#they're in high school in ... this is roughly 1992

[aparticularbandit]

roses and violets for the wip

WIP Wednesday Game

Thanks for the ask!

Heads up - this particular bit has slight transphobia. (One of the characters, Claire, is trans but isn't out to anyone yet, not even her girlfriend. For a lot of reasons. Her internal dialogue reflects this struggle.)

Claire freezes.  Pauses.  Rubs the back of her neck awkwardly with one hand.  “I.  Uh.”  Her gaze drops.

Eve reaches out and places her hand over Claire’s, the bandaged finger just tapping one of Claire’s shorn nails.  “Sorry,” she says.  “You guys probably don’t think about this sort of thing, but I thought—”

“Violets,” Claire interrupts, blurting it out, refusing to look up.  She shouldn’t have said it at all; Eve’s right – guys probably don’t have a favorite flower.  Even if they did, it’s not like she could ever talk about it with any of the guys on the team.  They’d call her a pansy.  (They wouldn’t know how close to right they were.)  Still, she glances up, weakly meets Eve’s eyes.  “I like violets.”

[ilovethesmiths123]

my final post.

hello.

my name is charlie kelmeckis. it has been roughly half a year since i last posted on this blog.

i wanted to share that i was admitted to a hospital, and i've been there for the last two months or so. i was released just yesterday.

to tell you the truth, i've been in a bad place ever since aunt helen died. aunt helen was my favorite relative. she passed away in a car accident, and i always blamed myself for it.

the doctor told me that my parents had found me completely naked in the living room watching a television that wasn't even turned on. i hadn't reacted to them when they called to me, so i had been brought to the hospital.

the first few weeks in the hospital were hard, but the thing that helped me most through them was knowing that my friends and family were behind me every step of the way. i got mail from my grandfather, great aunt, and aunt rebecca.

after i got released yesterday, my mom took me to mcdonald's to eat french fries. it was so nice to just be with my mom, eating french fries, just like when i was little and got sick and stayed home from school.

today, my father went to work and my mother took me and my sister out for errands because my sister is leaving for college soon. when we got back home, i called patrick. he told me that sam should be home soon.

later, patrick and sam came in sam's pickup truck. we all drove to the big boy, a restaurant where we used to eat frequently at before. sam told us about her life, and patrick made jokes. when we were all finished, we drove to a tunnel.

this tunnel holds a special place in my heart. this was where i first said the phrase, "i feel infinite." this time, instead of sam getting in the back, i got in the back. patrick blasted the music from the radio as we approached the tunnel. we went into the tunnel, and all of a sudden i was feeling all these emotions. i loved my family and my friends so, so much.

i began to cry knowing that i was the one standing up in the back of the pickup truck now. i was the one who was there, and i wasn't just a wallflower, watching from the background.

i know that "Tomorrow, I start my sophomore year of high school. And believe it or not, I'm really not that afraid of going. . . I might be too busy trying to 'participate'" (Chbosky 213). i will actually try to participate in life, in school, in everything. i've reflected on my life and changed, as a person, as a student, as Charlie.

this will be my final post, "...please believe that things are good with me, and even when they're not, they will be soon enough. And I will believe the same about you" (213).

august 23, 1992

[firstdegreeliberty]

@staff Quite a few of these "school shootings" are accidental misfires, suicides, or people who already have a restraining order out on them going after their spouses. Not to mention, the number of active school shooter situations is horribly inflated even taking the above into account. Fox News didn't say that so let's not even go there. Guess who did? Mother Jones, which is hardly a bastion of conservative NRA members.

In all, there have been 97 mass shootings anywhere in the past 35 years. This list is as a matter of fact fully updated with the Stoneman Douglas high school shootings as well. Of these 97, 16 of them occurred in schools. Now let's break the number of actual media-ratings-bonanza, crying-parent candlelight-vigil school shootings, down by year:

2018: 1

2015: 1

2014: 2

2012: 2

2008: 1

2007: 1

2006: 1

2005: 1

1999: 1

1998: 2

1992: 1

1991: 1

1989: 1

So they're really not increasing in frequency after all, but have been dropping off. The worst it ever got was the late 90s with three school shootings in two years, Columbine being one of them.

Who was President then? This guy.

What was in effect then? This.

So don't complain about the gun lobby when it hasn't exactly had the most effect on anything. I think you should instead start a campaign to ban Democrat presidents from ever holding office again, since roughly 9 out of those 16 above happened under Democrat administrations.

But we all know why you won't.

Words can’t express our devastation, fury, and sorrow. Our hearts break thinking of the lives that will go unlived, and the families left behind.

If you’re suffering from fear or anxiety, or know someone who is, call the NAMI helpline at 1-800-950-6264 or text NAMI to 741741. Trained counselors are available 24/7 to help you process what you’re feeling, free and confidentially.

Where do we go from here?

This won’t be the last mass shooting in America. Until Congress puts aside the politics of gun control and honestly faces the human toll of their inaction, guns will continue to ravage our communities.

If you’ll be 18 by November 6, 2018, please register to vote. Help your friends register. Help your neighbors register. On election day, organize carpools to polling places. Trade shifts with people who can’t get time off, or babysit their kids. A single vote for gun control is more powerful than all the thoughts and prayers in Washington.

Tens of thousands of people will be killed by guns before we can wrest control of Congress from the gun lobby. Many hundreds will be students sheltering in classrooms. But change is possible.

TurboVote.org will help you register online or by mail. Go now. We don’t have time to wait.

See how much the gun lobby has given to your representative, or spent on their behalf.