#ooh new Penny concepts!

[thecrenshawchronicles]

-BASICS

Name: Sebastian Crenshaw Age / D.O.B.: 36 / March 21, 1987 Gender, Pronouns & Sexuality: cis-male, he/him, bi-sexual Hometown: Los Angeles, California Affiliation: The Syndicate - Cleaner Job position: EMT Education: Bachelors of Science, Doctorate of Medicine Relationship status: Single Children: 0 Positive traits: (5) Assertive, Loyal, Self-Sufficient, Dependable, Unassuming Negative traits: (5) Manipulative, Obsessive, Callous, Blunt, Secretive

Bio TW: Abuse, Assault, Child Abuse, Death, Terminal Illness, Emotional Abuse, Violence, Miscarriage Mention, Self-Harm

-BIO

Sebastian Crenshaw. It was a name that attracted attention, and from the time he was little attention was something he had received in spades. He was doted on by his mother; as her only child he was the light of her life and she never hesitated to make him the center of her world. Throughout his younger years, she took him everywhere she went: charity events, church, even to her office job as a receptionist at a local bank; where he was oohed and aahed over, constantly being passed from one person to the next. Those experiences stuck to him as he continued to grow, filling him with an emboldened sense of confidence and charm. His teachers fawned over how intelligent he was, often complimenting his mother on how bright he his mind appeared to be and recommending he be moved up into the gifted classes. However, not everything ran smoothly in young Sebastian’s life. From the moment of his conception, his father had been angry; Mr. Crenshaw was a notorious penny pincher and the idea of raising a child, of paying to raise a child, infuriated him. When his wife had come to him with the news that they were pregnant, he showed his appreciation with his fists. He never touched her face, he liked her to look pretty; instead his hands pounded against the soft flesh of her body, trying to rid himself of the burden of another mouth to feed. Eventually he resigned himself to becoming a father. Unlike Sebastian’s mother who showered him with affection and love, his father scarcely paid attention to him. Only deigning to speak to the boy if he had done something unspeakable; wanting a new toy, asking for seconds at meal times, or even putting too much ketchup onto his plate. Each offense was dealt with swiftly and harshly, the belt Mr. Crenshaw used leaving long red welts against his son’s skin. His mother and father stayed in their loveless marriage for eight years, during which time Sebastian tried desperately to please his father, scoring an A on every test and assignment in school, and even going so far as to forgo meals in his attempts to earn the man’s praise. It was all to no avail and as each perfect test he brought home was crumpled up and thrown away, a deep, festering anger the little boy could not understand started to fill him. He started to act out in school, threatening smaller students than himself with bodily harm and starting small fires in the classroom trash cans. Finally, as she watched the changes in her beloved son’s behavior, Mrs. Crenshaw  had decided she’d had enough of her husband’s vile behavior and left him, taking the only thing that mattered, her son, with her as she fled.

The few years following the split between his mother and father was a calm period for Sebastian. His transgression’s and anger faded into the background as he continued to excel in school. Still fascinated with fire, the adolescent took an interest in chemistry.  Often he was left home alone to his own devices, as his mother was forced to take on a second job just to make ends meet. This led to an early discovery of sex and by the time he was 12 he had already lost his virginity. Sex became an outlet for all his pent up frustration and lingering anger. He was tall for his age, and in a fit condition due to his constant running from the bullies who picked on him for being ‘too smart’ or ‘the teacher’s pet’, which allowed him to pick up girls as much as four years his senior. Everything was going reasonably well, at least as well to be expected for a boy his age who had suffered through what he had, until his mother fell ill when he was only 15. It was early onset dementia, they were told nothing could be done, but that disease could be managed, its progress slowed with the use of medication. The medication was too much for his mother to afford on her own, all seemed lost. He did the only thing he could think of, the only course of action that could help make his mother’s ultimate descent into pain more manageable; he reached out to his estranged father. Sebastian knew through his mother that Mr. Crenshaw had remarried soon after the divorce was finalized, and to a woman with more wealth than Sebastian could even begin to understand. His expectation that his father might have changed, grown into a better man, spurred him on and he made the call. Whatever he was expecting, it was not the ultimatum his father had delivered. I’ll take care of that worthless mother of yours, so long as you come and live with me and my new wife and her children. I’ve told her we still communicate and it’s starting to look suspicious that I’ve never brought you home. Sebastian roared a glorifying, “Fuck you!” Before slamming the phone back into its receiver. A rage so dark it terrified him began to boil in his blood, shooting aggravated neurons through his spinal column and into his brain. Without thinking, he traveled to an abandoned building, chemicals from his high school and matches in his bag. The fire felt cleansing. Cleared his mind and revealed to him the only path that made sense. He would help his mother.

From that day forward he worked two jobs while also struggling to finish school. In the early hours of morning and late hours of the evening he worked at a local supermarket stocking shelves. The owner had taken pity on him, paying him almost double what the other boys were making, but it still wasn’t enough. It allowed him to keep the roof over his and his mothers heads, but it was not enough to get her the help that she needed. Desperate, he turned to a local criminal organization. His adeptness with fire kept him around and he was paid to clear out crime scenes and keep his mouth shut. Sebastian was also taught for the first time how to defend himself. That part may have been a mistake, for as his anger grew and festered, he began to use his talents to get revenge those who had wronged him. It did not matter if the person had merely bumped into him on accident or if they had thrown the first punch, he treated them all the same. His fascination with fire was something that he could not explain and as his mother’s dementia progressed in its ferocity, he began to grow more attached to it. The warm lick of the flames felt comforting and watching the thickened smoke billow into the air felt as though his worries were being set free. His relationship with the flame became loving. Sometimes in his worst moments of despair he would even burn himself. 

Finally, after what seemed like a life-time of work, Sebastian graduated high-school, with honors and the position of Valedictorian. It was a momentous event, yet one his mother could not be there for as he feared losing her in the crowd. The one bright side was that he had been offered a full-ride scholarship to the local college in their advanced pre-med program. It was something he was grateful for as it provided him with on campus housing, meaning that all the money he made could go to his mother’s care in the new facility he planned to set her up in, no longer able to meet the needs of her full time care. His first year of college went well, until the spring of 2005. Sebastian’s mother finally slipped from his grasp, so sick she could not even remember her sons face, though she never in all her confusion, forgot his name. The loss tore through him so viciously that he attacked the doctor attending, nearly ending the man's own life in the process. Hours later, after sitting in the holding cell of the city police station, Sebastian was released; the doctor was refusing to press charges, stating he knew how loss had the ability to awaken the darkest creatures inside of them all. Overcome with rage and anger and nowhere to put it, Sebastian became reckless. He started sleeping with as many men and women as he could, using their bodies for his own pleasure before tossing them aside, tired and spent. The unlucky ones who were able to quell that rage often woke up to find their homes engulfed in flames. It was the beginning of a pattern that would take hold of his entire life when it came to relationships, including the one he held with fire. Exactly a week after his mother’s passing, a small funeral service was held, with the only people in attendance being himself and the priest. He had just finished laying a bouquet of beautifully colored roses on his mother’s grave when a vaguely familiar voice called out to him. It was his father, on the arm of his second wife, dressed in a suit of charcoal gray, as if he did not even have the decency to pay proper mourning respect to his deceased ex-wife. Seeing red, he charged at the man he held personally responsible for his mother’s untimely death. It was said by the doctors that her disease had been onset so early in life through repeated concussions and beatings to the head, and Sebastian knew just who was to blame for that. He launched himself at the man, viciously screaming, kicking, biting. Doing anything he could to inflict even an iota of damage onto the man who had ruined his life. Once the rage in his blood cooled and he stopped to take a breath, his father appealed himself to his only true born son. He gave Sebastian the address to his posh house on the hill, stating he could come by anytime to talk if he so chose. Without responding, Sebastian walked away.

The open wound left from his father gaped wider and wider as the weeks passed on, father’s day,, a month after his mother’s death, he truly lost it. Voices in his head were speaking to him, each drowning out the other in their quest for revenge and all he wanted them to do was stop. All he wanted was for the pain in his chest to melt away, for the pounding ache of his head to fade away. The voices speaking to him seemed to take on a mind of their own as they screamed out for revenge. It seemed that in almost the blink of an eye, he had arrived at his father’s remote location house, his feet carrying him against his will up the long winding pathway, hands knocking on the door without his consent. When the door opened, the screaming of voices reached a symphonic uproar, their clamoring cacophony blinding him at last. When he next awoke from the fever-pitch, blood coated his hands and clothing, the sticky half-dry substance pulling at the hair of his arm. Pressing a hand to his head, his eyes blinked slowly open to take in the carnage around him. His father lay dead beside him, his eyes and heart carved out, because he could not see, and did not care about the damage he had done to his son. In the doorway leading to the next room lay his father’s second wife. Hues of dark bruises in the shapes of fingertips fleshed against her alabaster skin. Her death had been a mere necessity, he had needed to go through her to get to the true target of his rage. For a few intense moments Sebastian struggled to comprehend the sight before him, until his swollen mind kicked into overdrive. He couldn’t go to jail, he had a life to get on with, he had to help the people like his mother. Sebastian turned to his oldest friend, the flame, to save his life.. Thunder rolled over head, the sound booming through the eerily quiet house. Too scared to do anything more, Sebastian turned tail and ran naked to his car. Before the key could turn into the ignition, a resounding crack sounded as thin veil of lightning struck the weathervane sitting atop the house. Within seconds, the roof was engulfed in flames, the image lighting up his rearview mirror as he sped away from the atrocity he had committed. For the first month after the incident he was jumpy; every sound making him whip around, his eyes ticking and twitching from severe lack of sleep. The news of the Crenshaw’s death appeared two days after the murder when their kids came home to find the house burnt to the ground. Investigators suspected foul play, as the charred bodies left behind had not breathed in any carbon monoxide from the fire, the fire that had destroyed any and all evidence pertaining to who might have killed those two nice people. The firefighters were adamant it was onset by the strike of lightning, and the case began sliding further and further back as new, fresher cases began to take precedence. Eventually, the file was set back to rest with all those of the other unsolved murders that had come before it.

Since that night, Sebastian has never again heard those voices, though the demons of his past echoed through his mind; leaving him even more prone to physical violence than he was before. He graduated college top of his class and went on to study neuroscience, using his knowledge and skills to help those like his mother. He even entered into a relationship with a nice man, someone whom he cared deeply for. Unfortunately, it was not a healthy one, as the stress and wear of his demanding job often caused Sebastian to lash out at his partner both physically and mentally. It felt like everyday he had to come up with new and more grand gestures of apology, just to keep him around. Until after one particularly bad day. He snapped, beating his partner to within an inch of his life, telling him gruffly that he had already killed two people, and wouldn’t hesitate to make him number three. Then he left. He quit his job at the hospital, changing his phone number and email, leaving no forwarding address. Enough money was sent to a lawyer from the money his father had left that Sebastian hadn’t had to deal with the messy cleanup of the incident or questions from suspicious cops. That was how he ended up in New York at age twenty-seven. He took up position as a resident at a well-known hospital and continued his extra-curricular hobby of setting things on fire. 

On one such occasion he was particularly unlucky and was caught. After eight years in prison Sebastian is finally back out on the street and will forever owe the man who gave him a second chance as a family. He had heard of Sebastian’s work and recruited him as a cleaner. Both Sebastian’s medical background and handiness with fire worked well for the criminal organization that Sebastian would later learn was the syndicate. A new name was also gifted to him. One that allowed him to get work as an EMT, another thing that comes in handy when it comes to cleanup. He has more than a few murders under his belt now, because if there is one thing he is as a man it’s loyal. The Syndicate have become his second family and he would lay down his life for them if need be. Thankfully all that has been needed so far is to continue cleaning up other people’s messes.

#abuse tw #assualt tw #terminal illness tw #child abuse tw #death tw #miscarriage mention tw #emotional abuse tw #self harm tw #violence tw #sebastian.intro #wb.intro

[bellplusmedia]

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[a65232-joshywoshy]

Colorado Crybaby - Chapter 4

The work week had flown by. It was Friday now. Robert was learning his position quickly and Rachael was pleased to not have to hold his hand throughout the process. Penny was happy to have her friend out of a nasty situation. Rachael was happy to have Penny around more consistently. Penny wanted to celebrate the end of a work week and invited Rachael and Robert to a club to hang out and possibly have a few drinks.

     "I can't, sorry." Robert told Penny. "I'm helping my Mom build a porch on her house. That'll take all weekend."

      "What about you, Rachael?" Penny asked. 

      "Only if you go and help me find some stuff I need for the house. You know my taste in interior decorating is trash."

      "It's a date, then." Penny smiled. "Shopping for not-trash and clubbing. Yes."

      "What club are we going to?"

      Penny leaned in towards them and more quietly said "Club PG. It's not your average club."

      "Jealous. I wish I could go." Robert said, in a similar quiet voice.

      "Why are we whispering about a club?" Rachael didn't understand why a nightclub would be so controversial.

      "It's an adult club. Not everyone in this office is as… open minded as we are. Some people would prefer it be shut down, actually." Penny looked disappointed.

      "Doesn't surprise me, some of the people that work here." Rachael said. "So what's it like?"

     Robert and Penny looked at each other and smiled.

      "Heavenly." Penny said with a sigh.

      "Yes it is. Well, ladies. Today is pretty much done, right?" Robert started picking up his things.

       It was 4:45pm. Rachael didn't realize the day had passed so quickly.

      "Yeah. I guess so,” Rachael said.

      “Awesome.” Robert stood up. “I’ll see you ladies on Monday.”

      “Talk to you then.” Rachael and Penny watched Robert walk away.

      “So this place is heavenly, huh?” Rachael was curious.

      “Pretty much.” Penny said, still smiling.

      The two followed everyone else as they left for the day.

      “Can I come see your new place, now?” Penny asked excitedly.

      “Well, you saw how it looks when you originally found the listing, right?” Rachael didn’t really want Penny to come over. She craved down time.

      “Yeah, but I want to see it in person. And I want a better idea of what we need to shop for.”

      “Well, I already had a few things in mind.”

      “And I want to see the house. Please?” Penny was insistent. Rachael gave in to her fairly easily.

     “Okay. Fine. Do you want to follow me or do you have the address?”

     “I’ll follow you. Drive safe, I’ll be watching!” Penny laughed, a mock maniacal laugh.

      Rachael laughed too. She got in her car and started it. Penny was parked nearby and was quickly waiting for Rachael to begin moving so she could follow. 

      The two drove to Rachael’s house, still a short drive from the office, even on a busy Friday afternoon. Rachael made sure to drive carefully, after all, a high-ranking employee from Imagine Innovations was following her. That employee was Penny, but she still treated the relationship with a business-like attitude. Rachael wasn’t quick to let her guard down around people anymore. Trust was a thing that only the closest friends and family could get from her. At the moment, she didn’t feel like anyone was close to her. Rachael pulled into her driveway, Penny did the same.

      They both got out and walked towards the front door. Penny spoke first. “Wow. I forgot how good this place looks.”

     “You think so?” Rachael wasn’t as easily impressed by the house.

      “Is it roomy on the inside?” Penny strode to the front door first, Rachael following behind. "I only got to see the online pictures and a quick look inside."

      “It’s pretty roomy. It’s basically massive compared to where I used to live.”

      Rachael dug in her purse to get her keys out to unlock the door, then they walked inside.

     “Wow.” Penny stared up at the entryway ceiling. A chandelier hung from the high ceiling, which went to the top of the second floor.

      “It’s a good size for… a family or something. I really feel like it’s too big for me, you know? If it was allowed, I’d take over payments and rent out the other bedrooms. It's too empty here."

      “Yeah, I guess this is pretty big for you alone.” Penny was still enamored by the house. She oohed and ahhed at every feature: the open concept kitchen, the built-in surround sound. Even the laundry room was impressive to Penny.

      "Penny, why is this so impressive to you? You're a regional. You probably live in a multi-million dollar McMansion."

     "Ptch," Penny scoffed. "It's funny that you think I have my life together."

      "But you're a regional. You run everything and you do it well." Rachael plopped down on the couch. Penny walked around, still amazed by the house.

      "At work. I do everything well at work." Penny traced the outline of the mantle over the living room fireplace.

      "And at home?"

     Penny sighed. "Girl, at home I'm a mess." She stared through the windows at the freshly cut green grass.

      "Wait. So you're telling me, the woman who handles every issue at work like a boss, the woman who transferred me here to save my sanity, is secretly living an out-of control life?"

     "I mean," Penny sighed, then plopped down at the end of the other end of the couch. "I wouldn't say 'out of control'. I pay my bills, I have a place."

     Rachael looked at her friend. Penny finally looked at her. 

     "So… you have no direction."

     Penny cringed. "Yeah. That's pretty much it." She rearranged to face Rachael. "The person in charge of an entire region of this big corporation can't even get her stuff together. Funny, huh? Next to no social life, the relationships I get into turn out to be awful. Don't eat or sleep like I should." Penny scoffed again "Ptch. Everybody wants to be me, but really, nobody wants to be me."

     "So that's why you want to go to this club." Rachael reached out to hold Penny's hand. "You want to get away for a bit. I mean, like most people do, but you REALLY want to get away."

      “Well, that’s enough about me.” Penny relaxed a bit and let go of Rachael’s hand. “So when are we going to talk about you?”

      “About me?” Rachael looked confused.

      “Ms. I’m-a-total-baby-but-refuse-to-accept-it.” Penny smirked.

      “I’m not a baby. I’m not an ABDL. Not any of that.” Rachael said coldly.

      “You can’t just remove that part of yourself. You know that, right?”

      Rachael didn’t say anything. She knew that. She had heard other people on podcasts discuss how they felt and a lot of them had mentioned that ABDL was a core part of themselves. Rachael had felt that way. She didn’t want to feel that way. For as long as she could remember, she had always been the kid who wanted to play baby. 

      “I just want to be normal.” Rachael looked away.

      “Honey, you ARE normal. That’s one of the reasons I want to take you to this club. It’s ABDL friendly. I think you need to see that there are so many people just like you. I think you need to understand that no one is really ‘Normal’.”

       Rachael looked back at Penny. “You’re normal.”

      “Oh, honey. I like how you think I’m normal.” Penny smiled again. “See, what you don’t realize, is that I’m ABDL too.”

