#Andrew is the true mvp

[c-t-r-l14]

Why Alex’s Break Up Audio Made Me Appreciate Andrew’s Character More

A couple of days ago, as I was drafting the dialogue for the second part of Alex’s story, I started to think about Andrew Marston, our beloved Literature Professor. I remember when I first listened to the Alex’s break up audio, in the description of the video, Saku states that this was the first break up audio he’s ever done. But that isn’t true, ‘cause Andrew broke up with his partner at some point in his story, too. And then I started thinking about Andrew’s break up audio—and what I realized is that throughout that breakup audio—It never felt like Andrew was trying to get rid of listener.

One of the biggest things that pissed me off about Alex was his blatant disregard of the person he claims to love. He absolutely refused to try and make the relationship work, he gaslights listener and blames the failure of their relationship all on them, makes dumbass excuses that hold no merit whatsoever, and tried to make it seem like it was such a hard decision to come to, when in reality, it probably wasn’t. He tells them that he loves them and how he wants to be with them so badly, but never gives them actual chance to make that happen. And it honestly feels like he made all of these excuses and blamed listener for their relationship falling apart so he wouldn’t feel bad for leaving them behind. It was quite obvious that he saw listener as a burden that was holding him back, and he wanted nothing than more to get rid of them so he could finally be free and run away from them. He is a selfish, manipulative, gaslighting asshole with a victim complex. If he really loved listener as much as he says he does, then none of the excuse making or gaslighting would be necessary; but it seemed like to him—doing all of that would be the only way out without feeling bad about it. So, instead of being truthful about how he actually feels and just straight up telling listener, “I don’t want to be in a long distance relationship,” or “I’ve fallen out of love with you”, or literally ANYTHING ELSE, he decided to make things a lot more harder for them by pulling any excuse out of his ass and praying that it will work. It just felt like he was just throwing them away—like how a child throws away a toy after they’ve outgrown it—and it’s SICKENING.

But, Andrew was never like this.

Through his entire break-up audio, you could feel that he truly felt like he was making the right decision here—because above all else, Darling was the only thing that mattered to him. Something I’ve learned from Alex’s audio is that it’s really easy to point the finger to someone else and put all the blame on one party. It would’ve been all too easy for Andrew to straight up tell listener that it was their fault for perusing him—and if they’d just simply looked somewhere else to find love, then their exposé would’ve never happened—and both of their reputations would be spared from online scrutiny and embarrassment. But he didn’t. He and Darling both perused this relationship with the consequences in the back of their mind. They knew what would happen if they got caught, and repercussions that will follow. Andrew had enough integrity and honesty within himself to pour his heart out to Darling and told them how much he loved them. And you can tell that he was doing it because he thought that it was the best thing he could do for them—and that’s because he was HONEST. He never once made excuses, or gaslit them into thinking this was entirely their fault. And it never felt like he was just throwing them aside when it suited him.

And it shows more even when he came back to apologize for his behavior. Even then, he realized that it was wrong to make definitive decisions about their relationship without talking to his partner first—and was ready to accept the consequences of his actions because he realized how much he hurt Darling. He was honest about everything—even when it was hard for him. He made sure to put in the effort in his relationship to make sure he keeps Darling by his side. Even when people came after him—even after he got publicly humiliated—even after he lost his job. He tried so hard because he told Darling how much he loved them—and he meant it.

I respect the living hell out of Andrew because his actions always matched his words.

I want to make this clear—I’m not saying that Alex has to stay with listener. And I’m not mad that he wanted to leave. I’m mad because of the way he broke up with them. There was absolutely no reason to blame them for everything. There was absolutely no reason to gaslight and manipulate them. And there was certainly no reason for his dumbass to make such stupid excuses. He tells listener he loves them and yet does everything he could to get away from them. He wasn’t even man enough to be honest during their break-up. His actions matched the opposite of his words and that makes me sick. Alex makes me sick.

When he sees all of his friends move on to the next level in their relationships—whether that be marriage, or having kids—his stupid, sorry, good-for-nothing-except-crying-and-making-excuses headass will be ALONE. And he’ll stay that way until he realizes that being unwilling to put actual effort in a relationship and having no integrity is a rather unattractive trait of his. Although, I highly doubt that he’ll be smart enough to realize that AT ALL—because he has such a victim complex.

In short, fuck Alex, and stan Andrew. ❤️

[www-islandofsodor]

Hey guys, admin here. There’s been something brewing in my mind as of late and I only realized how true this was about a week ago. But do you know what Duck, James, and Daisy all have in common (besides the obvious)? Each of the eras didn’t do enough with them. Allow me to explain:

In the later half of the Railway Series, James had been relegated to the role of an NPC. His arc wasn’t really going anywhere and he began to fade away as the series progressed.

In the Model Era, The only reason why they didn’t do enough with Daisy is because her model seemed to experience technical difficulties (chassis issues, limited face plates, etc). Other than that, she suffered the same fate as James in the books; lack of spotlight stories.

In the Brennersance period of the CGI series, Duck wasn’t used to his full potential. Aside from the status quo change with his slip coaches and a flashback photo; the writers did the bare minimum when it came to the character.

As you can see, the three different eras have more or less royally screwed the characters. You’re now probably asking yourself, “isn’t there something we could do to rectify this?” Believe it or not there already is. It’s a solution that says easy as 1–2–3. All you have to do is swap the characters with the different eras. Allow me to elucidate such a solution.

In the Railway Series, Duck was practically treated like the second coming of Jesus by Rev. W. Awdry. His character journey was really fleshed out as evident by his slow rise from random one-off to secondary main character.

In the Model Era, James was really pushed to the foreground with the amount of character driven episodes he starred in. Not to mention, the insane amount of relationships/characters he interacted with. Coupled with his fun/consistent personality, it’s no wonder he’s a lot of people’s favorite character.

As for the Brenaissance period of the CGI series, Daisy was the real MVP in terms of character development. When she came back, she came back to the series swinging! Despite claims of Toby, James, and the China Clay twins being his favorites; Daisy was clearly Andrew Brenner’s actual favorite character as evident by the amount of episodes she was featured in. They really dove into her character during this time; she practically grew up which is remarkable considering that this is still Daisy we’re talking about here.

In conclusion, different characters flourish with the right era. Take Whiff for example; he was wasted in the HiT era. But in the Nitrogen Era, he was taken very seriously and given a few starring roles in later episodes. Hell, even Misty Island Rescue and All Engines Go did him justice! Now what does that tell you? With the right type of environment, characters (like people) can grow and evolve into something worth championing.

[influencermagazineuk]

Andrew McCutchen Deal With Pirates

Veteran outfielder Andrew McCutchen is returning to the team where he first made a name for himself in the MLB - the Pirates. According to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, McCutchen will be signing a one-year deal with the Pirates, pending a physical. The Pirates had originally drafted McCutchen in the first round of the 2005 MLB draft, and he quickly became a key player for the team. From his debut in 2009, McCutchen established himself as one of the league's top players, including winning an MVP award in 2013. He also helped lead the Pirates to three consecutive playoff appearances from 2013 to 2015, ending a 20-year drought for the team. He currently sits fourth in the team's home run list and in the top 10 for total bases. However, before the 2018 season, the Pirates traded McCutchen to the Giants in a deal that brought them Bryan Reynolds. McCutchen went on to play for the Giants, Yankees, Phillies and Brewers over the next five seasons, while the Pirates have not made the playoffs since. In 2023, McCutchen has a chance to reach 2,000 hits, 300 home runs, and 400 doubles for his career. Since 2018, the Pirates have been one of the worst teams in baseball, with back-to-back years with the worst record in the league and over 200 losses since 2021. AI Says: Andrew McCutchen is a player for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He has had an excellent career with the Pirates, and he was the most valuable player in their 2013 season. He is one of few players in Major League Baseball to have won a Gold Glove, Silver Slugger Award, and a Roberto Clemente Award. Andrew McCutchen was born on October 10th, 1984 in Fort Meade, Florida. He attended Fort Meade High School before being drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates with 11th overall pick in 2005 MLB draft. Andrew played college baseball at both Indian River Community College and Polk Community College before transferring to LSU where he won two NCAA batting titles while playing for the LSU Tigers baseball team. In 2008 he hit .417 (second all-time) while setting new records for runs scored (115) and hits (165). In 2009 he led college baseball with 23 home runs while establishing a new NCAA record with 61 extra-base hits including 18 triples which set another all-time record McCutchen was called up to play for Pittsburgh at age 21 after playing just 44 games at Triple A Indianapolis Indians of the International League . On September 1st 2007 versus Milwaukee, McCutchen became only third player since 1960 to hit three doubles Andrew McCutchen is a highly talented and accomplished outfielder who has made a name for himself in the MLB. He was originally drafted by the Pirates in the first round of the 2005 MLB draft and quickly established himself as a key player for the team. From his debut in 2009, McCutchen established himself as one of the league's top players, including winning an MVP award in 2013. He also helped lead the Pirates to three consecutive playoff appearances from 2013 to 2015, ending a 20-year drought for the team. He currently sits fourth in the team's home run list and in the top 10 for total bases. McCutchen has a career that is filled with accolades and accomplishments. He has been a 5-time All-Star, a Gold Glove Winner, a Silver Slugger and won the NL MVP award in 2013. In 2023, McCutchen has a chance to reach 2,000 hits, 300 home runs and 400 doubles for his career, which would be a remarkable achievement. He is known for his exceptional batting skills and his ability to perform under pressure. He is a true leader on and off the field, and has always been a fan favorite with his energetic and enthusiastic approach to the game. McCutchen is a skilled outfielder who can play all three positions and he is a valuable asset to any team Andrew McCutchen is a Major League Baseball outfielder who has played for the Pittsburgh Pirates since 2009. He was drafted in 2005 and became the youngest player in MLB history to hit 20 home runs. He also broke the Pirates all-time record for home runs by age 25 with 38, and as of 2017 had won two Silver Slugger Awards. McCutchen was born on October 24th, 1986 to Chris McCutchen and Leeann Hunsinger. His father managed a car dealership and his mother managed a day care center, but when he was not even two years old they both lost their jobs which led them to be homeless for a temporary period of time until family members offered them help. McCutchen attended Pine-Richland High School where he played baseball for three years starting at third base before moving up to shortstop because their third baseman graduated that year end. During his senior year he batted .435 with 11 home runs on top of that in 2003 he also hit .457 with 9 home runs so it came as no shock when after being drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates at 18th overall in 2005 that they quickly signed him; making him the first draft pick ever from Pennsylvania State University's baseball team Throughout much of his career Andrew McC Andrew McCutchen is an outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was first drafted in 2005 by the Pirates and made his Major League debut in 2009. In 2012, he won a Silver Slugger Award and a Gold Glove Award. He has been selected to six All-Star Games and won the 2013 Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to a player that best exemplifies the game of baseball on and off the field, as voted on by fans and members of the media. Andrew McCutchen is an outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates who was first drafted in 2005 by them after high school. He made his Major League debut in 2009 at age 22 at which point he immediately became one of their most important players, helping them compete for a playoff spot that year. In 2012, he won two awards: one for his stellar play both on-field (Silver Slugger) as well as off-field (Gold Glove), however this would be just one of many accolades over his career with Pittsburgh; culminating with winning what may arguably be their most prestigious award: The Roberto Clemente Award -- given annually to a player that best exemplifies "the game" both on-field and off-field -- voted on by fans and members of media alike. Read the full article

[oveliagirlhaditright]

You know, I really like this moment between Angel and Giles in season 10.

Because, for the most part, everyone is having issues with Angel here (I might break that down in a moment), though they've asked him if he can fly in from London to help them fight Archaeus, though are acting like this towards him (but I get why with stuff that's happened before this)... and I feel it's GILES who steps in here to try and turn things around, with his purposely distracting question about Faith, which is definitely surprising to see (because we all know Angel and Giles' many issues). And it just makes it an even more amazing moment FOR that reason to me.

But as for the reasons for the drama here (the shortened version, anyway):

Angel just found out at this exact moment that Buffy is dating Spike, which he's obviously heartbroken about because he's still in love with her. And when he showed up a tiny bit ago, they'd had a moment where they were talking one-on-one in Willow's room, that I think made Angel think for a second that they were going to get back together (some of the stuff that Buffy was saying may have also led him think this; I'm not blaming Buffy here. It was all just really bad timing, that I really don't know could have been avoided, any way you spin it). And Buffy clearly feels really bad about all of that.

And also in a minute, Angel and Buffy get into an argument about splitting up (not the splitting up part), but the fact that Buffy wants their strongest magic users on Angel's team, in case Archaeus (Angel's great-grand sire) gets control over him (an ability that he has) and they then they all have Angelus to deal with, plus Archaeus. And then Buffy is basically saying, "Tell me I'm not wrong!" and Angel can't, but he's still kind of irritated about it.

Spike is jealous that Angel is here, and that they need him at all, and is worried that Buffy might break up with him and get back with Angel, thus the two of them are fighting like usual.

Angel and Dawn are on really good terms with each other--and are excited to really be getting to know each other for the first time--so Dawn is one of the few exceptions to this mess.

