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davids-cartoon-corkboard · 3 years

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Here’s the final part of the “Raph is a system” theory compilation post! It’s the last of what I can scrape up from canon; while I still have ideas on how it might loop back into character interactions and plot and so on, they’re much more speculative in nature. (Part 1 is here) (Part 2 is here) (You’re reading Part 3)

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"Red” is the alter with the least screen time, so it took a while for me to connect the dots on when and why he formed.

His shadowed face, the dramatic background music when he speaks, and his seriousness are reminiscent of the “brooding on rooftops in the rain while gloomily staring off into the distance” thing that Raphs throughout the franchise will do sometimes. That’s easy to poke fun at on a superficial level because most of us look back on our edgy phases with self-deprecation, but it’s a lot less funny in the context of the life he lives. Being a normal human teenager in normal human society is a fucking nightmare; being a mutant teenager who has no idea what to expect in terms of development or lifespan, only five people he can safely interact with ever, and a very limited future hiding from everyone else for as long as he lives has got to be just awful.

RR’s few lines in “Pizza Puffs” tell us a lot. “It’s the only way they’ll learn” and “this is for their own good” suggest that he formed when the turtles started exploring more of the sewers and going aboveground, and Being The Leader became more of a responsibility. A thousand new ways for them to get in trouble meant a thousand new ways Raph would have to bail them out, and that got old fast- especially since they didn’t have April’s knowledge to help them in the beginning. I doubt they met her the very first time they left the sewers. The wiki says April knew the boys for five years as of “Mystic Mayhem”, so they would have been nearly eight at the time, perhaps the mental equivalent of a ten- or eleven-year-old human.

A while back I sifted through all the eps with Raph in them in the vague hopes that “Pizza Puffs” wasn’t the only episode featuring RR... and lo and behold, I found something! The shadowed face and dramatic background music are also present in “Minotaur Maze”!

“I can’t do it. I got no mystic mojo. I’m useless.”

“Hey, that’s not true, brother. You just gotta believe in yourself, and know this: If I die in this maze, I will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

(I know that’s only two data points, but y’all canonically cannot scoff at me.) RR shows up when HR is no longer able to tolerate the bullshit at hand. “I’m not going to baby you Leo, get your shit together before your ego kills us all” was a reasonable response to nearly being shish-kebab’d.

“Pizza Puffs”, on the other hand... LDM pulled through in the end, but that RR got HR to stay behind added an unnecessary level of risk. Getting his brothers to learn a lesson should have waited until after the giant mutant cannibal had been dealt with and they were no longer poisoned.

This hands-off “figure it out on your own” approach probably came from Splinter. I swear to Pizza Supreme In The Sky I’m not trying to shit-talk him, but his lack of involvement with his sons was a major flaw. Before all that character development he was terrible at things like “emotional support” and “life lessons”, leaving Raph without the blueprints to deal with a lot of problems. HR would respond by rushing in and figuring things out as he went, but sometimes RR would have to say “No, we’re maxed out and can’t deal with this, we’ve gotta step back”. As we’ve seen in other iterations, when Raph is maxed out and doesn’t step back...

...he goes too far. Plenty of folks have commented on how rarely the Rise turtles smack each other around compared to other versions; it’s telling that RR spoke up just a moment after HR smacked Mikey in “Pizza Puffs”.

Raph is much bigger and stronger than his brothers this time around, meaning such an outburst would have a much higher risk of Genuine Grievous Injury. And while his size and strength also mean a measure of gentleness has been baked into him since day one, there would still be times HR would feel himself boiling over and RR would head off somewhere quiet for fear of the above situation; which was potentially alluded to in “Hot Soup: The Game”.

“You went out on your own when you were his age.”

The context of “Man vs. Sewer” suggests Raph isn’t going to go off on his own without very good reason- such as cooling down before he does something he regrets. That this detail shows up in Casey’s debut episode suggests it is how they will properly meet and bond, since befriending Casey and doing vigilante shit with him is what usually gives Raph a way to blow off steam while having someone nearby to keep him in check. But that probably won’t happen until partway through season 3, since I doubt we can cram the rest of Casey’s redemption arc into the movie alongside the invasion and time travel trauma shenanigans and leader drama. So in the meantime RR will continue to brood on rooftops in bad weather and listen to Ephemerality songs and monologue to himself because he knows nobody’s going to hear him over the incessant background noise that makes up the cities above and below.

I was a bit stumped about how that meeting would take place- the events of the finale (and possibly also the movie) would no doubt have both the human and yokai populations on high alert, making it dangerous for RR to slip away for some peace and quiet. But the events of the finale also gave us some insight on Raph’s powers; he has a way to leave without actually leaving!

Hardlight Clone Jutsu, baby!

So whenever HR finds himself in a particularly sour mood, a wisp of power winds its way up through the open-air portion of the lair and forms into a clone aboveground. HR doesn’t have to leave for a while to cool down before coming back and dealing with the situation calmly, because RR is already on a rooftop somewhere dissipating those bad feelings by listening to the rain and/or yeeting trash cans.

But mutants can’t freely walk the streets of New York, and the Hidden City Police probably still have it out for Raph. And someone, hero or villain, will eventually realize that Raph has a gloomy stray clone running around and ask questions that can’t be answered without cracking open the can of worms that is This Whole Situation. RR needs to get creative. That we’ve seen clones have both full color and the basic red/white palette suggests their color could be altered in other ways; and that the holo-form grew extra arms in the lair fight vs. the Shredder suggests their shape could also be changed further.

So what will he choose to look like, if not his body?

Obviously he’ll use a red and black color palette because it slaps, leaning more towards black since I compared him to Batman back in Part 1. A low-detail design makes it hard to identify him, giving onlookers the impression that they just couldn't see him well in the dark. Mentally filing down his spikes and decreasing the curve of his shell are easy enough, but it takes him a while to figure out five fingers instead of three, and there’s not much he can do about his voice other than lowering the pitch so he just opts to not talk much within earshot of others. A cape further disguises his silhouette and again, it slaps. The impression of a mask means he doesn’t need a face and it lets peoples�� assumptions work for him. Humans are more likely to think he’s human than a Very Human-Shaped Mutant, and yokai come in so many shapes as is that he could be anything from a witch to a dehydrated googlyschmootz.

(You know how it is with franchises. Old patterns repeating in new ways.)

New York City never sleeps, and I doubt the Hidden City does either. He’ll run into Casey eventually, but in the interim he stumbles across and intervenes in some attempted purse-snatchings and kidnappings and the like. Most of the would-be victims use his arrival as their chance to escape, but one of them is too frozen with fear to move until their attackers are chased off into the dark. He escorts them home, and it’s only once they’re at their doorstep that they work up the courage to ask him who he is.

It’s... a difficult question, in more ways than one. “Raph” is out of the question. “Red” isn’t quite right, and neither is “Angel”- they’re a tad too identifying still, and the R.A.P.H. thing was HR’s idea anyway. So he shrugs, and melts away into the shadows.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m Nobody.”

#rottmnt #rottmnt raph #red raph #rottmnt nobody #the 'raph is a system' theory #this will never be canon in a million years but it's canon compliant and that's what's important to me lol #ephemerality is a synonym for evanescence #i had to use a thesaurus for that one #anyway i am have always been and will always be an 03 hoe #long post #i have an inkling about how his meeting with casey would go so i might put that here sooner or later

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briggsz · 3 years

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* LUCY BOYNTON, CIS WOMAN + SHE/HER | you know DECIMA MARNIE BRIGGS, right? they’re TWENTY-SIX, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, THEIR WHOLE LIFE ON & OFF? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to STARS ARE BLIND by PARIS HILTON like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole MUFFLED SCREAMS INTO SILK PILLOWS, GOING NUMB AFTER ICE BATHS & THE BELLYACHE YOU FEEL COMING IN SECOND PLACE thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is SEPTEMBER 15TH, so they’re a VIRGO, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( b, twenty-two, gmt +3, she/her )

hellur...im back with My second baby . do i hav the brain cells 2 write them both ? no <3 bt im delusional n sexy like tht . here’s her . awful pinterest board ! hmu here or on discord if you’d like to plot . u want to plot bc u love me n decima so much . ( gentle godmod )

the much needed update: basically decima is an ex Olympic athlete tryna change her whole life n become an influencer / youtuber bc it’s all she cn do at the moment. everything she does, she gives her 110% .. doesn’t mean she succeeds either. struggles w the change bc shes so used to Living one way ( waking up @ 4 am , practicing fr 8 hrs a day , etc. )

ok so decima’s a new muse n if i fuck up . no i don’t <3 i’ll figure her out eventually pls dnt leave skjdhfj i lit rally tried to write this intro 3 times n i hated it each time so this is probably the Worst out of 3 bt here u go.

