#still looking 25 ( but maybe a little slower )
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The way that Lena accepts the mantle of Storyteller even if it's the opposite of everything she ever wanted. In a way, you could see it was the elephant, the black dog haunting her waking moments, the looming, lurking knowledge that there will be a day where her friends and family are dead and gone and she's there, telling their stories to people who have long forgotten their names. If only to remind herself. If only to remind the world...
#( headcanon. )#lexi and i had this whole plot where Lena was the only one to remember olivia colomar#even tried ( and mostly succeeded ) at making her a dia de los muertos ofrenda every year#( The food was always a Little Too British but she tried )#she was destined to burn up like a supernova and here she is#decades later#still looking 25 ( but maybe a little slower )#murmering stories about her friends who have moved on#they say you die twice - once when your body dies#and then again when someone says your name for the last time.#lena won't let them die again#cowboy beepbop is once again flooding me with muse right when im trying to sleep
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So, someone asked for a tutorial of this animation so, why not?
I need to say first that I'm not a profesional animator, I'm a selftaught artist and I'm terrible at teaching/making tutorials so maybe this isn't the best example of how to animate.
Having said that, this was my process:
I first drew the important key frames, in other words, where I wanted point A and point B to be. No details, only body and head (I have no save of the original frames but basically no bells or ribons nor ruffles)
Then I needed a frame in betwen to conect them
I added a bounce effect duplicating the images, squeezing and stretching it a little (I have no save of this part but I have a video on my phone from january of last year, sorry it looks a little bad, I had to crop it)
I slowed it down so you can see the bounce
It's just like 3 frames each bounce
Now, to animate all the frames I started from A to inbetween 1,
then later to point B and closed the loop with inbetween 2.
To make this easier I drew a "rute" on the background
It looked something like this
and with the animation
It's a process of trial and error. While you are drawing the frame you don't actually know if it's the correct pose (unless you are some kind of god), so you have to draw the inbetweens, check how it looks in movement, spot where it lack/exceeds frames or where it needs more space between frames... untile it's finished and you get something like this.
As you can see only 8/46 frames aren't drawn. These 8 frames are little "stops" for the images so the character is still.
Some of these frames has the character still but something else is moving, like Moons hat.
Finally, I got to animate the details: sunrays, hat, bells, etc. Each of these objets has its own physics and this part enters more in how I belive the physics would behave like having in mind the mass of the objet and the inertia.
Example:
The hat has a lot of inertia because fast movement so: it moves faster and it takes time to stop.
The ribons and ruffles has less inertia because even though it is still fast is a slower movement so: it moves fast BUT stops fast.
Note to add: the faster and objet moves the less frames it needs to be drawn, sometimes it may need to draw the character/object deformed to look right. The slower it moves the more frames you'll have to draw and the more precision you'll need to make it look right.
Some cursed frames:
Some "still" frames:
Another note to add: this is animated at 24fps, this means every 1 second has 24 images. Most cartoons and movies are animated at 24-25 fps, this not only aplies to 2d animation but also 3d and stopmotion.
Fun fact: the human eye perceives between 30-60 fps, however animating at 30 fps or more can give an unnatural feeling to the animation.
At last, here is the animation clean up that I never finished
I added a couple of frames to make it a lil' more smooth.
Hope this crapy tutoria helped somehow.
Now I'm going to bed and hope when I see this in the morning it looks decent.
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hi there:)
a lil request for ur naughty or nice 25 day thing
maybe sam and r go ice skating together?
pairings: Sam Carpenter x f!reader
warnings: none, you got fluff!(you were super nice!)
day of naughty or nice: 1
Sam knew that ice skating wouldn’t be too bad. Obviously she was a little nervous because it was her first time and she was sure she was gonna be clumsy but she also just wanted to make you happy.
“cmon baby!” You said as you lightly guided Sam with you. “Okay…” it was honestly pretty cute how nervous she was.
“go slower!” She requested feeling like she was gonna fall. She was taking looks at her skates. She didn’t wanna fall and feel like she embarrassed herself. After going a bit slower that’s when you tried to calm her down.
“don’t worry. I’ve only done this a few times myself.” You admit. It was honestly a bit more comforting for Sam. Not that you could fall of course but because you could help her.
after a few minutes she started to slow get the hang of it. Obviously not perfect bit it was still so sweet.
and she seemed to be enjoying herself.
usually some would think Sam would hate skating probably because of the cold environment or because of actually doing it.
but she loves it.
“come on princesa!” Sam nearly squeals. It’s pretty rare to see her this loose and happy.
so of course you take advantage of it make the most of the time. At some points Sam has to be the one that guides you.
during breaks you give each other small kisses.
you both never want this day to end.
#scream vi#scream x reader#sam carpenter#sam carpenter x reader#scream smut#samantha carpenter#scream#scream movies#scream 5#sidney prescott x reader#kirby reed#Scream x reader#christmas#naughty or nice inbox
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The King's Men - Chapter Five
Day: Friday, January 12th
Time: 9:25 PM CST
When the Foxes filed off the court, Renee headed for Riko. She wasn't the sort to pick a fight, so Neil stopped to stare after her. Riko didn't take the hand Renee offered, but Jean did. The handshake lasted a little too long, but Neil didn't know which one of them was slower to let go.
Neil thought of Jean's odd reaction to Renee at the fall banquet, the lingering look and the uncomfortable introduction. It was the memory he'd been looking for last week when going through his messages at Reddin.
Jean accepted Riko and Tetsuji's cruelty because he had no one outside of the Ravens. With nothing else to live for and no reason to fight, he bowed his head and focused on surviving. Renee was the first bright thing to catch his eye.
"He's interested in her," Neil said, not quite a question.
Kevin was watching them too. "It doesn't matter. It won't work."
Renee told Neil last fall that Ravens weren't allowed to date. Tetsuji didn't want his team distracted from the game. Renee knew that, but she was over there anyway. Neil might be over-thinking her intentions, but he was willing to exploit any angle they could find.
"Maybe not," Neil said, "but it could give us an edge. Do you still know his number? Give it to her and see what she can do between now and finals."
Art used with permission by Esklinray. Thank you @esklinray!
#aftg#all for the game#neil josten#tkm#the kings men#the foxhole court#andrew minyard#palmetto state university#psu foxes#andreil#on this day in aftg#otdiaftg#palmetto state foxes#otdi all for the game#nora sakavic#the foxes#on this day in all for the game#kevin day#nicky hemmick#aaron minyard#coach wymack#betsy dobson#abby winfield#matt boyd#dan wilds#renee walker#allison reynolds#artists#esklinray
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💫Applying & Separating Aspects in the Chart 💫
I didn't even know about the concept of "Applying" and "Separating" aspects before I enrolled in a formal Astrology program. The letters "A" and "S" in the aspect tables on astro.com didn't draw my attention all that much. 😁
As it turned out, it's actually important to know what they mean, and since 2 people asked me about it yesterday, I decided to write a little post about it. 😊
Essentially, there are three "states" that aspects can be in:
1. Applying
2. Exact
3. Separating
We know that exact aspects (0-1° orb) are extremely potent in the birth chart, especially the major ones. But what about the other two types?
Separating basically means that the aspect has already been EXACT before you were born, and the FASTER out of the two planets is saying "see ya later, alligator", and moving away from the slower one. Applying means the opposite - the aspect will become exact AFTER your birth.
So, in the picture above, there is a Mercury/Venus conjunction at 5° that is Applying. Mercury is quick on its feet, so it will meet Venus after no more than 5 days after the native's birth. This is when the aspect will become exact and will reach its full potency.
Blah-blah, 5 days after birth. Why does it even matter?
Honestly, it matters the most when we pull up progression charts where 1° equals 1 year. In progressions, 5 days become 5 years, which is why the astrologer may forecast an event at that time, that relates to the aspect's themes.
Another example from the aspect table above is the 3° square between Mars/Saturn that is Separating. Will it be less prominent and weak in the chart? This is my aspect, so I can tell you for sure that it isn't weak, at all. But it's also involved in two major chart configurations (T-Square + Saturn is also part of a Grand Trine). Perhaps, if it didn't have those additional highlighters, it could've been kind of "meh" since the orb isn't all that tight, and Mars separates from Saturn.
It isn't wise to judge aspects (or anything in the chart) in isolation. Yet, you can consider the "exactness" of the orb and whether or not an aspect applies/separates, as bonus factors/points adding to the overall analysis of how the aspect fits into the birth chart puzzle.