Xander was actually trying with Angel for the first time ever, and it's actually really commendable and all really good, for the most part! Though there's this moment where Xander gets envious when Angel and Dawn hug. Because Xander/Dawn is canon to the comics, but they're broken up for a second here. And I'm guessing in seeing them hug (and with Buffy dating Spike here), he was worried that those two could start dating now? (And speaking of which, Buffy also acted really weirdly to Angel hugging Dawn, so much so that she, like, yanks her out of Angel's arms. o_0 It might be because she feels like she can no longer trust Angel with Dawn or the people she loves--and if so, that's really annoying and ticks me off--but I think it's actually because she was also strangely jealous of this moment... Wow, everyone is just being haunted by the Green-Eyed-Monster in this scene. Because even if she is with Spike right now, she does still have feelings for Angel and we see that while he's there with her in this short season 10 arc).

Willow is also pretty okay with Angel here, though she really doesn't say much or seem to do anything to better or worsen the situation. Edit: Wait. Just kidding. She's really there for Angel later. She's just not very vocal in this scene? Maybe she was just trying to stay out of it, and who can blame her?

So, yeah: this Angel and Giles instance is really nice, imo. And the proof to me that he WAS trying to calm things down, is when you have Angel saying "Everything's good. Real good," and then Giles responding with, "yes. clearly," that seems to be him moreso talking about their situation right then, then the stuff about Angel and Faith in Magic Town that Angel was just speaking about.

[spokenfromtheheartandsoul]

Shout out to Coach Hernandez, though. If it hadn’t been for him, the entire trilogy wouldn’t have even happened.

I always wonder what he’s up to? Like here’s this regular high school Exy coach who’s got the enigma that is Neil Josten on his team. He’s a quiet kid who learned Exy in one year, a kid who says he’s got parents, but they don’t show up to any games, a kid who can pick the doorlock to sleep in the locker room at night.

So he does the best he can without prying too much and instead he tries to set Neil up with a future, away from Millport. He doesn’t even tell Neil about it just in case but he even sends a tape instead of statistics because he knew how to sell Neil’s strengths, because he knows that actually seeing Neil play is something on another level.

And then imagine him watching in awe as the Palmetto State Foxes - a team that had been the joke of the Class I Division, a team that was literally last ranked! Imagine him watching in awe as it slowly rises to the top of the game, all in one season. Imagine him watching Neil play as starting striker alongside Kevin Day. His Neil! From his high school team!

Imagine him watching in shock as this quiet kid - who probably hadn’t spoken more than 3 sentences to him at a time back at Millport - imagine Hernandez watching as Neil absolutely verbally rips apart and challenges Riko Moriyama on national television, tells him that Riko’s going to choke on his own words.

Imagine him watching in wonder as Neil Josten develops into a striker that’s scary good, a striker that couldn’t have possibly improved that much in just a few months, a striker that can hold the floor with Kevin Day. 

Imagine him hearing about the news about Neil’s past on the media, hearing things about gangs and murders and son of a crime boss, seeing him in pictures and thinking I could have sworn he had brown eyes and imagine him wondering who the hell this kid that he coached actually was? 

Imagine Hernandez watching with his jaw open as his high school recruit, Neil Josten hold his own for a full game as a starting striker, then watching Neil switch in the middle of the game without a break and play an incredible defense, all against Edgar fucking Allan - the number one team, a team that has never been debunked in history - and fucking win. They fucking won. All in one season.

And imagine him years later down the line, sitting on his couch and watching Neil Josten and a few of his original PSU teammates win gold at the Olympics. 

He might have thought it was just a small thing that he did, but just by that simple act of sending Neil’s information to Wymack, he changed the course of Neil’s life. Hernandez completely changed the outlook of Neil’s future - by giving him one at all. So, shout out to you, Coach Hernandez. Without you Neil would have never gotten that second chance to live his life, find a family, and play Exy.

[shonithewilds]

Shelby x Toni Fic Rec Friday #1

MULTI-CHAPTER WIP

Blue Sky Mind by thejunebugg (M) 12/? Grey’s Anatomy AU “So, that’s that,” Shelby says. “Consider this me setting boundaries. You know, drawing a line.” “Right. And is this line, theoretically, a bit flexible?” “Flexible?” “Yeah,” Toni says. “Like, could I move the line so I wouldn’t be crossing it if I were to kiss you?”

Heartbreak is Savage (and Love is a Bitch) by GetTheUhaul (M) 2/3 A tragic family accident forces Toni and Shelby to confront their crumbling marriage head-on.

Neighbours by Moon_Cube (E) 17/18 Toni has a new neighbour. They immediately get off on the wrong foot. But soon the lines of annoyance start to blur and shift. Now Toni’s not sure what she hates more; the fact that her neighbour is the most annoying person in the world or the fact that she’s engaged.

MULTI-CHAPTER COMPLETE

But You Can’t Say You’re Their Biggest Fan, Cuz Now I Make Out with the Bassist of Your Favorite Band by hallelujah99 (G) 2/2 Shelby never really cared for Andrew's favorite band, but the bass player was sure nice to look at. Who knew that after they broke up, she'd run into her on the beaches of southern California?

Can’t Wait for Tomorrow (I Might Not Have That Long) by GetTheUhaul (E) 19/19 Toni's life was perfect - professional basketball player, considered a "rising star," amazing wife, money for the first time in her life - but it was interrupted abruptly by a tragic accident. Now, Toni's trying to pick up the pieces of her nonexistent basketball career, failed marriage, and bitter outlook on life. While planning a charity Gala with her manager, Fatin Jadmani, Toni meets Shelby Goodkind, the one person who might be able to convince Toni that life is fucking incredible if you let it be.

Catfished by JenIsWriting (NR) 2/2 The whole thing was Fatin’s idea. If Shelby had known a night out with her old college friends would lead to a drunkenly created Tinder profile, she would have declined the third round of shots. AKA: Shelby gets Tinder because her friends think she needs to get laid. She matches with MVP Toni Shalifoe so naturally, Shelby thinks she is being catfished.

She’s My Religion by clarkedarling (T) 20/20 Toni hasn't heard from Shelby in five years, not outside The Unsinkable Seven's groupchat anyway. Not until she gets an invitation to Shelby’s wedding. The week long event drags up a lot of unspoken feelings for the pair, including the one that's taken Toni most by surprise; that she is not at all over little miss perfect.

Wild Stars by Ekhwanders (E) 7/7 When Marty and Becca bail on the hockey game, Toni and Shelby are forced to go alone. Will their hatred of each other blow up in their faces, or will their shared love of hockey be enough to bring them together? 

ONE SHOTS

The Best Soy Latte That You Ever Had (and Me) by LilyChestnut (T) Toni becomes a regular at the coffee shop where Shelby works, which is definitely just because of the soy lattes they sell and not because of Shelby and the adorably dorky drawings she doodles on Toni's coffee cup every day. Right?

Did I Miss My One True Love? (Was She Right in Front of Me at the Dive Bar? Was That You with the Cowboy Blues?) by hallelujah99 (G) Shelby can't stop thinking about the girl she met for one night in a dive bar three years ago.

Perfect Game by tnr92 (T) After college-aged Shelby has spent two years struggling to meet girls, her best friend and roommate Becca tells her about a girl who works at the local bowling alley. College AU in which Shelby has zero game, Toni is oblivious, and Shelby just really wants to finally go out on a date.

Triple Dog by tnr92 (T) It takes one game of Truth or Dare for Toni and Shelby to meet. It takes ten for Toni to fall in love.

You Fit in My Poems Like a Perfect Rhyme by hallelujah99 (T) Shelby and Toni work at a queer bookstore together and decide to have a little contest to see who's the better flirt.

[statticscribbles]

Snake Pit

Summary: FP Jones/Reader- Request: FP Jones x Reader, no specified plot

You hadn’t been surprised when your mother called you to tell you something had happened. You were expecting some sort of Serpent drama or something to do with the gang fights, to hear Jason Blossom had died had chilled you. You didn’t know him at all, the Blossom family kept to themselves but still you felt your chest ache for the family. Your mother agrees to let you stay with her for the funeral and you make arrangements to return home to Riverdale that night.

The town hasn’t changed at all and as you let your mother drive you through you hesitate watching the Wyrm’s sign spin. “Wyrm’s still open?” “Of course, the Serpent’s are still a thing you know.They didn’t vanish cause you moved out with your dad.” “I wasn’t sure.” You keep your eyes on the glow of the Wyrm as you mother turns, pulling down your road and into her driveway. “You can visit later.” You nod letting her bring your bags in. “Mom I can handle it; it’s fine.” “Well if it isn’t Y/N. Haven’t seen you in a while. What brings you back?” You turn beaming as FP Jones stands in your driveway. “Heard the blossoms lost a flower.” His smile vanishes and he nods, the toothpick between his lips moving as he chews on it. “Nervous about one dead flower?” “It was a murder.” You jerk slightly and turn to stare at your mom. “You didn’t say that.” “I didn’t want to worry you.” “What else happened while I was gone then?”

“Come down to the Wyrm and I’ll show you.” FP winks and you nod to your mom as you follow him. “Your jacket.” You reach your hand out, tracing the double headed snake softly. “You’re looking at the Serpent King now Y/N.” “Bet Gladys is glad she’s with you.” “She’s up in Toledo.” You turn down the street smiling fondly at the neon green of the sign. “Your jacket should still be inside if you want. Since I’m guessing you never told your parents?” “Figured they wouldn’t want to hear about how I joined a gang.” You laugh when everyone cheers as you walk in. “Y/N!! What’re you doing back in town?” “Y/N! Hey, good vacation?” you can hear everyone laughing and you sink into the familiar bar stool, drink placed in front of you.” “Aww Mustang you remembered.” “You drink straight vodka, that ain’t hard to remember.” FP laughs and nods as Mustang sets a drink in front of him.

“Haven’t seen you before.” You turn to a few faces you don’t recognise. “Calm down, this is my girl, Y/N.” As the night goes on you learn everyone knows Gladys left after FP got caught; you learn they don’t mention her or Jellybean around him as he gets quiet sad and drinks so much he vomits while passed out. You meet more of the Serpents; despite having known most of them, FP repeatedly introduces you as his girl; he doesn’t have more than the first drink he was served and you have two more before you cut yourself off. You find yourself sitting with FP, letting him talk and explain the jobs they’ve been going on, how they got paid to trash the drive-in, how Hiram Lodge has slunk back into town, and was twisting the Southside apart for some reason no-one had figured out. They don’t talk of Jason, they don’t talk of Jughead or of Fred Andrews. You wonder what happened, but you know by how everyone’s eyes shift it’s best to leave it alone.

You’re falling asleep when FP nudges you gesturing to the door. “Long day travelling?” You nod leaning on him as you stand. He walks you back towards your house. “Glad to be back though, even if it’s not in best circumstances. Nice to see you’re doing okay.” He laughs dryly. “Come on Jones, you’re the Serpent leader now; that’s leagues better than being, what MVP for the Bulldogs?” He snorts again shaking his head. “Least with the bulldogs I had a future, this just drives everyone away.” “Gladys left cause you’re in the Serpents?” “No she left cause of what they made me into.” You roll your eyes. “So she was thinking of herself?” “No the kids;” “They why is Jughead still here?” You lick your lips nervous you’ve overstepped.

“His choice.” “Then she would have made him go, if it was for them. You know she would have; she-” “Shut up about her..” “Why cause no one else is gonna say it to you; since they’re scared of pissing of the Serpent King? You know I don’t give two shits about that FP.” “I don’t wanna talk about her.” “Because you miss her? You want her back cause you love her?” “I don’t.” He snap, hands on your shoulders pulling you towards him before he kisses you. You can faintly taste the beer he’d been drinking and you’re sure he can taste the vodka from you. You pull back face flushed.

“So I’m guessing all the ‘my girl’ stuff back at the Wyrm was true then?” You smirk when he stutters slightly. “Well only if you want it to be true.” “I kissed you back didn’t I?” “How long are you staying in Riverdale anyways? Guessing it’s just for the funeral.” “Well it was, but if there’s a chance I get to be Serpent Queen, I might have to reconsider.” You laugh pulling him in for another kiss as he motions to his bike parked across the street from your house. “My place might be better, less people.” He winks and you follow wrapping your arms around him as he speeds to his house.