      “What?! No way.”

      “Yes ma’am. Another reason I want to go to that club is because that’s my usual club. I have a play partner that I meet up with there. I think you should meet her. She’s a real nice girl.” Penny’s smile got bigger. “Except when she’s not. But then I just give her a quick spank and she’s back to normal.”

      “No way.” Rachael was in disbelief. The woman that she thought was so normal, and so unlike her was actually an ABDL too. Apparently she had a little as well. Rachael had to know more about this other girl. Even more important was continuing to uncover this side that had stayed hidden for the past 5 years. Her best friend was just like her. They had so much more in common now. Rachael could see how certain personality traits could make Penny be a good… Mommy. It was weird for Rachael to think about. Her best friend was an ABDL Mommy. Her Mommy? No. Surely not. Penny already had a little. Rachael’s mind raced. The binge/purge cycle was swinging back towards binge again. Another huge purge had finished and the great pendulum began to swing back towards an obsession with ABDL again.

      “So… you’re… like me?” Rachael had been disgusted with herself for so long now. A new light of self acceptance began to shine in her heart again. Her inner self could be free to express itself once again. What boundaries would the two have now? Would this new knowledge change their relationship? There were only more questions in her head now.

      “Like I said,” Penny was still smiling. “No one is normal.”

[shadows-twilight]

RWBY Volume 8 Chapter 10

My various thoughts and opinions on Chapter 10 of RWBY Volue 8, “Ultimatum”

SPOILERS BELOW:

Ooh. A photo-sensitivity warning. That’s always interesting to see. Nice of them to be considerate.

I feel so bad for these guards. They very clearly wish they were anywhere but here, doing absolutely anything but this.

That soldier will never be comfortable around birds again.

That explosion was absolutely breathtaking. The sounds fading out while soft music plays during a huge, dramatic moment is one of my favorite tropes and CRWBY executed it flawlessly here.

Neo considers to be her iconic self.

At least Marrow still cares. He’s such a good boy.

Oh. My. God. I love everything about Watts’s “Reason You Suck” speech to Cinder. The editing, the writing, everything is just super cathartic. Not to mention the voice acting. I mean, Chris Sabat being an amazing voice actor isn’t exactly a new concept, but the amount of frustration and disdain he poured into that rant was superb. I full believe that this rant was the outpouring of every feeling Watts has had for Cinders over years. Watts has certainly reaffirmed his place as my favorite member of Team WTCH.

Ok, I know there is a very vocal part of the FNDM that says we should feeling sympathy for Cinder, but unless they actually bring Pyrrha back, I just can’t. The fact that she is an abuse victim is certainly heartbreaking, but it doesn’t excuse everything that she’s done just then. While I don’t exactly feel joy seeing her break down and cry like this, I can’t bring myself to feel sorry for her either. To restate a sentiment that I made for Adam, I pity the girl that suffered in that hotel. She didn’t deserve what happened to her. I spare none for the woman she grew into.

D’aaw, the way Blake’s face lit up when Yang answered the video call. CRWBY has improved in a lot of ways over the years, but my favorite has to be how good they’ve gotten at facial expressions.

So, I’m assuming that it’s safe to say Hazel’s dead then? I mean, I know there’s a reason that people say “No Body, No Death”, I’m a pretty firm believer of that rule myself, but after that explosion, would there even be a body? I find it hard to believe we’d find anything bigger than a fingernail after that, I don’t care how tough he was. I wouldn’t mind being proven wrong in the future, but until then, RIP Hazel, you went out like an absolute boss.

I like how no one’s really in the wrong with the debate about Emerald. As much as I’m in favor of her redemption arc and the heroes working with her, it’s true that she’s done some awful things in the past, things that have heart them directly, so they are far from wrong in holding that against her, especially when even her ditching Salem was only done in the name of self-preservation.

Hmm, purple petals, wonder what emotion those represent. I like the theory that it’s guilt, but we shall have to wait and see.

So the cane can store kinetic energy? Is that, like, an impact thing, like what Yang and Adam have going on? Would it store the impact of every strike it took? That’s pretty cool.

On one hand, this is probably the cleanest version of the “refugee camp” scene I’ve ever scene in media before. On the other hand, it’s still a pretty powerful image. War sucks, y’all.

It would be easy to think that the simple answer to Ironwood’s quarry would be that Watts betrayed them, but interestingly, it was neither. Watts did everything in his power to force Penny into the vault, the only reason she isn’t is because she’s resisting. This is less Ironwood failing to recognize Watts as a slimy snake and more failing to recognize Penny’s agency and humanity.

Speaking of amazing facial expressions and people who clearly don’t want to be in Ironwood’s office, I am really feeling for Winter right now. I imagine Ironwood is starting to look very Jacques-like in her eyes right now.

Harriet, you are really going out of your way to make me ashamed to have ever called you my favorite Ace-Op. For the love of god, shut your snitch-ass mouth.

Well, that WAS a nice table.

Neo is incapable of being anything other than a little shit, and by god do we love her for it.

NEW SONG! We haven’t had a lot of those lately, I’m getting the feeling we’ll be getting a lot of them near the end.

So many hugs, all worthy of note, but my god, the face cupping, the forehead touch, it’s too much for my heart to handle!

Goddamnit, Ironwood, Whitley finally got a chance to do a good, and you just had to take it away from him.

Ooh, the way the broadcast transitioned from hologram to in person. Nice editing, well done.

I have a lot to say about Ironwood’s ultimatum, but instead of taking the time to type it all out, I’ll just give you the tl;dr version: FUCK! YOU! IRONWOOD! I wasn’t totally on board with Qrow’s idea of an assassination attempt back when he proposed in Chapter 2, but now, I’m a little more open to the idea. There’s no way Ironwood makes it out alive after this.

#rwby #rwby volume 8 #rwby spoilers #rwby thoughts and opinions #rooster teeth animation

[toooldforfandom-liveblogs]

RWBY V07E07 - Worst Case Scenario

It has been two weeks since I last watched RWBY so let me try and remember what happened. There was a party, some flirting, a kiss... and that's it, right? Nothing bad happened, right? Right?

* sigh *

I assume someone is going to drop the title referring to the fallout after what happened last episode. I expect riots and Grimm, and maybe Robyn trying to commandeer the resources destined for the future Amity Tower (which is probably the only thing Ironwood _really_ cares about since he has been all "it's worth the sacrifice" the entire season so far.) I don't want to keep waiting so let's do this!

Oh no, sad Penny. What an auspicious start for the episode.

This is her dad, right? Those robot pats straddle the line between dorky and sad. I doubt the military wants Penny in the streets so I guess this is the only way he can be with her. Ugh. My heart.

Look at this crime against humanity. RT will answer for this someday!

Oh, one of the thirsty moms survived! The one with the casserole!

She's _terrified_, and with good reason. From her point of view, her own government killed her friends for daring to believe. What if she's next? Is Atlas going to start hunting everyone who supported Robyn? What about the people close to them?

We know that's not going to happen but she (and the rest of Mantle) is in all her right to believe it will

Oh no.

It's interesting how the scene that was, at the time, only a gag showing Jaune's bad luck and some cute kids with their moms, ended up being setup to show us how quick everything changed. Now their moms are dead and they are orphans, alone and in the cold.

Of course, this only furthers my belief that nothing good can be trusted in RWBY because it'll only be used to increase our suffering.

I'm going to _pissed_ if this happens. Stop killing Penny for god's sake.

First: I'm so glad she's okay.

Second: holy shit

did she just absorb an entire truck into her hand? Is she a human pokeball / dragon ball capsule? What a busted up semblance!

Huh. I really thought it was going to be something related to his tower. Unless that's what he's _really_ worried about (was that the truck's destination?)

ah, there you go.

Good!

Was Ozpin an "end justifies the means" man? I think he wasn't really, or at least he didn't consider himself one, but he had spent so much time alive he lost sight of what he was doing and asking people to do for him really meant.

In comparison Ironwood knows exactly what's going on. He believes he's doing the right thing by prioritizing the tower over his people. And maybe he's right from a global point of view? But the fact that the human lives that are going to be lost are the ones that were _already_ suffering is a supremely bad look. What's going to be left of Mantle after he saves the world?

You tell him, Nora!

Nothing good ever comes when someone says "the greater good."

Ilia said exactly the same thing back in Volume 5, almost word for word. I wonder if the callback is intentional or if there's just not that many ways to use that concept as an excuse.

I _really_ thought she was going to say "exchanging Salem for you."

I love how Nora is the one speaking up but I hate that no one is supporting her. Winter looks completely unimpressed back there but I didn't expect much from her or Clover but what about the rest?

_Thank you_

Wow, what did he do to get Salem's personal attention? Because "what are you?" followed by "Beautiful" has to be about her, right?

oh _no_ what is wrong with Reeeeeen.

We never got an explanation about his behavior, he didn't talk and Nora kissing him solved zero problems. Yay.

I was hoping for a cut away to them partying it up before all hell broke lose but oh well.

Treason!

I _love_ that they are all right, or rather, their opinions are all understandable. I can see where both Yang and Blake are coming from and there's no way to say "ah, the show is doing everything it can to show that Yang is wrong."

Which keeps increasing my worry about how they are going to handle the end of the arc because so far the show has been very even handed but any ending where the long term sacrifice and oppression of Mantle ends up being justified is going to be... well, bad. It doesn't help that the "oppression" hasn't been really visible so it could be reaally easy to just sweep it under the carpet and just say something about "things are going to be better from now on" or even "they weren't that bad to begin with"

Anyway, this is me getting worried about things that may not even happen so I won't keep talking about it. Let me say instead how happy I am that they are still dealing with what happened with Adam and of course that would color Blake's views of what she wants to do in the future.

And is that treason I'm hearing here? I expected a team up with Robyn but I didn't expect it to come from these two. Interesting. Is Yang going to spill the beans to her about the tower and Salem?

Look at those green borders inside the boot! Tsk, tsk, Watts. He obviously was getting bored of masking Penny frame per frame.

lmao. Maria is straight up vocalizing the section of the fandom that misses the early simpler seasons

Oh. Watts's plan has _layers_. I'm impressed!

ooh hidden penny lore

how many theories is this going to prove/disprove?

The man under the thumb has to be Watts, right?

WOW

I _really_ didn't expect this to be the answer for Penny's soul. I was in the "there's no artificial soul" camp but I expected something like Pietro transferring someone else's soul or a lost daughter, not him literally giving her part of his soul.

What does this mean for Penny? Does the part of the soul Pietro gives her grow like a plant from a cutting or everything she uses her semblance or is hurt she loses a bit more of it? It has to grow, right?

It's good to see an explanation for Pietro's death flags. Is he going to die saving Penny one last time? Jaune is learning how to manipulate his aura outwards...

Just lol at the being an obvious villain even in the group pictures.

So, is this personal for Watts? Did Ironwood choosing Penny mean the end of his career? Did he try to do whatever he planned anyway and got fired?

The hand again! Is that how she activates her semblance? But if she needs the person to grab her hand, what did she expect from Clover?

Also, props to the show for making everyone react somewhat realistically. Of course, Robyn was going to run the second she saw Ironwood's new pets.

Is Ironwood intentionally using RWBY and the rest to keep suspicions down? "They are all young and attractive, some even look innocent, there's no way they are doing anything _bad_, right?" But again, that would mean Ironwood is playing 4D chess and I'm not sure that's his deal.

Oh no. And Yang is so proud of her pun.

That was a good first step. I can't deny I was hoping for Yang and Blake to join the huntresses and kick ass but I was dreaming too big.

...so it was Ozpin idea to have a city floating above Mantle making ther differences permanently clear? Has Ozpin ever had a good idea?

FREE ENERGY AND THEY STILL ABUSE PEOPLE TO GET DUST

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I know it's probably not easy but

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa

Atlas is 100% going to crash into the ground. I think everyone already suspected it'd happen but this is a gigantic death flag.

Ironwood is sliding down as fast as he can down the slippery slope of the greater good. He didn't want Ozpin's opinion, he wanted Ozpin to tell him he was right.

It feels so bad to take away from Oscar's growth but I wonder if they are already merging.

welp

That was a great episode to return to. Somehow RWBY is managing to handle all the balls it had in the air earlier in the season and hasn't dropped one yet.

I was expecting that the episode would start with Yang and Blake or Weiss and company but nope, just sadness and tragedy. Followed by more consequences, in the form of Robyn and her happy huntresses finally doing what they probably wanted to do from the start. If the "legal" way didn't work, well, time to do it anyway. That does leave me with some questions about how long was the timeskip between episodes, it can't be that same night, especially with the news showing things like "additional deaths confirmed." Maybe same week but at least a couple of days later?

Ironwood needs someone to shake him by the shoulders. Some of the things he's saying wouldn't be out of place in any villain's origin story, especially the part about wanting to get rid of his fear. I hope Jacques being the awful man he is shows him what waits for him in the other side.

Pietro's reveal about Penny's soul really feels like the biggest of his death flags so far. Him dying trying to make Penny live again really feels like end-of-season drama, considering there's no Pyrrha to kill again and apparently RT really likes killing Penny. Jaune _just_ learning about the possibilities of his semblance feels weirdly suspicious now that we know about Penny's aura but... it's a bit too out there since I think they have never talked. Or maybe it's all a misdirect and someone else ends up dying with RT winking at us saying "you really though it'd be Penny, huh?" At this point I'm not sure what'd be worst.

I liked everything about Yang and Blake's talk in the truck. I'm not a big fan of Yang's main trait lately being "dislikes secrets" (the secondary being "likes Blake") but I'm not sure if overcoming that is just her next step in her growth or if that's all there's going to be.

Their chat with Robyn was great, I can't wait for the repercussions of telling the leader of the resistance the biggest secret Atlas has. With Ironwood being who he is, it could be _bad_ for the couple which could push everyone else in one direction or the other, and not necessarily the _same_ direction, as we already saw with Ren who's officially canceled because for some reason he's going all fash (I _really_ need an explanation before the season ends)

This volume is going places, can't wait for the next episode! Until next time!

#rwby #rwby liveblog #rwby v07e07

[ultraclops]

I Can't Think Of A Creative Title [Mao Mao Spoilers]

SUGAR BERRY FEVER

BULL MONSTER? YEEHAW GIDDY-UP

Oh the Hero's Code IS a real book! Made by Mao's family no less! Cool

I'm gonna say it now. The pirate aunt's kinda cute.

I don't know much about cobbler but I'm pretty sure you don't put it in a trough

*screaming interspaced by cobbler eating*

Why exactly is eating cobbler against the Hero's Code? Did the first person in the Mao clan really hate cobbler or something?

"If I could have that cobbler, I would do things to it that would make my ancestors cry in shame." JESUS CHRIST HOW'D THEY GET AWAY WITH THAT

"Buuut I can't!" Am I the only one who thinks he sounded like Thomas Sanders when he said that

"Has anyone told you that you have issues?"

(Mao ominously hovers into the kitchen with glowing eyes while creepy wails play in the background) Nothing to see here.

The thing Mao's eyes do when he goes 'Oooooo' like if you agree

Apparently Badgerclops' biggest fear is 'crushing self-doubt'. Oooooo.

Tbh I had the same reaction as Mao when the cobbler started talking

I don't like where this is going...

UNCLE JIM-JIM?!

OH NO IT'S THE SCRIBBLY EYES

Okay but if Mao passed out in the kitchen how'd he get in the living room? Badgerclops couldn't have moved him because then he would've known he ate the cobbler

And that's, what, the second table Badgerclops has destroyed?

Cool, HQ has security cam - oh nevermind.

If Badgerclops and Adorabat saw the cobbler on Mao's mouth why didn't they assume he ate it? It wouldn't be there otherwise

"Ah know ah wooould :)" Sassy Adora

"And you're going by yourself. That's okay, I'm emotional anyways."

NYAAAMN NYAAAMN NYAAAMN

So the Sugar Berry Fever is literal? Like, an actual condition caused by eating cobbler? Is that why it's against the Hero's Code? And why didn't Badgerclops and Adorabat get it?

DOUBLE JOINTED BABEY!!

BEARCLOPS HAS RETURNED for like 2 minutes.

I know we makes jokes about Mao going feral but he ABSOLUTELY went feral in this episode. CBS incarnate.

Ok that's really sad. Why would you make a child destroy the thing they love and force their siblings to watch?! At least one of the sisters looks a little hurt over it.

Aaand the Bull Monster's back of course. And it has the fever too? Suspicious.

I don't wanna say where my mind went here but you probably know what I mean

ADORABAT BARKING I'M

B!TCH WENT SUPER SAIYAN - I mean GOLDEN TRUTH

If only fighting your demons was as easy as shoving a cobbler down their throat.

Are we gonna see Golden Truth Mao in the future? I like the he

Mao probably crashed the moment they got home ngl

CAPTURED CLOPS

Those stealth boots look like weird cleats.

"Stealth boots aren't toys." "Then why are mine colored like toys?" "I found them at the toy store." Isn't that a contradiction-

He used to be a villain what did you expect

HE DIDN'T SAAAVE

If BC's chores are fixing the Aerocycle and grocery shopping, what do Mao and Adora do?

"I need to be away from you right now before I LOSE IT on you." Is that a callback to The Truth Stinks or Legend of Torbaclaun? Both?

Yay another BC song, with some casual boulder-chucking

Aww the Sky Pirates are swimming together. Fambly.

BADGERCLOPS GETTING ATTACKED BY A TITMOUSE IN THE BACKGROUND ASDFGHJK

Yes, follow the cute but suspicious puppet that totally isn't trying to murder you

What's with the glowy eyes and creepy autotune?

So running away and cry-singing into a lake is normal for Badgerclops? Damn why isn't HE in therapy

MOM-MOM

You heard it here folks, BC is canonically depressed

That was quick

HOUSE MUSIC ELECTRONICA! And can we get uhh Orangusnake in the 90s?

Dang they still don't have any food? What happened to Mama Ratarang's meatballs?

ORANGUSNAKE WHAT THE HECK

I know it's supposed to be kinda sad but the imaginary food is really shiny.

So he'll fix the Sky Pirate's ship but not the Aerocycle? Priorities, priorities...

Mao and Adora Have Become Ninjas

HOSS WATERBOARDING THE PUPPET I

*Jaws theme*

"I love house music!" Trust me, I know.

