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october31st1981 · 4 years

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Scenes from the Past Six Years

There are a number of fics in the drafts of this blog that I started a few years ago, and no longer feel the inclination to finish. But there are still some pretty fun bits and bobs, so I’m going to throw them all up in one post if anyone is interested in some disjointed excerpts.

Dueling - Jan 27, 2014

James has his hands on her shoulders, and she is calculating how best to catapult him off of her body when his lips descend to kiss her thoroughly.

“James,” she protests, as they pause for a breath, “we’re supposed to be fighting.”

“Sorry,” he murmurs, but the grin on his face contradicts his apology.

Later, when they are about to leave, Lily says, “I think we should compartmentalize our situations.” She does not meet his eyes, choosing instead to rub nonexistent grease off of her wand by running it against her jeans.

“How so?”

“Well… as much as I like snogging you, I think that we should have… snogging times, and dueling times. So we can be efficient with, er, both,” It sounds oddly formal and for reasons Lily is unsure about, a flush has risen in her cheeks. She still refuses to look him in the face.

James tilts her chin up, a gleeful look on his face. “Lily Evans, are you asking me out?”

She splutters out an indignant protest but James just grins all the wider. “You are asking me out,” he says, leaning closer to get her to look at him directly. Her cheeks are hot as his hands move to either side of her face. “Yes.”

And There Was Only One Bed - Feb 2, 2014

“One of you can come up and sleep with me.” As all four boys seem to prepare themselves for a smarmy comment, she adds, “Don’t start, gits. You know what I mean.”

“If someone’s joining you, Wormtail’s out,” Sirius says, his eyes flicking to the boy in question, “he’s a kicker.” From his tone, it seems that Sirius has experienced this very quality one too many times.

Peter huffs indignantly. “Padfoot’s a prat, I kicked him out of a hammock one time—” He cuts himself off as he sees the black-haired boy fingering his wand. “Fine, I’m out.”

“I’m out, too,” Remus says with a sigh. “I roll about too much, I’m afraid. I’d be falling out of the bed anyway."

James does not say anything, but instead he and Sirius seem to communicate something with a glance between them. James gives Sirius a warning look, but Sirius simply grins and pats the wooden arms of the chair, saying, "I’m comfortable where I am,”

“C'mere, then,” Lily says to James, gesturing to the spot next to her. Shooting a loaded glance at his best mate, he sits down.

Pecker Parody - April 22, 2014

James Potter had a problem. This particular dilemma was approximately five feet tall, freckled, and had a habit of popping up at inopportune times.

This problem was his diddly-doo. His magical wanking stick, if you will. You see, while having a dingler the size of a broomstick was all well and good when he was a boy, due to the fact he could ride it around like a pogo stick, at the age of eighteen, it was a bit more troublesome.

The truth of the matter was that he wanted to put his party popper inside Lily’s cash register, but he didn’t know how to tell her.

Birth - March 15, 2015

“I can’t believe you just did that,” he says in awe. “Did you know you could do that?”

Brushing some of her hair out of her sweaty face, Lily laughs. “I’d had some time to get used to the idea, yeah.”

James looks back at the bundle in his arms, and then again at his wife. “You just pushed an entire person out of you. Our person. He’s not tiny, either. I mean, he is tiny, but only because he’s a baby. Otherwise, he’s quite a large thing to be exiting any orifice.”

“If we ever do this again, you can do that part,” she says leaning back against the pillows.

Grease AU - June 25, 2015

(Also posted here.)

“This is… ridiculous,” she murmurs against his lips.

James laughs. “It’s a little late to denounce snogging on the beach, Evans, since we’ve been doing it for the past few weeks.” As he speaks, he drops his mouth to her neck, smiling as her eyes flutter.

Lily pulls his face up by the chin to meet his gaze. “I meant this whole thing.” She gestures around them. “After what happened after the Defence O.W.L. at the end of last term, how can you find any of this normal? Everything was such a mess after. Hell, if we hadn’t both come to the same place this holiday, I’d still be stewing in it by September.”

“But we did,” says James, brushing his nose against hers. “We talked and we yelled and we talked more and then you threw yourself at me.”

He dodges her swat at him much too easily to satisfy her, but at her raised brow he makes an amendment. “Alright, so I may have done some of the throwing. I’m a Chaser. I need to hone my reflexes.”

“My point is, it doesn’t feel like you’re Potter on this beach,” Lily says, ruffling his hair pointedly. She smiles. “You’re just James.”

“Just James,” he repeats, adjusting so he lies beside her instead of half atop her. “You make it sound like I’m two different people.”

It is Lily’s turn to laugh. “Aren’t you? I can’t imagine this version of you hoisting someone up by their ankles.”

“Of course not,” says James immediately. “I’m wearing trunks. Where would I keep my wand?”

Lily is already giggling by the time James begins suggesting locations on his body that he might be hiding his wand, and by the end of his lewd list, she is nearly having a fit on the sand. When she catches her breath, she looks at him. “I know I don’t get to keep Just James forever,” she says, leaning on his arm. “But at least try to preserve the illusion for me when we get back to school by avoiding me.”

James is quiet for a moment, but when he speaks his voice is soft. “You’re being silly, Lily,” he tells her, pulling her closer. “This is who I am. Caring about your feelings, about anyone’s feelings, isn’t exclusive to this beach.”

She kisses him, slowly and deeply. “Try to remember saying that.”

James grins. “If I’m going to be reliving a memory from this holiday, I reckon I have to choose the night under the pier—”

Lily laughs, cutting him off with her lips. “Be quiet, James.”

Masquerade - Dec 16, 2015

“So you’re Muggle-born, then?” he says thoughtfully. She stiffens, and he hasten to add, “It doesn’t matter to me. I’m just trying to figure how that narrows down the options for who you are.”

She smiles, but then looks a little put-out. “That’s hardly fair, I don’t know anything about you.”

“Pureblood,” he tells her, kissing her neck.

“A pureblood that doesn’t care that I’m Muggle-born? That does narrow down the options.” Her fingers tug at his robe. “N.E.W.T. classes?”

He shakes his head, kissing her lips quickly. “Too easy. Do you play Quidditch?”

“No. Do you?”

After a moment of hesitation, he says, “Yes,” so she is quick to follow with a suspicious, “On a team or for leisure?”

He laughs. “Both.”

Problematic.jpg - March 29, 2016

“James Potter,” Lily says to Mary suddenly, “is my problematic fave.”

“Receipts, please,” says Mary, not looking up from her copy of Witch Weekly.

“Plus, he’s like, a pureblood. So he’s got the whole legacy of all that fucked-up culture.”

“But like, a lowkey pureblood. He’s 12% Muggle-born.”

Junks the Trash King: The Sequel - April 18, 2016

“I’ve met the Rubbish Man,” announces Lily upon entering her flat.

“Good, tell him we need a new recycling bin,” says Mary absently. “There’s a family of raccoon living in ours.”

“Not him, Junks.”

The name catches Mary’s attention. “The soulmate?” she asks, straightening up. “How was he?”

Lily drags herself over to their kitchen table and collapses into a seat. “Not named Junks, for one.” Lily holds up her palm for Mary to inspect. “Apparently this is supposed to say ‘James.’”

“Shame. I’d rather hoped to one day receive a wedding invitation inviting me to the marriage of Lily and Junks. Though I’d have to bin it for the wordplay, you understand.” Lily turns her hand so she can flip Mary the bird, but from the look in her eyes, her friend has already spotted something new. “Got his number already, did you?”

Baby Brain - June 15, 2016

“I think I'm pregnant,” says Lily, so quietly that James almost doesn't hear it.

“Oh.”

“Oh?” she repeats, turning over in bed to face him. “I tell you I might be up the spout and all I get is, ‘Oh?’”

James grins at her in the dark. “Would you have preferred ‘Blimey?’” He expects the pillow that's aimed at his face.

“James.”

“Yes, dear?”

“Would you be okay with it? If I am?” It's hard to see her eyes clearly with such little light, but James can hear in her tone that she's nervous.

“I... Yeah, I would,” says James, seeking out her hand. “You know I want kids with you. I mean, I might not have seen this starting so soon, but I think we're pretty great at improvising. Remember our wedding reception?”

Lily laughs. “Somehow I don't think using Dumbledore's hat to catch projectile vomit is the same thing as raising a child.”

“I think you'll find they're remarkably similar.”

She laughs again. “I'm trying to work myself into a worry, James, and you're making it very difficult.”

He leans over to kiss her on the cheek. “Sorry, dear. Feel free to treat our child as a sign of impending doom.”

Lily leans her head onto his shoulder. “We're nineteen, James.”

“Old enough to be married,” he replies, poking her with his ring finger.

“We don't know anything about children.”

James smiles. “Children don’t know anything either, so we’ll be on a level playing field.”

(ʘ‿ʘ)ノ✿ Hold My Flower - August 17, 2016

“Lily, no.”

She scoffs. “What do you mean, ‘Lily, no?’ I didn’t say anything.”

“Lily,” he says cheerfully, throwing an arm around her shoulder, “We have been married for forty-five years now—”

“Dating for eight months,” she corrects, holding back a smile.

James waves a hand dismissively. “So, in that time, I am confident that I’ve grown to recognize what your faces mean. And that face said, ‘I’m going to put frogspawn in his tea.’”

“I don’t carry around frogspawn, James.”

He looks at her dubiously. “But you’d find some, wouldn’t you?”

Countdown - October 31, 2016

“Padfoot gets back from his assignment tomorrow,” Lily tells him, eyes on their calendar.

James pauses in trying to convince his son of the merits of pureed beets. His eyes drift towards the day on the calendar circled in red. Lately, they’ve taken to marking their calendar with the events of their day, if only to make the days seem more distinct. August 27th: ‘At 3 o’clock, Harry said his first full sentence.’ September 12th: ‘At 6 in the morning, the cat brought James a present and left it in his mouth.’ Tomorrow, October 31st, is a rare date that marks the future.

“Good,” he says. “I was hoping he’d be back before his birthday.”

A small, hopeful smile blooms on her lips. “Perhaps we can finally give him a nice celebration. I know Moony is still underground, but Wormy said he’d stay close by. I could bake him a cake.”

“Cake!” says Harry, and James laughs. He takes advantage of his boy’s opened-mouth enthusiasm to give him a spoonful of beets. The look he receives is nothing short of betrayed.

Victorious and still chuckling, James turns back to his wife. “We can ask him to come by as soon as he’s home.”

Baby I’m Trying: The Sequel Pt. 1 - Jan 4, 2017

He wishes his mum were still around, but since she’s not, in his desperation, James consults his neighbour, Batty Bagshot. Though she’s had no children of her own, she’s looked after many of her nieces and nephews over the years, and James has never been more thankful to hear her drone on.

After his conversation with Bathilda, he comes home, arms laden with all the supplies she recommended he find. Sirius’s eyes are wide as James brings the load inside the flat. “Reckon you got enough?”

James slumps over to the floor and leans his head on the pram. “This stuff is only for the first six months,” he says, staring into space. “Do you know how many times a day a baby needs formula? D’you think McGonagall will let me take the baby to class?”

Sirius considers it. “McGonagall does let her cat into the lectures. Although,” he says, wrinkling his nose and holding the baby out to James, “she knows how to use a litter box.”

James wonders if it’s pathetic to google ‘How to change a nappy.’

Baby I’m Trying: The Sequel Pt. 2 - Jan 4, 2017

In three days, James has a paper documenting that the baby is one hundred percent, undeniably his. He hadn’t doubted that he was, but it’s something different to see it on paper. It makes the whole thing more real for him. He sets about telling the rest of his friends, and while they are as surprised as he is, they take it in stride and help him sort it out, as they’ve always done.

“What are you going to name him?” asks Remus.

“Wilberforce,” suggests Sirius, grinning.

James cracks a smile at that. “Maybe something unisex. Elvendork?”

“You’ll have no trouble calling out for him if you ever lose him,” says Peter fairly.

James laughs. The baby fusses a bit in his arms and he runs a hand over the dark mass of hair that is already on this boy’s head. “Could go with a family name,” James says thoughtfully.

“I’m going to take a moment to remind you that your father’s name was Fleamont,” says Remus.

He shakes his head. “My grandfather,” James says.

None of the boys know much about his grandfather, since he died while James was still in primary school, but Sirius lived with his parents for a time, and he knows James better than anyone else. So it is Sirius who asks, “Henry?”

“Harry,” corrects James. Maybe it’s a coincidence, but the baby stops squirming. “His name was Henry, but they called him Harry.”

“Harry Potter,” says Peter. “I like it.”

His son has a name. “Harry Potter,” James repeats quietly.

Ring Out - June 15, 2017

“Frank and Alice are engaged,” Sirius tells him as he slides a drink to James across the table.

James lifts the pint into the air. “Congratulations to them,” he says, and he means it. He knows many couples rushing to the altar these days, but Alice and Frank seem the best-suited for marriage of all of them. He takes a large swig of his firewhiskey.

Sirius raises an eyebrow. It takes no more than this movement for James to know what he will say next. Still, Sirius asks, “When are you going to ask her?”

“What, you reckon because everyone else we know is getting married, I ought to as well?” James asks, mirroring his friend's expression.

Sirius snorts. “No, I reckon that you're horrendously in love with Evans and want to ask her to be your wife.”

James takes another drink. “We're in the middle of a war, Padfoot.”

“Seems to be reason enough for everyone else,” Sirius counters, shrugging.

“Exactly," says James firmly. “I don't want Lily to marry me because she's afraid we're doing to die.”

Sirius pauses, reaching for his own firewhiskey. After a moment, he lowers his glass and shrugs once more. “We might.”

“We might not.” James retorts. He runs a hand through his hair. “I'd rather wait for her to be certain.”

“You're living together," Sirius says, and when James opens his mouth he shakes his head. “You say you live with me but you spend more time at Lily's than you do at ours.”

James chuckles. “So your concern is that we’re living in sin? Talk about glass houses, mate.”

#jily #james potter #lily evans #marauders #sirius black #fanfiction #these are just my favourite bits of thousands of words #to the rest of my drafts #a lovely viking funeral trip to valhalla #ayesha writes things #writing #exceprts #some of these may have been put up already idk #i am a packrat in all respects #long post #mine

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bittysvalentines · 5 years

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Two-for-One Special

From: @luckiedee

To: @leahlisabeth

Ship: Patater (Kent Parson/Alexei Mashkov)

Word Count: 2,995

Rating: PG-13

Summary: There are several ways to deal with a rumor. You can deny it, of course. Or you can pretend that it's true.

Warnings: language, referenced/implied sexual situations.

Author's Note: Written for the 2019 Bitty’s Valentine’s Exchange as a gift for @leahlisabeth, whose requests included Patater and fake dating. Inspired by prompts #22 and #25 from this list. I hope you enjoy! ♥

“Hey, did you hear about Parson?”

Kent freezes, his protein bar halfway to his mouth. That’s Carl; Kent would recognize his grating, overconfident voice anywhere. It sounds like he’s out at the water cooler, and he probably doesn’t realize that Kent is in the break room — and therefore, within earshot — but he’s enough of a dick that Kent can’t be sure.

The answering voice is female and hushed: “I heard something about him hooking up with Alexei.” That’s Tamia.

And that’s… what?

Carl snorts. “In Parson’s head maybe. It's a lie, and he made it up himself. Pathetic.”

Kent goes hot and cold at once, flushing with anger and shock. He hadn’t done either of those things — whether or not he’d hook up with Alexei Mashkov (he totally would), there’s no way in hell he’d tell anyone at work about it, much less float a rumor that it had happened when it hadn’t.

To her credit, Tamia’s skeptical as she asks, “Really?”

“Obviously,” Carl says.

“If you say so,” Tamia replies, still dubious.

As their voices fade away, Kent sighs and tosses what’s left of his protein bar in the trash. Hopefully, whatever bullshit misinformation is in the air, it won’t reach Alexei himself.

Kent has taken several temp jobs since he started working on his accounting degree, but this is the first one where he feels like he’s on a kindergarten playground instead of in an office. Except that five-year-olds probably don’t spread sex rumors. So maybe it’s more like high school drama, but Kent has been working with teenagers for years at a local sporting goods store, and they’re definitely more mature than Carl.

To be honest, Kent’s not exactly sure what he did to make the dude hate him so much. He suspects it’s something to do with the fact that Carl is hoping to be hired by the company after their project is done (in which case, Kent is direct competition) or that he’s been trying to get into Tamia’s pants since day one (in which case, Kent is not).

At lunch, Kent sits with the other temps, since there aren’t any empty tables. He’s got his head down, so it comes as a complete surprise when Alexei squeezes into the chair next to his and scoots so close that he’s practically in Kent’s lap. “Hi Kenny,” he says warmly, looking right into Kent’s face, and that… is not something he’s ever called Kent before.

It makes Kent feel like he’s been eating rocks, a whole pile of them that are sitting in the pit of his stomach and dragging it down. Is this all some kind of joke? Are Carl and Alexei in on it together?

Except — Alexei doesn’t look like he’s joking. He’s angled toward Kent, and his head twitches in a tiny, almost imperceptible nod. Then, he winks.

Kent risks a glance around the table, and Carl’s jaw is almost on the floor so — okay, not in on it together. He looks back at Alexei and finally replies, “Hey.”

Alexei’s grin widens. “So, Thursday is Valentine’s,” he comments, all nonchalance as he unwraps a sandwich. “You want I tell you about surprise now or later?”

“Valentine’s?” Kent croaks out.

“Mmhmmm,” Alexei hums around a mouthful of peanut butter and jelly. He swallows. “Remember I say maybe I have plan?”

There’s that nod again, barely a movement, while Alexei holds his gaze steadily.

“Right,” Kent says slowly. “You sounded like it probably wouldn’t work out, so I guess I… forgot about it.”

Alexei seizes on that. “Didn’t think it would work! But I pull string, and we have reservation at new fondue place. My friend is bartender. Someone cancel last minute. Maybe they break up; sad for them, but happy for us. Is two-for-one special. You keep night free for me?”

Kent sees Carl’s expression go from shocked to bewildered. And okay, Kent still has no idea what’s going on, but — this could be fun. He knocks his shoulder into Alexei’s and gives him a close, private smile. “For you? I’m always free.”

Across the table, Tamia perks up. “I waitress there on the side!” she exclaims. “And I just agreed to pick up a shift on Thursday. I’ll try to get you seated in my section.”

Shit, Kent thinks, but Alexei doesn’t seem bothered by it. “We give you best tip,” he promises, and then turns to Kent. “I pick you up at six-thirty. Reservation at seven.” He drops one catcher’s-mitt hand onto Kent’s knee under the table and gives it a quick squeeze — Kent’s face flames — before he addresses Carl, “You have plans?”

It’s hard not to feel smug when Carl gives a grudging no in response. Kent’s plans may be fake, but at least he’s got some.

Basically, it’s a weird fucking day, and Kent is glad to escape when it’s over. He shuts down his computer promptly at five, but before he’s even halfway out of his chair, Alexei glances up and asks, “I walk with you?”

“Sure,” Kent agrees, and when they’re outside and well clear of the building, he says, brightly, “So, what the fuck?”

It seems to take Alexei by surprise. “What you mean, what the fuck?”

“I mean, why are you acting like we’re… dating, or whatever? Two-for-one special at the fondue place? Is this a joke or something?”

“No!” Alexei exclaims, sounding affronted, and then his voice goes concerned. “You not hear?”

“Hear what?”

“Rumor, about us.”

Kent groans. “I was afraid of that. Fuck. Listen, I swear I didn’t —”

“I know,” Alexei cuts him off, simply, like he never had any doubt. “Was Carl, making shit up. Can’t stand him.”

Huh. “I had no idea,” Kent admits. “You’re nice to him.”

Alexei shrugs. “Have to be nice at work. But he’s dick.”

It’s so surprising and Kent is so relieved not to be the butt of some coordinated prank that he starts to laugh. “Then what the fuck was that?” he asks, more jovially this time.

“I’m just mad and think maybe make him feel dumb, get even. Should have asked first. I’m sorry,” Alexei says, contrite.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kent replies. It had been fine. Confusing, but fine. Now that he knows it wasn’t malicious, the look on Carl’s face had been more than worth it. “Actually, thanks. I owe you one. Have a good night, okay?” With an awkward gesture that’s half wave, half salute, Kent starts backing toward his car.

“You owe? Maybe I make you pay for fondue,” Alexei suggests.

Kent stumbles over his own feet in surprise, and Alexei lurches forward to grab his arm. “You —” Kent starts once he has his balance back. “You were serious about that?”

