#overall really proud of this. far from perfect but a huge step forward | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mc-critical · 3 years

Text

One of my most favourite confrontations between Mahidevran and Hürrem in the series is the one after Mahidevran sent Olga to Süleiman in episode 61. It's both fun, yet filled with meaningful character dialogue, managing to successfully deliver a thematic message that eventually finds its retroactive way, despite of it all seeming like a yet another smackdown fest by Hürrem at first.

The scene begins with their typical confrontational energy, the rivalry chemistry immediately paves its way forward. Hürrem is ready to face her for what she did and Mahidevran, while not being interested at first, goes with her flow regardless, setting the mood for what follows.

Hürrem: You've sent a concubine to his majesty.

Mahidevran: I'm replacing Valide. Pleasing his majesty is one of my duties.

Hürrem: Let God not give you other worries. Do you want to cover the lack of your femininity this way?

Mahidevran seems very engrained in her role as the head of the harem and connects it with her own desire to take revenge for her wounded pride and for all the pain they caused her. The first excuse she finds for sending Olga to SS refered to the rules and tradition that give her that right, but we know by context that there's something else going on, this was both a move driven by her vendetta and a provoked move - she decided to do this after Hü told her she's the one ruling the privy chamber and perhaps Mahidevran accepted it as a challenge to her power, because, honestly, I doubt she would've attempted such a thing if she weren't provoked like this. Hürrem, on the other hand, gives her own "interpretation" as to why Mahidevran took action. To be blunt, it sits wrong with me right from the start, because it demonstrates a huge amount of internalized mysoginy on full display and it's sad, in a way, that this is what the system encourages at the moment - you're nothing if you sleep alone in your bed, if you don't have the sultan's back. There's a glimmer of possibility Hürrem said it only to render Mahidevran vulnerable and one could understand where she comes from, since she has experienced quite a lot of similar offenses from that same person. And when a confrontation of the like occurs, her first instinct is to think of a comeback, to pull rank and highlight why she's better than her like she does in all their encounters in this batch of episodes. That hardly excuses or whitewashes this statement, though, because for a person who has been shown to fight the system and call out prejudice (even though it was mostly only she was subjected to it or it was about something that concerned her specifically), seeing that she had absorbed some of it and applies it without a second thought leaves a sour taste for me.

Mahidevran: Worry about your own problems, Hürrem. Did you really think his majesty couldn't be with other women?

Hürrem: This is impossible.

Two major beliefs of Mahidevran and Hürrem's characters come on the surface: they drive the dialogue and help the rest of the scene unfold the way it did. Mahidevran brushes off Hürrem's last statement and brings back tradition to the forefront, which begins to highlight a belief of hers that she shared with Valide, that there is a constant cycle in the harem that no one, not even Hürrem, is capable to entirely break. To Hürrem it's impossible for SS to ever have other women at this point, it's something unthinkable for her already. She feels she has fully broken that cycle.

This scene, unlike the confrontation in episode 58, has well done retroactive irony while serving the context of the episode it's in in a plausible enough way that doesn't seem showed in just for the sake of it. The context of the episode puts Hürrem in the right by showing Olga returning from SS's chambers almost immediately after Hürrem says: "This is impossible." and it's the place where this plot-line transitions to another one, leaving the rest of the confrontation to hang in the balance for a while. Maybe SS had truly given up taking other women ever since the wedding, as shown by this and SS refusing another concubine sent by Valide in the wedding episode.

However, we know that this stops being the case later on and whether it's through the decision to bring in yet another drama tool, yet another annoying stretched narrative opposition in the face of the concubine arcs, it's a fact and we could say that this scene ends up being a good enough framework to set us up for it, intentionally or not.

Mahidevran: Then why is there a concubine in his chamber?

Hürrem: What concubine? Maybe that one?

This, to me, is a demonstration of how the tables can turn in the harem at literally any moment. Meryem Uzerli's little amazing, subtle facial expression says it all. When Mahidevran asks the question, we see for a very split second that Hürrem's wondering how to refute her until the concubine appears in the heat of the argument due to sheer luck. Like, if she had already returned to her rooms before the scene occurred, it would've gone much differently! This isn't all that important here, but I love how Meryem showed a slight probability for Hürrem to lose the argument, which contrasts with all her confident remarks before and after this moment. It's just very neat stuff.

Hürrem: Many girls were introduced to his majesty. Among them, there was even a princess. Where are they now? Look around you. You will not see anyone but me.

Speaking of confident remarks, there comes another one of Hürrem's that no matter how many concubines came, they all went and now there is no one other than her. This line further sets a consistent trend of ambiguity, because she's right in the context of the episode and it encapsulates the resolution of these particular plot-lines of Hürrem and Süleiman in the season and we can get behind her words overall both in the arc and in rewatch, in spite of the retroactive irony, but she's wrong in that it's the end of her harem fights, very far from it, as season 3 and season 4 prove. She hasn't completely won yet, even though she sets the impression that she has.

What I also find interesting in this scene is the back and forth throwing of past - present - future between the two sides. They make a perfect showcase of what these characters represent, their states, their losses, their desires, their hopes, dreams and philosophies. Here, in example, Hürrem makes a reference to a part of her obstacles in the past, acknowledging that they were there regardless, but then she immediately goes back to the present with "Where are they now?". Nowhere in the scene she considered the possibilities of the future, the sheer probability that it all may change one day (as it happened, in many ways, through Firuze), focusing on the currently undeniable truth the present day presents.

That same throwing back and forth continues, but with another note which instantly places the two women against each other again:

Mahidevran: I was also loved once, Hürrem. Mustafa is the fruit of that love. Ask Gülfem Hatun if you want. She will tell you how much she suffered because of me.

Hürrem: You always tell this story.

Unlike Hürrem, who only references the past, Mahidevran laments it and takes pride in it, it being the highlight of her once beautiful life. But we know what went down afterwards, adding in the possibility that maybe, it would all be temporary and what one may have now, may change, because Mahidevran was also in Hürrem's position once. Hürrem however, calls out her fixation on the past, in a similar fashion to how she has done it before (E59: "Are you being proud of your past now? Let me remind you: You're still a slave."), what she had doesn't matter, it's the now that is important to Hürrem, which is a solid thematic note to her character arc.

Though, we have this line of dialogue in response:

We here notice that no matter how long it took for them to do it, Mahidevran and Hürrem actually had parallel arcs, in terms of letting go of the past. This line makes for such a striking revelation of Mahidevran's emotional state from her perspective that only continued what episode 46 hinted at and episode 55 directly started. (E55: "I ripped out the love I had of your father of my heart, I threw it into the sea! He doesn't matter to me anymore. Now you are the only one in my heart.") It's rather surprising that she says these words now - Mahidevran's rule of the harem is arguably her at her worst, doing what she does out of the last ounces of her wanting payback for the sad, bitter years. It's precisely what she lost that motivated her, that was a sure part of the reason she sent Olga to SS and yet, we have that honest confession, that grasp of acceptance. Mahidevran's battle with SS was lost very early on and it took her very slow and gradual development for her to accept it and by E61, she was doing the last steps to do so. She tries hard to convince Hürrem that no matter how hard she tries, there is a cycle in this harem that cannot be changed, Mahidevran has come to terms with it, so Hürrem has to do the same. In a way, she was probably trying to say that they both have been fighting a losing battle and she expresses a small amount of sympathy over it, too - she knows what it's like and it's hard, but it's like some unwritten law that it's not worth it in the end and that everyone gets affected by it, without exception. That's how she begins to look upon her present and show a hint of the future.

Out of the particular context, this line could be a very nice stronger endorsement of the franchise's themes, because, truly, no one ever got a good, triumphant, heroic ending. And it was like a cycle: everyone had to face the feelings of sorrow, grief and loss, everyone had to suffer in this time period, everyone dies. Gülfem called Hürrem's life a fairy tale in E134, but that "fairy tale" came to an end after her death. And if we leave that aside, there is hardly a breather episode even for the biggest of victories, no matter how many victories you've won, they would always "have their end", the narrative would always condemn them one way or another.

Mahidevran: One day a woman will appear and would destroy your indestructible love!

The future is finally put on the front with the scene overall and with Mahidevran herself. It's a continuation of her belief that Hürrem would be "detroned", regardless of all. Thing is, she also doesn't consider her own future, only the one of her rival's. She believes in her own victory that is opposed in the present, but would surely come in the future, a belief she holds until the end of the series. Even though I doubt the writers planned Firuze's existence right back then per say, this line sounds like such foreshadowing to her in retrospect, which makes Mahidevran both right and wrong with this quote. Firuze caused an actual continuous rift between Hürrem and Süleiman, making her doubt his love in ways she hadn't before. Nazenin comes into the picture, as well. But no one truly succeeds to properly destroy the love between Süleiman and Hürrem and they managed to prevail, despite of all the narrative opposition. She still stayed the most dear woman to SS's heart, no matter what. There is a slight possibility of Mahidevran judging the situation one hundred percent to herself here, claiming rather that the appearance of another woman would make Hürrem fall out of love with SS and destroy that, instead, just like it was with her, but since Mahidevran called the same line back during the Firuze episodes, I think she was referring to the rift Firuze would cause and how would Hü fall deeper and deeper.

Hürrem: Mahidevran, don't think of me as your equal.

This line is very telling in that Hürrem considers herself different than everyone else. It has always been a part of her character, perhaps a running reminder of her unprecedented elevation in the system she's telling us about through words. And most of the interpretations I've encountered of this line are exactly this: it is epic, badass, it is delivered in such a shading sassy way that could only be respected or applauded. However, it is just as possible for this infamous one-liner to be presented as the culmination of not only her persistent insistence to assert herself as different and special, but her continuous unwillingness to be compared to anyone else in the harem. And usually she's compared to guess who? Mahidevran. She doesn't want to even think of the possibility to be compared with her by this point (starting from E40 where after she was freed, she said: "Now I'm not equal to you." right to Mahidevran's face and continuing forward into S03 with: "I told you not to compare me to others, to Mahidevran never!" -it was something like that), but at first, which is now probably buried deep within, she feared becoming like Mahidevran. She repeated "I'm not Mahidevran!" when she was out of favor like with the Russian concubines, Mahidevran's words that she would make the same mistakes she did echoed in her head during the Isabella arc in episode 31 and earlier had a nightmare of Süleiman giving the emerald ring to Mahidevran instead of Hürrem in a completely parallel scene. (there's also the other nightmare where Mahidevran was taunting Hürrem to tell her about Leo.) Hürrem dreaded all of those things happening and tried her very best to avoid the very thoughts of it. Now, in a season nearly full of victories in her part, she had gained the belief that whatever happens, she'll always stand above the others. She wants to give off the vibe that no one would ever stop her. She has broken so many traditions and the narrative is currently rooted at her favor, all well and good, right? This line could be a mask, in a way, hiding the fear of being rejected just like the others (that doesn't completely disappear, seeing her suicide attempt in E72; also E106's menopause plot.) and striving to leave it behind her, now reaching its peak by putting not only Mahidevran, but the rest of the women into the picture, without a second of realization of the implications it causes, because well, who else was given such special attention by the Sultan? Who else was freed, who else had such a marriage, who else got out of death's door so many times, who else overcame everything, who else had a chance to "rain as fire" over all her enemies? Even though the quote applies on a much grander scale in execution, in later seasons and the way it got called back to in MCK, I feel, in this particular context, it refers to the harem and Süleiman specifically - his majesty doesn't need any other women, there is no such woman that could take away what Hürrem has and even if they stand together, they wouldn't stand a chance, because Hürrem is that massive and powerful.

