#columbine tragedy

[cherryunstable2]

I'm about kms right now,At my school My classmates are bothering me with a classmate telling me that he is MY boyfriend and nothing to do with it, just because I sat down with him to do a geography project and we were talking about anything but the boy is too cringe and on top of that he thinks he's edgy and identifies himself with BATMAN HELL NAH,and just when we were talking ,HE SPIT out in his backpack...IN HIS OWN BACKPACK, EWW, I'm going to be gone fr 😭😭

[intriguingpeoplebyangelafloyd]

AMERICAN TRAGEDY

2019

On April 20, 1999, Columbine High School comes under attack by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Sue Klebold, Dylan's mother, attempts to understand how the son she thought she knew, the son she loved, could willingly be a school shooter.

[divine-canine-13]

[duranduratulsa]

On this day in 1999...two teenage gunmen shot 34 people, killing 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School #history #tragedy #columbine #wewillneverforgetcolumbine #wewillneverforget

[transhuman-priestess]

For those of you under about 25 I don’t know if you realize just how much damage was done in the first decade after Columbine by the myth that the shooters had been victims of bullying.

Like this was just completely accepted as truth at face value and it made every bullied kid’s life a living fucking hell of being hauled into the principal’s office or the school cop’s office (the school cop itself being a post-columbine invention) anytime you got beaten or reported being bullied.

And then the 10th anniversary rolled around and whatever weird legal thing surrounding Eric Harris’s journals expired and people got to read them and found out that actually he was just a thrill killing creep who wanted to outdo Timothy McVeigh but was hampered by his inability to solder.

Literally the entire motivation was just to be famous for mass murder. And rather quickly the narrative of the poor little meow meows just got totally memory holed, but I remember. I remember because I was one of those bullied kids, treated as a ticking time bomb because of a media friendly narrative that cast a couple of children turned spree killers into a hallmark-channel tragedy.

[k4b3t]

Sign left at the Klebold residence by neighbors and friends following the tragedy at Columbine

[operationandre]

any movie recommendations for people who like zero day?

Movie Recommendations for Zero Day (2003) fans! pt.2

*Movie descriptions are from Letterboxd.*

1. Spree (2020)

MURDER IS TRENDING.

Desperate for an online following, a rideshare driver has figured out a deadly plan to go viral and he will stop at nothing to get his five minutes of fame.

2. The Fallout (2021)

NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME.

In the wake of a school tragedy, Vada, Mia, and Quinton form a unique and dynamic bond as they navigate the never linear, often confusing journey to heal in a world that feels forever changed.

3. The Dirties (2013)

WE'RE JUST HERE FOR THE BAD GUYS.

The line between reality and fiction begins to blur when two best friends start making a movie about getting revenge on bullies.

4. Mysterious Skin (2004)

TWO BOYS. ONE CAN'T REMEMBER. THE OTHER CAN'T FORGET.

Two teenagers with similar childhood traumas cope differently: one becomes a gay hustler and the other obsessed with aliens.

5. Scream (1996)

SOMEONE HAS TAKEN THEIR LOVE OF SCARY MOVIES ONE STEP TOO FAR. SOLVING THIS MYSTERY IS GOING TO BE MURDER.

A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game.

6. Heartstone (2016)

THE SUMMER THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

A remote fishing village in Iceland. Teenage boys Thor and Christian experience a turbulent summer as one tries to win the heart of a girl while the other discovers new feelings toward his best friend. When summer ends and the harsh nature of Iceland takes back its rights, it's time to leave the playground and face adulthood.

7. Zero Hour: Massacre at Columbine High (2004)

This movie covers the final hour leading up to the Columbine High Massacre. On April 20, 1999, two boys from Columbine High School in Colorado embarked on a massacre and killed 12 students, one teacher, and injured 21 other students, before turning the guns on themselves.

8. My Own Private Idaho (1991)

WHEREVER, WHATEVER, HAVE A NICE DAY.

In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters is a hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.

[miss-may-i]

It happened -- my murder mystery is a real book!

