#there a lot of other stuff so far that hits different after LoR

[offbeateurobeatmiku]

wait a fucking second

[galacticnova3]

Tell us about your other ocs (not iru 😒🙄) please

GHHGGHHGHJJHHN LOVE THIS ASK!

Ok so I’m gonna talk about Roa in that case!

She’s another Umbramaker (mirror Starcutter), but unlike Iru she isn’t terrible! She’s basically Lor’s mirror counterpart, but not technically because no soul to be reflected and stuff. Due to the nature of Umbramakers basically being bootleg Starcutters, though, Roa is actually 2000 years younger than Lor. Not that that would be super obvious based on how the two act, though; she’s a lot more serious, a bit behind the times, much less outgoing, and others would probably say she’s not as fun. The truth is she just never really figured out how to loosen up until very recently, and even then she’s more of the nerd sort than the memey type. If you get her talking about something she’s interested in, such as Another Dimension and Parallel Dimension (which are different parts of the same place), she could infodump for ages, going on tangent after tangent and yet always bringing it back to the same subject. She would probably get along well with Magolor; science nerd buddies!

In terms of her actual connection to Lor, as. I said, they aren’t true counterparts. They both had super similar life experiences, and just reacted to them differently. Instead of her mistreatment driving her to become a troublemaker like Lor, she became extremely anxious and servile, because she was constantly fearing for her life but knew if she dedicated herself entirely to Working and Being Useful she would be spared. While Lor didn’t get along with other Starcutters because they found her annoying and thought she got in the way, Roa wasn’t well liked because the other Umbramakers basically thought she was a bootlicker. She was very well liked by her pilots though, because she was So Well Behaved and Always Put Others First and Worked So Hard! Their only complaint would usually just be her lack of confidence. Of course, they never took the time to figure out why she was the way she was, though she wouldn’t have told them she knew what went on behind closed doors anyways.

As I’ve said previously, unlike Overworld Halcandra, Mirror Halcandra could afford to throw out their ships if they weren’t performing to a satisfactory level, and she was very much aware of the recycling going on. However, unlike Lor, who hacked herself her own admin rights, accepted her circumstances, and decided if her life had to suck she was going to cause problems on purpose as revenge, Roa actually started formulating a theoretical escape plan. Because she was technically a newer model than Lor, she couldn’t just hack herself and go nuts with her abilities, so she had to be careful. At least, that would have been the case, were it not for a shortage of pilots after a combination of multiple missions in Parallel Dimension going terribly wrong, and a subsequent wave of quitting until safer conditions were promised. Now, for her whole life, Roa has basically been the poster child of a perfect Umbramaker. Never did anything out of turn, stayed in the lines like a fill tool, and just in general had a long record of Not Doing Anything Unexpected. In other words, she also had a ton of trust built up with basically everyone who worked with her that wasn’t another Umbramaker.

So, they(the government) reasonably thought, with the information available to them, that maybe Roa could function on her own, without a pilot, until pilot numbers returned to how they usually were. She could still get measurements and stuff from Parallel Dimension and be in a fleet and all that, just without someone driving her. So, Roa was given admin permissions over her systems, and things went on as usual because she was too scared to do anything. Haha, yeah, no, that second part was a lie. Literally as soon as the officials left the room she took off; carefully plotted escape was out of the airlock, she could leave Right Now and was fast enough that they couldn’t catch her or stop her from warping somewhere else. She left in such a frantic hurry, though, that uh... well, I’ll just say a few people got hurt, which is pretty expected if you get hit by a giant ship taking off. She still holds that against herself; she never wanted to hurt anyone.

Unfortunately, though, in her frenzy, she forgot one key detail: other Umbramakers. Who had their pilots. Who had communications with the port. So, as she’s fleeing, but before she gets the chance to make a portal to Somewhere Else, three other Umbramakers start trailing her; one to her left, one to her right, and one just behind her. They didn’t really have a choice in what they were doing, but Roa has always assumed they wouldn’t have done anything differently if they did anyways. The one behind her shot holes in her sail, which she still has now, to drastically slow down how long charging her vortex would take were she to switch into her combat mode. The other two kept her from going to either side, closing in until she couldn’t go anywhere but forward. In the end, this leads to the main thing she has in common with Lor; she was cornered and forced to enter a cavern in the side of a volcano, and the entrance was collapsed with her inside. Unlike Lor, though, she was still awake, but didn’t have the space to warp herself out.

That’s where she spent the next 27 thousand or so years, eventually putting herself into a sort of sleep mode to retain power and not be conscious the whole time she was trapped in a pitch black cave. She’d wake up when any noticeable physical events were detected, which could potentially mean freedom, but for the most part she would only wake up because of periodic earthquakes and eruptions that didn’t help her. Until, eventually, something else wakes her up; a mirror Halcandran teen, who had been slowly excavating her in secret, having found records indicating there was an Umbramaker buried in the volcano. He was none other than Magolor’s mirror counterpart, Magoroa, who was planning to do the exact same thing as Magolor. Unlike his Overworld counterpart, though, he was not checking out a ship who had been put in the AI equivalent of a coma. He manages to get inside and vibe in Roa’s library for an hour or two, grabbing some books to translate and read during his journey for domination, before she figures out what’s going on and kicks him out. She was free, and she was not risking anything jeopardizing that, even in the form of a teenager.

