book of Mormon is full of people murdering each other, and not just the bad guys—Nephi’s supposed to be a hero, but he chops off Laban’s head while he’s passed out drunk just to get his hands on some gold plates that he loses as soon as he gets to the Americas. And the church—it takes this beautiful world that God created and makes it corrupt by labeling every natural thing as sinful. I can’t be naked, you can’t fall in love, none of us can read great literature or go to the opera in the country where Richard Wagner was born.”

Wait. Was Elder Weston implying that the possibility of Kurt falling in love with another man was beautiful? Natural? How could that be? His being gay was natural—the Holy Ghost had confirmed it to him—but falling in love? That hadn’t been Kurt’s experience, the one time he’d thought he was in love. It was painful and uncomfortable and awkward. What did this crotchety straight guy see that Kurt didn’t?

So Kurt skipped that part and focused on the last thing Elder Weston had said. “We can read great books. Now just isn’t the time. In a few weeks, you can read as much great German literature as you want.”

Elder Weston nodded. “Maybe.” He paused. “Can I give you some advice, Elder Hummel?”

“Isn't that your job as a trainer?”  

“Wow. You really don’t know how to stop being sarcastic, do you?”  Elder Weston took off the watch he wore on his left wrist. It was a classic-looking number with a cream face, gold frame, and gold hands. “My grandad gave this to me before I went on my mission. He wore it on his mission. He said he'd been holding onto it for years, but I'd been too young to have it. You know why? Not because it's worth money. It’s really not. But because it’s a wind-up watch. It doesn’t have a battery. You have to wind it every day so it can keep time. Winding it tightens a spring inside, and over the day the spring relaxes, and it transfers all that energy from being wound up really tight to the rest of the gears. So you need to make sure to wind it up or there won’t be enough energy. But if you’re too gung-ho about it, you know what happens?”

Kurt felt like he should know. It was mechanical, like the older cars he’d worked on in his dad’s tire shop. Also, hadn't he gotten an A in physics? But he drew a blank. “No, I don't know.” They were among Kurt's least favorite words to say.

“If you wind a spring too tight, it pops. The metal is under too much stress and somewhere along the coil, it literally breaks. And it can’t be fixed. The spring is useless. It won’t work anymore. That’s what’ll happen if I wind this too tight. And that’s what I’m worried is going to happen to you if you keep going the way you’re going, Elder.”

“And how is it that I’m going?”

Elder Weston let out a huff of frustration. “Look. It's obvious you like the rules. They give you structure. They give you comfort. But not everything is written in a rulebook. And sometimes the rules … you grow up thinking that they cover all the bases, but they don't. There are a lot of gray areas, Elder Hummel. That's why we have free agency. So use yours. And let other people do the same. It's like with the plan of Salvation. God listened to Jesus’ plan where everyone would think on their own, and he listened to Satan’s plan, where everyone would follow the rules without thinking. God chose Jesus’s plan, even though it meant that we all would be able to make mistakes, and some of us would stray away from him. Heavenly Father decided we could all go off and do our own things, whether he liked it or not. I think we need to emulate that in our own lives with other people, you know? First, because it's the right thing to do, and second, because you will literally go crazy if you get enraged every time someone breaks a rule, or something you think is a rule.”

“I don’t get enraged.” Not every time. Maybe with Elder Weston, because he was in Kurt’s face and under his feet 24-7, and the accumulation of grievances was relentless. But not with people he could take a break from. With them it was more … simmering anger.

“You have a long two years ahead of you if you don't learn how to give leeway to other people, Elder Hummel. You're going to have a lot of missionary companions, and you probably won't like most of them. At least not at first. And maybe … maybe that’s the lesson I’ve been trying to give you as your senior companion. I admit, a lot of it’s been self-centered, but you coming in that first day with your pioneer heritage and born in the covenant stuff, and angry about being gay—”

“I'm not angry about being gay.”

“You literally glared at me and asked if I had a problem with it. If you're not angry about being gay, you're angry about what people think about you, or what you think they're going to think. And what's the difference in the end? You don’t come across as happy in the skin God gave you, in any case.”

It felt like some kind of rhetorical trick. Of course those things were different. One type of anger was futile, and the other was righteous. “It takes a Mormon to think every kind of anger is unjustified.”

Elder Weston huffed. “That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m saying it’s not helping you. And fine, I didn’t deal with it in the best way.  But as obnoxious as I am, I really want what’s best for you. I’m just at a loss as to how to make that happen.”

Kurt had some ideas in that realm, and Elder Weston actually listened.  He stopped walking around the apartment naked, for one thing. And he acknowledged he wasn’t the ideal senior companion for Kurt. So they developed a schedule where Kurt paired up with Elder Duval every other day for proselytizing. Between Elder Weston’s laissez-faire attitude and Elder Duval’s zealous one, Kurt began to find a niche of his own.

*

By the time he took Elder Flanagan on, Kurt had developed a straightforward approach to coming out. He avoided being defensive or brash. He wanted to deliver this truth with the same matter-of-factness he might discuss the color of the sky.  With Elder Flanagan, it was an hour or two into their companionship. They were walking past the Gymnasium on the way to an appointment, and the students were on morning break, milling about the schoolyard and getting into snowball fights, while a group of older girls—17, maybe 18—tracked down the sidewalk toward the nearby bakery.

Kurt was regaling Elder Flanagan with minutiae about the bus schedule and city landmarks and the characteristics of the investigators they were about to meet, when Elder Flanagan’s eyes became glued to the legs of a skinny red-haired girl in knee-high boots, red stockings, and a black mini-skirt that was so short, Kurt could barely see it peeking out beneath her faux-fur trimmed winter coat.

“Eyes on God, Elder Flanagan.”

Elder Flanagan didn’t respond. He just kept following that pair of legs down the sidewalk.

“Elder Flanagan.” Kurt cleared his throat dramatically.

“What? Oh, yes. God.” Elder Flanagan reluctantly pulled his eyes away from the girl’s legs as she disappeared around the corner. “But Elder, you did see her legs, didn’t you?”

“Yes. She must be cold with only stockings between her and the elements.”

“That's not what I meant.”

“I know. But I guess the mission president didn’t tell you. I'm not interested in girls the way you are. I'm gay. And I don't check out guys on my mission because I respect my covenants. So you can respect yours, too.”

“You’re gay?” was Elder Flanagan’s response.

“Yes.” Kurt resisted the urge to ask if Elder Flanagan had any concerns, because it implied that he should have concerns. But Kurt wanted to throw him some kind of bone. A gay companion could be a lot to take in. “I’m not attracted to missionaries, though.”

“Really? I can’t imagine how you do that. Girls—I’m attracted to, like, every single one of them.”

“I guess we all deal with different temptations. But once you’re immersed in the work, it should be easier. You start seeing people more through the Lord’s eyes than your own.”

“I hope so. I mean, a pretty face is still a pretty face—”

“It wasn’t a face you were looking at earlier, Elder Flanagan.”

Elder Flanagan burst out laughing. He clapped Kurt on the back. “I won’t get anything by you, will I, Elder Hummel?”

Kurt shook his head. “No. Not much, anyway.”

“Well, you’ll have to give me some tips. I love looking at girls, but it’s a bit much sometimes. You can only have one wife in this lifetime, so what’s the point of being distracted by them all?”

Kurt smiled. “You remind me of my brother.”

“He’s girl-crazy, too?”

“He was,” Kurt swallowed heavily. “He died.” Why had he brought Finn up? The sweet memories turned sour every time Kurt had to repeat those two words.

“I’m sorry.”

“He's in a better place now.” Talking about Finn was potentially as much of an emotional landmine as talking about being gay. Kurt dealt with it the same way. By being direct, a little closed off, and not thinking about it too much.

“Yes, of course.” Elder Flanagan looked down at the snowy sidewalk. “Anyway, thank you for telling me. On both accounts. I'm sure it's not easy.”

Kind words, but Kurt didn’t want to feel them. “What in life is? We come to earth, we have challenges, we overcome. It's all part of the plan.”

*

From almost the moment he met Elder Anderson, Kurt had known his new companion would accept him as he was. Elder Anderson was just that kind of person—someone who didn’t have to make a concerted effort to be like Jesus, because his natural inclination was to love. The way he'd instantly made friends with that elderly Bavarian woman on the train whose speech he couldn't even understand. How he’d glowed as he talked about taking stray cats into his home and loving them until they were healthy again—and then not even keeping most of them, but finding them new families as another act of love. His openness and generosity with investigators, withholding judgment about their errors and seeking only to understand them. Elder Anderson was a living, breathing manifestation of the 13th Article of Faith: “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.”

So naturally he found good in Kurt—because he found good in everything. The way Elder Anderson looked at him with so much respect and admiration, as if Kurt was an actual gift to the world—who had ever looked at him like that before? Sure, Elder Anderson viewed everybody that way. But it didn't make it any less intense to be on the receiving end of his gaze.

And so, Kurt didn't tell Elder Anderson that he was gay in their first couple days together, like he had with all his previous companions. Not because he feared rejection, but because he feared acceptance. Not the kind, benevolent acceptance his previous companions had offered him, but a bone-deep embracing of everything that Kurt was.

Opportunities popped up again and again, but it never felt like the right time. Their very first day working together, Elder Anderson had misunderstood the names of a straight couple they were going to visit and thought they were two men. He didn’t seem at all fazed by the idea. But Kurt didn’t want to turn a discussion about the work into a discussion about himself. So he’d put it off until the evening. But then Elder Anderson had called him dashing in his pajamas, and you can’t tell someone you’re gay right after they compliment you like that, because then they might think you’re implying they meant something more than friendly admiration, and the whole point of Kurt telling his companions was to avoid misunderstandings, not create them. He’d thought maybe he could do it after their prayers, but Elder Anderson had been so heartfelt in thanking Heavenly Father for their companionship, it made Kurt feel raw inside. And then he’d told Kurt he loved him and given him a hug—such a routine thing for a companion to do, Kurt had become inured to it. But Elder Anderson had done it with the same sincerity with which he’d prayed. If Kurt had returned that sincerity, he would have broken.

“It’s OK that you’re in love with Mercedes,” Elder Anderson said, so innocent and kind even in his ignorance. “None of us are perfect, Elder Hummel. That’s why we’re on earth. Because we aren’t perfect, but we want to learn how to be.”

By withholding the truth any longer, Kurt would cross the bridge into dishonesty. And he couldn't do that. Not with Elder Anderson.

“I’m gay,” Kurt said, and it wasn’t at all like the times he’d said it before. It wasn’t cold or straightforward or bold or removed. It was vulnerable. Everything he'd been tamping down these two years rose to the surface, his skin tingling as it all bubbled up through him, his head spinning like a leaf being pulled down into a whirlpool. Kurt felt Elder Anderson's eyes on him, full of Christlike love, and he couldn't bear it, had to stare at the floor and the duvet cover and anything that wasn’t Elder Anderson because all his feelings would flood out otherwise. He gripped his Choose the Right ring, ran his fingers over its belt buckle embellishment, a physical reminder that he should hold himself together, that he could hold himself together, that he must.

“I’m not worried,” Elder Anderson said, and, “You don’t need to worry that I’ll love you any less,” and what an awful thing to say, because it confirmed that Elder Anderson already loved him, just like Jesus and his Heavenly Parents loved him, and that knowledge broke something inside Kurt.

“Can I—” Elder Anderson reached toward Kurt, his fingers hovering near Kurt’s forearm, tentative and tender, the way he might be toward an injured cat hiding under a bush. “Can I give you a hug, Elder Hummel?”

And Kurt must have nodded because the next thing he knew, he was wrapped up in Elder Anderson’s arms. “I’m sorry,” Kurt whispered as he sank his weight into his companion’s body. Elder Anderson was warm and solid, and his chest rose and fell against Kurt’s with each breath, and it felt so intimate, but also so safe—two feelings that Kurt had rarely known to coexist inside his heart. “I don't know why I'm getting so emotional. I never get emotional about this. I’ve said it so many times. Half the mission must know by now. And I’m not … please don’t think I’m ashamed. This is the way my Heavenly Parents made me.” Kurt’s breath was ragged and his hands were trembling.

“They made you perfectly,” Elder Anderson said slowly and with conviction, his breath brushing against Kurt's ear, sacred and warm as a confirmation from the Holy Ghost.

“I thought no one was perfect,” Kurt muttered wryly into his companion’s shoulder.