The retroactive irony hits hard and here: she's right in the events of this particular episode, but the subsequent events definetly tell a different story. Hürrem's influence and power is acknowledged, especially in her last episodes, but that she's the only one capable of having such power is not necessarily true, given the existence of the SOW, some members of which reached more highs than she did, due to the evolving extent of power they could exercise in the system.

Mahidevran: Your arrogance will end you, Hürrem! One day when you're suffering in pain, I'll remind you this!

Hürrem: Mahidevran, you're not here anymore. You'll be leaving soon!

Mahidevran: You're not powerful enough for that!

The focus on the present and future is back with this quick, but substantial exchange. Mahidevran seems to count completely on what will happen in the future in the first line, while Hürrem accounts for both the present and the future, seemingly in accordance, and Mahidevran brings the confrontation back to the present, for what Hürrem talks about is currently unattainable. These lines look like a brief summary of what was established before about the beliefs of both characters: they both desire the end of one another - for Mahidevran it would happen eventually, because Hürrem would end herself in her eyes and Mahidevran would live for this moment and even witness it (and while she didn't witness it exactly, she lived and outlived them all, because there would be no death for her until they get what they deserve, a belief that carries on the strongest in season 4); for Hürrem it has already happened, but it would keep going, fueling her will to get rid of all her enemies and being in conjunction with the ongoing plot arc itself, for her attacking her enemies in all fronts in ways she hadn't before. The last line of Mahidevran's stops the dialogue between both of them for good (followed by Hürrem's smug grin), resting back on her current position, that is also how her whole set of dialogue began in the first place. Even though there was a hint of realization that she has been fighting a losing battle a while before, the part of hers that would prefer not going to the sanjack than give up now, is directly reflected on. It sets more of a parallel between how both of them are, because Mahidevran told Hürrem that arrogance would end her a few seconds ago, but now she's the one that demonstrates this same arrogance herself, starting to underestimate her own opponents yet again, simply because she rules the harem. Claiming that Hürrem doesn't have the power to send her to the sanjack by force, is true, actually, because Ibrahim interfered at the last moment, but this way Mahidevran seems to brush off Hürrem's victories completely, somehow convincing herself that she's forgotten how far has Hürrem gone and just like her rival, thinking of herself as unstoppable. (that goes on the season finale, too, where she says: "If you're powerful enough, face me by yourself!".) This attitude more or less cemented her downfall in this arc, as it would cement major flaws of Hürrem's in the future.

And then they're stopped by... Süleiman himself and I love that, because they have to stop because he comes, they have to stop because he's watching them and give him the necessary respect. Symbolically, it could be a showcase of him being the decider of everyone's fates and them having to accept his will at the end of the day.

And after he leaves, of course, Hürrem and Mahidevran prepare to carry on with their bickering, as they usually do. While that's the end of the whole confrontation, their expressions tell us it's not over yet.

It's particularly interesting, even as a confrontational scene alone: it's longer than many of the confrontational scenes between them, it speaks more volumes about the opposing sides than any other of the kind has dreamed to. While I love Mahidevran and Hürrem's chemistry, I wish there were more scenes like this one, more nuanced interactions than vitriol and constant, almost formulaic smackdowns. Because, to me, this whole confrontation, while simple at hindsight, raised the bar to what could we have had. The rivalry of the two ladies is fascinating on a thematic level and not exploring its depth further, would be a myriad of wasted opportunities.

This scene did right all you could think of: composition, soundtrack, attention to detail, chemistry, dialogue and opposing two sides on a respectful, unbiased, while narratively provoked, way. I adore the way it aged: as I said, it created a perfect blend between context of the episode/plot arc and retroactive irony and the mix of cause and effect of soapy intrigues, character exploration through lines and all the coming thematic stuff, while being filled with dynamic and fun energy. And it's absolutely sublime for it.

#i planned to only use images at first #but since Tumblr now allows only up to 10 #I had to quote most stuff #magnificent century #muhteşem yüzyıl #mahidevran sultan #hurrem sultan

48 notes · View notes

voice-of-anarchy · 3 years

Text

ARCH ENEMY Celebrates 25th Anniversary: 'It's Been An Awesome Experience,' Says MICHAEL AMOTT

Swedish/Canadian/American metallers ARCH ENEMY are celebrating their 25th anniversary in 2021.

When ARCH ENEMY released its debut album, "Black Earth", in 1996, death metal was stagnating and in desperate need of a kick up the ass. Guitarist Michael Amott's blueprint for the purest of metal strains proved an instant underground hit, both in Europe and Japan, and almost single-handedly resurrected death metal as a viable art form with mainstream potential. Signed to Century Media Records for 1998's sophomore effort "Stigmata", ARCH ENEMY marched purposefully towards a new millennium with a rapidly growing reputation. 1999's "Burning Bridges" added to the band's momentum, their razor-sharp blend of brutality and epic melody becoming more refined with each creative step. But it was in 2001, when original vocalist Johan Liiva stood aside and mercurial frontwoman Angela Gossow stepped in, that ARCH ENEMY truly took off.

Released in 2001 in Japan and nearly a year later in Europe, "Wages Of Sin" showcased a revitalized line-up and newfound gift for immortal anthems, Gossow's feral roar adding many layers of charisma and power to ARCH ENEMY's already-monstrous sound. Swiftly dedicating themselves to a relentless touring schedule, the band's upward trajectory continued throughout the first decade of the 21st century, with each successive album enhancing the band's reputation and bringing legions of new fans to this resolute heavy metal campaign. Albums like 2003's vicious "Anthems Of Rebellion" and 2011's pitch-black and savage "Khaos Legions" ensured that Amott and his loyal henchmen — Gossow, drummer Daniel Erlandsson, bassist Sharlee D'Angelo and Michael's guitarist sibling Christopher — remained firmly at the top of the extreme metal tree: respected veterans at the height of their powers.

Always focused but impervious to other's rules and expectations, ARCH ENEMY evolved once more in 2015 following the departure of Gossow (now the band's manager). Replacing one of the most iconic vocalists of the modern age was never going to be easy, but in the shape of former THE AGONIST frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz, ARCH ENEMY found the perfect candidate. Unveiled on the ferocious, anthem-laden triumph of 2014's "War Eternal", Alissa's powerful identity and extraordinary vocal talents proved a natural and instantly welcomed fit. Further extensive touring cemented the new line-up's thrilling efficacy, before one final line-up change — the arrival of legendary guitarist Jeff Loomis, formerly of NEVERMORE — completed the musical puzzle that Amott had been tinkering with for the best part of 20 years.

Amott comments: "I must admit that it feels somewhat surreal that the year 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of ARCH ENEMY. I never imagined that we would reach a point in our career where we'd be looking back on two and a half decades of creating music, releasing albums and playing live shows all over the planet! It's been an awesome experience, to say the least.

"As a group, we have been fortunate enough to achieve some incredible highs and accomplishments, but we have also lived through difficult times and lows. This is life, peaks and valleys… I have to say, whatever adversities we faced — we've always come through it all stronger than before. Overall, it's been a great journey and one that I am extremely proud of. I wouldn't change a thing.

"Obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented us from doing any elaborate grand celebrations of the 25th anniversary, but we are doing some special merchandise and some other cool things - so keep your eyes peeled for that.

"A lot of my memories about the earliest days of ARCH ENEMY are connected to Japan. The first trilogy of albums, 'Black Earth' (1996), 'Stigmata' (1998) and 'Burning Bridges' (1999) were all released first in Japan and we toured there on all those three albums. Before much of the rest of the world really cared about us, we had gained a fantastic Japanese fan base that has supported us throughout the years — to this day. Domo Arigato Gozaimasu!

"With the release of our fourth album 'Wages Of Sin' in the early 2000s, we famously changed singer, a dramatic change from the classic Swedish death metal voice of original singer Johan Liiva to Angela Gossow — an unknown female German vocalist. A new concept at the time, and a bit of a gamble... I remember not being sure how the fans would react to the big change in the band. The new music we had written and recorded was also in a more straightforward style and the overall sound was a somewhat new direction for us. I needn't have worried, the 'Wages Of Sin' album was received very warmly by the fans in Japan, quickly becoming our biggest-selling album there. But maybe more importantly, it finally broke the band into the international metal arena in a big way. We found ourselves embarking on a rigorous touring schedule in Europe, USA and beyond. We had arrived!

"One thing ARCH ENEMY always did was tour a lot. We strongly believed in building the band by proving ourselves on the live stage, city by city, country by country…one show at a time. We really loved performing the concerts and the touring lifestyle — we still do.

"ARCH ENEMY is always pushing to play new uncharted territory — we have on many occasions been the first metal band to perform in a city or even country, which is always a huge thrill. Alongside building our own fan base on our countless headline tours and festival appearances, we also received fantastic opportunities with some of our early influences such as IRON MAIDEN, MEGADETH and SLAYER. They all brought us out as special guest on their tours, introducing us to their audience — for that we will always be thankful to them.

"In 2014 we released the 'War Eternal' album and introduced our new singer Alissa White-Gluz to the world, kicking off a new exciting chapter in the evolution of the band. We hit the road harder than ever before, eager to show the world what the band could do with the new lineup. In the seven years that have passed since then, the band has grown far beyond my wildest dreams. ARCH ENEMY's music continues to connect with new fans every day — it's hugely inspiring and keeps us pushing forward.

"On a personal note, ARCH ENEMY has been my band, my passion as well as my work for half of my life now and I can't really imagine what I would do if this band had not come to be all those years ago. I am eternally grateful to all the people that have helped us along the way in some way, shape or form... My dear band members/friends, all the people in the music business and underground metal scene that believed in us, producers and engineers for making us sound great, our tireless road crew and all the ex-members of course. Most importantly, the incredibly loyal fans that we have, whom I'll never be able to thank all in person. I can only promise that ARCH ENEMY will keep on making music (YES, there is a new album on the way!) ... and, of course, we will be out there playing live shows as we embark on what will be our biggest tour ever! I am very positive about the future.

"Here's to hopefully another 25 years! See you in the pit! Metal is forever!"

#arch enemy #AE25 #Michael Amott #2021 news

4 notes · View notes

honeysuckleharrison · 5 years

Text

Run For Your Life - Part IV

pairing- George Harrison x Reader

warnings- So much fluff

year- 1964

Word count- 1.7k

Summary- You're falling hard for George. There's just a few problems. John Lennon is your protective older brother, and their band, The Beatles are leaving for their first tour in America.

Disclaimer/ AN- So hi, this is the first fic I've published. This is FICTION. So the timeline may not match up with reality. For example, Julians not in it. So ignore that, and just enjoy the story for what it's worth. Anyways, I'm so excited to release my first fic. If you guys have any questions, or comments or anything, please comment or as, don't be afraid to talk to me. Huge shutout to @iimplicitt she helped me edit, and such. Thanks so much girl!

