#and Ramon deserves the world always in my opinion

[leemontoast]

Ok but it is the funniest shit ever to me that everyone is like oh no we are gonna have to start everything building from scratch again and Fit and Ramon(and probably inevitably Pac and maybe Richas too) have an entire fucking castle

[suffering-and-happy-about-it]

Rock You Like a Hurricane (The Eighties Blasts Collection, Part 12.)

Description: Jim Hopper died as a hero. But with that, one certain problem rises up - who will now lead the cops of Hawkins? Hopper thought of that - he decided to write a letter, naming his niece, nineteen-year-old student of Indianapolis police academy, Y/N Hopper as a sheriff deputy in a letter. But anybody in the town doesn’t have a clue that being a cop in Hawkins is way more dangerous than it might seem.

Part Summary: The whole party has finally assembled and there's only one more thing that needs to be done - Hopper needs to test if the monster is really connected to her like the first Demogorgon was to Eleven.

A/N: Song is a shoutout to Billy Hargrove - he might be not the best guy, but he did some pretty nice things in the end.

Word Count: 3 K

Tagging: @charmed-asylum​ @nemodoren​

Master list: The Eighties Blast Collection

It took two other days until everyone was able to meet up - it was a pretty Saturday night and everyone decided to meet up at the old car graveyard. Kids were calling it Junkyard, but the old car graveyard was a better name in your opinion. 

You and Steve were there two hours before the sunset, waiting on everybody else to show up. You sat on the top of an old school bus and watched the sun slowly disappearing behind the trees. It was truly beautiful, but it still was a bit cold. It was almost December after all - you just hugged yourself tighter and pushed the big, winter, lumberjack coat which you found in Hoppers cabin tighter on your body.

“How are you feeling?” - Steve asked suddenly. There were many things you could talk about and yet, you decided to keep your mouth shut. For example, you could ask him about him and Nance. You could talk about the last years you haven't seen each other. You could start asking questions, and a lot of them, but you were mostly just joking around.

Mostly, you were thinking about the vision the Shapeshifter showed you. If you had to be honest, you were everything but brave even if you tried to act like a tough cookie. Seriously, you were terrified out of your mind. What if the visions showed to be false? What if the Shapeshifter tried to play mind games with you? But what if they were real? There were at least dozen of Demogorgons somewhere in the world, kept at one place and there were probably even more which you couldn't see with your own eyes, and that was... Surreal. You have seen and heard what one Demogorgon can do. What could dozens of them do?

And there, of course, there was Jim. Was he alive or dead? Was he somewhere out there and was he waiting for your help? Or was he a lie as well? You needed to speak to somebody so bad, but the only person you would tell all of this was dead, currently MIA.

“Yeah, thanks for asking. Do I look bad or something?” - You joked, not sure if you're funny. Steve had an answer on his tongue, but he just swallowed it down. You thought that he doesn't see how many times you wake up in the night, panting and mumbling something, being completely disoriented for a few seconds until you realized where you were. You were quiet enough not to wake anyone, but Steve wasn't able to fall asleep most of both nights - you were in his room and there was a Shapeshifter roaming around in the woods.

“I just think it can be all a bit too much to handle singlehandedly, that's all.” - Steve mumbled to you before turning back to the sunset. 

“But I'm not alone in this one, Steve. There's five kids, two childhood friends, and Robin who are helping me handle this. Otherwise, I would simply go insane.” - You answered honestly, thinking that your whole talk is over. It wasn't.

“I don't have this situation on my mind. I mean the situation in your head.” - Steve slowly dropped the knees down from the top to swing them around as a small boy. - “Listen, Hoper, I know how does it feel like to be alone. For a time, I had no-one. My girlfriend left me, I realized that my best friends are just jerks and the only person I relied on, my dad, told me that I am his biggest disappointment since I didn't make it to college. If you need to talk to someone, a heart to heart talk, just remember that I'm here.” - Steve gave you a small smile, and you just looked at him without having anything to say. - “I just don't think it's fair that you were left alone, without Hopper. And I don't think it's fair that the Shapeshifter gave as much hope as it did.”

Alone. To feel alone. Such a strange feeling. To feel like no-one understands you, that you don't belong anywhere and to anyone. When you felt alone, it felt like you were floating, like an airship without an anchor. 

“I really hope that he's somewhere out there.” - You told Steve quietly, playing with the hem of the lumberjack coat with your thumb. - “I just really miss him. He really was like a dad to me, you know?” 

“I know, Hopper, I know. I remember the time you were living at his place in New York and came back for the holidays. We were together most of the time and we always went for a swim to Nancy's. We were six or something.” - Steve said with a smile, watching his old Converse shoes swinging in the air. 

That was a dark time in your life - or so you were told. Hopper made it the best year and a half of your life. You hadn't got a single bad memory on the time you've been living at his house in New York while he took you back here to have holidays in Hawkins. Sara took you as a sister, Hopper definitely took you as his little present, as he always called you. After that, it all crumbled down - your life, Hopper's life, Sara's life. But you didn't want to focus on that story. - “You never looked happier than here, when Hopper was taking care of you. We will do our best to find him, for you and Eleven. It's the least he deserves from us as payback for everything he's done to keep our asses safe.” - Steve promised and rose his pinkie for you to hold it. He could see the tears in your eyes and even though, you still rose yours to hug his. You tried to act so toughly, but Steve knew that it's just a mask you're wearing.

There was a whole story to be told, yours and Hopper's, but at the time, you didn't want to focus on any of it. Also, you heard the first bikes arriving at the old car graveyard, so it was finally the time to stop being so serious. It was Dustin with Lucas and Max, each of them holding a bucket of leftovers from the butcher's. Sometime after that, Mike with Nancy and Robin came out of the woods - Robin surely took them in her car. 

You started to prepare the playground - you made sure that the bus will be a totally safe space for the kids, you also made sure that the flashlights are lighting every small corner of the old car graveyard. Steve with Dustin prepared way made out of meat from the butcher's, telling everyone that they've done it already. The rest was securing the small meadow inside the junkyard - Max made herself one watchtower away from everyone where she was sitting with radio and with a sling by her side. 

Lucas made himself a bird's nest on the of the old school bust you and Steve were sitting at previously. Nancy had a revolver by her side just as you did, Steve came back with a baseball bat that had nails hammered in. Max and Lucas had slingshots and Robin found herself an old, rusty pipe. Dustin and Mike were the second radio tower on the bus, sitting alongside Lucas. Nancy was supposed to have a watch on the stairs of the bus meanwhile Robin and Steve were with you outside, protecting your right side and your back.

“Whatever happens, we're in this together.” - Mike told everyone just a quarter to ten o'clock remaining. You were standing next to a huge pile of meat that was supposed to be the main catch for the Shapeshifter. - “We won't leave anyone behind. If anyone dies, we're dying with them.” - Wheeler said as if that was for sure, which, of course, terrified you. 

“Nobodys going to die, dingus. We secured the junkyard, we are equipped, Lucas and Max have the best firecrackers around.” - Steve chuckled and each one of you put your palm into the middle of a circle, you bent forwards and yelled Hey ho, let's go! just like in The Ramones song.

You trusted each one of them and took a knife out of your pocket, opening it up. Your hands were trembling as you tried to catch your breath. Everyone was getting on their positions and those who already got there, watched your silhouette standing in all the lights coming from the flashlights. Nancy could exactly name the feeling you had - an endless fear from whatever was about to happen. You lingered the tip over your hand and when you wanted to cut the skin, you couldn't bring yourself to. That was when Steve appeared next to you.

"Need a little help with this?" - He asked, visibly as nervous as you were. You looked him in the eyes and handed him the knife. Steve exhaled, a cloud of mist coming out of his mouth. What if you were wrong? What if the Shapeshifter isn't connected to you in any way? What if it doesn't come and you just cut your palm for nothing?

Before you could tell any of your thoughts to Steve, you felt the knife opening up the skin on your palm as Steve gently pushed it in. His palm was supporting yours so it didn't move a bit even if it was visibly trembling. You looked at the blood rushing out of your body, instantly making your whole forearm and palm sticky, red and weirdly hot and cold at the same time.

"Thanks." - You mumbled and positioned the palm so the blood was dripping down on the meat beside you. Now, you only needed to wait and test out the theory. If it comes, it can sense you by the smell of your blood. You were pretty afraid of that. Steve just nodded and went back to position himself to protect your back.

You stood there until the blood stopped dripping, which took at least fifteen minutes. Steve was really precise with the cut, to say the least. It almost looked like that even the Shapeshifter will let you all alone with a cut on your hand, but then the lights started flickering. Mist covered the most of the small meadow you created and everyone was set in action - you saw Nancy stand up and Mike with Dustin were calling Max like crazy just to get some information. Robin and Steve got nervous and you looked around, searching for it.

You didn't know what form will it have or if more will come to get you - that was maybe why it's appearance shocked you so much. You were looking at Barb Holland coming directly from the place where Max was sitting. She had her ginger hair perfectly fixed, her glasses were neatly clean; Nancy could even say she had the exact same outfit she had the day she had disappeared. Anyone could tell a single word. You weren't able to. She was smiling and walking to you, her honest eyes were aimed at you. She looked just like you remembered her, not a single hair on her hair changed.

"Shoot it! Come on! I don't know who it is, but the monster is just fucking with you!" - Max yelled at you, ruining the moment completely. Until that second it looked like Barb, Shapeshifter of whatever the fuck it was, was coming in peace.

That was the moment when Shapeshifter came out of Barb, becoming a weird mix of her facial features and the Shapeshifter's body, now crawling on all-four, jumping directly at you as it mouths opened up. Not a second after that, Steve swung his bat to hit the target precisely, but even the small contact of you and the Shapeshifter was enough for you to roll your eyes backward. It was happening again - the time was slowed down and you were looking at Steve, who was yelling something at someone while you were falling on your hip. Whatever it was showing you previously, it had more story to tell.

The Mind Flayer has taken control over you once again and this time, you could actually see how it dragged you all over the planet since you didn't keep your eyes closed. You weren't even joking, you were just traveling through various places - you've seen the Eiffel tower in Paris, the Colosseum in Rome, the Prague castle in Czechoslovakia. And it dragged you further and further away from there - to a land covered in snow, where you were freezing to death. You stood knee-deep in the snow again, looking into woods. There were high trees around you and completely white snow.

“Can you hear me?” - You asked the misty ball, this time its tentacle was hugging your shoulders - it didn't respond back. Not a move, not a sound, not a signal. Your voice sounded somehow muted down as if you were trying to speak underwater. What were supposed to see? It was just a random forest. Until you were turned around harshly to face a huge rail track leading as far as you could see. A rail track? For what? 

You bit your lip, coming closer to the track, the ball on your shoulders still remaining on your shoulders. This couldn't be a normal rail track - it seemed to be new, barely used. It was placed in the heart of the wilderness, so the ones building it were trying to keep it away from people. Could it have something in common with the Demogorgons? 

“What on earth are you trying to show me?” - You asked before the misty ball dragged you off to somewhere again. It didn't step away from the snowy rail track, dragging along the construction. The length of it was... Insane. It was hundreds and hundreds of miles long. You stopped nearby a group of workers. There were men in long, warm coats, but it still seemed that they are not working on the rail track because they would love it so much. When you counted it down, you counted two guards looking after one person - ones were standing in watchtowers, presumably snipers, guards with dogs and ones holding AK-47.

Wait a minute. AK-47? Of course, you knew the machine guns, they told you about this type of machine guns at school. You wouldn't find a soldier with this gun in America - because this family of guns started and was distributed by soviets in...

Russia. You were in Russia. These people were Russians. You still couldn't understand a shit they said, but you noticed the small red stars on their apparel, the furry coats, atypical types of work equipment. If these were Russians and the Mind Flayer took you there, that meant that the pack of Demogorgons was in Russia.

You got even close since you were sure that these jackasses can't see you and looked at the men building the rail track. They were dirty, surely freezing. Each one of them looked almost extremely underweighted and tired - these men weren't workers, no. These ones were imprisoned, slaves to say the least.

“What is all of this?” - You asked the ball and suddenly, one of the men turned at you with disbelief in their face. This time, you got enough time to look at him - but you had trouble with saying that's Hopper for sure. These blue eyes were the only thing that made you sure - his skin was basically transparent, he was dirty with huge bags under his eyes, he didn't have any hair or beard. But in the short second you watched each other, the Mind Flayer showed you that it is truly Hopper. 

You suddenly had way more questions than answers - why was Hopper in Russia and how did he survive the explosion? What were the Russians doing with Demogorgons? What was the rail track for? And on whose side Shapeshifter was? You took a breath to say something to Hopper, at least a word, but you suddenly fell onto the ground, seeing and hearing Harrington yell something. 

Blood was dripping from your nose again, but this time, you knew you won't pass out. You heard shrieking, growling and shouting, some gunshots, yelling and hits with the baseball bat and rusty pipe, but you just watched the Shapeshifter running off. 

“Hopper, Jesus Christ!” - Dustin's face appeared just inches from yours, so you naturally jumped a bit. That boy was destined to be your death one day. - “What did you see? The end of the world? Explosions? People yelling?” 

“Dude, calm down.” - Steve dragged him away and you felt Nancy and Robin helping you with standing up. They held you on your feet until your head stopped spinning and the blood stopped dripping. - “You okay? You seem to be... I don't know, confused?” - Which was weird since the Demogorgon almost bit your whole head off.

“It isn't trying to kill me.” - You whispered quietly and looked at Mike. You didn't know why or how, but your gaze just gravitated towards him - so you just stared him down while you were lost in your own thoughts. 

“As far as I am concerned, this looked like attempted murder, Hopper.” - Lucas spoke from somewhere behind your back, but your head just shook on its own. 

“Why would it show me that the Demogorgons are in Russia, then? And that hopper is there too?” - You asked back and everyone suddenly shut up. 

[fromtheringapron]

WWF SummerSlam 1994

Date: August 29, 1994

Location: The United Center in Chicago, Illinois

Attendance: 23,000

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler

Results:

1. Bam Bam Bigelow & Irwin R. Schyster (with Ted DiBiase) defeated The Headshrinkers (Fatu & Samu) (with Afa and Capatain Lou Albano) via disqualification.

2. WWF Women’s Championship Match: Alundra Blayze (champion) defeated Bull Nakano (with Luna Vachon).

3. WWF Intercontinental Championship Match: Razor Ramon (with Walter Peyton) defeated Diesel (champion) (with Shawn Michaels) to win the title. 

4. Tatanka defeated Lex Luger. 

5. Jeff Jarrett defeated Mabel (with Oscar). 

6. Steel Cage Match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship: Bret Hart (champion) defeated Owen Hart. 

7. The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated The Undertaker (with Ted DiBiase). 

Analysis

SummerSlam 1994 is pretty underrated, although it’s easy to see why it’s never received the praise it deserves. As this show takes place in the mid ‘90s, the wrestling business is stuck in struggle city, and the WWF isn’t an exception. The glory days of the Rock ’n’ Wrestling era are long gone and in their place is the New Generation which, despite putting the spotlight on the likes of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, is churning out a number of one-note characters who fail to catch on with fans. Though this is the first pay-per-view following Vince McMahon’s exoneration on steroid distribution charges, the resulting bad publicity from the scandal has cost the WWF millions of dollars in a time already marked by low revenue. With all that messiness as a backdrop, this show is seemingly fated to not be fondly remembered.

Much like the year’s King of the Ring, a similarly underrated show, this edition of SummerSlam is also known for its notoriously bad main event which pits The Undertaker against, well, The Undertaker. In some ways, the whole fake Undertaker storyline is a classic example of campy ‘90s WWF cheese. Heck, the moment Paul Bearer opens a giant gold urn to summon a ray of white light feels like something straight out of an attraction at Disney World. Unfortunately, the actual match is a total dud, which brings the previously hot Chicago crowd to complete silence. Their indifference is birthed out of confusion more than anything. It’s obvious Ted DiBiase’s Undertaker is the fake, so where’s the fun in watching the real one beating the crap out of him for 12 minutes? You can just tell from the inflection in Vince McMahon’s voice on commentary that he knows this thing is a flop from the opening bell. The build to the match is also hampered by skits featuring Leslie Nielsen trying to track down the real Undertaker, which aren’t even as funny as some of the Zucker brothers’ worst parody films.

Despite these blunders, it’s still a solid show overall. All three title matches here range from fun to fantastic. Though it has its detractors (and I can only suggest they remain in hiding), the steel cage match between Bret and Owen Hart is one of the best ever. I personally love how it puts emphasis on escaping the cage, which you’d think would be the obvious objective but most cage matches don’t play with the idea enough. The flurry of escape attempts by both men is still just as exciting to watch now and even if the match goes over 30 minutes, it’s never boring. The ending is particularly creative, with Owen hanging upside down like a brat stuck on a jungle gym, a poetic end to the character’s story arc over the previous nine months. The Intercontinental and Women’s title matches are forgotten gems, the latter marking one of the brightest moments for the WWF’s sorely underutilized mid ‘90s women’s division. I’d ramble on how Alundra Blayze deserved better, but then I’d just be stating the obvious.

Opinions vary on Tatanka’s heel turn on this show, and it did wind up killing his WWF career in the long-run, but it’s somewhat clever for its time. Of course, we in 2018 would’ve seen the turn coming a mile away the instant Tatanka really started harping on Lex Luger about his alleged involvement with the Million Dollar Corporation. But for 1994? Kinda shocking, and no doubt it pulled the wool over the eyes of the WWF’s younger audience. It’s been argued Luger turning heel instead would’ve been the better result for both the storyline and Luger’s career. I certainly agree but that doesn’t take away the actual turn, which solidifies Tatanka as a heel pretty well. The image of him stuffing money down the throat of an Americana-attired Luger is killer.

There are a couple of interesting bits of trivia unique to this show as well. Firstly, on a sad note, this is the last WWF pay-per-view appearance of Randy Savage, who stands as the last remaining bastion of the previous era. It’s a pretty inconsequential curtain call to one of the biggest and most iconic superstars in the company’s history, as he only makes a brief appearance here. He’ll be in WCW by the end of the year and never truly make his way back into the fold. This also remains the only WWF/E show to take place at the United Center, with the company sticking to the Rosemont Horizon as its Chicago go-to ever since. Fortunately, the change in venue here doesn’t hinder the Chicago fans from being their typically great  selves. Well, except for the main event, of course. But a dull contest between two dead men needs a dead crowd to match, I guess.

My Random Notes

This show sees the debut of The Undertaker’s new purple look, often dubbed as “Purple Taker,” which a lot of people dislike but I personally love. Still don’t know what possessed them to change the color of his attire though. I feel like the mindset in the ‘90s was basically “Mmm, you know what would make this thing look more modern? Purple!”

