#I hope it's gonna be like a new lop era for me

[urgeeky-friend22]

Along the road of memories

ohh, I guess it's counted like a comeback, huh??? 😃 right?...

here are some close-ups, too

[kinetic-elaboration]

August 29: Academy Spock

Well, well, well, what’s this? A new HAICG story. I’m gonna call it a story because it’s (somehow???) 1500 words. Don’t know how that happened lol. Will be up on AO3... sometime idk.

This is for @senseofenterprise who asked for Spock and Sevin in San Francisco, Starfleet Academy era.

*

The cafe down the street from Spock's apartment plays recorded Terran music during the day, and hosts live musical performances in the evening. Spock has been to three such concerts: one by himself, one with a group of second-year Cadets, and one, last weekend, with Cadet Lawrence. This last event he is still turning over, carefully considering, in the back of his mind. Cadet Lawrence is a human, blond and blue-eyed, with an easy, lop-sided smile. He's in the Engineering program, and his favorite topics of conversation are the latest developments in transporter technology, and the history of Federation space travel. Spock has seen history books mixed in among his textbooks, when they study together in the library, which they started doing only because they both enjoy the same room on the third floor. They both like to sit beneath the round window that always lets in a peculiar light, green-tinted as it streams through the leaves of the tree outside.

Another reason they study together is because Spock quite enjoys Cadet Lawrence’s company. Once, three days before the evening together at the cafe, Spock dedicated several hours to teaching Cadet Lawrence how to write simple phrases in Vulcan. His hand was so unsteady, Spock had to help him grip his stylus, to trace out the exact curls and circles of his native script. Only when he was done did he realize how closely they were sitting, and the unfamiliar, soft, human expression that had taken the place of Cadet Lawrence’s usual smile.

None of which is worth thinking about now. He has his Astrophysics reading and his weak, Terran tea, and all he needs is to focus his thoughts on his work again. Somehow, he had found himself staring at a row of maps on the wall across from him, depicting the capital cities of the four original Federation planets. His own home city is second from the left. Cadet Lawrence has never left Earth before—"Never even been on a shuttle before I came to San Francisco," he'd said, grinning, glancing over at Spock like he was expecting him to laugh.

From the chair next to him, a small hand reaches out, and taps at the edge of his PADD. "Father! Time to work!"

Spock raises his eyebrows, a show of amusement for his son, who is staring at him with the most serious of expressions. Sevin is balanced on top of an unsteady pile of pillows, in order to be tall enough to reach the tabletop, where he has arranged his own version of work: his toy spaceship and three large plastic blocks, out of which he has created a complicated, but inscrutable game. He's still holding the spaceship in his other hand.

"I appreciate how you keep me focused, small one," Spock answers, and gently moves his hand out of the way. Then he turns back to his reading again, but his boy won't be deterred.

"When will we go to the park?" Sevin asks. Usually, he enjoys the cafe: all of the people, mostly Starfleet Cadets and officers, chattering in different languages all around them; the music; the interesting maps and other artwork on the walls; and especially the light fixtures, which hang like crystals at intervals along the ceiling, and never cease to amaze and delight him. He is also fond of the baristas, who think he is the most adorable little boy in the galaxy. But they've been here a long afternoon, and Spock has promised his son an evening at the playground after he has finished his reading.

"Soon," he answers, which is close enough to the truth.

"When?"

Spock sighs. Then he leans in close, as if he were sharing a secret, and says quietly, "When I finish this chapter."

"Then you'll tell me about it?"

He nods. "Yes. And you will tell me about what you have been doing."

Just as they always do. Sevin doesn't understand anything that Spock shares of his studies, and Spock doesn't understand most of what Sevin describes of his games, but they enjoy each other's interest. That is enough.

He has managed to read another three pages, enough to bring him back into a proper, focused, studious mindset again, when an unexpected noise rises above the general background hum of conversation and twenty-second century acoustic guitar, and rouses him again. This time, it is his name. "Cadet Spock," someone says, from right in front of him and somewhat above, and he looks up, briefly startled to see Captain Pike standing next to his chair. He's holding a to-go cup of coffee, and looks like he stopped abruptly, as if he too were caught by surprise.

"Captain," Spock answers. "Good afternoon. I did not notice you passing by."

