#wsb story

[walkingstackofbooks]

Consider: Julian being pregnant with Yoshi and going to Federation parenting classes with Miles and Keiko. And encountering a list of all the rights and freedoms every child is supposed to be entitled to. Some of which... don't sound like his childhood. (Cw child abuse)

I've got SO MANY more ideas for this it may turn into a series who knows??? But I want to share it now so people can maybe like it? Because I have feeeelings.

--

"So these are just, uh, suggestions, right? Parents don't have to do all of them?" Julian asked, instantly regretting it. If Miles' dirty look was anything to go by, clearly that had been the wrong thing to say.

"Julian," he gritted out, "you're my best mate and you're carrying my child so I'm going to give you a chance to explain. What the hell do you mean by that?"

Julian really wasn't sure that he could. Some of the statements on the poster had surprised him, that was all, but he didn't really want to get into the reasons why.

"Don't, uh-- Don't worry. It's not important," he tried to deflect.

"It bloody well is important, if you're just planning to ignore what you're learning here."

"Miles--" Keiko broke in, placing a hand on her husband's knee.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Julian exclaimed, cradling his stomach protectively. "I was just saying that, um... I guess that they're not all as important as each other, are they? Lack of privacy, for example -- that's not exactly abusive, is it, like some of the others?"

"That's a common misconception, but no, Doctor Bashir," answered Mx Rakoto. "Any parent showing a consistent failure to meet any one of these standards would be enough to investigate them for abuse."

"Oh."

"What do you mean, "oh"?" Miles asked, with an irritation that compelled Julian to shrug and look away.

"I guess I just didn't realise it was taken that seriously," he replied, feeling kind of silly and small as he said it. "I know we learnt about them in school, but back then it was more of a thing for teachers than parents, wasn't it?"

There was a pause, before Keiko said tentatively, "...These have always been for parents, Julian."

"Mrs O'Brien is correct," Mx Rakoto added. "Your parents would have completed a very similar course to this -- some things have changed of course, there's always more progress that can be done, but the fundamental rights and freedoms of children haven't changed, and nor has the law."

"No, but..." Julian's brain didn't seem to be working properly; was he missing something?

"You're saying these are things I should have had at home and at school?"

"Yes?"

"And my parents should have known about them?"

"I would find it hard to believe that they didn't. Parents are required to access learning about this every few years."

"Oh." Julian's voice had gone very quiet at the point. "I think I-- I need a minute..." he said shakily, eyes glued to the poster in front of him, reading and rereading the information as he tried to figure out what he'd got wrong.

Right to privacy.

Right to choose their own name.

Right to appropriate support and accommodations of a disability.

Freedom from unnecessary medical interventions.

Freedom from torture.

Right to make mistakes.

"Julian?" asked Keiko softly, startling him out of his thoughts. "Are you alright?"

Slowly, he shook his head. "I didn't know," he whispered. "I mean, it's not like I thought they were great parents, you know, but I didn't think... Well, most people complain about their parents, don't they? I didn't think mine were abnormally bad. But there are so many things--" His voice quavered, almost breaking. "And you say they could have been investigated for just breaking one?"

"What... what kind of things?" asked Miles hesitantly. "Only if you want to tell us, of course."

Julian's eyes flicked around the room, but Mx. Rakoto seemed to have left the room.

"They've gone," confirmed Keiko, seeming to catch onto what he was thinking. "I can go too, if you'd prefer..."

"No -- it's alright," said Julian. "It's just... a lot to take in."

His eyes returned to the poster. Right to encouragement. Freedom from humiliation and constant criticism. Right to self-expression. Right to relax and play. Right to mistakes.

"It must be hard, right," he started, looking to them both anxiously, "to keep these all in your head? There's a lot of them, it must be normal to not remember all of them all the time?"

Miles and Keiko exchanged glances, a second-long conversation that Julian was not privy to.

"All parents make mistakes," said Keiko kindly. "It's when these things start getting ignored often that there's a problem."

"And some of them you barely have to think about anyway," added Miles. "You know, "right to shelter", "right to food", "right to clothes" -- it's not difficult stuff. You don't have kids if you don't want to look after them properly."

"Then why did my parents find it so difficult?" The words burst out of Juliann before he could stop them. "What was so wrong with me that meant they didn't do all this?"

"No, oh no, Julian," said Keiko, as Miles reached out to pull him in for a hug. "Don't think like that. It wasn't you--"

Julian wasn't really listening: his question had finally given him the puzzle piece he had been missing -- he'd realised what hadn't been adding up.

"No... no, it's fine," he said, feeling a little floaty now he'd got his thoughts all in order. "No, it was me. I was a difficult kid. That's..." He shook himself, feeling his cheeks get hot as he wondered what the O'Briens must be thinking. "I'm sorry, this session was supposed to be about your child, not about me."

"Our child," corrected Miles gruffly. "And this is important, Julian. I don't give a damn if you were "difficult", your parents don't get to just ignore your rights."

"You don't understand," said Julian desperately, hoping he'd be able to make them see even without mentioning his enhancements. He'd made a real mountain out of a molehill here, he didn't know why he hadn't managed to connect the dots quicker before this all had spiralled out of control. "I tried to piss my parents off. I'd stay out too late and go drinking illegally and date guys way too old for me just because I knew it would annoy them. And I'd always talk back and argue with my dad, and find ways to be smarter than him, and--"

"And none of that was enough to lose your rights, Julian," said Keiko gently. "That's not how it works."