This is how long it takes for each planet to travel 1 Degree:
The Sun - 1 day
The Moon - 2,1 hours
Mercury - 0,5-1 day
Venus - 0,75-1 day
Mars - 2 days
Jupiter - 5 days
Saturn - 10 days
Uranus - 20 days
Neptune - 25-27 days
Pluto - 30-40 days
Knowing that you should look at the FASTER planet and that 1 day = 1°, you can use this information to find out if you had anything eventful happen to you around the time a separating aspect became exact in your chart. I'd pay more attention if the aspect is between an outer/generational planet and one of your inner planets. Aspects between Mercury/Venus or Moon/Mercury, for example, are much more common and don't hold that much "weight" in the chart, but you can still check them out.
So, if someone has a Moon/Uranus square at 3° that is Applying, this means that the Moon will form the exact aspect around 6 HOURS after their birth! 6 hours is 1/4 a day, so around 3 months after their birth, maybe something happened to them or in their family, which potentially affected them in a big way. Again, depending on how significant the aspect is in the birth chart's story.
With this combo, we could see an incident involving their family members/mother, their parents splitting up, or the family relocating to a different city or even country. In general, the Moon also rules our environment, so there might've been some kind of a shock/shocking event that potentially left a lasting impression on the subconscious mind of the child. It doesn't have to be a "big" event - the child's mind is so sensitive to impressions at that age, that sometimes even an argument between the parents or something similar can be traumatic. But this is a theme for another post.
In conclusion, I am a HUGE advocate for a holistic approach to the birth chart, and although I write about independent aspects and placements, please remember that it's all general information, and you should take it with a grain of salt. Always. Please. Especially if the info implies that you might be f#cked up in some way. 😂 I don't support fear-based Astrology, so I would never want my content to make you see yourself as a victim!
I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed writing it, and don't forget to stay playful, folks!
The Ask Box is open for specific questions, folks! 😊
- Foxbörn
ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ 1
ᴄʜᴀʀᴛ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢꜱ
ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴜʏ ᴍᴇ ᴀ ᴄᴏꜰꜰᴇᴇ?
#astrology#astro notes#astrology aspects#astro observations#planets#astrology notes#natal chart#birth chart#astroworld#planetary aspects#zodiac#astro community
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Transiting Venus enters Capricorn
Tuesday, January 23 - Friday, February 16, 2024
Venus transits are back to being on the “brisk” side, lasting about 25 days in total length, for the rest of 2024. She’s a trigger now, not an instigator. Transiting Venus will mean a little bit more if you happen to be Venusian (Sun, Moon, &/or an angle in Taurus or Libra; Sun &/or Moon in the 2nd or 7th Houses; natal Venus in close aspect to the Sun, Moon, &/or an angle). But for the rest of us, Venus will need to set off something the slower-moving planets are trying to instigate.
After the adventures of the “Wild Wild West” Venus/Sagittarius, we’re looking for a little control and discipline. Less flailing around, more planning and strategizing. This can be a very snobbish time, especially if our natal Venuses (Veni?) tend to operate on the shallower side.
Bear in mind that the transiting South Node - where we’re getting something wrong - is in Libra, which is ruled by Venus. We need to be a little critical of Venus themes and processes right now, and use Venus’ transits as opportunities to clean up our act.
Art - We can get very snobbish and turn art into a way to enforce “class” divisions. Or, going the “Capricorn miser” route, we disdain all artistic expression as a waste of time, money, and effort. In more positive use of the energy, we put a lot of planning into our artistic expression, and we’re patient and careful about the execution. This is good for launching longer-term projects. (Like the next blanket I plan to crochet.)
Beauty - Sometimes we’ll go out of our way to get ugly; we can’t resist showing our contempt for “appearances.” Other times we twist that Capricorn key phrase “I use” and wield our beauty as a weapon of manipulation. We can try to move beyond a definition of “beauty” as what’s on the surface - &/or make every effort to find the beauty in nature.
Love - This can get transactional: “What’s in it for me?” Sometimes we play games: “If I behave horribly, will they still love me?” This can be an opportunity to prove that love is responsible, patient, and in it for the long haul.
Money - The stereotypes are the miser with all the cash stuffed in the mattress, and the CFO intent on eternally-increasing profits. Dragonish, really, petty little Smaugs all of them. Better to invest with the longer-term in view: we can make improvements to the home, the wardrobe, etc.
Give about a day or so on either side of the following aspects - maybe longer if any of them connect with something in your birth chart.
Saturday, January 27 - Sunday, January 28:
Venus/Capricorn sextile Saturn/Pisces, 6°00’
Venus/Capricorm trine Jupiter/Taurus, 6°59’
Really, really nice; if this dings something in your birth chart I am extremely jealous! The three planets are in a three-way mutual reception - Venus/Cap is disposited by Saturn/Pisces, which is disposited by Jupiter/Taurus, which is disposited by Venus/Cap. This strengthens the aspects considerably. Hard work and good luck join hands.
Monday, February 5 - Venus/Capricorn square Chiron/Eris, 16°10’. Hurt feelings. We may be too cold, emotionally; we may bargain and negotiate in bad faith. If we’ve hurt someone, we should swallow our pride and make amends.
Wednesday, February 7:
Venus/Capricorn square North Node/Aries and South Node/Libra, 18°53’
Venus/Capricorn trine Uranus/Taurus, 19°08’
Venus/Capricorn trine Juno Rx/Virgo, 19°23’
We have an Earth sign grand trine but Venus is square the Nodes. And remember that Venus rules Libra, which is the South Node’s sign. Some of us are going to realize how we get in our own way every time we “go along to get along,” while others will double down on that. Flowing aspects (like trines) aren’t necessarily good aspects - with this one, any social-climbing is going to come back and bite us in the butt. Instead of trying to scheme and manipulate our way into some kind of high-status relationship, let’s try to find ways to improve everyone’s status quo.
Sunday, February 11 - Venus/Capricorn square Eris/Aries, 24°14’. We’re frustrated - perhaps because we didn’t get our own way; perhaps we tried to manipulate matters and got caught; perhaps because “nobody appreciates all the sacrifices I’ve made for them.” Maybe we could learn to do someone a favor without ulterior motives?
Tuesday, February 13 - Venus/Capricorn sextile Neptune/Pisces, 26°09’. Really beautiful. We’re able to put those Neptunian daydreams and fantasies into concrete form. A very romantic Valentine’s Day Eve, with a traditional flavoring.
Note that Venus will enter Aquarius with the proverbial bang: a conjunction to Pluto.
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Isn’t the data you just posted the same as the data last week?
Thank you, eagle-eyed anon! Yes, yes it was but now it has been fixed, so the newest post for 02/05/2024 is accurate.
And while I was trying to figure out why the same data showed up twice, I found a bunch of other issues in my code, so keep reading if you want to hear about the 10 other things I fixed while I was fixing that issue (thanks ADHD!)
As it turns out, it was the exact same info as last week because there was an issue in my workflow that caused it to not run properly so the data in the spreadsheet that powers the dashboard was stale.
But that prompted me to ask myself "didn't I build in a notification system that's supposed to let me know when something fails?" and when I investigated I realized they had stopped working last June and I never noticed (it sends EITHER a success or failure email every week, so I really should've noticed).
When I investigated that, I realized June was when I split the backend data sources between two Google Sheets because they were getting so big - originally I had them in separate tabs of the same sheet. However the notifications were still set up for only the original sheet, so I fixed that.
Also while I was looking at the sheets, I realized there were still a bunch of "Uncategorized" fandoms in the data, even though I removed that category from the workflow after realizing that they don't have fic counts on that Category page. So instead of pulling fic count, I was accidentally pulling a bunch of years and passing them off as fic count. I fixed that a couple weeks ago, but I didn't clear old data so I did that now.
THEN when I finally remembered the original problem I had been solving, I started trying to figure out whether the data hadn't been recorded for 2/5 at all (I save it in a JSON first) or if the sheet just hadn't been properly updated. While doing some checks, I realized that most of the categories had data for 2/5 EXCEPT Video Games & Theater?? Which honestly I still haven't fully figured out why, but I was able to manually run the size scrape for those two pages again, so at least they have data now.
Finally, while I was re-running the scripts to try to figure out why it wasn't running for Video Games, I had it start printing out various pieces in the loops and noticed it was taking forever to get through a category and seemed to go slower and slower by letter. Turns out a small error in my code had it looping through all the fandoms for a category starting with a specific letter (A) but then instead of moving on and doing B next, it was doing (A, B), then (A,B,C) etc. This wasn't actually causing errors of any kind in the results, but it was slowing the whole thing down and unnecessarily writing over the size count 25+ times for the fandoms at the beginning of the alphabet, so I've now fixed that.
The best part is even though I just wrote all of this out, I'm still not quite sure where in there I fixed the issue that caused the stale data in the first place lol. But at some point I fixed some other things, re-ran the "write_to_sheets" script (which I of course tried first thing and it didn't do anything) and this time it worked and actually updated. So hooray!
