#also i really liked devo ;c

[meeedeee]

Calling Your Congresspersons

Not my post but please feel free to copy and paste to share with others

*******************************

FOR THOSE OF YOU LOOKING TO TURN YOUR ANGER INTO ACTION, here's some advice from a high-level staffer for a Senator. Re-posting from a friend of mine:

There are two things that we should be doing all the time right now, and they're by far the most important things.

You should NOT be bothering with online petitions or emailing.

1) The best thing you can do to be heard and get your congressperson to pay attention is to have face-to-face time — if they have town halls, go to them. Go to their local offices. If you're in DC, try to find a way to go to an event of theirs. Go to the "mobile offices" that their staff hold periodically (all these times are located on each congressperson's website). When you go, ask questions. A lot of them. And push for answers. The louder and more vocal and present you can be at those the better.

2) But those in-person events don't happen every day. So, the absolute most important thing that people should be doing every day is calling.

YOU SHOULD MAKE 6 CALLS A DAY:

2 each (DC office and your local office) to your 2 Senators & your 1 Representative.

The staffer was very clear that any sort of online contact basically gets immediately ignored, and letters pretty much get thrown in the trash (unless you have a particularly strong emotional story — but even then it's not worth the time it took you to craft that letter).

Calls are what all the congresspeople pay attention to. Every single day, the Senior Staff and the Senator get a report of the 3 most-called-about topics for that day at each of their offices (in DC and local offices), and exactly how many people said what about each of those topics. They're also sorted by zip code and area code. She said that Republican callers generally outnumber Democrat callers 4-1, and when it's a particular issue that single-issue-voters pay attention to (like gun control, or planned parenthood funding, etc...), it's often closer to 11-1, and that's recently pushed Republican congressmen on the fence to vote with the Republicans. In the last 8 years, Republicans have called, and Democrats haven't.

So, when you call:

A) When calling the DC office, ask for the Staff member in charge of whatever you're calling about ("Hi, I'd like to speak with the staffer in charge of Healthcare, please") — local offices won't always have specific ones, but they might. If you get transferred to that person, awesome. If you don't, that's ok — ask for that person's name, and then just keep talking to whoever answered the phone. Don't leave a message (unless the office doesn't pick up at all — then you can — but it's better to talk to the staffer who first answered than leave a message for the specific staffer in charge of your topic).

B) Give them your zip code. They won't always ask for it, but make sure you give it to them, so they can mark it down. Extra points if you live in a zip code that traditionally votes for them, since they'll want to make sure they get/keep your vote.

C) If you can make it personal, make it personal. "I voted for you in the last election and I'm worried/happy/whatever" or "I'm a teacher, and I am appalled by Betsy DeVos," or "as a single mother" or "as a white, middle class woman," or whatever.

D) Pick 1-2 specific things per day to focus on. Don't rattle off everything you're concerned about — they're figuring out what 1-2 topics to mark you down for on their lists. So, focus on 1-2 per day. Ideally something that will be voted on/taken up in the next few days, but it doesn't really matter — even if there's not a vote coming up in the next week, call anyway. It's important that they just keep getting calls.

E) Be clear on what you want — "I'm disappointed that the Senator..." or "I want to thank the Senator for their vote on... " or "I want the Senator to know that voting in _____ way is the wrong decision for our state because... " Don't leave any ambiguity.

F) They may get to know your voice/get sick of you — it doesn't matter. The people answering the phones generally turn over every 6 weeks anyway, so even if they're really sick of you, they'll be gone in 6 weeks.

From experience since the election: If you hate being on the phone & feel awkward (which is a lot of people) don't worry about it — there are a bunch of scripts (Indivisible.org has some, there are lots of others floating around these day). After a few days of calling, it starts to feel a lot more natural.

Put the 6 numbers in your phone (all under P – Politician.) An example is McCaskill MO, Politician McCaskill DC, Politician Blunt MO, etc., which makes it really easy to click down the list each day.

**If you want to share this, please copy and paste so it goes beyond our mutual friends.**

I have added the following websites:

1. Find your federal and state legislators: Use reps.fyi (directs you to https://www.commoncause.org/find-your-representative/ )

2. Use scripts from 5Calls.org

3. Use scripts from the Americans of Conscience Checklist (updates every 2 weeks) https://americansofconscience.com/checklist/

4. Join a local or virtual group at https://indivisible.org/

[thesinglesjukebox]

CHAPPELL ROAN - "HOT TO GO!"

2-4-6-8, who do we appreciate? You all! This wraps up this month's coverage -- see ya in November!

[7.00]

Alfred Soto: Chappell Roan's The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is a sparkling collection of moods and passing desires, best when euphoric. The ballads might have been even stronger had she spelled out their choruses. [7]

Dave Moore: Spelling is fun! [3]

Grace Robins-Somerville: It's been too long since we've had a "spell the words out with your arms" song in the zeitgeist, and seeing people do the H-O-T-T-O-G-O dance at weddings has cemented its staying power. It's nice that lesbians have their "YMCA" now.  [8]

Katherine St. Asaph: "Hot to Go!" is a crowd chant-along that shouldn't work at all as one. The template is "YMCA," but the difference and the problem is that "YMCA" is instantly parseable when spelled out, while "H-O-T-T / O-G-O" takes a moment's reassembly. The other highlight line in "baby, don't you like this beat? I made it so you'd sleep with me" is endearingly blunt -- more musicians should be that honest -- but nevertheless cannot honestly be chanted by anyone but Dan Nigro or Chappell Roan. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that "Hot to Go!" is hugely effective at getting crowds to chant along. [7]

Aaron Bergstrom: Retroactively furious about the idea that one or more of the Village People potentially did or did not endorse Jimmy Carter in the 1980 Presidential election. [7]

Scott Mildenhall: Who or what is a hottogo? The chant falls short of total clarity by going two steps further than succinct, but therein lies the charm. Bursting at the seams of some slightly thin fabric, Chappell Roan carries this so far and fast that she might struggle to find her way back. [7]

Leah Isobel: There are about five perfect hooks on Chappell's debut album. "Baby don't you like this beat?/ I made it so you'd sleep with me" is one of them, precise and funny and melodically flawless. I think that was the moment that sold me on her whole project: the bluntness balanced by craft, the expertise made human by the raw and embarrassing vulnerability of wanting sex, wanting recognition, wanting anything at all. Also, have y'all heard the fanmade Rhythm Heaven edit for this? Banger! [8]

TA Inskeep: Every generation gets a new cheerleading-cheer anthem -- think Toni Basil's "Mickey" or Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" -- and here's the latest, with a bit of "Y.M.C.A." thrown in for good measure. It's hard to ignore Roan's joy on this chorus; this is also a rare pop single where its meme-ability actually draws me in (cf. "Call Me Maybe"). How can you not smile when you hear this? [7]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Of all the guises that Chappell Roan inhabited on her debut album, this always felt like the truest — she sounds like Devo if they slayed, still gawking and midwestern and not quite fitting a perfect archetype of pop stardom but still, nevertheless, a star. The weepy ballads (some of them great) fade away in the face of this, the goofy chant-a-longs and dance instructions wearing one's resistance down on the strength of pure charisma and craft. There are hooks upon hooks here — I think I've had just the synth chord on the prechorus stuck in my head before. [9]

Ian Mathers: I took the number of times I've caught myself humming this song since I first heard the record last year and divided it by a very large number and got this score. I am not currently interested in Discourse beyond that. [10]

Nortey Dowuona: You're trying to take out Chappell Roan the way you took out Amy Winehouse and I don't like it. Not one bit.  Also, the '80s actually kinda sucked -- let's not go back. (This song is great btw.) [8]

Jel Bugle: I know everyone loves Chappell, and I’ve not really bothered to get too excited. I like the Casio keyboard sounds, and spelling out words in songs is always a good trick (see "D I S C O," and I’m sure Olivia has a spelling words out song?). I can see why Sabrina is winning the chart battle here in the UK. I just feel like this song is okay, warm rather than hot -- a sort of personality over the strength of the song. Plus, I’m getting tired of this song constantly being pushed to me by Spotify -- if it happens again the [6] becomes a [5].  [6]

Taylor Alatorre: For all the talk of Chappell Roan hailing the return of “recession pop,” this strikes my ears as more of a grasping imitation of the real than most of what PC Music was accused of putting out. Maybe that’s unavoidable given the generation gap, as well as the decline of the universal pop star – Chappell covers “Bad Romance” on tour, but she doesn’t exude the belief that she can be a legitimate successor to Lady Gaga. She’s ambivalent about the compromises required for mass appeal, even on songs like this one which are structured, at least internally, toward that end. It’s all the external festooning and DIY-style pageantry which redirect the song’s course toward a cozier ideal of attainable imperfection, a glitzy and glammy take on self-sabotage. Which, in the end, is its own kind of earnestness. “HOT TO GO!” is confident enough in its own gangliness to bill itself as a coming-out party where everyone, even the normies, is invited, despite the singer’s doubts about the long-term viability of this promise. [6]

Tim de Reuse: The appeal of "Pink Pony Club" was immediately evident to me on first listen. But this one's a silly Chappell Roan song: The narrative here is buried under catchy turns of phrase and the hokey pokey-ass pre-chorus, leaving us to wring pathos out of a few scant lines in the verses. So, what's the draw? The simple build-and-release drama of a I-IV-I progression? The energy of a jittery, unkempt synthesizer-driven beat? Is the chant of "H-O-T-T-O-G-O" sugary enough to overcome my pop-pessimist cynicism and light up my long-calcified dopamine receptors for once? Eh, kinda. It's well-constructed, but it just isn't aiming all that high. [6]

Will Adams: Silly fun pop that doesn't require much thought -- just do the little dance and enjoy yourself! [6]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[happyfandomvictim]

Eta: there is an app called 5 Calls that can provide you with names and scripts.

