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urfavlarry · 3 months

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Can I request a Tyler ( or Aiden but please Tyler) x reader fic? Reader has lived in the phantom realm for almost her entire life and because of that she is always sleepy and hungry since she doesn't get transported back like the others. But she is a great fighter. Fem or gn reader please and could you please write a scenario too? Thanks you and a you can ignore this if you like ❤

warnings: bad grammar, swearing, mentions of reader not eating, reader has some form of insomnia(??) gender neutral reader

A/N: I tried to make sure that this is gender neutral but if I made any mistakes then please correct me! Also I’m new to the fandom so if I got anything incorrect then again, don’t be afraid to correct me.

I hope I wrote everything the way you wanted and that you will request again some time<3

Tyler & Aiden (seperate) x gn!reader

——————————————

You’ve been stuck in this place for a while, ever since you were about 13. One day you were playing outisde in the yard, when you saw this strange creature. You being a naive child went towards it and tried talking to it. You weren’t really the type of child to be scared of everything and you thought it was just your imagination. When you when to confront it, you collapsed. After that you woke up in this strange place, an exact copy of the real world yet the sky was red and strange creatures started to appear everywhere. Your big brother would get into fights often, so he taught you some self defense so you managed to survive, quickly seeking shelter. At your age many kids would panic and probably wouldn’t survive, but you pulled through. Ever since then you kinda were afraid to sleep, scared that the creatures would somehow manage to get to you and hurt you. Same with food, you rarely went out to get food, only living off what people left in their houses, well at least the houses that weren’t infested with phantoms.

You and your parents would go out into the wilderness often, so you had necessary survival skills and had enough supplies for the first few weeks of being there. You learned to survive the phantom attacks and you have a pretty well built shelter. In the present time you met a group of people your age. You almost collapsed from how happy you were to finally have human interaction after so many dreadful years of being in this horrific place. They accepted you into the group, some being a bit skeptical at first but changed their mind once you told them your story.

You were a more skilled person in the group, taking the role as leader with a girl named Ashlyn. You moved your things from your shelter that wasn’t that far from the “graveyard” as they liked to call it. After a few hours you were done taking your things there and saw they weren’t there anymore. Your eyes widen and you start to panic; “Did they leave me?” “Was I just imagining it?” “Did they get hurt by the phantoms?” You run into one of the buses and see a note on one of the seats. It explained that they have a different experience in this realm. They go to this realm at midnight for 7 hours, then wake up in the human realm. You couldn’t help but envy them but you were glad nothing happened to them and that you weren’t imagining it.

——————————————

Tyler Hernández

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

To say that Tyler would literally turn into your second mother that would be an understatement.

He would constantly bring you food when he could and when he was in the living world he would make you some food before he went to school so you don’t starve while they are away. (things that are moved to a certian place in the living world appear in the “phantom realm”

You two would definitely start dating after some time but you would be the one making the first move lol

He would have some trust issues but once he warms up to you he’s cool

Taylor would definitely be happy that her twin brother is finally happy with someone (even if he can’t see them whenever he wants)

He would cuddle you in the bus and protect you with his life fr

He would be super caring and would scold you if you wouldn’t eat for a long period of time, the same with sleeping.

When you eat and get a normal amount of sleep you have a LOT of energy. Like it’s as if you drank 10 cups of coffee in on go!

definitely praises you!!

He would be jealous if you taught anyone other than him so give him some love right after!!

Admires you for sure like he’s looking at you with heart eyes and is the most love sick guy you will ever meet lmao even if he doesn’t look like it

Overall I believe he isn’t the MOST caring in the group but definitely one of the most caring :3

Everyone quickly started noticing your sluggish movements and the constant rumbling of your stomach. You always had dark eye bags under your eyes and you were exhausted all of the time. Tyler was the first one to notice and comment on it. You tried saying you were fine but he just didn’t buy it. “Come on I can tell you’re exhausted and clearly hungry, come we should have at least an apple for you to eat.” He says and drags you to the bus where they would keep these types of necessities. He mumbled some swears you couldn’t quite understand since it was in Spanish. He handed you the apple and rolled his eyes, acting like he doesn’t care. “After you eat that go and rest, I don’t want you to collapse tomorrow..” He says, looking away from you and sits down on one of the seats in the bus.