And clearly this whole thing is being held together by spit & glue (it was a project I set for myself when I was learning Python) so maybe I should go back and rewrite some things now that I'm actually paid to do coding for my job and have a bit more experience. If you're still reading, KUDOS TO YOU and hope you enjoy my little project.
[[Maybe leave me a heart in the comments if you do, because I accidentally spent way too long on this tonight and it's super late and I still have actual work to do (YIKES).]]
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Secretly Friends AU?
"Nobody will find you here."
"I've been suspended, I'm not a fugitive."
(I am having some EMOTIONS tonight fam. You didn't specify a friend... so....)
When he opens the back door, the one that's wedged into the very corner of the basement, barely used and probably equipped with at least three deadbolts, Orange looks tired. He always looks tired, nowadays, but it's more pronounced now, lines around his eyes and a smile that never quite reaches all the way.
He offers Jack a quick nod, a jerk of his head; Orange doesn't do much with that kind of speed, so Jack takes it without question. He trusts Orange. It's an odd thing, trusting someone he hasn't met, but there it is. A surprise, maybe. Jack's been surprised by a lot recently.
"C'mon," Orange says, and Jack follows obediently at his heels, checking over his shoulder a few times to ensure that the deserted hallway stays deserted.
It does.
Eventually, they come to one of the locker rooms. Jack wonders if Orange requested one this close to the unused hallways, or if he just got lucky. It might be a little bit of both. Orange opens the door and ushers Jack inside, where the lights are low. A few bags lay open on the benches, and Jack doesn't look at them. He can't fall apart yet. Being backstage again is... it's a lot, honestly. It's an overwhelm and the bitter tang of nostalgia all rolled together, a heady sort of want. He's desperate to get back to this: to the smell of the leather, the feel of the ropes against his palms, the swell of the crowd.
"No one will find you here."
Jack snorts a little. "I've been suspended. I'm not a fugitive." But then he falls quiet. The locker room is empty, save for them. He doesn't want to ask, but can't quite stop himself. "Getting ready?"
Orange nods. Jack swallows down the rest—it won't do any good. He's close, now. He's so close, and all he has to do is wait. But waiting has never been his strong suit.
"Be careful out there," he says, and Orange gives him a lazy salute before leaving. Jack is alone now. There aren't televisions back here, so he can't see, but he flips his phone screen on and opens Twitter. At least he can mostly gauge what's happening based on what's showing up in the hashtag, even though the video clips are much slower to load. He waits. He breathes. It's been 25 days.
Finally, voices sound from outside the door. The hallway does an excellent job of amplifying them beneath the metal beams. Jack's heart leaps to his throat. He stops breathing.
"—awesome. That last move was solid."
Jack's lungs constrict.
"Was it?" That's Kris. They won; Jack knows that from his feed. She's out of breath, though, just a little, so it was a physical match. "Honestly, we should do it again."
"Hey." Orange. They're right outside the door now—Jack can hear someone's hand hit the metal of the knob. "I got you a present."
"Me?" There's surprise there. Jack's legs have turned to ice. He can't move. Can't twitch. And then the door opens, Orange's arm swinging out with it, and—
Hook's face, going from braced to surprised to—
He crosses the room in less time than Jack takes to get up to his feet. He's still wobbling a little bit when Hook throws his arms around Jack's shoulders, buries his face in Jack's neck. He smells like that stupid fucking body wash he still insists on using, the one that is always way too strong but oddly comforting. Jack has to blink back tears, because fuck.
"Oh my god," Hook exhales. "Oh my god."
"Hi," Jack says, weak, just like his knees have gone in relief. Hook has been a constant thread in his messages ever since Jack took the earlier flight out of London, but it's never been enough. Jack missed him so much he fucking ached with it.
Hook laughs. His grip around Jack's shoulders tightens. "Holy shit. Holy shit. You're here."
"I'm here." Jack closes his eyes, grabs ahold of Hook's shoulders, still slicked with sweat from the match.
"I miss you so god damn much," Hook says.
Fuck. Don't cry. The past few months have already been murder, playing such a horrible part, going against each other, but this—this has been the worst of all. Not even being able to sneak into each other's hotel rooms to watch shitty re-runs together while they eat their way through the vending machine. "I miss you, too," Jack whispers.
When Hook pulls away, his face has split with a beaming smile. He grabs Jack's face in both hands. At some point, Kris shut the locker room door, and Jack's fiercely grateful for her. For her and Orange. For arranging this. For knowing. They're both standing near the lockers, toweling down and grinning, looking at them every so often.
"It's not even that much longer," Hook starts.
"Fuck off," Jack replies. "It's been a god damn lifetime, and you know it."
Hook laughs. Laughs. Jack can't remember the last time he got to hear that in person. "You're not lying. Jesus. Don't ever get assaulted again, you hear me?"
It might not have been so bad if they already hadn't had to be on opposite sides, if they hadn't already spun the most tangled, heart-wrenching web. Maybe it wouldn't have been that hard to get through 30 days if they hadn't already been sneaking around just to stay friends, if their whole damn support system hadn't been flipped over to the shadow zone. Fuck, Jack misses being able to just roam the arena cities with Hook, taking stupid photos and posing like tourists and finding the weirdest possible places to explore.
Jack lost everything last year. He lost everything, and then he gained everything and more back, and the summer combined with the past month has been too much. He's been trying not to crawl out of his skin for weeks now. With Hook here, gripping Jack's face tightly enough to bruise, Jack's settled. Things are finally okay again.
Jack just wraps his hands around Hook's biceps. "You need a fucking shower, cause you stink."
"You're such an asshole." Hook is still smiling. "Man, I missed you."
"Go use your ridiculously expensive body wash," Jack says.
"We know a place way off the beaten path," Orange offers from the bench. Then he shrugs; classic Orange. "Could all go. If you wanted."
"Yeah." Jack's limbs are buzzing with happiness. He so badly wants to get out of the cage he's been tossed into. He grins at Hook, and Hook grins right back. "Yeah, let's go."
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8 - Sweater weather for Avanine :3
(I'm still answering asks, but I've been a bit slow in fulfilling them. Sorry!)
For this one, I imagine it being canon divergent from Festival, as in, Festival didn't happen lol.
Hope you enjoy! And thanks again @serendipitouscontaminant for the ask :)
~~~
Janine really needs to make a better habit of looking at the weather app.
The leaves on the trees were barely trembling and the scrapes of the branches against the glass were light, as if beckoning Janine to go outside in her plaid pajama pants and oversized shirt from Tariq that she refused to get rid of.
Janine decided to wear one of her characteristic sweaters, this one beige with little red flowers decorating the neckline, and brought another jacket layer just in case it got colder.
She forgot that this jacket was so well loved that it barely had any of the lining in it anymore, making it not as effective as a top layer.
Of course this was the morning the wind whipped against her face while she had car duty.
Janine felt her teeth chattering as she wrapped her arms around herself, feeling the cold seeping into her skin through the layers of her sweater and jacket as the wind threw itself against the exposed skin of her face, every particle making Janine wince and her teeth chatter. It was hard to grate out a smile for each family at drop off when she felt as though her fingers and toes were going to freeze off.
She’d grown up in Philadelphia, she didn’t understand how she wasn’t used to the cold after 25 years, but she was pretty sure that the wind had never been as cold as it was now.
(Janine knew she should be cutting herself some slack: she’d been so stressed out with the prospect of Abbott turning charter that the last thing she thought about was weather.
But she wanted to be strong. Needed to be strong.)
Later, the sun was shining weakly through the mass of gray clouds, and although Janine knew it was also her turn to watch the kids at recess, she didn’t think she was going to make it.
No.
Janine was stronger than that.
The staff were practically falling apart from the stress of the prospect of Abbott turning charter, this was a way Janine could attribute. Maybe she was a little bit cold (she ignored the feeling of her fingers continuing to thaw from the cold of the morning’s strong wind), but she couldn’t shrug her load onto Barbara and Melissa again.
She could see how Barbara’s shoulders seemed permanently tense, and usually a sly touch of Melissa’s hand over hers could help dispel some of that. But Melissa was quieter than usual, picking at her salad and forking it into her mouth aggressively, quickly, as if she was running out of time with every lunch period.
If Barbara and Melissa were talking, it wasn’t in the staff room.
Then Ava burst in, and Janine felt something flip in her stomach. The day really couldn’t get worse if she tried.
Ava frowned when she saw that Janine wasn’t outside with the kids.
“Janine, what the hell are you doing in here?”
Truth is, Janine had practically begged Ashley to watch the kids.
Ashley had frowned as she looked Janine up and down. “Isn’t that your job today?”
