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dreamcatcherfication · 4 years

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They Don’t Know You Like I Do

Gasp! What’s this? A prequel to a one shot? Unheard of! So anon requested Anne Squared content, with the quote “I don’t care what they said, it doesn’t mean shit” and here we are! This is the prequel to “You’ve Got the Body, I’ve Got the Alibi” because I thought it’d be cool to see what led up to the events of that interesting story. Sorry for any spelling/grammatical errors, my friend is making me watch some very concerning animes with her.

Writing Masterpost

Normally I don’t specify which portrayals of the queens are in the fics, but this fic is specifically written with Courtney!Boleyn and I feel like it’s an important part.

If you want to send a request or a prompt, my inbox is always open! I publish a story at 8:00 AM PST everyday, so I’m always in need of new ideas. Now featuring random asks:

Prompts | More Prompts | The Trifecta of Prompts | Random Asks

Trigger Warnings: Negative thoughts about body image, Anne cursing a lot, body shaming, references to eating disorders

No one was in the dressing room but Cleves, dressed only in pants and a tight bra. She was standing horizontal to the mirror, sucking in her gut. Lifting her hands above her head, Cleves attempted to stretch her body and flex her muscles. Scrunching her nose at her reflexion, Cleves sighed and dropped her arms. Moving closer to the mirror, the queen put her hands on her cheeks. Prodding and stretching the skin, she couldn’t help the frown that formed on her lips.

There were makeup palettes strewed out on her table, the majority of them worn down from overuse. Cleves didn’t like her skin tone, especially when under the theatre lights when everyone could see the sweat on her forehead. It illustrated all her imperfections and bared her to the audience. Set on the back of Cleves’s chair was a thick jacket that she had taken to wearing around the other queens in order to conceal her body.

It was such a small change that none of the queens had noticed it. That’s how Cleves liked it. She was the strong one, the one who came out unscathed, therefore there was no need for her to have any problems. That’s even how it was in the show. Cleves got to have fun and never had any actual trauma to get over. She had no right to worry any of the queens over these insecurities.

Reaching around to her back, Cleves started to tighten her bra in an attempt to make her breasts look perkier. That was what people liked, wasn’t it? More than once she had gotten direct messages from fans. Specifically, men. They were the types of people who told her she was too cocky for someone who didn’t have anything to show off. They ridiculed her costume for showing off what nobody wanted to see. Calling her too manly to be attractive. And as much as Cleves wanted to brush it off, years of ridicule had made her sensitive to their words.

Keep chipping at the wall and one day it will come crumbling down.

As Cleves put her hands on her stomach and pushed in, the door swung open with a loud bang and “I’m here my girls!” Of course it was Anne Boleyn, an energy drink in her hand and a bag in her left (probably full of the fan gifts she always had, Cleves assumed). Her eyes fell on Cleves all alone in the room, her hands still holding her stomach.

Scrambling to grab the coat on her chair, Cleves pulled it around herself to cover up her body. “Anne, hello,” she said awkwardly.

Putting down her things, Anne gave the other queen a strange look. “What were you just doing?”

“Nothing, don’t worry about it.”

Anne took a step forward. “That’s not what it looked like.”

Defensively stepping away from Anne, Cleves let a snarl appear on her face. “Back off Anne.” The beheaded queen put her hands up and stepped away, going to sit at her station.

There was an awkward tension in the room as the two queens started putting on their makeup. Cleves tried to ignore the glances that Anne kept shooting her, but it was growing increasingly difficult. “You know, I used to do what you were doing.”

“What?” Cleves asked and turned to look at Anne.

Humming in confirmation, Anne put down her lipstick and scooted her chair to the side so she could directly face Cleves. “When the fans started to say things about me, it hurt more than getting my head chopped off a million times. They were so caught up on my body, something they have no say in. At first I was really self destructive.”

“How?” Cleves asked. She felt bad for making Anne share something so personal, but her curiosity was getting the better of her.

For someone sharing their insecurities, Anne seemed rather laid back about it all. “I cried a lot, almost quit the show and asked an alternate to take over the role. That’s what I thought the fans wanted. I stopped eating for a while until Cathy pulled me inside and told me something really important.”

In typical Anne fashion, she dramatically paused and looked pointedly at Cleves. Rolling her eyes, Cleves asked, “What did she say?”

“Your body is your business and no one elses. You should never change for anyone but yourself. Appearances don’t matter, because they don’t last. It’s your experiences and your heart that last.”

There was a moment of vulnerable silence where Cleves felt tears prick the corner of her eyes. When she realized her emotions were getting the better of her, Cleves violently shook her head. “That’s great for you Anne, really, but I don’t have that problem. It’s great advice, but I’m already happy with how I am.” Even as she lied through her teeth, Cleves did her best to create a ravine between her actions and her emotions. Emotions made her weak, and she couldn’t be weak in front of Anne. In front of anyone.

Anne looked disappointed and pulled her chair closer to Cleves. “Babe, I don’t believe that. People who are unashamed don’t hide their bodies when their friends walk by.”

“Are you saying I’m ashamed of who I am?” Cleves accused Anne.

Eyes widening, Anne leaned away. “No, that’s not what I’m saying. I,” she sighed, “Look Anna, I’m not the best at this. But whatever they’ve said, it isn’t true.”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Cleves refused to budge.

Nervously, Anne looked down at her hands. This was bringing up bad memories for her, but she needed to make sure Cleves was okay. Being there for family was what the queens always preached to each other, and Anne would be damned if she didn’t help Cleves. “The ones who fat shamed me. The ones who don’t think you’re beautiful. They’re wrong Anna, you have to realize that.” Anne watched Cleves and was disappointed when the German queen didn’t look back. “What do they say?”

Cleves gulped but couldn’t make eye contact with Anne. Instead, she stared in her mirror. “History really is right about you, you remind me of a horse. Why do you show so much of your body when no one wants to see it?” Her voice grew louder as she listed off the familiar words. “What are you doing with women with actual stories to tell, you were just a gold digger. History should’ve forgotten you, you don’t deserve to be with the rest of them.”

“That’s shit if I’ve ever heard it,” Anne spit, disgusted at the words.

“But what they’re saying -”

Speaking with resolve, Anne enunciated every syllable. “I don’t care what they said, it doesn’t mean shit. You are your own beautiful, amazing woman Anna, and those faceless idiots are only trying to make you feel bad.

Attempting to keep the quiver out of her voice, Anna held back the wave of emotions that was flooding through her chest. “They’re doing a good job.”

Standing up, Anne grabbed Cleves hand and pulled her up. Getting in her face, Anne started to use a more aggressive tactic. She yanked at Cleves’s coat until the German queen gave in and allowed her to slide it off. “This,” Anne said, pointed to Cleves stomach, “fits perfectly with your body structure. Being incredibly skinny is not what works for everyone, and you rock your own look.”

Moving her attention, Anne pointed at Cleves’s arms. “These are big and muscly, powerful. You are a strong woman Anna, and it shows. That scares men, but it turns on the chicks,” she winked, knowing how Cleves had come out earlier that year.

Finally, Anne pointed directly at Cleves’s nose, causing the woman to go cross-eyed. “You’re absolutely beautiful, and your family knows that. Anna, you mean the world to me, and I hate seeing you down on yourself. If you want to wear makeup, wear makeup. I love green eyeshadow, but I don’t do it to please anyone but myself. Don’t force yourself to cake your face in hopes people will find that attractive. If people don’t love you for you, then they don’t love you.” When Cleves only stared at Anne, the beheaded queen awkwardly lowered her hand. “So uh, yeah. You’re a queen, Cleves. A literal queen.”

Rubbing her forehead, Cleves put a hand on her chair. She felt almost dizzy, a whirlwind of suppressed emotions coming to the surface. “I didn’t know you had this much depth Anne.”

“Eh, most people don’t. Being deep is tiring, I don’t know how Cathy keeps up with it. Usually I just cause chaos cause why the hell not.” At Cleves’s unimpressed face, Anne quickly corrected, “Not that I can’t be deep. I seriously meant what I said.”

Smiling painfully, Cleves sent Anne a grateful nod. “Yeah, I know Anne.”

“Aren’t you gonna have a breakdown?” Anne asked, immediately regretting her bluntness.

Cleves chuckled and shook her head. “No, breakdowns aren’t really my thing. But I think… I think I get it now. Or at least a little better.”

Standing with her hands on her hips, Anne nodded. “You can’t tune out their words in a single day, but it gets easier. They say time heals all wounds. And hey, I kinda agree with them, since time healed my head being chopped off, so yeah.”