You nod and raise a brow at his strange behavior. He never really acted kind or caring towards anyone except his sister, but you didn’t mind the special treatment. You lay down on the seat, curling into a ball and close your eyes, falling asleep in almost an instant. It was a while since you’ve slept for a healthy amount of time. You usually wouldn’t sleep or only had a few minutes of sleep since the phantom noises kept you awake constantly.

You slept for quite a long time, even past the time the group would appear and wake up in the real world. The moment it hit midnight Tyler quickly checked up on you, hoping you wouldn’t be mad that he wasn’t there when you woke up, but when he went to look towards the seat you slept on you were still there, asleep. He was taken aback by this since you slept for literally the whole day! He shook you awake, wanting to make sure you didn’t die or something in your sleep. You woke up, grumbling as you glared at the person who woke you only to see Tyler with a concerned expression. “What?” “What do you mean what!? You slept for like 30 hours!” He says and looks at you as if you were some kind of psycho. “Oh I did?” You ask, stretching your aching body and sit up. “Jeez Y/N when was the last time you’ve slept? And I mean properly.” You chuckle at his reaction and explain how you’ve had trouble sleeping, since you heard the phantoms like Ashlyn, just not so intensely. You explain your situation a bit more to him, not wanting to just leave him without an explanation on why you were the way you were.

You explain and Tyler looks at you with a sympathetic but quickly rolls his eyes and flicks your forehead; “Whatever nerd, come it’s time for you to teach us fighting or whatever..” He rolls his eyes and exits the bus. You usually teach the group how to fight when they can’t practice with Ashlyns parents since.. her parents can’t go into the realm with them. Tyler was sitting on the side while you were teaching Aiden and he yelled “Yea babe beat his ass!” He whistles and claps, having a proud look on his face. He definitely admires your skill but is like “pfft of course she’s strong she’s MY girlfriend” but in private he praises the living hell put of you. He grabs you by the hand and pulls you away from the group who is now resting and catching their breath. He pulls you closer to him and cups your cheek; “You did great princesa I’m so proud of you.” He says and kisses you on the forehead. “Oh well what kind of teacher would I be if I wasn’t any good?” You tease and wrap your arms around his neck. “Stop flirting I can hear you both!” Ashly yells and you both pull away quickly and look at each other, bursting into fits of laughter.

Aiden Clark

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

He is a TEASE but like tbh he oblivious asf like bro doesn’t even notice for a good few months even after you start dating

He is really concerned once he finds out tho but still he doesn’t take it THAT seriously but still cares!!

He fr is terrified of you when you have energy tho cuz likeee your really strong

Aiden had seen you fr collapse somewhere from exhaustion and get back up like a few seconds later, beating the phantoms like it was nothing

He is super sad that he can’t see you in the normal world and tries to spend as much time with you as possible

Teases you if your stomach grumbles lmfao he finds that shit hilarious (runs away 2 seconds after he teases you)

Definitely brings you food, even if it’s not the most healthy but if you have a particular food you like expect to get it like at least twice a week

Overall is pretty chill but still caring<3

Aiden didn’t really notice at first, his mind wandering else where like usual or would tease and flirt with you. He only started noticing when you started dozing off in the most inconvenient places like when you were on a mission with the group and they just found you collapsed on the floor, only waking when you heard a phantom and kicked its ass! He was amazed but a little bit concerned but didn’t really show it, teasing you without an end. Once you got back to the graveyard he pulled you away from the rest of the group, finding Ashlyns rambling anout the next plan boring. He leads you to one of the buses and sits down, his back against the window and lays you down on top of him, your head resting on his chest. “What are you—” He silences you with a quick kiss on the lips and smiles, his usual manic like smile no where to be seen, only a genuine soft smile. “Rest, you need it. I can’t promise I will be here when you wake up but just rest, ‘kay? You’re safe.” He hugs you closer and your heart skips a beat. You smile and make yourself comfortable, falling asleep in the blink of an eye.

Aiden layed there with you, rubbing your back and playing with your hair. He grew bored after a while, typical Aiden but he let his mind wander, keeping himself occupied by thinking of random things and unconsciously braiding pieces of your hair. He only snapped out of it when he heard a quite loud rumbling. He lifted his arms off you and looked down at you with wide eyes, his manic like smile reappearing. He chuckled, he would definitely tease you about that later.

