#repeal gun laws

[ablogofcourage]

[sapphia]

USA please listen to me: the price of “teaching them a lesson” is too high. take it from New Zealand, who voted our Labour government out in the last election because they weren’t doing exactly what we wanted and got facism instead.

Trans rights are being attacked, public transport has been defunded, tax cuts issued for the wealthy, they've mass-defunded public services, cut and attacked the disability funding model, cut benefits, diverted transport funding to roads, cut all recent public transport subsidies, cancelled massive important infrastructure projects like damns and ferries (we are three ISLANDS), fast tracked mining, oil, and other massive environmentally detrimental projects and gave the power the to approve these projects singularly to three ministers who have been wined and dined by lobbyists of the companies that have put the bids in to approve them while one of the main minister infers he will not prioritise the protection of endangered species like the archeys frog over mining projects that do massive environmental harm. They have attacked indigenous rights in an attempt to negate the Treaty of Waitangi by “redefining it”; as a backup, they are also trying to remove all mentions of the treaty from legislation starting with our Child Protection laws no longer requiring social workers to consider the importance of Maori children’s culture when placing those children; when the Waitangi Tribunal who oversees indigenous matters sought to enquire about this, the Minister for Children blocked their enquiry in a breach of comity that was condemned in a ruling — too late to do anything — by our Supreme Court. They have repealed labour protections around pay and 90 day trials, reversed our smoking ban, cancelled our EV subsidy, cancelled our water infrastructure scheme that would have given Maori iwi a say in water asset management, cancelled our biggest city’s fuel tax, made our treasury and inland revenue departments less accountable, dispensed of our Productivity Commission, begun work on charter schools and military boot camps in an obvious push towards privatisation, cancelled grants for first home buyers, reduced access to emergency housing, allowed no cause evictions, cancelled our Maori health system that would have given Maori control over their own public medical care and funding, cut funding of services like budgeting advice and food banks, cancelled the consumer advocacy council, cancelled our medicine regulations, repealed free prescriptions, deferred multiple hospital builds, failed to deliver on pre-election medical promises, reversed a gun ban created in response to the mosque shootings, brought back three strikes = life sentence policy, increased minimum wage by half the recommended amount, cancelled fair pay for disabled workers, reduced wheelchair services, reversed our oil and gas exploration ban, cancelled our climate emergency fund, cut science research funding including climate research, removed limits on killing sea lions, cut funding for the climate change commission, weakened our methane targets, cancelled Significant National Areas protections, have begun reversing our ban on live exports. Much of this was passed under urgency.

It’s been six months.

[wilwheaton]

The GOP wonders why young people (and others) don't want to vote for them. Some wise scribe assembled this list.

1.) Your Reagan-era “trickle-down economics” strategy of tax breaks for billionaires that you continue to employ to this day has widened the gap between rich and poor so much that most of them will never be able to own a home, much less earn a living wage.

2.) You refuse to increase the federal minimum wage, which is still $7.25 an hour (since 2009). Even if it had just kept up with inflation, it would be $27 now. You’re forcing people of all ages but especially young people to work multiple jobs just to afford basic necessities.

3.) You fundamentally oppose and want to kill democracy; have done everything in your power to restrict access to the ballot box, particularly in areas with demographics that tend to vote Democratic (like young people and POC). You staged a fucking coup the last time you lost.

4.) You have abused your disproportionate senate control over the last three decades to pack the courts with religious extremists and idealogues, including SCOTUS—which has rolled back rights for women in ways that do nothing but kill more women and children and expand poverty.

5.) You refuse to enact common sense gun control laws to curb mass shootings like universal background checks and banning assault weapons; subjecting their entire generation to school shootings and drills that are traumatizing in and of themselves. You are owned by the NRA.

6.) You are unequivocally against combatting climate change to the extent that it’s as if you’ve made it your personal mission to ensure they inherit a planet that is beyond the point of no return in terms of remaining habitable for the human race beyond the next few generations.

7.) You oppose all programs that provide assistance to those who need it most. Your governors refused to expand Medicaid even during A PANDEMIC. You are against free school lunches, despite it being the only meal that millions of children can count on to actually receive each day

8.) You are banning books, defunding libraries, barring subject matter, and whitewashing history even more in a fascistic attempt to keep them ignorant of the systemic racism that this nation was literally founded upon and continues to this day in every action your party takes.

9.) You oppose universal healthcare and are still trying to repeal the ACA and rip healthcare from tens of millions of Americans and replace it with nothing. You are against lowering the cost of insulin and prescription drugs that millions need simply to LIVE/FUNCTION in society.

10.) You embrace white nationalists, Neo-Nazis, and other groups that are defined by their intractable racism, xenophobia, bigotry, and intolerance. You conspired with these groups on January 6th to try to overthrow the U.S. government via domestic terrorism that KILLED PEOPLE.

11.) You oppose every bill aimed at making life better for our nation’s youth; from education to extracurricular and financial/nutritional assistance programs. You say you want to “protect the children” while you elect/nominate pedophiles and attack trans youth and drag queens.

12.) You pretend to be offended by “anti-semitism” while literally supporting, electing, and speaking at events organized by Nazis. You pretend to hate “cancel culture” despite the fact that you invented it and it’s basically all you do.

13.) Every word you utter is a lie. You are the party of treason, hypocrisy, crime, and authoritarianism. You want to entrench rule by your aging minority because you know that you have nothing to offer young voters and they will never support you for all these reasons and more.

14.) You’re so hostile to even the notion of helping us overcome the mountain of debt that millions of us are forced to take on just to pay for our post K-12 education that you are suing to try to prevent a small fraction of us from getting even $10,000 in loan forgiveness.

15.) You opened the floodgates of money into politics via Citizens United; allowing our entire system of government to become a cesspool of corruption, crime, and greed. You are supposed to represent the American people whose taxes pay your salary but instead cater to rich donors.

16.) You respond to elected representatives standing in solidarity with their constituents to protest the ONGOING SLAUGHTER of children in schools via shootings by EXPELLING THEM FROM OFFICE & respond to your lack of popularity among young people by trying to raise the voting age.

17.) You impeach Democratic presidents over lying about a BJ but refuse to impeach (then vote twice to acquit) a guy whose entire “administration” was an international crime syndicate being run out of the WH who incited an insurrection to have you killed.

18.) You steal Supreme Court seats from democrats to prevent the only black POTUS we’ve ever had from appointing one and invent fake precedents that you later ignore all to take fundamental rights from Americans; and even your “legitimate” appointments consist of people like THIS (sub-thread refuting CJ Roberts criticisms of people attacking SCOTUS' legitimacy).

19.) You support mass incarceration even for innocuous offenses or execution by cop for POC while doing nothing but protect rich white criminals who engage in such things as tax fraud, money laundering, sex trafficking, rape/sexual assault, falsifying business records, etc.