FOR THOSE OF YOU LOOKING TO TURN YOUR ANGER INTO ACTION, here's some advice from a high-level staffer for a Senator.

There are two things that we should be doing all the time right now, and they're by far the most important things.

You should NOT be bothering with online petitions or emailing.

1) The best thing you can do to be heard and get your congressperson to pay attention is to have face-to-face time — if they have town halls, go to them. Go to their local offices. If you're in DC, try to find a way to go to an event of theirs. Go to the "mobile offices" that their staff hold periodically (all these times are located on each congressperson's website). When you go, ask questions. A lot of them. And push for answers. The louder and more vocal and present you can be at those the better.

2) But those in-person events don't happen every day. So, the absolute most important thing that people should be doing every day is calling.

YOU SHOULD MAKE 6 CALLS A DAY:

2 each (DC office and your local office) to your 2 Senators & your 1 Representative.

The staffer was very clear that any sort of online contact basically gets immediately ignored, and letters pretty much get thrown in the trash (unless you have a particularly strong emotional story — but even then it's not worth the time it took you to craft that letter).

Calls are what all the congresspeople pay attention to. Every single day, the Senior Staff and the Senator get a report of the 3 most-called-about topics for that day at each of their offices (in DC and local offices), and exactly how many people said what about each of those topics. They're also sorted by zip code and area code.

She said that Republican callers generally outnumber Democrat callers 4-1, and when it's a particular issue that single-issue-voters pay attention to (like gun control, or planned parenthood funding, etc...), it's often closer to 11-1, and that's recently pushed Republican congressmen on the fence to vote with the Republicans. In the last 8 years, Republicans have called, and Democrats haven't.

So, when you call:

A) When calling the DC office, ask for the Staff member in charge of whatever you're calling about ("Hi, I'd like to speak with the staffer in charge of Healthcare, please") — local offices won't always have specific ones, but they might. If you get transferred to that person, awesome. If you don't, that's ok — ask for that person's name, and then just keep talking to whoever answered the phone. Don't leave a message (unless the office doesn't pick up at all — then you can — but it's better to talk to the staffer who first answered than leave a message for the specific staffer in charge of your topic).

😎 Give them your zip code. They won't always ask for it, but make sure you give it to them, so they can mark it down. Extra points if you live in a zip code that traditionally votes for them, since they'll want to make sure they get/keep your vote.

C) If you can make it personal, make it personal. "I voted for you in the last election and I'm worried/happy/whatever" or "I'm a teacher, and I am appalled by Betsy DeVos," or "as a single mother" or "as a white, middle class woman," or whatever.

D) Pick 1-2 specific things per day to focus on. Don't rattle off everything you're concerned about — they're figuring out what 1-2 topics to mark you down for on their lists. So, focus on 1-2 per day. Ideally something that will be voted on/taken up in the next few days, but it doesn't really matter — even if there's not a vote coming up in the next week, call anyway. It's important that they just keep getting calls.

E) Be clear on what you want — "I'm disappointed that the Senator..." or "I want to thank the Senator for their vote on... " or "I want the Senator to know that voting in _____ way is the wrong decision for our state because... " Don't leave any ambiguity.

F) They may get to know your voice/get sick of you — it doesn't matter. The people answering the phones generally turn over every 6 weeks anyway, so even if they're really sick of you, they'll be gone in 6 weeks.

From experience since the election: If you hate being on the phone & feel awkward (which is a lot of people) don't worry about it — there are a bunch of scripts (Indivisible has some, there are lots of others floating around these day). After a few days of calling, it starts to feel a lot more natural.

Put the 6 numbers in your phone (all under P – Politician.) An example is McCaskill MO, Politician McCaskill DC, Politician Blunt MO, etc., which makes it really easy to click down the list each day.

**If you want to share this, please copy and paste so it goes beyond our mutual friends.**

[transmutationisms]

broad af question, but thots on the rise of epigenetics as a model? (i imagine youd be pretty sympathetic to mansfield and guthmans critique esp re: reproductive futurity)

you imagine correctly, lol. they're kinda frustrating because they don't really understand the relationship between epigenetics, eugenics, and social reform projects historically and aren't able to contextualise it in contemporary biology, but they're still right to point out that interest in epigenetics is primarily coming from a desire to enforce ideas of biological normality and ideals of strength / beauty / &c. what's lacking in the historical narrative is the fact that this type of environmentalism has been part of evolutionary biology more often than not; darwin and his contemporaries also believed in the inheritance of acquired characteristics, so really it was only temporarily displaced by the crude genetic determinism of the modern synthesis in the early 1940s, and this model was in serious disrepute by about 50 years later lmao. i also think mansfield and guthman, like most commentators on this issue, overstate the extent to which epigenetic inheritance is a 'lamarckian' idea (it's not, any more than mendelian genetics is 'darwinian' or evo-devo is the same as 18th-century recapitulation theory lmao).

anyway, regarding epigenetics itself, there's also a lot of overconfidence about the ability for biologists to actually determine which genes are being differentially expressed, how they influence one another, and what that means for the organism. if you even change, like, the length of dna sequence that the computer considers to be a gene, you get a radically different list, and even if you can identify a differentially expressed gene with confidence, determining what exactly it does is still incredibly hard. in practical terms, epigenetics is still confined mostly to similar kinds of epidemiological studies as nutrition science, and many of these studies are plagued with confounding factors and methodological weaknesses. the hope has long been that by identifying epigenetic changes, we could develop targeted therapies. but this is basically a moonshot imo (like, literally no one knows which parts of gene expression to target or how, ever) and also raises the extremely thorny question of: what things, exactly, are we hoping to 'fix'? more often than not, as m&g point out, this type of research is driven by interest in enforcing thinness, specific neurological and affective states, &c. not to say there's NO epigenetic research being done on diseases that would actually be beneficial to cure, but epigenetics has a eugenic bent (because public health has a eugenic bent) and is specifically being funded that way.

although i disagree, like i said, that epigenetics is really lamarckism (& dislike the work of jablonka and that crowd for this exact reason lol), you can certainly contextualise the rise of epigenetics in the longer history of disputations over the role of the environment in determining the condition of the organism. life sciences and medicine have grappled with this issue in many different forms; for instance, hippocrates's non-naturals suggest environmental and climatic influence, galenic humoural theory leans on internal regulation with the environment as an external disruption, germ theory offered what appeared to be a non-environmental theory of disease that was promptly synthesised with sanitary-environmentalist hypotheses by the french hygiene profession. within evolutionary biology specifically, ideas of plasticity within an organism's lifetime have never really gone away, and the dispute was essentially over the extent to which these changes were hereditary. epigenetic theory fits comfortably within this ongoing debate, and if more biologists understood that then they would understand why their work bears such a strong resemblance to so many previous eugenic projects.

[lang-rangler-enjoyer]

💎 💔 😈 and 🤝 for JJBA for the side character game? c: (Sorry I didn't remember if I already sent you one of these or not.)

💎 - underused or misused side character

D an G 1000%. His backstory was so interesting and thematically relevant to stone ocean and Araki squandered it >:( like cmon man you wrote a story about a) the world ending in 2012 and b) made a ton of the story elements about how the justice system sucks (Maxx legally gets away with murder, Pucci uses his power and people’s trust to manipulate and kill prisoners, the guards are all bribe-able, etc). AND THEN YOU WROTE A CONSPIRACY NUT EX COP WHO BELIEVES IN THE APOCALYPSE AND GETS A REDUCED SENTENCE AND PROTECTIONS BECAUSE OF HIS STATUS AAAAAND DID NOTHING AND GAVE HIM CLOSE TO ZERO SPEAKING LINES. W H Y

💔- Least favourite side characters?

Would you guys kill me if I said I didn’t really connect with Wekapipo and he’s probably my least favourite antagonist in SBR? It’s not like I hate him or anything, he was fine, I feel like he just lacked the spice and personality that the other villains get because he was intended to be redeemed. So he’s just kinda stoic and reasonable. He’s funny when he’s being a foil to Magent but on his own he’s just kind of a jobro who isn’t endearing.