Julian was shaking; he didn't want to listen to them. He'd figured it out -- it was his fault his parents hadn't done everything they were supposed to, because if it wasn't his fault, it was their fault, and that meant... well, that they were abnormally bad parents, and that... that...

"Hey," said Miles, more softly than Julian had ever heard him, peeling Julian's hands away from where he'd been covering his ears. "Let's say you're right -- just for a moment," he added in response to Keiko's hissed "Miles?". "Maybe we don't understand everything that went on. Why don't you tell us which of these you weren't getting from your parents, yeah? Explain it to us a bit more?"

Flashing him a weak smile, Julian nodded. he should have known he could always count on Miles.

"Okay, yeah, um -- so I guess, uh, "right to choose your own name"?" he said, feeling slightly uncomfortable as he watched Keiko pull the poster up on her PADD and circle it, but choosing not to comment. "It wasn't like, transphobic or anything though," he defended. "They'd just always called me 'Jules' since I was little, you know? So it's not really..." He trailed off, shrugging.

"Okay..." said Miles, and Julian tried to ignore the dubious look his friend shot at Keiko. "Anything else?"

"Um -- I always had to, uh, leave my door open? Or if I closed it, they wouldn't knock before coming in... That's not that weird though, right? One of my Academy friends thought it was, but--"

"Did you feel like your parents respected your privacy?" asked Keiko, and Julian looked at her for a few seconds, before shaking his head.

"But they were my parents," he said. "That was just how they looked out for me. They were supposed to look out for me."

"And you were supposed to have a right to privacy," replied Keiko, making another circle on her PADD. Fuck, this wasn't going the way Julian had thought it would. Hurriedly, he looked for a different one to try to explain better.

"Constant criticism," he said, distantly noticing the strangled tone to his voice. "That's hardly surprising, right? I mean, if you get things wrong all the time, you're going to be criticised, that's just how it works."

Neither Keiko nor Miles looked convinced; clearly he wasn't trying hard enough, describing clearly enough why it had been alright his parents hadn't been perfect. He was getting this all wrong.

The right to make mistakes.

For some reason, those had been the words his eyes hadn't been able to leave alone. Every time he went past them, his heart caught on them, as though the words were a rusty nail left half-buried in his skin.

It wasn't a fair comparison, really. He had been different to the other children -- better, smarter -- so of course he hadn't been allowed to make the same mistakes they did. Of course his parents' expectations had been high; they'd known what he was.

But all the same, it sounded nice, that imaginary childhood where all mistakes were okay, not just the ones he'd carefully measured out to avoid detection.

He didn't realise he was crying until he felt a rough thumb wiping a tear off his cheek.

"Oh, Julian," Miles was saying. "It's okay, you can let it out now. We're here for you. I'm so sorry. I wish I'd known."

[burned-lariat]

Not gonna lie, this Pikeman story and heavy conversation on the WSB and this corruption lowkey makes me want to write a sequel to TTFE...👀

It would be down the line since I have SCR & HTKHWD currently on my plate, but when one of them officially ends, I might go for it. Or I'll alternate on one to make it possible (likely SCR since that one's gonna be a bit long). Who knows? I have much to consider.

(I do know that @anyathefandom will be happy because it means Wallace/Irina returning plus Spy!Dex & Spy!Emma 😂😁)

[charmstwit]

I wanted to say that I love your Kingsley/ Regulus fics (the series ). Actually your fic (along with Hide your Fires by bizarrestar ) made Kingsley/ Regulus on my top ships ( Regulus is my favorite character) and actually it makes me want to write fanfics since it doesn't have that many fics. Like seriously I reread your series since they aren't that many fics with this pairing. I would really like to read more fics of Ringsley ( do we even have a shipname? ) maybe in a different au (or the same ,I am not complaining alphaxalpha is something I always appreciate ) .

Ah, thank you!

Kingsley/Regulus (who are the ship "Lionking" - Lion for Leo, Regulus's constellation, King for.... Kingsley) are our BABIES. We love them so much. I cannot tell you how much I've fallen in love with them as a ship.

We actually have a SWM Lionking get together story that we're working on, which is sort of a prequel to SWM. As a treat, we've got a snippet of that below the cut. Other than ours, I only know of one other Lionking fic, which was gifted to me (as @theresthesnitch) last Christmas. It is:

His Choice

However, I've got a growing group of friends who are also obsessed with Lionking, and if you're interested in background Lionking, this is a list of Wolfstar (WS) or Wolfstarbucks (WSB) fics that have background lionking.

One More to Love (WSB) by @krethes and @theresthesnitch (me)

But What a Way to Go (WS) by @r33sespieces

love knew me once too (WS) by me, as theresthesnitch

The Front Step Surprise (WS) by Reese

Wild and Precious Life (WS) by Reese

A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love (WSB) by Reese

Falling in Love Without You (WS) by me, as theresthesnitch

Two Idiots Fall In Love in Winter (WS) by Reese

Welcome to the obsession, my friend. I hope they pick up because we adore them SO much.

