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#wait isnt also livestream today
enden-k · 1 year
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thinking about kvthm pretending theyre dating kept me awake for so long, i managed to get 2 hours of sleep before my alarms went off- im looking forward to go to work now <3 (they both ruin my life)
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sixtyeightdays · 4 years
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Only you, Marinette. Only you.
in which marinette lifts thors hammer with no knowledge of how great it is to wield mjolnir 😔✋🏻
kind of crappy but thats okay
-
Normally, when Tony Stark's name was brought up, the following words would be either 'Avengers', 'Iron Man', or something along the lines of cool and amazing.
But this time, as Tony Stark's name fluttered through the compound of College Francois Dupont, the following words were 'Why her', 'What happened', and'Marinette Dupain-Cheng'.
See, throughout Lila's entire reign at Francois Dupont, unknowingly to the Italian, a certain bluenette had been giving her and all of her classmates choices.
Lila chose to ignore Marinette's warning.
Alya chose to believe Lila and cut off all ties with Marinette.
Nino chose to follow Alya and ignore Marinette.
Adrien chose to remain quiet for fear of Lila getting akumatised.
The class chose to believe Lila, drinking up her lies and claimed connections to celebrities that'll 'boost their careers in the future'.
Now, Marinette wasn't normally one to show off her connections to the world, unlike Lila, who lied about celebrities with every breath she took.
No, Marinette preferred not to mention her celebrity contacts.
However, this time, she had thrown all caution out the window and texted him.
-
mari <3
cant wait to see all of you soon!
do you think you can pick me up at my school drop off point after i end school instead of the bakery next week?
the one and only
sure thing, mari
everyone misses you too and they cant wait to see you again
any reasons why the sudden change though
mari <3
no reason
-
It was a week before he arrived. A week full of taunts and bullying from the people who used to be her friends.
But the day had come, and Marinette was about to leave this place for the summer, and was finally going to be where she wanted to be again.
It was the last period, and Marinette, having finished her work already, started on a new design. She had just finished it when the door crashed open, making Mlle. Bustier and the class jump.
The shock turned into exciting adoration, however, as standing there in all his glory were the Avengers.
Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Thor, and of course, Tony Stark. Pepper was also there, trailing behind with Natasha who were muttering about how dramatic the boys were.
Alya immediately jumped to her feet, fumbling for her phone that she held with shaking hands, and started a livestream.
'Hi everyone! It's your Ladyblogger here, and today the Avengers came to visit! Oh, I bet Lila got them to come, she is Tony Stark's goddaughter after all.'
No one noticed Marinette snort into her palm.
Max gaped at his idol in the doorway, his glasses sliding off his face in his shock before he hastily placed them in it's proper position.
Thor ignored the reporter, making his way to the back of the class where Mari sat, placing his hammer on top of Mari's sketchbook, much to her chagrin.
The devious smile the god gave her confirmed that he did it on purpose, and Mari smacked him in the arm and glared at him.
'Was it really necessary to break down the door?' She deadpanned, unimpressed.
Alya gasped. 'Marinette! Don't be so rude to the Avengers! They're here for Lila, not you.'
Thor frowned in confusion. 'Who is this.. Lila you speak of?'
Alya gasped again. 'She's Tony Stark's goddaughter!' She frowned at the god disapprovingly.
'She spends her summers there, how could you not recognise her?' The Italian in question was sinking into her seat, regretting the lie she told.
Tony clicked his tongue.
'I have a goddaughter, yes, but it isn't this Lila girl. I have never heard of a Lila. No, I'm here for Marinette, my actual goddaughter.' He shot a pointed look to Alya at the last bit, before he and everyone else walked over to Mari.
Pepper passed by Alya and handed out two stacks of papers.
Alya cautiously picked it up and Pepper said, 'These are lawsuits for both you and Lila. It is for defamation and slander of different celebrities, as well as spreading false information.'
Alya gaped at the blonde as she made her way up the stairs to where Mari and everyone else was before turning to Lila with a glare.
'Were you lying the whole time?'