Even if the fake Undertaker thing was a bust, it’s weird how it didn’t stop them from doing pretty much the same thing with his brother Kane 12 years later.

The dead giveaway to Tatanka’s heel turn is clearly his bangs, am I right?

During the opening match, Vince McMahon translates Afa’s words as “Domino’s delivers!” You can always count on ‘90s Vince to drop some corny dad humor and a shameless tie-in to the sponsors all at once.

Kinda surprised they brought Davey Boy Smith back into the fold immediately following the steroid scandal considering his firing two years before was due to that exact thing. At least he had enough sense to update his look into that of a jacked Eddie Vedder just in time for the show.

Gotta love Diana Hart Smith going into business for herself by flopping over the guard rail along with her husband. Get it, girl.

As if you needed proof of the WWF’s casual racism in the ‘90s, poor Bull Nakano is saddled with the old Orient Express music for her entrance, the same music given to a bunch of other Asian wrestlers around the same time period.

I couldn’t help but notice: 1.) How out-of-touch Men on a Mission feels to the actual rap scene in 1994, which was increasingly leaning towards gangsta rap, and 2.) That there’s little to no evidence here that Mabel will take part in the worst SummerSlam main event ever just a year later.

I’m a bit of an Adam Bomb mark so I’m a little sad his match with Kwang was relegated to pre-show status and that we were robbed of seeing him defeat his blood rival, as I’m sure that’s what the whole world was dying to see.

On the Million Dollar Corporation: For a stable that could’ve been truly great, I don’t think it quite took off as intended. It feels like everyone who joined became this boring, diluted version of themselves and most of the storylines involving them totally dragged. So of course they went on to suck up a large bulk of TV time in the year following this show, including a pivotal role in the main event of WrestleMania 11. Such is the tale of WWF’s creative woes in the mid ‘90s.

[cheetahsprints]

Quicken

Summary: In which Harry and Cisco find mutual comfort in their friendship. And it evolves, as natural as the changing of seasons. Word Count: 2329

“Where are you going?”

“Out.”

He doesn’t make it past the hallway. He stops, leaning against the wall, hand pressed to his mouth. His arms tremble with vexation. It’s all he seems to feel anymore, this roaring in his head. 

He’s reminded, like a broken record, that he can’t outsmart DeVoe. There’s options, he’s considering, to raise his own intellect. But at what cost? There are risks involved in any such endeavor, but his brain is his most precious asset. It’s how he built STAR, it’s how he got to this Earth, it’s part of his connection with Cisco.

Cisco. He blinks as Cisco breezes by him. He groans softly and grumbles something inaudible. He’s clutching his head, rubbing at his temple. Harry forgets he’s not the only one with tough days. He’s not the only one who can’t always beat the enemy. 

Harry follows him into the workshop. He taps at the keys on the computer. Should he still be working? 

He hears Cisco say, “I’m sick of getting mind-whammied in my vibes. I’m sick of Barry jumping down my throat. And Ralph -- ugh.”

“I’m a hair away from ditching this place and chilling on another Earth until this blows over. I’ve been nothing but a punching bag and a babysitter.”

“That’s -- well it’s kind of true. But you don’t have to leave Ramon.”

Cisco flinches at the sound of Harry’s voice. He tried to keep his voice lowered. Cisco glances at him, but he’s caught up in what he’s doing. He’s thankful Iris was there to get Barry off his back. But what if she hadn’t been? Why doesn’t he ever speak up?

He knows why. He doesn’t want to admit it to himself. He acts like a doormat, because he’s afraid. He’s afraid they won’t want him around if they think he’s a stick in the mud. If he starts complaining -- well there’s no putting that back in Pandora’s Box. Barry doesn’t treat him like an equal. Ralph is Barry’s idea, his responsibility, yet he expects everyone else to put Ralph above their own needs. Sure he needs to be protected, he’s a person, they can’t let DeVoe take his powers. 

That doesn’t mean Cisco has to sleep on his damp futon and not even beg Barry to take the next shift. Barry should just do it. Cisco barely gets rest, between his nightmares and his vibe abilities exacerbating them. He figures the others don’t catch much Zs either. However, Barry offers to take the next shift like it’s not actually his problem, and he’s doing some great deed for a friend. 

And Cisco pats him on the back like the wishy-washy person that he’s been for the last year. Possibly longer. Reverb may have been evil, but Cisco could benefit from taking a few pages out of his book.

“I’m not serious. I’m just. I’m tired, Harry.” Cisco sighs. “Sometimes, I don’t feel like I matter to anyone.”

Harry claps him on the shoulder. He turns Cisco to face him. He loosens the tightness in his expression, allowing Cisco to see the honesty in his next words.

“You matter. To me at least. To Barry, he’s just got his wires crossed.”

Harry continues, “This team would be nothing without you. You’ve gotten them out of more scrapes than I can count, Dibny especially.” 

“They see me as suits and tech and convenient breaches.”

“You’re an exceptional human being.” Harry leans forward looking him deep in the eye and says, “You know and I know you ought to start acting like it.”

Cisco bites his lip. He drags his fingers across his throbbing temple. “I. I’m. I don’t know. What if I take charge and they think I’m -”

He inhales. He braces himself on the desk as a wave of nausea hits. It doesn’t bear thinking about, how the team might react. He got enough from his family, always telling him he was too opinionated, too loud, too annoying. 

These days, Harry is the only person he can feel like being himself with. That used to be Caitlin, but for reasons unknown they’ve drifted apart. And it used to include Barry to an extent -- but on Cisco’s side things are complicated there. 

Harry watches the turmoil flickering behind Cisco’s eyes with great concern. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. He has his own issues he hasn’t worked out. Communicating with people, dealing with his mistakes and failings. On impulse, he grabs a wrench and bangs it repeatedly on the table. Cisco doesn’t even twitch. A small smile pulls at his lips.

“You too huh?”

“One of those days. Fuck that - The whole week has been shit.”

Cisco bites down on his index finger. “I take it the uh visit to your Earth didn’t go so well?”

“I mostly took care of STAR business. I saw Jesse all of three times, the first she didn’t even talk to me. Else, we just rehashed our arguments.”

“I find it hard to believe she really kicked you out -”

“I mean, she made it clear she was sick of my brand of training,” Harry says. “I feel wanted here. Even if I. I suck.”

“Harry!” Cisco chuckles a little and shakes his head. “You don’t.... suck.”

Cisco’s eyes linger on those nice, pink lips for too long. He gulps when he meets Harry’s gaze. Harry notices his direction, but he refrains from commenting. It doesn’t seem like a good time to open that particular door.

“OK, let’s both agree we’re awesome, and anyone who says otherwise can shove it where the sun don’t shine.”

“Without any lube,” Harry remarks.

“Yeah, no, ouch. I’m not that mad.”

They both collapse into giggles. Cisco braces himself on Harry’s shoulder. He quickly pulls his hand away with a small apology. Harry reassures him he doesn’t mind. He near lives for the contact. He spent years avoiding it. Cisco seems instinctive on his boundaries, never coming in close when he’s especially prickly, and offering just the right amount of silent comfort when he’s seething.

He seems to do the same for Cisco, if he’s any judge. He studies the pinched muscles in Cisco’s face, the tightness of his jaw. The headache must still persist. Harry doesn’t know if he’s even stopped to take medicine.

“Why are you pushing yourself so hard?” Harry asks. Cisco sighs and leans on his elbow on the table.

“It’s Barry - I have to - he -”

“You don’t have to do anything. Take a break.”

“But I have to -- DeVoe.”

“Nope, rest. Doctor’s orders.”

Cisco grins. “You’re not that kind of Doctor.”

“And you’re not a bodyguard or a personal assistant, but here we are.”

“I know what I’ll say next time,” Cisco says. 

“What?”

“Dammit, Barry. I’m an engineer not a watchdog.”

He must need more sleep. Harry laughs so hard he ends up having to clutch his stomach. Cisco blows air through his lips, and he tries to stifle his laughter. Harry barely stops himself from asking if he can kiss him. 

Cisco stops abruptly and squeezes his eyes shut. Harry enters panic mode, but he keeps his external reactions under control.

“What’s wrong? Was it a vibe?”

“No. I’m just. Hungover from DeVoe throwing me out.”

Harry is cautious. He brings Cisco’s head close and applies his lips to his forehead. Nothing untoward, just checking his temperature. Cisco goes rigid. Then he relaxes. Harry decides to seize his moment.

He kisses Cisco’s nose. His face scrunches up adorably. Harry tilts his head and kisses his temple. Harry can’t resist the temptation, and he kisses the softness of his curls. He loops a few strands around his fingers, carefully watching Cisco’s expression. He’s not as tense as he was before, which Harry takes as a good sign.

Cisco’s eyes flutter open. “Thank you.”

Harry whispers, “Anytime.”

They tackle the project together. He can work on his own later. He scrawls some formulas on the board anyway. He’ll get antsy if he doesn’t release some of it from his mind. Cisco raises an eyebrow but doesn’t comment. Harry doesn’t give it a prior thought when he passes Cisco a kiss on the cheek. 

In return, Cisco fists his sweater and kisses him on the ear. It’s a weird sensation. He whines through his nose and jerks his head. He never realized he was ticklish there. Cisco is amused by his reaction. The hours pass. He casually wraps his arm around Cisco, and they continue like that, letting it just be. At some point, Cisco leaves and returns with Big Belly. Harry’s eyes are drooping before he knows it.

Harry jerks awake. His heart is pounding. His body is ready for action toward some unseen threat. For a brief moment, he’s back on that battlefield, guns blazing, soldiers shouting. His hands are coated in slick blood. His eyes snap shut and he goes through his breathing exercise. When he allows the world to flood in, the sight makes him stop short.

Cisco’s face is close. Too close. He doesn’t move. Frost might as well have froze him on the spot. His lips look even more enticing and fuller due to the lack of distance. Harry can see clearly his most prominent freckles. He follows them from the middle of his forehead, to his cheek just below his eye, on his left dimple, and finally his neck. A few strands of hair had fallen across his eye and nose. Harry gently brushes them away. He’s so soft and beautiful. 

His stomach flips to see him so vulnerably in sleep. He’s only seen it twice before, and at a greater distance. He suddenly smiles in his sleep, highlighting his dimple and freckle. Harry wishes he could kiss him and kiss him forever. Nothing else mattering.

It’s because of Cisco’s gorgeous visage that he initially didn’t realize they are practically holding hands. He sits up and stares dumbly. Cisco’s hand is over his. They’re not holding exactly, but Cisco has his hand cupped just enough to count. It feels like an electric current travels up his arm. Harry inhales noisily, with a slight groan, like he’s been punched in the stomach.

Cisco wakes up. He peers up at Harry through confused, narrow eyes. His pulse jumps like an excited rabbit. He can’t will it to stop, so he basks in Cisco’s rough sleepy haze. One day, he might figure out what he did to deserve to know someone like Cisco.

“Wh - where am I? What Earth... What time...”

He blinks rapidly. He rises from his slumped position. He looks around, then examines Harry closely. He seems to unconsciously squeeze Harry’s hand.

“Earth one. I’m Harry.”

“Yeah. Yeah I know. Sometimes I just... in my dreams... vibing different realities at once --”

“You’ve never mentioned -- that sounds like something we should work on correcting,” Harry breathes. He doesn’t want to raise his voice. Cisco seems on the verge of falling apart.

If he does, Harry will hold him until he puts himself together again. He reaches out hesitantly. Cisco tugs his wrist, and Harry starts to rub his back. Cisco doesn’t let go of his hand. It’s dizzily pleasant. He licks at his dry lips, throat beginning to match. 

“How long were we out?” Cisco asks the air. He presses a key on the keyboard and examines the time. “Two hours. Feels like five.”

“My brain isn’t completely online,” Harry supplies. The rest is beneficial, however short-lived. Cisco’s eyes go wide. 

He pulls away and types rapidly. “Shit. Shit. Barry needs me to --”

Harry slips his hand up to the back of Cisco’s neck. 

“Easy. Calm down.” Harry tilts his head back and hurriedly gives him a chaste kiss. “The world isn’t going to end because you haven’t finished.”

His lips have a direct line to Cisco’s heartstrings. They promptly tie themselves in knots. He gapes helplessly. 

Harry’s spine straightens when he recognizes what he’s just done. Cisco just hums. He leans forward, hugs Harry around the middle. His cheek lays against his stomach. Harry’s hand returns to his back. And he would be happy if they could stay like this, in their own secret realm. 

Cisco pushes his shirt up, applying kisses to his belly, navel, kissing upward across his abs. His stomach quivers in response. Cisco notices, he drags his fingertips along the same path. Harry growls and tickles Cisco’s sides, his armpits. Cisco squirms and pushes him away.

“That was fine- but please, stop.” Cisco adopts a serious tone, “My brother used to wake me up that way and I -”

“No problem. I’m sorry.”

Cisco smiles and pats him. He looks at his hand. “Damn you are rock solid. When do you even work out?”

“Trade secret.”

Cisco gives him a lop-sided grin. Harry runs his fingers through Cisco’s hair, earning a low noise from his throat. He kisses the freckle on his forehead, and his cheek again, sloppily at each of his dimples. He can’t believe this is real. That this is happening. He must still be asleep. He pinches himself.

“Did you just -”

“Shut up.”

Cisco cups his cheeks and kisses him right on the lips. He drinks in the sensation, Cisco drizzling his kisses on him like syrup. 

Falling is dangerous, Cisco thinks as he does this. It feels good, and he wouldn’t have expected Harry’s interests to run alongside his. He thought the best would be Harry seeing him as a true friend. The unseen consequences are worth every moment he can absorb. He’ll store these moments, these talks with Harry, wrap them around him like a blanket when he needs comfort. Unless Harry himself is available. 

Harry glides his nose along Cisco’s cheek, tongue flicking out to catch his earlobe. If he’s falling, Harry is right there with him. Neither of them are alone, each other’s parachutes in the vast sky. 

[graesays]

Grae Reviews: Frank Turner - Be More Kind

It’s been a while since I reviewed some music, and that’s mostly because I review stuff that I like. That’s a problem when a lot of modern music is (to be as charitable as possible) utter horse shit. Thankfully the folk rock scene has provided a lot of gold over the last few years so it would have taken a lot for me to not like new music from one of the genre’s best, Frank Turner. That being said, I wasn’t expecting to be hit so strongly in the feels by such a politically charged work.

Frank Turner is obviously no stranger to the political tune. This year is the 10th anniversary of his album Love, Ire & Song. The title track of which is very overtly political (as is it’s re-releases 2nd disk track called ‘Thatcher Fucked The Kids’). This new album however manages to simultaneously step it up a notch and mellow the message out. Adopting a more “mainstream” sound that may well be too much for those who think Frank peaked with England Keep My Bones. Like I said in the sub-title though, this album struck a chord with me, and that is probably just a personal reaction but hey, this blog is all about my personal reaction to things, so lets run down the album track by track.

Don’t Worry - Mental health is a running theme of this album. Frank has said in interviews that he drew on his experiences undergoing CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) in his songwriting and this song does a good job of conveying this overarching state of mind. That said, it’s not the best example, we’ll get there in a bit.

1933 - This is the obligatory return to the Frank Turner that fans of his earlier work will be most satisfied with. If you’re gonna discuss politics in 2018 there’s two topics that are gonna dominate any writings, Brexit & Trump. This is the Brexit rant, comparing the closing of borders with the rise of fascism in the build up to World War II, and a very well done one at that with some top notch lyric writing (“well I don’t know, what’s going on anymore, the world outside is burning with a brand new light but it isn’t one that makes me feel warm”).

Little Changes - THIS is the best ode to mental health treatment on this album, and the most overt references to the methods behind CBT (“the big things stay the same until we make little changes”). I love this song in particular because it’s so upbeat, which fits well with a topic that unintentionally frightens so many people because of the stigma attached.

Be More Kind - The title of the album (and obviously this track) is based on a Clive James poem that Frank read in US magazine 'The New Yorker’ “I should have been more kind. It is my fate. To find this out, but find it out too late” Another overarching theme of this album is the idea that empathy and compassion is dying in the face of the dark turn our politics is taking lately and that rather than engaging in tribalism, we should be setting an example to be better to others. It’s not often that I describe a song as beautiful, but this one more than deserves that label, and is by far and away my favourite song on the album.

Make America Great Again - So we’re talking politics again and this English americophile is giving probably the friendliest Fuck Donald Trump message ever committed to tape. This is a serious topic executed in a very tongue in cheek manner, as the lifted Ramones chord progression ('Bonzo Goes to Bitburg’ if you were wondering) and the ironically un-ironic ending chorus key change (the scourge of the indie folk rock scene!). A good natured, playful fuck off is the best kind of fuck off though and I do have a big soft spot for this song, even if it has caught the ire of some old school Frank Turner fans.

Going Nowhere - Well someone got a girlfriend between records didn’t they? I joke, this could easily be a song about platonic friendship, and that is a sentiment that I can completely sympathise with in fairness. This one is pretty much a collection of cliches to describe how he’s got his friends backs. The most prominent of which is best described by Frank’s labelmate (and another favourite musician of mine) Beans on Toast “any song that has the line 'in there like swimwear’ in it deserves to be number 1!”.

Brave Face - No album of this genre is complete without a stadium singalong anthem, and this is the song that fills that quota. That joke I made earlier about Going Nowhere being a romantic song is probably best applied to this song in fairness. Best demonstrated with the chorus “Make me a promise, That when the world ends, You’ll kiss me, And you’ll hold my hand, And then we’ll get through this, Whatever happens, One look at your brave face, Makes me a braver man”.

There She Is - Frank teamed up with Charlie Hugall, a collaborator with Florence & The Machine in the making of this record, and this song is probably the most striking example of his influence. Plus it’s the third track in a row that’s about a girl, and while that theme would probably get repetitive by now in the hands of a lesser artist, Frank manages to pull it off though and while it’s probably one of the less memorable songs on the album, it’s by no means bad.

21st Century Survival Blues - Hey old school Frank Turner fans? Feeling isolated with the change in direction? Well I’ve got some good news, here’s something that would actually fit in well on 'Sleep is for the Weak’! Following on a similar theme to Brave Face, how the narrator and his partner will be fine in the middle of the apocalypse as long as they have each other, the new theme is blended well with some old school Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls musicianship and is another standout from the 2nd half of the album.

