#like he’s abandoned his heartland

[tennessoui]

this has been done i know this has been done im sure this has been done but currently obsessed with the brainworm of captain of the king's guard obi-wan kenobi and prince anakin in some fantasy medieval star wars setting of some sort where it's just game of thrones-y enough that when the royal family is overthrown, it's violent and bloody and obi-wan knows that anakin will absolutely be killed in the revolution so he takes him and he runs back to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant that he left years and years ago, when he was just a boy himself.

and anakin is absolutely furious for multiple reasons--mostly he thinks they should have stayed and fought! that they fled like cowards from his homeland is a shame that he can hardly bear. so he's angry at obi-wan for basically kidnapping him and forcing him away from his kingdom when she needed him, and he's angry at the jedi order for accepting them into their ranks but only if they agree to pretend to be Jedi while they're at the Temple. and he's angry at the jedi council because obi-wan had to beg to be given aid and his proud captain of the guards should never have to beg for anything, and yet here he is, begging for help for anakin's sake!

anakin is probably like. nine, obi-wan is twenty-five, and they stay at the temple basically incognito for ten years with anakin 'training to be a padawan' (because he's so strong in the Force that obi-wan points out that it may be a good idea to give him all the lessons in anger management and force control even though he isn't really a padawan in case any of the material sinks in) and obi-wan as a worker in the temple hangar bay.

then the clone wars break out and obi-wan instinctively wants to join the fight with the jedi because he owes them a great debt. not only did they raise him until he was fifteen, but they took him in---took anakin in when they needed them

but anakin has never had any loyalty to the jedi. he is loyal to his planet, which he will return to one day. and he is loyal to his family and to obi-wan, for saving him. but obi-wan should be loyal to him and him alone. only to the crown. only to anakin.

what im getting at is like. a scene where nineteen year old anakin demands obi-wan swear fealty to him as the king of his planet on the eve of the clone wars because he needs obi-wan to know that he's his. his captain. his guard. kneeling and ring kissing is involved.

obi-wan swearing fealty and then probably fucking anakin and then probably leaving during the night to fight in the clone wars without waking anakin is also involved.

[autistichalsin]

Do you happen to how / have made a good timeline of The Shadowlands? What was there before? What it was called? When it fell? IIRC one of the writers confirmed that the rude pale elf in the list of customers banned from the pub was a reference to Astarion. IDK is that was canon or more a joke that stayed in. Having a collected resource on that would be amazing for plotting out fics!

I have no idea if the banned elf was Astarion- I've seen conflicting things on it. But for everything else:

So, the Shadow-Cursed Lands cover primarily the town of Reithwin along with Moonrise, in the Western Heartlands. Thaniel is the nature spirit of this land. (Sidenote: because nature spirits can't really leave the area they embody, and Halsin knew Thaniel as a child, this implies that Halsin grew up somewhere near here, probably in a nearby forest. Since he also mentions his family being buried in High Forest, which is quite far away, it seems likely that they moved at some point, or maybe they lived in the area for a few generations but still considered themselves to have very strong ties to High Forest.)

As for a timeline of the Shadow Curse:

1142: Halsin is born in a forest, most likely near Reithwin. Over the next years, he becomes close friends with the nature spirit Thaniel. Growing while Thaniel stays the same age drives him to decide to become a Druid, as he realized nature, his first friend, needed protecting. After his last family member passes away (Halsin being the youngest son of an ancient line of elves that faded out due to illness and accidents, according to Halsin's writer), Halsin is "turned over to the Druids," at a "comparatively young age" (per his writer).

Sometimes before 1392: Isobel Thorm, Ketheric's daughter, is born. Melodia, Isobel's mother, and Ketheric's wife, tragically passes away.

Sometime between this and 1392: Dame Aylin arrives in Reithwin. She and Isobel Thorm fall in love at first sight.

Roughly 1392: Isobel dies. In Early Access, this was at Halsin's hands, as a fight broke out due to Shar's influence, causing Isobel to attack Halsin, and him to stab her on reflex. In the full release version, this was cut, and no one seems to know exactly how or why she died. Ketheric is devastated by grief, converts to Shar worship, and gathers an army of Dark Justiciars.

Later in 1392: The Archdruid who served the Emerald Grove before Halsin gathers a group of Druids and Harpers (including Jaheira) to face them; they win, with many losses, but Ketheric uses Shar's powers to unleash the Shadow Curse as revenge. Almost all the Druids and Harpers who had survived are then killed by the curse. Halsin takes what survivors he can manage, gets back to the Emerald Grove, and is appointed the new Archdruid. Some days later, he returns to the Shadow-Cursed Lands looking for survivors, finds the Shadow-Cursed version of the previous Archdruid, and is forced to kill it. He keeps his glaive as a "reminder that victory can taste bitter" and locks it away, along with his journal from that day. (In the original, this glaive/dagger, called Sorrow, was the weapon Halsin used to kill Isobel, and had a different journal to go with it talking about his guilt.) This curse, of course, also causes the nature spirit Thaniel to be split in two. One half is trapped in the Shadowfell, while the other half stays in the Shadow-Cursed Lands, eventually becoming Oliver.

Meanwhile, Dame Aylin is kidnapped by Ketheric Thorm and locked away so he can leech her power to make himself immortal.

1392-1492: Halsin spends the next 100 years researching the curse and trying to gain Silvanus's favor to be able to break it. Almost everyone else abandons the land; Jaheira admits to doing so, and a note Halsin wrote laments that the Emerald Enclave wouldn't help even if he asked. The few people who do attempt to go there perish- a Druid from another community got some information from Halsin, tried to enter the land, and then fell to the Curse. Some lines Halsin had in Early Access indicated that his being there when the curse fell and his empathy with the suffering of the Shadow-Cursed Lands/its people were key in his ability to later break the curse.

Meanwhile, Art Cullagh, a Flaming Fist, is trapped in the Shadowfell with Thaniel. They form a very close friendship, and Thaniel repeatedly tells Art that Halsin- and only Halsin- can save him.

At some point, Ketheric converts to worshipping Myrkul in exchange for resurrecting Isobel, becomes his Chosen, and helps hatch the Absolute plot along with Gortash and the Dark Urge.

1492: Shortly before the start of canon, Halsin meets Aradin and his band of adventurers, who tell him they're looking for the Nightsong at Moonrise Towers. Seeing a chance to investigate both the Curse and the modified mindflayer tadpoles he's encountered, Halsin joins them, then is betrayed when they're attacked by goblins and Aradin promptly abandons Halsin to the goblins.

After that comes everything in canon with the Break the Shadow Curse quest and all of its sub-quests.

1493, roughly: In the 6 months after the curse is broken, Halsin (/and Tav, if applicable) repurpose what was left of Reithwin to become a new community for those needing a new start, the narrator noting that it's "hidden from those who are not welcome, open to any who need shelter." Halsin is noted to have "built a schoolhouse in a day" for all the nine wagonfuls of children who joined their community, and become an unofficial leader of the community. He says that the place is unrecognizable in a good way, with the scars rapidly becoming invisible even to those who know what happened.

Sadly, Art Cullagh passes away sometime between the curse breaking and the epilogue, but he remained close to Thaniel until the end, and it is noted that Thaniel and Oliver come to the community often to play.

I think that's everything for the parts of the Shadow-Curse story we don't directly play through in canon!

Random interesting fact that @ride-a-dromedary and I noticed: the name "Reithwin" is one letter off from "Relthwin", the Elvish word for "refuge". That may or may not be intentional.

[talonabraxas]

The Sacred Trees of The Druids and The Pagan Tribes of Old Europe Few peoples held trees in such high regard as the Celts and their Druids. I may also add that I consider the beliefs of the Thracians (my ancestors) to have been very close to those of the continental Celts during the period of great learning and the high – rise of the Druids. This was not a blind and primitive worship, but a genuine veneration based on an understanding of the importance of trees to material and spiritual human existence. The evidence of the close relationship between Celtic peoples and trees is clear in the landscape, with woodlands that have been carefully managed for up to three thousand years and extensive network of hedgerows. Certain trees – alder, apple, ash, birch elm, hawthorn, hazel, pine, oak, rowan, thorn, willow and yew – are mentioned persistently in Celtic tradition.

Indeed, so important were trees to Celtic peoples, that there were laws to protect them and govern how they might be used. In Ireland they were divided into four classes: “Nobles of the Wood“, “Commoners of the Wood“, “Lower Division of the Wood“, and “Bushes of the Wood“. Misuse of timber and living wood was punished with fines according to the class of the tree involved. Many of the methods of woodland management that are still in use today (although much in decline) were used by ancestral Celts to ensure that their precious resource was renewed. Pollarding, coppicing, planting, drainage, hedging, and so on, along with foraging (by people and animals) were all used to good advantage. The qualities of different timbers were well known and there were even woodworkers who specialized in operating with a single timber. Yet this mundane use of woodland never obscured the emotional and spiritual relationship that ancestral Celts had with trees that surrounded them.

Although most people no longer consciously acknowledge this bond, it still exists and there are times when it makes itself known. The Great Storm that tore across southern England in October of 1987 uprooted 15 million trees in a few short hours. This was believed to be the wrath of the ancient Anglo-Saxons gods, for the English people neglected and abandoned the old faith, accepting a foreign religion that wasn’t even remotely compatible for the Europen peoples. That same politicised faith soaked with the blood of millions of innocent people for the benefit of a small group of “god’s chosen people” calling themselves “the elite“. The wind wrought great damage on houses and other human constructs , and there was even a loss of human life, but it was the destruction of large numbers of trees that left many people in a state of shock. Even now the landscape is so altered that it can be disorientating.

Mythologically, the Celts believed we were descended from trees, springing like fruit from the branches. Even J.R.R. Tolkien wrote and portrayed this idea with the Ents in The Lord of The Rings and his other books. Serving as an allegory or as a metaphor, it was evident what he was trying to convey to the reader. In particular, the Celts believed we were descended from the great Oak. How widespread or absolute a creation myth this was, is uncertain, but a sacred tree regarded as a ‘tree of life‘, was to be found at the heartland of many Celtic tribes. There is no doubt that the Celts had an equivalent of the highly important Scandinavian and Germanic conception of ‘The World Tree’ – Yggdrasill. The importance of the tree to the Celts, is well attested in classical and Celtic sources, and it is likely that a tree did stand at the centre of sacred cosmology in the same way that it stood at the centre of tribal life.

[itsana004]

I'll debunk another semi-popular (?) myth. I don't think many people even considered it to be popular at all, so consider this post more like a fun fact, but also I think (at least from what I've seen) that most people generally believe Gauche and Droite knew about Chris, or knew that he was Kaito's dueling mentor and that he abandoned him ever since the training days. Although I really liked this because it's fun to think about, I realized that it wasn't true (I still would have loved it to be true because I just need more lore and character interactions OK).

In anime it makes it clear that Gauche didn't, so we can say neither did Droite

Screenshot 1 - As you can see Gauche refers to Chris as "The guy who kidnapped Hart" and nothing else, no mention of seeing him around the Heartland Tower, nor him being Kaito's mentor - nothing else.

Screenshot 2 - Gauche was paying attention at the party and saw Kaito confronting Chris and noticing he was talking as if "he knew him well" - this already is proof that Gauche has no idea who this man is. The fact Kaito hasn't killed Hart's kidnapper yet and instead grabs his collar looking angry and betrayed is very telling that they are familiar with one another somehow 😅

Screenshot 3 - Gauche based his research on Chris' appearance based on Yuma's description - this shows that Gauche has never even seen this man before the WDC, he had no memory of a person that matched Yuma's description

And since Gauche doesn't, it should mean the same for Droite, right? Well, about that... this is Chris' storyline/route in 3Ds World Duel Carnival

here Droite asks Chris if he used to be Kaito's mentor, but how would she know is unknown, but in canon she is smart and good at gathering information so she knew it somehow, and I know that this is just a game and could not reflect the canon, but, this game pretty much has all the canon character traits and even adds more fun facts to the character (per example that Chris can play piano) and you damn know I will eat that up and they are basically canon to me but just different routes/storylines. So yeah... Gauche has no fvcking idea who this man is other than the fact he kidnapped a 7 year old sick child (yikes!) but Droite seems to kind of know but asks him to confirm it in the game

[lullabyes22-blog]

Snippet - Forward, but Never Forget/XOXO - Watch Your Step

Mel wants a peek into the Lanes.

Silco obliges.

Forward, but Never Forget/XOXO on AO3

Snippet:

Outside, it's drizzled again.

The air holds a post-twilight chill. The lanterns radiate soft green aureoles. Silco's and Medarda's boots crunch across the wet cobblestones. Their entourages follow at a distance.

At this bell, Entresol is a multicolored playground. The thoroughfare of Bridgewaltz is all variegated streaks of neon: at once brash and anonymous. But the old downtown glitters with its own magic. With the rapid development of uptown, many merchants have relocated, abandoning their old storefronts. Others remain, in quaint neighborhoods dotted with residential blocks and unadvertised shops. Some are long established—bakeries, salons, hardware stores. Others are brand-new—restaurants, boutiques, arcades.

Though arguably less sophisticated than Bridgewaltz, their lack of pretense is charming. The sepulchral quietness of the streets makes an equally quiet space inside the strollers.

Silco offers Medarda the crook of his arm; she takes it. Their closeness feels almost natural, or as close to natural as it gets within such unnatural perimeters.

Zaun and Piltover—playing nice.

"I am envious," Medarda says.

"Of what?"

"My fellow Councilors see Zaun as a tangle of barbed wire. Yet beneath their paranoia, there's a fascination. I know, because I feel it, too." Her gaze roves across the streets. "Each time I visit, Zaun seems less familiar. It's like every corner has secret corridors, and the only way to open them is with a step-by-step sequence."

Silco allows a half-smile. "There's a Shuriman parable about the Blind Men and the Elephant. Zaun is rather like that. Every part yields something different. Taken altogether, it's almost impossible to know. It's too deep. Too..."

"Enigmatic," Medarda says.

His smile turns crooked. "Well, the wealthier you are, the lower you must sink for thrills."

She's too well-bred to pinch him. But her fingernails dig into his coatsleeve, demonstrating the potential.

"I am envious," she says, "because no matter how many secrets Zaun holds, it remains your home. You are at one with the city. And this city, at one with you." Her lightness shades. "Not all of us are so fortunate."

"Do you speak of your place in Piltover? Or Noxus?"

Her eyes linger on his profile, measuring him for mockery. Seeing none, she turns away. "In posing the question... surely you see the dilemma?"

"I do."

They drift south, toward the Sumps. The atmosphere grows dank and subterranean. The streets, with their smooth cobblestones, give way to rough black gravel. The sweeter exhalations of hothouse blooms and other sultry indulgences are tainted by the whiff of coal. Suddenly, Silco's and Medarda's footfalls, and the inky shadows of shuttered buildings, are their only companions.

"Our entourages have fallen behind," Silco observes.

Medarda's brow furrows. "Shall we turn around?"

"Wisest choice. You've no business in the Lanes."

"Aren't they the commercial crux of Zaun?"

"Yes."

"The city's heartland." Medarda's pupils are expansive in the gloom. "Its darkest secret."

Silco's gaze stops its languid scan of the territory to focus on Medarda. He seems undecided between warning and amused. "You're being subtle as a brick, my dear."

"And you are obfuscating."

"It would be imprudent for you to see the trenches."

"Would it?" Her fingertips skim along his arm, enticement at odds with challenge. "I once heard you say I deserved to be packed off there. Until I learned, and never forgot."

Silco’s good eyelid goes heavy; his lips stir. "So I did."