~*~

“Do not believe that Sirius shucking his duties means you may do the same,” Walburga says. Her face is pleasant but her eyes are hard. Anyone looking at them would think she was a sweet mother checking in on her son. “There will be consequences for him, and for you as well if you fail to uphold the standards of this Family.”

I’ve never failed to uphold our standards, Regulus wants to say. But he isn’t Sirius. He doesn’t fight back like that. Instead he nods once and waits for Walburga to release him. When she does, he moves off towards the Flints.

He’s halfway through Marlin Flint expounding on his wife’s grand idea to reinvent the Hogwarts houses to include a total of eight when Mother catches his eye again.

Regulus’s shoulders almost sag. He keeps them straight from years of practice, but the truth of the matter—that he won’t be able to satisfy her tonight, that his best will not be enough—sits low in his stomach. He feels nauseous at what life will be after the party is over and he is alone with his mother’s failed expectations.

“Excuse me,” a smooth voice says, and Regulus turns towards it on instinct. He sees Kingsley Shacklebolt standing behind him, looking dashing in his blue crushed velvet robes. Regulus can think he looks dashing, right? That’s probably fine. 

“Kingsley, It’s good to see you.” Regulus holds out his hand to shake Kingsley’s. “Mother was pleased when we received your response owl.”

“I was happy that I was able to attend this year,” Kingsley says. “We usually spend the Christmas holidays visiting my mother’s family in Nigeria, but my parents are traveling to Australia this year. It freed me up to come.” 

“I hope that doesn’t mean that you’ll be spending the holiday alone?” Regulus asks. Regulus’s refinement would require him to offer Kingsley a place at their table for Christmas dinner; however, given how Mother has been since Sirius decided to skip this party, he isn’t sure that Kingsley will be safe. Regulus hopes that Kingsley has made other plans. 

“Ah, lucky for me, my sister and I have been invited by her fiancee’s family to spend the holiday with them.” 

“Ah, lovely. You and Ardella are off to their estate outside Madrid, then?” 

Kingsley inclines his head. “And you will be here, I presume?”

Regulus fakes a smile effortlessly. “The Blacks always gather at Grimmauld Place for a holiday dinner. I look forward to seeing my grandparents.”

Kingsley’s eyes seem to twinkle, like he knows Regulus is lying, and the idea is disquieting. He doesn’t have time to think of it, though, because his left leg prickles with pain he recognizes as one of his mother’s stinging charms. He glances back towards her. She’s staring furiously at him, and it takes him a moment to realize why. Kingsley is partially obscured by the pillar he’s standing beside, which must make it look like Regulus is speaking to no one. She’d warned him to be on his best behavior tonight, and she thinks he’s shirking his duties. Regulus barely suppresses a wince.

“If you’ll excuse me, Kingsley, my mother is in need of me,” Regulus says, and smiles.

“Might I go with you? I haven’t paid my respects to the hostess.”

Regulus nods. “But of course. Right this way.” He holds one hand out for Kingsley to go first, and has to swallow his sigh of relief when he steps out from behind the pillar. He can see the anger disappear off his mother’s face when she realizes who he was speaking to.

By the time they get to Walburga, she’s her best self, smiling graciously at Kingsley. “How good to see you, Auror Shacklebolt,” she says, holding one hand out for Kingsley to skim his lips along her knuckles. “My husband and I are pleased by your attendance.”

“Thank you for having me, Lady Black,” Kingsley says. “Your son was just telling me of your family holiday plans. It’s gracious of you to throw such an elegant party so close to your family gathering. Generosity typical of the Black family, of course.”

Walburga gives a flattered little laugh. “How kind of you to say so. We would miss this party as much as our own celebrations. It is good to see like minded members of society gathered together.”

Please don’t ask about Sirius, Regulus begs inwardly. Please don’t ask about Sirius.

“I don’t wish to keep you, I know your time is precious,” Kingsley says. 

“Not too precious for the Shacklebolts,” Walburga says with such obvious deference that Regulus inwardly rolls his eyes. She’d hex him for that kind of lack of subtlety.

[phillysportstalk]

Field Guide to Research

For this assignment, I used a website called Buzzsumo. This is a website that is used to find different viral stories that are going on around the world. But some of these stories can not be all true. I scrolled to try and find a story that is a topic within the last couple of days. I set the filters to stories from the last 24hrs and stories from the US.

After I scrolled for a little, I spotted this story: Hurricane Milton: Peach Pass adjusting lanes to help move evacuees faster. In the next day, Florida is getting hit with a category 5 hurricane. The story had an engagement score of 22.3K. After hearing so much about this hurricane, I wanted to know if this was real.

After I clicked on the Buzzsumo link, it led me to a WSB-TV 2 Atlanta news article by news staff. https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/hurricane-milton-peach-pass-adjusting-lanes-help-move-evacuees-faster/EICITJDA7RAIVNSZXTFNBLZNSM/

Before I read the article, I did a quick assessment of WSB-TV news.

A media bias checker showed that Web-TV News has a least biased viewpoint, high rating for factual reporting, and is a proper source due to credible media sources. This leads me to think this story is real but want to look into it a little more.