"No, I can see you're busy. I almost didn't notice you, either." His eyes flick briefly to Sevin, then back to Spock again. Spock can feel the tips of his ears turning hot. He bluffed his way into an advanced level course taught by Captain Pike during his second semester at the Academy, unwilling to take the chance that it would not be offered again, and by the end of the year had convinced the Captain to supervise an additional independent study course for him. This would allow him to get Command track credit, despite being in the Science division. Hoping to make Captain one day, Spock? Pike had asked, in a tone that Spock did not know how to read: friendly, and fond, but slightly teasing too.

I merely wish to expand my understanding of Starfleet as much as possible, Sir.

All right. Well, you know First Officers come from every division, not just Command—

It had felt like a promise, some potential inside him that not even he could see, suddenly laid bare, and he'd blushed at that suggestion too. He’d felt a certain pride filling his chest, squaring his shoulders.

Yet for all their work together, he'd never once mentioned his son.

"So, who's this little guy?" Pike asks now, gesturing with his coffee cup to Sevin. Pike is smiling yet another variant of human smile now, one Spock recognizes well: the expression adults always direct toward his child, to show that they are trustworthy. Sevin is staring back at him, wide-eyed and silent.

"This is Sevin," Spock answers, and on a whim, picks the boy up and settles him on his lap. "My son."

Perhaps he has already hypothesized as much, but Pike lets only the slightest surprise show. His eyebrows rise briefly, and his mouth opens, but he turns the expression back into a smile smoothly enough. "Sevin," he repeats. "And how old are you, Sevin?"

"He's two and a half," Spock answers, when the boy himself doesn't speak. He's still watching Pike with steady curiosity, but seems to consider himself no more than an observer to the conversation.

"And shy?" Pike asks.

"Sometimes."

"Mmm. Well, I can't say I blame him for that." He turns his gaze back to Spock, nods once, and adds, "Nice running into you both. I'll see you on Friday?"

"As always, Sir."

Before he leaves, Pike waves goodbye to Sevin, a small wave for a small boy. Then, when he sees Sevin reaching out for his hand, he holds it out, a shade of uncertainty now across his expression that Spock cannot dispel quickly enough. He knows what Sevin wants to do. But he has no time to pull him back or to give any sort of warning a human would understand, before Sevin has placed his palm on Captain Pike's palm.

A strange jolt passes across his features, only a second, there and gone and in its wake, a confused frown, the slightest parting of his lips. Pike jerks his hand back again, and Spock pulls Sevin close against his chest. "I apologize," he says quickly. "He—he is still leaning to control his telepathic abilities."

Pike is staring down at his hand, as if expecting some physical aftermath there on his skin. He looks up at Spock's words, and his frown deepens. "Oh," he answers, faint and slightly dazed. "Is that what that was. I have to say, Spock," and his tone lightens again, perhaps with effort, perhaps with that innate ability humans seem to have, to rebound quickly from the surprise of any new discovery. "I have to say, I've never experienced anything quite like that before."

"I assure you, he was not trying to read your thoughts, only to share—"

"It's all right." Pike smiles again. "That's a bright little boy you have there. I hope I see you both around again." He waves once more, and Spock offers a faint goodbye, and then Captain Pike is disappearing again into the crowd.

Only then does Spock let out a breath he did not realize he was holding. "We have discussed this, small one," he says, and hugs Sevin closer again. "We—"

"Don't use telepathy with humans," Sevin finishes. "I'm sorry, Father. I just wanted—"

"I know. I understand." The temptation is great sometimes for him, too: a shortcut to communication with these strange, emotional, confusing aliens, who remain always a mystery, even as some of what they are is part of him and his son, too. "I understand," he says again, and presses a kiss to the top of Sevin's head.

[shinneth]

Gem Ascension Tropes (General: A - B)

Full, Superior Alternative on Google Docs.

So, I’ve been on the fence as to whether or not to publicly share this. In the end, it’s really nothing more than a project of self-indulgence. However, it is 100k+ words of self-indulgence and it does involve a story at least a decent number of my followers have read and liked. I also talk about a lot about Stevidot and all the characters in general for this project. Considering I haven’t written anything since the end of August (and real life interference is finally affecting my ability to reliably produce anything of substance since then), I figured it was only fair to offer something. I do still have the itch to write; I just really don’t feel comfortable doing it if I myself am not in a good state mentally or emotionally.