Unable to restrain a laugh, Cleves felt her spirits start to rise. As extremely airheaded as Anne seemed sometimes, she really did know what to say. “Thank you for gracing me with your wisdom, Anne.”

“It’s mostly Cathy’s, but your welcome!” The two queens returned to their seats and began preparing for the show, a more calm silence settling between them. “Hey,” Anne started, breaking the silence for a second time. “I was gonna go out for drinks tonight, d’you wanna come?”

Mulling over the thought for a moment, Cleves nodded. “Yeah, that sounds nice.”

“Great!” Anne exclaimed. “Although one of us has to be the designated driver, so… rock paper scissors?”

Shrugging Cleves agreed and made a fist. In unison, they chanted, “Rock, paper, scissors!” Anne was about to make scissors when she saw Cleves make rock, so she frantically changed to paper. “Haha, I win!” Anne cheered,

“You totally cheated,” Cleves complained.

“I get to get absolutely wasted tonight,” Anne said loudly, right as Aragon walked in the room.

The oldest queen moved to her station and put her things down while asking, “Are you two going out tonight?”

Ecstatically, Anne answered, “Yup, and Cleves is the designated driver!”

The queen in question groaned and mumbled, “This totally isn’t fair, I deserve to get drunk the most out of any of us.”

Ignoring Cleves, Aragon casually asked, “Can I join you two? I could really use a night out.”

“Ooooh, gonna get drunk Aragon? Loosen ya up?” Anne teased.

“Yeah, something like that,” Aragon chuckled.

As she watched the other two queens lightheartedly bicker, Cleves couldn’t help but feel her spirits lift. Anne was right when it came down to it. She had these two amazing ladies and her family behind her. Nobody’s words could get to her when she was surrounded by their love and support. “We’re gonna burn the place down,” Anne cheered.

“No! No, Anne, we aren’t going to do that!”

Cleves laughed and finished her makeup, leaning back in her chair. Well, at least she knew that their night out would be time to release some tensions. Besides, after her and Anne’s conversation, what was the worst that could happen?

#six the musical fanfiction #six the musical fanfic #six the musical fic #six fanfiction #six fanfic #anna of cleves #anne boleyn #anne squared #catherine of aragon #she shows up at the end #this is a perquel to my other fic #You've Got the Body I've Got the Alibi #anon ask #not my best work but i tried

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fericita-s · 4 years

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There’ll Be Dancing

Another story for the When all is Lost series that @the-spastic-fantastic and I have been torturing each other with. Major thanks to her for helping me get this story to where it is!

This is set before In Vino Veritas, during Agnarr’s 18th birthday celebration. The link to When All is Lost above goes to AO3, where all of the stories are in in order.

***

In the spring of 1843, the arrival of a new ship in the Arendelle harbor did not signify a new shipment of goods. Instead, it heralded the arrival of a new princess or lady or ridiculously wealthy daughter of a foreign merchant on her way to meet the king. Henrik tried to be present in the castle for as many of these visits as possible, dressed in his most fashionable attire with his hair slicked back. “You can’t marry them all, Agnarr, maybe one will see me and decide she can do better anyway!”

Agnarr was glad someone was having fun with this procession of women. His councilors, especially Captain Calder, impressed upon him the need to woo the kingdoms and merchants, if not the women. “It’s a sign of respect to host their eligible women and entertain the notion of marriage alliance and preferred trading status. This is delicate work, renegotiating trade agreements and tariffs,” Captain Calder had told him privately. “You be attentive to them and I will be attentive to the details of our kingdom’s interests.” Agnarr didn’t bother asking if his interests mattered. He knew it was his duty to maintain strong trade partners and forge new defense pacts with kingdoms known for military prowess. Arendelle had recovered well from its dark days following the Northern Expedition, but it remained a small kingdom with its security based on economic growth. Safe only so long as its ships carried goods all over Europe, supplying the continent’s booming population with ice and other essential exports.

Agnarr wasn’t particularly excited about the prospect of marrying someone in order to keep Arendelle strong. But, a marriage could quell worries that a neighboring country would become a hostile country. The Southern Isles were growing more powerful, Weselton always had an eye on expanding its influence, and any number of rich foreigners could bring new business and industry to Arendelle if marriage to the king was the incentive. Lady Wollen had carefully explained to him, while warning not to let it go to his head, that he was considered quite the eligible, young bachelor. In her role as Minister of State, she had been fielding numerous diplomatic match-making inquiries for the past four years. He understood. He was the king.

But every time he took Duchess Alexsandra from Weselton on a riding tour of the coast, or Lady Tunde on a bird watching trip within the castle grounds, or Princess Erzsebet on a walk to visit the new chocolate shop in the village, what filled his mind was visions of Iduna with her bare feet in the grass, picking up a worm and studying it. Iduna climbing a tree to better see the setting sun. Iduna directing where the gardens should be planted and which berries should be collected and which herbs were best for medicinal teas. Iduna, who had also been without a family too young, and who also knew what it was to be lonely and alone.

What he really wanted was to know if Iduna would be his wife. The council might not suggest it outright, but they wouldn’t prevent him from marrying someone of his own choice. A few times he had tried to talk to her about it. Before Princess Erzsebet’s ship arrived, he had asked Iduna to go with him to the chocolate shop to be sure it was suitable for his foreign guest. He had even tried to broach the subject of courtship and marriage, but it had not gone well. He went over the conversation in his mind again, trying to figure out how he could have been more clear about his feelings for her. He was able to communicate well in council meetings and when addressing his people as their King. So why was he always so inept around Iduna when it came to this part of his heart?

He thought he had started off rather chivalrously and very kingly, pulling out a chair for her and buying her several squares of different chocolate to taste. “Thank you for coming here with me. I know how hard it is for you to take time off from the apothecary.”

Iduna had smiled, one of her genuine, happy smiles and answered, “Oh, it’s not as busy as running a kingdom, but it’s nice to take a break! And this chocolate is delicious. I’ve been wanting to try this new shop for some time. It’s really lovely.”

Agnarr had been relieved their time together still felt as easy as it had when they were younger. He too smiled as he spoke. “Oh good, I wanted to be sure Princess Erzebet will be impressed. Captain Calder keeps telling me how important it is for us to maintain a good relationship with The Southern Isles, and if I accidentally poison her when she arrives in a few days, I think he might find a way to fire me.”

Agnarr had expected her to laugh at that, and was surprised when she stopped eating her piece of chocolate, put the remainder on her plate, and wiped her mouth. He continued talking to cover the sudden silence, offering her a piece of his chocolate. Perhaps he shouldn’t have mentioned poison while they were eating. “He’s really been concerned about a good alliance through marriage. I know the kingdom needs heirs and it’s expected of me, but it feels so strange to be sized up like a prize horse. I think, though, if I told him I preferred to decide on my own and wanted to pay formal court to one person, he would drop these scheduled visits. Do you think – “

But Iduna had cut him off, suddenly remembering that Mr. Visser needed her to restock the supplies that day. He had wanted to say that when he thought of what was best for him and what was best for Arendelle, it was her. That if she would have him, he would refuse any more visits from any more eligible ladies, and tell his council to make trade deals and alliances without the promise of marriage muddling it up.

Iduna, while open about so much - what she thought about steam locomotives or crop rotation or the latest novel from Denmark - did not say or even hint what she might be feeling about him. Ever. In his own clumsy way he had tried to ask over the years, but it came out wrong, or not at all, or she quickly changed the conversation. One day, before she had even taken the position at Visser’s Apothecary and was just starting to consider leaving the orphanage they had been having a particularly rousing debate on the benefits of expanding aquaculture versus funding deep sea fishing ventures. He followed her to the courtyard and asked her what her plans were for the future. “Do you think you will stay in Arendelle? I mean, I would like you to stay, and I think it would benefit the kingdom.” He had tried to take her hand, but she backed away, saying “Of course I’ll stay, no need to grab me to keep me here! I don’t think I could bear to leave my garden,” and he was left opening and closing his hand, as if he was just flexing his hand muscles while out for a walk on the grounds.

Now, as his eighteenth birthday was drawing close, the castle was to host a ball in celebration. All of the ladies who had visited previously would be making return trips, with several new ones attending to be presented for the first time. Agnarr had also secured places on the guest list for the graduates of the Royal Academy, Arendelle’s pride and hope for the future. Today Iduna was meeting him in the gardens – her gardens – to help him select the bouquets for the visiting dignitaries and ladies.

