#gun classes in georgia

[southatlantafirearms]

In today’s uncertain environment, being ready for any attacks is critical. Whether you’re defending yourself in public or protecting your home. Having the necessary information and skills can make all the difference. The USCCA Concealed Carry / Home Defense course is designed to provide individuals with the necessary tools to properly protect themselves and their loved ones. Let’s go over what this training covers and why it’s essential for anyone serious about personal defence.

[dollielliot]

𐙚ྀིྀ ⠀︵　info on the Apalchee highschool shooting that happened today, 9/4/24˖ ㅤ૮𐔌ྀི ´ ཀ ྀི 𐦯ྀིა⠀

The 14-year-old suspect in the fatal mass shooting at a Winder, Georgia, high school has been identified as Colt Gray, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said at an afternoon news conference. The suspect is a student at Apalachee High School who will be charged with murder and will be handled as an adult as he moves through the criminal justice system, Hosey and Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith added.

Two teachers and two students were killed, Hosey said. Nine other victims were taken to hospitals, according to the officials. The gunfire sent students and faculty desperately scurrying for cover as schools across the county went into lockdown and parents scrambled for information. Wednesday’s shooting is the deadliest of the 45 school shootings so far this calendar year, according to a CNN analysis. It is one of 11 school shootings with four or more deaths since 2008 when CNN first started tracking school shootings. Authorities said the first report of an active shooter came in at 10:20 a.m. ET. A school resource deputy assigned to Apalachee High confronted the shooter, who got on the ground and was taken into custody, Smith told reporters.

The witness sat next to the suspected shooter

Lyela Sayarath, 16, told CNN the alleged shooter sat next to her in an algebra class. She said he left class early, around 9:45 a.m., but didn’t take a bathroom pass. She thought he might be skipping. Toward the end of class, someone told her teacher over the loudspeaker to check their email, she said. Shortly after, Gray was outside the classroom door, which was shut, Lyela said. Another student who went to the door jumped backward when she saw he had a gun. "I guess he saw we weren’t gonna let him in,” Lyela said. “And I guess the classroom next to me, their door was open, so I think he just started shooting in the classroom.” At first, she told CNN she heard a burst of gunfire – maybe 10 to 15 shots – and then they were “kind of just Students dropped to the floor and crawled to the corner, Lyela said.

“It seemed like this wasn’t something he planned too well or that he wasn’t really strong with the gun because he didn’t try and shoot our door. Once he saw he couldn’t get in our room, he just went to the next one.”

Latest developments

The high school had received an earlier phone threat, multiple law enforcement officials told CNN. The phone call Wednesday morning warned there would be shootings at five schools, and that Apalachee would be the first. It is not known who placed the call. It was not immediately known whether the assailant had some connection with his victims, the sheriff said, though officials stressed that will be part of the investigation. Schools in Barrow County will be closed for the rest of the week.

Student texted mom: ‘I’m scared’

Erin Clark was at work Wednesday morning when she got a series of text messages from her son, a senior, who was attending class at Apalachee High School.

“School shooting.”

“I’m scared,” he wrote.

“pls” “I’m not joking,”

“I’m leaving work,” Clark replied. “I love you,” her son, Ethan Haney, 17, wrote back.

“Love you too baby,” his mom texted before racing to the high school.

Clark told CNN her son heard eight or nine gunshots before he closed his classroom door and, with the help of another classmate, moved chairs and tables to block the door.

Clark told CNN she was “absolutely terrified” when she read her son’s messages. “Just kept praying he’d stay safe,” she said.

Schools in the county went into lockdown

As emergency responders came from several counties, video from outside the school showed at least five ambulances and a large law enforcement presence at the campus, and at least one medical helicopter could be seen airlifting a patient from the scene. At the football field, where authorities had students gather, people lowered their heads and formed a prayer circle in the end zone, standing on the letters for “Apalachee” as their classmates milled around the field. All schools in the Barrow County School System, which includes the high school, were placed on lockdown and police were sent out of an abundance of caution to all district high schools, according to the sources, but there are no reports of secondary incidents or scenes. Some of the critically injured were removed by helicopter, and additional helicopters are on standby.

Atlanta Trauma Center and other hospitals take patients

Grady Health System – a Level 1 trauma center in Atlanta, about an hour's drive from Winder – received one gunshot wound victim from the incident who was transported by helicopter, a hospital spokesperson told CNN. Earlier, a source with knowledge of the situation who is not authorized to speak to the media, told CNN Piedmont Athens Regional Hospital in North Georgia received two victims from the shooting. The source said one victim was an adult with a gunshot wound to the stomach and was in surgery, and another was a minor with unspecified injuries. Three gunshot victims were taken to nearby hospitals following the shooting, according to a hospital official, and five other patients reported to the hospital with symptoms related to a panic attack. Two gunshot victims were taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center Barrow with non-life-threatening injuries, Northeast Georgia Health System spokesperson Layne Saliba said. Four other patients came with symptoms related to panic attacks.

Another gunshot victim was taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center Gainesville with non-life-threatening injuries, Saliba said, and an additional patient came to Northeast Georgia Medical Center Braselton with symptoms related to a panic attack.

Georgia governor sends prayers and says he can send resources

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has directed all available state resources to assist at the scene, he said in a statement on social media. The governor urged “all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County and across the state.” President Joe Biden has been briefed on the incident, the White House said, offering federal support to state and local officials.

“His administration will continue coordinating with federal, state, and local officials as we receive more information,” the White House said in a statement. Attorney General Merrick Garland similarly said the US Department of Justice “stands ready” to support the community after the shooting. “We are still gathering information, but the FBI and ATF are on the scene, working with state, local, and federal partners,” Garland said at a meeting of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force.

Winder had a population of about 18,338 as of the 2020 census, according to the US Census Bureau The Barrow County School System is the 24th largest school district in the state, per the district’s website. It serves about 15,340 students, 1,932 of whom are enrolled at Apalachee High School.

[mingispelvis]

Chilli Pepper Vibe

Genre: mingi x afab!reader, smut w a little fluff but a LOT of plot

Length: 5.5k

Summary: You go abroad with your friends and are blessed to run into Ateez at your hotel.

NSFW warnings under cut

Warnings: oral sex female receiving, oral sex male receiving, fingering, alcohol consumption, unprotected sex (WRAP IT UP), not pulling out, use of slut, use of baby girl, there's a LOT of plot sorry this is kinda fluffy also at the end

Idk how NDAs work and idk how to end it sorry!!!!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Girls trips hit different when you’re all gainfully employed. Seulgi had just made partner at Bae & Kang law firm. Joy was recently promoted to Zone Manager of her company, with a hefty bonus to boot. And you? You finally finished residency and were officially able to practice medicine on your own. Despite the three of you being in your mid 20s, you had all continued to push each other and you all achieved great things.

Thusly, girls trip. 

Seulgi, being type A, organized the entire trip from start to finish. To her, vacation starts the moment you step out of your front door. She arranged an Uber Black to take the three of you to the airport, got you all first class tickets, and arranged a very expensive penthouse for the three of you to stay in. She wouldn’t even tell you where exactly you’d be going, just to “bring your sexiest party clothes, a few swimsuits, and your passports”. 

“Our final plane before we land at our destination will be at gate, ummm,” Seulgi paused to check her airline app to see where the three of you would be waiting for the next hour. “Ah, gate A57”. You and Joy eyed the terminal signs as you walked towards A57, passing “Los Angeles, California”, “Seattle, Washington” “Atlanta, Georgia” and then “Moscow, Russia”, “Beijing, China”, and “Seoul, South Korea.” A57 came into view and underneath, in bright orange pixels, read “Tokyo, Japan”. Your jaw dropped open and Joy began to squeal. “No way, no way, no way. Seulgi. You did NOT get us tickets to Waterbomb.” Joy jumped up and down, neck pillow flopping against her back. Seulgi shrugged her shoulders and attempted to fight a smile, but Joy squealed again and grabbed her into a huge bear hug, causing a grin to explode onto Seulgi’s face. “I LOVE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW!” Joy’s scream was muffled as her tight hug squashed her mouth into Seulgi’s shoulder.

“Umm..hold on…what’s Waterbomb?” You asked, giggling slightly at your friend’s antics. At this, Joy and Seulgi stopped hugging to stare at you like you’d grown an extra head out of your shoulders. “Ew I forgot she’s only a casual KPOP girl.” Joy rolled her eyes as she plopped down in one of the chairs at the gate and kicked her feet up onto her suitcase. Seulgi took the time to explain the massive festival, the amazing kpop acts, and the water guns to you and by the time your boarding zone was called, you were stoked about getting to go. 

The flight to Tokyo was long and uneventful, the ride to the hotel was short and sweet, and the check in process was smooth. The three of you were staying at a 5 star hotel famous for waiting on their guests hand and foot. The elevator up to the penthouse was smooth and when you stepped into the hall, you were shocked to find only two massive open areas on either side of the elevator. “The other side is the other penthouse. We have this entire half of the floor to ourselves. That’s how big this place is.” Seulgi explained. As if your jaws couldn’t drop enough, Seulgi scanned her thumb print and the door to your vacation palace unlocked with a quiet click. “They don’t have my thumb print, right? I didn’t authorize them to have that information!” Joy joked. You couldn’t even think of the logistics as you stepped into what could only be described as luxury beyond your wildest dreams. Marble floors, brilliant chandeliers, gold plated silverware (goldware?) 200 inch large screen TV with surround sound speakers, full bar, and floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city of Tokyo. The balcony was a walk around that you could access from the living area or any of the bedrooms and had a hot tub, a small infinity pool, and another outdoor bar. Each of the three bedrooms had a king sized bed that you actually had to walk up two steps to get into and a full bathroom attached. The bathrooms had clawfoot tubs made of more gold, massive showers, and a towel warmer. Despite having handed over your credit cards to Seulgi so she could split the price of everything equally between the three of you, you had no idea the measly 4 digit price you paid could amount to such elegance. 

The long travels and time change hit the three of you hard, so after gawking at the amenities the penthouse provided a little longer, the three of you washed up and hit the sack, hard. So hard, you didn’t wake up until almost 3pm the next day. Luckily, traveling queen Seulgi had accounted for this and had allotted two rest days into the rigorous itinerary, delivering every meal up to the room by room service to be had on the balcony or on the edge of the pool. 

“I wonder who’s on the opposite side of the hall from us in the other penthouse” Joy questioned between massive bites of her meal. She was standing in the pool with her upper half lounging on the poolside.

“Probably some big shot oil tycoon and his 3 wives,” you joked, nursing an afternoon mimosa. Joy giggled and downed another bite of her meal. For being so thin, she had one hell of an appetite.

“Actually,” Seulgi started with a smile. “I booked this hotel because it’s usually one of the ones idols stay at since it’s super close to the festival area and the hotel is known for its discretion. I bet it's a kpop group.” Joy dropped a grape into the pool, mouth agape, body frozen as she stared at Seulgi. You watched the grape bob away towards the other side of the pool. Joy still hadn’t moved or spoken when you turned back.

“Joy? Babe? You alright?” You gave her shoulder a light shake. 

Joy took a deep breath before shouting, “A KPOP GROUP!? YOU’RE TELLING ME STRAY KIDS COULD BE RIGHT NEXT DOOR? OR EXO? OR-” Joy jumped out of the pool at this point. “We gotta go over there and find out who it is!”

“No! What are we gonna do just knock on the door and see who answers? It could be a girl group too, you know.” Seulgi stated.

Joy jumped again, “TWICE!?” Joy feigned fainting, “catch me Nayeon!” You all three laughed and Joy jumped back into the pool. “We should get some drinks and just have a party tonight. A light party, so we can go explore tomorrow, but a party nonetheless.” Joy suggested. 

“Hell yeah we’ve relaxed enough. It’s time to get fucked up.” You agreed. 

“I know a place we can get some good stuff for cheap. We spent an arm and a leg on this trip. I'm not paying the big bucks for alcohol.” Seulgi stated, cleaning up the plates (as is her duty as the resident mom of the trip). “Let’s head there now so we can be back before dinner and get some food in our system before we get trashed.” 

You and Joy did as you were told and obediently threw on a swim suit cover-up to travel to the store. 2 bottles of champagne and a box of soju later, the three of you returned and got dressed for dinner. After your bellies were full, the three of you put on your “party pajamas" (short shorts, crop tops, and fuzzy socks) and got the snacks and drinks ready on the living room table. 