inspo: rachel reid (the wilds), kendall roy (succession), astrid sloan (the politician), monica geller (friends), haley keller (crawl), kat baker (spinning out), gracie hart (miss congeniality)

ok mr briggs is an ex pro-athlete n he’s the coach fr the town’s .. sports team i dont know Shit abt sports so u nod n look away

he n his wife, alana adopted decima when she was 13 . she has two younger siblings . always felt like she cldn’t be the Responsible older sister bc had Hard time adjusting to the briggs household. not because she wasn’t welcomed, no, because she was simply trying Too damn hard.

her life before briggs fam .. she never talks abt it , involves a deadbeat father n a teenage mother. cried for three hrs when she first called alana mom .

thought sports would be the best way to connect with her dad, so she joined every sports club until she settled on skating .

juggling school work n such a consuming , competitive activity .. yea ... she started to crumble under the Pressure bt asking for help ? with Tht much virgo on her chart ? nt happening </3

isolated herself from her friends n peers bc the path 2 glory is lonely .. so she thot ..

channelled her 110% to figure skating, but something was .. missing. she no longer enjoyed skating, only did it to prove herself she cld, because her family expected her to be perfect . delusional . her parents only wanted her to be happy bt she was blinded by her ambition rip .

21, no uni degree, still skating, she met archie while on nationals.

they hit it off , for a while decima ws doing really good bc it was healthy , she had a life outside her practices , made new friends .. didn’t last for long : )

the highs were high n the lows .. they were . bad . ABUSE TW: he was mentally n physically abusive , decima started 2 skate more bc she just needed an escape and didn’t think of breaking up . why wld she ? she loved him , and he loved her . : /

stayed with archie for almost 3 years, on & off. anyone cld see the damage except her .. until their last argument before The most important night of her life . TW END

she made a rookie mistake and fell while performing a quad toe loop, which was her way to the olympics.

ironically, the death of her dream opened her eyes. she broke up with archie while she was still at the hospital, recovering from her fall

still skates , got her teaching certificate bt irving isn’t the best place to do so sdhjfk

is an influencer / youtuber . posts abt literally nothing important bt she’s using her pretty priviledge so shush

UhMMmM high pitched screams i cnt write it anymore i hate it here This makes no sense im so sorry

PERSONALITY WISE.....ok so . shes the Opposite of frederica </3 hard 2 please. finicky. aloof bt like ??? actually really warm n welcoming jst doesn’t know how to Present herself the best way .

v disciplined n sometimes feels weird abt it . as a skater it ws necessary bt now she’s only vlogging herself n posting shit online so ?? ?? cant balance idk . omg miss congeniality vibes .

volatile .. i think .. tries 2 be nice n calm bt one off remark n she loses her shit

extremely ambitious n feels like a failure 99.9% the time rip

wears elaborate make up looks .

my body is my temple <3 vibes .... my ass

the Mom friend

cnt hold her drink . one beer n shes out

has her schedule n doesn’t like being late .

p much in l*ve with the idea of l*ve

uhm

ok so basically shes a mixture of babydoll n the jock if tht makes any sense if it doesnt . same

i hate it here

bt love her song and yes she listens to it regularly . paris follows on her insta . her biggest achievement .

#irvingintro #this ws so hard....fr what.....i did this 2 myself fr what..im asking u....#le shité im . sorry #bt shes a new muse so . pats myself on the back its ok #abuse tw #injury tw

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htbjoyfulldotcom · 3 years

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Day 1

This is so weird. Just checked and apparently first post on this blog was done at 2018. Accidentaly also the last. Journalling is supposed to be good for mental health. I don’t write enough. I don’t dwelve anough. So I guess this is me just doing it. I figured I can try to get this going here. 15 mins every day. Me writing whatever comes to mind. No theme.

I played ffxiv today. We (me and Yuyu) did practice party for Hades Ex. I did the most salty description for pf ever (as well) you know - Watch a guide (!!), communicate, etc. Basically all my pet peeves. And really weirdly party actually filled up with people who watched a guide - with one exception (and it was a player going back behind my back, inviting player who also formed n00b party... but for a change didn’t watch a guide). But ye. We had one clear but it felt good because for most part we talked and knew what went wrong. Purpose!

I keep up with taking vitamins and I have a feeling the specific blend I am on right now is really good for me. I don’t eat meat often nowadays (like maybe once a month?) so I need extra B stuff and also with lockdown in place I turned into stay at home human with no will of ANY risk especially with cold weather outside.

I am obsessed with BTS Empathy... like properly obsessed. Every 2 hrs I need to put it on, I sing to it even when there is no music. You know like, there is a loop of sounds in your brain (EXACTLY). Song is catchy but autotuned AF, but at the same time really meaningful.

I am doing the courses for apprenticeship and during dealing with the materials, I have realised how much I struggle with emotional intelligence, actual listening skills and self awareness. I never felt so n00b at this. But at the same time, I think omg how ever person XYZ liked me (I vent a lot, talk about people who annoyed me to vent, which can be perceived as gossip - god, how uncomfortable admitting it makes me; admitting it out loud and then writing it down makes it more real isn’t it?) but then I realised that this is me hating on myself because as shady-ass I can be, unstable, etc - when she (XYZ) needed to get out of her flat ASAP, she called me and I reacted (she moved in with me for like 6 months), I was there when she locked herself in a room with a knife (I had been called by her terrified housemates, long story). I did a lot of these things automatically without a pro/con thought. It is all shades of gray right there, isn’t it?

A few days ago I watched a ytb channel led by psychologist, who spoke on Ellen’s apology. I didn’t like his breakdown on it because his bias was pretty clear. And he said like ‘she is not a nice person if she did that’. And my brain immediately went - so wait, if you do anything wrong (accident or not), if your brain has any ugly thought - you are automatically on a different spectrum of good? If we look at this, this way - there is no nice people above age of 5. Though I am sure before age of 5 there are children who threw a tantrum and that is rarely a positive happening. It just doesn’t agree with me.

Anyways 15 mins is over. CYA Tomorrow

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morifinwes · 3 years

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hi laura!! sorry this is a bit late i barely survived finals week :’) i just woke up after sleeping for like 18 hrs after my last exam fjdns

oooo yes i love yanqing too!! they’re my fav ship apart from wangxian (also jc/lwj w h a t why would anyone do that o.O)

halsey!!!! i love her sm i’ve followed her from the time she released badlands (i was such an emo kid istg that album was everything to me) omg your music taste is so similar to mine wtf??? the other side by ruelle AND mystery of love AND folklore ur taste is exquisite. i’ll check out the other songs i’m sure i’ll like them! (also based on your music taste i recommend u listen to the loch ness monster by matilda mann 10/10 would recommend)

okay today’s questions!

🎀 since i asked about non-canon ships last time, what is your favourite fic you’ve ever read in the mdzs fandom? or a favourite trope?

🎀 tell me about your favourite show(s)/movies other than cql/mdzs! i need something to binge watch over winter break hehe

hope you’re doing well! it’s getting cold where i live so if it’s the same where you live i hope you’re staying warm >.< now that i’m free i will try to send asks more often! - 🍵

hey c!! don't worry, you have to take care of yourself, i'm glad that you finally have more time for yourself too!

sleeping 18 hours after being stressed is valid, after a panick attack i once slept like 16 hours simply because i was extremely exhausted.

i listened to the song and it's!!! so good!! i really like this part of the song: now you've faded, / with no traces, /so who could ever tell. / what you've taken's, / been misplaced / but your name doesn't ring any bells, / since the day that they took you to hell.

halsey is!!! i remember hearing badlands when it came out but i only really got into her mid 2018? i listened to hopeless fountain kingdom then and realized that badlands and hfk where both from the same person!! folklore is @/keepyourlife's fault, annika reblogged a bunch of things and just went crazy over it, so i listened to it. i don't listen to much else from taylor, i like getaway car a lot tho tbh. i saw mystery of love in a wangxian edit on youtube and went !!!!!! over that song, so now i'm obsessed with it.