After a while he awoke in the real world, he texted the rest of the group in the group chat and smiled mischievously. Once midnight hit, you were awoken by noises coming from outside the bus. You quickly sat up, but calm down once you see a smiling Aiden looking down at you. You sigh, relieved it wasn’t phantoms when the door to the bus suddenly opened. You stood up and saw the group holding different kids of food you haven’t eaten in years! You look at the food like a kid seeing a toy they want and look at Aiden who smiled at you. “Surprise.” He says and the rest of the group places the food down on the floor, everyone sitting down and dig in. You sit down and eat a good amount of food yourself, eating to your hearts content. Everyone watches in awe at how much you ate but they were happy, especially Aiden that they could do this for you.

After everyone finished eating you helped cleaning up, Aiden approaching you and hugging you from behind; “Enjoyed the food, love?” He says and kisses your jaw, then cheek. “Yeah, a lot. How did you come up with this?” He smirks and rests his chin on your shouler; “Oh, I heard a little noise~” He puts one arm on your stomach and chuckles; “And I thought you would be thrilled with this surprise!” Your face turns red and you turn around and smack his head, grumbling and storming away.

#aiden sbg x reader #tyler sbg x reader #aiden sbg #tyler sbg #tyler hernandez #aiden clark #aiden clark x reader #tyler hernandez x reader #sbg x reader #school bus graveyard x reader #school bus graveyard #sbg webtoon #sbg (webtoon)#sbg #sbg tyler

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m-alfoy-irp-otter · 5 months

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‼️THEORY‼️

This isn't official but I just wanted to share

It's possible that the Phantom Dimension is contagious. I think that the kid's parents were able to see the Phantoms because of the kids? Or is it because Ashlyn was born? I tried to connect the pieces and found out more.

There were possibly people that discovered Phantoms before Ashlyn and the others did. That is probably true because of the writing in the bus "we were here". So before the School Bus Graveyard became a graveyard for buses, it was probably a hideout for the people that found the Phantoms first.

Or am I just going out of path? I don't know.

Lmk!

That's all, bye!

#school bus graveyard #sbg (webtoon)#sbg theories #ashlyn sbg

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robotstrategy · 1 month

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Recalled • Part 7 • 50 - City Bus

Previous • Series Masterlist • Part 7 Masterlist • Next

City buses can carry so many different walks of life. The old to the young, the women to men, and anything in between, and the straight to queer.

A boy with a scarred face enters the bus. He sits in the back next to some artsy-fartsy girl with two big bags full of clothing next to her. She looks like a fashion designer.

The more he looks at her the more he shrouds himself in the shadows, he knows her, and he doesn’t want her to recognize him.

It had started back in the last year of high school, he had broken up with her a long time ago. He was trying to make it onto the varsity wrestling team, but he didn’t. He challenged the boy who was now dating the girl, and to get on his nerves he went after her again. He was good at manipulating her at first, telling her how much he missed loving her. She had broken away from his manipulation, but that wouldn’t stop him, he kissed her either way. She bit his lip in retaliation, he pulled away from her, and he noticed some people saw what happened. He didn’t care how they saw it, he hoped it ruined the boy and girl’s relationship, and he didn’t care what the girl wanted.

The girl looked like he was waiting for someone, she had this happy look on her face.

She had started talking to this older woman who complimented her outfit when a boy the boy’s age came onto the bus, walking towards her. She got a glimpse of him, she put her hands over her nose and mouth smiling as he walked closer. When he gets close enough she leaps into his arms, and both of them start laughing.

She caresses his face. “I thought I’d never see you again.” He kisses her before she sets one of her bags on the ground, letting him sit with her.

“You didn’t even get unwound.” She exclaims.

He shakes his head. “I got to a place called the graveyard, they had services there that let you go out with a false identity. My name isn’t Zane anymore, it’s Aiden.”

She looks down solemnly. “I see.”

“You can still call me Zane, it doesn't matter anymore.” He grabs her hand, but she pulls away from him.

“What?”

She looks away from him. “Listen, I just can’t date anymore, I’ve won the unlucky lottery, and I can’t bear to lose you or anyone.”