Blackout - This was the first single from the album and don’t get me wrong, I like it, but it fails to live up to the hype (solely in this authors opinion). It’s a lament about Frank himself stepping away from political themes after his interviews about his personal political beliefs got him death threats, and how he should step out of his comfort zone. Which he has done with this record in more ways than one. As said, it’s not the best on the album, but by no means does that suggest that I think the song is in any way bad.

Common Ground - The theme of this one is pretty much explained in full by it’s title, that we should look more for what we have in common, rather than what separates us. specifically that we should build bridges. Frank’s music has a knack for forcing the audience to think for a minute and this one definitely manages that. The latter songs on this album lack the catchiness of the earlier stuff, but if you’re after the introspection that you’ve come to expect from Franks last few records, this is where you’ll find it.

The Lifeboat - Just when you think the upbeat tone of the album takes a backseat for a moment in the penultimate track, which describes a sick world and a sick society that should be left behind. You get hit with a 180 degree turn to describe the leaving behind and defeat of a toxic world. Another chance for a slow introspection as we start to wrap up the album.

Get it Right - This song tackles a matter that actually means a lot but never gets mentioned in polarising times, it’s ok to admit you’ve changed your mind on something, and holding your hands up is preferable to continuing down a dangerous path just for the sake of saving face. Frank delivers most of this one standing alone with his acoustic guitar, a one on one conversation with the listener until we hit the end and a bit of a stadium singalong to sign off on.

This might just be me, but the topics Frank touched on in this album seriously hit home, and did so to the point where I might actually consider this my favourite of his albums. I’ve always been a fan of about 3 or 4 songs off previous albums so to have 9 or 10 songs I love on one album is incredible in my mind. Is that because he went 'mainstream’? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe I’m letting my own circumstances dictate how I digest this music, but isn’t that what you’re meant to do? To be honest, I’m probably putting too much effort into justifying why I love an album by one of my favourite artists in a genre I’ve grown to love over the last few years (and not just because it’s one I’m active in, honest!). All I need to say is that I love it, and I hope if you decide to check it out that you do too.

[ginyang98]

Louie for the character meme

1.- Fave thing? He is a smol green duck bean and he deserves all the love. Also he's the evil brother like me HAHAHA2.- Least fave thing? Everybody only sees his flaws, apparently.3.- Fave line? "Lying is the responsible thing to do", "if you can talk you can talk your way out. Trademark Louie Duck", "No one cons my family".5.- brOTP? With Dewey because I can see them being mischievous AF and then fighting and then again making mischief... Y'know, like the irresponsible brothers they are!7.- Random Headcanon? I always headcanoned this kid as fan of rock music, specifically Goth Rock like Joy Division or the Cure, the Indie Rock like Arctic Monkeys, the White Stripes or Apples in Stereo, and punk like The Ramones, and also altern rock like Smashing Pumpkins, Paramore, and others. Maybe there are some comparisons with antropomorphic animals in the DT universe and I would know how to name those bands... Ah, and he learned all of this music bands because of Uncle Donald (we all know Donald is a classic rock fan too :D )8.- Unpopular Opinion? I want him to have a real evil arc (turning to the evil side) for some reason. Also, I want him to be less soft boy because the soft boy of the group is Huey 😂 (confirmed by Dana Terrance)9.- Song I asociate with them? (Stop it, stop it, sto... Oh no she's on it)9.1.- Boys don't cry - The Cure ("I try to laugh about it, cover it all up with lies, I try and laugh about it, hiding the tears in my eyes, because boys don't cry")9.2.- Misguided Ghosts - Paramore ("See I'm trying to find my place, but it might not be here where I feel safe")9.3.- I'm still here - The Goo goo dolls ("They can't tell me who to be, cause I'm not what they see, yeah, the world is still sleeping While I keep on dreaming for me and their words are just whispers and lies that I'll never believe")9.4.- Cooler than me - Mike Posner ("I used up all my tricks, I hope that you like this. But, you probably won't, you think you're cooler than me")9.5.- Drive it like you stole it - Sing Street ("This is your life, you can go anywhere. You gotta grab the wheel and own it, and drive it like you stole it")9.6.- Green Light - Lorde (most because it has "green" in the title :'v no lyrics needed)9.7.- Love's not a competition (but I'm winning) - Kraiser Chiefs (I'm not sure what's truly altruistic anymore, when every good thing that I do is listed and you're keeping score,)9.8.- Royals - Lorde ("Let me be your ruler, you can call me Queen B, and baby I'll rule (I'll rule I'll rule I'll rule). Let me live that fantasy")9.9.- Money - Poppy ("If money can't buy happiness then why is it so fabulous?")9.10.- 1979 - Smashing Pumpkins (more for when he's older, actually... "And I don't even care to shake these zipper blues, and we don't know just where our bones will rest to dust I guess. Forgotten and absorbed into the earth below")10.- Fave picture of them?(I'm on my phone and I have to admit the picture in a reblog!

[the-toxic-radio]

Julian Casablancas in the Media

Julian Casablancas is the frontman of the rock band The Strokes and Julian Casablancas + the Voidz. He is also the founder of New York record label Cult Records, a label committed to bridging the gap between old and new pop music ideas.

In 2001, The Strokes represented a rebirth of ‘cool’. The Strokes’ nu-retro brand of guitar rock cut through the overproduced, overcooked musical stylings of radio-rock like Nickelback, and stale alternative rock bands like Creed, and Limp Bizkit. The Strokes, led by Casablancas, bore the torch for of rock and roll at the start of the 21st century, followed by like minded bands such as The White Stripes, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The Strokes represented the new rock movement, and Casablancas was its leader.

Julian Casablancas is my favourite musician, and The Strokes are the band which ignited my passion for music to begin with. To me he represents a number of dichotomous ideas: He is carefree, but passionate. Sexy, yet ugly. Strong and resolute, yet fragile and sensitive. Cool, but goofy. Casablancas is many things to me, but at the end of the day I respect him most for being the musician who wrote a bunch of my favourite songs.

Julian Casablancas was born into a life of comfort, being the son of Jeanette Christensen, who was Miss Denmark in 1965 and John Casablancas, founder of modeling agency ‘Elite Model Management. Despite his relatively privileged upbringing, Casablancas fell into alcoholism at an extremely young age, and was sent to a private boarding school in Switzerland called Institut Le Rosey, the most expensive school in the entire world.

It was there that he met Albert Hammond Jr., who would later become one of two guitarists of The Strokes. The two became close friends, and returned together to New York to recruit the remaining future Strokes members.

Starting out in the NYC club scene, The Strokes evoked an older style of New York cool epitomised by Lou Reed (a musician Casablancas has, and will always be compared to in the media), The Ramones and other musicians of their ilk. Casablancas, with his leather jacket, and side swept, greasy hair, embodied an outdated idea of New York grit. At least, this is how the media portrayed him.

Prior to releasing their 2001 debut album, ‘Is This It?’, The Strokes were hailed as the saviours of rock by excitable rock mags like Rolling Stone and NME and were riding an immense wave of hype in the United States and United Kingdom. The Strokes had gained a reputation for their good looks, cool clothes, and care free attitude, but little was known about their music other than what was gathered from hype-inflected editorials. The truth is, The Strokes had reached their peak popularity before anyone had even heard any of their songs.

Is This It? Was eventually released to rave reviews, and for a short while The Strokes lived up to the hype, but record sales and radio coverage was relatively low. Eventually, The Strokes’ would be surpassed in popularity by scene contemporaries like The White Stripes and The Killers, but their influence on guitar music had already been felt.

In 2017, guitar music has faded into the background as hip-hop and radio friendly pop continue to take the limelight, and in this climate, it’s hard to say exactly what Casablancas represents. In recent years, he has worked closely with his record label Cult Records as a platform for exposing acts which he considers important, or deserving of more popularity. He also used the label to release his Julian Casablancas + The Voidz project, titled ‘Tyranny’, an abrasive, acid-trip into 80s-style glitched out Black Flag inspired punk, and world music influences. The Voidz points toward a more politically conscious Casablancas in today’s day and age, also reflected by the emphasis on political discussion found on the Cult Records website, an area where Casablancas shares articles on topics he finds relevant and important either socially or politically.

The main lense through which we see Julian Casablancas is through his music. He is media shy, perhaps exacerbated by alcohol issues, and when making comment his words are often meandrous and quizzical, as if he is thinking aloud something he hasn’t worked out how to say yet.

There’s a perceptible intelligence behind his responses though, he clearly puts thought and consideration into everything he does, and is by all accounts an absolutely astute believer in ‘the details’, however we still get a clearer image of him through his music, than we do through his words.

Barring the scattershot experimentalism of The Voidz, everything Julian Casablancas touches is imbued with a mathematical precision. The Strokes sound is built off of angular, duelling guitars, and an almost inhumanly accurate rhythm section. Gordon Raphael producer of ‘Is This It?’ has gone on record describing the painfully drawn out recording sessions of the album, citing a specific occasion when Casablancas demanded they spend hours and hours finding a specific ride cymbal sound, and the tension of working closely with a perfectionist in that situation.

It’s been widely reported that during The Strokes’ early years Casablancas ran the show with an iron fist. I believe that the majority of the comments on this topic are fuelled by a lack of information. I believe Casablancas was the band leader and driving force behind the band, but moreso, he wrote the entire album, every instrument and every lyric.

The idea of Casablancas as a dictatorial band leader pervaded throughout the band’s career. Around the release of their 2011 record ‘Angles’, an album which broke a five year hiatus for the band, a time peppered with various solo albums and spin-off acts. Upon ‘Angles’’ release, the media picked apart claims that the band had recorded the album from different states, exchanging ideas and song parts via email. It was widely discussed that this was in part due to Casablancas being unwilling, or unhappy with having to act collaboratively, harkening back to the same criticisms made of him a decade earlier.

On the lead single from Angles, ‘Under Cover of Darkness’, Casablancas woes that “I’ve been out around this town, everybody’s been singing the same song for ten years”. At the time, as a huge Strokes fan, it was nearly impossible to hear that lyric and not relate it to the media hype that has always surrounded the band. Almost everything written about The Strokes from 2001, til 2011 would touch upon their world-breaking climb to fame, the pressures of following up a seminal debut, and the fractures of the band that may or may not have resulted as a consequence.

The Strokes, it seems, do not have a great deal of control over their media image a lot of the time, but it also seems like they don’t really care. Following the release of their latest album, 2013’s ‘Comedown Machine’, The Strokes had finally relieved themselves of their longstanding five album record deal with label RCA. This, coupled with the fact that the band did absolutely zero marketing or press for the record, and the (true) rumours that Casablancas was starting a new band, and simply that the album was titled ‘Comedown Machine’ led many to believe that the record signalled the end for the band.

For ‘Comedown Machine’, The Strokes didn’t even elect to use any cover art, the album is simply a red square with ‘RCA’ written in huge letters, and ‘The Strokes’ written in smaller letters beneath. I believe that the circumstances and way the album was delivered, indicates the band’s intent to let the music stand for itself, an attempt to separate art from artist and hype from genuine enthusiasm. The album, and it’s art (or lack of), could also be seen as a vaguely passive aggressive parting shot at RCA, which many critics have suggested, due to the public, and longstanding mistrust between Casablancas and label executives.

It’s for this reason I believe The Strokes decided to release their latest music, a three song EP titled ‘Future. Present. Past.’ on Casablancas’ own label, Cult Records. There, The Strokes would have the freedom to release their music at their own pace, in their own style, in whatever fashion they please. ‘Future. Present. Past.’ is, as a Strokes fan, a tantalisingly suggestive title. And sure enough, the three tracks present in the EP do seem to sonically point toward their possible future, their current state, and their past selves. The EP serves as a document of The Strokes’ career so far, and the potential future as well. The EP is a good example of The Strokes taking control of their image for once, and telling their own narrative - even if it’s an easily consumed, media friendly one.

Throughout my research on Casablancas recently, and throughout my life, my opinion on him has morphed continuously as I learn more about him, and consume more of his art. I believe the media’s portrayal of Casablancas sometimes obscures his true character, often opting to either idealise, or demonise him. The Strokes always suffered from being overhyped, but Casablancas and Co. always simply focused on what really mattered: the music. I believe Julian Casablancas’ impact on pop, and guitar music will be felt for many years to come, and his Cult Record label will continue to influence the ever evolving tastes of modern audiences.

[starkidlabs]

Cisco, Winn, James, Cynthia, Iris?

Wooooaaaaah this kept me busy for like an hour right

002 | Give me a character & I will tell you…

Cisco

How I feel about this character: my son, my world, my life. Cisco Ramon is legitimately the best character out there and has the kindest of hearts and he deserves all the best things in life and none of the shit the writers give him.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Cindy, Wally, Iris, Winn and Ray

My non-romantic OTP for this character: All of the above can fit into this category too but also Barry ,Caitlin, Julian, Stein, Jax and Joe.

My unpopular opinion about this character: that he is the best character in anything ever.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: That he hadn’t lost his brother, that his other brother existed in the showverse and that theyd let him use his powers to his full ability because he would reck every meta.

my OTP: Cisco/Cindy

my cross over ship: Cisco/Winn,

a headcanon fact: After Dante died Cisco decided to search different earths to see if he could find an earth where he had died instead of his brother just so he could say the goodbye he always wanted to. After jumping across a few earths Cisco decided it would be a bad idea. However he did discover his love for exploring the multiverse, he drew his attention away from looking for people he knew rather talking to people he didn’t. And he watched every version of Star Wars return of the Jedi he could. Now things are better he explores the multiverse with his friends often cindy, sometimes Wally, Iris or Julian. (Dependent on the current team)

-

Winn

How I feel about this character: He’s a good egg and provides good moral support. Probably needs a hug. All the people I ship romantically with this character: James…. CiscoMaybe Clark

My non-romantic OTP for this character: All of the above again. Also Kara,Alex and Lena.

My unpopular opinion about this character: He should get more singing roles…. (like I don’t think that’s an unpopular opinion but picture this a song every other episode)

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: That he gets a storyline focusing around his dad again or maybe we find out more about his mum.

my OTP: Scholsen

my cross over ship: Winnsco

a headcanon fact: He doesn’t like his birthday. It reminds him of how the dad he hates used to make him his presents every year and of his first birthday in care when he got a last minute gift with next to no thought put in it. Despite loving buying presents for other people he refuses to tell anyone when his is because he doesn’t want to be reminded of the worst years of his life.

-

James

How I feel about this character: the greatest man I do not know, he deserves the world.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Winn, Kara, Clark, Lucy

My non-romantic OTP for this character: see above and also Alex and J'onn

My unpopular opinion about this character: although it was kind of poorly executed (because the sg writers are shit) I’m really glad that James is Guardian.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: HE GETS THE SCREEN TIME HE DESERVES. Also that we get more scenes with him and Marcus because that was one of the best storylines all season

my OTP: scholsen

my cross over ship: Thinking about it James and Cisco would make a cute couple. p>

a headcanon fact: it had always been a dream since he was given his first camera to take a photo of the Northern Lights after his dad had shown him a photo he had taken on his honeymoon. He tried to save back his money for years but was always put back because of tuition fees or family problems etc. However when he first found out Clark was superman he offered to fly him to Scandinavia where James was able to take beautiful pictures which as well as getting published in a numerous amount of magazines he placed on his fathers grave.

-

Cindy

How I feel about this character: she is beautiful and amazing and I would feel honoured if she ever kicked my ass.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Cisco, Iris.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Cindy and Wally would make a great team

My unpopular opinion about this character: idk

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: That her real name was revealed episode one, that they’d let her wear other clothing and that they make her a series regular.

my OTP: Cynco duh

my cross over ship: Cindy/Amaya would be amazing.

a headcanon fact: she really loves animals especailly cats, dogs and snakes and she will open breaches into pet shops, Zoos etc at night so she can stroke and play with the animals as her apartment doesn’t allow pets. In her spare time she’ll walk around the streets looking for any stray animals so she can take them to an animal shelter or beg Cisco to let them live with him.

-

Iris

How I feel about this character: She’s perfect.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Barrrrry, Cisco, Linda, Eddie.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: All of the above again, Wally (I mean their chemistry is so good) Cindy, Jesse, Sara, Amaya

My unpopular opinion about this character: idk

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Loads more Journalism scenes, Loads more Brother Sister Crime Fighting Duo Scenes, Loads more Irisco scenes

my OTP: Westallen

my cross over ship: Iris and Sara maybe I’m not too sure

a headcanon fact: she was voted most likely to become president in high school as she was head of the school newspaper, the student council and captain of the female soccer team. (Among other things)

[captaincanarygotmelike]

Fic: Covered in the Colors

Summary: Leonard Snart was used to living a life of monochromatism. Why wouldn't he be? It'd been like that his whole life. He lived in a world where seeing your soulmate meant seeing color, and he had just adjusted to the idea that he would never be one of those people. That is, until he woke up on the roof of a building and looked into a pair of blue eyes.

Read on AO3

Read on Fanfiction.net

Color. That word had always had little meaning to Leonard Snart. He knew that there was some phenomenon that caused people who’d met their soulmate to see color. Bullshit, he’d always thought.

It’s not that he didn’t believe it, he just didn’t believe it would ever to happen to him. He’d met a few people who could see color, but the crowd he’d hung around for most of his life wasn’t exactly the soulmate type. He was pretty much positive Lisa could see color; she hung around Cisco Ramon far too often, more than she had any other guy who’d been in her life. Why she wasn’t saying anything about it was beyond him. Leonard, though, was fairly certain that he’d be living in a world of black and white forever.

Then, one day, something changed.

He woke on a rooftop in the middle of the night after being knocked out and kidnapped. There were others with him, at least seven or eight. He recognized a few. There was Mick, of course, and Professor Stein, but he’d never seen the rest before, and as he and the others got to their feet, he looked them over. There were two claiming to be reincarnating hawk deities, which, he thought, was an iffy story at best. There was the blonde assassin with a glint in her eye that he couldn’t quite explain. There was a man in an exo-suit who looked like a discount Iron Man. Next to him was a younger man who seemed to be the second half of Firestorm, and, standing above them all was the same man who’d kidnapped him and brought him here in the first place.

This man started to talk, but Leonard wasn’t listening because as he looked away from the people around him, something in his vision changed. The dark grey of his jacket suddenly, just, wasn’t. He couldn’t explain it, it just wasn’t grey anymore, replaced by something else. He blinked a few times, figuring his eyes must be a bit wonky from whatever that Rip Hunter guy did to him when he knocked him out, but when he opened his eyes again, something else had changed. This time, it wasn’t his coat, but the skin on his hands, no longer pale grey. Again, the change went away as quickly as it came, bust as he looked around, he saw a similar disturbance in his surroundings.