Then she noticed Janine’s fingers moving slower than usual and her teeth chattering. The wind had been so cold that it made the inside of the elementary school a bit chillier, since the heater had decided to die right before winter started, and Janine was cold again. Ashley sighed, as if it were the most inconvenient prospect ever, but then she took the lunch shift.
“It’s cold.” That’s all Janine could get out before she felt her teeth chattering again.
Ava’s frown grew deeper.
“Come with me.”
Janine followed her quickly, her eyes wide, worried Ava would try to get her in trouble for switching with Ashley. Teachers were allowed to switch shifts for lunch duty, so Janine wasn’t sure why that couldn’t also apply to Ashley. Then again, Ava loved to target her, so Janine was sure that Ava could make up some excuse just so that it would go on her record.
As they walked into Ava’s office, Janine was already rattling off apologies. “Listen, I’m sorry, I’ll take the shift back from Ashley…”
Ava looked at her with a raised brow. “Girl, you’re shaking so much I thought you were having a seizure. That is not why you’re here.” She looked around, making sure that the camera crew was out of sight, and when she saw an empty hallway, her posture relaxed.
She seemed to be digging around for something in one of her cabinets, and with each shuffle, Janine found herself bouncing on the balls of her feet and twisting her fingers together, growing more and more anxious.
Then Ava held out a dark turtleneck. Janine almost didn’t comprehend it, even when Ava was looking at her and then back at the sweater and then back at her.
Wait.
Ava was giving her a sweater?
Janine couldn't prevent her eyes from widening as she took the sweater from the taller woman quickly, as if Ava would revoke the garment the moment Janine latched onto it.
It was soft, it was warm, and it smelled vaguely floral and musky. Like Ava.
“Thank you,” Janine breathed, taking off her outer jacket and sliding the turtleneck over her beige sweater, sighing as she felt its warmth wrap around her.
“Don’t mention it. I’m serious, or I’ll take it away and let you get hypothermia.”
Ava was dead serious, her tone leaving no room for argument, but her eyes were soft. As if watching Janine’s small body drown in her sweater somehow made Ava fond of her.
When Janine re-entered the staff room, beaming, Barbara and Melissa exchanged knowing looks while Jacob looked confusedly at Janine’s new sweater.
“Wait, isn’t that Ava’s?” He asked, pointing towards Janine, and then his eyes got wide.
“Pay up, Mr. C,” Melissa said with a smirk, holding her hand out smugly. Jacob huffed as he handed Melissa a $10 bill.
“What… what did you bet on?” Janine asked confusedly, and Melissa sent her a cocky smirk.
“I knew Ava liked ya, hon. And I knew the moment you came in shivering that she’d do something about it. Looks like I was right.”
Jacob threw his hands up, defensive. “I didn’t think she liked any of us.”
Mr. Johnson shook his head at Jacob’s loss, clicking his tongue disappointedly, while Gregory looked at Janine with his characteristic wide-eyed expression, a smile just forming on his lips.
Janine used to feel something for that smile. She still did, a little.
But when Ava walked in, the entire room going silent, Janine felt her stomach do the flip again. It was more powerful, made her feel more anxious and nauseous at the same time. When Ava looked at her with a nearly blank expression, her eyes still soft, Janine knew what she wanted.
#abbott elementary#ava coleman#janine teagues#avanine#ava x janine#a lil bit of ensemble#because I adore them
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Review: Keep On Ramblin’
It’s been a big year for Radio Company! They had their first live concert on December 19, 2022 where they debuted two songs from a new album to be released early the next year. That day has come, so let’s dive on in! Is it worth the listen?
This new release does not follow Radio Company precedent. Instead of being called the expected Vol. 3, the album has an actual name: Keep On Ramblin’. From what I can find, the reason for the change is that this album was planned to depart from Radio Company’s usual style of rock and jazz and instead lean more into bluegrass, folk, and especially country. Keep On Ramblin’ is being presented to us as a completely different project, but it doesn’t look that much different in terms of construction; the album still only has 10 tracks – same as Vol. 1 and one more than Vol. 2. The run-time is just slightly longer than either of its predecessors: Keep On Ramblin’ is just over 38 minutes long, more than Vol. 1’s 36 minutes and Vol. 2’s 34 minutes. Also notably, the longest song on the album is 5:39, a length that Radio Company has never attempted before. The shortest is under 3 minutes long at 2:58. The final track off of Vol. 1, Dume, is the only song in their catalogue that’s shorter. There is quite a range in the material to go along with the style shift.
For anyone that cringed when they read “country,” hang in there. I can only assure you that this isn’t Blake Shelton country, this is Emmylou Harris country. It’s not Dolly Parton, but maybe a little Loretta Lynn (if we’re being generous). I’m going to tell you now: if you don’t like country music, then you’re not going to like this album. It is going to bore you and sound a little kitsch. I also don’t think that it will convert anyone that might not have enough exposure to country music to actually like it. This album is clearly made for people that already relate to this kind of thing, and it doesn’t try to ease you in.
MUSIC
This is immediately clear from the first track, Right Kind of Trouble, which I can really only describe as hokey. This one is not like Radio Company’s usual openers, which are pretty gut-punch strong. This is a much slower take, almost bumbling, featuring Steve and Jensen in equal measure. Even though it plays to the beat of a horse rider bouncing in their saddle, it does still manage some cool electric guitar around the 1:40 mark. The tempo also starts to increase around 2:25 after a pretty nice instrumental buffet, and it is undoubtedly the best part of the song as the power builds.
While there are still some traditional rock notes as somebody shreds a guitar in the background, that opening twang never goes away. And Forever Ain’t Long slows down the pace enough that you can really get used to it. This is the first real slow dance scene song on the album, the kind of thing that plays at the end of a wedding reception by the time most people have already gone home. Jensen takes lead on this one, and his voice is really steady in this middle melody; this is the sweet spot for him and he sounds pretty professional on this one.
One problem that I have (which will recur throughout the album) is that Steve’s harmonizing doesn’t always feel super intentional here. It’s a little limp in the background and keeps fading in and out. I’m not sure if this was an intentional mixing choice, but if it was then it wasn’t a good one. The choir coming in behind for the bridge almost makes up for it.
Around the 1:45 mark, we get a surprising piano solo, which is very much giving saloon. You really don’t hear many of those too often anymore (though maybe there is a reason for that), and it’s admittedly a pretty fun touch. We get some more traditional guitar solos later, but this one stands out for the group. This definitely is not a modern or hip album, and it’s not trying to be.
Steve takes over for Every Light, with its now customary twang, while Jensen takes a higher register in the back. At this point, I’m still a little confused about the harmonies; they lack some commitment beyond the first track, which is unusual for this genre! For a two-piece set, Radio Company is making duets that aren’t really duets, and that feels like a mistake when you’ve chosen the perfect vehicle to deliver that. There’s also not much call and response – another staple of folk country. Look at something like Golden Rings for example and look at how strong both parts could be.
Maybe downplaying the country duet is Radio Company’s way of “modernizing” country, but I think that if you’re going to make an old-fashioned album then you need to commit to an old-fashioned sound. Turn up the mics, you cowards!
That being said, the fiddle rocks. The most interesting part of this song is the belting repetition at 1:54, but then they never do it again? What was that even about then? The whole song is as flat as a midwestern highway without the instrumentals cutting in.
The first major departure (and the first thing I’m actually impressed by) comes with Ain’t No Tellin’, which opens with an organ. The notes are much softer and more graceful than anything else so far, and Jensen takes the lead with an incredible head voice that sounds just beautiful. The longest song on the album is long for a reason; it starts as church music that slowly transforms into a solid electric guitar solo, and we even get a brass section coming in towards the end. It’s the most complex song that actually takes itself seriously, and I think we could have pushed it even further: a more sustained choir, longer solos, more, more, more!
I’m impressed by how much Jensen’s vocal ability has improved based on this song alone. Listen to 3:40 to 3:46 with that sustained note and then the run immediately after – he’s exercising a lot more control than in the past, even at 4:25 when he starts to get more gravely the way he likes to do but can’t always achieve.
This song is worth all 5 of its minutes, which I rarely say about songs that long. I love the slow fade out at the end but hate Jensen’s forced laughter at 5:19, which brings us right back into the realm of cheesy again.
...Which is probably a good thing seeing as the next song is You Made Me Blue, a Steve song that doesn’t fit with Ain’t No Tellin’ at all. It’s got some more fiddle on it, which I do like, but the lack of transition kind of ruins the vibe. And I thought we were doing so well with that this time around!
This is a square dance song that’s extra good for stepping. It’s really charming in its own way, and I’m weirdly endeared by this one. Maybe because I love Blue Kentucky Girl so much? These opening harmonies feel intentional, which is immediately more country to me (and they even do call and response later in later choruses)! It starts like that anyway, but then as the song goes on the harmonies get pushed to the back again. Steve fronting with Jensen being soft and weak in the background is not a formula I super enjoy; I’ve said before that Steve’s vocals are almost too clean and I reiterate that here. Still, I actually like this one for how distinctive it is.