He grabs at her again. “I’m not going anywhere, I can’t be taken away from you,” he kisses her hand. “I promise.”

She pulls away from him for the second time. “I don’t want your love, I don’t want anyone!” She tells him. The scarred boy gets up as he tries again to get at her, she pulls the bag off the ground, freighted by him.

“Why would you caress my face if you didn’t want me?” He yells.

“Just wanted to know you were real, I was going to tell you I just wanted to be friends from then on.” She cries.

The boy is still trying to grab at her as the scarred boy grips the arm closest to him. The boy looks up at him, angered then horrified. The scarred boy looks down into his purple and red eyes as the boy stutters.

“No, no no, you, you, I saw your name on the registry, you can’t.”

“I got recalled,” he whispers.

The boy stares at him in disbelief. “But-, but-”

“Don’t touch her,” He whispers again. “Or you’d be no better than me.”

The boy finally stops trying to touch her, so the scarred boy goes to sit back down. The girl looks over at him, not fully connecting the dots in her head.

“Who are you?” She asks.

The scarred boy slouches into his seat, he doesn’t really want to tell her.

“Are you sure you want to know?” He asks her back.

She seems uncertain, but she nods yes.

The scarred boy takes a breath. “My name is Roland, I’m a Modified Recall,” He lowers the hood covering his head. “I know you, but you don’t know me.”

The girl looks disappointed she even asked. The boy looks at her, bewildered. “How are you not screaming at him?”

The girl sighs. “Because he’s Modified, so he’s right, he knows me, but I don’t know him,” The girl looks at the scarred boy. “How much did they take from you?”

“My limbs, my frontal lobe, and a bit of gray matter.”

The girl nods. “That’ll do it.”

There’s the silence of the bus moving until the scarred boy speaks up again.

“I know what I’ve put you through now, and I’m sorry. I don’t mean to say just to save face, I understand what you went through on a very deep level Valerie.” He tells the girl.

The girl looks uneasy. “Is it what I’m thinking?”

“Do you think it can happen to boys too?”

“I do.”

“Then yeah.”

The girl looks down. “How many people know about this?”

“My closest friend, her friend, and one of my other close friends. Others know it was a bad breakup, but they don’t know about the assault.”

The other boy leans back. “Wow, feisty girl.” The girl elbows him.

“No, it was a boy. Thinking back on it now I thought I loved him, but now it feels like I never really liked him at all. I feel so open about it, but I feel like I shouldn’t be.”

“People grieve in different ways, I hear there’s also a stage of denial before it really hits you.”

“I hope there isn’t, I’ve cried enough for a millennium.”

The bus stops at the scarred boy’s drop-off. He gets up as does the girl with her bags.

“Do you want some help?” He asks.

“Sure,” she hands him off one of the bags as they get onto the street.

The scarred boy keeps holding her things as she gets closer to her studio.

“Hey, Roland?”

“Yeah?”

“I can’t accept your apology.”

The scarred boy is surprised, but he understands.

“Because it shouldn't be coming from you, it should be coming from the dead man you were made of. I hate that it’s this way, but it’s not your fault for what he did.”

He nods. “I know it isn’t, but I still think that you need some sort of closure.”

She nods back to him, taking the bag from his hand. “Thank you.”

#unwind #unwind dystology #unwind fanfic #unwind series #sequel fic #roland taggart

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harrison-abbott · 10 months

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He simply never woke up.

It wasn’t from an overdose. A hemorrhage, rather. Whilst he was sleeping … and he was discovered in the morning.

He had no will or much to pass on. I went to his funeral, which very few people attended.

I remembered him saying that he wanted a specific song played at his funeral. But his parents and siblings were there. I couldn’t exactly say to them, he wanted that track played. I kinda hoped that they would know of his request as well and play it later on.

Nah.

In the graveyard the frost silvered the grass and there were robins and crows peeping in and out of the trees which hung by the far wall the far corner, their old branches swooning over the lofty graves from rich folks that’d passed in previous centuries.

I wondered what he’d think about being buried in a place like this. Beyond the graveyard the traffic rushed with the buses of kids going to school one way and the adults in their cars heading the opposite.

Nothing beautiful about the scenery whatsoever. And then they lowered his coffin into the dirt.