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[doubleattitude]

Radix Dance Convention Nationals, Las Vegas 2021 Results

Core Performer:

(Top 3/4 in Bold)

Mini Female

Top 20:

Emily Jungmann

Isabella Kouznetsova

Skylar Wong

Madelyn Murphy

Carrigan Paylor

Kate Baldwin

Madison Carmody

Karyna Majeroni

Elizabeth Bilecki

Sasha Milstein

Diana Kouznetsova

Ellary Day Szyndlar

Tiara Sherman

Fiona Wu

Savannah Manzel

Camila Giraldo

Victoria Martinez

Georgia Beth Peters

Addison Price

Regan Gerena

Winner: Carrigan Paylor

Mini Male

Top 7:

Elias Elkind

Karson Koller

Santiago Sosa

Julian Aranda

Michael Cash Savio

Nico Dahl

Josh Lundy

Winner: Michael Cash Savio

Junior Female

Top 20:

Kendyl Fay

Daniela SanGiacomo

Kinley Andrews

Laci Stoico

Haileigh Brennan

Crystal Huang

Giselle Gandarilla

Kira Chan

Rylee Young

Kaili Kester

Taytum Ruckle

Maddie Ortega

Angelina Elliott

Anya Inger

Gracyn French

Aaliyah Dixon

Brinkley Pittman

Breanna Bieler

Alexis Mayer

Madison Ronquillo

Winner: Crystal Huang

Junior Male

Top 6:

Johnny Gray

Zachary Gibson

Haiden Neuville

Wyatt Brisson

Ayden Nguyen

Coltrane Vodicka

Winner: Coltrane Vodicka

Teen Female

Top 25:

Destanye Diaz

Izzy Howard

Kaitlyn Ortega

Jada Specht

Emily Madden

Harlow Ganz

Sabine Nehls

Dyllan Blackburn

Antonia Gonzalez

Brooklyn Law

Isabella Lynch

Avery Cashen

Charlie Kautzer

Valadie Cammack

Kiarra Waidelich

Isabel Joves

Olivia Magni

Rachel Loiselle

Mia Ibach

Cydney Heard

Madison Marshall

Kaylinn Rees

Hayden Frazier

Addison Middleton

Carly Thinfen

Winner: Kiarra Waidelich

Teen Male

Top 21:

Trent Grappe

Jack Brokaw

Luke Barrett

Nathan Scott

Antony Curley

Sam Fine

Louis Sloot

Rosendo Archiga

Harrison Robinson

Christian De Jesus

Xander Perone

Noah Ayden Grady

Jonah Daquigan

Samuel Sharp Jr

Jackson Koressel

Gavin Warfield

AJ Storey

Nicholas Bustos

Tucker Gokey

Ronnie Lewis

Sam Suro

Winner: Antony Curley

Senior Female

Top 22:

Camille Fehr

Rina Kanamaki

Elisabeth Pabich

Kayla Pereira

Sara Eberhardt

Ava La France

Selena Hamilton

Anna Miller

Skye Notary

Priscilla Tom

Mackenzie Jarrett

Libby Wiley

Makayla D’Ambrosio

Camryn Bridges

Maddie Thanos

Lola Coghill

Zoe Lemelman

Makenna Okamoto

Vanessa Valenzuela

Peyton Martineau

Erin Wienke

Izzy Burton

Winner: Erin Wienke

Senior Male

Top 13:

Wysdem Caesar

Garren Garcia

John Mays

Seth Gibson

Raiden King

Alec Brown

Bronson Dahmer

Jackson Roloff-Hafenbreadl

Sam McWilliams

Levi Sherman

Konnor Kelly

Zach Buri

Thiago Pacheco

Winner: Sam McWilliams

Finals:

High Scores by Age:

Cash Prizes:

1st: $200

2nd: $100

3rd: $50

Rookie Solo

1st: Mila Renae-’Soldier’

2nd: Lucia Piedrahita-’Fields of Gold’

2nd: Aliya Yen-’Loyal, Brave and True’

3rd: Melina Biltz-’Welcome Home’

4th: Zoey Brooks-’My Boyfriend’s Back’

5th: Lexi Menjivar-’I Will Survive’

6th: Moriah Peralta-’Up, Up & Away’

7th: Kaiya Carrillo-’Love Shack’

8th: Kinsey Fitts-’Can You Imagine That’

8th: Shale Herrera-’Dream’

9th: Madison Skapyak-’Songbird’

10th: Eden Hernandez-’Chocolate Box’

Mini Solo

1st: Camila Giraldo-’Welcome to Miami’

2nd: Skylar Wong-’Lovefooll’

3rd: Carrigan Paylor-’Orange Colored Sky’

4th: Regan Gerena-’My Boyfriend’s Back’

4th: Michael Cash Savio-’Rhythm’

5th: Tiara Sherman-’Cielo’

6th: Isabella Kouznetsova-’Trouble’

6th: Emily Jungmann-’You Sleep On’

7th: Winter Eberts-’Hit The Road Jack’

7th: Esme Chou-’Unravel’

8th: Addison Price-’Je Te Laisserai Des Mots’

9th: Avery Maycunich-’Wild is the Wind’

10th: Abigail Pucylowski-’Menace’

Junior Solo

1st: Crystal Huang-’Moonlight Sonata’

2nd: Gracyn French-’A Character of Quiet’

3rd: Angelina Elliot-’Out’

4th: Aaliyah Dixon-’That’s Life’

4th: Alexis Mayer-’Vanished’

5th: Laci Stoico-’Mein Herr’

6th: Daniela SanGiacomo-’Restless’

7th: Lexi Godwin-’Debut’

7th: Brenna Bieler-’Moonlight Sonata’

8th: Naia Parker-’Lit’

9th: Vivienne Robillard-’Immigration’

9th: Zoe Zielinski-’Z’

10th: Maddie Ortega-’A Winged Victory’

10th: Zachary Gibson-’Unknown’

Teen Solo

1st: Sophia Cobo-’Do You Feel Real’

1st: Izzy Howard-’Mer de Velours’

1st: Cydney Heard-’Je T'aime’

1st: Kiarra Waidelich-’The Resemblance is Uncanny’

2nd: Angelika Edejer-’One Giant Leap’

3rd: Kaitlyn Ortega-’Ain’t No Sunshine’

3rd: Harlow Ganz-’Breaking the Surface’

3rd: Antonia Gonzalez-’Like The Wind’

4th: Xander Perone-’Elijah’

4th: Dyllan Blackburn-’Silver Screen’

5th: Charli Ortiz-Ringenbach-’Is This Love’

6th: Ava Greendwaldt-’Countdown’

6th: Sammi Chung-’Eight’

6th: Isabella Warfield-’Nicest Thing’

6th: Jadyn Saigusa-’Wonderlust’

7th: June Hurley-’Don’t Think Of Me Like That’

7th: Kenzie Jones-’Flightless Bird’

8th: Finley Williams-’We’ll See’

9th: Sarah Laskowski-’For You’

10th: Addison Middleton-’ERROR’

10th: Rosendo Arechiga-’Thanks for Asking’

Senior Solo

1st: Thiago Pacheco-’The Poet’

2nd: Selena Hamilton-’Black Car’

3rd: Jackson Roloff-Hafenbreadl-’Darkness’

4th: Maddie Nemeth-’Sycamore Tree’

5th: Olivya Sessing-’House on the Hill’

6th: Sheridan Naugle-’Irreplaceable’

6th: Mia Tassani-’Mam’

6th: Seth Gibson-’Mind Bugs’

7th: Makayla D’Ambrosio-’Consider’

8th: Leigha Agins-’Prerogative’

9th: Milan Furtado-’As We Appear’

9th: Georgi Carmack-’Creature’

9th: Minda Li-’On Her Shoulders’

9th: Britton Moore-’Radiator’

9th: Libby Wiley-’Running Up That Hill’

9th: Sara Eberhardt-’Sticks and stone’

10th: Yasmine Quintana-’Hate’

Rookie Duo/Trio

1st: Danceplex-’Stand By Me’

2nd: AVANTI Dance Company-’It Must Be Love’

3rd: AVANTI Dance Company-’Never Enough’

4th: Notion Dance Concepts-’MILK $’

5th: The Industry Dance Academy-’Don’t Go Without Me’

Mini Duo/Trio

1st: Woodbury Dance Center-’Yesterday’

2nd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Something’s Gotta Change’

3rd: AVANTI Dance Company-’Gracious’

4th: Studio X-’Vogue’

5th: Studio 19 Dance Complex-’Gonna Get Ya’

Junior Duo/Trio

1st: AVANTI Dance Company-’Go Girl’

2nd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Everything Is In Line’

3rd: Elements Dance Space-’Separate’

4th: Danceplex-’This Is Me Trying’

5th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Wild Life’

Teen Duo/Trio

1st: The Rock Center for Dance-’Make Me High’

2nd: The Rock Center for Dance-’Last Light’

3rd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Hey’

4th: Evolution Dance Complex-’Before You Go’

5th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Crystalized’

Senior Duo/Trio

1st: Mather Dance Company-’Trust Me Again’

2nd: The Difference Dance Company-’3′

3rd: MVP Dance Elite-’Bitter

3rd: CanDance Studios-’Revolution’

4th: The Difference Dance Company-’June 7th’

5th: Studio 413-’Black Flies’

Rookie Group

1st: Danceplex-’Little Wonders’

2nd: Danceplex-’Lets Hear It For the Boy’

3rd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Lullaby’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Girls Night Out’

5th: Notion Dance Concepts-’Firework’

Mini Group

1st: Project 21-’Fan Tan Fannie’

2nd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Searching For...’

3rd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Don’t Give Up On Me’

4th: Evoke Dance Movement-’I Think I Love You’

5th: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Queen Bees’

Junior Group

1st: Project 21-’No Fear But Anticipation’

2nd: Project 21-’Stuff Like That There’

2nd: Orange County Performing Arts Academy-’Wind It Up’

3rd: Prodigy Training Center-’School of Prodigy’

3rd: Orange County Performing Arts Academy-’Sing, Sing, Sing’

3rd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Un Momento Finale’

4th: Cypress Dance Project-’What Is Love?’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Wolves’

5th: The Difference Dance Company-’1977′

5th: Woodbury Dance Center-’Alright’

Teen Group

1st: Project 21-’Bring On the Men’

2nd: Project 21-’Girls, Girls, Girls’

3rd: The Difference Dance Company-’Cellophane’

3rd: The Rock Center for Dance-’Heavenly Bodies’

3rd: Mather Dance Company-’Overdose’

3rd: The Difference Dance Company-’Unchained’

4th: AVANTI Dance Company-’The Cuckoo’s Nest’

5th: Orange County Performing Arts Academy-’Boom POW’

Senior Group

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Prague’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’I Love America’

2nd: Mather Dance Company-’We The Soldiers’

3rd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Hard Voices’

4th: Impact Dance Studio-’Fame’

4th: The Industry Dance Academy-’When Dirt Meets Water’

4th: The Difference Dance Company-’Wolves’

5th: Mather Dance Company-’For All We Know’

Rookie Line

1st: The Rock Center for Dance-’Innana’

2nd: AVANTI Dance Company-’Ooh La La’

3rd: AVANTI Dance Company-’Wash & Set’

4th: Cypress Dance Project-’Bat Dance’

Mini Line

1st: The Rock Center for Dance-’6 Out of Six’

1st: Project 21-’Dive In the Pool’

2nd: Impact Dance Studio-’Go Your Own Way’

2nd: Impact Dance Studio-’You Can’t Stop the Beat’

3rd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Always’

4th: Woodbury Dance Center-’Booty Swing’

5th: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Distance’

Junior Line

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’Derniere Danse’

2nd: Impact Dance Studio-’Mein Herr’

2nd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Whole Lotta Woman’

3rd: Project 21-’Proud Mary’

4th: Impact Dance Studio-’Hallelujah’

5th: The Rock Center for Dance-’All Good People’

5th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’It Wasn’t Always Like This’

5th: Woodbury Dance Center-’Mahala’

Teen Line

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’New York New York’

2nd: Studio 413-’Hold On Tight’

3rd: Project 21-’Post That’

4th: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Dream Girls’

5th: The Rock Center for Dance-’Hey!’

Senior Line

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’Here Comes the Rain’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’No Colors Anymore’

3rd: Mather Dance Company-’Voice of God’

4th: Project 21-’The Dictator’s Dream’

5th: The Difference Dance Company-’Cody Banks’

Rookie Extended Line

1st: AVANTI Dance Company-’Brave’

2nd: The Industry Dance Academy-’Hard Knock Life’

Mini Extended Line

1st: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Trouble’

2nd: The Rock Center for Dance-’Settle Down’

3rd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Choo Choo’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Boy Meets Girl’

5th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Dream In Color’

Junior Extended Line

1st: Evoke Dance Movement-’Purse First’

2nd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Hold Your Own’

3rd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Better Than Ever’

4th: Studio 413-’Girl Boss’

5th: Studio 413-’Goodbye’

5th: Evoke Dance Movement-’Lose Control’

Teen Extended Line

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Euphoric’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Hush Up’

3rd: Project 21-’Desoleil’

4th: CanDance Studios-’Throw It Back’

5th: Evoke Dance Movement-’Adios’

5th: CanDance Studios-’The Colony’

Senior Extended Line

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’My House, My Rules’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’So What Now?’