He was pretty sure what he was seeing was color. No one had ever been able to describe it properly, even those who could see it (and especially those who couldn’t. When Lisa was in middle school, she’d been determined to prove that her favorite actor was her soulmate, saying that she’d seen a picture of him in a magazine and seen color, but her shoddy description of what color was gave her away fairly quickly). Leonard knew what color was scientifically: it was the different ways light bounced off of objects, but that didn’t really help him here. He knew from grade school art that color came in shades. The words red and blue came to mind, and he was pretty sure those were different colors, but he wouldn’t be able to differentiate the two.

If color was anything though, this was it.

As the minutes went by, more and more of his surroundings changed. It rolled over his vision like waves onto sand. Sometimes, objects would change for a moment or two before returning to their previous states. Some things, especially the bright flashing of traffic lights and cars on the street below him, stayed in their new form. It was incredibly distracting. He could barely pay attention to any of what this Rip Hunter was saying, getting in a generic snarky comment or two before turning on his heels and leaving the rooftop. Mick followed him, of course, and soon they were back to the safe house they’d been staying in.

He went straight for the old, beat-up computer that sat at a desk in the corner of the room. He began to type the different colors he could remember into the search engine one by one. He memorized the different names and what each one looked like. Soon, he could look around the room and name the color of each object. His jacket, he learned, was a dark shade of the color blue, and looking down at it, he decided he preferred it this way to the dark grey he thought it had been. His skin was a very light shade of brown and his hair was also brown with touches of grey. His eyes were light blue, nearly the same color as the blast of ice that came from his cold gun.

Just as he was looking at various shades of green, Mick entered the room with a beer bottle in hand. Leonard tried to close the internet browser so Mick wouldn’t see what he’d been doing, but he wasn’t fast enough.

“Green?” Mick repeated the word that was plastered across the computer screen. “What’re you looking that up for?”

“Nothing,” Leonard replied, a little too late. Mick heard the hesitation and realized what his partner wasn’t saying. He started to laugh, chuckling like this was the best thing he’d heard all day.

“You can see color now, can’t you? You saw your soulmate.” Mick waited for a response. When it didn’t come, he continued, “Well? Didn’t you?” Leonard nodded and Mick let out another laugh, “Who could it be? My money’s on Haircut.”

Leonard didn’t respond so Mick didn’t pursue the subject. Leonard wished he could say that he knew who is soulmate was, that he’d felt some sort of pull or one of those other clichés he heard about people who saw color, but he didn’t. It could be any one of the people who’d been on the rooftop with him and the only chance he’d get to figure out who his soulmate was was to go on this damned time travel mission he didn’t want to go on.

After leaving the rooftop, Sara Lance took the train back to Star City. It’d been a while since she’d seen her sister, and besides, she wanted her opinion on this whole time travel stuff. She also wanted to talk to Laurel about something else. Something strange had happened to her on that rooftop. She’d been listening to this British dude talking about time travel when, out of the corner of her eye, she’d seen something she’d never seen before and she was pretty sure she knew what it was: color. Her time in the League of Assassins had taught her a little bit about color, mostly how to spot people who could see it and how to use that to her advantage. The League taught her that to see color was a weakness because it meant you had something to lose. On a few occasions, Sara had seen two assassins find soulmates in each other. The League had a particularly brutal way of dealing with that: they’d pin the soulmates against each other; whoever killed the other first won. It was one of the more barbaric traditions of the League, but it was effective. The winners of those battles always became some of the best assassins the League saw.

Sara never thought she cared about having a soulmate. Looking back at all of her important relationships in the past — Nyssa and Oliver were the ones that came to mind — none of them were “soulmates”, none of them made her see color, but she didn’t care. She had loved them regardless of whether they were her soulmate or not. But now that color was flickering in and out of her vision like a bad lightbulb, she was having a hard time maintaining that same level of nonchalance.

Soon, Sara made it back to the Arrowcave.

“What’s up with you?” Laurel asked after the customary reunion hug.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Sara replied.

“I’ve seen a lot of things,” Laurel replied, “I’m sure I can handle this.”

“Fine,” Sara sighed, “I think I’m starting to see color.”

“Oh,” Laurel replied. The surprise was apparent on her face. “Who?”

“That’s the thing. I don’t actually know. It first started while I was meeting eight people.”

Laurel snorted. “Nothing you do can ever be simple, can it? Do you have any idea who your soulmate could be out of those people?”

“I guess I could rule out a few people, but that still leaves five or six.”

“Yeah, but you must feel some sort of pull or something towards one of them.”

“You didn’t,” Sara shot back.

That was a low blow. Laurel had seen color for the first time the day she met Oliver when she was seven years old. It was also coincidentally the same time she met Tommy and she wasn’t sure which one was her soulmate. Eventually, she decided for herself that it must be Ollie. Years later, she found out she was wrong in a horrific way.

There’s a catch to the whole seeing color when you meet your soulmate thing; when they die, so does the color. When Tommy died, Laurel’s color began to fade away as she watched the building her soulmate was trapped in crumble.

“Sorry,” Sara added sheepishly.

“You have to go on this mission,” Laurel ignored her, “C’mon Sara. This is your soulmate we’re talking about here. This is your chance at happiness, and if anyone deserves happiness, it’s you.”

“I don’t know if I even want a relationship right now. I mean, I was just dead, Laurel! It’s kind of hard to just bounce back from something like that.”

“Well, maybe your soulmate could help,” Laurel replied. When Sara didn’t respond, she tossed her a set of batons, “C’mon, let’s spar. I want to hear about this time travel stuff.”

As it turns out, every one of the eight people Rip Hunter recruited showed up at the abandoned lot thirty six hours later. Sure, several of them were there against their will, but Leonard suspected that Rip didn’t really give a damn how they got there as long as they were going to work for him.

Once they were all seated on the bridge of what was apparently a timeship — even Leonard had to be a little impressed at that, but he didn’t even come close to the reaction Dr. Stein and Raymond Palmer had — Leonard decided to take in this new team (Leonard wasn’t big on teams; he wasn’t sure this one would work out).

He’d worked with Firestorm before, or at least, he’d worked with half of it. He knew Martin to be very smart, yet sometimes arrogantly so. Leonard had never met the meta’s new other half, Jefferson Jackson. Jax was the youngest of Rip’s recruits. Leonard felt that, so far, he liked him the most out of everyone, and the fact that he was currently unconscious definitely didn’t have anything to do with it.

Leonard knew that neither of these people were his soulmate. He’d already met Martin, so it definitely wasn’t him, and while he couldn’t be completely sure about Jax, he was sure enough to know that it was very unlikely.

He could also rule out the Hawks, Kendra and Carter, who were each other’s soulmates and had been for thousands of years.

Leonard could only hope that his soulmate wasn’t the Atom. Ray Palmer had both the energy and the common sense of a young child. He felt the same about their apparent captain, Rip Hunter, who had the crotchety I’m-better-than-you sense of arrogance of a much older man.

However much Leonard was against it, he had to admit that both men were possibilities.

That left Sara Lance. Leonard could see the assassin as being the only one he’d be okay with having as a soulmate. She was strong willed and powerful and seemed hardened at the edges in a way no one else on the team was.

He also knew that he was out of his mind thinking that it could possibly be her. She was young and badass and absolutely gorgeous. The universe would never just hand him all of that on a silver platter, especially considering how little it had given him before.

The team’s first mission went exactly how Leonard thought it would.

They were attacked and someone died.

To be fair, Leonard had the time of his life. He’d trashed a bar with Mick and the White Canary and he’d gotten back just in time for a fight against a time traveling bounty hunter. All in all, it was a good day.

The second mission, on the other hand, went a little differently. That time, Sara was not with him. She was assigned to accompany Firestorm on a trip to find a young Martin Stein. Leonard and Mick, instead of the assassin, got Ray, so while Sara was off visiting stoned collegiate hippies, Leonard was attempting to break into an immortal psychopath’s house with the world’s most optimistic vigilante.

It did not go as planned.

By the end of the night, they were down a team member, and Leonard learned that blood was not black as he thought it was, but red.

A few more missions went by. They were still in 1975, they were still down a member, but by now, they’d given him a proper burial. They’d given him the respect he deserved.

Later, when everything was over and they were back on the Waverider, the team sat on the main deck, all in their own chairs, all painfully aware that one was empty.

They were quiet, lost in their own thoughts or not thinking at all, just basking in the silence.

Jax was the first to speak. He turned to Professor Stein with a perplexed look on his face.

“If you think any harder, you’re going to explode, and if you go down, I do too.”

“I apologize, Jefferson,” Stein replied, “More has happened in the past few days than just my wedding ring disappearing, and it’s taking me longer than I believed it would to process it.”

“Then spill it, Grey.”

“The color I’ve seen since I met my wife faded along with my ring. They’ve both now returned, but I’ve been seeing color for so long that I forgot what a monochromatic world was like. At least I had the knowledge that my color could be returned. I couldn’t imagine the sufferings of one who had lost his soulmate in a way that couldn’t be rectified.”

“I guess that’s where I come in,” Ray admitted, “I lost my color when my fiancée Anna died. You know, you lose your color at the same rate your soulmate dies. For some people, it’s slow, but Anna’s death was quick and all of a sudden, all the color was gone.”

There was a brief pause as Ray sadly looked off into space before he turned back.

“How about the rest of you?”

Rip, being the person closest to Ray, started.

“I’m in the same boat as you, I’m afraid,” Rip said, “I saw color when I met Miranda and knew I’d lost her because it disappeared. That’s how I found out it happened. I was on a mission, doing my duties as a Time Master. I knew things in 2166 were bad, and I hadn’t heard from her in a little while, but then one day I blinked and everything was black and white. The only thing worse than losing your soulmate is not being beside them when it happens.”

Rip then turned to Kendra, who was sitting a few feet away from him.

“I’ve been seeing color since I met Carter in our first life — I guess he was Prince Khufu then — and 2000 years later, it’s still here.”

“Even after one of you dies?” Ray asked, raising his eyebrows. Kendra nodded sadly.

“How fascinating!” Martin exclaimed with bright eyes.

“You would think that, wouldn’t you, Grey?” Jax rolled his eyes.

“How about you, Jefferson?” Martin asked, turning to the other half of Firestorm, “Do you have any experience with the color spectrum?”

“Nah,” Jax shook his head, “Maybe someday.”

“Yes, you are a little on the young side to be meeting your soulmate,” he agreed, “Although it isn’t impossible.”

“Yeah, some people met their soulmates in my high school,” Jax nodded, “There were counselors for it and everything and they’d have to go to meetings and discuss stuff like the future and things like that.”

“Yes, adolescents tend to not make the wisest choices when it comes to the future,” Rip commented.

“Yeah, I get that,” Sara nodded, knowing that had she not gone on the Queen’s Gambit as a teenager, she would never have ended up where she is today.

“It seems we still haven't heard from our resident criminals and assassin,” Stein commented.

“Nothing to say, Professor,” Mick replied as Leonard silently tipped his head to the side in acknowledgement.

“What about you, Sara,” Kendra said kindly.

“Not much room for soulmates in the League,” Sara said, because technically that was the truth. It just wasn’t exactly the whole truth. Kendra’s eyes remained trained on her a moment or two after everyone else’s had moved on. There was a funny look on her face, as if she could see completely through what Sara had said.

The team traveled to Washington D.C., Soviet Russia, future-Star City, deep space. Wherever they were, whatever they were doing, Leonard always found himself with Sara.

In 1945, Sara’d been tasked with killing Martin if a mission went sideways. Leonard doubled back, leaving his partner behind to deal with a temporarily incapacitated Ray and nearly getting caught in the crosshairs of a Soviet gulag rampage, all so he could keep Sara from killing Stein

In 2046, the team separated. Leonard followed Mick into the depths of a crime ring that was running Star City. He wasn’t too concerned until the leader threatened to kill his team. It was mentioning a blonde assassin that got his attention. He chose once again to go against Mick and find Sara.

In deep space, he was with Sara, choosing Sara three times. Once when they were freezing to death in the cargo hold of the Waverider and he gave her his parka because if anyone was going to survive this he was damned sure it would be her. Later, when Mick had defected and Leonard had to choose to either go with Mick or stay with the rest of his team, he chose Sara. It happened a third time when Mick and Sara were fighting and he knew if he didn’t help one of them, someone would end up dead. He picked Sara.

Wherever the team went, Sara was always on Leonard’s mind.

Then, things changed.

The team was in 1953. Sara and Leonard weren’t paired together; Rip took Leonard off to investigate the case of several missing persons in Harmony Falls, Oregon and Sara went with Stein to the hospital in the hopes of gaining some intel on those who were missing.

The mission actually went fairly well, better than most. Sure, they sort of handed Kendra to Savage on a silver platter, and sure, Jax was temporarily turned into a ravaging bird monster, but besides that, it went according to plan.

It was departing from Harmony Falls when problems arose.

Something went wrong and Sara, Kendra, and Ray watched the Waverider depart without them.

They had no choice but to stay in the 1953. They waited for a little while, knowing that the team would come back for them if they stayed put, but soon, it had been too long.

The team wasn’t coming back for them, and now, they had no choice but to live out the rest of their lives in the fifties.

Sara found that the longer they were there, the duller her colors became. She wondered if that was common, for colors to fade if you were away from your soulmate for too long. She couldn’t look it up, though, because computer access was nonexistent in the fifties.

Around the same time she stopped being able to see color in dim light, she left Ray and Kendra. Sara couldn’t stand being around them and all the love they had while her one real chance at love was fading away before her eyes.

She needed to go somewhere that had no place for love or color or soulmates:

The League of Assassins.

There, she was finally around people like her. There was no attachment, no connection, no emotions. All that was there was a lot of weapons and an unhealthy relationship with murder.

It didn't keep the color from fading.

Less than a year later, it was almost gone. She tried to convince herself that it didn’t matter, that her color wouldn’t be missed, but she couldn’t. All she could do was wait for the day it vanished completely, replaced with black and white once again.

That day didn’t come. What did, however, was Rip, but not just Rip either. Nearly the entire team came to rescue her.

Nobody had ever done anything like that for her before. In fact, she was so blown away that she didn’t quite know how to react. So, she did the first thing that came to mind, and that was to turn them in to R’as.

However, Sara almost immediately noticed something that took her attention away from that: the team was missing two members, Mick and Leonard. Sara tried to think rationally. There were plenty of reasons Rip would leave two of his best fighters behind when breaking into the League of Assassins, but even she had to admit that those reasons got more and more bizarre and unlikely as she went down the list. She knew that the only reason they weren’t there was because something was wrong and Sara’s steadily fading color didn’t help to clear her mind.

Lucky for her, Rip had a plan that let her end that train of thought. Unlucky for her, that plan involved pinning her against Kendra, knowing full well that at least one of them would end up dead.

Something rose in Sara as she watched Ray try to jump in front of Kendra. It was not anger, nor the bloodlust she’d become used to feeling when facing an adversary. This was different. She felt so incredibly frustrated, frustrated that Kendra’s soulmate was eternally guaranteed, and frustrated that she even had Ray, who loved her regardless of whether they were soulmates or not.

Then, there was Sara, watching her color slowly fade away. Then she felt the anger she hadn’t been feeling before. It was red and hot and burned in the back of her throat and consumed her every thought, so much so that she barely had to control her movement as she and Kendra fought.

Rip was almost right. Someone almost did die. Sara was a moment away from slitting Kendra’s throat when something in her vision changed and she froze. It was barely there, but noticeable when she moved her eyes from side to side. A bit of color was creeping into her vision. More yellow had been added to the stone walls of the room, adding to their look of age and deterioration. The torches on the walls glowed an even deeper orange, matching the anger in Sara that was now rapidly subsiding.

But she didn’t have time to worry about color, because Chronus, the bounty hunter that had been following them since even the very beginning of their mission, appeared in the doorway. She fought him, using every method she had to bring him down. She was one second away from ending the whole thing when it happened.

She heard Leonard’s voice before he saw him. He was grimacing, doubled over, with one hand clutching the stone doorframe and the other tucked inside his coat. He looked over the crowded room, stopping only when he found Chronus and then Sara.

As her eyes met his, her vision exploded with color.

It had never been that bright before, never that clear. There was no fading at the edges, no flickering, it was just there, like it was supposed to be.

It was a strange sort of confirmation of what she already expected, given that she was the only one who’d undergone anything at all; she highly doubted anything had happened to Leonard’s vision in the two days he’d been away from her.

Sara wasn’t exactly surprised, the only reason it’d taken her so long to see this clearly was, what? Fear? Doubt? Whatever it was, all she knew was that the time she spent with Leonard was like a dream in a life that so often felt like a nightmare. She didn’t want to let herself believe something like this — love, a soulmate, Leonard — was even possible. More than that, she didn’t want to get her hopes up because she didn’t want to feel the pain when it all came crashing down again.

The rest of the evening flew by; Sara barely paid any attention to what was happening. All she knew was that somehow, she’d ended up in her old room on the Waverider. It looked exactly as she’d left it, because technically, she’d only left forty eight hours ago.

She was sitting on her bed and working at the intricate braids her hair had been pulled into. She was so lost in thought that she had no idea what she was doing, she was just letting her hands do the work and let her mind wander anywhere else.

Sara wasn’t going to tell anyone about the hell she’d been through in Nanda Parbat, not because she thought the war stories or the brutality would be too much to handle, but because how was she supposed to explain that the pain of those things was nothing to how she felt watching her color fade away?

It’s not that she wanted to tell anyone either but she knew that if she found herself alone with Leonard, she’d tell him everything.

She couldn’t though. She couldn’t tell him any of what she’d been through over the last two years. He wouldn’t get it.

Would he?

Sara had to admit Captain Cold was not as cold as he had been at the beginning of this mission.

Still, the last time Leonard was faced with emotions, he killed Mick.

Tried being the operative word.

He didn’t kill Mick. Sure, he stranded him in the middle of nowhere, but the Leonard she’d met would have killed him. Or would he have sided with him?

Sara didn’t know what to think anymore. Everything from the mission was kind of hazy; two years was longer than she thought it was.

Was Leonard still capable of comprehending how hard those years had been for her?

On one hand, why wouldn’t he be? Hadn’t he been through this whole color thing too? Who’s to say he wouldn’t want to talk about it with her?

“Cat got your tongue, Canary?”

Sara jumped to her feet, fingers curling around the hilt of a knife that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

As her vision cleared, she saw Leonard leaning against her doorframe. She relaxed slightly and tucked the knife back into the waistband of her jeans.

“Sorry,” Sara said, not meeting his eyes. She stood up, “Old habits die hard, I guess.”

“Don’t apologize,” Leonard replied.