20.) You are the reason we can’t pass:—Universal background checks—An assault weapons ban—The ‘For the People/Freedom to vote’ Act or John Lewis Voting Rights Act—The ERA & Equality Act—The Climate Action Now Act—The (Stopping) Violence Against Women Act—SCOTUS expansion.

21.) You do not seek office to govern, represent, or serve the American people. You seek power solely for its own sake so you can impose your narrow-minded puritanical will on others at the expense of their most fundamental rights and freedoms like voting and bodily autonomy.

22.) Ok, last one. You are trying to eliminate social security and Medicare that tens of millions of our parents rely on and paid into their entire lives. And you did everything to maximize preventable deaths from COVID leaving millions of us in mourning.

Source: https://imgur.com/gallery/e8DBZLH

[unrelaxing]

From a country where voting is not a choice, but a duty, it's interesting seeing American discourse every four years on whether or not voting matters. This year there's an added layer, because Joe Biden has been supporting Israel's genocide against Palestine. Now there's a pervading sentiment - both in and out of the US - that voting for Joe Biden supports Palestinian genocide, and it's an American's moral duty to withhold their vote in support of Palestine.

I guess the question I ask is: how is withholding your vote effective activism?

If you don't vote, and Trump wins, he says he will deport pro-Palestine demonstrators. He says he supports Israel's right to defend itself. If you vote independent, and Trump wins the same thing happens.

If Biden wins, he will continue his support of Israel.

So: Is voting really the battleground for the Palestinian genocide, when either outcome leads down the same road?

And what other battles are being fought in this presidential race?

Gun laws - Biden passed "the most significant gun safety legislation in more than two decades", the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. It includes enhanced background checks for gun purchasers, and prohibits individuals convicted of domestic violence towards a romantic partner from purchasing a gun (wherein the past a 'boyfriend loophole' had existed, wherein the law only applied if an individual was convicted of domestic violence against a spouse or cohabitant). Trump has promised to overturn Biden's new laws.

Healthcare - Uninsured Americans are at an all-time low under Biden's administration, with only 7.6% of Americans being uninsured in the second quarter of 2023. The number of people who signed up to Obamacare in 2024 is at 21.3 million - and Trump plans to repeal it.

Climate change - Biden's Inflation Reduction Act invests 300 billion dollars towards clean energy. Electricity generation from renewable energy sources — including wind, solar and hydropower — surpassed coal-fired generation in the electric power sector for the first time in 2022, making it the second-biggest source behind natural gas generation. At a recent dinner with oil executives and lobbyists, the Republican promised to eliminate Mr Biden's new climate rules and environmental regulations if they donated $1bn to his campaign.

Much has been said about Trump's second term beyond the above three points. @batboyblog posted a very clear and concise graphic on Trump's plans for his second term.

The BBC has also posted about Trump's plans for his second term, which I'll screenshot:

Trump is now a felon, but I was really shocked to learn about how little impact this has on his ability to run as president. His supporters are likely to stay by his side, because they believe in these policies.

Biden does not have the same luxury. I don't think he should have the same luxury. Still, I feel like it's important to point out that Trump and Biden's opinions on Israel and Palestine align, but there are a plethora of other issues they do not align on. As a voter, as an activist, when given two political parties, why would you choose based on the similarities as opposed to the differences?

Ways to help Gaza.

Vetted gofundmes.

Other links to help Palestine.

[1001aus]

okayokayokay last bit of unsolicited flailing I am most definitely not stealing your idea I won't be writing this it's just giving me brainrot

Ice convinces the Pentagon that they're time travelers. He wants wanted to be an admiral and to that end spent a lot of time studying the history and evolution of modern warfare. He knows dates and names and locations which is convincing because why would a spy know so much about every front of the war? What the Japanese are doing and the Germans and the Russians and and and.

But little of that information is useful even if it's convincing. What good does it do them to know Operation Overlord will be a success or the exact day Italy surrenders? How does it help them to know the name of the man who will demystify the enigma machine?

It's Mav who convinces the Pentagon they can be useful. There isn't a plane flown by any military that he doesn't know something about. For the more common ones—his knowledge of the planes flown by the Luftwaffe and Japanese Imperial pilots are especially interesting to them—Mav knows how fast they are, how much force they can withstand, what kind of weapons they usually carried and with how much ammo.

Once he's been questioned for every scrap of information he can remember about planes it's decided that they're already commissioned navy officers and pilots so they may as well take advantage of their competence. It helps that Mav wants to fly so badly he'll agree to just about anything and Ice won't leave his wingman to his own devices.

Ice has put the pieces together already about Blizzard and Wild Thing.

For him the comparison was always complimentary so he didn't fight it as much. He didn't train himself to dismiss all thought of the famous aviators so it's easy for him to read the writing on the wall even before they get their new callsigns. He already knows they won't make it to the end of the war.

Maverick gets blindsided when they get their names painted onto their new planes. Even then he doesn't quite put the pieces together.

I had the goddamned strangest dream which led to a weird story idea but I have no clue if I'll ever get around to writing it:

TimeTravel!AU where post Layton IceMav end up back in time in WWII, and after convincing the US that they're not spies (Ice: I'm a goddamned Polish Jew you think I'd willingly spy for the Axis? Interrogator: That's fair) they convince the Navy to let them fly for them.

It's a little rocky at first, having to get used to much slower aircraft, but once Ice and Mav settle in, they're deadly. Their kill counts quickly soar past Ace to Ace-of-Aces, with whoever is in the top spot swapping dogfight to dogfight.

It takes three years for the Luftwaffe to finally take out the two deadliest pilots to ever fly, sacrificing 20 of their brand new jet fighters to bring them down, losing over half in the process.

Iceman and Maverick wake back up in the future and finally understand why everyone had always compared them to the legendary WWII pilots 'Blizzard' and 'Wild Thing'.

[bcofl0ve]

i don't particularly like to get political on here but man is terribly horrifically hard to be a school shooting survivor in this country. i found out about the new one because i logged into facebook and my feed was

someone i went to high school with posting about it

a survivor i know from a different community posting about it

a parent of a dead child i met through politics posting about it

someone in a support group saying not to watch the news

repeat. repeat. change the order. repeat.

i'm too wired to sleep because i don't know the kids that were in that building today but yet i do because i am them, because a part of me will always be 17 years old in my algebra three class hoping god would really forgive me if it came down to it. i just texted a friend from another survivors community that i haven't talked to years because he tweeted something that worried me. i've gotten a handful of those check in texts today myself. i hate flying because i'm terrified of plane crashes and don't feel the least bit comforted by statistics. i hate intercom systems and police sirens and going from a women's undergrad college to a co-ed law school was hard because i became very aware that the chance of it happening again ticked up. the shooting at my high school was my english teacher's second. i spent a week in dc after the uvalde shooting and all i could think as i looked at my friends is that the only thing that had changed in four years was that we all looked older. i had to leave the political sphere because i sat in meetings- with republican staffers and well-intentioned democrats alike- and just wanted to scream. nonprofits forced "gun reform not gun control" down our throats but it rotted on my tongue and i wish you could say repeal the 2nd in polite company but you can't. good survivors tow the non-profit respectability line. good survivors don't get blocked by shannon watts from moms demand action for years and only unblocked after being part of a direct action that made international headlines. good survivors aren't in the facebook support group for survivors that moms demand and everytown hung out to dry.

to live in this country as a school shooting survivor is to take every breath through a gaping open wound in your chest.

cut that always bleeds i wish i knew how to sew you up right. i wish the stiches didn't always pop. i wish this place was different and that america didn't leave a generation of children behind to just live with their neatly tied in a red, white and blue ribbon trauma or die trying. fuck it all. i'm so fucking tired.