DON'T HURT YOUR CO-HERO AND KID BC LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS

They're gonna take the Pure Heart? Weren't they trying to destroy it a couple episodes ago? Oh god what if Badgerclops DID get the Ruby Pure Heart's powers... that'd be scary

I can see the Badgersnake fics now

Mao fixed the Aerocycle - oh nevermind.

VIVA LA REVOLUTION

"How'd you get over here so fast??" "Badgerclops, I walked over here. Casually." Reminds me of a girl I used to know.

Hmm. Should've known the Sky Pirates not eating anything would've had side-effects

So the Sky Pirates could've just. Bought groceries. But chose not to.

"Aren't you forgetting something BIG?!" "*sighs* Thank you for having me" I mean at least he's polite??

How'd he manage to plug the ship into Benny and Penny's house though? And how'd it WORK?!

"Those guys are a little too relaxed" -cuts to the Sky Pirates panicking-

FLYAWAY

Aww, family training exercises - OH NO ADORABAT

Nevermind she's okay she just chipped a tooth.

'Physics...recital?' Do 5-year-olds even study physics? Is Adorabat a child prodigy?

Adorabat can face giant monsters but can't stand the dentist? Is she secretly Goku?

Aww, Mao still has one of his old plushies and he kisses it

I like that book it looks like there's a gemstone on it

Meditating Melvin, because you can't have enough alliterative names.

STAHP IT >:(

(Insert ASCENDED meme here)

Adora: *masters a technique that should take years* ight i'mma head out

WHY WOULD YOU DROP HER FROM THAT HIGH? BAD PARENTING BC

OH GOD THEY'RE GONNA KILL HER. good thing her soul isn't in her body huh

Oh look it's the Meditating Melvin guy. And he gives me strong Wander over Yonder vibes.

Being in the Astral Plane causes you to lose your memories?? Dang Adora better get out fast

Time for a song that TOTALLY isn't a desperate cry for help!

Bugs, smoke bombs, and popping balloons with pikes. These are the things used to summon Adorabat.

Wait, how come Adorabat doesn't feel any of the pain she sustained when Mao and BC were trying to return her soul to her body?

Yaaay Adorabat got over her fear and is ready to go to the dentist - OH MY GOD THAT IS UNCALLED FOR

THAT ENDING I

Wait a minute. If Mao said the technique took years to master, but Adorabat and Badgerclops both achieved it in under a day...does that mean they're more spiritually inclined than him or there's something preventing him from ascending?

BAOST IN SHOW

If I'm honest, I misread the title as 'Boast in Show', which made more sense at the time.

Why is Snugglemagne playing discus by himself though? Where's Quinton?

OH $H!T IT'S BAO BAO

Snugglemagne: it's free dog (and royal pet show)

"You're my new best friend!" Ooh boy.

"If he leaves me a third time, who knows what could happen? I might explode, LITERALLY" Mood

Literally everyone in PHV knows Badgerclops, how does changing his ear shape and putting on a leash count as a disguise. The guards could tell who Penny and Benny were why not him

Adorabat has a pet fly asdgdgffkh

Hey Chet's back

I don't want to imagine all the weird fanart and fanfics that'll come from this scene. Actually from this episode in general.

Whoever wins keeps Bao AND BC?! WHAT THE F-

Aww bento - OH NO ADORA ATE THE FLY

THAT 'DON'T STOP ME NOW' PARODY

IT'S THE SUIT FROM THE CONCEPT ART!

"I'm not actually a pet." "I know." Then why didn't you say anything??

Yay, Mao and Bao are reunited - nevermind Bao just wanted BC's snacks.

HE ACTUALLY EXPLODED and took it shockingly well I'm surprised

Well Mao, you did it. You pissed off Snugglemagne again.

Those combo attacks are freaking GENIUS

I'm tempted to make a "Long live the king" joke when Bao Bao bites Snugglemagne's arm

"I TOLD YOU HE'S TRAITOROUS"

At last, Mao truly forgives Bao and is willing to let him go

"Until next time." Is Bao Bao gonna come back??

Snugglemagne tortures people by forcing them to listen to his harpsichord? Does that even count as torture? And is Mao gonna get them out?

#semi-live blogging #semi live blogging #sugar berry fever #CapturedClops #flyaway #baost in show

[rwbyremnants]

WARNING: BlackSun scene. Bathroom sex, doggy style, mirrors

=Chapter 37

"Ahhh, this makes me miss my tour bus."

The line was uttered by the diva once they had taken off and she could more comfortably relax into her chair. Point of fact, relaxing against Yang's soft, firm form. This time, she was dressed in much more comfortable attire; blue sweat capris, a white tank top with a blue flannel, and blue Toms. Of course, the yellow pick necklace didn't quite match with the colour scheme, but Weiss certainly didn't act like that bothered her.

"Woooow, this minibar is completely stocked!" Ruby was marveling as her head waggled back and forth inside it. "There's peanuts, chips - OOH, cookies! I need them in my face!"

"Have whatever you want, except alcohol," Weiss told her. "I won't be responsible for underage drinking, even if I've technically done it before."

Withdrawing with three packages of cookies, Ruby snorted, "Don't be silly, alcohol is gross. I mean, unless you want some, sis?"

In that moment, Yang noticed that both Weiss and Blake's attention was on her. No matter what response she could give, it would get a confused reaction from one of them. Mainly because until that point, if the offer for free alcohol was there, she took it without question. As long as she wasn't working, of course. Now there was something other than work stopping her. The main advice from doctors was to cut out alcohol completely, especially if she was taking the medication regularly. The fact she was on medication was a fact she had yet to tell Weiss.

"Nnnot for me. Orange soda will be cool though."

Ruby didn't miss a step, reaching in and getting her a soda and bringing it over. "Mkay! Sorry, just didn't wanna make you feel like I was judging."

"Oh, I would be judging, too," Weiss sighed as she relaxed again. "But only because of recent history; otherwise… everything in moderation, I think. Wouldn't you agree, Blake?"

"Yeah, I do," the brunette said, still a little weirded out by talking so casually with Weiss. "Handle your high. Pretty simple concept, I thi-"

But before she could finish her sentence, Weiss's ringtone went off, startling everyone. Glancing around the room with a raised eyebrow, she glanced at the screen…

And saw the name. Her face took on a wooden look, one that was a completely emotionless mask. Raising her head above her laptop screen, Winter caught the rather fearful gaze of her younger sister toward her phone, and looked back in concern.

"Who is it?"

"Oh boy." From her seat, and considering Weiss was still leant right against her, Yang could see the contact name herself. And swallowed in fear. They were both going to be in trouble apparently. "Good ol' Papa Schnee. Here to wreck the day."

As Weiss contemplated the phone and what might happen, Ruby returned to her seat next to Penny and slipped her headphones on. Blake took Sun's hand and began leading him off toward the back of the plane. Yang, however, remained where she was, and Weiss reached down with her other hand to squeeze her thigh in gratitude as she took a deep breath… and answered.

"Hello?"

"Weiss," same the stern voice from the other side the phone. Not unexpected, her father was always a professional man no matter what his emotion. Unfortunately, it made him very hard to read. "Winter told me you escaped with minor bruises and a few stitches, but I prefer to hear it for myself. Are you alright?"

"Yes, Father," she said stiffly; not unkindly or warmly, just blank. She was being careful, waiting to see how things went before she let herself feel or react strongly. "They say the cut on my eye might scar, and also I may experience lingering tinnitus, but other than that I'll be perfectly normal. Um… I'm sorry this happened, it must have worried you a lot."

"It did. I was watching the whole thing live when it happened and…" Suddenly he seemed to trail off, briefly sighing down the phone. It was typical behaviour when he struggled to talk about something, to simply cut it off mid conversation. But that was usually when he was furiously mad with one of them, or with an employee. "And… About the footage. The footage of you and Ms Xiao Long."

"Right. I, um… I know you must be very disappointed in me, and I'm even more sorry that you found out about it… like that." Then she felt her voice growing stronger, even though it was shaking. "But I'm in love with her, Daddy. There's nothing you can tell me about the Bible or my image or anything that could make me stop seeing her. Ever. She's my whole world. I almost lost her once and I’m going to make sure it doesn’t happen again. So if you don't want to talk to me, o-or see me anymore…" Her voice cracked, and she rushed to cover it. "I'll understand. But that is the situation."

In that moment, Yang was looking at Weiss with a small smile, and pulled her in toward her even more, gently stroking whatever skin she could with her thumb. This was a moment her girlfriend had been dreading for hours. Even with the constant reassurance that Yang would be there no matter what, along with Winter, Ruby, Penny, even Blake and Sun.

"You could never be a disappointment to me, Weiss. Not ever. I'm proud of both you, and Winter. And… for making you feel like I would be disappointed, I'm truly sorry."

"What?!" Weiss was completely thunderstruck. She recovered quickly; it was entirely possible that her father was simply trying to be diplomatic in the moment, and would come down harder on her later. He had in the past. "Really? Then… if I bring Yang to a family dinner, she'll be welcome?"

"After what I saw on the news, frankly I want to shake her hand myself. Miss Xiao Long is not who I expected to be a partner for you, perhaps, and I still can’t say I approve exactly, but… the fact she risked her life to protect you when she had no other motive to do so… She's proven how much she cares for you far more in those two minutes of footage than any boy could in years."

A strangled "oh" floated out of Weiss's throat as her eyes began to water, and she gripped Yang's leg even harder, biting her lip to keep from sobbing or crying out. Then after a few breaths, she managed to recover enough to speak to him again.

"I'm so happy," she finally said into the phone. "And we'll be there soon; we just want to take a little time off, after… well, after we were separated for a while. But we'll eventually get to Nashville, and then you can meet her — really meet her this time, and not just for a job interview!"

"Ah, that, I want to talk about, actually." Suddenly he seemed to perk back up again. This conversation was unreal. This wasn't the cold, bland business professional she was used to speaking to; this was a father. A father speaking to his daughter in a loving manner. Even if the topic was business. "A bonus has been deposited into her bank account as a ‘thank you’ for her bravery. And also enough to cover her medical bills — including her current prescriptions, as per Winter's request. And on top of that, she is officially re-hired."

"Ohh, that's so wonderful, Daddy!" she gushed, eyes sparkling. "I'll be sure to tell her all the good news — thank you so much! You…" Then she was sniffling again, even through her enormous smile. "I was so worried what you would think of me when you found out, and then… oh, I'm sorry I doubted you!"

"No no no, I'm sorry," he rebutted right away, interrupting before she could apologise for his own actions any longer. There was another sigh as he continued. "All these years, I've been talking about all those people like they were scum; blinded by my own ignorance. I had no idea that I was talking about the people I care about the most. I was a fool. Even if I don’t believe God approves of engaging in those behaviours… well, that’s no excuse for being so… judgmental about anyone who does. That isn’t my place."

"I remember," she muttered, but tried not to make her words sound as bitter as she felt. He was making the effort, but certain things needed to be cleared up. "And… I almost missed out on being with the woman I love because I agreed with you. Didn't have any good reason to challenge that. We were all ignorant, all us Schnees, weren't we?"

"Only one of us wasn't. And right now… you're reminding me more of her than anything has in years." There was another moment for him to pause, before he said rather quietly, "Your mother would be proud of you. And I’m certain she wouldn’t have needed to watch you nearly die on the news to have been happy for you and Yang."

That was far beyond anything Weiss had ever dared hope to hear from him on this subject. Sobbing freely now, she managed a "Daddy!" as she buried her face against Yang's chest, curling into a tight ball and clutching her phone close like it might try to escape if she let go, even for an instant.

From the other line, there was a faint sniff that could be heard by her. Even as Yang wrapped her arm around her to cuddle her in closer, and pet her shoulder however she could. She knew not what was spoken about, but considering her happy smile and sobbing, she assumed it was good.

"I'll let you get going," her father said softly. "Please tell Winter that I'll handle the expense of the flight. And… that I'm proud of her too, of course. Both of you take care for me."

"I w-will!" Weiss rushed to tell him, urgency in her voice. "I love you, Daddy, I- and thank you so much, I'm so relieved!" Sniffling, she wiped her eyes and added, "I'll s-see you soon!"

"Have a fantastic time."

And with that, the call was disconnected. All eyes were on Weiss, even Penny and Ruby's who had before both been focused on their phones when they tried to zone out. But now Yang tucked her in even closer, nuzzling her chin against the top of Weiss's head and speaking in a dramatic voice.

"Don't tell me: I've been disowned, you must leave me immediately, our love is forbidden!!!"

"Shut up," she grunted with a weak little laugh. “You overheard more than enough to know that’s not true.” Then she pushed up to slam her lips down against her lover's, craving the contact and reassurance. Even if the call had a favourable result, she still felt like a raw nerve, and probably would for a few more minutes.

"Back to my phone," Ruby muttered, turning away from the two of them.

"Aaaand my laptop." Though it was delivered with her usual stern manner, it seemed Winter was just as overjoyed as Weiss was. Even a laptop screen in front of her couldn't hide the smile that was permanently on her face, nor the occasional sipping of her drink.

Yang of course had no choice other than to kiss right back, just as hungrily and needy. That was until she began to realise something.

"Hey, wait a minute… Where'd Blake and Sun go?"

"Whew," Blake sighed as they eased the lavatory door shut. "Man, that is not a conversation I wanted to overhear." The look on Weiss's face had been more than enough to make her want to evacuate the main seating area as smoothly as possible. They were making a habit of that now.

"I know,” her boyfriend sighed from the door while watching Blake begin to pace. “I think we know what's coming, but I don't wanna be in there when the shouting starts." The situation was all too familiar to their travels here. Only this time, they weren't running from a potentially traumatic conversation; only a rant from Weiss to her father that was well overdue.

But that provided the ultimate distraction. Unknown to Blake, he slyly hit the lock to the door before he paced over to her.

"Hope it goes alright," she sighed as his hands found her waist, letting her own touch the backs of his knuckles. "Really too bad her dad's so… conservative. I mean, imagine coming out on the news!"

"Not the most convenient path, I gotta admit." His head went to lean against her shoulder as she stared blankly outward. It seemed as though it was a perfectly coincidental occurrence, but he pulled her waist in closer toward his, until they were completely pressed against one another. There wasn't much talking from him, just actions. Typical boy.

A pleased hum issued from deep in her throat at the warmth along her back. It was quite a comfort to have him there, and she tilted her head just enough to leave a gentle kiss on his cheek. "At least your parents won't have to deal with you 'coming out' since you have me. And I have boobs and all that stuff."

"What they don't know won't hurt ‘em,” he chuckled against her neck. “Like you said, right now, it's not an issue. I'm an undercover bi…" But straight away, his lips pressed into the soft, smooth skin of her neck. After so many months of dating, he knew Blake all too well, and knew that her neck was quite often her weakness. At least for getting things moving.

As he had predicted, a little groan of enjoyment slipped out of her before she even had a chance to grab on and stop it. Then she giggled and said, "You never did give me a straight answer about Yang hopping on your back… not that I guess it matters anymore."

Shrugging his shoulders, his lips only left the neck for a short moment. "Maybe, but I'm not gonna deny… thought's kinda hot." And then the lips returned, pressing against her skin again and again. Only this time, the hands were heading further inward from her hips, gradually grinding his waist against her backside.

"Mmhhh…" Blake's eyes became heavy-lidded as she began to realize that he was winding her up on purpose. Even if she didn't mind the sensations in the slightest, they were catching her off her guard. "Sun, wh-what are you doing? We're thirty thousand feet up in the air!"

"Really? Gosh, I didn't notice…" One hand floated even further inward. Now that she knew what was going on, he didn't particularly have to be subtle anymore. And that was obvious as he instead pressed it into her crotch, pushing inward with far more pressure to one finger so it sank into place. "Forgive me, I’m kinda distracted."

Not much of that was necessary before it began to drag groans out of Blake that she didn't mean to verbalise. Her hands went to the countertop and gripped on either side of the sink as he teased her, hips pushing back into his with every stab of his finger through the cloth of her shorts.

"Y-yeah, I guess so," she panted, glancing at his mop of hair in the mirror. That was the best she could see of him from that angle. Well, two could play at that game… "You started getting pretty distracted when… I brought up Yang fucking your ass."

That interrupted the kisses for a moment, enough for him to back away and simply look toward the mirror with an expression of pleasant disbelief. Even though the actions below on her shorts were continuing, he smugly talked as though nothing were happening at all. "Really? You aren't ever gonna let that go, are you?"

"Not a chance." She grinned as if teasing him, but in truth, she had actually really been turned on by the idea of all three of them ending up in the bedroom together. "I'm… actually thinking about buying a certain something. When we get back. Would… you want me to buy it for you?"

For a moment, he seemed to ponder on that question. Tilting his head and raising an eyebrow. Not that it stopped the teasing and poking below, nor the grinding against her backside. It wasn't until he saw the blush growing even worse on her cheeks he looked straight into the eyes of her reflection, smirking lowly.

"Let me take you to the mile-high club, and I'll let you do whatever you want when we're back home."

Another, much louder moan escaped her at this promise from him. But she wasn't done winding him up; only done resisting his advances. As she arched her back and ground her backside right up against the firmness that was beginning to present itself in the front of his jeans, she licked her lips before she spoke.

"Really? You'd… let me buy a cock? Strap it on and lay you back…"

"Now that is even hotter than imagining Yang do it." He was still relatively calm about the matter, even as he felt himself getting harder as Blake ground right back against him. He himself couldn't resist much longer, and the hand left her crotch as instead both reached across to unzip her shorts. But he continued to grind, and continued to glance occasionally at those amber eyes in the mirror.

"I'm not afraid to admit the idea of my gorgeous girl topping the fuck outta me turns me on."

"Nnhhh!" she groaned out, throwing back her head against his shoulder as he thrust up against her, beginning to undress her right then and there. Of course, he had expressed an interest in being submissive to her a few other times; small things, like when she would bite his nipples playfully he would ask her to do it again instead of shoving her off, like other men would have. Even admitting he wasn't completely opposed to Yang spreading his cheeks and taking him was only in theory.

But this was beginning to grow into something Blake could not so easily forget. Sun really wanted to be taken like that? She'd only tried that a few times on Yang, both before and after transition… and had mixed results. This was a whole new ballgame.