Why did I make this? Well, I’ve mentioned in the past that my other super-huge, much-more-popular story Travels of the Trifecta! eventually gained enough notoriety to not only make it to the Fanfic Rec list on TV Tropes, but a few readers were even gracious enough to make an actual trope page for the story itself. However, despite great temptations, I never once contributed to the page myself, for fear I’d never get the story done because of how addictive and time-consuming that site is. 

I was naively hoping Gem Ascension (or at least Bottled Up, which is easily my most popular story outside the main GA series) might get the same honors. But back then, I was also new to the fanbase and didn’t realize just how badly Stevidot as a ship was wrongfully considered an immoral ship... and still is. So that’ll probably never happen for real. 

That said, so long as I completed my initial 3-act series for GA, I considered it fair game to play around with tropes that I could associate with it. And I finished that sucker in record time. So, since the early months of Summer, I’ve slowly compiled a list of tropes for my GA continuity - so far for general coverage and character-specifics only. 

They’re similar to my GA Reference Tour posts in that aspect. Like I said, though, the entire document is over 100k in length, so no way is that all going up at once. The general listing is big enough to make me think it won’t fit in one post, either (especially as I continue to waste space rambling here). As the length alone proves, I was right to avoid doing this for Trifecta.

I wouldn’t consider it a complete (or even entirely accurate) listing; the character sections are very lop-sided in terms of content, but that’s a little justified, at least. Anyway, I did make some new art for certain character sections in future posts, so I figured this would at least be a neat way to share them. I’ve linked said tropes and everything. It’s really only worth a read if you’re that interested in getting some more in-depth details to the GAverse that I haven’t really covered here properly yet. But it does technically count as Stevidot content, so there’s the grab.

Beyond the spoiler cut, there are no marked spoilers. I’m not savvy enough to go THAT far with the style... plus, the main series has been complete since early March and it’s now October. Just... if you recently found the story, haven’t finished it, but actually intend to do so, look on at your own risk, I guess. 

Well, let’s see how much I can actually fit in here. And whether or not it’ll format properly. 

Edit: Turns out, only up to the K Tropes. Loooooovely~. Looks like I’m gonna play it safe and cut this after the Bs.

Edit II: As a bonus, I see the links being retained when I edit this post, but they won’t appear on the post itself. Just. Awesome. I may just put this up on Google Docs as an alternative if anyone cares that much about having the hyperlink access. That link is up. I’ll need to neuter these things something fierce so the hyperlinks will appear again.

GEM ASCENSION CONTINUITY TROPES

 GENERAL

 A Day in the Limelight: Act II as a whole functions somewhat like this; Hero Protagonist Peridot, save for the short final scene at the end of the act, is completely absent. She is frequently talked about and is featured in prerecorded Video Wills, but the 8 chapters Act II is comprised of are dedicated to the 8 remaining members of the main cast. Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Connie, and Steven – characters who had much less time to feature in Act I due to being captured during the first half – all have chapters entirely dedicated to them. Greg, despite being part of GA from the start, also had limited time to feature in Act I past Chapter 3 due to being a Non-Action Guy. His chapter is one of the longest; Greg is also involved in a subplot with Bismuth and Lapis, and as of Chapter 7, he receives a Rank Up and officially becomes a legit member of the Crystal Gems.

A Fate Worse than Death: Pallification. Not only worse than a gem’s shattering, but even corruption. It’s similar to corruption in that a gem is technically still alive, but their consciousnesses are greatly compromised. While a corrupted gem is more akin to a mutated rabid animal until a cure is found, a pallified gem’s body – while usually maintaining the integrity of its physical form – has been rendered soulless. Once White Diamond supplants their conscious minds with her own, she boots them out to parts unknown (she doesn’t even care enough for her own subjects to figure out what exactly she’s doing to their conscious minds) with no way for them to find their way back to their original body. It’s not even made clear whether or not a gem’s consciousness is killed off outright the moment White infects them. So, a pallified gem is basically condemned to eternal purgatory. Naturally, even after the events of GA, there are still millions of gems afflicted with this condition with no known cure to ail them. With White Diamond herself shattered at this point, these victims are little more than vegetables at best.