“Shit we need ice for the champagne don’t we. I’ll go grab some from the ice machine down the hall. We’re gonna need more than the refrigerator has at the moment.” You grabbed the empty champagne bucket and headed to the room where the ice machine was located. Well, where you thought it was located. The ice machine room was empty and you pouted while thinking about where you could get ice. You walked back to the room, but before you went back in and admitted defeat to your friends, you saw the doors to the staircase and thought you might as well try one floor down. Entering onto the floor below you headed back to the area where the ice machine could be, but stopped when you saw two figures standing in the open area after the penthouse suite door. Though the lighting was dim (a 5 star hotel can’t light their hallways?) you could see a third figure gesturing, and then backing up and pointing their phone towards the first two as if they were recording. You slowly walked closer when you heard “Ok, shi-jak* [A/N: begin].” T-Pain’s “Booty Wurk played and the two figures started dancing. The moves were executed flawlessly until one of the figures in a black cap made an imperceptible (to you) mistake. Groans from the other two were heard and the taller male in the front, in a gray cap, turned to playfully shake at the other. You took this as your chance to pass through. “You guys are really good at dancing,” you started as all three boys jumped, startled at your sudden appearance. You passed by them, but not before taking in just how beautiful they all three were. “Oh, thank you.” The one in the gray cap nodded to you. You headed to the ice machine, but subconsciously felt like someone was watching, so you took a quick peek over your shoulder to see all three men watching you. Dipping quickly into the ice room, you put your hand over your heart and felt it flutter. 

Woah. Were they checking me out? You thought to yourself as you pressed the bucket under the ice machine. The clanking and crunching of the machine and the ice hitting the metal bucket was a mere whisper compared to the thumping of your heart and whooshing of blood in your ears. 

Fuck it. It’s vacation. You convinced yourself as the ice toppled over the lip of the bucket and landed with a clack on the floor. When you came out, the boys were dancing again. You walked just close enough to let them know you were watching, and then leaned against the wall. The boys finished up their attempt of the dance and you stepped forward. 

“Wow! You guys are really so good!” you fluttered your lashes even though you weren’t sure if they could see in the dim light. “You should be professionals. I wish you could teach me to dance!” You stepped a little closer to the three boys. 

The boy holding his phone chuckled while the one in the gray cap thanked you again. You fluttered your lashes again and flashed a sweet smile. “I’m Y/N. And you are?” You turned to the shorter boy in black. “Oh, uh, I’m Wooyoung”. He smiled lightly. 

“I’m Yunho.” The boy in the gray cap waved and then shoved his hands back in the pockets of his white cargo pants.

You turned to the final boy and your eyes widened and pulse quickened. You hadn’t gotten a good look at him when you first passed by, but even in the dim light you could see he was a ten out of ten. You strained your eyes and pleaded with your pupils to let you see this man in all his glory. 

“I’m Mingi. Nice to meet you, Y/N. And, for the record, we are professionals.” He smiled. 

“Oh? Are you in a dance group?” You questioned, never breaking eye contact with Mingi.

“Something like that”, Wooyoung answered. “More like a KPOP group.” He barely finished his sentence before he was lightly slapped in the chest by Yunho.

“Oh that’s really cool. Which group? Maybe I’ve heard of you.” You played it cool even though your heart was threatening to beat itself out of your rib cage.

“Ateez.” Mingi said proudly. 

You did your best not to fangirl hard. You’d been listening to Bouncy continuously since Joy sent it in the group chat. Due to your rigorous doctor schedule, stanning wasn’t something you had time to do- thus, Joy’s “Ew, casual KPOP girl” comment in the airport.

“I think I’ve heard of you guys before.” you nodded and flashed another cute smile. “Well, I have to get this bucket of ice back to a few bottles of champagne,” you emphasized your sentence by holding up the bucket and patting it a few times. “But if you guys ever want a break from idol life, my friends and I are one floor up with drinks and snacks.” You passed through the three boys once again, turned around, and started walking backwards so you could express your final sentence to them, “and we’ll sign NDAs, no problem.” You whipped back around before the three boys had a chance to watch you sink deep into embarrassment, fear, and confusion.

Did I really just tell three international superstars I’d sign an NDA to party with them? I haven’t even started drinking and I’m already doing stupid shit. You chastised yourself as you quickly made your way back up the stairs and into your penthouse.

“Finally! We were gonna start without you!” Joy shouted, her back to you as she sat on the couch fiddling with something you couldn’t see.

“We did start without you.” Seulgi corrected, clicking something on her computer and watching the big screen TV at the same time. She seemed to be setting up her computer to cast to the TV to play music.

“You guys will never guess what happened to me and who I met.” You started, setting the bucket on the kitchen counter and tucking the two champagne bottles snuggly within the ice. When you turned back to your friends, they were both staring at you excitedly.

“WHO!?” they yelled in unison.

You went to go sit on the couch. You started off your story of the disappearing ice machine much to Joy and Seulgi’s dismay, and even kept an air of mystery by not revealing the names of the boys until the proper point in the story, after you’d gotten the ice.

“So I’m like, my name is Y/N what’s yours? And he goes ‘Wooyoung’ and the next dude goes ‘Yunho’ and the last dude goes ‘Mingi’.” you recount. At each name, Seulgi gasps and Joy squeals. You continued before they could interrupt you. 

“Then Mingi’s like ‘Yeah we are professionals’ and I’m like ‘yeah are you in a dance group?’ and Wooyoung goes ‘We’re in ATEEZ’ and I lowkey pretended like I’m not obsessed with Bouncy so I can stay chill.” You were speeding through the story to make it to the most important part before Joy exploded with questions. 

“So,” you continue “I say ‘yeah I’ve heard of you guys. Well if you wanna come up and party with us we’ll sign the NDA!” You bury your head in your hands and pull your knees to your chest while Joy and Seulgi, essentially, freak out. 

“Are you telling me Ateez could come up here and party with us!?” Joy stands up on the couch in excitement. Seulgi quickly brings her down a peg to reality and says “They probably won’t but at least Y/N got to flirt with hot famous guys.” Seulgi pauses for a moment before a squeal escapes her mouth and she taps her feet on the floor in glee. “WE COULD PARTY WITH ATEEZ THOUGH!” Seulgi grins. With that, Joy jumps lightly off the couch and pops open a soju bottle. She grabs three shot glasses and pours the bottle evenly across all three. “Well,” she starts “we should be ready when they get here!”

You three take the shots like champs, open the snacks, and turn up the music. After some light mixed drinks and a few good songs, the three of you had almost forgotten about your supposed super star visitors. A knock at the door stops the three of you in your tipsy rendition of Kai’s Rover. You look at each other in confusion, and then turn towards the door. You head over and peek through the peephole. A young Asian woman, probably the same age as you, with an ipad is standing outside the door. You open the door just wide enough to be polite.

“Hi.” You say tentatively, confusion clearly showing on your face.

‘Hi! I’m one of the managers working for KQ and I think I have something you’ll want to sign.” The lady turns her iPad around and you see NON DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT in big bold letters across the top of a document. You feel hands on your shoulder and the door swings wider. 

“YES. WE’LL SIGN. WHATEVER IT IS WE’LL SIGN!” Joy practically screams in the woman’s face.

The manager laughs and begins to quickly scroll through the massive document, highlighting the major points (basically, keep it quiet or we’ll sue you for your entire life and the life of your future children) and then hands you a stylus. 

“If you agree to the terms and conditions, sign, print, and date here. If you have any questions let me know and I’ll be happy to answer them before you sign. If you’re no longer interested-” before the manager can finish her sentence, Joy snatches the stylus out of your hand and signs off on the document. She hands the stylus to Seulgi and she does the same with speed. 

“So, they’re coming up here? They’re all actually coming?” You ask, raising an eyebrow and begging the answer to be yes.

The manager chuckles and says “this non-disclosure agreement covers any potential meetings with the idols mentioned within it on the dates mentioned within it.” She punctuates her sentence with a smile and moves the iPad towards you. Joy nudges you in a manner that lets you know that you will not be ruining this for her. You sign with shaky hands.

“Perfect!” The manager turns the iPad back around and taps on it a bit. “And if you could all input your emails here, you’ll receive a copy of this for your own records.” You put in your emails, and the manager hits send. “Thank you! Have a good night!” The manager bows, and heads down the hall. You slowly close the door and turn to look at your friends. You stand staring at each other, excitement buzzing between the three of you as not one of your brains can form words. Seulgi was the first to break the silence. 

“Well…this is happening.” She said as if she was trying to convince herself to keep calm. Joy walked off like a zombie in a trance to sit back on the couch and stare out into the distance. “This is happening.” She repeated in the same tone as Seulgi.

“This is happening!” Joy rocketed up from the couch. “I gotta go put on some makeup!” Joy rushed into her bedroom, and you heard a distinct zip of a makeup bag followed by the continuous clacking of makeup containers hitting each other while being dumped out. You and Seulgi finally had the wherewithal to leave the foyer and head back to the couch. You took a generous swig of strawberry soju when you heard another knock at the door. This time, all three of you ran to the door to answer it. You were closer, and, therefore, faster, and opened the door with a grin.

“(Y/N)!” Mingi raised his hands above his head as if he was greeting an old friend. “I brought drinks and friends.” You moved to the side to welcome Mingi in, Yunho, Wooyoung, and San following behind him. 

“These are my friends Seulgi and Joy.” You introduced your friends but before you could give them the eyes that meant “please be cool”, they began to fangirl.

“Oh my gosh Wooyoung you’re my bias! It’s so cool to meet you guys!” Joy giggled and jumped Wooyoung with a hug. “Oh I’m so sorry!” Joy jumped back as quickly as she had hugged Wooyoung. “I should have asked first- can I hug you?” 

Wooyoung laughed and nodded, coming in for another hug. Yunho, Mingi, and San greeted you all and you all headed to the couch. 

Joy, the official party girl of the three of you, immediately began to pour shots while Seulgi turned the music back up. The party had commenced full swing, with all of you jumping, dancing, and shouting lyrics as loud as you could. After an hour and a few drinks, you were just buzzed enough to let your inhibitions out the window, so when Bouncy came on, you lost it.

“EVERYONE SHUT UP I LOVE THIS SONG” you yelled, arms out as wide as possible to clear the makeshift dance floor (aka the area where the coffee table used to be). The song got as far as Yunho’s “one, two..” before it stopped. You whipped your head around to Seulgi with a look on your face that clearly said what the fuck!? But before you could verbally protest, Seulgi pointed to the TV. She’d pulled up the music video.

“Since you’ve never seen it.” She stuck her tongue out, but you didn’t see her. Your eyes were glued to the screen. By the time the video ended, you had made a dangerous decision. Watching Mingi clear out a bar with a fake gun, belly roll, and dance had you trembling. You knew you had to have him. You devised a devious plan in the blink of an eye. “Play it again!” you whined. “I wanna dance AND,” you stood up to emphasize the second request “I want you all to sing your parts!” 

The boys laughed and agreed as Seulgi re-started the music video. You began dancing as Mingi rapped “What you wanna do?”. Your plan was in motion and so were your hips. You spun around and swung your hand in the air like you were swinging a lasso. You slowly approached Mingi, who had sat down on the couch. When the chorus hit, you straddled him. Your heart was beating faster than it ever had before, but your mind was determined. You kept lightly moving your hips and swinging your imaginary lasso. Mingi looked at you with eyes wide and mouth slightly open, corners of his mouth turned up in disbelief. You pushed a little further- putting your hands on his shoulders and singing along:

“Slow it down, make it bouncy 

지금부터 fly

좀 다른 spicy 청양고추 vibe”

You looked Mingi in the eyes when you felt his hands on your hips. “Don’t forget to rap your part.” You leaned close with a small smile and mouthed “fix on” in time with the song. Mingi began rapping, and you began the next part of your plan. You wrapped your arms around his neck and began to kiss at his neck. You heard his breath catch slightly, but he didn’t miss a beat of his rap. You moved up to his ear, bit lightly, and moaned “mmmm”. You applied a little more pressure in your grind and you moved to snake your fingers up the hair on the nape of his neck. You kept kissing his neck and, when his rap had completed, Mingi slowly slid his hands down to cup your ass. You could hear San and Wooyoung confidently slurring their way through Seonghwa’s lines. You’re surprised you’re not embarrassed about slutting yourself out in front of your friends, but the growing bulge pressing into your crotch is making it a little easier. Pulling back and placing your forehead on Mingi’s, you stare in each other’s eyes and reach a silent understanding. You slide off of Mingi and grab his hand, leading him to your bedroom. 

