#trigger warning 9/11

[video-game-trivia]

Metal Gear Solid 2 - 2001, was almost cancelled and Hideo Kojima almost resigned from Konami as a few months before the game's planned release, the national tragedy 9/11 took place.

Kojima and the other developer looked over the game's events and noticed many unfortunate similarities with the real world even, and after consulting with lawyers, the game required revisions in three hundred spots.

However, Kojima was persuaded to continue with the release by the then president of Sony Ken Kutaragi and the founder of Konami Kagemasi Kozuki.

[quinnthequeercaterpillar]

what date was 9/11

[sanddollarpoems]

TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING

9/11 Remembered

I had nightmares for years after. I can still remember them clearly, standing in that courtyard, the papers raining down around me. And then the sound. I would always close my eyes so I couldn't see them. But I heard them and knew what they were. Bodies. Bodies falling from the buildings above me. Hitting the concrete. No screams, no cries. Just death. At some point, I would wake up gasping for breath and horrified.

Trauma is often linked to those who have experienced events firsthand. But for those of us who are old enough to remember the events of September 11th, 2001, we live with something called "collective trauma". I can still vividly remember the screams of onlookers and reporter standing on that hill as the first tower crumbled.

I was on the other side of the country, safe in CA. But I cried for days. I had to work that night, after hours of watching the news, after seeing the second plane hit, and watching both towers fall over and over again. After seeing what looked like a war zone and hearing the reporters recount what happened over and over. The twin towers. Terrorist attack. Two planes. Collapsing towers. The Pentagon. The plane that went down in a field. Terrorist attack. Twin towers. Jumpers... Jumpers...

The grocery store where I worked was deathly quiet. I kept finding myself crying. Everyone was just walking around stunned. We were talking in whispers, out of respect? Out of fear? Out of shock?

And then that night, the dreams started. I was in a plaza... I looked around, but no one was there. I was all by myself. I heard a sound behind me and closed my eyes....

It's been 22 years. I still remember.

I still remember.

[demure-ladys-library]

I just finished reading "My year of rest and relaxation" by Ottessa Moshfesgh

and let me tell you I felt like I was spiraling while reading it and came out renewed.

I was feeling everything and nothing at the same time.

It was so familiar, so uncomfortable, but also liberating.

Be warned though, there is a lot of trigger warnings so proceed with caution, I wasn't expecting it and dove in the book completely blind so I had to confront my mind lol.

It's very heavy book but it was also really funny, there's a-lot of scenes where I had to stop because I was laughing then question her sanity lol.

Would also love to recommend this song, A lot of her song actually fit the vibes of this book so I enjoyed listening to her. This is the best one for this book so far.

"I was growing less and less attached to life. If I kept going, I thought, I'd disappear completely. Then reappear in some new form. This was my hope. This was my dream."

- My Year of Rest and Relaxation - Ottessa Moshfesgh

11:58 pm // March 26, 2024

~ Elizabeth

[tarisilmarwen]

In Memoriam - September 11th, 2001

A small collection of documentary-style videos that I've saved over the years that help capture the events in a way that I've found raw and impactful.

Please use discretion if you decide to view them, as the footage is upsetting and sometimes graphic.

[leighlew3]

Every year on September 11th, Mom and I watch 9/11 documentaries. Because all those years ago, she rushed to pick me up from school when that second plane hit. We got back in time to watch live as innocent people jumped to their deaths and the buildings came down... and she cried out.

It was always important to her/us to never forget. A reminder of the lost victims and selfless heroes of that day. Of empathy. Of how life was never really the same after that. For many people, including those subjected to unfair blame.

She’s not here this time though. And it’s tough.

But I’m still going to watch… and be grateful to those who rose up, and send love to the families of those who passed.

Always.

[sirswooshnoodles]

Tw 9/11 talked about

So I saw a video about the architecture of the twin towers and how it affected their collapse.

Damn.