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

You go straight to the studio after breakfast with John. John, and the other boys were caught up in the music, making sure everything was perfect. But George's attention was on you. You would look at John to make sure he wasn't watching, then you would look George and let all your feelings out, blushing, and giggling. He did the same back. It did result in you making awkward eye contact with John a few times. You prayed that he didn't notice how flustered you were. It didn't last the whole time though, Geroge got caught up in a melody he was working on. You didn't mind. Watching him working and concentrating on something was so precious. The way he smiled when he finally got it right was so charming.

After they were done recording, John was too busy, fighting with Paul, again, so you went to George.

"Hi love" he said in the same quiet manner that most of you conversations had to be in.

"Hi, I really enjoyed watching you play" you said, complimenting him, "You're really good" you made your voice even quieter, "and you look really cute when you're focusing." You watched his expression changed from casual to a redder more flustered look.

"Y/n!" he whispered little louder, "not here. Strawberry Fields, in an hour ok?"

"Ok, Geo" you agreed, "I'll see you then"

"I can't wait, flower" he said smirking at you. He called you flower. That was by far the most charming thing anyone has ever said to you. Despite his dark appearance, and sarcastic tone, he can be so sweet. He was so hard to understand but you felt like you were starting to get to know his personality.

The hour passed fast. You took your time getting ready, putting on a red lipstick to show him something different. You slipped out the door when John wasn't looking, and headed out.

When you reached Strawberry Fields, you were amazed. The backyard was closed in by a tall black fence. In the cracks of the fence grew huge vines, and a variety of flora. The building was abandoned, and unkempt. Nature had claimed the building as its own. Humankind can spend so long building something up from the ground, putting all their best resources and knowledge forward. But as soon as they stop maintaining their creation, the natural world claims it as their own.

You slipped through a space in the fence. You had known it was there, and so did every kid who grew up in Liverpool. This was everyone's safe place. Despite the dark, gothic architecture, and the rubble that surrounded it, it was a safe place. As you stepped in, you saw George sitting on a picnic blanket in the middle of the overgrown lawn. Inside the dark fence, the grass was shades of bright green and yellow. He smiled at the sight of you and stood up. His hair moved in the wind, and his happy eyes were looking into yours. He opened his arms for you, and you ran into them. You were once again in one of George's hugs. They were your favorite thing. His skinny frame was so nice to fall into.

"I brought you Strawberries and wine, Love." George said through a smile.

"How fitting" you joke, "Can we eat hun."

"Of course flower, take a seat."

You and George sat next to each other cross legged on the blanket. He sparked a conversation about the recording session from earlier. He asked if you liked what they were working on. You answered honestly and explained that you were so proud of them. It was crazy to see your own brother rising to fame.

It didn't take long before George poured you a glass of wine, and started feeding you strawberries. He was being so sweet to you, but the sweetness soon melted into something more. George laid you down on the blanket and started kissing you. You didn't realize your dark red lipstick would soon cover his face and neck. You were both so caught up in each others touch that you didn't notice the sun beginning to set, or the crimson color that littered George's face.

George brought his hands up right below your neck and wrapped them around you. He was choking you without actually hurting you. His hands felt so good on your bare skin, and you let out a moan. He pulled his face off of yours.

"You good love" George asked, panting.

"Yes, I'm amazing." You said, taking a moment to appreciate the fact that you were being pinned down by George's sizable hands, and slim frame. Your body was limp and you were totally defenseless under George. And you loved it.

You looked at George's face. He was still panting and his face was red. His face was also covered in your lipstick. He looked ridiculous, you couldn't help but giggle. He laughed back. You looked down and noticed the bulge in his pants. You looked back up at his face and said "But are you good?" George laughed.

"Yeah I'm better than ever." he answered. "Why, is there something wrong?" he asked looking around himself, and brushing off his shoulders.

"No," you giggled, "Your face is just covered in lipstick." He quickly started wiping his mouth with his hand. He had no luck in trying to get the crimson off his lips, it had stained.

"I don't think it's gonna come off Geo." you said. "And it looks like you got a little excited." You pointed down and his gaze followed. As soon as he noticed what you were referring too, he gave you a toothy smile, and his cheeks somehow became even redder. Geo let out a small laugh, and seemed a little embarrassed. He rolled off of you and laid next to your warm body. He let out a big sigh, before looking at you. You looked at each other for a while. Your eyes traced all the lipstick you had left on his face, and you noticed how messy his hair had gotten. You leaned in and kissed each other sweetly. His mouth tasted of strawberries, and his eyes closed so gently.

Pulling away, he looked into your eyes and said "Your beautiful, truly." He reached a hand up and stroked your cheek. You grabbed his wrist in response and rubbed his smooth skin with your thumb.

You rolled over and looked at the sky. The sky was becoming darker, but you had time before John would start to worry.

"Please," George said, "tell me about yourself some more."

"Well, I dunno," you said, trying to decide what to say, "I just finished my first year of university." You turned back towards George, and looking into his sweet eyes.

"What are you studying again?" he asked.

"English. I'm hoping to become a writer." you answered.

"Why do you like writing" he wondered.

"Well, I suppose it's because I like being in A world where everything happens for a reason. When you write, every single sentence has a purpose, a reason. It's nice to think all the pain, all the hard times you've been through were for a reason." you said, gesticulating your words. You really did like to write, it let you escape your world, and become part of your character's world.

"Who's to say that everything doesn't happen for a reason in real life too?" George asked.

"I don't know, I've just never believed that they do. I've never really been spiritual like that before, y'know? I just think were just here, living, not for any reason." you explained.

"I think things do happen for a reason. To me, the universe isn't all an accident, y'know? I guess I just think more 'spiritually' than other people. Maybe people get resurrected. Who's to say? It's just a nice way to think, and there's no reason not to think like that."

"You're right, thank you for enlightening me" you joked

George giggled, then proceeded, "Think about it, things do happen for a reason, the earth is billions of years old, yet we managed to exist in this form at the same time."

"You flatter me, Harrison."

"Maybe that's my purpose."

"You're too good to me" you said.

He leaned in and kissed you softer than ever. You could feel every crease on his lips. It was such a loving embrace that you felt strong feelings for him in that moment. Not love. Love would come later. After you spend more time with him. But nonetheless, this feeling was strong, and had really made you fall for him.

As the night went on, you and George continued your deep conversation. He was so smart. He had obviously spent a lot of time thinking about life, and its purpose. Overall, he seemed relaxed about it all. George thought that life wasn't very serious. He believed that we're all here to have a good time. He didn't think much of tragedies. They were sad, of course, but pain is simply a part of life

Some of his ideas were nieve, but so were yours. You were young; it was only natural.

The day started ending. The sky became a darker shade of blue, and shades of pink and orange littered the heavens.

"I should be going now, i don't want John to worry." you explained

"You sure you have to leave, Love" George whimpered, "I'd love to see you again, maybe tonight?"

"I don't want to leave you either, Harrison, but it's getting late. Maybe I will stop by again tonight." you said, turning to him and winking.

"Yes please." he begged.

You both stood up, and wiped the grass off your clothes. George picked up the basket he had brought with him. You both reached down to grab two corners of the blanket, and folded it together.

" Should I walk you home, y/n?" he asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea, what if John sees your face covered in lipstick?" you answered.

"Ah, I forgot about that," George admitted.

Before you parted ways, You leaned into each other for one last embrace. As George stepped away you called him back.

"Wait" you cried.

"Yes, Love?" George said, turning around to face you again.

"So, are we.. ya'know," you hesitated, "Dating now?"

"If you want to, Flower." he answered lovingly, "I'd be honored to date such a pretty girl."

As the words left his lips you walked back to him and held him tight. You kissed George softly before speaking.

"Then we're dating." you said softly. You broke away from each other, and squeezed through the fence.

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

AN- If you wanna be added to my taglist for this fic PLEASE tell me. If you liked it let me know, and if you didn't, tell me why. This part makes me blush so hard. I loved writing it. I hope you enjoyed it. Do you have any predictions yet? Cause let me tell you it gets crazy.

83 notes · View notes

thornewoodhospitalblog · 4 years

Photo

It can be absolutely daunting to log on and just stare blankly at an empty post. It’s quite a struggle, but have no fear! The Bee Sisters are here! There’s a light at the end of the tunnel and you will come out the other side. Okay, I’ll stop with the cheesy metaphors now. Read on for common causes relating to the loss of muse and how to revive inspiration by falling in love with your character again.

Problem 1: Stressful Personal Life One of the most common factors of lost muse is a stressful personal life. If work or home life has suddenly become unmanageable, it can cause writing to feel like a chore.

Solution: We’ve all been through it and a brief hiatus in this circumstance can actually be pretty useful as they often give you time to take a step back and think about how you want your character to return to the RP. You know what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder! Take the time to relax, write a list about what you want to bring to the overall plot of the RP and how your character can facilitate that goal and get hyped up about returning.

Problem 2: Loss of Direction Similarly, it can become very easy to lose all sense of direction with your character and get wrapped up in going with the flow with no big development occurring.

Solution: This is a good time to take a step back, reread your character’s bio and reevaluate your character and their existing connections. Tap back into your initial inspiration for where your character came from and think about what may have gotten lost or has been on hold for too long. What were your original aspirations for your character? How does your character specifically fit into the overarching plot of Thornewood? What does this character bring that advances Thornewood’s story?

For instance, if your character’s bio states they’re a go-getter and strive for achievement but haven’t quite achieved anything since arriving at Thornewood, perhaps it’s time for your character to earn a promotion or be downgraded from the red/yellow floor to the yellow/green floor. We know going backwards isn’t intuitive, but sometimes it’s important to look back in order to go forward. Looking back can provide inspiration for a plot revolving around a new characteristic or a developing skill could result in further character development for a more exciting and adventurous route.

Problem 3: Lack of Connections A big issue with writing in a growing group is that as new writers and characters come in, it can feel as though your character is getting lost in the crowd. It’s absolutely essential you continue to put your character out there to be heard! Solution: Open starters (we have a post all about intriguing open starters, posted here) are the best way to do this! Read the other characters bios and if you see one that your character may gel well with (or, it might even be more exciting if they don’t get along) and you have an idea for a plot (this part is really important!! Come to the table with at least some idea!), message them privately and pitch your ideas! We are extremely lucky to have a wonderful and friendly group of writers here so please don’t be worried or afraid to build those connections!

Problem 4: Undeveloped Character Development Bear with me on this one. You applied with a bio that, at the time, felt strong and you had a lot of muse for but as you got to threading and creating connections and plots, your character still feels…the same. Unmoved. Unchanged by their environment. Don’t stress! It happens, I’ve done it!

Solution: Now its pivotal for you to go back to your character bio and pick out one part that you know you’ve lost or would like to improve upon. Now, journal, self-para, create mood boards, take mun/muse quizzes or personality tests for your character, fill in an IC all about me, create a playlist of songs that relate to your character. Work on them from the ground up. Strip them back and find the parts that make them unique. (I will be adding some character development quizzes to the main if you find these helpful.) But, the aim here is for you to basically rebuild your muse from where it first began but with a refreshed perspective.

