#Oklahoma is literally at 48

[sparklingcid3r]

I promised a rumble rundown, so that’s what I’m gonna do. Let’s go🙏 also here's the yt vid i used lol

0:14-0:17

Paul says, “Hello, Darrel. Long time, no see” and then immediately starts checking him out with that upside down smile, ik what u think abt 👁️👁️

0:24-0:27

“I’ll take you” yeah Paul I’m sure u will 🙄 Darry’s cold af w the staredown tho, it’s unfortunate that Pony and Soda have do a full head turn to look at each other like “IKKK he ain’t j said that”

0:27-0:31

DALLAS MY GLORIOUS KING ARRIVES,, shirtless??? And the crowd goes mild‼️ Pony also gets popped in the face and down he goes, it was so good that he was here for just a little bit, everyone say bye now bc the next time he shows up in the fight u won’t even know it’s him I’m deadass

0:48-0:55

Soda is ripping into this guy right, my baby’s a champion!! And then gets up and kinda… walks past Steve getting his ass beat lmao. He even puts his hand on Steve’s shoulder to steady himself as he goes by😭

He just misses the mean double gut punch Steve tanks like the unit he is, because Steve GRABS THIS MAN’S PUNCH and RIPS one across his face, it was beautiful. Masterclass in the ring I’m afraid

0:56-0:58

Okay. I need to give yall the play by play for this single two-second sequence because it was genuinely the greatest clip of cinema I’ve ever seen in my life.

Paul’s got Darry out of frame and he’s confident, dare I say cocky. He’s doing the universal hand signals for “Cmon, hit me bro.”

And I’m gonna say this next part softly. Lean in and listen to me:

When I tell u that Darry clocks Paul in the face, I don’t mean he just clocks Paul in the face. Darry rises like a phoenix from the ashes and swings so hard that everyone around him can feel the aftershocks. Paul has just experienced the equivalent of a steel boxing glove to the dome. Teeth are flying. Paul will have no recollection of this moment for the rest of his life. Take a look at this.

Alr now we back up because YOU CAN SEEEE THE MOMENT OF REALIZATION. This man starts BAILING. The minute Darry spins back, Paul’s got bug eyes, all “Hold up. Wait a minute. He really ‘bout to clock my shit.” He did not want that smoke NEARLY as much as he thought he did, and ykw? I don’t blame him 🤷‍♀️ 

Letting yall know that I had to go back and slow down the playback speed so that I could bask in the glory that is Darrel Curtis’s behemoth of a punch. Geologists are losing their minds wondering how volcanoes are erupting and mountains are shifting, unaware of what just happened in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

1:00-1:03

Dally bitch slapping a dude is a great way to kick off the one-minute mark, and a good kick to the ribs just for funsies ig. U go girl🫶

1:04-1:07

Hottest Two-Bit has ever looked sorry

1:19-1:21

Alr Dally is literally picking people up and WWE rocking their shit as he slams them to the ground. That kid was dropped neck first. How did Pony not have to write a sequel.

1:22-1:24

Just an entire sequence dedicated to Soda mewing even as he gets bitched in the face. It’s alr tho, he got his get back

1:47-1:49

Istg I’m not tripping, u listen and u can hear Pony screaming for Darry yall I thought this was supposed to be a good time, I’m actually sobbing

1:55-2:01

STEVE CLUTCHES UP??? DEADASSSS that was the CLEANEST three-shot KO I’ve ever seen, then he body flips the guy behind him??? I WASN’T FAMILIAR W UR GAME, RANDLE 🙏

2:09-2:15

The Socs are kind of getting ready to retreat at this point but rq we gotta check in on the exes, Paul’s getting clowned on again lmfao.

This man tried to kick Darry, then when Darry’s got his foot and is getting ready to spin him like that pigskin, he’s PULLING on Darry’s HAIR??? Man, just leave 😭 ur cooked. And the last time we see him, he’s CRAWLING AWAY😭😭 at least STAND UP

2:24-2:27

Pony’s getting washed in a 6v1 it ain’t his fault this time, bless up. Luckily my goat Darrel Shaynne Curtis Jr. pulls up and literally starts throwing bodies. Absolutely spectacular that I get to live in the same lifetime as this movie.

2:30-2:32

Darry’s asking, “Ponyboy, you okay?” and some NOBODY tries to grab Darry’s shoulders. Who do u think u are???

3:35-3:45

Greasers get the W👏

So in conclusion I think we can all agree that if u are locked in an iso with Darry, just offer up ur cheek and get it over w. Ur not getting the dub. Roll down ur sleeves and go home, ur benched.

Sorry this is messy af, I'm just having fun rn LMFAO

[nevgovhater]

Since u all fw marching band wttt then here u go except I'm only doing the states cause gov would def be the director who has to deal with them

Also these headcanons r real I swear I'm right (by a trombonist)

all in alphabetical order btw

1. ALABAMA — probably would do bari-sax

2. ALASKA — percussion. thats it. just percussion. (Up for interpretation)

3. ARIZONA — flute or bass clarinet, one of those.

4. ARKANSAS — flute

5. CALIFORNIA — he would be a fucking clarinet, no exceptions. He just gives off clarinet vibes, or just woodwind in general

6. COLORADO — tenor drums

7. CONNECTICUT — piccolo or mellophone

8. DELAWARE — flute

9. FLORIDA — cymbals or piccolo, one of those at the very least.

10. GEORGIA — trumpet. 100% trumpet player

11. HAWAI'I — glockenspiel or marimba

12. IDAHO — trumpet

13. ILLINOIS — euphonium or bass drums

14. INDIANA — saxophone

15. IOWA — alto saxophone

16. KANSAS — trumpet

17. KENTUCKY — trumpet or saxophone

18. LOUISIANA — trombone. (Sorry to all those saxophone loui lovers.. but i feel like his instrument would be the trombone,, it's still a jazz instrument so ykyk)

19. MAINE — bass drums or euphonium

20. MARYLAND — clarinet

21. MASSACHUSETTS — oh he's a flute, that's for sure. 😭😭

22. MICHIGAN — tenor sax

23. MINNESOTA — mellophone

24. MISSISSIPPI — trumpet

25. MISSOURI — vibraphone

26. MONTANA — cornet

27. NEBRASKA — trumpet

28. NEVADA — I'm sorry but he'd probably do tenor sax

29. NEW HAMPSHIRE — piccolo

30. NEW JERSEY — snare drum

31. NEW MEXICO — cornet

32. NEW YORK — snare or tenor drums

33. NORTH CAROLINA — trumpet

34. NORTH DAKOTA — flute (sighs)

35. OHIO — trombone

36. OKLAHOMA — alto sax

37. OREGON — marimba

38. PENNSYLVANIA — glockenspiel

39. RHODE ISLAND — sousaphone/tuba. im fucking SERIOUS about this man he would love this

40. SOUTH CAROLINA — clarinet

41. SOUTH DAKOTA — saxophone

42. TENNESSEE — tenor sax

43. TEXAS — sousaphone/tuba

44. UTAH — flute or bass clarinet

45. VERMONT — flute. (dear god help me)

46. VIRGINIA — flute (guess what)

47. WASHINGTON — flute (im going insane please stop)

48. WEST VIRGINIA — cymbals or drumline

49. WISCONSIN — xylophone

50. WYOMING — euphonium

I'm literally right abt this i swear ⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️

"You're wrong about—" SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP GET OUT OF MY HEAD ⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️

[ice-mage]

March Reads

March was a good reading month. I read a total of 5 books this month, brining my total to 11/36. This month’s reads were:

1. White Trash Warlock by David R. Slayton: Adam Binder is a 22 year old gay man from Oklahoma. And he’s a wizard. When he was in high school, his mother and older brother who don’t believe in magic admitted him into a psychiatric institution because he couldn’t yet control his sight into the spirit dimension where magical creatures roam. After discharging himself at 18, he lives in a trailer park with his great aunt. When, in the middle of looking for his father who left when he was young, his brother contacts him for the first time in three years asking for his help, Adam makes his way to Denver. Family dynamics are at the heart of this book. You understand the dysfunction between Adam and his family immediately, but you still grasp that however complicated their feelings are for one another, there’s still love there. The spirit dimension aspect of the book is interesting. However, the actual magic is a bit of a let down. Overall, I enjoyed the book. 4/5 ⭐️

2. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman: Carl is stuck outside in his boxers at 2 in the morning trying to save his (ex-)girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, from a tree when the world ends. He and Donut (and about 13 million others) make their way underground and basically end up in a video game, complete with stats and levels and monsters trying to kill them, that’s broadcast across the universe. The dungeon is 18 floors, and their goal is to survive each one and make their way to the next floor down before time runs out. This is my first ever litRPG and my first 5 star read this year. The first part of the book does a lot of world building, explaining the game that Carl and Donut find themselves in, but in a way that feels natural given the setting. The book is full of humor, and I laughed out loud numerous times while reading it. But on occasion it reminds of how horrific the world they’re in actually is. And while the book is very plot driven, you see a lot of Carl’s and Donut’s character development as well. I highly recommend this book, but be aware that it is the first in a seven-book series. 5 ⭐️

3. Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman: The second book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I read this one in less than 48 hours. This book begins as Carl and Donut enter the third floor of the dungeon. Trying to avoid spoilers, but we learn more about what’s going on outside the game and continue planting seeds for things to come later in the series. We get more character development for Carl, but also for Donut. And Donut gets a pet! While there was still humor in this one, it was not as humorous as the first book. Overall a great read. 4.75/5 ⭐️

4. The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman: Carl, Donut, and new party member Katia try to figure out the puzzle-based 4th floor (and of course survive). In this book we really see the team not only trying to survive themselves, but also to help as many others to survive as possible. As with the last book, the humor is dialed down as the horror of the game, not just for the crawlers but also for the NPCs, is highlighted. And while the book is still very plot heavy, the relationships between the characters really shine through. This book has a few moments that felt like a gut punch. I give this book 5 ⭐️

5. The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman: do you ever wonder what it’s like to live in a bubble? Well, the characters find out quite literally on the fifth floor. One of the things that I love about the series is the character development, and I think that shines here. In this book we meet two new characters who are kinda pathetic when we first meet them but they find there bearings by the end. Also, we realize how much Katia in particular has grown since we first meet her on the third floor. 5 ⭐️

When I finished The Gate of the Feral Gods, I realized I had read the first four books of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series in two weeks. I can already tell this will probably be my top series this year. I’ve already pre-ordered the fifth and sixth books. And I bought he first four as audiobooks and have now listened to them all. I am slightly obsessed. I also started reading a sixth book, this one for my local book club, but I only got about 100 pages in before the end of the March. I’ll finish it this month.

[dnaamericaapp]

Oklahoma Judge Rules A Man Who Wrongfully Spent Nearly 50 Years In Prison For Murder Is Innocent

An Oklahoma judge has exonerated a man who spent nearly 50 years in prison for murder, the longest serving inmate to be declared innocent of a crime.

Glynn Simmons, 71, who was released in July after prosecutors agreed that key evidence in his case was not turned over to his defense lawyers, was ruled innocent Tuesday.

Simmons served 48 years, one month and 18 days since his conviction, making him the longest imprisoned U.S. inmate to be exonerated, according to data kept by The National Registry of Exonerations.

Palumbo in July ordered a new trial for Simmons after District Attorney Vicki Behenna said prosecutors had failed to turn over evidence in the case, including a police report that showed an eyewitness might have identified other suspects in the case.

Behenna in September said there is no longer physical evidence in the case against Simmons and announced she would not retry him, though she opposed declaring him actually innocent.

Compensation, though, is likely years away, Norwood said and Simmons is currently living on donations while undergoing treatment for cancer that was detected after his release from prison.

“Glynn is having to live off of GoFundMe, that’s literally how the man is surviving right now, paying rent, buying food,” Norwood said. “Getting him compensation, and getting compensation is not for sure, is in the future and he has to sustain himself now.” -(source: ap)

DNA America

“It’s what we know, not what you want us to believe.”

#dna #dnaamerica #news #politics

[inkandguns]

The current format of the country is broken and untenable. It doesn’t serve the needs or wishes of the electorate in the slightest. Some of these problems can be fixed from the executive branch and others cannot be. It’s pretty clear that the country can’t exist as it is and needs to be decentralized. Dividing California and combining several west coast states could do enough to restore a reasonable balance.

The Union has already been dissolved. The simple act of ignoring SCOTUS rulings in blue states shows that our original agreement has been violated beyond reproach and no longer stands. If states refuse federal judicial review, then they’re not in compliance with the agreements set when they ratified the constitution, and we’re already in a cold civil war.

As for my hyperbole - it’s not hyperbole. I meant every damn word of that in the literal sense. Support keeping the union together and/or the democrat party and you’re full on supporting lynchings and racial violence, along with economic policies meant to choke out specifically black people.

There’s only two choices - split the country now or have 48 CCP states and Alaska and Florida. The country is already divided.

As for moving people - if we spent that many billions on Ukraine, Hamas, and Israel, we can spend twice as many billions paying people to relocate if they want to. Most people don’t care and will stay in their state and be happy as fuck.

The bottom line is this - currently state and federal governments are holding their constituents in slavery because they oppose the system that the voters want. People in Cali want more commie shit, people in Oklahoma want more American shit. It’s unethical and vile to use violence to hold these people as slaves to one system or another - it goes against your God given right to self governance.

If Cali and Illinois wanna go full Hitler they should have the right to do so - it’s what their voters want. If Oklahoma wants to let people drink rain water, drink raw milk, and own machine guns, they should be able to do that too. But under the current system everyone is losing and violence is inevitable. Splitting up now is preferable to an insane amount of violence later.

I’ve now spent close to 100 hours listening to college geeks, economic geeks, legal geeks, and constitutional law geeks talk about national divorce. Some oppose and some support. So you haven’t said anything that I haven’t heard before.

The union that was established is over. It’s been gone for many years now. It was defeated when the 17th amendment was passed. Now we have to split up the remains and move on.

Hear some crazy stuff on the Shortwave radio.

Was listening to the shortwave earlier (I like scanning the World Bands from time to time) and heard a conversation (sounded like a take show of some form). Disclaimer: Not sure where the broadcast was originating from. The person being interviewed was saying that he loved that the White Supremacists, Nazis and Fascist are embracing the idea of a US break up (then laughing said Divorce) finally. But it's not going to work how they think.

(Highlight of a 30+ minute conversation) The freedom loving Democratic States already have the plans drawn up and will make sure to land-lock the Fascist States.... Refuse to let them take from any Democratic State any children into the Fascists States.... Any flight in or out will be shot down.... Cut off or destroy all energy, oil or gas production or supply line to the Fascists States.... Finally, if they try to leave their border they will be shot on sight, like every Nazi in the world needs to be.

Sounds to me like at least one side who wants a National Divorce has been making plans on how they want it to work out.

But that doesn't matter, it will lead to a Civil War, plain and simple. Causing hundreds of thousands if not million+ of deaths on both sides. Not just from the fighting, but from food and medication shortages. If the guy on the Shortwave was even half right in his claims then there will be people also dying of cold in the winter time.

Whether this guy was speaking the truth (as he knew it) or just blowing hot air out of his pipe dreams, if you are for a National Divorce do you honestly think you can negotiate a civil split of the States with people like this? Do you honestly think that a split can happen without a Civil War breaking out?

The scary thing is I have heard people on the right, who want a National Divorce, calling for Conservative States to do to the Communist States practically the same thing. So are they the good guys for calling for the same atrocities that the other side is calling for?

[fangirlings-things]

Goodbye [1/2]

➤ PART. 2

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x reader

Word count: 1.5K

Warnings: heavy angst, mentions of death

Summary: after being taken by an unsub, you are given a goodbye call and you use it to call the chief of your unit and lover, Aaron Hotchner

A/N: just a lot of angst with this man because I love him!!! let me know your thoughts and if you want me to write the second part this is supposed to have lots of love 💖

GIF IS NOT MINE || TAG LIST: @imaginesofyourfandom ; @locke-writes ; @regalbanshee

Hotch could not believe his own ears when the phone rang in the room in Oklahoma City the police had given the BAU team to use during the current investigation. Everyone had been expecting that call for 48 hours now. They knew that call would be made, because that was the signature. The signature of the killer they had been hunting.

Hotch exchanged a brief look with all the team as he walked forward towards the table were the phone was. All the others had something in their expressions that he knew probably resembled his own. Fear. He actually had to take a deep breath before pressing the button to pick up the call.

As the phone was programmed to sound on speaker, the whole team was able to hear a shallow breathing on the line. No one dared to say anything, too tense to do such a thing. But then they didn’t have to, because the person with the shallow breathing then spoke. “H-Hotch?”

It broken him. Right then and there. He did not want to believe it, he refused to. For 48 hours he had given all he had to try to solve that case in time, but hadn’t been able to. As the M.O said, the killer gave his victims one last call before finishing them. And that was happening. That was your last call and it did not surprise anyone, that you were looking for him. For you, it had always been him.

“Hotch?” your voice sounded again, weak, and that finally set him into action.

“(Y/N)?” your name seemed heavy on his tongue, like it had never before. He leaned down and pressed his hands into the surface of the table as id to hold himself up. “(Y/N), I’m here. Where are you?”

“You know I don’t know that. And if you’re asking me, I suppose you and the team don’t either” you tried to give out a little laugh, but it quickly turned into a cough. From their side of the line, Garcia pressed one of her hands to her mouth, tears already steaming down her face.

“(Y/N), anything. Anything at all that…” the leader of the unit said, the words leaving his mouth in a terrified rush.

“Aaron” the intensity of your tone and the fact that you used his first name made him go quiet on the very same instant. Around the room, no one else dared to speak. They knew you wanted Hotch, and him only. “Stop. It’s over, babe”

“No, it’s not. We can…” he began again, trying hard to keep his voice steady.