[wolfjackle-creates]

Ghost!Robin Part 13

THE DINNER ENDS!!!!!! Dear god, I need to write something that has less than seven characters present in the currently-being-written scene. This segment will be a bit longer than most previous ones simply because I was so close to the end.

Story Summary: Danny was invited to dinner at Wayne Manor to meet Jazz's boyfriend and his family for the first time. He worked hard to make sure no ghost business would interrupt the evening. But when he arrived, all he could focus on was the ghost of the dead Robin that seemed to haunt Jason. Looks like he was breaking his promise.

First, Previous

Word Count: 1.9k

-----

“Look, I’ve faced both an evil future version of me and have had to deal with mind control.” He looked to Bruce and, serious now, said, “As soon as the Anti-Ecto Acts are repealed and the Guys in White disbanded, I will help you write those plans myself.”

Bruce gave a single nod. “Do you know what caused you to turn evil in the alternate time stream?”

Danny sighed and nodded. “Believe it or not, I cheated on a standardized exam.”

“Okay, what?” asked Tim, incredulous. “What sort of 2000s PSA life do you live? How did that lead you down the path to evil?”

Danny frowned. “I got caught, my teacher met with Jazz, my partners, and my parents at a local restaurant to discuss it. There was an explosion and the entire place blew up killing every single person I was close to. I was then sent to live with Vlad where things got worse.”

Duke let out a low whistle. “Damn. I think I’d go evil, too, under that pressure.”

Robin flew over to him and draped himself over Danny’s back, hugging him as tightly as he could. Jazz reached over and gripped his hand. He gave her a smile and squeezed back.

Bruce nodded. “But it sounds like a future that is unlikely to happen again.”

“Grandpa says the same thing. And since he’s the Ghost of Time, I try to believe him.”

Tim made a noise of agreement. “Be glad you have that assurance. I’ve an evil future self as well. He’s such an asshole.”

Danny forced a laugh, recognizing the attempt at levity. “I’m sure. How’d you get yours to go away?”

He shrugged. “The obvious way. Threatened to kill myself so I could never grow up into him.”

Dick spluttered from his spot next to Damian. “I’m sorry, you did what? Tim! How could you?”

Tim shrugged. “Better than having an evil, gun-using Batman running around.”

Bruce was now sitting with his head in his hands. The rest of the table also started yelling at Tim, the references and names making no sense to Danny who looked over to Jazz. She just shrugged at him.

Leaning over, he whispered in her ear, “At least your in-laws won’t be too freaked out when weird things happen around you.”

She laughed. “Yeah. Honestly, I’m glad this is how the evening ended. It means no more secrets between Jason and me.”

“Guys, enough!” shouted Tim. “Look, I’m fine. This happened ages ago. But I promise I’ll update my incident report so you can all snoop on it later. Now, if you’ve all forgotten, we have guests. And ones who can help us with our League troubles. Danny, you had questions about the Lazarus pits?”

“Yeah, uh, you said it can be used to heal people? How does that work?” To Jason, he added, “And how did you interact with it?”

“I was dunked in it,” said Jason with a shrug. “After I’d been revived. I wasn’t in my right mind and Damian’s mom thought it might help.”

Robin nodded and signed something.

Dick translated for the ghost. “Baby Jason says the pit tied him and Big Jason together, but also prevented them from actually combining into one person again.”

Danny looked between them. “You were submerged in a pool of bubbling ectoplasm? How the hell did that not kill you? That shouldn’t be possible for a human. I doubt it’d be good for a ghost!” No wonder his future brother-in-law was split in two. That was probably the best that could be expected.

Danny hadn’t even realized how hard he was projecting concern until Robin trilled back at him to calm him down. Danny took a deep breath and pulled in his aura. “Sorry, Robin. I do think I’d like to get you both in to see my doctor as soon as possible, though.”

Jazz cleared her throat. “We can discuss that at home.”

Bruce stared at him. “Do you think they can help Jason?”

Danny shrugged. “He knows the most about ghost-human hybrids of anyone. If anything can be done, he’ll know.”

“I will go with you,” Bruce said.

Danny immediately shook his head. “Nope. I won’t bring anyone from Earth into the Realms until the Anti-Ecto acts are repealed. And only Jason can invite people to his private medical check up.”

Steph pouted. “But Jason is from Earth. Sure, he’s got some weird thing going on, but why does he get to go exploring other dimensions?”

“Cause he’s dead. He belongs to the Infinite Realms just as much as he belongs to Earth. I’m not gonna block someone from accessing their home.”

“I’m not dead!” yelled Jason. “I’m alive.”

Danny winced. He’d have to talk to Jazz about that. Death wasn’t really a thing that could be recovered from. Not fully. But it wasn’t his place to tell Jason he was still dead if he wasn’t ready to hear that. Jazz or Frostbite could have that conversation. “Of course you’re alive. And Earth is your home, too. But you’ve got one in the Realms if you ever need or want it. Think of it like dual citizenship.”

“I don’t want it.”

Danny sighed. “Look, then the part of you that is manifesting as Robin has a place there and you two can’t be separated so you’re allowed to follow him. It’s the only way I’ll be able to get you in to see the best doctor to help you out.”

“Jason,” Jazz spoke gently and rested her hand on his forearm, “you’re still alive. Nothing about your situation has changed. You just have some more information and more help. Which is a good thing.”

Jason frowned and didn’t answer, choosing instead to glare at his dinner plate.

No one else spoke up until Alfred cleared his throat. “Well, I believe that we should wrap the conversation up here. We’ve all received quite a lot of information and will need some time to review it and consider our next steps.”

Danny nodded. “Yeah, I think— Wait, um, before we end this, would you have a sample of the Lazarus Water I could take to Frostbite?” At the confused looks he was given, he added, “The doctor I mentioned. I think it’d help him figure out how best to help Jason and Robin.”

Bruce exchanged looks Danny couldn’t interpret with Damian and Tim before speaking. “We’ll have to discuss it. Would we be able to give you our answer in two days? At the very least, we’d like to have the report from your friend first.”

Danny shrugged. “Sure. The sooner the better, though. I’ll call Tucker on the way to Jazz and Jason’s. We’ll put something together for you tonight. I’m not sure exactly how long it’ll take, though. Depends on how much sleep Tuck’s running on.”

Bruce merely nodded.