Elder Anderson made a small, sweet sound halfway between a sigh and a laugh. “Maybe. But they still made you perfectly. You’re perfectly imperfect, just the way you should be.”

You’re the worst, Kurt thought, and hugged Elder Anderson harder.

[thnxforknowingme]

Miles To Go (2/12)

Written for the Klaine 3-2-1 Prompt Bang 2022, art by @datshitrandom

Pairing: Kurt Hummel/Blaine Anderson

Rating: Mature

Notes: More info about the fic here.

All Chapters | Read on AO3

Chapter 2: Midwest

For the first hour of the drive, Kurt didn’t play anything on the stereo. He felt like this journey should be a sort of pilgrimage, deliberate and meditative - it shouldn’t be like any other road trip where he’d crank up the radio.

But there was nothing sacred about an interstate highway. Driving was still driving, mundane and mildly frustrating, dealing with traffic and slow trucks and assholes in sports cars. After a while, he got bored with the silence.

Finn would want me to have fun, he reasoned as he pulled off on an exit to plug his phone into the aux cord. He scrolled through his music and found a playlist he’d made in high school. He figured that would be fitting, and pressed the shuffle button.

The opening notes of ‘I Can’t Go For That’ started playing, and immediately Kurt’s heart was in his throat, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. He could remember helping Finn pick out the goofy 80’s-inspired outfits for the mash-up competition, rehearsing in the auditorium, practicing choreography over and over. 

God, how many songs would be forever painful to listen to, now? He couldn’t drive safely if he was crying. He put on the Hairspray soundtrack instead, which seemed like an innocuous enough choice, and got back on the freeway.

*

The drive to Indianapolis was familiar and unremarkable. The city itself was surrounded by a loose ring of freeways, a lopsided roundabout that allowed people passing through to avoid the metropolitan area entirely, if they wanted to.

The city center also contained a circle: a round plaza featuring a massive commemorative monument. The limestone column thrust into the sky, taller than the buildings surrounding it, topped with a bronze statue of Lady Victory holding a torch and a sword.

It was a little over-the-top, for Kurt’s taste. He’d never been particularly moved by war memorials, anyway. He wasn’t a patriotic person, and it rubbed him the wrong way that anyone who died in combat was a hero, while people who died any other way rarely got elaborate bronze statues erected in their honor.

His campground for the first night was on the far side of Indianapolis, next to a lake that seemed more like a pond to Kurt. He set up his tent, feeling a bit proud of his ability to do it without any mistakes, and settled in for the night.

*

Kurt was in Manhattan, trying to hail a cab. He watched the traffic carefully, throwing his arm out whenever a yellow car passed by. None of them slowed down, though. He was starting to panic - he had to be somewhere, he was going to be late.

“You think it’d be easier to get a taxi,” said a voice next to him, and he turned to see Finn standing on the sidewalk. He was wearing one of his puffy vests over a plaid shirt, the kind of aggressively small-town Ohio outfit that defined his wardrobe.

Right, Finn was here, of course. They were in New York for Nationals, and Finn would be singing lead with Rachel. He was their leader. He would get them through the competition, win or lose. And they needed to hurry, or they would miss it.

Finn smiled at him, his eyes squinting slightly against the sunlight. Something in the back of Kurt’s mind tried to get his attention, to insist that something was wrong. He ignored this. “I don’t know what to do,” he told Finn.

“Let’s just take the subway,” Finn suggested, pointing behind Kurt.

Kurt turned around to see an entrance to the 6 train. “Oh,” he said. “Good idea.”

He and Finn walked down the metal stairs. The inside of the train station seemed especially dark after the bright street above them. They approached the turnstiles and Kurt took out his MetroCard. He tried to slide it through the card reader, but he missed. He tried again, but the machine beeped angrily. Try again, said the greenish screen above the reader.

“Come on, man,” Finn said. He was already on the train platform, looking at Kurt expectantly.

He shouldn’t be here, the voice in Kurt’s head told him. He’s not here anymore.

Kurt told the voice to shut up. He knew that it was right, but acknowledging it might make Finn go away. If he just pretended this was normal, Finn would stay.

He tried his MetroCard again, but it got stuck - the magnetic stripe had been bent. He tried to smooth it out with his nail so it would work. Insufficient funds, the screen told him.

“Kurt,” Finn said. He was right in from of him now. The train was pulling up on the track behind him, the high-pitched screech of its brakes echoing through the station. “Here.”

Finn held out his hand, and Kurt took it. Finn pulled him forward, and Kurt tripped into the turnstile. The metal arms started to spin forward, pulling his body with them. He spun around and around, like he was rolling down a hill. Everything was dark. The ground was damp and soft beneath him. Finally he slowed and stopped, landing on his back at the foot of a grassy slope. He could see the stars above him, and he shivered. He sat up and looked around. Finn was gone. He was alone.

Kurt rose slowly into consciousness, his eyes blinking open to see the blue polyester of the tent above him. He could hear birdsong outside. He was hot, so he unzipped his sleeping bag from the inside, letting air flow over him and cool his sticky skin.

Another Finn dream. It had been a while.

He didn’t remember this happening when his mother died, but maybe he’d just blocked it out. After Finn died, he started having dreams about him all the time. Mostly it was just normal things, Finn popping up as a character in typical dream scenarios. For the first month or so, Kurt would wake up from these dreams and not be entirely sure what the reality was - whether it was actually Finn’s death that had been the dream. Sometimes his dream self became convinced that they’d just thought Finn was dead, but it had been a misunderstanding, that he was back now and everything was okay. Other times, he’d become aware in the dream that Finn wasn’t alive anymore, but he was so grateful for more time with him that he didn’t want to bring attention to that fact. Sometimes dream Finn would give him a sort of sly smile, as if to say, I know I’m not supposed to be here, but it’s our little secret, okay?

Kurt knew it was just his brain traveling down familiar pathways, his obsessive waking thoughts about Finn bleeding into his subconscious. But he also understood how someone more inclined to believe in ghosts or souls or afterlives could interpret the dreams as a message from Finn, proof that he still existed somehow. They felt so real sometimes.

But he was awake now, haunted only by his thoughts. He sat up to begin the day, to pack up and set off for his next destination.

*

Kurt had never been outdoorsy. As a child he’d balked at the idea of joining Cub Scouts or accompanying his father on fishing trips. As he grew older and began to care more about his hair and skin and clothes, he was even less inclined to be exposed to sun, wind, or dirt.

Now, as he panted heavily and felt his shirt stick to his sweaty back, he felt entirely justified in his distaste for being in the wilderness. Pain shot through his feet with every step along the hiking path. There were bugs, which he was not particularly a fan of. Also, he wasn’t sure if he should be worried about snakes or wolves or any other dangerous animals in the woods of Missouri.

But it seemed like a Finn-esque thing to do. Finn liked to be outdoors, to go camping in the summer, to swim and hike and mountain bike. As long as Kurt was driving across the country, he figured he should see the sights, even if they weren’t always to his taste. Finn had never gotten the chance to travel much, so Kurt would do it for him.

The Mark Twain National Forest was spread over southern and central Missouri, and it was where Kurt headed to explore some hiking trails after he spent a day and night in St Louis. St Louis had been much more his style. He’d enjoyed taking a disorienting elevator ride up the Gateway Arch and looking out over the city, watching the Mississippi flow on into the distance. He'd had fun exploring the whimsical City Museum, wandering through manicured parks, admiring galleries of contemporary art, and hearing blues music spill out of bars and restaurants at night.

Hiking through a remote forest was much further from Kurt’s idea of a good time. He’d known this was part of his general plan, and packed accordingly - he’d brought boots, sunscreen and bug repellent, a backpack and water bottle, one of his dad’s baseball caps.

But apparently these were the wrong kind of boots, or hadn’t been broken in enough, because his feet were killing him. The bug repellent didn’t seem to be doing much, since he was being swarmed by mosquitos, already feeling itching welts rising on his arms.

As he trudged along, he wondered what the point of this was. It had seemed a nice idea when he was in his comfortable, air-conditioned car. But who was this actually serving? Kurt was hot and tired and miserable, and Finn was gone. Going through this wasn’t going to bring Finn back, or provide comfort to his eternal soul - Kurt didn’t believe that Finn still existed in any metaphysical way. 

The slope of the path evened out, offering some relief to Kurt’s burning calves and heaving lungs. The trees looked nice, he supposed, but he could have appreciated them from afar. The background noise of birds twittering and cicadas buzzing was pleasant, but would have been more enjoyable while sitting down in the shade, maybe with a cool lemonade in his hand. The whole endeavor seemed pointless and wasteful.

Maybe this entire trip was meaningless - Finn was just as dead whether his ashes were in Ohio or California. Maybe Kurt should just cut his losses and turn around, go home to figure out what the hell he was doing about school and the rest of his life.

Then he followed the path around a curve, and the forest opened up in front of him. Trees gave way to huge lichen-spattered rocks, beyond which the ground dropped off to reveal an incredible view: a river winding through hills blanketed in vivid, lush trees, all under an endless blue sky.

Kurt’s breath caught, not from physical exertion now but from awe and surprise.

Oh, he thought. So this is why people go hiking.

He staggered forward to a boulder where he could sit down. He stared over the vista, his mind blank for a few moments as he took it all in.

Kurt didn’t believe in any god or spiritual higher power. He didn’t think that the Earth or the universe had been deliberately created or intentionally planned. Everything that existed was a result of randomness, of infinite chain reactions and atoms carelessly bouncing against each other. And yet, the fact that somehow every chaotic, unplanned event had still led to this beautiful sight was nothing short of remarkable.

Finn was gone, and nothing would change that. But Kurt was still alive. He still had the chance to experience new things and see new places. And if it weren’t for Finn’s existence, for Finn’s impact on his life, he never would have arrived here, alone and awed by the natural beauty of this view. All the unlikely events that had to happen for Finn to be born, and to affect all the people that he did, had led to this miraculous moment. That had meaning. That had value. 

If Kurt had given up halfway along the hiking trail, he never would have seen this gorgeous sight. And he couldn’t know what other incredible things he might experience down the road, motivated by his desire to give Finn some form of closure, to fulfill a plan Finn never got to see through.

It might be hard and lonely and confusing, but Kurt promised himself that he wasn’t going to quit.

[1962dude420-blog]

Today we remember the passing of Jani Lane who Died: August 11, 2011 in Woodland Hills, California

Jani Lane (born John Kennedy Oswald; February 1, 1964 – August 11, 2011) was an American recording artist and the lead vocalist, frontman, lyricist and main songwriter for the glam metal band Warrant. From Hollywood, California, the band experienced success from 1989 to 1996 with five albums reaching international sales of over 10 million. Lane left Warrant in 2004 and again in 2008 after a brief reunion. Lane also released a solo album, Back Down to One, in 2003, and the album Love the Sin, Hate the Sinner with a new group, Saints of the Underground, in 2008. Lane contributed lead vocals and songwriting to various projects throughout his career.

Lane was born John Kennedy Oswald (later changed to John Patrick Oswald), on February 1, 1964 in Akron, Ohio to Robert and Eileen Oswald. He was raised in Brimfield with four older siblings: sisters Marcine Williams, Michelle Robinson and Victoria Ley, plus older brother Eric, already an accomplished guitarist. With sisters Micki and Vicky and brother Eric harmonizing and playing guitar, Lane taught himself to play drums, guitar and piano by ear by age five. He grew up listening to Cleveland rock station WMMS (100.7 FM "The Buzzard") and was introduced to a variety of music by his older siblings.

With connections from siblings Eric and Vicky in and around the music scene (and with his parents' help), Lane made a name for himself at a very young age. He played drums under the pseudonym "Mitch Dynamite" in clubs by age 11 and with a local band "Pokerface." By that time, his siblings had left for college or marriage, although Vicky was still active in the entertainment industry in northeast Ohio and southwest Florida. Due to Vicky's numerous connections, Lane was able to network with industry execs in pursuit of his dream. Lane graduated from Field High School, in Mogadore, Ohio, a nearby city to Brimfield in 1982.

Lane is credited as the vocalist/drummer on Warrant's Latest and Greatest CD. Throughout his career, Lane would sometimes play drums/acoustic guitar and piano with his band and played the drums in various formats and gigs with other musicians.