“Aaron” you spoke again, much more softly this time and it seemed as if Hotch had been slapped. He pressed his palms so hard against the table that his knuckles turned white. “This is my goodbye call. You know what this means”

“You have to remember something. Anything. Did you see…” your silence was unbearable and his voice died in his throat, tears blurring his vision and falling on the table. “I shouldn’t have sent you alone”

“You know I would have gone anyway. I lost, it’s part of the job. But you and the team will still be able to catch him” he realized you thought the others weren’t hearing your words and silently decided to leave it that way. He knew you never liked to be so exposed and fragile in front of everyone. And still, he could not ask them to leave the room. Honestly, he thought he wouldn’t be able to go through that alone. “You have to catch him, Aaron”

“I will. I promise you, I will” from the corner of his eye, he saw David pull a chair and sit down to then support his face on his hands, the sadness clear in his features. “(Y/N)…”

“I know” you said, and it made him go silent again. “I know” you repeated and the team was able to hear the change in your voice when you started to cry. “I’m really going to miss you, Aaron. God, I already do” in that moment Derek took his hands to his head and started to walk around the room, in agony. “I’m going to miss having to make you leave the office and go home. Spending the weekends with you and Jack. Falling asleep by your side on the jet” you sobbed loudly then, giving into emotion. Emily cleared her throat to stop herself from sobbing too. Hotch had to pull away from the table to take a deep breath and control his own now unregular breathing. “But above all, I’m sorry”

“What?” he asked, too confused and overwhelmed by the whole situation.

“I’m sorry for making you go through this again. I know how much your suffered because of Hailey. I never wanted you to have to…” you sobbed again. The hot tears streaming down his face seemed like a waterfall, never ending. Never stopping. “I’m so sorry”

“This is not your fault” he forced his voice to go out. He came back closer to the table and sat down on a chair merely because he felt like falling down at any moment. “You know this is not your fault”

“Still, I wanted you to know” you went silent for long moments and just when he was about to call out, your voice came back. “Can’t believe I’m not going to see everyone again. This team…” you laughed a bit and all of them could picture your smile. “I’m going to miss them all so much”

“(Y/N), anything…” Hotch grabbed into hope, wishing, craving something, anything, that would change the outcome of what was to happen.

“Tell David to don’t get married again” you interrupted, sniffing as you tried to stop crying. Talk about your co-workers made your tone sound sweeter and you felt a certain warmth in your chest. “Between the job and the idea of another divorce, he will loose it” you laughed and David laughed too silently, nodding in agreement. “Emily belongs in the BAU. She’s an amazing profiler, and an amazing friend” Prentiss closed her eyes at the compliments, feeling too deeply. “Don’t let J.J work too much. Make her go home by seven and please, if she’s overwhelmed, make her take a few days to herself” J.J by hearing you talk about her, turned around and stormed out of the room, unable to hear more. “Penelope, oh, I adore her. Thank her for all the advices, the playlists she made to cheer me up and listen on the jet. Thank her for everything” Garcia reprimanded a sob and left just like J.J had done. “Derek…” Morgan instantly stopped walking and fixed his blurry eyes on the phone, like he could see you somehow. “he is my best friend. My best friend in the entire world. Tell him I remember every laugh, moment, drink, every pizza night we had together. I wish we had more of those” Morgan really cried now, punching the closest wall with all the force he had. If you heard the sound, you did not mention it. “Spencer is the brother I never had” Reid, who sat on a chair close to Rossi, squeezed his lips on a thin line. “I love that he always have… had a new historical fact to tell me about. Seeing him trying to eat in hashis always made me laugh so hard. Tell him to visit his mother more. I know he misses her” another pause. Another sob. “I love them all. Tell them that I do. Hotch?”

“Yes?” he took the tears away from his face with the back of his right hand, feeling his chest aching. It was like he could literally feel his heart breaking.

“I love you. It took me a long time to say so, maybe too long. I wish we had more time” you sobbed again, harder, and that sound was horrifying, like it came straight out of a nightmare. “I found the ring, Aaron. On your drawer. I was only looking for a shirt and there it was… the ring” Hotch closed his eyes hardly, telling himself he wanted to wake up. He had to wake up and see that it was not real. It couldn’t be. “I would’ve said yes, Aaron. It would have definitely been a yes” and then the line went silent.

“(Y/N)?” Hotch called, but there was no answer. His breath hissed. “(Y/N), keep talking to me, babe” nothing still. “(Y/N), please, talk to me”

“Aaron” David got up from his chair and walked around the table to put a hand on his shoulder.

“Please…” he was the one who then started sobbing.

━━━━━━━━━━ × ━━━━━━━━━━

“Aaron, we need to talk” David entered the room of the station where Hotch had been alone in for hours now. As he got no response, he insisted. “Aaron?”

“Leave me alone” he said only, eyes still fixed on the phone from which he had heard your last words. Last words.

“Aaron” David said again, more seriously this time.

“What?” Hotch raised his voice, eyes dry and hurting. The tears seemed to have ended long before.

David fixed his eyes on his. “Garcia found something”

[alexazbofficial]

[INTERVIEW] AleXa Is Repping for K-Pop and Oklahoma In ‘American Song Contest’

The Tulsa-born singer has been living in South Korea for four years but returned to the U.S. to compete on NBC's American take on Eurovision.

“K-Pop” and “Oklahoma” are two words you don’t really think of in the same breath. But one of the 56 artists competing on the Monday (March 21) night series premiere of NBC’s American Song Contest just might change that — AleXa, a K-Pop artist from Tulsa, Okla. Born to a South Korean mother and an American father, she first learned about K-Pop in 2008, through one of her best friends.

“The first group I ever saw was Super Junior – they’re a huge senior group in the K-Pop industry, but my gateway was SHINee,” AleXa tells Billboard. “I’ve been hooked ever since.” She moved to Korea in the first quarter of 2018 and competed on two reality shows, Rising Star and Produce 48. She signed with ZB, a label owned by South Korean video production company Zanybros. Her first single, “Bomb,” was released on Oct. 21, 2019. “It was right before the pandemic hit,” she says. Two more singles followed: “ReviveR” and “Tattoo.” After living in South Korea for four years, AleXa returned to the U.S. this year to compete in American Song Contest.

“My manager is Swedish, so when we received the invitation to audition, we thought, ‘Yes, this is iconic.’ It’s literally Eurovision, but now we’re spreading it to America. It was just a wonderful opportunity and I was so excited to take it.”

AleXa knew about Eurovision from watching videos online by past winners like ABBA and Måneskin, though she has never seen a full broadcast. She did watch the 2022 edition of Melodifestivalen, the Swedish heat to pick the country’s song for Eurovision, because Moa (Cazzi Opeia) Carlebecker, one of the writers of her ASC entry “Wonderland,” was competing as an artist and she facilitated AleXa’s entry into ASC. “It helped that I had worked with Cazzi. Then all of these wonderful creatives came together and the song was presented to us. I fell in love with it immediately and we knew we had to go with that song.”

Swedish hitmaker Andreas Carlsson (“I Want It That Way,” Backstreet Boys; “Waking Up in Vegas,” Katy Perry; “Bye Bye Bye,” *NSYNC) became involved with American Song Contest through his friends Peter Settman, Christer Bjorkman and Anders Lenhoff, who sold the idea of an American version of the Eurovision Song Contest to NBC. He has co-written seven of the 56 entries for season one, including “Wonderland.”

“Being close to both the Swedish and Korean K-Pop community, I found the song after listening to hundreds of submissions from my personal network,” Carlsson tells Billboard. “As AleXa could possibly be the first American K-Pop sensation, the song had to appeal to American audiences without alienating her Korean fans. There is a specific formula to K-Pop that must be considered when creating the song. I eventually ended up as a co-writer on the song as it had to be a bit more westernized. Then writer Bekuh Boom came into the mix with some brilliant topline ideas and everyone felt we had something special. Sometimes it takes a lot of chefs to serve up something extraordinary.”

Those chefs include songwriters Albin Nordqvist, Ellen Berg and Carlebecker. “We originally wrote ‘Wonderland’ for the Korean market, where we have been working regularly for years,” Nordqvist tells Billboard. “We weren’t aware of the existence of American Song Contest at that time. Andreas reached out because he was asked to find songs for the already established AleXa, who was known to us since Moa and Ellen had already written songs for her. Andreas helped us adapt the melodies, lyrics and arrangement for the U.S. market, together with American writer Bekuh Boom. Andreas and Bekuh are familiar with both the U.S. and Korean markets.”

Asked why Swedish songwriters have had so much success in K-Pop, Carlebacker and Berg told Billboard in a statement, “We believe it’s a mix of several reasons such as socio-economic factors like education being free in Sweden. Learning to play an instrument, singing in a choir, learning about music production and song writing, performing and playing in a band is encouraged from a very young age. Having the opportunity to truly focus on your art and creativity, without having to pay for an expensive education, makes it easier to dedicate your time and effort to pursue an international music career. The Swedish specialty for creating highly addictive rhymes and pop melodies (which are very important in K-Pop) might be a magic ingredient, on top of that we are meticulous, hard-working, have great work ethics and always strive to deliver songs of the highest quality possible.”