#writeblr #prose #creative writing #stories

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kanisema-blog · 2 months

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school bus graveyard

It was a dark and stormy night as a group of friends found themselves lost in the middle of nowhere. Desperate for shelter, they stumbled upon an abandoned school bus graveyard.

The friends cautiously ventured into the eerie place, surrounded by rusted and decaying buses of all sizes. The wind howled through the broken windows, sending shivers down their spines.

As they walked deeper into the graveyard, they felt an inexplicable sense of dread creeping into their bones. The silence was deafening, broken only by the faint creaking of metal and the whispers of the wind.

Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream pierced the night air. The friends turned to see a ghostly figure emerge from the shadows, its eyes glowing with a malevolent light.

The figure was a deranged bus driver who had met a gruesome end at the hands of his own passengers. The bus graveyard was haunted by the vengeful spirits of those who had perished in his care.

The friends scrambled to escape, but the buses seemed to come alive, their engines revving and their headlights blazing. They were surrounded on all sides, trapped in a nightmare from which there was no escape.

The ghostly bus driver closed in on them, a wicked grin on his face as he prepared to unleash his murderous rage. The friends huddled together, praying for a miracle to save them from this nightmarish fate.

But as the ghostly figure raised his hand to strike, a blinding light suddenly engulfed the graveyard. The friends found themselves transported back to the safety of their own homes, the memory of the school bus graveyard haunting their dreams for years to come.

To this day, the whispers of the wind can still be heard in the dead of night, a chilling reminder of the horrors that lurk within the school bus graveyard.

#story #short story #fiction

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tyonfs · 6 months

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okay my updates r gonna have to be split in like chronological order bc this is just too much for one ANYWAYS. let’s start with new york.

so as we know i used to live in new york and i have a couple childhood friends who live there. my one friend who’s a girl we were inseparable and at first i was scared to meet her when we went but oh boy do i DESPISE HER. she’s such a pick me and she likes to act so fucking different. her humor is like 2020 AND SHE DRESSES LIKE IT TOO.

one thing about me is i’m a family girl and for some reason my mom was like oh let’s take to the cemetery with us to see your grandparents and i’m like??? anyways when we went and we were there praying i noticed she kept looking around and trying not to laugh and my mom sent me and her to the car she literally was like why r u so serious they’ve been dead 12 years like wow! just wow!

enough of that girl i’m already getting mad.

let’s talk about the one who’s a boy… oh boy. his name is arsal and oh my god when i saw him in new jersey it’s like i swept off my feet back to when we were kids. when i first got to his house he didn’t say much besides hi and how are you and when our parents forced to go on that walk oh my god. alice i swear i can count to you everytime he looked down at me as i talked and everytime our hands brushed and flinched away. we caught up with school and our lives.

then he said what i was so scared of hearing. he talked about the time we were kids and he had the fattest crush on me and the way he looked at me was like i was the only girl in the entire world. after said incident as i left his house his instagram popped up on my thing and i followed him. HE FOLLOWED RIGHR BACK.

after this we saw each other in the city when our families planned to get together. we went on a ferry ride and i got seasick but so did he and everyone was doting on him but he was like “but she’s sick too!” and while we walked he deliberately stopped WAITED FOR ME then started walking with me and matching my steps. and when we were gonna go on the double decker buses he wanted to sit next to me but i was sitting with that horrible terrible friend and he was like oh no biggie and sat across from us and i could feel his eyes burning into my head all the time like the view was gorgeous and he was looking only at me.

and you’ll never guess it. right as i land back in texas all this energy just stops. from 100 - 0. the little times we talked in dms was just so dry and terrible and it doesn’t make sense to me so honestly i’ve just stopped trying. i haven’t texted him in over a month so i’d say that’s going okay.

and briefly let’s talk about cam bc ohhhhhhhh man. basically he transferred schools bc he got capped at ut and so he moved to austin which doesn’t bother me bc after new york i was like i rlly don’t wanna commit to him but we talk from time to time and recently we talked on ft and oh my god it was bad. i was complaining abt classes and stuff as one does and he literally says “yeah.. ur so beautiful i wanna kiss u rn” DAWGGGGG 😭😭😭😭😭 i hate guys like that so bad like that was just my breaking point and i haven’t talked to him since.

but in the next update i’ll talk about school and stuff bc ohbmy god so much is going on.