The class erupted in shouts at the girl, until she broke and called out that Adrien had known, but didn't say anything.
'It was for the best! Her lies weren't hurting anyone!'
'I didn't submit my music portfolio because Lila said she'd guaranteed me a spot.' Nino uttered quietly, realising that he had lost a chance to have his big break.
Mylene looked gobsmacked. 'I passed up the offer of meeting Alexander Hamilton because Lila said she'd get him to meet me for free.'
One by one, the students began listing everything they missed out because of Lila's lies, from Alix not being able to be in the X-Games like she was promised, to Kim, who had quit his swim team because Lila told him she'd get Michael Phelps to train him personally.
Adrien cracked and admitted that yes, he was wrong, but Marinette knew too!
The class suddenly remembered Marinette.
Marinette, who had been telling them all along that Lila was lying.
Marinette, who they had bullied because they thought she was jealous.
Marinette, who was scolding Tony Stark right now, wait what?
Sure enough, the bluenette was reprimanding the billionaire, who's head was hanging low like a kicked puppy, with Natasha smirking in the corner.
'I told you to come after school! There's still 15 minutes before school ends, Uncle Tony, you couldn't wait another 20 minutes?'
He hung his head and Steve snickered, until Marinette turned to him.
'Why did you let him come so early? I thought you were the responsible one.' She pinched the bridge of her nose.
The class took advantage of the momentary silence to swarm Marinette, until the Avengers glared at them and they backed away slightly.
'Girl, we're so sorry for believing that liar! Will you forgive us? We'll be best friends again.' Alya looked excited, a gleam in her eye.
'Do you think you can get me an interview with Tony Stark?'
Marinette looked at her in disbelief.
'So you want to be my friend again, just because I'm Tony's goddaughter.' Pepper and Natasha looked furious as well, while Tony eyed his goddaughter's class.
Steve placed a hand on Marinette's shoulder.
'Besides, Marinette already has a best friend.'
Alya spluttered. 'Who?'
A swarm of black and blue flew into the room and crashed into Marinette, causing her to fall back into her seat.
'Peter!' She laughed. 'MJ! Ned! Great to see you guys too!'
Peter smiled gave her a brotherly kiss on the cheek, while MJ gave her a hug and Ned fistbumped her.
'Oh! That reminds me, MJ, I'm done with the design for the dress you wanted! Let me show you!' Mari looked around for her sketchbook before noticing it under Thor's hammer.
Thor, noticing this, moved his hand forwards to pick up the hammer, but his jaw dropped as Marinette easily picked up the hammer with one hand, holding it up while she moved the sketchbook underneath it away before placing it back on the table.
She flipped through the pages of it, not noticing the shocked looks on her classmates and family's faces, and the pale face of Lila. She had become enemies with a girl who could lift Thor's hammer!
Alya, who was still live streaming, looked like a fish, and her hands, which were still raises in the position of recording, trembled.
Marinette let out a small 'aha!' when she found the page she was looking for, and looked up to see her friend's shocked face.
She frowned. 'Do you not like it?'
Adrien, still rather astonished, spluttered out. 'Marinette.. you just lifted Thor's hanmer!'
At the sound of his name, the god snapped out of his stupor, and lifting his hammer, he pointed at the bluenette. 'She is worthy! I must take her to Asgard with me!'
Marinette cocked her head. 'It's just a hammer and it wasn't even that heavy. Now you big babies, let's go back to New York!'
She grabbed MJ's hand before picking up her bag and running out, she and MJ excitedly chattering about the dress, Marinette having not understood the implications of lifting Thor's hammer, and MJ, who had seen weirder things in her life.
The Avengers, Ned and Peter blinked before filing out of the room slowly, following the excited bluenette and brunette.A certain blonde god staring at nothing in particular.
'She doesn't know what lifting my hammer means?' He snorted. 'Only you, Marinette. Only you.'