Problem 5: It’s Been Awhile There are many reasons why you may have taken a hiatus, and rightfully so, but now you’ve been away for so long that jumping back in sort of feels like a huge leap. The dash has moved, events have unfolded and everyone seems to be in the midst of a big plot.

Solution: Before returning, set up a group chat with the mods and we will fill you in on everything that may have occurred in your absence. In the midst of this conversation, you can absolutely plot with us about how your character should return! We enjoy helping when we can and ensure a smooth transition back into Thornewood. Don’t let yourself suffer in silence! Communication is key!

Problem 6: Striving for Perfection I know first hand how it feels to be in the middle of writing an important plot that you are incredibly proud of and want to be good and entertaining enough that the other writers in the group are interested in reading it, buuuuut there’s a fine line between writing well and wanting to write well that your ambition ends up scaring off your muse. Now, to be clear, we’re not saying don’t try to write the absolute best can! Please, do! Push yourself! However, we’d like to caution you that an unhealthy amount of pressure on yourself will kill muse.

Solution: If you’re staring at your reply and pulling your hair out, hit that little “save draft” button and walk away. I’m serious. Close your laptop, make yourself a drink and take a deep breath, or even move onto another thread you have. I’ll often give myself 45 minutes to an hour and then come back to the original thread. At that point, it’s like a fresh pair of eyes going over what you had before and you’ll suddenly see the mistakes and your second draft will be 100% better.

Problem 7: Insufficient Communication Okay, this one here is a biggie and I need you to know one thing before I start, when we say communication is key, we mean it. I can’t tell you the amount of times I have watched people lose all their muse because they are not communicating honestly and effectively with their RP partners.

Solution: If the plot you created isn’t working anymore, tell them. If they’re all over the place and rarely on, meaning you can’t write with them, discuss it with them. If you feel you’re being disrespected or not listened to, talk to them openly and honestly. (If you’ve done this and are still having issues, please report such a thing to the mods as this is something we can deal with). If god-modding (you didn’t previously approve), meta-knowledge or meta-disrespect has taken place, report it to the mods immediately. This destroys all love for writing and your plots and can make for a tense and hostile environment which is not something tolerated here at Thornewood. Communication with your partners and mods is incredibly important.

Conclusion: If you got this far, wow! Thank you! Gold star for you, if there’s one thing this bee does well, it’s ramble. This guide has come from a very honest place because recently I have been struggling with a loss of muse and through writing this, I’ve used my own tips to bring it back. If you take anything away from this, let it be this:

Hiatuses are a-okay and a lot of the time, necessary. Please don’t lose sight of the fact that this is supposed to be a fun and enjoyable space and lastly, the mods are here to help, guide and support you in anyway we can. We are only a message away.

#writing tips #tips

3 notes · View notes

bongaboi · 5 years

Text

Ohio State: 2019 Rose Bowl Champions

PASADENA, Calif. -- Urban Meyer says he decided to end his remarkable coaching career at Ohio State partly because of the stress inherent in this high-intensity job.

After his Buckeyes blew most of a 25-point lead in the fourth quarter and had to recover a last-minute onside kick to win the Rose Bowl, anybody could understand why this 54-year-old coach can't wait to retire.

But the stress is over. Meyer is going out at the top of his profession. And for the first time, he is a Rose Bowl champion.

Dwayne Haskins passed for 251 yards and three touchdowns, and Meyer headed into retirement with a 28-23 victory after the fifth-ranked Buckeyes held off No. 9 Washington's thrilling comeback in the 105th Rose Bowl on Tuesday.

After the confetti flew in the north end zone, the Buckeyes gathered around Meyer for one last celebration of their coach. He is walking away after going 83-9 at Ohio State with one national championship, three Big Ten titles and this Rose Bowl victory, the Buckeyes' eighth overall in the Granddaddy of Them All.

"I'm a very blessed man," Meyer said. "I'm blessed because of my family, (but) this team, this year, I love this group as much as any I've ever had."

Parris Campbell, Johnnie Dixon and Rashod Berry caught TD passes in the first half for the Buckeyes (13-1), who took a 28-3 lead into the fourth and seemed to be cruising to a blowout.

But star running back Myles Gaskin threw a touchdown pass and rushed for two more scores for the Huskies (10-4), scoring from 2 yards out with 42 seconds left.

The Huskies got no closer, however. Defensive player of the game Brendon White intercepted Jake Browning's pass on the 2-point conversion attempt, and Dixon recovered Washington's onside kick.

"We're going down as one of three teams in Ohio State history to win 13 games," Buckeyes defensive end Chase Young said. "Legendary team. Legendary coach. We're all legendary right now."

Meyer cited his health last month in his decision to step down. A cyst in Meyer's brain causes severe headaches that are even worse for a man who says he gets not just nervous, but "deathly ill" before big games.

Meyer largely refused to reflect publicly on his career during the month since he announced his plans. After he shook Washington coach Chris Petersen's hand, raised the trophy and walked off the Rose Bowl turf, Meyer finally thought about the journey that brought him back to his home state for a stellar seven-year tenure capped by this late-breaking thriller.

"Every week, every yard, every down, when we recruited these players, I just wanted to make sure that we made the great state of Ohio proud," Meyer said. "And once again, we weren't perfect, but we did a lot of good things."

After Southern California's epic win over Penn State and Georgia's double-overtime thriller with Oklahoma over the past two years in Pasadena, the Rose Bowl got another matchup packed with late-game fireworks.

Browning passed for 313 yards and Gaskin rushed for 121 in the final game of the four-year starters' landmark careers at Washington, which has lost three straight New Year's Six bowl games.

But after three poor offensive quarters, the Pac-12 champions made it awfully interesting late. The Huskies racked up 170 yards of offense while making three strong drives in the fourth, but they had fallen too far behind in their first Rose Bowl game appearance in 18 years.

"It was too little, too late, but we're always going to keep swinging," Browning said. "That's how we are as a team. We're never out of it."

Petersen dropped to 1-4 in bowls during his otherwise remarkable tenure at Washington, including consecutive defeats in the Peach, Fiesta and Rose.

"Very frustrating when you start the first half like we started," Petersen said. "I have no idea why. It's on me. It's not these kids. ... We'll go back to the drawing board on how to prepare these guys better to come out of the gate a little bit faster. But I am proud of how hard these guys play, and I never doubt that."

While Petersen likely will get more chances for his first Rose Bowl win, Meyer insists his three-decade collegiate coaching career is over. After starting out as a graduate assistant at Ohio State, he has been a head coach since 2001, achieving huge success at Bowling Green, Utah and Florida before his stellar run in Columbus.

These Buckeyes are Meyer's eighth team to finish with one loss or fewer in his 17 seasons as a head coach.

"He's a really tough guy," said Ohio State running back Mike Weber, who rushed for 96 yards. "Sometimes you never really know what he's thinking. He really doesn't show a lot of emotion, but I felt him today. You could tell he was giving his all. It felt a little different."

Although Meyer's final season began with an embarrassing three-game suspension over his mismanagement of domestic abuse accusations against former assistant Zach Smith, he propelled the Buckeyes to another dominant regular season despite missing out on the College Football Playoff.

This game could be Haskins' farewell to Ohio State as well, if the sophomore goes pro. The offensive player of the game and Heisman Trophy finalist became the sixth FBS quarterback to throw 50 touchdown passes in a season while picking away at the vaunted Washington secondary minus injured Taylor Rapp, the second-team All-American safety.

Gaskin became the fourth running back in NCAA history with four 1,200-yard seasons during the third quarter, but Ohio State increased its lead with J.K. Dobbins' TD run.

The Huskies finally scored their first offensive touchdown since the Apple Cup when Gaskin threw a TD pass to Drew Sample with 12:17 to play.

THE TAKEAWAY

Ohio State: The offense did enough to win despite punting on five straight late drives. Fans can only wonder whether this bunch of Buckeyes would have done better than overmatched Notre Dame or Oklahoma in the playoff semifinals.

Washington: The defeat wrapped up an unimpressive Pac-12 football season. The Huskies were the class of the conference, and they showed tremendous heart in the fourth -- but they'll be frustrated with a campaign bookended by losses to national powers Auburn and Ohio State.

UP NEXT

Ohio State: Ryan Day is now the 25th head coach in program history. Haskins could be the first quarterback drafted if he leaves, and he's just one key contributor who must be replaced. But Meyer has built a fierce machine in Columbus, and he seems certain Day is the man to drive it forward.

Washington: Replacing the most prolific quarterback and running back in program history isn't easy, but many Huskies fans are excited to see who's next. Petersen has built a powerhouse in Seattle, and Washington should be in position to contend for a trip to Pasadena almost every year.

#2019 #ohio state #college football #Ohio State Buckeyes #mashiro shiina #sakurasou #sakurasou no pet na kanojo #rose bowl #tournament of roses #new year's six #bowl season

2 notes · View notes

sbknews · 3 years

Text

First-Time Winners Highlight Sunday At Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta

Ben Gloddy And Teagg Hobbs Join Jake Gagne With Debut Wins In Georgia. Sunday was a day of first-time winners at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with Ben Gloddy and Teagg Hobbs joining HONOS Superbike winner Jake Gagne in winning their first MotoAmerica races on a sunny Sunday in Georgia. After finishing on the podium eight times last year, Gloddy finally took to the top step with a hard-fought win in the SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup race at Road Atlanta today. Hobbs, meanwhile, had also never made it to the top step of a MotoAmerica race until taking victory in the Twins Cup on Sunday.

Ben Gloddy (72) held off yesterday's winner Tyler Scott (70) to earn his first-ever SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup race. Photo by Brian J. Nelson SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup: Gloddy’s First! In SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup, Ben Gloddy finally broke through with the race win that he’s been coveting for the past couple of years. A frequent visitor to the podium, but never on the top step, Gloddy, who races a Kawasaki for Landers Racing, took the checkers in Sunday’s race two by a scant .127 of a second over Scott Powersports KTM rider Tyler Scott. Third place on Sunday went to KERmoto Kawasaki’s Cody Wyman. Incidentally, Wyman’s podium result completed a rare road racing trifecta, with all three Wyman brothers finishing on the podium: Travis winning in Stock 1000, Kyle finishing second in King Of The Baggers, and Cody coming home third in Junior Cup. “It was good to get the monkey off the back,” Gloddy said. “Last year, we were finishing third. I think I finished third eighth times last year. Yesterday, we put it in second and the goal after that was just to keep making progress forward. We were able to do that today and get on the top step of the box. Me and Tyler (Scott) pulled a little bit of a gap there in the middle of the race. I was kind of hoping for me and Tyler’s sake, it would be me and him out front, but we got caught by that group again, and I was just trying to stay as far in front of that group as I could and not get tossed too far back. Doing that, I was able to draft Tyler down the back straightaway and cut him off in the last corner, so I was able to get the win.”