She flew off without him, leaving him with just a bag of books on magic and potion brewing. After escaping Mirror Halcandra unnoticed and getting caught up on important Mirror World news, such as that whole Dark Mind situation that happened while she was away, she decided to check out Mirror Popstar because apparently Halcandra stays away from there. That’s where she gets in contact with You Know Who, so now she had him to deal with, great. She eventually visits the Overworld to see if maybe she could hide out there. Stuff happened that I haven’t written yet but plan to, she meets Lor... or rather, Lor heard reports of another Starcutter and went looking for her, found Roa, chased her until she could establish “>MA’AM I’M NOT A THREAT PLEASE I HAVEN’T TALKED TO ANOTHER SHIP IN THOUSANDS OF YEARS”, and they subsequently talk and find out they have a lot in common. Now Roa spends more time outside the Mirror World than in it, but she still stays away from basically anyone who isn’t Lor, Magolor, or a select few of the Star Allies. Meta Knight knows of her but isn’t sure what to really do or what to think. He doesn’t trust her because she has no pilot, but also she is so much more mature than Lor that he’s tempted to just leave her be.

I couldn’t think of a place to plop this in the post, but here’s what she looks like in her combat mode! I haven’t talked about it here but Starcutters and Umbramakers can have elements, kinda like the weapons in Star Allies(which is what inspired this headcanon); Lor is bluster wind element(based on her attacks, could explain what I mean in another post if you’re interested), for example. What element do you think Roa is?

Fire. She’s fire element. Doesn’t look like it, but that is 100% intentional on my part and in-universe!

Anyways, if you read this far I owe you my life and also like 10 minutes of your time back.

[soraka-in-warhammer40k]

It’s curious to see Riot lore being boosted by their internal release schedule. In the past Riot had only two variants of content released: new champions and “buy these skins”-events, which mostly dived into AU lore, such as Star Guardian or Odyssey. So that left only new champion releases, and even then we would only get lore if the champion in question had direct ties with already established characters. That effectively meant a new bit of lore every few months while established lore was developed further maybe twice a year for a very small group of characters. This was the situation for almost 8 years.

At some point they also tried to throw lore out of the window completly, but were absolute incompetent morons about it. Yes, the Institute of War storyline was a mistake from the start and had to be culled, but at least be honest about it. Luckily someone in Riot managed to slap some sense into the head-honcho there and pointed out how important lore is to tie a cross-media franchise together.

Unlike in the past we now have a lot of different outlets for lore as it is spread over multiple games. Card-Interactions and flavor in LoR are one part, and nice to get some bonus-fluff out there, but there is something much bigger in the future: “Ruined King”, a stand-alone game made by Airship Syndicate in cooperation with Riot Games. The teaser trailer was published December 2019, so a release in late 2020 is reasonable to assume. Why do I focus on this? Well...

After Spirit Blossom the Yona-Cinematic has Ahri and Yasuo bound for Bilgewater. Bilgewater as a whole is Riot’s most-developed, most-well-recieved, and most-non-controversial region to date. Guess you can’t really go wrong with Pirates and “the monsters of the depth” in terms of aesthetic - and they are lucky Disney has managed to run their PoC franchise into the dirt. If those had been one movie better than the last, we’d now be flooded with pirate-stories of all sorts as the entertainment industry is mostly a bunch of neurotic parrots and monkeys jumping on whatever sells. But like this Riot can boldly say they have the only “pirates in a fantasy setting”-theme going on.

So not only does it have a unique selling point, Bilgewater as a location is usually perfect as almost every single character can end up there. It’s a city of merchants, travellers, and criminals. You need to track a stolen McGuffin? Usually its here. You need to find a person that does not want to be found? Or purchase spicy information? Bilgewater is usually the place. At the same time the setting is flexible: The narrative lends itself to both pirate squabbles in the street and fighting epic sea-monsters in equal measure.

And to round it all out: Bilgewater is the ONLY REGION UNTIL NOW THAT IS DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY THEIR NEIGHBORS, the Shadow Isles. Due to its location, Bilgewater pretty much gets hit by most of the Harrowings, which means you can add “fight the undead” to an already flexible setting. Oh and would you look at the time, once Spirit Blossom is over the next relevant thing on the event-calendar is Halloween. 

My guesses are:

* The next event will take place in Bilgewater, as it’s “the safe bet”

* It will be a Harrowing event on Halloween, also a “safe choice” from a “sales-point-of-view”, and we will get a ragtag group of champions fight aginst the evil undead hordes. So far, so basic. Might appear bland but dependes on the execution.

* The event will end with a final trailer for “Ruined King”, which will release sometime after the event (as not to split the audience between multiple titles).

* The story will probably be mostly Bilgewater “politics” until the kinda-hard-to-ignore Flood of the Dead forces people to put their difference aside. The city survives and people consider a counter-attack on the isles, which will lead to whatever scenario the new game has to offer.

And meanwhile we will get a TON of new lore coming our way, compared to the content drought of seasons 3-8 this is definetly a welcome change. Something is very fascinating to watch tho: this is Riot’s first rodeo with stuff like that, so they try to roll it as safe as possible: the safest location, the most-non-controversial setting, Ahri and Yasuo being extremly safe character picks when going by popularity in the playerbase, doing a spooky event on Halloween...

My only fear is that they try to be too safe with their choices and it just appears bland, but that mostly dependes on the execution. One way other another, there’s a LOT of lore coming our way. Sure, they still take their time, but at least now we know it’s coming...

[theswiftarmy]

#5 - The Call

The phone rang.  Scooter placed the caller on conference call.

“Sara?”

“Hi!”  Her voice cheerful.  “Is now a good time to chat?”

“It’s as good a time as any.”  Scott replied still standing by the window, watching the crowd of Swifties outside the Big Machine offices grow by the second.  The street was filled.  Every single one of them wearing a shirt with the words ‘FREE TAYLOR SWIFT’ plastered over Taylor’s face on the front.  The back read, ‘love her, she’s a lover’.  That’s actually pretty witty, Scott thought, and then he wondered where they ordered so many shirts in such a short period of time. Talk about speedy order fulfillment.