Since Carlebecker had just competed herself in Melodifestivalen, Billboard wanted to know what advice she would give to AleXa before her performance tonight in American Song Contest. “I would tell AleXa to have fun and enjoy every single moment of this crazy experience,” the writer who performs as Cazzi Opeia responded. “With a competition like this comes a lot of pressure and she will probably be nervous, but at the same time it will be so much fun. The whole thing is over extremely fast, so enjoy every step of the way and remember to take it all in. Don’t think about the show as a competition, just focus on your vocal performance and your dance routines, and you will be fine. The American Song Contest is a fantastic TV show and will be a memory for life.”

The only American songwriter on “Wonderland,” Bekuh Boom has written for Jordin Sparks, Blackpink and Jennifer Lopez. She toplined AleXa’s entry, meaning she wrote lyrics and melody, except for the bridge. Talking to Billboard about American Song Contest, she said, “I’m very excited to see people’s reaction to the show. I hope it shines more light on the songs and their meaning and I think we’re getting to a place where more people are caring about not just the song but the people and meaning behind it. I hope this shift will start to translate in the way songwriters specifically are treated and compensated in the future and it’s exciting to have artists and songwriters shining together. I’m very excited for AleXa and wish her all the best.”

As for AleXa, she let Billboard know what she would tell viewers about her American Song Contest performance. “Expect the unexpected. My song is a pop-infused urban track, paying homage to Latin beats but definitely bringing the K-Pop element to the sound and visuals. I hope that people feel the energy and the fun that I have onstage. I’m just really proud of representing Oklahoma and the K-Pop community.”

Finally, we had to ask AleXa the most important question of all: what happens when she’s in a room where people say her name out loud? “The funny thing about that is I personally have [an Amazon device] and my parents have one as well, so any time we’re doing a FaceTime call and I say my stage name or my folks say my stage name, Alexa says, ‘Sorry, I didn’t get that.’ And we just say, ‘Stop, we weren’t talking to you.'”

© Billboard

[hotchocolateandpillowforts]

Welp, the next 48 hours are gonna be shitty. I'm driving up to Oklahoma in the morning. I was basically volunteered by my entire family over Thanksgiving to come for an important doctor's appointment my mom has on Friday.

I drive up on Thursday, get to put together the new vacuum that we just replaced for them and that I'm bringing with me, vacuum the whole house, cook dinner. Then the next morning I get to drive my mom an hour out to her appointment go to the appointment and then do the hour drive back. Just to then drive back to Texas.

I had a huge breakdown last week because of the sheer amount of stress and fear and anger I have right now. Neither my grandmother nor my mother are doing well physically and we need to start thinking about other living arrangements for them. Plus I've been having a shitty few months when it comes to my own health.

Plus plus I've also just gotten really fed up with the people in my family ignoring my health problems because they want me to be healthy enough to take care of everyone else. Literally, my brain is coming out of my skull but sure I'll do *EVERYTHING* so that no one else in the family is inconvenienced in the slightest. Not even the shitty uncle who lives less than 30 minutes away.

[mikaylaology]

Idolized and Demonized: The Black Body

Field Work Assignment #5

(Just a pre note some of the images might not seem to align with the subject matter but with the amount of black trauma drowning the internet I’m not going to show black bodies or people in pain)

Since Tik Tok’s popularity spike back in 2018 many topics of discussion involving race, gender, sexuality and a numerous amount of subject matters have appeared on the app and have never left the mainstream. To it’s benefit millions of individuals have become more aware of how they impact others negatively hopefully trying to become more enlightened. How ever many have just used this app as a tool to harass, harm and insult others mainly those who they believe are inferior to themselves.

A historically envied body, the black body, feels as if the prejudice targeted towards it hasn’t left the roots of good old fashioned anti black rhetoric spanning decades. Since the brutality of American Colonial Slavery Black bodies have been featured on posters, books, movies, lyrics and any other conceivable media there is. In images flashing on the screen most don’t allow the humanity of blackness to be explored. Most outside and inside the race of “Black” seeing black people as the objects they appear on. To be gawked at and replicated onto anything but a black body.

Racism

As previously mentioned in the above paragraph and in the video, through the lens of White Europeans black people were not seen as people. Many discuss the aspect of hatred towards black people by Europeans as purely violent and disgusted and while that is undisputedly true I would also argue for the almost blatant envy of black people, civilizations and culture.

The many times in which I've studied black history a clear mantra always repeats through my mind when talking about the raping and pillaging of the continent of Africa, it’s that “You don’t break into as house you think has no money”. This means that on some level European colonizers knew that of the many countries stretched across Africa, most if not all had resources, intellectual power or just plain money.

In America history black homes, businesses and communities were raided. Extorting the communities for its most valuable asset, white homes seem to flourish in areas while black ones burned. A prime example of this being the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 in which enraged white men and women armed with not only weapons but the intent to conquer destroyed this predominantly black Oklahoma town in just 48 hours.

Neighbor hoods affected by illnesses like the 90s crack epidemic and ever increasing rates of incarceration derived from  the fears of white society no longer being superior in the western world. News media constantly covers stories of tragedy mocking or pitying the black community exposing images of maimed black bodies as if to satiate some deeper sinister afformation.

Intersectionality

Black men have been targeted because of the sexist ideology of men being the “head of the house” leading to the literal and figurative hunting of young black boys in order to disrupt black house holds leaving many fatherless, childless and permanently scared. And while personally I as a black women understand the need to protect and help my male counter parts, the history of misogynoir, colorism, homophobia and xenophobia can’t be tolerated. 

Unfortunately in most aspects the black and white communities seem to mimic themselves in regards to prejudice with in their own circles the difference being the oppression of black people. An example of this being homophobia.

Members of the LGBTQ+ community have been harassed and ostracized in the black community since its assimilation to white American society. People have lost homes and lives just being themselves being told their “wrong” or going through a faze. Gay men are called sissy or fruity while Lesbian women are further hyper masculinized becoming victims to sexual abuse by family members or community members believing they can “fix” them through rape, sex work or molestation. Many of these instances happen when people or children. Movies like Moon Light highlight how devastating the toll of exclusion plays on young black minds.

Genotype and Phenotype

Pseudo science has numerous times in the past tried to biologically prove that the established “Black Race” was inferior to the “White Race”. There is no such thing proving that any body that isn’t white is genetically inferior or superior.

Black women have often been dissected time and time again. Hyper Sexualized and Masculinized stereotypes of black women have been used to justify the violence put upon them. As well as the replication of them. It should be commonly known that not all black women look them same.

The main attributes contributed to black people typically are full lips, darker skin, coily hair, a curvier figure and so on. The rise in body modification surgeries and cosmetic surgeries have many people, most being women, throwing bill after bill into body goals once thought to be previously unattainable. Popular surgeries like Brazilian Butt Lifts and Lip injections emulate parts of black bodies originally seen as barbaric or purely undesirable. These same traits many pay thousands to get were used to as racist fodder. 

The classic movie or show trope of white women’s fear of growing a large butt or bigger hips was a staple in almost any genre from teen coming of age stories to dramatic romances. When white women are shown to have body types similar to this people glorify and praise them. But when shown on black women naturally especially darker skinned black women their labeled as ghetto, to sexual or grotesque. 

In an Article written by  Sydneysky G. titled Kim Parker, and all the other “Sassy, Fat Black Friends” who came before her, are there to make us laugh, but not for us to take seriously as characters or human beings, they write, “ In fact, it feels like the character itself was created out of an anti-Black exaggeration of how fat Black women are perceived. And in doing this they make the thinner and/or lighter character look “better” by comparison. Kim was never meant to be the character audiences wanted to be but rather an example of the “ghetto” fat Black girls that society looks down on. Showing fatness as a moral failure, fat characters are made out to be cautionary tales of “unrespectable” Black girls. Using fat characters to prop up thin ones as morally better people ,”.

While Sydneysky’s argument centers around fatness in media the message is still the same. The bodies desirable by society have been heavily seen on black women and black femme presenting bodies but aren’t called the standard.

[helladirections]

can u update me on the senate im very confused rn bevause different sites are showing diff numbers

(disclaimer) i am not a whole expert

Yes, absolutely. 

I did a little bit of an explainer about this year’s Senate map here. Basically, Democrats needed to keep all their seats and flip 4 seats to reach a 51 majority. However, Doug Jones from Alabama, who narrowly won his special election last year because his opponent was a pedophile, predictably lost his seat. 

Every election year, approximately 1/3 of the Senate is up for reelection (they serve 6 year terms). This year there were a total of 34 seats up, plus the special election in Georgia. Here is a list of every Senate race. North Carolina and Alaska haven’t technically been called, but the Republican has a giant advantage. The incumbent is on the left, and the winner is in bold. 