After high school, Lane joined the band Cyren, featuring vocalist Skip Hammonds, guitarist John Weakland, bassist Don Hoover (and later Rusty Fohner) with Lane on drums and vocals. Many of Cyren's shows opened for a popular local band called Risque'. When their bassist, Al Collins, noticed Lane's vocal talents, he convinced Lane to form a new band they eventually called Dorian Gray. The new band also included Steven Chamberlin on drums and Dave Chamberlin on lead guitar. Dorian Gray was designed to have Lane as the lead vocalist and to perform original material, but Lane wasn't ready to be the lead singer and quickly returned to the drum kit. Billy Denmead was hired as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist. After only a few shows, Collins left the band, vowing to put a band together when Lane was ready to be a lead vocalist.

Lane moved to Florida in 1983 with Dorian Gray. He eventually formed Plain Jane with Collins and Chamberlin, adopting the stage name "Jani Lane" (Chamberlin would also soon rechristen himself Steven Sweet). He took the name "Jani" from his German grandparents, who spelled his name "Jani" and pronounced it "Yay-nee."

Lane began vocal training with vocal coach/trainer Ron Feldmann, who introduced him to Creative Engineering, Inc. in Orlando. Lane worked there as a programmer of the animatronic character Dook LaRue, the drummer for The Rock-afire Explosion. His vocal debut was at The Station in Fern Park, Florida.

Lane, Collins, and Chamberlin recorded the first Plain Jane four-track demos at their rented house in Winter Park, Florida. Although reluctant to leave Florida, they rented a trailer in the spring of 1984 and moved to California with hopes of landing a record deal. They were broke by the time they landed at the Hollywood Bowl Motel and resorted to making sandwiches with mustard packets while taking turns calling their parents for cash.

Struggling to make ends meet as a musician, Lane resorted to working in a pornographic video warehouse. The band, along with a new road crew and a few girlfriends, pooled their wages and lived in a two-bedroom condominium rented by new Plain Jane guitarist Paul Noble. At one time there were 13 people living in the crowded space.

By 1985, Plain Jane had become a regular feature on the Los Angeles club circuit and opened many shows for a band called Warrant. Plain Jane's bassist and guitarist both left the band on the same day Warrant's singer and drummer quit. Erik Turner, who had founded Warrant in July 1984, was impressed by Plain Jane's songwriting and vocal performance and invited Lane and Sweet to jam with his band at Hollywood's db Sound in September 1986.

After generating notoriety on the club circuit, Warrant began to attract the attention of record labels. Following an abortive deal with A&M Records over a contribution to the soundtrack for the motion picture Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, the band signed with Columbia Records. The Columbia deal came via the partnering of Warrant and manager Tom Hulett, known for working with The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, The Moody Blues and others. Hulett became Lane's mentor and friend until Hulett's death from cancer in 1993.

As lead vocalist with Warrant, Lane wrote all of the material for the band's 1989 debut double platinum album, Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, including four Top 40 hit singles: "Down Boys", "Sometimes She Cries", "Big Talk" and the No. 2 Billboard Hot 100 hit "Heaven." The album peaked at no. 10 on The Billboard 200. Lane also wrote four Top 40 hit singles ("Cherry Pie," "I Saw Red," "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and "Blind Faith") for the second album, the 1990 double platinum Cherry Pie, which peaked at no. 7 on the Billboard 200. Lane also co-wrote and performed with Warrant the song "The Power" in the 1992 movie Gladiator. In 1992, Warrant released Dog Eat Dog, their gold third album, which peaked at no. 25 on the Billboard 200.

Lane left Warrant in March 1993 to pursue a solo career. He returned six months later, helping the band secure a new record with Tom Lipsky of CMC International. Warrant recorded Ultraphobic in 1995, Belly to Belly in 1996, Greatest & Latest in 1999 and a cover album, Under the Influence, in 2001.

Due to personal and business disagreements, Lane left Warrant again in 2004. In January 2008, the band's agent, The William Morris Agency, issued a new photograph of the band with Lane prominently featured, confirming his return to the band. It was the first time that all original members had been in the band since 1993. The band's first show with all original members was in May 2008 in Nashville, Tennessee. Warrant performed a series of shows during the summer of 2008, but by September, the band and Lane agreed to move forward separately due to "too much water under the bridge." Warrant and Lane both continued to perform Lane's compositions live and Lane continued to write for himself and other artists.

Lane became involved in acting in the early 1990s. He made a brief appearance in Caged Fear and appeared in High Strung in 1991.

In 1993, Lane started working on his first solo project. Titled "Jabberwocky," the album represented a significant musical departure from previous work. Between 1997 and 2000, demos of Lane's solo material began surfacing on the Internet, with some bids on eBay reaching an estimated $100 per copy. In 2002, Lane decided to postpone the "Jabberwocky" project and released a new project as his debut solo album. The "Jabberwocky" project remained unreleased.

Lane's official debut solo album, Back Down to One, was released on June 17, 2003 through Z Records and in the U.S. in 2006 on Immortal/Sidewinder Records. It carried a "power pop" sound more closely aligned with the sound of Warrant than "Jabberwocky." Shortly after the album's release, Lane was admitted to a rehabilitation center for alcohol and drug-related exhaustion.

In the fall of 2004, Lane contributed lead vocals for the first ever theme song to a novel, Billy McCarthy's "The Devil of Shakespeare," along with James Young from Styx, Ron Flynt of 20/20 and Chip Z'Nuff of Enuff Z'Nuff.

Lane contributed vocals on the track "Bastille Day" and "2112 Overture/Temples of Syrinx" for the Magna Carta 2005 Rush tribute album "Subdivisions."

Lane had success with the "VH1 Classic Metal Mania: Stripped" discs, where the acoustic version of "I Saw Red" was included on disc 1, a new acoustic swinging version of "Cherry Pie" featured on disc 2, and a new acoustic version of "Heaven" featured on disc 3.

In 2005, Lane became a fan favorite on the popular VH1 series Celebrity Fit Club 2. His problems with alcohol were highlighted and many viewers supported his efforts at recovery.

With the reissue and U.S. release of "Back Down to One" in 2006, Lane attempted to restart his version of Warrant. Although "Back Down to One" was credited as a solo release, Lane assembled a new touring band called "Jani Lane's Warrant." The band's first shows in Michigan were stopped by legal action from former bandmates objecting to his use of the Warrant logo on his posters. Lane subsequently continued touring without the Warrant name and logo.

Lane lent his vocals to numerous tribute CDs during the 2000s. In 2007, he released a solo cover album titled "Photograph," featuring a collection of his tribute contributions.

Keri Kelli and Lane wrote a song for Alice Cooper titled "The One That Got Away." It was recorded by Cooper on his 2008 record Along Came a Spider. Lane also finished work on a side project, Saints of the Underground, which included Kelli and Bobby Blotzer and Robbie Crane, (both from Ratt). Their album, Love the Sin, Hate the Sinner, was released on April 22, 2008 by Warrior Records, and was mixed by producer/engineer Andy Johns, who'd worked with The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. The album featured additional bass work by Chuck Wright (Quiet Riot, House of Lords). The band was originally called "Angel City Outlaws" when they posted their first two promo singles, "Bruised" and "Exit."

In summer 2010, Lane toured with Great White, filling in for singer Jack Russell, who was recuperating from surgery after suffering internal complications.

On August 11, 2011, the Los Angeles Police Department and local news stations announced that Lane was found dead of acute alcohol poisoning at a Comfort Inn hotel in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 47. Lane was pronounced dead by fire department personnel who responded to a call shortly before 5:30 p.m.

[willyneilsen]

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[antoine-roquentin]

When Megan* discovered that her boyfriend, Sean, had overdosed on heroin in their Neenah, Wisconsin home, she called 911. Paramedics found Sean without a pulse, but were able to save his life. Afterward, Sean, who had been in treatment for substance use disorder, was greeted with a harsh reality—Neenah police were charging him with possession of heroin and marijuana. A few months later, he was charged again with simple possession. Based on these charges, the police sent a notice to Megan’s landlord, warning that their home was about to be declared a “nuisance”—and that, if the tenants made another 911 call, the city would levy fines on the landlord. The landlord, of course, promptly tried to evict Megan and Sean.

Neenah is one of an estimated 2,000 towns and cities in America with a chronic nuisance ordinance (CNO), a local law that encourages or even requires landlords to evict tenants based on minor infractions that the city considers “nuisances.” CNOs (also called “crime-free ordinances”) vary across cities, but generally target a common set of behaviors. The city declares a home a “nuisance” once a threshold number of infractions occur on the property. Infractions are disturbingly easy to rack up. They can include anything from arrests on or near the property to trivial aesthetic complaints like poorly maintaining your front lawn. Most CNOs will label a home a nuisance if it’s the source of what the city deems an “excessive” number of 911 calls. What counts as “excessive”? Some towns define a nuisance as just two or more calls to 911.

When an annoying person on a train talks loudly on their phone, they might get a raised eyebrow or a petty stare—but when a home is labeled a nuisance, the response is considerably worse. CNOs generally require landlords to “abate the nuisance”—that is, make sure there are no more arrests or 911 calls at the home—or else face fines or other penalties. For example, the city of Stoughton, Wisconsin designated a home a “drug nuisance” after charging four residents with simple possession of marijuana. The police urged the landlord to evict the tenants with a five-day notice, warning that if the tenants stayed and were caught with weed again, the city might seize the landlord’s property. Many landlords, including Megan’s, respond by evicting tenants, refusing to renew their leases, or pushing tenants not to call 911 for help. In some extreme cases, cities will actually threaten to criminally prosecute landlords who don’t evict. Even someone with little sympathy for landlords can see how the perverse incentives of nuisance ordinances make eviction proceedings nearly inevitable.

In addition, nuisance ordinances often target the most vulnerable. Domestic violence survivors, for example, are routinely evicted for calling 911 for help. Sociologists Matthew Desmond and Nicol Valdez found that nearly a third of homes labeled a nuisance in Milwaukee, Wisconsin were cited based on domestic violence incidents—and that properties in predominantly Black neighborhoods were more than 2.5 times as likely to receive a nuisance citation as properties in white neighborhoods. When vague laws like nuisance ordinances give police a wide range of discretion, enforcement is often racist. An investigation by the NYCLU (New York Civil Liberties Union) found that Rochester, New York issued nearly five times as many nuisance enforcement actions in areas with the highest concentration of people of color as it did in the whitest parts of town. New research (by your authors) also revealed that cities use chronic nuisance ordinances to evict people because of their disabilities. A mother in Baraboo, Wisconsin was cited after calling the police because her daughter was suicidal. Portland, Oregon labeled a resident’s home a nuisance because the city decided he had too much trash in his yard—even though his patient advocate explained that he couldn’t clean the yard because he was hospitalized for complications related to his disability. Police in Lakewood, Ohio informed a landlord that one of their tenants had called a mobile crisis center, threatening to harm himself. The landlord started eviction proceedings within weeks. A Maplewood, Missouri woman called a crisis hotline because she was suicidal; after the hotline’s volunteers sent police to her home to check on her and transfer her to a hospital, the city sent her a summons to a nuisance enforcement hearing for “generating too many calls for police services.” According to a lawsuit challenging Maplewood’s ordinance, at least 25 percent of the city’s nuisance cases stemmed from “obvious manifestations of disability.”

There isn’t a shred of evidence that chronic nuisance ordinances make towns safer or more orderly. But study after study demonstrates that nuisance ordinances are used to harass people—specifically people of color, domestic violence survivors, and those with disabilities—and push them out of town.

This all happens despite the Fair Housing Act’s clear ban on state and local policies that discriminate on the basis of race, sex, or disability. Because chronic nuisance ordinances hurt people with disabilities and heavily policed Black communities—where people are most likely to be searched or arrested, often for petty crimes—they violate the FHA’s mandate. In 2016, the Department of Housing and Urban Development even warned that cities enforcing nuisance ordinances against domestic violence survivors risked running afoul of the FHA’s ban on sex discrimination.

But the law is one thing—and people’s real experiences are another. Megan, her boyfriend, and other people evicted after overdosing fall into a Fair Housing Act loophole wide enough to fit Ben Carson’s dining set. Today, it’s well understood that substance use disorder is a disease: Federal courts increasingly recognize that people who are in recovery for a substance use disorder have a disability that is protected by civil rights law. But the Fair Housing Act runs counter to the scientific and sociological consensus by specifically and explicitly excluding “current, illegal use of or addiction to a controlled substance” from its protections against disability discrimination. The FHA’s carve-out means that people who are currently using, or who are in recovery but relapse, have virtually no protection from eviction under the federal fair housing law because of their substance use disorder. (Some advocates argue these ordinances still violate the First Amendment.)