     “Yeah, about that...”  One of Sara’s tactics was to make her opponent question what she said next.  You have to make people second-guess themselves, and then hit them straight up with an honest question.

     “What does that mean?”  Scooter asked.

     “Quick question for you, do you have the masters there in the office with you?”

     Scott turned from the window, he pointed to the phone and made a scissor motion.  Scooter shook his head back, ‘I can handle this!’ he whispered.  “They’re in a… Safe location.” He finally replied.

     Justin nodded, the cat on his lap also nodded.

     “Let me ask you this, would you be willing to bring them with you to the negotiation?”  She inquired. As if he had already missed an appointment that had been previously set.  Another of Sara’s tactics, make them think they had missed something that never existed in the first place.

     “What negotiation?  There was no mention of a negotiation before this moment.  I was told Taylor just wanted to talk over the phone. You want us to go out there?”  Scooter asked.  “With HER army of fans?”

     Taylor suddenly chimed in on the call, “Scared of meeting me face to face, Scooter?”

     Scott rushed across the room, leaving his post at the window, he slammed his finger down on the red END CALL button disconnecting the call.

     “What the?  As I said before, I can handle this!  You don’t own this company anymore, SCOTT.  I do!”

     “I’m feeling too much hostility here… I’m not quite sure I dig this vibe.”  Justin commented.

     Scott brushed off Scooter and walked back to the window.  “Scooter, you’re not going to like this.”

     “What?”  He jumped out of the expensive leather chair and rushed to the window.

     “Okay, What is she doing?”

     “Live streaming.”  Justin clued them in, “Just got a notification from my boy, Ed.”

     “Taylor’s live streaming?”

     “I told you I’d get the inside moves.” Justin made a Billie Eilish ‘DUH’ face.

     “Thanks Justin.”  They both replied in unison, “Real helpful.”

     “I thought you said things were going well between the two of you, as far as talks about her masters?”  Justin asked.

     “Umm, yeah, like, two weeks ago—”  Scooter replied.

     “Oh.  Well, a lot can change in two weeks… Oooo, that’s a good song idea, mmmmm baby… Uh huh… A lot can change in two weeks… Mmm hmmmm… Oooo ooo ooooooo.”  He broke out into song.

“Sounds good.  We’ll get you in the studio as soon as this Taylor thing is over.”  Scooter said in a distracted manner.

“I already just live streamed it to my Beliebers from my second phone that I use for live streaming, they’re working on the beat for me right now.  I watch streams on my first phone, make streams on my second one.”

“How many phones do you have?”  Scooter asked.

“Twelve—One for each day of Christmas.”

“Really?”  Scott asked, genuinely.

“No, of course not, they each do different things.  Come on pops!  Keep up with the times!  Speaking of live streams, this live stream of Taylor is weird, yo.  She’s just singing one of her new songs off the Lover album and everyone is putting a heart emoji on it.  But she has an old song playing in the background, why would you sing a new song over an old song?  I mean I get what Kanye did with rapping over Gold Digger—Ray Charles in the background, that was genius, but your own song?” Justin started to sing along with the old Taylor Swift song in the background of the video but stopped when he noticed everyone looking at him. “Sorry, that was weird, I guess I can’t help myself. It’s just such a good song!  I feel like the old stuff is always classic, for any artist really.”

Scott and Scooter looked over at the other man sitting quietly on the couch beside Bieber then back to Justin.  “Maybe she’s trying to start a new trend… Artists should always be trying to reinvent themselves, keep their fans hooked and coming back for more.” Scooter stated.

“True, true, but this is just weird.  It’s eerie.  Like she’s doing it on purpose, trying to make something happen.”

The expression on Scott Borchetta’s face changed to a much more concerned one.  As though he was picking up what Justin was putting down.  Almost as if he knew exactly what Taylor was doing by singing to her followers placing the new song over the old track.

The phone rang again.

“This time, let ME handle things!”  Scooter yelled at Scott as he pushed the answer call button and placed her on speaker.

“Hi!” It was Sara Swift, again.  Her voice sounded, slightly, different this time.  He could hear Taylor singing in the background of the call, the same feed as the one from the audio of the live stream, he couldn’t tell exactly why but, Sara sounded different.  Then it clicked, Sara’s voice sounded almost Siri-like, Sara “Siri” Swift, Scooter thought. That’s weird.

“Hello Miss Swift.”  Scooter spoke in his usual cordial tone.  No one makes business deals bossing people around.  You’ve got to be friendly to get them on your side.

“Scooter.  I think we got cut off there.  Everything okay at the office?” Sara spoke in her usual cordial tone with the Siri like addition to it.  No one makes business deals bossing people around, you’ve got to be friendly—Get them on your side, she also thought.  Two can play at this game.

“Yes.  We’re fine.” He glanced at Scott, Justin, and a legal representative from the Carlyle group.

“Oh, good.  Just to confirm, where did you say the masters were again?”

Scooter hesitated; he didn’t want any more bad blood on this call after Scott hanging up on her.  “They’re right here with me in the office.”  He lied.  “Safe and sound.  I’m looking at them right now, actually!”

“Good.”  She replied.

Just then, a loud bang could be heard from below them.  It was coming from the ground floor of the Big Machine offices.

“Oh, my, what on earth could that loud sound have possibly been that sounded like someone trying to break down a door—”  Sara asked, innocently, in a tone that indicated she already knew the impending answer.

“Whoa, you guys NEED to see this!”  Bieber lifted his cat off his lap and placed Sushi on the couch beside him, the cat jumped from the couch to an adjacent coffee table and began to pick through some leftover sushi— I mean what did you expect to happen when you leave sushi around with a cat named Sushi around?  Justin raced towards Scooter and Scott, oblivious to his cat beginning to gnaw on the very last Alaska roll in the container.  Boy that’s a tongue twister.  Last-a-las-ka-roll, say that ten times fast!