Sara moved towards the door.

“If I were you I’d stay away from me for a while. Who knows what I could do?” Sara brushed past him, leaving her room and walking down the hallway.

Leonard didn’t move, watching her retreating form until she had rounded a corner. He could tell something was wrong, and it wasn’t the effects of returning to her old assassin ways. Leonard remembered who she was when he first met her;  he remembered how she’d been, how she’d acted. This was different.

Before, she’d been fearless, and cocky — arrogant even — about death. She’d seen it as unimportant, meaningless, but clearly thought it would never happen to her.

She may have had a point about that last part.

The Sara that he’d just seen bore almost no resemblance to the one he’d met several months ago.

He saw hesitation in this Sara, fear even.

Leonard didn’t think he’d ever seen Sara afraid before. It was an interesting color on her.

Color.

Was that what this was about? Had she started to see color on Nanda Parbat?

Leonard had thought that maybe Sara had been the reason he’d started seeing color himself, but now he wasn’t so sure.

If not Sara, then who was it?

That didn’t explain how Sara had looked at him when he’d arrived at the headquarters of the League of Assassin. Mick had been surrounded, subject to the team’s arsenal of weapons and abilities with no chance of survival. At the sound of his voice, the whole team had turned. He met Sara’s eyes first and instantly her face went sheet white, her eyes widening. He had no idea why it happened, and still wasn’t entirely sure it had at all; it had lasted a split second before his attention had been pulled to saving Mick, but it had been the only thing on his mind since then.

What was wrong with him? How was he letting one person become this important to him, and just on the assumption that she was the one who’d caused him to see color?

Maybe this distance would be a good thing.

Unfortunately for both of them, it didn’t last long.

The next mission consisted of a few of Leonard’s worst days yet, not because of the mission itself, but because of just a few moments in it.

One such moment was when he accidentally said something stupid. He was manipulative — he got it from his dad — and although he wasn’t always particularly proud of it, it came in handy more often that it should have. To be manipulative, you have to be good with words, and Leonard definitely was. He didn’t have to worry about saying anything stupid because he never really had before.

Then again, he was starting to think that being around Sara was making him become a different person.

For better or for worse.

Either way, he said something to Sara when he didn’t mean to.

And what about your feelings, she’d said

About you?

He hadn’t meant to say it. It had been a deflection, saving him from a completely different conversation he didn’t want to have. Looking back on it, there were a million things he could have said instead, but he’d been too distracted by how clear his color was when he was looking at Sara to put too much thought into what he was saying.

He knew Sara saw right through him. He could tell just in the way she smiled at him before continuing.

She called him an ass on her way out. Nobody else would have gotten away with that, only Sara.

The worst part of this mission happened at its tail-end, and it was something Leonard didn’t think he’d ever forget.

They’d been on some landing strip or something, fighting Savage, his men, and a fleet of atomic robots. It was total chaos, fighting happening both on land and in the air. Then he’d turned and seen Savage holding Sara, one arm pinning her against him, the other holding a knife to her throat.

On the surface, Sara looked nothing more than incredibly angry, and that was enough to send some of Savage’s men a few steps backwards, but as her eyes met Leonard’s, he saw something even scarier: terror.

What do you want?

The words were out before Leonard could stop them. He would do anything to never see Sara looking so scared again.

Except that wasn’t him. He was supposed to be called Captain Cold for a reason. He was supposed to not care.

Well, he did care.

A few more missions went by; nothing particularly exciting happened within them.

Leonard got to see Sara dressed for an afternoon in the Old West, which was a view he definitely enjoyed. He also got to see a younger version of Sara, which was slightly more disconcerting.

Sara tried her best to keep her younger self away from the rest of the team.

She wasn’t entirely sure how this soulmate thing worked, but she was pretty sure nothing good would come of seeing Leonard — or, you know, whoever else her soulmate could be — decades before she was supposed to.

Sara did pretty well until she was bringing Leonard’s infant self back to the Waverider and it dawned on her that she might be handing her future soulmate to herself.

Is that a baby?, she’d asked, her face scrunched up in confusion.

Sara searched her face for any changes, and wracked her brain for some sort of new memory, but nothing seemed to have changed.

A half an hour later, she was back in her room and free to ask Gideon what she wanted to know away from prying ears.

“Gideon,” she said into the air.

“Yes, Miss Lance?” the AI answered.

“Gideon,” Sara repeated, “I can see color.”

“I am aware.”

“Okay,” she hesitated, slightly thrown off, “well then can you tell me who my soulmate is?”

“Unfortunately, no, Miss Lance,” Gideon replied, “Unless it is of the cardiovascular nature, I cannot deal with problems of the heart. Is that all?”

“No,” Sara said hurriedly, “I have a question. If my soulmate is who I think it is, then my younger self just saw him, held him, and nothing happened.”

“I assume when you say soulmate, you are referring to Leonard Snart, and in this case, his infant self,” Gideon said.

“Yes,” Sara said. This was the first time she’d heard it out-loud. She wasn’t sure what to think of it. “Why didn’t I see color when I saw him?”

“There is not much science on the subject of soulmates, but there are theories,” Gideon said, “My theory on this particular problem is in that this Leonard Snart is from the past. In his current time, you haven’t been born. Therefor he doesn’t have a soulmate yet.”

“So you think he’s my soulmate?”

“I calculate the probability of Mr. Snart being your soulmate is—”

“Actually, never mind,” Sara cut the AI off, “I don’t want to know.”

While the last few missions were rough for Leonard, the next one was just as difficult for Sara.

They were in 2166, and fighting Vandal Savage at the height of his power. Sara wasn’t sure how this could possibly be a good plan, but against her better judgement, she was trusting Rip Hunter.

They went to a speech, given by Savage to some of his men (it had been astonishingly easy to sneak into; Savage’s security was abysmal).

Then, they’d seen her.

Cassandra.

Or Cassie, as Leonard liked to call her.

Sara had never been a particularly jealous person, probably because she’d never had to be. She was usually the object of people’s straying eyes, not the other way around. It was a part of her that she’d never been particularly proud of.

She’d never missed it more.

“You’ve gotten pretty tight with Savage’s daughter,” Sara said to Leonard when they found themselves alone in the mess hall. She had gone in to get some lunch, and Leonard had already been there when she arrived. He was making hot chocolate — he always made it a big ordeal, making the whole thing from scratch and complaining about the “shitty instant crap” the entire time — and he had two mugs on the table.

What are you doing?

Cassie’s never had hot chocolate. You’ve never lived until you have hot chocolate.

Cassie?

“What can I say,” he replied, “abusive fathers have me seeing red.”

Sara stared at him, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach. It couldn’t be a coincidence that the first and only time Leonard directly referred to color happened to be right after he met Cassandra, could it?

“If your hope was for me to be green with envy,” she said, choosing her words carefully, “I think you’ll be disappointed.”

Their eye contact was held for longer than two “just friends” should have been able to get away with. Sara’s eyes were narrowed, one eyebrow cocked. Leonard had a smirk plastered across his face.

It was Sara who broke their gaze as she turned to leave the mess hall.

Leonard thought Sara would avoid him like the plague after what he’d said to her, but they returned Cassandra to her own time, and things went back to normal. He thought the quick return to normalcy may have been because of Savage’s presence on the Waverider. He had replaced his daughter in the cell on the Waverider mere hours after it had been inhabited by Cassandra. He was just as stubborn as his daughter, but much less capable of reasoning.

Savage being on board made Sara nervous. She hated being nervous; it brought back residual League habits: jumpiness, always being on edge, one hand unfailingly gripping the hilt of a knife or the collapsed batons in the back pocket of her jeans.

For some reason, being with Leonard dampened those effects. It wasn’t that he was calm; if she wanted calm, she’d probably be sitting next to Kendra, but she wasn’t. She was sitting next to Leonard, him in his usual seat on the bridge, her sitting with her back against it, her head so close to his shoulder when either of them moved, she brushed against the leather of his jacket.

Just the way they were nonchalantly passing the beer bottle back and forth was making her feel better. The sheer force of his aloofness — the way he treated the presence of an immortal psychopath on the Waverider as a mere inconvenience to him, rather than an actual threat — was enough to ease even some of her nerves.

Sara wanted Savage off of her ship. Even more than that, she wanted him dead. She’d always just assumed that’s how all of this would end, because that had been the plan the whole time, but now, half of the team wanted to spare his life (although if she was being completely honest, she shouldn’t be so surprised considering the outcome of most of their past missions).

Hell, she’d kill Savage herself if she could, but only Kendra could do that.

Maybe that’s why his presence on the ship had her so on edge. Next to Vandal Savage, Sara was completely powerless. Sure, she could hold her own in a fight against him, but not even two tours in the League of Assassins gave her the ability to kill him.

Maybe that’s why she hung around the team’s resident Rogues, because she was sure they felt the same way about all of this, they just didn’t show it.

Until they did.

When Mick brought up the idea of hijacking the jumpship and returning to Central City, Leonard agreed. It was more of an impulse move, a product of his anger at Rip for what he’d done to Jax, for his betrayal.

When Sara heard the plan, she didn’t exactly argue. It’s not that she didn’t want to, it’s that if she said anything, she’d say everything. She’d say how much she liked being around him, how so much of her had become dependent on him, even though it went against so much of what she believed in. She’d tell him about color, and how she didn’t want to go through losing it again and how she definitely didn’t want him going through the same thing. She’d tell him everything.

So she didn’t say anything at all.

The Rogues’ plan fell through, which neither Leonard nor Sara were particularly surprised about. Neither of them were overly disappointed either.

Walking to where the jumpship was docked, Leonard had felt a twinge of guilt — an emotion he was somewhat used to feeling by now — about leaving Sara behind.

He felt an even worse emotion about leaving Sara behind with Vandal Savage onboard the Waverider. Sure, Sara had managed to avoid permanent death for years, but Savage didn’t need to avoid it at all; he was defying all human function without lifting a finger.

Leonard didn’t want to doubt her skills, but he didn’t want to find out later, when all the color in his vision he’d gotten so used to suddenly disappeared, that things had gone sideways.

He wanted to be there with her to help if things went sideways.

It did.

Savage got out of his prison cell — because Ray’s an idiot; Leonard had said it all along and no one had listened. He shut down the ships central controls. They were flying blind — Sara was flying blind.

That left the rest of the team to hold off Savage and the brainwashed Carter Hall.

Leonard fought back harder than usual, trying his best to keep them away from the bridge. He needed to keep them away from the bridge, not because he particularly cared about what was happening there, but because Sara was there.

He needed Sara to be safe. He had no ulterior motive, and he wasn’t getting anything out of it, but he knew he needed Sara to be safe. That’s it.

That’s why his heart plummeted into his stomach when he’d been hit, and the last thing on his mind as the world went black was that he wasn’t sure he’d be able to see the blue of Sara’s eyes when he regained consciousness.

He did, in fact, regain his ability to see color when he woke up.

Sara was fine, royally pissed off, but fine.

“I wish I’d been there more to help bring down Savage,” he told her later. He was in Sara’s room, leaning against the foot of her bed and watching her deal out a deck of cards. They were waiting, biding their time until Rip came back and told them what they would do next.

“I dunno, you seemed pretty comfortable when we found you,” Sara responded, doling out the last of the cards and picking up her own pile.

“That wasn’t exactly my choice,” he replied, “I would choose helping you over being passed out against a wall in a heartbeat.”

“I think most people would,” she said, choosing to ignore any hidden meaning in his words, “Sorry to hear your plan to get home didn’t work out.”

Leonard shrugged, “I’m not.”

They fell into silence after that, each concentrating on the game in front of them. They played for the win first, not the company, although that was an added bonus.

Leonard was thankful for the silence later, because it allowed him to hear the unfamiliar noises from within the Waverider. He had sort of a sixth sense for when things were about to go wrong, perhaps because in his past, it often did. He had needed to recognize a bad situation before it happened so he could avoid it. He wasn’t entirely sure what it was, but he sure as hell didn’t want whatever it was near Sara.

We need to find somewhere to hide.

Why do we need to find somewhere to hide?

Alexa.

Sure, the word Alexa wasn’t exactly the best explanation, but it was all the explanation he had time to give before they had to get moving — or more specifically, moving through the Waverider’s ventilation system. They were both aware of how uncomfortable the other was; Sara knew that Leonard had never done well with being in close proximity to another person, and Leonard knew that closed spaces reminded Sara of parts of her life she desperately wanted to forget.

They both stayed quiet though, not sure how to bring up their own discomfort, or their awareness of the other’s. They listened to the sounds of their team being dragged away. They waited until the only thing they could hear was the sound of their own breathing, then ten minutes more.

Finally, Leonard decided it was safe to emerge from their hiding spot.

The next few hours were a blur of chaos and confusion. He pulled a gun on Sara; an action fueled by his own fear of losing her, and one he instantly regretted. He apologized for it later — not well, he had to admit, but he wasn’t very good at apologizing, never had been — but she was still upset with him. He didn’t blame her.

You want to steal a kiss from me, Leonard? You better be one hell of a thief.

From anybody else, those words would have meant a rejection, but from her, it was something else. It was a challenge.

Leonard was never one to back down from a challenge.

It turns out, he didn’t have to.

The decision to sacrifice himself at the Oculus Wellspring was almost a no-brainer.

Almost.

He couldn’t let Mick stay, not after all the times Leonard had gone against him during the mission: taking him out of 2046, stranding him in the middle of nowhere, the countless times he’d chosen the team over his partner. He couldn’t add another instance to the list, it wasn’t right.

But that still left Sara. Sara was what made this decision almost a no-brainer.

Leonard was almost positive now that Sara was the one who’d caused the arrival of the color in his vision. He’d had no idea, back at the beginning of the mission, that he’d be the one taking it away from her, at least, not in such a brutal way.

He wished it didn’t have to be like this. He wished there was another way, that he didn’t have to hold down the failsafe. He wanted to follow Sara back to the Waverider and continue their conversation about me, and you, and me and you. He wanted to talk about color, he wanted to get lost in her blue eyes and run his fingers through her blonde hair.

But he didn’t tell her any of it. He didn’t have time. So when Sara kissed him, he tried to put as much of what he wished he could say into kissing her back, how one look at the beginning of a ludicrous time travel mission had made his entire life light up.

She pulled away, but didn’t leave him just yet. As her eyes traveled across his face, trying to memorize every detail, his eyes remained locked on hers. He took in every pigment, every shade of blue, because if this was was, he wanted her eyes to be the last good thing her remembered.

Once she’d dragged Mick onto the Waverider and propped him up against his usual chair on the main deck, Sara sat down and squeezed her eyes shut. Rip directed Gideon to fly the Waverider away from the Oculus as fast as she could.

Then came the explosion.

Gideon clearly had gotten the timeship out of range, but even without seeing it, Sara knew. She heard the rumbling crash roll through the air. With it came the quaking vibrations that shook the Waverider even with the distance the AI had put between them and the Oculus.

She knew she needed to open her eyes. She knew that they were traveling further and further away from Leonard and if he was still alive, she was the only one who’d know.

As the Waverider trembled, Sara hated herself for thinking there was even a chance he could still be alive. She knew Snart had to be dead. No one, not even the elusive Captain Cold could survive an explosion like that. It just wasn’t possible.

Then why were her eyes still closed? Why was she holding onto the slightest possibility that she’d open her eyes and see color if she knew it was impossible?

The quaking of the timeship had finally subsided. The team was silent. Nobody moved.

Slowly, Sara raised her head. Her eyes were still closed, but she could see the brightness of the Waverider's tech through her eyelids; nothing gave her an inkling of whether she could still see color though.

She had to just get it over with. She had to do it.

She opened her eyes.

Gone was the brown of Rip’s duster, gone was the yellow of Jax’s suit and the red of Ray’s.

Gone was Leonard.

All she saw was grey.

Sara met Mick’s eyes. She silently gave one nod, answering a hundred unasked questions.

There was the proof.

Now, she knew for sure that Leonard was her soulmate. Now, she knew for sure Leonard was dead.

And that was that.

I hope you enjoyed this! Depending on the outcome of season 2, there might be a sequel to this story in your future :)

[newstechreviews]

Brian De Los Santos struggled to get to sleep on Wednesday night as he and his husband worried about what the outcome of the next day’s Supreme Court ruling on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program could mean for them. De Los Santos is a DACA recipient who came to the U.S. from Mexico at age two, while his husband is undocumented.

But on Thursday morning, De Los Santos awoke to news that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of allowing the DACA program to remain in place, and let out a sigh of relief.

“I turned to my husband and I told him, ‘I’m safe,'” De Los Santos tells TIME. From Monday’s Supreme Court ruling protecting LGBTQ workers from workplace discrimination, to Thursday’s decision that DACA will remain, he adds it’s been an “overwhelming” week.

De Los Santos, a 29-year-old digital strategist for the Desert Sun newspaper in Palm Springs, Calif., is now one of an estimated 650,000 DACA recipients who can continue living and working in the U.S. for the foreseeable future without fear of deportation.

“I’ve worked so hard to get where I’m at, and had the ruling gone differently, had the Supreme Court ruled against DACA, then all my world [would be] gone,” he says. “I’m taking every little win with a smile…If the Trump Administration decides to find another way to dismantle the DACA program, that’s a moment we’ll have to face at that time. If there’s anything that immigrants always are, it’s that we’re ready.”

The justices ruled in a 5-4 decision that the Trump Administration did not properly pursue the legal channels to end the program, which began during the Obama Administration in 2012. “The dispute before the Court is not whether [the Department of Homeland Security] may rescind DACA. All parties agree that it may,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in the majority opinion. “The dispute is instead primarily about the procedure the agency followed in doing so.”

In response to the ruling, DHS acting director Chad Wolf said the program was illegally implemented by the Obama Administration, which used executive power to launch it. “DACA recipients deserve closure and finality surrounding their status here in the U.S. Unfortunately, today’s Supreme Court decision fails to provide that certainty,” he said in a public statement.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, an estimated 1.3 million people are eligible for the DACA program, people often referred to as “Dreamers.” The undocumented population in the U.S. is estimated to be approximately 11.3 million overall.

“There will always be attacks on our immigrant community, so we always have to be ready,” says Vanessa Luna, a DACA recipient and cofounder of ImmSchools, a nonprofit that supports undocumented students and families. “DACA is a Band-Aid to a larger issue…so long-term, we need comprehensive immigration reform.”

Esder Chong, a 22-year-old DACA recipient in Middlesex County, N.J., says she’s now hopeful the DACA ruling will enable her to complete her upcoming graduate studies program at Rutgers University, which includes a component in Beijing, China. “It seems like such a small thing to be joyful about, but for me it’s everything because there was a huge uncertainty of even finishing this program because of my status,” she tells TIME.