With the FHA’s carve-out as cover, cities are even passing more blatant ordinances such as “drug house” laws specifically targeting people who use drugs. Nuisance and drug house laws sometimes encourage eviction based solely on arrests (not even convictions) and inevitably drive highly policed communities of color out of their homes. Although people of all races use and sell drugs at similar rates, Black and Latinx individuals are far more likely to be searched, arrested, and convicted for possession—so they’re far more likely to rack up nuisance points and lose their homes.

Worse still, nuisance ordinances deter people from calling for help when they experience or witness an overdose. An empirical study of nuisance ordinance enforcement against people who had overdosed on drugs found that, in two out of four towns studied, more than one in five properties designated a “nuisance” were the sites of a drug overdose. In a third town, more than forty percent of nuisance designations involved a drug overdose. Overdose deaths generally occur one to three hours after a victim has used drugs, leaving a short window in which to save a victim’s life. Paramedics now have the access and training to routinely administer Naloxone, a medication that reverses an opioid overdose. But if tenants believe they may be evicted if they call 911 for a possible overdose, they may hesitate to call for help until it’s too late—or they might lose their housing, leaving them more vulnerable to overdose than before.

The stakes are literally life or death. More than 70,000 people died of overdoses in 2017. What would you do if your partner overdosed? You’d get help, right? Well, what if you’d already called 911 “one too many times” and risked losing your home? If Megan hadn’t called 911, her boyfriend might be one of those 70,00 deaths—and yet she was rewarded with an eviction. In the middle of an opioid crisis that’s killed more people than guns, car crashes, or the AIDS epidemic, chronic nuisance ordinances force people to make impossible choices. And they’re just one of a hundred tiny ways that cities control populations and undercut health and safety. Because these are local rules, they are ripe for action and change, but it’s something we cannot afford to wait on lest we see the most vulnerable among us pushed even further to the margins and driven from their homes.

[spookyjiimfanfiction]

Chapter Five

Tear In My Heart | Series Masterlist

Warnings: Angst, as per usual.

Word Count: 2449

Authors’ Note: We hope you enjoy this chapter! :) (picture credit)

September 2014 - Beginning of the Quiet is Violent Tour

"This is so sick!" a loud voice erupted that was soon discovered to be Tyler, from the back of the new bus that they had recently acquired for touring. Everyone was still in awe of all that was happening for Twenty One Pilots after signing with Fueled by Ramen and knew that it was about to blow up. This tour would be the deciding factor. Laughing a bit at the happy boy in front of you, you looked over and saw Josh who was being uncharacteristically quiet as he looked around the main area of the bus. The look on his face was unreadable and so you decided to ask about it.

Just as you turned to speak, Tyler came jumping in and wrapped his arm around Josh while bouncing up and down excitedly, which made a small smirk appear on his lips to appease his friend.

"I need to go and get some Taco Bell to celebrate! Anyone want me to bring back anything?" Tyler exclaimed and looked between the both of you with a wide smile.

"I'm okay, Ty. You go get enough tacos to make your heart happy." You shook your head playfully and then Tyler's attention turned back to Josh.

"You know what I like," Josh replied.

"Obviously," Tyler nodded and darted out of the bus.

Now... it was just you and Josh alone. Sighing deeply, you watched as he collapsed onto the couch and looked anywhere but at you. Was he avoiding you? Brows furrowing, you walked over and then sat beside him on the couch, leaving a little space between your bodies.

"Hey. Are you ok? You don't seem like you're quite yourself. I was expecting you to be just as excited as Tyler was." You looked over his face as you spoke, noticing that he was taking in what you were saying.

"I'm... nervous. With all of this. Since we've signed, we've had more publicity than we've ever had. I don't know how I'm going to be able to handle this, Y/N," he spilled out his true feelings about the situation to you and you had to admit that you weren't really expecting him to be this open. But, it had always seemed so natural with the both of you.

"Josh, this all is a good thing for your band. I know that you've had some problems dealing with anxiety in the past, but people love you guys. You and your music means something to them or else they wouldn't be supporting you. They wouldn't be coming to see you play on that stage for your tour." You tried your hardest to make him feel better, but knew that it was hard to convince someone who was so terrified of being the center of attention that playing in front of quite a bit more fans would be ok. What did you know? You were just a manager.

He didn't speak for a bit of time and then finally let out a shaky breath after what had seemed like forever. You frowned a bit and then wrapped your arms around him tightly, bringing him into your side and resting your head on his shoulder.

"You'll be ok, Josh. I promise," you whispered. His body seemed a bit tense at first, like he wasn't sure what to do with what you were doing, but he slowly relaxed and wrapped his arms back around you. His head laid on top of yours and you could've sworn that he had just smelled your hair, but you brushed it off. Closing your eyes, you relaxed against him for a bit and just held him, enjoying how wonderfully your bodies fit together. But then, at the worst possible moment, Beau re-entered your mind, instantly making you feel terrible about what you were doing and now you were painfully aware of how close you were to Josh.

Quickly sitting up and moving away on the couch, he looked at you with a confused and almost... hurt expression.

"Y/N... did I do something wrong?"

"N-No! I just remembered that I-I have work to do! So, I'll see you later!" you exclaimed and hurried off of the bus. Once you made it outside, you leaned against the side of the bus and groaned a bit, covering your face with your hands.

Were you mad that you had done what you did or mad that you had to end it?

You lost track of how much time you spent leaned against the cool exterior of the bus, counting your breaths and trying to ignore how Josh’s arms felt around you. His touch was gentle, so unlike the way that Beau’s fingers usually dug into you. The way Josh had been holding you was for comfort, not control. 

Your heart started to race just thinking about it. Exasperated, you turned and pressed your forehead into the bus, squinting your eyes shut as you did so. Hadn’t these thoughts been part of the reason you had to take a break from tour in the first place?

Well, no. Beau was the main reason you had to leave. The boys had decided to take a break from normal touring after the release of their latest album - Vessel - to do a run of festival shows instead. Beau had insisted that you take a break from managing and have the boys hire someone who was trained for festival shows. After a bit of convincing, you gave in and followed Beau’s advice.

You had been bored out of your mind without the boys’ antics to keep you busy, so when they announced that they would be doing another tour of the United States, you were ecstatic. They had picked you up a few days ago and you and the rest of the crew had left Ohio - and Beau - behind for the next few months. You were sure that it was going to be the best few months of your life.

But now this was happening.

“What are you doing?” came a garbled voice next to your ear.

The sudden noise in such a close proximity made you jump back a bit. Tyler was standing a few feet away, clutching what remained of his soft taco in his hand. The other one held a paper bag that was already spotted with grease at the bottom, no doubt full of at least twenty more tacos for anyone who wanted them.

“Thinking,” you muttered, turning to lean against the bus. Your arms were crossed tight against your torso.

“About?” he asked before taking another large bite of taco.

“Nothing you would want to hear about.”

“You underestimate my interest in other people’s personal matters.”

“Where’d you learn all the big words, Ty?” you laughed, reaching out to give him a playful shove.

“We learned a lot when you were away,” he grinned. A bit of beans dribbled out the corner of his mouth. “Lots of self-discovery.”

You rolled your eyes at his sarcastic remark.

“Want a taco?”

Tyler held the paper bag out towards you. As expected, a whole myriad of soft tacos were piled into the bottom, covered by a small pile of napkins. You reached in and grabbed one of the tacos, deciding that a pre-show snack was never a bad idea.

“I’m surprised you’re not inside with Josh. You two rarely stand more than five feet apart.”

Your jaw clenched. Maybe a little distance from Josh wouldn’t be such a bad thing, after all. At least until you figured out exactly where you stood with him.

“Yeah,” you shrugged. “I just needed some air.”

“Some air, huh?”

“Don’t push your luck, Joseph.”

Tyler threw his hands up in defeat, “Not trying to.”

“Is Jenna going to be stopping by for part of the tour? It’s only been a few days and I’m already getting tired of all the testosterone on the bus.”

“She’s going to come by for a few weeks next month, I think,” Tyler said. The mention of Jenna was enough to get him smiling. “She’ll be happy to meet you, I bet. She’s always asking about you and wondering how you’re doing.”

“Yeah, I think it will be nice to have her around.”

After a bit of light conversation, Tyler's body shuddered as the wind started to pick up outside. He finished his taco completely and threw the wrapper back in the bag before motioning his head toward the door of the bus. 

"Let's go back inside. It's freezing out here!" He reached for the door and opened it up, making you freeze in your spot. Josh was still in there and you had just left him in the worst way possible without a real reason. It was in this moment that you wanted to just run away, but you had to suck it up, especially if you were going to be doing this tour with them for the next couple of months. You watched him hurry inside and you followed suit, but in a much slower fashion. You closed the door behind you and locked it up, indicating that everyone was ready to go and start your road trip to the venue.

Josh looked up and stared at you and Tyler for a moment before looking back down to his lap in complete silence. Tyler instantly noticed, but didn't say a word. He had gotten a vibe from you earlier, so he decided to just see how it played out itself. He sat down at the table and placed the bag down to start on another taco, before you heard your cellphone ring. Raising an eyebrow, you took it out of your pocket and saw Beau's name on the screen. You smiled and then leaned against the kitchen counter, legs crossed at the ankles as you answered the call.

"Lovey! Hi, I miss you!" you exclaimed as your boyfriend spoke on the other end to you in a returned greeting. You needed this interaction with him after what had happened earlier.

As soon as Josh heard those words, he gave a big eye roll and got up from his spot, making his way into the back while glowering. Tyler just smirked and shook his head, staring down at his food so that you couldn't see.

Watching as Josh left, you were a bit confused as to why he had done so, but you didn't say another word about it since Beau was still talking to you and you almost missed it. It almost came as a shock that his next question had actually been about Josh, but you knew that it was a question meant to make him feel better and that was all. But, it made you nervous regardless after the incident happened.

"So, how is Josh?"

"Oh, he's fine."

"Still just a professional relationship?"

"Of course, lovey." Nervous laughter ensued, but you managed to make it sound more believable.

Time had passed and you were now in your bunk wrapping up your conversation with Beau while Josh had moved into the main living room space with Tyler, sitting across from him at the table while eating tacos. Unknowingly, the both of them had discussed what happened between you and him and why the air was so thick with tension that you could cut it with a knife. It almost made it hard for Josh to breathe. As they were whispering about you and trying to figure out what to do, they hadn't noticed that you hung up the phone call and were now staring at them and trying to hear what they were saying.

"Keeping secrets from each other now, huh?" you said with crossed arms, tapping your foot a bit. The both of them whipped their heads over toward you with tortilla and taco remnants hanging from the corners of their lips. If you weren't trying to look so tough, you would've cracked up at the priceless looks they both had. They both fell silent after that and went on eating what they had left.

The next few hours flew by as you were going along the checklist as you did before every single show. It was weird to not have to play nurse with Tyler because of him hurting his toes from moving his piano. He didn't have to do it anymore, because he had people for it. You knew that their band was getting bigger just because of that happening. Sighing deeply, you made your way to the boys' dressing rooms with a bag full of goodies for them. You had done Tyler's room earlier, since it was extremely simple and to the point: Red Bull. That was the gist. You didn't know why, but you felt like you wanted to be a little more thoughtful with Josh's things.

Would this send mixed signals to him regarding your friendship? Most likely. Did you care? Not really.

Knocking on the door to make sure that no one was inside, it happened to be empty and you suddenly wondered where Josh had gone. Then it dawned on you. Josh and Tyler had separate dressing rooms, so Josh probably got lonely and went to go visit his best friend. Shaking your head at the thought, you slowly walked inside and then started setting up all of his snacks on the designated table. You made sure that it looked pretty and presentable for him, even though you know that it would all be destroyed and devoured later. To add the finishing touch, you pulled out a small note that you had written for him earlier in the day that you figured would help with how nervous he had been lately.

All it read was: 'Good luck tonight, Josh. You're going to do amazing! Y/N/N' and was signed with a small heart.

You set it down in front of the snacks and then turned to head back out, when the door opened up and in came Josh. He stopped dead in his tracks as you both stared at one another with wide eyes for a few moments. But, Josh was the one who decided to break the silence.

"Y/N, I -" he started before you cut him off.

"I just left you some snacks for before and after the show. I have to finish up some stuff, so enjoy!" you hurriedly spoke and then made your way out in a timely manner. Again, he was left confused.

He made his way over to the table and looked over his snacks hungrily, before spotting the note in front. He lifted it up to his eyes slightly and then smiled a little as he read it.