Alexei draws his hand back and jams it into his jacket pocket. “I’m not lie. I get reservation last minute, but no date. And we have to show Tamia we’re best couple! I’m just joke, I pay, so free meal for you.”

He looks so genuinely hopeful that Kent can’t imagine saying no, even though Alexei’s rationale isn’t as flattering as, say, actually wanting to have dinner together. “Sure, yeah, okay. Why not,” Kent says. After all, his actual Valentine’s Day plans involve watching sappy movies with his cat, and he’s not sure which is more pathetic: that or going on a fake date with his pretend boyfriend. It’s probably a toss-up.

At least this job is going to end in a few days, and after that, it won’t matter anymore. In the meantime, there are worse things than a free dinner with an attractive guy.

On Valentine's Day, Alexei greets Kent at his door with a single red rose — which is unexpected to say the least — and Kent accepts it gingerly. “Think dozen is too many for first date,” Alexei says with a wink. He’s wearing a cardigan, and it kind of makes him look like somebody’s grandfather, but it kind of works too.

“Should I bring this to the restaurant?” Kent asks. Otherwise, how is Tamia ever going to see it?

Alexei shrugs. “Whatever you want. Is yours now.”

Kent ends up sticking it in a bottle of water and leaving it behind, because he doesn’t have a vase and he doesn’t want something else to keep track of when he’s already juggling so many lies.

While Kent is settling into the passenger seat of Alexei’s SUV, Alexei waves a hand and says, “Sorry for mess. I’m forget to bring inside.”

Kent cranes around and catches sight of — a hockey bag. His eyebrows shoot up. “You play hockey?”

“Just beer league, for fun.”

“Yeah? I played a lot when I was younger.” Kent considers how much of an understatement that is. “A lot.”

Alexei glances over at him. “You any good?”

Kent snorts. “I was all right. Probably would have been drafted if I hadn’t blown out my knee.”

There’s a suspicious tilt to Alexei’s smirk. “I think you being modest. I’m Google you later.”

“Go ahead.”

Alexei’s tone grows more sympathetic as he says, “I’m sorry for knee. Big sports injury, change all life plans, must be hard.”

And that isn’t something that Kent would delve into on a real first date, much less a fake one. “It was an adjustment, for sure.”

“You still watch?”

Probably more than he should. Kent often wonders if he should have made a cleaner break, but it’s harder than it sounds. “All the time,” he admits.

“What team?”

“The Aces. They probably would have drafted me.”

He laughs good-naturedly when Alexei greets that news with an exuberant boo. “I’m Falconers fan,” he announces.

Kent groans. Of course he would be a fan of the team that Jack plays for, now that Jack’s finally made it to the NHL. It’s probably lucky that they aren’t trying to start an actual relationship. “Well, let’s not have our first fight before our first date,” he warns.

They arrive early, and Kent perches beside Alexei on a bench, a few inches away, until Alexei chuckles and tugs him closer with an arm around his shoulder. Kent steadfastly doesn’t think about how well he fits tucked into Alexei’s side. “Is date, kroshka,” Alexei murmurs. “Sit close to me.”

Jesus fuck. It’s all Kent can do not to shiver. “Right,” he says, fumbling his phone from his jeans pocket into his blazer.

“Wait,” Alexei orders him. “Is that cat on phone?”

“Oh — oh yeah, that’s my cat,” Kent replies. “Her name is Kit.”

Alexei beams. “Gorgeous lady! Tell me about.”

That Kent can do.

After they’re seated at a booth, Alexei extends one arm, hand on the table, palm up. Kent tentatively covers it with his own, and Alexei holds it, stroking over Kent’s knuckles with his thumb. His eyes are warm in the mood lighting, and Kent traitorous heart trips over its own rhythm. Not real, he reminds himself. This is not real.

He’s startled by a bright voice chirping out, “Hey guys!” It’s Tamia, who’s appeared at the edge of their booth. “Sorry to interrupt.”

Kent’s first instinct is to yank his hand back, but Alexei’s grip tightens as he grins.

The meal starts with cheese fondue — and who knew carrots would taste so good dipped in cheese? — and a salad. Even better than the food is the conversation: they talk about being non-traditional students, and more about hockey, and Kent listens, enthralled, as Alexei recounts his decision to leave Russia despite how much he loves it. “Can’t be myself there,” he explains. “When I’m get here, had to work for money for bring mama. Then we both work for my school. Now I get offer for good job, so I take care of us both.”

“Are they hiring you after your internship?” Kent asks. “I heard there’s an opening for a Junior Accountant.”

Alexei shakes his head. “No, another company. I’m recommend you for Junior Accountant.”

Kent goes still. “You did?”

“You work hard, very smart, good fit.” Alexei smiles at him. “I’m say they should pick you. If not you, Tamia. If not Tamia, interview someone else. Not Carl.”

“Oh,” Kent says. He feels one corner of his mouth quirk up, and he glances at his plate, feeling unaccountably flustered. “Thank you.”

They order a variety of meats to share, and Alexei teases Kent when he uses his phone to time how long they cook in the fondue pot. “Shrimp not kill you if you cook for one minute, fifty-five seconds,” he says playfully.

“Do you want to end this night at the hospital?” Kent banters back. “Or for me to get sick right here at the table? That would give all these couples something to talk about.”

Alexei rolls his eyes. “Not going to get sick if cook for five seconds wrong.”

That’s probably true, but Kent’s having flash of inspiration. “Hang on. Do you really want to give them something to talk about? We could stage a dramatic breakup. You know, have a big fight, I’ll storm out…”

He expects Alexei to enter into the spirit of the thing, to plot some ridiculous scenario even if they don’t go through with it. Instead, he shakes his head, looking thoughtful. “No, is Valentine’s Day, don’t want to ruin for everyone having nice time. Besides, Tamia see and then what we say at work tomorrow?”

“That’s true.”

“Besides,” Alexei continues, “how we kiss goodnight if we break up?”

“I don’t put out on the first date,” Kent quips, which isn’t necessarily true.

“No?” Alexei asks, meeting Kent’s eyes. “Not even little bit kiss?”

Kent chokes on his fully-cooked shrimp. After calming his sputtering with a drink of water, he asks, incredulously, “Wait, you’re serious?”

Alexei is watching him fondly, despite the fact that Kent nearly needed the Heimlich. “This is good date. Good date should end with a kiss. Unless you not want.”

Kent gapes across the table, but he’s interrupted from answering by Tamia, who arrives with dessert menus. Alexei enthusiastically chooses the turtle fondue, and Kent agrees without even looking at the options. Whatever, it’s chocolate; he’ll like it. When their order is placed, Alexei extends his hand for Kent’s again and says, “So, when you adopt Princess Kit? You get from shelter?”

Still dazed, Kent gives a rambling answer and tries not to worry about the fact that he’s a human disaster. He concentrates on speaking normally instead. On not fucking this up in the first ninety seconds. On just — fucking breathing like he’s doing it naturally.

The dessert course is decadent. There’s a fondue pot full of rich chocolate and caramel swimming with pecans, and a tray with everything from fruit to marshmallows to brownies. Alexei squeezes Kent’s hand, then drops it with a delighted exclamation. Tamia says, low, “I got you some extra strawberries.”

“Best,” Alexei says, beaming at her.

She grins back. “You guys look really happy. I hope this all works out for you.”

Even though Kent has already eaten his fill, the chocolate fondue is so amazing that he knows he won’t be leaving a crumb of food behind. It’s good, too, how vocal Alexei is in his enjoyment of it, his appreciative noises that nearly have Kent squirming in his seat. “Kroshka, did you try cheesecake?” Alexei asks. “No? Try.” He extends a dripping piece across the table.

Christ, Kent’s going to go up in fucking flames. He manages to play it cool as he takes the bite of cheesecake in his mouth, letting his lips slide back against the tines of the fork and darting his tongue out to catch a smear of chocolate. It’s delicious, and he gives a pleased hum and says, “yeah, that’s really good,” all while looking Alexei right in the eye.

Alexei just smirks, his gaze dark, like he knows what game Kent is playing but he enjoys it anyway.

Maybe they’re both playing the same game, Kent realizes, as Alexei sticks the fork in his mouth to suck off the remaining chocolate.

Back at the truck, instead of opening the passenger side door, Alexei backs Kent into it, his hands on Kent’s hips. “Sure I can’t have kiss good night?” he asks. “Just little one?”

“Shouldn’t that be when you drop me off?” Kent asks, but he tilts his head up.

Alexei answers him on a murmur: “If you want. Rather bring you home with me.”

“Then kiss me there.”

“Kiss you here first,” Alexei insists.

So Kent says, “Okay.”

When Kent arrives at work the next morning, he’s in Alexei’s truck and yesterday’s clothes. Beside him, Alexei is smug and cheerful as they walk toward the office. “I want take you out again,” he announces. “You say yes?”

Kent snorts. “You’re asking now? What, you had to make sure the sex would be good first?”

“No, sex with me always good,” Alexei replies, and Kent isn’t arguing with that, although his sample size is admittedly small. Hopefully it won’t be for long. “Maybe you tell Carl, he can spread around.”

“Hell no,” Kent says, laughing. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

Kent’s in the break room, getting a celebratory candy bar from the vending machine, when a voice floats in from the hall: “Did you hear about Kent?”

It’s Tamia this time. Kent jerks in surprise; she’d definitely noticed that he was wearing the same shirt as yesterday and given him a sly look, but he’d never imagined that she’d gossip about him.

Carl grunts out an annoyed-sounding nope.

Tamia continues anyway. “They offered him a Junior Accountant job, part time until he finishes school, then full time after that.”

Kent grins and fishes another dollar bill out of his wallet. Tamia deserves a candy bar too — she’d become friends with someone in HR, who had given Tamia’s resume to her sister, who worked somewhere that was looking for an accountant.

It’s definitely not to reward her for spreading rumors.

After all, it’s not a rumor if it’s true.

#kenttater #fanfiction #bittysvalentines #bv2019 #omgcp

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taeguboi · 6 years

Text

BTS as... Punks

So hahahahaha idk why it posted my extremely incomplete draft earlier (bug with the app?) So consider that now deleted post as a preview hahaha

Requested: “BTS as Punks please!”

activist

anything that's for a good cause

he's behind it

probably makes his own charity

for something close to his heart

and puts on punk events a few times a week

music

poetry

all kinds of food stalls

suitable for everyone’s dietary needs

the occasional street protest

quite laid back though

but the things he has done have had a huge impact on people’s lives

he feeds the poor at his music events

he takes in donations from people to aid the homeless

basically against those unfair imbalances you get in society

he wants to be in a punk band

but at the same time it isn’t really for him

so sometimes he just grabs a guitar

and busks with improvised lyrics

things that are on his mind

things about the world at present

and the things the talks and posts about to people inspire writers of bands

kind of like a journalist

he knows everyone on the local punk scne

he’s been involved ever since he was a kid

smokes a fair amount like

“cool mate, cool beans... right, I’m just off out for a fag”

not many piercings as you might expect

like mostly his ears

and a few intimate areas...

always has colourful punk hair

probably a low key mohawk

several meaningful tattoos

because his family is everything

so is this one person in his life

some drunken tattoos also hahaha

couple of face tatts

always a gentleman to girls

if there’s a creep on the scene

just tell him

that guy will be exposed

and gone for good from this local punk scene

and beyond as far as his contacts can take him

he just wants a safe scene

will fend for anyone though really

has a local watering hole

go down to that pub on any afternoon

and there’s 90% chance he is there

mostly just for the people

maybe buys only 2 drinks the whole time usually

but if he gets drunk

get your notepad and pen

he’s gonna throw 196489 contacts your way

so if your band are ever in need of a gig

you know who to call

Jin

at first, doing punk music is merely a hobby

but then it turns into something more

his pleasure in busking turns into a passion

a dream to make it with a band

so he gets together the best people he knows

and they fucking rock

no one can say a bad thing about Jin’s punk band

they rehearsed diligently for so long

so they sound so tight

he rocks the denim jacket

with all the patches

some badges too

a ton of badges are on his bag though instead

and stickers on his guitar case

a fan of every band he performs with

his guitar case is choc a bloc with local band stickers

so he doesn’t have a mohawk

but his bangs progressively get messier

occasionally he dyes them [example, like V’s green bangs in hyyh era]

he changes loads in little ways

like you leave school and he’s this ‘ordinary’ lad

but then you bump into him like 7 years later

and wtf he’s stunning

like his aura changed

you thought maybe he’d go into like a business job

but he’s rocking the stage most nights a week

you can’t help but go support him more

and maybe something happens from there but that can be a story for another time

and so maybe he doesn’t get BIG with this band

but he earns a sustainable income

and that’s more than good enough

life is good

music, booze and girls

no drugs tho

wise in that sense, contrary to some punk stereotypes

kind of fluffy actually

some say he’s a poser

but he just likes to look good

and is aware how certain rougher looks just really don’t suit him

so that’s all there is to that

actually that’s all there is to this

the end :P

Suga

probably a performer too

maybe more into the dub / ska kind of genre

full of stage presence and hype

when he has a message

he fucking gets it across

because he’s so assertive

as well as those catchy melodies

just messy af hair

doesn’t care for it to be any particular length or style

just keep it natural

in fact, fuck visuals

no dress sense whatsoever

like he has a green shirt on with pink jeans and yellow converse

sound is all that matters

so what else?

solitary

like he could be backed up by a band

but fuck that

if he has the equipment that can do it all then why not?

it’s easier to work alone

so he supports like 876 charity events

and has a big share of festivals

headline material

especially at the proper hippie festivals

great for people high af

great for drunkards

great for sober peeps too

you get it, great for everyone

apart from perhaps kids

cos swearing

sometimes you need that bit of aggression in lyrics, right?

he’s not as aggressive as he might seem on stage

but something is pent up in there

and he is one rough boy

actually, a lot like badboy!suga

can handle anything

but can you handle him?

J-Hope

idk why I always imagine him as a skater

but here we go

in a skate punk band

bass player

can also do drums tho

backwards caps for life

that one band member you think is shy af

cos he seems so quiet

but the moment you say ‘hey’ and congratulate him on a good show

he can talk your ear off for hours

again no drugs

but plenty of beer

cos getting drunk is funnier

the world is a more enjoyable place with skate punk and alcohol

seriously it really is, take that from me hahah

graffiti projects

either for promotion

or to help like restless kids as a distraction or something

let’s just say that’s something he can relate to

may or may not be how he got into this whole skate punk stuff

so yeah will take any charity gig

doesn’t mind if venues pay him in beer

he would have spent the dollar on that anyways

all about living it up with his mates

bros before hoes

has a side band that’s like party punk

any excuse to get bros together

for a good old knees up

only bands of his close friends get played in the car

girls are quite interested in him

but lmao he’s having none of it

he just wants to embrace life

don’t need anything more than mates and family

but he writes really cool songs on the topic of love

you know without being too soppy with it being punk and all

but it’s fucking amazing

but no one knows where he gets the ideas from

no one knows where he gets his energy from either

will jump off everything and anything

on certain days, he’ll climb everything and anything too

just a fun loving cool punk

Jimin

more or less that one guy you see everywhere on the scene

he’s not in a band

doesn’t really do his own music

but he’s a fan of his scene

every weekend, he’s somewhere to see punk music

be it the local pub for one of his faves

or a town centre for a punk charity thing

or even miles away to see someone he knows getting bigger

leather

with a few patches

piercings

all the ear piercings you could imagine

lips and tongue

used to have an eyebrow one

but decided he looked too generic

or like a chav

something or other

he knows he doesn’t have the most original look

but he can’t stand being too similar to someone else

if anyone in this room tonight is wearing a leather jacket and completely black clothing

he might just tear it off himself and / or burn it

abs and tatts are a good look anyone so doesn’t matter

probably works out to punk music

high school drop out

because he started to realize how useless it is

so he’s generally clever where it’s more relevant in life

saves money well

good paying job

can fund his love for punk basically

and each and every band he supports fully appreciates it

I’m sorry guys I swear there isn’t a not fluffy Jimin gif for me to use hahaha

so yeah I’m sorry if this turns out too similar to

badboy!V

because I literally made him a punk in that hc

I’m thinking he’s a lead singer of a punk band

that raspy voice works to his advantage

capable of hardcore punk genres

but prefers and sticks to a more rock n roll kind of punk

long hair

whatever colour he feels like this month

piercings galore

tatts galore

will put a needle anywhere on his body

lives on the edge

lives in the moment

yolo

arrests

protests

he’s done it all

cos fuck the law man

if something about society bothers him

he will speak up

fearless boy

will get his band a gig anywhere in the country

he has things he needs to say

thoughts to spread

only uses social media for punk

his profile is just of gig pictures of his own and sharing events

not your typical singer

kind of writes everything

the band just copy / pick up what he shows them

busks alone sometimes too

may or may not make extra dollar from sneaky acoustic gigs

but it’s not out of selfishness, no

he will always have a goal in mind

and good intentions

like he wants to band to afford professional recordings

or he wants to set up and event

that kind of thing

pay attention

to the things he talks about in his music

you’ll learn a lot

Jungkook

drummer

just needs to hit something

so as long as it isn’t people then great

basically the world screwed him over in some way at some point

and it made him rethink his views about the world

for ages it was restless frustration about it all

but then he discovered punk

the day he discovered his local scene

he wrote random poetry for days

the words had flow to them

but they were unconventional

and then a mate sees it

and he’s like “dude this is sick”

and a band is formed

likes a bit of everything

has friends he can go to the skate park with

has mates to mosh with at hardcore gigs

has friends he can chill with for ska

quite a late learner with the drums

but he must have a natural talent for it

because he becomes amazing in just under 2 years

can do any genre of punk

everyone wants him in their new projects

he’s the guy everyone needs if their guy quits

you know, the demand for Jungkook’s drumming is insance

fortunately he’s wise enough to just stick with the first 3 bands

cos like I say not only does he drum for them

but his creative input for lyrics is huge

just sit him down, give him a topic and bam

he’s just written you a verse and chorus

what else?

50% backwards caps

25% forwards cap

25% lost his cap

somewhat forgetful in areas other than drumming

maybe a bit of a stoner like

“oh yeah man! I forgot about that!

the way his cap is on does often depend on level of alcohol in his blood

forwards for business

backwards for sloshed party animal

breaks a lot of drum sticks by accident

breaks a few hearts by accident welp

I guess girls and guys just notice the muscle

which he never hides well

cos of course as a drummer, you’re gonna wear a vest really

yeah, that’s pretty much it

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creideamhgradochas · 6 years

Text

Thanks to the lovely @whostheblondegirlwriting for taking the time to answer these! Get to know more about lovely E, go give her a follow and then show her some love!

These questions are from this list. You should check it out, there’s 50 questions all together and they’d be great to ask your favorite fic writer!

*Disclaimer from E, herself: If you’re looking for some sage-like writery advice...keep lookin’. You won’t find it here. This whole fic writing endeavor is an adventure in “[shrugs] We’ll see what happens”. Behold! An odyssey of half-assed, one line inspo. Marvel at the absolute appalling lack of plotting and vision. Tremble at the underwhelming realization that “Huh. I could do better than that”. In short, at least you don’t pay money for this, right?

1) How old were you when you first starting writing fan-fiction?

I have no idea, honestly. I signed up for AO3 to actually share it though in September 2015 when I was 36. So we’ll go with that.

2) Do you prefer writing OC’s or reader inserts? Explain your answer.

I think I have done more reader inserts than OC, counting all the tumblr oneshots. But you can actually create something substantial with an OC. An OC makes you work. I prefer them.

3) What is your favorite genre to write for?

I don’t know if I’ve done enough variety to have a fav, honestly.

4) If you had to delete one of your stories and never speak of it again, which would it be and why?

I wouldn’t. They’re all mine and I’m proud of each of them, no matter how popular (or maybe I should say, unpopular) they are/were.

5) When is your preferred time to write?

Whenever I have the time! I’m not picky, because time is very hard to come by with my job anymore and the fact that my husband doesn’t know I write. Morning, noon, or night for me. It can be hard to sneak it in and still get everything else done.

6) Where do you take your inspiration from?

I don’t have a good answer for this and I’m laughing to myself thinking I should have one. Lol An idea comes up and I write it. That’s it. Shameful, I know.

7) In your Back to One series, what’s your favorite scene that you wrote?

Oh, damn. Uhhh...I think I liked Sebastian fumbling through his confession to Lily in Montauk. But I also probably had the most fun with the “champagne incident” because it was for my tumblr-lifemate, @ceebeetumbles.