He met her at the castle gate and thanked her for coming. She seemed a bit more formal than usual. Perhaps whatever was bothering her the day they spent at the chocolate shop had not been resolved. As they walked the rows, he tried to start one of their easy and lively conversations by saying “Lady Wollen says the ladies should know that I picked the flowers, it makes it more meaningful. “

Instead of making a joke, or telling him the history and husbandry of the roses in the castle garden, Iduna sighed and straightened, putting a hand over her eyes to shield from the sun. He realized how inconsiderate he was being at once.

“Forgive me, you’ve been standing all day and the apothecary, you must be tired. Let’s go sit on the porch and I’ll have Gerda bring us something to drink.”

Iduna nodded, though he noticed it was unenthusiastic. Very well, perhaps something sweet like lemonade would be the remedy. Gerda was quick to see to their needs and soon they were drinking comfortably in the shade.

“I’m glad you plan to come to my birthday ball. Lady Wollen went over the guest list with me this morning.”

Iduna smiled, though it was a guarded one. One that he had seen her use with particularly trying customers, but never with him. “Yes, your majesty, I’m happy to come and celebrate your birthday. Though I’m sure with so many visitors, you won’t have much time for the academy crowd.”

“Of course I will! You’re the only ones who will make it bearable. Besides, even though it’s my birthday, I’ll be giving out gifts that night and I have a special one for you.”

Some of her genuine smile returned. “Oh? And will it be a gold hammer? Or a golden bicycle wheel? What wonderful golden gift did you think of this time?”

He was relieved to have her tease him, to be playful rather than pained in her expression. “I gave you one bad gift, one time!” He laughed and blushed. “Will you ever let me forget that mortar and pestle?’

“That depends. Do you plan on giving me anything worse?” her smile was full now, she was enjoying this.

“Actually, it is gold, at least partly.” She laughed again, and it was like being fourteen again when he could tell her anything. “Iduna, I know what I really want for my birthday. And I know what I’d like to give you. I hope you’ll like it.” She could see that he wasn’t teasing anymore, and had trouble meeting his eyes as he continued. He noticed a flush on her cheeks, and wondered if the sun had been too strong for her while they were in the sunlight of the garden.

“I know it must seem strange that all of these ladies keep coming to the castle, and that I have to spend so much time with them. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t even know how to talk to women at all! And what I really want is for your help always, in – “

But before he could continue, Iduna spilled her glass of lemonade, jumped up with apologies, and excused herself to go home. “I’ll see you at the ball. I promise I won’t miss it.”

***

The day of the ball was tortuous, having to try on the different coats and trousers and hats, and each time pinning on the military medals that he hadn’t earned. Captain Calder insisted on that. “It shows that, though young, you are a serious man and should be treated as such. You’ve seen battle.” Agnarr resisted pointing out that he hadn’t seen battle. He had been unconscious. And fourteen. And would have been useless even if he hadn’t been hit on the head immediately during the massacre. But he knew Captain Calder meant well, and he knew this night was more for Arendelle’s alliances to celebrate the strength of their bond than a celebration of his eighteenth birthday. It was fine. It was part of being king.

As he stood at the receiving line, trying to remember the names of each visiting lady and each citizen, he kept looking for Iduna. He had arranged with Maddie and Greet that he would pay for all three of their gowns, as long as they didn’t let Iduna know the money came from him. They were to tell her that their seamstress friend was able to procure fabric and patterns for a fraction of the normal price. Iduna remained mostly indifferent to fashion, and was satisfied to follow her friends’ lead on what to wear. Agnarr had heard reports from Maddie that the dresses were beautiful, and that Iduna looked exquisite in her midnight blue gown.

She did. It took his breath away as he caught sight of her entering the ballroom, in a way both familiar and surprising. She had always seemed to make the air around him feel different. Tonight he ached to look at her. Her hair was swept off of her shoulders, and her bare neck was a revelation. How had he known her for four years and never known her neck to be so beautiful, so smooth, so inviting?

As she came through the line, and took her hand in his, their gloves touched briefly, and then were apart. He remembered how often they had held hands on their explorations of the woods, years ago when she still lived at Eir’s, and how he had mourned the loss of her touch when it stopped. How nice it would be to take her hand whenever he wished, to go through an event like this with her beside him. They could make a game of counting ugly hats, or wager on which duke’s shoes had the highest heel. He had to hold her hand again, and soon. He had dozens of gifts to give out, dozens of women he was assigned to dance with, and dozens of dignitaries left to greet. But if he didn’t hold her hand again, he didn’t think he could do anything else.

He bowed to her. “Will you dance with me?”

Iduna curtsied. “Your majesty, they aren’t playing music yet.”

“They will if we start dancing. It’s my party after all.” He took her hand again, and felt his whole body relax as he did. After a day and evening of adhering to protocol, he felt like he was himself again. Not just figurehead King Agnarr, but Agnarr who liked to explore and learn with his best friend. He understood who he was more deeply when Iduna was with him.

He led her to the dance floor, and when he indicated, the orchestra began to play a waltz. She arranged her skirt and then put her free hand on his shoulder. He liked the sensation of her light touch on his shoulder; it was like she was keeping him steady, keeping him on the ground. He knew from the dance lessons overseen by Lady Wollen that his hand should go on her waist, but it felt strange to hold her there. It was a closer, more intimate touch than they had ever had, and he inhaled sharply as his hand settled there. She too seemed startled, though not unwelcoming, of it, and smiled at him in a way he couldn’t identify. He thought he knew all of her smiles, but this one was new. As they began the easy steps of the waltz, other couples joined them on the dance floor to do the same.

He liked how his mouth was close to her ear, how he could see the individual strands of her hair making up her braided coronet. He had never been this close to her, and as they danced, he felt the weight of unsaid things and unspoken hopes. He gripped her more tightly, and then relaxed his hold, worried she would notice his behavior and find it odd. Lady Wollen had not spent years training him in the etiquette of formal state affairs for him to act like a confused child with his most cherished friend. Usually, Iduna would be the one he told about feeling inadequate to the kingly duty weighing on him, but in this instance, when she was what he was feeling unsure about, he did not know what to do. So instead of speaking, he savored their closeness, the feel of her hand in his, her smile as she caught his eye. As the song drew to a close, he cleared his throat and spoke. “After this, I’ll have to dance with the others. But I wanted to give you your gift. You might want to wear it.”

She raised an eyebrow. “I did come wearing something already. Something that I suspect you had something to do with.”

“And if I did?” He didn’t want to admit to anything, not until he knew how she felt about. Would she be grateful? Resentful? He knew how much she hated depending on others for her needs. Back when she started working at Mr. Visser’s, she had begun paying Eir a weekly stipend to pay back the time she had spent in her care.

“If you did, I would say thank you, your majesty. You are a kind and thoughtful king, as I am sure these ladies vying for your attention will soon find out.”

Encouraged by her acceptance of the dress, he led her away from the dance floor and into a small alcove with a balcony, already regretting the loss of his hand at her waist and hers on his shoulder. His hand felt hot through his glove, and he felt like he was fourteen again, worried that she would feel his sweat and drop his hand. He dropped her hand for a moment to reach into his pocket, and hand her the necklace he had ordered made for her. It was an imprint of a fossil they had found out on a skerry, about half an inch long and in the perfect shape of a very small shell, set in gold with a delicate chain. “Is this to your liking?”

He expected a joke about it being gold, or a comment that it wasn’t a good way to preserve a fossil. Instead, she swallowed a few times, blinked twice, and said “It’s lovely. Will you put it on me?”

Iduna turned her back to him so he could fasten the necklace around her neck. It was dizzying standing behind her, with her hair so close to his face, her neck to close to his mouth. He felt like they were still dancing but to music to which he did not know the steps. He clasped the chain, taking several attempts as his gloved hands felt clumsy and uncertain. She touched the medallion and turned. “It’s beautiful. I love it. Thank you.”

It was all the words he wanted to say, but he found he couldn’t. He stared at her, longing to take her hand, and unsure if she would want him to. She met his eyes, and he wasn’t sure what to read into them. “Iduna, I – “

Lady Wollen interrupted. “Oh Iduna, don’t you look lovely! Agnarr, I’m sure you remember you must dance with our guests. I believe Lady Tunde was first on your dance card?” Lady Tunde was with Lady Wollen, and rather unhappily took notice of Iduna’s necklace. He thought he saw her scowling at the crocus pin she wore, the same gift he had given every lady visiting from foreign shores.

“Yes, of course,” Agnarr bowed to Iduna, gave her a smile of apology, and followed Lady Wollen to his assigned partner. He followed his dance card the rest of the night, but did not see Iduna again. Had she left early? Taken a walk in the garden with Maddie and Greet? Did she truly like the necklace?