The title track, Keep on Ramblin’, is fine but reminds me of an old complaint... inconsistent capitalization. In the title of the album, the word “on” is capitalized, but in the song title it isn’t. That’s weird, man! Hire an English major!
Jensen fronts here in a pleasant register with a richer tone than Steve’s, but he’s not pushing himself. It’s a little boring. There’s some nice picking around 2:20, and the backing vocals are giving me I’ve Just Seen a Face, but the Dawn & Hawkes cover. Like, listen to 0:47 – 1:02 of Keep on Ramblin’ and tell me you don’t hear that. Those are all the parts that stand out to me on this one.
Sadly there’s no Akon to be found on Sweet Escape, and to be honest, I’m getting bored at this point in the album. The truth is that most of these songs sound really similar to each other and I can’t remember most of them except for Ain’t No Tellin’ and You Made Me Blue, which are really clearly distinguished from one another. The rest all follow a pretty standard formula. I’m not sure if this is an issue with the quality of the music (probably) or if it’s just a matter of sequencing (definitely) – but there isn’t enough variation to break up the songs. I guess I like the “ooh ooh oohs” in the background of this chorus, but that’s about all that stands out here.
The harmonies are a lot more balanced on Return to Me. Like Right Kind of Trouble, Steve and Jensen are on equal footing on this one, even if the note at 2:04 is a little weird.
This one kind of rips off Sam Cooke’s Bring It on Home to Me but it’s obviously nowhere near as good. We get more of a brass feature at the end, which is nice; I didn’t realize how much I missed the brass section until it came back in this one. They tend to feature more heavily than this in Radio Company projects! This song has a pretty weird ending in that it’s pretty abrupt, like they just chose not to finish the phrase. This is the shortest song on the album and I don’t really think it should be?
Restless Man is another slower song with Jensen at the front. There’s a strong piano but Jensen is vocally a little less strong (I wonder if this song was recorded earlier in the process?). It’s another sobering moment of the album that I find myself gravitating towards just because the rest of it is so homogenous. We get the dynamite combination of the harmonica and the fiddle around 0:45 that continues on, and there’s also some nice layering around the 2-minute mark. There are lots of great instrumentals on this one and the variation is so needed. This one is fine, but looks better in comparison to what’s around it. I’m missing any kind of emotional journey or payoff.
The album ends with Velvet Sky, opening with a slow fiddle introduction in what I think is kind of a weird way to end an album. And you know what? I think it’s because Steve here inexplicably reminds me of Alan-a-Dale. This is for some reason giving me Oo-De-Lally, and there’s already a more impressive version of that out there so I’m not really seeing the point.
The song starts in earnest at 1:08, adding in some more layers where the vocals become a bit firmer, and ends by just trailing off. It’s like we’re watching Robin Hood and Little John walk deeper and deeper into the forest as the screen fades to black, leaving merriment behind them – the party’s still going, but they’re taking it elsewhere. Or, perhaps the audience has finally gotten tired enough from their evening of dancing to walk away, leaving the band behind in the barnyard to stumble back home and sleep it all off. For what it’s worth, at least it ended the same way it began.
STORY
Radio Company writes more... efficiently than they have in the past on this album, with vague impressions and mixed metaphors that really do their damndest to create clear characters. On Vol. 2, we got the story of Roy and Lori on Truly Forgotten, but this album has broadened the idea of doomed lovers to span a full album. The bare writing works against them on occasion in confusing the point of view in several places and withholding important information, and so I can’t say with certainty that I follow the complete arc of an album narrative. However, maybe being vague is the point, so as to not give too much away.
We open with the familiar trope of a devoted speaker that just can’t seem to win the heart of their beloved in Right Kind of Trouble. No matter how hard he tries, it’s never enough to make her stay: “It’s not if but when you’re gonna go / By the time you leave, well, we both know / Who and what we are.” He even idealizes her to the point of sainthood: “Slow down baby / Before you fall from above” – fall off her pedestal, or from Heaven, etc. It’s clearly an unhealthy balance of devotion and flippancy where the “black magic woman” keeps leaving the speaker over and over again, even as he begs on bended knee for her to stay.
But maybe, the speaker alludes by the end, that’s not such a bad thing? This kind of tenacity at least proves that the lover is strong and dependable, in that she sticks to her guns: “But you just won't break at all / You're the right kinda lover.” This is a person that can be counted on not to break under pressure, if only because she seems not to care too much about the speaker.
This idealizing and yearning continues into Forever Ain’t Long, where the speaker pleads for his lover to “take me to heaven / Or wherever you're from,” to a time “before the hurt came along.” We learn that at least one of these two is really in denial about how dysfunctional the relationship is, and try to just ignore that or push it aside:
The truth is in knowing,
only makes it feel wrong,
so we go right back to that old feeling
we want it to be
Wouldn’t it be nice to return to the very beginning of a relationship, before any problems start to set in or things get difficult? Wouldn’t it be nice to never fight, or butt heads, or deal with anything tough? Our speaker yearns for that ignorant bliss when we can still project our lover as an angelic fantasy. The title of the song comes from the phrase that the speaker repeats, “Take me forever, forever ain’t long” – denial is a fundamental part to making their relationship work. Forever IS a long time, but the speaker doesn’t want to acknowledge that. He even begins to doubt if it’s worth it to stay as things become more complicated: “all the hours I spent here / Was it wasted all this time / Cause I'm slowly losing all hope.”
In Every Light, we discover through third-person narrative the picture of a troubled salt-of-the-earth soul that lives for the thrill and pushes his luck and can’t be tamed even by the person who loves him most – all very familiar stuff if you ever read any bad boy!Harry Styles fic on Wattpad in 2013. We learn that this person is caught up in “cheap tattoos and booze” and keeps “runnin’ every light that came upon them / Proved his love with the pedal down to the floor / Though she knew he was a wanted man / And always dreamed of having more.” This is someone that “rambles,” that cannot be tied down and lives passionately and in poetic pain, “hid[ing] in darkness.” This is the emotionally unavailable antihero that our lover romanticizes and pines for.
Ain’t No Tellin’ speaks to the false bravado that our rambler carries and also to his deep conflict, first hinted at in Every Light (he was “destined for a life of being torn”). The song opens, “Oh the fact is / Cold but true / Ain’t no tellin’ / Who I am.” This is the exact opposite of the line in Right Kind of Trouble that suggests certain actions tell us everything we need to know about who we are. But the rambler doesn’t seem to be self-aware enough to understand himself so easily; he speaks one minute of unbridled sweetness and laughter, only for anger to replace it the next. (This same disquieting anger appears on Vol. 2 in tracks like Quarter To, so this inability to make sense of oneself because we contain darker aspects has clearly been weighing on these writers for some time.)
It is perhaps this very fear of self that makes the rambler so distant, and provides insight into why he acts the way he does: “When you need it / And you know that I’m a little far away / Ain’t no tellin’, no, / Where the hell I am.” He’s running from himself just as much as he’s running from love, because what is love if not looking right down into someone, seeing them for who they are, and choosing to stay with them? If we don’t know what is really underneath the performance we give to the world, how can we ever feel ready to accept unconditional love? If we are unsure of who we are, that would mean to trust someone else to know better – would they give us what we need, even if we don’t know what to ask for? He asks his lover over and over again, “who are you / holding onto now,” unsure of her intentions.
As in Vol. 2, the solution lies in faith, though the advice here sounds less wise and more placating: “Just believe in / Every time / When we feel it again.” Rest assured, things will work out even when we’re not our best selves, because we can always believe we’ll get back to that original feeling that first brought us together. That will never go away. This moment is connected with Forever Ain’t Long and that original desperate denial we need to make an unsatisfying relationship work; it’s also connected to Right Kind of Trouble, when the rambler says,
When you’re lonely
You can hold me close
Oh then go and leave me
Needing and knowing
We’re one in the same
So maybe we DO know who we are: we are the same, at least there’s that. This assertion diminishes the fear of abandonment with the knowledge that being apart cannot destroy their relationship – the foundation has always been strong.
But is that enough to keep a relationship together, despite its problems? When is the right time to cut someone off?
For this couple, maybe that’s the right thing to do. You Made Me Blue is a celebratory breakup song: “You made me blue / For the last time.” The speaker is finally free, having given up on the promises their lover used to string them along with for so long. You promised we’d be happy, and you left me instead, the song says. So, good riddance! We get the repetition of things “going wrong” in the relationship, causing the lover to leave them and “[take] everything I had” with them. The speaker reflects on that desperation from Right Kind of Trouble and realizes that they actually deserved a lot better: “I was doomed the day we met / But now I see / That you’re no good for me.” The lover went from being TOO good to NO good at all, one extreme to the next. But instead of getting too down about it, the speaker revels in their newfound freedom. It’s a blessing, actually, to be left!