i know some of ur followers r probs like who is this insane chick with an insane life liek trust me i hate it too. - 🎀

seated for the lore ☕️

oh no i am not liking this girl already :// who says that about someone's grandparents at a GRAVEYARD?? 😭 that's so messed up, im so sorry she said that love :(

OHHH THATS A CHILDHOOD FRIENDS TO LOVERS WAITING TO HAPPEN 🤭🤭 and he admitted he liked you as a kid so??? feel like that entails that he would be interested in something happening in the future 🤭 but why is the friend cockblocking im so 🫥

BUT NOOOO WHAT :( he didn't reciprocate the energy after you moved back ?? that's .. if he's still ghosting i feel like i wouldn't want to waste any more energy on him 😪 some guys are soo..... also cam??? ew why does he sound so shallow there 😭 listen to a girl when she wants to rant !!! but as you should 🤝

HAHAHA dw im sure they're nodding along with the responses 🫂

#asks #🎀 anon

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crimechannels · 9 months

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By • Olalekan Fagbade Tragedy hits Abuja, 30 persons Killed In landslide, 19 others abducted At least 30 persons have lost their lives in a landslide reportedly triggered by activities of illegal miners in the Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. Nineteen persons were also abducted in Bwari Area Council of Abuja, on Thursday. The council area chairman disclosed this during a meeting between FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and six Area Councils Chairmen. Expressing shock over the developments, Wike said he would meet with the Director of Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja as well as the Commissioner of Police to receive adequate briefings on the kidnap and facilitate rescue operations. He also directed the council bosses to set up surveillance task force in their areas to monitor mining activities. Wike promised to meet with his counterpart in Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, to tackle illegal mining in the FCT. Speaking on the challenges confronting the councils, Kwali Area Council chairman, Danladi Chiya appealed to the Minister to come to their aid. He said, “When we heard about your appointment, we were happy because you have been a Council Chairman and therefore understand our challenges. “Our challenges are inadequate funding of the local government system. We have the major challenge of insecurity across the six Area Councils. Just today (Thursday), about 19 people were kidnapped in Bwari Area Council. I just received about five in my council who were in captivity for about six days. “The next is the development of satellite towns. The issue of sanitation is one of the major challenges confronting us. “There is also no efficient transport facility. The Abuja Urban Mass transit buses are no longer functional. “Then there is the issue of land allocation. You sit in your council, and your backyard will be allocated to someone you don’t even know. Your graveyards and worship centres would be allocated and we are saying that we should be carried along in terms of land allocation. “The responsibility of primary school teachers is on the local governments. The UBE’s payment of salaries lies on the council which by law is supposed to be the 60-40 percent. We are pleading that you help us so that this issue can be looked into”. Kuje Area Council Chairman, Abdullahi Sabo, lamented the menace of illegal miners. He said: “The issue of illegal mining in the FCT. There is indiscriminate mining licences given out and this has led to insecurity. They give letters of consent to Chinese people. “Just few days ago, there was a land slide that took the lives of 30 people as a result of the activities of illegal miners. We appeal to you to engage the Minister of Mines to stop mining in the FCT”. “On sanitation, we have a problem. Sanitation is a big issue. It is the duty of the council not just to collect the fees but to dispose refuse. We have to sit down and work together on this by adopting a common template. “On illegal mining, I will talk to the minister. Ordinarily, I would say you should also form your own surveillance taskforce as Chief Security Officers of your councils and make arrests and we will support you. However, I will meet with the minister.” Reacting, Wike promised to address the issues, saying as a former council boss, he understood their predicament. According to him; “I am here to work for the FCT, not to work for any political party. I am here to support the administration of Asiwaju to realize the dreams of the founding fathers. It doesn’t matter your political affiliations or religion, I am here to serve all. “We cannot achieve anything without support from the Councils. We are not struggling for power and so we have to collaborate. It is in your interest as council chairmen to work for the people and that you can do by collaborating with us. What affects you affects me and so I will not be anywhere and allow Area Councils to be shortchanged.