In the distance, a troop of footsteps. The Enforcers are on their way.

Seizing the moment, Silco glides ahead. His hand trails behind him; Medarda seizes it. In the shadows, the definition of his smile is glimpsed the same way a shark surfaces through water: by the unnerving glints of eyes and teeth.

"This way," he whispers. "Watch your step."

[offsidekineticist]

So the subject of Theoven's views on Andoran came up recently while talking with @dujour13, and I realized this requires some space to discuss. Like, a lot of space. Sorry about that.

For Knight-Commander Theoven, the first thing to keep in mind is that Areelu fished him out of the Sellen River after his disastrous first battle more than a decade before Andoran declares independence, when much of the region called Old Cheliax was still under Chelish rule. So when Theo thinks of Cheliax and Chelaxians, he's thinking of an empire of nations bound by - in Theo's understanding - a common Chelish identity. This is very much an idealized view of what was happening, but it was Theo's understanding. In his eyes an Andoren was just as much a Chelaxian as he was (a perspective that, admittedly, would have been considered pretty progressive for his day).

So when Andoran and other colonies declared independence from infernal Cheliax, in Theo's view, they abandoned their Chelish brethren to Hell by seceding. In his view, Andoran remaining as part of the Chelish Empire could have given dissenters enough leverage to force the Thrunes to be more moderate. This is....probably incorrect. But that's Theo's understanding of what happened, and as someone who loves Cheliax and hates Thrune, he feels a great deal of resentment over it. He feels similar resentment towards other former Chelish colonies. This resentment is magnified in the timeline where he doesn't leave Cheliax to join the crusade because he sees it as his patriotic duty to stay in Cheliax and resist Thrune. There's a very personal sense of "I'm staying because it's my duty, even if it's hard and painful and dangerous. Why couldn't you?"

Probably his most legitimate concern (and the one I cited when the subject came up) is Andoran's ambition. He does not believe Andoran wants to spread freedom and democracy so much as expand its own sphere of influence. If asked, he'd point to the Eagle Knights as the biggest red flag: an elite military force, separate from the country's main army, whose stated purpose is to "spread Andoren values." And if this is in the same universe as my Kingmaker playthrough, he can point to examples of them attempting to deliberately stabilize at least one kingdom for having a different understanding of "freedom" than they do (haven't even finished the game yet and I'm so fed up with the Eagle Knights trying to foment rebellion in my True Neutral "live and let live" kingdom).

The final reason isn't really relevant to KC Theo, but is the biggest reason for bleachling Theo's distaste (and why his dislike of Andoran is much more visceral if he isn't KC): Andoran's independence would almost certainly fundamentally change Brastlewark. Overnight, Theo's home went from being a town in the heartland of the Empire to a border city and one of Cheliax's first lines of defense against a potential Andoren invasion. That's not an easy or pleasant transition. The transition is not really described in pathfinder canon, which leaves me loads of room to headcanon what it would have been like.

I imagine Theo would watch in horror as the brightest, most inventive of his former students turn their attention towards Thrune's military pet projects. His current students would go from innocent of dangers to memorizing emergency plans for the event of an invasion. Kids would admit they have fears and nightmares about Eagle Knights coming to destroy their home. Probably the city guard would expand and train themselves into a militia force, which would mean watching his students growing up and becoming soldiers. Any skirmishes caused by one or the other side "testing" the border would send the town into a state of emergency even if it didn't happen anywhere near Brastlewark. In short, they would be living under perpetual threat of violence from a foreign threat on top of the threat of violence from the repressive Chelish government. All of this would break Theo's heart even worse than the book burnings did, and he would absolutely blame it on Andoran "abandoning" Cheliax and becoming hostile towards its former brother.

So, yeah, that's why, despite being extremely anti-Thrune, Knight-Commander Theoven kind of dislikes and distrusts Andoran, and why bleachling Theoven hates Andoran with a burning passion.

[djsadbean]

Amazing Cheese please - Who introduces their partner to their family first? How does it go? (Kind of want to see what Adam's adoptive family looks like a bit if that is alright with you)

(im not drawing on my ipad for a few days unless its commission work so we're doing paper doodles! this is for like a self therapy thing idk xD)

Adam would introduce his family first!! His parents heard him talking about Steven every single day for MONTHS before they finally got to meet him when Steven came to visit after he was mostly healed up. His parents adore Steven and ask him so many questions about his research, and are so excited to hear about his advancements in science!

Amazo origin spoilers! sort of has to do with why he had to leave

Adam's mom is Andrea Castillo, and she's a former superhero named The Heartland (retired) for Fair City.

Her powers are similar to Amazo's: Super strength, speed, with the addition of being an empath.

During her time as Fair City's main super, she used her power to be more of a social worker rather than a cop, which she passed that down to Amazo.

She trained him to fight, deescalate, and protect, as well as basic and extremely advanced human and alien first aid.

Basic first aid training is required by the Off World Heroes program because all current OWH's are defaulted to medics in times of war.

Andrea decided to expand that training because in emergencies, Amazo will and almost always is the very first responder, and he needs to be ready.

She and Georgie adopted Adam when he was 9 years old after he was sent away by his birth family.

He was scared, heartbroken, and in need of a loving home who cherished every bit of him.

Amazo's bio parents has very backwards values and noticed stuff early on and sent him away, thinking he wouldn't be a good look to the family.

They took him in and gave him everything and more on their little ranch on Earth.

Georgie got his nickname because Andrea thinks it's cuter that way (sound familiar? :D)

He's a high school history teacher and is amazing at helping his students understand the importance of certain events and ethics of things that have happened, so we don't repeat them.

He LOVES to cook and taught Adam everything he knows about food

Georgie's a very gentle soul, and he's super strong! Loves to carry Andrea around xD

Adam hoped to one day have a love with someone like his parents do. He was still scared of getting into a relationship with Steven because of what his bio parents said about those kinds of relationships.

Adam's parents gently and lovingly reminded him all the time that he deserves to be happy, and they'd be so excited to meet whoever he wanted to pursue.

Both Adam's mom and dad are extremely protective of him, knowing his abandonment issues and how he's still self-conscious of the very things he was sent away for.

Adam is the oldest of 4 kids, Adam being 2 years older than the next, and 4 years older than the next, and 5 years older than the youngest. (Adam was 9, next was 7, next was 5, next was 4 when he arrived. Chapter 5 ages are 21, 19, 17, 16)

His siblings are all also very protective of him, remembering the first year together he barely talked, but he loved to play with them.

Adam was mostly nonverbal for a little over a year when he first arrived on Earth and didn't make eye contact at all.

He was shown a lot of love from the whole family and neighborhood, and eventually learned that he was loved and wanted here.

I'll introduce his siblings with doodles later! :D

[blueeyeswhitegarden]

Day 21: League of Dueling Seriously @arcvmonth

I really like the Lancers. They're a group of fun and likable characters, but I wanted to focus on Reiji for this prompt. I really like his design. I love his long red scarf. It's so ridiculous that it comes back around to being cool. It's some peak YGO fashion. His deck is really cool. It has some great monster designs and I've been using it a lot in Duel Links. I tend to favor power decks, so being able to easily summon something like D/D/D Dragonbane King Beowulf on the first turn can be really helpful. He's also the second Arc V character that I was able to fully level up in Duel Links.

I also think he's pretty underrated among the fanbase. I think at least part of that is because it's easy to misread his character. It's easy to see his calm, distant demeanor as being cold, heartless and basically making him to be a bigger jerk than he is. That was the case with me at least when I was watching the series as it was airing. It took me a long time to like Reiji, especially after his second duel with Yuya where he was being really harsh in trying to push him. But he does care about other people. He spent years preparing to fight against Academia and doing whatever he could to protect Standard. That doesn't mean that everything he did was right, but that he wasn't this heartless person either. Unlike the vast majority of the cast, Reiji isn’t openly emotional. He keeps his feelings close to the chest, focused on what he needed to do instead of his own feelings. This was most likely the result of finding out his father's plan three years prior to the start of the series. Thirteen year old Reiji was a lot more emotional, demanding answers from Leo, while sixteen year old Reiji is more calm, collected and reserved. Finding out that his father abandoned him and his mother to effectively start a war forced Reiji to grow up too fast. There are moments where his feelings break through that demeanor, such as when he was so angry hearing Yuto's recount of what Academia did to Heartland, so he clearly was upset over what his father had done on top of abandoning him and his mother.

I also like Reiji as a rival. He felt pretty refreshing when he wasn't a traditional rival or had a traditional kind of rivalry with Yuya. Not that those are necessarily bad things. Traditional rivals and rivalries can be really solid, but I think I was a bit tired of that format after the past few series. It helped to make him stand out and he's my second favorite rival in the franchise next to Jack. I like that both Yuya and Reiji are polar opposites in regards to how they handle their emotions. They both lost their fathers, even if the circumstances were quite different since Yusho didn't intend to abandon his family like Leo did, and that had a huge impact on both of them. Reiji trying to push Yuya into becoming a stronger duelist was also a different take on how rivalries typically go, even if it did seem like pushing Yuya too hard and harshly after the Battle Royal.

I think that it was smart choice to have Reiji duel sparingly for the first two seasons. Admittedly, I'm sure that it was at least partly due to Yoshimasa Hosoya's busy schedule, but I think it still worked out in their favor. Reiji is easily the strongest duelist in the cast with being able to summon Fusion, Synchro, Xyz and Pendulum monsters relatively easy. But he never felt overhyped to me like I think some past and future rivals kind of fall into. He didn't come off as broken or overpowered to the point where I wondered why he didn't just face Academia all by himself. It also fit with his personality. Reiji doesn't jump straight into battle. He observes from the sidelines, figures out the best strategy to go with based on what they know and only take direct action when he deems necessary. Plus, I figured that he wouldn't lose to anyone who wasn't Yuya and maybe Leo, so that would limit how much tension they could get from his duels. While that did limit how much dueling he could do prior to getting to Academia, I thought that it still worked well and he still had some good moments in Synchro even before getting to duel Roger like calling out the City Council and having some bonding moments with Reira.

I also really like his friendship with Yuya. It felt like it was based on mutual respect and was pretty believable. While Yuya was understandably upset with Reiji for a good chuck of the Synchro arc, Tsukikage told him that he wouldn't be working with Reiji if he didn't care for his allies. Afterwards, Yuya stared to call Reiji by his first name instead of Akaba Reiji, which I think meant he didn't see Reiji in the same way anymore. I don't think he could have really argued with Tsukikage when the evidence that Reiji was still keeping an eye on the defeated Lancers was right in front of him. At the end of the arc, Yuya stood up for Reiji, knowing that he wasn't the kind of person that Roger was trying to paint him as after revealing his father was the Professor. And when they confronted Leo at Academia, Reiji returned the favor by standing up for Yuya. After seeing Yuya's duels in the Synchro Dimension, he believed in his skills and chose to help Yuya instead of helping his father. It was a pretty nice moment and I think having a less antagonistic rivalry helped to make that development more believable.

I really loved Reiji's reactions to finally meeting with Leo again. Even after he learned the truth about Leo's plans and that Yuya is Zarc's reincarnation, Reiji still stood up for Yuya, called him his friend and tried to help him even with Zarc trying to take over Yuya’s soul. Of course Reiji wouldn't choose to work with his father after all they've went through, but Leo could easily counter Reiji's strategies. Even when his plans didn't go smoothly or there were unexpected problems in the past, Reiji was usually able to keep calm, collected and figure out where to go from there But his calm demeanor was starting to fade here with Leo calling him out for being too honest, straight forward and basically predictable. Reiji spent years planning this confrontation and had more than enough reason to be confident in both his and Yuya's skills, so he was taken aback by Leo calling him out like that. This moment wouldn't have been nearly as impactful as it was if Reiji had struggled against more opponents throughout the series. Reiji is easily one of my favorite characters of the series, as well as one of my favorite rivals in the franchise, and I don't think he gets enough attention from the fanbase.

[fireworkreindeer]

Inspired by @scattered-irises Hellshark amv and my now obsession of Halsey Shark. Pls do check out their amv!!!!

Shark and Quattro have been a couple for over 3 years now. They started off well, but as of late, the two have been at odds with each other. "Why are you doing this to me?" demanded Shark. The have been arguing yet again. "I made a promise. What do you want me to do? Break it?" "Yes! I'm your boyfriend, does that not mean anything to you?" "You don't understand" "No. I don't. I don't understand why you would just abandon me for a group of girls!" "They're my fans, Reginald" "And I'm your boyfriend!!!" The purple teen was breathing heavily, glaring at the other male. "Why? Why did I think it was a good idea to trust you? Yet again" "Cause you love me" Quattro placed his hand on Shark's chin. He slapped it away. "Don't" "You need to clam down" "Not right now I don't!" "Please, just listen to me!" "To what? More excuses? To more reasons why your cancelling another date to be with your fans?" Quattro groans. "You're really not gonna listen?" "Nope" Shark turned around and grabbed his jacket. "Where are you going?" "Away from you" And with that, the front door to their shared flat shut.

Shark was still fuming as he walked down the streets of Heartland. Was Quattro that dumb? Could he not see the pain he was causing to Shark? The teen let out a sigh as he opened a door, hearing the bell chime as he walked in. "Ah Shark. The usual?" He looked up to see a pink haired teen. "Yes please, Yuzu" she nods as he walks over to an empty table. He let's out a groan, slamming his head against the table. Something poked him and he looked up. "Here" "Thanks Shun" he replied, sitting upright and holding a cup of coffee. "OK, what happened this time?" "What do you mean?" "Please, like you don't know this already. We've been doing this for six months now. You come in, order a black coffee and then your pour out all of your troubles and woes to me, I give you advice, you ignore it and we come back around full circle" stated the older teen, sitting opposite to him. "Quattro just keeps on abandoning me for his fans! His own boyfriend for a bunch of people! Doesn't he know how much that hurts?" Sighs Shark. "Well, maybe it's time to take my advice" "And what's that?" "Break up with him!" Says Shun. "Its the better option for both of you. You're my friend and I hate seeing you upset"

"Shun! Table six needs serving!" Shouts Yuzu. "Coming! Please take my advice" he says, getting up and walking away. Shark remains seated for a while, thinking over his relationship with Quattro and Shun's advice. He let's out a sigh and gets up to head over to the restroom. He splashes water on his face and sighs. For the first time, he can see how drained he looked. The bags under his eyes were obvious and he looked paler than usual. "Maybe breaking up will be good" he mumbles as he dries his face before leaving. He makes his way over to his table and notices a chocolate muffin has been placed there. He reaches over to pick it up, when a hand slaps his. "Nope!" He turns to see Shun. "Wha-" "You can have this after you break up with him" his friend says, taking it away. "Seriously?" "Yes! Now go. Scram. Get lost. Leave. Get the hell out of my restaurant" Shark let's out a snort and nods, downing the rest of his coffee before leaving, the money placed upon the table.

Shark opens the door to his and Quattro's flat and steps inside. "Quattro?" He calls out, closing the door behind him. He walks towards their bedroom and finds Quattro sound aslep. He sighs, getting changed and joining him. He closes his eyes and a single tear rolls down his cheek. Shark let's out a groan as his alarm goes off. He reaches out a hand and beings to smack the clock. "Morning" Silence. He turns and sees no one. "Quattro?" He sits up. He looks around before getting up. He checks the bathroom, the living room and joint kitchen. "Quattro?" He grunts, picking up his phone. He dials his boyfriend's number but it goes staught to answer machine. "Quattro, where are you?" He turns off the phone before getting himself dressed. As he reaches for his shirt, he catches a glimpse at his tatoo. It was of half a heart with Quattro's name on it. Quattro had one too, with his so when they placed their arms together, it was a full heart. He then leaves the flat and heads over to the Arclight mansion. He knocks on the door and a pink haired teen answers. "Shark? What-" "Is Quattro here?" "Um... I don't think so?" "Can I check?" Trey nods, moving aside. Shark makes his way up the grand staircase and to Quattro's bedroom. He searches the room but no sign of his boyfriend.