Now I’m just watching real footage from 9/11 and just saw a clip from some ppl in a building that can see the towers, and there just, cheerful music the background.

People were just living.

It was another day at the office.

I know this is nothing new, but holy fuck.

Not crying is really hard, holy shit.

Holy fucking shit

[lisa-and-shadow]

Wow. I was on SA on 9/11. I was a member back in the day. I spent that day with one tab open on Something Awful constantly refreshing, because the updates were faster, and at least there was a sense that you weren't alone in this terrible surreal experience. Scrolling through those archived pages is wild. Seeing old user names I remember like rivetz and Tossed_Salad_Man, and the OG mod NoneMoreNegative, is like opening a time capsule I forgot existed. I was at work that day, sitting in the office of a car dealership body shop, listening to the Howard Stern show when the first plane hit. It started out with someone calling in and then it was mass confusion. Howard Stern ended up devoting his show to updates once they realized what happened. They stayed on air past their normal cutoff time and our local station just let them keep going. New Yorkers were calling in describing first hand what they were seeing. Between that and SA I was getting more info than my coworkers in another building who were watching network TV. And we all still had to keep working like everything was normal. I can truly say, without exaggeration, nothing was ever normal again.

I reblogged it earlier but I'm glad the Something Awful Forums 9/11 thread was archived because it's an incredibly important slice of internet history. For the record I think 9/11 was thousands of personal tragedies for the direct victims of the attacks but one big national farce that led to America's ongoing slide into fascism, and the nationalism and remembrance around it is a joke especially in the wake of the same amount of deaths every fucking day in the US during the height of coronavirus.

Nevertheless I think it's important that if you do not remember because you were too young or just didn't exist on Sept 11, 2001 to read the Something Awful 9/11 forums to get an idea of what the internet was like at the moment when America changed to 24 hour news cycles and renewed hyper-nationalism not seen since WWII.

This all happened before Twitter, Facebook, before Discord. Before smart phones. Before most people had cell phones. When a lot of people still had dial-up internet, even. Some people in the thread were relying on radio because internet and TV weren't keeping up.

It was a live event of internet denizens reacting to the biggest national event (and among the biggest international events) of the past 25 years. It was also a slice of what the internet was like at the turn of the millennium. Not only that, but people accurately calling out who was responsible, and what would result before the attacks even finished.

Keep in mind that the links that follow contain images of the event, lots of Islamophobia, people calling for the Middle East to be nuked, people blaming Palestine, casual racist and homophobic language (this was Something Awful after all), etc etc. They preserved the first 17 pages which spanned about 24 hours during the events. It's the origin of the "WATCH BUSH START A FUCKING WAR" screenshot.

Links under the fold. I've also annotated the pages with notes regarding the timeline and any posts of interest. Note the thread was preserved in Pacific Time even though the page says times are Eastern. That's incorrect. Post timestamps are 3 hours behind Eastern Time, which is the time zone where the attacks occurred:

Page 1 - Note the first post was edited to include images of the second attack. The thread started after the first plane hit. Second plane hitting the WTC happens here too.

Page 2 - Poster accurately calling out Bin Laden was responsible at 9:14 AM EST

Page 3 - "WATCH BUSH START A FUCKING WAR"

Page 4

Page 5 - First official acknowledgement it was a terrorist attack.

Page 6 - Pentagon hit

Page 7

Page 8

Page 9 - Commercial flights grounded by FAA (Federal Aviation Administration)

Page 10 - First mention of towers collapsing at end of page

Page 11 - More reactions to collapse of first tower. People thinking it was a bomb or yet another plane. Rumors about a fourth plane just missing the White House (these are false and predate the actual 4th plane crash by minutes)

Page 12

Page 13 - By this point there's just rampant speculation about more bombs at the WTC, the US Capitol building being hit, etc (all false). Remember this is all just people reacting to TV news and radio and the rumor mill via phone, AIM, IRC, and maybe text messages.