-
well yeah there isnt exactly a ship for this but i wanted to write something where mari lifts thors hammer bc i dont see enough of those
mj and peter are together, in case u didnt know
kind of lost interest in the end but thats okay lmao so the endings kinda crappy but i think weve established that i cant write for shit
thank u for coming to my tedtalk ok byee
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scribble-blog · 5 years
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Soulmate AU part 5!!
First • Previous • Here • Next
Tim growled as he kept searching. There were no messages sent from Paris in the last five years in the League’s database. There weren’t any mention of a Hawkmoth, a Ladybug, or a Chat Noir in any news site. As far as he could tell, the girl had been lying to him almost entirely.
Except that she was Damian’s soulmate. And there was no faking the sheer exhaustion in her eyes when she spoke about Paris being besieged for the last four years.
And his gut was telling him to keep looking.
After an hour, and switching his location so he appeared to be operating out of France, he finally found two leads- one, a juvenile blog that had some questionable information interspersed with straight up tabloid trash, and the other an app, which he eagerly downloaded to his phone, waiting.
Finally the app popped up, showing a little Ladybug icon, and he clicked it. LadyBugOut! Sprung to life on his screen, and he perused the small icons. Small and stylized animals, a ladybug, a black cat, a bee, a turtle, a fox, a snake, a dragon, a peacock, and a butterfly. From what he remembered of his chat with Marinette, one of the heroes was Ladybug, so he clicked it.
It showed him a long line of posts, mostly videos. The girl in them was short, with dark blue-black hair and bright blue eyes, and a glaringly red and black spotted suit and mask.
“Salut, Paris! Back again with an update and a few things to address regarding the recent akuma, Lady Silence.”
He flicked to the next one.
“Salut, Paris, I’m here with Reine Abeille today,” the camera moves to another hero in yellow and black, blond hair in a high bun as opposed to Ladybug’s pigtails. “You’ve all sent in quite a few questions, and we wanted to take the time to respond today!”
“Salut, Paris! Just a quick update, I know many of you have been wondering about the recent addition to our team, Viperion.”
“Salut, Paris. I’d like to start this video with a moment of silence and recognition for the 73 lives lost in the recent attack by-“
Tim pauses it. A team of four, possibly more heroes? Perhaps nine to match the icons? A publicly revered and loved hero, to the point where she does question and answers with them. A villain that caused a death toll of seventy three people less than a month ago.
How in the world could they have missed this?
“By Evilutionist. We ask that if you know one of these victims you reach out to them and offer a hand, a hug, or even just a smile as they go about their days.”
He leant back in his chair, bewildered. Lives lost, but still there to be comforted, and going about their lives?
He got up to go find another cup of coffee. He was starting to understand how long his night was going to be.
Before he started watching through the whole long list of posts, he checked the other tabs. The black cat had a map that was currently inactive, but also logs of past maps detailing a red line, a purple line, and a larger area shaded in grey. They were labeled accordingly, Ladybug’s Path, Akuma’s Path, and Area of Attack/Destruction.
There were hundreds of maps logged.
The Bee contained large organized lists of homes and businesses that had registered as safe shelters during akuma attacks, a compilation of helplines and websites where you could learn more about staying safe during an attack, how to stay prepared and aware, and what necessities to keep stocked in cases of longer term akuma attacks.
The Fox seemed open to the public, where they could present their own posts alongside Ladybug’s about good, happy things.
The Turtle was a series of videos and posts about relaxation, meditation, coping, and self-care that could build the emotional strength to resist akumas.
The Dragon was a series of videos featuring another superhero- he assumed it was the Dragon themed one- and Ladybug, demonstrating self defense techniques and other strategies for avoiding, outrunning, fighting, or otherwise protecting yourself from akumas.
The Snake was, to his surprise, just a series of playlists, seemingly cultivated by each hero.
The Peacock held another map, also inactive, until the app chimed loudly. As he watched, a notification popped up, similar to an Emergency Alert System notification, that said in all capitals, AKUMA ATTACK.
He pressed the X on it, and watched as the Black Cat symbol seemed to glow green. He switched back, and the map was now accessible, a purple dot glowing near the Eiffel Tower. It started moving, and the shaded grey filled in around it, following the dot. He turned back to his computer and started searching frantically for some sort of news coverage. After a minute, he found a Facebook profile and opened it, and someone’s livestream was rolling.