He leaves the room, slamming the door shut as he storms over to the staircase. He heads down the stairs and sees Quinton. "If you see Quattro, tell him I'll be waiting for him at the Pendulum Swing!" He closes the door behind him and gets back on his bike and drives off. Around noon, Shark stops his bike and gets out. He yells with rage, throwing his helmet onto the ground. "Where is he?!" He exclaims. In the corner of his eye, he spots the familiar teen. "Hey! Wait!" He follows as his boyfriend heads into the Pendulum Swing. He bursts in and sees Quattro sitting down at his table. "Where the fuck have you been?" He asks. "Clearing my head, like you did last night" "Why did you leave? Why didn't you answer my call?" "Listen Reginald cause I'm only gonna say this once: forget about me" He watches as his boyfriend leaves, feeling confused. "Wait- Quattro!" He turns aroundsl and heads outside, but doesn't see him. "Hey Shark- you okay?" His blue eyes lock onto gold. "No. I.... I'm so confused" Shun places his hand onto the smaller teens arm. "Why not you sit down and tell me what happened?"

The two sit and Shark tells him what Quattro just said to him. "That is weird" "Isn't it? What does he mean by 'Forget about me'?" "Did you break up." "I honestly don't know" sighs Shark. "Shun, you better get back to work before Yuzu has a go at you" the two look to see Yuto. "Okay fine. Hey, did you know she made a metal fan? A metal fan! The paper one was bad enough!" Shun places down a plate with a muffin on it before getting back to work. Shark couldn't help but chuckle as he eats the muffin. Was he and Quattro over? "Forget about me....... Forget me.... Forget me too" He leaves some money on the table and leaves, muffin in hand. He heads home and sees that Quattro had already moved out. Shark headed to the bedroom and grabbed a notebook, a pen and his guitar before sitting on the living room floor. He starts to scribble down tearing out the pages as he goes along, his muffin half eaten next to him. After a few hours and several crumbled pieces of paper, he picked up his guitar and began to play.

"You want me to forget you? Okay, forget me, too You tell me you hate me, baby Yeah, I bet you do I'm keepin' you waiting But I won't wait on you Want me to forget you? Okay, forget me, too"

[heartlandians]

Filling Empty Spaces (Amy/Mitch), part 198

Mitch and Amy find an unexpected connection due to absent lovers. Set around season 11->.

A/N: I didn’t have a beta for this story, so hopefully there won’t be too many grammar errors.

* * * *

When Amy arrived home, she could see Jack sitting on the porch of the Heartland ranch house. He was sipping on his coffee on his usual spot in front of the kitchen window, observing the yard. It wasn’t something out of the ordinary, but Amy didn’t know if she was paranoid for thinking maybe he had been sitting there for a long time already, hoping to see Amy drive in. Maybe he had already drank more than one cup of coffee.

Wanting to avoid a possible confrontation for now, Amy parked her truck in front of the barn, thinking off hopping into the shower and getting started with her work day, seeing Asher would come within an hour and they would go through his trick-riding performance for the rodeo one more time before she was done working with him and Helico.

But as she was about to step out of the truck, Amy suddenly noticed Georgie and Jade rushing out of the barn with buckets. When their gazes met with Amy, they were suddenly in no hurry. It all seemed very performative to her.

“Hey, girls”, Amy said, hoping to take over the situation before they had a chance to. “How’s it going?” she asked casually, closing the truck door.

Jade shot a panicked glance at Georgie, almost as if urging her to say something.

“Oh, uh, we were just...” Georgie said, showing off the buckets she was holding, “about to go wash these buckets.”

Jade nodded along as if they had been caught in a lie and she was convinced Georgie’s explanation would get them out of the situation.

Amy nodded. “I see. How are the chores?” she asked, hoping to jump in later to help them out. 

“Good, good. All the horses are fed, we turned some of them out and... you know, just doing some maintenance stuff right now”, Georgie shared.

“Like washing these buckets”, Jade joined the conversation, adding to the weirdness of the situation by highlighting it again.

Amy stared at her for a while, but when the awkwardness didn’t pass, she decided to move on.

“Okay, well, it seems like you two have things under control then. I have a client coming in within an hour, so I’ll take a shower before that”, Amy said and was about to walk through the sliding door doorway when Georgie spoke again.

“Hey, uh, Amy?” Georgie stopped her.

Amy turned on her heels, looking at her. “Yes?”

“Were you... really on a date?” Georgie said. “On an overnight date...?”

Amy looked at her niece, wondering what to say. She bought time by checking Jade’s reaction. They both waited with anticipation. 

Even though Amy was close with both of them and had no trouble admitting that, yes, she had been on a date, she still figured it was best to keep it light. She wanted to keep things somewhat private with Mitch, especially given the impression this all was probably giving them.

“I was”, Amy said. “Why are you asking?” she couldn’t help but inquire.

“Oh, just...” Georgie shrugged. “I guess it’s just... new. You know, after you and Ty. I guess I was sort of thinking that... maybe you were still kind of depressed about that.”

Amy looked at Georgie, wondering if she was giving off that kind of impression - or was this just her niece’s take on it because maybe she still missed Ty since not only had Ty abandoned Amy and Lyndy by going off to Vancouver, he had left behind the whole family, too.

“I’m not depressed about it”, Amy wanted to clarify first and foremost. “What happened with me and Ty... it’s done, we’ve signed the papers months ago. It’s behind me now, and I’m okay with that. He’s still Lyndy’s dad, but... my personal relationship with him has changed and I’ve accepted that. I’m ready to move on. Or... I have, already.”

“So you slept with the guy then?” Jade suddenly asked. “The guy you went out with.”

“Jade!” Georgie exclaimed, shooting an angry glance at her friend.

“What? Not like you didn’t speculate about that too just few minutes ago”, Jade said, calling Georgie out of her hypocrisy.

“Well, I wasn’t going to ask!” Georgie hissed, blushing out of embarrassment. She knew maybe it was weird for her to even speculate about, but at the same time Jade had been the one asking about it, seeing Amy had not come home last night, and that’s how they had gotten into talking about it in the first place. “Because it’s not our business.”

“That’s right”, Amy said firmly. “It’s not. So... if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and have a shower now. And I’d appreciate it if you would stop talking about my... romantic life. It’s not there for light gossiping - it’s my life.”

“Of course. Sorry, Amy”, Georgie said apologetically, looking like a sad puppy.

“Yeah, sorry”, Jade added too, even though she was not as apologetic. 

Amy turned back around and started heading to the loft. She didn’t know how to feel in that moment; she figured people would start gossiping after this - if they weren’t already - but she wasn’t sure if she preferred not knowing about it or actually knowing that it was happening behind her back.

One thing was for sure: there was nothing she could do about it, no matter how uncomfortable it made her feel. That was just something she needed to accept.

As soon as she stepped into the loft, she felt a little bit better, knowing she would have a moment to herself to regain her composure after the little ambush by Georgie and Jade. Walking into the bathroom, Amy turned to look at the mirror before she would get into the shower. 

She looked exactly as expected - like she had slept in the same clothes than what she had wore yesterday and had not washed off her light make-up. For a moment she was about to go through feelings of embarrassment and discomfort until she remembered that Mitch had not cared; he had looked at her as lovingly as always. That made her feel a little bit better and helped her work through that moment of doubt faster.

Sighing and moving forward with her day, Amy took off her clothes and got into the shower.

* * * *

An hour or so later, Amy stood on the side of the jumping ring and watched as Asher performed his routine with his trick-riding horse, Helico. 

She wasn’t watching the performance alone as she was accompanied by his mothers, Gina and Susan. Gina was there to watch not only as a mother, but also as a coach. She was eager to see if her son and his horse were ready for their big return. 

Not that long ago, Gina had been ready to sell the horse because she had not been sure if Helico was able to get back into working as a trick-riding horse after losing one of his eyes and becoming jumpy. Due to that, Amy had been working with both Helico and Asher to build back their bond and had been able to give them more confidence by relying on the trust they had once shared with one another.

Going round and round in circles, Helico was proving Gina wrong by storming on as his rider did his aerobatic movements on the saddle. They all held their breaths watching the stunning collaboration happening right in front of them.

“It always amazes me, the things he does”, Susan commented when Asher showed off his Apache Hideaway against Helico’s side. 

It was particularly impressive to them all as it was his recently broken - now healed - arm that held onto the saddle and was ready to pull him back up. There was no trace of trauma showing in either of them as they worked together seamlessly.

“Well, it’s not just the glitter that shines in him, it’s his grit too”, Gina said proudly, making a nod to Asher’s flashy performance outfit he had on. “Way to go, Asher!” she cheered him on, clapping with excitement. 

“I agree with that. Asher’s been a great client”, Amy said. “He’s had the dedication even though this hasn’t been easy. It’s been a pleasure working with him. That being said, I’m glad he seems to be ready for the rodeo half-time show. Getting my clients where they need to be is always the goal as sad as it is for me to depart from the horses. Helico has such a character”, she added with a faint smile.

“It was a good idea to bring him here, Gina”, Susan praised her wife. “Seeing how things used to be after Helico’s accident and now this... if I didn’t know better, I could easily think I’d be looking at a different rider and a horse!”

Gina nodded, caressing Susan’s back.

“I agree. We really appreciate what you’ve done here, Amy”, Gina praised her, keeping her eyes on her son. “Are you coming to the rodeo?” she asked from Amy then.

“I am”, Amy confirmed. “I’m also bringing my niece with me. Some of her friends are also joining us. We’re all excited.”

“Great! The more, the merrier”, Gina figured happily.

“So... Amy, do you think I could list Heartland as a LGBT+ friendly business on our website?” Susan asked. When Amy looked at her with a puzzled expression, Susan felt the need to explain more. “I do the updates on our website. We like to list businesses who are open to take in LGBT+ clients to spread the word and make it easier for people who need that information. People appreciate knowing they will be in safe hands if they ever need those services.”

“Oh...” Amy understood now. “Of course. I don’t discriminate my clients. I’m here to help horses.”

Susan nodded, but had a fleeting look of sadness on her face. “I wish more people were like you.”

They kept watching Asher perform more tricks, but the thought of having to have a list to know where to go to when someone was in need of help wouldn’t leave Amy alone. She was flattered by being included, but also sad that safety wasn’t just something that should go without saying.

“I’m sorry that even has to be a thing”, Amy wanted to say. 

“So are we”, Susan said, nodding, “but we gotta do what we gotta do to help and protect each other. Maybe one day we don’t need to be so scared anymore, but... we still have some way to go.”

Amy nodded, thinking how there were so many things she just took for granted and never really thought about. One of these women next to her could walk into some place and be treated with respect but as soon as they were together, showing affection or giving the impression that they were married, suddenly the tone could change. Amy had her fears about people, but that kind of discrimination was never something she had to deal with. 

Even though right now she felt like she couldn’t walk into someplace with Mitch, simply because she knew some people wouldn’t be accepting of that, at least she still knew that it was never because of their gender or sexuality. 

What did she really have to fear? Not that much, when she really put it into perspective.

[grimgrinnr]

winters-club replied:

DO IT

Winter enabled me so (possibly) long post incoming-

So this will actually also double as a reveal of the full roster as well as the order they’re laid out on my doc so that’s neat BUT

Sonic actually has like, a bunch of parental guardians. He lived with his biological parents, his mom Bernadette and his dad Jules, until he was four, and during those years he moved around a lot with them as his mom was a basically an explorer commissioned by the royal family of the Kingdom of Acorn a lot. He was born on Christmas Island, moved inland when he was like two, stayed there for two years, and was shipped off back to Christmas Island to live with his uncle Chuck and his wife Aleena as Doctor Eggman, then just going by Robotnik, began to Fuck Shit Up, and they were captured not long afterward.

He’d live on Christmas Island for a year before the Robotnik Empire began to expand outward, so Chuck sent Sonic off to South Island to live safely with some family friends Bernadette made while charting the island, the ancient and mysterious Guardian Owls clan. In particular he was put under the care of Bernadette’s closet friend in the clan, Longclaw. He’d live there until he was thirteen and that’s when the events of Sonic 1 begin as Robotnik finally finds South Island and starts to hunt for the Chaos Emeralds.

Shadow doesn’t have any parents so we’ll just skip right on past him-

Silver’s parents, his dad Ivory and his mother White, died when he was very young due to the nature of the apocalyptic future they lived in. After that he was raised communally alongside other children who lost their parents by the survivor colony his parents had managed to join before their deaths. He doesn’t remember much about them. They also probably don’t exist at all anymore after all the alterations to the timeline he’s done, so that’s neat!

Blaze is the daughter of Emperor Ramprasad Kaur and Empress Bảo Kaur of the Sol Empire. She was raised by her parents, aids, regents, priests, and tutors over the course of her life. Her exceptional elegance and diplomatic skills were nurtured by them, and her resentment for being constantly referred to by her royal titles and desire for freedom like Sonic has grew in-spite of them, even if she loves her kingdom and position deep down.

Tangle’s like. Incredibly normal. She has a normal mom and dad who just live normally. When she’s with her family she’s the stand out one. Her parents did divorce though even that’s normal now.

Whisper is much less normal, she was raised by a single mother and had to make ends meet throughout her life. Eventually she joined G.U.N. and spent a few years in it, but her mother passed away during the Great Egg War (Sonic Forces) and was part of her inspiration to help make the Diamond Cutters with her fellow forcibly ex-G.U.N. agent friends. She never got to meet her dad, though from what she was told he simply entered her mother’s life as fast as he exited.

Infinite’s family and childhood is complicated. He was the youngest son of a crime family in Shamar, constantly attempting to one-up his siblings and become the heir to his father’s criminal empire. His mother was a trophy wife, someone kept around to make kids and look good in public when his father had to act like a respectable business man. In the end, none of the work Infinite put in amounted to anything as when his father passed away when Infinite was still a teenager, his eldest brother would inherit the whole organization. In response, he burned down their mansion and fled into the heartland of Shamar.

Metal Sonic’s father is Doctor Eggman and he was made to fight Sonic on the Little Planet after Silver Sonic and Mecha Sonic failed to keep the Death Egg safe. He failed by way of slamming into a trap door meant to block Sonic off at mach speeds, and the original version of himself got abandoned on the Little Planet for that failure. Eggman then remade him on Earth but kept him in storage for his failure where he’d stay for the whole of SA1 and 2 before Eggman released him to test his AI, only then for him to go crazy and become Neo Metal Sonic and the events of Heroes to happen. In retaliation Eggman once again shelved Metal while also stripping him of all individuality and has only recently begun bringing Metal back in minor roles.

Tails shared a similar life to Sonic, his parents being citizens of the Kingdom of Acorn before the Robotnik War and all that. In fact, his father, Amadeus Prower, was mayor of the largest city on West Side Island before the war with his mother, Rosemary, being an activist. When the Robotnik War started up they were in Mobotropolis, so they were captured very early on. Tails, who had previously been under the care of his father’s best friend, quickly found himself abandoned as panic beset West Side Island as Robotnik began to expand outward. He lived on his own for a good few months before Sonic arrived on the island and stood up for him, and not long after the events of Sonic 2, 3, and Knuckles would all happen.