2nd: The Difference Dance Company-’The Ravens’

3rd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Terrified’

Junior Production

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’One More Time’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Eminence’

3rd: Studio 413-’Electricity’

Teen Production

1st: Woodbury Dance Center-’Fly Away’

1st: AVANTI Dance Company-’Gone Too Soon’

High Scores by Performance Division:

Rookie Jazz

1st: Danceplex-’Lets Hear It For the Boy’

2nd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Girls Night Out’

3rd: AVANTI Dance Company-’Ooh La La’

4th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Wash & Set’

4th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Spice Up Your Life’

5th: The Industry Dance Academy-’Material Girl’

Rookie Contemporary

1st: The Rock Center for Dance-’Innana’

Rookie Lyrical

1st: Danceplex-’Little Wonders’

2nd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Lullaby’

3rd: Notion Dance Concepts-’Firework’

4th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Brave’

Rookie Musical Theatre

1st: The Industry Dance Academy-’Hard Knock Life’

Rookie Specialty

1st: Cypress Dance Project-’Bat Dance’

Mini Jazz

1st: Project 21-’Dive In the Pool’

2nd: Impact Dance Studio-’You Can’t Stop the Beat’

3rd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Trouble’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’What Have You Done For Me Lately’

5th: Evoke Dance Movement-’Money Heist’

Mini Ballet

1st: Summit Dance Shoppe-’This Way’

2nd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Whistle A Happy Tune’

3rd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Rosamunde’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Cats’

5th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’A Lovely Night’

Mini Hip-Hop

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Queen Bees’

2nd: Prodigy Training Center-’JR Prodigy’

3rd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Get Up’

4th: Prodigy Training Center-’Money’

5th: Heat Dance Studio-’Work It Out’

Mini Tap

1st: Studio 19 Dance Complex-’L.O.V.E’

2nd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Booty Swing’

2nd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Choo Choo’

3rd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Swing in the Mood’

4th: Studio 413-’Critical Level’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Charleston Charlie’

5th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Aye Carumba’

Mini Contemporary

1st: The Rock Center for Dance-’6 Out of Six’

2nd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Searching For...’

3rd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Distance’

4th: The Difference Dance Company-’Lying’

5th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Glad It’s Raining’

Mini Lyrical

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’Go Your Own Way’

2nd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Don’t Give Up On Me’

3rd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Always’

4th: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Lego House’

5th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Soon You’ll Get Better’

5th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Dream In Color’

5th: Artistic Motion Dance-’What A Wonderful World’

Mini Musical Theatre

1st: Project 21-’Fan Tan Fannie’

2nd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Wedding Bells’

3rd: The Industry Dance Academy-’Revolting Children’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’I’ve Got Rhythm’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’All That Jazz’

Mini Specialty

1st: Evoke Dance Movement-’I Think I Love You’

2nd: The Rock Center for Dance-’Settle Down’

3rd: Studio 19 Dance Complex-’Come Little Children’

4th: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Youth Strong’

5th: Studio 19 Dance Complex-’Child of Light’

Junior Jazz

1st: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Whole Lotta Woman’

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’One More Time’

2nd: Project 21-’Proud Mary’

3rd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Purse First’

4th: Project 21-’Stuff Like That There’

4th: Orange County Performing Arts Academy-’Wind It Up’

4th: Woodbury Dance Center-’Mahala’

5th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Can You Dig It?’

Junior Ballet

1st: Woodbury Dance Center-’Combust’

2nd: The Industry Dance Academy-’Spring’

3rd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Bathers’

Junior Hip-Hop

1st: Prodigy Training Center-’School of Prodigy’

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Eminence’

2nd: Studio 413-’Girl Boss’

3rd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Lose Control’

4th: Cypress Dance Project-’Plain Jane’

5th: Heat Dance Studio-’Up’

Junior Tap

1st: Cypress Dance Project-’What Is Love?’

2nd: Woodbury Dance Center-’I Love It’

3rd: Studio 413-’Into The Night’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Valerie’

5th: Cypress Dance Project-’Halftime’

Junior Contemporary

1st: Project 21-’No Fear But Anticipation’

2nd: The Rock Center for Dance-’All Good People’

2nd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Hold Your Own’

2nd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’It Wasn’t Always Like This’

3rd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Un Momento Finale’

4th: Woodbury Dance Center-’Wasted Air’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Wolves’

5th: Studio 413-’Goodbye’

5th: Woodbury Dance Center-’Alright’

Junior Lyrical

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’Hallelujah’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’You Are The Reason’

3rd: Stars Dance Studio-’Dawn of Love’

3rd: Impact Dance Studio-’Time After Time’

4th: To The Pointe Dance Centre-’It’s All Coming Back To Me’

5th: Studio 19 Dance Complex-’When I Look At You’

Junior Musical Theatre

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’Mein Herr’

2nd: Cypress Dance Project-’Elle’s Big Day’

3rd: The Industry Dance Academy-’West Side Story’

Junior Specialty

1st Impact Dance Studio-’Derniere Danse’

2nd: Orange County Performing Arts Academy-’Sing, Sing, Sing’

2nd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Better Than Ever’

3rd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’You’re Mine’

4th: The Difference Dance Company-’1977′

5th: Stars Dance Studio-’Spa’

Teen Jazz

1st: Project 21-’Bring On the Men’

2nd: Project 21-’Post That’

3rd: CanDance Studios-’Throw It Back’

4th: Orange County Performing Arts Academy-’Boom POW’

5th: Studio 413-’Social Media Overload’

Teen Ballet

1st: The Industry Dance Academy-’To The Pointe’

2nd: Cypress Dance Project-’Hunted’

Teen Hip-Hop

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Hush Up’

2nd: CanDance Studios-’Panaramic’

3rd: AVANTI Dance Company-’Runnin’

4th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Clones’

5th: Studio 413-’Ready or Not’

5th: Studio 413-’Savage’

Teen Tap

1st: Studio 413-’No One’

2nd: Woodbury Dance Center-’I’

3rd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Go’

3rd: Summit Dance Shoppe-’25 Miles’

Teen Contemporary

1st: Studio 413-’Hold On Tight’

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Euphoric’

2nd: The Rock Center for Dance-’Hey!’

3rd: Project 21-’Desoleil’

4th: Project 21-’Girls, Girls, Girls’

5th: CanDance Studios-’Can I’

5th: The Difference Dance Company-’Unchained’

5th: The Difference Dance Company-’Cellophane’

5th: Stars Dance Studio-’Through our Strength’

5th: The Rock Center for Dance-’Heavenly Bodies’

Teen Lyrical

1st: Mather Dance Company-’Overdose’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Take Me’

3rd: Studio 19 Dance Complex-’Particles’

4th: Danceplex-’If I Say’

5th: Heat Dance Studio-’He Loves Me’

Teen Musical Theatre

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’New York New York’

2nd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Singular Sensation’

3rd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Almost Like Being In Love’

Teen Ballroom

1st: CanDance Studios-’I Got the Boom’

Teen Specialty

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Dream Girls’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’The Future Is Female’

3rd: AVANTI Dance Company-’Gone Too Soon’

4th: Heat Dance Studio-’Freedom’

4th: The Difference Dance Company-’Pale’

5th: The Industry Dance Academy-’Flashing Lights’

Senior Jazz

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’My House, My Rules’

2nd: Impact Dance Studio-’Fame’

3rd: Mather Dance Company-’Prisoner’

4th: AVANTI Dance Company-’Need U Tonight’

5th: Woodbury Dance Center-’Cleopatrs in New York’

Senior Ballet

1st: Woodbury Dance Center-’Illumination’

Senior Hip-Hop

1st: Woodbury Dance Center-’CrAzY’

Senior Tap

1st: Woodbury Dance Center-’Funkytown’

Senior Contemporary

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’No Colors Anymore’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’I Love America’

2nd: Mather Dance Company-’We The Soldiers’

3rd: Project 21-’The Dictator’s Dream’

3rd: The Difference Dance Company-’Wolves’

3rd: The Industry Dance Academy-’When Dirt Meets Water’

4th: The Difference Dance Company-’The Ravens’

5th: The Difference Dance Company-’The First Time’

Senior Lyrical

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Prague’

2nd: Impact Dance Studio-’Here Comes the Rain’

3rd: Mather Dance Company-’Voice of God’

4th: Mather Dance Company-’For All We Know’

5th: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Wash’

Senior Specialty

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Hard Voices’

2nd: The Difference Dance Company-’Cody Banks’

3rd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’So What Now?’

4th: CanDance Studios-’I Won’t Complain’

5th: Cypress Dance Project-’To This Day’

Best of Radix:

Rookie

Winners: 

The Rock Center for Dance-’Innana’

Danceplex-’Little Wonders’

Mini

1st: The Rock Center for Dance-’6 Out of Six’

2nd: Evoke Dance Movement-’Searching For...’

3rd: Project 21-’Dive In the Pool’

4th: Impact Dance Studio-’You Can’t Stop the Beat’

5th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Trouble’

6th: Woodbury Dance Center-’Don’t Give Up On Me’

Junior

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’Derniere Danse’

2nd: Project 21-’Proud Mary’

3rd: Woodbury Dance Center-’Mahala’

4th: Summit Dance Shoppe-’Whole Lotta Woman’

5th: Evoke Dance Movement-’Purse First’

6th: The Rock Center for Dance-’All Good People’

7th: Orange County Performing Arts Academy-’Wind It Up’

Teen

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’New York New York’

2nd: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Euphoric’

3rd: Project 21-’Bring On the Men’

4th: Studio 413-’Hold On Tight’

5th: The Rock Center for Dance-’Hey!’

Senior

1st: Impact Dance Studio-’Here Comes the Rain’

1st: Nor Cal Dance Arts-’Prague’

2nd: Mather Dance Company-’Voice of God’

3rd: Project 21-’The Dictator’s Dream’

3rd: The Difference Dance Company-’Wolves’

4th: The Industry Dance Academy-’When Dirt Meets Water’

Best in Show ($10 000):

Winner: Impact Dance Studio-’New York New York’

[davekat-sucks]

2/2 Karkat being the "Main" troll also just seemed to be the "safe" choice in terms of writing. He was pretty much the fan favorite and, before the introduction of the ancestors, one of the simpler trolls in terms of personality. I know I'm probably wrong about a lot of the things I said and that Karkat probably isn't as bland or safe as I said he was, but I'm sticking to what I said because, again, it's just my opinions, even if most of the internet thinks we can't have them. -Blue Team Anon

Karkat was only of the few trolls that Andrew Hussie could tolerate in terms of writing as well. Just type in all caps and you are good to go. Even Andrew Hussie admits doing the typing quirks for each character was a hassle, which is another reason why he offed some of them. He hated Feferi's the most and was more than too pleased to kill her. Karkat was also to represent one of the classic kinds of Internet trolls. Dude who types in caps, dropping a few f-bombs, to show his anger and dislike towards anyone. Somebody online has at least acted like him once in their lifetime. It's also part of why he is popular. He could have been really interesting, as Karkat was one of the trolls that didn't align properly into the hemospectrum, was against it, and was suppose to be the parallel leader to John Egbert. Him being the descendant of the Signless, also pushed Karkat into the spotlight of having a bigger role. Being a mutant blood, made him more special for it. Among the trolls that are higherblood and even friends with them, like with Gamzee and Eridan, one could have thought he would be the one to bring all the trolls together, or at least, be the one to revolutionize with the remaining living ones. His interactions with the cast is interesting. No matter if it's the human kids or other trolls, his personality can bounce off well with the others. The main person that he cared for the most, was Terezi Pyrope. One that had been implied to be the closest with prior to Sgrub. There was a hint that they may have fucked and that's how Terezi was able to find out about Karkat's blood color. There were signs from Hussie himself that he had planned on making Karkat and Terezi an official couple. But what had stopped him? Was it the other shipping fanbase that wanted him to be with someone else? Would they think killing off the other trolls like Nepeta, Eridan, Feferi, and Equius, to forcefully make Karkat and Terezi be with each other, as Kanaya would be with Rose, Dave with Jade, John finally meeting his friends, and Gamzee going off to helping the big bad? It was really Act 6 that I think that started the change of his character and it would be the one recognized by fans as the "canon Karkat". Not in any of the ones prior to Act 5 or in Act 5. It would be this one, a shouty dude who wallows himself in pity and doing fuck all, that is loved by all fans. Maybe it is a projection from some of the fans itself, as we tend to think we are worthless pieces of shit, living in hell. It wouldn't be the first time that happened, as people had projected themselves into Karkat to be with someone like Terezi or Nepeta. Hussie killing off the other trolls could be why Karkat became so bland. He had no one to bounce off or be a foil to the other. It doesn't help on trying to isolate the other people he talks with, John Egbert in particular, worsens his character that has been built up. Without any of these people, Karkat can't really stand out. There is only so much he could do when speaking with Dave, Rose, or Kanaya. The pointless drama with Gamzee and Terezi is something he alone can't solve, showing more of his incompetence as a leader. I don't blame you for not liking Karkat at the start. He doesn't have much to stand out. He could have been something special and big, to mirror with John, but those ideas fell and was brushed aside for other things. Some could also say the appearance of trolls overshadowed the kids. Which is why someone like Karkat rose in popularity, because the aliens were more interesting and started to take over the webcomic. Hussie couldn't focus on the human kids if fans demanded more about the trolls. Thus pushing himself to make Alternia we know, unintentionally. I don't know how to feel about Karkat myself. I liked him for what he was when he was introduced at the series, but upset that he fell upon Act 6 and beyond. The fandom only seeing Karkat as the true main character over John doesn't help. Worse is how WhatPumpkin pushes Karkat as part of the main cast, despite he has rarely done much importance aside

from Openbound and Game Over. The real MVP was only John himself. Even when he was separated from his friends again, John was still able to be active in the story. Seeing Karkat as this soft boi who shouts a lot while having his depression be relieved by this other human boy, reduced to being the trophy boyfriend/husband for Dave, sucks. It's fucked up.