Once the fly was open, he made quick work and pushed them and her panties down below her waist as quick as he could. And then right away, straight to his own. Although in the reflection he appeared calm and collected even still, the thought of Blake actually putting that plan into action was doing wonders to arouse him further. Sure, the subject of Yang doing it was intriguing, but Blake… His own girlfriend could do practically anything and he would willingly accept. She and him both knew it.

Although suddenly another thought came to mind when he quickly patted his pockets, and then froze. "Shit… I forgot the condom. Fuck."

"Damn it!" she hissed, actually pounding the countertop with her fist. "Well… never mind it this time, but please don't make a habit of this, okay?"

"You sure? I mean, we've never done this before…" When she only nodded, then pressed his lips back against her neck again, and continued to push his own shorts and underwear down. God he was so ready for this already, able to feel his fully erect length lightly bounce in the air now it was free. Eager to bury itself in Blake's lovely body.

"Mmm… I can't believe we're doing this here at all," she whispered as she felt his arousal brushing against her suddenly-bare hindquarters, making the skin prickle with gooseflesh. It was so odd to feel him preparing to enter her without any protection, but she knew she was mostly covered. The way she had been with Yang.

In reality, there was no longer any reason for Blake to be so hardline about this now that she had lapsed with her old friend. Why shouldn't Sun experience the same thing? To her, there was scarcely any difference in sensation; it still felt phenomenal either way. However… there was a slight bit more realness to it, a warmth and comfort from the direct contact that wasn't present with the latex. And she was about to share that with her boyfriend for the first time… in an airplane lavatory! Were they crazy?

Moment of truth. He moved one hand aside to guide his length toward her entrance. Usually he would continue for a lot longer, tease her until she was practically begging for him to go on. But they were on the clock. Someone was bound to notice if they'd been gone for too long. So he immediately pushed inside, barely wasting any time for him to go all the way in, giving a shaky moan when his hips met hers again.

Using all the effort she had at her disposal, she managed to only grunt and wail through her teeth instead of literally screaming. It was so good, so raw! It had been a few days since she'd enjoyed anything like this — a long few days, at that. And nothing helped her get over the hump like having Sun take her from behind so roughly that her knees shook, her lungs felt like they were on fire from her rapid breathing. His length pulsing between her inner walls was everything she needed.

And he got straight to work. Once one of his hands moved straight to her hip, holding her firmly still as he began to pump in and out in a quick pace. The other pressed into her breast, grasping it firmly to stimulate her further, quicker. It was a common occurrence that in the times they rushed, he was often the one to finish first, and have to finish Blake by hand. Now, he didn't want this to be the case.

As predicted, the hand grasping her vulnerable chest was more than enough to double her enjoyment of the delicious friction below. He was like an animal! True, they did things fast and hard once in awhile, but most nights they liked to take their time — at least more than this! But they didn't have that luxury, even on a luxury aircraft.

"Sun… you're so hard, shhhhit! I… god, I should talk about fucking your ass more often!"

All her man could do was groan and grunt as he kept pumping against her backside wildly. As usual, he concentrated on it fully, continuing to grasp and grope and deliver as much as he could to her. From how he knew Blake, he knew she liked her chest being touched, and her neck being bitten. Although he wasn't doing the latter, he could hear her enjoyment.

But he wanted to see it too. Looking back toward the mirror at their reflection again, he watched as she kept staring upward, eyes rolling back in pleasure. Maybe she should see as well. "Look at me…"

The command shot an odd little thrill down her spine. He wanted her to watch herself climax. Wasn't that strange? But once she caught sight of herself being slammed into from behind, she couldn't deny the sight did something to her. Still unsure if it was something good or something awful, she kept doing as he asked, watching herself receive an endless amount of internal friction.

Growling in pure joy, he continued his relentless assault on her hips, watching her expression in the mirror grow even more dazed by the minute. Just as his own was. But he loved it, they both did. They'd waited too long between sessions to want anything else. When his hand left her hip to trail inward again, one finger managing to find its way between her legs to that small nub just above where he was thrusting, he began to circle it. He was determined for them both to finish in this venture, instead of needing to take care of one of them later.

"NnAAHhh, no st- SHIT! Sun!!" Blake didn't want him to stop, she knew - but she hadn't been expecting him to up the game, not for a mere quickie! Then again, he had always been so attentive… it was one of the things she liked most about him. "I'm… gonna do this for you," she kept telling him as she panted noisily, watching both of their reflected expressions getting closer to the end. "When we get b-back, I'll- NNNHH!! I'll claim you so hard, and I'll make you come! Yeah!"

He licked his lips. "Whatever you- ah! Whatever you want, babe… I-I'm yours!" And gradually he felt his legs beginning to quiver, in a similar style to Yang's when she was close. Only difference from her was he didn't have the higher pitched moans to match it; just much heavier and much faster breathing as he got closer and closer. Much of that was now to do with the mental image of his girlfriend taking him, as mad as it was to envision it himself.

"OH FUCK! I… I'm coming… I'M COMING! SUN!!!"

Fingernails scrabbled at the slick surface of the marble countertop in the lavatory as Blake felt herself tighten around the thick length sliding in and out of her from behind, the clit beneath Sun's relentless fingers throbbing. Maybe it had been a quickie, and maybe dirty and cheap and tawdry… but they had done it. That orgasm definitely meant she had joined the mile-high club.

Just as he delivered a few firmer thrusts into her body, Sun felt himself coming to that same end. Twitching and quivering, he pulled her firmly against him one more time, allowing his length to throb inside her body. It'd been his idea to make them honorary members; ever since that first trip when the subject came up, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

But now it had happened, be backed off from her hips at last, drawing himself out from her body to begin the process of getting dressed again. But not before leaving a kiss on her cheek. "Damn, you enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"Y-yeah, it was… wow," she told him shakily, clenching her thighs together. If there was anything she'd learned from the couple of times she and Yang had gone without protection, it was that there was a slight chance of… drippage afterward. She didn't want to run the risk of it showing up as an embarrassing dark spot in her white shorts later, so she went to the roll of toilet paper.

"Yeah… Wow." Taking a few sheets from her to clean himself up, he made light work of whatever was left on himself, soon tugging his underwear and shorts back up to their usual position again. No one need ever know of their quick romp in the bathroom, especially not the other guests on the plane. But while Blake cleaned herself, he peppered her cheek with kisses again. A usual occurrence, him being overly affectionate just after an orgasm.

The kisses finally shifted her expression from shock and worry to a satisfied smile, even a giggle when he got her right under the ear. "Stop," she snorted, pretending to shove him away as she finally finished and tossed the paper in the toilet. "You're terrible." Then she turned to take his lips. "Good and terrible."

"You know it." He grinned, pressing one more kiss against her cheek as he helped her with her own panties and shorts, reaching around to zip them straight up afterwards. Yet again, like nothing ever happened. But they would always have the memories of it, no matter what was going on outside the door.

Speaking of which… "What do you think they'll do if it's bad news? Yang'll be making plans to punch him in the face, right?"

A heavy groan issued from his girlfriend. "God, well there goes that afterglow." Still, she leaned back against him, into his warmth as she thought about it. "Yeah… I can see Yang doing that. Now that she's got Weiss back, I don't think she'll let anybody mess with her no matter who they are."

Nodding against her, he sighed. "True… but hey, at least we got Winter on our side. Y'know, she actually seems… okay. At least now that she's talked to Yang."

"Yeah… about that." Her voice got much quieter as she turned toward the door. "Should we do something about what she said about… you know, the thing with her 'taking Weiss's place' or whatever? That doesn't sound okay. None of our business, and I know she talked it out with Yang, but… I dunno. It’s fucked."

He shrugged his shoulders a moment, looking down lazily as he continued to cuddle. "It's an awkward situation… She might not want anyone to talk about it besides Yang. Safer bet would be to play it by ear, go off what Yang says. Really funny how they trusted each other after how they started, am I right?"

For a few seconds, Blake just nodded. Then she took a deep breath as she seemed to decide the subject was closed for the moment.

"You really trust Yang a lot now," she observed, turning to lean in against his firm body, smiling coyly up at him. "Almost enough to let her into your back door, huh?"

"Don't push your luck." He glared back at her, but was barely able to maintain it for long, and instead ended up smiling softly, only occasionally taking deep breaths as he still came down from his high. "She's your best friend, of course I trust her. And now that she's taking care of her addictions, I trust her even more. But my back door is only for you."

"Okay, okay, I'll get off that, I promise," Blake chuckled as she kissed his nose. "Though I'm totally serious about the strap-on. What colour do you want? You strike me as a… green kind of guy, maybe? Or purple, that could be pretty hot…"

"Holy shit, you're actually considering it." He couldn't help but begin to chuckle as he continued to hold her closely, wearing a completely ludicrous smile on his face. But after some thought, he tilted his head, seriously contemplating. "Purple. Purple suits you better then green."

"Yeah, it suits me but it's your ass the thing's gonna be-"

Just at that instant, there was a knock at the door. Blanching, Blake turned back to call out, "Wh-who is it?!"

"I gotta pee!" the voice of Ruby Rose called through the door. "What's taking so long in there? Did you have the fried food at the airport?!"

Remaining completely silent, Sun turned around to stare at the door. Of course, it was to be expected that someone would interrupt them. He was just glad it was now rather than while they were in the middle of things.

"Ah shit," he whispered. "They're gonna suspect now."

"Well… okay, just follow my lead." So Blake quickly washed her hands, then popped open the door. When Ruby opened her mouth to speak, then blinked to see Sun in there with her, she rushed to say, "Sorry! We, uh, wanted to get out of the way of that conversation she was about to have with her dad. Right, Sun?"

"Y-yep! Plus we… needed to talk about stuff of our own, like who's in what room when we get there, anyways. So… sorry, didn't mean to stall you!" He rambled on and on, clearly far more than usual considering the funny look Blake was giving him. And the equally confused look Ruby was, too.

"R-iiight…" Her eyes narrowed slightly, and then she sort of gestured with one hand. "Anyway… um, Weiss is off the phone, and um… this pee is still kind of… waiting to go somewhere…"

"OH! God, sorry - yeah, let's go, Sun!" Ducking her head in shame, she dragged him behind her out of the bathroom and away from the poor, suffering girl. All the while as they paced back, Sun couldn't help but keep the ridiculous grin on his face; even when they returned back to their large couch seat.

And that certainly earned them a rather concerned look from Yang, who also raised an eyebrow when she looked back in their direction. Both she and Weiss were still cuddled up, and she'd managed to rest both arms just against Weiss's stomach. Even if it was still in its huge cast, Weiss insisted.

"So, what did you two get up to?"

"What, we aren't 'up' enough already?" Blake joked feebly. “Airplane. And all.”

"That was atrocious," Weiss sighed, but there was no true bite to her words. That much told them already that the talk with her parent had at least gone relatively well, otherwise the aura in the cabin would have been dank and oppressive.

"Hey, Yang does way worse. So… How'd it go?"

"Really… really well, actually," Yang told them, squeezing Weiss a little closer with her able hand as she leant her head against the top of hers, her face a look of utter contentment. "He actually apologised for being so ignorant in the past to her. On top of that; guess who has her job back again?"

"That's great!" Blake said, trying her best to sound genuinely excited for her friend. And to her own surprise… she was. It was going to hurt saying goodbye, but she'd be content in the knowledge that Yang would end up exactly where she wanted to be.

"He didn't have to give you that job back, you know," Weiss said airily. "You could have been my trophy wife."

"And miss the chance of maybe being able to carry a taser? No, thank you," Yang teased, kissing her on the top of the head. But for a moment, she looked back at Blake. And was able to see the slightly saddened look on her face. She and her both knew why.

"Hey, I'm gonna miss being roommates, too… truth or dare, bad movie nights, the works."

The tiny bit of sadness persisted, but Blake elbowed Sun and said, "See there? Told you she loved watching crappy movies with you."

"Everybody loves crappy movies, even you do and you know it," Sun teased, squeezing her a little closer as well.

But Yang continued to look toward them both, still wearing a soft smile. In all her time as Blake's roommate, Sun didn't stay over for too long. And when he did, it was only for a day or two. Whether or not that was for Yang's benefit or just their normal routine, she didn't know. But from the times Blake spoke about Sun, it seemed she really cared for him. Maybe there was a cure for the loneliness she'd feel once Yang was gone.

"You could always get Monkey Boy to move in with you when I'm gone. Even if you banish him to the spare room."

That brought Blake up short. She blinked, looking between them, still leaned up against her boyfriend. "Um… well, I don't know. Would you want that? Moving in with me?"

"I'm surprised you don't charge me rent with how much I’m already over there. It'd barely be a difference." Although he meant it jokingly, shown as he laughed, he noticed her expression not changing. She only looked back up at him, continuing to smile. Which made his laughter slow to a stop. "Wait… seriously? You actually want me to move in?"

"Sometimes it gets cold at night," she deftly avoided the question. But the implication was clear: she was entirely serious. "Besides, you can't keep living with your parents forever. Or you could, but they might start to get tired of you hanging around.

"Charming. I thought you liked my parents, yet you think they would be so mean they'd abandon their own son!" he lightly chuckled. Only this time, squeezed her closer again and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "If you’re serious, I'm totally in, dude. Really! Like, I already wanna be with you all the time, anyway."

Sighing at the soft kiss, Blake grinned back. "Great! So… I mean, we can give it a trial run if you want; you can move in for a week or two, and then if we're still doing okay with that, we'll… get the rest of your stuff!" Just like that, she had gone from saddened about Yang to excited for this life change. Just the soothing balm her bereaved heart needed.

"Careful, she has her hooks in you now," Weiss teased Sun very gently.

"Yeah, well… ugh, this is gonna sound cheesy as fuck, but I'm more than happy to be reeled in. Get it? Hooks, fish… y’know?"

"Ugh, you're right, that was cheesy – and coming from me, that’s pretty bad," Yang agreed, at first looking over to the two of them disgustedly. But after a while, that was beginning to soften to a much more placid smile. It seemed like things for Blake wouldn't be all about missing her after all, and the two of them could keep going as best friends without the awkwardness of a second heartbreak. They could both build their own separate futures.

"MAN, that was a good pee!" Ruby announced when she returned to the cabin, patting her stomach. “Ever have one so great it feels like you’re ten pounds lighter afterward? Well, spoiler warning – this was one of those!” When they all stopped dead to stare at her, she slowed to a halt and asked, "What? …Seriously, guys, what?"

#White Noise #freezerburn fanfic #black sun #black sun smut #rwby fanfiction #rwbyremnants

[noitsbecky127]

rebecca watches tos: a piece of the action

damn the horizon’s report was real delayed huh

jim just drags spock and bones to the turbolift like “we’re beaming down!”

looks suspiciously like 20th century earth

a real weird 20th century earth though

is this planet mafia or something

ooh pretty dresses

the boss has a fucking POOL TABLE

OHHHH it’s planet chicago run by gangsters

so someone on the horizon forgot a book they were reading about chicago gangsters and for the past hundred years this planet has emulated it

and now they want phasers. stakes just got higher

the communicators always gotta be compromised somehow

this is so wild bc it’s like someone spliced a gangster movie with star trek

I’m not actually familiar with Chicago gangsters ngl

what the fuck is kirk’s goal here

these are the most convoluted rules and I am very impressed that he’s managing to make them all up on the spot

that’s right, get fucked chicago gangster man

oh well that went downhill for jim pretty quickly

oh god spock and bones have to work together

everyone on planet gangster wants to make a deal with the enterprise, wow

meanwhile jim is just like “please make peace”

what is he going to do with the radio components

oxmyx is so incomprehensive of the idea of a guy not trusting him after he threatened him and his bf and his sort-of friend

oh christ, now they’re working with him

what the fuck is jim doing

I have no idea how that worked out

yeah oxmyx betrayed them, kinda saw that coming

eyyy it’s jim here to save the day!

spock admitted logic wasn’t the answer for once. everyone mark the stardate

jim is learning chicago gangster slang, love that for him

“get out of the clothes” out of context that sure is a line

jim and spock look wonderful in chicago gangster clothes

and now they gotta learn to drive lmao

unfortunately jim is very bad at it

title drop!!!

why not just phaser those two right there

god I CANNOT take this episode seriously, it’s such a bizarre concept

ok so there’s a rule of no interference even now, and yet interfering is all the enterprise crew does lmao

kirk and spock with their feet up in chicago gangster outfits is a deeply comical sight

I love Scotty and Uhura just slowly figuring this out

there’s 11 minutes left in the episode, something could still go wrong

kirk: spock, I’ve got the hang of [driving] narrator: he did not, in fact, have the hang of driving

wtf is a penny-ante operator

I love how quickly Jim’s picked up the lingo

spock is just rolling with his new role as gangster second-in-command

and now the gangsters are like “but what if there IS no crew 🤨🧐”

oh gunfight time

damn the enterprise’s phasers are insane

so rather than doing anything about how they’re planet gangster they’re just uniting planet gangster lmao

you know what, if it works it works

ohhh ok they’re gonna SLOWLY do stuff about how they’re planet gangster

was that a SMILE I just saw from spock

will people stop leaving things on this planet

this was such a weird episode lmao, I loved it

#star trek tos #star trek the original series #star trek liveblog #star trek tos liveblog #star trek the original series liveblog #liveblogging #a piece of the action

[jumphq]

Ask Matt: What’s up with All Those Instruments?

In this new (and hopefully interesting) “Ask Matt” series of posts, I’m going to be answering questions from the public at large. Some of these questions might be directed to other members of the band, but I’ll still be the one answering them. Sorry.

Tonight’s question comes from Alison Kendrick, of Charlotte, NC, and hopefully answers a query from Lindsay Badeaux of Chicago, IL: 

“Why do you play so many instruments? How did you learn to play them all? And when have you had time to do so?”

Thanks, Alison & Lindsay! Great question(s), and ones that I have been asked a lot, so it’s great that I’ll now be able to send people this handy URL for the answer!

The “Why” of this topic is easy to answer: I “suffer” from ADHD. I was officially diagnosed in my 30s, but of course have had it since I was little and my way of coping was to try and get my hands into as many things as possible. ADHD can be great. You’re never bored. You seem to know lots and lots of things. You can’t really become the master of anything, because focusing is extremely difficult and – ooh! Shiny! – but it makes you great at parties because you never have a lull in topics you know a tiny bit about. Side note: if anyone reading this knows of and trusts an ADHD coach, please send ‘em my way. 