Dick laughed and got to his feet. “Well, it’s been an absolute pleasure getting to know you. Welcome to the craziness of the Wayne family. It sounds like Jazz and you will fit right in. Let me walk you out.”

His words seemed to be a signal to the rest of the family. Most of whom also rushed over to try and insist on walking them out.

Until Jason shouted, “Enough! We don’t need a crowd to follow us to Jazz’s car. You can say goodbye from here just as easily.”

Dick pouted but acquiesced. Only after pulling Jason into a hug, though. Jason forced Dick to let him go only for Robin to rush in and take his place to Dick’s delight. After separating, they signed something to each other that had Jason blushing and scowling.

And then Dick moved on to hug Jazz, then Danny. “Come back anytime,” he told Danny. “Whether or not those two are with you. B meant it when he said you would have a room here.”

But then Steph was pushing Dick to the side to give Danny a hug as well. “What’s your phone number? I so want whatever blackmail you get on Jason. And I’ll share some of what I have.”

Danny laughed, but did agree to exchange numbers before the Duke was in front of him.

“Dude, you have to come by more often. It’s so annoying being the only meta around here.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Danny promised.

When Tim came over, he insisted on adding both Danny and Jazz to some of the family group chats. “If you give me your sister’s number, I’ll add her in, too.”

Jazz shook her head. “We’ll have to confirm she wants to be added in first. And ask her if she’d like an introduction to Superboy.”

“His name’s Kon. Kon-El. I’ll message him tonight, too. I’m sure he’d love to meet her.”

“Dani will say yes,” said Danny, “but she doesn’t always reply right away. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear from her.”

Then Tim was being pushed aside by Barbara who wanted to make sure he knew how to send them the information about ghosts and the Realms. And Cass was waving goodbye.

Bruce was the last of the group to approach them. “Remember, if you ever need a place to stay or want to lay low, you can come here any time. Even if you just want a warm meal. Your sister as well.”

“Thanks, Bruce,” said Jazz. “We do really appreciate that. You don’t have to offer it.”

“But I want to. Jason…” he trailed off before trying again. “I would like it if you kept me informed with any updates to your condition.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Right, because you want to know how much of a liability I am.”

If anything, Bruce’s face became more closed off at those words. “That’s not… Hn.”

Robin rolled his eyes, somehow visible despite his mask, and flew over to hug Bruce around the waist. Danny couldn’t make sense of the expression Bruce wore as he looked down at the ghost and though his arms twitched, he didn’t return the hug.

Alfred smoothly stepped forward before anyone could say anything. “Well, now that the goodbyes have all been said, I will walk you four out.”

Jason shook his head. “You don’t have to, Alfie. I know the way.”

“Of course you do, Master Jason. But I insist. We’ll stop by the kitchens and I’ll send you home with leftovers.”

Danny tried to hide his smile as Jason merely turned and walked in the direction of the kitchens. It seemed no one argued against Alfred. Once in the kitchens, they were given so much food to take home it required all three to carry it, then Alfred was leading them out a side door which brought them to the drive where Jazz’s car was parked.

Jazz nudged him and nodded her head towards the car. Danny nodded and followed her in while Jason, Alfred, and Robin remained outside to talk for a minute.

Danny took the back seat and met Jazz’s eyes in the rear-view mirror.

She gave him a wry smile and said, “What a night, huh?”

Danny snickered before bursting out into full-on laughter, Jazz joining a breath behind him.

-----

Next

Tim totally spilled the beans about Gun Batman to get people distracted from Danny. He's just being a good new friend.

I'm thinking I'll put this on a temporary hiatus as I work through how I want arc two to go. I know the story beats, but the pacing will absolutely have to change. Not gonna spend 16k words on a single evening again! (Did you guys realize it was that long? I certainly did. XP) In the meantime, I'll keep working on Bring Me Home and rewriting the Wrong Number AU.

Bonus points to anyone who can guess my favorite line from this segment!

And sorry for not replying to comments on the post from two weeks ago. I got caught up in irl stuff and wasn't able to get around to it.

Tag List Part 1

@addie-lover-of-stories, @justwannabecat, @gin2212, @amercurio, @regonold, @overtherose, @readerzj, @sjrose1216, @echoednonny, @deeterzz, @blu-lilac, @number-one-jew, @rowanaway-fromthisbs, @vythika96, @tired-yet-awaken, @themirrorghost, @emeraldcorpral, @all-mights-asscheeks, @darkhinauniverse, @blep-23, @phandomhyperfixationblog, @larkcoe1, @thegatorsgoose, @job-ross-the-second, @britcision, @lenacraft, @bubblemixer, @androgynouslordofescapism, @purefrickingspite, @leftmiraclechaos, @lizisipancardo, @starlight-sparks, @miraculousandmore, @gildedphoenix, @sometimesthingsfallapart, @letmesayfuxk, @phoenixcatch7, @skulld3mort-1fan, @abaowo, @dhampir-princess, @idkmrpianoman, @sarina-elais, @ballzfrog-blog, @undead-essence, @spookytragedyshark, @flyingpansaurus, @akintoabitch, @marivictal, @8-29pm, @justreadingthefanfics, @happybear135, @kisatamao, @spoopyspoony, @adorablechaos, @sara0055, @screamingtofillthevoid

[siryouarebeingmocked]

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/michael-bloombergs-outrageous-response-to-the-texas-church-shooting-is-an-insult-to-hero-jack-wilson

Well, this shooting would have played out much, much worse in that hypothetical scenario. The killer, of course, doesn’t care what law Bloomberg and his pals pass, so he would have stormed in with a gun regardless. But Wilson wouldn’t have been armed. 

Assuming the police are minutes away, and considering that the gunman shot two people in just a few seconds before being taken down, it’s likely that several dozen people would have been shot before police arrived.

This is the outcome Bloomberg basically just said he would prefer. 

And by saying that only police should have guns, Bloomberg is no longer hiding behind calls for so-called universal background checks or assault weapon bans — he’s openly calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment. If we needed another reminder why we should never elect this wannabe tyrant as our president, well, he just handed us one.

Reminder that both this shooting and Sutherland Springs were stopped by the proverbial “good guy with a gun”. The Sutherland shooter even owned his gun illegally, because the government screwed up his discharge paperwork.

[yourtoradorasextendedwarranty]

I don't understand people sometimes. I was scrolling through a little earlier and saw someone call Trump a fascist which isn't uncommon but it wasn't from someone I'd have expected to it come from. But nothing about Trump is fascist. Sure he's nationalistic but fascistic and nationalistic are not the same.

What's more when it comes to Dems v Reps I don't see how anyone can vote for Dems especially when they've gone full Neo Progressive. What do I mean? Well let's look at the most general of what the parties have represented across the US.

The right has been pro border security and this has been exemplified by Rep states either reinforcing their own borders, or sending them to sanctuary states.

The right has been historically and still is anti abortion. And while I didn't personally fully after with the stance, it SHOULD be left to the states to decide.