***

The next morning, a gift appeared outside his bedroom room. A jar of lutefisk, a lumpy package wrapped in paper, and a note in Iduna’s handwriting. “So you will always remember ‘The Incident’ and so you will always remember me.” He unwrapped the paper and found a heavy stone, a fossil sunken in on one side, with the spiraling shape of an ancient sea creature. It was one they had found together, and never figured out exactly what it was called. A thing that had been alive, and left proof all these years later that it had lived and left its mark. He ran his fingers over it, liking the feel of it, but wishing for her hand again.

#when all is lost #king agnarr #iduna #agduna #mama and papa arendelle #royal ball

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zukadiary · 5 years

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Beside the Foggy Elbe / Estrellas ~ Star Troupe 2019

First show of 2019! My home base in Japan is usually Kansai, but for the first time I’m in Tokyo for a lengthy stay. I saw Elbe/Estrellas twice in the theater plus the senshuuraku live view. Spoilers, because the ending of Elbe was one of my favorite things about it.

Beside the Foggy Elbe [Summary]

I caught Elbe quite late in the run, and most of the feedback I heard from talking to other non-Japanese fans beforehand was fairly negative, but I found it VERY enjoyable. Elbe is one of the most historically famous original Takarazuka works. While I haven’t seen more than clips and photos of the older productions, I was already familiar with much of the soundtrack, and I always love seeing and hearing classic Takarazuka elements live, especially as a relatively young fan coming in late in Takarazuka’s 105 year history. It’s a special kind of fun to be able to sit in the theater and sing along (even if only in my head) to a show I’ve never even seen. The story is most definitely dated, but I love the vintage-ness of it (if anything, I wish they’d pushed the aesthetics even more vintage). And because it’s an old classic, I was able to suspend my disbelief of the unlikely love story in the same way I can with old Hollywood musicals (is it believable that Dale Tremont falls in love with Jerry Travers three seconds after finding out he wasn’t actually Horace? No but I’m here for it). I also love that they don’t get together!! The first time I saw it, I looked at the clock when Margit and Florian began yelling for Karl on the docks, and went sort of wide eyed when I realized there wasn’t TIME for it to end any way other than heartbreak. I think it’s much more interesting that way.

Quick complaints out of the way first: while the show isn’t really hard to follow, I did find both Beni and Airi quite difficult to understand. Beni uses a very loud, slurred voice to play the foul-mouthed Karl, and while it’s in keeping with her character, I couldn’t untangle a lot of her words, even though they weren’t lines I’d find complicated if I read them. Airi put on a shrill voice that I also found difficult to understand. I get that her character is an ingenue to the extreme so it makes sense, but I still feel like she could have landed somewhere between that and her natural voice and been ok. Additionally, there is a parade in the beginning that I think was an UeKumi addition. I didn’t DISLIKE it, and I understand its usefulness because it’s a very top heavy show and the parade gives the secondary players a bit of fun extra spotlight, but it didn’t really fit the look or vibe of the rest of Elbe.

I do think you need to like Beni and Airi to enjoy this show, because it is so top heavy (if you love them, I think this will be a really great show for you). I especially liked the role of Karl for Beni. Beni’s Karl was an extremely insecure person who disguised his self-doubt in brash mannerisms and generally poor behavior, which made his moments of sincerity very poignant. Since Beni is known more for her comedic roles than her serious ones, and sometimes seems to be questioned by fans re: her ability to be serious, I thought this really suited her in kind of a meta way. She leaned hard into the brashness because that’s more her strength, but for me she also nailed Karl’s vulnerable moments, and that made them sting extra because it felt like it was coming from a real place. I’m also kind of a sucker for the cross-social-class love story trope. Karl’s behavior for the most part is truly unattractive to the point where it can be hard to sympathize with him, but there are several scenes where you can feel his deep discomfort toward being amongst the wealthy, and how traumatized he is about his ex leaving him because he wasn’t rich enough, and Beni makes them hurt sooooo good (shout out to Otoha Minori who had the very small part of Karl’s ex but really helped succinctly convey that backstory in a way that impacted the whole show).

Margit is a hard sell for me because I don’t find her likable as a character, but I think Airi did a great job hitting the necessary notes. For the story to work, Margit has to be unhappy, but also sheltered, spoiled, frivolous, and naive enough to fall in love with someone she met in a bar at first sight just because he was a little nice to her and the polar opposite of the life she’s trying to escape. Airi made it plausible. She also plays the piano for real a couple of times (angrily!) and I was VERY impressed (Coto also does, but she can’t surprise me with unexpected talents anymore). I think Airi’s strength is sexier more mature characters and I hope she gets to flex that muscle in their taidan show, because in that sense Elbe left a lot to be desired.

As much as I think Karl suited Beni, Coto is the one who made me think it wouldn’t have been quite the same if they’d given Elbe to any current lineup other than Hoshigumi. The least believable part of the entire story is that Florian is too good. There are no men who are that good. Even for the not-men of our 夢の世界 it’s a stretch. But I completely believed that Coto was that good. I don’t even know what to say about her... she can do anything and it’s stupid. Muster up heartbreaking sincerity for a truly unrealistic character? Sure. Play the piano flawlessly while speaking? Why not. (And the way she brushed her coattails out of the way before seating herself at the piano bench made me feel A Way).

The newly inserted Tobias was a nice sendoff for Kai. Not quite as delightful and meaty a role as Kiroku, and not as strong of a goodbye present as Sho Fu Kan, but lovely nonetheless. Tobias was not inherently a remarkable character, but he was an excellent blank canvas on which Kai painted herself, making him cool, hot, and everyone’s big brother—all around lovable. Her costumes made NO sense (cowboy hat??) but she wore them so well I loved them all against my better judgment. Stage time dropped off pretty hard after Beni/Airi/Coto, but the scenes with the other sailors were my favorite, and Kai’s involvement in each was prominent enough (and CUTE enough) to make Tobias feel like a juicy role. She gets a lovely bridge solo toward the end, and fittingly leaves the ship crew to get married (to Mizuno Yuri/Karl’s sister), exiting separately in dramatic fashion to everyone else’s tears and well wishes.

I found myself charmed by the supporting cast—including (especially??) the nameless lurkers of the background—more than usual. Was it the giant food props? Were they just exceptionally silly back there? I don’t know, but unfortunately the recording won’t illuminate them regardless. As for the named support, Mao Yuuki, Seo Yuria, Shidou Ryuu, and Amahana Ema made up the rest of the sailors with lines and stuff, and while there was barely anything for them to do, I (for reasons not entirely known) found Mao and Seo in particular extremely charming. Amato Kanon played a bratty screaming kid, the exact type of role I’d normally find annoying as hell, but she even managed to make HIM charming; she had a lot of very entertaining wordless interactions with some of the bigger players on the outskirts of various scenes while something else was happening in the middle. Mikkii used 5 of her 7 seconds of stage time prowling through the audience, and seeing her angry face advancing head on toward the gaijin seats was indescribably intimidating. The biggest surprise was I fell a little in love with Mizuno Yuri, who, to be fair, did not have to sing OR dance, but who did play a weird lanky adorably awkward country bumpkin with a stupid accent from Karl’s middle-of-nowhere hometown in a way that I for some reason could not stop watching. She, as Tobias’s bride, also bawled her eyes out on raku when the two of them ran off together.

So far I still think Another World is the crown jewel of Benigumi, but I’d place Elbe second.

Estrellas

Seeing Estrellas was an odd experience because it got the New Year’s NHK broadcast, and I watched THAT before I saw it live—how often do you see a Takarazuka video BEFORE seeing the show live?? It’s my personal favorite Benigumi revue thus far. I fell in love with it pretty instantly, and interestingly I think a big part of that was the NHK cinematography, which combined with the song selection made it feel more like a concert or a FNS-style big televised music program. I found that fresh. It didn’t have QUITE that same vibe live, but still a good impact. I can see it being polarizing though; it’s very pop and not very Takarazuka at times, and I probably like it so much because I happen to personally like the song choices.

Allowing for the fact that she was still performing very much within her own quirky style, Beni (up until Tokyo raku) seemed very on point to me, which I was glad to see; my last live Hoshigumi experience was Another World/Killer Rouge in Takarazuka toward the beginning of the run last year, and in Killer Rouge especially it seemed like she was being extremely cautious with her movements in a way that made me wonder if she was nursing or avoiding an injury. Every time I saw Estrellas though she danced full force. Airi had more than one sexy number to make up for Margit, most notably an all musumeyaku dance in the finale portion that I feel like I see pretty rarely from Hoshigumi. Beni and Airi’s duet dance was also VERY cute and very them.