8) Have you ever amended a story due to criticisms you’ve received after posting it?

Nope. It is what it is. You can’t please everyone and I don’t try. As long as I like it, it’s good enough. It’s not like anyone’s paying me for this, anyway. Lol

9) Who is your favorite character to write for? Why?

Hmm. Right now, I’d have to say Jack Rollins, because he preoccupies so much of my writing lately. Besides his own fic, he’s also featuring in an AU for Echo that’s in draft. Considering he had two lines in Winter Soldier, I’m very proud of the interest and love my Jack gets.

10) Who is your least favorite character to write for? Why?

Chris Evans, for right now. Only because he has been less than inspirational for some time due to his relative inactivity and, uh, [ahem] some personal choices he made. But I’m optimistic he’ll come back.

11) How did you come up with the title for the Back to One series?

The main character, Lily, goes through some personal and professional ups and downs as an actress. The phrase “back to one” is a direction for actors to go back to their first mark, so I thought it was fitting, as Lily would hopefully get things right, find her best self again, and have a fresh start as she meets different situations and opportunities in her story.

12) How did you come up with the idea for the Back to One series?

I thought I’d write a Sebastian Stan fic and figured a good match for him (and someone to help drive the story) would be an actress. But then I considered an OC like Lily could have more angles to write and it became really an OC fic that features Sebastian Stan. Oops.

13) Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them?

I haven’t ever abandoned a fic. I refuse to give up on A Touch Up and do write a line or two here and there, just nowhere near the volume I need to publish a full chapter like I used to. It ended up on the shelf because Chris Evans got so boring after Civil War premiered and the fic is literally built on what he was doing in his everyday life. I also have a personal distaste for Jenny Slate and I guess you could say his decision to date her made me doubt the version of him I’d created in ATU, which is a problem when your fic is paired so purposefully around the assumptions I/we all had made by that time about him.

14) Are there any stories that you’ve written that you’d really love to do a sequel to?

I’m doing it. Echo was my pet project and, though it has my smallest following for a WIP, I had enough demand/interest for the story to be told from another character’s perspective that Jack Rollins and the STRIKE Series were born. There’ll be some unexpected things along the way in that series that I hope those fans/readers enjoy.

15) Are there any stories that you wished you’d ended differently?

No. I’ve only ended a couple fics (Echo and Kindness). Everything else is still a WIP or open ended series that publishes oneshots every once in awhile. The rest of my work is basically oneshots.

16) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?

Don’t laugh at me when I say I admire anyone who puts their work out there, even if it’s just a paragraph long imagine only on tumblr. It takes a lot of nerve, no matter what level your work is at or how big the scope. I’ve seen some good, bad, and ugly fic floating around, but I see value in it all and love seeing experience/determination help the writer evolve.

We ain’t all Hemingways or Shakespeares. And that’s okay. Some of the best writers don’t have thousands of followers and get hundreds of notes (but deserve them). And some of the behemoths out there aren’t necessarily turning out mind blowing fic, either. It’s a crapshoot and fandom can be fickle (if not downright confusing af).

17) Do you have a story that you look back on and cringe when you reread it?

Not at all. If it posts, I’m happy with it.

18) Do you prefer listening to music when you’re writing or do you need silence?

Either is fine. I probably write more in quiet, though, because my husband works 3rd shift, so I’m mindful not to disturb him.

19) Have you ever cried whilst writing a story?

No. Closest I could say to giving me my own feels was when I wrote The Death of Brock Rumlow (when it existed as part of the original Echo plot).

20) Which part of your Back to One series was the hardest to write?

I’m happy to say I don’t think there’s been a hard part to write for Back To One, or any of my fics. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it!

21) Do you make a general outline for your stories or do you just go with the flow?

Nope. No outlines or plans. I pretty much just sit down and write. If inspiration doesn’t hit, I’ll switch to a different WIP. If I have an idea for a line or scene I might make a note for later (maybe just a few words to point me in the right direction/remind me, or a line or two of dialogue), but once I get to it, I usually just write it out at once.

22) What is something you wished you’d known before you started posting fan-fiction?

How little time I’d have down the road for it. Maybe I wouldn’t have run such long WIPs/fics at a time. It feels like it’s been 100 years since I had time to open requests and I had to abandon a weekly posting schedule for 3 WIPs earlier this year because I just don’t have the time to manage the volume I used to anymore.

23) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like?

OMG yes! Echo and its companion fic, Jack Rollins (and I’ll probably say the same for the au/the STRIKE series). At this point, I can confidently say the following for Echo didn’t carry over to Jack Rollins, but I knew both were niche fics in the beginning anyway. I’m grateful for the attention Echo got, but it was such a labor of love, I’d have liked to see it do better. I may only have several regular readers for Jack Rollins commenting or reblogging, but those few readers and myself are the ones I wrote it for, and that I’ll keep posting it for until it’s finished, regardless of how tiny the readership because I love it.

24) In contrast to 23 is there a story which gets lots of love which you kinda eye roll at?

Not in an “oh, geez. Not that again” way. More like a “oh, stop. I can’t believe you guys like it that much” kind of humbled eye roll.

25) Are any of your characters based on real people?

Obviously the celebrities like Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan, technically yeah. I have no doubt that some of my own ticks, experiences, etc have made it into a character or plot, or things from people I know or have come across. Things you don’t necessarily draw lines between on purpose but maybe catch on to later, sure.

26) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?

Any of the comments or messages from people who say they cried, laughed out loud in public, got way too giddy, or held their breath because of something I wrote. They make me so happy, just to see someone got so lost or involved in a moment means I did a good job. Having someone say they reread a fic (or are reading for the X time) is a hell of a compliment, too.

27) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten?

It was about A touch Up and how I had given the reader insert character, or implied, too much description (ex. noting that POC don’t blush as often as this girl did, when I wrote it as that feeling in the cheeks anyone can experience to convey her nervousness/embarrassment/etc at those points in the story so people maybe shared that sense as they read, not that she frequently ran around with a noticeable flush) and that, although I may not have said it outright, things like that apparently had made her so that she was obviously white. That ruined it for the commenter, despite there not actually being that much said about appearance in the story.

28) Do you share your story ideas with anyone else or do you keep them close to your chest?

Rarely. @ceebeetumbles gets a snippet of a chapter thrown at her once in a very blue moon, if I want to be sure something isn’t too cliché or generally awful. Lol But there’s a chance she’s reading along with the fic, so I may not send the whole chapter. I don’t plot per se or collaborate with anyone though.

29) Do people know you write fan-fiction?

Just the lovely people who’ve visited me on Tumblr or AO3.

30) What’s you favorite minor character you’ve written?

It’s a toss up between Frank Grillo’s appearance in A Touch Up and Jack Rollins or Eric Mickelson in Echo. I’m also a little fond of Drew Madison in Back To One.

31) What spurs you on during the writing process?

That I told you I’d post an update to a WIP, promised a drabble, or set a deadline that a request would be done by. So, really just my self-imposed “schedule”.

32) What’s your favorite trope to write?

I don’t really have one.

33) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about?

Nnnope. Lol

34) If you could write only angst, fluff or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?

It’s a toss up between angst and fluff. They both come pretty easily. Honestly, smut is exhausting to write and I do so little of it because I don’t want it to be repetitive. Fluff is always fun. But, man...the possibilities with angst are pretty limitless, so maybe I’d lean a little more that way.

#milestone celebration #ask the author #whostheblondegirlwriting

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andrewdburton · 3 years

Text

Three Months of Slacking

Unsuccessfully but Refreshingly trying to climb the local waterfall

“MMM, are you still alive?” – somebody on Twitter

Holy Shit! I just realized that the last time I wrote a blog post for you was on April 18th, and now it’s late July. That’s an entire quarter of a year that I have let this wonderful, golden field of interesting opportunities and people sit untended.

How could Mr. Money Mustache, a reliable stalwart of bossy financial advice since 2011 and usually good for at least one post per month, have drifted so far from his original dedication? It’s a question that earnest fans have been asking, and that I have even started asking myself.

When you break out of any habit, it can be hard to get back into it: the psychological barriers start to stack up and the pressure rises and you find yourself waiting for more and more unattainably perfect conditions that, surprise surprise, never really come.

If it’s a workout habit that you have broken, you might tell yourself,

“Oh, I just need to get over this injury or this cold.. And then my Mom is visiting next week but after that I’ll be ready to get back to the gym.“

With my blog-writing hobby I make excuses like,

“Oh, now that it has been so long, I have to wait until I have something really interesting or worthwhile to say. And yeah okay, maybe I have a few articles like that in the drafts folder, but those ones take a lot of thinking and focus to write, so I’d better wait until I am feeling really smart and focused to crack into that subject.”

But in both cases, the correct solution is just to say,

“Fuck it. I am going to just do something towards my goal, no matter how tiny.”

To get back in shape, you just need to start with at least a few pushups, which you can do right now on the floor of your office or kitchen. To resurrect the MMM Blog, Mustache just has to type some shit into the computer, and heck, why not just an easy breezy article telling you about some of the interesting things I’ve been doing in lieu of blogging?

Some stories from a real life of early retirement, which may be more relevant than plain old financial analysis and reader case studies anyway. And once we’re all caught up in life, maybe it’ll be easier to keep in touch on a more regular basis henceforth.

So in fairly rapidfire format, here’s what I’ve been up to this spring and summer:

1) Renovating The Shit Out of Our New Two-House Compound

We found the previous shower had been leaking for years and creating the most interesting scene of decay. We tore out and rebuilt the whole area, and cut in a nice window for good measure.

You may recall that back in January, I teamed up with a friend to buy the house next door, with cash, at a below-market price. Once she moved in, we realized that it needed even more renovations than we originally planned. So I’ve had a joyful time tearing down walls, framing in new windows and doors, reworking the floorplan and changing the wall surfaces, as well as fixing the shoddy plumbing and electrical work that was found along the way.

On my own house right next door, I’ve been going just a bit wild with metalworking, making all sorts of fences and decks and even a “Juliet Balcony” which features a fireman pole allowing me to slide quickly down from my master bedroom to the ground where we have a shared hot tub between our properties – in case of Hot Tub Emergencies, of course.

Cutting a giant hole in the back of my house (in February!), adding a sliding door where there was previously only a silly little shitty window, then many fun, casual days of metalworking. The last pic is my side deck, which I built mostly out of wood but also features lots of metal and a fun little outdoor kitchen including coffee machine and induction cooktop!

2) Working on a Pretty Big Documentary Project

Hmmm.. something seems different about the HQ kitchen.

I have said for years that I would never do it, but somehow a very persuasive filmmaker who has made some documentaries that I really respect, roped me into helping out with a probably-pretty-big documentary.

I did a casting call in March and found a couple that I am now coaching and working with throughout 2021. The film company doesn’t want me to talk about it much until they are ready to announce it, but suffice it to say that it is taking a lot of my time and energy, which comes out of what would otherwise be my blog-writing time budget.

However, this is the good kind of hardship – forcing me to experience things I wouldn’t otherwise get to do, and the end result will be reaching a lot more people than I could by just writing on this website alone. My fingers are crossed that it will come out the way I hope!

3) Switching 120,000 Underserved MMM Email Subscribers over for Better Newsletters

Easier signups, and better eventual emails.

Since the beginning, I’ve mostly ignored the fact that I sorta have a list of email subscribers, with predictable lackluster results. People were able to subscribe and unsubscribe themselves automatically, and the only thing it got them was an automated mailing of any new blog articles on the day that I posted them. The emails were poorly formatted, people who had non-gmail addresses often had trouble subscribing, and many probably wondered why I couldn’t make it work better.

Thankfully, a mini-crisis happened that has forced me to do the work to solve this problem, at last: Google announced that they were shutting down the aging Feedburner email service, so all of the old-school bloggers like me who were still using it were forced to migrate to a more modern platform.

I did some research, and in the end I decided to go with a higher-end option called ConvertKit, which is one of the most popular email services. It can do a lot more cool stuff, and I have taken advantage of this to create an automated (and free of course) “MMM Boot Camp” email series that people can sign up for.

It’s just a curated feed of some of my most useful articles (about 35 out of the 500), which automatically go out to people once per week until they have graduated, so you’d think it would be pretty easy for me to create this.

But as I read through my old stuff, of course I realized that much of it was crappy and outdated so I ended up partially rewriting every one of those 35 posts as I went through, which took some time. The good news is, the updated versions are here on the website as well, so the work should benefit anyone who happens to read them in the future.

4) Having lots of Fun Times (and Hard Times) In Real Life

Just another cool sunset/storm in my back yard, taken during the traditional Evening Walk.

I’ve had a series of wonderful visitors who came and stayed at my house, sometimes for a week or more. Friends and I have hosted some big events at the HQ Coworking space, which left me both energized and drained at the same time. Then I got Strep Throat in mid-July, which knocked me out for the count for a full week or more – even well after the antibiotics worked their magic, I have still been having some ups and downs with energy.

And then of course there’s the heat – I am always more energetic in cool weather (The typical 50 degree sunny days of a Colorado winter are some of my favorite for outdoor work in t-shirt and jeans). So the summer season here is always a challenge for me, with an endless procession of cloudless 95 degree desert days making me resent the very Sun I normally worship so much. I’ve been taking refuge indoor more than I should, hiding in my air conditioned house and making excuses and accomplishing less because of it. At least this has led me to the keyboard today, to write this blog post.

5) “Cutting the Pipe” at HQ and Installing a Giant Fancy Heat Pump system.

I had fun working alongside my co-owner Mr. 1500 for this work. Everything was easy about this install … except rebuilding some of the filthy century-old ductwork we found once we took out the old furnace.

Since I first bought the building in 2017, the MMM-HQ coworking space has been limping along with a clunky decades-old gas furnace, a gas water heater that was about 20 years overdue to spring a leak, no central air conditioning at all, and very high utility bills due to the way our local gas company charges commercial customers.

When you combine these irritants and contrast them with the fact that we happen to have a glorious solar electric array on the rooftop that makes a surplus of power, you can see why I would be itching to tear out all the gas appliances, cancel the service account permanently, and install all-electric replacements that are more efficient and will also save an estimated shit-ton of money each year.

I’ll save the full details of this for my very next blog article, but as a spoiler: we found and successfully installed a unit that should be able to cool and heat our building year-round, is very DIY-friendly, and cost only about $4000 to buy. It should prove to be a great annual return on investment, and I am excited to start installing these things on all of my properties and those of any friends who are doing upgrades.

And with that, I’d say we are all caught up.

In the comments: what have YOU been up to these past 3 months? And what subjects do you think we should be covering here on MMM in the next three?

from Finance https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2021/07/25/three-months-of-slacking/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

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operaforthelayman · 6 years

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Eugene Onegin

U-jean O-nay-gen Difficulty: ★☆☆☆☆ First performed: March 19 1879 at Maly Theater in Moscow Russia Who did it: Tchaikovsky

Here’s a bit of background:

It was first performed by students in 1879. The professional opening was January 29 1881 at the Bolshoi theater

It’s based on a verse novel (long poem) by Alexander Pushkin

It’s kind of a splice of multi-scenes in one person’s life rather than a straight continuous story

Themes: Love, Coming of age, Russia

Fun Tidbits:

Mahler once conducted this opera!

Eugene Onegin has been performed in Czech, Italian and English

Tchaikovsky kept most of story the same but shifted the main focus to emotions and more specifically Tatiana.

Our Major players ♪ Tatiana: Also called Tanya. Youthful, kinda angsty, but super smart brunette. ♪ Olga: Tanya’s little sister. Bubbly giddy, care free blonde. ♪ Lensky: Olga’s boyfriend, love-dovey poet. ♪ Onegin: Titular character, debatable main character. SUPER angsty and blasé. Too cool for school bro

Act One

Scene 1

We open in the garden of Tatiana’s house. Larina, Tatiana & Olga’s mum sits with their childhood nurse, Filippyevna. Inside the house, the two sisters are heard together singing a love song.

Larina listens in and begins to reminisce about a sweetheart she had before marrying her now deceased husband.

She is interrupted by a group of peasants singing on their way home. They stop to entertain the Larina family with a lil’ SHOWTIME! It’s a fun party tune about two lovers.

When they are finished, Tatiana sighs to herself causing her sister to shit on her dreamy-emo-melancholic nature.

Larina send the peasants away with some wine and Olga points outs how pale Tanya is looking these days.

Tanya eases their fear telling them, “I’m just reading a mad interesting book. Don’t worry.”

Larina scolds her slightly for being so dreamy all the time and reminds her that life is not like the fiction novels she reads. Olga shuts them both up pointing out the window that her BAE, Lensky has finally arrived but he’s not alone… The two men enter the house and Lensky introduces his mysterious tag along as his homeboy, Eugene Onegin.

Tanya is instantly smitten with his tall, dark, and moody atmosphere.

The boys have an aside in which Eugene ask which one Tanya is and then ridicules Lensky for picking Olga instead of Tanya. He actually tells Lensky that Olga’s face resembles a stupid moon. Lensky for some reason isn’t offended. But whatever.

Tanya’s on the other side of the garden with Olga blushing and whispering about how handsome and attractive Eugene is.There’s a WONDERFUL quartet and when it breaks, Lensky and Olga run off to have some private time, leaving Tanya and Onegin together.

Their fucking banter is painful awkward because Tanya becomes a bumbling smitten school girl and Eugene Onegin is playing it TOO cool.

In contrast Lensky share this super cute love letter with Olga.

None the less, Tanya is still smitten with him and scene one ends with Filippyevna noticing the sudden change in her.

Scene 2

Tanya sits in her room with Filippyevna who tells her it’s time for bed. Tanya is restless and ask Filippyevna to tell her stories about her younger days of being in love. She starts to tell and realizes Tanya isn’t even paying attention! She begins to worry about her because Tanya’s all red and flushed. Filippyevna begins to think she’s sick but Tanya spits out SHE’S IN LOVE.

She asks for a paper and pen and is left alone with her thoughts.

Now is the very famous letter aria that seems to go on forever.

Tanya stays up all nights writing a thousand drafts of a love letters to Onegin.

(We’ve all been there girl.)

She finishes it in the early morning and nervously gives it to Filippyevna to giver to her grandson to deliver!

Scene 3

It’s the next morning in the garden, there’s a bit of a ditty from servant girls pickin’ fruit.

Tanya sits exhausted and nervous on a bench. ONEGIN IS IN THE BUIDLING!!!

She shits herself nervously regretting her lack of self control and he sneaks up behind her mad cool like. He’s like “Hey.. You wrote me this letter. Don’t deny it.”

And she’s like “UHHHH??” hahahaha.

Onegin continues telling her that her letter has stirred emotions he hasn’t felt in hella long… BUT HE CONTINUES (THEY ALWAYS CONTINUE) with a fabulous aria that breaks my heart every time, he tells her that he was not meant for married life, in fact he would be hella bored by it. He tells her he loves her…..like a brother, leaving her with a kiss and the advice of not being too open with her emotions because others may not be as kind as he.

Tanya watches him leave, flushed red and mortified.

Act 2

Scene 1

It’s been a few months and we’re at Tanya’s name day. For the Americans in the crowd, name day is the feast day of a saint after whom a person is named. It’s common in Europe and some people have told me it’s even more important than birthdays. The towns people sing her praises ; Onegin invites her to dance but grows annoyed after hearing the whispers of gossip from the townspeople. He gets annoyed at Lensky for dragging him to the party and decides to fuck with him by asking Olga to dance.

Lensky gets pissy but Olga laughs considering Onegin’s invitation has harmless flirting. The two go off to dance, while Lensky literally has a childlike meltdown in the middle of the party. (Like wtf dude, I know that your girlfriend but it literally is just one dance…) At the end of the ONE dance, Olga returns and Lensky freaks the fuck out on her, claiming she embarrassed him. He grows jealous of Onegin and claims that she keeps ignoring his invitation to dance but she has refused. (Again…it was one dance…) Olga reassures him that Onegin was just playing and there is no reason to be jealous. Lensky begins to cool down, but Onegin decides to be a dick again and joins the couple.

Lensky ask Olga to dance with him again, but Onegin cuts in and insist she must dance with him. She decides to dance with him again, punishing Lensky for his crazy jealous behaviour.

Just then Monsieur Triquet joins the party, he’s Tanya’s French tutor from back in the day and this part of the opera is virtually useless plot wise. But interesting operatically, Triquet sings in FRENCH! While the rest of the opera is in Russian! I’ve always found that fun. Sometimes this aria is sung by Lensky but that’s improper staging. The little song Triquet sings is about how wonderful Tatyana is and she kinds of sits embarrassedly. (Think, you at your birthday party while they sing happy birthday!)