I can make decent noises on: the tin whistle, the recorder, the Irish flute, the accordion, harmonica, clarinet, guitar, mandolin, 5-string mandolin, ukulele, banjo, and a few others. How did I learn these instruments? Probably the easiest way for me to answer that one is to break things down by instrument. 

Tin Whistle/Recorder: 

I start here because the first instrument I ever played was a plastic recorder, given to all the kids in my elementary class to teach the very basics of music. You might have gotten one, too. I loved it, and was the only kid in my class that stuck with the recorder. The recorder is a flute that evolved from the tin (penny) whistle, a simple wind instrument that is tied to Ireland and Scotland. If you can play the recorder, you can make sounds on the tin whistle. I got my first tin whistle in Virginia at an “old timey shoppe” and it sat on a shelf for a long time. In college I started playing traditional Irish tunes on the whistle with my Irish roommate Christopher. I fell in love with Irish music and it’s still my go-to practice when I just want to play. 

Harmonica: 

My grandfather gave me a box of harmonicas one Christmas when I was around 11. It was the kind of weird gift John Frank (our name for our very tall, very austere grandfather) would give us: after all the flashy, fun toys there was one completely unwrapped thing that we were supposed to open. Usually pottery, or Russian stacking dolls, or other trinkets from he and my grandmother Honey’s trips around the world. Stuff that little kids didn’t really appreciate, in other words. 

And I didn’t especially appreciate the harmonicas, to be honest. A box of harmonicas is such a strange thing to give a little kid, but I love that he didn’t just give me one. He gave me close to a dozen, in a bunch of different keys. The harmonica is a diatonic instrument, which means that you can only play a range of keys with one. If you’re in a band you need quite a few to be able to play songs in many different keys. I have about twenty accessible at any given time: major and minor tunings. 

It’s normal to give a kid a harmonica in the key of C, say. They can learn how to play, see if they like it, and if so, they can buy any other key they need. But John Frank gave me a full set. It was as if he knew that I’d grow up and use all of them all the time. 

Melodica:

The next year John Frank gave me a melodica that had belonged to him. It was a Hohner, but a very old one, extremely well made. Very little plastic on it…the thing had a gorgeous wood frame and Bakelite keys. It was still working (mostly) when we recorded Licorice Tea Demos, but the reeds finally gave out, and I spent a LOT of pre-internet time trying to fix it, to no avail. The new melodicas, honestly, are extremely disappointing. Cheaply made, cheaper sounding, not in tune, and they don’t last very long. As the US president says: “Sad!”. 

Clarinet: 

I thought that the clarinet was similar to the recorder, and I had to choose an instrument that I wanted to play in middle school. It isn’t that similar to the recorder, but the clarinet ended up being a big part of my life for many years. I know now that it was just a “gateway instrument” to the rest of my life; playing it allowed me to get on stage and perform. I was accepted into art school for clarinet. I don’t think I was ever really in love with it, and never miss playing it, but I’m grateful to it for setting me on a very interesting life path. And I still get psyched when I hear a recording of Mozart K622. That adagio is sweet as hell!

Accordion:

I asked to have piano lessons when I was small. It looked fun to me. I had a great teacher until she moved away and then I had a sexy but unpleasant teacher that replaced her and I stopped taking piano. My left hand is shit but you don’t really need a good left hand when playing piano accordion. Note to people that want to play the accordion but are scared of the left-hand bass buttons: don’t worry about ‘em. Find a bass player instead and get on with your life. 

The first accordion I bought was during the making of the Licorice Tea Demos, and I bought one because my grandfather’s melodica was falling apart (see above). Buying accordions can be a sickness; I have owned a total of four in my time and they’re really hard to give away. Would anyone like to buy an accordion?

Mandolin:

Jay and Ward played guitar. I wanted something to play that would allow me to “jump around” and “rock out”. They didn’t want to have another guitar in the band, so I picked up a mandolin. Of all the instruments I have learned, this was the toughest, because I had no concept of stringed instruments. But you work through it. Later I commissioned a fellow in the depths of South Carolina to build me a custom electric mandolin with five strings (hot pink, SG style) and I still love that abomination. People always wonder what The Abomination is. Based on the way it’s tuned, I suppose you should rightly call it “an electric piccolo cittern”. 

You may notice some patterns forming. Playing an instrument is like learning languages. If you learn one, fine. Learn two pretty well, and the third one is easier to pick up. Four, five, six…they’re all variations on a theme. 

My love of playing the recorder led to picking up the tin whistle easily. Clarinet isn’t that similar, but once I learned how to play it, I was able to play other reed instruments like the saxophone and oboe. Taking piano let me be competent enough on the melodica, and the accordion is basically a melodica that you don’t blow into. The harmonica was tough. But you can fit one in your pocket and I had a whole box of them lying around. The good news is that I can pick up a button accordion or concertina and get around based on what I know about the harmonica. Mandolin was also a stretch, but once I developed some calluses I’ve been able to play the banjo, guitar, and bass guitar. 

The best way to learn a new instrument, especially if you have ADHD? Make it hard to ignore. Put it in a pocket, on the living room table, visible on a shelf. You’ll find that you’re practicing way more than you think, just picking it up and playing for a minute or two. A minute or two can lead to half an hour, or six. You can trick yourself into learning things! This is how I finally cracked the embouchure for the Irish flute. 

That should be the “why”, “when” and “how” of your question! If you have any follow ups on this topic, or actually do know an ADHD coach, you can write me at [email protected] or [email protected]. 

Next question!

#askMatt

[pickingstars-blog1]

Replies under cut:

welcome-to-my-mind-shed a réagi à votre billet “the problem with series 10, for me, is that it never ultimately...”

I really loved series 10, right up there with series 9 in my opinion. I hate it when I don't like something and I wish I would. I'm sorry you didn't like series 10 very much. All I can say is I hope series 11 is all that you wish it to be. :)

Thank you! I’m glad you loved series 10! I didn’t dislike it at all, it was just a bit sort of...same old same old. I’d have just loved something self-contained but meaty and emotionally complex, which is something I think every other series has given us! I’m pumpppeeed for series 11! It’s probably a year away and yet...I want everything now. New companion reveal/Thirteen’s costume reveal/filming photos. It’s all coming and I’m beyond excited!!

steamedbunns a réagi à votre billet “the problem with series 10, for me, is that it never ultimately...”

i find that s10 is my favourite capaldi season, probably because i had more of an open mind when watching it than I did with his earlier ones. but yeah, I don't think I'd actively go back and rewatch episodes. I wouldn't buy the dvd set like I did for most of elevens episodes. they were fun but not particularly gripping.

Yeah that’s kinda the way I see it too. It was fun, I had a good time, but nothing substantially gripping, (World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls notwithstanding!). For me, my fav Capaldi series is s9. Regardless of what you think of the stories themselves, (I think the Zygon two-parter is well-intentioned, but messy at best, insulting at worst...), series 9 did something super interesting and different with it’s structure, and took a lot more risks with it’s storytelling throughout, even Sleep No More had a good high-concept Black Mirror-esque premise, while, naturally, Heaven Sent was a huge risk worth taking, and the ‘forgettable’ The Woman Who Lived is at least emotionally driven and stylistically unique thanks to its lyrical dialogue ...  plus like. I’m a sucker for that Twelve/Clara dymanic. Plus that glorious finale. Plus that Twelve development. It’s just wonderful to me!

lullapiee a réagi à votre billet “the problem with series 10, for me, is that it never ultimately...”

I understand you here. I was a bit 'meh' with some of the episodes this season and had no wish to re-watch them- namely the Empress of Mars and Knock-Knock. I'm not sure why this is but I just didn't find them that gripping and so the element of re-watching them isn't there. However, I am warming to the season by forcing myself to re-watch from the start. I'm hoping this time around I might get a better feel for the episodes and might enjoy them more.

I’ll certainly do that too at some point! I mean you’re talking to the person who agressively hated the Moffat era until they did a rewatch post The Time of the Doctor and then, well, everything changed! I absolutely find that when removed from the in-the-run-up hype and the week-to-week...waiting...things feel so much better so fingers crossed I find something super memorable in it too! 

gallifreyland a réagi à votre billet “the problem with series 10, for me, is that it never ultimately...”

I feel exactly this way too! It was fun while I watched it and I loved the finale, but the middle episodes just feel kind of average to me in retrospect. I think it might be because this series was a bit lighter on the 'powerful emotions' stuff – all the eps you mention above have a powerful emotional element, whether it's fear or love or the sadness of saying goodbye. S10 it seems saved it all up for the finale (which was great!) but it sort of suffered around the middle imo.

Yes exactly! The emotional element was missing. I think a lot of that has to do with the side characters tbqh? Heather/Penny/Erica/Hazran are the only side-protagonists I remember, (All four of whom are Moffat written so like..no surprises there!), And from them like...Heather and Hazran were from the opener/finale and...Penny and Erica are just dropped for no explicable reason like you would think given the story is a 3-parter that they’d have both played a role in The Lie of the Land but...nope! Toby Whithouse just...drops the ball so hard from literally every angle that even the story-specific side characters just flat-out...dissapear! Maybe I’d add the LGBT+ teen Romans from The Eaters of Light to the mix, but I’d have to watch it again. Without memorable, consistent side-characters with episode arcs then where are our emotional hooks? It can’t come from Bill and Twelve every time! Where is our Nancy or Elton Pope or Joan Redfern or Jenny or Liz 10 or Rita or Merry Gejelh or Ada Gillyflower or Kate Stewart or Ashildr? I feel like we really didn’t...get one...this series...which is probably a massive reason why it’s so eh in my mind!

florencedrunk a réagi à votre billet “the problem with series 10, for me, is that it never ultimately...”

Ultimately, I think the problem is that they trusted the Monks Trilogy to be that, but because of The Lie of the Land the previous two episodes (which are rather good episodes, in my opinion) deflated like one of Oswin's soufflés.

Agree 1000% - Extremis is wonderful, and Pyramid is at the very least conceputally interesting with some great set up for potentially iconic villains. yet. it’s totally. utterly. wasted. in The Lie of the Land, which is effectively one of the worst episodes of Doctor Who ever, in my book. So much potential squandered. So many plot points just? leading nowhere, (is it ever explained why the Monks can cure The Doctor’s sight? Or where they come from? Or...anything about them beyond ‘ooh here they are for a 10 second montage of them doing vague...electrical...stuff’, they literally do nothing in their big climactic episode 3 finale. It’s laughable). so much...character assassination...(Why is Bill so trigger-happy this episode?  Not just in shooting her teacher/mentor/best friend 4 times but in??? wanting to beat up Nardole? Like?? Where the fuck did that come from?? You could try and argue 6 months of opressive despotism but when the entire point of the episode is about how Bill manages to hang on to her good-old-happy-go-lucky self despite all that it just makes no sense! What part of wanting to “beat the shit out" of Nardole is in any way in character for Bill Potts? And then there’s...The Doctor...merrily standing by while the human population is tortured and exterminated by invaders under an opressive reigime, and merrily partaking in said murderous opressive reigime before...calling the human race “annoying” for??? forgetting everything that happened? and running off to NASA totally guiltless of the months of mass torture he was complicit in.) Not even Missy can salvage it, thanks to some horrendously unconfident, patronising, writing. “You’re so Caliente!  That’s Spanish for hot!” yeah thanks for explaining the joke that was totally neccessary! (that said the “pretty shapes in the smoke/your version of good” speech is A* A* so...) But yeah no overall that episode is just a hot mess...

#series 10 #the lie of the land #m #welcome-to-my-mind-shed #steamedbunns #lullapiee #gallifreyland #florencedrunk #replies

[fountainpenguin]

So... In your "Zone Swap" idea, does Jazz figure out Danny's secret like she does in the main series? And if so, does she try to help keep his secret without letting him know she's figured it out?

Heh heh. It’s not much of a secret, really. I’ll jot out some AU basics here because I’m still trying to figure them out myself and decide where Jazz fits best in the AU. This is kind of a rough draft, so details may change later. Skim to the bold parts if you want to see the answer to your actual question; this first part is just some “ChalkZone” babble as I gather my thoughts on secret identities.

My goal with ZoneSwap is to swap some signature parts of both “Danny Phantom” and “ChalkZone”, but still keep the characters as in-character as possible where I can while taking into account all the ways the worldbuilding has been flipped and taking creative liberties as necessary (like making Tucker a ghost to give Danny motivation to visit and protect the Ghost Zone).

As a result of this swap, Rudy can now “go chalk”, turning into Snap, and even use the magic chalk in the RealWorld (though the effects only last as long as he stays in chalk form, and erase when he switches to normal). I’ve said that he can switch at will, but really, he needs to be standing inside a closed chalk shape like a circle or a square or whatever. If he can’t find one and he doesn’t have chalk of his own on hand, he’s stuck.

He can no longer create portals at will, and has to find them instead. I think they pop up on certain chalk surfaces at random, kind of like the Ghost Zone ones do: for example, instead of drawing the underwater portal in “Water Water Everywhere”, it would have opened itself, flooding the quarry, and Rudy only would have known about it once it started attracting attention. 

I can’t decide yet if he would have tried to repair the breach while in regular form or chalk form. Hmm. I’m thinking the ZoneSwap version of this episode would share some similarities with “Life Lessons” from “Danny Phantom”, by which I mean that Reggie would go chalk and try to help Rudy save the town.

Ooh, yes. They go chalk and have to act like they get along in public because the whole town sees them and thinks they’re superhero and sidekick or something, even though they can’t stand each other. Then when the rain finally arrives, he and Reggie end up stuck under a ledge or something in the quarry / nearby area and have to watch the water rise while Penny runs frantically off in search of an umbrella, heh heh. 

As much as Reggie doesn’t care for the wonders of ChalkZone, he still appreciates the world as his escape from reality, and he doesn’t want to see it found or destroyed. Presumably, he’d use his cape like a scarf to hide his face and better conceal his identity. Gotta have secret identities! (So, for the most part, it’s Rudy who has the secret identity now, not Danny).

Rudy also has to deal with dangerous Zoners escaping into the RealWorld, and Reggie the Red, Vinnie, and Terry are bigger threats too. Finally, he’ll dissolve in water if he’s in chalk form and it will hurt a lot.

Danny, following his being zapped by his parents’ basement portal, still has ghost powers, but in this AU they only work in the Ghost Zone. Even though the Phantom look doesn’t carry over, he still calls himself by that name when addressing other ghosts, because they feel more comfortable with him that way.

He still has ghost enemies, but makes lots of ghost friends too, including Tucker, who’s been dead for the last two years. He can also create portals into the Ghost Zone through the thermos at will, but only so many before the thermos has to be recharged. Probably by dipping it in the portal in the basement and filling it with “ghost soup”.

ZS!Danny’s entire deal is, whereas Rudy is a fighter now, Danny becomes a lover kind of by default. For some reason or another, ghosts can’t survive outside of the Zone for longer than a few hours or days (not sure how long yet, but preferably hours for plot reasons). This might be because they can’t breathe, or they can’t maintain their connection to the world (the assumption being that the Zone is the only thing that keeps them grounded) and they fade away permanently.

There would need to be a definite negative association with fading for Danny to react the way he does, so perhaps instead of just fading, a ghost becomes “corrupted” when away from the Zone too long. They might start to dissolve, losing pieces of themself and some of their sanity. Ghosts who were once friendly, helpful spirits might transform into bitter nightmare creatures and act like feral or even rabid animals. Yes, now we’re getting somewhere.

Anyway, unfortunately, lots of ghosts either don’t know this, or believe it won’t happen to them (Imagine the stories that get in the news sometimes about parents putting their kids in risky situations at national parks, such as by spreading honey on their children to attract bears. Or compare it to teens who regularly have unprotected sex but don’t consider the possibility of getting pregnant or contracting STDs. That sort of mindset. “This is the kind of thing that happens to someone else”, “I’ll be careful”, “I know what I’m doing”, etc.)

Let’s face it: The Human Realm is attractive to ghosts. Technus wants to get his hands on all the flashy electronics that Walker doesn’t allow in the Ghost Zone. Skulker wants to hunt. Box Ghost wants to add to his collection. Ember wants to play her music in front of adoring teen crowds. Tucker wants to hang out with his friends. Other ghosts want to explore, visit friends and family, or just simply cause trouble.

Danny has watched his parents chase down countless of these “rogue” ghosts that I compared to feral, rabid animals here. And they’re terrifying. After reuniting with Tucker in the “pilot episode”, I presume, he learns some missing pieces from Tuck and puts together this whole “being away from the Zone too long makes these ghosts lose themselves”. 

So, he and Sam take it upon themselves to inform all the ghosts about such dangers / keep tabs on which ghosts are out and prioritize which ones need to be caught and returned first. Unfortunately, Danny probably gets pegged as a liar or something, so few ghosts are willing to go quietly back to the Zone and he has to lure them into the portals he creates with the thermos.

And there are some ghosts who are well aware of the danger, but come to him seeking aid, so he has to solve their problems, I guess. Something like that.

Basically Danny’s existence revolves around befriending the restless spirits he can and trying to better their afterlives while having a strict “ghosts are supposed to stay in the Ghost Zone” policy that no one listens to (especially a guy named Vlad who wants to exploit ghosts in some way, possibly by making them pay to leave the Zone? My original idea was that he firmly believed ghosts should be free, but I’m not sure how that will work with this “rabid ghost concept. And later in the series he’d start sending them Danny’s way by painting him as a villain for trapping him… I’m thinking Vlad had a daughter named Ellen who just recently died and he’s also trying to find her. Hmm… Thoughts?)

And of course, on the flipside, Rudy plays hero by keeping Skrawl, Craniac, and various other baddies in ChalkZone while at the same time keeping Vinnie and Terry out of it, and dealing with his school life and Reggie. He has to go chalk in order to draw stuff with the magic chalk, and he’d draw lots of things to fight for him (as opposed to attacking physically) while of course sticking to his oath to never again draw a living thing because he can’t handle the stress.