Kai again got a lovely sendoff, a big long 3-song progression with perfectly chosen lyrics. The way she drank in the theater on the last day, like she was really trying to burn the image of the audience into her eyes, was SO much.

Coto is stupid. She paints with her voice and that gets me real bad. There’s a solid handful of siennes in the top tier of vocals in Takarazuka, and while many of them are gorgeous singers, the only two I’ve heard play and emote with their voices the particular way I’m thinking of are Coto and Daimon. Her vocal control while she’s violently dancing is also astounding. She’s stupid.

Senshuuraku was an ordeal! Estrellas opened with Beni doing what I initially thought was some weird attempt at a sexy breathy thing, and then maybe thought she was trying not to cry, till it became abundantly clear that something bigger was wrong. She got hoarser and hoarser till some notes in “Tonight is What it Means to be Young” failed to come out entirely. She used her chuuzume ad lib time to apologize for her voice... sad, because that was the prime slot for cute and touching moments with the retiring actresses, but she was clearly too panicked and struggling to think of that. Then she explained during the curtain call that she broke her voice at the end of Elbe—and it must have been on the VERY last note, because the entirety of Elbe was COMPLETELY fine (I didn’t even notice a weird crack or anything at the end). I didn’t know you could break your voice that badly on one note, but I guess you can. She was very flustered and apologetic—also full on crying—though every curtain call, and while I can’t blame her for feeling remorseful I wish she’d dialed it back after the first couple of apologies and let the retiring actresses have their moment. But considering her state it was pretty remarkable that she powered through, and I hope she has a chance to recover before the next show.

I’ve lived through my share of Takarazuka retirements, including ones that turned a whole troupe’s vibe completely upside down, but somehow Kai’s feels unusually odd (I imagine Miya’s will as well). I think it’s gonna be a downer of a year.

#takarazuka #reviews #beside the foggy elbe #estrellas #am I 東宝組 now 19

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Madden 21’s The Yard Isn’t NFL Blitz But It’s Still Important for Arcade Football

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The Madden franchise and I go way back. I poured a lot of fifth-grade free time into Madden NFL 97 for the Super NES, and I can still hear that edition’s chiptune menu music in my head when I think about the series.

But, I have to be honest. For all the Madden games I’ve owned over the years — give or take 15, by my count — I’d trade them all for a high-quality arcade-style football experience.

Quality is highly subjective when we’re talking about a video game. For you, quality arcade football might be EA Sports BIG’s NFL Street franchise, which released three titles annually between 2004 and 2006 before taking its streetball and going home. Or maybe you checked out 2017’s Kickstarter-funded Mutant Football League from Digital Dreams Entertainment, a way-out-there unlicensed experience featuring monsters with parody names like Bomb Shady, Wham Neutron, Sven Rottenburger, and Baker Minefield on a field riddled with explosives and moving buzzsaws.

Call me old school, but Midway’s NFL Blitz still reigns supreme. It practically invented the concept of arcade football when it was, well, dominating arcades before they fell out of fashion. Blitz was simple, quick, and fun, even when it came to home consoles — sorry if you played it on the original PlayStation instead of Nintendo 64, because the latter was objectively superior.

But, as disgraced baseball slugger Mark McGwire once said, I’m not here to talk about the past. Let’s get back to Madden, in particular Madden NFL 21 and specifically its new arcade-style mode called The Yard. As I touched upon in my review of the game, I was not a huge fan of The Yard or, for that matter, the rest of the game. Compared to the arcade football experiences of the past, The Yard is notably tame.

The Yard ought to be something I really enjoy as someone who’d rather play an arcade experience than a straight simulation of the real thing. For the first time since EA Sports’ lone release of NFL Blitz in 2012 (after acquiring the rights to the series when Midway closed its doors in 2009), I can take control of real players and hurl multiple passes across the field while playing with a little more swagger than the league usually permits with its license. In Office Space, they wanted more flair; I want more swagger. Always.

Honestly, I’m not going to hold my breath for over-the-top late hits to ever return to an NFL game. I get the optics of added brutality in a post-CTE world. But why not have some fun with the tackle animations, without resorting to piledrivers and powerbombs the league most certainly would object to? Let the animators flex a little creative muscle here. And at least include some even sillier touchdown celebrations.

Most of all, I want the substance of an arcade-style football game. I want speed on the field. I want a game of The Yard to feel like it’s flying by at a breakneck pace. The Yard still feels like Madden between the sidelines, for better and worse. It’s the same gameplay, just with fewer players on a smaller field and a few new rules. You’ll still rely on the vast assortment of jukes and tackle-shedding moves. You must also remember to attempt secure catches near the sideline to make a catch in bounds. Nuances like this, in an arcade football setup, are not welcome. If I snag a reception at the sideline or the back of the endzone, just keep me inbounds or have me drop it.

The whole experience of The Yard is too muted. Touchdowns feel like another play that just so happened to result in points. Woo-hoo. Remember when you scored in NFL Blitz, and you got that celebration sound effect, with fireworks streaming around the scoring player who may or may not have been simultaneously on the receiving end of a Hulk Hogan-esque leg drop? There’s none of that.

There’s no commentary to enhance the experience, only the same soundtrack that plays in menus with some sparse crowd noise. Venues are too plain and usually just feel like playing practice mode. The Yard just isn’t an enticing way to play this game.

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Funny thing is that Madden NFL 21 already has an alternative game mode, Superstar KO, which stands up to nearly all those presentation complaints. I’d like to think a merger of these two separate modes into one would be a more engaging arcade experience, at least from a sensory standpoint. All that would be left is to find a way to energize the sluggish-but-realistic speed of The Yard games.

Perhaps achieving a true arcade football gameplay experience was not the goal with The Yard. If I had to pinpoint what the publisher’s endgame was, I’d guess it was to create a gameplay loop that sucks players into the process of slowly upgrading their customizable avatar. There are separate Prototypes to enhance, which are essentially different loadouts, as well as abilities to unlock. More importantly for EA, I would have to think, is that players can work toward unlocking cosmetic upgrades for their avatar using earned or purchased in-game currency. I wouldn’t say Madden NFL 21 is gross with its microtransaction structure in the same way that other games have been in recent years, but clearly that’s still a priority when it comes to The Yard.

But, as down as I am on the current iteration of The Yard, and I wouldn’t suggest you rush to check it out for yourself, I am encouraged to see that there’s at least some attempt at arcade football in a licensed NFL game. It’s understandable that EA Tiburon, which hasn’t flexed its arcade-style football muscles since NFL Street was taken out of the game 14 years ago, isn’t going to win the figurative Super Bowl with its first real attempt at arcade football in Madden. The Yard presents a baseline now. Hopefully, the bar will be raised next year.

And Madden might have competition in that realm by 2021, too. NFL 2K, which rivaled Madden in quality before EA secured the exclusive NFL license 15 years ago, is slated to return next year with what 2K Senior VP of Sports Strategy and Licensing Jason Argent said would be “a good opportunity to service a more casual market.” Argent cited internal research that “there’s an appetite for that.” Clearly, I agree.

There’s no telling what 2K’s return to the football space will mean at this stage, but fingers crossed that it’s something in the arcade arena that either pushes or surpasses The Yard. In the latter years of the Madden vs. 2K gridiron video game showdown, competition bred innovation. If the same thing happens here, even if it only affects a single mode in Madden, that’s a good thing for arcade football fans like me.

The post Madden 21’s The Yard Isn’t NFL Blitz But It’s Still Important for Arcade Football appeared first on Den of Geek.

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tamboradventure · 4 years

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Here Lies America: An Interview With Jason Cochran

Posted: 01/27/2020 | January 27th, 2020

In 2010, I decided to spend the summer in NYC. I was two years into blogging and was making enough where I could afford a few months here. Still new to the industry, NYC was where all the legends of writing lived and I wanted to start making connections with my peers.

It was that summer I met Jason Cochran, a guidebook writer from Frommers, editor, and the man I would consider my mentor.

Though we never had any formal mentor/mentee relationship, Jason’s writing philosophy, advice, and feedback, especially on my first book, How to Travel the World on $50 a Day, has been instrumental in shaping me as a writer. Much of his philosophy has become mine and I don’t think I would have grown to where I am without him.

Last year, he finally published the book he’d been working on about tourism in America, called Here Lies America. (We featured it on our best books of 2019 list).

Today, we’re going to go behind the scenes of the book and talk to Jason on what does lie in America!

Nomadic Matt: Tell everyone about yourself. Jason Cochran: I’ve been a travel writer for longer than I’ve felt like an adult. In the mid-‘90s, I kept a very early form of a travel blog on a two-year backpacking trip around the world. That blog became a career. I’ve written for more publications than I can count, including for a prime-time game show.