A Friend in Need: It must be stressed that the objective from the start of Gem Ascension was not to overthrow the Diamond Authority (and certainly not to destroy Homeworld itself): it was to rescue friends who were in trouble. Steven, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Connie were all imprisoned on Homeworld with no means to truly escape, so Steven resorted to sending an SOS to the Crystal Gems on standby on Earth. After taking charge of this mission, Peridot greatly emphasized their objective being a quick in-and-out after rescuing their friends as quietly as possible. Then the mission escalated with much higher stakes, but the objective remained the same. Act I concluded with all of the Crystal Gems safely escaping Homeworld and returning to Earth… save for Peridot. The follow-up mission, consequently, had the same objective: rescue Peridot, then escape. It was later amended to rescue all of Homeworld’s native gems once it was discovered that Homeworld itself was going to fall apart very soon. The revolution that came about with Homeworld’s destruction and the fall of the Diamonds were merely byproducts of the rescue mission. Only Pearl seemed to anticipate this kind of result, but none of the Crystal Gems were prepared to be responsible for keeping Era 3 going on Earth in Homeworld’s absence (as well as the Diamonds’). 

Acceptable Targets: In-Universe, the lower you are in the caste system on Homeworld, the more you’re expected to take abuse of any kind from any gem of a higher class. This is Who I Am goes further into depth on this topic; it’s revealed Peridots have no rights when it comes to being mistreated by gems above their class. Even worse, it’s illegal for a Peridot to antagonize a gem of a higher caste for any reason – yet it’s perfectly legal for elite gems, such as quartzes, to do whatever they wish to a Peridot so long as it doesn’t permanently damage them or compromise whatever mission they’re assigned together on. Yes, even if a low-caste gem is raped (like Peridot almost was), it’s legal and the victimized gem is fully expected to suck it up and deal with it.

Adaptation Expansion: Not only does the GA series serve as an alternative to Change Your Mind, but it frequently brings up events from past canon episodes. This isn’t done for nostalgia’s sake, but rather to expand on said scenes and observe them with a different lens. Through this, scenes in the show readers have seen multiple times can yield some new discoveries with the additional details and questions posed within the GA narrative.

Adaptational Alternate Ending: Takes place shortly after Escapism in the show. The first few minutes of Change Your Mind are canon to the fic (mainly Blue Diamond’s Heel-Face Turn), but it’s completely off the rails from there on out. So, it’s basically an alternative ending to Season 5.

After-Action Healing Drama: In Chapter 5 of Act I, after Peridot got caught in a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown with 9FC and sustained severe injuries in the previous chapter, the recently-rescued Steven uses Lion to take himself and Peridot somewhere private so he can heal her many injuries.

All For Nothing: The battle with White Diamond in Chapter 6 of Act III is this, as that wasn’t the real White Diamond to begin with. The Crystal Gems just wasted a load of time and energy on a proxy, and it’s the realization of this trope that causes said battle to abruptly turn in White’s favor, ending in a Curb-Stomp Battle with the Crystal Gems on the losing end.

Due to this aspect of the battle, it means Rainbow Quartz 2.0’s scheme to siphon off some of White Diamond’s essence (to later use for a cure for corruption and pallification when they return to Earth, knowing White’s never going to help willfully) was also a waste, and what Pearl and Steven gained was just the essence of a bunch of dead gems. Pearl has a bit of a minor Heroic BSoD in Chapter 7 over this, but Garnet pulls her out of it and encourages her to not give up on the endeavor.

All Up to You: The premise of Gem Ascension: Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth, and Greg step up to rescue their A-Team friends against all odds. 

Alternate Continuity: This story takes place shortly after Escapism. Beyond the first few minutes of Change Your Mind, it becomes canon divergent from there.

Anachronic Order: After Gem Ascension’s completion, a set of stories was released throughout the month of May that all took place in Gem Asension’s continuity (save for one, technically, which took place a while before GA starts and has no connections to said continuity outside of being referenced in a few of the other stories) for Stevidot Month. Justified, somewhat, as they were only released out of order due to representing at least one of three prompts assigned for the five weeks of Stevidot Month, and Word of God planned much of this on the fly. A couple of stories were pre-prepared (Plans Change and This is Who I Am’s first chapter), but didn’t fit any prompts other than the ones assigned to the final two weeks. Since May’s conclusion, all stories (in their AO3 incarnations) have been put in a collection and are arranged in chronological order.