Next, I looked on Facebook and X to see if people were reposting this story since the engagement level was high. A couple people commented about this on Facebook. On X, PeachPassGA posted about how there are adjustments to the lanes on I-75 South Metro Express Pass due to people trying to leave Florida due to the hurricane. People were also reposting a article by the local radio channel. I then looked on Google " Peach Pass adjusting lanes for Hurricane Milton".

This shows that WSB-TV News is not the only source. Although Buzzsumo contains some not-so-true stories or topics this story is true. On X, PeachPass is verified which leads me to believe that this story about the highway adjusting lanes for easy exit of Florida into Georgia due to a hurricane is true and reliable.

[star-girl34]

This young man was recently killed in Atlanta, praying for his mother to find justice and strength. If you can donate to Mrs. Lowe's GoFundMe so she can give her son a proper burial.

You can read more about his story here on WSB-TV's website: 'You took away my soul.'

[anyathefandom]

IT'S FAILURE TO LAUNCH DAY BABY!!!🥳

“Did you make it there in one piece?”

A gentle breeze kissed Dex’s face as he approached the double-door entrance. He looked upwards, taking in the archaic build of the academy exterior: brown stone, carved inlets, tall windows with sleek, clean glass. Groups of people passed him by, ages of all kinds present, as he stood a foot or two away from the short staircase.

“Yes, I did,” he answered, his eyes darting from one window pane to another.

“Do you have everything you need?”

“Yes,” he shifted his attention to his clothing: a form-fitting black track jacket free of any pin or label, form-fitting leggings with the same dark shade, and dark gray lace-up boots. The straps of his matching dark gray backpack rested perfectly on his shoulders, “Are you going to ask me if I packed a lunch next?”

“Don’t give me lip,” Irina’s voice was sharp yet chipper, “I’m just doing my job.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“You’re forgiven…but did you pack one?”

“Mom!”

“I’m just messing with you,” she laughed, “I know you’re prepared.”

Me: Hey you guys!! *Points to the audience* Come a little closer I got something to tell y'all...👀 *Audience leans closer*

Me: 📢 MY FAVORITE MOTHER-SON DUO IS BACK BITCH!!!! Like I literally squealed because that's family right there.😌

“I’m proud of you, baby,” Irina cooed, “truly. You deserve this opportunity, and I’m glad my brother was able to give it to you.”

“I’ll be sure to give Uncle Valentin my undying gratitude,” Dex snorted gently, “but yeah, this is thanks to him.”

“Be careful in there, okay? Work hard, study, and please take care of yourself.”

“I will, Mom, I promise,” he began to approach the staircase, “...I should get going.”

“Okay, Dexter, I’ll talk to you later. I love you.”

“I love you too,” he hung up

Me: This fic just started and my heart is already very full. Like OMG I love them so much.🥹🩷

As he walked down the cobblestone pathway, he observed the architecture that rose above the foliage: chapel-like structures, sleek black roof tiles, spears that cut into the clouds in the blue sky. It felt like something out of a movie, and it caused Dex to drift off once again: Look at you. You're your own man now.

Me ready to be shady: Sooooo canon!Dex can you say the same about yourself?😌

Canon!Dex: 😐

That dream-like trance stopped when he suddenly collided with a short yet firm obstacle in front of him.

“Ow…” his eyes focused on the young woman in front of him, noting her long brown hair tied back in a ponytail, hazel eyes, and rounded face. She rubbed the top of her head, the area that made impact with the young man, and he internally kicked himself, knowing full well that both Anna and Valentin will give him an earful later.

Me: It's my girl isn't it?!!👀

“I’m sorry,” he said sheepishly, “I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Clearly,” she huffed, staring at him, “...Oh.”

“Oh?”

“I know you, or, I know of you.”

“Do you now?” Dex snorted, “Well, right back at you.”

“Is that so?” the young woman looked Dex up and down, “My grandmother told me you get caught up in trouble. I just didn’t expect that trouble to be so…simple and self-inflicted.”

“I wouldn’t classify observation as ‘trouble,’ but okay.”

She extended a hand out to him, “Emma Drake.”

“Dex Heller.”

Me knowing damn well I asked for this: OMG THEIR GONNA BE BESTIES?!!! Wow I manifested this...

“You didn’t change your last name?”

“No? Why would I do that?”

“...Because you’re a Cassadine.”

“And? My…aunt? Cousin? She's one of the two, but I’m sure you know who Alexis Davis is-”

“Fair point,” Emma scuffed her boot against the ground, “I was just curious.”

“...Uh huh.”

She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms as she attempted to keep the conversation going, “So what prompted you to want to join the WSB?”

Me: The way I cackled because they're already being snarky with each other.😂 And the way Emma was basically like " Like I'm sorry I didn't know you were content with keeping a nobody's last name my bad big dog🤷"

“Long story short, I needed a change. What about you?”

“Just following in my grandmother's footsteps.”

“Because you want to or because you'll be disowned otherwise?”

“Because I want to,” she rolled her eyes again, “Do you have this much snark when you speak to anyone else?”

Dex shrugged, opting not to give her a full answer.

Me: This really is just Emma and Dex having a gag off and seeing who's gonna out gag the other right now because the snark is at an all time high😂

Emma's eyes darted around his face and body, studying him intently. Her remark left her mouth absent-mindedly, “...You look a lot like your uncle.”

“I sure hope I do.”