The right are for protecting the second amendment and even IF not all politicians on the right are for it, the SCOTUS justices that do understand the conservative values of the Constitution have given us more freedoms back. Many red states in fact now have constitutional carry.

Also of note those same justices have removed the Chevron act. Meaning that 3 letter agreements etc can't just wildly interpret the law as they please.

Now having said all this yes, there are war hawks on the right. There are racists on the right there are sexists on the right. But those same people very much exist on the left with no shortage at all

The left supports full term abortion and doesn't even consider the child alive until it's outside the womb.

The left is STAUNCHLY anti gun and anti second amendment.

The left is staunchly anti first amendment as seen by their calls to "hate speech".

The left is mostly pro open borders

The left is and has been pro war for a long time. Need proof? Obama started almost 5 new wars.

The left has proven recently they are ABSOLUTELY above the law and will manipulate every word in existence to jail their political rivals.

The left is actively racist and actively promotes white supremacist ideology with stuff like affirmative action and DEI.

The left has gone out of their way to allow kids to transition and get surgeries before the age of 16 even and want kids introduced to and TAUGHT LGBT themes, and have pushed for graphic pornographic books to be in elementary schools.

Leftists states and federally have demanded higher taxes, reduced potentialities for crimes, have sold you out to China, and aim to replace you with illegals they can buy off.

Is this a commentary on ALL of the Left and Dems and ALL of the Right and Reps? No. There's good and bad on both sides. But if we look at policies pushed, and the media apparatus who's been lying non-stop for years who are very clearly leaving left we see the real pattern of behavior. And it bothers me. I'm a left of center, small l, libertarian. You'd think the Dems world actually be "my side" and yet, they aren't. Biden insists on being a tyrant and ignoring SCOTUS ruling WAY outside of his power, trying to forgive loans that he doesn't have the right to forgive since it comes out of the taxpayers dime. And what bothers me even more, is the fact that he has also repealed all of the legislation that Trump pushed forward that kept our border safe. Specifically remain in Mexico. Which was very reasonable legislation.

Looking at all of this objectively no sane person can go with Biden or the Democrats. And as far as I am concerned, if at this point you are on the side of the Democrats then you're in favor of anarcho tyranny. You're in favor of lawlessness. And your favor of being manipulated by the media Non-Stop and watching the dollar crater in value.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

If you didn’t watch tonight’s debate, this is all you need to know:

JD Vance’s solution to the mass killing of school children is “stronger windows.”

Not one child has ever been shot through a school window.  Not one killer ever climbed through a window to get into a school.  Not one report after a mass shooting at a school has even mentioned windows.

That is how far JD Vance went in the opposite direction of the thing that caused the death of every child killed in every single school shooting:  guns.

Let us recount just a few more of JD Vance’s many lies during the debate:

Asked how he would protect people with pre-existing health conditions, Vance answered, “We already have a law that does that” without acknowledging that the law is Obamacare. 

Vance said that Donald Trump “saved” the Affordable Care Act.  Trump backed 70 attempts by Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act and said if elected he would “end it on day one.”

Vance said January 6 was not a threat to democracy.  Censorship, somehow attributable to Kamala Harris, “is the threat to democracy we should be talking about.”

Vance claimed that the housing crisis is caused by “25 million illegal aliens” driving up the cost of housing.

The country that during the Biden-Harris administration produced the largest quantity of oil and natural gas in the world “needs more drilling,” according to Vance.

JD Vance claimed to have “never” supported a national ban on abortions.  Vance told an interviewer in 2022 that he would “certainly like abortion to be illegal nationally.”  Vance went on to say that the problem Republicans have on the abortion issue is, “We’ve got to get better at our message of supporting women.”

By refusing to answer a question asking him whether he believes climate change is a “hoax,” Vance confirmed that he believes it is.

Vance talked over the moderators to push his lie that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are here illegally.  Not only did he get the law wrong, but the law he cited was passed and signed by Donald Trump.

Asked by Tim Walz if he believed that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, Vance answered, “Tim, I am focused on the future,” and said Kamala Harris had censored people “during COVID.”

Vance lied when he said that guns are “coming into this country from Mexican drug cartels.”  It is just the opposite:  drug cartels regularly smuggle American firearms into Mexico because they have such strict gun laws in that country the cartels can’t get them there.

My wife Tracy turned to me about halfway through the debate and sighed, “Vance is a such a sleazy, oily, adept liar.”

‘Nuff said.

[Lucian Truscott Newsletter]

[mariacallous]

In 2020, while the Covid-19 pandemic raged, a steadily growing epidemic continued to burn its path across the United States. Gun violence stole the lives of 45,222 Americans that fateful year, the worst year on record for gun deaths to that point.

The path leading to each one of these deaths is layered and complex. Each American killed by a bullet, each family grieving their loved one, deserves their own book. I never once thought that I would be one to write such a story.

I’m a gun-owning emergency physician, a father, and the cousin of a man who was shot to death. If it wasn’t for the National Rifle Association declaring in 2018 that physicians, like me, should “stay in their lane” and keep quiet about the toll of this plague, I wouldn’t have written about this subject. Yet gun violence consumes my life. I see victims of gun violence from family tragedies—children, adolescents, and adults—almost every day.

Addressing violence and death is the duty of anyone who has ever had to mend the wounds of a gunshot victim, to attempt heroic measures in the trauma bay, to meticulously care for the injured in the intensive care unit, or admit defeat in front of their loved ones. I have found no worse feeling than having to tell a mother or a father that their child has been killed by a bullet. We have practiced and perfected evidence-based medicine for decades. We should similarly practice evidence-based health policy. As it pertains to guns, some of that evidence already exists.

As a physician, I understand the limitations of science. The best research, at least in the biomedical sphere, usually requires the findings of randomized clinical trials, but running those for policymaking often isn’t feasible. In public health, the next best option is a natural experiment, in which one jurisdiction implements a policy and a similar, nearby jurisdiction does not, and policy makers can observe the difference.

The RAND Corporation’s The Science of Gun Policy—a synthesis of research into US gun policy—typically relies on these types of studies to inform its analysis. It is sometimes inconclusive, sometimes weak, sometimes strong in its assertions about the impacts of various policies that might impact lives in this epidemic of gun violence, but overall its analysis describes myriad policy levers that our current lawmakers could, and in my opinion should, swiftly implement at the federal, state, and local levels. The evidence states that we can save lives through the following:

Background checks through federal firearms licensed dealers for every firearms purchase

Licenses and permits for individuals who want to buy guns

Raising the minimum age for all firearm purchases to 21

Strong child access prevention laws

Brief waiting periods

Domestic violence restraining orders that require the relinquishing of existing firearms.

But I also believe there are two additional laws that should be repealed. Their presence in society should alarm physicians, advocates, and the people who write the laws.

Policy Prescription #1: Reverse Stand-Your-Ground Laws

On February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin, a Black kid my height and with a similar build, was walking through a neighborhood in Sanford, Florida, after purchasing a bag of Skittles and a drink. He was essentially stalked by the captain of a local neighborhood watch patrol. Following an altercation—one that a 911 dispatcher urged the overly zealous neighborhood watchman to avoid—Martin lay on the ground, shot dead by a single bullet that traversed his heart and lung.