😈 - favourite minor villain?

Oh no don’t do this to me 🥺 I can’t pick

Gun to my head it’s probably Axl Ro. Like not counting headcanons or anything he’s probably the one with the most canon information that compels me.

🤝 - side characters who haven’t met in canon but you think they’d get along

Thunder McQueen and Lang Rangler both seem to be weird freaks who can’t be normal lmao so I think they’d have a kind of “you’re a safe person to be around because you’re also socially inept so you’re not going to bully me for being weird” friendship. Like a cat type of relationship where they just hang out in the same areas and do parallel play lol

Ringo Roadagain, Axl Ro, and DISCO are all weird soft spoken introverts, 2/3 have canon trauma and the other one is extremely autistic so of course they’d get along lol

Also Devo and Alessi because they’re both over the top performative freaks who seem to have an established “brand” as assassins. I think they’re both slasher fans and they should watch movies together for inspo lol

[boyishmess]

Kick in the Teeth

Maids were too much hassle. It wasn't really an excuse, and it definitely wasn't because he was lonely, but the ad in the paper was all he really needed to be convinced it was a good idea. Besides, a mail order bride wasn't that expensive, and it would be giving a needy woman a house and a job. Kind of.

Adrian had sent the check a week ago, and the bride was supposed to arrive today. There was a marriage document for them to sign, and apparently that’s all they needed for it to be official. He supposed that there would be two people dropping her off so one could be a witness and the other could officiate, but what did he really know? Maybe this wasn't official at all and it was just a big scam. 

If that were the case, he’d just kill the guys dropping her off and keep the girl. Simple as that.

The knock on the door was sharp and loud. He got to his feet and brushed off his shirt, for some reason wanting to look presentable. Maybe this girl would be a disappointment. Maybe she was mean, or bad at cleaning, or—even worse, boring. He sighed to himself, praying for the best God had to offer.

Two cheerful men greeted him at the door, brandishing wide, yellow smiles. Their suits were polished and nice, though their boots were dusty and old.

“Hello, Mister Devoe!” the one on the left greeted. “Pleasure to meet you! I am Melvin, and this is my brother Philip! We are here to officiate your mail order bride purchase!”

Adrian cringed. He had forgotten that the people who sold mail order brides looked at it like slave trading. Being dark-skinned himself, it didn't sit well with him.

“May we come in?” 

“Sure,” Adrian said, stepping aside. “Uh, where’s the, uh...bride?”

“We will introduce her to you as soon as you sign these papers saying you won't sue us!” Philip beamed.

Adrian frowned. “Uh, okay.” He picked up the quill and dipped it in the ink, signing his name on the line.

“And here.”

Adrian signed again.

“And here.”

Adrian signed again.

“Brilliant!” Melvin scooped up the papers and whistled. “Come on in, bride!”

“I have a name!” a lovely voice came from outside.

Melvin sighed. “Come on in, Sacaro!”

“That’s not my fucking—” she sighed, “fine.”

The girl walked in, and Adrian took a few moments to take her in. She was definitely beautiful, sporting dark brown hair, curling and coiling over her shoulders, dark, smooth freckled skin, and these mystifying midnight-black eyes, half-lidded and annoyed. She wore a simple wedding gown, but Adrian could see as she walked in that she was wearing boots underneath.

“Now we can begin the ceremony! This will not take long,” Philip said. “Sacaro! Get over here!”

“Are you going to at least spell my name right on the marriage certificate?” she muttered, walking over to stand beside Adrian. She was a couple inches shorter than him, but with her attitude she felt taller.

“You’ll have to spell it for me again,” Philip said. 

“Socorro,” she said. “Spelled just the way it sounds. Two r’s, three o’s.”

“Three o’s on the end?”

Socorro sighed. “S-O-C-O-R-R-O. Do you need me to spell my last name, too?”

“Yes, please.”

She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “A-Z-L-I-N. Azlin.”

Philip nodded. “Great. Melvin, will you sign as a witness?”

Melvin grabbed the quill and quickly signed. 

“Now, Mister Devoe? You and your bride must sign!”

Adrian signed the paper, handing the quill to Socorro, who also signed.

Philip nodded. “Brilliant! We are all done! Good luck you two, and congratulations!”

As soon as they had come, they were gone, leaving the marriage document on the table.

Adrian looked at Socorro. “So, uh...welcome.”

Socorro didn't look impressed. “I assume you married me for a good reason, and not just so I can clean this dump of a house.”

Adrian frowned. “W-well, that was...the main reason.”

She rolled her eyes. “Alright. D’you have any extra clothes? I mean no respect to this dress, but it’s not exactly fun to clean in a wedding dress.”

Adrian hadn't really thought of that. He didn't even have an extra toothbrush. “Uh, you can borrow some of mine for the time being. We can go shopping...later.”

“Just give me something to wear and we can go now,” Socorro said. “Might as well get it out of the way—I doubt you want me wearing your clothes.”

“Well—”

“Shut it,” she sighed. “Anything’ll do. Get to it.”

Adrian walked away in wonder. Of course he’d been brainwashed with the idea that women were supposed to be submissive to their husbands, but it looked like Socorro wasn't going to let that happen. Adrian found he was kind of okay with that.

He walked out of his room with some clothes he thought might fit only to drop them all at the sight of an almost-completely naked Socorro. She looked at him up and down and stood to scoop the clothes off the floor. 

“You okay? You look like you're about to pass out.”

Adrian just nodded. 

Socorro scoffed, a playful smirk on her face. “What, never seen a woman in her underwear before, mi rey?”

“I h-have,” Adrian said. It was all he could say—especially when Socorro’s angelic laugh filled the house.

“Well, I’ll go change, and we can get going. Sound good, mi rey?”

Adrian just nodded, watching Socorro locked herself in his room. Yeah, he could enjoy having the roles reversed.

Socorro walked by his side, glancing around the town as she took in her new surroundings. “Not a bad place,” she said. “What’s it called again?”

“Reverie,” Adrian answered. “It’s kind of small, but it’s not the worst town out there. I heard Blackbird was dreadful.”

Socorro scoffed a laugh. “You have no idea. I think that boutique is open.”

Adrian looked at where she was pointing and felt dread fill his stomach. “Uh, th-there’s probably other ones around her somewhere? I heard that one’s...uh...”

Socorro rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm to drag him into the shop. Adrian cringed as the bell above the door rang, alerting the shop owner.

“Welcome! Be there in just a second!” a cheerful voice came from the back.

“I really think we should try out some other places fir—” Adrian whispered, but Socorro held her finger to his lips. 

“Hush! I like this one. It’s cute. Besides, it sounds like you know the owner, mi rey,” she smirked. “I wanna see her reaction to this little...arrangement.”

Amazed at her ability to see through him, he couldn't look away, even when Cherry bounced into the room.

“Adrian! It’s so good to see you!” Cherry beamed. She paused expectantly for a second. “Adrian?”

Socorro tried to hide her snicker as Adrian looked over at Cherry with a dazed expression. “Huh? Oh, hello, Cherry. How are you?”

Cherry’s eyes flicked between them, trying to put the pieces together. “Is this...your sister?”

“We look nothing alike,” Socorro said. 

“Well...” Cherry muttered. 

“That’s racist,” Adrian said. “No, she’s my wife.”

“Your WHAT?” Cherry practically screamed. “Since when? I’ve only ever seen you with prostitutes!”

Adrian forced a laugh, glancing at Socorro. “Very funny, Cherry. It’s, uh...it’s kind of complicated.”

Socorro seemed to be laying back, watching disaster strike, because she didn't say anything about the real situation. Adrian kept glancing at her for help when Cherry continued asking questions, but she just shrugged, her pretty lips curled into a satisfied smile.

Finally, after Cherry’s sixteenth question, she decided to step in. “We’re actually here for clothes. All of mine were burned in a fire.”

Cherry blinked. “A fire?”

“Yes,” Socorro said. “I’ve never been in a boutique before, how do we even start?”

Cherry seemed to light up at the question, and Adrian breathed a sigh of relief. “First, we’ve got to get your measurements! Follow me, dear! And I suppose Adrian can come too. He is your husband after all. How long have you guys known each other again?”

“Ten years,” Adrian blurted, just as Socorro said, “An hour.”

Luckily, Cherry took it as a joke and laughed, leading them away to the room in the back.

“You’ve got to work with me a little,” Adrian hissed, lacing the back of the corset Socorro was trying on. His face had been in a permanent shade of red after helping her into several outfits because of Cherry’s insistence to have them “bond.” Adrian had a feeling she was actually well aware of the real situation, despite how usually very unaware she was.

“You’ve got to step up your game,” Socorro deflected. “What, are you rusty? Haven't charmed a prostitute in a while, mi rey?”

Adrian scowled. “I’m plenty husbandly to you. You owe me the same.”