Tyler O'Hara (29) beat Kyle Wyman (33) by just half a second in the opening round of the three-round Mission King Of The Baggers Series. Photo by Brian J. Nelson King Of The Baggers: The King Is Back Round one of the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship featured an exciting battle at the front between Mission Foods S&S Cycle Indian Challenger rider Tyler O’Hara, who was last year’s King Of The Baggers invitational winner, and MotoAmerica Superbike rider Kyle Wyman, who was aboard his Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson Road Glide Special. O’Hara and Wyman each took turns at the front with Wyman getting the holeshot and leading the race until lap five when O’Hara took the lead and, ultimately, the checkers. At the stripe, O’Hara’s margin of victory over Wyman was just under half a second. Meanwhile, third place went to Frankie Garcia, who raced his Roland Sands Design Indian Challenger to his second consecutive King Of The Baggers podium finish. “Kyle (Wyman) is riding awesome,” O’Hara said of the newest addition to the King Of The Baggers rider lineup. “To have that full factory effort coming in here, it’s an awesome challenge. I love a challenge, and I think it’s great for the sport and it’s just going to elevate both of our programs, and our bikes are just going to get better and better. So definitely it’s good to have. Hopefully, we can get some more bikes. The Indian Challenger, you can go out and buy it and basically get all the parts that I’m running on my bike and come out and race. I’m looking forward to getting more bikes on the grid, but for sure there’s definitely more of a challenge this year.”

Sean Dylan Kelly wheelies his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki after winning the Supersport race for the second day in a row on Sunday. Photo by Brian J. Nelson Supersport: Kelly Does The Double The first double race winner of 2021 is M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly, who completed a perfect weekend in the Supersport class by earning the pole and winning both Saturday’s race one and Sunday’s race two. Defending class champion Richie Escalante salvaged what started out as a rough weekend when he crashed and destroyed his 2021 HONOS Kawasaki and had to race his 2020 bike in both Supersport events. Escalante made the best of the situation and finished second to Kelly on Saturday and again on Sunday. Class rookie Rocco Landers emerged on Sunday with a third-place finish after surviving a last-turn skirmish for the final podium spot. “I have to be very, very proud of the work and very happy with this weekend,” Kelly said. “Honestly, it’s been a tough road ever since the 2020 season. We already know how Richie was from the start of last year. It was definitely tough for me throughout the year and then throughout the off-season. I’ve just been really focused on my work, focused on what we have to improve. It’s been big teamwork between working on myself, working with the team. They made huge steps. I made huge steps. Our package is just much better, and here’s the results. We came in really well this weekend. I just focused on being better in the end of the races. That’s where we struggled last year. Here’s the result. I wasn’t expecting a pole position yesterday, but we got that. The pace in yesterday’s race was really, really good. We focused on some improvements for today. I didn’t go any faster in the race, but I think just certain things were a little different out there but still my pace was just as good. Really happy with my consistency with the gap that we made to second. Overall, just very proud of all the work. I just want to thank my whole team, thank my sponsors and everyone who was behind me, supporting me, and believing in me. We’re just going to keep on working. We have a long way to go. We’re just going to keep on going with this focus and go into every weekend working to dominate.”

Travis Wyman (10) got past Geoff May (99) to win the Stock 1000 race on Sunday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Photo by Brian J. Nelson Stock 1000: Wyman Gets It Done In Sunday morning’s Stock 1000 race two, the middle Wyman brother Travis rode his Travis Wyman Racing BMW to victory one day after finishing third in race one. Wyman caught up to and overtook early race leader Geoff May, who finished second aboard his Geoff May Racing/VisionWheel.com Honda. Meanwhile, Jones Honda rider Ashton Yates rounded out the podium after finishing second in Saturday’s race one. “I still didn’t get a very good start,” Wyman said. “But we made a pretty good change last night. We kind of gambled on something in the warmup to get a little bit more grip out of the bike in the long term, and we did. We improved it, for sure. But really the biggest change today was just getting through the pack of riders. Jake (Lewis) kind of really gave me an advantage. He hit a false neutral there or something. So, when I got out front and I had a little bit of a gap, I knew that I could click off some laps to catch Geoff (May), but it definitely wasn’t easy. I was pushing really hard. I was seeing 27 flat, 27 flat on my timer, and I wasn’t really making up a lot of ground. But I could tell that Geoff was struggling a little bit and the tire was starting to fall off. I think mine just held on a little bit longer. Towards the end of the race, I was able to close the gap. Definitely got to give it to my crew chief, Steve, for making that adjustment this morning to our rear end.”

Teagg Hobbs (79) won his first career Twins Cup race at Road Atlanta. Trevor Standish (16) was second and yesterday's winner Kaleb De Keyrel crashed out. Photo by Brian J. Nelson Twins Cup: Hobbs Gets His First Saturday’s Twins Cup race one winner Kaleb De Keyrel crashed his Robem Engineering Aprilia in Sunday’s race two, and the incident unfortunately also collected his teammate Hayden Schultz, who finished third on Saturday, along with two other teammates and Saturday second-place finisher Jody Barry. All told, four Aprilia riders were caught up in the incident, and thankfully none of the five were seriously injured. The race was red flagged, but none of the Aprilia riders who crashed were able to make the restart. As a result, the podium after Sunday’s race two was completely different from Saturday’s race one podium. Polesitter and Innovative Motorsports/Mike’s Imports Suzuki rider Teagg Hobbs escaped the incident completely, restarted the race, and went on to win by just .264 of a second over second-place finisher Trevor Standish aboard his Pure Attitude Racing Suzuki. Third place went to GCP Suzuki’s Chris Parrish. “Pretty tough weekend,” Hobbs said. “We were P1 almost every session we went out. That was harder for me because that was the most pressure I’ve ever felt. So going into yesterday’s race, we were running all right, then I got the sign for the jump start. I was gutted immediately. I knew I needed to put it past me today before today’s race. Learn from those mistakes. I went into today’s race, and we were running all right. There was a big pack up front. Kaleb went by me on the front straight, and I held my line on the outside of him and all of a sudden, I saw a bunch of smoke and he went backwards. I heard a bunch of noises. I looked back and there were three guys on the ground. Obviously, the red flag came out, and we came in. I thought they’d be back in the race, given how long the cleanup time was. Then I saw the starting grid and these guys were all behind me. I was like, ‘Oh boy. This isn’t going to be an easy one.” Just put my lines down and tried to focus for the race. Off the line I wanted to get a good start and try to lead, but also like Trevor was saying, I didn’t want to lead into turn one. Luckily my start was horrendous. The first few laps were a little hairy into turn one, but I took the lead and I knew I just needed to do whatever I could to stay up front. Trevor was putting a lot of pressure on me. Every time I went by the start/finish I saw on my board ‘plus 0.’ I tried my best to ride the best last few laps I could and finally won one of these things, so I’m stoked. I’ve got a lot of pressure on me now to chase down the points leader going into Virginia. I’m happy for Trevor, happy for Chris.” For the complete 2021 MotoAmerica Series schedule, click HERE To purchase tickets for any of the 2021 series round, click HERE For information on how to watch the 2021 MotoAmerica Series, click HERE For more info checkout our dedicated MotoAmerica Support Series News page motoamerica-support-series-latest-news/ Or visit the official MotoAmerica website motoamerica.com/

If you would like to receive our headlines daily to your email inbox then sign up to our newsletter: Here Subscribe to our news channels: Here

Read the full article

#BenGloddy #MotoAmerica #RoadAtlanta #SeanDylanKelly #TeaggHobbs #TravisWyman #TylerOHara

0 notes

f1chronicle · 3 years

Text

Lewis Hamilton Wins Record-Equaling Seventh World Championship

An emotional Lewis Hamilton overcame qualifying a lowly sixth, a poor start, and treacherous conditions to win the FORMULA 1 DHL TURKISH GRAND PRIX 2020 and with it, his record-equaling seventh Driver’s World Championship.

The race win was Lewis Hamilton’s 94th F1 career victory – his tenth of the 2020 season and his second at Istanbul.

Championship Win Beyond Lewis Hamilton’s Wildest Dreams

Moments after taking the chequered flag in Turkey, an emotional Lewis Hamilton could be heard thanking his team on the radio, lauding everyone involved on an achievement that was beyond anything he could have imagined.

‘I know often we, or I say, it’s beyond my wildest dreams, but I think my whole life I secretly have dreamt as high as this. But it always felt so farfetched.

‘I remember Michael winning those championships, and all of us drivers here are doing the best job we can, and just to get one, two or three is so hard to get. So, to get seven, is just unimaginable. But when you work with such a great group of people, and you communicate, and trust one another and listen to one another, there is just no end to what we can do together, this team and I together. And I’m so proud of what we’ve done. And them trusting me out there today like they did, that comes with experience.

‘This year has been so tough… I haven’t gone out, I haven’t gone for dinner, I’ve just stayed in my bubble. Getting room service every day, and not really anything exciting and that’s naturally because I’ve got a championship to fight for.

‘I think this year I’ve sacrificed more than ever before in my whole life. That’s made it quite difficult. Making memories like this, I want to wait until I can be around my family, be around all my friends, because I want to share it with them.

‘I feel so proud of this race today. I was thinking about moments when it went wrong before, like China 2007 when I lost the championship on worn tyres in the pit lane. All these things I’ve learned along the way, I was able to apply today, and that’s why you saw the result and the gap you did today.

‘At the same time, I feel like I’m only just getting started, it’s really weird. I feel physically in great shape, and mentally this year has been the hardest year for many people, for millions of people. I know things always look great on here, on the big stage, but it’s no different for us athletes. And it has been a challenge I didn’t know how to get through. But with the help of great people round me, with the help of my team, Team LH, I managed to keep my head above water and focused.

‘I’m hopeful for a better year next year. And I’d love to stay, I feel like we’ve got a lot of work to do here. I am working to push to hold ourselves accountable as a sport, to realise we’ve got to face and not ignore the human rights issues that are around in the countries that we go to, and how we can engage with those countries, and how we can empower them to really change, not 10 or 20 years from now, but now.

‘And I want to help Formula One, I want to help Mercedes in that journey to become more sustainable. I hope to be a part of that, at least the initial phase, for a little bit longer,’ said Hamilton.

2020 Turkish Grand Prix, Sunday – Lewis Hamilton (image courtesy Mercedes-AMG Petronas)

Torrid Day For Valtteri Bottas

It was a horrible day for Valtteri Bottas who saw his hopes of keeping the championship fight alive dashed on lap 1 as he spun, the Finn then spinning several times before ultimately being lapped by his teammate in the closing stages.

‘That was a long race. Such a long day. From the first lap onwards, everything went wrong.

‘I don’t know who it was, but someone was spinning in front of me in the first corner and I was avoiding, and then I spun as well.

‘Then I had contact in Turn 9 and then the car wasn’t the same anymore. I struggled to stay on track. I couldn’t stay on track, the steering wheel was like this, and there was a piece missing from the front wing. It was just about surviving from then on, not good.

‘Congratulations to Lewis as well. He deserves this title completely: he was the better one of us this year overall and seven titles is a very impressive achievement in our sport,’ said Bottas.

2020 Turkish Grand Prix, Sunday – Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton (image courtesy Mercedes-AMG Petronas)

Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG

‘Huge congratulations to Lewis on this seventh World Championship – what an incredible achievement!