These days I’m the Editor-in-Chief of Frommers.com, where I also write two of its annual guidebooks, and I co-host a weekly radio show with Pauline Frommer on WABC. For me, history is always my way into a new place. In many ways, time is a form of travel, and understanding the past flexes a lot of the same intellectual muscles as understanding cultural differences.

So I have come to call myself a travel writer and a pop historian. That last term is something I just made up. Dan Rather made fun of me once for it. “Whatever that is,” he said. But it seems to fit. I like uncovering everyday history in ways that are funny, revealing, and casual, the way Bill Bryson and Sarah Vowell do.

What made you want to write this book? Before I began researching, I just thought it would be funny. You know, sarcastic and ironic, about Americans going to graveyards and places of suffering just to buy lots of tacky souvenirs, eat ice cream, and wear dumb t-shirts. And, that’s still in there, for sure. We’re Americans and we like those things. Key chains will happen.

But that changed fast. For one, that would have become a very tired joke. It wouldn’t carry for three hundred pages. Things clicked for me early on, on the first of several cross-country research drives I took. I went to a place that I wasn’t taught about at school, and it clicked. I was at Andersonville in rural Georgia, where 13,000 out of 45,000 Civil War prisoners died in just 14 months. It was flat-out a concentration camp.

Yes, it turns out that concentration camps are as American as apple pie. The man who ran it was the only Confederate officer who was executed after the war. Southerners feared the victors would hang their leaders by the dozen, but that vengeance never materialized. Not for Jefferson Davis, not for Robert E. Lee—the guy who ran this camp poorly got the only public hanging. And he wasn’t even a born American. He was Swiss!

But that’s how important this place was at the time. Yet most of us have never even heard of it, except for a really bad low-budget movie on TNT in the ‘90s in which all the characters bellowed inspirational monologues as if they thought they were remaking Hoosiers.

So just getting my head around the full insanity of Andersonville’s existence was a big light bulb—our history is constantly undergoing whitewashing. Americans are always willfully trying to forget how violent and awful we can be to each other.

And Andersonville wasn’t even the only concentration camp in that war. There were a bunch in both the North and the South, and most of them had survival rates that were just as dismal. So that was another light bulb: There’s a story in why our society decided to preserve Andersonville but forget about a place like Chicago’s Camp Douglas, which was really just as nasty, except now it’s a high-rise housing project and there’s a Taco Bell and a frozen custard place where its gate once stood.

And did you know that the remains of 12,000 people from another Revolutionary War concentration camp are in a forgotten grave smack in the middle of Brooklyn? We think our major historic sites are sacred and that they are the pillars of our proud American story, but actually, how accurate can our sites be if they’re not even fairly chosen?

What was one of the most surprising things you learned from your research? In almost no instance was a plaque, statue, or sign placed right after the historic event in question. Most of the monuments were actually installed many decades after the event. In the case of the Civil War, most of the memorials were erected in a boom that came a half-century after the last bullet was fired.

If you really get close to the plaques and read past the poetic inscriptions, it quickly becomes clear that our most beloved historic sites aren’t sanctified with artifacts but with propaganda placed there by people who weren’t even witnesses to the event. There was a vast network of women’s clubs that would help you order a statue for your own town out of a catalog, and they commissioned European sculptors who cashed the checks but privately grumbled about the poor taste of the tacky kitsch they were installing all over America.

We’re still dealing with what they did today. It’s what Charlottesville was about. But most people don’t realize these statues weren’t put there anywhere near the time of the war, or that they were the product of an orchestrated public relations machine. By powerful women!

I wrote a line in the book: “Having a Southern heritage is like having herpes—you can forget you have it, you can deny it, but it inevitably bubbles up and requires attention.” These issues aren’t going away.

Places we think of as holy ground, like Arlington National Cemetery, often have some pretty shocking origin stories. Arlington started because some guy got pissed off at Robert E. Lee and started buying corpses in his rose garden to get back at him! That’s our hallowed national burial ground: a nasty practical joke, like the Burn Book from Mean Girls. Dig a little and you find more revolting secrets, like how the incredible number of people buried under the wrong headstone, or the time the government put the remains of a Vietnam soldier in the Tomb of the Unknowns. They pretty much knew his identity, but Ronald Reagan really wanted a TV photo op. So they sealed all the soldier’s belongings in the coffin with him so that no one would figure it out.

They eventually had to admit they’d lied and gave the soldier’s body back to his mom. But if a thing like that happens in a place like Arlington, can the rest of our supposedly sacred sites be taken at face value at all?

It goes a lot deeper. At Ford’s Theatre and the surrender house at Appomattox, the site we visit isn’t even real. They’re fakes! The original buildings are long gone but visitors are rarely told that. The tale’s moral is what’s valued, not the authenticity.

What can visiting these sites teach us about how we remember our past? Once you realize that all historic sites have been cultivated by someone who wanted to define your understanding of it, you learn how to use critical thinking as a traveler. All it takes is asking questions. One of the most fun threads in the book kicks off when I go to Oakland, a historic but touristy cemetery in Atlanta. I spot an ignored gravestone that piqued my interest. I’d never heard of the name of the woman: Orelia Key Bell. The info desk didn’t have her listed among the notable graves. She was born around the 1860s, which was a very eventful time in Atlanta.

So I took out my phone and right there on her grave, I Googled her. I researched her whole life so I could appreciate what I was seeing. It turned out she was a major poet of her time. I stood there reading PDFs of her books at her feet. Granted, her stuff was dreary, painfully old-fashioned. I wrote that her style of writing didn’t fall out of fashion so much as it was yanked down and clubbed by Hemingway.

But reading her writing at her grave made me feel wildly connected to the past. We almost never go to old places and look deeper. We usually let things remain dead. We accept what’s on the sign or the plaque as gospel, and I’m telling you, almost nothing ever reaches us in a state of purity.

I figured that if I was going to probe all these strangers, I had to be fair and probe someone I knew. I decided to look into an untimely death in my own family, a great-grandfather who had died in a train wreck in 1909. That was the beginning and the end of the tale in my family: “Your great-great grandfather died in a train wreck up in Toccoa.”

But almost as soon as I started looking deeper, I discovered something truly shocking—he had been murdered. Two young Black men were accused in rural South Carolina for sabotaging his train and killing him. You’d think at least someone in my family would have known this! But no one had ever looked into it before!

Here Lies America follows their trail. Who were these guys? Why would they want to kill him? I went to where their village used to be, I started digging into court documents from their murder trial. Let me tell you, the shockers came flooding. Like, I found they may have killed him because they wanted to protect a sacred old Cherokee burial mound from destruction. There was this crazy, larger-than-life forgotten story happening in my own damn family.

My experience with that poet’s grave has a happy coda. Last week, someone told me that Orelia Key Bell and her companion are now officially part of the guided tour of Oakland. The simple act of looking deeper had revived a forgotten life and put her back on the record. That’s what visiting these sites can do—but you have to look behind the veneer, the way I do with dozens of attractions in my book. This is the essence of travel, isn’t it? Getting to a core understanding of the truth of a place.

A lot of what you wrote showed how whitewashed many of these historical sites are. How do we as travelers dig deeper to get to the real history? Remember that pretty much everything you see at a historic site or museum was intentionally placed there or left there by someone. Ask yourself why. Ask who. And definitely ask when, because the climate of later years often twists interpretation of the past. It’s basic content analysis, really, which is something we’re really bad at in a consumer society.

Americans have it drilled into them to never question the tropes of our patriotism. If we learned about in grade school, we assume it’s a settled matter, and if you press it, you’re somehow an insurgent. Now, more than any other time in history, it’s easier than ever to call up primary sources about any era you want. If you want to go back to what our society really is, if you want to try to figure out how we wandered into the shattered shambles we’re in today, you have to be honest about the forces that created the image that, until recently, many of us believed we really were.

Do you think Americans have a problem talking about their history? If so, why is that? There’s a phrase, and I forget who said it—maybe James Baldwin?-but it goes, “Americans are better at thinking with their feelings than about them.” We go by feels, not so much by facts. We do love to cling to a tidy mythology of how free and wonderful our country always was. It reassures us. We probably need it. After all, in America, where we all come from different places, our national self-belief is our main cultural glue. So we can’t resist prettying up the horrible things we do.

But make no mistake: Violence was the foundation of power in the 1800s, and violence is still a foundation of our values and entertainment today. We have yet to come to terms with that. Our way of dealing with violence is usually to convince ourselves it’s noble.