My murder mystery is a real, physical book, that I can hold in my real physical hands! The official release date is December 6th, but I'll be doing a giveaway to celebrate! There are ten slots, so get yours while you can! Just comment on this post, send me an ask, or DM me.

What's Your Name?

Blackridge, Oregon, claimed the title of The Nameless City in an attempt to attract tourists after the tragedy that shook the close-knit coastal town. Amongst the aftermath of Columbine, a disgruntled student arrived at Seal Coast Community High School with a list of names and a gun. The shooter and nine victims died in the shooting. Months later, the last survivor would die under mysterious circumstances, giving birth to the rumors in Blackridge that there’s a curse using names to kill. Twenty years later, the Clairwaters are moving back to their hometown of Blackridge to reunite with family in the midst of a divorce. Two siblings, Fiora and Atlus, are the newest students of Seal Coast Community High School, where students shield behind aliases, rules, and traditions relentlessly, almost to the point of life or death. The siblings’ roots to the alleged haunted city are as thick as blood, and the townsfolk are curious about the infamous rumor that uncovering a true name can kill, leaving them with one question for the newcomers: what’s your name?

Want an e-book instead of a paperback? Pre-order here!

✔️: TAKEN

✔️: TAKEN

✔️: TAKEN

✔️: TAKEN

✔️: TAKEN

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

[techramonic]

What is Pain? : How Austin Eubanks Dealt with Addiction and the Aftermath of Columbine.

Austin and Corey

Stephen Austin Eubanks was a junior and a star student in Columbine High School. Corey Tyler DePooter, his best friend, was also a particularly gifted student who prioritized his studies over anything else. Despite having a wide range of interests, the two kids particularly bonded over their shared passion for fishing.

At the age of 17, Corey had gotten a job doing maintenance at a golf club in order to earn money for a fishing boat that he planned to buy with a friend — likely Austin. The two often used to go fishing together and would talk about the struggles they had as teenagers.

Day of the Tragedy

On April 20th of 1999, the two were inside the library getting ready to get lunch with their friends, Jennifer Doyle and Peter Ball. That was until they had heard shots fired from the outside, not recognizing the sounds and believing that it was only the sounds of construction. Then they heard a bomb go off, a teacher rushing in to scream for the students to hide underneath the table because two students were armed with guns.

In a state of shock and fear, the four duck under the same table near the windows. With 10 minutes passing, the shooters had already entered the library and methodically fired under each table as recalled by him. His best friend, Corey, was one of those who were shot after being aimed with a semi-automatic rifle and shot at the neck, chest, and left arm by Dylan Klebold.

The bullet that hit Austin's hand first passed through his best friend, killing him instantly. With his best friend lying lifelessly beside him and being wounded on his hand and knee, Austin had no other choice than to try to play dead while laying in a pool of blood. When the shooting had stopped, Austin ran through the smoke and out of the backdoor of the library. He was only 17 when the shooting occured.

In Austin's TedTalk “What Columbine Shooting taught me about pain and addiction”, he recalls:

"I remember how I felt: I was confused, I was afraid, I felt sick and I was vulnerable. And just minutes later, I was playing dead underneath a table next to a pool of blood. I had just been shot and I witnessed my best friend murdered right in front of me as we were huddled together waiting for help to come."

Pain, Grief, and Narcotics

During the time he fled from the crime scene, Austin marked that as one of the most impacting and damaging experiences he has ever experienced in regards to the feeling of pain. His definition of pain was nothing similar to what he describes in his present days.

Pain, in a medical sense, is the variably unpleasant sensation of physiological systems mediated by specific nerve fibers of the brain that are conscious of receiving signals of awareness. According to Austin's TedTalk, the American Pain Society introduced the term "pain is the fifth vital sign" in 1996. This means that when you enter the room, your status is assessed using five different data points: blood pressure, pulse rate, temperature, respiration rate, and pain.