“I will want to advise that we manage what we have but we will work to ensure that what you are supposed to get, that you get it and nobody will shortchange you. “Insecurity is a major problem all over and those of you who are outside the Municipality, you have to work hard. Information is key. The incident of kidnap you talked about, nobody has reported that to me. It is a serious issue and we need to call an emergency security meeting. I have to call the Director of SSS and the CP now to give me more details because it is every embarrassing to me. Though, I am happy you said the SSS official and the DPO in the affected council are informed and on the situation. “On sanitation, we have a problem. Sanitation is a big issue. It is the duty of the council not just to collect the fees but to dispose of refuse. We have to sit down and work together on this by adopting a common template. “On illegal mining, I will talk to the minister. Ordinarily, I would say you should also form your own surveillance taskforce as Chief Security Officers of your councils and make arrests and we will support you. However, I will meet with the minister.”

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onkar · 1 year

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Casual Numbers on the News

By: Amal El-Sayed 243 stuffed toysRide the yellow school buses in Rynok Square.An excursion of ghosts. 109 empty strollersLine up the cobbled streets of Lviv.A graveyard of children. 2 stuffed teddy bearsSleep in a baby carrier.A remnant of joy. 1 dead childLies beside her blood-stained pram in Vinnytsia.A leftover of a missile. ### Amal El-Sayed has an MA in English literature and is…

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xtruss · 2 years

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Mr. Civil Rights

Before Brown v. Board of Education, there was Briggs v. Elliot—the case that launched Thurgood Marshall’s fight to end segregation in America’s schools.

— March 12, 2021 | Kirstin Butler | NOVA—PBS

— The Blinding of Isaac Woodard | Article | From The Collection: The African American Experience

Art by Mawhyah Milton. Source photo: Library of Congress

In May 1950, lawyer Thurgood Marshall faced a question that confronts so many activists in pursuit of a goal: Should they continue to play the long game, pressing for incremental social change, or has the time come to attempt a big leap forward, despite the risks? For Marshall, the goal was equal opportunity for Black students in America’s schools. How to arrive at that end was the question that, as head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, he needed to answer.

In the 1930s, Marshall’s legal mentor and NAACP colleague Charles Hamilton Houston had warned the association against overreach, saying, “Don’t shout too soon.” Under Houston’s steady leadership, the NAACP enacted a careful case-by-case, year-over-year strategy to undermine the doctrine of separate but equal established by the Supreme Court’s 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision. Under this gradualist approach, the NAACP pursued litigation that could clearly demonstrate that separate educational resources for Black students were unequal to those of whites. Houston’s blueprint had pushed at Plessy’s edges rather than trying to overturn it, however. Association attorneys argued for equal resources rather than attempt to abolish segregation outright.

Now Houston was gone, felled by a heart attack a month earlier, in April. Other NAACP leaders felt a more aggressive approach was required, and Marshall had to decide how to proceed.

At the height of summer, he convened a meeting at the association’s headquarters in New York City. Fifty-seven members—43 attorneys from the Legal Defense Fund and National Legal Committee and 14 branch and regional leaders—resolved “to end segregation once and for all.” They inaugurated a new era of NAACP litigation. There would be no more nudging against Plessy and other segregationist statutes; the time had come to try to topple them completely. It was an exceedingly ambitious goal given the state of American race relations at the halfway mark of the century. And Marshall still needed a strategy for achieving it.

Thurgood Marshall gives a press conference in his role as chief counsel for the NAACP, 1955. Everett Collection Historical/Alamy Stock Photo

In the country’s history, no one had ever filed a case directly challenging public school segregation. At 42, Marshall was a pragmatist with hard-won knowledge of America’s judicial system. He was on the lookout for a case outside of the deep South, where NAACP lawyers had better chances for success with more open-minded judges and juries. But in the meantime there was Clarendon County, South Carolina.

The disparities between white and Black children’s resources in Clarendon County’s School District Number 22 were indisputable. The district served a rural community that was three-fourths African American. But where the county’s white schools were brick-and-mortar structures with maintained grounds and modern facilities, Black students took classes in dilapidated wooden shacks with no indoor plumbing, forcing them to get water from a community well and use outhouses no matter the elements. Without buses, the Black children walked up to nine miles to get to school.