And if we can’t make pain noble, we try to erase it. It’s why the place where McKinley was shot, in Buffalo, lies under a road now. That was intentional so that it would be forgotten by anarchists. McKinley was given no significant pilgrimage spot where he died, but right after that death, his fans paid for a monument by Burnside’s Bridge in Antietam, because as a youth, he once served coffee to soldiers.

That’s the reason: “personally and without orders served hot coffee,” it reads—it’s hilarious. That is our national mythmaking in a nutshell: Don’t pay attention to the place that raises tough questions about imperialism and economic disparity, but put up an expensive tribute to a barista.

What is the main takeaway you’d like readers to take away from your book? You may not know where you came from as well as you think you do. And we as a society definitely haven’t asked enough questions about who shaped the information we grew up with. Americans are finally ready to hear some truth.

Jason Cochran is the author of Here Lies America: Buried Agendas and Family Secrets at the Tourist Sites Where Bad History Went Down. He’s been a writer since mid-1990s, a commentator on CBS and AOL, and works today as editor-in-chief of Frommers.com and as co-host of the Frommer Travel Show on WABC. Jason was twice awarded “Guide Book of the Year” by the Lowell Thomas Awards and the North American Travel Journalists Association.

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

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funnythingshere0-blog · 6 years

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Mopar Dodge driver capps captures funny car event crown at charlotte, claims third win of season

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Mopar Dodge driver capps captures funny car event crown at charlotte, claims third win of season

Ron Capps raced to victory in his Mopar-powered Dodge Charger R/T at the NHRA Carolina Nationals near Charlotte on October 14, 2018, capturing his third victory of the season and the 225th overall for a Mopar Dodge driver in NHRA Funny Car competition.

The win by Capps is also the eighth of the year for a Mopar-powered Dodge//SRT Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Funny Car driver. His 60th career Funny Car win moved Capps up three spots to third in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoff standings, injecting new life into his bid for a second career Funny Car World Championship.

The Mopar HEMI®-engine fueled NAPA Dodge Charger Funny Car star claimed 121 points over the course of the weekend. Along his way to the zMAX Dragway winner’s circle, Capps, the 2016 Funny Car Champion, defeated Dale Creasy Jr. and three of the top-ranked 2018 Funny Car championship contenders – Robert Hight, Tim Wilkerson and J.R. Todd – in crucial matchups with major Countdown implications.

The milestone victory and 61st overall triumph (including one Top Fuel win) came after two disappointing consecutive first-round losses, but Capps and his Rahn Tobler-led team were determined to not let their early Countdown stumbles deter their hopes for the 2018 title.

With 321 points up for grabs in the final two events, Capps enters the next stop on the NHRA tour sitting 109 points out of first. The remaining events on the NHRA schedule are contested in Las Vegas and Pomona, California, two historically cooler-weather events, and Capps has confidence in crew chief Tobler’s cool weather tuning capabilities.

Two-time NHRA Carolina Nationals Top Fuel champion (2014, 2008) Tony Schumacher, driver of the Mopar-backed U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster, qualified No. 6 and faced teammate Antron Brown for the 70th time in the first round. “The Sarge” recorded the low ET of the event with a hot 3.699/329.91 pass to take out Brown. In the second round, Schumacher knocked out Clay Millican with a solid 3.712/330.55 effort.

That victory set up a run against current Top Fuel points leader and No. 2 qualifier Steve Torrence in the semifinals. Schumacher’s 3.718/329.42 was quicker and faster than Torrence’s 3.728/328.38 run, but Torrence left the starting line first and was able to ride that advantage to a close holeshot win by approximately four feet.

Leah Pritchett raced her Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak to the 2018 NHRA Factory Stock Showdown championship in dramatic fashion last week at the NHRA’s Dallas stop and was looking to keep her chances alive to become the first woman in NHRA history to claim crowns in two different categories in the same season with a strong Charlotte performance.

Pritchett qualified in the top half of the field, claiming the No. 7 starting position in her Mopar Dodge Top Fuel dragster. The DSR driver trailed early in her first-round match against Richie Crampton but staged a comeback and was able to run him down with her quickest pass of the weekend, a winning 3.707/324.67. Next up was a critical quarterfinals battle against points leader Torrence. Unfortunately, Pritchett encountered all kinds of trouble, hazing the tires early and dropping cylinders as Torrence drove away for the round win and Pritchett watched a golden opportunity to improve her Top Fuel title hopes slip away.

Two-time NHRA Carolina Nationals event champion Matt Hagan, the No. 6 qualifier, drew No. 11 Shawn Langdon in round one. Hagan flexed his Mopar muscle by powering his DSR Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car straight down the groove in 3.891 seconds to take the win over Langdon, who smoked the tires. In the quarterfinals, the Mopar Express Lane driver posted another solid effort, but he gave up the win on an uncharacteristic holeshot loss, allowing opponent Tim Wilkerson to take the victory with a slower 3.910 ET versus Hagan’s quicker 3.903.

After securing his second consecutive Funny Car No. 1 qualifier spot, Tommy Johnson Jr. and his Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T team drew part-time racer Dave Richards in the opening round. Johnson was first to hit the throttle but was up in smoke right at the step and Richards was able to claim the upset win. Johnson’s DSR teammate, Infinite Hero Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat pilot Jack Beckman, was faced with a huge matchup against points leader Robert Hight in the opening round. “Fast” Jack and his Dean Antonelli/John Medlen/Neal Strausbaugh-led team mustered up a solid 3.906-second pass, but it wasn’t enough to take down Hight’s 3.877 E.T.

Mopar Dodge//SRT NHRA Sportsman Spotlight Mark Howes of Rothesay, New Brunswick, Canada, raced his 1970 D/SA Plymouth Duster to a fourth-round finish in Stock Eliminator at the NHRA Carolina Nationals. With a high-winding Mopar 340 cubic-inch small-block V8 engine under the hood, Howes was looking strong all weekend until a red-light foul for leaving the starting line too early ended his chances of advancing deeper in eliminations. With his performance, Howes earned the Dodge Top Finisher award in Stock.

In Super Stock, Keith Lynch of New Hudson, Ohio, also drove his 2010 FGT/I Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak to a fourth-round finish. Powered by a Mopar 5.7-Liter HEMI V8, Lynch’s Drag Pak looked to be a tenacious contender during race day but was sidelined during eliminations. Lynch, who was the Dodge Top Finisher recipient last month during the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals, repeated as the award winner at Charlotte.

The Dodge Top Finisher award, now in its second year, awards $500 to Stock Eliminator and Super Stock drivers who advance the furthest behind the wheel of a Mopar-powered Dodge, Chrysler, or Plymouth race car at all 24 NHRA national events.

Mopar Dodge//SRT NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series: Notes & Quotes

Steve Beahm, Head of Passenger Cars, Dodge//SRT, Chrysler and FIAT, FCA North America; Head of Parts & Service (Mopar), FCA – North America

“It’s great to see Ron Capps and his team capture the win today for Mopar and Dodge//SRT in the fourth event of the six-race NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs. We hope this momentum will carry on for the entire Don Schumacher Racing organization as our drivers continue to battle for championships this year.”

Ron Capps, NAPA Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car (No. 2 Qualifier – 3.875 ET)

Rd.1: (.080-second reaction time, 3.926 seconds at 328.86 mph) beat No. 15 Dale Creasy Jr. (.090/4.041/316.67) Rd.2: (.053/3.889/332.43) beat No. 7 Robert Hight (.075/3.953/285.23) Rd.3: (.0460/3.903/320.97) beat No. 3 Tim Wilkinson (.040/3.978/323.97) Rd.4: (.074/3.890/331.20) beat No. 4 J.R. Todd (.048/4.311/214.96)

“In St. Louis we lost on a holeshot first round and I’m sick to my stomach when that happens. I go home, I don’t sleep. I’m up in the middle of the night, watching frame-by-frame of when my blades open compared to the person I lost to on a holeshot, and it’s not fun. I live it, I breathe it. I just could not wait to get to the next race after St. Louis. We really had a great car there and we really had the opportunity to make a lot of points up and we didn’t, and I wore that. I probably aged a year in that week. Then we got to Dallas, had a great car, and just got outran by John Force first round.

“(Crew chief Rahn) Tobler and I left Dallas, shook hands, gave each other a little hug like we always do when we leave the track and he said ‘Let’s just go win the last three. If we win, they can’t,’ and I’m just so glad we came here and did what we talked about doing. To make over 330-mph runs two times in the middle of the day today is big for Rahn Tobler. We always talk about race day and hot, adverse conditions, and that’s where he shines, but to throw down those speeds and E.T.s in the cooler weather today when we needed it was huge.”