At the end of Triquet’s song, there is more dancing and FINALLY Onegin returns Olga to her seat, where Lensky has been sulking. Onegin trolls him with a, “Ohhh why the long face??” And Lensky blows up, claiming that he’s a hoe for wanting both sisters. By this point he’s shouting and everybody at the party stops dancing to watch.

Onegin calls him crazy which makes Lensky even more furious and he dramatically declares that he and Onegin are no longer friends. The language is so childish and hilarious, even Onegin doesn’t consider him serious. He urges Lensky to calm down, which duh makes Lensky even more angry. He challenges Onegin to a duel the very next day! He storms out, ending the party.

Scene 2

Lensky sits in the woods the next morning, waiting for Onegin. Zaretsky, Lensky’s neighbor, a duel enthusiast and witness for the duel is like “wtf is this dude Onegin.”

Lensky reassures him he will be here, and lets his mind wander to the better days of his youth. (Btw, they’re like fucking eighteen or so at this point.)

Finally Onegin shows up. They sing a lil’ duet about regretting that it’s come to this. It’s kind of sad because this whole thing started so stupidly. But long story short, Onegin pops a cap in Lensky’s ass. And the act ends with a Onegin weeping over his bro’s dead bod.

Act 3

Scene 1

The curtains rise and we’re in the middle of a huge fucking party. It’s been a couple years since that morning in the woods.

The party is in full swing, but Onegin stands off to the side, mad bored. He sings an aria basically saying, “I’m a loser. I’m 25. I have no wife, no career!” He’s spent the past years traveling and looking for life fulfillment but has failed He’s been wandering thru life aimless and depressed since killing Lensky.

The party attendees do a lil’ dance and as it ends, Tanya enters with her new husband, Prince Gremin. The guest excitedly greet the pair, and Onegin’s like, “Hold UP. IS THAT TANYA????”

Across the room, Tanya’s like, “ONEGIN???”

Onegin ends up talking to Gremin and ask the identity of the mysterious women he is with, Gremlin’s like, “Oh? Tanya? My wifey. We’ve been married for two years. Do you know her??

In a cold sweat, Onegin says they used to be neighbours back in the day.

Gremlin then sings this huge long aria about how much he loves Tanya and it’s mad awkward because Onegin just kind of stands there. By the end, Gremlin brings Tanya over and introduces the two.

The exchange between the old pair so fucking cold, you would think Tanya’s a damn Vulcan.

They exchange small talk for a few seconds then Tanya tells Gremin she’s tired and they bounce.

Onegin watches them leave and reminisces about the past and then suddenly realizes, “OH FUCK. I’M IN LOVE WITH HER.”

Be sure to note the letter scene motif returns in this scene!!!!

Scene 2

Tanya sits at home, holding….A LETTER. Not hers from all those years ago, BUT A NEW ONE FROM ONEGIN! He has written her asking to meet. She’s trouble because despite his boorish behaviour in the past, he still makes her feel some type of way.

Onegin arrives, passionately, desperately and intensely. They stand staring at each other and the sexual tension is so strong you could feel it in family circle standing room.

Finally, Onegin falls to the floor in front of Tanya’s feet.

And she’s like, “ enough stop that. Do you remember that time you lecture me in the fucking garden?”

Onegin apologizes and ask her to spare him, BUT SHE CONTINUES,

“Yeah I was younger then and probably a better person. I loved you and what did I get? NADA. You were A DICK, but y’know what I’m a bigger person. I won’t blame you. But what’s your problem, why coming for me now? BECAUSE I’M RICH AND FAMOUS? BECAUSE I’M TAKEN???”

Onegin explodes back, telling her that he’s sorry and does love her and that he was a fool. Tanya begins to weep and the pair embrace each other. They both speak of the happy moments they shared in the distant past.

Onegin ask Tanya to run away with him. It’s sweet and intense. But Tanya says no. He begs and begs, and begs!!! Tanya says no, but she does admit she still loves him.

Onegin is thrilled and again encourages her to leave her husband. Tanya stands firm and says no.

This happens like 3 more times, and then Tanya’s like OK ENOUGH.

She walks out, her last words: “FAREWELL FOREVER.”

Onegin falls to the floor and succumbs to his horrible empty fate.

#tell it like it is #eugene onegin #opera tag #opera #tchaikovsky #pushki

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andrewuttaro · 4 years

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New Look Sabres: GM 23 - FLA - Godly Glove

5-2 Regulation Win

You know that thing you do when you’re trying to pass someone in the hallway and you both bob and weave the same way two or three times before someone figures out how to pass the other? The Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers as hockey organizations have been doing this to each other for a decade. The Panthers are the bikini clad version of the Sabres. They both drafted high in the early years of the decade after being bought up by someone who made their money in a very not woke industry. Both teams have flirted with the playoffs, the Panthers actually made it once this decade, and both seem to see each other at the other end of the ice and ask the other who’s good this game like they’re trying to pass each other in the hallway. Last night was some catharsis. By that I mean the Sabres got a win against a tougher team for the first time since… before Halloween? It’s weird to say that about the Panthers but they’re sitting at the two spot in the division right now. There is certainly some kind of Coach Quenneville difference going on because they look like the better version of themselves lately. The Sabres have not which made this game a breath of fresh air. Excluding Tampa the Sabres have been rather good in their eight outings against division opponents so far going 5-3 in those games. The first Tampa game was closer than that score suggests, and the Boston game was a bit of the opposite. One thing I would have not predicted before the season would be that Buffalo would lead the season series 2-0 against this version of the Panthers. In these tough times we have to take all the positives, eh? Zach Bogosian is back, and Jake McCabe and Rasmus Ristolainen are still an inseparable pairing? Rainclouds are back. Let’s just get to the game.

The shot ticker in the first period may not tell you this but Florida came out hotter. Still a novice with the advanced stats myself I don’t know if it can be considered a high-danger chance if the shot is not on target, but it seemed like the first ten to fifteen minutes Florida was getting all kinds of pressure on Linus Ullmark. Right away the untrained eye will be able to tell you this game was one of Ullmark’s better so far this season. You can tell by the starts we’re platooning that position again and I think Ullmark has been getting the tougher opponents. Tempted though I maybe to read into that utilization I don’t think there is any belief Ullmark is wildly better than Carter Hutton. Time will tell I suppose and it if the trade action of this GM-Coach tandem is at all indicative, change is a slow process. Last night however Ullmark stood up to the test. He got shot from every angle early in this game including a nasty breakaway. Florida outshot Buffalo 12-5 in the first and yet the only goals of the period belonged to the visitors as Jeff Skinner tapped in a Jack Eichel pass to put the Sabres up 1-0 with 4:36 left in the first. Did you see that Ralph? Maybe given this rough stretch you can get your sampling of what Jack and Jeff do as a duo? Just an idea. The goal we didn’t see coming was Zemgus Girgensons hardly in the offensive zone ripping his best Jack Eichel impression from a Brandon Montour assist. Girgensons doesn’t often show up on the box score but when he does it’s a banger. Montour too had himself a night. It was 2-0 Sabres after a period the home team deserved it more.

Was Buffalo outshot in the second period? Yes. Did it look like an absolute shelling like the first? Not as much. The harbinger of this team’s more recent struggles was a dropping expected goals percentage that has found it’s way into a recovery. Florida continued to get juicy chances but now Buffalo began to click again. Specifically the player that is 75% of this team’s identity right now: Jack Eichel had a very Jack Eichel kind of goal. He stepped away from the defender in the right circle and released his Top 5 wrist shot. When Eichel’s statue goes up, and it will, it will probably be him with the Cup because we need that, but the secondary design has to be him taking a wrist shot. He manages these neat releases from the wall or the circle at a rate that energizes your bones. And so it was 3-0 in Florida in the most counter-intuitive score line you could have thought of with the shot totals. The price had to be paid for the poor high-danger defense and it felt like it was really a prolonged botched faceoff that Noel Acciari score unassisted. Everyone went up to the backmost shooters and left Acciari one-on-one with Ullmark and he cashed in, 3-1. Florida came alive in a way you expect a team winning at their rate would. Only a couple minutes after the shutout-breaker came an Aaron Ekblad shot that rung off the crossbar in a way that made you think it went in. Who gets the rebound? Not a Sabre, no that went to Mike Hoffman! It’s one thing to let rebounds go, it’s another one altogether to yield that juicy rebound to a gamebreaker like him. By the grace of Ullmark’s godly glove the Sabres survived. If I was a Panther fan I’d be flipping angry by the time Victor Olofsson got a Sam Reinhart assist to tap home his tenth of the season. At that point with a shade over six minutes left in the second they were outshooting Buffalo 25-12 on the game! Sometimes goalies give you a chance to win, other nights they win the game. Last night Linus Ullmark won a game.

Long story short, Florida continued to play the more exciting, high-danger version of hockey for the rest of the game. At 3:08 of the third the Panthers found themselves on a powerplay and Brett Connolly found a one-timer to make it 4-2. Now it’s easy to make fun of the Florida Panthers’ attendance numbers or their arena so far out of Miami it’s practically in the Everglades but this game made me sincerely feel bad that such a fun squad isn’t being as appreciated as it could be. You kinda had to squint at the lower bowl of the building to fill it up and that’s a shame when you can live in Miami and still get hockey of this quality. I for one prefer the cold and snow but nonetheless I’d love seeing the hockey Florida is playing night after night. The arena is right across from a giant mall and they can’t pull in more rich kids on a Sunday night? Well anyway the last goal of last night’s game was emblematic of the whole affair. Zemgus Girgensons comes streaking in and puts it right on Sam Montembeault’s left pad. Somehow it trickled in for the 5-2 marker and Jimmy Vesey is the first into congratulate Girgs and trips and falls on his face. This club is not sexy enough for Miami beach right now but they’re finding the groove again and that’s worth something if they can actually make them wins. They didn’t look bad against Boston either but the only stat that matters at the end of the day is goals and they got more tonight in large part because their goalie stopped almost four dozen at the other end of the ice. It wasn’t a dominating win, but we just need wins right now.

Two things to get off my chest about this game: I watched part of it at Gabriel’s Gate in Allentown. For those of you who don’t know that is our Captain Jack Eichel’s favorite wings joint in Buffalo. I kinda felt like I earned Eichel points last night. The wings there are in fact good. The other thing I’d like to say is maybe stop messing with us guys. I’m talking to Botterill and Krueger. Botts made an ECHL level trade yesterday as if to tease us about an NHL level one that should’ve been done in July. Krueger on the other hand continued to pretend Jimmy Vesey can skate on Eichel’s wing while Jeff Skinner skated with Evan Rodrigues and Conor Sheary on the second line. Clearly he was willing to juggle given the Skinner goal but if we’re going to act like we need 800 defenseman let’s at least utilize the forward correctly. Eichel and Skinner needs to happen consistently right now like boomers need to stop putting two spaces after a sentence. IT’S URGENT. The team has now used up all the leeway the hot start gave them. Get your asses going! Don’t wait for the trade! For now we’ll have to cross our fingers and hope they can find their inner Buffalo Bills. Tonight it’s Tampa Bay again and I doubt they’ll fail to convert on as many of their chances. Let’s cross those fingers! Let’s Go Buffalo!

Thanks for Reading.

P.S. Is Bogosian actually back to 100%? Vincent Trochek got an excellent shot on Ullmark in the first that featured Bogo already on his ass spinning in the slot. What are you doing Zach?

#buffalo sabres #NHL #Hockey #blog

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groundbreaking-science · 7 years

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1.6 - Colour: From Source to Perception (part 2)

After sunlight has either been absorbed or scattered from the surface of an object, we're left with a barrage of photons that can be any particular pattern of wavelengths from the rainbow (a spectrum). How does the eye and brain even begin to process this myriad of wavelength information into colour?

Dragging your mind back to that wonderful world of Biology 101, we know light enters the eye through the pupil, passes through the lens and is focussed onto the back of the eye. Then there's some handwaving discussion of a special type of cell, something about signals being passed through an optic nerve into the brain and voila, we can see. That's usually where the explanation in class stops, never diving into the depths of what's truly going on in the back of the eye and brain. This is a huge shame; a fuller description makes the difference in perception between seeing with your eyes and ki extremely obvious. And who would I be to deny you, dear reader, a learning opportunity?

The eye is a delicate instrument and has evolved to protect itself. If a damagingly bright level of light is detected entering the pupil, the iris will restrict to reduce the amount of light. The iris is scaffolded by a ring of muscle that can contract to make the pupil smaller, and radial muscles that can pull the ring back out, widening the pupil instead. Behind the muscles lies a thin layer of pigmented cells. Those cells act like screens, preventing light other than that from the pupil entering the eye. The iris' colour is mostly driven by concentrations of melanin, the same pigment giving rise to skin colour; the usual colour range from a deep brown with high concentration (like my own), blue with a low concentration, and those middling hazels, deep greens and green-blues (also like my own at times). The darker the iris, the better this protection.

Behind the iris is the lens, a fairly solid, curved and clear mass. The shape of the lens causes light to bend as it passes through and focuses light down at the back of the eye. The lens can stretch to focus down light at different distances, but there’s a finite limit to its abilities. Even with standard, healthy vision your finger still looks fuzzy if you hold it too close to your eye. The same failure occurs at long distances, too. Not all eyes are built the same and if the range of distances your eye works at isn't suitable for your life, you'll often struggle focussing and may need glasses to offset the problem. With the more common condition of near-sightedness the focus point of light from the lens falls just short of the back of the eye. This could be caused by the eye being too long or the lens set too far back. Someone with near-sightness would probably hold a book closer to their face to comfortably read it. I have the opposite problem of far-sightedness. My eyesight is marginally more suitable for long-distance vision, therefore not so helpful for reading tiny, spidery handwriting from my colleagues or performing intricate bench-work in the lab, so I wear glasses to help. Far-sightedness runs in my family. Dad probably should have worn glasses too, but he did so little regular reading he improvised by squinting and holding books at arms length instead. I have the sneaking suspicion many of our friends assumed he was barely literate for the longest time.

You may notice from the figure the incoming image gets turned upside-down in the eye. Luckily, your brain can combine the image with other senses and calculate the image needs to flip. What you may not know is, if you wear a pair of glasses that flips the image before your eye sees it, your brain will adapt over the space of two weeks or so and re-correct the image inversion. This is brain plasticity in action and shows how the brain can adapt to new or modified senses. And not only that, but this correction doesn't happen all at once; oddly the brain flips the parts of the scene it believes are important first, usually faces. How strange must that be to see? I would very much like to try this experiment for a month to test my own brain's plasticity, although I'm not sure how long Videl would find my pin-balling around the house amusing. – I sincerely apologise; the notes Pan has left on this section's draft are getting increasingly exasperated at these tangents but I'm letting this fun-fact lie because it's fantastic.

The effect of colour-blindness on the wavelengths of light cones are sensitive to. Certain types of colour-blindness can be mitigated by screening out particular confused wavelengths.

Back to that focused image. Light travels to the back of the eye, hitting the retina. The retina contains a sheet of cells sensitive to light. There are four types of cell - three of a cone-type that respond to different colours (covering blue, red and green light) and one rod-type that responds to a broad range of colours and low light levels. The cells are so-named due to their shape. The cones sit with the highest density on the part of the retina corresponding to the region at the centre of our vision. Rods barely exist in the centre but have a higher density in our peripheral vision. About half of the information from our vision comes from this tiny centre spot, the fovea centralis, and is why the very centre of your vision is so much better than your peripheral. Animals and some zoomorphic people often have reduced colour vision (usually missing the red cone) with a different distribution of these cells across the eye. Rabbits, evolved to survive as prey animals, have a line of high-density of these cells across the eye so they can see clearly along the horizon for predators, instead of the clear centre of vision like anthropoids.

What makes these cone cells suitable for colour vision? There is a pigment in the cells that absorbs light at a particular set of wavelengths causing an electron in the molecule to move - sound familiar? When the electron moves the whole molecule changes shape to compensate, becoming the right shape to fit inside a receptor within the cell, much like a key fitting into a lock. This in turn triggers a nerve attached to the cell to fire. Outside the fovea centralis there's more than one cell attached to a nerve and so the nerve has to reach a different activation threshold to fire, but the principle is the same. Oddly, the nerves are attached to the front of the retina rather than the back, but the nerves don't interfere with your vision. Those nerves bundle together into a thick mass of cabling known as the optic nerve and pass out the back of the eye into the brain.

Whilst our eyes can respond to a many wavelengths of light and there exists an overlap in what cones respond (for example yellow light triggers both the red and green cones in different amounts) the signal leaving the eye in regards to colour is only four numbers relating to the intensity of red, green, blue light and overall intensity. That's it. That's why LCD monitors, with only red, green and blue pixels next each other, can trick our eyes into thinking there's a full spectrum of colours on the screen - the screen providing only the information that passes from the eye regardless so your brain cannot tell the difference.

With so few types of detectors then, a fault in one will have a large impact on vision. Some forms of colourblindness are caused by missing cone types. Other forms are by mutations in the cone cells that mean the response function of the cells greatly overlap, so green and red cones are almost always triggered at similar levels, for example. The colour vision in some cases can be corrected by wearing sunglasses that block wavelengths of light in the confusing overlap, allowing the brain to distinguish between red and green far easier.

The colour signal has now been broken down from the nuanced spectrum we began with to just three (plus one) numbers. This is an absurdly clever form of data compression by the eye; imagine how many cones we'd need to capture every wavelength explicitly? The nerves take this even further - instead of keeping the absolute values of these red, green and blue cells the nerves combines the signals in two different ways. The first is (red signal) - (green signal), the “red-green channel” and is a proxy for yellow light. The second is calculated as (red signal) - (green signal) - (blue signal), the so-called “yellow-blue” channel. This one extra step, whilst seemingly arbitrary, reduces the information and processing needed from four numbers to three, a reduction of 25%. Since most anthropoidal people rely on vision this is a highly significant saving for the brain to make.

From these three numbers the brain can more-or-less re-expand and perceive the entire colour spectrum. As the data about particular wavelength intensities has been so compressed however, the reconstruction in the brain is not loss-less. This can lead to a few interesting quirks of colour vision (and not ki-sense) which I'll get to in a moment.

The main regions I'll be discussing and their location in the brain, using Pan's head. I could make a Dad comment here about actually finding her brain but I won't.

First, how and where this vision reconstruction happens. The information from the eye needs to pass from the retina to the correct regions of the brain. Signals from the cells (and because the cells are attached to nerves fixed in place, the spatial location information) are sent down the optic nerve towards the back of the brain where the visual processing regions live, the so-called visual cortex. On route is the thalamus - two lumps of brain cells (neurons) on either side of the centre of the brain that perform partial processing on visual as well as taste, auditory and touch sensation. Sense of smell is a little different; molecules we breathe in binding to receptors in the olfactory bulb at the back of the nose, which is a part of the brain itself. This very direct connection could be why the sense of smell is so immediate and memories so intense even for anthropoids, even more so for animals and zoomorphic people (and my family) with sensitive noses. The thalamus is able to weigh up which sensory information is important enough to properly process and pass on to other areas of the brain, including which senses need our immediate and limited attention. This is why you'll often find yourself turning down music when driving in an unfamiliar area, or closing your eyes when using ki-sense.

For vision in particular, the thalamus' analysis is used to help focus the eyes and bring the signals from both eyes into alignment, then information is passed onto other areas of the brain. Whilst there's a general hierarchical structure between sub-regions of the visual cortex (the aptly-named V1 coming before V2 for example), the thalamus has connections to - and can therefore communicate with - all these regions directly.

These “backstreet” connections to some areas of the visual cortex are thought to explain blindsight, a phenomenon where some individuals can't see some part of their field of vision but are still able to act as though they can. They're able to reach out for and grab objects accurately without consciously seeing them. In this case, the lower parts of the visual cortex responsible for projecting the external world have partially failed, but the regions able to label objects (whatever they may be) and locate them in space has not. If the information in the brain travelled strictly in one direction this would not be possible. Note, blindsight isn't the same as ki-sense as it's still visually driven, (those with blindsight wouldn't be able to perform these tasks if they shut their eyes) but shows how incredibly complicated and interwoven the brain is.

Whilst the thalamus doesn't play much of a role in colour processing, the concept of backstreets through the brain and processing information without perceiving it becomes important when we learn how to use ki to move at speeds our bodies haven't evolved to. At that point your visual system will become a deceptive mess and we'll be revisiting integrating your senses in later chapters.