He looked back at his phone to see that the red Ladybug dot had appeared near the edge of the grey, closing in on the purple dot. The livestream drew him back. It showed an apartment view of the Seine, and the road of broken detritus that trailed behind the akuma’s path.
“-Quel connard ne passe pas une bonne nuit alors, je suppose, mais honnêtement, cela ne devrait pas être mon problème.” The camera flipped to the face of a tired woman. “J’ai du travail en quatre heures et je ne me suis endormi que trois heures plus tôt, mais un trou du cul supersonique fait voler en éclats les fenêtres de gauche et de droite.” The camera flipped again, showing not the view but the clearly broken window. “Baise ça, mec, j'essaye de DORMIR,”
-some asshole isnt having a good night then, i guess, but honestly that shouldnt be my problem. ive got work in four hours and i only fell asleep three hours ago but some supersonic asshole is shattering windows left and right. fuck this, dude, im trying to SLEEP,
The feed went silent as the akuma lunged back into view down by the water. It was a large red woman, with wires that sprouted from her and trailed along like muscles, enhancing what seemed to be the speakers that her body was made of.
He could see her open her mouth and roar, right as a smaller red figure bounded in, dodging the concentrated sound blast and grabbing something from around her neck and snapping it in half.
The woman on the street reverted in a flash of light to a more normal appearance, and Tim watched awestruck as Ladybug tossed her yo-yo into the air and shouted something.
The wave of light that spread outward was dazzling, lighting up Paris’ night sky. In front of the camera, as the light washed over the holder, their window was suddenly whole and unbroken again. The street beneath was clean.
“Merci, Ladybug,” the tired narrator muttered. “Bonne nuit.”
The camera shut off.
Tim stared, awestruck.
“She fixes it all,” he breathed. “That’s why she was talking about people being alive after they die, they come back to life. She fixes all the damage. It probably destroys most records of the damage as well.”
The app was accessible because of her direct part in making it, he would assume. He saved the video.
Time to get Bruce.
TAGLIST:
@the-fusionist @rebecarojas07 @lowandco @kotaleartzu @resignedcatservant @alenee13 @mystery-5-5 @ladybug-182 @actual-disaster-human @loysydark @rumbelle18 @magic-miraculous @vixen-uchiha @athena452 @mochegato @ash-amg @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @thestressmademedoit @sassakitty @doriebell @toodaloo-kangaroo @myazael @theatreandcomicfreak @mer-mel @dahjokester @northernbluetongue @abrx2002 @area51qt @jessigurl-design @renscorpio @cici-schnee @multplelifes @redscarlet95 @razzledazzle247 @rosep16 @emotionalsupportginger @kceedraws @tired-butterfly @kuroko26 @catthhay @moonystars14 @shamefullove @shreky-boi @imanerddealwith @chaosace @captainmac6 @purple-people-eaters-productions @crazylittlemunchkin @weird-pale-blonde-person @bigpicklebananatree
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sweetnestor · 7 years
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crankgameplays livestream 5/13/17
(hi yes so i missed the first 19 minutes of the stream and for some reason when i go to click on the video in my history it just starts from where i started watching the stream if that makes any sense so like,,,,,, idk i’ll update it if the video fixes itself)(also everything in parentheses is me talking ok ok cool)
Talked about how lucky some people are to make videos for a living, he doesnt like that its only about the money for some people now
He wants to release gear boxers (ethan pls do it i would buy twelve)
He doesnt know what eurovision is
Gonna have a busy summer: tour, vidcon, indypopcon, (and some other stuff i didnt catch on time)
He’s got  rick hair and a morty shirt lmao (his hair is hella fading and his shirt is yellow omg)
He miiiiiight play ukulele later (pls for the love of jeebus play it)
Hes wondering where the spongebob meme came from
The boy was healthy and ate spinach today
Wishes he could cook too
Amy got him a smash mouth cook book [for chistmas?](i think??)