“Yeah, it's a little uncanny…and unfortunate.”

Me:

“Unfortunate? What's that supposed to mean?” Dex made a sour face.

Me thinking that I'm clever when i'm actually corny: I guess you aren't one of those...fortunate enough😉🥁

“…I was just making an observation, that's all,” Emma let out a rough sigh, immediately fixating on a nearby open bench. She pointed her head in its direction, walking over. Dex looked between her and the rest of the courtyard before rushing to her side, “and it's not about your looks, just in case you're wondering.”

“Then what is it about?”

“You really want to know?”

“I don't think it's wise to backtrack after freely offering that kind of information.”

“...Okay,” she took a heavy breath, “well, Grandma told me that you were kept away from the Cassadines for a long time.”

“Correct.”

“So I presume you're not on the up-and-up with their history?”

“Not completely. I don't know all the historical lore or anything. I do know that my grandmother was pure evil.”

“We can only hope none of her worst traits are ingrained in your DNA,” Emma giggled, and Dex forced a laugh in response. She caught onto it, sucking in her lips, “The Cassadines…they have this…jaded darkness to them.”

Dex doesn't comment, averting his eyes, “I don't think we're all that bad…”

“I know. Spencer's one of my childhood friends, for one, and it seems like every member is, at minimum, a halfway decent person…but that darkness is still there.”

“...Why are you telling me this, exactly?”

Emma gave him a reserved look, brightness in her pupils. Dex's breath hitched in his throat, and part of him wasn't sure why.

Me: hmm so she sees that same jaded darkness within him as well but she just doesn't know he also gets that from his father's side of the family as well because being Wallace Heller's son will do that to you.

Dex and Emma took their seats somewhere in the middle on the left, watching as a number of older men and women in crisp suits appeared onstage. One lone man stood in the middle, hovering over the podium in his ash gray suit and crisp eyes.

“Welcome to the World Security Bureau Academy!” he bellowed, his Australian accent thick, “It is my pleasure to greet you all and take in the potential new faces that will join the ranks.”

“That's not…?” Emma muttered loud enough for Dex to hear, prompting him to raise an eyebrow.

“I'm sure some of you are wondering why Frisco Jones is not standing before you today, as he was the director of the Bureau,” the man cleared his throat, “There has been quite a bit of… turnover recently, and he has left the Bureau altogether. I, Jack Brennan, as the new director, promise that the education you receive this year will be top-notch. I will also make sure that everyone's well-being will be properly maintained.”

Me:

“My grandmother never mentioned this…” Emma spoke up again, her voice still low, and Dex turned his head in response, “What the hell?”

“Big things lie ahead for each and every one of you. Some of you hail from Geneva, the lovely home of the academy itself, some of you come from neighboring lands, and some of you are overseas attendees. Some of you got in on your own merit, and others had a bit of a leg-up in admissions. Regardless of where you're from, how you got in, or why you're here, you'll all be working towards the same goal. It'll only be a matter of time before you'll graduate and rightfully earn your ‘agent’ title.”

Brennan scanned the crowd, hopping from student to student until he locked onto the specific area Dex and Emma sat, “Your purpose here is immense, and I seek to push you all to your highest level. I look forward to seeing which new recruits make the cut, and I hope you all have a studious, productive, and successful time at the academy. Thank you.”

“What the hell,” Emma swore as people dispersed around them. Dex remained with her, waiting for her to get to her feet. She eventually did, marching towards the closest bench she could see. She pulled out her phone, dialing ferociously. Dex slowly sat down on her left, waiting in muted anticipation, “What the actual hell…”

“What's the problem?” he asked.

“What's the problem?! You heard the guy: there's a new head of the Bureau!”

“And that's bad because…?” Dex dragged the word out before scowling at Emma's raised pointer finger. She held the phone against her ear as it rang, clicking after a few buzzes.

Me: Oh there's gonna be fuckery going on...and I'm so ready for it!!!👀

“Hello?” Anna's voice was crisp and clear through the static, “Emma?”

“Grandma,” she responded, “what's going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“Frisco Jones left the WSB?!”

“...What?” Anna questioned, “How do you know that?”

“This guy gave an opening speech and said that he was the new director.”

“Who?”

“Jack Brennan. Does that name ring a bell?"

“...It does.”

“You used to work with him?”

“We were on a couple missions together, yes, but we hadn't connected in years.

“So you didn't know about this?”

“This is all brand new information to me. I certainly would've seen or heard something well before your first day.”

“...I see.”

“...Emma,” Anna's voice was stern, “don't. Focus on your education and training.”

“Is it bad that this guy is in charge?”

“Jack was quite the agent back then, so I have no doubt that the quality of your education will be top-notch.”

“That didn't answer my question.”

“Don't worry about this, okay? At least not now.”

“...Okay, but if there's anything shady I should watch out for, please let me know.”

“I will, and if there's anything shady going on, you tell me, and I'll handle it. For now, worry about your education,” Anna replied, “I need to attend to some business, so I'll call you later, okay?”

“Okay, love you.”

“Love you too,” Emma hung up the moment the sentence left her grandmother's mouth. She let out a sigh as she faced Dex.

Me: Yeah things are about to get interesting.😌

“So,” he spoke up, “anything to report?”