Doctor Eggman, by all rights, lived a pampered and relatively normal life with a relatively normal family. He came from a long line of contributors to the field of science, most namely his childhood idol and grandfather, Gerald Robotnik. Thing is, Eggman was also a spoiled brat. Not by any fault of his parents, Eggman was just always like that. He always believed he deserved more because he was smarter than everyone else. He only looked up to Gerald because of his scientific achievements, and even openly lamented the constant talks about his cousin Maria. Why did it matter she died young? HE mattered more than her!

In spite of his bratty-ness, Eggman would still eventually end up enrolling in the most prestigious college in all of the United Federation, and he went after a degree in just about every field of science. Though he also picked up some classes in teaching to satisfy his love of telling others what to do. During this time he’d produce various experiments that would catch the attention of G.U.N., which would land him his first job as researcher for them. Thing is that, not long after being hired, he began to secretly syphon resources away from the projects he was assigned to for use in his personal, and highly unethical, projects. Namely, the study of utilizing living beings as batteries for machinery.

When this information was leaked to G.U.N. higherups, Eggman became a wanted fugitive overnight and he’d disappear over the boarder and into the Kingdom of Acorn where he’d lay low for a while. Eventually, the royal family caught wind of him and he’d eventually be hired to be the head scientist of the whole kingdom by the king himself believing Eggman to have moved to the kingdom entirely legally. This would allow him to begin once again secretly using resources to fund his personal projects, which would ultimately lead him to achieving his ultimate ambition for world domination by way of amassing enough resources for a robotic army to overthrow the Kingdom of Acorn, proclaim the Robotnik Empire, and wage total war against the whole world. And, of course, at the end of Sonic 3&K, Robotnik was thoroughly defeated and the world freed from the Robotnik Empire, only for him to rise again as Eggman and his empire to be reborn as the Eggman Empire alongside him.

Doctor Starline was actually orphaned early on his life, to a point he doesn’t remember his parents at all. His life was spent going from family to family, many of them unsure how to handle his unique tastes, habits, and ideas. He’d eventually end up living on his own as soon as he became an adult and support himself through his genius. Though he’d quickly become shunned by the world as he became more outspoken in his admiration of Doctor Eggman, ultimately leading up to him using the Great Egg War as an excuse to pursue Eggman-like experiments, and afterward joining the Eggman Empire entirely.

Surge cannot remember her parents. And even if she did, she wouldn’t want to, as she came from a turbulent household, a father that worked out on her when she was young and a mother that abused her. Surge’s only worthwhile authority figure in her life being Sonic, and that was only through the news or stories published about him. She’d ultimately leave that family after an explosive fight, and she’d never see them again after being abducted by Starline during the Great Egg War, though she’d remain in stasis a good year or two before Starline got to work turning her into Surge while Eggman was away for the events of Sonic Frontiers.

Sally is the daughter of King Maximillian Acorn and Queen Alicia Acorn of the Kingdom of Acorn, and she is the younger sister to her brother Elias Acorn. Alongside them is her uncle Nigel Acorn, who abdicated his royal titles due to disinterest in ever becoming king and now lives his life as an author. Sally’s early life was much like Blaze’s pampered like a royal princess usually is, though Sally has to deal with the unfortunate troubles of being the daughter of one of the most disliked kings in the history of the kingdom, and her uncle being the somewhat involuntary face of the democratic movement in the kingdom, with many people either wanting Nigel to become the first president of a Republic of Acorn, or for Maximillian to abdicate and Nigel to be reinstated as a royal so he can be the first truly constitutionally bound king in the history of the kingdom since their grandfather.

Though her troubles with family do not extend past that, as Elias has become fed up with the kingdom after growing up far from it on places like South Island or West Side Island. Out of everyone in her family, he’s the most openly anti-monarchist, despite him legally being the next in-line for the throne. Sally herself is stuck in the middle, as she spent much of her childhood fighting against Eggman in the Robotnik War with the sole goal of bringing back the nation she remembered in her childhood. As such, she mostly tries to keep the peace, though when in tense moments and her emotions are running high on the topic, she’ll defend the status-quo and refute the idea of change. As such, moderates in the kingdom that just want Max gone and some amount of reform simply view her as the best option to inherit the throne.

Bunnie Rabbot actually comes from a long line of very well known people in the world. Rugged frontiersmen and pioneers of the untamed wilderness of the world. She was raised by her father for about as long as she can remember, as her mother passed away from illness not long after she was born. Bunnie and her pa’ lived on the family’s own oil fields in the Sandblast desert of north Efrika, even up until the Robotnik War and the Robotnik Empire came knocking at their front door. Her father made a quick decision of bowing down to Eggman instead of fighting him and letting him have full access to the oil fields whenever he liked. Something Eggman exploited often. In fact, it was during one night when Eggman’s robots were collecting oil to be shipped off to West Side Island to supplement the oil coming out of Eggman’s own Oil Ocean Refinery off the coast of the island for the construction of the Death Eggman that Bunnie’s life changed forever.

As, while everyone slept, Badniks would sneak into the Rabbot house and abduct Bunnie to ship her off to the heart of the Robotnik Empire for an experiment Eggman had. He wanted to test the idea of total cybernetic conversion of organics, known as Roboticization, though the program was scrapped after several failed experiments only resulted in partial conversion or just outright death. Bunnie was one of the ones left partly converted, and she’d be dumped out in the wilderness to die, only to be picked up by the Freedom Fighters, a group Sally and her friends made during the war. She hasn’t been back to her childhood home since, and now lives out in the wilderness of the Kingdom of Acorn on her own ranch with her husband Antoine.

Rouge lived a very controlled life, her parents overprotective of her from day one. She always had to do what she was told, live how they wanted, all of that. Before the Robotnik War, she was actually sent off to a religious school isolated in the middle of nowhere. This would spare her from the chaos of Eggman’s tyranny, and also technically make her an official nun. After the war, when it was safe to leave, she returned to her family and made one thing clear. Control her again and she was going to leave for good. They didn’t listen, and she immediately ran off. This would lead to her very first attempted robbery and subsequent arrest followed immediately after by her first ever escape of the police. The skill she demonstrated doing all that caught the attention of the President himself, and he’d personally hire him as a covert government agent.

Kit, much like Surge, doesn’t remember his family. But, unlike her, he has nothing to remember. He was orphaned at birth. In fact, horrifically enough, Starline is his father as he was legally adopted by the doctor not long before abducting Surge.

Knuckles was born to survivors who were living off of borrowed time. While many historians originally stated that the ancient Echidna Empire was brought down by a war against the Guardian Owls, several other minor ancient civilizations, and an internal political crisis that quickly spiraled into a civil war that climaxed in the eradication of their people by the wrath of the god Perfect Chaos after the head of the Knuckles Clan, Pachacamac, attempted to use the Master Emerald as a weapon.

But, in truth, the quick sacrifice of Pachacamac’s daughter, Tikal, resulted in a small portion of the echidna population on Angel Island being saved from death, with the others being washed away by his wrath and those on the surface disappearing during the conflict. Knuckles’ family being one of those survivors. As the population declined over the centuries after their nation’s collapse, eventually it was just Knuckles’ parents that remained as the only echidna’s left on the planet. When Knuckles was born, they named him after the clan he would soon become the only member of, as they would pass away not long after. He was then raised by the Chao and animals of Angel Island, left as the guardian of the Master Emerald for as long as he may live.

Amy hailed from a large family. Perhaps a family too large sometimes. And early on, she was interested in the occult. While her parents didn’t know what to make of it, they were as supportive as they could be while dealing with living in the family villa in southern Spagonia with the rest of the extended Rose family. It was actually this same villa, and Amy’s own tarot predictions, that afforded the family the ability to safely avoid the Robotnik War. But, Amy’s fortunes had other plans, as they predicted her meeting her fated love at Never Lake, the place that the Little Planet appeared over every few years. As such, she ran away from home to see this fortune to its end, which lead into Sonic CD, and would be a choice she’d get an earful of when she returned home after the adventure. Currently though, she lives as freely as Sonic does, staying at homes scattered around the world. Something her uncle Giuseppe doesn’t approve of, but he also doesn’t think Sonic is “good enough for her” so she doesn’t listen too much to his opinions.

[saratogaroadwrites]

For King and Country (84/122)

For King and Country | saratogaroad rating: T total wordcount:  280,466 characters: Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, Roland Crane, Aranella, Batu, Tani, Lofty, Leander Aristidies, Bracken Meadows relationships: Roland Crane & Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, Aranella & Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, Roland Crane & Aranella, Batu & Tani, Batu & Evan, Tani & Evan, Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum & Lofty, Rolander other tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Mother-Son Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Place Slowly Becomes Home People Slowly Become Family, Found Family, For Want of A Nail warnings: none

Pulled from his world by mysterious powers, former president Roland Crane finds himself caught in the middle of a coup meant to take the life of the young King Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum. Joining forces with Aranella, the pair of them set out to aid Evan in making his dream of a kingdom where everyone can live happily ever after a reality.

But the road to peace is a long and treacherous one and there is no promise of success in a world where darkness spreads ever thicker with each passing day. If they are to stand a chance, they must stand together, for king and for country.

(A retelling.)

=

Dell was different than Roland remembered it being. Oh, it was familiar enough given that he’d spent only a couple of hours within the city before, and the obnoxious changes to the decor couldn’t do away with the “ripped out of a fairy-tale” look, but there was something rotten in the city now, something that made Roland very glad indeed that Tove had taken to sticking with him like a stray dog.

The Darkness in Dell was so thick that, had it not been for the loyal little Higgledy, Roland was sure he wouldn’t have made it two steps into the palace let alone lasted the past two days. As it was, the overwhelmingly sweet smell of rotting something was giving him a headache for an entirely different reason. With a frown, he rubbed the bridge of his nose as if that would do any good.

“Are you well, Roland?” Mausinger asked from where he sat in the plush arm chair across the desk from Roland, “You look a bit pale.”

And there was another headache to deal with. Roland closed his eyes. The plan to get him in to Dell had gone off without a hitch, but Mausinger was proving to be more of a problem. He had expected this, Roland told himself; it was no surprise that Mausinger hadn’t trusted him right away. A man who would so easily turn on one ruler wasn’t to be trusted. Disloyalty was a hard stain to wash away. Dropping his hand, Roland smiled tightly.

“Just a headache. It’ll pass.” He said casually. Behind him, the hearth crackled, eating away at the damp wood a mouse-maid had thrown into the fire. It could do little to fend off the damp chill that filled the palace. “It won’t interfere with my work.”

Mausinger narrowed shrewd eyes at him and sat back.

“Has anyone told you that your work ethic is quite impressive, Roland?” He asked, “You barely seem to have taken any time off of this task since you arrived. Why, Ratja tells me you took dinner quite late last night!”

“Just trying to be useful,” Roland smiled, turning his eyes back to the map spread across Mausinger’s desk. The Heartlands stared back at him, Evermore’s borders spread across nearly the entire area. It was an up to date map and that made his stomach give a little flip. If they had this, what else did they have? “I’d hate to make you think you bet on a lemon.”

“Yes…” Mausinger stroked his beard. His teacup sat abandoned by his elbow, and Tove hissed in Roland’s ear as the despot leaned a little closer.

Roland kept his eyes forward, but had to wonder why Tove was so vehemently upset. Was it the Darkness? If Doloran had gotten to Mausinger, surely it was thickest in his presence. Or was it something else? Filing the thought away for a chance to at least try and get answers from the little creature, Roland eyed Mausinger instead.

“Though I must say,” Mausinger said, “You have provided us with quite the dilemma. They are watching the western wall, you say?”

“Yeah. West and north have the heaviest patrols,” Roland replied, tracing a finger down the sketch of the walls. They had the heaviest patrols, and if Bracken had had her way, the brightest flood lights. He hoped so, anyway. “South’s a little more open, but Goldpaw runs patrols up through the Calmlands every week.”

“The timing there will be the most difficult.” Mausinger hummed. “Perhaps…”

The creak of his study door opening pulled Mausinger away from the map. Tove hissed again, the back of his head bristling against the side of Roland’s ear. He didn’t have to turn to know who had come in this time.

“Ah, Vermine!” Mausinger smiled, “How fares the city, old friend?”

“As well as ever, your Majesty,” Vermine bowed his head. His eyes flicked to Roland, glanced over him, then he said, “Grimm sends his regards, and his assurances that the soldiers can hold the line in the sewers for some time yet.”

Sewers? Roland raised his head.

“Excuse my intrusion, your Excellence,” He turned to Vermine, “but what’s going on the sewers?”

“A small problem with the local wildlife getting out of sorts,” Vermine waved a hand in the air, “Nothing to concern yourself over, I assure you. The soldiers have the matter well in hand.”

Well, that wasn't good. When it came time to leave, would he be able to escape through those tunnels as he had last time? Things in Dell were quickly escalating out of control, and he didn’t want to be here when they went sideways. With a deferential nod, he returned his attention to the map.

“Grimm is quite well versed in such things,” Mausinger said, “We need not worry. Now, Roland,” He leaned back across the desk, hot breath ruffling Roland’s hair. Tove hissed once more, and for half a second Roland was sure that he would be heard. “You were telling me about the walls?”

“Yes,” He said, shifting his position to allow Vermine to draw near. The headache between his eyes pulsated painfully; it took effort to speak past it. “Your best chance to get a small squad in to the city would be through the river grating here,” He tapped a spot in the north wall, one that he knew was truly the weakest in the area. It was why Gao Jia had three of his men on it at all times. “The grate will come out easily enough, and they can slip in. Just…” He grimaced. “Make sure they’re better equipped than Jack.”

Mausinger and Vermine shared a confused look. Tilting his head, Mausinger contemplated Roland.

“Beg pardon,” the despot asked, head tilted, “But…to whom do you refer?”

Roland blinked. He stood up, looking between then. “Monterrey Jack?” When no recognition dawned on their faces, he leaned back, a little stunned. They really didn’t know? Had Jack really been acting on his own after all? Wow. Talk about moronic. He held his hand up to about level with his head. “This tall, black hair, green eyes?”

Finally, recognition dawned in Mausinger’s eyes.

“Ah, Monty!” He exclaimed, then nodded. “One of my newest aides, yes. Yes, I do recall…Vermine, did you not tell me that he was missing after I took my throne?”

“Yes, your Majesty,” Vermine nodded, “He seemed to simply vanish after you took your rightful place. I assumed him lost in the chaos, but…” He turned to Roland. “He ended up Evermore?”

“He tried to make off with Evan, actually,” Roland replied, and had to work his jaw to avoid clenching his teeth. The anger sat hot in his belly. “Got as far as the western forests before Evan got away.”

“Well then,” Mausinger sat back, “That is quite impressive. Did Miss Aranella finish him off after such a stunt?”

“We dealt with him,” Roland hedged. Let them make of that what they wanted to. At his side, Vermine scoffed.

“Monty always had delusions of grandeur, but I never expected he would try and off Tildrum himself!” He shook his head. “A shame he did not succeed. We would not need to have this discussion if he had.”

The hot anger in Roland’s stomach quickly became an all-encompassing fury that rolled up his spine. It took a deep breath and remembering that Evan could both handle himself and was in good hands to calm down before he said something he would regret.

“I suppose not, but the past is the past.” He smiled tightly, Tove bristling like a rather angry cat on his shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll get another chance.”

But heaven help you when Aranella catches you, he added in silent, vicious thought. Mausinger leaned forward.

“So we shall. Now—” He picked up a pin from the nearby pile and stuck it into the north wall on the map. “A small group could slip in here, but if we were to attack in force, where would you suggest?”