I’m loosely trying to imagine these two shows as if they were designed and written by the writers of the opposite show, therefore resulting in CZ being a darker and more actiony show and DP being cuter and more focused on world-building. That’s kind of tough though, because I can’t just remove all the awesome worldbuilding from “ChalkZone”, and a show about teenagers and ghosts tends to be angsty by default. I’m trying to find a middle ground.

To answer your actual question, everyone in Amity Park thinks ZS!Danny is a loon who runs around being a goofy ghost hunter like his parents. Since Danny can’t use his powers in the Human Realm, Valerie is Amity Park’s big hero. Instead of Phantom getting his name dragged through the dirt, the citizens of Amity Park by default attribute all of Danny’s good deeds to her, even if she only showed up at the very last minute when the cameras arrived. It’s equally as annoying to him as it was when everyone considered Phantom a villain.

Jazz would have to go into the Ghost Zone to realize that Danny has these ghostly abilities. In the Human Realm, he has to chase ghosts while fully human. Their parents would obviously be thrilled that he wants to join them in the family ghost-hunting business.

BUT Danny is trying to help and rescue ghosts, while his parents want to catch and study them. I think the big secret for Jazz to learn in this AU would be that Danny is using the portal despite their parents thinking it doesn’t work. 

She would learn (possibly during that “Snap Out of Water” parody that I nicknamed “Tuck, Tuck, Loose”) that Tuck is a ghost now, and Danny and Sam are friends with him and regularly sneak off to visit the Ghost Zone. I think she would want to be helpful, but her helpfulness probably has its limits.

Jack and Maddie, I guess, would be very worried/upset with A) Danny for befriending a ghost behind their back, B) the fact that he’s been getting in their way and preventing them from catching ghosts, and/or C) having potentially dangerous adventures in the Ghost Zone, or something along those lines. Once Vlad becomes involved, that would add another factor into the equation.

OR! About a year ago, Bill Burnett (one of “ChalkZone”’s co-creators) confirmed that a human who spends 24+ hours straight in ChalkZone will turn into a Zoner permanently, and said that if the show hadn’t stopped airing, we would have met a “British aristocrat kid” who had suffered this fate, and who teamed up with Skrawl in a big special episode (and Bill hints that this is why Skrawl kept stealing magic chalk since only a human can use it, even though we never found out why he was doing this in the show itself). 

So, I could take that detail and add it to this AU too- ZS!Jazz might find out through her parents (or probably Vlad) that the more time ZS!Danny spends in the Ghost Zone, the more corrupted and “rabid ghost-like” he’ll become (possibly because he’s half-ghost, so Sam might be immune). She might tell Danny this, but he would be upset, and they’d get into a fight over who knows more about ghosts, since he’s the one who’s visited the Zone more. 

Maybe he would begin showing signs of feral/rabid corruption, and she has to keep this from their parents while she struggles to find a cure, despite Danny constantly snapping at her that he’s fine and she needs to get off his back. With him being partly dead, maybe he suffers the same way as the other ghosts when he’s not in the Zone, but his development was delayed. So like, he can’t stay in the Ghost Zone without negative side effects, but he can’t stay out of it without negative side effects either.

If ZoneSwap were a show then Danny would probably show subtle signs the whole season, but the topic of his corruption would probably be the Season 1 finale or something, or maybe Season 2 (Personally I like the idea of Dash building a thermos of his own - possibly with Vlad’s help - as the last scene of Season 1 so he and Danny have the same weapon as a nod to Reggie and Rudy both using magic chalk in “Reggie the Red”, so we’ll make it Season 2).

So yes, in a way, Jazz would discover Danny’s ghost side. Even if he doesn’t become the same exact Phantom he does in canon, he’s still half dead and would presumably be of interest to his ghost-hunting parents, so she does her best to keep him off their radar.

I’m still kind of working out the details, but I’m getting there! I have some vague plans for this AU already figured out, but most of this I’m making things up as I go and get to answer Asks like this~

#ZoneSwap AU #Going Ghost! #Rudys got the chalk! #Ghost Getter Number 1 #asks #Anon #Main Phantom trio #The Val gal #Chalkmeister

[rap-contraversy-today-blog]

Lyrical examples of Kendrick Lamar and Lil Pump

This post will show lyrics from Kendrick Lamar’s(talented hip hop artist and lyricist) “How Much A Dollar Cost” and Lil Pump’s(Up and coming mumble rapper) Gucci Gang and show you that lack of lyrical depth of Lil Pump compared to Kendrick Lamar.

[Verse 1: Kendrick Lamar] How much a dollar really cost? The question is detrimental, paralyzin' my thoughts Parasites in my stomach keep me with a gut feeling, y'all Gotta see how I’m chillin' once I park this luxury car Hopping out feeling big as Mutombo "20 on pump 6," dirty Marcellus called me Dumbo 20 years ago, can't forget Now I can lend all my ear or two How to stack these residuals tenfold The liberal concept of what men'll do "20 on 6," he didn't hear me Indigenous African only spoke Zulu My American tongue was slurry Walked out the gas station A homeless man with a semi-tan complexion Asked me for ten rand, stressin' about dry land Deep water, powder blue skies that crack open A piece of crack that he wanted, I knew he was smokin' He begged and pleaded Asked me to feed him twice, I didn't believe it Told him, "Beat it" Contributin' money just for his pipe, I couldn't see it He said, "My son, temptation is one thing that I've defeated Listen to me, I want a single bill from you Nothin' less, nothin' more" I told him "I ain't have it" and closed my door Tell me how much a dollar cost [Chorus: James Fauntleroy] It's more to feed your mind Water, sun and love, the one you love All you need, the air you breathe [Verse 2: Kendrick Lamar] He's starin' at me in disbelief My temper is buildin', he's starin' at me, I grab my key He's starin' at me, I started the car, then I tried to leave And somethin' told me to keep it in park until I could see The reason why he was mad at a stranger Like I was supposed to save him Like I'm the reason he's homeless and askin' me for a favor He's starin' at me, his eyes followed me with no laser He's starin' at me, I notice that his stare is contagious 'Cause now I'm starin' back at him, feelin' some type of disrespect If I could throw a bat at him, it'd be aimin' at his neck I never understood someone beggin' for goods Askin' for handouts, takin' it if they could And this particular person just had it down pat Starin' at me for the longest until he finally asked "Have you ever opened up Exodus 14? A humble man is all that we ever need Tell me how much a dollar cost" [Chorus: James Fauntleroy] It's more to feed your mind Water, sun and love, the one you love All you need, the air you breathe [Verse 3: Kendrick Lamar] Guilt trippin' and feelin' resentment I never met a transient that demanded attention They got me frustrated, indecisive and power trippin' Sour emotions got me lookin' at the universe different I should distance myself, I should keep it relentless My selfishness is what got me here, who the fuck I'm kiddin'? So I'mma tell you like I told the last bum Crumbs and pennies, I need all of mines And I recognize this type of panhandlin' all the time I got better judgement, I know when nigga's hustlin', keep in mind When I was strugglin', I did compromise, now I comprehend I smell Grandpa's old medicine, reekin' from your skin Moonshine and gin, nigga you're babblin', your words ain't flatterin' I'm imaginin' Denzel but lookin' at O'Neal Kazaam is sad thrills, your gimmick is mediocre The jig is up, I seen you from a mile away losin' focus And I'm insensitive, and I lack empathy He looked at me and said, "Your potential is bittersweet" I looked at him and said, "Every nickel is mines to keep" He looked at me and said, "Know the truth, it'll set you free You're lookin' at the Messiah, the son of Jehovah, the higher power The choir that spoke the word, the Holy Spirit The nerve of Nazareth, and I'll tell you just how much a dollar cost The price of having a spot in Heaven, embrace your loss. I am God" [Outro: Ronald Isley] I washed my hands, I said my grace What more do you want from me? Tears of a clown, guess I'm not all what it's all meant to be Shades of grey will never change if I condone Turn this page, help me change to right my wrongs 

Yuh, ooh, brr, brr

Gucci gang, ooh

(that's it right there, Gnealz)

Yuh, Lil Pump, yuh

Gucci gang, ooh

(ooh, Bi-Big Head on the beat)

Yuh, brr

[Chorus]

Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang (Gucci gang) Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang (Gucci gang)

Spend three racks on a new chain (yuh)

My bitch love do cocaine, ooh (ooh)

I fuck a bitch, I forgot her name (brr, yuh)

I can't buy a bitch no wedding ring (ooh) Rather go and buy Balmains (brr)

Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang (Gucci gang) Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang (Gucci gang) Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang (Gucci gang)

Spend three racks on a new chain (huh?)

My bitch love do cocaine, ooh (brr)

I fuck a bitch, I forgot her name, yuh (yuh, yuh)

I can't buy no bitch no wedding ring, ooh (nope) Rather go and buy Balmains, ayy (brr)

Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang (Gucci gang)

[Verse]

My lean cost more than your rent, ooh (it do)

Your momma still live in a tent, yuh (brr)

Still slangin' dope in the 'jects, huh? (yeah)

Me and my grandma take meds, ooh (huh?)

None of this shit be new to me (nope)

Fuckin' my teacher, call it 'tutory (yuh)

Bought some red bottoms, cost hella Gs (huh?)

Fuck your airline, fuck your company (fuck it!)

Bitch, your breath smell like some cigarettes (cigarettes)

I'd rather fuck a bitch from the projects (yuh)

They kicked me out the plane off a percocet (brr) Now Lil Pump flyin' private jet (yuh) Everybody scream, "Fuck WestJet" (fuck 'em)

Lil Pump still sell that meth (yuh)

Hunnid on my wrist, sippin' on Tech (brr)

Fuck a lil bitch, make her pussy wet (what?)

[Chorus]

Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang (Gucci gang), Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang (Gucci gang)

Spend three racks on a new chain (huh?)

My bitch love do cocaine, ooh (yuh)

I fuck a bitch, I forgot her name (brr)

I can't buy a bitch no wedding ring (huh?) Rather go and buy Balmains (yuh)

Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang (Gucci gang) Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang (Gucci gang)

Spend three racks on a new chain (huh?)

My bitch love do cocaine, ooh (brr)

I fuck a bitch, I forgot her name, yuh (yuh)

I can't buy no bitch no wedding ring, ooh (nope) Rather go and buy Balmains, ayy (huh?)

Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang (Gucci gang)

[Outro]

Lil Pump, yuh

Lil Pump, ooh

Kendrick lyrics:https://genius.com/Kendrick-lamar-how-much-a-dollar-cost-lyrics

Lil Pump lyrics:https://genius.com/Lil-pump-gucci-gang-lyrics

[evnoweb]

No. Your 3D Printer Does Not Make You Innovative.

Few will disagree that over the past few years the notion of 3D printing in schools has gained incredible steam. It’s certainly one of the latest bandwagons. Scan social media on any given day and you’ll find end users pridefully holding the latest “cool” print in the palm of their hand, hashtagging some synonyms of “innovation.” Many times, the social sharer touts their own innovative ideas, how the tool is a “game changer,” or how their printer is “revolutionizing” learning. Continue to observe, and one can easily see the notion or the “understanding” that because they’re 3D printing, innovation is thriving in their classroom, school, or district. Simply put, using a 3D printer (even daily) does not make one “innovative”.

Let me be clear. 3D printers can absolutely be a conduit to providing students with high level, personal and authentic learning experiences. They can also be a colossal waste of money. 

Which type of printer is in your school or district?

Traveling the country and spending an incredible amount of time with educators from coast to coast, I’ve seen four main types of 3D printers currently in schools. These printers are listed below, as are brief references to their cost, utilization, and ROI – Return on Instruction, a concept that Eric Sheninger and I share in Learning Transformed (ASCD, 2017).

“The Bandwagon” Printer These printers can often be spotted from a mile away. Walk into the shared common area where it resides and you’ll see the remnants from its ribbon cutting ceremony. These printers get hyped up from the moment they are delivered by UPS and often feel special early on as staff members ooh and ah over the new arrival. After the first few months however, these printers get lonely and only receive the occasional hello. Their party invitations become forgotten. Cost: HIGH Usage: HIGH at first, Then LOW Return on Instruction (ROI): MINIMAL

“The Guinea Pig” Printer These printers are typically found in one particular classroom or have a single parent or guardian who utilizes it 99% (if not 100%) of the time. These particular printers are used regularly and materials get reordered often. The issue? These printers serve as toys for the adults, not as tools for student learning. In the vicinity of these printers you’ll notice downloaded directions for the latest “cool” print, an open browser displaying where the 3D code was copy and pasted from online, a cup of coffee that has been there for a few days, and a myriad of random objects 3D printed in various colors that line nearby shelves. Like a 4th grade guinea pig, these pets often get taken home on the weekends by their caregivers so that their garage can be converted into a personal weekend makerspace. Pictures of these Guinea Pig Printers and their Dollar Store-esque prints get plastered all over social media touting their innovative experiences. Cost: HIGH Useage: HIGH; albeit by staff Return on Instruction (ROI): MINIMAL (Sometimes zero.)

“The Popstar” Printer Similar to the Bandwagon Printer, these printers often receive a welcome party, or at least a faculty meeting happy hour. After the celebration, these printers actually do receive a regular work out. The issue? Student learning is minimal as students spend the majority of the time admiring the popstar on the pedestal. As seen with these 3D printers, full classes of students can venture on a field trip to the library or makerspace. The experience will begin with a teacher sharing how today is a very special day because the students get to use the school’s new “cool” 3D printer. For the next 45 minutes, students will ooh and ah over the print process. Once complete, the teacher will pull the newly printed lion – the building’s mascot – out of the printer and hold it high. The scene is eerily similar to a moment in Disney’s Lion King where Rafiki holds up baby Simba for the world to see. What do students learn during these popstar sightings? Almost nothing, except for the fact that 3D printers can print more than text on paper. Cost: HIGH Useage: MEDIUM Return on Instruction (ROI): MINIMAL

“The MVP” Printer Finally, a printer that’s the real deal and one to write home about. The MVP, or the Most Valuable Printer, is used by staff in ways that cultivate personal and authentic learning experiences for students. These printers understand their role as a team player. They get to share the reward for the hard work that the learner has completed. They understand that they are the finish line after the marathon has been run. These printers get to provide the trophy for the high level, personal and authentic learning that has occurred during the season. MVP Printers being used in schools are worth every penny. They are viewed as a conduit for learning, not as the learning experience itself.  Cost: HIGH Useage: HIGH (Vast majority of use is by students) Return on Instruction (ROI): MEDIUM to HIGH

The vast majority of learning with 3D printers occurs during the design and modification process, not during the printing process itself.

One of my all-time favorite stories around the effective use of edtech, that also shares the power of “The MVP” Printer, has become known as “The Hand Challenge.” To be clear, the story of the Hand Challenge is NOT about 3D printers. The story is about the lives of children that have forever been changed. It’s about students that were empowered by their teacher to change the world…and change the world they have.

I’m honored to call Chris Craft a good friend. Chris is an amazing family man of integrity who I admire for so many reasons. His ability to empower students to solve problems is invigorating. His laser focus on learning is a model for what our service to kids is all about. He’s also the teacher that empowered his students to dream up the Hand Challenge; something over 100 schools now participate in.

From the Hand Challenge website: “Officially, the class is called Introduction to S.T.E.M., but unofficially it’s about helping kids find the interests and passions that can propel them through life. We invent, we problem-solve, we learn, and we have a lot of fun. Above all, we’re striving to embody the notion that life is not about us. We work towards solving problems in our community and school, such as helping children that do not have two functioning hands.

The Prosthetic Kids project began when Carson, Corbyn, and McKenzie got fired up about the chance to really impact another child’s life. You can read more about their story on People.com.” – Chris Craft

Like many before him, Chris could have simply enabled his students to leverage the new 3D printer to print items similar to the school mascot. Even worse, he could have given them all the exact recipe and directed them to print identical objects, by downloading, copying, and essentially hitting print. Instead, Chris empowered his learners to design and create, while simultaneously changing the world and the lives of other children in it.

Innovation is not about tools. It’s about people, processes, and pedagogy.

… and don’t get me started on the way some robots are being used or how others are glorifying particular Lego walls in hallways. More to come…

All for the kids we serve,

No. Your 3D Printer Does Not Make You Innovative. published first on http://ift.tt/2gZRS4X

[corpasa]

No. Your 3D Printer Does Not Make You Innovative.

Few will disagree that over the past few years the notion of 3D printing in schools has gained incredible steam. It’s certainly one of the latest bandwagons. Scan social media on any given day and you’ll find end users pridefully holding the latest “cool” print in the palm of their hand, hashtagging some synonyms of “innovation.” Many times, the social sharer touts their own innovative ideas, how the tool is a “game changer,” or how their printer is “revolutionizing” learning. Continue to observe, and one can easily see the notion or the “understanding” that because they’re 3D printing, innovation is thriving in their classroom, school, or district. Simply put, using a 3D printer (even daily) does not make one “innovative”.

Let me be clear. 3D printers can absolutely be a conduit to providing students with high level, personal and authentic learning experiences. They can also be a colossal waste of money. 

Which type of printer is in your school or district?

Traveling the country and spending an incredible amount of time with educators from coast to coast, I’ve seen four main types of 3D printers currently in schools. These printers are listed below, as are brief references to their cost, utilization, and ROI – Return on Instruction, a concept that Eric Sheninger and I share in Learning Transformed (ASCD, 2017).

“The Bandwagon” Printer These printers can often be spotted from a mile away. Walk into the shared common area where it resides and you’ll see the remnants from its ribbon cutting ceremony. These printers get hyped up from the moment they are delivered by UPS and often feel special early on as staff members ooh and ah over the new arrival. After the first few months however, these printers get lonely and only receive the occasional hello. Their party invitations become forgotten. Cost: HIGH Usage: HIGH at first, Then LOW Return on Instruction (ROI): MINIMAL

“The Guinea Pig” Printer These printers are typically found in one particular classroom or have a single parent or guardian who utilizes it 99% (if not 100%) of the time. These particular printers are used regularly and materials get reordered often. The issue? These printers serve as toys for the adults, not as tools for student learning. In the vicinity of these printers you’ll notice downloaded directions for the latest “cool” print, an open browser displaying where the 3D code was copy and pasted from online, a cup of coffee that has been there for a few days, and a myriad of random objects 3D printed in various colors that line nearby shelves. Like a 4th grade guinea pig, these pets often get taken home on the weekends by their caregivers so that their garage can be converted into a personal weekend makerspace. Pictures of these Guinea Pig Printers and their Dollar Store-esque prints get plastered all over social media touting their innovative experiences. Cost: HIGH Useage: HIGH; albeit by staff Return on Instruction (ROI): MINIMAL (Sometimes zero.)