“That's classified,” she answered, pocketing her phone, “You'll learn what that means soon enough.”

“Wow, rude,” he scoffed, an astonished smirk on his face, “I know what ‘classified’ means, thank you.”

“Good,” she gave him a cheeky smile. They stood and stared at one another for a beat, waiting for something to break the ice. A buzz from Dex's jacket pocket managed to do so.

“Who is it?”

“Uh,” Dex began to reply, fixated on Wallace's contact on his lock screen, “just…family.”

“I guess I should leave you to it, then,” the young woman approached him, reaching her hand out, “I'll see you around.”

“Yeah,” he hastily shook the appendage before marching off, leaving a confused and slightly flustered Emma behind. He rushed into the main building, walking towards the front staircases. Hiding underneath the steel steps, he opened his phone and read the message left for him.

Me: I can't wait for the Emma and Dex team up that i'm sure is eventually going to happen because we all know Brennan is shady ASF.😂 So I guess here's to Brennan for being the reason why I get my spy duo.🥂

From: Dad (10:59 AM)

Ich hoffe, dein erster Tag verläuft gut. - Hope your first day's going well.

The young man inhaled sharply, shutting his eyes tight as he tried to keep the wave of emotion attempting to overtake him at bay. He slowly and shakily examined his phone, trying his best to formulate a response.

To: Dad (11:02 AM)

Die Dinge sind in Ordnung. - Things are fine.

From: Dad (11:05 AM)

OK. Bitte pass auf dich auf. Wenn Sie etwas benötigen, kontaktieren Sie uns bitte. - Okay. Take care of yourself, please. If you need anything, please reach out.

Just as Dex was about to respond, a mix of voices latched onto his ear. He stole a few glances at the source, a crowd of older men and women surrounding the new director. Brennan managed to look back at Dex, a depth and gleam of determination and curiosity in his blue-green eyes. The young man felt a chill run down his spine, sending a response back before he made his exit, rushing up the stairs in search of his dorm room.

To: Dad (11:10 AM)

Wird tun - Will do.

Me: I get a Wallace and Dex interaction but at what cost?! 😩They still seem a bit estranged.🥺 But at least Wallace is still trying to improve their relationship at least.

@burned-lariat Bestie i'm so excited for chapter two because I already know you're gonna Soap better than GH ever could.🤷

[bklynmusicnerd]

I don't understand the Pikeman/WSB/Forsyth story at all and none of the dialogue between Dante and Sam made any sense to me so I'm just gonna be Team Anna no matter what in that story. Whatever that means at this point.

[impishtubist]

how do you feel about sirius x james x remus

I mean, I wrote them, so I think I like them very much: August Rain. I'm also pretty sure you can search #wolfstarbucks on my blog here and see all my posts about them. <3

I think Remus is tolerable in a Wolfstarbucks situation! Mostly because the WSB stuff I read are AUs where he didn't leave Sirius to rot in prison or Harry to rot with the Dursleys lmao. So he's a good guy in those stories. I also think that James holds the sole braincell in that group haha. And I do think that the three of them are extremely codependent in any universe and absolutely need each other. I am a big fan of codependent, feral, unhinged WSB.

I do want someone to write a past WSB, current WS fic one of these days though. Where Remus and Sirius come together post-POA, and have to figure out how to be together without James. Do they even work as a couple if James isn't there? I don't know! But I do want to see them grieving and suffering together hehehehehehe.

[chikagestits]

Hi! Sorry to bother but... could you please explain to me about the A3! Trading card game? 😅😅🤔🤔😊😊

NO PROBLEM I GOTCHU

OKAY SO

TCG RIGHT?

You only hear that with Pokémon and Yugioh and maybe even Genshin now really. Trading Card Game—that’s what this is! Liber partnered with WSB and created their very own A3! Trading Card Game!

So not only are we getting exclusive art within this TCG, we get cards from within the game!

There’s so much potential for this from link skills to story references to little tidbits of new information! You can battle friends with your very own deck of your favorite actors or demolish people with your meta deck >:3

Now don’t get me wrong, the attack on Tenma and Banri look lackluster while Sakuya has like 6000 (good for him really), but that doesn’t mean Tenma and Banri’s cards are weak! No siree! There’s a little paragraph on the cards that are usually called effects in other TCG’s. These influence a specific part of the game depending on what it says. It usually benefits you a lot! For example, in Pokémon, there’s the possibility of freezing your opponent and other status affects like burn, poison, etc. So even though Banri and Tenma have low attack power, they could have an effect that really hinder your opponent or helps other cards on your field.

Overall, we don’t really know much about the TCG since it’s just announced that the booster packs are releasing on Feb 24th 2023! Though it was announced on the 6th anniversary stream at first and I unfortunately don’t know what they said then. Most likely, it’ll only be a jp release and stay as a jp release, but there’s multiple ways overseas fans will be able to buy it, from local cons to proxying from an international site. And even if you don’t want to battle people with your cards, you can still collect the cards like you do in A3!

As you can see I’m very excited about this and if this kicks off really well, we’ll be able to get more editions and such and even MORE exclusive art!

Thank you for indulging me, I am so excited!

And here’s a tweet with a short video on Twitter about the exclusive TCG art cards!