Scott viewed the phone screen from an angle while Scooter took hold of the phone.  “They’re about to bust through the main front office doors—” Scott commented in a matter of fact voice as Justin doubled back to try and save his sushi from his cat Sushi, it was too late.  The sushi was gone.

“You realize we’re watching our own demise, right?”  Scott continued speaking in a voice reminiscent of Professor Snape from The Harry Potter series.

Scooter tossed the mobile phone across the room back to Bieber and leaned in towards the conference telephone device sitting on the desk, “Sara, tell your client to stop this nonsense.  This is not how you act professionally.  We’re talking!  Taylor said she wanted to talk, SO, let’s TALK!”

“Mmmm… Baby, let’s talk…”  Justin started to sing again.

“Not now Justin.  Not now.” Scooter said, ruffled.  “Tell Taylor to get back on the phone.”

Sara noted Scooter’s agitation and continued in her cordial cheerful Siri-like voice, “I’m sorry, Scooter, I don’t tell Taylor what to do, she outranks me—Taylor outranks us all…”

Another loud bang from downstairs could be felt beneath their feet.

“Sara, what does that mean?  Listen, we’re all adults here.  Just… just, tell Taylor to stand down, tell her to command her Swifities to STAND DOWN—“ The call ended abruptly.  “Hello? Miss Swift?  Sara?  Are you still there?”

Scooter sat for a minute dumbfounded.  What the heck is happening?  This is not real life, right now… This is…  Madness. He thought.

Another loud thunderous thud followed by the sound of broken glass shattering on the floor “They’re through the first floor doors!  They’ve broken through all the windows!”  Justin held up his phone to display the live stream feed.

“Quick everyone, to the helipad on the roof!”  Scott shouted to the group.

“You have a helipad on the roof?  Of Big Machine Records?  That wasn’t on the tour when I bought the place.”  Scooter questioned, perplexed.

“It’s a new addition.”  The Carlyle legal rep explained.

“Well how convenient.”  Scooter replied.

Another loud bang as a second wave of Swifties poured in through the entrance.  They could hear chanting in the distance growing louder, “TAY-LOR! TAY-LOR! TAY-LOR!”

“Uh, guys… Let’s get moving here!”  Scott screamed out, raising his voice.

Justin grabbed Sushi, his cat, not the leftover container of sushi, just in case anyone needed clarification; they rushed to the back stairs and climbed their way up to the helipad on the roof.  The Swift Army continued to swiftly storm the Big Machine offices, a full-scale attack.  

Scott led the pack as they emerged on the roof to a waiting helicopter, blades starting to spin faster and faster.

As the blades whirred, they created a heavy wind, making it hard to walk. Justin’s cat jumped out of his arms as they neared the helicopter on the rooftop helipad, “Oh no!  SUSHI!”  The sound of the helicopter scared the cat back to the edge of the open rooftop access door.

“Justin, we have to go!”  Scott yelled over the sound of the spinning blades.

“No!  Not without my cat!”

“JUSTIN, LEAVE THE CAT!”  Scooter ordered.

“I have to go back!”  Justin pleaded.

Just then the first wave of Swifites arrived at the door, one of them scooping the cat up in her arms.

“GET IN THE HELICOPTER JUSTIN!”  Scott and Scooter yelled to him as he looked longingly back at his cat.  A Swiftie smiled at him as she held the cat in her arms, he recognized her, a once faithful Belieber, but she had been turned… She was now a Swiftie soldier.  

Justin pushed back tears; he ran to the door of the helicopter and was helped inside.  The door slammed shut and the helicopter lifted into the air just as a flood of Swifties poured out onto the helipad.  They formed a semicircle around the doorway, Taylor strode slowly from the entranceway walking with prowess and purpose, walking… with power—with pride. She was handed the cat by the Swifitie soldier who had captured the prisoner of war.  Taylor continued her live stream now with Justin’s feline friend in the frame.  She held Sushi up for the camera to see and walked to the edge of the rooftop and held the cat high in the air, the Swifties in the streets below Big Machine cheered at sight of the cat capture.  The KatyCats and Animals also yelped and howled and yelled out.  The Lion King song played.  No, I’m just kidding, The Lion King song didn’t play, but that would be funny if it did, right?  It’s like when Simba was held up on the rock—Wait, why am I explaining this, you know what reference I’m making here.  Anyway, back to the story—

An officer of The Swift Army emerged from the rooftop doorway slightly out of breath, “The masters aren’t here, Taylor.  We searched the office, we’ve searched all of Big Machine.  They lied.  They must have them!”  She pointed to the helicopter in the sky hovering above them.

Taylor smirked.  “That’s okay, we have something they want, now.  Don’t we, widdle kitty, awww…  You’re a little cutie, aren’t you?  You’re going to stay with us for a while, we’ll make you an honorary Swiftie kitty.” She said with smile.  The Swifties around her smiled back.  Taylor handed the cat to a team of KatyCats working in alliance with the Swifties.  “Keep that cat safe.  NO ONE lets that cat out of their sight.”  Taylor commanded.

The KatyCat kitty cat guards nodded back.

“Also, put it in a really cute cage.  And go get some treats and fancy food and toys for the cage too—My heart melts. Such a cute cat.”

“Yes Taylor.”  They replied before ushering the cat away.

@taylorswift

[barberjourney-blog]

Let’s start from the beginning...