Maybe you really did like him.

*     *     *     *     *

Taglist

@topownsmyheart​ @faceofcontvsions​ @ohprettyweeper​ @tylersheavydirtysoul​ @svintsandghosts @wearebxnditos​ @breadbinishigh​ @patdsinner33​ @leam-2001

[freebooter4ever]

my dad group texted my brother and i, highly unusual, and i think jordan was weirded out too cause his response was equally short and confused. on the list of things my little brother and i have never discussed, our dad’s relative interest or lack there of in our lives is pretty high. dad’s been messaging me since october, asking about stuff like where my next living plans are (which he has never done since i first moved out age eighteen), and i’ve only been vaguely responding to the point blank questions cause its just. so. weird. i think my grandpa’s death has shaken dad’s worldview a bit more than he’s been letting on.

he alienated my brother and i pretty much immediately after his secretive marriage to the bottle blonde rich bitch when i was 22. he kicked my brother out as soon as jordan turned 18, and when i discovered this by coming home one summer and seeing jordan wasnt in the house, i got so fucking mad that it was the first time i ever had a full out screaming match at my dad. and apparently this display of anger was when rich bitch decided she didn’t like me (probably valid, but also ironic because pretty much from birth it was known in my entire extended family that dad and i were almost identical personality wise, and both of us have tempers where we will not get mad at anything but frustration will build up and up until on the rare blue moon it boils over, and oh boy. watch out. those moments were the only times i was ever scared of my dad as a kid and i think it only happened twice in my entire life)(if she thinks im crazy when im angry, she should see my dad)

but i was crazy mad because while i was lucky enough to be put in therapy due to attempting to starve myself into non existence at age 13 (many many sessions of ‘family’ therapy with me in the center of a long couch silently trying to pretend i was invisible and my mom two feet away at one end and dad on the opposite end of the couch, and my mom doing all the talking, ranting and raving about how im starving myself to punish her. and then the therapist kicking both my parents out and trying to convince me to say a few words, and her finally getting me to realize that how my mom treated me was not normal and not something i needed to put up with if it made me sad and scared, and then the therapist realizing that i was still too sad and scared to confront it, and her and i coming up with a compromise where we would tell my mom that i was just ‘really attached’ to dad’s house and it wasnt that i was terrified of living with my mom or liked my dad better, it was that i just really liked living in one place instead of out of a suitcase and moving every week), and so had both the therapist and my dad supporting me when at fourteen i finally said enough was enough and demanded that my dad get full custody so i didnt have to spend every other week with my abusive mother anymore - while i got out of that situation, my brother didnt. i tried, he knew that it was my decision to live full time with dad and i made it clear he could do the same, but just as it was a given that i was identical to dad’s personality, my brother was identical to mom’s so i think he was more attached to her than i was. either way, he always refused and insisted on continuing to live between both of them. after i hit driving age, my dad transferred responsibility to me for shuttling my brother to and from my dad’s house to my mom’s apartment. dad’d lock himself in his room, or go to the gym, and i’d turn on an endless rotation of star wars movies for jordan and i to watch before i had to take him to his next week’s place (phantom menace was our favorite cause darth maul was just cool ok, dont judge).

anyway, the last day i ever stayed at my moms house, my brother was there. and i must have been twenty or twenty one because he would have only been around seventeen. but even at seventeen he was well over six foot five cause he got all the height in the family which was totally not fair but thats besides the point. so while i was there my mom flew into one of her alcohol induced rages, and took it all out on my brother. i had intellectually figured that all the anger my mom used to take out on me had then transferred to my brother once i stopped living there every other week, but up until that point i hadn’t actually seen it. she started shoving him, and punching him, and not enough so it would hurt much, because as i said he was well over six feet and she was barely five six, so he could pretty well block any thing she dished out. but he was cornered, and he looked scared. and i was hiding useless on the stairwell, crying, and begging mom to stop. and it only stopped cause jordan managed to slip out the front door and once he escaped mom went back into the kitchen, still yelling and angry. and i took the chance to grab my school bag and leave in solidarity. and my brother and i stood there awkwardly on the porch, me still crying, and him smoking and trying to look cool and not like he just got chased out of the apartment by a woman half his size. and i promised him we wouldnt go back until she calmed down, and that she was being unreasonable and he didnt deserve any of it, and id figure out somewhere to go. and we started walking down the sidewalk, but not together because we were never that close. he wandered off somewhere to smoke. and that’s as far as i remember.

this day came up in conversation with my grandma in the months after grandpa’s death, during one of our many three am can’t sleep conversations in grandma’s kitchen (grandma would wake up, i’d hear her get out of bed and wake up too. she’d make herself tea and eat some graham crackers and we’d sit together at the table feeling the third empty chair like an ache). grandma brought it up, because apparently, even though i cant remember this at all, i had my no/kia brick phone in my school bag (a minor miracle because i hated carrying around cell phones for the longest time), and i actually called grandma. and grandpa and her came to pick me up, and they found me sitting on a wall a block away from my mom’s apartment, and then we drove around till we found jordan, and then we all went back to my grandparent’s house. after bringing this up, grandma then, completely unprompted, told me something that child me thought about regularly - she said that even though her mom died when she was 8, leaving her to help raise her two younger siblings, grandma thought in some ways it was easier than what my brother and i went through with the divorce and my mom leaving. i used to regularly - not wish my mom dead, exactly - but wish i could pretend she was dead, rather than her just not being there anymore. especially since, when i was suddenly thrown into being her sole emotional and physical punching bag now that dad wasn’t filling the role anymore, a lot of the times being around her post divorce was not a good thing. (I cut off all contact with my mom finally at age 25 and haven’t looked back)

so yeah, i was fucking pissed that i had worked so hard to try to mitigate the damage i caused by leaving jordan alone with my mom for pretty much the entirety of my high school years...only to have my dad kick him out barely a few years after i left for college and thus putting my brother at my mom’s mercy. ostensibly my dad kicked my brother out because of his drug addictions, but my brother was the most mild mannered addict i’ve ever known. the worst thing he ever did was steal a couple hundred dollars from me, but he never got violent, he never got angry. other people got angry at him. my aunt once tried to fight him in a hospital elevator because he sold my cousin heroin or meth or some shit and my cousin ended up impaling a knife in his chest in front of my grandma, which is a whole nother story. but jordan was only nineteen when that happened. my cousin? thirty six. and a long time violent and angry drug addict with a record (he threw a book at his professor’s head and got kicked out of grad school while on cocaine once, which is how he ended up back in washington state and needing a new drug dealer - hence my brother suddenly getting involved) (same cousin later flew into a drug fueled rage in his forties and almost beat his girlfriend to death) (my brother was long since clean by then and had nothing to do with our cousin getting drugs at that point)

all this to say my dad’s rich bitch new wife didn’t think a drug addict and mentally ill artist fit into her picture perfect family, so dad started making it clear we were not welcome at family functions unless we complied with very strict rules. ironically, jordan was let back into the fold first partially because i can hold a grudge for a very long time and i was very very terrified of my mom and dad was the sane stable one and i had trusted him to take care of everything even without me there and dad had failed pretty spectacularly at that. im still bitter at my dad for his secret marriage and subsequent moving into her million dollar mansion and throwing my brother out. but also partially because jordan started following all of dad’s rules, got himself cleaned up (he moved in with his girlfriend, and i think being out of mom’s house had a lot to do with getting over his addictions), started studying computer science, found a really good software engineering job, suddenly dad approved of him. i also partially antagonized rich bitch wife by doing silly things like wearing black leather pants and the most provocative clothes i owned whenever i went over to their house. rich bitch was a very simple narrow minded person with a lot of prejudices. i imagine i was not seen as a good influence on her two younger daughters. and eventually they stopped seeing me altogether. even when i was living in washington for all of 2017 - the only time i ever saw dad was when he’d come visit my grandparents alone. the day before i took grandma on the train to move to ohio, we were supposed to all have dinner together at our family’s favorite place to eat out - crossroads mall - and the rich bitch refused to show up. that’s how petty she is. she also is so dumb she’s under the delusion that kids get into drugs if they don’t have dogs (????) so that’s why she forced my dad to get a dog for her spoiled brat youngest when the girl went into high school. my dad dislikes animals, so i will say one of the highlights of this marriage is seeing my dad become a dog person. the rich bitch and her daughters mostly ignore the dog, but my dad is so attached to max that he even lets the little puppy sit in his lap while driving. anyway, anyone who thinks dogs are the sole answer to preventing drug addictions can go to hell.

yeah, blah blah blah, to sum up its WEIRD for my dad to suddenly be texting my brother and i unprompted, and asking me about my life and my plans. i dont really know how to deal. i miss him. he was always the closest person in my life to the point where even when i moved away for college, i still assumed after i graduated i’d just move back in with dad so it was only four years being gone, cause why would i ever want to live anywhere else?. i kept thinking if i could hit some level of success that he would approve of, that maybe eventually i could become somebody his rich bitch wife would associate with. but that never happened, obviously. 

[illusionfm-blog]

*    𝖘𝖚𝖋𝖋𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖌  ,  chapter  ii  :  the  second  part  ft  .  emerson  hemmingway  ,  ya  favorite  fake  ass  !  intelligent  n  powerful  ,  no  nonsense  ,  problem  child  but  aint  nobody  gotta  b  knowin  that  bc  she  won’t  make  it  known  .  she’s  playing  some  dangerous  games  but  that  big  head  of  hers  is  convinced  she’s  not  abt  to  get  caught  and  lowkey  ?  if  anyone  can  pull  it  off  ,  it’d  be  her  !  

⋆    ╰    another     year     at     hollingsworth     ,  another     year     of     the  big     six rivalry     .     i     hear     that  EMERSON    HEMMINGWAY     is     ensuring  CHI    MU    OMEGA     gets     a     solid     pledge     class     and     stays     at     the     top     of     the     ranks     .  oh     ,     you’re     not     familiar     with  HER  ?  EM     is     the  TAYLOR    HILL     look     alike     from  CHICAGO    ,    ILLINOIS     .     a    part     of     PC  ‘16     ,  she  is     majoring     in  PRE-MEDICAL    BIOCHEMISTRY        and     has     plans     to  PURSUE    MEDICAL    SCHOOL    AND    HER    LIFELONG    AMBITION    OF    BECOMING    A    SURGEON     after     undergrad     .     it     makes     sense     they     pledged     their     house     ,     their  FERVID     &  ERUDITE     attributes     make     them     perfect     matches     .     however     ,     their  MENDACIOUS     &  UNRELENTING     attributes     keep     their     name     alive     on  greek     rank     .     if     you     don’t     catch     them     dancing     to  RHIANNON    -    FLEETWOOD    MAC     at     a     fraternity     band     party     this     year     ,     you’ll     be     sure     to     catch     them     nursing     their     morning     hangover     at  THE    CHI    O    HOUSE    .  cheers     to     another     wild     semester    !

tw  :  mentions  of  drug  use  ,  mental  illness

⋆  ╰    𝑺  𝑻  𝑨  𝑻  𝑰  𝑺  𝑻  𝑰  𝑪  𝑺   .

𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍    𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 :     emerson  elaine  hemmingway  (  formerly  katsopoulous  ) 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬     :    em  ,  emmy  ,  ems 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆    /    𝒂𝒈𝒆 :    august  12    ,    twenty  -  one 𝒛𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒄     :    leo 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓    𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚    /    𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒔     :     cisfemale    identifying    with    she  /  her    /    hers  pronouns 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏     :     openly    bisexual    and    biromantic  ,  no  preference 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏    :    pre-medical  biochemistry  major    at    hu  ,  forward  for  the  hu  women’s  ice  hockey  team  ,  academic  success  center  advisor  &  personal  tutor  ,  personal  trainer  ,  aspiring  surgeon 𝒉𝒐𝒈𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔    𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆    :    slytherin 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏    𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅    𝒃𝒚     :     fiona  &  lip  gallagher    from  shameless  ,  debbie  ocean  from  oceans  8  ,  spencer  hastings  from  pll  ,  princess  bubblegum  &  marceline  from  adventure  time  ,  natasha  romanoff    &  carol  danvers  from  the  mcu  ,    meredith  grey  &  alex  karev  from  grey’s  anatomy 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒔    :         -    distant  ,  mendacious  ,  unrelenting  ,  severe  ,  obsessive  ,  easily  goaded  ,  defensive  ,  pessimistic  .

+        fevrent  ,  erudite  ,  observant  ,  level-headed  ,  astute  ,  perceptive  ,  polished  ,  ambitious  ,  capable  .