Chong and her parents moved to the U.S. from South Korea for missionary work when she was 6 years old. In 2008, their visas ended, and Chong became undocumented. DACA recipients do not qualify for federal grants or student loans to go to college, but she was able to pay for her undergraduate education through private scholarships.

Other young DACA recipients who can’t access scholarships or can’t afford to pay out of pocket often learn that obtaining an education is out of the question. That was the case for Ramon Sanchez, a 23-year-old DACA recipient who lives in Dallas. Sanchez moved to Mt. Pleasant, Texas, from Mexico when he was about 6 years old and obtained DACA status when he was 16, allowing him to work retail jobs. In high school, his dream was to get an art degree at the Art Institute of Dallas. While touring the school, a tuition counselor broke the news that he wouldn’t qualify for federal student aid, taking college off the table. “That really kind of broke me down,” Sanchez tells TIME. “This is something that I’ve always wanted, almost at my fingertips.”

Sanchez, now a proud manager at the largest AT&T branch in Dallas, says his DACA status expires in May 2021. Before the Supreme Court ruling, he was unsure what would happen when his time ran out. “I just felt such a great joy,” he says of learning of the ruling. “It’s almost overwhelming…It just leads me to believe that there is hope, there’s hope for us Dreamers, there’s hope for us minorities, and there’s hope for our future.”

Despite Thursday’s ruling, the possibility still looms that the Trump Administration could find another path to ending the DACA program. President Trump tweeted Thursday after the Supreme Court ruling that “As President of the United States, I am asking for a legal solution on DACA, not a political one, consistent with the rule of law. The Supreme Court is not willing to give us one, so now we have to start this process all over again.”

Luna believes the threat would lessen if Trump were voted out of office. “Right now we’re celebrating, but there’s also this humongous possibility to do more for our community,” she says. “This is a moment of joy, but think we also have to recenter ourselves in the longer fight.”

Both Luna and Sanchez add that the current Black Lives Matter movement has also uplifted undocumented people, and activists are motivated to push back against any attempt to rescind the program.

“The immigrant rights movement has been able to get this far because of the work of Black liberation and the Civil Rights Movement,” Luna says. “We stand on their shoulders…so we’re standing with our Black community, many who are Black undocumented immigrants.”

Sanchez adds that he believes there’s enough pressure on the Administration at this moment from the Black Lives Matter movement and other members of historically oppressed communities to stop officials from trying to rescind the DACA program again anytime soon.

“The community is strong. We all love each other, we support each other and we all are absolutely here for each other,” Sanchez says. “There was a time where I felt alone in this, but I’m just a tiny little grain of sand in this huge beach of people just like me…I’m proud to be a Dreamer.”

[phooll123]

New top story from Time: ‘There’s Hope for Us.’ DACA Recipients Celebrate Supreme Court Ruling, But Say There’s More Work to Do

Brian De Los Santos struggled to get to sleep on Wednesday night as he and his husband worried about what the outcome of the next day’s Supreme Court ruling on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program could mean for them. De Los Santos is a DACA recipient who came to the U.S. from Mexico at age two, while his husband is undocumented.

But on Thursday morning, De Los Santos awoke to news that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of allowing the DACA program to remain in place, and let out a sigh of relief.

“I turned to my husband and I told him, ‘I’m safe,'” De Los Santos tells TIME. From Monday’s Supreme Court ruling protecting LGBTQ workers from workplace discrimination, to Thursday’s decision that DACA will remain, he adds it’s been an “overwhelming” week.

De Los Santos, a 29-year-old digital strategist for the Desert Sun newspaper in Palm Springs, Calif., is now one of an estimated 650,000 DACA recipients who can continue living and working in the U.S. for the foreseeable future without fear of deportation.

“I’ve worked so hard to get where I’m at, and had the ruling gone differently, had the Supreme Court ruled against DACA, then all my world [would be] gone,” he says. “I’m taking every little win with a smile…If the Trump Administration decides to find another way to dismantle the DACA program, that’s a moment we’ll have to face at that time. If there’s anything that immigrants always are, it’s that we’re ready.”

The justices ruled in a 5-4 decision that the Trump Administration did not properly pursue the legal channels to end the program, which began during the Obama Administration in 2012. “The dispute before the Court is not whether [the Department of Homeland Security] may rescind DACA. All parties agree that it may,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in the majority opinion. “The dispute is instead primarily about the procedure the agency followed in doing so.”

In response to the ruling, DHS acting director Chad Wolf said the program was illegally implemented by the Obama Administration, which used executive power to launch it. “DACA recipients deserve closure and finality surrounding their status here in the U.S. Unfortunately, today’s Supreme Court decision fails to provide that certainty,” he said in a public statement.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, an estimated 1.3 million people are eligible for the DACA program, people often referred to as “Dreamers.” The undocumented population in the U.S. is estimated to be approximately 11.3 million overall.

“There will always be attacks on our immigrant community, so we always have to be ready,” says Vanessa Luna, a DACA recipient and cofounder of ImmSchools, a nonprofit that supports undocumented students and families. “DACA is a Band-Aid to a larger issue…so long-term, we need comprehensive immigration reform.”

Esder Chong, a 22-year-old DACA recipient in Middlesex County, N.J., says she’s now hopeful the DACA ruling will enable her to complete her upcoming graduate studies program at Rutgers University, which includes a component in Beijing, China. “It seems like such a small thing to be joyful about, but for me it’s everything because there was a huge uncertainty of even finishing this program because of my status,” she tells TIME.

Chong and her parents moved to the U.S. from South Korea for missionary work when she was 6 years old. In 2008, their visas ended, and Chong became undocumented. DACA recipients do not qualify for federal grants or student loans to go to college, but she was able to pay for her undergraduate education through private scholarships.

Other young DACA recipients who can’t access scholarships or can’t afford to pay out of pocket often learn that obtaining an education is out of the question. That was the case for Ramon Sanchez, a 23-year-old DACA recipient who lives in Dallas. Sanchez moved to Mt. Pleasant, Texas, from Mexico when he was about 6 years old and obtained DACA status when he was 16, allowing him to work retail jobs. In high school, his dream was to get an art degree at the Art Institute of Dallas. While touring the school, a tuition counselor broke the news that he wouldn’t qualify for federal student aid, taking college off the table. “That really kind of broke me down,” Sanchez tells TIME. “This is something that I’ve always wanted, almost at my fingertips.”

Sanchez, now a proud manager at the largest AT&T branch in Dallas, says his DACA status expires in May 2021. Before the Supreme Court ruling, he was unsure what would happen when his time ran out. “I just felt such a great joy,” he says of learning of the ruling. “It’s almost overwhelming…It just leads me to believe that there is hope, there’s hope for us Dreamers, there’s hope for us minorities, and there’s hope for our future.”

Despite Thursday’s ruling, the possibility still looms that the Trump Administration could find another path to ending the DACA program. President Trump tweeted Thursday after the Supreme Court ruling that “As President of the United States, I am asking for a legal solution on DACA, not a political one, consistent with the rule of law. The Supreme Court is not willing to give us one, so now we have to start this process all over again.”

Luna believes the threat would lessen if Trump were voted out of office. “Right now we’re celebrating, but there’s also this humongous possibility to do more for our community,” she says. “This is a moment of joy, but think we also have to recenter ourselves in the longer fight.”

Both Luna and Sanchez add that the current Black Lives Matter movement has also uplifted undocumented people, and activists are motivated to push back against any attempt to rescind the program.

“The immigrant rights movement has been able to get this far because of the work of Black liberation and the Civil Rights Movement,” Luna says. “We stand on their shoulders…so we’re standing with our Black community, many who are Black undocumented immigrants.”

Sanchez adds that he believes there’s enough pressure on the Administration at this moment from the Black Lives Matter movement and other members of historically oppressed communities to stop officials from trying to rescind the DACA program again anytime soon.

“The community is strong. We all love each other, we support each other and we all are absolutely here for each other,” Sanchez says. “There was a time where I felt alone in this, but I’m just a tiny little grain of sand in this huge beach of people just like me…I’m proud to be a Dreamer.”

via Blogger https://ift.tt/3107jyP

[viralnewstime]

Brian De Los Santos struggled to get to sleep on Wednesday night as he and his husband worried about what the outcome of the next day’s Supreme Court ruling on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program could mean for them. De Los Santos is a DACA recipient who came to the U.S. from Mexico at age two, while his husband is undocumented.

But on Thursday morning, De Los Santos awoke to news that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of allowing the DACA program to remain in place, and let out a sigh of relief.

“I turned to my husband and I told him, ‘I’m safe,'” De Los Santos tells TIME. From Monday’s Supreme Court ruling protecting LGBTQ workers from workplace discrimination, to Thursday’s decision that DACA will remain, he adds it’s been an “overwhelming” week.

De Los Santos, a 29-year-old digital strategist for the Desert Sun newspaper in Palm Springs, Calif., is now one of an estimated 650,000 DACA recipients who can continue living and working in the U.S. for the foreseeable future without fear of deportation.

“I’ve worked so hard to get where I’m at, and had the ruling gone differently, had the Supreme Court ruled against DACA, then all my world [would be] gone,” he says. “I’m taking every little win with a smile…If the Trump Administration decides to find another way to dismantle the DACA program, that’s a moment we’ll have to face at that time. If there’s anything that immigrants always are, it’s that we’re ready.”

The justices ruled in a 5-4 decision that the Trump Administration did not properly pursue the legal channels to end the program, which began during the Obama Administration in 2012. “The dispute before the Court is not whether [the Department of Homeland Security] may rescind DACA. All parties agree that it may,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in the majority opinion. “The dispute is instead primarily about the procedure the agency followed in doing so.”

In response to the ruling, DHS acting director Chad Wolf said the program was illegally implemented by the Obama Administration, which used executive power to launch it. “DACA recipients deserve closure and finality surrounding their status here in the U.S. Unfortunately, today’s Supreme Court decision fails to provide that certainty,” he said in a public statement.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, an estimated 1.3 million people are eligible for the DACA program, people often referred to as “Dreamers.” The undocumented population in the U.S. is estimated to be approximately 11.3 million overall.

“There will always be attacks on our immigrant community, so we always have to be ready,” says Vanessa Luna, a DACA recipient and cofounder of ImmSchools, a nonprofit that supports undocumented students and families. “DACA is a Band-Aid to a larger issue…so long-term, we need comprehensive immigration reform.”

Esder Chong, a 22-year-old DACA recipient in Middlesex County, N.J., says she’s now hopeful the DACA ruling will enable her to complete her upcoming graduate studies program at Rutgers University, which includes a component in Beijing, China. “It seems like such a small thing to be joyful about, but for me it’s everything because there was a huge uncertainty of even finishing this program because of my status,” she tells TIME.

Chong and her parents moved to the U.S. from South Korea for missionary work when she was 6 years old. In 2008, their visas ended, and Chong became undocumented. DACA recipients do not qualify for federal grants or student loans to go to college, but she was able to pay for her undergraduate education through private scholarships.

Other young DACA recipients who can’t access scholarships or can’t afford to pay out of pocket often learn that obtaining an education is out of the question. That was the case for Ramon Sanchez, a 23-year-old DACA recipient who lives in Dallas. Sanchez moved to Mt. Pleasant, Texas, from Mexico when he was about 6 years old and obtained DACA status when he was 16, allowing him to work retail jobs. In high school, his dream was to get an art degree at the Art Institute of Dallas. While touring the school, a tuition counselor broke the news that he wouldn’t qualify for federal student aid, taking college off the table. “That really kind of broke me down,” Sanchez tells TIME. “This is something that I’ve always wanted, almost at my fingertips.”

Sanchez, now a proud manager at the largest AT&T branch in Dallas, says his DACA status expires in May 2021. Before the Supreme Court ruling, he was unsure what would happen when his time ran out. “I just felt such a great joy,” he says of learning of the ruling. “It’s almost overwhelming…It just leads me to believe that there is hope, there’s hope for us Dreamers, there’s hope for us minorities, and there’s hope for our future.”

Despite Thursday’s ruling, the possibility still looms that the Trump Administration could find another path to ending the DACA program. President Trump tweeted Thursday after the Supreme Court ruling that “As President of the United States, I am asking for a legal solution on DACA, not a political one, consistent with the rule of law. The Supreme Court is not willing to give us one, so now we have to start this process all over again.”

Luna believes the threat would lessen if Trump were voted out of office. “Right now we’re celebrating, but there’s also this humongous possibility to do more for our community,” she says. “This is a moment of joy, but think we also have to recenter ourselves in the longer fight.”

Both Luna and Sanchez add that the current Black Lives Matter movement has also uplifted undocumented people, and activists are motivated to push back against any attempt to rescind the program.

“The immigrant rights movement has been able to get this far because of the work of Black liberation and the Civil Rights Movement,” Luna says. “We stand on their shoulders…so we’re standing with our Black community, many who are Black undocumented immigrants.”

Sanchez adds that he believes there’s enough pressure on the Administration at this moment from the Black Lives Matter movement and other members of historically oppressed communities to stop officials from trying to rescind the DACA program again anytime soon.

“The community is strong. We all love each other, we support each other and we all are absolutely here for each other,” Sanchez says. “There was a time where I felt alone in this, but I’m just a tiny little grain of sand in this huge beach of people just like me…I’m proud to be a Dreamer.”

[siphen0]

The Flash — “Elseworlds, Part 1” — Image Number: FLA509c_0361bc.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent and Melissa Benoist as Kara/Supergirl — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved

***Spoiler Warning***

I can’t say that I was following the hype train for Elseworlds. I was kind of at that point with some of these shows where I was way more interested in what was going to be set up than what was actually going to happen during the crossover episodes. Like comics, bigger doesn’t always mean better. This was actually one of those times where I was happy to be wrong. Would I have loved to see the Legends make an appearance here? Of course, but it also made sense that they wouldn’t want to stuff too many heroes into a story that would benefit from more focus.

The first act The Flash “Elseworlds, Part 1” is leaps ahead of what the other two crossovers had to offer in the first night. My only hope was for a better start than last year’s crossover, and that was exactly what we got. Last year it was pretty weak the way they began with Supergirl. And not because they started with Supergirl, but because there was no actual crossover content till the last few minutes. This time around so much ground was covered, so much given clarity to, and so much fun experienced from heroes seeing the other side of the grass. I don’t think I could have asked for anything more than what we got here, for the most part. Barry and Oliver fully embraced the madness of their new realities. They of course had their moments to freak out about the changes, but they took every advantage to show what it is like to step in the shoes of the other. What then brought them to Kara was a reason you couldn’t argue with. What brought them to both Kara and Clark at the same time was even better. Little time was wasted in emphasizing that this story is taking place exactly where each show’s current storylines are progressing.

The second act was thrilling for everything dealing with our tour of Gotham in the Arrowverse. It was shocking how they decided to play up the myth of Batman and stirring the question of if there ever was a Batman. You want to believe it, but no one is truly straightforward about the answer to that question. The setting was on point from the city view to the halls of Arkham Asylum. What made this introduction so great was the reaction from Oliver, Barry, and Kara. They all had their own opinion of Batman, where Gotham fits in this world, and the existence of Batwoman. Kate Kane was exactly how you pictured her from the books. She’s cold, she commands attention when she steps into the room, very confident in her actions. I definitely was left with a quick impression that she worked that role better than Oliver could. How they explained her connection to Batman and Bruce Wayne was clever. She still has her distance from the two, but this obviously isn’t going to be like the books where she one night decides she wants to dress like a bat but ignore everything about the bat.

Arrow — “Elseworlds, Part 2” — Image Number: AR709a_0195b — Pictured (L-R): Stephen Amell as Barry Allen/The Flash and Ruby Rose as Kate Kane/Batwoman — Photo: Jack Rowand/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Our first confrontation with Deegan in Arkham was absolutely brilliant. If it wasn’t the action they delivered after the prisoners were set free, it was every prisoner in Arkham who had a familiar name. You either recognized their name right away, or you had to look a bit deeper if you weren’t too up to date with the villain’s real names.

The third act put a lot of work into the endgame when Dr. John Deegan was challenged to think bigger. The reality he put together was very well executed for someone who finally realized where he went wrong the first time. It’s not as if we haven’t seen our characters flipped from being heroes to villains before, but it was fun for the way that Barry and Oliver interacted with them. Barry and Oliver waking up in a new reality where they are criminals known as the Trigger Twins was one heck of a way to throw them out of their element. It was short-lived with pacing taking priority, but worthwhile for another role that Barry was able to play outside of being the good guy. Being that this third episode was Supergirl’s part, there was much more of her and others from her story seen in this last stretch. I enjoyed the way that their tone fit into this crossover considering their theme centers around family and hope more than any of the others. Whether it was how Kara took control of her situation, or the way that Clark and Lois rose to the occasion, they stole the spotlight the only way that heroes can when they let their compass point them in the right direction. I mean, lets talk about Lois and company who joined that fight. I didn’t see it coming and I loved every second of the last people you would expect to make a difference do their thing.

For somewhat villains, Dr. John Deegan and The Monitor did stand out in their own way. I say somewhat because Deegan isn’t seen all too much as himself, and The Monitor’s actions weren’t exactly as they seemed on the surface. He was doing wrong, but clearly with good intentions in mind. His actions were the kind that lean towards Gods who think that manipulation serves as a better line of communication than being direct. Cliche yes, but the way they went about it was clever. Now Deegan I would say is for the most part forgettable. Not for what troubles he created, but for the fact that you are left with an image of Superman burned into your head rather than him. Aside from his moments rewriting reality as himself, that was as far as his actions went carrying his own face. Because of that, I found myself more so applauding Tyler Hoechlin for his role as Superman. He proved to have a lot of range. That sinister laugh, the monologuing, everything else in-between stood out when the Supes in black took matters into his own hands.

Supergirl — “Elseworlds, Part 3” — Image Number: SPG409a_0391b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash and Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow — Photo: Sergei Bachlakov/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

As I told someone earlier this week, the best thing about Elseworlds was the tone. You read from some people that this could be too cheesy or cliche, but what is comics if not those things? It’s not about the act of being cheesy or cliche, it’s about why. Sometimes that is what we actually need from these shows. Other shows may be better in some areas, but they also can suffer from being bleak. This three-night crossover put more effort into trying to find a balance between being light-hearted and serious. I walked away from that last episode believing in the existence of hope in superhero stories. The admiration for the way that they aimed to define what it means to be a hero. What you do as the hero, as your normal self, even what you can accomplish without your powers/gear says more than anything else could. I cherished every moment where they smiled, laughed, opened up about the things that only other heroes could relate to. This was one of the first times that I was able to cheer on Oliver for the growth he accepted when faced with other options in carrying himself as the Green Arrow.