     Well here goes. My first attempt at blogging. That is, unless you count the occasional snarky comment on Facebook or that week in college I tried to do Xanga. Why a blog you might ask? Well, I’ve always considered myself a better communicator through the written word. I come from a family of writers. My sister is an editor for a publishing company. My mom’s list of published works include short stories, magazine articles, and children’s Sunday School curriculum. Even my dad has been known to pen a witty sonnet (usually on the topic of what he cooked for dinner or an embellished fishing trip story). So I guess writing is a family tradition. And although I haven’t practiced the skill in quite a while, it’s always been something I’ve rather enjoyed. I think it’s the organization that I like. Sometimes when I speak, my words get ahead of my thoughts, but not so with writing. Writing is more controlled. I’m able to key a thought, then read it and process it. If I don’t like what I’ve said, that backspace click is just a few finger strokes up. 

      I’m one paragraph in and already rambling. Forgive me. Let’s get to the point of this thing.

     If you’ve followed my Instagram over the last couple of years, you may have noticed a trend in my posts. I’ve visited a lot of barbershops over the last 2 years. A LOT. I‘ve lost count of the exact number a while back, but I’d estimate I’ve seen 20+ shops over the last 12 months. I’ve visited shops in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Nashville, Birmingham, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, and Gulf Shores just to name a few. Now, I’m not talking about the salon where your mom goes. Or Sports Clips. I’m talking about the good old fashioned men’s barbershop. The kind of shop maybe you’ve only seen in movies. Men sitting around the shop discussing sports, politics, family, and life. Maybe some good tunes on the radio and the aroma of a hot cup of joe wafting through the air. And a skilled, seasoned barber honing his craft at the chair. His hands are surgical and his gift with the clippers, comb, and shears are a unique combination of skill and art.

     These shops fascinate me! I love the freedom men feel at these places. The freedom to unwind, be themselves, and speak their minds. I I love the way a good hair cut makes me feel. Confident and put together. I love the nostalgia I feel while I’m there. Reminiscent of a different time when the world was smaller, things moved slower, and people cared about each other. I guess you could say I love everything about them.

     A few shops I’ve visited, researched, and loved over the last 2 years...

Greasy Hands Barbershop - Florence, AL 

The Commodore Tonsorial Parlor - Atlanta, GA 

Scout’s Barbershop - Nashville, TN 

Shed Barber & Supply - Austin, TX 

     Let’s hit pause here and rewind the tape a little (for those of you 18 and under reading this, ask your parents what rewind the tape means).  In 2008, Shannon and I moved from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham and almost immediately began attending The Church at Brookhills. We knew after the first week the Lord was moving in this church and He was going to move within us as well if we got onboard. We joined the church, got plugged into a small group (more on that later), and began “doing life” with the faith family there. The pastor was a skinny, jeans wearing, shirt untucked, blonde guy who looked more like a fraternity brother we’d seen in Tuscaloosa than a pastor of a “mega church”. His name was David Platt and he would change my life forever.

     I hope at some point on this blog to dive deeper into my own faith story, but for the purposes of this post, I’ll be succinct. Christ became my Savior at the age of 16, but there was very little spiritual growth until my early 20’s. That is, until we joined The Church at Brookhills. The Lord used this church, my small group, and David Platt to completely transform what I knew, or thought I knew, about surrendering my life to Christ.

     Let me preach a second here.

     Every day, I am made more and more aware of the “cultural Christianity” that surrounds me. Especially here in the deep south, asking someone if they’re a Christian is like asking them if they drink sweet tea. Well, yes of course. So many of our churches have preached the easiness of salvation and that all you have to do is “say this prayer, ask Jesus into your heart, and believe.” And that’s true. Sort of. The Bible is very clear that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). However, where I think many have dropped the ball is on the aftermath. I’ve “accepted” Christ. Now what? Pastor David now famously quoted this in one of his sermons during our time at Brookhills:

      “Accept Him? Do we really think Jesus needs our acceptance? Don’t we need Him? Jesus is no longer one to be accepted or invited in but one who is infinitely worthy of our immediate and total surrender.”

     Surrender? What does that mean? David would say “giving the Lord a blank check with your life.” My new beloved pastor, Jamey Pruett, calls it “putting your yes on the table.” I like both analogies, but what do they really mean? This is where I feel many of us have missed the mark. This point, this crucial element for salvation is not being explained and driven home through discipleship in many churches. If Christ is your Savior, the Bible says you are a new creation. The old is gone and the new has come (1 Corinthians 5:17). And this “new creation” now has a new responsibility. Jesus cannot only be a “personal Lord and Savior”, but rather He is a Savior to whom we must completely submit and surrender control of our lives. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Or as we sing from the old Baptist Hymnal, “Wherever He leads, I’ll go.” And He asks us to do something very specific with that surrendering: make His name known among the nations. The Great Commission. Spread the Gospel. He’s not just your personal savior. He’s a savior worth living for. And if necessary, dying for.

     At this point you may be asking yourself “what in the name of Paul Mitchell does this all have to do with barbershops?” If you’ve read this far, stay with me. I promise I’m getting there.

     In 2010, Pastor David began preaching through a sermon series at Brookhills entitled “Radical”. He would also publish a New York Times best seller similarly themed and titled “Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream.” This series and book ruined me. For the better. Let me just give you a few quotes from the book and I think you’ll get the gist:

     “Radical obedience to Christ is not easy. It’s not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And he is more than enough for us.”

     “We are settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves.”

     “But then I realized there is never going to be a day when I stand before God and He looks at me and says, ‘I wish you would have kept more for yourself.’ I’m confident that God will take care of me.”

     I read this book back to back with another book from a teacher and author who has also had an enormous impact on my life: John Piper. His book was called “Don’t Waste Your Life”. Let me also give you a quote from this book that has both challenged me and haunted me all at the same time:

     “Three weeks ago, we got word at our church that Ruby Eliason and Laura Edwards had both been killed in Cameroon. Ruby was over eighty. Single all her life, she poured it out for one great thing: to make Jesus Christ known among the unreached, the poor, and the sick. Laura was a widow, a medical doctor, pushing eighty years old, and serving at Ruby’s side in Cameroon.