“WHY DONT I UTILIZE THIS”
He ended up liking 13 reasons why, apart from the dialogue
(i donated to the channel and was shaking bc i thought he was gonna see it alkdjflk)
(HE SAW IT BYE)(he struggled with pronouncing my name but its ok bby everyone does :’))
Fave character from night in the woods is probably gregg
“How do u feel abt the lgbtq+ community?” “the same as every other community?”
Reeeaallly wants a tattoo
Reeeeealalllllyyy wants a dog
A cat would be better for him bc theyre more independent, but hes not crazy abt cats
Everyone is accepted in this community as long as youre nice and respectful
“Can u do a headstand?” “u fucking bet i can i can do a headstand for days!!!”
Game grumps was the first channel he really really got into
Andrew (from the podcast) introduced him when they were younger, he showed him an animated video of theirs when they were younger
“Penis sized nipples or nipple sized penis?” he didnt answer but he loved that question
Used to be allergic to doggos, but he probably isnt anymore bc he cuddles Chica a lot
He’s iffy with snakes apparently
Fave musical is probably ‘how to succeed in business without even trying’ and he also really likes ‘la la land’
Has mixed feelings about setup tours, he doesn’t wanna feel like hes showing off the things he owns and things like that
Maybe at one point he’ll do it tho
He went to get some water and then he gon play Battlegrounds w/ a friend
He actually went to go fill up his water bottle but he forgot his water bottle
“While we wait for my friend im gonna sexually drink this water” (and he does) “why am i like this” (its ok bby we love u regardless)
Playing with his friend marcus @resumegamingyt
“Sahh dud” x2394324
“What in tarnation”
Marcus’s twitch notification sound is literally “what in tartnation”
Ethan, being ethan, told everyone to go follow him hell yeah
“What in lactation”
(theres so many ‘what in tarnation’s but i dont hear any lmao)
Ethan realized he didn’t tweet out the livestream when he started
“What in lag-nation”
“What in ejection”
“What in ammunation”
Ethan played this game for the first time today, so marcus learned him some things
(i missed a majority of the game but i did catch “coarse cock” nbd)
He didnt eat breakfast (i would insert some sarcastic scolding comment but tbh same)
“How does it feel riding off marks fame?” “yeah i never did anything before mark nope i never did anything” (pls be nice to the boy)
“Ok marcus im gonna leave and im gonna have an intimate moment with my stream before i leave” (oh my ethan)
Hes gonna make a pizza for dinner yum yum
Hes gonna go thru all the donations (oh god he gon say my name again)
(ethan im so sorry my name is so long and impossible to pronounce alkfjasdlkhgah)
Thanked everyone for being here and told everyone to raid marcus’s stream
The end (thx ethan for butchering my name ilysm)(no but srsly it made my day)
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viralhottopics · 7 years
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When Heroin Almost Took My Life, My Phone Saved It
At the end, there were only two things I cared about: the bag of heroin on my glass-topped coffee table, and the cell phone next to it. They were my two life lines. After a decade of abusing opiates, I couldnt stop using heroin. I was psychologically, physically, and emotionally dependent on it. My phone, too, was an absolute necessity. It linked me to my network which Id started building since I worked in the White House as a young, ambitious staffer. On the last day of my drug use, I stared down at the table. To my left, the baggie. To my right, the phone.
At the time, I had no idea that one of those two things would save me from the other. Now, my phone and, more specifically, its social media capabilities are an intrinsic part of my new life in recovery. Its been more than two years since I got the call on my cell, telling me there was a bed available at a public detox. I took that call, and the chance to get sober. While I was in rehab, I communicated with my family and friends. I started connecting with other people in recovery online, through Facebook and Twitter. Through social media and articles I read, I learned that addiction is a chronic brain illness. Online, people were speaking up about their experience, breaking the silence of addiction. Id found my tribe and it fit in my back pocket, or right in the palm of my hand.
Being placed on waiting lists, knowing that my window of willingness to keep fighting for help was waning by the hour, were some of the most terrifying moments in my entire life.