“The Popstar” Printer Similar to the Bandwagon Printer, these printers often receive a welcome party, or at least a faculty meeting happy hour. After the celebration, these printers actually do receive a regular work out. The issue? Student learning is minimal as students spend the majority of the time admiring the popstar on the pedestal. As seen with these 3D printers, full classes of students can venture on a field trip to the library or makerspace. The experience will begin with a teacher sharing how today is a very special day because the students get to use the school’s new “cool” 3D printer. For the next 45 minutes, students will ooh and ah over the print process. Once complete, the teacher will pull the newly printed lion – the building’s mascot – out of the printer and hold it high. The scene is eerily similar to a moment in Disney’s Lion King where Rafiki holds up baby Simba for the world to see. What do students learn during these popstar sightings? Almost nothing, except for the fact that 3D printers can print more than text on paper. Cost: HIGH Useage: MEDIUM Return on Instruction (ROI): MINIMAL

“The MVP” Printer Finally, a printer that’s the real deal and one to write home about. The MVP, or the Most Valuable Printer, is used by staff in ways that cultivate personal and authentic learning experiences for students. These printers understand their role as a team player. They get to share the reward for the hard work that the learner has completed. They understand that they are the finish line after the marathon has been run. These printers get to provide the trophy for the high level, personal and authentic learning that has occurred during the season. MVP Printers being used in schools are worth every penny. They are viewed as a conduit for learning, not as the learning experience itself.  Cost: HIGH Useage: HIGH (Vast majority of use is by students) Return on Instruction (ROI): MEDIUM to HIGH

The vast majority of learning with 3D printers occurs during the design and modification process, not during the printing process itself.

One of my all-time favorite stories around the effective use of edtech, that also shares the power of “The MVP” Printer, has become known as “The Hand Challenge.” To be clear, the story of the Hand Challenge is NOT about 3D printers. The story is about the lives of children that have forever been changed. It’s about students that were empowered by their teacher to change the world…and change the world they have.

I’m honored to call Chris Craft a good friend. Chris is an amazing family man of integrity who I admire for so many reasons. His ability to empower students to solve problems is invigorating. His laser focus on learning is a model for what our service to kids is all about. He’s also the teacher that empowered his students to dream up the Hand Challenge; something over 100 schools now participate in.

From the Hand Challenge website: “Officially, the class is called Introduction to S.T.E.M., but unofficially it’s about helping kids find the interests and passions that can propel them through life. We invent, we problem-solve, we learn, and we have a lot of fun. Above all, we’re striving to embody the notion that life is not about us. We work towards solving problems in our community and school, such as helping children that do not have two functioning hands.

The Prosthetic Kids project began when Carson, Corbyn, and McKenzie got fired up about the chance to really impact another child’s life. You can read more about their story on People.com.” – Chris Craft

Like many before him, Chris could have simply enabled his students to leverage the new 3D printer to print items similar to the school mascot. Even worse, he could have given them all the exact recipe and directed them to print identical objects, by downloading, copying, and essentially hitting print. Instead, Chris empowered his learners to design and create, while simultaneously changing the world and the lives of other children in it.

Innovation is not about tools. It’s about people, processes, and pedagogy.

… and don’t get me started on the way some robots are being used or how others are glorifying particular Lego walls in hallways. More to come…

All for the kids we serve,

No. Your 3D Printer Does Not Make You Innovative. published first on http://ift.tt/2xZuhEK

[endevia]

No. Your 3D Printer Does Not Make You Innovative.

Few will disagree that over the past few years the notion of 3D printing in schools has gained incredible steam. It’s certainly one of the latest bandwagons. Scan social media on any given day and you’ll find end users pridefully holding the latest “cool” print in the palm of their hand, hashtagging some synonyms of “innovation.” Many times, the social sharer touts their own innovative ideas, how the tool is a “game changer,” or how their printer is “revolutionizing” learning. Continue to observe, and one can easily see the notion or the “understanding” that because they’re 3D printing, innovation is thriving in their classroom, school, or district. Simply put, using a 3D printer (even daily) does not make one “innovative”.

Let me be clear. 3D printers can absolutely be a conduit to providing students with high level, personal and authentic learning experiences. They can also be a colossal waste of money. 

Which type of printer is in your school or district?

Traveling the country and spending an incredible amount of time with educators from coast to coast, I’ve seen four main types of 3D printers currently in schools. These printers are listed below, as are brief references to their cost, utilization, and ROI – Return on Instruction, a concept that Eric Sheninger and I share in Learning Transformed (ASCD, 2017).

“The Bandwagon” Printer These printers can often be spotted from a mile away. Walk into the shared common area where it resides and you’ll see the remnants from its ribbon cutting ceremony. These printers get hyped up from the moment they are delivered by UPS and often feel special early on as staff members ooh and ah over the new arrival. After the first few months however, these printers get lonely and only receive the occasional hello. Their party invitations become forgotten. Cost: HIGH Usage: HIGH at first, Then LOW Return on Instruction (ROI): MINIMAL

“The Guinea Pig” Printer These printers are typically found in one particular classroom or have a single parent or guardian who utilizes it 99% (if not 100%) of the time. These particular printers are used regularly and materials get reordered often. The issue? These printers serve as toys for the adults, not as tools for student learning. In the vicinity of these printers you’ll notice downloaded directions for the latest “cool” print, an open browser displaying where the 3D code was copy and pasted from online, a cup of coffee that has been there for a few days, and a myriad of random objects 3D printed in various colors that line nearby shelves. Like a 4th grade guinea pig, these pets often get taken home on the weekends by their caregivers so that their garage can be converted into a personal weekend makerspace. Pictures of these Guinea Pig Printers and their Dollar Store-esque prints get plastered all over social media touting their innovative experiences. Cost: HIGH Useage: HIGH; albeit by staff Return on Instruction (ROI): MINIMAL (Sometimes zero.)

“The Popstar” Printer Similar to the Bandwagon Printer, these printers often receive a welcome party, or at least a faculty meeting happy hour. After the celebration, these printers actually do receive a regular work out. The issue? Student learning is minimal as students spend the majority of the time admiring the popstar on the pedestal. As seen with these 3D printers, full classes of students can venture on a field trip to the library or makerspace. The experience will begin with a teacher sharing how today is a very special day because the students get to use the school’s new “cool” 3D printer. For the next 45 minutes, students will ooh and ah over the print process. Once complete, the teacher will pull the newly printed lion – the building’s mascot – out of the printer and hold it high. The scene is eerily similar to a moment in Disney’s Lion King where Rafiki holds up baby Simba for the world to see. What do students learn during these popstar sightings? Almost nothing, except for the fact that 3D printers can print more than text on paper. Cost: HIGH Useage: MEDIUM Return on Instruction (ROI): MINIMAL

“The MVP” Printer Finally, a printer that’s the real deal and one to write home about. The MVP, or the Most Valuable Printer, is used by staff in ways that cultivate personal and authentic learning experiences for students. These printers understand their role as a team player. They get to share the reward for the hard work that the learner has completed. They understand that they are the finish line after the marathon has been run. These printers get to provide the trophy for the high level, personal and authentic learning that has occurred during the season. MVP Printers being used in schools are worth every penny. They are viewed as a conduit for learning, not as the learning experience itself.  Cost: HIGH Useage: HIGH (Vast majority of use is by students) Return on Instruction (ROI): MEDIUM to HIGH

The vast majority of learning with 3D printers occurs during the design and modification process, not during the printing process itself.

One of my all-time favorite stories around the effective use of edtech, that also shares the power of “The MVP” Printer, has become known as “The Hand Challenge.” To be clear, the story of the Hand Challenge is NOT about 3D printers. The story is about the lives of children that have forever been changed. It’s about students that were empowered by their teacher to change the world…and change the world they have.

I’m honored to call Chris Craft a good friend. Chris is an amazing family man of integrity who I admire for so many reasons. His ability to empower students to solve problems is invigorating. His laser focus on learning is a model for what our service to kids is all about. He’s also the teacher that empowered his students to dream up the Hand Challenge; something over 100 schools now participate in.

From the Hand Challenge website: “Officially, the class is called Introduction to S.T.E.M., but unofficially it’s about helping kids find the interests and passions that can propel them through life. We invent, we problem-solve, we learn, and we have a lot of fun. Above all, we’re striving to embody the notion that life is not about us. We work towards solving problems in our community and school, such as helping children that do not have two functioning hands.

The Prosthetic Kids project began when Carson, Corbyn, and McKenzie got fired up about the chance to really impact another child’s life. You can read more about their story on People.com.” – Chris Craft

Like many before him, Chris could have simply enabled his students to leverage the new 3D printer to print items similar to the school mascot. Even worse, he could have given them all the exact recipe and directed them to print identical objects, by downloading, copying, and essentially hitting print. Instead, Chris empowered his learners to design and create, while simultaneously changing the world and the lives of other children in it.

Innovation is not about tools. It’s about people, processes, and pedagogy.

… and don’t get me started on the way some robots are being used or how others are glorifying particular Lego walls in hallways. More to come…

All for the kids we serve,

No. Your 3D Printer Does Not Make You Innovative. published first on http://ift.tt/2x0Vr0e

[erosanova-blog]

Star-crossed or Simply Cross?

(Reader's note: This is a paper originally submitted to a CSU class Fall 2015, I simply posted it for your entertainment. I believe the original requirement for page length was 5-8. This paper was 18 pages. Only minor changes have  been made, mostly formatting for the blog's sake. I may update it as necessary.)

“WELCOME BACK TO 98.99 F.M., THE TORNADO! UP NEXT WE HAVE BLAKE SHELTON’S HIT SINGLE “God Gave Me You.” THIS ONE GOES OUT TO ALL THOSE STAR-CROSSED LOVERS OUT THERE, SO GRAB YOUR HONEYBEE AND PUT YOUR BOOTS TOGETHER!”

“I've been a walking heartache I've made a mess of me The person that I've been lately Ain't who I wanna be

But you stay here right beside me Watch as the storm blows through And I need you

'Cause God gave me you for the ups and downs God gave me you for the days of doubt For when I think I've lost my way There are no words here left to say, it's true God gave me you

There's more here than what we're seeing A divine conspiracy That you, an angel lovely Could somehow fall for me You'll always be love's great martyr I'll be the flattered fool And I need you

God gave me you for the ups and downs God gave me you for the days of doubt For when I think I've lost my way There are no words here left to say, it's true God gave me you

On my own I'm only Half of what I could be I can't do without you We are stitched together And what love has tethered I could never undo

'Cause God gave me you for the ups and downs God gave me you for the days of doubt God gave me you for the ups and downs God gave me you for the days of doubt For when I think I've lost my way There are no words here left to say, it's true God gave me you, gave me you Gave me you.”

(Shelton, 2011)

Easy to grasp but often impossible to feel; sometimes invisible to the eye but apparent to the mind; it sends you into the depths of the ocean and the height of the clouds, but eventually everything comes back to its final resting place. It’s easy to say but difficult to be sincere, it’s easy to taste but hard to digest, it’s held in high regard to some but stomped on and spit at by others.    It will take both a juvenile woman and a grown man to his knees, and it controls the very world around us. Love. Merriam Webster defines it as

“1a (1):  strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties <maternal love for a child>

(2):  attraction based on sexual desire:  affection and tenderness felt by lovers                       (3) :  affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests <love for his old schoolmates>

b :  an assurance of affection <give her my love>                                                                        2:  warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion <love of the sea>”

(“Love,” merriam-webster.com)

Also, according to this website, “love is currently in the top 1% of lookups, and is the seventh most popular word on Merriam-webster.com.” However, if you look up “true love” there is no definition. So what is true love, and how does this ideology skew our perspective on the world? Who benefits from this given version of the truth, how are the material benefits socially distributed? The answer should be obvious: profit-seeking corporations. In the search for revenue firms leave no stone unturned, and even if an anti-Valentine’s-Day-day were proposed by those willing to fight the system so many fall into, businesses would find some way to squeeze every penny from their pockets, from T-shirts to billboards to chandeliers, nothing is sacred. As income goes up on the individual level, higher expectations of monetary dispersion often arise-the richer a person becomes, the more is demanded of that person from their spouse or partner. Instead of buying fifty cents of construction paper and using an old rusty pair of shears to compose something beautiful, Americans find it necessary to throw paper and plastic down in the name of love, even more so when they believe it to be true love. Newsflash: companies like Hallmark, FTD flowers and Cadbury own true love, and in order to discover it, you will most likely need to make an investment towards their capital. There is no way to storm the proverbial Bastille, and people will remain serfs to Cupid’s arrow. Sonja Foss defines an ideological critique as “looking beyond the surface structure of an artifact to discover the beliefs, values, and assumptions it suggests” (Pg. 209).

The concept of true love affects everyone, whether they know it or not. Click your radio on to any given frequency (maybe not a public broadcasting station, unless someone is truly passionate about politics) and chances are you will encounter a song about love or true love. Some claim that the country music genre contains more songs about heartbreak and true love but UP NEXT ON 102.7 F.M., THE POPSICLE, WE HAVE MAROON 5’s NEW HIT, “Sugar,” SO SNAP OFF YOUR SNAPBACKS AND KICK OFF THOSE SKINNY JEANS!

“I'm hurting, baby, I'm broken down I need your loving, loving I need it now When I'm without you I'm something weak You got me begging, begging I'm on my knees

[Pre-Chorus:] I don't wanna be needing your love I just wanna be deep in your love And it's killing me when you're away, ooh, baby, 'Cause I really don't care where you are I just wanna be there where you are And I gotta get one little taste

[Chorus:] Your sugar Yes, please Won't you come and put it down on me? I'm right here, 'cause I need Little love, a little sympathy Yeah, you show me good loving Make it alright Need a little sweetness in my life Your sugar Yes, please Won't you come and put it down on me?

My broken pieces You pick them up Don't leave me hanging, hanging Come give me some When I'm without ya I'm so insecure You are the one thing, one thing I'm living for [Pre-Chorus:] I don't wanna be needing your love I just wanna be deep in your love And it's killing me when you're away, ooh, baby, 'Cause I really don't care where you are I just wanna be there where you are And I gotta get one little taste

[Chorus:] Your sugar Yes, please Won't you come and put it down on me? I'm right here, 'Cause I need Little love, a little sympathy Yeah, you show me good loving Make it alright Need a little sweetness in my life Your sugar! (sugar!) Yes, please (yes, please) Won't you come and put it down on me?

Yeah I want that red velvet I want that sugar sweet Don't let nobody touch it Unless that somebody's me I gotta be your man There ain't no other way 'Cause girl you're hotter than a southern California day)”

(Maroon 5, 2015)

“WELCOME BACK TO 95.7 THE WAVE, YOUR SOURCE FOR THE MOST COMPLACENT SONGS OF ALL TIME! UP NEXT WE HAVE “Here Without You,” BY THREE DOORS DOWN. SO SLIDE OUT OF THOSE GRUNGY LEATHER PANTS AND TORN FLANNEL SHIRT AND HOLD ON TIGHT!”

“A hundred days have made me older Since the last time that I've saw your pretty face

A thousand lies have made me colder And I don't think I can look at this the same

But all the miles that separate They disappear now when I'm dreaming of your face

I'm here without you, Baby But you're still on my lonely mind I think about you, Baby And I dream about you all the time I'm here without you, Baby But you're still with me in my dreams.”

(Three Doors Down, 2002)

“Change it.”

“…didn't have to cut me off Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing And I don't even need your love But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough No you didn't have to stoop so low Have your friends collect your records and then change your number I guess that I don't need that though Now you're just somebody that I used to know

Now you're just somebody that I used to know Now you're just somebody that I used to know.”

(Gotye, 2011)

“That’s horrible too *tears welling,* please change it.”

“…if you love me, let me go. And run away before I know. My heart is just too dark to care. I can't destroy what isn't there. Deliver me into my fate - If I'm alone I cannot hate I don't deserve to have you...

My smile was taken long ago If I can change I hope I never know

I still press your letters to my lips And cherish them in parts of me that savor every kiss I couldn't face a life without your lights But all of that was ripped apart when you refused to fight

So save your breath, I will not hear. I think I made it very clear. You couldn't hate enough to love. Is that supposed to be enough? I only wish you weren't my friend. Then I could hurt you in the end. I never claimed to be a saint...”

(Slipknot, 2009)

“What the hell is wrong with the radio today?!” *Click*

“… See a Robin weep, When leaves begin to die? That means he's lost his will to live. I'm so lonesome I could cry.

The silence of a falling star, Lights up a purple sky. And as I wonder where you are, I'm so lonesome I could cry. I'm so lonesome I could cry.”

(Cash, 1958)

“Awful! Terrible! If one more station tries to proselytize me I’m turning the radio off!”

“Try the Oldies station!”

“… if your baby leaves you And you have a sad tale to tell Just take a walk down Lonely Street To Heartbreak Hotel And you will be, you will be, you will be lonely, baby You'll be so lonely You'll be so lonely, you could die

Well, though it's always crowded You still can find some room For broken-hearted lovers To cry there in the gloom And they'll be so, they'll be so lonely, baby They're so lonely They'll be so lonely, they could die.”

(Presley, 1956)

“That’s it! I can’t take it anymore!” *CLICK*

*GPS chiming in* “If you want to avoid a steep cliff, take an immediate right. Take an immediate right. Take an immediate right. Immediately take a U-turn to return to County Road 18.”