⋆  ╰      𝑨  𝑵  𝑻  𝑬  𝑪  𝑬  𝑫  𝑬  𝑵  𝑻 .

more  bullet  points  ,  for  the  𝖜𝖎𝖓

emerson  elaine  katsopoulous  comes  into  the  world  on  an  uncharacteristically  warm  chicago  night  ,  testing  positive  for  opioids  ,  a  father  who’s  already  forgotten  her  mother’s  name  as  he  rots  in  a  prison  cell  ,  and  no  reason  for  anyone  to  believe  she’d  ever  amount  to  anything  .

custody  is  awarded  to  her  grandpa  ,  christos  ,  and  pretty  much  the  only  family  she’s  ever  known  becomes  the  ratty  neighborhood  she  grows  up  spending  her  evenings  in  .  christos  surviving  on  disability  and  doing  odd  construction  jobs  here  and  there  under  the  table  for  some  spare  spending  money  ,  emerson  spends  most  of  her  days  under  the  supervision  of  the  dysfunctional  families  in  her  neighborhood  ,  all  fucked  up  in  their  own  ways  but  doing  their  absolute  best  .  she’s  reading  the  label  of  the  cigarette  boxes  she  plays  with  as  toy  cars  by  the  age  of  3  ,  chatty  and  curious  ,  always  inquiring  why  the  man  in  the  street  is  laying  there  with  a  spoon  in  his  hand  or  why  the  ladies  on  the  corner  at  night  are  “  dressed  like  its  warm  when  it’s  really  really  cold  outside  ”

christos  enforces  a  strict  no-visitation  policy  for  emerson’s  mom  and  ensures  the  whole  neighborhood  keeps  it  up  ,  although  there’s  very  little  he  can  do  when  the  vagabond  woman  seeks  emerson  out  on  the  playground  at  school  with  playground  attendants  who  clearly  don’t  care  enough  about  their  jobs  to  pay  attention  

one  of  emerson’s  earliest  formative  memories  is  her  mother  “  picking  her  up  ”  from  school  and  telling  her  they  were  off  to  go  on  an  adventure  ,  causing  an  amber  alert  to  be  put  out  for  the  then  seven-year  old  emmy  .  watching  her  mother  abandoning  her  on  the  sidewalk  to  bolt  away  at  the  sound  of  the  sirens  approaching  is  something  emerson  recognizes  as  the  beginning  of  her  trust  issues

the  older  she  gets  ,  the  more  she  acts  out  ,  landing  her  eventually  in  a  behavioral  school  in  downtown  chicago  where  she  spends  her  days  learning  just  about  nothing  in  class  and  acts  out  even  more  severely  .  christos  is  at  his  wit’s  end  with  the  visitations  from  police  and  her  behavioral  officer  ,  even  a  brief  stint  in  juvie  not  being  enough  to  curb  the  girl’s  enthusiasm  for  trouble  .  

aggression  towards  authority  figures  was  a  major  complaint  ,  but  the  most  severe  issue  became  emerson’s  quick  tongue  and  sharp  observation  .  after  having  learned  a  few  tricks  of  the  trade  from  other  students  at  the  behavioral  school  ,  she  finds  herself  increasingly  talented  at  conning  the  absolute  living  shit  out  of  other  people  .  at  first  it’s  small  things  ,  trading  academic  favors  for  weed  and  somehow  selling  that  for  twice  its  worth  to  the  gullible  students  ,  finding  ways  to  forge  signatures  on  things  she  needs  signed  by  a  guardian  ,  to  the  more  elaborate  and  high  scale  ,  such  as  taking  the  SATs  for  private  school  students  in  the  next  county  over  and  making  BANK  ,  conning  boys  into  trading  off  their  rolexes  which  she  later  pawns  .  

christos  puts  her  in  ice  hockey  at  the  recommendation  of  her  juvenile  probation  officer  at  the  age  of  13  ,  which  proves  to  be  one  of  her  saving  graces  .  her  coach  becomes  a  notable  figure  in  her  life  ,  smacking  the  sense  into  the  chaotic  child’s  mind  that  she  can  accomplish  so  much  more  than  she  gives  herself  credit  for  .  her  behavior  interventionist  recommends  an  adhd  screening  for  which  she  finally  gets  a  diagnosis  ,  and  a  prescription  for  adderall  ,  which  marks  the  beginning  of  her  transformation  .

just  before  entering  high  school  ,  christos  and  emerson  are  contacted  by  a  woman  who  identifies  herself  as  her  long  lost  aunt  .  as  it  turns  out  ,  her  hockey  coach  had  done  some  digging  and  found  that  her  father  ,  a  man  em  had  never  once  spoken  to  ,  had  an  estranged  family  located  in  ohio  ,  moguls  of  a  local  architecture  chain  with  political  ties  and  very  well  off  .  wanting  to  branch  out  into  more  metropolitan  areas  ,  they  mention  their  interest  in  moving  to  chicago  ,  and  concoct  a  plan  that  changes  emerson’s  life  

thanks  to  some  insider  ties  ,  her  politician  aunt  daphne  has  completely  erased  her  felon  brother  from  any  connection  to  her  ,  and  has  forged  a  life  for  herself  with  her  architect  husband  .  feeling  a  duty  to  her  estranged  niece  (  and  preferring  to  get  ahead  of  any  potential   surprises  that  could  come  from  having  secret  family  derailing  her  political  career  )  daphne  and  christos  come  to  the  agreement  that  emerson  can  be  “  adopted  ”  by  her  aunt  ,  living  as  her  daughter  and  trading  the  slums  she  grew  up  in  for  a  life  of  luxury  and  illusion  .  emerson  learns  to  tell  the  lie  with  ease  ,  “  i  lived  with  my  grandpa  instead  of  my  mom  and  dad  due  to  some  health  complications  that  were  best  treated  at  the  university  of  chicago  medical  center  ,  but  they  spent  as  much  time  as  possible  here  ”

in  order  for  the  lie  to  work  ,  and  possibly  one  of  the  most  difficult  moments  of  emerson’s  life  ,  daphne  regretfully  has  her  cut  off  contact  with  everyone  from  her  “  old  life  .  ”  letting  go  of  a  felon  father  and  schizophrenic  drug  addicted  mother  was  easy  due  to  never  having  attached  herself  in  the  first  place  ,  but  abandoning  the  families  that  raised  her  and  the  hockey  coach  who  changed  her  life  was  among  the  most  painful  thing  she’s  ever  done

she  changes  her  last  name  ,  moves  to  the  upper  class  suburb  of  chicacgo’s  finest  ,  her  con  artist  tendency  making  her  transition  seamless  and  the  illusion  of  fitting  in  so  much  more  than  an  illusion  .  learning  from  those  around  her  ,  emerson  learns  the  exact  things  to  say  ,  the  precise  ways  to  move  ,  and  with  a  newly  funded  bank  account  thanks  to  her  “  parents  ,  ”  she  pulls  off  the  act  with  ease  .  she  moves  up  into  a  premier  hockey  league  ,  achieves  grades  that  catch  the  attention  of  countless  schools  ,  and  transforms  into  a  driven  and  determined  steam  train  ,  with  a  one  way  ticket  into  a  legacy  she’s  built  from  the  ground  up

hollingsworth  u  became  her  most  appealing  option  after  touring  the  premises  and  finding  the  competitiveness  of  an  ivy  league  without  the  social  ineptitude  — equal  parts  ritzy  glam  and  fierce  ambition  ,  hu  seemed  to  embody  everything  emerson  was  seeking  without  the  pretentiousness  of  the  other  schools  groveling  at  her  feet  to  have  her

her  first  few  years  are  a  breeze  ,  her  family  connections  meaning  she’s  set  up  in  countless  places  to  achieve  whatever  she  wants  .  she  gets  an  internship  at  the  medical  center  doing  research  by  her  sophomore  year  ,  is  a  starter  on  their  women’s  hockey  team  ,  and  is  enjoying  the  social  aspect  of  her  sorority  time

shit  TRULY  hits  the  fan  the  summer  before  her  senior  year  ,  when  daphne’s  campaign  for  mayor  of  chicago  is  rattled  by  an  investigation  that  exposes  her  senior  assistant  for  having  embezzled  from  the  city  .  though  daphne  herself  is  innocent  ,  the  political  climate  pushes  for  a  closer  eye  on  the  hemmingways  and  their  dealings  .  a  crisis  manager  (  literally  olivia  pope  lmao  )  does  her  own  research  and  before  emerson  knows  it  ,  she’s  suddenly  thrust  into  her  senior  year  with  absolutely  no  financial  support  from  her  family  .  as  it  turns  out  ,  due  to  the  corners  cut  by  not  formally  nor  legally  adopting  emerson  (  as  it  would  have  left  a  paper  trail  )  ,  the  financial  aid  daphne  provided  would  route  in  a  way  that  would  not  line  up  with  the  birth  certificate  that  showed  emerson’s  birth  parents  as  people  other  than  her  fake  parents  .  not  wanting  to  risk  a  scandal  that  would  make  national  headlines  without  doubt  ,  daphne  and  emerson  devise  an  alternative  where  em  uses  her  academic  and  athletic  prowess  to  earn  scholarships  to  cover  her  schooling  ,  which  can’t  be  traced  and  leave  no  red  flags  for  anyone  trying  to  dig  up  dirt  .  

emerson  knows  she  can’t  let  anyone  think  she’s  struggling  ,  both  for  her  own  ego  and  for  the  sake  of  her  aunt’s  campaign  ,  which  is  why  she’s  pushing  herself  to  the  edge  to  keep  up  both  her  academics  and  her  athletics  to  maintain  these  scholarships  .  while  these  cover  the  basic  costs  ,  keeping  up  the  lifestyle  she’s  had  requires  a  bit  more  effort  ,  which  is  where  it  seems  this  tiger  won’t  change  her  stripes  no  matter  how  well  she  had  hidden  them  for  so  long  .  what  started  as  simple  tutoring  turned  into  a  teleportation  back  to  her  behavioral  school  in  chicago  but  on  a  wider  scale  —  she  sells  her  adderall  prescription  to  make  quick  cash  and  offers  her  services  for  fake  test  taking  or  last-minute  essay  writing  .  it’s  high  risk  ,  but  also  high  reward  ,  and  emerson  has  always  thrived  in  high  pressure  situations

⋆  ╰      𝑨  𝑵  𝑨  𝑳  𝒀  𝑺  𝑰  𝑺  .

personality  wise  ,  em  is  known  for  being  the  cool  calm  and  collected  type  ,  who’s  a  bit  of  a  mystery  to  most  .  she’s  an  illusion  and  lives  the  lie  she’s  been  telling  as  if  its  her  second  skin  ,  sometimes  losing  what  she  believes  in  at  her  core  .