1. i've got a bunch of favorite fics but _none of them are finished _and ajdkskks i do have some that are finished but i can't remember for the life of me what they're called. so here are five of my favorites: love, in fire and blood by cicer (which i'm recommending to all of my mutuals always) which is a 212K wip of immortal/yp!wwx + war prize au with no rpe/noncon but in the first two chapters lwj is afraid of that happening. it doesn't. then there is this time/universe/dimension travel fic called a song to bring you home by neoserenity, where basically canon!lwj who mourns wwx meets a modern!sick wwx and apparently there is no modern equivalent of lwj? or at least wwx doesn't seem to know one. the updates are sparse but i reread this so often in hopes that updates will appear. an arrow through time by syrus_jones is a young!lwj time traveling to post canon mdzs and pining after "husband" and wwx at the same time and feeling guilty over it bcs he doesn't know wwx is "husband" and then there is the murder of crows by cerbykerby which is a yilingwei sect au. here is a modern office au: hello, IT. have you tried turning it off and on again?* **by overmountainandmeadow, which us just really funny so i've been reading this for stress relief. i actually quote like time travel aus? also just wangxian meeting other versions of themselves is fun!! i have a bunch of modern college au tabs open but i don't actually seek them out, if i see one and like the plot then i'll read it. there are a lot of good time travel aus in this fandom!! also i like it when people get wangxian together earlier than in canon, it's just really fun to see how that would go. i don't remember the name but i think there was one fic where lwj tried to flirt with wwx and wwx just didn't notice? until somebody pointed it out to him i think? that was fun to read because lwj was just so frustrated!!

2. i feel like i forget what shows i watched after i watched them? movies too, though i like to stick to rewatching movies i already know. but here are some shows: dark on netflix, if you have netflix it should be there, it's a german netflix show about time travel and fate and things being really fucked up. basically there is this endless loop of the world apocalypse happening in 2019? 2020? i'm not that sure of the timeline rn but it's either 2019 or 2020!! and jonas, the male lead, wants to prevent it but this shit gets complicated because this is a time loop, everything he has done has been done before him. there are some really great quotes in the show about things, there is a wangxian gifset that actually uses a quote from dark, and that's the one about having three deaths. (i'll probably add a link to the gifset when i find it) also martha, the female lead, seems not that important in the first season but don't be fooled by that. the ending is.... complex and cool and holy shit there is still one thing we don't know and ahdkksks it's a surprise tho so 👀👀. i recommend watching it in german if possible and with subtitles. i've watched a few scenes in english and idk the voice actors don't seen to fit, but i don't know about other languages. the 100 is also a pretty good show but it's.... it has queerbaiting. and to be honest, the queerbaiting is probably the only reason the show made it to a seventh season. lexa, a lesbian, dies and they use her death for the queerbaiting since she gets together with clarke, the lead character. clarke is a character that gets a lot of hate from both fandom and the characters, a lot of unfair hate if you ask me. she has to do a lot of decisions that are just not meant to be for a single human being, @/solntserises and i and a lot of arguements over placing the blame on her or placing the blame on society and the situation itself. clarke basically does what she needs to do, what she needs to do in order to protect her people, her friends, her family. she often just doesn't have good options, and if she has then she deems the risk too high or something too good to be true (which, she often is right about???). after s1 her friends push her into situations where she has to make the hard choice, but if it doesn't work out how they want it to work out they get mad at her. which is not fair. i remember hearing that raven finally understands what clarke goes through in s7? but i haven't watched the season. i gave up the moment lexa died and didn't want to watch past it, but when @/solntserises started we watched the other seasons together.

there is also shadowhunters which is an okay show ig, i've watched vikings until s5 too and i quite liked it, prison break has a lot of cool stuff to offer but i'd be careful watching it in case of any triggers you might have. i don't remember 100% of the plot but enough to say that one of the characters is a pervert and an awful person, so lots of murder, a lot of blood and yeah. the two main characters are brothers and mostly innocent in this but yeah. they break out of a prison y'know.

lucifer is !!! i think it goes after dc comics? so ig it's somehow part of the dceu but they're like.... never mentioned so idk. it's really fun tho!! you probably have heard from the vampire diaries right? yeah well, there is a spin off called the origianls and it's actually really good. it had some times where i was going to call it off but it's fine, legacies is both tvd's and to's spinoff and from the quality it can't really compare, it's still fun to watch and seeing the new generation grow up. (also a lot more canon gays)

for some movies: i don't really watch many but i've watched every movie in the mcu so far, i have the extended special editions for both the lord of the rings and the hobbit trilogy, the half of it is about ellie chu, an asian girl living in a small town with her depressed dad and falling in love with aster flores, and just.... finding herself, finding out what she wants, who she is and trying to figure out where life takes her. the movie is great!! the romance process is really slow and not that much of the main focus, but more of ellie finding her place in the world? the old guard is a fantastic movie that i watched because of @/keiraknigthly, it's really fun to watch!!

i look forward to talking to you more often!! 🥰💞

#C 🍵#mdzsnetcc #ask #i hope you're staying home and healthy <3

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okradreamworl · 4 years

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[um... sad post about how i been doing in this worldwide world, staying healthy.. dont read if ur not sad or if you dont like hearing words like “out of my mouth” or “acid reflux”... feel free to read it in sans or alphys, human or monster. kris and chara works too]

ughhfhhf i been so anxious and so tired

this is what survival feels like,,

i dont like it , i end up on the verge of tears then i dont cry then the next minute the buildup gets worse then it stops, the cycle continues until i relieve my stress

since the outbreak i been having an anger with virus and bat puns, i snap at others to quit joking around cause its a REAL WORLD thing happening. i hate it. its crawling throughout the GLOBE. i‘m becoming more health-conscious cause last saturday i sat on a cursed chair knowing someone with a mask sat on it for a minute or two then left. i did it while unaware until i felt my immune system going active by the time we got to the car. when we got home i felt my throat uncomfortable. i only did ONE. ONE WHOOPED ASS HARD COUGH MY THROAT VIBRATED. i got so scared cause that’s one of them. after that, i did some research. of course that does scare more. during the overnight, i had a gross 3 hr insomnia, slept on and off. i didnt get to real sleep until 1 hr later. moreover, every hour i wake up, tested to see if i was okay, slowly stretch my arms and legs. some had little hand chills, my right wrist in pain... it was so scary. so i only had real sleep for 5 hours.

sunday, i woke up. decided to mouthwash in case i start to give contagious stuff. did some contact with family members and nothing happened. i only did that concerning ONE TIME WHOOPED HARD ASS COUGH again and choked once in the morning just to get stuff out but that was it. its all just acid reflux the rest of the day but i had that a month ago so its already familiar how to get rid of it. went to a restaurant and had a slush while feeling so sad and anxious. because so many thoughts kept panicking for what is happening today, i took a nap to shut them up. lasted 2 hrs, felt better and more relaxed, then at night the dreaded feeling came up again.

today i just felt like crying, not wanting to do work, worry, relieve them, feel like crying again, relieve it again... until i actually do work. took me until noon to get back. what worked for me, i listened to But The Earth Refused To Die + Battle Against a True Hero extended, which is a undertale song I BARELY play. but, because of what lives have to handle today, it was time. It gave me a sense of hope I CAN survive this.

i had a great dinner, but going back while the sky dims... i just loop sans, alphys, undyne themed songs: It’s Raining Somewhere Else when i felt a short depress attack and wanting to cry, Here We Are for knowing the real world events happening, and Alphys is a positive one if ever i want to strike up a conversation. sans. if i want to relax and know everything is going to be OK. Once the two start crying and feeling tired again, Undyne steps in and puts on “Waterfall” and “Quiet Water” while they hold on to their stress relievers. my SAD still lingers cause its still snow season. at march when it hits spring and end of daylight savings i wont be complaining about the sky much then

so for tonight, i hug an imaginary undyne plush with a hard grip...

i put on my airpods near to my soul...

listen to music...

squeeze my stress ball...

verbal noises...

let out my tears...

hhhhhh...

its common to say how i just want it to all end, but i know ill have to be patient.

stay safe. wash hands. maintain your health.