My phone is how I found out my friends were dying of the health problem that I had. Early in my recovery, I lost four people who were very close to me, all within 3 months. One, Nick, was an aspiring actor. He was found in his room and had died hours earlier from a fatal overdose. Another friend, Greg, died just a few short weeks after. I will never forget getting those messages, or how I realized, days later, that my friends were only four out of hundreds of people who die every day from addiction-related issues. It seemed that, everywhere I turned, someone had lost a son, a daughter, a friend, or a mother or father. Addiction, I realized, was lethal. And staying silent was our death sentence.
Ryan and Greg in April 2015. Greg died a few months after this picture was taken.
Sitting on my bed in the Pasadena sober living home where Id finally landed, I looked down at the phone in my hand. Statistics swirled in my head. Addiction affects 1 in 3 people in the United States. Only 10% of people with addiction actually got treatment for their disease. The wait time for access to public facilities typically exceeds 30 days. I myself had frantically called multiple treatment centers, only to be told that beds werent available, and likely wouldnt be for multiple weeks. Being placed on waiting lists, knowing that my window of willingness to keep fighting for help was waning by the hour, were some of the most terrifying moments in my entire life. I knew that untreated addiction was lethal. And yet, 23 million people in the United States live in long-term recovery. People made it but how to make that attainable for more people?
On the evening of October 4, 2015, I opened my Facebook app. And there, in my hands, was the livestream video that changed my life forever: the UNITE to Face Addiction rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It sounds like a small thing, but watching that concert, which was attended by tens of thousands of people in recovery and included performances by sober artists that I grew up listening to on the radio, changed my perception of what was possible. That was my community my people. And they were standing up for what they believed in. They werent hiding and they werent ashamed. That was the day that I stopped being a social media bystander and got involved. Id found my purpose and once again, it was right under my nose.
The day I realized what could be: October 4, 2015. UNITE to Face Addiction.
I had a mission: to lift-up voices of people in recovery, and share the vital stories of our community.
The idea that social media can create massive cultural change isnt a new one. Because social media allows people to communicate freely and share information, it enables the creation of like-minded groups. If these groups are big enough, or driven enough, they have the potential to positively influence and shape cultural progress. Recent examples of this include the Green Revolution in Iran, Arab Spring, the Occupy movement, and #BlackLivesMatter protests. And, of course, the new grassroots movement to end the stigma of addiction. Our community, once marginalized and shamed into silence, had found a way to make its voice heard and it was loud. Feeling inspired, I logged on to Facebook messenger and found Tom Coderre, a recovery advocacy change-maker and friend of Facing Addiction, the movement whose work I admired. He immediately put me in touch with co-foundersGreg Williamsand Jim Hood and I was on my way. I had no idea where I was going, or how I would get there, but I was going. I had a mission: to lift-up voices of people in recovery, and share the vital stories of our community.
Soon, I was on the road, heading to Philadelphia for the Democratic National Convention. Hey, Id done crazier things now, I was doing them in recovery, and for a good cause. We coined the project Addiction Across America and partnered with Facing Addiction. We were driving 3,000 miles east to speak at the convention and advocate for addiction solutions. It was a 30-day road trip through the heartland of America communities hit hardest by the addiction crisis. I had nothing but $20, my phone, and a $100 Google Stream notebook when I came up with the idea. But I also had a road map from the people whod taken this journey of advocacy before me, and the stories kept coming. I published some of these stories in a digital web series. That was the beginning of what is now called the Voices Project.
It was also the beginning of my recovery advocacy. After the convention, and the 2016 election, I realized the tremendous influence that social media could have on how people talked, thought, acted, and even voted. I saw a way for us to transform the recovery movement into a campaign one so big that it couldnt be ignored or silenced. So I started a Facebook page, then added Twitterand Instagram. Up front, I decided these accounts would never be about me. The point was always to raise up the voices of others. The pages began to grow. People from all over the world found me. 5,000 followers turned into 50,000. Now, that number is over 200,000 people, combined across all three platforms. But its never been about the numbers. Each one of those followers has a face, a heartbeat. They are real to me. Theyre people. Theyre a mom in Connecticut who lost her child; an incarcerated recovering heroin addict in Richmond whos a peer leader in his cell, helping others find recovery; a brave young man in Los Angeles who would come out as a person in recovery and tell his inspiring story for the first time.