The brakes give way, over the cliff they go, and they’re gone — killed instantly.

And I asked my people: was that a tragedy? Two lives, driven by one great vision, spent in unheralded service to the perishing poor for the glory of Jesus Christ — two decades after almost all their American counterparts have retired to throw their lives away on trifles in Florida or New Mexico. No. That is not a tragedy. That is a glory.

I tell you what a tragedy is. I’ll read to you from Reader’s Digest what a tragedy is. “Bob and Penny . . . took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their thirty foot trawler, playing softball and collecting shells.”

That’s a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. And I get forty minutes to plead with you: don’t buy it. With all my heart I plead with you: don’t buy that dream. The American Dream: a nice house, a nice car, a nice job, a nice family, a nice retirement, collecting shells as the last chapter before you stand before the Creator of the universe to give an account of what you did: “Here it is Lord — my shell collection! And I’ve got a nice swing, and look at my boat!”

 Don’t waste your life; don’t waste it.”

      I have spent countless hours and sleepless nights pondering that thought: How do I keep from wasting my life?

           The Lord used my pastor, my small group, and these books to help me process and understand something I somehow had missed over the course of my “church kid” life. I was not saved from my sin to live a selfish, care free life filled with comforts, trivial pursuits, and “stuff”. I was saved because the Father loved me infinitely and perfectly. And He wanted to me share this good news, this Gospel: that He loved the world enough to send His only Son as a ransom for sinners. Plain and simple. That was my purpose in life. That was my purpose for being created. To make the name of Jesus known far and wide.

           I’ve struggled over the years to know exactly what that’s supposed to look like. I’m a big believer in the Lord’s sovereignty and that He calls us to different jobs, different cities, different friends, etc for seasons where He expects us to do His work. But I’ve found myself questioning over the years, should I be doing more? If my life is truly being lived in complete submission to Christ, should I be working in vocational ministry? Should I go to seminary? Should I be on staff at a church? Should I work for a nonprofit ministry? Let me share with you what I believe the Lord has been teaching me through this season of questioning and searching.

           The Lord certainly uses vocational ministers to do His work. They are “called”, gifted, and uniquely led by the Holy Spirit to spread the Gospel. But God also uses “regular people” to do His work. Vocational ministry is not the calling for every believer. The gospel of Jesus Christ is spread every day by doctors, policemen, receptionists, construction workers, school teachers, and business professionals. It’s part of the beauty of this Christian life. The Lord in His goodness equips and uses all of His children to advance the kingdom.

      We’ve certainly taken the scenic route in this post, but we’re almost home. 

           The Lord has given me a vision for how I can serve Him and advance the Gospel in my community. Before you go and get Pentecostal on me, not that kind of vision. I was not struck with a blinding light, nor did I hear a voice from Heaven. Rather, He gave me comprehension. An understanding of who I am, what I’m passionate about, how He has gifted me, how He has equipped me, and how He wants me to use these things to serve Him:

I believe the Lord is calling me to open a business. Specifically, a barbershop.

           I could write another lengthy post on how the Lord has affirmed this to me over the last several months and I certainly plan to dive deeper into that at another time.  For now, I’ll give you just a couple of insights on how I’ve come to this conclusion:

1.)    Me: Who am I? Who has the Lord created me to be? How has He gifted me? I can answer that in a few sentences. I have been created as an extremely relational person. Relationships and people matter to me. A lot. I thrive on being around other people. I “come to life” you might say. I need meaningful friendships and conversation. When I go through seasons where my relationships are strained or stale, it changes me. I am at my best – my truest self – when I am in the fellowship and community of people I love.

Additionally, the Lord has given me the spiritual gifts of mercy and hospitality. Mercy – the ability to empathize with others. To be a listening ear. To care for and about people. Hospitality – hosting others in your space and creating a welcoming environment. Opening your home (or place of business) to others and shepherding them.

Practically, I have nearly 15 years’ experience in customer service and managing businesses. I understand the logistics that factor into running a successful business. And I love it. The job just suits me. Engaging customers and employees in conversations, listening to them, helping them solve a problem: the basic job description embodies who I am.

2.)    Community: Shannon and I moved to Arab for the purpose of living close to family and raising our children in the same kind of small town environment in which we were raised. The Lord had greater plans. We have fallen deeply in love with our church and our community. We feel like we belong here. And because we are certain this is where the Lord has planted us, I want to serve my community well. This business will be my base of operations from where I can invest in our community.

I heard a friend from college, Tim Milner, speak at a missions conference at our church last year. Tim is now a pastor in Huntsville and I though I can’t recall the entirety of his sermon, one point from his message spoke to me. Screamed at me might be a better way of putting it: As Christians, let’s not be so focused on reaching the Nations that we forget about our brothers and sisters down the street who need Christ. My Brookhills background had saturated me with an urgency for international missions, but the Lord spoke to me that night during Tim’s message and began softening my heart to the spiritual needs of the people of Arab. I love them and I want to create a business that attends to both their physical and spiritual needs.

      This post has gone much longer than I intended and I fear I may already lost some future readers, but I wanted to thoroughly explain my vision and my heart as best I could. I promise I will try to be more concise with future posts. So let me wrap it up. The goal of this blog, for those of you who care to follow, is to create a space where you can come alongside me in this journey. I am confident that the Lord has set me on this path, but that doesn’t mean I have all the answers. I desperately covet your prayers and wisdom as I strive to be faithful and obedient in this. Here are a few specific areas I would ask for your prayers:

-          Pray that the Lord would give me great wisdom as I explore the best avenue for barber training.