“Honestly?” Roland shrugged, “The south wall. If you attack on the evening of the seventh day, the guards there will be relaxed from seeing Goldpaw’s forces come through without any problems. You’ll still have to get over the mountains, but.” He idly scratched the back of his neck. “Should be easier than mountains and then the forest.”

“Yes…” Vermine said pensively. Reaching across the desk, he picked up a second pin and put it in the south wall. “I shall inform Grimm of this. He will need to plan for such a route if they are to achieve our goals.”

The world seemed to stop breathing. Roland looked first to Vermine, then to Mausinger who had sat back and was now stroking a hand through his tuft of beard.

“Goals, your Majesty? Would there be something I could help with?”

“Oh, but you already have.” Mausinger’s smile was more of a sneer. “You see, Tildrum has something that belongs to me, and I mean to take it back.”

The Mark of Kings, Roland didn’t say. Mausinger had no idea it was still in the castle! He could still salvage this somehow.

“Of course,” Vermine chimed in, “there is hardly any point in speaking to a Grimalkin and simply asking them to return something they have stolen, so the plan is simple.” He grinned at the map, all disconcertingly white teeth. Roland’s heart skipped a beat. “We will simply crush the upstart and make him regret ever being as stubborn as his miserable father in the first place.

He was talking about a full on assault, exactly what they were trying to avoid. Evan was doing everything in his power to keep them from heading into a war, while Mausinger was running fill tilt towards it! Damn. His worst fears were beginning to come true, and he had no way of getting a warning back home. He would have to put his faith in Batu and the others this time. He swallowed hard, fighting to keep his voice even.

“And what happens when you have what you’re after,” Roland asked, though he feared he already knew the answer. “Will you leave any survivors this time?”

“Hardly.” Mausinger picked up a pin, twisting it between his fingers. “No, no. Once we have retrieved what it is I seek, there is only one end that is appropriate for Tildrum.”

Without warning, he lunged forward and plunged the pin into the mark that signified Evermore Castle, the motion so violent that the desk rattled. Roland went deathly still.

“I will end him myself.”

[thehorsedispatch]

New Post has been published on https://horsetoloan.com/heartland-tv-show/chris-potter-heartland-tim-flemming/

Chris Potter Heartland (Tim Flemming)

Chris Potter Heartland

The actor Chris Potter has had a lengthy acting career which spans around 30 years! He is certainly a veteran in the industry. In addition to this, he is a musician, and a director, and has four children at home!

One of his most recognizable and longest-running roles is as Tim Fleming on the Heartland tv show. Tim Fleming is the father of Amy and Lou and is a fairly selfish person, but still a caring father. He abandoned their mother, his wife, as a result of a drinking problem, but returns to try and become a part of the family again.

Chris Potter himself is a Canadian actor, producer, and songwriter, as we mentioned above. He was born in Toronto in 1960 to a famous father— the former pro football player Ron Potter. If you are a sports fan, you may know the name! Read on to learn more about Chris Potter, the actor.

Chris Potter’s Passion For Acting Came Later in Life

Many actors say that they always knew they wanted to be in films, or were already getting commercial roles as toddlers. Chris Potter, however, had a bit of a different path in his acting career. As he was the child of a famous football player, he received a lot of support in sports-related ambitions. When he was in school, he played several sports, such as hockey, baseball, and football. He wanted to be a famous athlete when he grew up, just like his dad. However, he also was involved in community theatre. 

In addition to all of this, Chris was passionate about music when he was growing up. He left college to chase the dream of being a rock musician. He was able to really discover his passion for acting, though, when he was in theatre— this led him to go on to become a professional stage actor. 

Prior to appearing on our tv screens and making his silver screen debut, Chris even worked as a car and insurance salesman. About his experiences, Chris has said “I’ve been lucky enough to have choices about the direction of my career.”.

Also Read – Does Amy Die in Heartland?

Chris Potter is a Veteran of the Entertainment Industry

Even though Chris was not doing tv acting as a child, he still has built up an impressive roster of acting credits. When he received his first silver screen role, on the tv show Material World, he was able to quit his day job. Before this, the only time he was seen on screen was as a commercial salesman in the 1980s.

The first major role that Chris was offered was as Detective Peter Caine in the series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. He was lucky enough to be able to act alongside his former mentor David Carradine, a well known actor, singer, and martial artist. 

Most of Chris Potter’s roles are considered to be “edgy”. He is well known for the movie The Pacifier, the X Men series, and other series like The Good Witch series. Currently, his portfolio is up to appearances in 450 episodes of various shows, 10 feature films, 20 movies, and a lead role in 8 different tv series. In addition, he has directed over 20 episodes himself— though his passion has always been acting, rather than directing.

Chris Potter is an Award Winning Actor

Not only has Chris racked up an impressive amount of credits to his name, he has also won awards! He won Best Actor in a Featured Drama at the New York Independent Film & Video Festival due to his role in a thriller called Rocket’s Red Glare. He also received a Gemini nomination for Best Performance in a Supporting Role because of his role as Tom Harsburgh in a provocative film called Sex Traffic.

Chris Potter Didn’t Accept the Role of Tim Fleming at First

One of Chris Potter’s most recognizable and longest-running roles is as Tim Fleming on Heartland. However, he almost didn’t take the role at all! At first, he refused the role when it was offered. His agent was not super excited about the offer, either, especially as Tim Fleming was not a lead on the show. That being said, he has grown loyal to the show over the years and it is obvious that he quickly grew to love the cast and crew!

He has said in interviews that he looks at playing Tim as an antagonist in the Heartland universe. He has said of Tim that: “he’s the kind of character who stirs up trouble, and people either hate him or love to hate him.” Chris believes the show has the longevity that it does because of the tone that the show’s executive producer, Heather Conkie, is able to set. The slow burn effect of the show is another advantage, where relationships and other progress on the show take longer to develop. 

Chris Potter is an Accomplished Director and Producer

In addition to being an actor, Chris Potter has been able to direct and produce, too. He has said before that: “Directing television is not unlike being a father of four— you get questions all day long, some of them are relevant, some of them are not… you have to keep marching forward.” He would know, as he is a father of four, too! 

His directorial debut was back in the 90s with the crime drama Silk Stalkings. Chirs was also the co producer on The Good Witch series, and has been able to direct and write many of the Heartland episodes in his time on the show. 

Chris Potter is Also a Musician and Songwriter

Chris Potter already has so many passions to his name, from acting to directing! But he is also a songwriter and a musician. As we mentioned previously, he has nurtured a passion for music since childhood. In high school, he was already playing in bands. Then, in college, he dropped out so that he could play in a band called Licks. He has played with a few accomplished London musicians as well.

Another fun fact about Chris and music is that music is often what he turns to when he is stressed. When stressed or anxious, he often picks up his guitar! 

Chris Potter Is a Family Man

In 1085, Chris married his wife Karen Potter. These days, they have four adult children. In the winter, they live in San Diego, and then in the summer, they live in London, Ontario. Once he had children, he looked at acting not only as a passion but as how he would provide for his family. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Ron Potter related to Chris Potter on Heartland?

Ron Potter and the actor Chris Potter from Heartland both have the same last name, so it would make sense if you wonder whether or not the two men are related! Ron Potter is a former pro football player, and he is the father of Chris Potter, who is an actor on the Heartland tv show. Currently, Chris Potter plays Tim Fleming on the show. 

When did Chris Potter leave Heartland?

Chris Potter was a Heartland staple as the character of Tim Fleming. He has had his share of storylines and different plot points over the years and the seasons, and one of the scariest for fans was in Season 14 when he received a brain tumor diagnosis. It is thought that Chris and his character may not be in Season 15 because of this diagnosis, and due to this, Chris Potter has left the Heartland tv show. That being said, there has not been a formal announcement and Tim Fleming has not died on the show, either. This means that there is still a possibility of seeing Chris Potter in Season 15, and a possibility that he has not left the show at all! 

What TV shows did Chris Potter play on?

The actor Chris Potter is, of course, well known for his role as Tim Fleming on Heartland, a role which has spanned many seasons over the years. However, he has other acting credits to his name as well! Some of the other shows that he has been a part of include Good Witch, Wild Card, and Silk Stalkings. In addition to these, Chris Potter has also had movie roles over the years. Some movies include The Perfect Assistant and The Good Witch’s Garden.

Who does Chris Potter play on Heartland?

Chris Potter is the actor who plays the character of Tim Fleming on Heartland. This character is the father of Amy, Lou, and Shane. His wife is Marion, who died in the very first episode of the show when there was a terrible accident as she tried to rescue a horse. Throughout the seasons, Tim has had a role in the show and on the nearby Big River ranch. Some of his storylines include being kicked out by Jack because he is depending upon pills and alcohol, and is a poor influence around his daughters. Luckily, he is later able to get his life back on track.

[cyarskj1899]

The Best Songs of 2022

This year’s music provided a fleeting and desperately needed moment of salvation.

Best of 2022

The best entertainment of the year, as chosen by Vulture’s critics.

Photo-Illustration: Rowena Lloyd and Susanna Hayward; Photos: Courtesy of Getty Images

Music in 2022 yearned for release. This was, in hindsight, to be expected. Liberation in the industry was in short supply over the last 12 months, what with an imploding touring business, an increasing number of artists taking time off for their mental health, and one of the most influential acts of the last two decades devolving into unadulterated Nazism. To escape it all, we searched for something bigger than ourselves: the comfort of nostalgia, a club-floor renaissance, the occasional merengue, freedom from a world untethered from climate change. The best songs of the year couldn’t give us all the answers we hoped for, but at very least, they provided a fleeting and desperately needed moment of salvation. —Alex Suskind

10.“F.N.F.,” GloRilla

The breakout single from Memphis upstart GloRilla is the sound of reckless abandon, dancing with your friends in a parking lot on a summer day while chugging from the same bottle of Old E. There isn’t much to Hitkidd’s thudding piano-and-drums production, and there doesn’t need to be. Glo’s voice does all the heavy lifting “F.N.F.” needs, her syrupy drawl serving as both announcement and taunt: “Bitch, I’m G to the L to the O, Big Glo(Rilla) / You can catch me out in traffic tinted, sliding with your ho.” In case you don’t get the message, she spells it out even further: “I’m F-R-E-E, fuck n- - - - free (fuck ’em) / That mean I ain’t gotta worry ’bout no fuck n- - - - cheating.” By the time the “Let’s gooo” ad-libs pipe in from the peanut gallery, you’ll want to jump on the hood of your car. —A.S.

Read Lawrence Burney’s profile of GloRilla.

9.“Home Maker,” Sudan Archives

Brittney Parks is a meticulous arranger. “When the place a mess, I get the maddest,” she sings, as Sudan Archives, on her song “Home Maker” — and by that point, you believe her. The song’s beginning is a minute of starts and stops, horns and pianos clicking in and out, as if they’re not quite in the right spot. But once everything is right where she needs it, Parks is unstoppable. She swoops into the song nearly rapping, an instantly steady force over the shifting beat underneath her. That’s doubly the case when she introduces her violin in the chorus, guiding the song as it traces the contours of her voice. It’s a song to settle into, and she wants to make that happen. —Justin Curto

8.“Persuasive (Remix),” Doechii, SZA

When Doechii signed with TDE, it was hard not to helicopter-parent; the label doesn’t exactly have a stellar track record of treating its female artists favorably (as seen via SZA’s infrequent dispatches about Top Dawg president Punch). Thankfully, things are moving swimmingly for the Tampa singer-rapper. While the mêlée of her single “Crazy” is enough for the Best of 2022 shortlist, it’s “Persuasive” that feels like the more fully realized work: a somehow not-cringey ode to weed that’s cool enough for the downtown crowd yet popular enough for Barack Obama to include on his annual list of favorite songs. (The president made one small mistake: He should have selected the remix.) With SZA, Doechii flips the overused drug-anthem trope on its head by rebuilding it into a slinky club anthem. “That marijuana, she’s so persuasive,” she coos over a pulsing beat. Part of a class of young no-fucks-given artists keen on showcasing their visions, Doechii’s “Persuasive” feels like a small taste of what’s to come. —A.S.

Read Cat Cardenas’s profile of Doechii.

7.“Boys Back Home,” Hailey Whitters

Hailey Whitters already mastered the lyrical twist. “You gotta let your heart land / in the middle of nowhere,” she sang on “Heartland,” a song about her midwestern roots, in 2020. Now, “Boys Back Home” is a next-level fakeout. The title implies the passionless drivel that’s populated country radio for the last decade, built on tropes about trucks and beer. Instead, Whitters’s boys are just characters in a rich, sweeping portrait of her small Iowa hometown as she remembers it from her teenage years. The lines about trucks and beer are there, but only to make the place feel more lived-in. And no matter how close to home Whitters’s experience is, the sentiment in the bridge will be familiar: “I left that town, and we all grew up,” she sings. “But sometimes I still miss that girl that I was.” —J.C.

Read Justin Curto’s profile of Hailey Whitters.

6.“Burning,” Yeah Yeah Yeahs

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O performs with a sense of urgency, screaming and swaggering as if nothing could be more important than that very moment. On Cool It Down, the band’s first album in nine years, they find a perfect channel for that urgency in the rapid, rampant threat of climate change. The record reaches a fever pitch on “Burning,” where the Yeah Yeah Yeahs give into their larger-than-life impulses, from a medieval-pop opening (à la Florence + the Machine) to cinematic synthesized strings in the chorus to blaring distorted guitar from the band’s underappreciated shredder Nick Zinner. Karen O is the only one holding back, her voice at a near-whisper as she chants, “Whatcha gonna do?” The result isn’t just haunting, it’s terrifying. —J.C.

Read E. Alex Jung’s In Conversation with Karen O.

5.“American Teenager,” Ethel Cain

Accurately conveying teen emotions on a song years after you’ve left high school is like trying to capture lightning in a bottle. How do you channel that level of insecurity and hormones and dumb social hierarchy without sounding like *insert “Steve Buscemi carrying a skateboard” meme*? Ask Ethel Cain, who turns “American Teenager,” the centerpiece of her breakthrough album Preacher’s Daughter, into a relatable rush of youth. “I do what I want, crying in the blеachers / And I said it was fun,” she sings with panache over a bold guitar hook and the kind of arena-rock reverb that wouldn’t sound out of place on Born in the USA. “I don’t need anything from anyone, it’s just not my year.” Cain’s conceptual approach — the song and album center around a character named “Ethel Cain” who runs away from home — is equal amounts ennui and cynicism: that moment in life where you’re still dreaming big but realizing you put a little “too much faith in the make-believe and high-school football team.” —A.S.

4.“bites on my neck,” yeule

On “bites on my neck,” yeule feels things intensely. The performer born Nat Ćmiel sings of walking through fire, needing ten lines to numb themselves, and loving someone for 10,000 years. And they’ve created a song to match the size of those emotions. A crisp piano opening soon gives way to a siren synth that, in the moment, sounds like the biggest sound they could possibly conjure. Yeule sings the chorus in a near-monotone, but that synth beat pulses with all the feeling they need to convey, like it’s a living thing. Often focused on the virtual, here yeule uses technology as a bridge to something visceral, begging to be experienced in full physicality on a crowded dance floor. —J.C.