Before the Voices Project, I never thought of myself as a storyteller. But I guess its who I am and today, Im okay with that. Im a storyteller with a purpose. I didnt set out to become an advocate. I had no idea that my recovery would take me in this direction, but like so many others across this country, once I became aware of this crisis, I couldnt ignore what I saw. The injustice, prejudice, and epidemic loss of life have me mad as hell. Every day, more lives are lost; another unfair, discriminatory policy is written. So much depends on telling our stories. I cant stop. I wont. And while I dont often know what to say, I do know what to do today.
And thats where you come in. The Voices Project proves that together we can help end the addiction crisis. We can do the work that we could never accomplish alone. Together, well end the silence and show this country that we are one of the largest constituencies ever to exist. We can inspire change, save lives, heal our communities, and build a digital movement like nobodys ever seen before. This is the #VoicesProject.
Our time is now. Lets go make some history.
Ryan Hampton is an outreach lead and recovery advocate at Facing Addiction, a leading nonprofit dedicated to ending the addiction crisis in the United States. Join the Voices Project.
Read more: http://huff.to/2nUveZt
from When Heroin Almost Took My Life, My Phone Saved It
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mavwrekmarketing · 7 years
Link
At the end, there were only two things I cared about: the bag of heroin on my glass-topped coffee table, and the cell phone next to it. They were my two life lines. After a decade of abusing opiates, I couldnt stop using heroin. I was psychologically, physically, and emotionally dependent on it. My phone, too, was an absolute necessity. It linked me to my network which Id started building since I worked in the White House as a young, ambitious staffer. On the last day of my drug use, I stared down at the table. To my left, the baggie. To my right, the phone.
At the time, I had no idea that one of those two things would save me from the other. Now, my phone and, more specifically, its social media capabilities are an intrinsic part of my new life in recovery. Its been more than two years since I got the call on my cell, telling me there was a bed available at a public detox. I took that call, and the chance to get sober. While I was in rehab, I communicated with my family and friends. I started connecting with other people in recovery online, through Facebook and Twitter. Through social media and articles I read, I learned that addiction is a chronic brain illness. Online, people were speaking up about their experience, breaking the silence of addiction. Id found my tribe and it fit in my back pocket, or right in the palm of my hand.
Being placed on waiting lists, knowing that my window of willingness to keep fighting for help was waning by the hour, were some of the most terrifying moments in my entire life.
My phone is how I found out my friends were dying of the health problem that I had. Early in my recovery, I lost four people who were very close to me, all within 3 months. One, Nick, was an aspiring actor. He was found in his room and had died hours earlier from a fatal overdose. Another friend, Greg, died just a few short weeks after. I will never forget getting those messages, or how I realized, days later, that my friends were only four out of hundreds of people who die every day from addiction-related issues. It seemed that, everywhere I turned, someone had lost a son, a daughter, a friend, or a mother or father. Addiction, I realized, was lethal. And staying silent was our death sentence.
Ryan and Greg in April 2015. Greg died a few months after this picture was taken.
Sitting on my bed in the Pasadena sober living home where Id finally landed, I looked down at the phone in my hand. Statistics swirled in my head. Addiction affects 1 in 3 people in the United States. Only 10% of people with addiction actually got treatment for their disease. The wait time for access to public facilities typically exceeds 30 days. I myself had frantically called multiple treatment centers, only to be told that beds werent available, and likely wouldnt be for multiple weeks. Being placed on waiting lists, knowing that my window of willingness to keep fighting for help was waning by the hour, were some of the most terrifying moments in my entire life. I knew that untreated addiction was lethal. And yet, 23 million people in the United States live in long-term recovery. People made it but how to make that attainable for more people?