Bottled Up is the only story that averts this, as it chronologically occurs before all the others listed here and was also the first one released in May. However, since it does take place a good amount of time before GA’s starting point, it can easily be read as a standalone. The same cannot be said for the stories following it.

My Time is Now, which properly introduces Sphalerite (who only got an unnamed, featureless cameo in Act III and spoke the very last lines of the story), takes place no more than half an hour after Act III’s conclusion, but it was also the last story released in May. 

Second-to-last was Plans Change, which took place only a few hours after the aforementioned story. 

This is Who I Am chronologically falls roughly half a week after that, but its first chapter was released in the middle of the month.

Peri-dise: The Capitalist Anarchy takes place about 1-2 months after GA Act III, making it currently second-to-last in GA’s overall continuity, but was the third story released overall during May’s second week.

It’s a Birthday, Yes It Is takes place in late August, making it the furthest-removed from GA’s timeline by 3-4 months (until the release of Our Tomorrow – a direct sequel to this story taking place exactly one year later, but won’t be listed here as it was made long after Stevidot Month ended). It was the second story released for Stevidot Month. 

Anyone Can Die: The moment White Pearl and Blue Diamond die (relatively close to the same time) by Chapter 6 of Act I makes it apparent no punches will be pulled in this story; especially after it’s made clear how much of a Complete Monster White Diamond is in this continuity. Yellow Diamond falls two chapters later, and at least for a short while it’s presumed Peridot met a similar fate. There’s also the concept of pallification, which renders several hundred gems functionally dead in Act I alone. The majority of the gems left on the planet end up pallified by the time the Crystal Gems return to Homeworld in Act III. By the climax of said act, White Diamond self-destructs. On a smaller scale, almost every original character introduced in GA either dies or is already dead upon introduction. 5XF is the only one so far who averts this.

Astral Projection: An aspect of Steven’s developing powers in Act III. During Chapter 4, an all-pink astral projection of Steven travels into Peridot’s subconscious to find out what White Diamond did to fragment her mind. A bit later in Chapter 8, astral projections of Steven and Peridot are seen superimposed over the corporeal forms of Pink Diamond 2.0 and Chartreuse Diamond to signify both coming to terms with their Alter Egos becoming part of them and becoming whole.

Autodoc: The restoration machines that are abundant and scattered across Homeworld, which the Crystal Gems use to speed up the recovery process for Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl at the end of Chapter 6 of Act I.

Badasses in Distress: All of the imperiled Crystal Gems at the start of the story qualify. After Act I, Peridot takes their place.\

The Big Damn Kiss: Steven gives Peridot a pretty significant one in Act I’s final chapter right in the middle of a large and busy battlefield before they split ways to help their friends. Punctuated with a deliberate Shout-Out to Gem Drill.

Big Damn Reunion: Chapters 6 and 7 of Act I is this, as is Chapter 5 of Act III for the follow-up rescue mission.

Birthday Episode: It’s a Birthday, Yes It Is serves as one for Peridot. It also loosely applies to Steven, as his birthday is less than two weeks before hers and is frequently referenced (the pair’s chronological ages are 14 and 15 respectively by this point). Our Tomorrow is a direct sequel to the aforementioned story taking place exactly a year later, making Peridot 15 and Steven 16.

Bittersweet Ending: GA’s conclusion in a nutshell. The Diamond Authority is no longer a threat to anyone, but Homeworld is destroyed, meaning the Crystal Gems have to directly deal with the fallout of this particular revolution while ensuring Earth’s safety. Now they have thousands, if not millions of gems to help adapt to life on Earth and teach the concept of independence and free thought. Homeworld’s colony planets are doomed to civil disorder and collapse unless the heroes directly help, but that also presents a risk if they don’t play their cards right. Peridot and Steven’s lives are irrevocably shaken in their own right, and they’re the ones who’ll have to be the most involved in helping the Homeworld refugees. And there’s still the matter of curing not only the corrupted gems, but now the pallids as well. While GA ended the best way it possibly could, given the circumstances, there’s still a lot of work ahead for the Crystal Gems… and a lot of it will be unpleasant/awkward at best and outright life-threatening at worst. 