You shut the door, but can’t turn around because Mingi has pressed his body against you. He wraps his arms around you and kisses your neck. He spins you around and crashes his mouth into you, tongues wrestling and arms wandering. You push him towards the massive bed and pull away from the intoxicating kiss just long enough to warn him to watch his step. You pull off your shorts and shirt and Mingi does the same. Mingi sits up against the headboard and drags you back into his lap. You both moan and grind into each other- Mingi clearly not able to choose between massaging your breasts or squeezing your ass, so he settles for one for each hand. You’ve had enough of the humping and pull away. You trail kisses down Mingi’s body, clearly heading to give him the best head of his life, but he leans forward and grabs you before you can make it to your prize. Mingi flips you over and tears your panties off like he’s unwrapping a christmas present. 

“Shit.” Mingi mumbles as he pushes your legs out and back for a clear view of his meal. He looks up at you as he lightly runs his middle finger through your slick covered folds. Your breathing is heavy and your heart is pounding. 

“You want it, baby girl?” Mingi raises an eyebrow at you. You nod fervently, but that’s clearly not enough. “Lemme hear you baby. What do you want?” Mingi teases in the sweetest, sultriest voice you’ve ever heard. 

“I want you to eat me like it’s your last meal, Mingi.” You respond, grabbing a fistful of his hair. At this Mingi’s eyes flutter shut and he gasps. 

“Don’t let go,” Mingi growls, then he dives in. He wraps his lips around your clit and sucks, and makes quick work of his tongue. He slowly pushes his middle finger inside you and hooks it right into your g-spot. 

The speed at which the pleasure overcomes you has you grabbing Mingi’s hair with your other hand and releasing a deep moan. Mingi slurps and moans as he fingers you deep. You pull him off of you and he looks up at you with confusion. You begin to crawl down towards his crotch, bulge straining painfully through his boxer briefs. Mingi gets it immediately and flips over onto his back to continue his work on your clit while you unearth his throbbing cock. Watching the thick, long member spring out of its cage has you clenching around Mingi’s finger. He moans and adds a second as you squeeze the base of his cock. He’s already leaking, so you squeeze a little more out to lubricate his dick. You lick a stripe from the base to the tip, and then take Mingi in his entirety. Mingi’s head falls back and he moans deeply. 

“(Y/N), fuck, just like that.” Mingi pants and speeds up his fingers within you. You feel your orgasm approaching but you’re determined to make Mingi remember you. You move off of Mingi, which removes his fingers from you, and turn to face him. He looks down at you and you stare in his eyes as you deepthroat him. You hollow your cheeks and work your tongue up and down, cupping his balls with one hand and running the other up and down his thighs. Mingi lightly places his hands on your head and you can feel him throbbing in your mouth. You can tell he’s getting close and remove him from your mouth with a pop. The heat of the moment over takes you and you go to straddle him, line him up, and sink down on his cock. Mingi’s eyes fluttered shut and he shuddered out a moan. You began a slow pace, up and down, while simultaneously circling your hips. You threw your head back and dug your nails into Mingi’s toned abs. He gripped your hip with one hand and began mercilessly rubbing your clit with the other. Your legs went weak as your orgasm built up again, and you sat down on Mingi, fully taking his entire length. Mingi pulled you forward so you were laying on his chest. He hooked both of his arms around your waist, lifted his hips, and began fucking you senseless. 

You came within seconds, gripping Mingi’s cock tight- he could feel your walls fluttering and your orgasm dripping down onto his thighs. 

“Fuck Mingi, yes! Make me cum!” You moaned into his ear. Between your pussy death gripping his cock and you dirty talking in his ear, Mingi couldn’t handle it. His hips stuttered, his breath became ragged, and his moans became louder and louder. He pounded into you harder and harder until he finally stilled deep within you. You felt him throbbing and spilling his release as you were coming down from your own high. 

Mingi rode out his orgasm still holding your body tightly to his. You pushed your torso up so you could see Mingi’s face clearly- hair sticking to his forehead by beads of sweat, eyelids low in bliss. Mingi took a deep breath and finally came to. His eyes got wide and he swore in korean. 

“Oh God. I just…fuck…I didn’t pull out…I’m…are you…” Mingi’s mind was clearly racing and you put your pointer finger to his lips to shush him.

“Shh. It’s okay. I’m on birth control, I’m clean, and I’d never do that to you. I promise.” you comforted him.

Mingi’s eyebrows creased together and raised in a face that relayed “you promise?” then he nodded and released the breath he’d been holding. He then rolled over, still holding you tight to his body, so you could be flat on your back when he pulled out. “Stay there!” he requested as he ran off to the bathroom to get you a warm towel. He came back smiling, ready to provide you with excellent aftercare. He found your clothes that had been scattered over the floor, and handed them to you as he put on his own clothes. A pang of sadness hit your heart as you realized your night with Mingi was over, and you went into the bathroom to collect yourself (and to pee. You always pee after sex!). You looked in the mirror and saw how rosy your cheeks were, hair all over your head, and all you could do was smile. You were thankful that you had this experience. After quickly brushing your teeth and washing your face, you opened the bathroom door and peeked back in the bedroom. Mingi was nowhere to be found. You realized simultaneously that it was silent in the penthouse. You assumed the girls went to bed and Mingi left with the rest of his members. You crawled into bed, fluffed your pillows, and turned off the lights.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You woke up hot. Really hot. And paralyzed. Not sleep paralyzed, paralyzed like you were in a straitjacket. You slowly realized someone was in the bed with you. You could hear a soft snore from behind you. You twisted around to try and see if Joy had had another nightmare and wanted to cuddle with you for “safety”. The figure behind you aroused and you strained your eyes in the darkness to see who the hell caused you to be drenched in sweat.

“Hey, did my snoring wake you?” A soft, deep voice asked. Your eyes adjusted to the darkness and you saw Mingi’s sleepy face, eyes still shut tight. You were glad his eyes were closed because you were grinning like an idiot. “No, I just had a funny dream.” You lied as you cuddled up, face first into his chest. Mingi held you tight, kissed your forehead, and immediately fell back asleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The smell of bacon wafted into your dreams and knocked on your brain until you regained consciousness. The sun was beaming into your room and you gave yourself a nice, full body stretch. While stretching, you realized how roomy your bed was. You turned over and noticed your empty bed. You sighed in content, happy for the night you had. A piece of cloth under the unused pillow caught your eye. You lifted the pillow and noticed Mingi’s shirt, and a note.

“Had a great time last night. See you at Waterbomb. Have you and your friends meet us backstage ;) -SMG”

You grabbed his shirt, stuffed it into your face, and took a big sniff. You didn’t care that it was creepy and delusional. You’re happy he left you a memento of the night you shared. The door to your room creaked slowly open, and you popped your head up as soon as you noticed it.

“SEULGI SHE’S UP OH MY GOD.” Joy screamed and sprinted full speed towards your bed. She flopped down next to you as Seulgi ran in behind her.

“TELL. US. EVERYTHING.” Joy enunciated her words by shaking your shoulders. 

You relayed the night to your best friends. You concluded by showing them the note. Joy and Seulgi shrieked and their voices overlapped in excitement- fantasizing about how the day was going to go. You tuned them out and looked wistfully out the window as the sun continued to shine into your bedroom. You began to grin as you thought about all you were going to do with Mingi again. 

[elleloquently]

| a/n : female!reader who is quite girly and soft. i wrote this purely for fun so it might be a little self indulgent but i'm sharing it anyway... craving lemonade. have you ever had lavender lemonade? it's my favorite. song suggestions because i'm feeling nostalgic - work song: hozier... georgia: vance joy... from eden: hozier... i think that's all. if you read this, thank you <3

nothing sweeter - ellie williams

jackson was beginning to be enveloped by the summer sun, and you couldn't have been happier.

you didn't mind the way that the sun made you squint, or having to messily pull up your hair when the heat around your neck started to feel too overwhelming, only to realize that you had forgotten to place a hair tie on your wrist that morning.

frantically waving your hand in the heat was enough to make you feel heavy with sleep, but you continued anyway, determined not to allow your favorite friend to suffer from persistent, pesky flies.

"poor girl," you cooed, running your hand along shimmer's neck. always happy to accept your affections, shimmer inhaled quickly, puffing the breath out through her nostrils with a vibrating purr.

an easy laugh escaped you, tracing a delicate finger along the white strip down her nose.

"should've known i'd find you in here."

the familiar voice prompts an immediate smile to blossom onto your lips, one that your girlfriend would certainly argue was more beautiful than any of the flowers blooming in jackson.

"were you looking for long?" you question apologetically, eyebrows pinching together as you turned to face your visitor.

ellie shakes her head. she wore a tank top and a short sleeved, baggy button up, though it remained unbuttoned in her usual style.

"not long," she assures, pressing a brief kiss to the worried crease on your forehead. you relaxed at once, eyes fluttering shut as your cheeks warmed.

"i'm sorry i didn't wait," you mumble anyway.

ellie swats at your apology, strands of auburn slipping from the bun that held half of her hair. "you're here early today," she observed.

you nodded enthusiastically, a soft sigh exiting before your explanation. you usually went home first after work, normally to eat while asking ellie about her day and then confiding in her about yours.

today was different, prompted by the weather. perhaps a little sunshine really was good for the soul. everyone seemed happier today. even ellie looked more relaxed than usual, eyes bright while you spoke.

"i know," you enthuse. shimmer nudges your arm. "it's just so beautiful today, isn't it? we didn't have the heart to keep the kids indoors... i mean, we could've had class outside but then really, what's the point?"

you were somewhat of a teacher in jackson, helping out with the younger children. there were actual teachers, too, people who went to school and had fancy qualifications, once upon a time. you were a notorious babysitter, sweet and patient and first on the list when the school needed a bit more help. you were happy to oblige, finally feeling as though you had found your footing.

you were hopeless for patrol, never quite got comfortable with the feeling of a gun weighing down your hand. it was fulfilling, teaching at the school. it was your second favorite place in jackson, the first being anywhere with the animals that you adored.

"i think i could guess who the ring leader for that idea was..." ellie mused, looking at you with nothing but adoration in her eyes.

your eyes widening was enough confirmation and one corner of ellie's mouth quirked up, a lopsided grin.

"it was just too nice," you defended meekly.

ellie rolled her eyes, a false twinge of annoyance coating her tone but you knew she was only joking. "so you're the reason why i got harassed by loud children on my walk over? this time of day is usually peaceful."

you playfully shoved at her arm, not enough to make ellie even sway.

"hey," you warned, voice soft.

shimmer huffs and you raise your hand, scratching under her chin.

"so you came here to spoil shimmer?" ellie accuses, patting her horse as well.

"she deserves it," you grin, brushing your hands together to rid them of any dust.

"yeah? she's not the only one," ellie offers you her hand, fingers flexing while she waits. "let's get you home, ring leader."

your cheeks warmed and you graciously accept, interlocking your fingers with ellie's.

"how was it this morning, by the way?" you ask, shielding your eyes with your free hand as you exit the stables. the path is dusty but the nearby grass is so lush, it's a sight for sore eyes.

walking alongside ellie must've been a sight too, for any other resident in jackson. her clothes were dusty and faded from her early patrol, surely she needed to shower yet, and a cut was healing on her chin. she nearly always had a frown etched onto her lips. tense. you were well put together, considering, the only filth being that on your hands as evidence from a trip to the stable.

a pretty petal and her weed, ellie once joked, but you were quick to scold her for it.

"quiet," ellie informed you. you squeezed her hand and held yourself steady, determined not to lose your footing if you were just going to stare at her. "i was with dina today. not much infected, either."

you nodded sleepily along with her words. "i was thinking of maybe trying to make lemonade today?"

ellie perked up at your suggestion, and the reaction made your heart swell. "i have some things left over, still good but unused... think m'gonna trade around for a shit ton of lemons."

ellie snorted as you swore. it was comical in context and ellie felt soft towards you, desperate to get home and out of the sun. she hadn't seen you all day and she felt greedy now, bitterly jealous at the idea of you leaving again right away, sharing your smiles and polite nature with everyone else around town.