All of that young man’s hopes and dreams of one day becoming an aviator were struck down by a man who would eventually be acquitted of murder because of Florida’s stand-your-ground statute that created a culture of approach, provoke, and kill. Stand your ground certainly contributed to the young boy’s death.

Every state has some form of this doctrine embedded in common law, something that recognizes that an American man or woman inside their home has the right to defend themselves. But how far does that right travel outside the home? Obviously, if someone approached you attempting to harm you, no one would blame you for defending yourself. But what happens when you initiate the incident and instead of retreating, escalate a situation that never needed to exist in the first place?

The castle doctrine permits a person who is in his or her home to defend it and themselves from harm without any duty to retreat to safety. But a duty to retreat when in public exists in many states. Ohio, Wisconsin, and North Dakota, however, extend the castle doctrine to one’s personal vehicle. In some locations, largely in the South, this doctrine extends to anyplace a person has a legal right to be. Vermont and Washington, DC, remain the only two jurisdictions where a duty to retreat remains supreme.

Stand-your-ground laws clearly increase the risk of homicides, specifically firearm homicides, and have no beneficial impacts on other forms of violent crime, suggesting that these laws have not lived up to their purported deterrent effect. Lawmakers should repeal them and revert to a more limited use of the castle doctrine to prevent the deaths of their constituents.

Policy Prescription #2: Concealed Carry Laws Should Adhere to the ‘May-Issue’ Standard

Concealed carry rights are nearly universal, although 23 states and the District of Columbia require a permit to do so as of 2023. The other 27 states do not require a permit, and individuals there can concealed-carry without any form of vetting.

Concealed carry laws differ in several distinct ways, ranging in order of least to most restrictive, from permitless carry to shall-issue to may-issue laws. Among the states that require a permit for someone to carry a concealed weapon, the permitting entity, often law enforcement, must issue it to anyone who meets minimum standards in shall-issue states. In may-issue states, there is some additional leeway for law enforcement to prevent issuing a permit to people who might be a threat to themselves or others, even if they otherwise would be eligible.

Shouldn’t a small-town sheriff who knows his community well have some discretion when reviewing applications? What if there was a violent man in that community who has been drinking when he walks through the door and who, in anger, strikes his wife repeatedly, but each time the cops come out for a domestic disturbance they are told that she simply fell down the stairs? If that man applied for a concealed carry license in a shall-issue state, he would easily receive it. In a may-issue state, the sheriff might wisely reject the application and potentially save the life of that man’s wife.

Lonny Pulkrabek, a Jefferson County sheriff who laments that his state legislature voted to make Iowa a shall-issue state in 2011, no longer has any discretion when issuing a concealed carry permit. He reported that in 2018, “I’ve already got 140 people through May that have criminal records that have permits, that were issued permits to carry. We’ve seen a lot more people with lengthy criminal histories who in fact are willing to go through and jump through the hoops and get the permit to carry it legally.”

Sheriff Pulkrabek maintains a “wall of shame” of the several hundred concealed carry permits he has been forced to issue to Iowans with criminal records because the state elected to follow an inferior law over a decade ago. Researchers, utilizing the natural experiment set by the various policies in force in different states, have detected differences between states with divergent legal frameworks as they pertain to concealed carry. The Science of Gun Policy indicates that shall-issue laws, such as Iowa’s, may increase overall violent crime compared to may-issue laws. Based on the underlying research, scientists estimate that in 10 years following a transition to the more permissive type of concealed carry law, violent crime increases by up to 15 percent.

Since concealed carry laws have been shown to increase violent crime, shouldn’t we have some say about who walks around town with a hidden firearm? Unfortunately, many state legislatures haven’t been following the science. Iowa recently went even farther afield, along with Tennessee and Texas, by weakening their laws to allow for permitless carry beginning in the summer of 2021. I worry that it will lead to more crime and more bloodshed.

In the Covid pandemic, the average American learned what public health can and cannot do. We’ve witnessed the scientific method unfold before our eyes as we waited for vaccines and treatments to be created in record time. Just as public health measures—such as staying at home in the early phases of the Covid crisis, wearing masks once society began to open, and vaccination—tamed this most recent pandemic, I have faith that science can do the same thing for endemic gun violence in America.

The science compiled by the RAND Corporation suggests a series of potential legislative approaches that will save the lives of some of the over 45,000 Americans who die by firearms each year. We cannot eliminate every injury, every death, or every shooting, but we must recognize that we can positively impact our fellow Americans, save lives, and relieve suffering by implementing some very simple laws that I describe.

Adapted from Under the Gun: An ER Doctor's Cure for America's Gun Epidemic, by Cedric Dark, MD, MPH, with Seema Yasmin. Copyright 2024. Published with permission of Johns Hopkins University Press.

[morlock-holmes]

I mean, yes, I would like to reassert control over people coming into public places and destroying things or threatening people or (as happened here recently) taking out their fucking gun and firing randomly into a crowd because they got into an argument. I can try to solve the underlying problems involved all I want but I'd still really like to be able to do something to control people who act in flagrantly antisocial ways.

For mental illness, deinstitutionalization was finished by the early 90s at the absolute latest.

In California, they just overturned the Lanterman-Petris-Short act of, wait for it...

1967.

Were you also adamant about the need to control the severely mentally ill in 2010? 2000? Did it seem like an unspeakable crisis to you in 1995?

Were you even alive before that act was passed?

The current narrative in California is that we passed that act, and then all the unmedicated schizophrenics waited patiently and took their medicine *for the next 50 years* before suddenly going crazy again in the 2020s for no reason, leaving us no choice but to commit them all against their will.

Does that narrative make any sense to you? Because to me it seems like total gibberish.

Is there is any time in your life where you felt that the mentally ill were better controlled then they are now?

Because odds are that time was *also* a time when it was difficult to involuntarily commit people, unless you're thinking of 1966 or earlier.

If we were doing okay before without involuntarily commiting people... Why don't we just do whatever it was that was working back then, rather than actively trying to make it easier to confine people against their will?

Look I'm not a bleeding heart about this stuff; I don't like being hassled on the street. You're still allowed to arrest and confine people for shooting others; no act of American law has ever prevented that.

But I'm talking about repealing a law from 1967 as though that law was the reason 2024 doesn't feel as safe as 2000.

I'm also talking about congregate shelters with strict curfews that make it difficult to hold a swing shift or night shift job. I'm talking about Oregon talking about recriminalizing drugs when the voluntary treatment centers are so full that some of them are turning away fully half of the people applying for drug treatment.

I don't like drug addicts passing out in front of my work or fucking with me on the street.

But if that drug addict went to a voluntary treatment center and got turned away this morning, and then the cops give him a ticket or throw him in jail...

Hey guess who's still an addict?