‘Lewis has been a part of our Mercedes family for over 20 years now. He joined us as an incredible karting talent; today, he’s one of the best drivers of all times.

‘Lewis keeps improving even when it might seem like there’s little left to perfect, and I’m excited to see where else his journey will take him.

‘It’s not just Lewis’ development on track that is impressive, but also his inspiring journey off track. Lewis has become a passionate advocate for more diversity and inclusion. He has also taken tangible steps to support this important cause. As a team and as a company we stand with him.

‘We’re proud you’re part of our family, Lewis. Thank you for seven world championships powered by Mercedes!’

Toto Wolff

‘Today once again showed how Lewis is capable to cope with a situation that went against him in the beginning, he was the one who kept it on the road, looked after the tyres and let the race come to him. And that made the difference today, he was hungry as a lion.

‘Driving a car on slicks at the end, with the risk of rain, he just brought it home for a 94th win in Formula One and to take the seventh title – it’s such an impressive achievement.

‘This year has been very special because it was so difficult for everybody in the world. I hope we have been able to bring people some joy, some entertainment, and coming out on top after a race like this feels incredible.

‘Looking at Lewis, we have such a strong relationship that has built up over our years together; the team is 100 per cent behind him, he is 100 per cent behind the team, and this was one of those days where that trust really shined, taking the win against all odds.

‘We simply need to say congratulations to Lewis and to recognise the amazing job he is doing, setting new benchmarks in this sport. We will be flying home together, so we will have to see how we celebrate – I’m sure we will find a way!’

2020 Turkish Grand Prix, Sunday – Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff (image courtesy Mercedes-AMG Petronas)

Andrew Shovlin

‘We didn’t need a reminder as to why Lewis deserves to be a seven-time champion today, but he gave us one anyway. He deserves every bit of success that he has had, and it was a privilege to see him celebrate that championship on the top step of the podium.

‘The race itself was pretty unpredictable. We were able to make some changes to the car with the rules around ‘change of climatic conditions’ and for the first time this weekend managed to get the tyres working.

‘The opening laps were clearly quite tricky, and it was surprisingly hard to get close to anyone to pass, especially when we didn’t have DRS.

‘Valtteri had a good start but spun trying to avoid a Renault at turn one and then had contact later at turn 9 causing some damage that compromised his car for the race.

‘Lewis also had a good start but ran a bit long into turn 9 and lost a couple places which made his day more difficult as he spent a long time stuck behind Seb.

‘The strategy ended up being more straight forward than we’d expected, the biggest point of discussion on the pit wall was how far we could go on a set of inters and we didn’t really know the answer to that as we’ve not gone that far before.

‘Lewis did a great job of looking after the tyres and managed that stint well avoiding the need for an extra stop. We’ve still got three races to go and are looking forward to some warm weather in the Middle East and hopefully finishing this season with some strong results.’

2020 Turkish Grand Prix, Sunday – Lewis Hamilton (image courtesy Mercedes-AMG Petronas)

Footer Ad (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); from WordPress https://ift.tt/3nmPdik via IFTTT

#Formula 1 news

1 note · View note

jessicajournal · 4 years

Text

Journal - continuation

FMP Editing week | Week 18th of May

This week I have been focusing only on editing, this is one of my favorite parts, it is when I get to be creative with images and story-telling. I haven’t found a music yet, so I am just editing to the rythim of the poem.

Wile doing research to stay inspired, I found the short-film: Quiet Zone by David Bryant and Karl Lemieux. It has been a huge reference during the editing process, it is a beautiful film and has inspired me to experiment with premier: overlaping, manipulating images, kaleidoscope effects, etc.

In Quiet Zone, the filmmakers take us deep into the world of those who suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity. These “wave refugees” settled in West Virginia around the Green Bank observatory, in an area known as the National Radio Quiet Zone. Combining elements of documentary, film essay and experimental film, Quiet Zone defies genres, weaving together an unusual story in which sound and image distort reality to make the distress and suffering of these people palpable.

Through the use of complex imagery and sound, mind-blowing cinematic moments are born – moments of grace during which viewers witness electromagnetic waves take shape in the environment, travel through walls and invade spaces with their powerful vibrations.

I haven’t found the music yet, but I am really happy with how the film is going.

FMP Visual reference | 16/05/2020

JONAS MEKAS!!!! Where have you been all my life!?

https://film-makerscoop.com/catalogue/jonas-mekas-sleepless-nights-stories

This week, I’ve discovered the work of Jonas Mekas and I am so happy I did! I am in love with his short-films, the way he combines poetry (and text) and images is genius. His films are so so beautiful and a huge inspiration for me.

I have been struggling the most with sound and text, my concerns are around wether I should have a voice-overreading the poem or just in subtitles (and experiment more with text). Jonas Mekas uses both voice-over (the sound of his own voice) and text, it is a briliant combination of both.

FMP Sound and background music | Week 18th of May

I am really happy to share that I think I have found the perfect music.

My friend, Pedro Frias, sent me some recordings of melodies his been working on lately, as soon as I heard one of them, I thought it fitted perfectly with my film, it is not professionally recorded so its has a homemade vibe, he simply recorded in his bedroom with his phone, for me, this is perfect: its real and original. It has also a Portuguese feel because of his acoustic guitar it gives me nostalgia and makes me smile, it’s perfect because, this film is in Portugal, the character is Portuguese, the voice over will be by a Portuguese girl and I am Portuguese.

I’ve been looking for a song that works just has a background and doesn’t overpower the voice-over (poem) or images, so I don’t want something that is very popular. I want something purely instrumental, not too sad nor too happy.

My film is a journey of different emotions and feelings so, I think this music creates a perfect balance between being up and down.

FMP Tutorial 05 | 22/05/2020

In today’s tutorial I showed my first version of the film. Overall, the feedback was really positive. The only thing I need to focus now is the sound, Kieron felt the imagery was really strong and the sound is in second plan. I explained that I want both to be in a perfect balance, so when you’re watching the film, you’re also paying attention to the poem, my feedback from friends so far, is that when watching the film you forget to look at the words (I don’ t want this to happen because for me, the poem is just as important as the images). Kieron suggested experimenting with a voice-over and with the subtitles, make a version where the text is bigger and more experimental: he suggested looking a Jonas Mekas work, for the way he combines sound and text, which I had already encountered.

FMP Tutorial 06 | 28/05/2020

Following last week’s tutorial, as I felt the visual part of the film was ready, this week, I wanted to focus only the sound. I have been debating wether I should put a voice-over or not, usually I enjoy hearing a voice-over, I think it brings harmony to short-films (I have done used voice-overs before), but at the moment, with this film, its not sounding right, I feel like when I put someone reading the poem it breaks the rhythm of the film, because there are pauses, frames with no text, the poem is not continue - so it sounds strange, like something is missing.

I recorded my younger sister Sofia, she has a sweet voice and I think she sounds beautiful when she reads the poem, but again it doesn’t go well with the film, so, I recorded different people, thinking this might be the problem. I recorded myself, my mother (who is English) and a male voice, my brothers. However, none of them seem to work. Kieron suggested to have voice-over only on some parts, and I tried but it seems like I would need help from someone more expert in this to help me make it right.

Now, that I decided not to have a voice-over, I realized I needed to intensify the music and the subtitles. But I don’t know how to do this. I want to intensify and accelerate the second part of the film, because from the quote “but how can she drown if nothing pulls her down?”, the images become stronger and darker, its not as peaceful and sweet as the first part, the ideal was for the music to get louder, stronger, quicker in this part, but I can’t change the music at this stage.

I am happy with how the film is at the moment, I just think I could push it a little further to make it better. I am struggling in this final stages to get the sound right so, I think after the hand-in, because I don’t have much time now, I will ask help from someone who studies music and sound for films.

In terms of my submission deck, I decided to keep it fairly simple. I want my work to speak for itself, I like my presentation and I think it comunicates well my film.

vimeo

FMP Final Project review and evaluation | 02/06/2020

Overall, I am happy with my final project although, I started with a much different idea, I believe it was a smart decision to change it and make the film and I am proud of it, its very personal and I put all my heart in it. I enjoyed the whole process, and for me, that is very important, I need to stay happy and love what I am doing to want to share my work. I enjoy the most making this short-films, it is through moving image and poetry that I can express my feelings and views on the world.

Looking back at my work this year, I think all my projects can go a step further and this is disappointing, because I know I can get there, I always work really hard on my projects but my time management skills are really poor and to respect a deadline my projects sometimes feel unfinished. However, I worked differently this time, I stayed organized and focused and I accomplished all the goals I set on myself. I am very passionate about this idea (and I think that made a difference), this is my final project for university and I wanted it to be my best work, especially because I am quite disappointed at my performance this year.

I think my film can still go a step forward, but I am happy, I am confident and most of all I am inspired and motivated to keep doing art, to keep creating. This year, I’ve struggled the most with self-motivation and lack of confidence, but making this film and, in the circumstances we are in, has made see things in different eyes, and realize I need to make work that I like and not care too much on what people will say. All I need is an honest message and that is the first step to make something valuable.

This course has enabled me to experiment and try new things that I have never explored before, to learn and to make mistakes and now, after 3 years, I know what I am capable of, what are my strengths and my weaknesses. I have always felt that maybe this wasn’t the best course for me, but I have learned so much and I am so grateful of how much I’ve grown, I am a better person now, I am better thinker, I am confident in my own decision making, I am more aware and most important I am not afraid to take risks. Maybe this was the best course for me…. I still have a lot to learn and discover, but I am excited for what’s coming next.

0 notes

missingteethblog · 4 years

Text

05/12/2020 - 23:00

Haven’t posted on here in a bit sorry. Not that anyone’s following this account but oh well, sorry to myself I guess.

These past week(s)? have been pretty wild. I tripped twice last week, the first time I only took 1.5g of shrooms and was apparently embodied by Goddess Asira (Google results show nothing) and felt like my body was light (like, actual photons). The theme of that night was Everything Is Very Snake 2 (Crywank ofc) and the colours orange, green, yellow, and general natural light. Very bizarre. The SECOND trip, however was absolutely bonkers. I took the rest (2.5g) and I ascended to the astral plane. Every time I closed my eyes it was a different trip and then when I opened them it changed again it kept going like that for 4 hours straight. It also felt like every single song to ever exist was playing at full volume in my head on top of listening to every single radio station at the same time ON TOP OF watching 15 movies at once. In my head. My favourite part about tripping is when I’m coming down from it and I have this one hour period when i am completely open and self analysis is complete clarity, i just feel so comfortable with my existence it’s very nice. During this period my LED lights are set at the lowest brightness with light green and the first trip I just watched live Crywank concert vids and then the Big Trip I just watched The Midnight Gospel (amazing show on Netflix. I finished it yesterday and the last episode fucked me up it’s such a good show. The art and animation is incredible) and just felt so incredibly at peace with the world. That tranquility lasted for a full 3 days (today. I’m back to normal now which sucks but hey at least for a little bit I felt what being not mentally ill is like). Overall great experience. 10/10 doing it again. Also done with my entire family in the house. Sorry mom and dad.

Also reached 6.2k followers on tiktok? Somehow? I’ve gained almost 2k followers in the past week. Shit’s wild. Did not expect that when I first joined that cursed app.