#ic but also how i feel rn #this is me saying all this but sans is an option #if you are a survivor reading this this is from a undertale fan #i didnt mention anything like stomach otherwise that would be gRoss for sans ic #my version of acid reflux for monsters is Monster Drool #you dont have to read all this but i just wanna share this somewhere #*takes a drink each time i read ‘until’*#bithcjc i do one cough a day it scares me

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mincedpeaches · 5 years

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The other day I got tagged in a meme by @goodbye-susan. Rules are to list ten songs I’ve been listening to and tag ten people. Man it has been a while since a tumblr meme. Why the heck not. I’m playing fast and loose with the definition of “song” though

1. youtube citypop playlists - Spotify and all that Good Shit is blocked on my work computer and I’m cheap and have limited data so youtube playlists on company dime it is. They block a bunch of youtube content too so I pretty much just type in ‘citypop’ and let rip what they deem to give me. Here’s some I’ve been listening to alot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fJKlCUyhOs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0Blq-W0MZM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0Blq-W0MZM

2. mp100 ops and eds - my mp100 hyperfocus train dont stop. my favorite is. oh man its so hard actually here’s what I’ve been listening too alot: refrain boy english cover

3. one day the other day I at work had panic at the disco’s Hey Look Ma I Made It on loop for 6+ hrs

4. Arcade Fire’s album Everything Now. Particularly Put Your Money on Me (INCREDIBLE fucking song its my favorite; its about substance abuse and if I was dating someone I could even relate don’t @ me), Creature Comfort (big oof on those feels), and to a lesser extent Electric Blue

5. Florence + The Machine Queen of Peace

6. Carly Rae Jepsen’’s album EMOTION particularly Run Away with Me, Emotion, Let's Get Lost, and to a much lesser extent Boy Problems

7. TWRP - Starship Brigade THIS IS A REALLY GOOD MUSIC VIDEO PLEASE WATCH THIS

8. Little Nas X Old Town Remix

9. Halsey ( i know....) particularly Ghost; to a lesser extent Strangers and Hurricane.

10. Frank Tuner - Get Better this listen is fanfic inspired.... I’ve only listened to Frank Turner’s Love and Ire Song album otherwise but someone linked this particular song as their fanfic inspo and I feel it

You’re supposed to tag ten ppl but lord knows I don’t even have ten mutuals; @chibiveneficus, @robotlesbianjavert, @greyliliy, @folkkvangr, @roboromantic, @stardate2553, @sudokucrazedman you can do it if you’d like

#mincedreplies #i guess? or maybe #mincedasks

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rinpanna · 7 years

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tagged in this Meme by @kageyama-tobiyo SMASH that mofo read more if u give a shit abt my existence

1. Are you named after someone?

i’m pretty sure i’m named after my mom’s grandmother??

2. When was the last time you cried?

I think it was like a month or so ago, my mom was being overcontrolling and i kinda lost it (SHES A REALLY GREAT PERSON LIKE 99% OF THE TIME THO IT WAS JUST YEARS OF BUILD UP EXPLODING AT ONCE)

3. Do you like your handwriting?

I joke a lot about how my handwriting is shit, which it is, but i still like it because it’s MINE and only mine you know??

4. What is your favorite lunch meat?

“Im not much of a lunch meat kind of girl. Peanut butter is my thing.” THIS ANSWER DEFINES ME PERFECTLY, THANKS DAWN (i eat 3 jar of pb in 2 day)

5. Do you have kids? i am a MINOR!!!!!!!!!

6. If you were another person, would you be friends with you? not to sound narcissistic but yes, i literally never fight with my friends bc i am a Chill person and i am always there for emotional support. but if u dont like loud ppl, you would h8 me :^)

7. Do you use sarcasm? nEVer with adults/strangers but ALWAYS w friends

8. Do you still have your tonsils? yes

9. Would you bungee jump? “Remove the cord and we have a deal ;)” SAME DAWN SAME, but i would also bungee jump with a cord

10. What is your favorite kind of cereal? LIFE CINNAMON CEREAL I LOVE THAT SUGARY TOOTH ROTTING SHIT MMMMMMMMMMM 👌👌👌👌👌👌

11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? depends, if im thinking about the next day and how it’ll be easier if i just untie them now, yes, but i am not normally prudent like this

12. Do you think you’re a strong person? I think i’m a lot more mentally strong than some people, and physically im Ok could be better. i could definitely kick @acejugs ass tho

13. What is your favorite ice cream? i can’t eat real ice cream bc dairy allergy but FAKE ice cream i love chocolate or cookies and “””cream”””

14. What is the first thing you notice about people? ASS, jk uhhhh idk it sound cheesey but i really dO only judge people by their personality most of the time. like if they’re a dick off the bat im like :^^)

15. What is the least favorite physical thing you like about yourself?

i used to really not like that im kinda Chub but now i embrace it. i guess my height????? (IM 5′1 WTF IS THIS BS)

16. What color pants and shoes are you wearing now? skin color shoes (aka: none) and blue pants with snow flakes on them bc during the weekends (sometimes bleeding into weekdays) i dont change out of my pajamas

17. What are you listening to right now? nothing actually, but as i was doing my 59999 pounds of hw today, i listened to

-carrie and lowell- sufjan stevens

-all of the kagepro songs- jin

-yuri on ice track from ost 1 hr loop

-weeb mixes on 8tracks

-atlas year one- sleeping at last (thanks @mochiiron )

18. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? pepe green so the children can get their daily meme fill

19. Favorite smell? this is gonna sound creepy as FUCK, but i perceive a lot thru smell especially with people so like. i love the smells of my friends (EVERYONE SMELLS SO DIFFERENT I SWEAR) and my mom and people i have crushes on (im like 90% sure i fall for people bc of their smell what kind of 2000 B.C. era head Ass)

20. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone? mom callin about groceries

21. Favorite sport to watch? HOCKEY or figure skatin lmao i’ve never done an ice sport im a fake fan

22. Hair color? black bc chinese ancestry yall

23. Eye color? Dark dark drak dark aDark brown

24. Do you wear contacts? No my prescription is only like -1,-1.5 so i rarely even wear my glasses lol

25. Favorite food to eat? im like high key obsessed with food so i cannot answer this question w a single answer.

-pb

-plain fuckin bread

-moms chicken soup

-CAKE

-poptarts

-lo mein

-carrots

-pesto

-etc

(also: why is the eat in this question?????what else do u do with food?????? scream at it???)

26. Scary movies or comedy?

i never watch movies uhhh i’d probably pick comedy before scary tho

27. Last movie anime you watched? i dont watch movies lol-- mob psycho 100 with my friend but i’m not done and she is o-(--<

28. What color of shirt are you wearing? my shirt is gray but i’m wearing a hoodie on top of it which is navy blue (no bra tho ;;))))

29. Summer or winter? SPRING

30. Hugs or kisses? hugs, i wont even let my mom kiss me lmao

31. What book are you currently reading? Going After Cacciato for school (its ok) and im about to start Ash by Malinda Lo (like after i finish this meme im oUT)

32. Who do you miss right now? i feel really bad but like/?? i rarely actually miss people? like when i hear from someone i haven’t heard from in a long time im HAPPY but rarely do i ever like mentally/physically ache for ppl (even my best best friends). but i guess i always miss my grandma because she’s kinda old and im always worried about her health and wanna be w her everyday :(

33. What is on your mouse pad? what year is it, 2006

34. What is the last TV program you watched? LMFAOOOO YOU THOUGHT I WATCHED TV, my mom had me watch a news thing about the yayoi kusama exhibit in DC tho earlier today, i genuinely can’t remember the source tho

35. What is the best sound? i don’t have a fave sound but i have plenty of sounds that i h8. i guess just in general good music is best sound

36. Rolling Stones or The Beatles? im not pretentious enough about music to answers this, sorry

37. What is the furthest you have ever traveled? probably antarctica! my mom worked in the travel dept at National Geographic when i was in elementary school so i got to go a Lot of really cool places

38. Do you have a special talent? i have an 80% accuracy rate for catching food after throwing it in the air. nat also thinks that being able to read and walk my dog is a talent but ????? i think a lot of ppl can do that. OH best talent: literally being able to turn everything into a meme

39. Where were you born?

xiantan, hunan province, china!