Page 14 - By this point internet news sites are overwhelmed

Page 15 - Second tower collapses. First acknowledgement of the fourth plane that crashed in PA.

Page 16 - There's an abrupt time jump in the threads, I think it was the result of admins pruning the activity or the SA forums going down. This page starts on 9/12 even though it is page 16. American flag signatures and ribbons start appearing.

Page 17

[ellicelovecraft]

I keep ending up in the ‘For You’ tab and everytime I clock it because it will just be a wall of ‘my cat is sick and needs to go to the vet’ or ‘has been to the vet and needs donations for recovery’.

So I swipe over and I’m awash in the warm glow of 9/11 memes. I couldn’t get this experience anywhere else.

[browneyesandhair]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Derek Hale, Melissa McCall, Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Stiles Stilinski Additional Tags: okay, i'm going to apologize in advance, trigger warning for fire, Trigger warning for mentions of death, Trigger warning for 9/11, listen, this is messed up, and I just dropped it here, no beta we die like allison Series: Part 5 of The Handwritten Summer Shorts Summary:

Derek and his family have the worst luck with fires.

[ahundredtimesover]

I Want You to Stay (Series Masterlist) | JJK

Pairing: Jungkook x (f.) Reader

Genre/Tags: boss!JK x assistant!reader; idiot strangers to lovers; slow slow burn; k-drama feels (What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim-inspired); angst, drama, fluff, smut

Series Warnings: foul/explicit language; alcohol consumption & passing out, unhealthy coping mechanisms; family drama; minor injuries; power dynamics (JK starts off as a jerk); work-related anxiety, feelings of helplessness, insecurities; childhood traumatic experiences, nightmares; sexual harassment, prior incidence of domestic violence (PLS PLS BE CAREFUL WHEN READING); arts and business/property devt talk that’s probably inaccurate; commitment issues & emotionally constipated characters; cold and detached JK; explicit sexual content (specific warnings stated per chapter) (18+)

Word count: 261.3k

Status: Complete

Series summary: Working for Jungkook isn’t the same as working for Hoseok. For starters, Jungkook doesn’t smile, he doesn’t appreciate you, and he gives you too much work. It doesn’t help that he’s incredibly handsome and has women at his beck and call. But as the tension grows, it becomes impossible to resist him. You've dedicated yourself to your job for 8 years so when you finally decide to put yourself first, he asks you to reconsider. And while you know that leaving is difficult, you learn that when it comes to Jungkook, staying is always so much harder.

Inspiration: Stay by Mikky Ekko

A/N: Hiii I am BAAACK! 🫡 This story is finally seeing the light of day after 3 years. I feel a little rusty, especially this being my first new JK series in 1.5 years! But it's also been a bit rough getting back into writing (and in Tumblr) after so long and after the year that was, so there won't be a schedule for chapter releases and I'll probably be a lot slower than usual. I wasn't sure if I was gonna go back to writing but I realized that I've missed interacting with you guys and screaming about stories so I do hope you give this some love. Fair warning that it's a really slow burn and some scenes are reminiscent of k-dramas. There are also sensitive and triggering topics so please proceed with caution!

And lastly, my biggest love and deepest gratitude to @wonwoonlight who's been the sweetest and loveliest person to talk to about everything, including this story. 🫶🏼 I give her credit for her amazing photos of Seoul (check moodboard) and for being the playlist manager. Please send her love as well!💕

Season 1 -> Playlist 🎶: on the way home

Episode 1 (wc: 12k)

Episode 2 (wc: 11.9k)

Episode 3 (wc: 14.8k)

Episode 4 (wc: 11.4k)

Episode 5 (wc: 14.8k)

Episode 6 (wc: 14.6k)

Episode 7 (wc: 15.4k)

Episode 8 (wc: 17.4k)

Episode 9 (wc: 18.4k)

Episode 10 (wc: 20.6k)

Episode 11 (wc: 23.5k)

Episode 12 (wc: 24.7k)

Episode 13 (wc: 29k)

Episode 14 - End (wc: 32.8k)

Season 2 (??)