Blank White Void: The nature of the Pocket Dimensions featured in Act III, save for the one Steven is initially imprisoned in at the end of Chapter 3.

[jeffgrant4real]

Hot Take Fight to the Death!! (lyrics)

These are the words for the songs on my new album Hot Take Fight to the Death!! which is available now on iTunes, Spotify and... I don’t know, most of the other places. THANKS!

Regularly Scheduled Program

Where should we start? Where did we part?

Should I recap? Previously on your nap...

I’ve got your ears, melodious fears.

What is a song? How much can this go wrong?

I’m ready. Are you?

Seems we’ve got a lot of talking to do.

You ready? I am.

We now join our regularly scheduled program...

You like a beat. Brain and heart meet.

Wait, is that right? Guess who don’t care tonight.

I think about you, all the time I do.

But sometimes I doubt you’ll ever wanna come back out.

(repeat chorus)

Here’s some rhyming commentary on life from the monastery. 

Is this a 2-way thing? Well just don’t tell me how I cannot sing.

(repeat chorus)

Respectable American

Taking the focus away from the focus

Keep your mouth shut in a swarm of locusts

All this toxic slime is wiping us out

I don’t hate you, I’ve just got a loose mouth

I hear a new lie and I start to plow south

I know you think this is good for us...

Anger is a sin, no anger is a friend

I’m trying to remember that I need to count to 10

I’m trying not to boil but I don’t always win

‘Cuz lately I can’t tell what’s a respectable American

1... 2... 1... 2...

I woke up in the morning and I got 8 hours

Then I hear the news and it all just sours

Even a good day has a little weight

Turning off the TV and turning off the beeping

Notify me when I can wake up from the dreaming

Feeling thankful everything will end

(repeat chorus)

Cussing in the kitchen from a magazine

Pleading with the ceiling to imagine a new me

(repeat chorus)

Cold in the Loony Bin

I don’t care about this one 

I’m just trying to keep up

I’m on the fence again 

Hoping to fall back in

Hoping the crash won’t be rough

Hitching your horse to a wall 

Whining when it doesn’t come when you call

I’ve gotta find some way 

To keep my mind today

Elsewhere is where I belong

Nothing against your decision

Who needs sanity or wisdom?

They won’t join so we might as well sic ‘em

Hell is hot these days as a mission

And it’s cold in -  It’s cold in the loony bin

I’m taking the blue pill today

I heard the red one’s been frying some brains

They can’t even look at it

To throw the book at it

Might as well toss every page

Getting strapped to a chair

Sure made it easy to talk to the air

I had a sane conversation 

About our sad nation

Turns out there was nobody there

(repeat chorus)

Mopping up pee stains

Could you cut my bed chains?

I could slip through that vent

Make it look like an accident

There’s a bus in my district

If there’s a ride I will hitch it

Polls are closing at 9

I could make it right on time

(repeat chorus)

Fade Into the Basement (Amen)

Memory fades in a day, dirt in a mouth washes away

A part of me has fallen asleep, a tattered protest sign in the street

Whoa, I just read something crazy, but not quite enough to phase me

When did Christians get so Buddhist? Looks like we’re going through this

Fade in, fade into the basement, amen

Fade in, fade into the basement, amen

Drop, drop, feel your ears pop, can’t stop the chop that lops off the top

Amputate what will atrophy, it’s only you, it’s only me

(repeat pre-chorus)

(repeat chorus)

I don’t think this wall can keep us in

I don’t think this wall can keep us in

(repeat pre-chorus)

(repeat chorus)

Have You Heard the News?

Have you heard the news?

The news is talking to you

Anything you wanna feel

It’s all real

I was picking and choosing, choosing my truth

I didn’t like the way I started thinking of you

Have you heard the news?

Everyone is happy

We live in a dream

Where everybody screams

I was picking and choosing, choosing my truth

I didn’t like the way I started thinking of you

Why is this so sad?

Can we make it better?

Have you heard the news?

We’ve got the same muse

You for your lazy

Me for my crazy

I was picking and choosing, choosing my truth

I didn’t like the way I started thinking of you

Have you heard the news?