#i've never made a personal post on this tumblr uhhhhhhhhh #anna memes #; ) personal tag #not gonna tag anyone but riin natalie grace and katie u should do this

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virgiiniaprince · 5 years

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“I obtained broads in Atlanta/ twistin’ the lean and...

youtube

“I obtained broads in Atlanta/ twistin’ the lean and the Fanta” … Desiigner’s first hit song Panda was impossible to prevent in 2016. Very first brought by Kanye West’s album The Life of Pablo, it became the # 1 tune in the U.S.A., making the most recent G.O.O.D songs signee the youngest artist to rule the charts because Lorde in 2013, the initial male rap artist to get to leading with his initial solitary since Wiz Khalifa in 2011, as well as likewise the initial to chart a rap track this high without vocal singing or the help a feature to sing the hook considering that … Kanye West’s Stronger, 9 years ago.

There’s two fairytale in this tale: just how 18 years of ages Brooklyn rap artist Desiigner ended up being chosen by Kanye West, and just how the song came together from a Type Beat he bought on YouTube for $200 in 2014. Let’s focus on the latter. Panda was produced by Menace, 22 years old Manchester-native. The beat was posted to his YouTube channel and also offered through his internet site, as well as this PayPal transaction sufficed to make the track graph # 1 without having to obtain the artists to even satisfy each various other IRL.

The Type of this Beat was Meek Mill. It sound excellent without going across any line, adhering to the basic Catch sound pattern: bass-heavy 808, crisps snares, rolling hi-hats, gritty noises, basic loop melodies. This type of noise has actually been prominent and loved for numerous years, nonetheless, no Trap song ever got to # 1 before Panda. Menace was able to chart higher than any producer he could have been affected by: Lex Luger, Cardiak or City Boomin’ have large popular hits, however never ever had a # 1 tune. What’s a “Kind Beat”?.

A Type Beat is an instrumental track, intentionally matching patterns of already existing songs, utilizing the normal kinds of BPM, drum noises as well as song framework, to be simple to suit a rap artist. Type Beats are typically posted on YouTube for display as well as promo, and on the beatmakers’ sites available, or on systems produced this (Soundclick, Beatstars, ExpertBeats, …). The ingrained name points out the Sort of artist the beat was motivated by, to make it easy to understand, simple to rap to, simple to find, as well as to be sure to get to good variety of clicks by discussing a big name.

Instance: I enjoy Rae Sremmurd’s design, so I’ll look for Rae Sremmurd Kind Beat on YouTube, to find the most effective imitations of Mike Will’s design: abrasive lead synth, filters on the master, slighty distorted 808 bass, timeless Trap drums and also rythmic-pattern, easy arpeggio synth. Ta-dam!.

A$ AP Rocky discovered the beat for the tune Fine A glass of wine off his newest album … by typing “A$ AP Rocky Type Beat” on YouTube. Practical.

The most effective new service version for manufacturers?

Democratisation of both the Catch sound as well as the songs production software application FL Workshop made it really simple to make your very own Type Beat as well as upload it on the Internet. The connexion between the beatmaker, the audience and also as well as the consumer has never ever been this uncomplicated.

Marketing 30$ for an.mp3 of the beat, 50$ for a.wav and 300$ to 1500$ for a lease, for a production time not going beyond over 2 hrs … seem like a pretty solid bargain. Selling beats on the Internet can be money straight to your pocket, rather than a slow-moving and also outdated sector of songs everything about splitting, waiting months to obtain an income, or sending beats to musicians without any self-confidence they’ll ever before utilize it. With a good Kind Beat service, say goodbye to beats on hold: the magazine remains in display, beatmakers no more depend on rappers or tags, neither seem seeking a posting bargain– frequently associated of death penalty or deep pain in the ass.

Although some beats are reaching over 5 million plays and some names are becoming references (mJnichols, Taz Taylor, CashMoneyAP, Danny E.B. Tracks), the purpose of Kind Beatmaking isn’t to become a super star home name. It is more an organisation than the foundations of a real imaginative statement. Taz Taylor claims he makes an ordinary 18K$ a month with his beats– most definitely greater than the majority of manufacturers placing beats on some preferred records.

With Jahlil Defeats releasing his very own Type Beat channel while being an established manufacturer himself (Bobby Shmurda’s Hot Nigga, Meek Mill’s Imma Manager), we might quickly experience seasoned producers prepared to play by the new rules and upload beats whenever they feel. The feast for beats enthusiast is only beginning. The paradox: Jahlil Beats Kind Beat really have a lot more plays than Jahlil Beat’s Kind Beats.

A remarkable instance of the success of this technique is the increase to fame of the French Rap band PNL. Two bros appearing of nowhere and also becoming the feeling of 2015 in France. 90% of the tunes they released were videotaped over Type Beats. They acquired a The Weeknd x Bryson Tiller Type Beat from a manufacturer named MKSB for 39.95$, transforming it right into 35 numerous play in less than a year, and also pressing PNL to offer over 50 000 duplicates of their cd Le Monde Chico.

Where exists the line between being influenced by and also simply attacking? The subtlety, so slim, practically satisfies no problems either of the audience, neither for justice. Can you make a business of replicating for ever before?

Something withstood me while the Blurred Lines trial was acted: if Marvin Gaye’s estate could file a claim against Pharrell Williams & Robin Thicke for jacking a groove and also request for 7 millions, just how much millions can Lex Luger ask for generally 80% of beats generated because 2011? What would certainly occur if City Boomin sued every Future x Young Goon Kind Beat? The Catch pattern is overplayed, excessive used, with beatmakers over-saturating the exact same drum sets, track frameworks, and also sound combination, making tough to observe who is that.

There’s no doubt in my mind that keeping that much cash entailed, someday one beat will create jurisprudence and also start ask severe concerns about this craze of matches. The length of time can the trailblazers as well as the fans stay equivalent on the exact same stair of the platform?

Obviously, the end result of this inquiry only matters for who’s involved in music. Listeners uncommitted if Iggy Azalea’s Fancy ripped DJ Mustard’s sound, and they will not care next time a hot new musician absolutely mimics an additional musician’s design as well as reach # 1. Desiigner, often criticised for seeming way too much like Future, adheres to a shocking line of Type Rappers, unashamed of jumping on a fad as well as taking every single code snappy as well as success.

Hazard & Desiigner– the Type Manufacturer & the Kind Rapper– are the ignition of the victory of Type songs.

“I obtained broads in Atlanta/ twistin’ the lean and... posted first on https://the4th3rd.tumblr.com

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aprilpillkington · 5 years

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“I obtained broads in Atlanta/ twistin’ the lean and...

youtube

A$ AP Rocky discovered the beat for the tune Fine A glass of wine off his newest album … by typing “A$ AP Rocky Type Beat” on YouTube. Practical.

The most effective new service version for manufacturers?

Hazard & Desiigner– the Type Manufacturer & the Kind Rapper– are the ignition of the victory of Type songs.

“I obtained broads in Atlanta/ twistin’ the lean and... published first on https://the4th3rd.tumblr.com

0 notes

altmusicfalkirk-blog · 6 years

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PAPER MACHINE MUSIC

Ex-Viva Stereo guitarist Rob McKinlay spoke to us about his amazing new project “Paper Machine Music” and his debut release “Glimpse”

GLIMPSE, YOUR FIRST SOLO ALBUM, TELL US ABOUT HOW THIS CAME TOGETHER?

I used to be in a band called Viva Stereo from 2002 – 2012, releasing four albums on our own Much Better Records label and gigged about the UK for most of those years. But life started 'getting in the way' with kids and partners and jobs and this led to 3 of the four of us moving away from Glasgow. At the end we were Glasgow, Edinburgh, Fort William and Leicester and it just became harder and harder to get together and write anything new. I've always written stuff in my own house on my own, and had some form of recording ability. Back in the day it was a 4 track porta studio with a C90 cassette. Then I made a move onto PC and Pro_Tools. Anyway, when the VS started to slowly fracture I kept recording my own stuff. Then three of us kept on as Gravity Waves with me moving onto drums. Aye, and that band never quite took off so I kept recording in my house up in Fort William and coming down to the Central belt less and less. And then around 2015 I realised that what I really wanted to do was a solo record as I had started to collect a bunch of tunes that I was getting precious about.