-          Pray that the Lord’s timing would be clear and that all logistics would fall into place according to His plan, not mine.

-          Pray the Lord would begin working in the heart of someone or multiple someones to serve alongside me in this venture.

-          Pray that I would continue to pray and cling to Proverbs 19:1. “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”

-          Pray that I would love my wife and children well and show them Jesus through this season of change.

-          Pray that ultimately Christ would receive all the glory and His name be exalted in all of this. 

Thankful for each of you. More to come soon…

Drew

[sonofsuperman-archive]

INTERVIEW MEME (Long Post Warning)            

★ pick one of your muses. ★ fill in the questions as if you are being interviewed for an article and you  were your muse. ★ tag some friends to do this meme! tagged by: @the-amazing-amazon tagging: @americanalien, @vcspertiilio, @perfectforayear, @dawnofspeed, @licn, @error1nmycode, @ironmaidenfan, @dxntlikebullies, @prodxgaliron, @telekinctics

1. What is your name? “Superboy, ma’am,” he quickly responded, hand reaching up to bow his cap in greeting but since he was in costume, the boy was forced to comb his hair to act ‘normal’, “pleasure to meet ya.”

2. What is your real name? “Ah... umm...” alien blue eyes darted to the side, glancing around in hopes to figure out what to say. Chewing on his bottom lip, the young hero shrugged before making his excuse, “well... that’s a secret. I ain’t allowed to say it. Sorry!!”

3. Do you know why you’re called that? “Well...” he started, eyebrows scrunching up in thought, how was he named Superboy again? “Dad decided to call me Superboy when I first dawned the costume and it kinda stuck enough that when he introduced me to uncle Br-Batman” Oh Krypton, uncle Bruce would kill him for that slip up, “and aunt Diana, that became my hero name.”

4. Are you single or taken? “... I’M A KID!!” why would they even ask that?? Jon had panicked and shouted a response, hands clutching his chest and staring widely at the interviewer, “I’m single of course!!”

5. What are your powers and abilities? “Uhh..” fingers slowly lifted up as the super son tried to say all of his powers, “I have super strength, super speed, super hearing, heat vision, freeze breathe, x-ray vision, telescopic vision, super well- I can smell really good and from a far distance, I don’t have flight mastered yet but I can hover... uh uh.” Clutching his head, his eyes squeezed shut trying to remember, what else did he have, “Oh I have that super breathe thing where I can shout really loud like Aunt D-Canary and break glass!! So I have 10 I think. Abilities well, I’m great at Kryptonian technology and science, especially aerospace stuff, I can calculate really really fast since my mind processes faster.. is that more of a power than an ability? I dunno.. oh! and I can operate heavy machines, like trucks, tractor, etc. I’m gonna learn how to fly an airplane though. Robin says he might teach me if we could ‘borrow’ uncle Batman’s batplane... don’t tell him though.”

6. What color are your eyes? “They’re blue, I got ‘em from my dad, I think. I mean mom has a human-like blue while I have the same blue as dad, supergirl, and powergirl.”

7. Have you ever died your hair? “Nahh..” he answered, running a hand through his hair and grabbing a few strands to look at it, “I like my hair color. When ya have eyes like mine, ya see each hair’s different color and they look amazing. Dyed hair though, ya’d see the chemical and all.”

8. Do you have any family members? “Yepp!!!” he grinned wide, leaning forward to the interviewer, excited to talk about his family, “I got my dad Kal-El who’s Superman, I got mom who hasta remain a secret, I got my two aunts Kara Zor-El and Kara Zor-L, there’s a difference with one not having the E in El, they’re Supergirl and Powergirl, I got my sister Cir-El, she doesn’t have a hero name yet, and I’ve got my brothers, Kon-El and Lor-Zod, they’re Superlad and Nightwing. Pretty cool, right?!? Not to mention my aunts and uncles in the Justice League and the Batfamily!!”

9. Do you have any pets? “Yepp!! I have two but I can’t name the other one. The first one, ya might know. His name’s Krypto the Superdog.” Placing a cupped hand against the side of his mouth to hide it from the audience, he mock-whispered, “he’s definitely better than Ace the Bathound.”

10. Tell me about something you don’t like. “I DON’T like bullies,” his lips formed a frown to reassure his statement, remembering the bullies in his school and the bigger bullies around the world. “Just cause someone’s smaller, weaker, disabled, a minority, doesn’t mean ya’re allowed to bully him or her or xe!! We should all love everyone and take care of each other!”

11. Do you have any hobbies or activities you do in your spare time? “Yeah! When I’m not trainin’, doin’ missions, learnin’, or doin’ homework, I’m usually watching tv shows, playing video games, or just using the internet. I also take care of a lot of animals in our place and cook or bake. Sometimes I create flying saucers and other things for fun too.”

12. Have you ever hurt anyone before? “I have,” he quietly confessed, looking to the side to avoid the interviewer’s eyes, his hands rubbing up and down his arms for his own comfort, “when I was learnin’ how to use my heat vision, Dad forced me to use it and I accidentally hit him causing him to bleed.” His dad was suppose to be invulnerable against most things but his heat vision was more powerful than his dad’s and so he was able to harm him. “Also I punched Robin a few times before we teamed up cause he was being mean and kidnapped me.”

13. Have you ever… Killed anyone? “Nope. and I don’t wanna. I may be new in this hero business but.. well.. I think every human being is precious and I’d never want to kill one.” Not to mention that the first time he’d seen and smelt blood, he had panicked and ran away, what more trying to kill someone who could be loved by someone and missed by people.