"i'll get you lemons," ellie doesn't offer so much as she tells you.

your eyebrows draw together slowly. "oh?"

"you should rest awhile, those kids have got to drive you wild," she mutters, to which you respond with an easy laugh.

"ellie, it's fine. doesn't lemonade sound good? it does to me, i think."

"anything coming from you would be good," ellie quips, and you bump against her. you love her this time of year, her freckles are so visible in the sun.

“so let me get the lemons,” you negotiate. “it won’t take long, promise.”

it won’t take long is an understatement. the people of Jackson share things as a community, and trading has been your way of shopping. despite the guidelines and your good natured heart, ellie was sure that there were a handful of people that would offer up all of their lemons for less than nothing if you so much as knocked on their door.

it was too warm to debate. ellie sighed reluctantly and you knew you had won, already imagining the sweetness that was soon to make your lips pucker.

"you can help if you want, only if you aren't too busy," you happily offered, tilting to your head to look at ellie.

"never too busy for you," ellie replied, almost offended that you would even think so.

you're giggly today and maybe you really have had too much sun.

ellie steps in front of you and pulls open the front door, leaning back in order to give you space to walk inside first.

your house is so dark compared to the sunlit, bright blue sky outside. you blink rapidly, trying to adjust your eyes in the new light.

ellie breathes in deeply and decides to take off her converse at the door. you had cleaned recently, she could tell.

even though you didn't grow up in the house, you've made it your own overtime. you never wanted to feel as though you were intruding in someone else's space. it took months upon months and lots of effort, but it felt like you. it was another thing that ellie appreciated about you, you certainly had a knack for turning a house into a home. she hoped to move in soon.

you beeline for a window, using both arms to push it open. the warm breeze filters inside and you hum, satisfied.

standing on your toes to draw back the curtains, you look over your shoulder to meet ellie's gaze.

"i was thinking i could make extra, we could take it to joel?"

a smile came to ellie naturally. your thoughtfulness was endearing, and ellie could tell you've been thinking about it and planning all day.

"sounds good," she replies, reaching out to brush your hair behind your ear.

you're pleased so you grin, hanging onto the feeling of ellie's thumb grazing your cheek.

"okay," you mumble, suddenly feeling as though you were rapidly losing all of your motivation. you pull away from ellie, who reaches out once again, entrapping you in her grasp.

"just five more minutes?" ellie asks, her tone nonchalant but her green eyes were pleading.

you throw your head back and groan in protest, but you both already know that you'll give in. "you're such a dork," you accuse.

"so... yes?" ellie asks hopefully, holding both of your hands in her own.

"yes," you grumble. "just five minutes," you solidify, but ellie is already pulling you closer before you can finish your sentence.

[cursedalthoughts]

Priority Research 7 Predictions - Sakura Empire

It is time for one of the biggest factions in AL to get their PR prediction post. Last year, the Sakura Empire got Shimanto, a choice I was honestly disappointed with - not because of her design or gameplay in Azur Lane, but because Shimanto is an utterly unremarkable ship in World of Warships.

So, as usual, I will mention some of their most likely choices. None of these selected ships are guaranteed to make it into PR7 - we may not get a Sakura girl this time, but all of them are ships I would be interested in seeing. Hell, some of them I've turned into OCs of mine lol ALSO, I mentioned some of these candidates last year. Because I just really want them in AL damnit.

Bungo

Bungo is funny.

She's an upscaled Amagi hull with 457mm guns (no clue why they aren't 460mm). Her gimmick is accuracy. Yamato is already well known as a very accurate battleship, but Bungo takes it to a whole another level. She's so accurate that, assuming you aim perfectly; you will most likely encounter aiming bugs that no other ship really experiences (because WoWs is built on a mountain of spaghetti code)

As a special consumable, Bungo gets access to a 'High-Precision Spotter Plane' that further reduces her dispersion by -20% for a minute and five seconds. You can get two whole salvos out very comfortably, due to her 26.4s reload.

Honestly, if you miss with Bungo, it is your fault. Easy DR material.

Adatara

Adatara is the predecessor of Bungo in the tech tree. She's Tier 9, her spotter plane reduces her dispersion by -10% instead of -20%, and has one less turret. Her reload is longer, too, at 30s.

If Bungo is DR material, Adatara is PR material.

Tsurugi

As much as I love Tsurugi, I see a lot of people compare her to Georgia, which is just innacurate.

Both ships enjoy 3 double 457mm gun turrets with short reloads and remarkable accuracy, but Georgia has American Super-Heavy AP that does devastating damage, and Tsurugi's AP shells do a pitiful 13.5k damage - Georgia's AP shells do almost 18k damage each.

Also, Georgia has very fun secondary guns. And can tank damage, since she's an Iowa hull variation. And is superbly fast. Tsurugi has none of those things.

Tsurugi has 15km-range deep water torpedoes (that can only hit battleships and aircraft carriers), as well as a 'Torpedo Reload Booster' consumable that reduces the 150s reload down to just 10s. Also, while not enjoying Georgia's 46+ knots speed, Tsurugi can easily do almost 37 knots, which is faster than a lot of cruiser.

Sadly, Tsurugi also suffers from pathetically weak armor.

Tsurugi could be a very fun PR battlecruiser in AL, however.

Iwami

Iwami is a variation of the Izumo design. Much like Izumo, she has fairly accurate 410mm main guns. Much unlike Izumo, her overall gun layout makes sense, with 2 frontal dual turrets and two back dual turrets, much like a Nagato.

Iwami has two gimmicks of particular interest: Two sets of torpedoes, one per side, which are taken straight out of Shimakaze (4 20km torpedos per launcher) that also deal devastating damage, but can be seen from orbit (relatively speaking - their detectability range is 2.5km. Normal hydroacoustic search detects torpedoes at 3.5km)

The second gimmick of Iwami is access to a surprisingly strong secondary gun array.

Iwami could be a PR battleship with a support role.

Shikishima

As I said last year, Shikishima is "The USS Georgia of the Yamato-class."

Her main armament consists of 3 dual 510mm turrets boasting of improved accuracy compared to the Yamato-class, as well as a 27s reload. She shares all the flaws of Yamato and Musashi, mainly having incredibly weak armor and a glacial turret traverse of a whole entire minute to turn 180º, but she's a fun ship that can do insane damage. She relies a lot on sheer overmatch, being the second ship to have 510mm guns - Satsuma is basically an upscaled Shikishima, and HMS Incomparable "only" has 508mm guns.

Also, for some reason, Shikishima also has a very nice secondary gun layout, guns that also have improved accuracy and reload times; meaning you can run a full secondary gun Shikishima build without losing much main gun accuracy.

Due to being a Yamato hull, she'd be DR.

Yoshino

Hey, wouldn't it be funny if Azuma had even more torpedoes than Shimakaze?

Yoshino is just that, a bigger Azuma with a total of 16 torpedoes. She gets a choice between the 'suicide' 12km torpedoes of Shimakaze, which deal almost 27k damage each; or the same torpedoes that Iwami has, 20km range.

She's different enough from Azuma to be somewhat likely, but she's also not really that much different than Azuma. She'd be DR, for sure.

Hayate

A unique (for Japan's standards) destroyer that has both good guns and good torpedoes. They normally excell only at guns (Kitakaze) or only at torpedoes (Shimakaze) - Hayate is good with both.

Past me summarized her pretty well. She's a decent mix between Shimakaze and Harugumo - Harugumo being Kitakaze's bigger sister.

PR rarity for sure.

Yamagiri

Ok, but what if you wanted a pretty good mix of Shimakaze and Harugumo, instead of a decent mix?

Yamagiri is an upscaled Hayate that mixes the two lines of destroyers. She gets access to the same amount of torpedoes Shimakaze has, while having access to some formidable main gun armament as well.

While Hayate is a PR, Yamagiri would be a DR. However, there's one main issue with Yamagiri as a PR7 choice:

She's a Superdestroyer. A Tier 11. We have never gotten a Tier 11 PR ship, and there are much more fun and bombastic options for the first Tier 11 in Azur Lane's Priority Research.

[quietlyimplode]

Black Widow Fest - Day Five

Wild Geese (cruelty is easy)

Warnings: death of widows, implied (not graphic) torture, Natasha in the Red Room.

Word Count: 2154

Pairing: Black Widows, Widows, Natasha-centric (Clint/Nat implied)

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. - Mary Oliver. Wild Geese.

Head warnings. This is not a happy fic, words in their essence are something that can be so benign but can have ripple effects. Words said in grief, anger, pain, can have lasting impacts in ways we don’t know. Be careful with your words, you’ll never know how they may ricochet. Take care friends. <3

Cruelty is easy. You’re not special for choosing it.

1/

Chains around her wrists, toes barely touching the floor, the woman spits at the Widow.

“Why do you hold your secrets, when you could so easily just tell me? Where is your husband?”

Blood on her chin, still the woman snarls.

Like a rabid dog, she drools and snaps when the Widow comes close.

“You’re going to die here anyway, why not make your last hours easier?”

The woman, dehydrated, delirious, laughs.

“Cruelty is easy. You’re not special for choosing it.”

It give the widow pause.

The woman laughs again.

“You’re not special at all. Just a cog in the machine. Doing someone else’s bidding. How does it feel to be the puppet?”

She sighs, spits, and leans heavily on the chains.

“So kill me, because I don’t know what you want to hear. My husband is nowhere. He’s everywhere. He’s in Malta, Dubrovnik. He’s in the Maldives, in Sri Lanka or…”

The gun shot to her head silences her and the body falls heavily against the chains, it’s weight now dead as there’s steady blood flow from the the wound.

.

2/

Natasha watches the older widow as she instructs the anatomy class.

Blood flow, large veins, nerves. It’s fascinating the way that the human body works. Out of all the things that Natasha learns, she finds this the most interesting.

The Red Room teaches them these things for the use of information extraction, for field medicine and to show them that they are not immortal.

Even though they think that they are.

They’re drilled daily, and it becomes Natasha’s favourite.

The older widow seems to see it, her love of learning and how she absorbs the information.

After class, she asks the Widow to teach her about cranial nerves, how they can bring pain. How it can impact on thinking.

The widow pauses and takes Natasha’s hand.

Touch is always a strange sensation.

She craves it and strays away from it.

This time, the touch is insistent.

The words are said urgently, whispered as though a secret in shame.

“Cruelty is easy, Natasha. You are not special for choosing it. Kindness, grace and patience, sometimes those are things that matter more in the moment.”

Abruptly, she lets her hand go, and stands.

“We will learn more on the cranial nerves over the next week.”

She hands Natasha a book.

“Read this. And write me a essay on how you would provide the field medicine in case study, 600 words by tomorrow.”

The book is heavy, but it’s the words that were spoken in secret that run in repetition in Natasha’s head.

‘Cruelty is easy.”

She wonders if it’s a challenge, if she’s suppose to learn to extract information in other ways. Through words rather than pain.

She walks out of the room, wondering just how that would work.

.

3/

Georgia stares at Natasha.

“So what, like the whores of Odessa, you want to go in me what? Ask them for the information?”

Natasha feels the fear flow through her.

She stands straighter, hardens her face and nods.

“They’re going to invite us in graciously. They’re going to tell us everything we want to know and we’ll be done in less than 2 hours.”

She pauses.

“Unless you want to follow the mission parameter, take the man and his daughter and torture them both to see who breaks first.”

She knows Georgia is not smart enough to understand what she is going for. That she can show them that she can do things in a creative way.

She doesn’t like torture. It’s messy and gives her a feeling in her gut that doesn’t go away for days. The images replay in her mind.

But she can’t tell anyone that.

Georgia shrugs.

“Okay. But if we die for this Natalia, I’m going to kill your in the afterlife.”

Natasha bristles at the nickname and passes an easy smile.

“I’ll get the blame, just follow my lead, okay?”

Natasha stands, folds money in her hand and smiles.

The door knock is met with a crack of an opening and a girl, no older than twelve peeks around the corner.

“Hello?”

“Hi hun, I’m Irina and this is Svetlana, we are here to see your mum, is she home?”

The girls eyes widen, and sadness fills them.