she’s  deeply  ambitious  and  wants  to  be  a  surgeon  ,  her  dream  since  she  was  a  child  as  medicine  was  the  most  stimulating  thing  possible  to  her  .  she  did  so  much  research  on  her  “  fake  illness ”   to  sell  her  story  that  she  ended  up  falling  in  love  with  it  ,  and  has  been  set  on  medicine  ever  since

this  aggressive  ambition  can  also  show  as  fixation  or  obsession  ,  and  emerson  has  a  severe  problem  with  not  knowing  where  to  let  go  .  while  she  seems  cool  and  detatched  ,  she’s  obsessed  with  never  feeling  like  she  could  have  done  more  and  will  always  be  the  girl  who  can  be  goaded  into  taking  things  too  far  ,  often  putting  her  in  dangerous  situations  that  she  has  to  figure  her  own  way  out  of

she  tends  to  take  everything  kinda  seriously  and  despite  being  p  relaxed  ,  her  perfectionist  type  a  side  makes  itself  very  apparent  in  the  day-to-day  of  her  life  .  she  knows  how  to  play  hard  and  enjoys  herself  a  good  party  ,  but  even  in  the  way  she  plays  beer  pong  she  hates  to  fail

has  a  sexy  deep  voice  n  an  even  SEXIER  deadpan  sarcastic  wit  .  ..  .  def  the  friend  to  call  out  bs  without  batting  an  eye  ,  usually  wearing  an  oversized  hoodie  n  gucci  slides  ,  em  is  the  literal  intersection  of  boujie  and  casual   PHEW

having  such  an  unstable  upbringing  and  so  many  shitty  experiences  at  such  a  young  age  have  hardened  her  and  made  her  deeply  unwilling  to  trust  others  .  she  tends  to  keep  the  world  at  a  distance  ,  and  even  her  closest  friends  always  admit  it  feels  like  they’re  still  an  arms  length  from  her  deepest  layer  .  emerson  is  pretty  sure  the  only  person  to  ever  see  her  cry  is  her  grandpa  ,  and  intends  to  likely  keep  it  that  way

instead  of  freaking  out  ,  em  shuts  down  !  v  unemotional  !  she  just  detatches  and  tries  to  be  calculated  which  tends  to  make  people  think  she’s  some  shitty  robot  who  doesnt  give  a  fuck  about  anyone  but  herself  bc  of  her  “  rich  girl  upbringing ”  which  is  true  to  an  extent  ,  but  nobody  will  ever  know  the  true  backstory  that  explains  her  emotional  detachment  and  secrecy

in  a  way  ,  even  though  she  has  the  world  convinced  she’s  this  composed  individual  ,  she  still  always  thinks  of  herself  as  a  chaotic  problem  child  which  only  fuels  her  determination  even  more  ,  often  to  the  extent  that  she  fucking  burns  herself  out  .  she’s  incredibly  cynical  and  has  a  p  negative  self  perception  because  she’s  just  that  fucking  hard  on  herself

has  never  really  been  in  love  !  she’s  never  let  anyone  close  enough  to  her  that  she  risks  getting  attached  enough  to  get  hurt  ,  which  means  relationships  are  usually  rather  shallow  and  end  when  she  gets  bored  or  when  they  get  tired  of  waiting  for  her  to  open  up

stressed  as  SHIT  trying  to  keep  up  her  illusion  for  her  own  ego’s  sake  and  that  of  her  family  !  she’s  ashamed  of  her  upbringing  and  her  aunt  has  always  been  pretty  good  to  her  ,  and  em  recognizes  that  if  daphne  wouldn’t  have  appeared  ,  emerson  would  probably  have  ended  up  like  either  one  of  her  parents  .  people  have  noticed  that  emerson  seems  a  lil  more  anal  than  usual  ,  but  the  con  in  her  makes  it  easy  to  convince  everyone  she’s  just  stressed  with  the  prospect  of  graduation  and  medical  school  

[emma-rebel-me-blog]

Addiction Treatment Centers in Cincinnati

Ohio's third-biggest city is Cincinnati and 66th biggest city in the US with 301,301 inhabitants. The city lies in an awesome area on the north bank of the Ohio Waterway, and Licking Waterway is a halfway safe, 488 km (303-mile-long ) stream of the Ohio Waterway in Kentucky put the US.

Despite providing exciting and amazing places, regrettably, people in Cincinnati are currently grappling with a high opioid abuse problem. If you or your loved one is struggling with addiction. Don't worry there are multiple rehab centers in Cincinnati.

Below I have mentioned some of the rehab centers in Cincinnati 

1. Cincinnati Recovery Center

At Cincinnati Recovery Center, they give various sorts of treatment projects and proof-based chiropractic strategies like chiropractic alterations, exercise-based recuperation, footing, rub treatment, electric incitement, cold laser, vibration treatment, and nourishing directing. They endeavor to assist people in achieving their objectives. Their custom-fitted projects consider customers' level of wellbeing, necessities, and objectives. With their gathering of arrangements, they need to find what works extraordinarily for every single person.

Center for Addiction Treatment was set up in 1970, they give access to both serious outpatient and private administrations, including a devoted specialist and all day, everyday access to the expertly prepared nursing group. They give a sympathetic, qualified staff by utilizing the cutting edge logical progressions to give treatment and offer a perfect, safe air. They offer an assortment of thoughts to help so customers can find what projects or administrations suit best with their capacities, character, and abilities.

At Opiate Recovery Alliance, they are devoted to helping individuals who are battling with substance enslavement. As per the office, passionate trouble and struggle are frequently the basic issues of dependence. Their group of specialists and psychiatries endeavor to assist their customers with finding the association between these difficulties and their ideal method of recuperation. They will take part in a community-oriented strategy for investigative and ability working to help, improve and encourage the development required for prosperous recuperation.

At BrightView, their main goal is to give the required help to help individuals accomplish both physical and mental objectives. It is an outpatient reliance medication practice dependent on clinical master practices and results measures. They advantage their customers by giving a medication-free condition and bolster group. Using the helpful technique in blend with mental and social administrations, addicts can find a way to significant long haul recuperation from substance misuse enslavement or reliance.

In 1995, Bethesda and Good Samaritan Hospital combined to construct TriHealth with around 11,500 colleagues. With a mission to upgrade the wellbeing state of 00the individuals they serve. They proceed with their objective by giving a wide scope of wellbeing related projects, including training, counteractive action, and health. This office gives an approach to recuperation to those at risk of losing their kids, professions, and wellbeing to substance misuse dependency.

Recovery is possible, so please do not struggle alone. There are multiple drug rehab Cincinnati oh offer a wide scope of treatment programs. What's more, they will research dependent on a person's substance fixation and give Sympathetic direction. When you or your family is fighting with substance misuse like illicit drug use, call or visit treatment focus' affirmations group and find how they can help you to recoup from dependence and accomplish long haul restraint.

[fatlossexpertblog]

Unique Fitness Franchise Fit Body Boot Camp

On a regular basis I encounter clients in the store or on the road as well as it’s great to understand people around me in this digital what is the best gym franchise to own, separated world. As a matter of fact, among the factors that I connect our success is that our participants really feel much more attached to the community also. How did you get the word out when you initially opened up? Digital advertising, sustaining community occasions What suggestions would you provide to new franchisees? If you have the possibility to function or offer at another franchisee’s area to find out the ropes from within, do it.

Most of our hands-on franchisees additionally get certified as teachers so they’re able to enter as well as instruct when there’s a staffing trouble. If you can be the person that can load in for any type of kind of role in business it will make you extra self-dependent in a time of staffing emergencies. buying a franchise gym

Finally – be familiar with fellow franchisees! They’re finest geared up to lend a helping hand or a pleasant ear. For additional information on Club Pilates, or to try a free of charge 30 min introductory class at Club Pilates Tarzana in Los Angeles club fitness franchise cost, check out http://www.clubpilates.com . All of it began with Joe Gold throughout the magnificence days of “Muscle Coastline” in Venice, CA. Joe aided to build the connection in between physical fitness as well as Hollywood, and blazed a trail followed later on by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, and also more. His spirit of seriously enjoyable physical fitness survives today with Globe Fitness center.

Also Known As, Your Competitors’s Worst Problem Many thanks to among our special collaborations, this fitness franchise chance consists of a groundbreaking advertising technology called “Geofencing.” Below’s what Geofencing does for you: whenever somebody in your area approaches a local health and fitness service– also if it’s someplace various other than your Fit Body Bootcamp– our system will certainly geo target them and advertise our best-performing offers for YOUR Fit Body Boot Camp on their social media sites feeds.

Grind Fitness, New york city, ranked initially in best in course for the physical fitness classification in the 2018 Franchisee Contentment Awards list placed out by Franchise Organisation Testimonial. The checklist included nine various other physical fitness organisations. “We have actually been privileged sufficient to be a five-year recipient of the FBR 50 Franchisee Complete Satisfaction Award, however this is the very first time we have been rated as number one,” stated Ben Midgley, CEO of Grind Franchising.

Franchise Service Testimonial surveyed approximately 30,000 franchisees (standing for 334 brand names) to recognize the top 50 franchises across 4 dimension courses for its annual Franchisee Complete satisfaction Awards. Franchisees were evaluated on 33 standard inquiries concerning their experience and also satisfaction concerning critical areas of their franchise systems, including training and also assistance, operations, franchisor/franchisee relations, and also economic possibility.

” The firms on this year’s checklist are the leading carrying out brands in the areas crucial to their franchisees’ success.” Learn which fitness franchises made the checklist in this clickable gallery, or see the full checklist here . (Physical fitness franchises begin on web page 14.).

Best Fitness Franchise Chance– Fit Body Boot Camp Own the very best Fitness Franchise Fit Body Bootcamp over 700 fitness center franchise places throughout the United States, Canada, and also Australia.

Sector: —————- Automotive Organisation Opportunities Business Services Kid’s Cleansing & Upkeep Computer System & Net Education And Learning Food Franchise Consulting Franchise Financing Health & Health And Fitness” Health Club Medical Care & Elder Treatment High Capital Residence Based Company Home Services Affordable Mobile Multi Device & Area Programmer Employee & Staffing Pet Retail SBA Authorized Small Company Sports & Recreation Traveling, Cruise Ship & Hotel Professional’s Women’s Place: —————- Canadian Locations International Locations Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas The Golden State Colorado Connecticut Delaware Area Of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York City North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Cash Money Required: —————- $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000 $90,000 $100,000 $150,000 $200,000 $250,000 $300,000 $350,000 $400,000 $450,000 $500,000 $550,000 $600,000 $650,000 $700,000 $750,000 $1,000,000 + Search “.

Annually Franchise Company Evaluation testimonial releases its top 200 franchise, and we desire to take a look at its 2019 list. Particularly, we will certainly look at the leading 10 health and fitness franchises worth purchasing for this year. Franchise Business Testimonial is a leading study and publication firm in the franchise market which concentrates on franchisee efficiency as well as contentment.

The main purposes of the Franchise Service Evaluation are to enhance openness in the franchise market as well as help franchise brand names in achieving their efficiency objectives. According to these 2 goals, Franchise Service Review has collaborated with well-known franchise brand names such as IHOP, Snap-on Tools, Century 21, Wyndham Hotels, The Maids, and also Quick Indicators.

If you purchase any among these finest physical fitness franchise business, you will certainly be guaranteed of high returns. However, for you to prosper in the fitness franchise market; you need to exercise due diligence during spending along with handle your fitness center effectively.

Earth Fitness is among the biggest as well as fastest expanding fitness franchises in the U.S. As well as the company is additionally currently increasing into markets in Canada and also the Dominican Republic. Franchisees must have an entrepreneurial spirit, yet experience in fitness franchising isn’t a requirement. Apart from the preliminary franchise cost, which can vary depending upon the number of units you mean to open and also your location, the company collects aristocracies and also marketing fees annually too.

The overall preliminary investment can vary from $101,245 to $490,100, with a franchise cost of $37,500. And also there are price cuts available for multi-unit advancements. At any moment Fitness also provides franchisees with training, an on-line procedures manual, aid with market option as well as more. Curves is a health and wellness franchise that concentrates on creating a distinct and also supportive atmosphere for females who intend to get fit.

And franchisees can run precede as little as 1,200 to keep other prices low. Curves likewise gives training and also recurring support. With even more than 50 years of background and 720+ gyms in countries all over the world, With locations around the UNITED STATE, Grind Physical Fitness is just one of one of the most well-known names in the fitness franchise video game.

The company also accumulates nobilities, as well as supplies layout solutions, support and also more. FIT 4MOM offers a couple of different franchise versions for those curious about helping mommies get in form. You can begin a FIT 4MOM franchise for as low as $5495, depending upon the kind of possibility that interests you.

Fit Body Boot Camp is a company that intends to use enjoyable workouts at its franchise areas. Costs to open up a franchise differs by size as well as location. However the company provides training, support as well as also technology configuration services, in addition to secured territories so you recognize you will not have to handle inner competitors in the future.

Certainly focused around boxing related fitness activities, TITLE presently has greater than 100 fitness clubs around the UNITED STATE, with space for development in a lot more markets. If you want the brand-new barre physical fitness craze that includes dancing passionate exercises, Pure Barre is an excellent franchise alternative. The preliminary franchise cost is $46,500.

For franchisees that are much more thinking about pilates, Club Pilates deals franchise opportunities around the U.S. The company presently has greater than 350 places in numerous states, with 360 even more slated to open up in 2017. Club Pilates supplies training, site selection support, ongoing assistance and also more. Max Muscle is a sports nutrition shop that supplies franchise opportunities in various markets.

Cost can vary depending on your place and also various other aspects. However the company provides franchisees with its very own excellent quality brand of supplements, along with training as well as support. Health And Fitness 1440 offers franchise opportunities that can be personalized to every franchisee. So the ahead of time expenses vary. Yet the company offers training and support to franchisees throughout the arrangement process and also beyond.

syndicated from Unique Fitness Franchise Fit Body Boot Camp via Jason Hart

syndicated from Unique Fitness Franchise Fit Body Boot Camp via Fat Loss Expert

[dorseygordon68-blog]

Power Rangers Zeo (Heather Ray).