[burned-lariat]

Okay...okay. Let me try and piece this shit together:

So Pikeman is a defense contracting firm that's quite illegal and shady. They're connected to the WSB around the time of Victor's reign, and Dex even mentioned that firms like it aren't the best businesses to be involved with. We come to find out a lot of current or former agents are working with/for them.

Valentin is presently acting as a liaison between Pikeman and the Corinthos mob empire by a third-party proxy, something that the Pawtuck "trucking" business that Mason and Austin are presently a part of want intel on. This business is at the center of a mob story (Sonny, Austin, Mason) AND a spy story (Anna, Valentin).

That...barely answered anything. I'm just left with a lot of questions:

Who is the head of Pikeman (if it's not Roman Hume)?

Who runs the current WSB? Who runs the "trucking" business?

Why is Austin so leery of Cyrus?

What does Victor have to do with this now?

Why is the WSB/Pikeman targeting Anna? And/or Sonny?

What are we fucking doing with this story?!

[selfdefensegearco]

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Kindergarten teacher, 35, is shot dead at her parents’ house ‘by her mother-in-law

Georgia – A well-liked kindergarten teacher in Georgia was shot to death at her parents’ home allegedly by her mother-in-law on Thursday. Authorities say 63-year old Elizabeth B. Wall (picture) of McRae is accused of shooting dead her daughter-in-law, 35-year-old Jenna Wall at a home on Antioch Road SW in Powder Springs. The grandmother arrived at Jenna Wall’s home with her grandsons, ages 7 and 8 around noon on Thursday, WSB-TV reported. She told the boys to wait outside in a pickup truck when she entered the house. More Nutty Videos NUTTY NEWS APPs: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch – Android Nutty News Today – Nutty Videos – Nutty News on Twitter – Nutty Videos on Twitter – Nutty News on Facebook – Strange Crimes – True Crime Stories – FBI Most Wanted – Amber Alerts – Strange Facts – Today’s Nutty Joke – Technology News – USA Politics

[ear-worthy]

Flashpoint Podcast To Focus on the 1996 Olympic Bombing

The Paris Olympics begin next week so naturally the podcast world is also ramping up with NBC, for the first time, dedicating resources to its coverage of the Games via podcasting. 

Further, there are podcasts reliving the most infamous moments of past Olympics. One notable podcast, Flashpoint, is co-produced by Tenderfoot TV and iHeartPodcasts. On July 27, 1996, a domestic terrorist bomb shattered the safety of the Summer Centennial Olympic Games held in Atlanta, GA, forever altering the lives of those affected. The subsequent media frenzy and FBI missteps overshadowed the stories of the true victims.

Beyond the Olympic bombing, Eric Rudolph targeted two abortion clinics and a lesbian nightclub in the Atlanta area, leaving a trail of devastation that has largely been untold.

You can view the trailer here. Flashpoint focuses on the victims and aftermath of the Olympic and other bombings, whose stories are often overlooked. The series launches on July 25th. 

Flashpoint will revisit the manhunt for a serial bomber and delve into the harrowing aftermath, and the victims overlooked, a chapter often forgotten. The series will explore the impact of these attacks through the personal stories of the victims and their families who were left to pick up the pieces. Flashpoint sheds light on the impact of these events through a personal lens, unearthing Rudolph's motivations, while exploring America's greatest threat, the political and religious radicalization of homegrown terrorists.

 Hosted by Cole Locascio, who takes listeners through his own shocking connection to these bombings, the series will also reveal first-hand stories from the following, along with many more:

Vince Velazquez, an Atlanta rookie cop during the Olympics who witnessed the bombings

Emily Lyons, a Birmingham abortion clinic nurse who was brutally injured by the bombings

Rob Stadler, a renowned radio station host who nearly lost his twin daughters in the Sandy Springs abortion clinic bombing 

Terry Turchie, Inspector in Charge of Rudolph's manhunt

Dana Ford, Owner of The Otherside Lounge and key witness to the Centennial Park bombing

Monica Kaufman, legendary Atlanta WSB reporter who heavily covered the bombings and manhunt that followed

Doug Jones, former Alabama US Senator and former US Attorney who indicted Eric Rudolph

Check out Flashpoint on July 25th. It is indeed a sad commentary that the more media presence at an event, the more likely it is that a person will draw attention to their hate-filled or delusional cause, usually through violence.

[dankusner]

Lajitas golf resort in Terlingua

The bronze sculpture, which was removed from the Dallas park in September 2017, is now at the Lajitas Golf Resort in Terlingua, Texas,

The 27,000-acre resort, which is privately owned by Dallas billionaire and pipeline mogul Kelcy Warren and managed by Scott Beasley, the president of Dallas-based WSB Resorts and Clubs, received the statue as a donation in 2019.

A statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that the city of Dallas removed from a park and later sold in an online auction is now on display at a golf resort in West Texas (pictured in its new location at the Lajitas Golf Resort in Terlingua, Texas)

Workers remove the same statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee from Robert E. Lee Park in Dallas, Texas, on September 14, 2017.

The park has also since been renamed

Workers remove the same statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee from Robert E. Lee Park in Dallas, Texas, on September 14, 2017.

The park has also since been renamed

Confederate statues are removed from Lee Park in Dallas

The 1935 sculpture by Alexander Phimister Proctor was among several Lee monuments around the U.S. that were removed from public.