“Owe you?” Socorro scoffed. “And what have you done for me?”

“Made you my wife instead of letting you rot in that factory,” Adrian growled.

Socorro’s shoulders tensed a bit, and Adrian couldn't see the scarlet blush covering her freckled cheeks. She forced a weak laugh. “W-well, you could also try a bit harder to make it seem like you like me. Love me, even, if we’re trying to play it up for your friend. Why don't you just tell her the truth? That you were too lazy to clean your own house and a maid was too inconvenient? Speaking of which, how in the fuck is getting married more convenient then a maid? What planet are you from?”

Adrian huffed. “She...she’s always bugging me about settling down. She was lucky—she found a man when she was eighteen. I’m twenty-four and have only got a handful of exes to show for it. Figured it might as well check a box in the game of life. Didn't really care who it was.”

Socorro was quiet for a moment. “So you’d marry anyone just to be married?”

Adrian shrugged. “It’s hard to find love nowadays. Figured I’d skip the romancing parts and make it easier for myself. I’d make someone proud in the meantime, which isn't worth nothing. And...” he faltered, “I-I don't know. Company would be nice.”

Socorro’s silence stretched as she got lost in her head, processing his words and finding a strange feeling of understanding in her chest. His reasons were the same reasons she applied to be a mail order bride in the first place. She was already past the age of “ripeness,” and suitors were not as drawn to her as they used to be when she was young and overly protective of herself. Now, she figured she didn't have a lot of options. Being married was better than dying alone. 

She looked into the mirror in front of her, watching Adrian tie the rest of the corset behind her, a storm brewing in his eyes. So it wasn't about the house at all, she thought. You're lonely, aren't you?

Adrian looked up, as if to answer her question with the monsoon over his sea green eyes. Yes, they responded. But you are, too. Maybe we can be lonely together.

She smiled at him. I’d like that.

A very small smile curled his scarred lips, and he looked back down to continue tying the corset.

“You look good in jeans, mi reina,” Adrian said as Socorro tried to decide between a dress or jeans. She had a few of each, but was torn between a very nice dress and some very nice denim. She couldn't decide which.

Socorro smirked at him. “Is that your final answer, mi rey?”

“Is there a correct answer?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Socorro just shrugged. “I’ll take the dress. Maybe I could wear it to a fancy party or something. Save it in the back of the closet.”

“Hope it doesn't stay there,” Adrian murmured. “That thing is expensive.”

Socorro laughed. “Says the man who bought a wife.”

Cherry paraded into the room with the rest of Socorro’s outfits in large, gaudy bags. “Alright, loves! I’ve got all your clothing folded and packed away, how about we pay and get you going?”

“She wants this one,” Adrian said. 

Socorro laughed at his tone. “So husbandly of you to be irritated by your wife shopping.”

“I’m not irritated by my wife shopping,” Adrian defended. “I’m irritated by the price.”

Cherry pouted. “I have to make a living somehow, Adrian!”

Adrian looked genuinely guilty, and it made Socorro feel bad, too. “Don't worry, dear,” she said. “He’s joking. He wouldn't have taken me to your lovely boutique in the first place if he couldn't afford a few outfits. Mine burned in a fire after all, and the reimbursement we got for that was hefty.”

Cherry brightened, taking the dress from Socorro and hurrying into the back to fold and bag it.

Adrian hummed. “You're awfully good at playing to people’s egos.”

Socorro shrugged. “People are easy. I suppose I’ve gotten used to it. Keeps me safer.”

“Safe from what?” he asked.

“Being hurt,” she said quietly. “People are as fragile as they are dangerous. Some have no remorse if they ruin your life.”

Adrian was quiet for a moment. He glanced down at her hand, which was curled into a tight fist. He gazed back up at her, but she wasn't looking at him. Swallowing his nerves, he gently took her wrist, and carefully pried open her fingers so he could lace his between hers. He could feel her tense at the action, but once their palms were firmly pressed together, he felt it melt away. 

When Cherry returned with their bags, Adrian paid, gathered them in his free hand, and tugged Socorro out of the boutique, a thank you and goodbye tossed over his shoulder at his friend. 

Their hands stayed connected the whole way home.

[oingos-bitch]

The ABCD ask game for devo? He needs more love imo (I don't even know if you write got him)

This man is so underrated it’s criminal. With that being said, hell yeah I’ll write for him! He definitely needs more love

Also kudos to a discord server I’m a part of for 

Based on this post

TW: child abuse, light gore

Headcanon A: what I think realistically

Loud and vulgar, but to a lesser degree than Rubber Soul.

He’s had Ebony Devil since he was about 7 years old.

7′0″ tall.

He likes to enjoy a good cup of coffee or tea on his time alone.

His favourite song to have a smoke to is “Don’t dream It’s Over” by Crowded House.

Used to have a zeal for learning languages. He hasn’t practiced enough to speak fluently, but well enough to surprise people.

He’s probably gotten some pretty interesting piercings at some point.

Speaking of Soul, he’s more quiet/on-edge around him, but loud everywhere else.

Tends to clash with others, namely Soul and Nukesaku.

Likes to prank others and laugh at their misfortune.

Once he scared Boingo by sneaking Ebony Devil into his room and he nearly avoided getting beaten to a bloody pulp by Oingo.

Devo just laughed and dared him to go on with it, even making a few requests as to how he wanted to be hurt. Oingo just sneered at him, disgusted.

The “crazy ass” of the group (like in that one meme).

Gets too cocky about his abilities.

The fact that he’s got an impressive body count boosts his ego even more.

Whenever he and Steely Dan see each other it’s more or less like “that moment when you wear the same dress 😬.”

Of course, Devo thinks his stand’s ability is superior.

Devo’s really careful about his hair and he’ll cut your hand off if you even try to touch it.

If you’re very special to him then maybe he’ll consider letting you braid his hair -- just the fact that he considered letting you braid it means that he holds you in high regard.

Respects his elders. . . mostly.

Quite nervous about letting his guard down; his keen sense of alertness is what caught DIO’s eye.

Headcanon B: what I think is fucking hilarious.

He always hits his head on every doorway because he always forgets to duck.

He hates wearing stuffy/formal clothing and rips it off as soon as he gets the chance.

For his orientation at DIO’s mansion he had to wear a suit and tie and he visibly struggled to stay in it.

He used DIO’s announcement for “Funtime!” as an excuse to rip off the suit and he walked throughout the mansion that way, he didn’t give a fuck.

When he laughs too hard, he drools.

He has trouble pronouncing “Sassafras.” Any other word is fine, it’s just that one word.

Hates Speedos with a burning passion.

He would show up to his victims’ funerals sometimes just to see how much damage he caused.

He’s bragged about this to his co-workers numerous times.

He would definitely try to one-up anyone else’s body count/gory stories.

Hence the clashing with Soul.

Headcanon C: what is heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends.

His first victim was his father.

It wasn’t his fault.

He knew his father was a strict man, more so now that his mother wasn’t around, but he didn’t feel as if he deserved to have his milk teeth forced out of his mouth by the impact of a brick just for the tiniest of errors.

Over time, however, he began to accept his father’s view that he was indeed deserving of such treatment.

His father had said it was all for his good, after all.

No matter how he’d begun to find comfort in his father’s logic, there was always something in the back of his mind nudging its way to the forefront.

And it would all come to a peak.

He was only 16, barely starting to make sense of the world and his mind was racing and he knew he had to get away but he couldn’t, he couldn’t but he knew he had to push him away, to kick him, spit at him, scream, anything but he had to get away and he just couldn’t decide what to do and it all just happened so fast.

He didn’t know that Ebony Devil would react like that.

He just knew that he felt the tiniest glint of resentment for his father and the next second the man’s face lay at his feet, his faceless stump of a head smacking against Devo’s forehead on it’s way to the ground.

Devo didn’t know what would follow after, all he knew was that he couldn’t stay there.

DIO was the only “family” he’s had in a while, even if his words were just an illusion.

Devo preferred to play dumb, but he knew about the flesh buds, he had seen countless recruits slaughtered before his very eyes, and yet. . .

It’s not like he hasn’t been in that situation before. 

At least DIO’s lies were more convincing.

Headcanon D: what would never work with canon but the canon is shit so I believe it anyway.

Anything to do with Those Three™ -- a.k.a Rubber Soul, Devo, and Steely Dan.

You can separate them, but it’s not recommended. They each bring about pandemonium in their own way, but they’re surprisingly more calm together??

Probably because Devo is their voice of reason (and that’s saying something. . .).

When they’re not committing crimes against humanity, they fulfill their roles as public nuisances in much calmer ways, some of which include:

Devo writing diss tracks for Rubber’s SoundCloud account.

Him participating in said SoundCloud account (or rather, Soul’s YouTube channel) by appearing in his music videos.

They record these god-awful homemade videos in front of random buildings and he and Dan stand around and throw up awkward hand signs while Rubber raps.