“Um. No, she’s not.”

Natasha knows well that the woman is dead.

“Oh, okay, can you leave a message for us?”

The door opens wider.

The girl more trusting now.

“My dadda’s home,” she starts, “I can get him, if you want?”

Natasha smiles, “oh sure, that would be great.”

The girl leaves them standing at the door and Georgia moves nervously from foot to foot.

“Are you sure about this, Natalia?”

Natasha reaches behind her and squeezes her hand in reassurance.

“Hello?”

The bearded man appears, his face drawn and tired.

“Hello!” Natasha says brightly.

“Alina gave us this address when we last met up, she said to come visit if ever we were in Vladivostok.”

The man frowns.

“We went to school together.”

Natasha is betting hard that the man will remember his wife’s ramblings of her childhood friends, but not their faces.

“Oh,” he nods.

“Irina and Svetlana,” the girl says, helpfully, as though she knows.

“Oh,” the man says again.

“She’s dead.”

The words are heavy and the girl retreats behind her father as if the words won’t find her there.

Natasha schools her face into one of grief, like the woman wasn’t killed at the hands of the KGB in partnership of the Red Room.

“Oh,” she echos, “how? When?”

The man opens the door wider, and invites them in.

The follow the couple into the kitchen, where the girl starts to make some tea, taking the role that her mother must have left.

The man sits, offering chairs to the Widows as they’re offered tea.

“It is perhaps a long story,” he opens, looking to his daughter.

Natasha is quick.

“And I want no pain in reopening a wound.”

She pauses.

“She was my friend. She was kind and honest and dear to us.”

She sighs dramatically, and rests her head in her hands, Georgia taking the cue to offer comfort.

“Is there anything we can do?”

The girl sets down the tea, and they wrap their hands around it.

She looks small amongst the big table, and squeaks a response.

“What was my mother like when she was young?”

Natasha lies with the truth.

The words woven and soon the man is drunk.

The little girl tired and secrets spilled without his knowledge.

They help the girl put her father to bed, and she gratefully thanks them, offering them her meagre stash of lollies.

Natasha declines, but Georgia takes four, then closes the girl’s hand around the rest.

“Thank you,” the little girl says, spontaneously hugging them both.

They hug her back, and leave the way they came, no one worse for the meeting.

“That was more exhausting, Nat.”

Georgia tells her, getting into their car.

“But no bad dreams,” Natasha sighs, leaning back.

Georgia snorts.

“No, no bad dreams.”

The getaway is smooth and smell of sweets emanate.

“Do you think they’ll punish us for going off mission?”

Natasha shakes her head.

“Given the information we just gathered, and the relationships we made, no, I don’t think they will.”

“You tell them then.”

“Mm,” Natasha nods, non committal to the instruction.

“Why?”

Georgia hands over two hard lollies and Natasha takes them both, wrapping them and revelling in the sweetness.

“Cruelty is easy, we aren’t special for choosing it.”

Georgia doesn’t say anything but seems to ruminate on her words.

“Where’d you learn that?”

“Madam Simzar,” Natasha chooses to disclose.

Georgia smiles.

“I miss her.”

Natasha ducks her head, unable to keep the pain off her face.

“Me too.”

.

4/

Natasha exits Fury’s office.

Making a bee line for the door, she brushes quickly past Clint and disappears.

Clearly not good news then.

He follows her to find her gone, disappeared in a matter of seconds.

He wonders where she could have gone, and walks quickly to the library hoping to catch a glimpse of her hair.

She’s not there, and she doesn’t appear to be anywhere. He swears under his breath before returning back to Fury’s office, hoping for some insight into what made her run.

He thought they might have been passed this, but, he supposes, Natasha’s go to self preservation will always be to hide her feelings, conceal her grief, hurt and sadness.

He feels that’s what this is, judging the way she wouldn’t even make eye contact as she brushed past.

“What happened?”

He’s not usually so abrupt with his boss, but he needs to know whether in this moment, Natasha needs help.

No time for pleasantries.

“A widow Natasha defected, overdosed.”

Fury’s words are flat.

The pictures he passes over shows the graphic image of a woman overdosed.

Clint feels sick.

The could be Natasha.

He knows at once where she’s gone, and leaves the room without another word.

.

The park is quiet.

Big dark clouds ruminate overhead, and he wraps his jacket around himself tighter against the cold.

The playground is dead, just as he assumed it would be, the children home and getting ready for night time routines.

He’s glad.

They used to come here and swing on the swings when Natasha needed to get away from herself. The rocking motion seemingly soothing.

Clint finds her exactly where he expects to.

The swing next to her inviting for him as he sits down and says nothing.

They stay in stasis, swinging slowly.

“Her name was Georgia.”

Natasha rests her head on the swing lengths, and swallows.

She wants to tell him about her, but the grief is too much. A tear slips out, and she hastily wipes it away.

“Cruelty to yourself is easy, Clint,” she says tiredly.

Clint looks at her, really looks and notices the slip of blood in her hand, clutching the small pairing knife.

“I’m not special for choosing it,” the words said in a whisper.

She hands him the knife, unwrapping her hand from around it.

“It’s harder to be kind.”

He pauses, the knife gone as soon as he touches it.

“I’ve heard you say it before.”

He didn’t feel how dangerous losing a widow might be for her. Certainly didn’t expect the knife.

He wants to know how safe she is, how she won’t be the dead girl, overdosed.

“Is it a reminder?”

She looks at him, shrugs, nods.

“Cruelty is easy,” she whispers.

Natasha pauses at the statement, aware she’s just repeating herself, the words though; they seem important.

The mission they went on, replaying in her mind, with Georgia smiling in the car.

“Georgia was a friend,” she looks to Clint. “One of a select few, and her passing feels personal.”

“She was a widow?”

Clint knows but asks anyway.

“Yes.”

Natasha starts swinging, slow movements, dragging her feet on the ground.

“Was she…”

Clint doesn’t really know what he’s asking.

“Free?”

She finishes the thought anyway.

“Yes. No. Are any of us ever free of that place?”

Clint doesn’t know how to answer.

“Drugs.”

Natasha pauses.

“She wasn’t kind to herself.”

“She felt the need to be cruel.”

Clint starts swinging too, feeling the heaviness of the night pressing down. He wonders just how much and how close Natasha was to this girl when they were young.

“To herself?” he wonders.

“Yes.”

She’s hastily wipes at her face again.

“But you aren’t.”

He says it as a statement and hopes that it’s true.

“Sometimes I am.”

Natasha pauses. Thinks.

“I beat myself up with my thoughts. But I’m better at recognising it. Stopping it when it comes.”

The introspection is not lost on Clint. It’s taken years for them both to realize when their thinking patterns have not been… optimal.

“She was not.”

He cringes at the past tense, the death fresh.

“No.”

She drags her feet.

“She was not.”

Clint’s not really sure what to say. He wants to hug her but knows it’s not appropriate.

“I’m sorry she let you down,” he opts for, pushing back and forward on his toes.

Natasha shrugs, slowing her movements.

“She didn’t let me down, her actions have nothing to do with me.”

There’s a pause, as Clint is at a loss for words, not used to Natasha’s nonchalance at the death of her friend, or wonders if she’s just masking her grief.

“It’s a reminder,” she continues.

“I choose to be kind.”

She says it with a strength, even as her voice wobbles.

“Cruelty is easy, to others, to yourself.”

Clint nods, pushes off a little more heavily.

“Yeah. It is,” he agrees.

He slows with his feet and then repeats the process.

“You are kind, Natasha,” he tells her.

But it’s met with silence as night covers them in darkness.

.

[barcodeboy]

Three days after my 6th birthday, my school went into a lockdown. It went into lockdown because there was a shooter at the university less than two miles away from my school. A year and a half before, there had been a mass shooting at the same university, where 32 people were killed.

I don't remember any of these things happening. I was too young.

A couple of years ago, my mom told me the story about when I came home from school and told her about the lockdown drill we did. My mom and my sister, who was eight at the time, made eye contact. My mom and my sister both knew that it wasn't a drill. And even at eight, she knew not to tell me.

In the aftermath of the Georgia school shooting, I am left thinking about this. I am thinking about the fact that my mother always hugged me before school, every single day, because she was terrified she wouldn't see me come home. And now, I'm thinking about the families who didn't have their kids come home.

I have watched multiple different videos of students of that high school talking about what happened. I saw a girl talking about how the shooter pointed the gun at her and ran towards her. I saw a boy talking about one of the teachers who had been killed, about how the last thing they talked about was his tardies. And I saw a girl talking about how the killer had been sitting next to her in class before all of this happened.

These are all children. They should not have to deal with this.

nobody should

[lucy4242564]

.cowboy like me.

Chapter 10.

Call my bluff, Call you “babe”

~Have my back, yeah, every day Feels like home Stay in bed The whole weekend It’s nice to have a friend~

“Do you love them?” Lilah asked before he got a chance to say anything.

His blue eyes still caught her off guard sometimes, but especially when they met hers when saying the words, “I love you.”

Between moving and starting college, there wasn’t much room for anything else. Lilah spent her weekdays attending classes and decorating her apartment. She was going to make the best out of the new loneliness, it was the only way to pass her time and she honestly didn’t mind it so much. It was a comfortable kind of lonely and she looked forward to the weekends when Daryl would come visit. Lilah loved showing him the new improvements she’d made on her space.

 

Daryl felt like his life revolved her schedule. In previous relationships he’d left before a schedule could form. This time around, he yearned for the weekends when her schedule allowed them to see each other.

 

When she got a week off for Thanksgiving, he couldn’t have been happier for her to warm his bed again.

 

It was that week that Daryl taught her how to shoot a handgun for the first time. He wasn’t over the moon about her living so close to the city and needed to have a sense of calm when she was there.

 

She took to it a lot better than she thought she would. It was surprising how easy it was. When Daryl first seriously suggested she learn, she wasn’t too keen on the idea. He taught her how to shoot a rifle and it seemed like more trouble than it was worth. Now a pistol— it was actually a little fun trying to hit the targets in front of her.

 

“Yer an alright shot.” Daryl had said as he sat, inspecting the target sheet.

 

“Well I guess I’ll have to keep practicing til I’m the best one you’ve seen.” Lilah teased.

 

 

 

They were celebrating Christmas late since Lilah flew back home to be with her family. She tried talking him into joining her, but he refused. So with a week left before the next semester started, they sat in his living room, surrounded by gaudy decorations that she insisted he needed for the holiday, opening gifts.

 

He’d received more clothes than he needed, and frankly some he wouldn’t wear unless she forced him to, a gift card to a sandwich shop he frequented for lunch, a small television that she convinced him to set up immediately, and a handful of other things to round it off. It was the first typical Christmas he had ever experienced. He’d do it all over again to watch the excited look on her face each time he opened something.

 

Each gift Lilah opened, she could tell, had been carefully picked out just for her. A pink steering wheel cover, a fresh candle in the scent she’d burnt out and couldn’t find a replacement, and among others; the gift that made her smile the most.

 

A matte black, compact pistol. Her eyes lit up as she opened the box to reveal the metallic weapon. A smile slid onto her face when she recognized familiar initials etched into the side of it in small letters. D.D

 

“Y’said you wanted to be a better shot, figured you should practice with yer own gun.” Daryl commented before a kiss was placed lightly on his cheek.

 

“I want to be the best shot.”

 

 

 

By the time Spring rolled around, Lilah was counting down the days for her next weeklong break. She’d adjusted well to the area by then, but she was excited for the week in the mountains of Georgia. Daryl promised a camping trip along the river and Brittany had been going on about a surprise when she got back. Lilah still visited regularly, but they were always short trips and recently she hadn’t been making them as often. Finals were coming up so she threw herself into school.

 

Law school was not for the weak and she struggled with stress in a variety of ways, one that effected her the most was her eating habits. She could go the entire day without a bite of food or she could rip through her cabinets like a savage, there was no in between.

 

Unfortunately, this had been a week of forgetfulness that she moaned about nightly on the phone to her boyfriend. She got cramps if she went to bed right after eating, but by the time she felt accomplished enough to let herself eat, it was already bedtime. When she spent that evening thinking about Spring Break and dreading finals, her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door. She peeked through the peep-hole then scrunched her eyebrows before turning the knob. “I think you have the wrong apartment number.” Lilah said to the pizza delivery boy standing in front of her.