“We have a lot of business left to do. It’s not over. Points-and-a-half in Pomona. Anything can happen and we’re going to go down fighting. I can’t wait to celebrate with my race team, get to the next race and finish the year strong.”

Tony Schumacher, U.S. Army Top Fuel Dragster (No. 6 Qualifier – 3.732 ET)

Rd.1: (.065-second reaction time, 3.699 seconds at 329.91 mph) beat No. 11 Anton Brown (.049/3.736/328.14) Rd.2: (.066/3.712/330.55) beat No. 3 Clay Millican (.087/3.729/328.86) Rd.3: (.066/3.718/329.42) lost to No. 2 Steve Torrence (.049/3.728/328.38)

“That was a rough one, man. We had a better package than Steve (Torrence) did, but .049-second lights are hard to come by. I don’t know. Ouch. The worst run we made all weekend was a 3.74. I can tell you this is a great team. It was really impressive what these U.S. Army Racing guys did here in Charlotte. I give a lot of credit to (crew chief) Mike Neff and (assistant crew chief) Phil (Shuler). They came in here with a package and just made it better all weekend. We talked about it being a bracket car in qualifying and then we came out in first round and put up fastest pass of the weekend. They were on their game and I know I was too. I’m just still wondering how those .040-lights keep happening against me. We need to beat Steve to have a legitimate chance in the championship, but that didn’t happen today. We’ve got two great tracks for us left and all we can do is go out with a bang carrying the U.S. Army colors.”

Leah Pritchett, Mopar Dodge Top Fuel Dragster (No. 7 Qualifier – 3.755 ET)

Rd.1: (.080-second reaction time, 3.707 seconds at 324.67 mph) beat No. 10 Richie Crampton (.068/3.750/317.79) Rd.2: (.087/4.222/219.76) lost to No. 2 Steve Torrence (.047/3.716/330.96)

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t slow down Steve today. We feel like that was the result of some self-inflicted issues. We found the power, but what it really probably came down to was that we should have picked the left lane (in the second round). We were going in the right lane. We had done well in it, but by the time Tony (Schumacher) got done in front of us the lane didn’t have the rubber down that we thought it would. So we had to back it down a little bit at the starting line. Once we did that we were behind. When we did put the power to it, we smoked the tires and it was all over from there. The bright side is that we always learn from these experiences. We learned a lot about being in tune with our car and the conditions. We’re a bit down about the championship situation, but we are making progress and we’ll come out in Las Vegas even stronger than we did coming in here.”

Matt Hagan, Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car (No. 6 Qualifier – 3.903 ET)

Rd.1: (.064-second reaction time, 3.891 seconds at 328.62 mph) beat No.11 Shawn Langdon (.054/9.638/78.22) Rd.2: (.072/3.903/323.58) lost to No. 3 Tim Wilkerson (.052/3.910/328.46)

“We definitely got a car that’s going down the race track now. We found a king pin that was seized up in the front A arm, fixed that and the thing is driving like a dream now so that’s a huge thing as far as confidence and everything else goes. At the end of the day, I’m just glad we’ve got our race car back, our tune-up is working out, it’s going down the track again. We’re getting more laps and feeling more confident in what we’re doing. We’re turning a corner, it’s just at the end of the season.”

Tommy Johnson Jr., Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car (No. 1 Qualifier – 3.873 ET)

Rd.1: (.074-second reaction time, 7.265 seconds at 112.70 mph) lost to No. 16 Dave Richards (.092/4.283/279.27)

“It’s certainly disappointing and frustrating. You’re right in the middle of a championship chase, and to have a first round loss like that puts a huge dent in that chance. We’ll just keep swinging. Our Make-A-Wish Dodge is running so well. Didn’t expect that by any means. It’s frustrating but we’ll keep coming at them.”

Jack Beckman, Infinite Hero Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car (No. 10 Qualifier – 3.929 ET)

Rd.1: (.073-second reaction time, 3.906 seconds at 329.26 mph) lost to No. 7 Robert Hight (.062/3.877/330.96)

“We were on the wrong end of a phenomenal drag race, and that’s frustrating because our E.T. would have won most of the matchups first round, and that’s the problem with drag racing. We desperately want to salvage a top five finish and maybe the only way for us to do that is to get both (Las Vegas II and Pomona II) trophies. I think we did a pretty darn good job on that as witnessed by our first-round time. We just came up against a car that’s gotten more runs than anybody in the last three weekends. So, Vegas here we come.”

Up Next: NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway The penultimate round of the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship will take place in two weekends, Oct. 25-28, at the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Last year Mopar Dodge//SRT Funny Car driver Matt Hagan broke through for his first Vegas victory.

Dodge Garage: Digital Hub for Drag Racing News Fans now have a one-stop destination for Mopar and Dodge drag racing news. Dodge Garage (http://www.dodgegarage.com) is a digital content hub and premier destination for drag racing and muscle car enthusiasts.

Fans can view daily updates and get access to an online racing HQ, news, events, galleries, available downloads and merchandise. Dodge Garage features include exclusive content, such as the “Chasing the Title” video series, which offers fans a unique, behind-the-scenes glimpse at DSR drivers and teams in action on and off the track.

For information on Mopar on and off the track, check out the Mopar brand’s official blog, http://blog.mopar.com.

2018 NHRA Championship — Point Standings After Round 22 of 24 (Season Wins in Parentheses)

NHRA Funny Car 1. Robert Hight — 2445 2. J.R. Todd — 2434 3. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger R/T (3) — 2336 4. Tim Wilkerson — 2334 5. Tommy Johnson Jr., Dodge Charger R/T — 2296 6. Courtney Force — 2264 7. John Force — 2241 8. Matt Hagan, Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat (3) — 2229 9. Jack Beckman, Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat (2) — 2204 10. Shawn Langdon — 2152

NHRA Top Fuel 1. Steve Torrence – 2592 2. Clay Millican — 2423 3. Tony Schumacher, Mopar Dodge HEMI (1) — 2382 4. Leah Pritchett, Mopar Dodge HEMI (2) — 2297 5. Antron Brown — 2253 6. Brittany Force — 2243 7. Mike Salinas — 2228 8. Doug Kalitta — 2225 9. Terry McMillen — 2221 10. Scott Palmer — 2149

About Dodge//SRT Dodge//SRT offers a complete lineup of performance vehicles that stand out in their own segments. Dodge is America’s mainstream performance brand and SRT is positioned as the ultimate performance halo of the Dodge brand, together creating a complete and balanced performance brand with one vision and one voice.

For more than 100 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge, who founded the brand in 1914. Their influence continues today. New for 2019, the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye is possessed by the Demon. Its 797-horsepower supercharged HEMI® high-output engine makes it the most powerful, quickest and fastest muscle car reaching 0-60 miles per hour (mph) in 3.4 seconds and the fastest GT production car with a ¼-mile elapsed time (ET) of 10.8 seconds at 131 mph. It also reaches a new top speed of 203 mph. Joining the Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye is the 2019 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat with its more powerful 717-horsepower engine, the Challenger R/T Scat Pack Widebody, which features fender flares from the SRT Hellcat Widebody and adds 3.5 inches of width to Scat Pack’s footprint, as well as and the new Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320. Infused with exclusive drag strip technology from the iconic Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, the Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320 is a drag-oriented, street-legal muscle car and a blank canvas for the serious grassroots drag racer. The 2019 Dodge Durango SRT, America’s fastest, most powerful and most capable three-row SUV with a best-in-class tow rating of 8,700 lbs. fills out the brands’ performance lineup. These visceral performance models join a 2019 brand lineup that includes the Durango, Grand Caravan, Journey, Charger and Challenger — a showroom that offers performance at every price point.

About Mopar Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) is the service, parts and customer-care brand for FCA vehicles around the globe. Born in 1937 as the name of a line of antifreeze products, the Mopar brand has evolved over more than 80 years to represent both complete care and authentic performance for owners and enthusiasts worldwide.

Mopar made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era, with Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use, and expanded to include technical service and customer support. Today, the Mopar brand’s global reach distributes more than 500,000 parts and accessories in over 150 markets around the world. With more than 50 parts distribution centers and 25 customer contact centers globally, Mopar integrates service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance customer and dealer support worldwide.

Mopar is the source for genuine parts and accessories for all FCA US LLC vehicle brands. Mopar parts are engineered together with the same teams that create factory-authorized specifications for FCA vehicles, offering a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide. Complete information on the Mopar brand is available at www.mopar.com.

SOURCE: FCA

Source: https://www.automotiveworld.com/news-releases/mopar-dodge-driver-capps-captures-funny-car-event-crown-at-charlotte-claims-third-win-of-season/

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