Speaking of Rubber’s YouTube channel, he also does those prank videos quite often.

Devo’s the cameraman.

He likes to piss Rubber off by zooming in on random stuff while he’s talking.

Sometimes he feels a bit sorry for the victims of the pranks (like Chaka, poor baby’s on the verge of tears!) and occasionally comforts them with a pat on the shoulder, or his signature, a sympathetic shrug.

Devo’s the designated driver whenever they go to a bar.

That’s not to say that he doesn’t drink, though.

Should they get pulled over he’d just kill the cop and head on his merry way.

(This is just the tip of the iceberg; feel free to ask for anymore hc’s about him! :D)

[tothedarkdarkseas]

just fell back into the Gorillaz fandom after years away and trying to catch up. your fics have helped enormously! on that subject, I’ll be cheeky and ask for domestic/crack h/c, namely: 1. 2Doc bevvies? (tea/coffee? How? Who makes?) 2. coping with certain of the other’s crap tastes in music? (Murdoc blasts and shouts along to ‘Start Me Up’ at 4am, Stu screams Human League over it..Noodz hates these old men)...3. and the other’s shit taste in cologne? (Stu wears the worst Burberrys I just know)

That’s so incredibly kind, thank you! I’m not sure my fics are the best clue-in to what’s going on with Gorillaz now, bit of an, er, alternate timeline going on! Aw mate, let’s see...

1. Bevs! Definitely see Murdoc as more of a coffee guy than a tea guy, I think he takes it black and tarry with a shot each of rum and motor oil. If Stu’s the sort of fellow who salts his beer because he saw in a magazine at the shop (he could’ve done a self checkout but he was waiting on the new blonde girl’s till) that that’s trendy, Murdoc is the sort of fellow who peppers his coffee because he’s a trendsetter. Stu, on the other hand, I don’t really see as that much of a tea-drinker in my heart of hearts, but I must accept that he is because canon said so. They do have their own classic English quirks but they just don’t strike me as real big tea drinkers in this era. Doesn’t Stu know you can put 30 different flavours in your coffee and whipped cream and a drawing of a bird and people will just let you do that?

Murdoc will take his coffee cold or burnt so it’s acceptable if Stu makes it, but he rarely does. Stu takes more milk than coffee-- only oat milk or coconut milk though, because he’s saving the planet, y���know, that’s why he buys expensive import coffee from the other side of the world. Generally I see the coffee brewing as Murdoc’s domain, but that’s no guarantee it’s good. Murdoc flat out doesn’t drink tea, he’ll likely pass if it’s all that’s on offer, but Stu will take it with a ton of sugar or sugary syrup. His sense of taste is so deadened that it hardly registers as sweet until it’s disgusting. Stu was also having a bubble tea moment a few years ago, but I think his true love is neon-coloured juice that comes in a little squeezy bottle, fizzy Vimto, or Tango.

2. I think that Stu and Murdoc are a lot more alike that they are different, it’s just that the differences are stark and canyon-making. To that end, I think they agree on more music than they disagree on, but when they do it’s brutal. Stu’s never really gotten metal and he thinks Murdoc’s a total poseur trying to look hard listening to that, the blokes sound as ugly as they look! Stu will play Steps and Devo and Murdoc doesn’t really mind them that much, but he’ll pretend it’s horrid just because annoying Stuart is a pastime. I think Murdoc is always the one who takes things too far and breaks a stereo speaker, but he’s also the one who gets his neck crushed in an awkward scrapping fight about it.

3. What’s that cologne bottle that’s shaped like a fist? I genuinely can’t tell who wears it and it’s for completely opposite reasons that Stu doesn’t realize and Murdoc delights in. Stu has also owned many cans of Lynx while Murdoc goes a bit au naturale. Conversely, Murdoc rubs himself vigorously with ladies’ perfume samples in the little paper fold-out advertisements in the corner shop, then puts the magazine back on the shelf.

[lxvesickreality]

a consequence worth taking 3/?

Request: none, but a few commented asking for a part 3

Pairing: Cisco Ramon x reader

Warnings: angst, swearing, a lot of pov changes

Word count: 2438

Add on: i have no idea how many parts this will have to be honest. sorry for this part being so shitty, the next part will be much better and much longer. i just felt the need to update something that involved this imagine. also, y/m/n means your mothers name and y/m/l/n means your mothers last name.

gif is NOT mine, credit to owners

"Barry, you need to go back. You need to make sure she's okay. We have no idea if she's stable and what she's capable of. You need to be careful though, if both of your dark matter counteracted, it could be harmful to you and possibly her." Barry nodded in agreement then raced off into the night back to the lab where they left their friend. With a feeling of mixed emotions, Caitlin spun on her heel to face her friend. "Seriously, Cisco?" 

His brown eyes glanced up at her and she felt a twinge of guilt in her stomach when she saw his own guilt shimmering through his eyes. "What?" he snapped. 

"That's why you've been so mean to her? For a mistake you both made? Do you have any idea how you've been making her feel, Cisco? I get that you feel bad about hurting Gypsy and doing something like that so quickly but it wasn't just her. It was you too. You have no idea if we just lost our friend, our teammate." 

"I understand, Caitlin." 

"I don't think you do, Cisco. We have no idea what went wrong and what happened to her. She's obviously unstable right now." taking a seat on a bench where it's a bus stop, she had an idea form in her mind. "We need to find Y/N's mother. She knows more than any of us." 

Team’s perspective

3 days later

“Did you guys find anything?” Barry flashed into the Cortex in his suit, taking off his mask to reveal his face to his friends. The disappointing expression on everyone’s face was enough to give him his answer. “Really? Nothing at all?”

“There haven't been any traces of dark matter anywhere and nothing in the facial recognition. She knows where everything is, Barry, along with knowing what we are doing.” Caitlin declared, sympathy seeping from her words and she was beginning to sound hopeless. “It’s going to be hard to find her when she knows everything.”

“Nobody ever explained to me what happened,” Joe piped up from the wall he was leaning on with Cecile next to him with a frown plastered on her face. 

Barry sighed glancing at the floor, “Cisco and her had-”

“Barry tried to share his powers with her and it triggered the dark matter that was coursing through her,” Caitlin gave Cisco a knowing look and he continued, “We had sex last month and I was-actually I’ve been a complete douchebag to her because I was still hurting a little bit over the break up and I felt guilty for sleeping with Y/N so I took everything out on her.”

Not everyone knew the truth about why he was so angry with Y/N so when it was spoken of, shock rippled through all of them at once but a tiny bit of anger was thrown in the mix with Cecile and Iris. Cisco kept his eyes glued to the floor finding it more fascinating than the judgmental stares coming from the team he looks up to as family. He was tearing himself up inside about how the whole situation came about and how he treated his best friend with so much hatred when it was a two person thing. Not only did he lose Cynthia, but it looks like he lost his best friend and he was the only one to blame for that area. 

“As much as I’d love to give you a really big lecture, Cisco, we need to find Y/N before it’s too late. DeVoe still wants her and with her out there alone, it’ll be easier to take her.” Iris claimed, taking a step forward to wrap an arm around Barry, a glare set in stone for Cisco who gladly accepted the feelings towards him. He deserved it. "Have you found her mom, Caitlin?"

"No, I haven't. I even looked through Y/N's phone and she doesn't have a number for her or her dad. She had no text message or phone call in this phone's history that pointed to her parents direction. Her father isn't in the system either. I found her birth certificate and that name for her dad is nowhere. So either he doesn't exist or-" 

"Her real father doesn't know he has a daughter and her mom put something else down." Barry finished her sentence. "Let's continue trying to find her mom. Did it say in her profile where she last was?" 

"In Denver, Colorado at a rehab facility. But that was 2 years ago. She hasn't checked in anywhere that we know of. She could've changed her identity. There's an endless amount of possibilities of what happened to her. All we know is that's the last place anyone ever saw her."

"Okay, then, we go there. It's a little over an hour drive." 

"I'm in," Iris states and Joe, Cisco, and Barry nod to show where they stood too. 

Caitlin gave a small, gentle smile but in her gut, she felt something turn and it didn't feel good. This visit can give them all the answers but will the answers be worth it if they're bad? 

~ 

"This is it. This is the last place anyone saw Y/N's mother." said Caitlin.

"Think she's still here? Just hiding under a different name? She did say something was coming so it would make sense for her to get another identity." Barry questioned, taking a step forward to examine the place some more. 

Cisco shrugged, "Who knows. I mean it wouldn't make sense for her to stay here for this long. She could've been talking about the particle accelerator too when she told Y/N about something bad coming." 

The team started walking into the place one by one with Barry the last one. His eyes danced around him catching a small glimpse of y/c/h but shook it off thinking his mind was playing tricks on him and continued his way inside. Y/N couldn't be here of all places, she told them she didn't want to see her mother again but on the other hand, she wasn't stable and she doesn't have any other family members. Barry knew Y/N couldn’t possibly be here especially if she really knew the team, they’d eventually come to see her mother. 