Alabama: Doug Jones (D) v Tommy Tuberville (R) Alaska: Dan Sullivan (R) v Al Gross (D) Arizona: Martha McSally (R) v Mark Kelly (D) Arkansas: Tom Cotton (R) v [no D candidate] Colorado: Cory Gardner (R) v John Hickenlooper (D) Delaware: Chris Coons (D) v Lauren Witzke (R) Georgia: David Perdue (R) v Jon Ossoff (D) Georgia Special: Kelly Loeffler (R) v Raphael Warnock (D) Idaho: Jim Risch (R) v Paulette Jordan (D) Illinois: Dick Durbin (D) v Mark Curran (R) Iowa: Joni Ernst (R) v Theresa Greenfield (D) Kansas: Roger Marshall (R) v Barbara Bollier (D) Kentucky: Mitch McConnell (R) v Amy McGrath (D) Louisiana: Bill Cassidy (R) v Derrick Edwards (D) Maine: Susan Collins (R) v Sara Gideon (D) Massachusetts: Ed Markey (D) v Kevin O’Connor (R) Michigan: Gary Peters (D) v John James (R) Minnesota: Tina Smith (D) v Jason Lewis (R) Mississippi: Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) v Mike Espy (D) Montana: Steve Daines (R) v Steve Bullock (D) Nebraska: Ben Sasse (R) v Chris Janicek (D) New Hampshire: Jeanne Shaheen (D) v Corky Messner (R) New Jersey: Cory Booker (D) v Rik Mehta (R) New Mexico: Ben Ray Lujan (D) v Mark Ronchetti (R) North Carolina: Thom Tillis (R) v Cal Cunningham (D) Oklahoma: James Inhofe (R) v Abby Broyles (D) Oregon: Jeff Merkley (D) v Jo Rae Perkins (R) Rhode Island: Jack Reed (D) v Allen Waters (R) South Carolina: Lindsey Graham (R) v Jaime Harrison (D) South Dakota: Mike Rounds (R) v Daniel Ahlers (D) Tennessee: Bill Hagerty (R) v Marquita Bradshaw (D) Texas: John Cornyn (R) v MJ Hegar (D) Virginia: Mark Warner (D) v Daniel Gade (R) West Virginia: Shelley Moore-Capito (R) v Paula Jean Swearengin Wyoming: Cynthia Lummis (R) v Merav Ben-David (D)

As you can see, we only flipped 2 seats, and neither Georgia race was called. Georgia state law says that in order to win, the candidate has to ear over 50% of the vote, which none of them did due to third party candidates. Both Georgia races are going into runoffs which will take place on January 5. 

That means right now, the senate power stands at 48-50. If both Dems win in Georgia in January, that put us at 50-50. If the Senate ties in a vote, the VP casts the tie-breaking  vote. 

This means that the Georgia races are VERY important. Without both of those seats, the Turtleman will continue to be in charge of the Senate and can stand in the way of a lot of things - any legislation he doesn’t like, any judge or cabinet nomination, literally anything. If we do win those two seats, then Kamala Harris gets to break any ties. 

im a poli sci grad with a career in democratic politics. ask me things if you have questions

[f4liveblogarchives]

Fantastic Four Vol 1 #140

Tues Jul 30 2019 [05:28 PM] Wack'd: It's Annihilus [05:28 PM] Wack'd: I put an autocorrect code in my keyboard so I wouldn't have to remember how to spell Annihilus [05:28 PM] Umbramatic: oof [05:29 PM] Wack'd: So Annihilus is coming to Earth to do something nasty to Franklin as vengeance for that one time Reed kicked his ass to save Sue from dying in childbirth [05:30 PM] Wack'd: (Don't ask, it's really not going to make any more sense than what I just said) [05:30 PM] Umbramatic: (...okay) [05:30 PM] Aleph Null: it's spelled anilingus [05:31 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Annihilus has a stowaway and he's kinda miffed about it but before we find out who that is we cut back to Earth [05:31 PM] Wack'd: Where you might recall Reed was moping and ignoring the Negative Zone alarm light [05:33 PM] Wack'd: Wyatt, Johnny, Ben, and Medusa are returning from their thrilling adventure in Oklahoma [05:33 PM] Wack'd: Medusa tells Ben to apologize for this but he's kinda got a point--priorities, Reed!

[05:34 PM] Wack'd: (Hey has Johnny tried to reach out to his sister since this started? Like at all?) [05:34 PM] Umbramatic: thank you ben [05:35 PM] Wack'd: Sue calls on the videophone to let Reed know something's up with Franklin and so Reed immediately leaps into action. One of the side effects of the split that I'm enjoying is now it's the rest of the team trying to prevent Reed from rushing in, rather than vice versa [05:36 PM] Wack'd: hahahhahahaahahahaha

[05:37 PM] Bocaj: Be nicer, Ben [05:37 PM] Umbramatic: floppy noodle [05:37 PM] Bocaj: She just concussed Reed for you [05:38 PM] Wack'd: CAR SEAT OF THE FUTURE

[05:39 PM] Wack'd: Hey. Hey Gerry. What exactly did Sue discover? How is she more self-aware? because near as I can tell she just chilled on a ranch riding horses for a few months

[05:41 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Agatha Harkness uses her powers to nearly crash the car and then asks Sue and Franklin to teleport away with her [05:41 PM] Wack'd: As ya do [05:41 PM] Umbramatic: only natural [05:42 PM] Wack'd: 🎵 Human fish / Human fish / What's he thinking? / Human fish / So mysterious 🎶

[05:43 PM] Wack'd: So Reed, Johnny, Ben, and Medusa arrive at the farm, only to be informed they've missed Sue entirely [05:43 PM] Wack'd: This is when Reed reveals he has a homing device in Sue's car [05:43 PM] Wack'd: C'mon, Reed [05:43 PM] Umbramatic: oh [05:44 PM] Umbramatic: not suprising but still oh [05:44 PM] Aleph Null: literal monarchs being in marvel team books will never stop being funny [05:44 PM] Bocaj: Look, they like to take down time [05:44 PM] Aleph Null: t'challa shirking his duties by being an avenger [05:45 PM] Wack'd: So they find Sue's car but there's burn marks. Reed does a science and determines there's Negative Zone radiation in the air [05:45 PM] Bocaj: "I did a science. Results are Negative" [05:46 PM] Wack'd: So they fly back to the Baxter to do some Negative Zoning [05:46 PM] Wack'd: But the Negative Zone has come to them!

[05:46 PM] Bocaj: He is insuffiencetly buggy here and looks like if Doctor Doom made some daring armor choices [05:46 PM] Umbramatic: nice teeth [05:47 PM] Wack'd: Those are not usually colored white and he looks like a huge dork this way [05:47 PM] Umbramatic: pfft [05:47 PM] maxwellelvis: Nyeaah [05:47 PM] maxwellelvis: what's up, doc [05:48 PM] Bocaj: "Nyeeeeh Reed you'll pay for taking the good bunsen burner!" >=B [05:48 PM] Wack'd: Fight fight fight [05:48 PM] maxwellelvis: So they fight and they fight and they fight and they fight and they [05:49 PM] Wack'd: Anyway he wipes the floor with them pretty fast but leaves Wyatt awake to exposit to [05:51 PM] Wack'd: So basically, a young, scrawny Annihilus was the first--seemingly only--sentient, self-aware life form on his planet in the Negative Zone during a primordial period a thousand years ago [05:51 PM] Umbramatic: only a thousand? [05:52 PM] Wack'd: Yeah, though he points out this process took a lot longer when Earth did it [05:52 PM] Umbramatic: aha [05:52 PM] Wack'd: He finds an ancient starship, and a helmet, which he puts on thinking it will shield him from the elements [05:52 PM] maxwellelvis: Yeah, that's something that's kept consistent throughout the decades, Annihilus being hyper-evolved [05:53 PM] Wack'd: The helmet tells him of a precursor race of proud warrior anthropomorphic lions [05:53 PM] Bocaj: Of course [05:54 PM] Wack'd: During a mission to sees barren worlds with life, they crashed and basically decided to dump all of their life-stuff here [05:54 PM] Wack'd: And then they starved to death [05:54 PM] Bocaj: So: idiots [05:54 PM] Umbramatic: f [05:56 PM] Wack'd: Annihilus decides to use his intellect and newfound technology to take revenge on all of the stupid animals who attacked him in the wild [05:56 PM] Bocaj: "TAKE THAT, YA DUMB DONKEY" [05:57 PM] Wack'd: 'S like early man going "man, fuck that sabertooth tiger in particular" [05:57 PM] Umbramatic: fucking saberteeth, am i right [05:58 PM] Wack'd: Anyway, I feel like this is actually a fairly good backstory? Annihilus obsession with power and petty revenge is well-contextualized by basically being a doofus caveman with no sense of scale [05:58 PM] Umbramatic: ye [05:58 PM] maxwellelvis: Like if Vandal Savage was an alien [05:58 PM] Wack'd: And also never learned anything despite being immortal [05:59 PM] Bocaj: "When will I ever use this in real life?" - Annihilus except about everything [06:00 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Annihilus raises Wyatt over his head and chucks him dramatically into the Negative Zone, where Reed, Johnny, Ben, and Medusa are already waiting [06:00 PM] Wack'd: And then follows them in for a cliffhanger

[orpheus-type-beat]

Hercules live blog

1. That opening number with the muses was a BOP omg

2. Pegasus came from Posideon and Medusa’s head Disney is erasing their love why

3. Dude the fates freaked me out as a kid. It’s interesting that they took the eyeball thing and added it to the the Fates

4. Also I’m not a classics major but I don’t think Hades trying to seduce the Fates is canon

5. You can’t kill a god, but you can make them mortal, and then kill them? So like you can kill a god it just takes multiple steps.