I’m also slowly getting better at the guitar! Which is awesome!! Usually when I’m not immediately perfect at something I just give up (ex-gifted program kid. Now I’m just a burnout) but I’ve actually been practicing and stuff and I’m really proud of my progress. It’s been motivating me to keep doing it, which is super important to me. When my voice becomes more stable (thanks second puberty) I think I might start a YouTube channel where I post covers and stuff (and perhaps original songs if I ever get around to writing things) which is scary but I’m just not going to show my face so that if people I know (esp. family) DO find it then they won’t know it’s me (immediately). Excited about that.

I’m also 10 days away from being 1 year on HRT. I’m really proud of myself for making it this far. I never thought I would make it to 16 years old let alone almost 18 and a half and almost a year on testosterone. !5 year old me wouldn’t believe how far I’ve come. Of course drugs have played a part on this (*chefs kiss* for nicotine, weed, and psychedelics) but the fact that I’m still alive and slowly looking forward to the future is a huge step for me. Also nearly 3 months clean from self harm right now. Good job, me, you’re getting better. :)

Currently listening to Tin Foil Hat Crew At The Student House Party by Crywank.

#frog posts #updates

0 notes

themousai · 4 years

Text

Q+A: The Deadnotes

Your second album ‘Courage’ is out tomorrow on 14th February, so how are you feeling about people finally getting to hear it as a whole? We’re SO excited for people to hear the record. We worked so hard on this one over the past two years and went to our limits so many times in the process of writing, recording and releasing this record. Feels really good to finally put it out! Also really excited about playing the new songs live. Still a lot to rehearse though! Haha.

You released ‘Never Perfect’ as a single just recently, in which you talk about overcoming the hurdles that coincide with mental health issues. Does the rest of the album convey the same self-reflective message or is it just a small part of a bigger picture? The discussion about mental health is something that’s really important to us. We already dealt with mental health issues, depression and anxiety on our last record ‘I’ll Kiss All Fears Out Of Your Face’ (2016) however I think we weren’t really aware back then of how much it actually influenced us personally and our songwriting. In 2015 and 2016 we played nearly 120 shows a year, recorded the album too and had to face some private changes and challenges. In early 2017 we found ourselves totally burned out but didn’t really talk about it until the band was nearly breaking up. That was the time when I wrote ‘Never Perfect’. Writing this song felt like taking a huge load off my mind. This was like a trigger that made us wanna talk more openly and get our message out there more directly and most of all made us wanna go on and look forward!

Mental health is not the only thing we want to write about because there’s so much going on that moves us. We wrote an album about the ‘Courage’ of overcoming fears whether they’re political, social or emotional nature. Mental health is a part of the bigger picture and it’s a very important part for us!

What was it like recording the album at Crooked Rain Recording Studio in Leeds? It sounds like you had some great people involved! Hell yeah, that’s right. It was a completely new and different experience for us recording the album so far away from home. The UK has a really strong and big music scene and the way people work there is completely different compared to Germany. We recorded the album together with Bob Cooper who is such an amazing, precise but also very experimental producer. We’ve never before been able to try out this much in the studio, get wild with guitar pedals and arrange every little detail. I think this gave the songs a completely new depth compared to our earlier releases.

Also Beau Burchell from Saosin mixed these songs in the US. It’s a real honour to have so many great people involved who really care for our music. Due to the time difference between the US and Germany we received the first mixes at around 3 am when we were out in a bar in Hamburg after a show. We convinced the bar keeper to blast the songs through the stereo of the bar and we were blown away!

‘Courage’ is going to be released via your own label 22Lives Records, which you have just recently established. What made you decide to start your own label, and what has it meant for this album cycle? It was kind of a logic consequence after nearly 10 years of playing in this band. We’re all rooted in the DIY scene and always trying to do most of the band related work ourselves. Really boring answer but it’s also just super efficient regarding finances. It’s easier than ever to start your own label since the music industry has changed a lot through digitisation.

Of course this means a lot of extra work and leads to to the fact that right now I’m literally working between 10 - 15 hours a day in my bedroom office now getting into the hot phase of the release. Wouldn’t want to change it for the world though!

Do you have any plans to grow 22Lives Records and help other musicians release work as well as your own? We would love to put out releases from other bands in the future! That would be really cool! At the moment we’re only approaching this slowly because our main focus is our own release which simply takes all our capacities for the time-being.

Having formed The Deadnotes at just 14 years of age, you three have really grown up together! Has your creative process changed much in that time? Have you gained any new musical influences over the years that you think effect your overall sound as a band now? Yes, of course it has! And I think our songs always reflect and incorporate the music we are currently into. The creative process changes over time. Some songs on ‘Courage’ were written in two, three days and for some others it took us ages to finally figure out arrangements or how things should sound etc.

You can’t really describe that whole creative process in a few steps i guess. but what I have noticed is that we’re getting more routine in that whole process, or at least we’re trying to!

With an almost month-long tour across Europe and UK coming up in April, where are you most looking forward to playing and what should we be expecting from your live show? I’m simply super excited to be touring our new album ‘Courage’, playing the new songs live and seeing so many good friends again. The headline shows in Germany will be our biggest to date, we’re doing quite well in France and it’s always a blast to play shows there. Can’t wait to cross the channel again and be back in the UK in April. I’m expecting every show to be an absolute highlight. We’ll try to play as many new songs as possible and get wild!

Lastly, what do The Deadnotes have in the works for the future? We’re constantly working on a lot of The Deadnotes related projects parallel. We have a huge festival summer coming up, part two of our album release tour later this year and so many more plans that I still can’t talk about yet. Stay tuned!

youtube

Quick Fire:

The one song I wish I wrote is… Better Oblivion Community Center by Dylan Thomas.

Three things I can’t live without are... Record player, friends, google drive.

Phones out, or phones away if you’re watching a band live… Actually we just joked about the idea of a backdrop with nothing on it but only a huge QR code which leads you straight to our website!....honestly: Phones away!

Three adjectives that describe my life are... Dreamy, loud and expensive.

If I held a world record it would be for... Loading incredible amounts of back line and gear into a small french car!

My first memory of loving music is… Not a real memory but there are videos of me going completely crazy, headbanging and jumping around to Swallowed by Bush at only about one year old! There are also videos of our drummer Yannic and me in elementary school playing air guitar to Confessions on a Dancefloor by Madonna. He fooled around all the time and I got super pissed that he didn't take the performance seriously already back then. Still pretty much the same in in our band nowadays sometimes haha. I really do love music!

The song of mine that I am the proudest of is… I think every song we've ever written means a lot to me and is truly something special on many different levels. No need to beat around the bush. I‘m terribly proud of our new record ‘Courage’!

My favourite venue I've ever played is… Oetinger Villa in Darmstadt, Germany. It‘s literally my favourite place to play in Europe and it's basically a huge old villa with a chimney and a chandelier. Great and loving people, incredible vegan food, awesome stage and sound, accommodation upstairs in the venue itself. Already can‘t wait to be back there soon. Really something special!

The ideal environment for me to create music in is… On long drives all alone in the car trying to imagine new songs and lyrics in my head. I think that‘s how the first ideas to ‘Never Perfect’ came to me. Maybe that‘s the reason why the new album is so much ‘poppier’ than our first record because I've been listening to shitty pop songs on the radio on long drives a lot. A LOT haha.

If I could tour with any two bands, they would be… ...hopefully booking a female* artist as their support next time instead of us. Pretty cynical, but I think we really need to make changes here and strive to create more diversity. If it helps that our band takes a few steps back, we‘ll be really glad to do so. Take a look at current festival line-ups. It‘s a really good year for white men, always a good year for them/us!

Follow The Deadnotes on Social Media!

FACEBOOK | SPOTIFY | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER

Interview by Scarlett Dellow

#the deadnotes #interviews #dellow #emo #pop punk #music interview

0 notes

rielity · 6 years

Text

2017 Writing Round-Up

source

Total year-long word count: 90303

Word count by fandom:

BNHA: 4891, 4 fics DGM: 3414, 2 fics Haikyuu!!: 81998, 36 fics

Fics completed:

39/42

Works-in-progress:

3/42 - Of Demons & How to Chase Them | twenty-four hours | for the voiceless (though this one... is debatable) crossfire is also, technically, a wip. but at the same time... it's not, lol.

This year I wrote and posted:

Timeless: 4 Across the Ages At Sunrise Back Home Beyond Nightfall

soft kitty warm kitty: 2 cat that got the cream catching catnaps

writing with snowdrops & others: 21 the little bits and pieces of this world with nothing in our hands Of Demons & How to Chase Them (DGM, chapter 3) on eggshells crossfire Runaways (chapter 2) Role of a Captain People You May Know forever is a mighty long time one-way ticket destination: forever the longest, darkest night the weight of you (DGM) cold (BNHA) safe (BNHA) twenty-four hours herding cats (BNHA) for the voiceless molten gold spring (BNHA) when I think of winter

SASO: 15 the owl and the duckbutt at the end of the world terms and conditions count on me, count on you best-kept secret light years from home (you) fear and bravery midwinter silence two chairs to a table crying is contagious phantom passing the baton control, and the lack thereof mirror

Total: 40 fics + two updates to old fics

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted?

At the start of 2017, I wrote on Lofter and Tumblr that my target would be to hit 60 published works on AO3 by the end of the year. I have 79 now, so I wrote twice as much as what I was aiming to. I definitely didn't expect to write so much, and I have SASO to blame (thank?).

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January?

Anything to do with the Miyas (duh!)... and also Seijou. But I guess the one that I would have never expected myself to write would be Matsu//hana: I wrote one-way ticket on a bus ride home after reading chapter 258. I hardly ever read Matsu//hana fic, much less ever feel inspired to write it, so one-way ticket really caught me off-guard.

What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest?

I thought about this question for a long time and skipped ahead to answer a few before I came back to this. At first I thought it was a really hard choice to make - how can you ask me to choose a story out of all 40 that I've written this year? - but then I realised the answer's always been really clear.

It's the weight of you, my Laviyuu fic based off of Vienna Teng's Enough to Go By. I wrote it in one sitting, with hardly any problems in terms of storyline or thematic exploration. it was one of those fics that just. came to me and let me embrace it. half a year later, I'm still incredibly proud of what I achieved in that meagre expanse of 1000 words. once in a while when I need to be reminded of what my writing can achieve, I reread it.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

I signed up for SASO. I was definitely not planning to write as much as I did, LOL. It taught me how to write fast, and to not be as hung up over the editing as I always do. I'm a slow writer because I like to write and edit at the same time, but with SASO it was just writing and minimal editing. I also got a bit more comfortable with working with prompts, though I'm still terrible at it.

I also signed up for two zines this year, one of which was for Kacchako, a pair I'd never written before. And to top it off, I was struck by writer's block when I was working on my submission. I don't know, it taught me to not sign up for zines when I'm drowning in schoolwork and that impulsive decisions are never a great idea (but are they really?).