The secretary peeked up from behind the big glasses that sat on the bridge of her nose and grinned, “How can I help you?” 

“Uh, hi, we’re here to see Y/M/N Y/M/L/N.” Caitlin revealed with a small smile of her own. Immediately the secretary’s entire body language changed and the sweet smile she once had dropped from her face. She knew something.

“I-uh I’m sorry but she isn’t here anymore. She was released last week.” 

The team was baffled, only last week? It was most likely why they couldn’t find anything on her, she was still here at the facility and has had barely any time to get on her feet. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I am very sure. That lady could not be forgotten. Kept going on and on about how people have powers and what not, that her whole family has powers at that. She’s an adult who lives in fantasy land, we only released her because she requested to be let go. The doctor she was assigned to signed the discharge papers within those hours. Everyone was ready to let her go.” 

It wasn’t shocking to say the least that a woman who struggled with drug abuse and was put on more drugs would not have sensored herself. They knew what kind of medications she was on, some very strong and were antipsychotics continuously being upped through the dosages. This woman needed the help to get off these drugs and was constantly being put in rehab by her own flesh and blood only to get put on prescriptions that could’ve easily altered her mind. 

Caitlin nodded to show she was listening and Iris was the next one to speak letting the secretary’s eyes fall on her, “Do you know where we can find her?” 

“I’m not legally allowed to give out that information.”

“We know that you don’t allow patients out of the facility without having a place to go. We really need this information. We’re trying to find her daughter and we think that she might’ve gone to see her.” Cisco announced from behind Iris. 

“Look, I’m not allowed to give out information but,” the woman grasped onto her glasses taking them off of her face to appear more intimidating. “if you are telling the truth about her daughter, I may be able to help.” 

“We are telling the truth.” Barry spoke. 

Nodding, the secretary put her glasses back on to the bridge of her nose and turned to type away on the computer in front of her. The team heard the printer go off and looking around to make sure no one was watching, she got up from her desk chair to retrieve the paper. It was a copy of the discharge papers, front and back. “You didn’t get that from me. Are we clear?” 

Everyone nodded and spun on their heel to head out but Barry stopped causing everyone else to as well. “Barry?” 

“Thi-this isn’t right,” he stuttered. 

Iris furrowed her eyebrows, taking a closer step to her man. “What do you mean, Bar?” 

“This says Y/N’s address.” 

“Damn it,” Cisco cursed under his breath at the news. “That means Y/N probably has her and we can’t get anything from her if the person we’re trying to ask about has her.” 

“I’ll speed around the city, try to see if I can find her in any public places.” the team stepped outside trying to find a good place to hide Barry’s secret and to let him do what he needs to do in order to find the mother of their friend. 

“Check alleyways. She may have just gotten out of rehab but she could be shooting up already meaning she’s also off her meds.” Cisco said.

Caitlin nodded, “If she’s off her meds, she could be out of this world to put it nicely.” 

With that knowledge, Barry sped off leaving the team to stay put where they were. Despite not knowing the city very well he sure could find everything pretty easily. The public places didn’t hold the woman he was looking for so he sped off to look in alley’s. One alley, two alley’s, three, four, five alleys and he caught a glimpse of a person in a black zip up hoodie and a woman not any taller than 5′5 at least. This woman fit the description of their friend’s mother and the saddest part of it was Cisco was right, she was using again. 

“Y/M/N?” he called out. The man in the black zip up hoodie barely even glanced up before taking off down the alleyway leaving the woman to fend for herself. It was her. Y/N looked almost identical to her mother taking every feature she could inherit from her but the difference was the holes that stopped healing on her arms from the heroine and the bags under her eyes. She looked older than she really was and much more scrawny than the picture they found a few days previously or more the mugshot. Grey hair was starting to come from her roots and wrinkles were forming around her facial features. 

“H-how do you know who I am?” she was understandably terrified of the sight before her, she didn’t know who he was. “Who are you?” 

“My name is Barry Allen. I need your help.” 

“Why would I help you? I don’t even know you.” she fires back. So Y/N also got the sass from her mother, that was good to know. 

“It’s about your daughter, Y/N.” 

Her body language changed almost as quickly as the secretary’s did when the team and himself talked to her but this change was more positive, it looked almost relaxing to see her transform like that. Her shoulders dropped from the defensive state they were in and her eyes had hope shimmering in them.

“Y/N? My baby?” she covered her mouth attempting to hold back the tears. 

He nodded, “Yes, ma’am. Could you help my friends and I please?” 

“I want to know what I’m helping with first.” 

“We don’t know what happened but your daughter unleashed her powers and she’s missing. She almost blew up an entire building, ma’am.” 

She gasped loudly, “She got her powers? Oh, no, no, no,” 

“Are you alright?” 

“What was she doing? What were her powers like?” 

Barry furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at the question but answered it nonetheless, “It was like lightning,” 

“Oh no, what have you guys done?” 

“Ma’am, I don’t think I understand what you mean.” said Barry.

“Those powers weren’t supposed to come out. They weren’t allowed to, I had them sealed shut. Take me to your team now. I know exactly who you are, Flash.” 

He didn’t have much time to say anything before she was throwing herself at him telling him to speed to his team. There were many questions, some now involving how she knew him but ran to where his team awaited for his arrival only to find something he didn’t want to see. 

His whole team was on the ground, blood dripping from each of their noses and knocked out cold. Something happened. 

“Y/N,” was all he could get before he felt a bolt of electricity slither through him causing him to yell out in pain and fall to the floor not able to bare his own weight any longer. The darkness was calling for him and he desperately tried to stay awake to see who the culprit was, to see if he was right and to make sure his friends mother was alright. His eyes were trying to flutter close, to succumb to the darkness as the pain was so intense it hadn’t felt like anything he’s ever felt before even though he’s been through his fair share of fights. This was a trap, Y/N knew they were here and wanted her mother. How could they not have known? 

“Go to sleep, Flash,” Y/N came into his view, squatting down in front of him. “Otherwise, I’m going to have to take you out completely and I’d rather not do that in front of my mother.” 

Despite everything in him begging him to stay alive, he couldn’t fight anymore and fell into the darkness.

Tags: @night-girls-world @diva-1992 

[hell0-there-lady]

How many times per year does a gun go off in an American school?

We should know. But we don't.

This spring the U.S. Education Department reported that in the 2015-2016 school year, "nearly 240 schools ... reported at least 1 incident involving a school-related shooting." The number is far higher than most other estimates.

But NPR reached out to every one of those schools repeatedly over the course of three months and found that more than two-thirds of these reported incidents never happened. Child Trends, a nonpartisan nonprofit research organization, assisted NPR in analyzing data from the government's Civil Rights Data Collection.

We were able to confirm just 11 reported incidents, either directly with schools or through media reports.

In 161 cases, schools or districts attested that no incident took place or couldn't confirm one. In at least four cases, we found, something did happen, but it didn't meet the government's parameters for a shooting. About a quarter of schools didn't respond to our inquiries.

"When we're talking about such an important and rare event, [this] amount of data error could be very meaningful," says Deborah Temkin, a researcher and program director at Child Trends.

The Education Department, asked for comment on our reporting, noted that it relies on school districts to provide accurate information in the survey responses and says it will update some of these data later this fall. But, officials added, the department has no plans to republish the existing publication.

This confusion comes at a time when the need for clear data on school violence has never been more pressing. Students around the country are heading back to school this month under a cloud of fear stemming from the most recent mass shootings in Parkland, Fla., and Santa Fe, Texas.

At least 53 new school safety laws were passed in states in 2018. Districts are spending millions of dollars to "harden" schools with new security measures and equipment. A blue-ribbon federal school safety commission led by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is holding public events around the country, including one in Alabama Tuesday. Children are spending class time on active-shooter drills and their parents are buying bulletproof backpacks.

Our reporting highlights just how difficult it can be to track school-related shootings and how researchers, educators and policymakers are hindered by a lack of data on gun violence.

"I think someone pushed the wrong button"

The Civil Rights Data Collection for 2018 required every public school — more than 96,000 — to answer questions on a wide range of issues.

It asked what sounded like a simple question:

In the 2015-2016 school year, "Has there been at least one incident at your school that involved a shooting (regardless of whether anyone was hurt)?"

The answer — "nearly 240 schools (0.2 percent of all schools)" — was published this spring.

The government's definition included any discharge of a weapon at school-sponsored events or on school buses. Even so, that would be a rate of shootings, and a level of violence, much higher than anyone else had ever found.

For comparison, the Everytown for Gun Safety database, citing media reports, listed just 29 shootings at K-12 schools between mid-August 2015 and June 2016. There is little overlap between this list and the government's, with only seven schools appearing on both.

A separate investigation by the ACLU of Southern California also was able to confirm fewer than a dozen of the incidents in the government's report, while 59 percent were confirmed errors.