Most of the information from the eyes then travels to the back of the brain into the visual cortex. The regions of the brain that process visual information are ridiculously complex and still not well understood, particularly in human anatomy as opposed to rats for example. So, to avoid having to reissue this textbook every few months with updates and drawing the ire of an academic community I'm not immersed in, I'll skirt the finer details. What we can say for certain is there are defined regions of the visual cortex that can: - encode spatial information (what signals are from where in the visual field to build a picture) - find contrasting edges - distinguish between horizontal and vertical lines of colour and contrast - compare signals from both eyes to calculate depth - monitor incoming signals over time to detect motion direction and understand that in 3D space - distinguish objects - distinguish colour and map them onto the image.

These functions may occur in multiple places with slightly different results to be merged together, (colour is picked out of the visual signal in regions called V1 and V4 for example, not just in one place) but all-in-all the process is bafflingly complex even for seasoned academics.

The main signal enters V1 right at the back of the brain and radiates out in two directions - dorsally (that is, towards the top of the brain) and ventrally (along the side and underneath of the brain). The signal moving dorsally is referred to as the “where” pathway, moving through areas of the brain associated with movement. These regions help you understand your body in relation to the space you're seeing. I know these pathways are pretty strong for me! The ventral pathway is the “what” pathway and information moves through regions like the temporal lobe (associated with memory) and the limbic system (governing emotion). This pathways labels what's in your visual field. What makes a book a book? How do we know that an object is a square-shape if we've never seen a true, perfect square in our lives to compare to? Who knows exactly, but the ventral pathway seems to.

The flow is not just a one-way street either - the parts of the brain directing attention (the salience network) can feed back down to these visual regions and modulate their activity, effectively switching off their communication with the conscious areas of your brain for a time. Have you ever been thinking so hard about something you can't remember what you've been reading? Blame the salience network switching to “internal mode” and ignoring external stimuli.

Metamers - colours that look the same to our eyes but have a completely different spectrum. The similarity between colours can break down under different types of light in the environment.

V4 is where the colour information is combined to form all the hues we know, and feeds into that ventral “what” pathway. Here’s where our eyes are deceived by colour. The extreme data compression the eye performs means we have information only on brightness, red to green and yellow to blue, rather than intensity information for every possible wavelength of light. This, then, means we can encounter what are known as metamers - different combinations of light wavelengths that produce exactly the same colour in our eye under normal conditions. You could have a spectrum with one wavelength of yellow light and a different spectrum with red and green light. As long as the difference between the signal that's picked up by the red and green cones is the same (with no blue cone signal), the result of that red-green channel calculation will be the same value (0) and you'll perceive the same yellow colour. These metamers are interesting as if you had a different set of colours in the incident light (say, only red light rather than a rainbow of white light), this will cause the spectrum of light scattered from an object to differ and the metamer pairing break.

Whilst we can see a huge range of colours, the existence of these compressed channels means there are some mixes of colours we just can't experience. Imagine we had wavelengths of light entering the eye that were yellow and blue. The red-green channel picks out the yellow fine but then moving to the yellow-blue channel calculation it'll fall over. We can see reddish-orange colours and reddish-blue (purples) but we can't see yellow-blue as a colour, nor reddish-green. \these colour mixes definitely can exist as a spectrum of light, but in our brain they can't exist at all.

Usually.

In a previous section I mentioned a condition called synaesthesia. This is the mixing of sensory signals, where one sense can trigger another. One of the most common is grapheme-colour synaesthesia, experiencing colour when reading words and numbers either within the mind's eye (‘association') or 'projected' onto the letter themselves. The colours are as consistent as the reading of the letter - the colours appear to the person at the time the letter or number is understood and are intrinsic to one another. Grapheme-colour synaesthesia is caused by an overlap in function and increased size of the right fusiform gyrus, a long region of brain matter on the underside of the brain and is the area responsible for “labelling” the faces, shapes, places and words in your vision. This region connects to the angular gyrus above to further process shape and colour labels. For synaesthetes there’s a misfiring at this point, saying a letter shape must be a particular colour.

It is an odd condition. Even projection synaesthetes, those that physically see a letter or number coloured in the world around them, know that what they're experiencing is not a real colour. They know for example that the letters on this page are black, both truly physically seeing the colour and processing and labelling the colour in the ventral stream as black. But whilst the synaesthete does not see a real rainbow of colours triggered when reading, they do process and label the letters with colours regardless, like imagining the colour automatically. They have a partial experience of colour.

Crucially for synaesthetes, as the accidental synaesthetic colours are not passing through cone cells and mixing in the red-green, yellow-blue channels, the final colour result doesn't have to be bound by the limit of the eyes. Synaesthetes can “see” yellow-blue and red-green colours. They won't be able to experience the colour beyond what they see with their eyes, only know and insist that the colours are definitely blue-yellow, as those were the label the brain assigned. This kind of mixing of signals applies for all synaesthetic responses whereby strange, seemingly unphysical sensations can occur. Other types of synaesthesia like “auditory-taste” can leave a synaesthete disliking someone's name purely for the imaginary taste it leaves in their mouth. Synaesthesia can be very disruptive to lives, although useful as as memory aid.

What, then, does all this mean for ki-sense? My own studies have been embarrassingly small - the number of reliable ki-users I know who would willingly lie in a body scanner numbering less than ten - however I have located brain regions that are associated with ki-sensing. You can read the paper if you like (“case study of fMRI responses in ki-sensing”) although it is a lot of academic waffle for a simple take-home message. I just asked my friends and family to lie in the scanner and actively sense my ki with eyes closed as I sat in the control room, then compared the result to them ignoring me and looking at bright lights and loud noises. Then bored them witless making them repeat the task for half an hour on multiple days so I had huge stack of data to work with.

As with a standard synaesthetic response, the fusiform and angular gyri were activated when there was no apparent need to be, as though they were “seeing” something. The same with hearing in auditory centres and active memory retrieval - all were activated, matching the experience of ki-sense touching on every part of sensation and combining into something more. Higher regions of the visual field are activated even when eyes were shut. This included some of the dorsal (“where”) pathway, showing what I know from experience; that ki-sensers are projecting ki into the world around them in a vision-like way. This all means when I fail at communicating the intricacies of Pan's ki through drawing this is is purely because the eye works with three colours and ki works with millions of possible - and seemingly impossible - combinations, never-mind every other sense and memory type that can be folded in. Ki-sense by default is a synaesthetic experience. There is no way for me to communicate the richness of ki-sense without getting you to learn to use it in the first place.

And if I haven't convinced you to work on developing your ki-sense after this, I don't think I ever will.

In case you've been wondering, this study would have been impossible to sneak passed the University's ethics board without raising suspicion. Instead, I did the study at Capsule Corp on their mostly-idle medical-grade scanner. Bulma installed the beast to settle an argument with Vegeta on how much damage his martial arts training was doing to his body. …Let's just say results were inconclusive as neither would concede. Bulma was very keen for me to use it, even running some of the analysis herself - she did admit in the end she was pleased something “less petty” came of the machine's installation. Conducting a study without ethics isn't good scientific practice I know, and for that and other questionable research I've performed on myself I fully expect to get into trouble, but needs must. I doubt anyone repeating this particular study would have trouble obtaining ethics however, so don't fret if you're ever asked to be part of the replication!

I've introduced a lot of science in this section, I realise. I'm hoping parts may be familiar to you, maybe you now have an army of “fun facts” to share at parties at least. It goes without saying that proficiency in ki-sense does not require this level of background knowledge, but I feel compelled to provide the information nonetheless to paint a fuller, multi-wavelength picture. Many of these concepts, appearing tangential now, will be referred to again directly or in analogy. The dual-nature of light will rear its head again, for example, in the next section.

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news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog · 5 years

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Taylor Swift says fans figured out the name of her album. Here are their best theories.

Swifties are known for their CIA-level code-cracking skills. It may have just paid off.

In a new interview with Zach Sang and Dan Zolot of the Zach Sang Show, Taylor Swift takes 10 whole minutes to talk about her latest era in music. With the release of her seventh studio album imminent, Swifties have kicked into high gear with theories, much to Swift's delight.

youtube

SEE ALSO: Taylor Swift's video for her new song 'ME!' is one very, very colourful duet

"I like to plan things out, I like to plan little fun clues for people," Swift tells Sang over the phone. The songstress goes on to describe her process for releasing lead singles. "A lot of the time I'll pick a first single because I like the feeling that it conveys, knowing that there's a lot more on the album that's very different from that first single— which is something that I think the fans have picked up on at this point."

Finally, Zolot asks the question: "Has anyone found the name of the album title yet in the music video?"

"Yeah, definitely! There are a few people who have gotten it," Swift says, giggling. "I'm not gonna tell you who!"

Zolot's question is based on the fact that Swift herself tweeted her "Me!" music video with a caption confessing that the album title is indeed hidden somewhere in it.

So... the new album title is actually revealed somewhere in the video AND so is the title of the second single, but I haven’t seen people finding them yet... 🕵️‍♂️🕵️‍♀️ #MEmusicvideohttps://t.co/cdxQ6dFiar

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) April 26, 2019

The record-breaking video has been viewed over 100 million times, so it's not too surprising that someone guessed the album title correctly. "The fans have been so clever and so eagle-eyed— it made me want to put more clues in the video," Swift says.

Which leads us to the theories, one of which may actually be correct. And if they aren't correct, they're pretty darn convincing. Especially since Swift has been teasing everyone with pastel pictures featuring flowers, butterflies, and rainbows all bathed in pinky hues on her post-Reputation Instagram feed.

1. "Daisy"

This theory, like many in the Swift universe, is from Tumblr. Essentially, there are a lot of daisy-related clues that could point to it being a potential album title.

First, Tumblr user tinmanclin points out that there is the stack of books from her "Me!" video. Out of the three, only one is distinguishable: Cartier's in the 20th Century.

In the description for that book, a list of "arbiters of taste" is topped with the name "Daisy Fellowes."

If you look up Daisy Fellowes, you'll find that she died on Dec. 13, 1962 in Paris. Depending on how much of Swiftie you are, you'll know that Swift's birthday is Dec. 13.

Moreover, the "Me!" video even has a couple of blatant daisy cameos. At one point, Brendon Urie, who duets with Swift on the track, offers her a bouquet of them while wearing a suit that is covered in, you guessed it, daisies.

Blatant daisy imagery!

Image: youtube

Swift even sports a dress with alleged fabric daisies stuck on to it. Can we get a florist on the phone to identify, please?

The floral name recalls a a lyric from Reputation's "Don't Blame Me:" "I once was poison ivy but now I'm your daisy."

Of course, this theory wouldn't be complete without a couple of The Great Gatsby references drizzled in. In Swift's essay for Elle UK, she writes, "It’s something F. Scott Fitzgerald did so well." And in a lyric from Reputation's "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" Swift sings, "feeling so Gatsby for that whole year."

And who is the main character of The Great Gatsby? Daisy!

Swift's recent butterfly wing mural in Nashville also features daisies.

View this post on Instagram

So... @kelseymontagueart helped me pull off the best surprise clue reveal today in Nashville!! Thank you to everyone who showed up, I’ve never been more proud of your FBI level detective skills. Next clue: I’ll be joining the magnificent @robinrobertsgma for a chat tonight on ABC live from Nashville 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Apr 25, 2019 at 11:30am PDT

Last but not least, Swift's newly stocked online merch store includes a tote. Do I even need to tell you what's printed on said tote?

This daisy bag is proof, people!

Image: www.store.taylorswift.com

2. "Home"

Perhaps one of the strongest theories of the bunch is "Home."

Apparently, there are a lot of similarities between the "Me!" video and The Wizard of Oz. It sounds odd, but it checks out. Here's a video that explains the correlations:

Plus, a lot of Swift's recent activity focuses on the idea of "Home."

The Wizard Of Oz THEORY 🌈🏡💗 🚨ASKDJSKAK it’s happening!! “THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME” ... ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’!#taylorswiftapril26 #taylorswift #TS7 #TS7iscoming #thewizardofoztheory pic.twitter.com/4s8KpfZr1T

— #MEoutNOW (@swiftiealyce) April 22, 2019

View this post on Instagram

All the reasons why I believe "Home" might be the album title💜🌸 - I'm also open to it being titled Kaleidoscope but it feels a bit long to me #Taylorswift #TS7 -> corner not former lol anyways (@taysforgetmenots posted a comprehensive theory about this so check it out!)

A post shared by Taylor Updates <3 // Jehlé (@mustlikeme4me) on Apr 26, 2019 at 11:32pm PDT

Additionally, Tumblr user Taylors-rainbow points out that the connection between the portrait of the Dixie Chicks in the "Me!" video and something Swift wrote in her Elle UK essay: "To this day, when I hear 'Cowboy Take Me Away' by the Dixie Chicks, I instantly recall the feeling of being twelve years old, sitting in a little wood paneled room in my family home in Pennsylvania."

So that's why the Dixie Chicks are randomly on a painted in the "Me!" video.

Image: youtube

It all just makes sense.

3. "Forever"

Tumblr user Youareinlovex went deep with this one and we're glad they did because it's a thinker for sure.

To begin, Swift's Reputation tour movie on Netflix contains an odd tidbit in the credits:

Image: netflix

You'll notice that it says "sequel to '...More.'" What it's a sequel to, nobody knows. However, in Reputation's very last song, "New Year's Day," Swift sings "you and me forevermore."

Next, there's Swift's recent segment on ABC that aired during the NFL draft in which she revisits one of her favorite places: The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. After talking a little bit about it, she finishes by saying, "I hope it stays this way forever." And then gives the camera a smirk, after which the video ends.

There's also the palm trees, one of the first images of Swift's that sparked these very investigations. Since she posted a photo of seven palm trees to Instagram back in February, fans have speculated that the tree is somehow a part of her new music. Most recently, they can be seen in her "Me!" video. Apparently, the tree represents eternal life. And eternal life means forever.

Lastly, the "Me!" video features a scene in which Urie flicks open a heart on his lapel, and viewers are transported through winding hearts to a stage set. On 1989, Swift's fifth album, the song "Welcome to New York" features the lyric, "Kaleidoscope of loud heartbeats under coats." So, Urie literally opening a heart that leads to a whirling transition screen feels like those lyrics come to life. Also from "Welcome to New York" is the lyric, "It's a new soundtrack I could dance to this beat, beat forevermore."

It does indeed look like a kaleidoscope...

Image: youtube

Which brings us to the next theory:

4. "Kaleidoscope"

This is the only theory Swift has actually acknowledged, albeit sparingly. In an interview with Australian radio show Smallzy's Surgery, Swift was asked by the host if "Kaleidoscope" was the title of the album.

“I’m not gonna comment because I really do respect those theories so much, but I’m going to tell them all the information when I tell them [the fans]!” Swift said with a knowing laugh.

Given the multiple meanings for the word "kaleidoscope," it's certainly a possibility.

I will tweet this again!!! A group of butterflies is called a KALEIDOSCOPE #ts7theories #ts7 @taylorswift13 @taylornation13 pic.twitter.com/QYe1CgdXxH

— Mollie... but with an IE! 🦋ME! Out NOW🦋 (@swiftarmy1989) April 29, 2019

"Ever-changing" is very on brand for Miss Swift.

at this point, i am convinced that @taylorswift13's next album is kaleidoscope pic.twitter.com/HPzhG5895r

— STREAM BET BET (@_cyrilalvin) April 30, 2019

Also, multiple visuals in the "Me!" video are similar in nature to a kaleidoscope's.

One of the theories about the title of TS7 is kaleidoscope and that is absolute genius!! 1. There are obvious kaleidoscopes in the #MEmusicvideo. 2. Swarm of butterflies = kaleidoscope 3. Kaleidoscope can be used as a metaphor for change!! @taylorswift13 @taylornation13 pic.twitter.com/rdemke0Nwg

— Laila 🦋 (@LailaHannoun) April 30, 2019

One Swiftie even inverted a still from the "Me!" music video and it appears that the word is "Kaleidoscope" written on its skin.

UMM HAVE @myheartofmusic AND I CRACKED THE CODE???? DOES IT SAY KALEIDOSCOPE ALL JUMBLED UP ON THE SNAKE???! OR AM I A CRACKHEAD WHOS LOST HER LAST TWO BRAIN CELLS??? @taylorswift @taylornation #MEOUTNOW #TS7theories pic.twitter.com/vVPvUNLqBY

— nat | (@ontheroadt0ruin) April 27, 2019

5. "Heart"

While Heart is super simple, it is a shape we keep seeing in Swift's recent imagery. It's a doubtful and somewhat boring possibility but definitely not off the table.

Or is it much more easier and simpler and the #TS7 is called HEARTS and that’s why they speak French?! Because French is like a language of LOVE?!?! AND THE PARIS IS A CITY OF LOVE?!? IS IT LOVE?!?!?!?!?!? AND THE 70s WAS THE ERA OF FREE LOVE?!?!? WHAT WAIT @taylorswift13 pic.twitter.com/SgL7sG7YYh

— 4.26 (@snake_lungs13) April 28, 2019

6. "Rainbow" (or "Spectrum" or something to do with colors)

This theory hinges on all of the literal rainbows featured in the "Me!" video. If Swift is trying to be obvious (though I don't think that word is in her vocabulary), this would make a lot of sense.

Elaboration on my rainbow theory 🌈❤🌈❤🌈❤ @taylornation13 @taylorswift13 #MEmusicvideo pic.twitter.com/lDiHgDcgHr

— Christy of House Tyrell 🏵 (@pdlinbooks) April 27, 2019

Also, the word "rainbow" has seven letters and this will be Swift's seventh album. Additionally, most rainbows consist of seven colors. Hmmm.

Sooo why the album could be called RAINBOW is because the rainbow has 7 colors and as we all know “TS7” also she’s hinting at it with “like a rainbow with all of the colors” and all of the rainbows in the MV @taylorswift correct me if I’m wrong @taylornation #streamME #ts7 #ME pic.twitter.com/tIkjvATiQb

— dutchswiftie (@dutchswiftie2) April 28, 2019

7. Something in French

A Taylor Swift album with a French title might seem unlikely, but the opening scene in the "Me!" music video could be a huge clue. In it, Swift and Urie go back and forth, arguing with each other in French. And knowing Swift, it's bound to have some sort of importance that isn't clear just yet.

what if the speaking French and Cartier pointing to the title of #TS7 being a French word ? Amour for love ...or Coeur for heart ...or archive en ceil for rainbow? @taylornation13 @taylorswift13 #MEMusicVideo pic.twitter.com/65IV7eD8KK

— Taylor Swift Ireland 🦋🌴 ME! (@TaylorSwiftEire) April 29, 2019

So... the word Iridescent in french is irisè ! If you break up the word, its ~I RISE~... Maybe she is hinting by the way she jumps over steam, and is lifted in the 'spelling scene' @taylorswift13 @taylornation #ts7 #Frenchconnection #MEMusicVideo #irisè

— JanusMaximus -Jane (@j_lovelock) April 30, 2019

Phew. So, we potentially know the name of the album. When it drops, though, is another case. If their track record of crunching numbers is any indication, we're sure the Swifties will crack it in no time. Until then, we'll all be here, twiddling our thumbs to the tune of "Me!"