The song ends, “Yeah, you’re out there and / I’m here taking care of me / I don’t care / I’m just happy being me” but it’s just another denial. Letting go of those dreams of “more” mentioned in Every Light of course would be painful, but the speaker refuses to acknowledge that, and I’m left unconvinced by the end.
Keep on Ramblin’ is a delusional continuation of Every Light post break-up: “Left town again for no reason / Hit the floor I was away” echoes the “pedal down to the floor” line in Every Light. The reference to a “life of crime” later also suggests this link to the “wanted list” and “bad crowd” in Every Light. The rambler continues to live in denial of the hurt that he causes and the pain that he feels: “Nothin’ wrong bout how I’m livin’” and, “Time is only passing if you think of it that way / This life of crime is lonely, but only if you let it in to stay.” If we just “keep on rambling,” keep moving, keep running away from our problems, then maybe they’ll never catch up to us. If we never gaze into the abyss, it can never gaze back. This is why the rambler packs up and leaves “for no reason,” and why he doesn’t care to feel the passage of time.
It’s never really clear in the album who’s doing the leaving when: they both seem to be constantly leaving each other, even though it also seems like neither of them really wants that. That’s how relationships are, I guess: a series of miscommunications can break us, when not saying how we really feel is the greatest possible sin.
Sweet Escape is all told to us again from a third party: he (the rambler) said all of what we’re about to hear – his words are being reported to us from someone else. The flawed rambler thrives on attention: “He said, ‘I want to be the one people turn to / Even if it means I may be wrong.’” He needs to be needed at whatever cost. And just as things go south, his desperate bid for control comes out in narcissistic claims that “I had planned it all along.” Nothing’s wrong, everything is going according to plan. He’ll continue to boast and brag and wind the lover up with hot air even “knowing somewhere in the dead of night / A better man with a bigger fight may show / And give it a go.” Some day, someone with more integrity may come along and force him to face consequences for the way he treats people, losing his beloved forever – the rambler fears this, but will never confront it. In the meantime, he’ll continue living freely, “sail[ing] through waters [that] no one [else] has the nerve to,” actively trying to “reach rock-bottom… in a bottomless sea.” More thrill-seeking, more self-destruction, fueled by the impulse to destroy ourselves.
Return to Me is a little tricky to place. There are two possibilities for this song as I see it fitting into this story of the rambler and his lover:
1. This song is from the point of view of the lover waiting for the rambler to come back to her. On the one hand, it may represent a kind of yearning that can set in even after the elation of a break-up with someone toxic in You Made Me Blue, but feels like a moment of weakness that sets a journey of personal empowerment back a few steps. In the first line, the lover asks, “How far will you go?” And even though the lover does say, “I can't wait another day” – she’s through waiting around for them – she also confesses that “I’d go to the end of the world for you / If only you return to me.” She once again proposes marriage like in Forever Ain’t Long – “Ride with me / Round the lakeside / Got a raincoat and a veil” – impulsively jump into my car, run away with me, let’s get married. A moment of doubt as well for the abandoned lover, attempting to rationalize the behavior that hurt them: “Maybe I deserved it / To be left this way / I’m not sure / How I was so blind.” Maya Angelou wrote, “When people show you who they are, believe them the first time” and maybe that’s what the lover is saying too. He has always shown himself to be unreliable and untrustworthy, so how could I have expected any different from him? Maybe our relationship breaking has always been my fault, from expecting too much from someone that could never deliver. I should have known better. It’s a very familiar feeling.
2. On the other hand, this song could also still be from the perspective of the rambler, whose running has finally caught up with him to the point where he now understands the finality of the lover’s decision to leave him in You Made Me Blue. The line about “riding round the lakeside” would make sense given the rambler’s repeated association with cars, and instead of a rationalization we may find a moment of clarity: “Maybe I deserved it / To be left this way / I’m not sure / How I was so blind.” Maybe my actions really do hurt people, this was never as casual as I liked to make it seem, and I deserve to be left behind for treating this person who really cares about me as disposable. Maybe she was never really indifferent to me – maybe I just kept pushing her away all this time.
I don’t think it really matters which interpretation of this song you go with, and I prefer to think of it as both at the same time. These two people can think the exact same things for different reasons, which perhaps shows how well-suited they actually are for each other. For once, they are totally in sync. The irony is that they’ve also never been further apart.
The latter interpretation does make more sense as we enter into the epiphany of the rambler, our “Restless Man.” He confesses that he’s “had my time / Spent it livin’ off my mind / When all along it’s wrong that led the way” – he’s finally seeing his actions clearly and knows that he hasn’t been making the best choices, for himself or for others attached to him. He’s still not promising his lover perfection – “Ain’t saying I’ll be the greatest,” and it is definitely a “gamble” – but he knows that he cannot continue the way he has been living so far. He has to change. He pleads, then:
So keep on coming around
To comfort me
Oh and find us
A place to land
And slow down
This restless man
The song ends with a desire to slow down, or, more accurately, to be made to slow down: exercise some of that strength that we saw in Right Kind of Trouble and make me new, the rambler asks. The question mark hangs in the air as we approach the last song, the end to the rambler’s journey.
I can’t fully make out Velvet Sky, and as the final track to the album maybe that contributes to the reason I find it to be such an odd ending. There’s enough to suggest here that Velvet Sky may be a reflection on the life that the rambler has led now that he’s decided to settle down (to a point). He’s seen everything he’s needed to see in the world: “I've walked down every street / Dragged both feet across most all the land / Bathed on every beach / So I know each grain of sand.” BUT, the song goes, the only thing that’s stuck out to him after everything is the sky over the sea. What’s left unspoken and what could give our rambler some peace is that the sky is the same everywhere. It’s constant, and you can’t outrun it. The speaker repeatedly mentions that the velvet sky is “the one thing that I love” – not a person or a home or a feeling, but the open and inviting sky, which has never abandoned him and never can. However, it’s later clarified that it’s the sky over the ocean that makes him happiest because in silhouette there he can see “where a sail finds a friend in the wind.” The sight of two boats on the water is his favorite in the world: an indirect way of saying that a loving partnership really means the most out of everything to him, where in Sweet Escape he only “sailed” alone.
While the wording is troubling, it’s suggested elsewhere that the rambler has abandoned the rambling lifestyle, as he is left “prayin’ I won’t end up just like the one who ran away / If in fear is where I'm livin’ for the most… away from all this wretched sin.” There’s still some uncertainty, some fear that this won’t work out and that the change won’t stick, because that beautiful velvet sky out there still calls his name. But this line does seem to imply that he’s through “running away” and doesn’t want to be the guy that does that anymore. The biggest piece of evidence that things are ending on a good (if complicated) note is that “you’re headed toward the shore to follow me.” If he is still running away, at least someone is running with him instead of away from him.
Ultimately, it does little to resolve the fundamental issues at the core of the rambler’s relationship with his lover about identity and darkness. There’s also an argument to be made that this last song implies that the rambler has been left alone and abandoned forever, rejected, longing for something he can never have. “Pay me no mind” he dismisses, and he “drink[s] wine from a bottle each day,” recalling the “booze” he was mixed up with in Every Light.
The story of this album poses a flawed but passionate character afraid to do any self-reflecting, and then refuses to ever force that introspection. It seems to me at least that the rambler never fully solves his own problems, and what little peace he may find comes at a cost. The album instead, I think, poses a challenge to its listeners: will you run? Would you stay?
For what it’s worth, I don’t think that any of this comes across well in the music of the album – there’s a total disconnect here between form and content.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Keep On Ramblin’ fits into country canon without standing out. Most of it is, and I do hate to say this, mediocre bar music. This is not the sweeping indie rock with quiet ambition that I was just getting used to from Radio Company; I wouldn’t put these songs on anywhere other than a backyard BBQ to fill in the spaces between better and more recognizable performers like Willie Nelson and Gram Parsons. It’s fine, but they just don’t go far enough here for my taste. Too many cliches, not enough belting or strong feeling, weak harmonies, and the instrumentals barely even get started before they’re over. There is no discernible arc in either the music OR the story that I can find, and if there is one then it’s too much work for me to even want to unearth. A lot of it more or less blends together, and it’s not an album that I care to think too hard about.
I grew up with classic country music and I appreciate it. I’m trying to be impartial about the style change, but I have to be honest: I just like this less than Vol. 1 or Vol. 2. I know that Radio Company are capable of better! As of now, my favorite project from Radio Company might actually be Vol. 1; I did not expect to feel that way, but that’s the project I feel most nostalgic for out of all of them so far.