Due to a movement that was certain that we were undertreating pain, patient satisfaction surveys were implemented in order to monitor the campaign's success. To him, in order to uphold this new momentum and cause the patient's pain levels to cease completely, the ethical dilemma instantly arose:

“Do I issue this person with narcotics to make them happy or deny them and potentially hurt my compensation, the revenue of the hospital? Or at worse, open myself up for a grievance for undertreating pain that could potentially result in the loss of my job?”

Austin says that the healthcare system predominantly treats physiological systems and would rather not assess emotional pain into the equation. He akins the emotional pain of dealing with trauma being identical or if not more than when dealing with physical pain. With that, within months after the incident, Austin was prescribed opiate medication for his injuries.

In an exclusive interview with The Fix, he said that his injuries were not to the point of needing an opiate pain medication but was immediately given a 30-day supply and became addicted within three months. From then on, he said, “I used substances every day, day in and day out.”

After the shooting, his parents took him to a therapist who said Austin was too shut down to process his horrific trauma. But the reason no one could reach him was because he was overmedicated. He was addicted to painkillers, and used medication because of his unwillingness to engage in the stages of grief that he dreaded to face. He was haunted by the past. Struggling with survivor's guilt and the death of his best friend, he would rather ignore the intense burdening feelings he bore. According to him,

“Acute Physical Pain ends relatively quickly, complex emotional pain does not.”

The morphine Eubanks received at the hospital that day proved to be the opening dose of a costly addiction to prescription painkillers - one that revolved around commonly prescribed drug Oxycontin, he said.

“I learned to manipulate doctors … I could literally get whatever I wanted. Telling them I’d been shot at Columbine and lost my best friend was like [getting] an open prescription book from any doctor.”

He could not process the grief, moreso, he didn't want to. He didn't want to be haunted by the memories that scarred him. In his own words, he would describe the physical ailments he felt to be a 4 or 5, but the emotional turmoil was a 10.

Austin never set foot back to Columbine. His parents hired a tutor and he then went on to graduate in 2000. He attended the Columbine ceremonies but never went back inside the school. He then went into advertising and married in his early 20s. Around this time his substance abuse escalated, and his first attempt to get sober was in 2006. He went into a 30-day inpatient program but failed within hours of leaving, for  relapsing using pain pills and Adderall. 

Addiction and Sobriety 

He failed both outpatient and rehab twice and it wasn't until 10 years later, in 2009 that he was able to overcome this addiction. Right before Columbine, young Austin had been misdiagnosed with ADD. 

“I didn’t have ADD,” said Eubanks. “I just liked being outdoors and playing golf better than being in school. At that time, if anybody was truant at school they said, ‘Oh, they must be ADD. Let’s put them on a stimulant.’ That was why I got Adderall. I liked it because I could abuse opiate pain medication to the level that most people would be nodding out. With Adderall, I could function. Basically, I was doing oral speedballs. It was like using methamphetamine and heroin.”

His second try at being sober was in 2008. Gaining the motivation to change after recently separating from his wife, he went to treatment, stayed 90 days, and achieved eight months of sobriety. Then, he akinned addiction to a causal sequence, a domino effect. According to him, he achieved abstinence for a period of time, built up enough false confidence to where he thought he could drink, because alcohol was never a problem. From alcohol, he went to weed, then Xanax, then Oxycontin, and then back into the same routine.

In 2011, approaching the age of 30 and estranged from his wife and kids, he hit rock bottom: "My sobriety date is April 2, 2011. I woke up in a jail cell and had no clue how I got there." His downward spiral began with Oxycontin and alcohol abuse, leading to arrests for various offenses like car theft and fraud. Realizing that he needed a drastic change, he recounted that his lowest moment was waking up in withdrawal, hungover, and facing the ruins of his marriage and being estranged from his children. He knew he had to stop or he would die. After unsuccessful attempts at sobriety, he finally sought help, surrendered to treatment, and was now willing to follow any guidance to rebuild his life.