WATCH: Taylor Swift reveals songs that helped her through breakups

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joellenat · 7 years

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Why can't Christians date non-Christians? It's a question that is regularly asked, but not always accurately answered. It confuses, perplexes, and even angers both Christians and non-Christians alike. It sounds elitist, holier-than-thou, and downright condescending. But trust me, it's not meant to be. I'm 28 this year, I'm single, and one of the most common things I hear from my friends goes something along the lines of: "Why so picky? Really must be Christian? If your standard not so high I would introduce you to my friend(s) already la." And while I wholly believe in their well-meant intentions, I think it’s about time someone explained the reason behind this "pickiness", lest it be classified as another irrational, snobbish Christian standard to live by. A long time ago, I went out with someone who, besides not being a Christian, was more or less perfect for me. Perfect in the sense that he was almost exactly like me, we liked the same things, had the same tastes, he knew what kind of stuff I would like, we even supported the same football team… perfect. All except for the fact that he wasn't a Christian. It didn't matter to me at first, but I think all along at the back of my mind, I knew it would be an issue someday. And sure enough, after awhile, I decided I couldn't go on with it anymore, because it was "wrong". And so I broke up with the perfect guy all because he wasn't a Christian. Everyone (including myself, sometimes) thought I was nuts and couldn't for the life of them understand it. I'm not sure he did either, and for that I am the most sorry. But decisions like this do baffle, and so they should and must be clearly explained. While I do want non-Christians to understand this, I am much more concerned about us Christians. Because from the relationships and attitudes I am seeing around me (and sometimes even in myself), we sometimes forget the ‘why’ and get confused trying to do the what. I think the biggest example of this, and I'm not going to sugarcoat it here, is Christians who extend "dating a Christian" to "dating someone whom I will bring to church", "dating someone who is open to Christianity", or "dating someone who calls himself a Christian but hasn't really been to church in a few years". I could go on, but you see my point. To do something like that is to miss the point of wanting to date a Christian in the first place. It's taking God's wisdom and stretching it so we find a loophole. So yes, back to the reasons why Christians shouldn't date non-Christians. There are probably more, but here are four simple ones. You believe in completely, absolutely different things Any committed Christian will know that Christianity is not just a nice little side project that surfaces on Sundays and on Christmas - it involves and demands a total change in worldview, nature, lifestyle, decisions and priorities. It's not an "agree to disagree" kind of difference - like whether Manchester United or Liverpool is better (is there really an argument anyway?), its played out in how you spend your time, money, what you teach your future children, how you deal with hardship... I could go on. Some of these you may or may not have to deal with before marriage, but they will certainly apply after. "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?" - 2 Corinthians 6:14 Marrying a non-Christian means a lifetime of split loyalties, and a severe endangerment of your relationship with God. One way or another, one relationship (or even both) will have to be compromised. It is never "just dating" I should also clarify at this point that by "dating", I do not mean a casual, just-for-fun romance with no likely future - I mean a relationship entered into with the intention to find out if you are suitable for marriage. "What?!" You say. "I ain't ready for that!" Well then, perhaps you are not ready for dating. Casual dating is usually self-centered and self-serving: it's fun, it makes me happy, who cares what happens in the future? If we know for sure we will never marry said person, then being in a relationship with them is unfair to them as well. As Christians, the most important question we should ask is "Does this make me more like Jesus?" Casual dating, especially with non-Christians, almost certainly does not. Something else just became more important than God I can almost hear the argument being formed right now, that, basically, there is nowhere in the Bible that says it's a sin to date a non-Christian. In fact, the Bible doesn't even talk about dating: so how can we say what God's view is for sure? Even if we gloss over passages like 2 Corinthians 6:14 above which tell us not to "be unequally yoked", common sense and godly wisdom tell us that a close relationship (and if we are dating, it's probably one of the closest relationships we have) with a non-Christian cannot be wise, let alone helpful. If the goal is to be more like Christ, then we are intentionally and knowingly making it harder. "If then you have been raised with Christ... Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God... Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." – Colossians 3:1-5 When we are willing to jeopardize our relationship with God for anything else - could be career, money, pleasure - then that becomes our idol, no matter how "good" it is in itself. Even a Christian relationship can become an idol if it takes precedence over God. So, even if not explicitly stated as a sin, the fact that we are willing to endanger our faith to cling on to this other person shows our heart's true desires. The joy of having a Christian partner And finally, we have to consider not just the possible pitfalls of dating (and marrying) a non-Christian, but the considerable benefits of dating a mature, growing Christian. "Dating a fellow Christian" is not just fulfilling a ticked box on the checklist of Christian dating, it's having the pleasure of being able to lead or be led by someone you can trust will have God's (and your) best interests at heart, someone who will care for and even nurture your spiritual growth, who will encourage you through Scripture during hard times, who will love you because Christ first loved him/her, who will be someone your kids can model and follow spiritually, and whose true home, like yours, is heaven. "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." – Proverbs 31:30 "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her... so that he might present the church to himself in splendor... that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself." - Ephesians 5:25-28 It's not always natural or easy to look for and desire these things in a relationship when other things like looks, personality and so on have such a magnetic pull - but I'm convinced that these are the most important things to have for the long term. Don't get me wrong, it's not that good chemistry and attraction are not important - they are just not as important as we think. That is not to say that a Christian marriage is short of its share of troubles. No marriage or relationship, Christian or otherwise, is perfect. But that is precisely why we need a spouse that will see and address these imperfections through the light of Christ's perfect love for us. So it is not merely a matter of going to different places on a Sunday morning - it's a matter of ending up in different places for eternity. As a Christian, are you convinced that your salvation and relationship with God is more important than your relationship with anyone else? Are you certain that heaven and hell exist? Do you believe that obedience to God's word sometimes involves things we don't want to do, or don't even understand? Because there is no sitting on the fence - if your answer is yes, then you cannot continue knowingly disobeying God. And, rather more worryingly, if your answer is no, then you might have to ask yourself what you truly believe in. I just want to say that this issue is just one of the many sins that we fall prey to, and that you are not more sinful or a worse Christian just because you are going through this. The Christian life is a constant struggle with sin - and the most alarming part is not when we sin, but when we stop struggling with it altogether, and even try to tell ourselves that it's okay. It wasn't easy for me to write and post this - it actually took me more than a year since drafting it to actually get it out there; because I felt I couldn't do it until I really could come to terms with it. And even as I write this, I still have half a mind to leave it lounging in the 'Drafts' section. It is that hard, and it is that close to my heart. If you are struggling with or facing this issue, I pray you will find the courage to obey God, and the faith to trust that this obedience will not leave you short-changed. Trust me, its something I battle with every single day.

By Cheryl Lee 8 Mar, 2016

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theonyxpath · 7 years

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Yes. We’re headed out this week to the MidWinter Convention in Milwaukee!

It’s going to be cold.

It’s also going to be a great chance for fun, edumacation, and making deals and brainstorming projects. See the notes in the BLURBS! section, below.

I’m planning on bringing a folio of character art from both Pugmire and the new signature characters from Monarchies of Mau, so hit me up while we’re there and I’ll give ya a sneak peek.

Beast: Conquering Heroes art by Avery Butterworth

This week, Rose and Matt continue to grow into their full time positions with serious work on our infrastructure, and conversations with our Devs. Many Google docs and Excel spreadsheets were started and consulted.

They will both be at MidWinter, and my plan is to have a mini-summit where we look at both current projects and our possible releases for the next three years. I doubt we’ll get into new gamelines, but we’ll be devoting serious thought to the White Wolf lines, and Scion 2e and the Trinity Continuum and how all these lines need to fit together.

So, most of our conversations today were some discussion followed by “we’ll go over this when we’re sitting down at MidWinter“.

Lavinia from Scarred Lands The Wise & The Wicked by Bryan Syme

Meanwhile, while I’m running amok in Milwaukee, it is the beginning of the year tax time for Lovely LisaT, our Office Manager, as she prepares all the documents our accountant needs to tell us if we are still OK as a business.

I really feel bad about heading to a con during this time of the year.

No, really.

BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER!

We’re exploring card game Kickstarters, packaging, and components, for Prince’s Gambit. Justin, Eddy, a crack team of players, and our talented videographers have finished shooting the KS videos in Atlanta and are assembling edits even as you read this. Things look good, and we are all for starting the KS in late January so long as the process of pulling the KS together cooperates. If so, then Monarchies of Mau KS would be next, after Gambit.

ON SALE!

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://ift.tt/1ZlTT6z

The cards are alive! Conditionally. This Weds. the Advance PDF version of the Promethean 2nd Edition Condition Cards goes on sale at DTRPG!

It is now the preordained time for Dawn of Heresies, the Mummy: the Curse novel written by internationally renowned author Brian Hodge to arise! Both PDF/electronic and physical book PoD versions will be available Wednesday the 9th on DTRPG!

Open the V20 Dark Ages: Tome of Secrets now on DTRPG! Both PDF and physical book PoD versions are now available! http://ift.tt/2i1XOXd

The Tome of Secrets is a treatment of numerous topics about Cainites and stranger things in the Dark Medieval World. It’s about peeling back the curtain, and digging a little deeper. Inside, you’ll find:

• Expanded treatment of Assamite Sorcery, Koldunic Sorcery, Necromancy, and Setite Sorcery

• A look at Cainite knightly orders, faith movements, and even human witchcraft

• Letters and diaries from all over the Dark Medieval World

Travel with us all the way to the Red Planet for the Cavaliers of Mars Jumpstart: A Festival of Blades, available in PDF and PoD on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2biWBpR

Live, fight, and love on Mars, a world of red death and strange mystery, a world of savagery and romance.

Includes:

A complete adventure set in one of dying Mars’ greatest remaining cities.

The innovative DEIMOS rules, for high-flying, swashbuckling adventure.

Four pre-generated player characters, ready to get into the heart of the action.

The Advance PDF for Reap the Whirlwind, the Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition Jumpstart swirls into being on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2i1WPpD

You are a vampire, a junkie. Every night, you beg and you borrow and you steal just a little more life, just a few more sweet moments. But there’s a guy at the top. The Prince. He’s got everything. The money, the secrets, the blood.

Tonight, you’re going to take it from him. Tomorrow, there’ll be hell to pay.

This updated edition of Reap the Whirlwind features revisions to match the core rulebook for Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition. Text edits and rules clarifications have also been updated.

Reap the Whirlwind Revised includes:

Rules for creating and playing vampires in the Chronicles of Darkness

The first two levels of every clan Discipline, the dark powers of the dead

A complete adventure by noted horror author Chuck Wendig

This new revised Reap the Whirlwind Revised includes an updated booklet, 7 condition cards, and the interactive Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition character sheet.

The Locker is open; the Chronicles of Darkness: Hurt Locker, that is! The Advance PDF is now available on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2gbM9me

Hurt Locker features:

Treatment of violence in the Chronicles of Darkness. Lasting trauma, scene framing, and other tools for making your stories hurt.

Many new player options, including Merits, supernatural knacks, and even new character types like psychic vampires and sleeper cell soldiers.

Expanded equipment and equipment rules.

Hurt Locker requires the Chronicles of Darkness Rulebook or any other standalone Chronicles of Darkness rulebook such as Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, or Beast: The Primordial to use.

Discover the long-awaited Secrets of the Covenants for Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition as we unearth the Advance PDF now on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2gbQjus

This book includes:

A variety of stories from each of the covenants, all told in their own words.

Never-before revealed secrets, like the fate of the Prince of New Orleans.

New blood sorcery, oaths, and other hidden powers of the covenants.

We have now added a B&W PoD version of the Endless Ages Vampire Anthology to the existing full color PDF and PoD choices! Celebrating 25 years of personal horror, the eighteen stories in Endless Ages range in style and aesthetics from the very first edition of Vampire released in 1991, all the way to the latest books put out for the 20th Anniversary Edition. http://ift.tt/2dL7Gkt

Seek the Cainite Conspiracies, the fiction anthology for V20 Dark Ages, in PDF and PoD physical book formats! http://ift.tt/2fMksQQ

This collection of short stories features tales by Vampire developers such as Justin Achilli, Eddy Webb, David A. Hill, Jr., and Neall Raemonn Price along with award-winning horror authors including Maurice Broaddus, Catherine Lundoff, and Richard Dansky.

Promethean: the Created 2nd Edition comes to life in both PDF and PoD physical book versions NOW on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2aUBEnc

You are a pilgrim now, one of the Created. You rose to life from dead flesh or inert matter, under the ministrations of one of your own, or a mad scientist, or perhaps just the power of the Divine Fire. You wander the world, sometimes alone, sometimes in the blessed company of your own kind, driven by memories of events and facts you never knew, all in the service of one Great Work…

…to be human.

Humans don’t make it easy, though. The Divine Fire that animates you burns too bright, blinds people, and scorches the land if you linger too long. It masks your disfigurements and makes you appear human, but that mask slips and people see your hideous, true form. The Pilgrimage is a long, difficult road, but it is yours, and you know, somehow, that the salvation of the New Dawn waits at the end.

This book contains:

The complete guide to playing a Promethean in the Chronicles of Darkness

Reimagined Lineages and Refinements, and a redesigned system for Transmutations

A more detailed approached to the Pilgrimage that presents players with more control over their characters’ path

New challenges on the road to humanity, including deranged, greedy alchemists

CONVENTIONS!

Onyx Path will be at Mid Winter Con 2017 this week in the lovely city of Milwaukee. Come brave the cold wastes to game and cavort with us! Please keep an eye out on the MidWinter site for announcements as to our very special beta test and Play With The Creator special events! http://ift.tt/Lfx9nY

Here are three reasons to attend, if you had any doubts!:

RPG Playing! We have once again convinced Dave Martin and his Wrecking Crew team of game masters to run a vast plethora of Onyx Path games. Everything from World of Darkness to Scion to Cavaliers of Mars and Pugmire, as well as a bunch of Prince’s Gambit casual vampire card game sessions. We have a whole ballroom dedicated to our games this year, so sign up and play.

RPG Playtests! Onyx Path loves to use MidWinter as a sort of test-lab for our games, and this year is no exception! Eddy Webb will be playtesting Monarchies of Mau, the cat follow-up to the smash-hit Pugmire, as well as a couple of card game projects he has been tinkering with. Rose Bailey will be running a playtest sneak-peak of Cavaliers of Mars, and Neall Raemonn Price may have some Scion 2e goodness to share.

The Onyx Path Gang! Yep, a bunch of us will be at MidWinter, and not only will we be at the intimate Onyx Q&A listed during the events, but we’ll be at our booth in the sales area, at other events, hanging out in our gaming room with the Wrecking Crew, or just sitting back and chatting around the hotel. MidWinter is a great venue to speak with us as it is nowhere near as hectic as GenCon, and we have fewer business commitments. So look for me, Rose, Eddy, Neall, Monica, Matt McElroy, and a bunch of our awesome creative contributors too!

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

V20 Dark Ages Jumpstart (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Cookbook (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)

VtR Half-Damned (Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

CtD C20 Jumpstart (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Pugmire Pan’s Guide for New Pioneers (Pugmire)

Monarchies of Mau Early Access (Pugmire)

Redlines

Scion: Origins (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

Kithbook Boggans (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Second Draft

The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Wraith: the Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition

BtP Beast Player’s Guide (Beast: the Primordial)

Development

W20 Changing Ways (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

SL The Wise and the Wicked (5e – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

SL Ring of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Ring of Spiragos (5e – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

SL Dagger of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Dagger of Spiragos (5e– Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Arms of the Chosen (Exalted 3rd Edition)

VtR A Thousand Years of Night (Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition)

Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

V20 Beckett’s Jyhad Diary (Stretch Goal Content)

W20 Song of Unmaking novel (Bridges) (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

BtP Building a Legend (Beast: the Primordial)

CtD C20 Anthology (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Editing:

CtL fiction anthology (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

Cavaliers of Mars

Post-Editing Development: Indexing:

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Dark Eras Companion

Beckett’s Jyhad Diary

C20

M20 Book of Secrets – AD’d

W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook

V20 Dark Ages Companion

Mortal Remains – Beast – AD’d

EX3 Tomb of Dreams Jumpstart – Continuing to get sketches and seeing first color comps.

Dagger of Spiragos – Putting together the art buy.

Marketing Stuff

Banner and Slider Updates – Working on new stuff for Hurt Locker, Secrets of the Covenants, and Scarred Lands.

In Layout

Necropolis Rio

Promethean 2 Condition Cards

V20 Lore of the Bloodlines

Prince’s Gambit

Pugmire

Wise and the Wicked PF – Cover design stuff and it’ll be done.

Wise and the Wicked 5e – Starting on it sometime this week.

Proofing

Beast Conquering Heroes – To WWP.

SL Wise and Wicked Update

At Press

Ex 3 Screen – Finished at the Printer.

Ex 3 core book – From RichT: manufacturing continues. Printer confirming gilding numbers this week and then on to binding.

Dawn of Heresies Mummy Novel – On sale PDF/ePub/PoD versions on Wednesday.

Beast Condition Cards – Getting physical cards uploaded.

CofD Hurt Locker – Waiting for errata to make PoD.

Secrets of the Covenants – Waiting for errata to make PoD.

Revised Reap The Whirlwind Jumpstart – Processing at Lightning Source.

Beckett Screen – Going to Printer.

W20 Shattered Dreams – Deluxe Edition at press.

Shattered Dreams Screen – Going to Printer.

Dark Eras: Ends of Empire – Processing at Lightning Source.

Dark Eras: The Sundered World – Processing at Lightning Source.

Promethean 2nd Condition Cards – Advance PDF going on sale this Wednesday.

TODAY’S REASON TO DRINK: Have to imbibe something to wash down the salty bread at Maders! Might be a boot of beer, might be Malort, might be Riot Juice.

#Onyx Path Publishing

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ecotone99 · 4 years

Text

[AA] In The Dark - First Attempt at my Final Assignment Short Story

Hello everyone... So this is my first ever attempt at writing a short story for my final assignment. this is my FIRST DRAFT and I came up with this in about 1.5 hrs .. If you could give it a read and provide some feedback .. I ll have a chance of getting a good grade.. any comment/feedback is appreciated. So hesitate. Thank you for reading.

By the time he entered the police station, it was already past 10:30 pm. Sean Andrews has never been late. During his 25 years as a police officer for LAPD, he has earned the title of “Mr. On Time”. With a height of 6 ft and a sturdy body, Sean was doing very well for himself at just shy of hitting 50. He has been with the LAPD ever since and has worked hard for himself and his career. Known for his honesty, humbleness and hard work, he has been able to earn the respect of the LAPD. Sean parked the car in his designated parking space, grabbed his coat and rushed towards the station.

“Well well! Look what we got here?”. Catherine at the front desk made a teasing comment as soon as she saw Sean walking in from the front door. Catherine and Sean go way back as they both started at the department at the same time. They always had a fun banter going on between them. Sean acknowledged and walked up to the desk.

“Alright. So, you know I can’t let you go any further before you tell me what happened today that made you come late to work for the first time ever.”

Sean saw this question coming up way back in his car and he wasn’t sure if he had an answer. What happened today? He tried to remember the whole day and figure out the reason for this strange abnormally. He remembered that he didn’t have any sleep last night and then he got up in the morning and started doing house chores and cleaning. He remembered that around noon, he had a brief chat with his son Jake who was going out and then he sat on the couch and turned on the tv while he ate pasta. His memory started to fog right around there and after that everything was fuzzy. He woke up around 10 pm and realized that he has overslept. He had never been so quick in getting ready and in a few short minutes, he was already on his way to the station.

“Hello Hello! Anyone there?”. Catherine was snapping her fingers in Sean’s face and instantly, Sean came back to reality.

“Are you ok Sean? You seem very lost in your thoughts.” Catherine said with a little concern in her voice. She truly cared for Sean and after the whole Jessica incident, she got more closer to Sean and looked after his wellbeing.

“Oh yes Cat! I am alright. The reason if you may ask for my late arrival was just a little oversleep. I didn’t set my alarm and hence slept that extra hour. It’s good though because I have this feeling that I will be needing all my strength tonight.” Sean replied in a calm manner for which he is famous. A calm, collective person who knows what to say and when to say it.

“Well, it’s Dec 31st and we all know people like to get extra happy on a simple calendar change, but you tell me this, are you sure you are doing okay and how’s Jake by the way,” Catherine asked him again and stared directly at him as to study and analyze his facial expression.

“Yes, Catherine! I am perfectly ok and thank you very much for your concern. Jake’s also doing okay. You know these teenagers and their moods. You don’t know what’s going on in their minds, but he is doing ok. Now if you’ll allow me, I would like to go to the cafeteria and grab something to eat and get some energy before I go out for the night patrol.” Sean replied with a smile and a smirky look.

“Yes! Yes! By all means. Go on and eat some extra. It’s going to be a long night.” Sean bowed a little as to give respect and started walking towards the cafeteria. He started to have flashbacks of him and Catherine starting at the station together and their friendship growing over the years. He started to remember how Catherine helped and supported him after the Jessica incident and he will be forever grateful to her.

The cafeteria wasn’t crowded that much and after hand waves and hello to the few fellow officers, Sean grabbed his coffee and some donuts and cheesecakes and found an empty table at the far corner. He wanted to sit quietly and eat but his wish got canceled when someone tapped on his shoulder.

“You really think you can hide here and I won’t be able to find you?”. The heavy commanding voice said, and it took less than a second for Sean to realize who that voice belonged to.

“No Sir! I didn’t think that. In fact, no one can ever escape from your clutches” Sean replied and stood up and gave his friend and his partner a very warm hug. Officer David Smith embraced him and they both sat down at the table. David started at the station around five years after Sean and they have been partners ever since. They have been on numerous cases together and their results have always been great. Sean often consulted with David on different matters and have always valued his opinions and suggestions. David has always supported Sean and has been there for him when he needed him the most. Along with Catherine, David also looked after Sean and Jake after the Jessica incident. He knew how hard it had hit Sean and how much devasted he was during that whole period.