The artwork, which depicts Lee and another soldier on horses, was kept in storage at Dallas' Hensley Field, the former Naval Air Station, until it was sold in 2019.

Law firm Holmes Firm PC made the top offer for the sculpture, according to documents from the Dallas City Council.

Terlingua, which is in Brewster County near Big Bend National Park and the Rio Grande, has less than 100 residents and no record of Black residents, according to recent census data.

Black people make up just 1.7% of the population of Brewster County, according to census data.

Beasley told the Chronicle the statue serves no intent but to preserve 'a fabulous piece of art,' and called its critics 'uneducated'.

'I would say that of the 60-plus-thousand guests we host each year, we've had one or two negative comments' he said.

'[The critics] were uneducated. They didn't know the true history and the story. (We) have not had any verbal comments at all and it wouldn't matter. If you know your history about Robert E. Lee and everything about him, it's fabulous.'

But Black Lives Matter Houston activist Brandon Mack said he takes issue with supporters of Lee who argue that the statue is merely 'an appreciation for art'.

Pictured:

The 1935 statue of Robert E. Lee, right, and a young soldier by sculptor Alexander Phimister, sit in storage at Hensley Field, the former Naval Air Station on the west side of Mountain Creek Lake in Dallas. Dallas City Council on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 Pictured: The 1935 statue of Robert E. Lee, right, and a young soldier by sculptor Alexander Phimister, sit in storage at Hensley Field, the former Naval Air Station on the west side of Mountain Creek Lake in Dallas. Dallas City Council on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 He said he wonders whether the same defense would be used for other offensive symbols from throughout history, or if that's reserved for iconography solely glorifying the oppression of Blacks.

'We don't glorify the swastika; we don't have monuments (of) Adolf Hitler,' he said.

Robert E. Lee was a Confederate general who is best known for his service for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.

During the war, he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army, which fought to secede from the United States largely over the right to own slaves. Lee himself is documented to have had paradoxical views on slavery, believing it was both an evil but necessary institution.

Dallas City Council voted to remove the Lee statue in September of 2017 in the aftermath of the deadly August 2017 'Unite the Right' white nationalist rally over another Lee monument in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Both statue removals came amid a wave of local grassroots calls to take down Confederate monuments in cities across the US.

Pictured: Workers prepare to remove a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee from Robert E. Lee Park in Dallas, Texas, on September 14, 2017

The Lee statue was taken out of Dallas' formerly named Lee Park in September of 2017 after an approving city council vote.

Lawmakers voted to sell it in 2019 following months of debate about what to do with it.

In May, Lee Park was temporarily renamed Oak Lawn Park following the Lee statue's removal.

City council voted to rename it Turtle Creek Park later that month.

It was revealed in 2019 that it was a Dallas-based law firm that placed the winning $1.435 million bid for a statue of Lee.

Holmes Firm PC - owned by Ronald L. Holmes - made the top offer, according to documents from the Dallas City Council seen at the time.

It was revealed in February that almost 170 Confederate symbols were removed from public spaces in 2020 after Black Lives Matter activists threatened to tear them down following the death of George Floyd.

Dallas City Council voted to remove the Lee statue in September of 2017 in the aftermath of the deadly August 2017 'Unite the Right' white nationalist rally over another Lee monument in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Dallas City Council voted to remove the Lee statue in September of 2017 in the aftermath of the deadly August 2017 'Unite the Right' white nationalist rally over another Lee monument in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Pictured: Hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the "alt-right" march down East Market Street toward Emancipation Park during the "Unite the Right" rally August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville

Neo Nazis, Alt-Right, and White Supremacists encircle counter protestors at the base of a statue of Thomas Jefferson after marching through the University of Virginia campus with torches in Charlottesville, Va., USA on August 11, 2017

Of the 168 symbols changed or removed from public spaces last year, all but one went down after Floyd was killed in Minneapolis on May 25. At least one was stolen and several were vandalized by protesters before being removed.

'2020 was a transformative year for the Confederate symbols movement,' SPLC Chief of Staff Lecia Brooks said in a statement.

'Over the course of seven months, more symbols of hate were removed from public property than in the preceding four years combined.'

[petnews2day]

Cobb County firefighters save kitten stuck in engine compartment of car

New Post has been published on https://petn.ws/jRIBl

Cobb County firefighters save kitten stuck in engine compartment of car

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[bklynmusicnerd]

Yeah I feel like this Robert and Holly story was a waste of their chemistry. I've seen the "we love each other but we just can't make it work" arc done many times and this really isn't how you do it. The focus should've been on the two of them, and Diane should not have been involved at all. Because all this send-off solidifies to me is that Robert is about to settle for Diane. Why would I be invested in something so depressing?

Also it was kind of weird to have Holly go on and on about how she was gonna fight for Robert and not give up this time, just to basically give up because Anna was taking too long with that WSB gig. They were mostly before my time so I'm not crazy invested but I know when a pairing has been done dirty by the writing, and I definitely feel like these two were done dirty with this send-off arc, so my condolences to their fans.

[mongowheelie]

'Terrorists' sent fentanyl-laced letter to Fulton County elections office: Raffensperger - Raw Story