His journey to lasting sobriety didn't hinge on traditional 12-step programs, but rather on understanding behavioral triggers and brain function through a therapeutic community approach. He was five years sober and started working at The Foundry in Colorado, becoming the COO and handling approaches that combined neuroscience with 12-step principles, recognizing that each person's path to recovery is unique. Using comprehensive approaches aiming to rebuild the lives of those in recovery.

During this time, he would also indulge in old activities in remembrance of his bestfriend.

“It’s something I do to connect with Corey. It's always nice whenever I catch a fish that's above the normal or something special about it. I always tend to look up and give a nod to him. And I know he’s still looking out for me."

Sadly, despite his long battle against drug addiction, in 2019, Austin had passed away in his home in Colorado after an accidental heroin overdose. Just a month after the 20th anniversary of Columbine, Austin was 37 at the time.

What is Pain?

Pain, to Austin, encompassed many things: the confusion and vulnerability of not knowing what to do in such a time of terror, the physical wounds that the doctors tried to medicate to bring the pain meter to zero, and most importantly, the emotional hurt of knowing your best friend was gone, taken right in front of you. Knowing that very moment can never be undone.

His advice for survivors dealing with the same guilt is to feel it. Don't run away from it. Survivors often find other things that allow them to detach from the pain, but to him, that's the wrong choice.

“You can heal physical pain while you’re medicating it. You cannot heal emotional pain while you are medicating it, In order to heal emotional pain, you have to feel it ... You want to feel better immediately, [but] you have to have the courage to sit in and feel it, and if you can do that long enough, you will come out on the other side.”

Along with post-traumatic stress, there is also the potential for post-traumatic growth.

“That doesn’t imply you will ever be the same person again. After a trauma, you will be changed forever.”

[rottenwhoreee]

Warning signs and blissful ignorance.

this is in the context of mass 👟ters

first off, columbine was an obvious example of missed warnings, at the time it was more excusable as school 👟tings were a less common occurrence.

Then there was sandy hook. There was no excuse, the warnings were painfully evident and Adam was actively being enabled by Nancy. No one deserved to have to suffer due to his actions, including himself.

Robb, in my opinion, was a mix of both tragedies, I won’t say much else, I don’t know much about the case and I don’t want to spread misinformation.

now for all the people who actually go out and commit crimes against others, there are 100 people like me.

when I was 13 I became obsessed with mass 👟ters, specifically Dylan K and Andrew B.

I did condone. I was planning something of my own. I was going to do something whether it was just myself or the people I hated too.

I luckily never hurt anyone else but that year marked the beginning of my severe SH and my first attempt, which I did at my middle school.

I also started using alcohol, with my psych meds. I was hospitalized for about a month. Getting out on Dec 24. At which point I was freshly 14, diagnosed with multiple mental illnesses and completely locked off from anything I could possibly harm myself or others with.

My warning signs were as follows:

violent threats, writings, and statements

openly talking about columbine with teachers and students, making jokes about shootings my classmates infront of and to teachers.

stealing scissors, pencil sharpeners, and Xacto knives from teachers.

reading books about shootings and telling people about them.

Falling grades, falling asleep in class, drawing violent pictures.

Being bullied badly, talking often about exacting revenge.

self harm and substance abuse

I understand it seems corny, or stupid, but I had the courage, and if I had access my story would be much different.

sorry if this is stupid, but if this could at least inform someone.

I just wanna clarify I am not anti TCC. I just want people to be safe and get help if they need it.

[egsproductions]

Ember's Ghost Squad: Importance of Artistic Spirituality and what "TCC" tends to get wrong (Essay)

When Andrew made EGS (Ember's Ghost Squad) She poured her emotions into her work, Reflecting her inner world. World of her desires where she could be who she truly was, With those she truly wanted to be with.

Of course, This all led to the tragedy of June 8, 2017, Where 3 people lost their lives by her hand.

But before it all went to that far with her, Before she let that inner abyss end her earthly journey, She left countless of fairly good advice on how to find one's purpose and how she wished to be viewed as after her passing.