“So, I have heard the news of the town. Mr. On Time is late for the very first time. Is everything ok?” Sean knew that there was no point in hiding anything from David because he would easily detect it on Sean’s face and so he proceeded to tell David about last night.

“ So, as you may or may not remember, yesterday was my wedding anniversary and I just got lost in memories man. I tried very hard not to repeat it from last year, but I can’t help it, man. I just can’t. It still hurts to remember what happened two years ago with Jessica and how it impacted our lives; both me and Jake.” Sean said in a pretty lethargic tone. Sadness was visible all over his face. He was once again getting lost in his memories and feeling distant from reality.

“Listen, Sean! You need to stop blaming yourself for what happened to Jessica two years ago. It wasn’t your fault. You could never know that such a thing would occur or else you would have done anything to stop it” David said in a very assuring and sympathetic tone.

“ No! It was my fault. I was the one who started the fight with her for no fucking reason at all. She was totally correct when she said that I was giving too much time to work and less time at home. I was so preoccupied with my job and career that I started to forget about my wife and my only son.”

“Had I not started the fight with her, she would have never left the house and drove away and then get hit by that fucking piece of shit drunk. God! I wish to undo everything that I did and get her back. I messed up big time which impacted me and my son’s life. This is all my fault.”

David was listening very quietly and only nodded to Sean. He realized it would be better for Sean to say everything that’s on his mind right now in order to achieve some relief.

“ Look, man, it won’t help you in blaming yourself for what happened two years ago, but you know what? What’s gone is gone and can’t be brought back. May her soul rest in peace. The thing you need to focus on now is your son Jake. He is left without a mother and now you must become the mother and the father for him. Also, you do remember what she said in the ambulance right before she passed away?” David put forward the question to Sean in order to snap him out of his memories.

“Yes. I remember. She told me to promise her that I will honor her by making things right with their son. I also promised her that I will try my best to become a better father for our son and I will spend more time with him and make every effort to not leave him alone and feeling left out.” Sean replied with a straight and an expressionless face.

“And what do u plan on doing with that promise? Are you going to honor it and start working on your relationship with your son?” David asked him in an authoritative voice.

“ I intend to keep that promise, David. I will fulfill my promise to her no matter the cost. I will not dwell on the past anymore but instead; I will focus on the present and try to make my relationship with my son stronger because he needs me the most at this time in his life. What kind of a father I will be if I am not there for my son?” Sean said with an optimistic tone and a change in his facial expression. The last memory of Jessica and the ambulance talk really had an impact on Sean and he found the will and determination in order to become a better version of himself.

“Now this is the Sean that I know. Full of self-confidence and sheer will. I have no doubt that you will do whatever is necessary in order to fulfill your promises to Jessica. Now buckle up! I just heard from the chief inspector and so I want to be the first one to congratulate you on getting that exemplary medal on your service to the department. That is a big award and I fully know how much you have wanted to get that medal.” David said in an exciting tone. He was happy for Sean for receiving the Police Exemplary Medal. He truly believed that Sean deserved that award for his magnificent service. He also knew how much Sean had wanted to get that medal for so long.

Out of many different criminal cases, the one case that cemented the medal for Sean according to David was the murder of the Olsen twins last year. Sean was the one who founded the car in the ditch outside the city limits with the twins inside and their throats slit open. Sean worked endlessly on the case since he felt he was responsible for finding the murderers of the twins. Within two weeks, Sean was able to track down different leads and ended up catching the person who turned out to be an ex stalker of one of the twins. The entire police station was impressed by the will and commitment of Sean and they all gave him a big party. Sean was told that by the Chief inspector that he was one of the contenders of the Police Exemplary Medal because of his extraordinary service to the department. Sean was overwhelmed upon hearing this news because he always wanted to get that medal and now, he saw his dream finally coming to fruition.

“Thanks, David! The chief inspector informed me yesterday and I am happy. It’s nice to see that your services are recognized and appreciated.” Sean replied with a happy and cheerful face. His whole body language had changed. His face wasn’t gloomy anymore. He looked at himself. The happy, funny and cheerful Sean who everyone liked to chat with at any time of the day.

“Anyways, I think I will be heading out now David. I have patrol tonight and I am already late coming in today. New Year’s Eve has always been messy in my experience. Kids these days don’t know their limits and are always ready to create some unwanted havoc. Please god! Let tonight be another simple night and nothing else.” Sean said and stood up and shook David’s hand very firmly.

“Oh! Don’t stress about it. You’ll be just fine. I don’t think there is anything that you can’t handle. Just watch your six and stay safe brother. Good night!” David said in a reassuring voice that comforted Sean a lot and he started to walk towards the exit. He waved goodbye to Catherine on his way out and went to his car. Another day another patrol. He logged in the laptop and did all the procedures of starting the patrol. After he was all done, he turned on the car and went out of the station.

That night, it drizzled lightly, and roads and curbs were covered with light snow. the traffic on the road was moderate considering most people were busy at parties at different venues. Sean seemed ok with that because that meant fewer traffic stops and fewer speeding tickets. The patrol was going very smoothly with no calls of any sort. Sean was thinking about his promise to Jessica and he started to think about Jake. Eighteen years of age with a slender body, Jake took the genes of his mother. He was an outspoken kid like his mother. He was just about to graduate from high school and had a big dream of pursuing his education and going off to university. After his mother’s death, Jake witnessed a change in himself and he often found himself being in retreat in every situation. Also, the fact that his father couldn’t deal with the accident properly himself, he started to have a repulsive attitude towards him. At noon, Jake told Sean that he is going out with his friends and he’ll stay at Ryan’s house for the new year’s party. Sean thought to give him a call and ask about him when suddenly, the dispatch radio blasted up.

“Attention all units! We have a call in for disturbance and possible altercation among three individuals in the vicinity of Pico Gardens at a new year’s party. The address is in the system now. Any units in the area, please Respond. Over.”

“This is inspector Sean Andrews responding. I am 5 minutes away from the location. I am on my way. Over and out.” Sean responded within seconds and made a sharp turn to the right. Well, I guess today’s not your lucky day Sean. He said to himself and continued his drive. During the whole way, he kept hoping that it would be just a simple verbal fight over something very stupid and he will be done in a couple of minutes by giving out hard warnings.

He arrived at the location which turned out to be a big house with party lights and lots of cars. He got out of his car and started to walk up the stairs when he heard some noises coming from the back of the house. It sounded like a group of people arguing among themselves. He decided to check it out and made his way to the back. He had his hand firmly on the gun in his belt and he was ready for any situation. He walked slowly towards the noises when suddenly he heard a loud scream. It sounded very painful. He took out his gun and aimed in front and started to pace forward aggressively and finally, he came out and in full view of the backyard.

There was a person lying on the floor squeaking and swerving on the ground. There was a knife impaled in his abdomen with blood gushing out at a fast pace. It only took mere seconds and after which the body started to calm down and got silent. Sean looked up from the body and saw another person. He had the knife in his hand with and there was blood all over his hand and shirt. Sean looked up to the person and suddenly, the gun dropped from his hands. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His mind stopped working. He saw Jake with the knife in his hand crying and pushing himself against the wall. There were pure horror and anguish on his face. James looked up and saw his father standing there all lost. He dropped the knife and ran towards his father and hugged him with all the power he had in him. Sean responded and brought his hands all around James and gave him a tight hug.

“Dad! I don’t know what happened. Cody gave me this knife before we came out to talk to Adam. He said it is just to scare off Adam if tries to fight with us. We just wanted to talk to Adam about Felecia, but Adam got so angry and started to hit us. He punched Cody hard on the face and then came after me. In that instance, I brought my hand in front, and I don’t know how I stabbed him. Dad! I didn’t mean to do this. I am sorry. I am very sorry” Jake couldn’t hold his voice again and started to cry even more.

“Please, Dad! Do something. I didn’t do this. Please! You’ve got to do something. Don’t arrest me. Don’t put me in jail. It is Cody’s fault who gave me this knife. Please, Dad! I beg you. Save me!” Jake's face was all red. Tears wouldn’t stop coming out of his eyes. It was a dreadful moment for him and Sean.

During all this time, Sean’s mind was accelerating at an uncontrolled speed. He was thinking so many things at the same time. How can this even happen? My son has become a murderer. I failed in keeping my son safe. I failed as a father to him. I couldn’t fulfill my promise to Jessica and now our son is a full-fledged murderer. He started to have glimpses of his son in court being tried and handcuffed and taken to jail for manslaughter. His son growing up in juvie and destroying his life forever. He saw his son getting away from him forever. On the other hand, he saw himself being the talk of the town for having a murderer son. All this reputation and respect being tarnished in an instant. How can he face anyone at the station? All these evil thoughts were at work in his mind and were clogging his thinking capacity.

“Dad! Cody ran away when I stabbed him. He knows what happened Dad. He’ll tell everything and the police will catch me. Please, Dad! You have to save me. I am sorry.” James revealed Cody’s whereabout and Sean was left more puzzled. He knew he needs to make a decision very quickly regarding his course of action. He evaluates his options. Does he call in the police and tell them everything and turn in his only son and destroy both of their lives. The promise to Jessica comes to his mind immediately. Does he fulfill his promise and save his son, something he feels he wasn’t able to do to his wife. Good and bad thoughts are running in circles in his mind. At last, the bond of the family turns out to be a strong force and he finally succumbs to the dark side.

In that instance, he has decided what he’ll do and how’ll save his son from this madness. It leads to a darker road, but Sean is not thinking straight.

“Jake! Listen to me very carefully now. Do as I say, and I promise that I will save you. You won’t get hurt, but you’ll have to do as I say. Run from here as fast as you can and go home and wait for me there. I will come home very soon but you must hurry. Go now and don’t stop until you have reached home.” Sean ordered his son and gave him a big hug again and then let him go. He saw Jake running very fast until he was fully gone from his sight.

Now Sean started to think straight about his action plan. Does he’ll really believe in his decision? The decision to chase Cory and threaten him to stay quiet for the rest of his life and never say a word about what happened tonight. Does he really believe in this plan? Would this even work? Or the fact that Sean has thought of something else entirely and then the decision is making Sean think twice about it. His real decision is to chase Cory and take care of him so that he can’t talk ever again. He plans to kill him and close this night forever. He understands that Cory is innocent in this whole fiasco, but in order to save his son and fulfill his promise, he needs to proceed with this decision no matter the cost. He can’t believe he is thinking about killing an innocent person. Flashes of the police oath circulate in his mind. Guardian and protector of the innocent. All these thoughts aren’t enough to convince Sean to alter his decision. He knows that it is the only way to end this and save his son forever.

Sean takes out a handkerchief from the dead body and wipes off the fingerprints from the knife and then throws the knife as far as he could. He then goes back to his car and starts the manhunt for Cory. He is able to quickly identify the path which Cory would have taken when he ran off from the crime scene. He starts his car and drives away. It only takes him 10 mins to find a person running wildly on the road. He watches the person enter a dark alley probably to catch his breath. The roads were quiet on this side of the city. He grabs his coat and gets out of his car and starts walking towards the alley. He puts on his coat and pulls on the hoody to hide his face. He reaches the alley in few seconds and there he finds Cory sitting on the floor by the wall and caressing his broken nose. Cory looks up and sees Sean looking down at him. At that instance, Sean is not Sean anymore. He has a look of a terrifying monster. A monster who will do anything to hurt him without having any remorse.

“I didn’t do anything, Mr. Sean. It was your son Jake who stabbed Adam. I didn’t do it. Please don’t arrest me. I swear I am innocent. I just saw what happened. I didn’t do anything. Please, Officer!” Cory was pleading and begging with both his hands tied together. Sean could clearly see fear and anxiety in his eyes.

“I know you are innocent Cory. However, you are a witness to all this, and I fear you’ll open your mouth which will result in James getting arrested and going to jail. I can’t let this happen. I am sorry.” Upon hearing these words, Cory felt the ground slipping under his feet. He understood what Sean meant perfectly.

“No Sir! Please. I beg you. I won’t tell anyone. I swear I’ll keep my mouth shut until I die but please don’t kill me. I won’t tell anyone. I know you are a very honest and respectable police officer sir. You wouldn’t ever think of doing this horrible thing to any innocent person. You have always been a good man. You lookout for the innocent. Please, Sir! I beg you to not kill me. Think about my family. My mom and dad. They won't be able to take it. Please, Sir! Don’t kill me. I am innocent.” Cory’s pleading continued and it actually worked in his favor. Sean started to have second thoughts on his decision. Had he really turned that dark that he is willing to kill an innocent person? What happened to his good morals and ethics? How can he ever return to being a police officer after he has also committed a murder? How can he look himself in the mirror? All these questions took over his mind and his thinking capability.

Everything changed after that. Cory saw Sean lost deep in his thoughts. He saw his hand retracting back to his pockets. He saw his only chance of getting out of here. He quickly grabbed a big rock from the side and hurled at Sean. It hit Sean’s head leaving a scrape with thick blood. This snaps Sean back to reality and he sees Cory lunging upon him with another rock in his hand. Cory is able to land the blow this time and it hits Sean right at the forehead. He drops on the floor and Cory seizes the opportunity to dodge him and run from the side. However, Sean is fast enough to catch Cory’s legs and he pulls him back. Cory falls flat on his face and Sean jumps over him and pins him down.

Sean knows what needs to be done. His hands are shaking. His eyes are tearful. He sees Cory shrieking and twisting his body in order to get free from Sean. Flashes of his son and wife cloud his mind. He is aware that if he doesn’t do what is required, he’ll lose his son forever. With a heavy heart, Sean’s hands surround Cory’s neck and he starts to strangle him. Cory’s body starts to twitch and move like a fish out of water. Sean hears the countdown to the new year from the loudspeaker installed the Downtown Core while his hands are all locked around Cory’s neck. He sees Cory’s body movement gradually slowing down. As soon as the countdown reaches one and the fireworks start, Cory stops moving. The work has been taken care of. His son is safe, and he has fulfilled his promise to his beloved wife. The threat has been neutralized and the damage is taken care of. He has done the unthinkable. He has brought shame to himself and his career. He has tarnished all the self-respect he had for himself. he has destroyed himself forever. He has gone to a place where there is no coming back. With all these thoughts in his mind, he starts to walk to his car and finish off the remaining evidence that’s lying in that dark alley.

THE END

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thrashermaxey · 6 years

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Ramblings: Farewell to the Sedins; Gardiner Reaches 50 Points; Suter Injury Update – April 3

The big news from Monday was the announcement by Henrik and Daniel Sedin that they would be retiring from the NHL at season’s end. Both players will leave the NHL, barring something wacky over the final week, with 0.80 points per game in the regular season.

The plaudits and stories told Monday were mostly of their nature off the ice. Both are lauded in Vancouver, and across the media, for being friendly, approachable, and down-to-earth guys. That is probably the best praise a person can receive. My favourite on-the-ice story was this, though:

Favourite Sedin Twins tale, Henrik waved out of a draw, goes to talk to Daniel at the hashmarks to go over strategy with Daniel supposed to replace him on the faceoff, but Henrik glides back in without ref noticing.

— Lance Hornby (@sunhornby) April 2, 2018

I wonder how often they tried that?

I’m sure the Sedin twins helped carry some of you to more than one fantasy title, with Henrik managing 112 points in 2009-10 and Daniel with 41 goals in 2010-11. I figured this would be a good time to go over some of the stats from their career, all courtesy of Hockey Reference:

They are two of nine players to amass 1000 points this century along with Alex Ovechkin, Marian Hossa, Jarome Iginla, Patrick Marleau, Sidney Crosby, Martin St. Louis, and Joe Thornton.

Henrik has the second-most assists this century (828) behind only Thornton (964). Though he’s known at the Shoot-y Sedin, Daniel is fourth (647).

Daniel is 10th in goal scoring since 2000-01 with 391, trailing only Ovechkin, Iginla, Marleau, Hossa, Rick Nash, Ilya Kovalchuk, Sidney Crosby, Marian Gaborik, and Eric Staal.

Daniel is tied for the 8th-most 20-goal seasons since entering the league with 11 while Henrik is tied for the 3rd-most 40-assist seasons in that span.

Henrik only missed 33 games in his entire 17-season career. Daniel just 57. For being coined “soft” by some idiot corners of the hockey world, they were very durable players who showed up most every night.

Just for fun: if Henrik Sedin fails to register six shots on goal over the balance of this season, he’ll finish the year for fewest shots on goal for any forward with 1200 minutes played in a single season this century. Adam Oates holds the record with 67 back in 2002-03.

There are a lot more I could go through over their sensational careers but I think the point is clear: we may never see something like this again. All the best to the twins in retirement and thanks for the memories.

On most days, the injury news about Ryan Suter would have dominated the news cycle but this was not a normal day. Anyway, Suter is out for the season, both regular and playoffs, following ankle surgery. This is a huge blow to a Wild team and their Cup chances. Jared Spurgeon is still on the mend after a partial tear to his hamstring when he went crashing awkwardly into the boards a few weeks ago. It’s possible Minnesota goes into the postseason with their top two defencemen out of the lineup.

If there’s good news for poolies it’s that the injury to Suter happened before playoff drafts. You never want to see a player injured but this is basically the best time for it to happen from a fantasy perspective. It’s late enough in the year where it won’t have a huge impact in roto leagues, most head-to-head leagues are done, and playoff drafts are yet to take place.

Suter finishes the season one point shy of setting a career-high with 52 but he did crack 50 for the second time in three years.

With Suter out, Matt Dumba has been getting the lion’s share of power-play time with Jonas Brodin and Ryan Murphy getting some extra PP time.

Minnesota shut out the Oilers at home, the fifth of the season for Devan Dubnyk. That was as many as he had last year. His save percentage now sits at .918 for the season, which is where it was two years ago. It’s just been another solid season for the ex-Oiler.

Zach Parise led the way offensively with two goals for Minnesota. As our friends at Keeping Karlsson pointed out on Twitter, those two goals give him a 31-goal/82-game pace this year at a reasonable shooting percentage (12.6 percent). He’s still a talented player playing with other talented players. If he can stay healthy, he could be a very good value in drafts next season.

This is just anecdotal but I’ve really liked the game from Andre Burakovsky over the last couple weeks. Whether it was injuries, or confidence issues, or some confluence of other factors, he looks like the player fantasy hockey owners were hoping to show up this year. The opportunity was there with Marcus Johansson traded and Justin Williams signing in Carolina but he just couldn’t stick in the top-six. He looks like he’s carrying the puck with a purpose on virtually every shift, and that’s the guy that fantasy owners were hoping for this year.

Keep in mind that without injury or an unforeseen trade, Burakovsky will not be on the top PP unit anytime soon. That caps his upside (pun totally intended). But he will come at a nice discount when drafts roll around in September. Just someone to keep in mind in the meantime.

Of course, like I said, it may just be anecdotal but goals like this sure help:

Meet the mayor of Danglestown, @andreburakovsky. pic.twitter.com/d6xrzNlmGo

— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) April 3, 2018

Derek Ryan scored his 15th goal of the season for Carolina which makes a nice season for him but also bodes well for the future of the Hurricanes: it was the first time since 2008-2009 that franchise had eight different players score at least 15 times. This is a team that has had a lot of trouble over the years finding consistent scoring outside of Jeff Skinner but not only is Sebastian Aho turning into a premier goal scorer, and Teuvo Teravainen making good on the promise he flashed over the years, but guys like Ryan and Brock McGinn are picking up the scoring slack.

Now, about that goaltending…

Nick Bjugstad was taken off the top line in Florida’s win over Carolina, replaced with Colton Sceviour. It was a straight swap, which meant Bjugstad spent the third period on the fourth line, so there was no injury. Things seemed to work out alright as Sceviour assisted on the game-winning goal from Alex Petrovic. We’ll see what they have in practice this week, but if Bjugstad appears again on the fourth line, he’s droppable at this point of the season.

Sam Reinhart scored his 24th goal of the season in the team’s loss to Toronto on Monday night. That goal sets a new career-high for him in that department, as well as a career-best 48 points. I know it stings for Sabres fans that Leon Draisaitl was taken one pick later in the 2014 draft but when you see some of other picks in the top-10 of that first round, Reinhart turning into a perennial 20-goal, 50-point guy could have been a lot worse.

Also in that game, Jake Gardiner reached the 50-point plateau for the first time in his career. After topping out at 31 points in his first five seasons, Gardiner had 43 last year and now at least 50 this year.