[incarnateirony]

S15 Remaster: Grace, Souls, Conversion; Effects of the Fall; The Journey of Man; Self-Godhood and Free Will.

Alright, so over in another thread (x) @curioussubjects​ evoked an interesting take about the effects of the fall vs grace/souls and the meaning of the two, and I remembered having an old post that was a bit of a mess from early S13 where I applied Qabbalistic concepts to SPN not long before the actual... Qabbalistic and Hermetic elements started manifesting (The Shadow, the Empty/Ain Soph, etc) and before I pretty much started flipping theological shit.

The other thread was already becoming titanic with a hodge podge of other philosophical musings between users (I think @winchestersingerautorepair​ and @thecoffeebrain-blog​ are still pending to add their additions to it once life clears them), so we sort of mutually agreed to save this discourse for another thread while I took some time to remaster and update the old talking points.

It's a fundamental point that is generally vaguely brushed over, or often has modern concepts plugged into it in streamlined media form rather than exploration: What makes a soul, what makes existence, what makes meaning in our lives.

This, in fact, is the fundamental question and exploration *of* the soul, which Dabb's SPN seems to be tackling fairly directly.

So let's explore the differences and transitional conversions of grace and soul as we've witnessed in SPN. I'll be starting with my take, but of course, as all philosophical discussions go, this is best a conversation of shared concepts.

Also uh, this post was kinda on-request but is literally ridonculously long. Fuck Andrew Dabb for being the only person on the face of the goddamn planet that can make me write infinite words about esoteric philosophy about a TV show.

So this conversation gets a bit difficult to even know where to begin. I'm going to notch a few notes for everybody to keep in mind: Season 6: Death can not destroy souls. Souls are the most powerful known force in the universe, and he who has the most Is Become God. Season 13: Only god can create new angels, they are the biological definition of an asexually reproductive species (as opposed to sexual orientation identity) -- they are unable to create among themselves, and must be created by a supreme force in command of the grace that creates them. This will passively brush over the oft-discussed topic of angel sexuality as well, but that is far from the core point. Season 14: God calls souls "complicated" to handwave away making new ones. Season 15: Yet again, Belphegor tried to consume souls to become a great power, reflecting S6/7 Castiel's arc.

Now that I've sort of dropped those as a lead-in of applicable concepts, I'd like to move forward.

Now as per my S13 listing, we've all seen this fandom turn over and try to apply human sexuality and identity labels to angels over and over again and, while I understand that and mean no offense to that in general, I feel like approaching it from that angle of the human perspective and lens makes a great deal of the substantiative qualities of SPN's discussion of the human soul vanish into the aether. How are these things related? Let's talk!

Sex isn’t the only part of this discussion. As they are wavelength lifeforms, rather than biological, they aren’t really dependent on biological functions. Many of their native elements pass to their vessels: They don’t eat, sleep, or have general body functions… normally.

Their senses are all sorts of different, too. They see in the astral, they taste and smell in molecular compounds, and especially early-vessel-claiming, they seem to have next to no actual pain response. It’s like, well, some giant wave form stuffed in a meat sack they use like a marionette more than having genuine attachment to. Early on angels could waltz through gunfire without flinching and take a knife to the chest with a very bland look of, “Really?”

When it comes to discussing angels and grace, I'm going to pull some sections from the linked post at the start of this:

We know the biblical concept that all things are made by grace; we know Chuck controls his fake construct, but not the free will of the human soul. Consider Gabriel’s constructed worlds where he can manipulate the fake people inside it and snap them away in veils of blue, they’re just pieces of a machine. “I’m the cage.” The human body is part of the sandbox, but the soul is something beyond it.

If angels are living aspects of grace, wavelengths of celestial intent for Chuck’s machinations, the programs that keep the matrix in order – and fallen angels are the rogue programs – they’re still relatively connected to being just… an animated, if intelligent rock or any other piece of the universe. To use more Matrix terms: Just more lines of code. But Castiel’s break in that was contact with his profound bond with Dean that left a mark on him, a brand, just like Balthazar’s soul claims. This tie was powerful enough to be stronger than even Amara’s connection to Dean, for example.

The human soul is the essence of the one true good, realistically – The One Thing that exists, truly, by which all other things come, the Prima Materia – “What Jack did wasn’t evil, it was the absence of good.” – this is actually a hermetic concept but that’s a whole other bag of words, that’s how I quoted that line before the episode aired from the title alone but MOVING ON

If we look at Eileen for example, her ghost is still deaf. Her body/cage/vessel in life never introduced her consciousness, her humanity, to the tactile sense of sound as it exists within Chuck’s sandbox, ergo her spirit doesn’t know it. But it is the soul, like the sleeper, seeking the meaning of its existence and where it is home that commands the body, and leaves the body, and ends up in chuck’s other matrixes of control like heaven and hell that keep people distracted, keep humans from returning to the primordial man that rivals or maybe even betters God.

That all said, human Cas for example suddenly had the full awareness of experience, rather than an autonomous sentient part of the universe chained to divine intent, free or not; that freedom and liberty came by way of the human soul. (Per metatron, Season 8 finale, “When you die and your soul comes to heaven,”)  But with his tie to Dean, and humanity, and a soul his hands laid on, the extraction of his grace also left… but what? A soul born of Dean, really.

Whenever his grace came back, that universal power and awareness, he lost those senses, but he didn’t lose many of the attributes that came with. In fact he pined for them.

Also if we go Jungian with the inky man/shadow as the primordial man or spirit of man, Anthropos, while it didn’t reflect Lucifer, Billie, or soulless Jack it reflected Castiel.

I’ve held the theory that Castiel still has a soul like the nucleus of an egg buried beneath a titanic presence of universal power.

I’d also further endorse this by pointing out while metatron cited Cas having a soul in the S8 finale, when Jack lost his, neither Dean nor Cas thought Cas could empathize as well as Sam could.

In example, Castiel is the only one the Shadow reflected, not Billie, not Soulless Jack, not Lucifer, just Castiel; I’ve even gone so far as to speculate that the smiley attempt at communication was the sort of subconscious borg having the essence of Jack’s soul trying to communicate with his spirit/mind otherwise alert based on consumed grace in the Empty. Speculation, yes, but… potentially loudly resonant.

The journey of man to self-godhood is a complex and tangled affair, traveling through facets of the self represented by a wide array of *ideas* we have begun to face in the show (including color schemes Dabb has actively employed)

If you venture into my shorthand visual post about The Shadow, Anima, Animus, and the Self (x) you'll find how the show has chosen to address this. Similarly, the masculine and feminine paths of universal progenation would be worth a cursory read (x).

Similarly, @winchestersingerautorepair​ recently sent me a chart from a 1973 book titled "The Colors of Love" discussing Hellenistic use of color in association (which, minding alchemy's growth path through time, is hugely relevant). As Maeve said, "John Allen Lee is the mvp by the way. Hes at the crossroads of psychology and LGBT concepts of love and sexuality, and has a fascinating career and life story."

Before I fully locked on to just how loud Dabb was being in his use of alchemy rather than casually tapping on it, you may remember a series of color metas I built specifically on these very colors (and, let's face it, black light doesn't exist, but blue does, and has similar psychological associations). Click this (x) to go to my color metas on tumblr regarding Optimism, which follows this path. Unfortunately my Nihilism one is either untagged or I only posted it on Pillowfort. But you’ll take note I just sort of avoided/dodged/ignored established fanon color meta in favor of other stuff, just a heads up there if you’re expecting me to follow anyone else’s pre-existing fanon -- it ain’t there.

This is all an aside to the actual question of *souls*, but an important framework to how Dabb is choosing to explore the journey of the soul through its many aspects of Being.

To defer back to what I quoted from my other post about Gabriel's universes: What makes humanity different from the moving bodies performing functions of controlled story, rather than guided elements, inside Gabriel's world? If we were to, say, drift into Doctor Sexyverse, or Cop Proceduralverse, nobody seemed to flinch or even be aware of Sam and Dean breaking the script, they continued on their own paths until Sam and Dean "played their parts". But what made Sam and Dean *different* from them?

Explaining freedom to angels is "a bit like teaching poetry to a fish," said Castiel, now bound to humanity since laying his hands on the human soul in hell that, even the S8 DVD commentary mentions, is how he has come to know, love and, as they say, be "enamored with" humanity. We have seen it now-- blank stares of confusion from breaking their course of action, their function. Their predesigned purpose that they were wavelengths of intent for within the machine. They aren't all so different from Gabriel's creations in the end, with Doctor Sexy's Nurses being not too unlike angels to Chuck. They are there for a path and a reason, and should they be somehow interrupted from that function, they seem to lose all purpose.

To convert this to another method of understanding than "matrix code", in case that isn't sinking in with anyone, think of angels as forces of nature. The hurricane means no malice, it simply exists as a function of or even result of universal laws, and often evokes great rebalancing effects that change the course of history for a huge amount of humans and other creatures that it's basically oblivious to. The hurricane does not understand your feelings much less care about them. It is here to do what it does until it is done with what it does. This very concept is why so many ancient gods are primitive archetypes of natural forces.

If we cease trying to box angels into human perceptions for the want to identify with them in such a representation-light landscape, the field opens up to something infinitely more complicated. Such as: what makes Castiel so different? I've already addressed that, of course, in this post, but let's pitch that as a conversational hook again.

"You want to know why we're meant to stay away from those humans? It's not because we're a danger to them. It's because they're a danger to us."

Now BECAUSE sexuality is the angle this fandom has heavily thrown its discussion chips into beyond the other senses, I'm going to move forward into that topical field:

Anna, talking to Dean, lists a long flurry of reasons to become human, among which sex was stapled. In later seasons, Cas comes up with a different list, but it’s more reflective of his emotive view of humanity, and doesn’t include the sex. Either way, it actually leaves interesting take on the human soul’s function (which is also a silent part of something I’ll get to later** ) as per the trinity of mind-soul-body sometimes called “The Threefold Nature of Man” in a lot of classic mysticism. **

So why would Anna include sex in the list if others can enjoy it? There’s various reasons of taking this into consideration, and I consider most headcanon potentials valid since… you know, there’s really no clear statement on this.

- Most angels have a copilot and that’s just creepy AF - It could be subliminal commentary of wanting to enjoy a native drive for it rather than a learned one, since affections and emotions are also canonically attached to the human condition (as well as the 3fold Nature discussed later). - It could have to do with gradual humanization effects (will discuss shortly) - Misc other.

Barring our specific presumption of why this hangs in the air, the detail is that it simply *does*. Perhaps the truth is between all of these, with each angel unto their own.

Anna lurked, invisibly, on earth observing men as long as she knew. Now, gradual humanization effects is a complete headcanon proposal associated around  all elements to be covered in this discussion. That is to say, most angels that have exhibited sexual behavior and enjoyment of various goods have either been fallen or in their vessels for a LONG TIME, perhaps gradually removing the disassociation from the body and gaining familiarity with its functions.

Yes, we can evoke Balthazar’s sexual activity, but we must also evoke his appreciation for wine and food and music and all of the other things that we have canonically, even mechanically witnessed in Castiel (inability to appreciate food or drink, in example, as an angel.) So WHAT makes Balthazar different that he CAN experience all of these things (beyond the potential of Plothole AF)? There is literally something he has that other angels don’t. The second Cas clicks back to angel, he can’t appreciate food anymore and beer does nothing for him, but Balthazar can enjoy alcohol? There is LITERALLY a difference of template of EVERYTHING going on here, not just sexuality. We can postulate it all we want, but the only one that immediately comes to mind is “gradual humanization”, as we haven’t the FOGGIEST idea how long he has had his vessel. Unless we assume various appreciations of his are Just An Act, but then why not assume it’s performance behavior on the sexuality too? Pick one or the other, don’t run the line on both. (Also if you want to be under the assumption that despite terminal soul dealing it was his first vessel run, I’m going to leave this as a note, and a REMINDER of his meddling in attachment to, handling, trade and use of human souls for his own means, and tuck this aside until we GET to the meaning of human souls.)

The VERY SAME can be said of Gabriel. And Gabriel we KNOW has been on earth as Gabe for a VERY. LONG. TIME. His sweet tooth is what got him busted. Again, it’s not just about his sexuality, it’s his entire composition is somehow DIFFERENT from otherwise canonical function of angels.

Again I point out there’s also a big ??????? on Naomi because again… 400 year old Crowley in Mesopotamia. We have no educated way to even ADDRESS that one because… is it a time warp? WTH??? Even Mark called this a plothole. Literally we have to headcanon how they were even there together before we headcanon what was even going on in a big old pillar of ridiculous headcanon, so I’m going to float that off in a box labeled with a question mark and admit, it’s just random AF. The “fling” is also implied and unclear. So I mean- we’ll just… note that and keep moving on why it’s never impacted my perception of this much.