[xxxprogamer69xxx]

Donkey Kong: Dad! Diddy! Dixie! *whilst texting Funky to come fly them* We gotta go to Florida But It's In The Arctic, King K. Rool and the Snowmads teamed up in a group called the Turfs! They are actively oppressing trans people! Cranky: IT'S 3AM DONKEY! But yeah sure let's go kill them turfs. Diddy: Yeah! Let's show them who's boss! Dixie: i fucking hate transphobes i cant wait to brutally slaughter them rip and tear motherfuckers Funky (via phone) [not canon {9/11 tw}]: Sure cuz! A certain important date is coming up soon do you wanna crash into their headquarters on the anniversary? Funky (via phone) [canon]: Sure thing cuz! Let's meet tomorrow at noon and I can fly y'all. Can you bring parrot food?

Buy Donkey Kong: Humid Tundra

[bweirdart]

EVENT OVER! THANKS EVERYONE WHO JOINED IN U ALL DID AN AMAZING JOB <3 SEE YOU AGAIN NEXT YEAR IN MARCH FOR #mARTch OR NEXT OCTOBER (2024) FOR A NEW SET OF PROMPTS!!!!!

OC-TOBER 2023 PROMPTS!!

general tag: #oc-tober / my prompts: #bweirdOCtober

F.A.Q:

Do I have to draw EVERY DAY?

NO! I highly encourage skipping as many days as you need to avoid burnout! There are 10 main days in the event (marked with a ⭐ star) that you can focus on if you don't feel up to doing every day, or you can choose your own adventure and just do the prompts you personally like!

Do I have to DRAW?

NO! You can also write fanfiction snippets, repost older art that fits the theme, tweet headcanons/backstory, roleplay in-character as your oc ... genuinely anything that fits the theme is OK!!

Can I start early?

YES! I understand some people work at a slower pace and might need a head start! So long as you wait until October to post it, you can start working as early as you need!

I missed the start of the event .. do I have to catch up?

NO! Please don't stress about days you missed, you're allowed to just skip to the current prompt!

RULES:

1. MAKE FRIENDS! The community is the best part of this event .. please try to follow new people, ask questions about ocs you like, compliment people's styles, ask friends to create with you, etc!

2. TAKE IT EASY! Skip a day if you're tired, busy or just not interested in the prompt. You don't have to catch up on it later. This is supposed to be fun, not work!

3. BE KIND! Please think about the people around you - don't give people unwarranted harsh criticism, content warn for themes/imagery in your work that could trigger someone, don't create anything hateful, etc

MORE:

text version / tips and ideas on bweird.art or below ↓

star = main prompts | no star = optional

INTRO WEEK

1: FAVE OC ⭐

-Which of your characters is your favourite right now?

2: NEW OC

-Who is your newest OC?

-Design a new OC right now

3: OLD OC ⭐

-Do you remember the first OC you ever made?

-Is there an OC you haven't drawn in a long time?

4: RE-DESIGN

-An OC who has changed a lot over the years

-Take an old OC and update their design right now

 

BACKSTORY WEEK

5: RELATIONSHIPS ⭐

-Who is important to your OC?

-Do they have a partner?

-Do they have a best friend?

-Are they close to their family?

6: SYMBOL

-What imagery do you associate with your oc?

-Are there any colours, flowers, animals or concepts that symbolize them?

7: PERSONALITY ⭐

-How does your OC behave?

-What are their positive traits?

-What are their negative traits?

-Are they extroverted or introverted?

8: PAST

-What was your OC like as a child?

-Where did they grow up?

-Are there any significant moments from their past that shaped who they are?

9: FUTURE ⭐

-Does your OC have a goal they're working towards?