COULD YOU DESCRIBE THE MUSIC MAKING PROCESS?

As I have four kids the process now if a bit more rushed than it used to be! Back in my carefree days I could spend 4-6hrs a night 3-5 nights a week in my little studio tinkering, re-recording and remixing. I could spend 2-3 hrs just trying to get the right guitar tone or effect. Or play the same part with different guitars and set ups. But now, although I play a lot around the house, grabbing 20 minutes here and there to go over ideas, when it comes to recording it is a very quick and efficient process now. I'll know that I have a free weekend day coming up in two weeks time and then I will start to plan what I am going to record. And on the day its hit record and do 3 or 4 takes of each part and then move on. Cause I will record drums as well, or maybe a drum machine. Then during the next couple of weeks I'll bounce it down and stick it on my mp3 player and listen to it whilst I'm out with the dog. Thinking of bass lines, or other guitar parts. Then one night of a week i'll disappear into the studio whilst the kids are getting ready for bed and 'make a noise' as I call it for an hr and try some things out. The kids get bored hearing the same 30 part of a tune on a loop but hey, what are you going to do! And then in a couple of weeks time I'l try and grab another free weekend day and record what I have been thinking/playing and see if that works. And vocal wise I'll either start with an idea and build around it or get most of the music done and then try and get a melody later. Some tunes are harder than others/ Like 'the Iron Heel' with Paul Tierney from lonely Tourist. I had the tune pretty mush finished but I couldn't come up with a melody/words that I thought were any good so I farmed it out to him. And to Paul’s credit he turned it round and gave me my finished song in 3 wks!

YOU RECORDED 4 ALBUMS WITH VIVA STEREO, HOW DID THIS PROCESS DIFFER/COMPARE?

Si the VS albums were mostly recorded in Studios. Either Chem19 or the Diving Bell. These were done in concentrated bursts where we would do a fri-sun and know 90% of what we were going to record before we went in. The last album was done over about 20 days recording over 12 months. This Paper Machine Music album was 3yrs but with thinking/writing/recording/mixing/ tweaking and listening done almost continually! With PMM I did make it down to Chem19 for 1 day, to record drums with Gavin Brown (Onthefly) as I felt a couple of tunes needed a different feel. And a better drummer! I also got Derek O'Neill to play some keys/organ for me again to add something a little different. Derek also engineered and mixed the whole album for me at his 'Living Room' studio. Derek mixed the last Viva Stereo album, Endure the Dark, and I really enjoy working with him and totally trust his ear.

PAPER MACHINE MUSIC, WHERE DID THE NAME COME FROM?

The name came from mis-reading a translation of one of the first sound recording pieces of equipment invented. It was french and and from the late 1890's and they recorded onto paper. This was even before wax cylinders. I think the true translation is 'machine music on paper...'but I mis remembered it and Paper Machine Music came about. There is also an album by Lou Reed that is 45 minutes of feedback and drones call 'Metal machine Music'. I have never heard it but I always liked the shear 'fuck you-ness' of that sentiment.

YOU COLLABORATED WITH KING CREOSOTE & LONELY TOURIST ON GLIMPSE, WHO ELSE WOULD YOU LIKE TO COLLABORATE WITH?

There is a alt-country singer that I love called Courtney Tidwell who released two albums about 10 yrs ago. And then she had one album with Kurt Wagner from Lamchop, and then nothing... I have tried to find here on twitter so I can sheepishly 'approach' her and see if she is still doing any music but with out any luck. Try out her album called 'Boys'. The sound and tunes are just amazing. A bit of a slow burner but if its for you you will love it.

THE NEW ALBUM WAS HAND-MADE, EACH COVER SPRAY PAINTED AND STAMPED BY YOURSELF, HOW WAS THIS?

So I made 50 copies and the start of each process was fun, but see by number 24 of each stage I was cursing myself. I have to say that this was influenced by Gav at De-fence and the care and love that he always put into his releases. That and the fact that it seemed a little cheaper to do as much of it yourself as possible! I did love the reveal of each album once I had taped up the sleeve, spray painted it and then let it dry for a day. When you pull of the tape it is kind of cool. I made 50 and it was really hard to let go of about 20 of them because I wanted to keep them all!

ARE YOU PLANNING ON ANY LIVE SHOWS?

Yes. I'm getting a band together and will be playing the following shows in March 2019. I've also got Lonely Tourist suckered in to coming on the three date 'tour' as well, which I am chuffed about. As yet I can't confirm who will be the third band/act but it will be sorted soon.

Fri 1st March – Roobarb, Fort William

Sat 2nd March - 13th Note, Glasgow

Sun 3rd March – The Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh

“Glimpse” is available now form https://papermachinemusic.bandcamp.com/album/glimpse You can view current single ‘15 years’ on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbV30bz7-og

and on Soundcloud here: https://soundcloud.com/papermachinemusic/15-years

#papermachinemusic

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lleodavis · 6 years

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2018 Nanny Goat Race Report

This is a race I did not expect to PR at. I have been training for Ironman Canada, now only 2 months away. I did a half ironman at the beginning of the month and felt more than ready for that. If anything I should have been doing 4 to 5 hour hilly bike rides at this point, not focusing on how far I can run. Yet, I had done this race three times previously and knew the only expectation would be what I set for myself. But before I get into how I surprised myself into my first sub 12 hour 50 miler, let’s first explain what exactly is a Nanny Goat 12 hour / 24 hour / 100 miler.

Nanny Goat is part of the Old Goat Race series of trail racing. The races are very low key with all manner of skill level present. This particular race is a great one for first time ultra runners. You need to bring no crew, you have access to a porta potty every ½ mile and your gear every mile, plus you’re never alone for very long because the course is a 1 mile loop. The course is a mix of hard packed dirt, soft dirt, grass, and just a little bit of asphalt. You can sign up for 12 hours or 24 hours and go for however many laps you want. Some folks walk the entire thing and some run nonstop. People camp out under the trees, in RVs on the ranch, or in one of the stalls in the barn, which is something that the course runs through. For me, this is a real treat. Yes, laps can be boring. The monotony isn’t just mental, but physical, and some say that because of the flatness of the course (only 50’ per mile) that it is harder on the body than a hilly ultra (which allows for a variety of different muscles and tempos). No, this is a treat because you get to see your friends on the course and your friends who come to support you. They make the race worth doing.

The weather for Saturday was projected to be a high of 72 and overcast. If ever there was a day for a PR, this would be it. Not that I set out to run 50 miles, not in the bit. Honestly, I just wanted to go out and get around 50K and see what I felt like doing after that. We all lined up in the “goat pen” for instructions before the race. I noticed a couple wearing horse masks holding a bottle of fireball and asked if I could take a shot. They said sure, so I did. It would not be the last shot or drink I would have that day during the course. In what seemed like just a few minutes later the gate was opened and we all filed out to start the race. I had it in my head that I would run 4 laps and walk 1 at least until noon. Those first 4 hours went real quick. I talked to a few different folks, mostly about triathlons (some were wearing gear, others tattoos) and my good friend Diana. When I got to mile 20 I stopped to change shorts, socks and to stick roll. I was really, really glad that I stopped early to take care of some minor issues that could have turned worse. There’s a saying that if you don’t manage small things early they will become big things later in the race. The compression shorts that I had changed into solved the issue of chafing (despite the lube before the race) and the clean socks made me realize how pervasive the dust from the course is. No matter what I do at this race I ALWAYS get blisters. I’ve gone 26 hours without changing socks or shoes, I’ve done races with a dozen water crossings, and I’ve done races in really hot weather where I don’t worry about my feet. Nanny Goat is not one of those courses. After just 20 miles when I took off my shoes and socks I wasn’t surprised to see my feet were covered in dirt . I could already see where I was forming blisters, so I cleaned my feet with wet wipes, dried them, and applied as much lube (something like Desitin for the parents reading) to my toes and put a fresh pair of toed socks back on.