How long fallen was Lucifer?

Hannah brings an obvious question to mind in challenge to all of my surrounding premises, but this is literally where “choice of experimentation within a vessel” comes into play, as with all of them. I’m human now, this seems like a fun thing to humans, let me try the thing; that’s all I’ve ever read that as. You may have your read of it otherwise, but angels try a lot of things. And I’ll bring this up during canon talk.

The concept of humanization-with-time does have some further established presence of S13. When Lucifer is still an angel but largely drained of his grace, he too begins feeling compulsions of hunger, cold, and basic human instinct he was previously immune to. Diminished power, and the closer one comes to being of Soul Rather than Grace, the more they seem to resonate. Anna carved out her grace to fully enjoy humanity and was born into it, experiencing its gifts of awareness. Cas can no longer fully enjoy humanity as an angel. We don’t know what Balthazar’s status is. And so on. But it appears that by VARIOUS METHODS, such as the depletion of grace or just being a long-assed time to attach to a specific vessel, they do end up ATTAINING various behaviors.

Preparing to speak on Humanized Angels.

What really triggered this premise to me was the recurring humanization of Castiel. And again, this goes far beyond just sexuality preferences. I’m going to do a brief break to get to that ** I marked above about the threefold nature of man before expanding.

** Mind-Soul-Body trinity:

Angels have the mind/spirit (grace) and body, but lack a soul; grace is closer to their natural body’s composition than molecular and transmits a wavelength thought into whatever sack they’re using to operate. But there’s a disconnect here in classic mind-soul-body structure (which is sometimes alternately listed as Body-Spirit-Soul, with Soul as the mind instead, and Spirit in place of the alternate listing of Soul? People swap these terms interchangeably but you’ll find a common pull). There’s multiple takes on this. For example, we’ll go with the standard accepted biblical take as a first ideation of it, considering the various judeochristian influences of SPN.

Please NOTE I’m going to list several variations of this, and have no hard cast “this is the exact model” they’re using, as much as “this is a recurring theme in religion and philosophy”, which, while SPN is rarely 100% accurate to any one specific model, they often call on.

The EXACT itterations of this vary, and there’s no real saying which exact respective “silent ven diagram” they’re using, but as if a triple circle overlapped with Mind, Body, Spirit with the balance we as humans know at the core. Removing a rung of this strips out major overlap of function.

The inner spirit, insight, will and memory reaching from spirit/mind to body by WAY of the soul, for the spirit to engage the human senses within the constructed universe

CASTIEL

Well, perhaps I’ve been down here with them for too long. There’s seemingly nothing but chaos. But not all bad comes from it. Art. Hope. Love. Dreams.

HANNAH

But t-those are human things.

CASTIEL

Yes.

To fully understand this chart, I again point to (as earlier in this post) this previous post about primordials, explaining the chain (x), Anima Animus and the Shadow (x) and also its association with the paths on way to enlightenment at the source of creation which is explored, for a particular path, right here (x)

Just another way to stack out this chart, including the adventure of Anima and Animus, as well as the id/ego/superego I’ll discuss soon; However, you can see the literal concept is the same. There’s an inner mind, a central essence of the inner court that reflects close to the aspects of Humanity Cas told Hannah, and then the “living room” of the body, and the senses. Same deal. Again, "I'm the cage."

You see a running theme here?

The Soul is essentially commonly received as a vehicle between the higher mind and the body (as well as possessing aspects of our emotion, and sense of self, such as how Sam lost parts of himself without his soul) That, without which, we are lacking various critical anchors of the human experience that we often see lacking in angels.

This therein raises the challenge, “But Soulless Sam was ALL ABOUT the sex.”

That’s where species difference comes in.

We’ll talk psychology a bit, wherein we have the psychological variances of id, ego and superego rather than just body-soul-mind/spirit. They essentially perform the same functions (base instinct drive, early personality function, learned and refined function with choices etc, to boil it down to super-simplistics).

“According to this Freudian model of the psyche, the id is the set of uncoordinated instinctual trends; the super-ego plays the critical and moralizing role; and the ego is the organized, realistic part that mediates between the desires of the id and the super-ego.” – Freud, Sigmund. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. Vol. XIX. Translated from the German under the General Editorship of James Strachey. In collaboration with Anna Freud. Assisted by Alix Strachey and Alan Tyson, Vintage, 1999. [Reprint.] ISBN 0-09-929622-5

A Sam with no soul has his base species survival instinct but his acting mind. A Cas with no soul has HIS base species survival instinct (in lack of sexual reproduction as much as potential learned appreciation under the above spoken methods) for an id, if any, and a curiously arranged body until other elements come into play. The ego and superego, such as the application of a soul, leaves room for the gradual inclusion of preferences to anything within this model, such as angels developing their own ORIENTATION once having a vehicle by which to come through.

There’s a few other points to notice about the transition. The Mind/Spirit is capable of questions and doubts, or faith. “I’m not a hammer, as you call it; I have questions, I have doubts.” - S4 Castiel.

The mind is capable to think and to reason, but complex emotions are a challenge to it without a soul, which also filters our thoughts and memories from upper mind into the body, wherein we gain connectivity to the physical senses and the realm we experience.

But the universe -- the wavelengths of intent that make it function -- simply can not experience itself, any more than any other code running on your computer can experience itself. It is you, the human, that experiences the results of that code, and views and understands it and reaches out to aspects of life through it. Grace, should all things be made by it and through Chuck, as the thing that creates this code/intent of angels -- it simply is, and runs, and functions.

So BACK TO THE HUMANIZATION OF ANGELS,

Castiel has humanized or near-humanized three times and we're pending on a fourth. Briefly in the hospital, he was braindead (lacking Jimmy’s brain function, but instead having his own mind) while his heart remained pumping, meaning the body/vessel was alive, but the remaining grace WAS in fact functioning in place of a mind.

CASTIEL 5.21 I just woke up here. The doctors were fairly surprised. They thought I was brain-dead. (…) CASTIEL You could say my batteries are – are drained. DEAN What do you mean? You’re out of angel mojo? CASTIEL I’m saying that I am thirsty and my head aches. I have a bug bite that itches no matter how much I scratch it, and I’m saying that I’m just incredibly… DEAN Human. Wow. Sorry.

However, it was depleted, and this is addressed in effect later on by Metatron removing grace. As grace is removed,

METATRON 8.23 And now something wonderful is going to happen, for me and for you. I want you to live this new life to the fullest. Find a wife. Make babies. And when you die and your soul comes to Heaven, find me. Tell me your story.

Now Castiel goes on to return to himself by going all cannibal and whatnot, but that’s its own story. The simple fact of it is, with the mind housed in a vessel, but the grace attached to it depleted, the body seems to generate something like, equivalent to, or equal to a human soul in its function.

Now to reflect back

2014!CASTIEL 5.04 So, in this way. We’re each a fragment of total perception—just, uh, one compartment in that dragonfly eye of group mind. Now, the key to this total, shared perception—it’s, um, it’s surprisingly physical. 2014!CASTIEL spots DEAN. 2014!CASTIEL Oh. Excuse me, ladies. I think I need to confer with our fearless leader for a minute. Why not go get washed up for the orgy? The WOMEN leave. 2014!CASTIEL You’re all so beautiful. 2014!CASTIEL stands and stretches his back, grunting. DEAN What are you, a hippie? 2014!CASTIEL I thought you’d gotten over trying to label me. (…) 2014!CASTIEL I wish I could just, uh, strap on my wings, but I’m sorry, no dice. DEAN What, are you stoned? 2014!CASTIEL Uh, generally, yeah. DEAN What happened to you? 2014!CASTIEL Life. (…) 2014!CASTIEL You want some? DEAN Amphetamines? 2014!CASTIEL It’s the perfect antidote to that absinthe. DEAN Mmm. Don’t get me wrong, Cas. I, uh. I’m happy that the stick is out of your ass, but—what’s going on—w-with the drugs and the orgies and the love-guru crap? 2014!CASTIEL laughs. DEAN What’s so funny? 2014!CASTIEL Dean, I’m not an angel anymore. DEAN What? 2014!CASTIEL Yeah, I went mortal. DEAN What do you mean? How? 2014!CASTIEL I think it had something to do with the other angels leaving. But when they bailed, my mojo just kind of— psshhew!—drained away. And now, you know, I’m practically human. I mean, Dean, I’m all but useless. Last year, broke my foot, laid up for two months. DEAN Wow. 2014!CASTIEL Yeah. DEAN So, you’re human. Well, welcome to the club. 2014!CASTIEL Thanks. Except I used to belong to a much better club. And now I’m powerless. I’m hapless, I’m hopeless. I mean, why the hell not bury myself in women and decadence, right? It’s the end, baby. That’s what decadence is for. Why not bang a few gongs before the lights go out? But then that’s, that’s just how I roll.

Now, we can try to extrapolate that it’s “all the drugs,” but drugs or not, while decadence includes MORAL decline, it also is this:

dec·a·dence ˈdekədəns/Submit noun moral or cultural decline as characterized by excessive indulgence in pleasure or luxury.

And Cas doesn’t get words wrong (unless he’s trying to make an awkward conversation starter with Dean as what’s almost a routine for them, always in idioms and never in definition). In fact, he has a very on-point vocabulary. How often does someone evoke “Insouciant”?

Calling it decadence defines this as a luxury to Castiel. The entire episode is like One Giant Exposition of the differences: being breakable, prone to decadence, bang a few gongs on the way out. Yes, it includes drugs; hell, he’s now subject to being INFLUENCED by drugs, contrary to being able to drink down the entire bar before “starting to feel something” or needing to drink the whole liquor store before the grace stopped implicitly filtering it enough for him to stagger in on Sam. At some point, Castiel decided these were ALL his coping mechanisms, but this is an adaptation of some period of humanization between late 2009 and 2014.

This could be considered a one-off of Zachariah’s manipulation or whatever if we choose to ignore Edlund saying it was a real universe, but then we get the SAME THING hitting us again in season 9, if under a different, immediate scope rather than “end result.”

9.01 CASTIEL looks at his bloody palm. CASTIEL It hurts. (…) MAN How about we get you some water, hmm? CASTIEL I, uh, I don’t drink water. (…) CASTIEL It’s okay. I don’t eat.

and

9.03 CASTIEL (Chewing on the toothpaste) I’ll be moving on tonight after work. It’s time. The MAN nods and hangs up his towel. CASTIEL Can I ask you something? MAN Sure. CASTIEL walks into one of the bathroom stalls. CASTIEL Do you ever tire of urinating? I’ll never get used to it. (…) HOMELESS MAN You’re new at this, aren’t you? CASTIEL Food… sleep, or passing gas, it’s all very strange. And it’s occurred to me that one day I’m gonna die. CASTIEL and the HOMELESS MAN just look at each other curiously. CASTIEL Well… I better try falling asleep. It’s quite a process, isn’t it? (…)

Now, we’re going to take to the raw moment of Castiel and April,

She kisses him gently on the cheek, but stays close and eventually kisses him on the lips. CASTIEL seems surprised at first but then joins in.

Cas is surprised… and then joins in. Castiel did not expect this, but falls into it of his own action. No force was implied, and the moment leading into it was all of a few seconds, rather than any persistence or insistence.

A few more bits,

APRIL So, that was okay? CASTIEL Very much so. Um… what I did, that was, uh… correct? APRIL Very much so. CASTIEL (Smiling) (…) APRIL So what happens next for you? CASTIEL More of this, I hope. They smile and start making out again.

I don’t exactly get the feeling that she’s entirely leading this situation on all by herself, to the dismay of several gatekeeper ship or sexuality stans.

More elements with regards to humanity in this episode,

CASTIEL I am really enjoying this place. Plentiful food. Good water pressure. Things I never even considered before. There really is a lot to being human, isn’t there? DEAN It ain’t all just burritos and strippers, my friend. CASTIEL Yeah. I understand what you’re saying. SAM You do? CASTIEL Yes, there’s more to humanity than survival. You… look for purpose, and you must not be defeated by anger or despair. Or hedonism, for that matter. DEAN Where does hedonism come into it? CASTIEL Well, my time with April was very educational. SAM Yeah. I mean, I would think that getting killed is something. CASTIEL And having sex. DEAN chokes on his burrito for a second. DEAN You had sex with April? SAM Yeah, that would be where the hedonism comes in.

This isn’t just Castiel talking about having sex for the first time. This is Castiel acknowledging the allure of hedonism for the first time (…not minding the timewarp of 5.04, which didn’t happen Because AU.)

And here, also 9.03, before meeting April CASTIEL is once again wandering through the noise and the people. He is trying to take everything in – he glances from a hot dog stand to a woman’s breasts to a supermarket. The whole place is noisy and crowded and confusing. He is overwhelmed.