The Civil Rights Data Collection dates to 1968. The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights administers the survey every two years. Every public school is required by law to complete it. These findings often drive public conversations.

For example, the CRDC was the source of recent reports that black students were suspended from school at rates much higher than whites — information that inspired changes in discipline policy across the country.

The survey has dozens of items, ranging from how many middle schoolers passed algebra I to how many students with disabilities were restrained or secluded. It can be completed by filling out an online form or uploading data.

One item, about "Firearm Use," was required for the first time for all schools in the most recent data collection.

Most of the school leaders NPR reached had little idea of how shootings got recorded for their schools.

For example, the CRDC reports 26 shootings within the Ventura Unified School District in Southern California.

"I think someone pushed the wrong button," said Jeff Davis, an assistant superintendent there. The outgoing superintendent, Joe Richards, "has been here for almost 30 years and he doesn't remember any shooting," Davis added. "We are in this weird vortex of what's on this screen and what reality is."

"We got wind of it and nipped it in the bud"

In other cases, something may have happened, but not the firearm discharge the survey asked about.

The biggest discrepancy in sheer numbers was the 37 incidents listed in the CRDC for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. Roseann Canfora, the district's chief communications officer, told us that, in fact, 37 schools reported "possession of a knife or a firearm," which is the previous question on the form.

The number 37, then, was apparently entered on the wrong line.

Similarly, the CRDC lists four shootings among the 16 schools of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District in California. Gail Pinsker, spokeswoman for the district, says that "going back 20-plus years," no one can remember any incident involving a firearm. Their best guess, she says, is that there was some kind of mistake in coding, where an incident involving something like a pair of scissors (California Education Code 48915[c][2]), for example, got inflated into one involving a firearm (48915[c][1]).

Ray Poole, the chief of legal services for the Nassau County School District in Florida, told us that at one school where a shooting was reported, Callahan Middle School, on Nov. 21, 2015, a Saturday, a student took a picture of himself at home holding a gun and posted it to social media. "We got wind of it and nipped it in the bud." No shooting.

The CRDC shows seven shootings in DeKalb County, Ga. Police reports provided to us by that district give a sense of more of the many, many ways the data collection may have gone wrong.

At Redan Middle School, there is a report of a toy cap gun fired on a school bus — not a shooting.

The CRDC shows a shooting at Stone Mountain Middle School, but a police report shows an incident at Stone Mountain High School instead.

And district officials provided a police report showing that there was a shooting after a McNair High School football game — in August 2016, after the time period covered in the survey.

Unacceptable burden

The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights received complaints about the wording and administration of this survey even before it went out.

A June 2014 research reportcommissioned to improve the CRDC as a whole noted that in previous data collections, districts had experienced "unacceptable levels of reporting burden." They complained that the CRDC asks them to report information that is similar to what states already collect, but in a different format, or at a level of specificity that they don't currently track.

Also at issue, the internal report says, was a "lack of clarity in the definitions of key terms." When it came to "Offenses," the group of questions including firearm use, districts "indicated dissatisfaction with the categories provided, specifically that the CRDC categories did not align with the categories used in state reporting, other federal reporting, and/or their own district databases."

As an example of this lack of alignment, the federal Gun-Free Schools Act requires schools in states that receive federal funds to expel students who bring a gun to school and requires districts in those states to report the circumstances of such expulsions to the state — regardless of whether a gun goes off.

The state of Florida asks schools to report "weapons possession," excluding pocketknives. California asks schools to report suspensions and expulsions resulting from "possession, sale, furnishing of a firearm" or "imitation firearm."

And so on.

There's also potential for confusion within the CRDC itself. While this particular item refers clearly to "a shooting," the previous item asks about a long list of incidents, some involving "a firearm or explosive device" and others involving "a weapon."

Temkin at Child Trends, who has long studied bullying and school climate, says this wording "could cause confusion."

"Best practices in data collection are not to include double-barreled items," she says, such as asking about a "firearm or explosive device" in the same question. An explosive device could be something like a pipe bomb or even a firecracker.

NPR submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to learn more about problems with the data collection, and we received emails that schools and districts sent as they grappled with this kind of confusion. For example, the Omro school district in Wisconsin wanted to know whether a consensual paintball-gun fight involving several students should be considered an "attack with a weapon" or a "possession of a firearm."

Another reason the shooting data may show these kinds of problems, Temkin adds, is that the item is so new. "Because this was the first year this was asked of all schools, they may not have been as prepared to respond to this item."

And there's another factor at work as well: the law of really, really big numbers. Temkin notes that "240 schools is less than half of 1 percent," of the schools in the survey. "It's in the margin of error."

Liz Hill, an Education Department spokeswoman, told NPR that "at least five districts have submitted requests to OCR to amend the school-related shootings data that they submitted for the 2015-16 CRDC." The plan is to issue what is called "errata" to update the data, but the original document will not be republished, Hill said.

Hill made the point that any "misreporting" is the schools' responsibility, not the department's: "As always, data reported by recipients is self-reported and self-certified."

After we contacted the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified district about the four reported shootings, the district emailed the Office for Civil Rights to try to correct the information. No shootings happened, officials said.

The Office for Civil Rights responded on July 25:

"The CRDC accepts correction requests for up to one year from the moment the submission period opens. For the 2015-16 collection, the corrections period closed on June 30, 2018, and for this reason your data correction request cannot be accepted. However, a data note will be included on the data file to ensure users are aware of the errors you are reporting."

**********************************************

source with citations and links:

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/08/27/640323347/the-school-shootings-that-werent

I am presenting this without comment. take the author and her words at face value and do not attribute them to me.

[xswestallen]

I think I’ve figured out my issues with the Flash writing. It’s that they have every character appear in every episode. Clearly, Barry should be in every episode, and maybe Iris. But, everyone else should only be in 3 or 4 episodes that give them strong character moments to shine as well as other episodes when they help to move the plot forward in B or C plots. Maybe like all supporting characters in 15-20 episodes, like Harry is currently. IDK. I just hope the set up is better next season.

I don’t think cutting the supporting characters screen time that drastically is the answer. But, I do agree that the show suffers from an overload of characters, especially superhero characters, who aren’t given enough time to develop and further the plot. Cisco, Caitlin, and Joe, along with Iris, are essential characters and have been since the Pilot. Not only have they undergone good development over the seasons and helped further the plot of every episode, they also help Barry develop as a character. I think cutting any of their screen time would be a mistake.

I think the problem with season 4′s writing was Ralph. He was the focus of so many episodes, and his storylines weren’t even original. Each time, it was a repeat of the struggle we saw him grapple with the previous week. If even half of Ralph’s screen time in season 4 had been devoted Cisco, Caitlin, Joe, Iris, or Barry, I think the season would have been a lot better. 

My main complaint of season 4 is nothing really happened. Devoe was more of a threat to Ralph than Barry. Cisco was only given attention when it came to his romantic relationship with Cynthia. Caitlin’s arc was all filler for what’s coming in season 5. Iris was the only character who had decent development over the season, but it wasn’t because of screen time dedicated to her, rather the good writing of specific scenes and Candice Patton’s performance.

[valeriemperez]

I saw a tweet saying that if Barry were to be trapped in DeVoe's mind in the S4 finale, they'd like to hear the "As long as I remember Iris..." line. What do you think?

Oooh, I hope so! No idea if he’ll say that exact line, but Iris (either through her actions or through his thoughts of her) better have something to do with getting him out of the mindscape.

I really hope Don appears at some point because the twins have a close relationship in the comics and I want to see that in live action.

I can’t lie, I’d be pretty pissed if he didn’t show up. I mean, he has to exist because Bart has to exist. And what writers would say know to depicting the speedster version of the Romeo & Juliet saga? 

So all of the slots have been filled for ‘characters giving birth’ on the Scorecard, and I know we’ve already mentioned that they can add slots as they’re revealed, but I feel like that’s one they would’ve known/listed already. So that either means that A) Cecile isn’t having the baby, B) something happens to the baby, or C) TVLine just hasn’t added her slot yet which re-opens up the possibility of an Iris pregnancy being added after it happens too.

Yeah, I think it’s C. Not that Iris is real-time pregnant necessarily, but that TVLine doesn’t add a slot unless they know 100%. So if they haven’t watched the finale or heard confirmation from the producers, they aren’t adding the Cecile slot yet, even though we all know she’s having that baby this week.

I was so pissed Diaz didn’t die or at least gone to prison because that mean he going to become a recurring villain for S7.

You and me both. He was a terrible villain, and not wrapping up his arc in the finale made S7 feel like a waste.

Hi Tati ❤ So I really hope they don’t waste too much time with Caitlin’s half ass storyline in the finale because idgaf about her and I also hope none of the cliffhangers has something to do with her. Tbh anything Caitlin related they can keep it. Anyway I really need to see the set up of the Flash family in this episode and I hope they confirm that Mystery Girl is Barry and Iris’s daughter at least to the audience. Do you think they gonna do this?