Such as, Viewing and identifying herself as her Cartoon Ghost form, Andrew Blaze, She despised her human name "Randy Stair" and her human form, This shows fairly advanced spiritual thinking of understanding that our soul is ultimately shapeless until we mold it as we please. Just as humanly bodies were created by what many Christians and Gnostic believe being the God (Or Rex Mundi/Demiurge). A higher being (Soul/God) Can create a lesser form of it's pure self. And "breathe" life upon them by giving them a story, Personality, Passion.

(Of course there's evolution theory and all but i like symbolism of Spirituality so calm down lol, However you view it, It can be taken in more scientific way of our genes being the "god" in this situation)

However, Of course in Andrew's case, She did make a mistake of letting her earthly emotions take control of her during her life, Which led to unnecessary death and destruction, Unforgivable in many ways, But the points she made, Can still be used for good, After all, She wished people would study her so that spirals like these could be avoided in the future.

A being with conscience such as us, Gifted ability to create art, And create things, Andrew put large amount of her energy into EGS, Which clearly still radiates to this day, Inspiring more people to view their spiritual form in similar fashion.

EGS was ultimately her story, Reflecting from the funny comedic beginnings to her ultimate grim demise in her crime. Her final EGS Animation "westborough high massacre", While unfinished, Showcases her duality of thinking, Especially starting with her darkest desires of hurt and pain, And her weird obsession with Columbine, But at the middle point, Shifting to optimistic speech about life and purpose, Encouraging the viewers to live on.

She knew how people would view her after her death, As monster, Ghoul.. Demon? Perhaps even rightfully so to an extend. But she also wanted to tell a tale that we ultimately choose our paths, What our souls creates, And how we show it to the world.

Since EGS, Was Andrew's own story, And she wished people to be themselves, To be the best they can be, It is one of the main reasons why my EGS Universe is much wider than that of Andrew's, As i'm telling my story, If i were to just copy Andrew's art exactly, Copy her way of writing, I would be totally disrespecting the message she sent out to the world.

Just like Andrew used songs of "Send Request" Because she felt connection with their songs, I'm in other hand using Songs and Story elements from IRIS Of Will Ryan (DAGames)

It's why i'm also using characters from Creepypasta, And Hell Girl (Anime) Because those things are important to me, And reflect my world which i want people to see as i see. It's the entire point of my IRIS, An eye that exists outside our time and space, Eye that sees everything that can be perceived, And as long as you view everything trough it's oneness, You can create anything.

But enough about me. And even Andrew herself. And to focus more on certain.. "Fanbases" Such as "TCC" which claims to care and follow Andrew's case. These people are unfortunately twisting and taking away from Andrew's story in a a way she probably never wanted it to go.

TCC Does all these:

-Admire Andrew's human looks/Call her cute.

-Believe she was trans. (She was spiritual, And believed in being female Ghost, Some could possibly call it delusion as well, But she certainly wasn't trans, She pondered if she were, But never came to the conclusion)

-Barely care at all about EGS. (Andrew's personal most important creation)

-Draw her as her human self.

-Care far too much about pronouns (I get it, I call Andrew She/Her because i understand her decision with identifying as female soul, However Andrew didn't lose her mind with not being called those pronouns, In fact for the majority of her videos, She was fine with using He/Him when talking about herself in third person, She accepted her human life as a male even if she hated it.)

---

These are all things, Andrew disagreed with.

Now i'm not here to advocate that these people should change their ways, Internet is far too vast for me to have any control over, I do just wish they would think. Especially since they claim to be very into Andrew's case, Even downright claiming to "Love" her.

Well.. That's good? But please, Show that "Love" with your acts, If your acts are just shallow and surface level, Focused on "Cuteness/Boy/Girlfriend Material" I doubt your "Love" And dedication quite greatly.

For it seems that all you TCC people wish, Is someone to mold, To be your perfect material to obsess over, It is not another person you should mold into something to love, But yourself! Remember that.