In 9.03, among this onslaught of Castiel’s change in visual, sound, sensory, and other instinctual acknowledgment of a change in the senses (see back to the 3Fold Nature and the acquisition of a human soul), we also get Castiel rubbernecking at a woman’s chest for the first time, before encountering April; the transcript doesn’t do the moment proper justice with the pure level of focus directors and editors called to it. In fact, we get slow camera pan and a rubberneck that might as well have ended with him walking-flipping into a trashcan blindside.

With all of these stacked connotations aside, I find it difficult to interpret anything but it being installed as a yet-again evocation of a difference in function.

Episodes 1 and 3, the first two episodes Castiel is in during season 9 after losing his grace at the end of season 8, DELUGE us with a current of differences of all of his sensory faculties.

Once his state is “corrected,” (for lack of a better term - Castiel seems to yearn for his humanity back through the show) the show makes a point of showing us a reversal as applicable,

SAM What? What are you talking about? CASTIEL When I was human, you know, I had to eat constantly. It was kind of annoying. SAM Yeah, a lot of human things are pretty annoying. CASTIEL But…I enjoyed the taste of food – particularly peanut butter with grape jelly, not jam. Jam I found unsettling. SAM [sitting on the table next to CASTIEL] So, what? Now you can’t taste PB and J? CASTIEL No, I-I taste every molecule. SAM Not the sum of its parts, huh? CASTIEL It’s overwhelming. It’s disgusting. [looks longingly at the sandwich] I miss you, PB and J.

Once again, paradigm shift. What he once appreciated, amidst the VAST wash of senses they told us about, just seems… null now. Something is missing, and something is different. Again, the universe can no longer experience ITSELF.

Now, I’m going to fall back a bit to cover what would possibly be framed as an argument against all of this, but frankly builds into it,

Back in season 6, Meg was UNABASHEDLY FLIRTING WITH CASTIEL and trying to prompt him to “move some furniture around,” and, in a learned “last night on earth” move, Castiel makes a motion in 6.10

Meg grabs Castiel by the neck and kisses him, at the same time removing his sword. Castiel pushes her up against the wall and returns the kiss with interest. MEG: What was that? CASTIEL: I learned that from the pizza man.

NOTICE. LEARNED THAT.

With FORWARD PROMPTING from Meg, and existing example (porn), Castiel did in fact make a move. That is to say, “learned behaviors” and “personal orientation” beyond “species reproductive instinct”. But as made clear by April, this never led anywhere particular, never completed, and while he expressed wanting repeats with April during being human, this is the only actual example we have of it.

In short: throughout the show, Castiel finds new things and tests new things. These new things become bizarre little childlike obsessions at times even. This one… obviously a little less childlike. (clears throat) But again, this is a process of “learned motion.” (though I’m somewhat disturbed that canonically Emmanuel-Cas sees her face and is absolutely horrified at her appearance, meaning this is also not likely even by nature of physical/spiritual attraction as much as personal, almost a demisexual trait with experimental curiosity which, as an independent idea beyond “holy shit she’s a demon”, is a healthy phase.)

But by way of learned motion/acquired taste and function, we then have the question of “why doesn’t Cas repeat this if he clearly enjoyed season 9?” Well, I can name a few. We can go over the fact that Cas simply doesn’t explore social venues that make it ready. Or we can mention his seeming lack of compulsion for it which ...is a topic of this post. Or we can simply reflect to the *challenges* of hedonism and what it will, in this post, continue to implicitly adventure as the cage and trappings of the human body and experience within what we call “life”, which the human soul extends well beyond.

But it leads us to an interesting series of questions about Castiel and Dean’s seemingly changed interactions in season 12, on a subliminal level.

And no, I’m not implying they’re boning. When Dean is no longer getting strung across a variety of cosmic elements to save him directly from the crosshairs of, or from himself, we’re getting this weird vibe of gruff jealousy, bickering, and infighting. As if Castiel, settling in more among them, is channeling increased humanity. Despite being an angel in some crippled capacity still, personality traits acquired from his human period are still there, leading to believe the soul element never ENTIRELY disappeared, as much as with further ding-dang-donged up grace, we have to wonder - is this almost a sliding scale? Or can both run mutually when one doesn’t overshadow the other? The exact specifics of this mechanic would be unclear.

But all of these complexities is why I find it nearly impossible to, in my head, reduce it to the simple “well some like it and-” because I have always read an intentional base-beat of differentiation between the human and angelic experience including, but not limited to, sex.

There’s a subtle hint of some osmosis of this in what I mentioned above with Hannah. “Perhaps I’ve been with them too long.”

CASTIEL

Well, perhaps I’ve been down here with them for too long. There’s seemingly nothing but chaos. But not all bad comes from it. Art. Hope. Love. Dreams.

HANNAH

But t-those are human things.

CASTIEL

Yes.

And so why I find it impossible to just address “angel sexuality” as its own topic. This may just be my brain at work, but I don’t see all of this effort in dividing their experiences, in a show that addresses theology and concepts like the human soul, to be arbitrary and random and I just see SO much beautiful complexity IN the shift of his sexual behaviors, among other operations. It’s not just about Castiel’s sexuality, it’s about addressing the complex creatures that are humans, and what builds us at a core. Frankly, from that end, it doesn’t matter if Cas is bi, ace, straight or pan – Castiel has been human, and wants to be so again. And it, along with other things littered throughout the show, have given us great insights on the soul, or the lack thereof, and all of these beautiful building blocks.

And so to roll away from approaching sexuality so heavily, and instead ball and bundle that up as part of the human experience within the body, the reflection of the human soul, I hook again: The universe can not experience itself more than Windows OS can experience itself; it requires the essence of man to experience the result of the work of grace and by which it finds many things of itself, even within the trappings of a human life.

The fact that humans are afterwards caged elsewhere is a whole other discussion me and others have been holding in the original linked post, so let's step away from that and instead go back to the concept of, far and away beyond sexuality, what makes a soul, and how is it different from the created universe.

If we were to apply these concepts -- angels, bodies of grace, as parts of the universe and how it functions -- versus the irrevocable free will fundamental to the human soul, dividing bodies from just being roving parts of the construct like Gabriel's realms -- to our dialogue in regards to Castiel as our seeming oddball with a crack in his chassis, "And the universe came to humanity, and laid hands on humanity, and fell in love with humanity to come to know it; it abandoned its own purpose and functions due to this connection to the concept of the human soul, and began to live and dream and love as a man, rebelling against its predesigned function; and one day, the orphic child of both the universe and man looked through the eyes of the universe to first see man, and itself was born from the universe unto man, to live and learn as a man and hold its dominion of both human sovereignty and creator of grace, mastering both realms." in regards to Jack's very creation, and why he is such a huge threat to Chuck's power and control of his realm.  

As a powerful creature of grace, he can take and reroute those elements without issue by authoritative command of the independent liberty of the human soul, free thinking and not just a Doctor Sexy Nurse in motion.

But the question is conversion, which we've seen in both directions, be it Castiel acquiring a human soul or Jack converting humans into angels with his command of both of these dominions. The best I could liken it to is AC/DC energy conversion. It is worth noting, however -- grace can be drained without permission, it is not tied to freedom. Humanity is the body of choice: be that humans choosing to surrender that in the name of glory and power to simply become part of universal functions, which isn't so different from choosing to burn one's own soul away in the name of spells, magic or other power; or the human spirit attached to its cage of a body and life still needing to concede and give permission to be taken BY the forces of the universe, surrendering the potential impact of their own choices within their own moving cage to what the universe would will of it.

Ironically, if you use an AC inverter to power a computer or television, the power supply in the device is converting the 120-volt alternating current into a much lower voltage direct current. The sensitive electronic circuits in these devices need low, regulated voltages to work, so you're actually converting DC to AC so it can be changed back into DC again. You can't use straight direct current without the AC to DC inverter because the device's power supply needs the AC power in order to properly step down and regulate the voltage. That is to say, in conversion parts are lost, but they can still be transmitted; so while Castiel was subject to the human experience, he still struggled with parts like dreaming. It was a young, small spark of a soul, converted from another energy form, and likely with his connection to Dean acting as the inverter.

Demons go to the empty; demons are former human souls that corrupted and lost the light that made them inherently "good." That which defines them. They have collapsed to the pressures of Chuck's universes and let their flame go out. But realistically, that's also antagonized by other human souls in hell trying to escape their own torment.

It has been seen, time and again, that the only thing that can destroy a human soul is... the human soul.

*takes a breath*

And now to explore what @curioussubjects​ has been saying about The Shadow as a recycling Bin of souls, which would predate the universe and even Chuck, I simply repeat this segment, to help master-off this post:

If we take the Shadow as the reflection of the collective soul, which then becomes the substantiative Prima Materia through which all things come (x), including even the potential of Chuck and Amara as manifestations of the primitive concept of masculine and feminine, light and dark as among the first thoughts in the cosmos. But in such by it all things are born, even the universe or the gods, in this proposed theory. It is the primitive self asking (per the far-above chart), first–well, WTF, why am I thinking, but after that – who are they, and then who am I, and then eventually who are you, before the end of the soul’s journey on its path is Who Art Thou, long ventured within the constructed realm to learn what it means that we even exist.

Those first thoughts then create the totemic pillars of creation by which it can explore the very meaning of existence, even if its own thoughts have made cages and trappings for itself in the expansion of infinite time, but those cages are themselves the vehicles of higher learning and experience, and without those cages, the rest is for naught.

This is the nature of the Prima Materia, the One Thing by which all comes which I linked above. If the soul and Prima Materia are synonymous, then while the universe comes by grace, then all things -- even grace -- come by way of the raw template of the collective soul, which then structures all resulting thought and experience through an infinite series of independent human experience that defines who were are, independent to ourselves, beyond the vat of primitive consciousness that binds us.

The question even comes, why not just reset time? But I am good with who I am. I am good with who you are. This isn't just a story. It's our lives. So god or no god, you go to hell.

And so the reincarnate journey of the man, through the many deaths and rebirths of Sam and Dean and lessons gained within the universe, begins to lock on to the meaning of the independent self in what it means in full, beyond the challenges sent by the creator that may very well be a reflection of our own primal thoughts, our doubts, our fears, our internalized challenges not too unlike the Shadow which again I raise, and point back to the above-linked protogenic discussion of the masculine and feminine paths: In this premise, are Chuck and Amara anything less than the Animus and Anima of humanity, should the Shadow be their forefather?

The path of alchemy, before it became pursuit of literal gold, was about self completion and sovereignty. The phases I have listed above, as well as a brief overview of Dabb's use of it, but if anyone wants a visual aide in these, check out these three videos (x) (x) (x) and remember that Chuck desperately wants them to believe that nothing Gold can stay, should it complete this path; because should man become Gold, they also become God, and he has no authority here. Because in the end, if we abandon the cages -- be it human bodies or heaven -- in here, in this headspace that is Chuck's, we're all just projections of the primitive man trying to find our independent meaning in life. So in here, we're all the same. So in here, Chuck's all talk. And Chuck's afraid, and even wounded by elements of his own creation fallen into the free hands of man.

And so to FULLY hook back, the effects of the fall --

To be detached in various tiers from the divine spheres of constructed intent, and surrendered unto man, or touched by man, or tied to man, or even converted unto man simply seems to be removing the lines of code that defines the constructed universe and instead leaves only the experience of soul, be it directly gained or by proxy. And with that comes many things -- be that the oft-discussed sexuality of angels or any of their other senses, but also their ability like Castiel to understand "complex" ideas like independent thought and function that is otherwise like "explaining poetry to fish" to his kin. I remind you of Agent Smith in the Matrix, who was essentially infected with the power of the One that completely started warping the laws of the universe and, eventually, left the universe, to become the body of man outside of the universe.

It is the universe falling into man, as man at some point seems to have fallen into the universe. And their child now waits beyond the universe, holding council with Death and the Inky Man over what to do from here.

The human experience is double-sided. By it we learn, experience, and exist; but as chuck designed the sandbox, so too did he the bodies as cages. So be that "hedonism" or anything else, these are limitations and bindings. It is not the limits themselves, as much as what we learn in facing them, that becomes who we are as people, and what meaning we bring to our own existence. And this, some angels themselves have chosen to convert and surrender themselves to, some more successfully than others, but the ultimate point between all of them is "Free Will", whether they like PBJ, sex, or good water pressure at the same time -- something that only comes from divorcing themselves from the divine spheres, when otherwise they're numb to bullets or a knife through the heart. The universe simply operates. Man experiences. The universe learns more of itself only by way of man, as man learns the universe.

There are those who fall that do not embrace humanity, but instead explore their creation. These are rogue programs, but still limited in their function. Be that angling out a line at a river, or just needling humanity as lesser ants. But these do not come to the same essence of humanity that those who choose to fall into it and truly experience it do. They still lack a great deal of motivation or purpose, as in breaking away from their programming without gaining genuine compulsion to want, to seek, to find, they find fascinations between their own strips of code that immerse themselves in, and sit, and observe, still not too unlike Anna before completely divorcing herself from her grace.