The best way to get that guy to stop hassling me is for him to be off the drugs. Proving that I can hurt him or force him to do things is meaningless if he's still an addict sleeping on the street at the end of it.

I don't even mean that just in a bleeding heart way, I mean it in a "In a month I'm going to have to chase him off work property again and I don't want to do that" way.

[papaya2000s]

Amergency Act 19 (긴급조치 19호)

It is a satirical 2002 South Korean film about a government act that prohibits popular music and passed in response to a number of musicians being elected to government elsewhere in the world. It is notable for the numerous K-pop stars that make appearances in the film.

Directed by: Kim Tae-gyu

Written by: Kim Sung-dong and Lee Seung-guk

Produced by: Song Chang-yong

Starring:

Kim Jang-hoon as himself, Hong Kyung-min as himself, Gong Hyo-jin as Min-ji, Noh Joo-hyun as the Chief Secretary and Min-ji's father and Ju Yeong-hun as himself

List of Cameos:

Besides the main cast, there are a number of actors and K-pop singers and groups who make cameos in the film as themselves.

They are:

Kim Sung-oh as soldier 2 at Vinyl House, Baby V.O.X., Brown Eyes, CAN, Chakra, Click-B, Fin.K.L, Harisu, Kangta, Koyote, NRG, Shinhwa, UN, and Psy

Plot:

Troubled by the growing worldwide trend of pop singers being elected as politicians, the President of South Korea orders his Chief Secretary to invoke "Emergency Act 19". This new law criminalizes all pop singers, and the army is deployed on the streets of Seoul to round them up. One pop star, Hong Kyung-min, is arrested while performing a concert, but his angry fans mob the soldiers as they try to take him away. The Chief Secretary's teenage daughter, Min-ji, is amongst the fans, and leading her idol to safety gives him her phone number. Kyung-min finally makes a getaway with his friend and fellow pop star, Kim Jang-hoon.

Once Jang-hoon and Kyung-min become fully aware of the situation, they contact Min-ji, who is able to hide the two singers in a secret location. The Chief Secretary finds out that his daughter is working against him, and when she refuses to give them up, he has false news reports created, accusing the singers of sexually assaulting minors. Meanwhile, more pop stars are rounded up by the authorities who are now aided by another singer, Ju Yeong-hun, who decides to betray his friends in order to save himself.

Angered by their tarnished reputations, Jang-hoon and Kyung-min acquire a gun from a shady weapons dealer, and with Min-ji's help they are able to take the Chief Secretary and his staff hostage. They take their captives to the park, where Min-ji has organized a mass demonstration with her friends and other music fans. The army arrive on the scene and engage the demonstrators in conflict, finally capturing Jang-hoon and Kyung-min. The Chief Secretary is able to walk free in all the chaos, but he is appalled by the violence and orders the fighting to stop, convincing the President to repeal the emergency act and restoring peace.

I couldn't find this movie with subs anywhere. I usually watch kdramas but found it on YouTube in 2 parts without eng subs.

If anyone knows where I could watch this movie fully with eng subs would be very helpful.

(Part 1 above and Part 2 below)

This movie is based on events that happened in South Korea during the 1970s and 1980s with censorship during the Park Chung Hee Presidency (1961-1979) and Chun Doo Hwan Presidency (1980-1988).

This blog explains a bit about how Seotaji combatted censorship after the 1980s.

More about the censorship during the 1980s in South Korea.

This blog is about the evolution of Korean music in the 70s to the 80s with censorship

The wiki about the Amergency Act 19 (긴급조치 19호) movie.

Should probably go into more detail about this topic, but it gets very long and can be very confusing, and I would rather explain this in my Korean music history on male and female groups.

[lonelyg0d]

This ain't a difference of opinions it's a difference in morals or rather a lack thereof on their part. I don't associate with people who are either so careless so evil or so stupid they would let a sleezy rapist grifter like Donald Trump fuck them in the ass once and then beg for it to happen a second time. Like Hayden’s post says. I hope y'all never find peace. I hope every ignorant selfish woman that prioritizes male validation over protecting herself and the women around her suffers a horrific miscarriage in the coming years, and has to struggle and search far and wide and beg and plead and bribe in order to access the healthcare she needs to survive it and still cannot without extensive and prolonged medical complications. I hope every pathetic selfish rapist-apologist sorry little man-boy has to watch their best friend die right before their eyes just because they're a minority or gay, I hope they put the gun in their hand and force them to pull the trigger. And then spend the rest of his miserable existence as just another number in the "Male Loneliness" statistics. I hope every gay/trans/queer/transgender person that voted for this has to stand helpless and humiliated as they are told to leave restaurants and stores, stopped at the door and told they are not welcome, told by doctors and government officials that they have no rights when it comes to their sick or dying loved ones because they voted against their own. As for the men who did nothing, who voted blue at their own discretion but were silent on the front, did nothing to speak out against these atrocious ideals and the obvious hate toward women. I hope you have to watch every woman closest to you suffer or die. I hope your mothers/wives/daughters are raped by men you know or hold in revere and you are powerless to stop it or help them. I hope you have to stand by like the helpless, weak, stand-for-nothing sorry excuses for men you are with their blood on your hands.

And I hope when it all starts to go horribly wrong, when they start repealing laws and legislature that protects minorities women and children, when colored people can't vote anymore or women can't have a bank account or own property again, when your bosses get phone calls and have to fire all of the women, or when your landlords post notices on your doors that all gay and colored tenants have been evicted or when your children come home crying talking about how ICE agents raided their classrooms and rounded up immigrant students.... I hope you think back to these posts and how you felt when you're reading it right now...how you think we are so nuts for believing these men are going to do EXACTLY what they have told us they're going to...l hope you feel so. fucking. foolish. I hope you experience a level of shame and regret as profound as what the Romans must have felt when they crucified Jesus and immediately realized the massive fucking mistake they'd made. To be able to know the history of this world and still make the decision to be on the wrong side of it…this will haunt you for generations.

[roaaoife]

Since I haven't seen people taking about this, I want everyone to meet Judge James Ho:

Why should you care about a judge in Texas? Well, Judge Ho was one of the potential Supreme Court nominees Trump considered before appointing Amy Coney Barrett, and is widely believed to be Trump's next pick when a seat opens up in the next few years.

Judge Ho clerked for Clarence Thomas, and has had such notable opinions as:

Abusers who have been deemed a credible threat to their partners and have a restraining order against them should still be allowed to own guns

Said Texas was “treating U.S. citizens less favorably than illegal aliens when it comes to postsecondary education benefits”. Yes, this man thinks Texas is too soft on undocumented immigration.

Called abortion a "moral tragedy" in the Dobbs case that later went before the Supreme Court to repeal Roe v Wade.

Insisted that DACA is illegal

Declared all laws limiting political donations unconstitutional

Wants the Supreme Court to revive the Lochner decision- a 1905 case where the New York Court overturned a law that prevented employers from demanding more than 60 hours a week from employees.