---

Iɴ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴀᴍᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Fᴀᴛʜᴇʀ, Iɴ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴀᴍᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Sᴏɴ, Aɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ Hᴏʟʏ Gʜᴏsᴛ. Mᴀʏ ʏᴏᴜ sᴇᴇ ᴛʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛʜᴇ IRIS, Mᴀʏ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʙᴏɴᴇs ʙᴇ sᴛʀᴏɴɢ ᴀs Gᴏʟɪᴀᴛʜ's. Pᴇᴀᴄᴇ ʙʏ ᴛʜʏ ɴᴀᴍᴇ, Hᴀᴠᴏᴋ Bᴇ Tʜʏ Gᴀᴍᴇ.

[slashthrashandcrash]

Jokes on Amanda, she doesn't know about Sean Connery, Betty White, the Boston b*mbings or that Same sex marriage was legalized!

Amanda: Boy, I sure am glad there’s never been another school shooting after the Columbine tragedy (:

[morhath]

Oh I’m very very interested in your nonfiction book recs 👀

EDIT: ykw I'm gonna make this a little more organized

I listed a bunch in this post (the last question) but lemme see if I have any additions because I know I was kinda trying to keep it short when I wrote that. (But that being said, that post is the Top Faves Of All Time, so go for those first.)

Freaky medical shit I also liked:

The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years by Sonia Shah

The Barbary Plague: The Black Death in Victorian San Francisco by Marilyn Chase (I just read this a few weeks ago and OOUUUGGHHHHHH IT'S LITERALLY JUST. LIKE THE RESPONSE TO COVID.)

The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson

Political shit I also liked:

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century edited by Alice Wong

The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide by Steven W. Thrasher

Immigrants, Evangelicals, and Politics in an Era of Demographic Change by Janelle S. Wong

History I also liked:

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle

The Hamlet Fire: A Tragic Story of Cheap Food, Cheap Government, and Cheap Lives by Bryant Simon (between those two you can tell I was on a bit of a "workplace tragedies caused by lax regulations and bad management" kick)

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore (I think everyone knows about this book, including it for completeness)

Promised the Moon: The Untold Story Of The First Women In The Space Race by Stephanie Nolen

The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison by Hugh Ryan

Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke (this is nowhere near as fun and cute as you'd assume from the title)

Memoirs I also liked:

The Less People Know About Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity by Axton Betz-Hamilton (I read this before I really got into nonfiction and it was WILD, I tell people about it all the time)

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui (this one is a graphic not-novel-I-guess-memoir)

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

Other:

Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud by Elizabeth Greenwood

A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America by Ken Armstrong, T. Christian Miller

Lost Feast: Culinary Extinction and the Future of Food by Lenore Newman

It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror by Joe Vallese

AND here are a few on my TBR that I'm really excited for! I decided not to categorize them because they're almost all history:

Silk and Potatoes: Contemporary Arthurian Fantasy by Adam Roberts

Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture by Sherronda J. Brown

All the Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks

The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara by David I. Kertzer (I am actually partway through this right now but in a bit of a dry/confusing section)

The Broadcast 41: Women and the Anti-Communist Blacklist by Carol A. Stabile

The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History by Kassia St Clair

A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell (have just barely started this)

Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518 by John Waller

The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyŏng: The Autobiographical Writings of a Crown Princess of Eighteenth-Century Korea by Lady Hyegyeong

Miss Major Speaks: The Life and Times of a Black Trans Revolutionary by Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

Too Hot to Touch: The Problem of High-Level Nuclear Waste by William M. Alley, Rosemarie Alley (I'm in the middle of this but it's surprisingly, um. not exciting.)

Going Postal: Rage, Murder, and Rebellion: From Reagan's Workplaces to Clinton's Columbine and Beyond by Mark Ames

Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won't Solve Our Problems and What We Can Do About It by Joslyn Brenton, Sinikka Elliott, Sarah Bowen

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder

The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World by Virginia Postrel

Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times by Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Medieval Gentlewoman: Life in a Gentry Household in the Later Middle Ages by Ffiona Swabey

Hitler's First Victims: The Beginning of the Holocaust and One Man's Fight to End It by Timothy W. Ryback

I am soso normal and have very normal interests that are not at all grim :)

[topguncortez]

The Columbine High School tragedy happened 25 years ago today, and here’s what’s been done since:

370,000 have experienced some sort of gun violence at their school

404 school shootings, 304 have been fatal

440 victims

1,243 injured

0 gun restriction laws

(this data comes from a 2023 report)

[eleventeeny]

The Return of The Antichrist

In the '90s, American television and the minds of American Christians have been plagued by one thing.