Track ratings out of five stars:
Right Kind of Trouble ⭐️⭐️
Forever Ain’t Long ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Every Light ⭐️⭐️
Ain’t No Telling ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
You Made Me Blue ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Keep on Ramblin’ ⭐️⭐️
Sweet Escape ⭐️⭐️
Return to Me ⭐️⭐️
Restless Man ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Velvet Sky ⭐️
Average song rating: 2.5/5
Favorite tracks: Ain’t No Tellin’, You Made Me Blue, Restless Man
#radio company#text#music review#music#this album is EXTREMELY dean winchester coded fyi#the rambler is dean. jensen is dean. jensen wrote a dean country album.#and it should have been much better than this so everyone boo this man#i started this review so early this morning and i've been looking at it ALL DAY i need to be done with it#if i'm incoherent sorry!!! i rewrote this like 8 times
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My thoughts on Dr. Stone’s S03E12 (“The Kingdom of Science's Counterattack”)
(Safe to read for anime-only folks.)
My thoughts after watching Season Three, Episode Twelve:
01. Hello, Episode Twelve! :D Hmm, is it just me, or are the colors a little TOO vibrant right now?
02. The Kingdom of Science's Kohaku, Gen, Senku, Suika, Ryusui, and Soyuz versus the Petrification Kingdom's Mozu, Kirisame, Ibara, Oarashi, and additional person! :O
03. This opening song sounds so beautiful and melancholy! The first words are clearly asking "Why..." I can't wait until I find the English version of the lyrics!
04. Kohaku hugged Senku in the opening song!! :D
05. As a manga reader, I appreciate the things I saw in the opening song! The animation was very beautifully done - the stars everywhere really gave a sense of "the beyond," in terms of goals, faith, and love :)
06. And we have the title of Season Three, Episode Twelve... "The Kingdom of Science's Counterattack!"
07. They have SOME revival fluid... but the bad guys are throwing away the petrified statues and pieces of the kingdom of science! :O
08. Ibara's SMART! He deduced Ryusui's (presumed) status just from his clothes! AND he's using his petrified statue to test the newcomers to the palace - Kohaku and the others!
09. Ooh, dangerous... Ibara already knows her name, and Oarashi has already talked to her as well, but seeing her leap, kick, and punch like a skilled warrior is bound to cause some suspicion...
10. I know why Kohaku had to smash Ryusui's statue like that, but it couldn't have been easy for her... And it certainly wasn't easy for Suika to get deliveries of pieces of his statue, either! :O
11. Hahaha! I love how it was Kohaku's voice we heard with Ryusui's face and (imaginary) words! She knows him so well - that's exactly what he would say!
12. I do like the manga version of the moment a little better, though. It's pretty much the same, except she kind of, like, held a part of his statue almost tenderly and said, "That's what Ryusui is saying." I liked that it was like she was thinking of him being able to think in that state. Maybe it just looked tender to me because reading manga is slower than watching anime, but it was still a sweet moment!
13. Suika made him a paper captain's hat; aww! She's so sweet!
14. "What we're witnessing now is the real de-pretrification reaction." Wow... :O
15. When Ryusui was revived, his second sentence seemed to be exactly what Kohaku imagined it would be, hahaha! XD And yay, we have Ryusui back with us! :D
16. Suika's so happy to see Ryusui back with them, safe and sound! :) AND Ryusui acknowledged her as an accomplished warrior of the Kingdom of Science! :O
17. I wonder if the kite/drone joke worked out as well in the anime as it did in the manga with the manga sound effects? Maybe the Japanese word for "kite" sounds close to the Japanese word for "nope?"
18. Even Ryusui thought their ambitious plan was TOO ambitious!
19. I wonder how they made the straw boat thing they're using right now?
20. Hahaha, Ryusui knew who had the physical ability to help him search underwater for their friends... and he also knew who did NOT! XD
21. I love how Senku was thinking of Kohaku when he suggested underwater scuba diving! :D I HAVE to check whether this was in the manga - I hope it was! XD
22. Senku has made oxygen cylinders like this before?! :O So his probably held up to one hundred atmospheres... whatever THAT means... and blew up a month later...
23. I like how humble Senku is. He knows that Kaseki is their genius craftsman, and acknowledges openly that he himself is just an amateur! "The clunky look makes it endearing;" hahaha!
24. Senku and Ryusui tried to pass of their faith-filled statements as their believing in Kaseki's skills, but Gen knows what it's all about!
25. Wow! I am probably going to have to figure out how they got into that position due to making oxygen tanks... but that's a problem for future me! XD
26. Oxygen tanks acquired! And Mozu seems so cheerful and easygoing. Always smiling and stuff! I guess he's chill guy when he's... not being NOT chill!
27. They found Kaseki, but can't pull him out! I wonder why they didn't try digging around him to loosen him from the sand? ...Oh, they did, haha!
28. "We're buddies. We don't need words." Great teamwork from everybody!
29. So they don't need to be stuck together with adhesive to be complete when they get revived! Or maybe it's because their statues were broken so recently, and no weathering had taken place yet?
30. That's SUCH a risk...! And Ryusui may have been the first one to be revived twice, but Taiju was the first one to be revived underwater!
31. I don't know how Taiju sucked up that air, but... I guess he did somehow! I am just REALLY glad that I won't have to write about these details, because Senku's up there on the surface!
32. "Talking isn't what's important! We're a team. We can communicate without words, just with our hearts!" Taiju unknowingly echoed Gen's sentiments from earlier!
33. "I hear your heart." Okay, they're just straight up communicating telepathically now XD
34. They were able to get back to the surface! Ryusui, Soyuz, Kaseki's statue... and Taiju! :O
35. The ending song is about Kohaku! KOHAKU!!! Her perched on the priestess' hit, her pouring hot spring water for Ruri's bath - with her hair untied! Her hair looks wild and beautiful and untamed! :D
36. Tying her hair; walking; carrying a basket on her back... Chalk, Suika, and Sagara... Mirai and Nikki... Seeing Suika and Chalk watching Sagara enjoying himself... Gathering fruit with Nikki...
37. Smiling while gathering fruit; walking to the Persus with the others; enjoying eating fruit with everybody... A new shell necklace...
38. Going back home to the village... To Ruri, Kaseki, Chrome, and Senku... Senku SMILING at Kohaku, and Kohaku smiling back at him...! ^_^ I think this might be the first single character-focused Dr. Stone opening/ending theme ever! And it was about KOHAKU! Coming home to SENKU! :D
39. (But... I'll admit that I don't quite remember Season Three, Part One's ending song, so...)
40. Oh, I am REALLY looking forward to learning what the ending theme's lyrics mean! :D
41. The next episode's title is "The Medusa's True Face!" :O I don't have a lot of questions right now, because as a manga reader, I know what's coming... That title is pretty telling... :O
https :// fireflyhwufanficwriter . tumblr . com / MyDrStoneEpisodeMangaThoughts
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DBZ The Legendary Super Saiyan Reaction
Again, let me just say, I wrote these reactions a year ago. If you like them, maybe give me a follow, so you don't miss out when I write some new material. (I still need to watch DBS : Super Hero)
_ *_ _ _ *_ _ _*_
[Funnily enough, this is the original Japanese poster. I doesn't give you any to do with the plot. Also, the original title is: "Dragon Ball Z: Burn Up!! A Red-Hot, Raging, Super-Fierce Fight." Again, the title gives you nothing to go on. Even the spanish title is a little bit of intrigue, know as "The Invincible Power" (El Poder Invencible)]
What is there to say about Broly? After the really unremarkable Super 13, we get one of the most popular movies ever. I mean, the difference is night and day. In the last movie, the villain takes on his final form 25 minutes into the film. It takes 25 minutes into this movie for Broly to make his first move. Also, this is one of the longer movies at 72 minutes.
They do a lot with those first 25 minutes, taking the time to set up the deception, as well as Paragus/ Broli’s motivation.
Broly talks a bit more than I remember. It’s not that he’s just a Saiyan fighting machine, he takes sociopathic glee in hurting people. Like, he’s constantly looking to kill Gohan. And then, he also blows up the planet of those little aliens they had enslaved. Since he was born with such a high power level, he was basically invulnerable, which lead to the sociopathic tendencies, that coupled with the ‘saiya-jin bloodlust” plus I think his own powers both hurting/ healing his body, which fuels his strength like a perpetual energy machine.
And that’s the difference between this Broly, and Kale/ New Broly. They’re not psycho.
[Whoever said turning big and beefy made you slower and a bigger target didn't know what the f**k they were talking about.]