Wants to ban mifepristone completely

Called the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unconstitutional

Wants to dismantle the SEC

Thinks Clarence Thomas did nothing wrong

This man may well be the next Supreme Court Justice if Trump gets in. Is this someone you want deciding the future of our country?

[bearsinpotatosacks]

Behind a Cold Visage - A Multi Ship Fic

Iceman's jumper has a hole, he goes to Carole to fix it. She notices something else more than a hole.

~~~

For a prompt list, this was "A fixing B's sweater/jacket"

Words: 1338

Texas winters, at least in Corpus Christi, were rather mild. She had the fashion sense of a pop art picture and a grandma is what her mother said, which meant a lot of cardigans, that were never appropriate for the weather. 

This fact had always annoyed Carole, she’d taken up knitting when she was fourteen to get her mind off the worst breakup of her life, at least as she’d thought then. Now, years after, she’d probably knitted an entire wardrobe of clothes if you included everything she’d made for Bradley, plus all the various jumpers, scarves, hats and mittens over the years for Goose, Mav, her family and herself. 

And this year the wardrobe would be added to. There were two more people in their weird, not allowed family. Slider and Iceman. 

Their home was their sanctuary, away from the pressures of the navy, some of which were more on some than others, and the prying eyes of the neighbours, they could be themselves. Safe to cuddle in their bed now too small for four people and creaking from the weight but homely enough that they didn’t care. 

Not that everyone stayed at the same time. Maverick had bought a bachelor pad nearer to Corpus Christi, they were in the suburbs of Portland, about a ten minute drive away on a good day. With the security of the emergency second bedroom, they were safe-ish from the harsh laws of the navy and Texas state.

Carole was half considering just moving to California. With sodomy laws repealed there, this would at least be allowed at home. It was closer to work for Tom and Ron, both still instructors at Top Gun while Maverick was flying with Merlin back out in the middle of the ocean and Goose was getting his teaching qualification to become a physics teacher. Every single naval aviator she’d ever met had tried to explain how the codes for their missions worked, but every time it just seemed too damn complicated. Well, she tried to explain all the ins and outs of running a library and they seemed similarly confused, maybe some things were meant to be unknown.

She broke through her thoughts with a sip of sweet tea. As went tradition, she’d left it to brew outside but it didn’t quite hit the same as it would in the summer. Not that she missed that, the heat had really gotten to her this year. 

Maverick threw the frisbee to Bradley. Slider lifted him up so he could catch it. Goose placed his hands on his hips as he shared a look with Mav. They feigned disgust but smiles were hard to hide.

“Hey, that's cheating!” Goose exclaimed.

“T’isn’t.” Bradley said, still being held securely in Ron’s hands.

“T’is.” Mav said. 

“T’isn’t.” Ron teased. “He’s short, I’m helping.”

“I’m short, and you don’t see Goose lifting me up to catch the frisbee.”

“I’m littler,” Bradley said.

Mav gave him his familiar cocky smirk.

“Oh yeah?” Goose said, his moustache twitching. “Well, it’s still cheating, how about you stop being so little and grow some more? Come on now Bradley, you’re almost five, you should be six feet tall by now!”

That broke everyone’s grumpy masks. Bradley giggled, which made Goose break into a grin and begin to trot over to him. Maverick joined as Ron lowered Bradley slightly. 

Maverick, always the fastest even though he had the shortest legs out of all of the guys, got there first and tickled Bradley’s feet. Goose joined him, making him giggle until he squirmed.

“Daddy, stop!” He yelled.

Goose took him from Slider and lay kisses into his chubby cheeks as he squished him into a hug.

“Sorry, it’s what cheaters get!”

“I didn’t cheat, Daddy-”

The scene carried on. Goose pampered his son in embarrassing amounts of kisses while Mav and Ron watched, hiding their hands gracing each others so the neighbours wouldn’t talk.

What broke her focus was the gentle sound of feet coming out of the kitchen. She knew those considerate steps anywhere. Wanting to command attention but not offend, wanting to please every crowd. Iceman.

As well as pleasing her by not stomping, she loved Ron but he wasn’t very light footed, he was very easy on the eye. She’d told him that she thought so but hadn’t made a move yet. He was newly in a relationship with three men while trying to keep it all a secret, the last thing he needed was a new woman to throw things into question.

“Hey, Tom,” she said, keeping her eyes on the frisbee game as it restarted. “Whatcha got there?”

He seemed surprised when she knew he was there without seeing him. What he didn’t know was that having a toddler had made her hyper aware about where people were at all times, whether she liked it or not. She had to pat the seat next to her to get him to sit down. It was unusual how such a cool and confident man could turn into this insecure when away from the pressures of the navy. 

“A sweater.”

“You’re not wearing it?” She said.

Feeling the breeze stroke her skin, she wrapped her blanket around her a little tighter. 

“There’s a hole in it.”

His words were so carefully chosen. She realised that if they weren’t on good terms, he could do some damage. Carole could also, if they weren’t on good terms, but for different reasons, she didn’t have much of a filter. Words just came out as she said them. Obviously, this meant that while she could make someone’s day with a blase compliment, she could also ruin it by saying something mean a little too loud than she should, because her volume was never appropriate whether she knew it or not.

He stretched out the sweater. It had golden dreidels knitted onto a blue background. Threads were coming loose all over it to give a vague blue halo in the afternoon sun. This was old and well worn, yet perhaps it was what she’d seen of Tom so far that made her feel like he wasn’t the type to wear corny novelty jumpers at all.

“Can I?” She reached for it. 

It was just as soft as it looked as he handed it over. There was a familiar smell. Looking at Tom, she could imagine him tugging at the collar for a photo at Hanukkah. That’s what the smell reminded her of, a childhood home that you could return to but one that would never be the same. 

“Want me to fix it?”

“Can you?”

She turned it over. There was a small but obvious hole in the arm. It wasn’t wear and tear, this was from worrying the same spot over and over again. She looked up at Tom and smiled, there was a storm behind those grey eyes.

“I think so, just got to match the colour so it doesn’t look weird,” she went to get up.

“Where are you going?” He asked.

“Might as well start now, I think I have this blue in my knitting basket,” she lent in a little closer. “It was meant to be a surprise but I was making you a scarf for Hanukkah.”

“Guess you don’t need to now.” He said, looking at his hands. 

“No, I will.”

“Why?”

His head darted up. The immovable Iceman was a deer in headlights. She liked her ability to do that because if there was one thing she'd learnt about loving Navy men was that no matter how much they talked the talk, if you got them on their knees and pulled their head back by their hair then they were putty in your hand. 

“You’re cute that’s why.”

She lent over and kissed his forehead, leaving his face bright red as she moved inside to fix the jumper. Behind her, Ron wolfwhistled. The usual snarky "shut it" that she'd expect from Tom didn't come. When she turned back, he was still beetroot red.

I'm a bit of a sucker for Carole/Iceman, not in a major way but in a small way like this. They all love each other. Also it was illegal to be gay in texas until 2003. Thanks for reading!