 

He looked down at the receipt then back up at her. “Nope, Lilah Dixon?”

 

A knowing smile plastered across her face before she nodded and took the boxes from his arms. “Hold on.” She said as she sat the pizza down and ran to her purse.

 

After handing off a tip to the driver she danced over to her phone, the goofy smile still on her face.

 

“Lilah Dixon?” She teased when the other line picked up.

 

“Didn’t want’cha thinkin’ you had one a’them secret admirers or whatever.” The drawl of her boyfriends accent explained over the phone.




 

“What?!” Lilah exclaimed, throwing her arms around Brittany’s neck.

 

It was the Saturday before she returned to school and Brittany reserved the entire day for the two of them. There was exciting news to tell Lilah that she’d gone on about for almost a month.

 

“I’m 10 weeks!” Brittany beamed at her best friend who was eyeing her stomach.

 

“A baby! We’re gonna have a baby!”

 

Lilah loved children. Her and Brittany would daydream about their futures together and it was always assumed Lilah would be the first to have a kid. Life played its cards differently though, so here they were.

 

 

 

 

Her birthday fell on a Monday that year and it was not so secretly her favorite unofficial holiday.

 

She rebelliously took a long weekend and skipped classes to spend her special day with the man who was peppering kisses down her neck.

 

Small sighs of pleasure left her mouth the lower he went, while her hand grabbed at the short tufts of hair on his head. Daryl’s fingers brushed over her clothed nipples lightly before tugging the shirt up to reveal her bare chest. He quickly took one of the pink buds between his lips before swirling his tongue around then sucking harder as his other hand continued to travel lower.

 

His name spilled from her lips as he worshipped her like an altar that morning.

 

 

 

Her first year in law school had passed by at an excruciatingly slow pace. Particularly the last semester.

 

She wasn’t sure if it was her impatience of the cruise her family was taking in the morning or the absence of Daryl in bed that had her awake at 3 am, but she could at least solve one of those things. So she rolled out of the blankets and padded to the living room.

 

“Come lay down with me.” Her voice painted with grogginess.

 

Daryl was in the same spot he’d been in when she initially went to sleep at midnight. Sitting on the floor, fiddling with a cross bow he bought earlier that day, he paused to look up.

 

Some nights he would lose track of time and forget to sleep until the sun came up and this would’ve been one of those nights had she not interrupted him. He hadn’t even noticed how tired he was until he was following her onto the mattress.

 

Daryl wasn’t looking forward to her going away for a week out the country. She’d just finished school and the selfish part of him wanted her all to himself for a little while.

 

Those thoughts faded into blurbs as he drifted off to sleep though; domestic bliss had him in a death grip.

 

 

 “You remember when we got together?” Daryl asked before taking a swig of beer.

 

“Yeah, why?” Lilah responded.

 

They were at the creek where the spark between them ignited. It had been a little over a year since they’d met and he never expected to be in the position he was in.

 

“When was it?”

 

“Oh!” Realization dawned on her, “You mean the date. I’m not sure off the top of my head, I can figure it out when we get home though.”

 

Daryl nodded in response, gazing into the smoking embers that floated above the fire. He felt like a lifetime had passed since his heart started beating for her. One year seemed like such a short amount of time; he could’ve convinced himself he’d known her all his life.

 

She consumed so much of him and he wondered if it was normal to feel so much when being in love. He hoped so, because if it was up to him he’d stay in it forever.

 

Lilah hadn’t even thought of their anniversary. The night she declared herself his girlfriend was a memory she hadn’t thought of in a while. If she was honest with herself, she forgot that it would be coming up soon. Her life was so busy in the past year and Daryl fit so perfectly within the chaos, it took her a second to remember he hasn’t always been there.

 

Daryl Dixon was the one. Lilah believed strongly in soul mates, and in her soul she felt hers was Daryl.

 


“Our anniversary was June 24th, it’s been over a week!” She hollered later that night while looking at the calendar and comparing dates.

 

“That’s when you were up north.” Daryl commented, peaking up from cleaning a gun.

 

“Oh my god! I think that was the day I almost got hit by the car when we went to New York! Worst anniversary ever actually.”

 

A laugh filled the room. Things were good.

 

 

 Her second year of college began much like her first year. She renewed her lease, took care of her class schedules, and settled back into a routine.

 

This year was going to be a big year for her, she’d determined it herself. Brittany was having a baby, Paul was heavily including Lilah in his plans for engagement, and she was going to try her hardest to convince Daryl to move in with her.

 

She knew that was highly unlikely, but it wasn’t going to stop her from trying.

 

 

“Are you seriously going to get mad at me for that?” Lilah groaned as she trudged behind him up a leafy hill.

 

“That’da been a good deer if ya coulda kept yer mouth shut!”

 

She didn’t enjoy hunting, but she went with Daryl a handful of times. It was fun to see him in his element and she did like the lessons in tracking he’d teach her off hand. It was the silence after a while that she hated.

 

This time she’d frightened a deer off after she tried breaking the silence by asking how dangerous it would be to have sex in the middle of the open forest. She hadn’t known he had loaded a bolt into his crossbow, he made her face the opposite way to watch for a deer that he was sure would be passing through the grove they were sitting in. “I didn’t know!”

 

“Last time I’m takin’ you with me.” Lilah knew he wasn’t actually mad at her, he was just frustrated. She still felt bad.

 

 

 

This year Lilah was spending Thanksgiving with her family and Christmas in Georgia. They were going to fly in a week after to celebrate the New Year, so she didn’t see a point in making the trip. Plus, she had the best Christmas gift planned for Daryl.

 

He’d been complaining about needing new boots for hunting, but would never break down and buy a pair.

 

She didn’t fully understand why he would look at them when they’d go shopping, just to see the price and put them back. Lilah was overwhelmingly aware of how privileged a life she lived and was thankful that she didn’t have to completely understand that way of things.

 

She was quick to swipe her credit card a few weeks before Christmas though, and now she was sitting in her apartment, watching as he peeled back the wrapping paper to reveal his present.

 

“Do you love them?” Lilah asked before he got a chance to say anything.

 

His blue eyes still caught her off guard sometimes, but especially when they met hers when saying the words, “I love you.”

 

 

 

“You and Daryl are getting pretty serious huh?” Lilah’s dad commented while nodding towards a framed picture that sat on a side table by her door.

 

It was a photo of Lilah on Daryl’s shoulders, holding a fish that he’d caught in her hands. Brittany took the picture after a drunken Lilah argued whether or not it was hers or Daryl’s line that caught the fish. After that he got her a distinctive fishing pole, he wasn’t sharing a catch again. There was nothing particularly special about that picture, but Lilah never displayed a lot of photos. It wasn’t her taste. That was her official unofficial first fish though, and Daryl thought she needed it framed.

 

“Oh, yeah, I guess.” Lilah smiled. “Not to brag or anything, but that was the first fish I ever caught. I’m basically a professional.” She exaggerated before telling him the full story.

 

Her dad never showed much interest in her life with Daryl, but it warmed her heart when he seemed interested and began asking more questions about that day.

 

 

 

It was a Thursday evening that Lilah drove 90 the entire way to the hospital when she got the call that her best friend was starting to push. She’d dreamed about this day since they were kids and it was finally happening. She was going to be an aunt!

 

“He is the most perfect little human!” Lilah cooed at the tiny newborn in her arms.

 

“Isn’t he?” Brittany was star-struck laying in her hospital bed.

 

“Now it’s your turn.” Paul joked, looking between Lilah and Daryl.

 

She could feel her face heating up as she tried to hide back an embarrassed smile at the suggestion. The fact that Daryl was the one to response first though, shocked her. “Nah, ain’t ever even held a baby.”

 

“Umm, okay, brake check.” Lilah blinked in surprise. She wasn’t sure why that information was so unreal to her, it made sense. “You’re about to.” Before Daryl could refuse the advancement, Lilah was showing him how to cradle his arms and support the head, then gently passing the infant off to him. His body tensed up at the uncomfortable weightlessness of the baby he now held.

 

Lilah thought she could get used to the scene in front of her, then shook it out of her head as quick as it entered. College was her top priority for the time being and it needed to stay that way. She could dream about babies another time, preferably one when he wasn’t looking down in awe at the sight of an infant.

Chapter 11.

[maplewoodstreet]

The Pro-Palestine Self-Immolation of Aaron Bushnell

CONTENT WARNING: extreme, self-inflicted violence

Self-immolation is an extreme and brutal form of protest in which the protester purposefully sets themselves on fire. The act is excruciatingly painful and can result in death.

The Self-Immolation Protest Event

On 25 February 2024 at around 1 p.m., a 25-year-old active US Air Force serviceman named Aaron Bushnell dressed in military fatigues doused himself in flammable liquid and lit himself on fire outside the Embassy of Israel in Washington, DC. This act of self-immolation was done to protest Israel's genocide of Palestinians.

Before the event, Aaron Bushnell had emailed several left-wing news outlets saying he will "engage in an extreme act of protest against the genocide of the Palestinian people". He also posted on Facebook a Twitch link with this caption: "Many of us like to ask ourselves, 'What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?' The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now."

As he was livestreaming the event on Twitch outside the Embassy, he said, "I am an active duty member of the United States Air Force. And I will no longer be complicit to genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest. But compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers—it's not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal." After lighting himself on fire, he repeatedly shouted "Free Palestine!" until he collapsed.

Meanwhile, a police officer aimed his gun at the man as he was on fire. Another policeman said, "I don't need guns, I need fire extinguishers!"

From ignition to extinguishing, Bushnell was burning for approximately 90 seconds. After fire extinguishers were used, Aaron was transported to the hospital and at 10:06 p.m. was pronounced dead.

A censored version of the video can be found on Twitter.

This is the second pro-Palestine self-immolation performed by US citizens. The first was by an unknown woman performed outside the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta, Georgia on 1 December 2023.

Reactions to the Protest

An unofficial group of White House administration staffers created a statement calling for a permanent ceasefire and criticizing President Biden for not using his power to prevent Israel from committing genocide.

Bernie Sanders responded to the self-immolation saying, "It's obviously a terrible tragedy, but I think it speaks to the depths of despair that so many people are feeling now about the horrific humanitarian disaster taking place in Gaza, and I share those deep concerns. Children are starving. People are dying—29,000 Palestinians have died, two-thirds of them women and children. The United States has got to stand up to Netanyahu and make sure this does not continue. We are increasingly isolated. The international community understands that what Netanyahu is doing is a humanitarian disaster. It is a horror, and we continue to be one of the very few countries in the world that stand by Israel, and I think that is a terrible, terrible mistake. And as you may know, I'm doing everything I can to make sure that the United States government does not send another nickel to Netanyahu to continue this terrible war." Despite outcry from his followers, Bernie Sanders still has not supported a ceasefire.

Green Party Presidential Candidate Dr. Jill Stein responded by saying, "May his sacrifice deepen our commitment to stop genocide now."

News outlets like FOX News, USA Today, Reuters, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and CNN neglected to include the reason for the self-immolation in their headlines.

There have been vigils held throughout the United States. A vigil in New York City had NYPD officers with riot helmets and batons ready one hour before the vigil started.

There is speculation that Aaron Bushnell may have been a closeted transgender woman and used the name Lilly. Aaron's Twitch username was LillyAnarKitty. The "AnarKitty" could also be a play on words for "anarchy". The profile picture for this account was of the Anarchy symbol.

Various Internet User Reactions:

The Most American Thing That Has Ever Happened by Caitlin Johnstone

BabyHilton

Rayne Fisher-Quann

MaxBluementhal

MicahinATL

TroyTheCatfish

Sean McCarthy

[southatlantafirearms]

Begin your quest to become a USCCA Certified Instructor and join a community of devoted professionals dedicated to promoting firearm safety and education. This credential not only improves your skills, but it also enables you to have a good impact on the lives of your students. For the best firearms training in Atlanta, visit South Atlantic Firearms Training and enrol today!