6. Canon Hera would be like “omg Hercules is gone, I’m so sad, like so sad I forgot to cry and started laughing instead lol

7. Hercules has disproportionally large feet and that’s why no one in town likes him.

8. “I just feel like... I belong somewhere else... like, just for example, Mount Olympus... or something”

9. I’m sorry it’s a good song but Hercules is not a tenor that’s just what it is.

10. “Somehow I’ll be strong” like that’s not literally your one singular trait?

11. Hypothesis: Hercules is literally just Jesus in this movie.

12. Hera did not love Hercules I repeat

13. Another thing this movie erases: Hercules in Ancient Greek myth is a giant dick who people put up with because he’s strong and fun at parties.

14. Not pictured: every other time Hercules landed on an island and it was just an island and they looked around and then left.

15. Danny Devito.

16. “They couldn’t go the distance” but Hercules can because that was his establishing song

17. Danny Devito should be every Yoda-like character in every movie including Star Wars

18. “What’s in Thebes?” “Thebians I guess”

19. The use your head joke worked better in Toy Story but it’s ok

20. The horseshoe thing was funny +1 point

21. “At least if I had any friends” Meg is a millennial we stan already.

22. Also immediately calls out rape culture we still stan

23. The Big Olive. I’m walking here. We understand

24. The plague of locusts thing was funny

25. Also that dude should definitely move to Sparta it’s great there

26. “Help I can’t breathe I’m suffocating but I’m yelling and using up all of my available oxygen”

27. Interpolating the lifting the rock to prove hero status from Jason was cool

28. The partially 3D Hydra in a 2D movie is very 90s Disney animation

29. Signing autographs with a chisel is funny af

30. The music is making me think about the Princess and the Frog and now I want to watch that

31. The lion is just Scar wow @ him next time

32. Meg is an icon and is way too cool for him

33. Hercules is completely non sexual in this movie that’s not canon either

34. “Your not like that” oof

35. The getting hit by Cupid’s (fake) arrow was actually a nice touch

36. Hercules is so pure in this movie I enjoy that

37. “No man is worth that” Meg is such a millienial what a mood still stanning

38. Also the muses ship this HARD

39. Also Meg you can fuck the statue of Hercules this is Ancient Greece remember you just have to believe

40. I’m having flashbacks to performing “People will say were in love” in Oklahoma that songs been written about 900 times

41. The female Pegasus has a tramp stamp

42. Hercules is very dumb

43. The moral of the story is love is bad and dangerous. Actually this is pretty Ancient Greek thematically

44. Hercules caught a case of emo from Meg

45. Hercules should be IMMEDIATELY dead on that first hit but ok he’ll be saved by the power of song maybe?

46. “Hey you ever watch this really old movie, the Empire Strikes Back??”

47. Why didn’t Meg just like prick her finger with a needle and give Hercules his strength back from the get go.

48. “I really was attracted to you” ok Pain we all see u

[purplepints]

I'm an American. I'm pale af because my families came to the US from Ireland and Germany. My grandparents all ended up traveling west from New York, New Jersey, Nebraska, Arkansas, et al for different reasons, ending up in New Mexico.

New Mexico gained statehood in 1912. It is in the southwest between Texas (to our east), Arizona (to our west) and Colorado (to our north. We are one of the 'Four Corners' states (Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah) and also share a teeny sliver of a border with Oklahoma because slavery. Ask Texas.

Anyway.

We, New Mexico, are almost always forgotten or overlooked by other people in the US. It happens so often that there is an actual section of New Mexico Magazine called "One of Our 50 Is Missing" where submissions can be sent about this never-ending eye-roll inducing frustration. This is not only an in-person occurance, it covers everything from mailing packages to dealing with customer service hotlines and more. Everyone from New Mexico has at least one of these stories.

To nip the "oh maybe they just heard Mexico" argument in the bud? Yes, the vast majority of New Mexicans, when someone says 'Mexico?' or otherwise makes a reference to the Country of Mexico, will correct the other person by saying 'No, NEW Mexico' and in the majority of these instances I personally did clarify "NEW Mexico, the actual State":

- Probably the most oft-repeated is "....but you're white?!" in a questioning tone after I say I'm from NM.

- My actual officially issued State ID being rejected/questioned and my Passport being demanded (I did not have a passport until very recently as I never needed one), then my "other documents or whatever you should have". Again I am a white so I'll at least grudingly give those jackasses points for equal idiocy toward NM regardless of melanin.

- My English and/or grasp of US culture being "excellent" or "unexpected" (also asking when/where I learned english and how I enjoy visiting the US).

- Do we use USD/American currency or told that they only take 'American money', especially hilarious when I'm paying with a card.

- When giving phone number, interrupted and asked for 'the country code first' or told I left it blank on forms; when giving address cut-off after saying "New Mexico, 8—" with "ma'am we don't mail Internationally"

- Being told to tell my family "gracias for their service, didn't know y'all helped America" at the WWII Memorial Monument after taking a picture of the New Mexico arch/wreath (the states are all in order) by a couple who even after I literally pointed at the NEW MEXICO and said 'the State of New Mexico in the southwest, been here since 1912, the 48th state' and that the WWII vets were US-born white men, still didn't seem to understand why New Mexico had a spot or why NM fought alongside the US.

- While working at medical offices, having medical claims denied by out of state companies due to "no foreign/out of country services covered by this plan" and losing it on a lady being extremely obstinate after she huffs and goes "Look, [Pints], I'm all the way over here in Houston you can't expect me to—" My interrupting New Mexican ass who is 713% done with her stupid Houston ass: 'LADY YOU'RE IN TEXAS, LOOK WEST, WE LITERALLY BORDER YOUR STUPID ASS' and then apologizing by saying I shouldn't have yelled, I just made the silly assumption that she, as a professional in Texas, would not just know NM, but all 50 states of the country (the claim was faxed over approved by end of day).

.....and believe me, I have more, and some of them made me want to do violence. A few almost had violence happen to me, too. Fucking Tennessee.

So what I'm saying here in general is that Americans don't know their own fucking country and still think everything west of Texas until Disneyland is all cactus and cowboys and people riding donkeys to school and if they can't wrap their brains around the main 48 + 2 you honestly can't have faith they know much of anything about any other country.

For more face-palming true accounts of this phenomenon, here is the link to the archive of 'One of Our 50 Is Missing' via New Mexico Magazine :

https://www.newmexico.org/heart-of-nm/one-of-our-50-is-missing/

Edit to add: Also, nobody from New Mexico gives a shit about your theories or opinions on Roswell/UFOs. Please don't start up with that bullshit even if that's all you know about NM.

Someone said "Are you really so stupid to think that Africa has the same technological advances as us? If they did they would probably have clean water and not live in houses made of sticks and mud. Get over yourself and stop being so ignorant."..... Below is a tiny collection of images of the Africa they refuse to show you..

ches

I’m sorry you’ve been made to believe that the whole of Africa is poor, I really am..

[lesfeldickbiblestudy]

[convertplayer id="sqBr5UEwM" width="700" height="525"] Through the Bible with Les Feldick LESSON 3 * PART 3 * BOOK 48 Hebrews 4:12-16 A lot of people, as they catch our program, see this class setting and wonder who we are. Well we’re just a layman, and I’m a cattle rancher from Oklahoma, and I make no apology for that. The Lord has just sort of given us an opportunity to teach the Word to anybody from 7 to - oh we get listeners way up in the 90’s, and the answer is almost always the same. "Been in church all my life, 94 years old and I’ve learned more in the last 3 months than I did in 93 years." Well, I give the Lord the credit for that because we’ve been able to just open the scriptures without attacking anyone. I see no purpose in pointing out other people’s faults and so forth. We’re just going to simply look at what the Scripture says and trust the Holy Spirit will direct it to the hearts where they need it. So now let’s go right on with our study in Hebrews 4 and we’re going to go right in to verse 13. And remember in our last half hour we were pointing out how that the Word of God is so powerful and is totally capable of separating even the soul and spirit as you could if you were a medical person, separate the joints and marrow. All right, now then we go into the verse. Hebrews 4:13a "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: In other words it’s just tied to this same concept that the Word of God is able to just simply penetrate into those areas that nothing else can do and so there is nothing, no creature that is not manifest in his sight. I always like to define that word manifest as a light under a microscope. That, until you turn that little powerful light on to beam up through the object that you are looking at, you don’t see anything. But once that light manifests everything that’s on that little glass slide, it’s made available for you to see. Alright, now that’s the way the Word of God is. It just simply puts God’s powerful spotlight on everything, and so he says: Hebrews 4:13b "…but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." Now, never forget that Paul is constantly referring in the book of Hebrews to the living God. We aren’t worshiping some idol of wood or stone. We’re not worshiping some man-concocted idea, but we are literally aware of, and worshiping, and are saved by, a living creator God. Alright, now I think I’m going to let the Scripture speak for itself, and periodically, in my own time, I just love to go back and read Psalm 139. Let’s go back and look at it in this light. How that God sees everything, the unimportant, the mundane, as well as the headline grabbing events of mankind. Nothing escapes His manifestations. Here in Psalms 139, David just puts it so beautifully and like I said, I’m going to let the Word of God speak for itself. In fact, I had a Jehovah’s Witness listener and they qualified themselves as a Jehovah’s Witness and this is what they said. "I so enjoy your reading program." Well it kind of made us smile for a moment and I thought yes, that’s what I do most of the time. I read and let the Word speak for itself. And I had another letter again just yesterday that asked us to never stop putting the Scripture on the screen. This is the only Bible that a lot of people will ever read. And so this is why we put the Scriptures up as much as we do. As we begin with verse 1 of Psalms 139 we’ll just let the Spirit lead to see how far we want to go. Psalm 139:1 "O Lord, thou hast searched me, and (what’s the next word?) known me." There’s not a part of us that God doesn’t know. Again, as we go into the throne room in prayer, and we’ll be looking at that a little later, maybe not today, but maybe in our taping next month, where he says, "Come boldly before the throne of Grace." Do you realize, do you believe with all your heart, that when you and I pray and when we come into that throne room, it’s as if we are the only one.