3.“Después de la Playa,” Bad Bunny

There are few more dopamine-inducing sounds in music right now than hearing Bad Bunny have his way on the mic. “Después de la Playa” feels like a microcosm of both Un Verano Sin Ti, his genre-smashing, chart-dominating 2022 album, and the Puerto Rican artist’s career as a whole: someone who can meld together different musical styles and effectively rap and sing over anything. On “Después,” he starts things off slow, humming along to starlight synths before challenging his partner who says he doesn’t take risks: “Dime qué tú juega’ y yo lo juego,” he sings. (Basically, “Tell me what you’re playing to and I’ll play it too.”) Then, a minute later, he hits overdrive, and a merengue kicks in, twisting an unhurried sex-after-the-beach jam into one with passion and verve. —A.S.

2.“Cash In Cash Out,” Pharrell, Tyler, the Creator, 21 Savage

Everyone’s peaking here. Pharrell morphs his familiar repeat-four intro into something unexpected and off-kilter (distorted kick drum, funky falsetto sample, hissing percussion effects), Tyler throws in a blustery rhyme scheme and insatiable ad-libs (the “They was talkin’ ’bout a hundred million, baby” a cappella; the way he injects multiple syllables into the word “furry”), and rap feature king/Her Loss load-bearing wall 21 Savage drops some hilariously grimy banter (“She swallow all my kids, she a bad babysitter”; “Money turned me into an assholе I ain’t gon’ lie / I was used to being poor”). Pharrell once accurately described this song as “letting two pit bulls loose,” and his minimalist production creates a kind of space two far less compelling rappers would fail to fill adequately. That approach helps the trio transform “Cash In Cash Out” from rote collab into something scarcer: an unbloated supergroup track. —A.S.

1.“Summer Renaissance,” Beyoncé

Homage can be a tricky needle to thread in music: A song needs to recall and honor its predecessors while also feeling like a step forward. How do you do that for a track that, almost a half-century later, still sounds like the future? If anyone could, it’s Beyoncé, as she did on “Summer Renaissance,” the time-bending coda to her album Renaissance. The song has the bones of Donna Summer’s groundbreaking “I Feel Love,” that chugging spacey beat and light-as-air hook, where Beyoncé perfectly embodies Summer’s sensuous voice. But, just as it was for decades of electronic dance music, “I Feel Love” is Bey’s launch point. “Renaissance” becomes an ecstatic roller coaster through dance history, taking turns into a diva-size house anthem and vogue-ready bitch track. She does it all with last-call intensity, not ready to leave the club with any unspent energy. In the process, she charts a course for a future of dance music by bringing a song from the past into the present. And like Beyoncé herself sings, it’s sooo good. —J.C.

Honorable Mentions

Throughout 2022, Justin Curto and senior editor Alex Suskind maintained a “Best Songs of the Year (So Far)” list. Many of those selections appear above in Curto and Suskind’s top-ten picks. Below are the rest of the songs that stood out to us this year:

“Happy New Year,” Let’s Eat Grandma

Let’s Eat Grandma knows the power of a straightforward lyric. That’s the key to “Happy New Year,” the thrilling opening cut off new album Two Ribbons, which details changes in the duo’s dynamic as best friends. The song is colored by vignettes from the pair’s shared history, recounted over synths that pop like fireworks. The emotional punches, though, come from single lines: “There’s no one else who gets me quite like you,” Rosa Walton declares to Jenny Hollingsworth, whom she’s known since age 4. Other songs on Two Ribbons chart the ways the two have had to reconfigure their friendship, but the end of each “Happy New Year” chorus centers the project: “Because you know you’ll always be my best friend / And look at what I have with you.” What more do they need to say? — Justin Curto

“You Will Never Work in Television Again,” the Smile

There’s a tight propulsion to the first single from the Smile, a new Radiohead spinoff project starring singer Thom Yorke, guitarist Johnny Greenwood, and Songs of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner (Yorke’s explanation for the band’s name: “Not the smile as in ‘ahh,’ more ‘the Smile’ as in, the guy who lies to you every day.”) “You Will Never Work in Television Again” unloads like a precision drop: eight seconds of ambient feedback before you’re thrown into a quick and dense guitar riff, harkening back to Bends-era Radiohead. Yorke’s lyrics are especially gnarly, as he sings of bones being spat out, unpicked stitches, and gangster trolls. By the end, some dissonance gets tossed in the mix, but the trio always keeps the rhythm steady. — Alex Suskind

“Wild,” Spoon

Nearly three decades in, Spoon is still one of rock’s most suave and consistent bands. The proof is in “Wild,” a swaggering, explosive track where everything falls exactly into place — a push-pull between restraint and passion that always moves forward but never fully bursts. Frontman Britt Daniel is the song’s driving force, stretching his voice to its raspy extremes. The second single off the classic-rock-indebted Lucifer on the Sofa, “Wild” is big enough to fill an arena, with layers of guitars and a victorious piano line lifted straight from the U2 playbook. Fittingly, it’s a song about feeling like you have more to find in the world — and one that shows Spoon isn’t done reaching yet, either. — J.C.

“Surround Sound,” JID featuring 21 Savage and Baby Tate

“Surround Sound” blends a handful of elements that would be fun to listen to on their own into a fantastic collage. There’s the adeptly cut Aretha Franklin sample; 21 Savage’s effortless guest feature, which builds momentum with each bar; a slick four-line bridge from Baby Tate, the keystone to the song’s two-part gambit; and, most importantly, the wildly fun JID verse, full of street talk, distinctive wordplay, and more flows than some full albums. It’s the sort of verse that will have you replaying single lines like “I’m a, I’m a, I’m an, I’m an anomaly / I turned into a rapper ironically” on loop. —J.C.

“Bliss,” Amber Mark

“Oh, didn’t know what love is / ’Til I found my bliss,” sings Amber Mark on the funky penultimate track off her long-awaited debut Three Dimensions Deep. Structured over three sections, the album starts with a deep dive into Mark’s own self-doubts, shifts into recovery mode, then, in the final act, arrives at a place of peace and joy. As she sings on the part-three single “Bliss,” “You teach me things I never knew / A crush don’t have to leave a bruise / My soul is shining, changed my life with perfect timing.” Mark’s delivery over the song’s soupy bassline is a marvel, as she dips in and out of the groove, taking brief pauses for dramatic effect, and using her impressive range to showcase a sense of triumph. It’s the kind of approach that can’t be taught. — A.S.

“YEET,” Yung Kayo featuring Yeat

Yung Kayo might be the weirdest rapper on the Young Stoner Life roster, delivering braggadocios trap bars over tracks that draw more from PC Music than Atlanta. See: the intoxicating “YEET,” which works best when you fully give yourself over to it. (Another thing to give yourself over to? The fact that “YEET” happens to feature a fellow up-and-comer actually named Yeat, whose name is a blend of “yeet” and “heat.”) Kayo squares off against an unrelenting wall of bass and synth lines for one of his most technically skilled performances, rapping one verse at a rapid-fire clip before taking a breather in the second. And sure, you could say his writing is surface-level and basic, but it’s better to enjoy Kayo while he’s flexing about Goyard dreams and dropping lines like “I’m ‘bout to float like I’m elevate, I’m ‘bout to float like a BRB.” —J.C.

“Jealousy,” FKA Twigs

“I learned to write a hook,” admitted FKA Twigs in a statement accompanying her intimate 2022 mixtape, CAPRISONGS. The maturation is apparent on “Jealousy,” a bouncy Afrobeats-indebted single that explores two sides of a story: a woman suspecting nefarious actions of her partner, while her partner — played by Nigerian star Rema — tries to convince her otherwise (“Girl, I’m sick and tired of your drama,” he sings, “Don’t let me take you back to your mama”). Twigs is looking for a tension break, and she finds it in the chorus, pouring her desperate need for a reprieve into an infectious melody: “I just want to go outside / and feel the sun is shining on my better side.” — A.S.

“One Way, or Every N - - - - With a Budget,” Saba

Saba’s “One Way” is a snapshot of success — the double-edged sword of being the one friend in your group who broke big and started making money. For now, the 27-year-old rapper is ordering “pasta that I cannot pronounce properly,” netting a million after taxes to spend on fashion, and hiring an accountant to manage it all. “We all splurgin’ on this dumb shit, ’cause we careless and we youngins,” he spits over a jangling beat and nervy guitar riff. But caution still lies around the corner, both from his white neighbors eyeing him and his friends suspiciously and for the bottom that could fall out at any moment. As Saba says, “It’s a one-way street.” — A.S.

“Porta,” Sharon Van Etten

Sharon Van Etten pivoted to electronics to superb effect on her last album, 2019’s nostalgia-fueled Remind Me Tomorrow. Where that record leaned into darkness, her latest single, “Porta,” uses those same tools to make a burst of synthpop-lite. Not that it’s easy subject matter — Van Etten confronts her anxiety and depression head-on here, personifying those thoughts into a stalker that wants to “steal” her life. It’s a concept that might come off as too heavy-handed from another artist, but Van Etten makes it work thanks to those synths, which take “Porta” from wallowing to motivating. (The music video of Van Etten doing pilates with an instructor friend is surprisingly fitting and moving.) Once the churning track behind Van Etten climaxes, the song turns too: “Stay out of my life!” she declares to what’s been following her. It sounds like freedom. — J.C.

“Red Moon,” Big Thief

The cover of Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, the transcendent double albumfrom folk-rock heroes Big Thief, is a graphite sketch of four animals playing guitars, sitting around a campfire. It’s a perfect expression of some of Big Thief’s best traits: casual, playful, communal. And if that picture had a sound, it’d be “Red Moon,” the country toe-tapper that kicks off the second disc. It’s one of the most laid-back songs the band has ever made, like an impromptu jam session that just happened to get recorded. It’s the album’s best showcase for the lively fiddle playing by unofficial fifth member Mat Davidson and features some especially clever writing from Adrianne Lenker (“I got the oven on, I got the onions wishing / They hadn’t made me cry”). Oh, and it’s got a shoutout to Lenker’s own grandmother on top of it all. — J.C.

“Baby,” Charli XCX

Sorry, but the stans were wrong: “Baby” is the best track off Charli XCX’s new album, Crash. The album’s tightly wound fourth single is one of the most polished songs Charli has ever made — and one of the most fun, a balance earlier offerings from Crash failed to strike. On an album that pushes for pop maximalism, “Baby” cuts all the fat, from its breakneck dance beat to that one-line hook, such an earworm that it deserves to be repeated into oblivion. Producer and True Romance collaborator Justin Raisen condenses Crash’s ’80s-meets-’10s sound into a single track with astute touches such as those opening strings. Like a true pop star, Charli makes the song hers with a dominant vocal performance. — J.C.

“This Is a Photograph,” Kevin Morby

Lately, Kevin Morby has been fascinated by death. The singer-songwriter contemplated the afterlife on his 2019 opus, Oh My God, and wrote his 2020 follow-up, Sundowner, after three deaths (the musician Jessi Zazu, his former producer Richard Swift, and his hero Anthony Bourdain) impacted him. “This Is a Photograph,” the first single off his new album of the same name, turns that motif into a song that feels distinctly alive. Morby found the titular photo after his father collapsed at a family gathering: a picture of their family when his father was around his age. “Got a glimmer in his eye,” Morby notices. “Seems to say this is what I’ll miss after I die / And this is what I’ll miss about being alive.” As the song grows from a twangy acoustic guitar to incorporate a full band, choir, and horn section — clearly influenced by the time Morby spent working in Memphis — that line becomes a rallying cry, with Morby sounding more urgent than ever before. His father ended up being okay, and the event gave Morby more life, too. — J.C.

“Hentai,” Rosalía

There’s nowhere to hide on “Hentai,” the final single off Rosalía’s Motomami and one of the year’s most gorgeously seductive tracks. The Catalan singer spends all two-and-a-half minutes expertly curving her voice around plaintive chords, taking the time to patiently linger over each syllable (“So, so, so, so, so, sogood,” she sings on the hook). The vocal-first approach only elucidates the explicit subject matter: sexual freedom, diamond-encrusted genital piercings, pornographic animation (somehow, a hilariously random nod to Spike Jonze). Pharrell cranks the production up in the last 20 seconds, throwing in a steady churn of crunchy machine gears, but Rosalía keeps her cool. — A.S.

“Shotgun,” Soccer Mommy

Sophie Allison’s tempered vocals can make even her most upbeat proclamations sound charmingly off-kilter — and the ones that aren’t get stamped with double the dread. She uses this to striking effect in “Shotgun,” off her new album, Sometimes, Forever: “Look at your blue eyes like the stars / Stuck in the headlights of a car,” she sings, ready to take the dive into a relationship without knowing what comes next. “You know I’ll take you as you are / As long as you do me.” Allison’s surf riff is layered over production from synth master Daniel Lopatin (a.k.a. Oneohtrix Point Never), who infuses Soccer Mommy’s spare alt-rock with wall-of-sound sonics. When they collide on the hook, her voice — “So whenever you want me, I’ll be around,” Allison drones, “I’m a bullet in a shotgun waiting to sound” — gives the song an exhilarating emotional release. — A.S.

“Highway Boys,” Zach Bryan

If American Heartbreak, the 34-song triple album from country breakout Zach Bryan, seems daunting, look at it another way: It’s a collection of 34 opportunities for Bryan’s vivid writing to pull you in and, often, devastate you. For me, that was “Highway Boys,” a fiddle-laden ballad about the difficulties of life on the road. Bryan’s dusty voice is best when it’s bursting with resolve, as on the song’s second verse, which doubles as a sample of his best writing: “And all of my old friеnds miss havin’ me around, but / Highways work both ways, and I can’t stand the liars in town.” As a writer, the 26-year-old can convey detail and emotional depth in a matter of words; as a performer, he knows those lyrics hit best with a folky, neo-traditional backing. But as good as “Highway Boys” is, it’s just a sliver of the talent to wade through on American Heartbreak; it’s a song that finds you right when you think you’ve gotten lost. — J.C.

“Leave You Alone,” Ella Mai

Ella Mai followed up her runaway 2018 success — which included a chart-topping debut album, a Song of the Year Grammy nod, and the definitive onomatopoeic romance anthem in “Boo’d Up” — by keeping a low profile. “Leave You Alone,” the first single from her forthcoming sophomore LP, picks up where she left off — attached, love-drunk, and questioning whether the physical attachment she’s currently feeling will lead to something more substantial. (In short: Nope.) “I be hoping that it’s more than just my body that you wanted / Shoulda left you on read / I blew it, so stupid,” she sings over slinky production and that slick vocoder effect that used to pop up in every ’90s slow jam. One of Mai’s strengths is her ability to center the internal tension we all feel in the beginning of a relationship (“I just can’t stop / Falling, for you,” she sings in the chorus). Few can pull it off as eloquently as she does here. — A.S.

“Ice Cream,” Freddie Gibbs and Rick Ross

Freddie Gibbs channels his Power Book drug kingpin alter ego Cousin Buddy in “Ice Cream,” effortlessly rapping over a Kenny Beats production — which flips the same Earl Klugh sample RZA once used in Raekwon’s 1995 single “Ice Cream” — like it’s a second appendage: “I was pushin’ on the interstate / Trunk full of weight when my dawg woke up / Told him I just did a whole thing of the Fetty Wap, no dog, all cut.” Ross, up to his usual antics, hops in for a short but powerful second verse, blending braggadocio (“Put a chopper on you pussies with the GPS”) with Robin Hood wealth redistribution (“Couple mill a duffle bag, I got a block to feed”). It’s Gibbs’s first offering of 2022 and hopefully a taste of what’s to come. — A.S.