Note the parts in bold and their applicability to my argument. As you can see, no station is safe from the resounding break of a heart, and songs about heartbreak are equally as likely to generate revenue to corporations as songs about true love, and equally as likely to make or break someone’s day. From modern day to the classic rock of the 1950’s, people have always been subconsciously pulled into the waiting arms of a mythical romance, whether it ends badly or not. All of these songs represent love, whether it be true, “normal” or inexplicably absent, from several different genres in a multitude of time periods. Blake claims that a “divine conspiracy” brought a true love to him- but if the story is based on real life occurrences consider his recent divorce from Country singer Miranda Lambert (Shelton, 2011). Maroon 5 claims, “You are the one thing, one thing I'm living for,” which seems to have a slightly morbid inference, and also, “when I’m without you, I’m something weak” (2015). What would the average music-lover in modern America procure from these lyrics? That some divinity scribbled their name next to another's and they were meant to be, and if they lost them or couldn’t find them life wasn’t worth living? That seems like a rather depressing interpretation, but the fact of the matter is our speakers shout these ideas into our subconscious, segregating the lucky few from the unlucky masses. The ideology that star-struck lovers exists causes emotional, physical, and monetary distress. It is an unnecessary idea based loosely on consumerism and false attraction, and the artifacts of this misconception are ubiquitous in our daily lives-they can surround and strangle at any given moment.  They also lie in popular music, television, movies, and are even embedded in the scriptures we peruse on Sunday mornings. This epidemic is present throughout the ages as well. Notice the references to heartbreak or losing “the one and only” in the 1950’s rock classics by Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. The minute differences are songs like “Sugar,” and “Somebody I Used to know” disguise disheartening lyrics with buoyant beats, distracting the listeners from the real message being conveyed.

How about a little micro-narrative to further illustrate my point? Her lips taste like summer strawberries still on the plant, so sweet and growing sweeter by the day. Her eyes are lonesome brown caves echoing with curiosity, reverberating blandishments to every snooping spelunker.  Her hair cascading like a muddy spring waterfall, twirling down over soft pink lobes and semi-precious stones; its autumn leaves welcoming a fall frolic with growing humidity. Her skin is a light olive, mellifluous, clean, and delicate. She was different, this was meant to be… forever. She is the epitome of perfection, and their paths were scribbled in the stars- inscribed in twinkling incandescence.

Who believes it? Almost everyone who wears a heart on their sleeve, even if they’re wearing camouflage to disguise it. Although the target audience for a lot of these songs are monogamous straight couples, anything can affect a person who wears the right set of ears; who has suffered or embraced extreme forms of love. This drivel is churned out by the bucketful, spooned onto everyone’s plates, from infant to elder, and it controls nearly everything. There are several different kinds of love, let’s begin by defining those. There is familial love, which is, shared between members of a group or family, is purely platonic (sorry Oedipus). Then there is love as companionship, that is, the love between two good friends or the love between a human and a pet. There is mutual adoration, such as the love between spouses or partners, or the love of childhood friends-this is stronger yet similar to love as companionship.  There is self-love (no not a teenager’s sticky copy of Marie Claire he keeps under his mattress), that is, caring for yourself, a fathom before narcissism. There is sexual love or attraction, which is based on personal preferences and sensual satisfaction. There is romance, which can be similar to sexual attraction, only embodied with more slow rhythmic music, candles and rose petal breadcrumb trails. Then there is adoration, like the look I’m currently receiving from a red-merle dog named Barley; this can be similar to companionship, or it can be the initial stages of mutual love. Then  there is one-sided love, that is, the love of the person sitting in the bushes outside your window at night (not like Romeo calling to Juliet on a balcony, more like an astronaut driving cross-country in diapers so she doesn’t have to stop to go to the bathroom), or a unrequited love. To clarify, many different types of love exist and are very apparent in most everyone’s lives, but true love, destiny, fate, or providence subsists only in fairy tales.

True love seems to be a fallacy spewed by corporations to take our every penny. A man is supposed to spend three month’s salary on a wedding ring… who came up with this idea? You’re supposed to buy flowers, candy or gifts for Valentine’s Day… Why? Granted, this is hardly applicable to penurious individuals or homosexual/transgendered couples (not sure about the intricacies of who buys the ring, or who spoils who in those situations). If true love exists it shouldn’t need material goods to prove its worth, it should be alive and well based on its own merit. If you don’t give a gift on that particular February day, does it mean you don’t love that person? This perception can make some feel gifted while others feel the cold sting of rejection-all based upon the sum of the monetary value collected. The concept that true love could be embodied in chalky red-lettered hearts is borderline imbecilic, yet we waste our money and dental health, buying them up by the millions. What is your love worth?

While some choose to find perfection wherever they can, others settle for less, idolizing the fallacy that true love exists and they are in the midst of it. The cliché that “ignorance is bliss,” can adequately describe at least half of the relationships in existence today. The rationalization that you let your partner get away with lying, infidelity and other sinful activity based upon the fact that you love them and “love conquers all” is a blissfully unaware delusion, and a good example of one-sided love.

Hardened, callous individuals often reject the slightest notion of love, while gushy, love-seeking teenagers desperately obsess over finding it immediately, which usually ends in a less-than-desirable situation. If there are over seven billion people in the world, and there’s only one “true love” out there for each individual, the chances of finding that person are astronomically low. Some people may devote all of their time, money, sweat and tears in the search and still come up empty handed. People buy expensive vehicles and houses, they go as far as buying drugs and alcohol, and they give their social security numbers away on dozens of websites created to find your “perfect match.” Nobody is perfect. If true love existed then two people wouldn’t care about each other’s flaws, they wouldn’t necessarily care about common interests or similarities, they would simply exist to care for each other, unwavering, until their time was up.

The play “Romeo and Juliet,” by William Shakespeare was based on star-crossed lovers from rival families who found each other and died for each other… this is the concept we’ve impressed on our society, that true love is worth dying for. But if true love existed, one partner would want the other to go on living even after their death-to think that they would commit suicide because the other did is simply selfish. However, if two star crossed lovers from rival families can come together, how about two star crossed lovers from different social classes? You rarely hear of real life stories of a janitor marrying an heiress do you? Because of the stratification between classes, finding similarities between one another may be difficult. Sure, there can be a physical attraction, but that only takes the love boat so far; to find a permanent dock here is a rare occurrence.  So if the chance of finding true love is one in seven billion, and we rule out all the social classes other than that specific person’s, you’re eliminating at least seventy five percent of the possibilities around the world.

Consider life in the 1950’s; why is the concept of soulmates so much more important now than it was back then? Because people were realists. They were willing to settle for the girl with the prettiest bow or the guy with the sharpest moves at the local barn dance. They came together and took their wedding vows seriously-in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, in good times and bad-they stuck together like glue, they didn’t run off with the pool-boy with the nice posterior or the secretary with a bountiful bosom, with the exception of unusual cases. There was no eternal search for the greener grass on the other side of the fence. People today can barely commit to a monogamous relationship, they prefer polyamorous, which some may consider an eloquent way of saying they want to whore themselves out all over town. Back then, your soulmate was who you cared about the most, you didn’t have to search through seven billion people to find them-they just stood out in the crowd more than the rest. Back then, the criteria for true love was who could provide for a family, not who could spoil you with the richest calories and prettiest petals money could buy. Yet somehow, in the modern era, we have put a price on love.

It is rather difficult to write an essay like this with an unbiased opinion without seeming jaded or spiteful. We are all in search of Sehnsucht (roughly translated as “a pleasurable yearning for some utopian thing or place” (Tokumitsu, “In the Name of Love”). Personally I’ve been repeatedly assaulted almost my entire life with the idea that there is one person who I was meant to be with somewhere out there. And yes, I am fairly jaded, but also exceptionally observant when the plane of true love crashes down into a smoky mass of melted metal and crumpled plastic strollers. When I believed I was in love, and it was true, the radio caused a foot-tapping, smile-starting sensation that inspired goosebumps on every facet. When tragedy struck, the frequencies haunted me, and I found my fingers flicking presets to isolate a few notes that didn’t force my heart into my throat and bugs in my eyes. Tokumitsu goes on to say, “You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do” (“In the Name of Love”). So what if you don’t love what you do, but force yourself into copulation because you believe it will force the lump out of your throat? Many people believe the quickest way to get over someone is to get under someone else, and this cliché is responsible for many undesirable situations; it can force one sided love into matrimony with one broken contraceptive, it can force people to do ghastly things with their bodies to move on, or get over the fact that their “true love” ran off with their best friend. Some days you are searching the summit for a higher point with none in sight, others you are tapping relentlessly at a keyboard, hoping the strokes will bring them back to the place where you once threw flowers from overhead to brighten their studies.

And for those with a poetic air swirling about them, this doth proveth that true love is impressed upon thee from the remote reaches of thy kingdom, with heart in sleeve and love on lips:

“Two of the faintest stars in all the heaven,

Having some business, do entreat her eyes

To twinkle in their spheres till they return.

What if her eyes were there, they in her head?

The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars

As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven

Would through the airy region stream so bright

That birds would sing and think it were not night.

See how she leans her cheek upon her hand!

O that I were a glove upon that hand

That I might touch that cheek!”

……

“Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?

Deny thy father and refuse they name,

Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,

And I’ll no longer be a Capulet” (Shakespeare/Hankins, pg. 45).

So let me get this straight… Romeo briefly meets Juliet at a party then decides to go wait outside her window, spies on her and wishes he was something she was touching? Creepy! Then Juliet decides that if Romeo denounces himself from his family or she leaves hers they can be together? I suppose that’s what makes this story a tragedy, the fact that something must be sacrificed for true love, but in the end everybody commits suicide in the name of it. The modern day reality? Sorry honey, the contemporary Romeo decided it was easier to fornicate with his main squeeze down the block; it was easier for him to assuage the woman of cavalier attitude than to chase the dream of forbidden star-struck love. In his prowler-style brain you may be his “main,” perhaps you’re the exception to his adulterous rules, but he is still with someone else. The brief glimpses you shared at the ball did nothing to waver his bigamous intent. One day he may be willing to die for you but somewhere on the other side of town Mary will be concerned the next day when Romeo doesn’t show up for his morning fellatio. Sound vulgar? Welcome to love- the driving force for many cultures-sometimes even greater than money or power. You ever been “snipe hunting?” “Friends” drive you out into the woods in search of a mythical creature (that simply does not exist), then desert you in the darkness, where you sit and wait until a sense of abandonment creeps in. This epitomizes a lot of the relationships in modern society. Waiting around for something good until you grow impatient and realize everything you believed in was a lie.

Not every example of love, or true love, is as depressing as this essay may make you believe. For example, scientists uncovered two skeletons in Leicester, England who were buried together and apparently holding hands. Although this article makes a lot of inferences, the idea that two people died with each other in each other’s arms seems to be the epitome of true love. In a vast world wide web, corrupt with gossip of celebrity divorces and opinionated arguments, there are a few examples of truly compassionate devotion. Vicki Score, a University of Leicester archaeologist even claimed they, “have seen similar skeletons before from Leicester where a couple have been buried together” (Keller, Mic.com). Also, if we turn to the animal world,

Carl Zimmer claims, “Less than 5% of mammal species live monogamously, with males and females staying together beyond mating, and fathers helping mothers care for babies. We humans aren’t the most monogamous species of the bunch, but we’re closer to that end of the spectrum than the other end, where mating is little more than ships bumping into each other in the night,” and the author goes on to explain that, “It seems that for prairie voles, love is a drug. When male prairie vole mate, their brains release a chemical called vasopressin (National Geographic.com).” There are many examples of monogamy in the animal world, like wolves, Gibbons, swans, black vultures, French Angelfish, and Albatrosses just to name a few. So if true love and monogamy can exist in the animal world, why can’t it exist for humans?  We are, after all, animals; some more than others.

The ideology of true love has been commercialized by musicians, corporations and authors to bleed your checkbook dry. Love undoubtedly exists in several forms but the American public could benefit by disregarding this fatuous myth that star-crossed lovers exist, particularly the starry eyed younger heterosexual couples that corporations love to bombard with this sort of propaganda. My suggestion? Don’t let yourself be affected by the hype, and most importantly, embrace the cliché of following your heart, not your wallet. The greatest love you can find may not be at the expense of your checkbook, after all, (to toss in another cliché) it’s the thought that counts. The next time a love-struck holiday comes around, or an anniversary or even a wedding proposal, don’t buy into it-make your feelings count, not your pennies. If your spouse, partner, or even your pet truly loves you, the best proof of this is time spent together, not money. Don’t spend your whole life gazing at the greener grass on the other side of the fence when the blades on your side only need a little time, upkeep, and maybe a sprinkle of fertilizer (I realize that this is a rather gross analogy of sprinkling a certain something to provide necessary sustenance, just keep your minds out of the gutter!). My mother always told me to do whatever made me happy. The irony is, while I was writing this paper, I told her I met someone new, someone who was almost unbearably sweet to me. She responded with “maybe it was meant to be.” I had a good chuckle, then realized how much I love my family, and how lucky I truly am. Sure, we may not be the embodiment of a textbook household, but we deeply care for each other. So instead of walking into the leg hold trap greedy corporations set in your search for true love, take a moment and reflect on your life. Is being star-struck really that important? Or is caring for those you do love held in higher regard?

Works Cited

Elvis Presley. Heartbreak Hotel. RCA Victor, 1956. MP3.

Foss, Sonja K. Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice. Long Grove, IL: Waveland, 2009. Print

Gotye, and Kimbra. Somebody I Used to Know. Gotye. Samples 'n' Seconds, 2011. MP3.

Johnny Cash. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry. Columbia Nashville Legacy, 1958. MP3.

Keller, Jared. "Archaeologists Just Discovered the Proof That True Love Really Exists." World Mic. N.p., 17 Sept. 2014. Web. 01 Oct. 2015

Maroon 5. Sugar. Interscope Records, 2015. MP3.

Shakespeare, William, and John Erskine Hankins. "Act II, Scene II." The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. New York: Scholastic Book Services, 1969. 45. Print.

Shelton, Blake. "God Gave Me You" Blake Shelton. Warner Bros., 2011. CD. From the Album "Red River Blue."

Slipknot. Snuff. Roadrunner Records, 2009. MP3.

Three Doors Down. Away From the Sun. Universal Records, 2002. MP3.

Tokumitsu, Miya. "In the Name of Love." Jacobin n.d.: n. page. Web. 2 Oct. 2015. <https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/01/in-the-name-of-love/>.

Zimmer, Carl. "Love Is A Virus." Phenomena Love Is A Virus Comments. National Geographic/Phenomena, 16 June 2004. Web. 02 Oct. 2015. <http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2004/06/16/love-is-a-virus/>.

Update:

They say the search for love is blind, that if you look for it love will pass you by. In my first semester at CSU, a philosophy professor loosely defined love as something you seek but can never attain. They also say you should stick to your guns and be persistent and resilient. I have one question: Who the fuck are THEY? Why are we letting society define what will make us happy or not? If all is fair in love and war then why the fuck do we have rules for both?

The truth is it's not fair. Sometimes you have to be devious and underhanded to succeed, but is that really success? If a man fishes all day and catches one is he happier than a deckhand who throws his nets and catches 50 in a day? Certainly. But contemporary romance resorts to guerilla tactics, a war of attrition to burn every bridge before cutting the last string. We don't break up with people anymore, we break people. Why? If there are so many possibilities for love out there why do we cause others such torment instead of moving on?

Because its fucking hard to move on that's why. One day you spend every moment with a person, from dawn to dusk, from pillow to pillow; the next... you wake up staring at an impression in the pillow, the one lingering remnant that they even existed. You try to throw everything away or give it back, every little knick knack or scribbled library love note, but you can never get rid of it all... it's like the glitter of a relationship.

And you try to move on but you can't. Just like every other transition in America, there's a waiting period. It's a period where nobody wants to hang out with you for fear you're "on the rebound." It nips notions of relationships in the bud; you're lucky to even get a coffee date. Everyone has their guard up: they either don't want to be ridden hard and put away wet, don't want to go out with you because they like you and it would eliminate any possibility for a future relationship, they just plain don't like you, or they're already taken or interested in someone else. There's this fucking dating limbo we get stuck in after breakups. It's bullshit. We need to end the cycle.

It has taken me years of jealousy, forgiveness, acceptance, hatred, and a multitude of other emotions to get where i am today. I've been thinking alot recently and I think I know why so many relationships fail. Consider a monarchy: one person in power. In most relationships, there is a dominant person and a submissive person. We've been teeter-tottering like this for the last century at least. So this is the idea I've been toying with, although it is extremely controversial and I'm sure I'll be attacked for it: a tripod or table is much stronger and more stable than a bipod. Now I'm not condoning polygamy, because I don't necessarily believe in marriage; marriage in America has become more about tax write-offs than love. It's become about saving relationships, not strengthening them. If you don't believe me consider this: I used to dj weddings and was once hit on by a bride whose husband just returned from serving in Afghanistan.

Because that is the norm, that is what is expected. People wait for others, people put themselves through misery and torture because they think it will look good on Facebook. They have to capture every little fucking emotion to prove their existence. "I think, therefore I am," not, "I post to social media, therefore I am." But the rant on how technology has spoiled romance will have to wait for a later date.

Back to my primary point: when we invest so much in one person, and suddenly that person is gone, our world is upside down. We are fucked, we cry, we sob, we get depressed, and we spend lots of time alone. Why? Most likely an argument in which both parties were too passionate or stubborn to give up and make amends. There is no mediation, and if there is, it's done by a third wheel that is not really involved enough to give a valid opinion. If there were three or more, if one person disagrees with another, the third can mediate or take sides if necessary. I think most political science majors will agree that an oligarchy is much more stable than a monarchy. With an equal dispersion of power and influence, success is more likely.

So why hasn't this happened before (I'm sure it has, but I'm trying to distinguish between a tripod and polygamy)? Well until recently, the ability to be free and open about your sexuality was repressed. When I say a tripod, I don't mean the guy would have two girlfriends (or however you want to configure it with people of different sexes or the same sex), there is a lack of ownership and titles. A couple doesn't always have to mean two. I'm talking about a quid pro quo of caring, love, and even fidelity. Each party cares about each other equally, and shows their love in such a way.

So attack me if you want, this is just a hypothetical rant from a man who has been broken so many times by traditional relationships he's beginning to feel like Humpty Dumpty (which I just realized has an interesting interpretation if you have a mind residing in the gutter). I'm not trying to reform relationships, I'm not trying to force ideas on anyone or offend anybody. I'm just a man in search of happiness, that's why my mother taught me.

Regardless of what you think of my opinions I hope you, the reader, finds happiness, finds (whatever you define as) love, and finds someone (or several) you can grow old with. Even if it's just a number of feral neighborhood cats and whatever plants spring up naturally in your yard. :)