God isn’t dealing with millions and millions of people. Oh, he is, but as an individual. And I have that confidence that when I pray, it’s the Lord and I alone in the throne room, and you can have that same feeling. All right, and this is what David is saying. The Lord not only searched him but what? Knew him. Personally, as an individual man. Psalms 139:2 "Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off." The what? Our thought! You don’t even have to say it and the Lord knows what you are thinking. Now I think I got ready to say it a little bit ago. That doesn’t mean that God holds us responsible for every rotten thought that scoots through our mind. And if you don’t have rotten thoughts, then you’re not part of the human race. I’ll never forget years ago when it bothered me that once in a while at just the most revered time, my old mind could shoot these filthy thoughts through and then I read an article by a dear old pastor of a large church in Philadelphia years back. And this was his testimony. He said "It amazed me that there I could stand behind the communion table and as my deacons were out there passing the elements of the Lord’s supper, I would have the most awful thoughts." And you know what I said? Praise the Lord! Because that tells me he was no different than I am and I’m no different that you are. We do have thoughts like that, but as long as we don’t stop and dwell on them, I don’t think God holds us responsible. Our subconscious can shoot them on through and if we let them go, He’s not going to hold us responsible. But if we’re going to stop it and say now wait a minute, I’m going to think about this a little longer. Then it becomes something that we’re going to have to give an account for, and lose some rewards. But never lose sight of the fact that God is a discerner of the very thoughts of our thinking. Now verse 3. Psalms 139:3 "Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways." Now you know what that means? There’s not a moment in your time of living that God isn’t completely around you. Now I’m talking to believers. David was a believer. So this is the assurance that we have, that God is that aware of us as an individual. Not just as one of masses, but we’re an individual in His sight. Lets go on. This is interesting isn’t it? Man, I could just about spend the whole day in this chapter. Now verse 4. Psalms 139:4 "For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, that thou knowest it altogether." There is not a word that God isn’t aware of. That’s quite something isn’t it? Psalms 139:5 "Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me." Now verse 6, and this is almost a repetition of what I said a program or two back. That I cannot begin to comprehend some of these tremendous truths. Now look what David said. Psalms 139:6-7 "Such knowledge (what knowledge? That he is an individual in God’s sight and that God knows everything about him, the individual, such knowledge) is too wonderful for me; (it’s beyond understanding, it is too wonderful for me) it is high, I cannot attain unto it. 7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? (or whither) shall I flee from thy presence?" What does that tell a believer? You’d better be careful where you go. Because you see, no matter where we go, God is there with us. We can’t check him at the door, because He’s with us every place we go. Alright now verse 8. Psalms 139-8 "If (now that’s a conditional word, doesn’t say that he does, but if it were possible) I could ascend up into heaven, thou are there: (well that’s not too hard to comprehend) if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there." Now you want to remember, David is writing from the Old Testament perspective and Hell was that place of the departed and was separated into two sides, Paradise and Torment, as we see in Luke 16, with the story of the rich man and Lazarus. And I’m quite sure that David isn’t putting himself in Torment.

So when he went down into the Paradise of Hell of the Old Testament economy, God was there. Now verse 9. Psalms 139:9-10 "If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10. Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." What does that tell you? There’s not a place on this earth where you could go beyond the hand of God upon you. Not a place. Now verse 11. Psalms 139:11 "If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me." In other words, darkness doesn’t stop God. The thickest, darkest night doesn’t keep God from seeing. He knows everything, and sees everything. Now verse 12 Psalms 139:12 "Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee." So darkness doesn’t make any difference to God. Now verse 13. Psalms 139:13 "For thou hast possessed my reins; (in other words, the desires of his life) thou hast covered me (where?) in my mother’s womb." What does that tell the abortionists? When does God pick up interest in us as an individual? In our mother’s womb! Paul says that God saved me by His Grace, from where? From his mother’s womb. Alright reading on. Psalms 139:14a "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;…" Well now, in our age of technology and information the average person probably knows more about the physiology of our bodies than MD’s did a century ago. And the more we learn, and the more we understand, the more we realize how complex this body really is. Just beyond human comprehension of how complex it is and yet God is aware of every little detail. Now verse 15. Psalms 139:15-16 "My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth." 16. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." In other words, God knew the end from the beginning before the beginning ever started. Now verse 17. Psalms 139:17 "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!" Now you want to remember, David, according to Scripture "was a man after God’s own heart." But David wasn’t in a class all by himself. We’re just as much prone to be in that kind of a mindset. Psalms 139:18 "If I should count them, (that is all these precious thoughts, if I should count them) they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee." 19. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: (now of course remember this is in the Old Testament economy) depart from me therefore, ye bloody men." Now verse 20. Psalms 139:20 "For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain." And so on, and on it goes, but what a gorgeous, gorgeous explanation of the Omnipotence of the God. Never lose sight of it. Even if you have to go back and read this Psalm once or twice a week and just get encouraged as well as convicted that the God of heaven, with whom we have to do, knows all about us. Alright, lets come back to Hebrews again for the few minutes that are left. And so everything, not only of the human race, but of all God’s creation are manifested in his sight. Nothing happens that God isn’t aware of it. Now as we go into verse 14, we shift gears. Paul is great on that. Now all of a sudden, we go from the Omnipotent, Almighty, living God and this Book that is powerful, can even divide asunder soul and spirit, now all of a sudden we slip into the high priestly role of Christ. Hebrews 4:14a "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is (now watch those next few words, that is what?) passed into the heavens,…" Now you remember when we first started way back in Genesis 1:1, in the beginning God created heaven and earth, and way back then already I pointed out that through all of Scripture God deals in two realms.

 The earthly and the heavenly. Israel was God’s earthly people, and we are His heavenly. Alright, now when Christ finished the work of the cross, rose from the dead, and ascended or passed as the Book of Hebrews puts it, He passed into the heavenlies. Do you realize what that means? Up until that time, all worship, all concerns of the Word of God were primarily centered in Jerusalem, weren’t they? In the Temple worship and Israel. But once Christ passed into the heavens, where is now the seat and the core of all spiritual activity? Heaven. And so Paul is constantly reminding you and I now then as Grace Age believers that we’re not an earthly people, we’re a heavenly people, because He has passed into the heavens. He ascended gloriously into the heavens. Alright now let’s just look at a few verses to go along with that. Come back to Ephesians, the little Book of Ephesians, in chapter 1, verse 3. Ephesians 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings (where?) in heavenly places…" Or better is the heavenlies, rather than in heavenly places. That’s the seed of everything. The heavenlies. We’re not tied to a temple worship; we’re not tied to a set of rituals here on earth, because we are heavenly. And as we saw in just the previous verses, we are involved with a God that we can come into his presence and he knows us as an individual. And we’re going to see, like I said a moment ago, a little later in one of the verses where he says, "come boldly into the Throne of Grace." Now let’s look at another one over in Colossians chapter 1, Colossians 1:12-13 "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet (or prepared us) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13. Who (speaking of the Father, remember) Hath delivered us from the power of darkness, (where’s that? On the earth. He’s delivered us from that power of darkness,) and hath (past tense) translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:" Well, where’s the Son? In heaven. Alright, now let’s back up a page to Philippians chapter 3 verse 20. Here we have concrete evidence of where our seat of worship is now located. Philippians 3:20a "For our conversation (or citizenship is a better word, for our citizenship is where) is in heaven; from whence we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:" So our citizenship is already in heaven, and not here on the earth. We’re just strangers passing through. We’re foreigners, and we’re looking for our Saviour. We’re much closer to our Lord’s coming than Paul was. You remember I referred to a cartoon quite a few months ago and this old boy was sitting in front of his cave door, bearded and everything else, and over the cave door he said "The end is near" but he had added "er." Remember that? And that’s what made me think of it. Paul wrote in about 63 or 64 AD that he was looking for the Savior from Heaven. But here we are 1900 and some years later, the end is what? Nearer. So we should be even more expectant than the Apostle Paul was. So remember "our citizenship is in heaven from whence we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ:" And when he comes, now you see, Paul is speaking as though we’re going to be alive when this happens. "Who shall change our vile body, (this one) that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." That’s why if the Lord decides to come yet before we leave this afternoon, that ceiling isn’t going to stop us. No way, because we’re suddenly going to have a body like he had. Did he have to walk around and find the door? No, he went right through the wall. He could have come in through the ceiling and we’re going to leave the same way. Never lose sight of that. That the scripture’s so plain that we’re going to have instantly a body like his resurrected body. And it’s going to work even as his did. Well anyway, the few moments we have left, let’s get back to Hebrews 4. And so we have this great high priest,