For those in points leagues, I would expect Gardiner at 40-plus points for the foreseeable future. That Leafs offence has the potential to be a juggernaut for years and playing 22 minutes a night with power-play time in that team means he can sleepwalk to 40 points. It doesn’t appear he’ll be a huge roto contributor, though. I mean, 50 points is very impressive, but it’ll be another season without 140 shots, another season without 40 penalty minutes, and another season with a very meager hit total. The production is nice, but in fantasy roto leagues, simple production isn’t enough unless he’s head and shoulders above everyone else. He’s the 29th-ranked defenceman as of tonight in standard ESPN leagues, and his ADP was 32nd overall among d-men in drafts. He’ll likely be inside the top-25 come September. There’s something to be said about stability being priced into ADPs, but if a 50-point season can’t even get him among the top-25 d-men, what could possibly be the logic in drafting him at that spot? I’ll be taking a pass when drafts roll around.

Morgan Rielly scored a power-play goal in that game, his 27th power-play point of the season. Remember when he was lower on the power-play totem than Nikita Zaitsev? That was such a wild time.

Wait. That was just last year.

Blake Wheeler had himself a game in the team’s 6-5 win over Ottawa. Two goals – which leaves him one point shy of 90, by the way – with four total shots, one block, four penalty minutes, and two hits. The kicker? He did it in 13:45 minutes of ice time. There was no injury or anything. The Jets got out to a 3-0 lead in the first 12 minutes so it seems like they were just scaling back the minutes of the top line.

Kyle Connor also scored in that game, hitting the 30-goal mark for the year. I’m still on the island of Kyle Connor Is Mostly A Passenger, but it’s getting real lonely on this island.

Erik Karlsson has three assists in that game and is now one assist shy of his total from last year (54). So, basically, if he’s healthy and his shooting percentage was where it normally is, he has a season like he always has. It also could have been the last game Karlsson plays at home as an Ottawa Senator, a fact that doesn’t seem lost on him:

Grabbing the puck after the game. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/gc9Cx4OI8V

— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) April 3, 2018

It’s going to be an interesting summer.

Nicklas Backstrom had a goal, an assist, three shots, one block, and was a plus-2 in Washington’s 4-2 win over St. Louis. That makes three straight seasons with 20 goals for Backstrom, and he’s tied a four-year high in shots.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-farewell-to-the-sedins-gardiner-reaches-50-points-suter-injury-april-3/

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rsanchezc-137 · 7 years

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Scarlett’s Ride

This is the first section I have typed up from the original hand written journal I kept while taking my solo-cross country trip on my Ducati Scrambler. Look up that bike and you will see how it was clearly not meant for touring. It is also literally cross-country being that I live in New Hampshire the second furthest state (not by much) from California. I don’t want to give away any details but it was a long, arduous, but most of all introspective journey that had me walking away truly a man if I wasn’t one before. I will keep posting as I get it typed up, I nearly filled the journal so there’s a lot of content to go through. I will be keeping it close to the original and any major changes I make from what I originally wrote will be clearly noted, anything else is just grammar, spelling or reworked sentences to flow better since this is technically a second draft. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed experiencing and then writing about it. If you do please share it to show your support.

Day 1 July 25, 2017

Though it is close to midnight, that hour has yet to to strike so therefore this entry can still in good conscious be dated as such. This is the first of soon to be many chronicling my (so far) long days on the road.

My trip started at 6:20 this morning and concluded at 7:44 according to my gps tracker. Holy balls what a long day it was! I said farewell to Mom, who of course had to send me off before going to work, and began my arduous journey across 4 ½ states ending in eastern Pennsylvannia, the same Allentown made famous by Billy Joel.

I knew it would be cold and damp before I left from the forecast and just looking at the sky as I finished getting ready to leave. However, it seemed that the further from home I got the more New England tried to bar me from leaving. I think by the time I reached Pennsylvania it realized I was more determined than deterred to not give up so easy.

I hadn’t been riding more than half an hour before I had to stop to add my full leather jacket to my layers. It was the VT border (and first fill-up) I also opted for my gauntlets over just my fingerless gloves. It was misty and wet but it wasn’t until the New York border I hit serious rain. The real kick in the ass was that it ended up drowning my phone before I could put it somewhere dry. Thanks to that my plan to explore Philly got shot so I could sort that problem out and still find a place to shack up for the night. Not the best weather for Day 1.

Despite the large, unexpected price tag for a new phone (including insurance this time) nothing was as frustrating as Jersey. It was a large portion of my time today. It rained even worse than in New York after having had some time to dry off. I had to go by memory to navigate the shitty highway system. Oh yea and traffic came to a screeching halt not long after the rain picked back up. At that point the rain wasn’t even what was pissing me off anymore. Sitting in dead traffic, as anyone who knows me know, drive me fucking mental, then add on being soaked through and the raw ass from being on a seat for so long that wasn’t meant for endurance trips.

Thankfully literally as soon as I crossed over Pennsylvania gave me reprieve from the rain and even some sun! My ass was still killing me at that point but I also didn’t have long left to go. As fucked up as it may be I have to say overall I enjoyed myself. I spent more time on my Ducati than ever and in a way proved to myself that I can keep pushing on even with a wrench thrown in my way so early on. It was very tempting to just turn around but I could never live that down.

Tomorrow I have another long leg to get to Columbus but it’s mostly Pennsylvania which really is quite beautiful. It’s also supposed to be much nicer weather-wise meaning I can really take it in and enjoy the ride. I’m thinking I’ll hit Gettysburg on the way to Ohio, it’s only a small detour and I’ve never been.

Mile Count: 398.9

Day 2 July 26, 2017

First, happy birthday to my older brother Greg. Second HOLY FUCK my ass!! Today was definitely a much better day than yesterday. It was mainly the fact that there was no rain. Pennsylvania was also much more beautiful the further I went.

Having said that there was a lot of fucking road to cover. It was really cool stopping at Gettysburg. Got some real cool pictures there. There was also one really cool place I passed with giant crayons hanging off the branches through a section of forest. The rest was all valleys and highway.

By the time I got to West Virginia my ass was already killing me. I took about a half hour break right after the border. I had to assess the damage to my tent, I also really needed to get off my seat.

I should not have listened to Mom and Mike about using a bungee cord to secure it. The thing ended up under my seat dangling right onto the tire. Somewhere after chewing out the bag and much of the fabric inside it tossed the poles. Tomorrow I’ll go with my original plan of clipping right to my backpack. I also had the idea to clip the gear bag onto my handlebars and rest that on the tank, solid move.

Ohio seemed to take forever. Until I saw how far I had left after the border I had no idea it was literally the middle of the buckeye state. Although at that point I was also counting every single mile and minute to reach my uncle’s house. Speaking off he’s pulling in the driveway now to let me in so I’ll wrap this up.

Official Mile Count: 497.9

Day 5 July 29, 2017

I skipped the last 2 entries because I was not on the road like I hoped. I spent a couple day’s at my Uncle Pete’s house to skip the rain. It was also a good chance to hang out with one of my favorite but furthest away relatives. It was time well spent too, we had some fun. It was still during the week so he had to work but when he got out we did still did the routine of hitting Donnerick’s until close. It was really quite uneventful save the Jerry incident.

It was Thursday so not many people were there as late as we were. It was a nice relaxing night until out of nowhere we hear “Bitch I want a fucking drink!” Apparently he didn’t like the fact that the bartender was looking out for him and wanted him to drink some water before continuing to be served. The other 4 of us immediately went quiet as the scene unfolded between Jerry and the bartender.

Long story short they go back and forth, him getting nastier and nastier towards her as she kept her ground insisting not to give him anymore without drinking water first. This is where it got good. He stormed out pissy temporarily barred from the bar. Dude hops in his truck and starts revving it like an asshole right outside the door. After that we’re guessing he meant to come back in to shoot his mouth off again. Instead he forgot he still had it in reverse and ended up stepping out of the truck while in gear.

Pete and I had both been watching very closely knowing that his car was parked outside and there was a belligerent drunk getting behind the wheel. As I’m watching the truck it starts to curve around back towards the building with him just outside the door trying to catch up to it. He must’ve been hanging onto the wheel to make it turn like that. He almost went into be building before he got back in and stopped it. He however still ended up steering right into another car in the lot pushing it a good couple feet in the spot.

Needless to say that move upgraded him to a full ban from the bar. He was just lucky that the guy who owned the car knew him well and took it well. Got the wife involved and made sure that it would be worked out without legal hassle. Mad respect to the guy for having a heart. I’d’ve been ripshit myself and done everything in my power to get the fucker off the road.

(This next part I had not originally written in the handwritten journal but I feel like including it)

The only other thing that happened in Columbus was my decision that I would not be avoiding getting high during the trip. It’s an introspective journey so I’d be doing myself a disservice to not be open to altering my mind, especially since I’m an experience stoner anyway. My equilibrium was fucked up more by not smoking to be honest.

Columbus being a college city I figured it shouldn’t be too hard to find any so while I had time to myself I hit the campus area. Honestly wasn’t too impressed. Probably the poorest college city I’ve ever seen (and I saw quite a few by the end of the trip). I kinda knew it would happen but I rolled with falling victim to the effect of what poverty does to people.

I think this was the first time where my fuck it attitude started to influence how I let things go. I asked around to a few people who looked like they knew where to find some if they didn’t have any themselves. One guy told me that there’s usually someone at the bus stop just down the street who has some. That guy was actually really cool and appreciative of the few bucks I gave him since I’m pretty sure he was homeless. Probably why I also let my guard down since he didn’t seem to know who would be taking my money so why would he lie to me?

Well there was a couple people down there who said they could hook me up. They didn’t have that much on them but could bring me to the source and grab some for me. We walk a few blocks and he takes my money and tells me to wait there while he went inside. I was in an amicable mood and gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Some other guy came out about half an hour all pissed off I was standing so close to his stoop. I couldn’t tell if he was actually dangerous or just trying to pull the lone white boy in a black neighborhood card to scare me off. I didn’t let that scare me entirely I just didn’t want to piss him off completely and pull out his bitch ass 9 he probably was carrying. Had I not foolishly left my 40 back at Pete’s I would’ve seen just how much of a baller he was. Instead I just walked off a short distance down the road until he went back in. I waited about another half hour before finally deciding that was the first dude’s friend shooing me away and my hope for the poor black community was misplaced.

(Back to original journal)

Today was beautiful weather-wise so I hopped back on the bike. Hardly a cloud in the sky the whole day. Went through Kentucky and into the forest in Indiana. I made one stop in Ohio to check out Dayton given the historical significance in aviation. I have long accepted it will not be a career but I’ve wanted to fly for a long time now. Couldn’t resist visiting the Wright Brother’s workshop. My final destination for the day however was this place called Hemlock Cliffs in one of the National Forests. There are some really beautiful trails that I’ll have to post pictures of to Facebook when I get back Service.

I did stop in Louisville too to grab a bite to eat before my last leg into the forest. Treated myself to some real southern BBQ, and damn it was good. I ordered the beef brisket sandwich. The beef was smokey and practically fell apart. The sauce was mesquite, juicy, and succulent. Sorry Dad you’ve been beat. It was definitely the energy boost I needed to be able to lug my shit through the woods later on.

Was a good day riding too. It was still rough after a while but I think I’m starting to get used to the seat. I also didn’t go as far today as but still enough to say that if I do go for long days again I should be able to handle it. I really hope to get to Colorado soon though cuz I’d really like to smoke up.

I also could not keep up with my tradition of taking a picture of the sign as I cross the border. Where I came into Indiana there was no safe spot to pull over plus I almost missed it anyway being hidden in the brush next to the road.

It’s definitely getting dark now so I’m going to save the battery on my light/radio/hand-crank/solar charger to use on my phone since that’s hurting for power. Gonna utilize having downloaded stuff onto my tablet to watch a movie and go to sleep.

Official Mile Count: 284.93 + 28.11 cruising Columbus

#motorcycle #roadtrip #journal #journey #self introspection #America #cross country #solo #summer #life lessons #survival

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samepersonalitytypeasbjork-blog · 7 years

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“Reggaetón: an underground scene, or authentic música boricua?”

Everybody has heard a reggaetón song before. Even if they couldn’t name a specific artist, they’d be more than likely to know the hook to Daddy Yankee’s Gasolina. My father is Puerto Rican, so regardless of this fact that everybody hears it on the radio, I grew up listening to Reggaetón. I chose to study San Juan’s music scene, because my family is from a small suburb called Villa Nevarez, just 15 minutes outside of the heart of the city. My abuelos weren’t wealthy, but the suburb was fairly safe, calm, and well-kept. Based on its three large sources of income (tourism, manufacturing, and services) and its fun hip-hop played on the radio, like Gasolina, one might begin to believe that San Juan’s citizens, as a whole, are well-off. So when I listened to reggaetón with violent, crime-filled lyrical content (as opposed to the songs they played at white parties in New York) while driving down the streets of San Juan as a child, I always wondered if it was problematic that there was a portion of Puerto Rican people that were basically being excluded from the popularized idea of “Puerto-Rican-ness”; that is to say, I couldn’t understand why I felt such tension between the conceptualized Puerto Rican identity and the identity presented and seemingly glorified in this music. This “conceptualized” identity is a dangerous somewhat of a dangerous idea, as it excludes the majority of both the capital’s and the country’s citizens: the working class. Listening to the artists of caserios of San Juan actually helped me realize the reason for this tension; the working class, a majority of which are not white people, has been condemned as “underground” because of an idea called “blanquismo” caused by both Spanish and American colonialism. Since Puerto Rican history has never escaped colonialism (it was a Spanish territory until 1763, when the Treaty of Paris granted it to the United States as a territory), the concept of “Puerto Rican identity” is highly debated, especially in terms of racial background. A surprising majority of people would may view the “original” Puerto Ricans as Spaniards, as they used Puerto Rico for its “rich port.” As a matter of fact, some streets in the city of Old San Juan are comprised entirely of blue cobblestones that were discarded from Spanish ships and no longer had any use. The relevance of Puerto Rico’s relationship with colonialism, then, colors the territory as historically white (until the arrival of Black Americans)1. The result of this historical inconsistency is referred to in San Juan as what I mentioned before; “blanquismo,” a systematic racial exclusion of non-whites from the Puerto Rican identity because of the American, colonial context1. There is, then, a number of communities within San Juan replete of working class, non-white citizens that are essentially estranged from the country’s conception of identity. Best known as “barrios” (“slums”) and “caseríos” (housing projects), they have developed an urban culture that is viewed as “underground,” and some of the best reggaetón hits originated right within and as a result of the “underground.” The paradox here is that the idea of “underground” roots from a completely invasive and conceived white identity that ignores Puerto Rico’s non-wihte native history. My interest in this only grew as I became interested in the band “Calle 13.” Since reggaetón’s spread to the United States, (on which I will elaborate further) this “underground” music has evolved into one that is slightly more politically-astute; it critiques gender and race inequality without the employment of “violent” references. A current group that exemplifies this evolution is Calle 13, named after a road that is actually within the outskirts of Villa Nevarez. The duo’s first album, “Calle 13” was released in 2015 and did provide heavy social commentaries, however its lyrical content was highly sexual and aggressive. Its hit song “Atrévete Te, Te!” alludes to the middle class’ fear of the urban poor using the narrative of seducing a middle-class woman through mockery:

Yo se que a ti te gusta el pop-rock latino (I know that you like latino pop-rock) Pero este reggaetón se te mete por los intestinos (But this reggaetón will blow up your intestines) Por debajo de la falda como un submarino (From under the skirt, like a submarine) Y te saca lo de indio taino (And take away from you that of the taino) Ya tu sabes, en tapa-rabo, mama (You already know, on the cover, mama) En el nombre de Agüeybana (In the name of Agüeybana) No hay mas na', para na' que yo te vo'a mentir (There is no more, no reason for me to lie) Yo se que yo también quiero consumir de tu perejil (I know that I also want to consume your parsley) Y tú viniste amazónica como Brasil (And that you came Amazonically like Brazil) Tú viniste a matarla como "Kill Bill" (You came to it kill like “Kill Bill”) Tú viniste a beber cerveza de barril (You came to drink draft beer) Tú sabes que conmigo tú tienes refill (You know that with you, you have a refill)

The message being conveyed here, informally, is that the woman is a “bougie” middle-class citizen who just wants to eat her parsley and doesn’t understand the the “underground,” working class community/scene; however, the vehicle of portrayal is somewhat reminiscent of sexual harassment. Most of their first album, though socially and politically astute, fell within the same category of vulgarity that was rejected by the San Juan middle class. As the years have gone by, their lyrics departed from such content. They recently collaborated with Panamanian salsa artist, Rubén Bládes, on a salsa-inspired reggaetón hit called “La Perla” (on the album Los De Atrás Vienen Conmigo, 2008). It alludes to a slum on the coastline of San Juan. This slum is famous for its disengagement with the government and clashes with the police; crime and murder rates are extremely high, and the slum is quite literally physically removed from the rest of the city. The central-most city (formally known as Old San Juan) is elevated from the shore by a tall, protective wall; however, La Perla exists directly beneath and on the other side of this wall. Their hit song, then, refers to its citizens and their lovely way of life, portraying a slum commonly recognized as not only “underground,” but dangerous, as a beautiful community of San Juan. Their direct employment of salsa (through Blades) into the genre shows the divergence of classical conceptions of Puerto Rican culture and “underground” culture without alluding to violence, sex, guns, etc. Identity-driven anxieties within Puerto Rico created a resistance and ignorance of the scene for years, and frustration from such communities persisted within their art. Today you can’t walk down the streets of Old San Juan at night without hearing reggaetón bumping from pubs, bars, dance clubs, apartment buildings, etc. As a person raised in New York, those anxieties tension never felt personally tangible; I only felt them through the musicians’ incorporation of cyclical entrapment in their “underground” music. This is where my interest in identity politics, especially in regard to American colonialism, collides deeply with my interest in Puerto Rican music; as far as musical identity is concerned, some people think that the affects colonialism only goes as far as fusion of two cultures. My point here is that the “white” nationalism got so deeply rooted into this natively non-white island that a very important and present class of people- the working class- became somewhat socially degraded to a culture that was “underground.” Most of what I’ve talked about alluded to the more present reggaetón, and while currently boasting international commercial recognition, earlier, pre-Daddy Yankee reggaetón took a very long time to break the ice in terms of acceptance within its own place of origin. The scene began in the late 80s and early 90s with the distribution of “mixtapes” within the caseríos; teens would sample excerpts from hip-hop, rap, and Jamaican dancehall music popular within the U.S. (tourism in San Juan lends itself to American pop-cultural familiarity), and would rap about themes such as sex and parties. American-sounding music coming out of an underground scene, then, did not sit well with the capital’s middle class, especially considering the “vulgar” subject-matter and tendency to address controversial content such as racism and classism1. Reggaetón was, at first, swept aside as “inauthentic,” and when it began to rise in popularity around 2002, senator Velda González set out on an “anti-pornography” campaign with intentions to strip all media of content that could corrupt the middle-class youth; her target, of course, was the distribution of reggaetón. This wouldn’t be the first time reggaetón was targeted, for in 1995 the Drugs and Vice Control Bureau of the Police Department of Puerto Rico raided six record stores, confiscating all CDs that were seemingly “underground” or “reggae” for their “incitement to violence and drug use”2, such as sex, pot, and guns. Its rise to international success, in sum, can be indebted to Daddy Yankee and New York’s Puerto Rican communities. Formally known as Ramón Ayala Rodriguez, Daddy Yankee is a hip-hop artist from the caserío “Villa Kennedy” in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was deeply involved with the trend of sampling jamaican dancehall, reggae and hip hop tunes, and rapping over them, as well as the mixtape-distribution scene prevalent in caseríos5. Daddy Yankee’s Gasolina became so popular within Puerto Rican neighborhoods of New York City that it could be heard all over the city by the end of 2004, and New Yorkers, who were already listening to the music that inspired its creation, loved it. In 2004, 25 stations in Houston, Miami, Atlanta, and other huge urban landscapes switched from themes such as classical rock to 24-hour reggaetón. Authenticity is tricky in terms of Puerto Rican music, because there has been so much outside involvement infringing on its artistic exposure and inspirations. Technically, authenticity may be an an inapplicable term to Puerto Rican identity, because of all of its involvement with colonialists taking over certain infrastructure. There can be countless discussions about what authenticity entails, but the recent situation in Puerto Rico has involved the systematic idea that the working class is “underground,” which is classist and racist in its theory and exclusionary of the working class in its assumption of “authentic.”

#writing assignment 1

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