What also deserves some recognition is the effects used for this event. Obviously there are some things they simply can’t perfect, but other things looked great. It was very cool for the level of detail that went into certain characters and how it didn’t pop out too much as things inhuman. The Superman fight was a bit fluffy in the sky, but it could have looked so much more different if they decided that it all needed to be generated images. Aside from that, they spared no expense in lighting and special effects from everyone else who had a hand in making this event out of the ordinary.

Elseworlds might be the best crossover they have done so far. I would dare to say that this is the best. It benefited from not involving too many heroes and focusing purely on those who are at the core of these shows. They also proved that you can take being a hero very seriously, but it means nothing if you can’t have a little fun along the way. Call that cheesy, but it may just mean you need to broaden your definition of superheroes in comic worlds.

The Flash — “Elseworlds, Part 1” — Image Number: FLA509b_0345b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent, Melissa Benoist as Kara/Supergirl and Bitsie Tulloch as Lois Lane — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved

Supergirl — “Elseworlds, Part 3” — Image Number: SPG409a_0178b.jpg — Pictured: Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon — Photo: Sergei Bachlakov/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Arrow — “Elseworlds, Part 2” — Image Number: AR709b_0002b — Pictured (L-R): Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow and Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash — Photo: Jack Rowand/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

The Flash — “Elseworlds, Part 1” — Image Number: FLA509d_0163bc.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Jeremy Davies as John Deegan and LaMonica Garrett as The Monitor — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved

DC/CW Elseworlds Crossover Review ***Spoiler Warning*** I can't say that I was following the hype train for Elseworlds. I was kind of at that point with some of these shows where I was way more interested in what was going to be set up than what was actually going to happen during the crossover episodes.

[potr1774com]

A lot of these high schoolers, liberal arts college grads, unmarried, childless, government dependent, emostionalistic voters fail to get and in many ways can not understand is WHY gun owners refuse to just ‘give up’ their guns.  Most of them can’t figure out why anyone wants to or needs to own a gun in the first place.  I a country that pampers them and has provided for all their needs its is hard to imagine why.  When their worst day is a first world problem and the feeling of being poor amounts to not having enough to buy your fave venti latte from Starbucks.  Godforbid they had to eat Ramon noodles in college, oh the inhumanity.  Getting off topic.  So to spell it out for all the brainwashed, ignorant and self righteous gun controlers/grabbers: This is WHY AMERICANS have guns.

 FREEDOM.  Our inalienable right to defend ourselves.  We are FREE to use the proper tool that exerts the proper force equal to the force that can be used against us and subdue the attacker.  We are FREE to do that and we should be.  Benjamin Franklin said it well:  “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

CRIME.  The streets of Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, and all those regions of the country where gun control has essentially disarmed anyone from being able to defend themselves.  Thus, criminals and all those willing to break the law, know this.  Hence, the immense crime rate in areas where people are most defenseless.  Tomas Jefferson hit it spot on when he stated:  “The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes…. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.” – Thomas Jefferson, Commonplace Book (quoting 18th century criminologist Cesare Beccaria), 1774-1776

FAMILY.  The lives of my spouse and children are vastly more important than my own, and ensuring their security and defense is an inherent duty.  It is OUR duty to defend and subdue all violent attacks on our family.  George Washington stated:  “That no man should scruple, or hesitate a moment, to use arms in defence of so valuable a blessing, on which all the good and evil of life depends, is clearly my opinion.” -George Washington, letter to George Mason April 5th 1769

THE HEART OF HUMANITY.  We recognize the truth that this world is not perfect, and evil exists.  Humans do evil things against each other.  Thieves, robbers, assaulters, addicts, and people with uncontrollable personal issues that compels them to engage in actions that hurt, harm, ruin, and kill other people they come in contact with.  THIS is unstoppable and has been a part of human society since the first humans walked the earth.  Due to this inherent nature, a self defense that is equal or greater to subdue the evil is also recognized as necessary.  The greatest being to ever walk the earth, Jesus Christ, stated this:  “And He said to them, “But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one.”  – Jesus, Luke 22:36.  Why would Jesus of all people tell his followers to arm themselves and buy a weapon?  Jesus then states:  “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries…” Jesus, Mark 7:21.  God, spoke through The Apostle Paul when he stated:  “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside,  together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” – Paul, Romans 3:10-12.

There is another reason that is at the core of why The Founding Fathers of the most powerful and greatest nation on earth included the 2nd Amendment.  This is not really taught in schools and people or view the government as mommy and daddy will obviously disagree.  Which is also the result of growing up in a such a spoiled and pampered luxurious society.

“I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.” – Thomas Jefferson, letter to James Madison, January 30, 1787

George Washington put it best when he stated:  “A free people ought not only be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.”  Now lets look at a section of the Declaration of Independence:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…”  The Declaration of Independence, In Congress, July 4, 1776.  Not only is it the duty and responsibility of the people to secure these inalienable rights but it is ALSO a right to alter, abolish, and institute a new government “whenever any form of government becomes destructive” to these rights.  Ready for the primary reason for the 2nd Amendment?

FREEDOM TO DEFEND AGAINST ANY FORM OF GOVERNMENT THAT ATTACKS OUR INALIENABLE RIGHTS.

Now considering THE HUMAN HEART (reason #4), and the government is made up of imperfect people who seek to draft imperfect laws AND in light of human history of governments; only an ignorant child would not see that an oppressive enslaving genocidal government is always a possibility.

Keeping and barring arms is no different than you locking your car doors and home door at night.  When you do it, you do not see an immediate threat.  No robber is standing in your front yard holding a sign saying “I will rob your house tonight”.  You do it because the THREAT is a real possibility.   You lock your car doors while you are at the movies because the THREAT of your car being broken into is a real threat.

An oppressive and tyrannical government is a real threat.  Just look around the world now and study history.  The Syrian government is gassing its own people.  North Korea is starving its own citizens.  China is imprisoning its own citizens for speaking freely.  Wasn’t that long ago, the Taliban in Afghanistan were publicly executing who ever disagreed with them.  All major genocidal governments in history, started with gun control and sought to disarm any resistance.  This is the truth.  These are real possibilities because of the human heart shown to us in real history.

If you notice, in every and all reasons for having a gun is this:  BEST DEFENSE FOR WHAT IS MOST VALUABLE.

The use of guns for self defense have saved more lives than any safe space or gun free zone.  All the mass shooters who were stopped by someone else with a gun, saved the number of lives as to the rounds left in the shooters gun.  The shooter, instead of using all his ammunition on unarmed people, was stopped before he could use all his ammunition.  A buried CDC report estimated that guns were used in self defense about 2.4 million times.  Those 2.4 million people would have been just another victim of a crime if it was not for their ability to defend themselves.  Deterrence also plays a factor.

Lets consider Court houses.  What deters people from wanting to shoot up a court house?  Video surveillance, silent alarms, armed security, metal detectors, entrance searches, and police response time to name a few.  People are being sentenced to life in prison, receiving the death penalty, and being imposed life altering fines.  Why aren’t the accused, their family, or the victims families shooting up court houses?  Why is this such a rare occurrence all the while being a higher stress environment than high schools?  The ability to defend against such attempts.  That’s why.

The explicit observable ability to defend against an attacker is the deterrent.  though, there is no full proof 100% deterrent or perfect defense.  Some people are just crazy, illogical, irrational, and will just dive right into a pool with sharks after cutting their wrist.  But those who are willing to violate the law BUT not risk their life, are more deterred.  Shame the government of schools, counties, school districts, states, and federal aren’t willing to put systems in place to defend our children in schools like they do court houses, their political offices, and places where they store their money… But that’s another matter.

In the home and in public, gun owners are equipped to protect their spouses and children and ready to put down any attacker long before the attacker uses all his ammo on unarmed people and long before police finally arrive.

Gun Control advocates and gun grabbers either don’t understand the duty to defend their family or feel subconsciously guilty for failing or being unable to defend their family.  Maybe even feel too selfish and lazy to defend their family so they would rather the government do it for them…  either way,  when the government starts taking away more of their rights and silencing their annoying voice… what will they have to defend themselves with?

Keep in mind, it was estimated that only 15% of the colonialist participated in The Revolutionary War… YOUR WELCOME 85% for your rights that which were secured by the 15% of gun owners willing to take a stand.

Why Most Gun Control Advocates Don’t Get It?  They don’t have that great sense of anything besides themselves and their ideals to physically defend.  They ‘defend’ only those who agree with their ideals and agenda, thus, still about them.  They ‘fight’ for only those who agree with their ideals and agenda, thus, still about them.  They are not willing to sacrifice themselves for someone else’s ideals.  They aren’t willing to selflessly accept the notion that freedom includes risk.  They fail to see their own self-righteousness.  They fail to see their own logical contradictions and hypocrisies because they are too blinded by their obsession with pushing their own ideals and agendas.  Gun Control advocates who don’t have children, do not have that innate parental instinct to protect their children at all costs, beyond themselves.  Spoiled college grads not have experienced a world without their luxuries.  Government dependent citizens, pampered by this system have no idea the depths a government can do.

Gun Control advocates need to spend 3 years in Syria; organize and participate in free speech rallies in North Korea; fight for womans and same sex rights in Iran; walk around the streets of Chicago and Detroit with their Gucci purse holding a sign that says “I am unarmed”; Then talk about not having the right and ability to defend yourself.  They can even start now.  Stop locking your home and car doors…

Advertisements

__ATA.cmd.push(function() { __ATA.initSlot('atatags-26942-5b084006cd86d', { collapseEmpty: 'before', sectionId: '26942', width: 300, height: 250 }); });

__ATA.cmd.push(function() { __ATA.initSlot('atatags-114160-5b084006cd871', { collapseEmpty: 'before', sectionId: '114160', width: 300, height: 250 }); });

[dstrachan]

'VIEWS FROM THE HEDGE': MAJOR LIFE CHANGES - CROSSROADS

One of my regular shows on community radio was 'Views From The Edge', so named because I aimed to include my take on things from my home base in the south east of Scotland near the North Sea coast and border with England (the 'edge').  The wonderful Hastings band Fabulous Red Diesel were kind enough to spend some time recording a number of IDs for me, one of which they adapted as 'Views From The Hedge' complete with sheep sounds!  I will always be incredibly grateful to them for their support, sadly I find that I am currently unable to locate that specific ID as I believe that it was stored on an external hard drive which became damaged when it fell off my desk! Nevertheless I felt that it was a suitable title for this post, as I seek to establish just what I should be doing with the part of my life that had previously been devoted to music and community radio since my retirement from Scottish education.  Recently I feel as if I have been fenced (or hedged) in and am now looking out to identify a destination.  Queue a series of 'ramblings'! 

AND THE SURVEY SAYS - “WE LOVE THE OLD FAVOURITES”

As I've previously noted in a couple of recent posts, a few months ago a major change in my family circumstances led me to decide to step back from radio and review activities as I could no longer spare sufficient time to undertake these activities to a level that I would be happy with.  Although completely unrelated to my decision to withdraw from my live community radio shows, the station that was hosting my live shows then published the results of a listener survey around the same time.  The survey results were predominantly positive and very encouraging for the station with respondents voicing their love for all the shows that featured old familiar favourites – the one clear point of dissatisfaction was my focus on featuring new and unsigned artists.  At the same time some listeners had also posted comments on the station's Facebook page expressing their dislike of the new music that I had been playing. Thankfully my initial sense of failure was tempered as I had been regularly receiving messages of support from a range of people around the world, in particular from Mexico!  I have to say that I was further heartened to see others add comments in support of my selections – in general, as well as supporting my choices, they pointed out that all the familiar favourites would at one time in the past have also been 'new', untested and unfamiliar – they went on to ask what the outcome have been had nobody back then been prepared to go out on a limb and give people the opportunity to hear new songs?  Whilst I had always intended to help bring new music to my audience's ears rather than simply just play the safe and popular hits, the negativity nevertheless did sting a little.  Luckily I am rather stubborn and didn't feel that I could let such apparently blinkered negativity change my underpinning philosophy.

'BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY'

I do not claim to be right at all times with my selections and preferences, not everybody likes such a wide range of styles and sometimes I clearly make wrong calls.  I vividly recall the day when working in Bruce's Record Shop in Edinburgh's Rose Street and we received our first delivery of Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' single. Back in these days it was virtually unheard of to hear any single prior to its release so that Monday morning was the first opportunity that any of us in the shop had had to hear it.  After a couple of spins the general opinion, mine included, was bemusement = “who on earth is going to want to listen to that weird song about somebody having a bad trip?!”  This was before we ever had the opportunity to see the classic video! Nowadays I imagine any tweet comment might also include #WTF – well time has certainly proved us wrong on that initial call as 'Bohemian Rhapsody' has subsequently become embedded in the fabric of rock history as an absolute classic!  Over the years some brave souls have even taken a chance on recording a cover!!

IS COMMUNITY RADIO WORTH THE EFFORT?

I do strongly believe that there are so many solo artists and bands out there now who are producing exciting, innovative and inspirational music and who really do deserve to be given a fair hearing.  It is them that I wished to give exposure to in my radio shows, and seek to support by posting my reviews.  Given the amount of money and resources that are required to keep a community radio on air, surely it should not just be a medium to allow people to listen to a constant stream of familiar and popular hits – if that were the case listeners could just as easily tune in to a streaming service where they can specify preferred playlists?  That would eliminate so many of the administrative headaches that come with trying to keep a community radio station on air: no need to find the finances to pay for all the necessary hardware, premises, licences and utilities.

“DEFINITELY NOT MAINSTREAM”

I do confess that my listening preferences could never really have been classified as mainstream.  The first album that I ever bought had to be specially ordered for me by the record department in Stirling's Graham & Morton Department Store (O.K. I admit the photo in the link was a bit before my time!): it was released on John Peel's Dandelion label by the English performance art collective made up of about 14 musicians, poets, dancers, and sound and lighting technicians.  They were Principal Edwards Magic Theatre and the album was 'Soundtrack', which I still regularly revisit.  John Peel's wondrous radio shows were also a regular listen, where, from my earliest encounters, I was enchanted by unique audio gems such as Captain Beefheart's 'Trout Mask Replica', 'An Evening With “Wild Man Fischer” ', the GTOs and Ravi Shankar (I can vividly recall listening on my transistor radio whilst walking home one day in Bridge of Allan.  Such great memories, and no doubt an inspiration for my community radio work. 

GOOD OL' ROCK 'N' ROLL

I was intrigued recently by an item in a BBC Radio 4 'You & Yours' programme on Friday 5th January 2015.  It considered the thriving industry around the popularity of rock 'n' roll and how it's gaining new fans.  One contributor, Karinna Nobbs stated that “in the current economic climate people look backwards and are much more nostalgic about simpler times and the birth of rock 'n' roll told you something about what was going on – it was the birth of the teenager – there was a lot of hope and a lot of excitement for the future.”

Whilst I listened intently I found myself thinking about soma: the fictional hallucinogenic drug to keep society peaceful and happy in Aldous Huxley's novels 'Brave New World' and 'Island', and that perhaps this nostalgic 'comfort blanket' description would also help to explain the popularity of the range of 'tribute' and 'heritage' acts that appear to draw more crowds than fresh new talent in many local venues. Certainly in the Scottish Borders such acts appear to outnumber the less mainstream alternative options.

“CLASSIC ROCK ETC.”

I have already mentioned the first album that I purchased; I do have earlier memories but not really from the very earliest days of rock 'n' roll – although I have a few memories from the early 1960s, the late 1960s and early 1970s would probably provide the basis for my most enduring memories and I am forever grateful that I was around then to be able to hear so many eventual classics when they were taking their first steps (sadly NOT as a member of the audience at the actual live performances!): Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Eagles, Steely Dan, John Martyn and Jimi Hendrix to name a very few.  I feel that I have to add that the more enduring bands generally tended to lose their immediate appeal for me after their first handful of albums.  I suspect that was partly due to the overexposure that I experienced during my years working in the record shop, but possibly also as a result of a certain amount of predictability setting in. 

“I JUST MISSED THE PUNK REVOLUTION!”

Writing now, I firmly believe that the music that has had the most enduring impact of me is what came to classified as punk – although at the time I was never aware of it being referred to as such.  Bands/albums that I became more and more drawn towards in my youth include:

The Velvet Underground & Nico 1967; Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band 'Trout Mask Replica' 1969 / 'Clear Spot' 1972; MC5 'Kick Out The Jams' 1969; The Stooges 'Fun House' 1970 / 'Raw Power' 1973; New York Dolls 1973; Dr Feelgood 'Down At The Jetty' 1975; The Ramones 1976; The Tubes 'Young & Rich' 1976  ('White Punks On Dope'); Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers 'L.A.M.F.' 1977.

Cue 'real life' getting in the way!  In the autumn of 1976 my life changed significantly in a number of ways; I transitioned from being a student to starting my teaching career and also met and settled down with my wife as we welcomed two wonderful children into our world.  I wouldn't change any of that but the various demands placed on me at that time did mean that my previous focus on music, as a single entity, had to take a back seat.  I do occasionally wonder how things might have turned out had I been born a couple of years later and to have spent my teenage years in the punk era as opposed to the more hippie oriented one that I seemed to get caught up in.  

There are clear signs of an embryonic punk rock development in the late 1960s but the first wave of punk rock really took hold a bit later. It was aggressively modern, and distanced itself from the bombast and sentimentality of early 1970s rock. According to Ramones drummer Tommy Ramone, "In its initial form, a lot of '1960s' stuff was innovative and exciting.  Unfortunately, what happened was that people who could not hold a candle to the likes of Hendrix started noodling away.  Soon you had endless solos that went nowhere.  By 1973, I knew that what was needed was some pure, stripped down, no bullshit rock 'n' roll." John Holmstrom, founding editor of Punk magazine, recalls feeling "punk rock had to come along because the rock scene had become so tame that acts like Billy Joel and Simon and Garfunkel were being called rock and roll, when to me and other fans, rock and roll meant this wild and rebellious music." In critic Robert Christgau's description, "It was also a subculture that scornfully rejected the political idealism and Californian flower-power silliness of hippie myth."

“D.I.Y.”