not in Jerusalem, not waiting in the sanctuary of the temple there, that’s long gone, but he has passed into the heavens. Jesus the Son of God. Now you remember when we were back there in the early chapters of Hebrews? We were emphasizing the Son. How that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son in Whom everything had been placed. Alright, we’re reminded again that He is the One Who is the core of our confession or profession. And that is what? That Christ, the Son of God, the creator of the universe, the One Who was born in Bethlehem, Who grew up in Nazareth, Who went the way of the cross, rose from the dead and ascended back to glory, that’s our confession. You know, I told one of my classes the other night, I think it was here in Tulsa, my, if I asked someone how do you know that you’re going to be in heaven, either after the rapture or after you die? How do you know? I only want to hear one answer. And what is it? I believe with all my heart that Christ died for my sins and I know that he arose from the dead. Now when I hear that, then I can say yes I have to agree, you’re going to be in glory. Because that is the only reason. You can work from now till doomsday and you’re never going to work your way into heaven. But our confession is this Jesus the Christ Who has passed into the heavens, Who is the Son of God. Now then in the moment or two that’s left, verse 15. Hebrews 4:15 "For we (now back to Hebrews 4) have not (or do not have) a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities;" Now I always like to put it into the positive. We have a high priest who can be touched with our infirmities. Doesn’t that make it easier to understand? Yes. We have a high priest who knows all about us. He sees our every thought as we just saw from the Psalms. There��s nothing that we can hide from him. There’s not a heartache that he doesn’t feel. There’s not a joy and an exuberance that he doesn’t know. Now since we know that we have such a high priest, we can also rest on the fact that not only does He know all about us, but He knows where we are, because He too was touched with temptations. Now I always have to be careful and qualify it. He never was tempted to succumb, He was tempted only so that He could understand from virtual experience what we have to face. He never had the possibility of succumbing. Of course, the best ones, I suppose, that we are aware of, are the temptations in the wilderness when Satan said, turn these stones into bread. Now don’t think even for a split second that the Lord considered it. No way. But He went through those temptations so that the scripture could tell us that nothing, nothing that enters the life of a believer as temptation is something that He hadn’t already experienced. And so that’s what it means. Now we have a high priest who knows exactly what we’re putting up with. He knows what its like to be tempted. The only difference was that He did it apart from sin and we are so prone to sin. But He knows all about us.

[kill-your-darlings-art]

Characters in the Academy

Main Characters

Kieran Starke

-Main character

-17 years old

-Grew up in his hometown of Alderward, Oklahoma. Has never lived anywhere else.

-Works a part-time job at an ice cream shop during the summers.

-Very observant. Idolizes Sherlock Holmes. Potentially wants to be a forensic anthropologist when he grows up.

-All in all a fairly normal guy, save for the fact that he grew up with magic powers. He doesn’t seem to have them currently, and regards them as his deepest secret. Not even his best friend knows about them.

-Is fully aware partway through the plot that he is, in fact, the main character of a YA novel and hates it. He’s 100% done with the tropey bullshit I put him through.

-Gemini

Nick Darling

-15 years old

-Yes, I named a character after myself. It has an explanation in canon, I promise.

-Basically kickstarts the plot.

-Shapeshifter with a few extra perks.

-Overdramatic, like, always.

-Constantly breaking the fourth wall very casually.

-Genderfluid, which is why I’ll usually use they/them pronouns when referring to Nick outside of the story.

-Kind of the comic relief, but hiding a looot of traumatic shit behind their cheery exterior.

-Taurus

Chase Darling

-15 years old

-Nick’s twin brother and strongest emotional support.

-Pretty quiet and in the background most of the time. Disappears without warning.

-Isn’t a shapeshifter, but has the occasional vision instead. Also he’s mortegi, which basically means he’s related to the god of death and can talk to the dead and stuff.

-He and Nick actually have different fathers… It’s actually possible, if really rare. (Long story short, the mother has to sleep with two different men within the same 48-hour ovulation period and there’s a very slim chance that two eggs will be fertilized by the two different guys and….yeah.)

-Kind of the voice of reason in the group?

-He’s painfully under-developed at this point and I’ve really got to fix that, but I’m going to be spending more time on his character in-story in the second book.

-Taurus

Paris Oubrey

-16 years old

-the son of Headmistress

-Very neat and studious. Likes things just so.

-Brilliant pianist, though he’ll get flustered if you tell him so.

-Somewhat wry.

-Has a…troubled relationship with his sister.

-Since he has fae blood, iron burns him. He has a lot of scars from ugly encounters with the acursed metal.

-Sweet disaster gay.

-Aquarius.

Jackie D’Leon

-19 years old

-Secular witch

-Generally just pretty chill

-Local potions dealer

-Honestly, probably a pothead

-From New York, I guess

-Dating a hot vampyre girl

-Apparently the only main character I didn’t figure out a birthday for…. What the fuck, past me?

Atalanta Oubrey

-Paris’s twin sister.

-Not quite as nice as she seems.

-Kind of a bitch, actually.

-Very much a Slytherin type of character. Clever and sly.

-The character I hate the most in personality, but whom I love to write probably the most. I’m a sucker for sly characters.

-Capricorn.

Extra Characters

Nate Ashland

-18 years old

-Kieran’s best friend from Alderward. They’ve known each other since grade school.

-goes by Ash.

-In fact I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned his full name in the story. Whoops?

-Has three older brothers who don’t make appearances in the story but are frankly hilarious. One of whom is pretty much a manwhore crazy party animal and Ash frequently has to take care of him.

-Classic rock buff. Listens to literally nothing else.

-Probably the straightest character in the entire book, to be honest.

-Once he auditioned for the high school's production of Hamlet as the part of Ophelia. Long story short, he tied up his hoodie like a straightjacket and ran about like a fool singing Warrant's Cherry Pie until the drama teacher literally left the auditorium. Needless to say, he didn’t get the part.

-He’s just fucking hilarious. It’s a shame that he isn’t in most of the story.

Liz Starke

-Kieran’s mother.

-Loves to garden.

-Very sweet lady. Cares a lot about Kieran and treats Ash as her own son, especially since his mother is kind of shite.

-Very protective. Will throw down if someone messes with her boys.

-Was born in Alderward. Raised Kieran in her childhood home.

Aleksander Starke

-Kieran’s father.

-He and Liz were highschool sweethearts who got married just out of school.

-Went missing when Kieran was two years old, presumed dead.

-Family’s from the UK, but he’s half Cherokee and half German.

-Spoke German fluently.

-Has a pretty bad rep in the magi community for reasons I’m not going to spoil.

Emera Oubrey

-Headmistress of Evershade Academy. Took over the position from her mother. (The position has been in the family for decades.)

-Mother of Atalanta and Paris.

-Also a very neat and structured person.

-Cares deeply about her students’ well being.

-Was friends with Aleksander and Liz back when they all attended the Academy together.

Mr. Wren

-Owner of Kieran’s favourite bookstore.

-Wise, old, mentor-type guy. Kinda like Yoda but he talks normally and isn’t a stubby, green, alien chinchilla.

-More than he seems…

[belleamebailey]

1, 6, 47, 48, 53 💜 :)

HEY V.

1. The meaning behind your url:

uhh honestly i am not creative what so ever so i just wanted it to kind of flow? so the best way i thought to do it was use like the two d’s.. (lmao) there’s a english word for that fancy type of thing but i don’t remember bc it’s irrelevant. and also cause who doesn’t have dreams about the twins? ok? ok.

6. Favorite band:

i literally don’t have one :’) I listen to a lot of artists but not really any bands? idk.

47. Have you ever had a crush on your neighbor?

lmaaaoo my neighbor is a 100 year old woman and she’s lived next to us my whole life. so no. lol

48. Have you ever ditched school to do something more fun?

i guess you could call me a goody two shoes. cause i didn’t ever “skip” school. i guess one time I didn’t go to school because i went to Oklahoma’s state basketball tournament? but i was with my grandparents? lmaoooo, i’m lame.

53. Have you ever slept until 3?

hahaha yesss. my friends were sooo determined to pull an allnighter one timee and we slept until 5 the next day. lol. i slept until 1:30 the other day soo close.. HAHA i hate myself.

thanks girlll :’)