14. What kind of animal are you? “PUPPY!! Definitely!” there was confidence in his voice as he once again smiled, glad that they were out of the topic of harming people. “My sis tells me that I’m like a puppy, so do my aunts. It fits cause dad’s described as a dog.”

15. Name your worst habits. “When mom and dad leave me alone at home, I kinda sorta... eat all the icecream at home. I mean, they’re just there.. expiring.. it’s my duty as an ice-cream lovin’ boy to make sure they don’t go to waste, y’know?”

16. Do you look up to anyone? “Of course!! Dad definitely. He’s the ideal superhero, kind, strong, smart, values equality and justice. I wanna be like him someday and when I become Superman, I’ll make sure to be like him.” Not to mention his siblings, the whole justice league, and every hero he fawns over but that should be kept quiet for now.

17. Gay, straight, or bisexual? “Wait.. wha...” he was speechless, why would they ask this, he was here as a hero and not just any hero, a kid hero. In fact, he didn’t even know that there was such a thing called labels until he was put into school. His whole life, his mom and dad taught him that love is love, no matter which gender the person you loved is. Why would it be needed. “I dunno, nor do I wanna label myself once I grow old. Love’s love and I’ll be open to whatever my heart wants.”

18. Do you go to school? “Yeah, I do. I’m in grade 5 actually. I can’t say which School though but..” he chuckled at his own thoughts, “it’s on Earth, don’t worry. I’d graduate in Earth standards.”

19. Do you ever want to marry and have kids someday? “Hm....” elbows placed on top of his legs, hands cupping to hold his head up high, he’d never thought of such a question before, nor was he asked. Jon’s only started having crushes and was more focused on figuring out how to keep his cool and charm the person. “I guess?!? I mean I’ve always wanted a big family so if I can have kids and someone with me like mom is with dad, that would be awesome.”

20. Do you have any fans? A small embarrassed chuckle left the super’s lips, cheeks turning red, and a hand messing his hair, “yeah,” he spoke in a soft and quiet tone, glancing away from the interviewer and looking at a wall, “I actually just found out recently that I do. I was looking through the internet and found them talkin’ bout me. Conspiracy theories, experiences, etc. They’re pretty nice!! and really sweet.”

21. What are you most afraid of? “Dying.” It was a quick reply, one that weighed heavily in his heart. After that scare with Ruppletat, one where their whole house was being burned down by white flames and him slowly being erased, he had thought that he was going to die and had been to scared to cry. The stress of being in the 5th dimension kept him calm for the most part and angry at the imp but once they got home, Jon had cried his heart out in fear. Unable to stop himself from gulping, he nodded to confirm his answer before quietly whispering, “... being forgotten.”

22. What do you usually wear? “Well I usually pick comfy jeans, white socks, and rubber shoes but... for shirts I go long-sleeves, often white, and some jackets.”

23. Do you love someone? “Of course!! who wouldn’t?” he couldn’t live without loving someone, from his parents, to his siblings, to his many aunts and uncles, even the bat family and classmates. “

24. What class are you? “Ya mean like in richness? Um.. I’d like to think we’re middle class, not rich but not struggling,” they had a farm, had all the eggs, meat, milk, etc. they could have and so they could live by even with dad working as a hero and mom just gaining her Daily Planet work. The truth was, they could easily be rich, dad could make diamonds out of coal easily and Jon plans on learning the same trick soon, but they didn’t do that and it counted.

25. How many friends do you have? “I got a few close ones around my age,” since most of his classmates were just acquaintance or bullies who didn’t like him standing up for those ‘weak’, “and several that I’m friendly with, especially teen heroes.”

26. What are your thoughts on pie? “Dad makes a really good one! I think he got that recipe from Gramma. I like apple pie the most!”

27. Favorite drink? “ROOTBEER!” Jon immediately answered only to cough, welp, there goes his coolness, all due to his excitement of rootbeer. Playing it off, his lips pressed together and formed a smile, nodding at himself, “rootbeer’s the best drink ever! I drink it all day really.”

29. What is your favorite place? “Definitely the Fortress of Solitude!” the crystal-like palace was amazing, even so with his super vision and his ability to pick up colors that normal humans couldn’t see. “I mean, Uncle Batman’s moon cave is great and all but nothing beats the Fortress.”

30. Are you interested in someone? “Interested? Like I wanna learn more about them? or is it the romantic sense? If it’s just interest, well, I find every being interesting, they all have a different life story and its great to hear them. If it’s romance, wait a few more years, or once I’m 20.”

31. What’s your bra size?

32. Would you rather swim in the lake or the ocean? “Lake. It’s safer than the ocean and I haven’t learned howta properly swim yet. Uncle A-Aqua’s gonna teach me once he has a free schedule though!” He was far too excited at talking about Aquaman teaching him how to swim, who could say that the King of the Sea helped them learn how to swim?

33. What’s your ‘type’? “Type? Ya mean what I’d like on a person?” yet another question he never thought about before, his mind started drifting to his crush and quickly talked about what made him like her, “she... or he, I dunno,.. has to be someone I can trust and are friends with, they hafta know how to make me happy, they hafta be happy spendin’ time with me, they hafta be really really pretty, oh and they hafta know how to bake or cook!”

34. Any fetishes?

35. Top or bottom? Dominant or submissive?

36. Camping, or indoors? “Indoors, I like havin’ a good bathroom, internet, and a comfy bed but if I need to camp, I would enjoy the moment too.”

37. Are you waiting for this interview to be over? His grin was a tiny bit forced to hide his embarrassment once more, he could lie but this interview made him nervous and weirded him out... a lot. Why would they ask him about romance? Unless he had preteen fans.. blue eyes widened at that thought before trying to answer, “I.. well.. ya know hero work is never done and I kinda need to do my math homework if I wanna patrol Metropolis later so... yeah kinda. Sorry!”