Technical accessibility and a 'Do it Yourself' (DIY) spirit are prized in punk rock and I truly believe that it is this which continues to draw me towards the numerous exciting and inspirational acts that I tend to wish to follow now (really TOO MANY to mention, but I will continue to seek to give them some well deserved publicity); technological developments have made it easier for artists to retain greater control over their creative output. One extremely important 'tool' is the advent of crowdfunding which enables artists and bands to generate a funding source to enable them to complete a specific project; record an album, shoot a video, fund a tour etc. by making it possible for interested supporters to provide financial support whilst also being kept informed about progress and receiving specified benefits.  I feel privileged to have been able to have assisted a number of projects to move forward.   A 'D.I.Y.' attitude is also a crucial aspect for the success of voluntary community radio too.

GIGGING IN THE 21st CENTURY

UK pub rock from 1972-1975 contributed to the emergence of punk rock by developing a network of small venues, such as pubs, where non-mainstream bands could play, and this is the area that most interests me now although I can only physically get to a fraction of the gigs that are being organised.  Thankfully social media makes it easy for acts and promoters to share live videos to help share the experience.  I'll take this opportunity to share one very special video from a great gig in Glasgow = Healthy Junkies first performance in Scotland and an excellent example of the marvellous mutually supportive community that they represent!   Going back to my youth it was clearly the case that musicians  made money from unit recording sales, generally touring at a loss in order to promote their latest release.  Things seem to have reversed now and the recordings for most generate a minimal income and it is the touring and merchandise sales that provide the opportunity to get some form of financial return.  This makes it all the more essential that I, and others, can encourage people to get people up from their seats and out to support the numerous live performance opportunities that surround them.  I encourage people to be adventurous and give the unknowns a fair hearing, their performances will generally not be unaffordable, generally equivalent to a couple of pints in city centre venue.  Another thing; in my experience, these musicians are generally self-funding their tours so please do not seek to rip them off by trying to 'guilt trip' them into adding you to their guest lists!  A different story perhaps if the ticket price is over say £60.  

I believe that I have listened intently to so many different styles of music over the decades that little now strikes me as being entirely new and innovative; I routinely find echoes being sparked in my head that get me thinking bank to when I previously heard a particular phrase, riff or sound – whilst this often encourages me to revisit the sources of these evocations, I certainly don't seek to suggest that the new purveyors of these sounds are simply 'rip-off' artists and that the earlier versions must be venerated as the best. Instead, I celebrate the fact that yet more musicians have been able to experience the magic of producing output that blends, recycles and re-invigorates such timeless audio gems.

Yes – I will continue to re-visit older items in my extensive music collection, but I firmly believe that it will be the exciting new young acts that will continue to attract my full attention.  Whatever my eventual decision regarding radio & review activities, I am determined that it will have a strong focus on new and emerging unsigned talent from around the world with out any particular genre restrictions.

CONCLUSION

As I sought to conclude this piece I continued to remain unsure about just how to move forwards; a number of things took precedence over and prevented me finishing it promptly.  Consequently I will delay any return to radio and stick to written reviews for the short term. Many thanks to those who have submitted material recently, this has been a great impetus to encourage me.  Finally, if you have read as far as this, many thanks.  Whilst pieces like this are possibly more an exercise in self-assessment to help me make decisions I truly appreciate all who do take time out from their lives to consider my musings.

[paulisded]

Live Ledge #314: Best Records of 2017

As I was putting together this year’s list of my favorite records I came across a article from a music journalist claiming that lists such as this are idiotic. Since it’s impossible to hear every single album that was released over the year, nobody has the needed knowledge to proclaim anything as the year’s best records.

Come on. This is ridiculous. Nobody is claiming to have the definitive look at the year in music. I’ve never read any music critic claim to have heard each and every record.

But that doesn’t mean these sorts of think pieces aren’t worthwhile. Every writer, fan, or publication has an area of expertise, and if they’re honest they’ll admit to their cultural shortcomings. Mine just happens to include pop, hip-hop, and bro-country. I know that the new Kendrick Lamar is probably the year’s greatest musical achievement, but it’s not my thing. At the same time, I don’t need to hear the latest records by the likes of Luke Bryan, Taylor Swift, or whatever Jonas Brother that still makes music. Why would I waste my time when I know I’m going to hate it?

The purpose of these lists aren’t for people to proclaim themselves as the world’s biggest music expert. They exist mainly because as fans we want people to discover records they may have overlooked. I look at dozens of these types of articles, from giant publications to local music nerds, hoping to discover something that I’ve missed. Inevitably, I find quite a few, and I hope that my yearly list does the same for others.

This is a good year for this type of exploration. It’s been the best year in music in quite some time. Oftentimes, finding 40 records worthy of inclusion is not easy. This year, I started with over 80 candidates, and it took quite a bit of soul-searching to cut it down to my usual length. It’s such a good year that artists that routinely reside near the top (The National, Spoon, Steve Earle) didn’t make the cut.

What is it about 2017? Why was this a fertile year for music? Given the state of the music industry these days, there really shouldn’t be such an abundance of fabulous tunes. My theory is that as the possibility of fame and fortune fades away we’re left with artists who just HAVE to create. It’s in their blood. A musician and/or songwriter is who they are, and they’ll carry on as long as they can.

What’s even more surprising to me is the number of great releases by veteran artists. So many of my favorites from years past came out with their best records in decades. Who would have predicted the return of The Jesus and Mary Chain? Or that Robyn Hitchcock would put out one of his best records? Or that Guided By Voices would release not one but two albums that weren’t full of half-assed, seemingly unfinished tracks?

So here are 40 records that I consider the best albums of the year, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on my picks. Let me know what records have turned your crank this year. Tracks from each of these albums were also aired on Live Ledge in a reverse, countdown format. Click here for Live Ledge #314, or nab it via iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, TuneIn, or many other online spots.

1. Bash & Pop, Anything Could Happen. Anybody that knows me well probably knew this would be my favorite record of year. Yet the return of Tommy Stinson’s first post-Replacements band is even better than I ever predicted. It’s every bit as good as the 1993 Bash & Pop debut. In fact, it may be even better, as the original was Stinson’s first serious stabs at songwriting. Almost 25 years later, Stinson’s skills as a tunesmith has deepened, and combined with the Faces-ish feel of his outstanding bandmates this would have been towards the of any year’s list.

2. The Courtneys, II. The best description I’ve read of this great Canadian trio is “fuzzy, slacker pop”. Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Yet that would be meaningless if it wasn’t combined with sugary, singalong melodies. There’s a bit of a Blake Babies influence, but I also hear elements of late 80’s post-Jesus and Mary Chain bands such as The Primitives.

3. Ty Segall, s/t. James Brown used to be called the “hardest working man in show business”, but he’s a slacker compared to what Segall accomplished in a given year. Besides his usual album and a handful of singles, he’s involved with at least a half dozen other bands, and is inevitably a contributor as a musician or producer on a ton of his friend’s records. This year’s main release is also among his best, as it flows in and out of a number of styles.

4. The Jesus and Mary Chain, Damage and Joy. It was a big enough surprise that the warring Reid brothers reunited for a tour in 2007, but few thought that would result in a new album by the groundbreaking 80’s noise-pop veterans. The fact that it took a decade for it to happen is probably a sign that not all wounds have healed over the years. Yet this album is a pure joy for any fans of the original run. Yeah, it rarely deviates from the patented J&MC formula, but if it works why fix it?

5. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, The Nashville Sound. Easily the most acclaimed Americana album of the year, and it deserves each and every accolade. Isbell is at the top of his game, as rousing anthems comfortably sit next to heart-wrenching looks at crumbling relationships and the difficulties of chasing the American dream.

6. Guided By Voices, August By Cake/How Do You Spell Heaven. Robert Pollard has always been one of rock’s most prolific songwriters, and is also quite possibly the worst at quality control. Each and every year has seen a handful of albums that are frustratingly dominated by half-baked song fragments. 2017 saw the release of his 100th and 101st albums, and both of them Pollard’s best efforts in well over a decade.

7. Juliana Hatfield, Pussycat. How can a record of bitter politics sound so sweet? Juliana Hatfield is not happy with what’s happening these days, but it’s somehow inspired her to write some of her catchiest songs ever.

8. Warm Soda, I Don’t Wanna Grow Up. Let’s get this out of the way. Matthew Melton found himself dropped from his label earlier this year for comments he and his musician wife said about immigration. Having said that, the final record by Warm Soda is easily the best power pop record of the year. Can one separate the music from the opinions of the person who creates the music? That’s definitely a major question these days, and I’m not sure that’s entirely fair.

9. Kevin Morby, City Music. One of my favorite new finds of this year. Formerly of Woods and The Babies (not the 70’s pop band), Morby’s fourth album has been described as a tribute to New York City. While there is a definite nod to the Ramones (“1234”), the record’s nods to the metropolitan experience works with almost any skyline.

10. The Feelies, In Between. Hoboken’s greatest band’s first album in six years actually feels like a sequel to 1986’s The Good Earth. Those same loud/quiet dynamics are again the focus, but not in the Pixies/Nirvana way. Instead the record’s best songs feature a gradual buildup that ultimately turns into a cacophonic roar.

11. Beaches, Second of Spring. Certain albums deserve to be played in full. This is one of those records, even if it’s a 17-track double album. Each and every song of the all-female Australian psych rockers’ third album perfectly fits with what precedes and follows it. Sonic landscapes of fuzzy instrumentals dissolve into catchy pop nuggets, which then spins into more experimental fare.

12. L.A. Witch, s/t. This fabulous new trio is pretty much impossible to pin down. There are elements of 60’s girl groups, but it’s mixed with surf, rockabilly, psych, and garage rock. It’s sort of like if The Runaways had a bigger record collection (and minus the dictatorship of Kim Fowley).

13. Matthew Ryan, Hustle Up Starlings. Only a handful of songwriters can create intense environments with (relatively) quiet sounds. Matthew Ryan is one of them, and it’s simply because he completely inhabits the identities of the subjects of his songs. Those subjects tend to be the forgotten members of society. The people who struggle to find work, let alone keep their jobs. The people with regrets over past mistakes. People who need their voices heard.

14. Danny Dodge, Baby Let Me Be Your Mess. I know next to nothing about Danny Dodge except that I love this record. Discovered via bandcamp, the only information I’ve been able to find is that he’s a veteran of various garage and glam bands in Portland. This album definitely has elements of those genres, but there’s also a does of sugary jangle pop.

15. Waxahatchee, Out in the Storm. I’m not going to lie. I’ve found most of Kate Crutchfield’s prior releases to be a bit hit and miss. However, her fourth album under the Waxahatchee name is great from beginning to end. Credit may have to go to producer John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth), who primarily recorded the band playing live in the studio.

16. John Moreland, Big Bad Luv. After the success of 2015’s mostly acoustic High on Tulsa, it would have been pretty easy for Moreland to just copy the sound and production of that record. Instead, he wisely expanded into a full-band sound that accentuates his hook-laden songs of heartbreak.

17. John Murry, A Short History of Decay. Murry has lived quite the life. A second cousin of William Faulkner, his childhood was marked by undiagnosed autism. He eventually turned to drugs, and was hospitalized for both psychological and drug issues. Music may have saved his life, but it also led to other issues too numerous to list here. His second solo album was recorded in five days with help from members of Cowboy Junkies, and his heartbreaking songs detail much of his life’s lower moments.

18. The Cairo Gang, Untouchable. Discovered due to his summer appearance in town, Cairo Gang leader Emmett Kelly is best known for his presence on the last two Ty Segall records along with various Bonnie “Prince” Billy releases. The fifth album under The Cairo Gang, produced by Segall,  is truly a solo album, as Kelly plays that vast majority of instruments.

19. The Buttertones, Gravedigging. Another great bandcamp find, the debut release by this Los Angeles band is sort of like rock and roll history condensed into one full-length album. What other record combines surf, rockabilly, post-punk, garage, and psych with elements of The Clash and Cramps?

20. Meatbodies, Alice. I’m not going to lie. The name Meatbodies threw me off a bit. Yet once I heard this latest album by Chad Ubovich and crew I was itching for the rest of their discography. A little bit of research explained exactly why. Ubovich has spent time in Mikal Cronin’s band, and also plays in Fuzz with Ty Segall and Charles Moothart. Yep, it’s part of that L.A. orbit of musicians and bands.

21. Hurray For the Riff Raff, The Navigator. This record could have easily made the top ten, as the first half is about as exquisite as one could expect. Most of the second side doesn’t live up to that standard, though, so while it contains one of the year’s most inclusive record. Inclusive? Yes, leader Alynda Segarra combines various elements of Latina styles with classic American doo wop, folk, gospel and Motown sounds.

22. Alex G, Rocket. Alexander Giannascoli started off as a bedroom singer/songwriter who somehow got the attention of Frank Ocean. This led to his guitarwork appearing on a recent Ocean album, which has given him a weird notoriety that has very little to do with the lavish dream pop-ish sounds of his latest album.

23. Together Pangea, Bulls and Roosters. I first discovered this great band thanks to Tommy Stinson, who recorded their 2015 EP, The Phage. Their sound is firmly established in garage rock, but a bit quirkier than most bands of this type.

24. CFM, Dichotomy Desaturated. Here we go again. CFM is Charles Francis Moothart, who we’ve already noted is Ty Segall’s drummer. He’s also toured in Mikal Cronin’s band, is the guitarist/vocalist with Segall in Fuzz, and also participates in other Segall side projects. CFM is his band, though, and this second album is a great companion to that self-titled Segall album at the top of this list.

25. Old 97’s, Graveyard Whistling. After a few albums where the alt-country veterans took some mini-detours, this year’s model harkens back to the mid-90’s revved-up country roots. Leader Rhett Miller is still a master at turning a clever phrase, and the rest of the band has not lost a step.

26. Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile, Lotta See Lice. This is something I’d love to see more often. Two critically acclaimed songwriters befriend each other on the festival circuit, and decide to collaborate on an album. Each of them brings some new tunes, and they both sing a song written by the other. Plus they cover a Belly song, and another tune written by Barnett’s girlfriend, Jen Cloher.

27. John Wesley Harding, Wesley Stace’s John Wesley Harding. Let’s get everything straight. The artist known as John Wesley Harding was born Wesley Stace. He uses his birthname on his novels, and has also put out a few records under that name. This year’s album, his best in decades, attempts to clear up the confusion over his name. His writing is still full of wit and snark, and who can’t love an artist who makes fun of the music industry? It’s also worth noting that his band on this album is The Jayhawks, who do a masterful job at staying out of his way but adding whatever elements are needed.

28. Flat Worms, s/t. Flat Worms would be considered a supergroup in some circles, as everybody in the band has played with artists such as Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Kevin Morby, and Dream Boys. Regardless of where they’re from, this collaboration doesn’t rely on the usual sounds that generally come out of the Segall/Cronin/Thee Oh Sees circle of friends. Instead, this is a bit of a tribute to the heavier postpunk bands of the past. There’s a bit of Wire, later Buzzcocks, and even some pre-grunge Seattle in their sound.

29. Wand, Plum. You know what I love about this band? First off, they’re prolific, as this is their fourth album in three years. They’re also a band that’s constantly changing, as none of their albums sound the same. Plum may be the best of the bunch. It’s certainly their most varied, which makes it next to impossible to describe as it flows in and out of various subgenres.

30. Dream Syndicate, How Did I Find Myself Here? Here’s another band I never expected to see release new music. And I certainly would have never predicted that anything they did record would be so great. Their first new studio album since 1988 is similar to the new Feelies record in that it’s like there hasn’t been any time between releases. It’s a perfect companion to their neo-psychedelic classics The Days of Wine and Roses and Medicine Show.

31. Palehound, A Place I’ll Always Go. Palehound leader Ellen Kempner recently lost her grandmother and best friend, and poured all of her grief into her second album. While that may sound depressing, it’s tempered by the fuzzy, alt-rock guitar rock that fans of Waxahatchee should love.

32. Son Volt, Notes of Blue. It’s been quite some time since anybody but the biggest Jay Farrar fans paid any attention to Son Volt. Weirdly, it took a recent obsession with Skip James and Mississippi Fred McDowell that led to a record that’s reminiscent of the band’s classic early records.

33. Robyn Hitchcock, s/t. Again, a veteran artist puts out his best album in decades. For his 21st album, Hitchcock actually gives a few nods to his Soft Boys power pop days, and that energy permeates through the entire album.

34. Ne-Hi, Offers. Chicago’s place in indie rock circles has certainly grown in recent years, thanks to the likes of Twin Peaks, Whitney, and our very own The Kickback. As they told me in an interview before playing Total Drag earlier this year, Ne-Hi originally formed to record a soundtrack for a friend’s film, and it worked so well they decided to become a “real” band. After a debut recorded in a basement, they hit an actual studio for this record, but the resulting still feels like the result of a marathon jam session.

35. Micah Schnabel, Your New Norman Rockwell. Two Cow Garage is one of our country’s most underrated musical jewels that took Americana and gave it a Replacements-ish edge. This record may be a solo record, but it’s really a more stripped-down version of a typical Two Cow Garage album. Which means, of course, that it’s brilliant.

36. Daddy Issues, Deep Dream. This list doesn’t have enough snotty all-girl punk rock, even though it’s been a great year for bands such as this. As my friend Gorman Bechard says, they’re so good that they can even make a Don Henley cover (“Boys of Summer”) sound great.

37. POW!, Crack an Egg. This is a record that one needs to hear on vinyl. The first time I heard this was a digital version, and it was way too dominated by their propulsive synths. The vinyl version, though, obviously still has this despised (by me) instrument prominently in the mix, but the analog version is highlighted by the deeper, fuller sounds of the entire band.

38. Damaged Bug, Bunker Fun. John Dwyer is another artist who obviously had little to no free time this year. Besides running a busy, successful indie label that’s well-represented on this list, Dwyer released records under the names Oh Sees and OCS. (Thee Oh Sees name was retired after two 2016 releases.) He also had time for his solo side project that relies more on electronics than his other bands. His third release under this name is a bit heavier, a bit funkier, and heavier on prog elements than his main band.  

39. Greg Ashley, Pictures of Saint Paul Street. Although a veteran of Texas garage-punk bands, along with a number of solo records, this record was my first hearing of this interesting songwriter. From the very first song, I heard a bit of Flowers-era Stones, mid-period Kinks, a pinch of Dylan, and even a touch of Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen. Ashley’s songs may primarily deal with despairing, hopeless characters living on the fringes of society, but he manages to turn them into messengers of righteous anger.  

40. David Nance, Negative Boogie. Describing this lo-fi Omaha musician is next to impossible, as he’s anything and everything. There’s a bit of Crazy Horse at their one-take coked up best, quite a bit of Pere Ubu-weirdness, and maybe a bit of the Velvets and The Chills, and even a touch of 70’s outlaw country. Yet it somehow works, even when he throws in a surprise shambolic cover of Merle Haggard’s “Silver Wings”.