It is humanity, be it indirect or direct, that proxies the ability to experience, desire, and enjoy, and that more than anything is the nature of man and his power. It is the path of the Soul between Gevurah and Hesed; from the divine spheres descending, passive intellect and active intellect from the different pillars, and hidden higher learnings, reach by way of Spirit and Mind towards the individual self, strapped across passive and active emotion to learn the individual self. From the angle of man, in the material world, and the body as a manifestation of it, our ego, identity, and other evolutions of the mind TOWARDS the self of individuality lead from Tiferet, by path of the soul, into those emotions to climb the tree towards the divine self. Hell, I'll repost the chart so you don't have to scroll.

Castiel, the consciousness of the divine, with active spirit and mind, and intellect, descended towards the individual self within the realm of ego and super ego, and learned of them through Dean Winchester, while hedging at the sphere of emotional complexes and the identity of the self by which he chose to fall into the world and humanity, into and below and between the cross paths of the soul, and in those paths attained a soul. Dean Winchester, on the other hand, was lifted to explore the upper spheres in reverse, to understand the divine self gradually, and with time, as we now prepare to face within season 15.

Man is freedom. And some fall into it. But man can conquer the tree of his own ironic fashioning. The only absolute is what thou wills of it.

The rest is commentary.

Let there be gold. But all that is gold does not glimmer.

[dawnaress]

  MVP of Horror: Rachel True reflects on her experience as the only Black star of 'The Craft'

Rachel True is the first to tell you that she wasn’t supposed to be in The Craft. When the script for the 1996 Goth horror favorite first made the rounds in Hollywood, there were several obstacles that stood in the way of her joining a cast that included rising stars Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell and Robin Tunney. “I had to fight to read for it,” True tells Yahoo Entertainment now. “My agents at the time were like, ‘You’re probably too old.’” (Watch our video interview above.)

Not only that, but the role that True auditioned for — Rochelle Zimmerman, one of four teen girls at a Catholic high school who form a Manon-worshipping witch’s coven — was written for a white actress. Undaunted, she relied on “smoke and mirrors” to get into the room and ultimately won the part, setting a new precedent for teen movies in the process. “It’s a big movie in terms of my career, but it’s also a big movie for Black people out there,” she says. “It’s one of the first teen movies that wasn’t a Black teen movie or a white teen movie.”

The obstacles didn’t end after True landed the role. If anything, they intensified during and after production as the actress felt herself being marginalized in favor of her co-stars. True makes it clear that she didn’t experience any overt hostility from the rest of the cast; instead, it was the studio and people behind the camera who seemed intent on holding her back. “When we were shooting the movie, I had literally been told by my team to stay away from Fairuza,” she remembers. “[They said] she can get away with stuff, and you will get fired for it. I was literally told, ‘You’re Black, so don’t say, ‘F*** you, mommy,’ like the white girls.’”

She also had to fight for equal attention during the film’s publicity tour. “They put up a poster of the four of us, mentioned the three girls and then skipped down the call sheet, I think, ‘This is how Black actors get underpaid, this is how they get forgotten, and it’s part of why I mouthed off about the publicity back in the day that I was excluded from. At the time, I don’t think my castmates understood; they were like, ‘You’re not as famous as us.’ What they didn’t get is that in the early to mid-1990s, [the studios] excluded the Black person, which meant they were never going to be as famous as you because they didn’t get the press.”

True experienced that exclusion as recently as last year, when she took to Twitter to reveal how a fan convention declined to invite her to a planned Craft reunion featuring Balk, Campbell and Tunney. (The actress credits Balk, now a close friend, with tipping her off about being left out.) “I had my guy call them up and say, ‘You could have the first reunion since 1996 with all the ladies, and they were like, ‘No thanks,’” she says. “My thing is that everything in life comes down to money, and if you don’t want the money [from a cast reunion] then as a Black person, what else am I supposed to think?”

After her tweets went viral, the convention reversed course and the full Craft coven reunited in March 2019. “I’m glad I spoke up,” True says. “Hopefully it opens the door for other people, so that when I go to the conventions it's not just me and maybe one other Black person.”

Racism is a subject within The Craft as well. As originally written, Rochelle struggled with bulimia, but the film’s co-writer/director, Andrew Fleming, revamped that storyline after True was cast. In the finished film, the character’s antagonist is Christine Taylor’s Laura Lizzie, a high school mean girl with a special hate-on for Rochelle. “First of all, Christine Taylor is so nice,” True says, laughing. “People come up to me and say, ‘Was she really racist?’ And I’m like, ‘She’s the sweetest woman in the world!’ I had gone to an all-white public school, so it was a great way to exorcise those demons if you will. It wasn't the first time someone called my hair pubic hair — that's the truth. So to have that in the movie was fitting, I think, as far as how people think.”

During filming, True remembers being uncomfortable with the way Fleming used her skin color as a plot point. “I remember thinking, ‘Do they see Blackness as a problem?’ All the characters have issues, and to me being Black wasn’t an issue; the way other people treat me for being Black is the issue. But once I really thought about when I got older, I realized it’s a good thing they have that in there. We’d come out of a time where we had things like The Cosby Show where nobody ever mentioned racism, and here was a movie that tackled it head on. I do think it’s interesting, though, that the other three characters never say anything about it! Not one of them is ever like, ‘That’s too bad that she’s racist towards you.’ I don’t think they would do that today.”

One other story choice that still rankles her a quarter century later is that Rochelle loses her supernatural powers at the end of the movie, while Tunney’s Sarah keeps hers. “Even in the mid-‘90s they knew they couldn’t kill off the Black chick,” she jokes. “But I was like, ‘Rochelle is more powerful than this! She’s an astral bridge, why is she cowering?’ That’s actually how I felt about that scene.”

Those memories are balanced out by the fun that True had making The Craft, whether it was flying around on harnesses or having a plaster mold made of her face for certain special effects sequences. “I loved all that stuff — I love movie magic. It's why I love being an actor because you put on this character and you get to experience life! I knew there was a lot for me to learn; Fairuza gave me a really good tip, because she was more experienced than I was. For the scene where we licked blood off our fingers, I kind of deep-throated my finger and she told me, ‘Rachel, it’s film and it’s a close-up. Just a small lick will do.’ So she might not have been the friendliest when we were shooting, but she was there to make a great movie. And she makes the movie, right? She’s so intense and fabulous in it.”

True shares other stories about the making of The Craft, as well as tales from her eventful life and career, in True Heart Intuitive Tarot, a boxed set that includes a tarot deck and a guidebook that’s part memoir and part tutorial. “It’s helped me with my career in Hollywood, a town full of smoke and mirrors,” True says of her lifelong interest in tarot. “I use tarot as a therapist — like a shrink in a box I like to say — so that I understand what I’m upset about or what’s going on.”

And with the True Heart book and deck, she’s hoping to instruct other people on mastering the art of reading tarot cards. “People hit me up on my DMs, saying, ‘Can I get a reading from you?’ And I’m like, ‘No, you can’t afford me!’” she laughs, adding that she’s mostly retired from doing public and private readings. “The idea with the book is that you can learn it for yourself... and you can heal yourself.”

The Craft is available to stream on Hulu or rent or our purchase on Amazon, iTunes and FandangoNOW. True Heart Intuitive Tarot is available on Amazon.

— Video produced by Jen Kucsak and edited by John Santo

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

[stattic-writes]

Snake Pit

https://statticscribbles.tumblr.com/post/639099629845233664/masterlist

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[messagefromtheveins]

Girl I’m with u lets kick Andrew ass and make him disappear so the true mvp cez can take care of Shawn properly

I'm ready to fight (ง'̀-'́)ง

[bballinspiration]

During the Team USA vs Team Canada exhibition game, Brook Lopez was adopted by Australia.

With no real horse to back in the game and true Aussie spirit, the crowd went crazy anytime loveable big man Brook Lopez touched the ball.

What a beautiful love story. 😂

Brook Lopez after getting MVP chants in Sydney: “I’ll have to text Andrew Bogut and ask what the professional league is like out here. Maybe come out here and do it with him.”

[idontneedtobeforgiven]

Rambly Kitchener TTYCT post

Just to get all my thoughts down before I pass out.

I was late 🙃 And came in during the end of the Bowie number which ugh but ITS OKAY BECAUSE THE REST OF THE SHOW WAS AMAZING. Honestly just... oof. Weapo’s new ex was literally breathtaking. Hands down the best thing I’ve ever seen them do. Eric’s composition with Chiddy skating was beautiful. Eric and Meagan still give me heart attacks doing some of their moves. Scott was literally a foot away from me during the flashmob. Scott and Elvis also had a little shimmy together. The Diamonds suits are EVEN MORE SPARKLY IN PERSON. During the dance off, I legit text my wife “I am dropping eggs left and right, I am so bi”

MEET AND GREET WAS OVERWHELMING! I made little, like, get well bags for each cast member (with tea, honey, cough drops, tissues, etc) and Elvis (who we met first) was like “oh man this is a GREAT idea, thank you so much” then was Weapo and Eric and Meagan. I cursed at them a lot 😂 But they were also thankful for the gifts and I was like “Meagan I don’t know your stance on honey so I’m sorry if it being in the bag offends you.” And she was like “it’s okay, thank you!” And Kaitlyn complimented me on my earrings! Oh, and since @levenin went before me, they asked if I was from Texas too and I said no, California, and they seemed shocked we came all that way. But anyway, I told Eric and Meagan how fucking terrified I was seeing them perform in Montreal and Meagan asked if it was less scary this time and I said no lol Then I turned to Weapo and this exchange occurred: Me: your new-

Kaitlyn: Free?

Me: No

Kaitlyn: Dance with some-

Me: yes. Just... fuck.

Kaitlyn and Andrew then laughed and I moved on to the last line!

I took a picture with the group of them (Tessa, Scott, Chiddy, and Kaetlyn) with Scott being like “Hey, hows it going” to which I responded FINE LIKE I WASNT DYING then rounded back around the tables and presented the gifts and I explained what they were and Tessa said “I was JUST saying how I felt like I was getting sick, this is great!” (Which lmao yes, girl sounded congested) And Scott was like “oh man, did Stojko get one?” And I explained I made some for the whole cast and they were like “this is so thoughtful thank you”

And I had Kaetlyn and Chiddy sign my bag and was like “but I actually want you guys to sign something else since I know it’s only one thing” to which Scott replied “No, we’ll sign it all” like 😭 So I explain that I got to see them at SOI in Montreal because I broke my arm curling (to which their eyes got wide and Scott was like “oh gosh”) and that I picked up this notebook while I was there and that writing means a lot to me so if they could sign it.

They did and then I was like “okay, I kind of have another thing that’s breaking the rules. But I’ve lost like, twenty pounds and I’ve been getting through it by watching your skates on the treadmill. Can y’all make me a video telling me to get my ass out of bed and go work out?” AND THEN THEY ACTUALLY DID! They were like “yes of course!” And Tessa asked for my name and then said my name was really pretty (AFHIEJK) and I was gonna take the video but Chiddy was like I CAN DO IT and NOW I HAVE A VIDEO OF TESSA AND SCOTT LEGIT YELLING AT ME TO GO KICK ASS (AND CHIDDY AT THE END TOO). Then I got hugs and promptly fucking died. Like, there was SO MUCH EYE CONTACT GUYS. SO. MUCH.

Other highlights of the M&G: Scott literally singing hella loud and controlling the playlist. Scott attempting to stand on his stool. Scott getting EVERYONE to sing happy birthday to this girl. This other kid who was too shy to go up to the cast and Scott kept talking to him from across the room until the boy legit pulled his hat over his face and turned around. Chiddy “moonwalking.” Kaetlyn being an absolute stunner. @wishfulwannabe being the true MVP and taking my group shot with the last ones and being just super amazing in general

Pictures to come when I’m awake 😂

[momestuck]

The author is not dead I guess?

oh this note from Cephied seems relevant:

andrew outlined the entire overarching plot ofc, down to the scene-by-scene level. my contributions to the plot were on a granular level: for instance, candy 6 called for jane to visit jake & tell him that she was no longer running for president, but the fact that jake was day drunk at 9am and doing target practice inside his house when she got there was all me some scenes were more thoroughly outlined than others but overall the epilogues were andrew's vision, tho me & the other writers were given freedom to put our own flourishes on it!

and another one here on how much each writer wrote:

andrew wrote the dialogue for the prologue & the first few scenes of meat, + a couple other scenes near the end of either (the obama scene for instance). I wrote about 60k on either part straight from the prologue onward, give or take a few scenes.

V was the true MVP and filled in all over the place where I couldn't (I suffered a p. severe concussion in the middle of writing & had to take medical leave for a while lol) as well as contributing full scenes to the middle/end of candy & the end of meat. lalo & aysha contributed heavily to the end of candy

but I wanna stress that it was a True Collaborative effort. V did the bulk of the nitty gritty, editing & Andrew made cuts and revisions to everything. We all read over and commented on/revised each other's work to make sure it was as cohesive as possible

also Detective Pony parallels are apparently a coincidence; Cephied and the others did not read DP until after they wrote the epilogue.

V wrote most of the Gamzee dialogue, though Cephied wrote the Vriska/Gamzee scene.

there’s spoilers in that thread (oops), though in this case I appreciate some warnings a bit.