-What will your OC look like when they get older

-Do you have a planned ending for their story?

PALETTE WEEK

10: pumpkin patch palette

#251604 #1E3807 #5B5E1A #A2A657 #EBA00F #F3ECCC

11: hot cocoa palette

#520B13 #BB382E #E27E6D #88392C #AF5D40 #E1AFA4

12: midnight zone palette

#000007 #000049 #183885 #004D4F #0E8788 #FFF1C0

13: peachy palette

#DE6450 #DB9171 #FFC1AE #FEE1AD #FFF2E0 #D9D8D8

14: haunted house palette

#552506 #6E25AA #ED690B #F925A0 #8F8BA7 #A6C1AA

FUN + GAMES WEEK

15: MEME ⭐

-Post memes that remind you of your OC

-Draw your OC as a meme

-Fill out a character meme (classic deviantart style)

16: FOOD

-What is your OC's favourite food?

-What is their least favourite?

-Can they cook?

17: EYES-CLOSED ⭐

-Draw your OC with your eyes closed! No cheating!

-Write a scene without looking at the keyboard! Keep the typos in!

18: SWAP

-Swap the style or aesthetic of two of your OCs

-Species or gender swap AU

-Invert an OC's colour scheme

19: INSPIRATION ⭐

-Is your OC inspired by any pre-existing characters?

-Are there any particular songs/lyrics that inspired something about one of your OCs

-Do you have a dedicated pinterest moodboard for your character?

20: INVENTORY

-What does your OC carry around with them on a daily basis?

-Are there any objects that have sentimental value for them?

-Loot drop for your DnD OC

 

FRIENDS WEEK

21-25:

There's no specific daily prompts for this week, but here are some ideas you can try ...

-Art trades with friends who are doing the event with you

-Your OC interacting with a friend's OC

-Gift art for someone whose OCs you like

-Work together and collaborate on something with a friend

-Roleplay an OC scene together with someone

 

HALLOWEEN WEEK

26: FEAR ⭐

-What is your OC scared of?

-Draw one of your OCs trying to scare the others

27: MONSTER

-Do you have any monster OCs? (eg: vampires, werewolves, creatures, ghosts...)

-Draw a human OC as a monster

-Design a new monster

28: TRICK

-Play a trick on an OC

-Do you have an OC who would play tricks on people?

29: TREAT

-What is your OC's favourite halloween candy?

-Give an OC a special treat to make up for yesterday's trick

30: MAGIC

-Do any of your characters have magical powers?

-Give an OC a magical or cursed artifact

-Create a magic-using OC like a witch or wizard

27: COSTUME ⭐

-What is your OC dressing as for halloween?

[febuwhump]

FEBUWHUMP 2024 PROMPT LIST

this year's prompts were chosen through a suggestion poll (in which we recevied 2,281 prompts) and a subsequent vote, where over 1,000 people voted for their favourites. the top 29 make up the core prompts, and a mixture of the next most popular - and this blog's personal favourites - have become the alternates

i’m so excited to see what you all create with these prompts, and hope they’re inspiring enough to trigger a whole month’s worth of creativity for you! if you have any questions, please check out the blog's faq before sending an ask, or check out the previously asked questions on the blog!

please note: this year, notifying the blog of completionist status will happen through a google form that will be released closer to the end of febuwhump.

full write-up of prompts and rules under the cut:

FEBUWHUMP 2024 PROMPTS:

DAY 1: helpless

DAY 2: solitary confinement

DAY 3: "bite down on this"

DAY 4: obedience

DAY 5: rope burns

DAY 6: "you lied to me"

DAY 7: suffering in silence

DAY 8: "why won't it stop?"

DAY 9: bees

DAY 10: killing in self defence

DAY 11: time loop

DAY 12: semi-conscious

DAY 13: "you weren't supposed to get hurt"

DAY 14: blood-stained tiles

DAY 15: "who did this to you?"