“Fruit,” Oliver Sim

Oliver Sim was the final member of the xx to go solo (after bandmates Jamie xx and Romy), and it took him a second to find his space. Debut single “Romance With a Memory” sounds like an outtake from 2017’s I See You, with its swaying verses and piano-and-synth backing, courtesy of Jamie xx. But his follow-up, “Fruit,” makes Sim’s case as a solo artist. The song is more personal than anything he’s written for the xx, about reconciling his gay identity with his family. “What would my father do?” he asks. “Do I take a bite, take a bite of the fruit?” (The expert double entendre, repurposing fruit as a gay slur, only adds to the song’s power.) Sim sings with a commanding presence here, his often subtle voice hitting high against the churn of a dark dance beat (once again from Jamie). Watching him in the music video, out from behind his bass guitar and dancing around the stage, showcases just how freeing this song truly is. — J.C.

“La Buena Vida,” Camila Cabello

Past bouncy single “Bam Bam,” Camila Cabello had an even better breakup kiss-off on her new album Familia. That’s “La Buena Vida,” the punkish mariachi song she first debuted live in October 2021. The lyrics are cutting: “I woke up happy by accident,” she opens, going on to tell her lover (all but certainly ex-boyfriend Shawn Mendes) she’s “forgetting what it’s like to wake up next to you.” Cabello’s delivery is poised and poisonous, with the former Fifth Harmony singer wrapping her voice around her lyrics and flawlessly slipping into rapping into the second verse. She plays off the energy of the live mariachi band, especially as the final chorus reaches a fever pitch to punctuate her attacks. But that’s not the only source of Cabello’s passion in “La Buena Vida” — the mariachi song pays homage to the music she grew up around in her family, and her father even guests in the studio for the song. It’s a heartfelt performance, through and through. — J.C.

“Shake It,” Kay Flock featuring Cardi B, Dougie B, Bory300

Before she became one of the biggest rappers in the world, Cardi B was a master of street rap — just listen to her underrated Gangsta Bitch Music tapes. She returns to those roots on “Shake It,” a neck-snapping posse cut of Bronx drill. “Shake It” is built for summer parties, around spliced samples of Akon’s “Bananza (Belly Dancer)” and Sean Paul’s “Temperature.” Scene ascendant Kay Flock sets the pace, stomping over the beat with a growling confidence that Dougie B and Bory300 are quick to match. But Cardi is the main event here, rapping more aggressively than she has since Invasion of Privacy opener “Get Up 10.” Her “Shake It” verse features multiple all-time Cardi lines, from “Come get showered with bullets, no bridal,” to “She lyin’, hakuna matata,” all delivered with her unmatched charisma. We may still be in a drought of solo Cardi music, but she takes control of “Shake It.” — J.C.

“Plan B,” Megan Thee Stallion

Meg’s cypher-ready “Plan B” is the kind of song that sends its subject into witness protection. “Still can’t believe I used to fuck with ya / Popping Plan B’s ‘cause I ain’t planned to be stuck with ya,” she raps over a clever flip of Jodeci’s “Freek ‘N You.” Things somehow get more devastating from there: “The only accolade you ever made is that I fucked you”; “How you want a bitch that you don’t deserve?” Well, damn. Consider “Plan B” a warning call to any man stupid enough to try and cross the Houston rapper. — A.S.

“Kind of Girl,” Muna

On older Muna songs, Katie Gavin lists the things she feels like she can’t do: get the girl, advocate for herself, be happy. That changes on “Kind of Girl,” the keystone of Muna’s newly confident, self-titled third album. The single sees Gavin and her band finding power in declaration, realizing that the first step toward making change is reorienting your mind. Muna’s music has always been empowering, but here it holds new weight as Gavin works through her issues in real time. After two albums’ worth of songs about fucking up relationships, hearing Gavin say she could “Go out and meet somebody / Who actually likes me for me / And this time, I’ll lеt them” packs a punch. “Kind of Girl” is Muna reevaluating what sort of band it wants to be: a lush country-inspired ballad from musicians who made their name on synthpop. It would sound like a dream, if the lyrics weren’t so believable. — J.C.

“Headspace,” Sharon Van Etten

Worries recur on Sharon Van Etten’s latest, We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong, an anxious album prompted by not just the COVID-19 pandemic but the general state of the world. “Don’t turn your back, don’t leave,” she pleads to her son early into the album, on “Home to Me”; later, on “Headspace,” a similar sentiment becomes a repeated call to a lover. “Baby, don’t turn your back to me,” she calls out, into the darkness of fuzzy churning guitars. Van Etten’s delivery grows more forceful as her repetition continues, but that’s not all that makes the words feel urgent. She knows how universal loneliness and abandonment can be after singing about it for years, and as she repeats the line, it can bore into your head, taking on meaning for your own worries. The song never finds a resolution, but that’s not what it’s searching for — catharsis is. — J.C.

“The Heart Part 5,” Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick sounds haunted on “The Heart Part 5.” “Desensitized, I vandalized pain, covered up and camouflaged,” he raps over a flip of Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You” (which, kudos to K.Dot, is not an easy sample to clear in 2022!). “Get used to hearin’ arsenal rain / Analyze, risk your life, take the charge.” Part of a long-running series that started in 2010, each chapter of “The Heart” acts as a sort of Kendrick State of the Union: where he’s from, what he’s seen, and, most important, where he’s at now. Like its predecessors, “Part 5” — released as a stand-alone single ahead of his new album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers — is drenched in paranoia and death. By the third verse, he has taken on the persona of fellow Los Angeles rap staple and friend, the late Nipsey Hussle, who was gunned down in 2019. “And to the killer that sped up my demise / I forgive you, just know your soul’s in question,” raps Lamar, and later, “I don’t need to be in flesh just to hug y’all / The memories recollect just because y’all / Celebrate me with respect.” He wants more than to just commune with deceased legends; he wants to hold a mirror up to himself, his peers, and his community — for what they’ve built, where they have to go, and what he needs out of them. — A.S.

“Xtasy,” Ravyn Lenae

Ravyn Lenae knows just how intoxicating her powers can be. Her voice is the definition of ethereal — a classically trained power channeled to delicate R&B — and her best songs are bouncy, joyful outings about love and letting loose. Of course, all of this applies to a track called “Xtasy,” where the singer keeps her voice at a whisper as it glides along a buoyant, summer-ready beat from Kaytranada (a new collaborator who’s equally adept at setting a mood). “If we’re going higher, feel my touch,” she sings. The song’s high is all-purpose, the sort that can make the crowd in a club disappear just as well as it can make an empty room feel like the whole world. — J.C.

“Don’t Forget,” Sky Ferreira

Sky Ferreira’s first new song in three years is an explosive comeback in every sense. Literally, the song is about setting fire to houses. “Don’t Forget” finds Ferreira returning to bombastic ‘80s–inspired synthpop — now with a more complexly layered arrangement — over eight years after it became her signature on 2013’s Night Time, My Time. But the most incendiary aspect of the song is that it’s a commentary on the label drama that delayed its very release. “Nobody here’s a friend of mine,” Ferreira taunts, before lobbing the titular reminder at those who’ve held her back. Yet the industry’s transgressions aren’t all she hasn’t forgotten, either — multiple years and returns later, “Don’t Forget” is proof that she’s still not playing by pop’s rules. As she reminds us: “You can’t keep me in line.” — J.C.

“Want Want,” Maggie Rogers

Heard It in a Past Life was an apt title for Maggie Rogers’s debut, an album full of eminently listenable folk-pop centered around her voice, pleasant like a light breeze. Her follow-up, Surrender, looks to be advice: Give in to the jarring, dazzling electropop to come. Take “Want Want,” the album’s superb second single, which channels pure ecstasy over the buzz of an industrial bassline. True to its title, “Want Want” is omnivorous, pulling from glam, punk, and dance all at once to make undeniable pop. It’s remarkably complex, with dynamics shifting instantly and Rogers’s voice pushed higher, louder, and more layered than ever. — J.C.

“Nothing in My Head,” pinkshift

Throughout the pop-punk revival of the past few years, fans have been hungry for an answer to Paramore: a band fronted by a confident woman who can throw barbs and deliver sing-along-ready hooks in the same song. Pinkshift could be it. The trio of Baltimore 20-somethings may prefer the harder side of Paramore, but their songs are no less catchy. “Nothing in My Head,” their Hopeless Records debut, refines the work on the band’s 2021 EP, Saccharine (which already sounds shockingly professional), to make a song that would fit right in at Warped Tour 2008. Singer Ashrita Kumar sounds as captivating on record as she does in the band’s exciting live sets, unraveling from snarls to screams in the final chorus. It’s three minutes of pummeling, pit-ready catharsis. — J.C.

“Spitting Off the Edge of the World,” Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs

Give me the defiant resolve of Karen O yelling “Cowards!” in the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Spitting Off the Edge of the World,” a song that taps into our political leaders’ deranged lack of action on climate change. The soundtrack matches the mood: booming drums, scuzzy guitar work, thick synthesizers reminiscent of the ones the trio used on 2009’s It’s Blitz! “Spitting” — the YYYs’ first single in nine years and the lead track off their forthcoming fifth studio album — furthers the explosively punkish spirit of the band’s best work while subbing Blitz’s high-tempo electropop for the lolling tendencies usually heard in the solo output of featured guest Perfume Genius. It’s a perfect fit for a song with its eyes toward an ugly future that’s slowly unfurling before our eyes. “Here’s the sun / So bow your heads,” Karen sings, less as a warning than a vision of our coming hell. “Dark places shall be none / She’s melting houses of gold.” — A.S.

“Wretched,” Bartees Strange

After conquering rock, rap, country, and soul on his indie hit debut, Live Forever, it was time for Bartees Strange to make a dance song. But more than proof of concept or celebration, “Wretched” is a thanksgiving. “I was tryna be something wretched,” he croons in the second verse when the band cuts out, leaving him strumming his guitar. “But you were the only one who / Would come through calling / You found ways to rescue me.” The song comes in the midst of an endless rise — multiple plum opening slots, a 4AD signing, some producer gigs — and, as Strange reminds us, it hasn’t been easy. But one of his greatest gifts as a musician is his audacious confidence, and he puts it to work here, throwing a big-tent-style drop in the middle of what would otherwise be a straightforward rock ballad. It’s a heartfelt gift to the people who got him here and a thrilling listen for the rest of us. — J.C.

“Part of the Band,” the 1975

When the 1975 teased the lyrics to “Part of the Band,” the lead single off their fifth album Being Funny in a Foreign Language, ahead of its release, the groans were near instant. “Am I ironically woke? The butt of my joke? / Or am I just some post-coke, average, skinny bloke / Calling his ego imagination?” Matty Healy asked, knowing many people would respond with a yes. But the 1975 are masters of provocation, and the song turned out to be one of the band’s prettiest, most relaxed compositions — a twee, stringy number that sounds like a cross between indie-rock faves Vampire Weekend, Wilco, and Bon Iver. (Consider it a new turn from co-producer Jack Antonoff.) Plus you can’t really appreciate how perfect of a rhyme “I know some vaccinista tote-bag chic baristas / Sittin’ east on their communista keisters” is until you hear it from Healy’s mouth, comforting and sincere as ever. Of course, he’s the butt of the joke — that’s what he does best. — J.C.

“Free Yourself,” Jessie Ware

Jessie Ware has a gift for making dance music that feels raw and human — not just songs, but moments with their own time and place. That made her 2020 album What’s Your Pleasure sparkle among some of that year’s more plastic disco music, and it’s again the key to her stellar follow-up single “Free Yourself.” The track is classic house music: a precise, infinite piano loop, high-stakes strings, and a vocal performance that breaks through the pulsing, crowded arrangement. Ware has stepped into the diva status that came alongside Pleasure with panache, and here, she gives something jaw-dropping. “Keep on moving up that mountaintop,” Ware belts as her voice does just that, reaching further for each note than the last. The song isn’t just meant for the club, it brings you into the action. — J.C.

“Bed Time,” Flo Milli

Few artists can serve as cutting a taunt as Flo Milli. On “Bed Time,” she’s in peak form, mocking her enemies and reminding anyone who crosses her that she’s the last person you want to face off with in a street fight. “Knock a bitch out to teach her a lesson / Swear to God, I can’t go back and forth with none of you peasants,” she raps over stuttering drums. And later, on the hook: “I might fuck around and make the headlines / Make a ho go night night like it’s bedtime.” The Mobile, Alabama, rapper’s music typically toggles between provocation, braggadocio, and outright threat. With “Bed Time,” she pulls off a menacing mix of all three. — A.S.

“Gotsta Get Paid,” Rico Nasty

At her best, Rico Nasty is a cartoonish rapper— as she shouts and sneers, you can almost imagine the veins popping out of her temple. On “Gotsta Get Paid,” she has the beat to match, centered on a ding-whoosh sound that recalls a Looney Tunes character getting smacked in the head. (Thank her close collaborators 100 Gecs, who regularly match Rico in energy and whimsy.) From the first bars, the song feels like getting walloped with a hammer: “Feelin’ like fuck a bitch, n- - - -,” Rico growls, before launching into a smattering of boasts and threats. But once she pivots to the hook, in joyful, punky singsong, it’s clear it’s all in good fun. — J.C.

“grimace_smoking_weed.jpeg,” Chat Pile

Chat Pile’s pseudonymous singer, Raygun Busch, shifts from sounding terrifying to terrified across the metal band’s great debut, God’s Country. On the epic nine-minute closer, “grimace_smoking_weed.jpeg,” the fear in his voice is what makes things so chilling. Sure, the story behind the song can make you laugh: It’s about a stoned hallucination of Grimace, McDonald’s purple-blob mascot. But while Chat Pile has a sense of humor, the band is never joking. (That goes especially for the musicians behind Busch, who put in the album’s most bludgeoning performance here.) “Don’t want you / I don’t need you / Don’t think I’d forget,” Busch screams at the apparition, already sounding breathless on some of the first lines. The scariest part comes as the song goes on, with Busch singing about how much he hates himself and how he feels like a monster too. “You weren’t supposed to see this,” he screams. “But here it is!” — J.C.

“Foxglove Through the Clearcut,” Death Cab for Cutie

If you haven’t heard yet, Death Cab for Cutie is back back. The long-running rock band looks to be readying its best album in over a decade (since 2008’s Narrow Stairs), which splits the difference between a return to the grandiose form of 2000’s The Photo Albumand 2003’s Transatlanticism and new territory. Take “Foxglove Through the Clearcut,” the dreamlike new single from the upcoming Asphalt Meadows. Ben Gibbard is part storyteller, part philosopher as he speaks about an encounter with a man who remains awed by the world despite his disappointment in its state. (The title comes from a wonderful image: “And now, he and I watch the foxglove grow through the clearcut / Where a forest once grew high and wild.”) The band hits all the right twinkly touchpoints: American Football, the World Is a Beautiful Place, Death Cab’s own “Transatlanticism.” Then it explodes into a full-band breakdown big enough to fill the vast expanses Gibbard sings about. — J.C.

“Been to the Mountain,” Margo Price

“I got nothin’ to prove, I’ve got nothin’ to sell,” Margo Price opens her new single “Been to the Mountain.” The Americana singer-songwriter doesn’t just have an independent streak — it’s her whole ethos, and it defines this song. Price continues to stray from the classic-country palette of her first two solo albums, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter and All American Made, here in favor of blues-inflected rock with steadily spinning guitars and a Janis Joplin–like screaming interlude. “Well, I’ve been called every name in the book, honey / Go on, take your best shot!” Price goads her critics, exuding pure fearlessness. Don’t believe her? Just listen to the rest of the lyrics recounting her often-rough backstory. “I know the scent of death like a perfume,” she sings later, which makes the next line that much sweeter: “No, this ain’t the end.” — J.C.