Marilyn Manson.

He was just about everywhere. With his grotesque, flashy shows making their way into the minds of impressionable children and angsty teenagers alike, Marilyn Manson gave us something to think about, something to detest.

Fearful parents and preachers alike began to protest the act, only bringing it more attention and publicity.

Because of Manson's look and stage behavior, the public began to call him the Antichrist, and he soon joined in and officiated himself as an "Antichrist Superstar".

He was inescapable. Every day, he would wreak more havoc on the world and society as we knew it. He questioned everything, which led his fans to doubt everything. No longer were people wanting to be what they were expected to be. People began to disobey and question authority. Why should we have to do what others tell us to do just because they're perceived to be above us?

Politicians, parents, Christians, and more battled Manson's words and arguments, deeming him an uneducated Satanist. But he knew what he was doing, having grown up in a religious home with a mostly religious education.

In 1999, Manson found himself in hot water again after being accused of inspiring the Columbine High School shooting. People everywhere wrongfully blamed him for the tragedy, despite the perpetrators never expressing their support or interest in Manson.

His likeness was attacked, with media outlets insulting him in headlines and claiming the shooters were wearing his merchandise as they attacked students and faculty. Politicians and fellow musicians threatened him.

Americans knew he wasn't at fault; they just wanted a scapegoat so they could take the blame off their society's issues. And who better to blame than the most hated man on TV?

Manson's career went steady up until 2018, when a heap of abuse allegations were thrown at him. Fans, friends, and the media turned on him seemingly overnight.

Marilyn Manson went on a 5-year break from performing after a few shows in 2019, keeping silent and out of the public eye for the most part, until a few months ago when he announced he'd return to touring, opening for Five Finger Death Punch and holding a few headlining shows, the first date being August 3rd, 2024.

Despite all the controversy and all the hate, the Antichrist remains strong and as loud and demanding of the world's attention as always, cursing our screens with his evil but delightful presence.

The time has come, it is quite clear Our Antichrist is almost here.

[miss-may-i]

Updates!

Miss May I will not be resuming until I have the finale in my queue. That way we can go ahead and get this season wrapped up without any more delays. Hope you're excited as I am!

In the meantime, I'll be adding gameplay screenshots to my queue and uploading more parts to my University Life let's play featuring Richie. Don't get sick of me yet because I have a lot coming!

Now, last but certainly not least, I wanted to announce my book release!

Blackridge, Oregon, claimed the title of The Nameless City in an attempt to attract tourists after the tragedy that shook the close-knit coastal town. Amongst the aftermath of Columbine, a disgruntled student arrived at Seal Coast Community High School with a list of names and a gun. The shooter and nine victims died in the shooting. Months later, the last survivor would die under mysterious circumstances, giving birth to the rumors in Blackridge that there’s a curse using names to kill. Twenty years later, the Clairwaters are moving back to their hometown of Blackridge to reunite with family in the midst of a divorce. Two siblings, Fiora and Atlus, are the newest students of Seal Coast Community High School, where students shield behind aliases, rules, and traditions relentlessly, almost to the point of life or death. The siblings’ roots to the alleged haunted city are as thick as blood, and the townsfolk are curious about the infamous rumor that uncovering a true name can kill, leaving them with one question for the newcomers: what’s your name?

My debut, What's Your Name? is scheduled to release on December 6th, just in time for the holidays! Pre-orders are currently only for E-book, but paperbacks will be available upon release. If you're thinking about picking up a copy, but maybe aren't so sure, maybe just wait and see?

You can pre-order here!