No, you turned it off

You were fixing your printer

Thinking about dinner

I was picking and choosing, choosing my truth

I didn’t like the way I started thinking of you

Why is this so sad?

Can we make it better?

Times, They Are Not Changing

Stay where you are, the water’s low

Accept it soon, you’re dry as bones

Worry’s wasted on the changing

On the changing times

Dry your pen, close your eyes

Say what you want, we’ve got time

They are the sinning, we are the grinning

The constantly winning side

Times, they are not changing (2x)

Politicians, make no decisions

As you stall late, clog up the hallway

With no hill to die on, just cliffs to climb on

Everything’s right on time

Mothers and fathers, you can holler 

Criticize us sons and daughters

Why don’t we go slow? Carry our cold hope

Back to the old road now

Times they are not changing (2X)

Erase the line, clear the curse

All survivors come in first

In our race to the past, let’s make this the last

Let’s make this the very last time

Times, they are not changing (4X)

Watch Who You’re Heiling

Laying down for what you believe in

Letting power keep on deceiving

As if you’ve no pony in this fight

Smiling, eating bologna, waving bye bye

Is your heart as cold as ice?

Seems you love the wolf’s disguise

I thought you were someone else

Once was good but now who can tell?

Watch who you’re heiling

He’s sure got it good, knows your heart is pudding

He can say anything, knows you’ll always give up your footing

As if you were standing for anything

Barbecuing free America 

Proving you’re that bad Samaria 

Cheering as your neighbor dies

Beaten by your lazy eyes

Can’t you see one drop of sun?  

You’ve turned your face from everyone

Saw you swimming in the deep

I tried a tweet but a tweet is cheap 

Watch who you’re heiling

(repeat chorus 2X)

What Would You Protest?

Sitting on your duff, have you ever had enough?

Do you only get annoyed and never mad?

When you’re watching the TV, and you see ‘em in the street

Do you ever wish that you could join the pack?

Aren’t they dumb? Walking in the sun?

Leaving the city a mess

Well what about you? What would make you move?

Tell me, what would you protest?

Moving to the ‘burbs, just to get out of the herd

Just to find a little quiet in my head

People always bleed, then they stare right at me

So I pull up the covers on my bed

(repeat chorus)

We stand for truth and justice

We can take your complaints and cusses

We feel this in our hearts

We will lighten up the dark

(repeat chorus)

You Think You’re a Good Guy

Your eyes never leave your head

You have to think how you were bred

Your daddy don’t like blacks 

And he always made you lunch in a paper sack, so...

Fish don’t swim upstream

If you were kind it would be a blaspheme

You’ve gotta be a raging shit

Can’t stick out, couldn’t handle it

You think you’re a good guy

And everyone you know is exactly alike

You think you’re a good guy

You only see the wood in other people’s eyes

So this is who you’re gonna be?

Can’t you see you’re a parody

You can’t always be right

When you think you’re a good guy

You dirtied your white hat

You called a dude in another car “fat”

But he never heard a word

Like if he was blind and you gave him the bird, it’s fine...

Why try to be better?

It’s so lame to follow every letter

Rules were made to break

I messed up and it’s your mistake

(repeat chorus)

Elective perspective, unchecked and uncorrected

A vendetta, embedded, villains are hero-headed

(repeat chorus)

Obsolete Songs

I hope these songs get obsolete fast

I hope to look way back on this ugly past

I hope we numb will wake up and change

I hope all of us together get to turn the page

I hope this is just a blip in history

Not the beginning of an era of misery

I hope the ones for hate are the minority

I hope we don’t let fear drive our core beliefs

I hope these songs gather dust in a museum

In a boring old corner where no one can see ‘em

I hope the kids on their field trips fall asleep

‘Cuz there was nothing to see in 2017

I hope stale ways get stuck in a stalemate

And every protest sign gets a glass case

I hope the people get a taste for righteousness

And always try to get back when we digress

I hope we find a leader who won’t lie to us

Who will serve the people over his own lust

I hope 4 years lasts only 4 weeks

Sorry, I couldn’t wait to make this obsolete

(repeat chorus)

Pleased to meet you

We are so glad to see you

Pleased to meet you

We are so glad to see you...