“Midnight Legend,” Special Interest featuring Mykki Blanco

Everyone from Beyoncé to Drake has been making house music this year — but no one has made it quite like Special Interest. “Midnight Legend” is the most approachable song yet from the often abrasive glitch-punk collective, which makes sense given the song’s dreams of a more accepting and accessible dance floor. “Midnight Legend” gets there through empowerment. “We know a holy war needs some patience too / The girls vicious, all envious of you,” Alli Logout sings over a bassy track that shimmers amid its cacophony — like a crowded club or nighttime city. Rapper Mykki Blanco contributes a verse to one cut of the song, commanding instant attention (like the titular “Midnight Legend”) as she paints the scene of a rave; Logout is as much of a star on the album version, rapping a bitch-track-like verse about another partier forgetting their worries. There’s room for both, and much more, in Special Interest’s vivid vision of the club. — J.C.

“Too Much,” Freddie Gibbs featuring Moneybagg Yo

It’s a bit surreal to be talking about the just-released major-label debut from Freddie Gibbs, one of the most successful and acclaimed independent rappers of the last decade. Thankfully, being pulled into the Big Three didn’t water down the product. The Gary, Indiana, native’s space-casino-theme album features more introspection than past projects without losing any of Gibbs’s patented swagger. Lead single “Too Much” shows how versatile a rapper Gibbs can be, pairing with Memphis favorite Moneybagg Yo for an energetic ode to excess and disposability: “All this money that I got, I could never get too much / All these hoes that I got, I could never get boo’d up,” Gibbs raps over an electric-keyboard riff pulled from DeBarge’s “All This Love.” The song is a three-minute rundown of one of Gibbs’s many strengths: blending humor, shit talk, and earned confidence. — A.S.

“Pressure,” Ari Lennox

Ari Lennox fans never seemed too concerned about what the singer’s long-awaited sophomore album would sound like — only when it would arrive (with Dreamville boss J. Cole catching plenty of heat for the delay). They were right not to worry: age/sex/location is gorgeous — a nostalgia-heavy set filled with smooth hooks, missed connections, and hedonistic pleasures. “Pressure,” the lead single, feels like the anchor. “Now you textin’ me, you know I won’t reply / Why you ain’t fuck with me when I wasn’t this fly?” Lennox asks over a beat from Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Paul Cox. It’s a pointed rebuke, but the heart of the song is about seeking pleasure — “Now I’m on top and now I’m ridin’ sky-high (Pressure) / Don’t need nobody, but I’ll take you down tonight” — on her terms and no one else’s. — A.S.

“Kill Dem,” Jamie xx

Jamie xx’s lone solo album, In Colour, from 2015, was so good that the producer has been able to ride its sterling reputation for seven years without fans breaking down his door asking for more full-length drops. Thankfully, we got a taste in the club-ready “Kill Dem,” his second new single this year. An ode to the spirit and sounds of the annual Notting Hill Carnival, which Jamie xx attended as a teenager and DJ-ed for the first time this year, “Kill Dem” includes a flip of “Limb by Limb” from Jamaican dance-hall icon Cutty Ranks. By chopping Ranks’s riddim into a high-tempo, percussion-heavy beat, Jamie xx shapes the future by honoring the past. — A.S.

“Mel Made Me Do It,” Stormzy

It has been two years since we got a stand-alone single from the British grime legend. Consider “Mel Made Me Do It” — named for influential stylist Melissa Holdbrook-Akposoe — Stormzy’s State of the Union: a cypher-ready, bar-heavy, seven-plus-minute stream of boasts, braggadocio, and name-dropping. There’s “To be fair, I don’t feel Twitter / Getting told I’m not a real spitter by some broke-arse bill splitter” and “Every time I try a ting, top bins like / Haile when he sings / So of course they don’t like me, I’m the king” and “Okay, three O2s that I sell out / Man, I’m such a sellout / Might fuck around and bring Adele out.” Yet “Mel” is the rare track with an accompanying music video that completely shifts the song’s perspective, showcasing a set of emotional stakes that lie just under the surface. At the end of the clip, a Wretch 32 poem is read by Michaela Coel while a flood of celebrated Black British figures waltz across a veranda, turning this talk-your-shit anthem into one about generational talent and survival: “Our DNA empowers us,” says the Chewing Gum actress. “We can make a song and dance out of anything. Our genes are enriched. It seems there is not a seam out of place in our fabric.” The monologue transforms “Mel Made Me Do It” and everything Stormzy said before it into more than a song; it’s a statement: We made it through the fire, and we’re not going anywhere. — A.S.

“Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven?” Tyler Childers

The title track from Tyler Childers’s new album isn’t really about hunting or God — it’s about the joy of doing what you want. That’s what makes Childers’s new music shine. A triple album of spiritual-inspired songs (rendered as full-band cuts, orchestral arrangements, and remixes) would be a tough sell to Nashville, but luckily, Childers has long operated outside of the country establishment. “Hounds” fits right in alongside the album’s traditional songs — with its classic lilt and charming naivete (“Now all that’s fine and dandy, and I’m sure it’s nice up there,” he sings of heaven). Not to mention the fact that his band, the Food Stamps, plays like a long-lost session group, dialed-in and embellishing the song with just enough flourishes. But listen closely and hear Childers singing about his own life (like his recent sobriety). He performs it with conviction, assuring us that he’s not motivated by any promise of what’s to come — just more of the heaven he has already found here. — J.C.

“The Girl in the Picture,” Ashley McBryde and Pillbox Patti

Small towns are full of potential. That’s the thesis of Lindeville, the concept album by Ashley McBryde featuring a stellar cast of country-music friends. The central town may be fake, but the songs’ stories feel remarkably real — especially “The Girl in the Picture,” a stealthily heartbreaking tale of Lindeville’s former golden child who went missing. The single starts as a meditation on the titular picture, economic and vivid from the opening line (“She didn’t see the flash”), but it’s the chorus that packs a punch, shifting from observation to fantasy. “If looks could kill, she’d be killin’ it, killin’ it / Oh, but life ain’t fair,” sings Pillbox Patti, a writing partner of McBryde’s who wraps the song’s devastation in the best top-line melody you won’t hear on country radio this year. — J.C.

“Body Bag,” Monaleo

What happens after Monaleo comes beating down your block? She pulls out the body bag. The rising Houston star is back with a vengeance on her first solo single of 2022, “Body Bag.” Monaleo doesn’t waste a second of the track, filling it to the brim with disses, which the 21-year-old spits with off-the-charts bravado. (It’s hard to be mad at Monaleo for detailing no album plans when she continues to be such a skilled singles artist.) The standout of standout lines? “I will kill you and let my cousin do a TikTok on yo’ grave.” Monaleo doesn’t just know how to body the competition — she knows how to turn it into a moment too. — J.C.

“Changes,” Jeremih

Contrary to the title of his new single, Jeremih hasn’t changed — thankfully. Since getting off a ventilator for COVID treatment in 2020, the icon of club R&B popped up here and there, on songs with DJ Khaled, 50 Cent, and Tinashe; before that, he’d been focused on full-length collaborations with Chance the Rapper (on 2016’s Merry Christmas Lil Mama) and Ty Dolla $ign (2018’s MihTy). Now, nearly two years after that COVID bout, he’s made a characteristically smooth solo return with “Changes.” The presumed lead-off to a new project is a sexy homage to ’90s R&B, down to the singing-in-the-rain music video. It’s a more subdued track than Jeremih’s bigger crossover hits, but that works in his favor, putting the focus on his vocals — here with a touch of Auto-Tune and healthy dose of runs. He may be singing to a lost love, but “Changes” is the sound of Jeremih holding his own again. — J.C.

“Anti-Hero,” Taylor Swift

Stop the presses — Taylor Swift picked a good first single. Unlike “Me!” or “Shake It Off,” “Anti-Hero” is an ideal introduction to Midnights, an album returning to Swift’s polished latter-’10s pop with the reflective lens of her pandemic albums. Swift has rarely been more candid about her anxieties, from feeling like a misfit to worrying about her future family and legacy. (Laugh at the third verse all you want, but it’s the sort of evocative, precise writing Swift excels at.) At the same time, it’s one of the album’s most dynamic compositions, with just enough flourish from producer Jack Antonoff, right in his sweet spot of ’80-inflected synthpop. Even the lyrical shortcomings — “sexy baby,” the devices/prices/vices/crisis rhymes — add to the charm of the song. It’s good yet imperfect, like the Swift who narrates “Anti-Hero.” — J.C.

Want more stories like this one? Subscribe now to support our journalism and get unlimited access to our coverage. If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the December 19, 2022, issue of New York Magazine.

[rockislandadultreads]

Warm Up With a Good Book: Heartwarming Story Recommendations

Dewey by Vicki Myron

How much of an impact can an animal have? How many lives can one cat touch? How is it possible for an abandoned kitten to transform a small library, save a classic American town, and eventually become famous around the world? You can't even begin to answer those questions until you hear the charming story of Dewey Readmore Books, the beloved library cat of Spencer, Iowa.

Dewey's story starts in the worst possible way. Only a few weeks old, on the coldest night of the year, he was stuffed into the returned book slot at the Spencer Public Library. He was found the next morning by library director, Vicki Myron, a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm, a breast cancer scare, and an alcoholic husband. Dewey won her heart, and the hearts of the staff, by pulling himself up and hobbling on frostbitten feet to nudge each of them in a gesture of thanks and love. For the next nineteen years, he never stopped charming the people of Spencer with his enthusiasm, warmth, humility, (for a cat) and, above all, his sixth sense about who needed him most.

As his fame grew from town to town, then state to state, and finally, amazingly, worldwide, Dewey became more than just a friend; he became a source of pride for an extraordinary Heartland farming town pulling its way slowly back from the greatest crisis in its long history.

Come Rain or Come Shine by Jan Karon

Over the course of ten Mitford novels, fans have kept a special place in their hearts for Dooley Kavanagh, first seen in At Home in Mitford as a barefoot, freckle-faced boy in filthy overalls.

Now, Father Tim Kavanagh's adopted son has graduated from vet school and opened his own animal clinic. Since money will be tight for a while, maybe he and Lace Harper, his once and future soul mate, should keep their wedding simple.

So the plan is to eliminate the cost of catering and do potluck. Ought to be fun. An old friend offers to bring his well-known country band. Gratis. And once mucked out, the barn works as a perfect venue for seating family and friends. Piece of cake, right?

In Come Rain or Come Shine, Jan Karon delivers the wedding that millions of Mitford fans have waited for. It’s a June day in the mountains, with more than a few creatures great and small, and you’re invited - because you’re family.

This is the 13th volume of the “Mitford Years” series.

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice’s life isn’t terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn’t exactly the one she expected. She’s happy with her apartment, her romantic status, her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But her father is ailing, and it feels to her as if something is missing. When she wakes up the next morning she finds herself back in 1996, reliving her 16th birthday. But it isn’t just her adolescent body that shocks her, or seeing her high school crush, it’s her dad: the vital, charming, 40-something version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, some past events take on new meaning. Is there anything that she would change if she could?

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb...

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends - and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island - boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George 

Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.

After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.

[theliterateape]

Who Are 'The Working Class' and Aren't Most of Us Already Them?

by Don Hall

Midterms! Holy shit. More money is being spent on campaign ads in this concentrated period than Big Pharma spends on convincing old people that shingles is an existential threat and they must purchase a treatment because shingles are the END OF DEMOCRACY.

Beyond the hyperbolic rhetoric that states quite clearly and with great repetition that a vote for pretty much anyone of any ideological stripe is the final nail in the coffin for our democratic way of life, there is the drumbeat that gives us that delicious rhythm of the Great Abandonment of the Working Class. The image of this elusive and neglected group is malleable based on where you stand on, you know, issues.

If you're on the right side of the purity fence, this working class looks like a bunch of white people wearing overalls, their hands are permanently dirty from fixing cars, fixing roads, fixing sewers, carrying hay bales, and dutifully frustrated that the Big Cities are dictating that their kids unnecessarily learn about racism in public schools. They also are both mystified and a bit disgusted with the sexual inaction of everyone and would prefer the teachers stick to teaching their children to read and write rather than gender identify.

Over on the left part of the Great Yard, the working class looks like black people working in restaurants, brown people working in Amazon warehouses, black and brown people laboring in migrant jobs, all while dealing with the idea that their forebears were scarred by slavery, Jim Crow, anti-Latino racism, and woefully underfunded schools in neighborhoods that haven't seen a pothole fixed since before Roosevelt was in office (Teddy not Frank).

Suspiciously absent from this wildly diverse group are Asians but that is because, despite the rampant white supremacy laced into every aspect of American life, those Asians make considerably more money, their kids are smarter and do better in school, and pretty much smoke white people on every metric measurable except for weight class and the whites, blacks, and browns beat the Asians by a solid ton of unnecessary gut fat. Gotta win at something, right?

Like so many of our accepted terms, working class is effectively meaningless but that doesn't stop those crazy Zoomer marketing geniuses from barking out the label every 4.3 seconds in every campaign ad in between the persistent calls to action to buy shitty processed food and mattresses that guarantee a good night's sleep (hint on the last—be single. You'll sleep like a fucking baby).

I'm squatting in the Heartland, smack dab in the center of the country, and I'm seeing something a bit more nuanced than either of the wonk patrols are willing to see. The working class is, well, most of us.

Luis Lopez is a full-time high school social studies teacher in Wichita. He has a Master's Degree which bumps his annual pay to just under $40,000 a year (with benefits he never uses because the deductibles are kind of ridiculous). On his classroom wall he has an Associate's degree, a Bachelor's degree, and his Master's in frames on display. He is college educated. That isn't working class, right? Wrong. As a public school teacher he makes less than $7.00 an hour considering he spends his nights and weekends grading papers and purchasing things for his class that the school can't afford (like extra pencils, laptop chargers, and lamination for his Dwight Schrute inspirational posters).

Jessica Poole works part-time at the local YMCA, part-time at one of the movie theaters in town, and part-time parking cars at local sporting events. She lives with her aging father and hasn't left the city for a vacation in a decade. Once a week she treats herself to a couple of pints at a downtown hotspot (yes—the irony of a downtown hotspot in Wichita, KS is not lost on me) but feels a little guilty that she can't tip the server much. She has a BLM sticker on her phone case and both PETA and Greenpeace bumper stickers on her Ford F-150 pickup truck.

Ryan Hawley has been at the same body shop on the south side of Wichita for almost thirty years. It's a family-owned place and he can remember when he last got a raise in salary. He does fine. He took a few years to save up some money to buy a speed boat which he takes out on the Arkansas River on weekends in the spring and summer. He's divorced which is why he believes he has the money to get a used Jet Ski soon. He lives in a house his mother left him when she passed but hasn't put any effort to keep it up and resents the idea that he has to mow the grass as a pointless task. He can't recall the last time he read a book. He aligns with Trump but only because he hates the Left.

My guess is that the working class is far less monolithic than is possible in a sixty-second ad that must also include references to guns (either pro or con), abortion (either pro or con), inflation, trans issues, public education, and an acknowledged approval of the message. My thought is that when I hear the phrase the working class it is supposed to evoke imagery of the Other Americans not like me but the reality is that most Americans are making less than $40K a year before taxes, are three bad choices from being homeless, and are sporting a smartphone with a spiderweb of cracks and an operating system two years out of date.

Look around. That MAGA guy wearing a "Let's Go, Brandon" sweatshirt, that woman with the Ruth Bader-Ginsburg bobble head on her dash, that retired man working as a receipt checker at the Wal Mart, that barista, that comic book artist, that poet, that Uber driver? That's the working class and both political parties ignore them because politicians do not want to be working class themselves and the Big Money comes from the wealthy class.