DAY 16: came back wrong

DAY 17: hostage situation

DAY 18: too weak to move

DAY 19: "please don't"

DAY 20: truth serum

DAY 21: unresponsive

DAY 22: "you weren't meant to be there"

DAY 23: presumed dead

DAY 24: "i'm doing this because i care about you"

DAY 25: waterboarding

DAY 26: "help them"

DAY 27: left for dead

DAY 28: "no... not like this"

DAY 29: not allowed to die

ALTERNATE PROMPTS:

is there a specific day’s prompt you don’t want to fill? here are ten alternatives you can switch them out for!

ALT 1: human shield

ALT 2: "i love you"

ALT 3: found footage

ALT 4: human weapon

ALT 5: cpr

ALT 6: immortality

ALT 7: last words

ALT 8: killing game

ALT 9: lightning strike

ALT 10: last man standing

RULES:

SOFT RULES:

prompts should be answered in the form of whump

creators can produce whatever kind of media they want

you don’t have to complete all the prompts! you can create however much you want to

you can use the prompts after the event ends and can complete them in tandem with any other event

you can post on any platform you want, however this blog will only be sharing those posted on tumblr

if you want to be featured on the hall of fame then you have until the 3rd of March to inform this blog that you completed all the days

if you have questions consult the faq before asking

HARD RULES: (specifically for being featured on the blog)

when uploading febuwhump content to tumblr, please use the tags:

febuwhump (i’ll also be checking febuwhump2024)

the relevant day’s tag e.g. febuwhumpday1, febuwhumpday2…

nsfw (if relevant)

and any trigger warnings that may be important!

you can also tag the blog, @febuwhump

i cannot guarantee your work will be archived on the blog because I have no idea how many participants there will be. a random selection of works tagged in accordance to the rules above will be reblogged every day of february.

[nicholasr]

https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1YpJkgdVWwPJj

This is a good one to listen to recorded live at the arts center from their see what sticks open space

[makesmehappy-tiggs]

Meant to reply to this, so glad I'm seeing it again. I understand where you're coming from since NYC had a unique experience in this. I have two thoughts to add to explain more.

Firstly a reminder that there were two more planes. One went into the Pentagon, and even though there were many civilians there, it was considered a military target and thus not as deserving as attention. The other plane crashed in Pennsylvania and I remember how all the passengers were honored as heros for managing to make sure the hijackers only killed everyone on that plane.

Secondly, as someone who was in middle school in Virginia at the time, the events of 9/11 strongly effected my life. I remember before my after school activities that day another kid crying because they didn't know if their uncle was dead or alive because they worked at the towers.

To many adults and kids around me, the attacks clearly meant many communities should to worry about being a target, our area had a military base nearby and could be a target. Anyone who was near a potential target had a reason to be scared, the logic went. (At the time I felt that stuff like this happens in other places sometimes, what makes it happening here so special? Over the next two years I learned.) 9/11 shaped the rest of my civics classes - Afghanistan and Iraq in the next year - should we/will we, and govt civics (Oh the horror that is the PATRIOT act).

As someone who flew to see extended family before and after, the differences were palpable. The difference were designed to protect but also infused us with the thoughts of "what if" and reminders of death and the Other.

That's the thing about terrorism, as bad as it was, the damage and death caused by the actual attack wasn't the true harm, but rather making everyone in the country think "that could have been me or someone I loved - what would I do to stop that?" Just because none of the four planes crashed on my literal neighborhood doesn't mean it didn't shape my life and burn parts of that day in my memory.

[Personal rambling about my relationship with an event of recent history. This is not meant to reflect anyone else's feelings on the subject, just my own. If you reblog, please engage in good faith.]

[TW: discussions of 9/11 and its effects]

One of the side-effects of watching a lot of videos on the topic of architecture, especially in NYC, is getting really strong, complicated feelings rising back up about 9/11.