It should also be noted that Broly is the only DBZ movie villain that is basically a human, everyone else is a demon or another type of alien, which might also contribute to Broly’s popularity. (Oh, yeah, Turles, he’s so forgettable, lol)
Funny that Broly is so powerful that he makes Vegeta’s brain crash. In the face of The Legendary SSJ, the "Prince of all the Saiyans" doesn’t do anything until 55 minutes in, and he lasts less than 5 minutes.
[When they first meet, Vegeta automatically takes to giving Broly order. I'd guess that what Broly is wearing might be Saiyan "slave armor." Paragus built a castle, and dressed Broly up like a servant to lure Vegeta to his death. You can almost sympathize with Paragus. Broly was a psychopath growing up, that inevitably made their lives more difficult. Broly gauged out his father's eye without remorse. Putting the "control crown" on him could be for his own good.]
As I’ve pointed out, they did know how to keep the power creep going. Last movie we had 3 SSJs, this time it takes 4 SSJs to finish the fight. Also, they knew Broly needed the deck stacked against him, not only did Goku have to take energy from his friends, he ended up opening up the old knife wound that Broly had from when he was a baby, on top of having a comet destroy the planet they were on. It wasn’t really a win for Goku, as much as a tactical retreat.
10/10 – I really couldn’t find any faults in it.
#DBZ#dbz movie#dragonball#dragonball z#dragonball super#dragon ball z#Goku#Vegeta#Broly#Broli#Trunks#Gohan#Review#Rewatch#Reaction#Roy-DCM2#Anime#Legendary Super Saiyan
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“How did you find out that you were immortal?”
{{ Mun Note: I think I'll use my Wolves' Meat verse for this, since it's already been established that Little Freya has come in contact with the Resi 8 Universe. }}
"Well.. immortal is kinda a strong word for it." The redhead would answer somewhat absent mindedly, harmlessly looking over a sewing table before selecting a ball of yarn with pupils blown wide not unlike a kitten. "But.. I guess when Luka first noticed that I had Magic? I was born here on Earth, but I'm not actually of Earth, if that makes sense?"
"We still aren't really sure how long I'll live for.. but Luka thinks I'm aging slower at least by human standards.. So maybe at least a few hundred years? Right now I'm basically around 15, but I'm actually around 25 in human years." Freya gently bat the yarn ball back and forth for a moment before continuing. "So I won't live forever, but I'll probably still be around for at least a little while longer than a human.."
#{{ wolves meat: verses }}#xxashes-rebornxx#I honestly really needed this - thank you for sending me this
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I love how much everyone wants to draw their own version of Miss Amber Sharkhunter Gris, but I feel like we maybe all need a reminder that this woman is only canonically in her early forties and I’ve seen a lot of people drawing her as if she’s in her deep fifties or sixties. Drawing her looking extremely old. I think maybe people aren’t clear on her age?
When the settlement went underwater she was still a teenager training with joshy, so she would have been somewhere between 15-19 years old (but I think I recall her saying on the younger side so I really think it would be closer to 15-16 but I digress). And it’s been 25 years in the story since that happened.
15-19 plus 25 = 40-44
like I get that we don’t have enough representation of kickass older women but this feels so sexist because she’s NOT elderly or even middle aged yet, she’s maybe 44 at the very oldest!!! PLUS griffin said being away from the sun underwater for decades made everyone age slower bc of less solar radiation
The man voicing her character is roughly the same age! Justin is in his early forties. Would you call him a middle aged man? Would you draw him as if he were his dad Clint’s age? You know you wouldn’t! You heard “older woman” and “rough around the edges” and your mind filled in the blanks in a pretty sexist way
So: Draw her as an adult woman! Draw her with maybe the beginning of some crows feet or a few grey streaks in her hair! That’s all great stuff and I’m here for it
But don’t draw her as an ancient aged crone bc that just shows how little you care about or respect the life stages women over 40 go through. I know Hollywood seems to believe otherwise, but we don’t actually become hollowed out husks or swamp hags the minute we reach 45
#taz ethersea#amber gris#radfem#radfems please interact#fandom wank#please forgive me fellow radfems for I listen to a male podcast
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i don't remember it being mentioned but i googled it and she says something like that yeah. i think some people arent sure if it only applies to lesser fae or high fae as well since mor was 17 when she was going to get married and it was too young by human standards but if 75 is adult age for fae than she would have been what? 10 in human standards? i think it's just another case of sjm not thinking things through honestly. there's also the fact that from what we know they age (their body) as humans do and then kinda stop or start gping slower when they're 25-30 so are they looking like adults for 3 or 4 decades before being considered adults? and even if feyre was human then any fae would have recoiled at her being 19 like not even in her 20s. like i said another case of sjm not thinking things through - 🧶
I mean, maybe it was some kind of allegory for child brides or something but I feel like that might be stretching it considering it was background plot 🫡
I guess since it’s fantasy it’s not as imperative that it makes total sense, but it sure would be nice if it was a little clearer 😭
The whole aging system is so confusing to wrap my head around too? Like I get it’s ✨ magic ✨ but still, how does the body just stop ageing? Or does it just significantly slow since they mention they’re immortal but not the same immortal as actual immortals? It’s so bizarre
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#JakeReviewsItch
Airships: Conquer the Skies
by Zarkonnen
Price (US): $24.99
Included In: Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality
Genre: Strategy, Simulation
Pitch: Build airships. Build cities. Conquer the world.
My expectations: Despite its slightly underwhelming art style, my first impression is very positive. It looks almost like my beloved SimTower, except the tower is a floating war machine bent on world domination. I can tell you right now that if I can name the pilot, she's going to be Wendy O. Koopa.
My big worry is not with the game, but with me. I am currently being weaned off of one prescription and replacing it with another. My brain is mush. I'm look at screenshots covered in tiny text and numerous numbers. I don't know if I can handle anything too complicated today.
Review:
My fear that Airships: Conquer the Skies would be too complicated for my feeble brain was unfounded. Thanks to smart layout and clear indications of what issues require attention, it only took a few minutes for me to find my bearings.
That’s when the trouble began.
The trouble: I’m committed to reviewing a new game every day. I don’t have space in my life for a new addiction.
The tutorial focuses on combat. Learn to fly a ship. Learn to fly a ship within range of an enemy, and let the crew fire away until your target drops. Learn to modify a ship. Build a ship from scratch—engines, fuel, crew quarters, safety features, reinforced hulls, and every weapon in your budget—and see how it does.
Got all that? Now let’s talk tanks.
An hour-long tutorial is usually enough to drive me away from any game, but most of that time is spent playing, and it’s a blast.
I started the main game, expecting more of the same, with a little connective tissue between battles. I was wrong.
Combat and ship-building are only slivers of this grand strategy game. Research! Diplomacy! Town development! And it’s all shockingly intuitive.
+ As dense as it is massive, and yet it's the most intuitive, approachable grand strategy game I've ever played.
+ Researching new parts and building for a purpose within a budget is RollerCoaster Tycoon-level addictive.
+ Randomly generated scenarios (that can be tailored with a million options), 100-ish different starting perks (I lost count), scenario editors, importing and exporting designs, mod support, and multiplayer that's as cooperative or competitive as you want it to be—this game is infinite.
+ Memorable music. The right level of bombast for a friendly game of world domination.
– Even with the UI bumped up to the largest setting, the text is a little too small, especially with the difficult typeface. Still, props for including UI scaling and a dyslexia-friendly font.
– The default keyboard shortcuts are... They're all over the place. You can remap them, but there are so many. WASD moves the view, which makes sense. I wish they'd stuck the most useful commands on nearby buttons, but instead, it was up to me to figure out that swapping M and E makes life easier.
– Hotkeys aren't necessary. The whole game can be played with mouse (although hotkey shortcuts are listed beside everything that can be clicked, making text even harder to read). Action scenes can be paused, so quick action isn't required, but the in-game mouse speed is slower than my Windows setting. Maybe I could dig into a config file and change it, but y'know, I'm used to my mouse moving the way I like. Why change it?
– Even playing at double speed, idly waiting for money to accumulate and vehicles to be built can drag on for a bit too long.
🧡🧡🧡🧡🤍
Bottom Line: If Airships: Conquer the Skis has been an overlooked part of your Itch library since you got the Bundle for Racial Equality and Justice in mid-2020, download it right now, even this isn't your genre. I think you'll be surprised. I know I was.
I can't give that kind of blanket recommendation at full price, but for the right person, we're talking about hundreds of hours of quality entertainment for $25.
#JakeReviewsTwitch is a series of daily game reviews. You can learn more here. You can also browse past reviews...
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#JakeReviewsItch#Computer Games#Video Games#Itch.io#Review#Indie Games#Zarkonnen#Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality#Strategy Games#grand strategy#War#Diplomacy#Airships#Steampunk#Tanks#City Builder#Civilization#Civilisation#Airships: Conquer the Skies
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