The one-room Oak Grove schoolhouse in Clarendon County shared its grounds with a church and a graveyard first used as a burial ground for enslaved persons, 1950. South Carolina Department of Archives and History

To Marshall, Clarendon County was a perfect opportunity to litigate for equal facilities, transportation and other resources for the county’s Black children. But it would be foolhardy to push for full desegregation. Marshall knew how slim the odds were of victory in South Carolina. He also understood how dangerous bringing a legal challenge there would be for the case’s plaintiffs, who would bear the full brunt of white supremacist retaliation for even daring to suggest integration.

Marshall’s hand was forced, however, by the presiding judge, J. Waties Waring. Waring, a white Charlestonian, was the rarest of birds: a Southern activist jurist who supported civil rights. The two first met in 1944 when Marshall argued Duvall v. Seignous, a case about disparities in teacher salaries, before the judge’s bench. Waring, past retirement age by 1950 and a pariah to much of white South Carolina for his racial views, was ready to make one last judicial strike against America’s apartheid educational system.

Marshall arrived in Clarendon County to argue Briggs v. Elliott in November 1950. The suit had come to be named after its lead plaintiffs, navy veteran Harry Briggs and his wife, Eliza Briggs, who was a maid at a local motel. But Waring challenged Marshall to refile the case as a direct attack on the constitutionality of segregation. The new suit could claim that separate educational opportunities, even if materially equal, were a denial of the Briggs’ plaintiffs’ 14th Amendment rights. Neither man was under any illusions that the case would succeed; losing seemed inevitable. But, Waring argued, by bringing this challenge in federal court, a loss guaranteed the case would hopscotch over the U.S. Court of Appeals and be placed directly on the Supreme Court’s docket.

The stakes were immense. If the NAACP were to lose this appeal before the highest court in the land, Plessy v. Ferguson would be reaffirmed and decades of dogged, meticulous work would be lost. It might be decades more before there would be another opportunity to challenge segregation head on. Marshall was conflicted, but decided to move forward with Waring’s plan. Briggs v. Elliott would now be heard before a three-judge panel including Waring.

On May 28, 1951, Black South Carolinians rose before dawn to travel to the federal courthouse in Charleston, despite the risk of reprisals that could come from merely having appeared there. Joining the hundreds of journiers were reporters who wanted front-row seats to history. The NAACP’s team was performing for a packed courtroom, but also on a national stage as reporters bore witness for The New York Times, New York Post, the Associated Press and numerous other national and local publications.

At the very outset of the hearing, the school district’s lawyer attempted to upend the trial with a surprise announcement: Clarendon County fully acknowledged that Black and white students’ educational experiences were unequal. To rectify the situation, South Carolina planned to issue $75 million in state bonds to bring Black schools up to par. There was therefore no need, the district’s lawyer reasoned, even to hear the case. Blindsided at first, Marshall recovered, arguing that the County’s “statement just made has no bearing on this litigation,” since the NAACP’s suit maintained “segregation in and of itself is unlawful.” The case proceeded, and Marshall’s team sought to demonstrate the injury inflicted upon Black children by segregated education.

Marshall lost Briggs v. Elliott as expected. Two of the three judges who heard the case agreed that Clarendon County’s Black students received an inferior education and called for the inequities to be corrected. But they held that the decision to segregate schools remained with the state. As Judge Waring had foreseen, however, the loss ensured a Supreme Court appeal. Ultimately, that appeal was consolidated with four other cases that, three years later, led to the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision mandating the desegregation of America’s public schools.

Thurgood Marshall, NAACP Chief Counsel, is shown in front of the Supreme Court, 1958. Everett Collection Historical/Alamy Stock Photo

Back outside the Charleston Federal Courthouse on that late May day in 1951, Marshall marveled at the crowd of African Americans surrounding the building and extending down the block. Many of the attendees had made the trip from hours away to witness the unprecedented case. They had also come simply to see and hear Marshall himself, the man they called Mr. Civil Rights for his seemingly fearless crusade for racial justice.

Entering the courthouse, Marshall remarked to his NAACP deputy Robert Carter, “Bob, it’s all over.” Carter asked Marshall what he meant.

As the man who would become the Supreme Court’s first Black justice looked around, he couldn’t know the role that yet awaited him. Nor could he know that, as late as 2016—62 years after the Brown v. Board decision and 23 years after his death—the United States Justice Department would still be monitoring and enforcing nearly 200 open federal school desegregation court cases.

Turning to his deputy, Marshall said, “They’re not scared anymore.”

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