[channeledhistory]

Police have carried out multiple violent arrests at Emory University in Decatur, Georgia, in what appears to be the first campus crackdown in recent days to involve rubber bullets and teargas after students set up an encampment in solidarity with Palestine and against Cop City. [...] In a statement released on Mondoweiss, student organizers wrote, “We are students across multiple Atlanta universities and community members organizing against Cop City and the genocide of Palestinians at the hands of US imperialism. We are demanding total institutional divestment from Israeli apartheid and Cop City at all Atlanta colleges and universities.” The statement accused the university of being uniquely “complicit in genocide and police militarization” and said the protesters’ fight against Cop City “is interconnected with global movements against oppressive state practices, most notably the Palestinian struggle for liberation”. [...] The university’s student-run newspaper, Emory Wheel, reported that officers deployed gas into the crowd. The Atlanta Community Press Collective, a local independent outlet, also reported use of teargas on the crowds, in addition to stun guns and rubber bullets being deployed against the protesters.

[...] In a statement released on Thursday, the university said, “Several dozen protesters trespassed into Emory University’s campus early on Thursday morning and set up tents on the Quad. These individuals are not members of our community. They are activists attempting to disrupt our university as our students finish classes and prepare for finals. Emory does not tolerate vandalism or other criminal activity on campus. The Emory police department ordered the group to leave and contacted Atlanta Police and Georgia State Patrol for assistance.”

[...] As the crackdowns continued in the south, Princeton University students in New Jersey set up their own Gaza solidarity encampment on Thursday morning at 7am. Two students were arrested and barred from campus. It is unclear when they will be able to return. [...]

[ethereal-bumble-bee]

I Was In Band Class

(Tw for mentions of school shootings, death, violence, and guns under the cut. I wrote this two days ago, but am posting it now bc it still stands strong.)

It was 10:08 am on Wednesday, September 4th, 2024.

I was in band class.

I had finally decided to eat lunch that day, and walked into the band room with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety. My bass clarinet was not working, and I was worried about the results of my test.

It was 10:08 am on Wednesday, September 4th, 2024.

A 14 year-old boy in Georgia decided he wanted to watch his classmates die.

He shot up his high school that morning— 10:08 am on Wednesday, September 4th, 2024– killing two of his classmates and two of his teachers, injuring even more.

Those classmates were fourteen as well.

I was in band class, worried about my test, feeling relief when I was told I didn’t have to take it that day. 

They were dying at the hands of a boy their age, a boy just about my age. A boy our age.

It was 10:08 am on Wednesday, September 4th, and I was in band class. My friends were nervous about an upcoming audition for the spring musical, and I was assuring them they’d do great. 

They were bleeding out on the cold tile floor.

It is 8:56 am on Thursday, September 5th, 2024. We had an active shooter drill first block today, by pure coincidence. We hid in the corner of the classroom, talked about what we would do if someone tried to force their way in. Fight, flee, hide. Make not a sound. Don’t call our parents, just text them. Let them know we’re going to be okay.

I am in biology class. I got an 88% on today's quiz. I am worried about grades, and a date to homecoming, and whether I have time to turn in my geometry homework before it’s overdue.

They are in the morgue, awaiting their own funerals.

It was 10:08 am on Wednesday, September 4th. It is now 9:01 am on Thursday, September 5th. It is by pure luck and happenstance that I am here, in biology class, and not being mourned by my family and friends. It is by pure luck that it was not my high school that was shot up yesterday, that it was not one of my classmates that did it.

Politicians and citizens alike waffle and make excuses, whining about freedoms and rights as kids die by the hundreds each year, to a preventable cause. We have drills, we have talks, we have police officers with guns in our schools, but it’s never enough.

I sit here with a cold feeling in my chest, a grateful prayer in my heart, because I was in band class.

They were fourteen, he was fourteen, I am fifteen.

Don’t you dare think it can’t happen to you.

[crownedinmarigolds]

The Stakebait Coterie! Khloe and her boys are out there saving the Atlanta Waterbloods or get Final Death'd trying! (I'll type it all beneath the cut because I know.. my handwriting)

The main characters of the Poisoned Peach - ATL by Night chronicle my beloved is running for me! Khloe is my character, and the boys are my unbeatably dope team.

Name: Khloe Mariah Osbourne

Born: 05/04/1993, Embraced: 2022 by a Ventrue, came out Thinblood, Physical Age: 29

Height: 5'5", Hair: Dark Brown, Eyes: Hazel, Gender: Miss (She/Her), Nationality: American

Likes: Coffee, True Crime, Tabletop RPGs, Being a Minx, Staying Busy

Dislikes: Disappointing Others, Being Unprepared, Not knowing what's up, Her body, Tiktok-Style Ads

A little history: Khloe grew up the only child of very normal people who nastily divorced when she graduated high school. An avid reader and over-thinker, Khloe has immersed herself in many fantasy worlds and strategy games to the point where she seems to think of everything. A people pleaser who has a lot of good acquaintances yet no friends, the lack of companionship was hard-felt when COVID rolled around and kept everyone inside. Had a few partners, though none lasted. One night after visiting her mother, she found herself on a backroad all alone, save for the oncoming headlights that may be straying in her lane. (Where the Poisoned Peach begins!)

Name: Kyle Johnson

Born: 2/3/1994, Embraced: 2020, Sire unknown, but came out Thinblood, Physical Age: 26

Height: 5’10", Hair: N/A, Eyes: Sexy-Boy Brown, Gender: More man than your man (He/Him), Nationality: American

Likes: Feeling needed and helping others, Parties, Drinking cocktails with stupid names, Reasonable reactions.

Dislikes: Being late, people that CAN help and just don't, the MINIONS, Improperly labelled content warnings.

History: His mom was a nurse, her mom was a nurse, and so on. His sisters didn’t want to carry on the tradition, so he decided to go into the medical field himself as an EMT. The stress of the job brought on early balding, but he thrived both on the clock and in the club. One night, he drank a few too many and he woke up in a dumpster the next night, completely clueless. The sunlight began to hurt, nothing sat right in his stomach. Everything was the same yet all so different, better and worse. He spiraled, confused and depressed, until the Dusk Angel found him and helped him come to terms with his new existence. Now Kyle proudly helps the Thinblood Revolution as a kind face to help ease the new blood in, just as he had been.

Name: Randolph "Ralph" Gaylord King III

Born: 10/09/1996, Embraced: 2021 by a Nosferatu, came out Thinblood, Physical Age: 25

Height: 6'5" (Even pre-Embrace, him just big), Hair: Brown (Has to shave the remnants every evening, used to be long and thick and in a man-bun), Eyes: Yellow-Orange (Brown pre-Embrace), Gender: BOI (He/Him), Nationality: American

Likes: Guns, Bad Jokes, Strategy Games, Annoying Christian, Being a right menace

Dislikes: Himself :(, Whiny people, Beer, Signs with sayings meant to be taken serious.

Some Background: Born in St. Louis Missouri, Ralph had a pretty standard lower middle class upbringing. He followed his father and older brother and joined the army when he turned 18 right out of high school. Years of prep and hard work paid off as he went through candidate courses, eventually making it into Special Forces. His career was short-lived however after losing his right foot on his first deployment. Depression and dead-end jobs seemed to be his future until as a joke he started posting thirst-traps on social media, but it got real when his follower count spiked and sponsors started making offers. He was thrown into the life of an Insta-Thot - specifically Fitness Inspo - ultimately landing him in a party in Atlanta, Georgia, where his soon to be sire, Bill - a jealous and spiteful Nosferatu - lurked. Ralph was alone as he stumbled to his hotel room, and Bill could contain his hate no longer. To him, Ralph deserved to be as ugly on the outside as Bill thought he had to be on the inside. Little did Bill know, he messed with the wrong guy.

(Not written due to lack of room, we clearly don't play favorites here...) Eventually found in the sewers by the Dusk Angel, Ralph now serves in the Thinblood revolution, using every skill he's acquired in order to get revenge against the Fullbloods.

Name: Christian Ottavio

Born: 01/16/1989, Embraced: 2017, Gangrel sire but came out Thinblood, Physical Age: A rough 28

Height: 6'1", Hair: Dark Brown, Eyes: Brown, Gender: The MAN (He/Him), Nationality: American

Likes: Beer, Relaxing nights spent inside, Napping, His truck

Dislikes: His family, Wearing tight jeans, Bro-Country music, Fullbloods

A bit of background: Born and bred in Georgia into a rich family with ideals he couldn't wrap his head around. Went into the workforce at a young age in an effort to escape them and be on his own. He's had to sleep in his truck many a night, but eventually got everything together enough to get a roof over his head. That was until some uppity lick decided to draft him into the army of the damned during the Atlanta Sabbat civil war. He was one of many forced to fight during the schism, and one of the few to come out "alive." Before his sire could take him behind the proverbial tool shed, Christian was saved by the Dusk Angel, and now is a proud Thinblood freedom fighter.

[and-d3stroyitx]

Why we should be able to keep our phones at school

Hi tumblr!! I feel like this is a very serious issue that I feel the need to talk about. I’m not just saying all this because I’m a teenager and want my phone, I have completely valid reasons. Schools taking our phones away during the day is very dangerous especially considering the current state of America.

In 2024 so far we have had 28 school shootings resulting in injuries or deaths. That is too many. Considering the recent events at Apalachee High School in Georgia and my school cracking down on phones it got me thinking how unsafe it is for schools to take our phones. It’s unsafe because, how could we contact loved ones in an emergency and in a lockdown phones could potentially make a lot of noise.

Let’s start off with these pouches. In my district, you put your phone in the pouch at the beginning of class and then get it at the end of class. Which seems fine but, even if you have your phone silenced it still makes noise. In class the other day my friend called me and you could hear my phone vibrating. Think about that when worried parents are trying to contact their kids during a shooting.

That leads me to my next thing, there’s absolutely no way you can communicate with loved ones. You could argue that you can grab your phone before going to the corner of the room you’re supposed to, but most teachers don’t let you do that. (At least during drills)

Some schools are using a system where your phone is locked in a pouch kept in the office until the end of the day. You can’t grab your phone then? How would my mom know if I’m alive?

I hope this can get my point across. Don’t take our phones take their guns.

[cursedalthoughts]

Priority Research 7 Predictions - Dragon Empery

We kick off the official PR7 prediction posts with the smallest faction this time around - Dragon Empery.

In this series of posts I will also try to predict their possible skills, as upon doing research into them, I realized the PR shipgirls have skills that align with the gimmicks of their WoWs counterpart.

Dragon Empery has, in my opinion, two possible DRs.

Lüshun

Lüshun is the first of the two potential Decisive Research shipgirls, imho.

Lüshun is a Tier 10 Destroyer.

She takes a lot, and I mean a lot, of inspiration from the Soviet Tier 9 destroyer Neutrashimy, a destroyer with a reputation for being a zombie. Lüshun and Neutrashimy both have access to specialized repair teams - Lüshun in specific having access to the 'Heavy Repair Teams' consumable, meaning they can last long into the end-game if played correctly.

Lüshun also has access to two dual 130mm turrets that reload every 1.7s, which is an insane reload time only surpassed by the American destroyer Forrest Sherman (or with the USS Austin when her Reload Boost is active - more about her in the Eagle Union PR7 post).

To top it all off, being a Pan-Asian desroyer means Lüshun gets access to deepwater torpedoes (the same ones that Harbin has, which in AL are called 'impactful torpedoes'). These torpedoes can not hit destroyers due to their depth, but are stealthier and have higher flood chances when hitting cruisers, battleships, or aircraft carriers. They also deal more damage overall.

I expect Lüshun would have a skill reflecting her endurance as well as a skill to boost her torpedo damage. She'd be a very good hybrid DD with good guns and good torpedoes, but awful speed.

Jinan

I checked, the recent DE shipgirl Chi An seems to be named after a different place than Jinan.

Jinan is the second possible DR shipgirl. She is based on the American CL-154 light cruiser design (we will see this again when viewing USS Austin later on). She boasts of 5 dual 127mm gun turrets that reload every 3.5s, making her essentially another glorified destroyer - just like Harbin.

In fact, Jinan is very similar to Harbin, just... better. In all regards.

Harbin doesn't have a skill reflecting the consumable that makes the Pan-Asian light cruisers shine - their torpedo reload boost, which makes Jinan's torpedoes reload in 8 seconds. This means that, if played right, Jinan can have 40 torpedos in the water at the same time - as she has 10 torpedoes per side with a 13.5km range. These are deepwater torpedoes as well, so, just like Lüshun, they can't hit destroyers.

Jinan would essentially be a DR version of Harbin with a skill that randomly insta-reloads her torpedoes.