On the evening of October 4, 2015, I opened my Facebook app. And there, in my hands, was the livestream video that changed my life forever: the UNITE to Face Addiction rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It sounds like a small thing, but watching that concert, which was attended by tens of thousands of people in recovery and included performances by sober artists that I grew up listening to on the radio, changed my perception of what was possible. That was my community my people. And they were standing up for what they believed in. They werent hiding and they werent ashamed. That was the day that I stopped being a social media bystander and got involved. Id found my purpose and once again, it was right under my nose.
The day I realized what could be: October 4, 2015. UNITE to Face Addiction.
I had a mission: to lift-up voices of people in recovery, and share the vital stories of our community.
The idea that social media can create massive cultural change isnt a new one. Because social media allows people to communicate freely and share information, it enables the creation of like-minded groups. If these groups are big enough, or driven enough, they have the potential to positively influence and shape cultural progress. Recent examples of this include the Green Revolution in Iran, Arab Spring, the Occupy movement, and #BlackLivesMatter protests. And, of course, the new grassroots movement to end the stigma of addiction. Our community, once marginalized and shamed into silence, had found a way to make its voice heard and it was loud. Feeling inspired, I logged on to Facebook messenger and found Tom Coderre, a recovery advocacy change-maker and friend of Facing Addiction, the movement whose work I admired. He immediately put me in touch with co-foundersGreg Williamsand Jim Hood and I was on my way. I had no idea where I was going, or how I would get there, but I was going. I had a mission: to lift-up voices of people in recovery, and share the vital stories of our community.
Soon, I was on the road, heading to Philadelphia for the Democratic National Convention. Hey, Id done crazier things now, I was doing them in recovery, and for a good cause. We coined the project Addiction Across America and partnered with Facing Addiction. We were driving 3,000 miles east to speak at the convention and advocate for addiction solutions. It was a 30-day road trip through the heartland of America communities hit hardest by the addiction crisis. I had nothing but $20, my phone, and a $100 Google Stream notebook when I came up with the idea. But I also had a road map from the people whod taken this journey of advocacy before me, and the stories kept coming. I published some of these stories in a digital web series. That was the beginning of what is now called the Voices Project.
It was also the beginning of my recovery advocacy. After the convention, and the 2016 election, I realized the tremendous influence that social media could have on how people talked, thought, acted, and even voted. I saw a way for us to transform the recovery movement into a campaign one so big that it couldnt be ignored or silenced. So I started a Facebook page, then added Twitterand Instagram. Up front, I decided these accounts would never be about me. The point was always to raise up the voices of others. The pages began to grow. People from all over the world found me. 5,000 followers turned into 50,000. Now, that number is over 200,000 people, combined across all three platforms. But its never been about the numbers. Each one of those followers has a face, a heartbeat. They are real to me. Theyre people. Theyre a mom in Connecticut who lost her child; an incarcerated recovering heroin addict in Richmond whos a peer leader in his cell, helping others find recovery; a brave young man in Los Angeles who would come out as a person in recovery and tell his inspiring story for the first time.
Before the Voices Project, I never thought of myself as a storyteller. But I guess its who I am and today, Im okay with that. Im a storyteller with a purpose. I didnt set out to become an advocate. I had no idea that my recovery would take me in this direction, but like so many others across this country, once I became aware of this crisis, I couldnt ignore what I saw. The injustice, prejudice, and epidemic loss of life have me mad as hell. Every day, more lives are lost; another unfair, discriminatory policy is written. So much depends on telling our stories. I cant stop. I wont. And while I dont often know what to say, I do know what to do today.
And thats where you come in. The Voices Project proves that together we can help end the addiction crisis. We can do the work that we could never accomplish alone. Together, well end the silence and show this country that we are one of the largest constituencies ever to exist. We can inspire change, save lives, heal our communities, and build a digital movement like nobodys ever seen before. This is the #VoicesProject.
Our time is now. Lets go make some history.
Ryan Hampton is an outreach lead and recovery advocate at Facing Addiction, a leading nonprofit dedicated to ending the addiction crisis in the United States. Join the Voices Project.
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