The other night I sat with my family members around the table reminiscing and also telling old stories. We worked with our golf swing with equipment that measured our power in watts, and also took advantage of the complete line of Kinesis makers (their unique resistance cables allow for better series of activity). Power is depicted here as a shaping pressure, capable of generating its very own authenticity - whether it be possessed by mine proprietors, absentee companies, local elites, or even union bosses. The functional power cleaner provides a performance of a commercial equipment that utilizes 3.0 kilowatts induction motor with its 3 axial-piston brass pumps that helps generates an astonishing 2300 PSI stress power blasting 10 liters per minute water circulation. Microsoft billionaire Expense Gates has actually stated there is a 10% chance kite power can be the magic remedy" for international renewable energy demands. Additionally it has some filler which is unusual since this flick is hardly 80 mins which most likely offers you a respectable concept of how little possible the story has in this flick to be any kind of good. The fundamental structure was integrated in a workshop outside the city and then lifted right into the Colosseum by a giant crane. In http://verde-dieta.info/prolesan-pure-recenzii-pret-cum-functioneaza-recenzii-unde-sa-cumparati/ acquired rival chain LA Health and fitness as well as struck up a collaboration with Olympian Sir Chris Hoy, that is a special adviser as well as brand ambassador" to Pure Health club. Stories of the trip over and how thrilled he was to discover everything on the big ship (a seafarer, making the most of his inquisitiveness, convinced him to lift some papers pushing deck, to see what was below ...). Stories of working as a journeyman footwear technician in cities and communities across upstate New york city as well as Ohio (in one store, the foreman placed my grandfather and his turret in the front window so passers-by would quit to view exactly how quick as well as well he did his job). On the one hand, it consists of passages that John S. Wright could have written, as when it emphatically mentions, Chicago is currently facing the momentous truth that fifty years for this reason, when the children of to-day are at the elevation of their power as well as influence, this city will be bigger than London: that is, bigger than any existing city." On the various other hand, it declines the concept that the city's success can or should be assessed in terms of numbers alone, or that the future would certainly care for itself. Starting with our original list of about 51 health clubs (assembled from our round-up of the very best gyms of 2013, publicly available statistics, as well as other expert lists), we asked you to elect your favorites - likewise enabling write-in ballots to make up any type of health clubs that weren't pointed out on the initial listing. As soon as and also they don't have to all be on the same team either, you do not have to strike a fitness center alone; multiple individuals can attack a fitness center at. EPA established that the combination of utilizing of smokestack controls as well as contamination credit histories from shifting generation amongst plants makes up a well-demonstrated system of discharge reduction, one that is commonly utilized by the power industry both to meet inner targets and also prior government and also state guidelines. Freely based upon real occasions, Funny of Power had its North American launching at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. The platform lift can be found in a huge range of different models, each one with various attributes that make it far better fit for a details sort of job. Les plates-formes Power Plate ® constituent une parfaite alternate put les personnes actives qui n'ont pas beaucoup de temps à consacrer à un entraînement trois fois the same level semaine, voire plus. Control is a crucial element of the lift system and because of this they commonly provide power assisted drive. Some health clubs only enable teens to workout in the assigned youth facility area, while other gyms permit teens the exact same freedom to make use of the equipment as the adults. The originator of this franchise business identified that there was a huge market for a gym such as Curves and undoubtedly has taken advantage of a found diamond. You might be missing out if you are guilty of wrapping up your health club session as well as avoiding out on a cool down or stretch. Keltner's research suggests that women are not immune from this mystery, which claims that the very qualities that help us look for power-like beauty, compassion, or humbleness -are the ones that having power could harm. The power in an organization lies with supervisors and managers who have actually been enabled within the business framework, to make sure that the company could operate effectively. However nonverbally presenting power during the interaction - now that's an additional thing with different prescriptions and also end results. By the end of March, president Peter Roberts believes Pure Gym will have surpassed the 103 total of UK gyms run by Virgin Energetic, the present primary driver. This stair lift has a lifting ability of 300 lb or 136 kg. A flip-up swivel seat that secures placement and also constant stress buttons are various other functions of this straight stair lift. While a lot of exclusive health clubs serve teenagers and grownups, a couple of select health clubs just enable teens. Picked this for ideas to supplement my barbell-based routine, for when I can not get to the health club, and to help my wife with suggestions to do in your home & health club. His afternoon training sessions at the gym have actually permitted more youthful fighters to work along with a master, as well as interested onlookers to see. Teaching your staff members all facets of power device training as well as security could minimize the opportunities of injury and also maintain your workforce effective as well as risk-free. The fitness center consists of weights, cardiovascular tools, security balls, machines and also resistance bands. Mirrors on all walls do not simply mimic the look of many health clubs - they actually make the room look bigger. A new wave of thinking of power exposes that it is offered to us by others as opposed to got. There are few better exercises for targeting full-body power compared to the medicine-ball bang. Most of the gyms need their participants to abide by the laws to be able to go into and utilize the facilities. No, in spite of prominent notions and the common urban legends, Pfeffer competes that the path to power is substantially various than the prominent concepts we were raised to believe. If you see that you are obtaining squeezed in order to spend for your fitness center Sydney subscription then you are bound to pull out after a few days. It is just a partial settlement to know that the paradox also implies that political hopefuls such as Donald Trump - angry, manipulative harasses - are less likely to acquire power to start with. If you are presently not making use of any kind of sort of eco-friendly power and intend to conserve electricity, you could still decrease your costs by disconnecting unutilized home appliances. Greetings Diona", he claimed pleasantly, as he came level with her, making her once more so aware of his figure as he looked down upon her. After years of lack of exercise, Ashley returned as the Yellow Space Ranger to help the Galaxy Rangers battle the Psycho Rangers. Individuals who pledged to stroll were 3 times more likely to show up vs. those just saying they would stroll. From scenting too excellent to filling out a large dimension water bottle when there is a line of people behind you, read on to see if you're guilty of any one of these 16 health club pet dog peeves. The Gym stated the variety of inexpensive health clubs across the country had enhanced to 319 this year from 58 in 2011. That said, the plot brings me to my 2nd problem - one which maintains Absolute Power from being a 5-star book. The health club also contains 450 items of cardio workout tools as well as dumbbells and makers. Yes, you heard me. We're paying triple numbers a month and also struggling atop lunar looking equipment in order to replicate easy youth searches like jumping rope, hula hooping and also playing tag. After the Power Rangers involve her rescue, she goes back to being the principal of Reefside High and is disclosed to have actually been a close personal good friend of Anton Mercer. Raise takes us on an enlightening scenic tour through time, starting with the ancient Greeks, who made a cult of the body-- words gym derives from the Greek word for naked"-- as well as following Roman legions, middle ages knights, Persian pahlevans, as well as eighteenth-century German gymnasts.

[princeofchronicpain]

Schools' Active Shooter Plans Don’t Include Students and Teachers with Disabilities. They Need To.

Written by Kelley O'Brien on May 24, 2018

Shelter-in-place protocols can be difficult for students with disabilities, which make up 14 percent of students in U.S. public schools.

Courtney*, a student with cerebral palsy, had a bad experience during a recent active shooting drill.

Her class was instructed to lock and barricade the door, and then hide in a closet attached to the classroom. “I use a [wheel]chair to get around. We couldn’t fit my chair in the closet, so [another student] grabbed me and dragged me in the closet. I sprained my ankle and had a lot of pain.”

The drill used in Courtney’s school is the “shelter-in-place” or “lockdown” strategy that many schools employ. It proved to be very ineffective in Courtney’s situation.

Not only was the “shelter” they used too small to accommodate her and her wheelchair, but the teacher and students in her class had no training on how to help her and other students with disabilities in the case of a crisis.

“My friends [with disabilities] had a hard time [during the drill] too,” Courtney told Healthline. “It was fake, but it was so scary.”

Active shooter plans that are based on lockdown strategies have proven to be ineffective when it comes to students with disabilities like Courtney and her friends.

Not only do lockdowns involve locking classroom doors and hiding, but they also require students to be silent. That can be very difficult for students who don’t understand what’s happening — like children with autism, for example.

Students and teachers with disabilities feel forgotten

Failing to consider people with disabilities in planning for attacks not only affects students, but teachers, too. Many selfless teachers with disabilities worry that they’ll impact their able-bodied students’ safety.

Take Marissa Schimmoeller, a teacher in Delphos, Ohio. Students at Delphos Jefferson High School told their teacher they’d carry her in the event of an active shooter.

Schimmoeller has cerebral palsy and is a wheelchair user. She wrote a Facebook post about the experience and it quickly went viral.

While her students’ sentiment of wanting to protect their teacher is noble, the need for a better system for active shooters that includes students and teachers with disabilities is evident. Students shouldn’t have to be responsible for keeping their teacher alive.

“My school district doesn’t have a plan for our disabled students [for active shooter drills],” Cathy*, a special education teacher from Indiana told Healthline.

“[My students] have unique needs the average student doesn’t have. It feels like I’m the only one here that thinks about [that].”

Cathy, who also has a disability, has been advocating for her students since she started teaching a few years ago. “[My students] have unique needs the average student doesn’t have. It feels like I’m the only one here that thinks about [that].”

While Cathy’s school has been lucky so far and hasn’t had to deal with any major acts of violence while she’s worked there, she has concerns about what would happen if there was a gunman.

“I have autistic students that might be unable to follow directions, a deaf student unable to hear directions, and students with mobility issues. The drills we do are difficult enough for them. [I worry about] what would happen if it wasn’t just a drill,” she says.

Schools need individualized plans to consider their unique student body

Cathy’s fears are valid. We’re not even halfway through 2018, and CNN reports that there’s been an average of more than one school shooting a week so far.

Students with disabilities make up a significant number of students, hovering around 14 percent of all students currently enrolled in U.S public schools. This statistic includes a variety of disabilities, including autism, chronic illnesses, intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and more.

“The U.S. continues to have a problem with disability,” Cathy says. “It bleeds over into everything. [Now] it bleeds over into [active shooter] drills and school shootings. We need to fix it. We need people to care.”

In “Supporting Students with Disabilities During Crises: A Teacher’s Guide,” the authors state that “few plans address the complex needs of students with disabilities.” The United States “[lacks any kind of] national model for school-based crisis preparedness,” leaving it up to individual school districts, which often have poor plans or no plans at all.

The districts that do have plans “often call for students to move quickly, assume unique positions, and/or hide and be silent,” they write.

The authors of this guide find this problematic because students with disabilities often can’t comply with these instructions. Instead, they recommend school districts “focus on individual needs [of their students]” and plan according to a student’s strengths and weaknesses rather than using a one-size-fits-all plan.

Irwin Redlener, MD, the director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, agrees. “The standard recommendation now is more or less ‘run, hide, fight’” he says to The Mighty. “Depending on the person with a disability, it may be very difficult to do any of those steps, and under those circumstances, the school, in advance, needs to think about the needs of people in the school.”

Similar to an individual education plan (IEP) — an individualized document created to ensure students with disabilities succeed in school — Clarke and Embury created the individual emergency or lockdown plan (IELP) when they noticed IEPs lacked information about what to do in the case of an active shooter.

The IELP would include everything a student with a disability would need to stay safe during a drill or crisis, including how often they may need to practice drills, access to their medication, and other accommodations.

Disability activists will keep fighting for ADA protections

The U.S. Department of Education contracts the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center (REMS) to teach many school districts across the nation how to prepare for emergency situations including school shootings.

The problem is that, while they tell schools to meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), stating that they must “be aware of disability-related accessibility concerns,” they provide very few “concrete recommendations for schools to follow,” The Mighty writes. However, Chapter 7 Addendum 2 of the ADA states that “emergency sheltering programs must not exclude or deny benefits to people with disabilities.”

School districts’ lack of planning for students with disabilities is another in a long line of ADA violations that need improvement.

“The U.S. continues to have a problem with disability,” Cathy says. “It bleeds over into everything. [Now] it bleeds over into [active shooter] drills and school shootings. We need to fix it. We need people to care.”

Courtney says she often is kept up at night thinking about would happen to her if a shooting were to happen at her school. She thinks that she’d probably die. Why? “They don’t think about us,” she says, referring her town’s Board of Education.

Still, Courtney hopes to be a disability rights lawyer and is excited to see that people are finally talking about what happens to students with disabilities during active shooter drills and school shootings. “That part give me the most hope.”

*names have been changed to protect identity