Sun Yat-Sen

Sun Yat-Sen is very much like Georgia in a lot of aspects. Georgia is a sidegrade to the Iowa-class that replaces their triple 406mm turrets with dual 457mm turrets. And also has a ludicrous speed boost. And amazing secondary guns. Georgia is all-around a funny ship. Sun Yat-Sen is not.

Sun Yat-Sen replaces the main turrets of Sovetsky Soyuz - triple 406mm guns that are scary accurate at short ranges and more inaccurate than usual at long ranges - with dual 457mm guns that are overall very accurate. The problem with her guns is that she only has six guns in total - and as anyone that has played Gneisenau can tell you, six-gun battleships are annoying to play. Battleships are the most RNG-dependant class in the game, so having more guns is generally better to lessen the RNG. The upside is that Sun Yat-Sen has a 23 second reload.

Sun Yat-Sen would be of PR rarity and have a skill similar to Warspite, as in, a "fuck you in particular" skill that allows her to have an extremely accurate salvo every once in a while.

Tianjin

Tianjin is, much like Sun Yat-Sen and Lüshun, a Soviet ship first and foremost. Tianjin is a copy-cat of Riga, the Tier 9 Soviet heavy cruiser. The differences between them are small - Tianjin has average cruiser dispersion instead of the Soviet 'shotgun' dispersion pattern Riga has. Tianjin has worse reload at 15s compared to the 14s of Riga, but more range. Both have the same shells, but Riga has flatter shell arcs, meaning she can easily hit citadels at longer ranges. These differences are technicisms at the end of the day.

However, the main and only selling point of Tianjin (as she is a premium ship costing 63€) is that she has access to a High-Precision Spotter Plane.

Here is the aforementioned spotter plane in all her glory.

This plane gives her a 10% dispersion boost and a 10% range boost for a short while, while having a short cooldown and a lot of uses.

Tianjin in Azur Lane could get a similar skill that allows her to be very accurate for a short amount of time.

She is PR material.

[lords-of-mayhem]

I love Social Cues by cage the elephant! I know it’s one of their more recently popular songs but I really feel like it didn’t get the love it deserves.

Would you care to elaborate on your country music stance? Where I’m from is like 80% country music so personally I’m pretty tired of it but can’t admit there are lots of great country songs - 🐈‍⬛

I love Cage The Elephant so much and Social Cues is a fantastic song that doesn't get the love it deserves. Have you gotten to see them live? They are fantastic. I've seen them a few times and one of those was actually their tour with Beck for the Night Running album which is what Social Cues came out on.

And I personally love country! I was very fortunate to grow up with a family that played a lot of different genres, everything from country to punk to metal to you name it. (There is also a lot of musicians in my family and one of them is a locally very well-known country musician.) I like country a lot, so it always sucks to see people hate on it. Especially because I know a lot of people only think of the whole "I love God, guns, and hunting" or stadium country when they think of country, but country is so much more and it can be so fun.

I always like shouting out country songs that I think people will listen to and go, "oh! Country can actually be a genre I like."

And some people don't even realize they like country. Dolly Parton? Country. Sweet Caroline? Country. Country Roads Take Me Home? Country. The Devil Went Down To Georgia? Country.

Here are some of my personal favorites when it comes to country that other people might like too.

Bad Moon Rising // Creedence Clearwater Revival

I see a bad moon rising, I see trouble on the way. I see earthquakes and lightning, I see bad times today. Don't go round tonight, well, it's bound to take your life. There's a bad moon on the rise.

I hear hurricanes a-blowing, I know the end is coming soon. I feel rivers overflowing, I hear the voice of rage and ruin. Hope you got your things together.

Hope you are quite prepared to die. Looks like we're in for nasty weather. One eye is taken for an eye.

If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away // Justin Moore

(if you want to see me ugly cry, play this song)

If Heaven wasn't so far away, I'd pack up the kids and go for the day. Introduce them to their grandpa, watch 'em laugh at the way he talks.

I'd find my long lost cousin John, the one we left back in Vietnam. Show him a picture of his daughter now, she's a doctor and he'd be proud.

Then tell him we'd be back in a couple of days. In the rearview mirror, we'd all watch 'em wave. And losing them wouldn't be so hard to take if Heaven wasn't so far away.

I'd hug all three of those girls we lost from the class of '99. I'd find my bird dog Bo and take him hunting one more time. I'd ask Hank why he took those pills back in '53.

And Janis to sing the second verse of "Me and Bobby McGee." Sit on a cloud and visit for a while, it'd do me good just to see them smile.

Blown Away // Carrie Underwood

Daddy was a mean old mister, mama was an angel in the ground. The weatherman called for a twister, she prayed to blown it down. There's not enough rain in Oklahoma to wash the sins out of that house.

There's not enough wind in Oklahoma to rip the nails out of the past. Shatter every window 'til it's all blown away, every brick, every board, every slamming door blown away.

'Til there's nothing left standing, nothing left of yesterday. Every tear-soaked, whiskey memory blown away. She locked herself in the cellar, listening to the screaming of the wind. Some people call it taking shelter, she called it sweet revenge.

Whiskey Lullaby // Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss

(Another crying song)

She put him out like the burning end of a midnight cigarette, she broke his heart. He spent his whole life trying to forget. We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time.

But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind until the night...He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger, and finally drank away her memory.

Life is short, but this time, it was bigger than the strength he had to get up off his knees. We found him with his face down in the pillow with a note that said, "I'll love her 'til I die."

And when we buried him beneath the willow, the angels sang a whiskey lullaby.

Red Dirt Road // Brooks & Dunn

I was raised off of Rural Route 3 out past where the blacktop ends. We'd walk to church on Sunday morning and race barefoot back to Johnson's fence.

That's where I first saw Mary on that roadside, picking blackberries. That summer, I turned a corner in my soul down that red dirt road. It's where I drank my first beer.

It's where I found Jesus, where I wrecked my first car, I tore it all to pieces. I learned the path to Heaven is full of sinners and believer, learned that happiness on Earth ain't just for high achievers.

Online // Brad Paisley

I work down at the Pizza Pit and I drive an old Hyundai. I'm a sci-fi fanatic, a mild asthmatic, never been to second base. But there's a whole other me that you need to see.

Go check out MySpace. 'Cause online, I'm out in Hollywood. I'm 6'5 and I look damn good. I drive a Maserati, I'm a black belt in karate, and I love a good glass of wine.

It turns girls on that I'm mysterious, I tell them that I don't want nothing serious. I'm so much cooler online. In real life, the only time I've ever even been to LA is when I got the chance with the marching band to play tuba in the Rose Parade.

But online, I live in Malibu. I pose for Calvin Klein, I've been in GQ. I'm single and I'm rich, and I got a set of six pack abs that'd blow your mind. I'm so much cooler online.

Friends In Low Places // Garth Brooks

Blame it all on my roots, I showed up in boots and ruined your black tie affair. The last one to know, the last one to show, I was the last one you thought you'd see there.

And I saw the surprise and the fear in his eyes when I took his glass of champagne. I toasted you and said, "honey, we may be through, but you'll never hear me complain."

'Cause I got friends in low places where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases my blues away. And I'll be okay. And I'm not big on social graces, think I'll slip on down to the oasis.

I didn't mean to cause a big scene, just give me an hour and then. I'll be as high as that ivory tower that you're living in.

Cover Of The Rolling Stone // Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show

(This one is very special to me because it's my dad's favorite band)

Well, we're big rock singers. We got golden fingers and we're loved everywhere we go. We sing about beauty and we sing about truth at ten thousand dollars a show.

We take all kinds of pills to give us all kinds of thrills, but the thrill we've never known is the thrill that'll get you when you get your picture on the cover of The Rolling Stone.

Wanna see my picture on the cover, wanna buy five copies for my mother. Wanna see my smiling face on the cover of The Rolling Stone. I got a freaky old lady called Cocaine Kitty who embroiders on my jeans.

We got all the friends money can buy, so we never have to be alone. And we keep getting richer, but we can't get our picture on the cover of The Rolling Stone.

Goodbye Earl // The Chicks (TW for domestic abuse, but with a happy ending)

Mary-Anne and Wanda were the best of friends all through their high school days. Both members of the 4-H club, both active in the FFA. After graduation, Mary-Anne went out, looking for a bright new world. Wanda looked all around this town and all she found was Earl.

Well, it wasn't two weeks after she got married that Wanda started getting abused. Well, she finally got the nerve to file for divorce. She let the law take it from there.

But Earl walked right through that restraining order and put her in intensive care. Right away, Mary-Anne flew in from Atlanta on a red-eyed, midnight flight.

She held Wanda's hand and they worked out a plan, and it didn't take 'em long to decide that Earl had die. Goodbye, Earl. Those black-eyed peas, they tasted alright to me! Earl, you feeling weak? Why don't you lay down and sleep?

Nobody // Sylvia

Sitting in a restaurant, she walked by. I seem to recall that certain look in your eye. I said whose that, you said with a smile, "oh it's nobody, nobody."

Maybe that explains the last two weeks. You called me up, dead on your feet. Working late again, I ask "who with?" You said, "nobody, nobody."

Well, your nobody called today. She hung up when I asked her name, I wonder does she think she's being clever? You say nobody's after, the fact is what you say is true. But I can love you like nobody can, even better.

Dooley // The Dillards

Dooley was a good ole man, he lived below the mill. Dooley had two daughters and a forty gallon still. One gal watched the boiler, the other watched the spout, and mama corked the bottles when ole Dooley fetched 'em out.

Dooley was a trader when into town he'd come. Sugar by the bushel and molasses by the ton. I remember very well the day ole Dooley died, the women folk weren't sorry and the men stood 'round and cried.

Now, Dooley's on the mountain. He lies there all alone. They put a jug beside him and a barrel for the stone.

Wagon Wheel // Darius Rucker

Heading down south to the land of the pines, I'm thumbing my way out of North Carolina. Staring up the road and pray to God I see headlights. Made it down the coast in seventeen hours, picking me a bouqet of dogwood flowers.

And I'm a-hoping for Raleigh, I can see my baby tonight. So rock me, mama, like a wagon wheel. Rock me, mama, any way you feel. Hey, mama, rock me.

Rock me, mama, like the wind and the rain. Rock me, mama, like a southbound train. Hey, mama, rock me. Running from the cold up in New England, I was born to be a fiddler in an old-time string band. My baby plays the guitar, I pick the banjo now.

Remember When // Alan Jackson

Remember when, I was young and so were you and time stood still. And love was all we knew. You were the first, so was I. Made love and then you cried, remember when?

We lived and learned, life threw curves. There was joy and there was hurt, remember when? We came together, we fell apart, we broke each other's heart. Remember when?

Remember when, thirty seemed so old. Now looking back, it's just a stepping stone to where we are. Where we been, said we'd do it all again. Remember when?

Almost Home // Craig Morgan

He had plastic bags wrapped 'round his shoes, he was covered with the evening news. Had a pair of old wool socks on his hands, bank sign was flashing five below.

It was freezing rain and spitting snow, he was curled up behind some garbage cans. I was afraid that he was dead, I gave him a gentle shake. When he opened up his eyes, I said, "old man, are you okay?"

He said, "I just climbed out of a cottonwood tree. I was running from some honey bees. Drip-drying in the summer breeze after jumping into Calico Creek. I was walking down an old dirt road, past a field of hay that had just been mowed. Man, I wish you'd just left me alone.

'Cause I was almost home." Then he said, "I was just coming round the barn, 'bout the time you grabbed my arm. I was close enough for my old nose to smell fresh cobbler on the stove.

And I saw daddy loading up the truck. Cane poles on the tailgate, bobbers blowing in the wind. Since July of '55, that's as close as I've been."

Dirty Laundry // Carrie Underwood

That lipstick on your collar, well, it ain't my shade of pink and I can tell by the smell of perfume it's like forty dollars too cheap. And there's a little wine stain on the pocket of your white-collar thread.

You drink beer and whiskey, boy. And you know I don't drink red. Now, I'm gonna have to hang you out to dry, dry, dry. Clothespin all your secrets to the line, line, line.

Leave 'em blowing in the wind and say goodbye to you. All those midnight sneaking in. "I'm late again, oh, I'm so sorry." All the Ajax in the world ain't gonna clean your dirty laundry.