I was living in Queens when it happened, and not yet six years old. I was young, but a few moments of the day it happened is pretty clear in my memory. I was too young and not connected directly enough to the event to really understand what was going on at the time, but it was very nearby and had very strong impacts on my life both immediately, and going forward.

(After all, I had to fly inter-continentally just to see my grandparents, and I had younger siblings. Any family from Serbia needed to apply for a visa to come over to visit us, and most of them didn't speak English. Imagine how difficult airports are, right after that, if you hadn't experienced it yourself. This doesn't apply to just New York, but it does apply to me.)

Anyway, the memories are pretty shaky but definitely there for me. I was lucky enough to not have anyone who died in the event or the aftermath, but my surroundings were pretty heavily impacted due to proximity, and I imagine there's a lot that happened that I don't remember because my parents shielded me from it.

But the thing is... I was still there. I still remember it, and I feel a sense of connection to the way NYC chose to rebuild after, the ways it worked to commemorate the dead, etc. I was too young to be involved and, for a time, too distant--I lived in Colorado for six years, starting '07.

It's still the city that's defined much of my life, either while living in it or living on LI, which isn't NYC but is in its shadow in all ways. I've lived in or near NYC for over half my life.

So when I look at New Yorkers reacting to the event or commemorations of it, I get it. New Yorkers erecting monuments and having strong feelings about 9/11 makes sense. Of course the people who live here and were directly hit by it have strong opinions! It was a major event! Of course city residents went feral with anger when a random luxury housing unity tried to build higher than One World Trade Center. You don't just... choose to be larger than a building that was designed to commemorate one of the greatest tragedies in the city's recent history, especially not when that building's height is already symbolic, being exactly 1776ft tall at the spire.

It might seem stupid, but I get it. I understand why NYC residents were furious at the idea, given how contentious the supertalls already are.

I understand why, over twenty years on, the rebuilding is still ongoing. I understand why 2, 5, and the Perelman Performing Arts Center have taken so long, and are still years away from completion. Nobody wants to get this wrong.

And the reason it gets so complicated is because there's this stark difference to my feelings on how the average American, and also some New Yorkers, it's true, might use 9/11 as a tragedy to fuel their racism and xenophobia and jingoistic warmongering.

This isn't my tragedy, for all that I was in its shadow, saw the smoke rising and felt the echoes of it across my childhood. I didn't lose anyone in the attack or the aftermath, and I wasn't part of a minority group targeted in its wake. I was only ever on the fringes... but it was still my city, you know?

When I was in high school, I lived in Colorado. We were discussing the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources in class. The teacher used 9/11 as an example, saying that everyone in the room was a secondary source, because we were alive and saw the events unfolding on television, but we weren't there, just getting the information secondhand from the news.

I raised my hand, and said I lived in New York at the time, just across the river, and the teacher acknowledged that I was significantly closer as a source than most of the class.

I don't call myself a primary source on this. I wasn't even six, yet. My memories have faded with time, and I wasn't as close as many were.

But there's still a pride in NYC and in the rebuilding, in the way that the city bounced back. It's not so much about the architecture and rebuilding, for all that its symbolism is important and meaningful in its own right. It's more about the smaller businesses that were impacted by the destruction of a large section of the financial district, the local delis and bodegas, the hot dog carts at Bowling Green, and the wider economy hit by the ripples of the event, which definitely did affect everything in the metro area, not just the immediate surroundings.

So it's not my tragedy, really, but it is New York's.

And there's a specific kind of distaste and rage in me when I see it co-opted. When I see the average American call it 'our' tragedy. 'The nation's' tragedy.

It's not. It's not yours to use for your violence and hate for what you call Other.

I don't feel suspicion when New Yorkers hold on to the symbolism of the event, and snap back at corporate interests that try to disrespect the memory of it. This is New York's tragedy, and it makes sense for New Yorkers to feel strongly about it.

I sure as hell suspect everyone else that tries to claim it, though.