They’re definitely confirming MG is Westallen’s daughter, don’t worry. It’s the thing Grant was most excited about, and Candice told Leanne fans would know who she was in the finale.

Do you think Wally will make a cameo in the season finale?

I do. In fact, @westallenallure on Twitter thought she saw him in the promo - and I think she’s right. Even if that isn’t him, I’m positive they wouldn’t have Joe say he would be there for the birth only for him to … not.

Oh so Cecile does give birth in the finale for sure ? I mean I didn’t see it not happening but considering there are no spots left in the giving birth category for the May sweeps I was wondering about it. I guess they haven’t updated the flash finale ones yet

Yes, she does! Even if it happens offscreen, which I doubt because half the stills were of her, her baby is being born in the finale.

This may seem random to say here, but i am making a vow to not let fandoms ruin things for me anymore and i speak specifically to Barry, Cisco and Caitlin interactions. Cause i dont see them as OTF, just friends who had great moments together that were genuine and i refuse to continue to be bothered by their scenes bcuz of certain sides of the fandom exaggerating what those interactions mean. I want to enjoy their moments again, just as much as i enjoy westallen and west family ones

That’s for the best, friend. I have to remind myself that fandom shouldn’t dictate my feelings either. It’s totally cool for you to enjoy the Barry/Cisco/Caitlin friendship so long as you’re not shitting on Iris and WA to do so. 

Off topic. I don’t know if you heard about the racist lawyer (Aaron Schlossberg) in NYC, but he was making a scene at a restaurant over an employer speaking Spanish to people and threatening to call ICE. Then he got stalked about the NY Post, got fired and this beautiful gem right here happened yesterday: twitter(.)com/thebolivar_/status/997632005625040896

I did hear! And the Mariachi band is perfect poetic justice.

[nommi]

how does one become as wise as you? c: do you have any music you would like to recommend to us? where is your favorite place to be? do you have a favorite constellation? (i hope you are doing so so well lovelyyyy~! ^^)

Aww, this is so sweet, lovely! Thank you so much ♥

Answering your first question, I believe that a lot of the things I know and believe in came mainly from when I was growing up through my family and friends. I feel like by surrounding yourself with positive and insightful people, will make you able to learn so much, even when you don’t realize it. 

Also, I always try to be open-minded and look at things from different perspectives. I believe that it is good to have our own convictions and morals, however, it is also important to be willing to listen to others and try to understand where they come from. Nothing is black or white and we can always learn new things every day. Accept that you won’t always be right and that is okay.

Regarding your second question, music is one of my favorite things in the world! Couldn’t live without it, for sure. And I like to listen to so many different music genres, so what I will do is recommend a few songs by different categories:

Chill - Selenium Forest by Plini; The Depth of Self-Delusion by Riverside; No Grey by The Neighbourhood; Thinking Of You by The Night VI; Den Standiga Resan by Opeth; Harvest by Opeth; I Found by Amber Run; Nervous by Gavin James; Tourniquet by TesseracT; Almost Blue by Chet Baker

Upbeat - We Rise Again by Gogol Bordello; Psychopomp by Thank You Scientist; Poison by Bell Biv Devoe; Boombayah by Blackpink; any Bossanova song

Fado (Portuguese Traditional Music) - Gaivota by Amália Rodrigues; Oh Gente Da Minha Terra by Mariza; Naufrágio by Amália Rodrigues; Esse Olhar Que Era Só Teu by Dead Combo; Fado Português by Amália Rodrigues

Metal - Recommend any song from bands like Opeth; Shade Empire; Leprous; Septic Flesh; TesseracT; Xanthochroid; Dir en Grey and the GazettE

For your next question, I think that even though I love being active and explore new places, I’m a very “homely” person so I would say being at home (either in my house in Portugal or the UK), especially if it’s in my room!

Lastly, my favorite constellation would have to be the Scorpius constellation, as I’m a Scorpio myself ahah (I’m a hoe for astrology tbh ♥)

Once again, thank you so much for sending in all these super nice questions! I really appreciate it (and sorry my answer is soo long lmao) Wish you an amazing day

[fazcinatingblog]

which players do u like and dislike from each afl team? ;p

oh man, omg i love these questions!!!!! *cracks knuckles* my specialty. we’ll go in alphabetical order.

adelaide - love seedsy; and yeah dislike tex walker eww

brisbane - love jack frost (here i go, only naming collingwood players as ones I like haha), idk who i dislike, oh yeah luke hodge plays for them haha definitely hodge

carlton - love and hate dale thomas, he’s in both categories. and his entire team are in the hate category.

collingwood - LOVE ALEX FASOLO SO MUCH WHAT A BABE. also like timster and JT. and there’s no one that i dislike idk

essendon - haha i hate zach merrett b/c he’s a thug obviously. and idk i like mason redman b/c i had him on snap for a bit idk he’s kinda cute. oh and i hate jake stringer.

fremantle - well, who doesn’t like nathan fyfe so definitely like him. also LOVE brady grey and also ed langdon (tom’s brother). and defs hate joel hamling b/c he blocked me on insta, all i did was follow him once and he was pissed off by that? nah mate

geelong - oh god. well, i hate all three players and obviously i can’t name the rest.

suns - ooh i love jarrod witts (devo that he left the pies but nice to see him doing well) and uhhh i hate… um… who plays for the suns? awks

giants - i love matt de boer WHAT A BABE and idk i hate… um… whichever giant kicks goals on saturday. 

hawthorn - hate all of them. every single one of them. flush them all down the toilet where they belong. maybe luke breust can be excused because he lives near me (and i know exactly where)

melbourne - JACK WAT—- wait no. i love jesse hogan, and i hate umm… i kinda don’t like nathan jones, he’s so stand-offish idk i got him to sign a footy card once lol i don’t like his vibe, man.

norf - LOVE BEN BROWN SO MUCH and also marley. i dislike… hmm 

port - JACK WATTS LOVE HIM SO MUCH WHAT A BABE. and idk i hate westhoff, he needs to be kneed in the head

richmond - i love jason castagna because he barracks for the mighty pies, and haha i hate the hot plumber who hates women 

st kilda - JUICYYYYY BRUCE!!!!!!!! MY LOVE. MY BEAUTIFUL SOON-TO-BE DADDY. and i like ed phillips (other tom’s brother), number 22, and tom hickey. and idk i dislike… umm.. dunno

sydney - i like harry marsh (obvs) and buddy (who doesn’t?) and idk who i hate

eagles - BRADLEY SHEPPARD, MY DARLING PERTH BAE. and i hate… well, matt “jaywalking” priddis is gone so they’re all okay, hard to hate any of them. oh wait yeah i don’t like schofield because he hits 19 year olds and tried to hurt faz last year.

doggies - LOVE EMMA KEARNEY. and luke dahlhaus. idk who i hate, probs jake string— wait no *scrolls back up to essendon*     

this is really long oops soz people. deal with it.

[newtts-scamander]

Dating Tom Holland Would Include: You’re Australian

-first and foremost, teaching tom australian slang that has him ???? but you’re his girlfriend so he feels obliged to know what the fUck you’re talking about when you say things like ‘froth’, ‘devo’, ‘esky’ etc. etc.

-’we need goon so we’ll probably just go down to the servo, s’arvo.’

-’sorry love, i need to stop you right there. i have no fucking clue what you just said’

-him then nodding like he knows what you’re on about because WHAT THE FuCK IS An arVo and a seRVo ??????

-teaching tom about the timeless history of a shoey

-then proceeding to making tom do a shoey when he FINalLy visits australia

-‘tom, you can’t come to australia and not do a shoey’

-everyone screaming yEaH thE BoYssssss

-tom having no clue what is happening but starts breaking his heart laughing anyway

-TEACHING TOM HOW TO DO THE NUTBUSH BC !!!!!!!!! ITS THE BEST THING EVER -‘sorry did you really just say nut ??? bush ????’

-the holland’s all flying over to australia to stay with you and your family for christmas 

-all of them documenting the whole thing because ???? it’s december and 36°C ??????

-tom being in awe of your accent, it’s literally his favourite thing in the whole world

-’yeah, cool but can you just say that sentence one more time?’

-tom also loving the sound of you swearing because it sounds so hot to him like how does someone make swearing hot ?????? but you do so

-TOM BEING SHIRTLESS 24/7 in australia because; darling, it’s too hoooooooot :(

-having a beach day with tom and fans coming up to get pictures with both of you bc they love that tom is dating an australian!!!!!!

-tom trying to be romantic and asking you to sleep outside under the clear night sky bc wow! its! so! warm! and! that! sounds! like! a! great! time! but mozzies are a thing so that idea went down the drain

-showing tom around your home town and the lil quirky things you love about it

-tom watching you explain about how excited you are that he decided to visit aus

-him falling so much more in love with you just because the sun brings out the best in you