By now there were more than muffins, chips, pretzels, and potatoes out. They had veggie burgers, cheese burgers, tri tip steak, PB &J, and cheese quesadillas to pick from. I grabbed small bites of each from that point forward. Every time it was time for another walk lap I would grab what I could take with me and finish it while moving. I also forced myself to keep drinking pickle juice (even though I hate, hate, hate dill pickles) and plenty of other fluids. Occasionally I’d grab a small amount of Sprite or ginger ale. Overall, I felt like I was constantly snacking or drinking, if only a little bit here and there. I remember my first Nanny Goat in 2014 how hard it became to eat after mile 40. I felt that I successfully fueled throughout this race not knowing how this method would work, which is much different from a normal trail race where aid stations can be 5 to 10 miles apart depending on the distance. Many people think running that far is all about cardio, but there is so much more to running ultras than just who is most efficient at converting oxygen into energy. As I mentioned previously, managing the little things is far more important sometimes.

Another key aspect of my strategy was to not over do my effort. I wore my heart rate monitor and I consistently managed my intensity to stay in zone 3. My average heart rate for the day was 135 bpm and my max HR was 156 bpm. I spent 90% of the day in zone 3 or lower. Now, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do this if it weren’t for the 1 mile walk breaks after ever 4th mile. Watching my heart rate proved more important than pace; however, I noticed that I had consistently been doing between and 11 and 12 minute pace per mile. I noticed as the day wore on, more and more folks started taking longer and longer walk breaks, whereas I felt strong.

Somewhere past 1400 hours (6 hours of race time) my friend Freddy and his friend Amie showed up, which was nice because Diana and I had no one in our stall this year because so many of our friends had were off doing other races. Freddy brought with him various costumes which he would randomly change into at times. He would walk or run a lap or two with Diana or I, toss me a beer when I got thirsty, or they would just clap at times, which was enough. My other “crew” came from the folks who were charged with controlling the parking lot entrance at the halfway point. They had a dry erase board and wrote up encouraging and silly things to make us laugh. After a while it became my own challenge to try to think of responses for them. For example, early on they had a sign that said, “sit down and I will tell you a story.” So I responded, “Is that the time your life got turned around, flipped upside down, and you had to go live in Bel Air?” A few runners with me laughed at that. Once they had a sign up that said, “Sing us a song” so I sang to the “I’m too sexy for my shirt” at which point they all laugh and cheered. As I got to mile 35 I told them I only had 15 laps left and almost every time after that they would ask what lap I was on and cheer and offer encouragement. Honestly, they were the best supporters out there being complete strangers and all.

Around mile 40 I was surprised that I was still keeping to my 4 to 1 ratio of run/walk intervals. Usually at this point the heat, my feet, or my stomach had pushed me to walk much more. Considering that I had done very little ultra training I was shocked that I was able to power through this much running after more than 8 hours of being on my feet. Yet, I could feel my feet and legs taking a pounding. I stopped to again take care of my feet and roll (massage) my quads, calves, and IT band. The blisters that were starting to form at mile 20 were full blown at this point, yet they weren’t so bad that I couldn’t continue. I went through the same routine again. However, this time when I got up to start running again I was very sluggish to get going. I ran to mile 44 even though I had planned to start lowering that ratio. The idea of walking my final lap didn’t appeal to me. I caught up with my friend Diana and suddenly adopted her strategy of mixing up the run/walk segments for the next 5 miles. Comparatively speaking, Diana’s legs seemed fresher, her power walk full of purpose, and I realized I could let her take the lead and get me to my goal. It was suddenly as if a weight had been lifted because I no longer had to drive myself forward; instead just follow. Not much time later and I realized I had the goal of sub 12 hours in the bag. My legs didn’t feel any better, but I realized that I was close to my limits of endurance for the day. 50 miles (or more) is a distance I’ve done three times previously, and yet stopping while I still had gas in the tank (and not pushing to 62 miles) seemed like a really smart idea. Overtraining is something I have dealt with too often. Thus, at 11 hours and 45 minutes I informed the Race Director and the timing folks that I was done, despite being signed up for 24 hours.

I have to say it felt really good achieving this distance in this time. There are a few races out there where in order to get a finisher’s medal (not a participation medal!) you have to do it in less than 12 hours. Then again, many 50 milers go up to 15 hours depending on the difficulty, but for me this was a goal that has eluded me since the first time I tried it for one reason or another. As usual, the credit cannot go to me alone. My friends and really all the folks out there supporting very much helped. Sometimes it was a simple, “you’re doing great” or a high five. Other times it was listening to my bad jokes and cracking a smile. I’m sure I’ll be back next year. This time with a 100K on my mind.

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alwaysrunning-never-lookingback · 7 years

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MONDAY GEAR GOBBLE! Garmin vivoactive smartwatch

Let’s talk about some running gear, shall we? Today, its the Garmin vivoactive smartwatch.

Allow me to begin in this fashion- I LOVE THIS WATCH. Truthfully my favorite thing about this watch is the size. It looks like a regular watch, but can do so much more. Maybe I am so enamored because I’m coming from the Garmin Forerunner 305, which is a lead brick in comparison, both in size and functionality.

Look at the SIZE of that thing!!

The F305 served its purpose well, and like all technology, was stellar in its peak. But the F305 is to GPS-enabled watches what digital cameras are to smartphones- It’s not impossible to find people still holding on to the romance of the old technology (Like my grandfather with his Nokia flip phone and velcro-style belt loop phone case. It doesn’t even have an address book in it), but the newer counterparts can do so much more, and do it so much better!

Here’s everything that I really enjoy about this thing:

1. Sleep tracker. It’s not perfect, but unless you attach electric nodes to my head, how could it be? I am a big fan of data in any capacity, and this does an awesome job at collecting data on your sleep patters and putting it in nice charts and graphs for you. It tracks ‘heavy’ and ‘light’ sleep and even will tell you when you wake up and walk around during the night. In the app, you set approximate sleep and wake times and it will try to guess when you’ve gone to sleep based on those approximations. But as long as you stay moving, even if you’re well past your preset sleep time, it will recognize that you’re awake.

Above, an option to start Sleep Mode. This blocks all notifications from bothering you through the night, which is awesome. I don’t care that Costa Vida sent me an email at 2:47am, and I don’t want to know about it at least until I wake up. (But please don’t misunderstand, I love Costa Vida will all my whole soul and I’m very happy they emailed me. Go read this post for proof)

Above, just one bit of Sleep Data provided by the app. This is part of something that I’ll have to cover more in-depth in a forthcoming review

2. Bluetooth phone connection. It transfers your workout data to your phone each time you open the Garmin Connect app, giving you the ability to analyze it on more than just a tiny watch face. If I wanted to track my GPS data on the F305, I had to upload the info to my computer and overlay it onto a map. Not impossible, but Garmin is all about removing hurdles, and here they’ve done a great job. This provides a detailed history of everything ever logged on your device. Again, more big data! You can also see hourly and daily weather snapshots on your phone, though it doesn’t go into much more detail. Another great feature is the music controls. You can connect Connect (see what I did there? Don’t worry I hate myself too.) with a music app like Google Play Music, Spotify, Pandora, etc and control play/pause, volume, and track selection from your watch. I’ve found this to be particularly useful when I’m on a bike: If a song comes on I don’t want to listen to but I can’t get to my phone in my pocket or bag, a few swipes on my watch and voila! problem solved. Getting app notifications is pretty awesome too! I have Gmail, text messages, NYT articles, even an app called Randomly RemindMe set up to send notifications to my watch, and it has changed my life. Sometimes there are too many notifications coming in (like a group chat from hell) and I have to temporarily disable Bluetooth, but seeing who exactly sent me a text or an email will let me know if its urgent and whether I ought to go through the trouble of getting out my phone at work or in class or with friends, etc.

3. Find my phone. A saving grace that should have been invented with the first cell phones to hit mainstream use. As long as your watch is connected to your phone and within Bluetooth range, this function will cause your phone to rapidly flash the camera light, vibrate, and make noise; even if your phone is totally silenced, this will temporarily override these settings until you locate your lost phone. Great for middle-console car traps, falling between the bed and the wall, or heaven forbid, someone hides your phone from you.

4. Sunlight readable touchscreen. Very impressive, if nothing else. Screens are often so hard to see in sunlight, but the Garmin tech geniuses have overcome this on the vivoactive. No matter where I am or what I’m doing, the screen is always as readable as a regular watch face. Never have I had any issue with reading it.

5. Customizable bands. A great feature to make your watch all your own. Nearly any color or design is available, and they come at very reasonable prices. With tiny screw heads, you need to make sure you have the proper tools to remove the watch bands, but it’s pretty simple. Be warned that durability of the wrist bands may become an issue depending on the seller, so whether you do it online or in person, only buy from a reputable vendor you trust.

***NOTE: I am not endorsing Amazon or this seller ***

6. CONNECT app. This is so expansive and incredible I’ll have to do a standalone review for the app in the very near future. Stay tuned!

7. Fast charging and awesome battery. It’s truly wonderful how quickly this battery charges. The charging station has a magnet that holds your watch in place, and is USB-compatible so it can charge nearly everywhere. Additionally, this watch has a great battery life. Without using the GPS and activities, the battery lasts around 2 weeks on a full charge, with variability depending on backlight use, etc. I can get about 6 days of workouts before it needs a charge, and though I’ve yet to run this far in one go, I can roughly estimate it has 8 or 10 hours of battery with constant GPS use (for example, using the run or bike function without stopping). Great for daily and weekly training, but may not hold up so well for those of you running 50- or 100-mile races!

8. All the old Garmin stuff you know and love. Pace notification and customizable data screens for all compatible activities, which include running, biking, swimming, golf, walking, and indoor biking, walking, running. This is so fun! During activities, you are required to have at least one data screen (duh), but can have up to three, with 2 or 3 data fields on each screen AND you can set them however you like. I have three data screens for running set up this way:

1. Distance, Timer, Pace

2.Lap distance, Average pace, Lap pace

3. Elevation, Time of day.

Again, these screens are not permanent. Not everyone is interested in the same things I am during a run, and that’s what makes it so great! You can do whatever you want!! The list of things you can add to these data screens and the combinations you can come up with is incredible! Take a look–

Timer Fields

Timer

Lap Time

Last Lap Time

Average Lap Time

Elapsed Time

Distance Fields

Distance

Lap Distance

Last Lap Distance

Pace Fields

Pace

Average Pace

Lap Pace

Speed Fields

Speed

Average Speed

Lap Speed

Last Lap Speed

Maximum Speed

30 sec Avg. Vertical Speed

Heart Rate Fields

Heart Rate

Average Heart Rate

Heart Rate Zone

Hear Rate %Max

%HRR

Avg HR %Max

Avg %HRR

Lap Heart Rate

Lap %HRR

Lap HR %Max

Cadence Fields

Cadence

Average Cadence

Lap Cadence

Last Lap Cadence

Temperature Fields

Temperature

24-hr Max

24-hr Min

Elevation Fields

Elevation

Other Fields

Calories

Heading

Laps

Sunrise

Sunset

Time of Day

Steps

Lap Steps

***You can purchase separately a HR monitor to sync with your watch. I don’t have one, and therefore anything in field #5 I know very little about. As you can see, the watch offers a plethora of options for you to see exactly what kind of data (there’s that buzzword again) you’re interested as you run/bike/swim/golf/walk. Way more options than the F-305, that’s for sure!

9. Waterproof. This made me nervous at first; I swam a few laps with it and was worried that it would short out, get waterlogged, or some other issue would arise. But to my great surprise it held up just fine! The swim function allows you to set pool lap distance, and it will do its best (which is pretty dang accurate, I might add) to vibrate when it senses you’ve reached the end of the pool and its time to turn around before you sustain some head trauma.

10. Vibrating alarm. This is a feature that I like, but again it’s not perfect. You can set up to three alarms to go off at any time, and your watch will vibrate for 1 min or until you snooze/ turn off the alarm. I do appreciate that it wakes me up without making noise, and in every situation I’ve found myself it is impossible to sleep through but it’s just so darn easy to deactivate! A quick tap with my finger and it’s back to Snooze City.

11. Connect IQ. This has some features that go with the CONNECT app, a review for this will be up soon! Customizable watch faces (not the bands I already talked about, but the touchscreen interface) is a considerable achievement. As I understand it, those with more design and programming savvy than the rest of us common folk can design any number of widgets and put them online through a place called Garmin Express, where you choose what you want your watch interface to look like. Garmin Express is available as a free download, click here to get a copy for yourself.

However, this watch isn’t flawless, and I don’t love EVERYTHING about it. Here’s what to take note of when it comes to negative things about the watch:

1. Buttons on side occasionally unresponsive. It comes with two physical buttons, one on each side. On the left, you’ll find the power button. Hold it down a few seconds, and it will ask for confirmation that you want to power off the watch. The button on the right will bring up your activity menus. These buttons work okay, but on rare occasion they won’t react right away, or I need to press harder, etc. No serious issues, but sometimes it’s a slight annoyance

2. Touch screen not uber-sensitive. Sometimes, probably due to the build up from my gross, oily hands, the watch screen doesn’t respond well to touch, and as an aside the easy-to-see smudges don’t add to the aesthetic value. This issue also arises when the watch is wet. I know I said its waterproof capabilities were great, but if there is a drop of water on-screen, this messes up functionality until it’s dried off. Not a big deal during a run, I just dry it on my shirt or shorts. This only becomes a problem when one is, say, swimming laps in a pool!

3. GPS mode sucks battery. As I mentioned before, using the watch during activity mode really sucks the battery. So I never use it to track a bike ride to/from campus or work or a friends house, and I don’t turn it on when I’m walking around. The GPS/activity tracking mode is only used for actual running or other designated workouts.

4. Disconnect/connect issues? I put a question mark after this one because I’m not sure if its a common thing or mine was just an isolated event. For the first three weeks I had the watch, there would be periods of a few hours when my watch would disconnect and connect again about every 30 seconds. Not anything life-changing or awful, but my watch vibrated with every change in connection, which I hated. Since then, I’ve had no problems, and the Garmin website was super helpful in resolving the issue

5. Inactivity timer. I had a really hard time adding this to the dislikes. I don’t love it, but think it belongs in some middle category because I certainly see the merits of it. As part of tracking your steps it will alert you if you’ve been inactive for too long (I suspect the timer to be 60 minutes, but that’s purely anecdotal). This is a great reminder to stay active and get up from your chair during the day, but it certainly has its downsides:

In my line of work, I am often up and moving, but it may be for only a few steps at a time and often not very far. If I walk too slowly to trigger the movement sensor or I’m back and forth in the same 8x8 area, it will remind me that I ought to be moving. At the very least, its a mild distraction. But it has gotten me into some awkward situations during exams. No professor wants to hear a vibrate during a test, and more than once I’ve had to explain away what happened.

After a long run, sometimes I feel justified in lying around for awhile. I mean really, if you’ve hit 10 or 15 or 20 or 25 miles today, you’re probably okay to take a little break. But your vivoactive doesn’t care, it’ll tell you to move regardless! And maybe you should. Maybe its beneficial to walk a bit after a long run so you don’t get too stiff or anything. Or maybe you’d be better off melting into the couch, and I wish the watch would let you do that if you so choose.

Overall, I would strongly recommend this watch to anyone. I think it is a great blend of function & form, though I do wish a few small things could be changed. Keep an eye out for my review on the CONNECT app and the IQ portion, which will be paired with info on the Garmin Express program as well. Do you have this watch? Do you have a different Garmin watch that you think is better/worse than the vivoactive? Is there a glaring misstep in my evaluation of the watch? Let’s talk about it, and tell all your friends!

In the meantime, let’s talk! I’m always interested in finding new people to share this passion and trade ideas & philosophies with. But more importantly, I want to hear YOUR stories. Find me on Twitter @KoltonGWilliams and we can talk about running. Or check out my videos on YouTube here. Heck, email me at [email protected] if you feel so inclined. And then, share your stuff with me! Drop me a message, comment, whatever. Let’s connect! I would love to read your blog and watch your videos and follow all your activities, running or otherwise. Teach me about your running gear and training, ask me a question, or tell me what you ate today. I want to hear it all! Run as fast or as slow as you need to have a good time, but get out there and run!

#running #run #runblr #runblog #runner #racing #training #trail running #halfmarathon #marathon #garmin #garmin vivoactive #gear review

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