Your best story of this year:

What's the difference between favourite story, best story and most popular story? I'd say it's either the weight of you or molten gold. the former for reasons stated in the earlier question, but molten gold because it's a fic that clearly shows how far I've come in writing ever since I started writing for HQ last year. when drawn parallel to Storm, my first Noya character study (and my second ever HQ fic), the difference is stark. It's still not perfect, and there are still things I wish I could've included, but I'm proud of what I achieved in it.

Your most popular story of this year:

By 'most popular' I'm assuming most kudos.

herding cats for BNHA and overall, and the little bits and pieces of this world for Haikyuu!! - neither of which are surprising results.

herding cats is a lighthearted and fun fluffy piece written for a ship that is gaining traction in a very thirsty fandom, while bits and pieces has the HQ fandom favourite trope of enemies to friends to lovers, and the benefit (?) of it running parallel to canon story.

Story of yours most under-appreciated by the universe, in your opinion:

At Sunrise. previously I would've said Across the Ages, but as I read and reread my old works, I've come to realise that At Sunrise is a piece that delves very deeply into the emotions of my characters, and really builds up an emotional bond not just between my characters, but also between my story and my readers. The amount of actual emotional pain that I inflicted on myself while writing it really shows in my writing, and my readers can feel it too.

I get why people don't read it. I really do. I've said it before, a few times now. Major character death scares a lot of readers away. Being a fantasy AU, and a Part 2 in a series turns people off. And it's Kage//hina, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it being a major ship means that a huge amount of the people who click in soon find that they're not here for this content.

Even so, I still think it deserves better.

I published it on April 1. It's December 28 now, and these are its stats.

Hits: 614 | Kudos: 37

Go figure. *salt

Most fun story to write:

Honestly, any story with Futakuchi as a narrator is great. It's a toss-up between when I think of winter and People You May Know. with nothing in our hands comes close as a runner-up though.

Story with the single sexiest moment:

You're asking me, a writer who can't even write kissing scenes, about a sexiest moment...??? I guess it'd be Back Home, if only because it's the fic with the most snogging.

Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story:

mirror. It's not wrong per se, just not what I would have usually done for a Haikyuu fic. I think a lot of readers were taken aback by its hidden twist.

Story that shifted your own perceptions of the characters:

I don't really have an answer to this. It might be cold, my first ever Todo//baku. Writing it gave me a lot of insights into the Tod//obaku dynamic and understanding them better, but shifting my perception? I'd be hard-pressed to name it as such.

Hardest story to write:

on eggshells, At Sunrise, midwinter and molten gold. The first two because of how emotionally taxing they were, the latter two because of how difficult they were to actually write. I set out on each of these stories with a clear image of how I wanted to end it, but the process of going from start to finish was a long, long winding road, whether in picking the words that I needed to evoke the exact nuance and atmosphere I wanted to portray, or in letting myself hurt for my characters as I wrote. Sounds dramatic, but unfortunately true.

Biggest disappointment:

I hate to say it, but, Beyond Nightfall. I feel like I could have done a lot a lot a lot more with it, but I also don't know what exactly I could have done. I realised my biggest problem with writing longfic manifested when I was writing Beyond Nightfall - the incessant need to make everything tie up perfectly, which on hindsight was not the best decision because it made everything too neat, and also forced my story in a way that it didn't necessarily want to go.

Moving forward, I hope I can work on this (I've already started to do so starting with when I think of winter) and I eventually plan to come back and rewrite Beyond Nightfall.

Biggest surprise:

forever is a mighty long time. I'd been toying with the idea of a reincarnation AU for Kuroyaku for the longest time, but never really wanted to actually start on it (...as is the case for 80% of all my fic ideas...) because I'm not a fan of writing tropey AUs (oh, look at that holier-than-thou attitude in that sentence LMAO JK). But when inspiration struck for me to put a twist on what would otherwise have been a very standard reincarnation AU piece, I decided to sit down and get to work on it.

Looking back, it's a good fic. not my best, but it's good.

Most unintentionally telling story:

on eggshells. It wasn't unintentionally telling, though. It was intentional, every bit of it. eggshells was the first time I dared to dig deep within myself to write a story based off my own emotional experiences, and while I found it cathartic, it's certainly not something I hope to replicate anytime soon.

Favorite opening line(s):

Futakuchi was not pining. He was absolutely not pining over Karasuno's vice-captain with the shaved head and rumpled training vest - what the hell, they even shared the same number, ew. - People You May Know

Favorite closing line(s):

kuroo stretches a little, his toes touching the calf of yaku’s leg, warm, solid and present, and very much alive. very much here. “yeah, i know.” - forever is a mighty long time

And the worst part of it all is that when he looks into the shards of broken silver lying on his bedroom floor, he still can’t stop seeing ‘Samu looking right back at him. - mirror

But in fact there is nothing much to say at all, when those shoulders that have been tempered with fire are more than capable of holding its weight. - molten gold

Favorite 5 line(s) from anywhere:

Moonlight scatters on the floorboards, a miniature Milky Way filling the space between them, but Yaku takes a step, then another, and then he’s falling into Kuroo’s arms, no longer a cold ephemeral spectre for Kuroo to gaze at from afar, like the twinkling stars through window grilles, but a warm, solid and real body that fits right against Kuroo’s own, a puzzle piece slotting back into place. - midwinter

And he would have liked to think himself invulnerable, with a mask stoic enough that nothing could shatter, a heart cold enough that nothing could touch, disillusioned with the evils of humanity that he had borne witness to. - the weight of you

where issei would usually retort with some comeback about takahiro’s birthday, today there is only silence. the train pulls to a stop, doors beeping an arrhythmic melody as their knees knock together with the movement. issei’s pulled out his phone now, the bend of his arms making his elbow dig into takahiro’s side; takahiro wonders if he, like him, is trying to feign deafness to the echoing chasm that seems to have opened up between them over the course of five sentences. - one-way ticket

His hands clutch at his throat, run ragged and raw by the smoothness of poppy petals. What an apt irony then that poppies should signify peace, because Aone is and has always been the peaceful, stoic rock to the swirling tempest that Kenji is, but their mere existence is doing the exact opposite in calming Kenji’s raging heart, their stem a noose around his neck. - fear and bravery

He takes a deep breath, and steps onto the court, into the fray. He can feel eyes on him - from his teammates, from his opponents, from the stands. The numbers on his jersey feel like they’re branding himselves into his back, and he squares his shoulders, embracing the burn. He’s not Nekoma’s number 3, but he’s Nekoma’s number 12, and he’ll show them what it means to be Nekoma’s libero - what it means to be guarding Nekoma’s backs. - passing the baton

Top 5 scenes from anywhere you would choose to have illustrated:

Lavi in front of Kanda's grave, at the remains of the old Black Order - the weight of you

Kuroo and Yaku doing work at the kitchen table, their legs barely touching - forever is a mighty long time

Oikawa and Futakuchi in front of the irori - when I think of winter

The moment when Shirabu and Kawanishi realise that Futakuchi's read the map upside down and they're now hopelessly lost - with nothing in our hands

Hinata, through Kageyama's eyes, when he tells Kageyama that he won't forget him - At Sunrise

Fic-writing goals for next year:

15 fics in total. It's a downsize from this year because the first half of next year will be occupied by uni and transition into adulting, so I don't want to give myself too much pressure. I'm still on the fence about signing up for SportsFest (SASO's successor) but I'll think about that when I get there.

I'm also going to take a break from fandom events for the time being. I've learnt from this year that I write terribly when given deadlines, and I admit that it was bad planning on my part to sign up for HQSS and a zine on top of my own schoolwork, especially when I was already taking a module on creative writing. Creative drought hit fast and furious and made the last two months terrible for me, writing-wise. Next year, I want to make sure that I can give my writing the due time and effort that it deserves, rather than forcing myself to churn out work.

Most importantly, I want to keep growing as a writer. I'm happy with how my style has developed this year, and I want to continue growing. Besides improving my dialogue writing and visual descriptions, I also want to venture into writing more challenging AUs and also characters that I've never dared to try.

I also want to attempt long fic, in particular the fic that I'd outlined for Nanowrimo this year but never had the chance to start on. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that I'd make that Nano fic my year-long project for next year, except I don't know if I'll actually be able to make it draw out for as long as I want it to, and also because I doubt my discipline in sticking it out with one single work for a whole year.

Besides all that, I'll be slowly chipping away at making the Kuroyaku anthology a reality. That means REWRITE REWRITE REWRITE. With writing style changes come inconsistency in storytelling. I think I need to find some time and give myself the chance to standardise everything, and fix any glaring errors I might find.

We shall see. 2017 has been a fantastic year for me in fandom, both in writing and in finding a community. I hope 2018 is even better.

#writing with snowdrops #writing lookback #long post #in rielity

1 note · View note

bucky-effing-barnes · 7 years

Text

Paris (Chris Beck × Reader)

Summary: Your family is a bit, well, not a bit, they are rotten people.

Word Count: ? Around 1300 with the song, but maybe 700 without…

Warnings: None, really

A/N: This is written by our wonderful @i-am-not-the-real-alice for Bella’s Cool Summer Jamz Challenge or something hosted by @whothehellisbella LEL: I am so sorry this is late and terrible and probably tagged under the wrong thing… I am camping in Montana and wasting data…. anyways, enjoy!

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

We were staying in Paris To get away from your parents And I thought, “Wow If I could take this in a shot right now I don’t think that we could work this out” Out on the terrace I don’t know if it’s fair but I thought "How Could I let you fall by yourself While I’m wasted with someone else” If we go down then we go down together They’ll say you could do anything They’ll say that I was clever If we go down then we go down together We’ll get away with everything Let’s show them we are better Let’s show them we are better Let’s show them we are better We were staying in Paris To get away from your parents You look so proud Standing there with a frown and a cigarette Posting pictures of yourself on the internet Out on the terrace We breathe in the air of this small town On our own cuttin’ class for the thrill of it Getting drunk on the past we were livin’ in If we go down then we go down together They’ll say you could do anything They’ll say that I was clever If we go down then we go down together We’ll get away with everything Let’s show them we are better Let’s show them we are Show them we are Let’s show them we are Show them we are Let’s show them we are better We were staying in Paris Let’s show them we are better Let’s show them we are Show them we are Let’s show them we are Show them we are Let’s show them we are better If we go down then we go down together They’ll say you could do anything They’ll say that I was clever If we go down then we go down together We’ll get away with everything Let’s show them we are better We were staying in Paris (If we go down) We were staying in Paris (If we go down) We were staying in Paris (If we go down) We were staying in Paris (If we go down) Let’s show them we are better We were staying in Paris Let’s show them we are better Let’s show them we are better If we go down Let’s show them we are better If we go down Let’s show them we are better If we go down Let’s show them we are better Let’s show them we are better

Thanksgiving was, to normal families, a time when you get together, cooking a wonderful meal, being humble and thankful for one another. That wasn’t the case for the L/N’s. It was a nightmare.

Everyone was bragging about this $400,000 vacation and that expensive car, how they’re a very successful lawyer or doctor. It was something you never looked forward to.

This year was no different. You were an engineering student at Yale, which is where you found your current boyfriend, soon-to-be Doctor Chris Beck.

He was ruggedly handsome with a strong jaw, gorgeous eyes, and perfect smile. Chris was not only handsome, he was smart, caring, funny, great with kids, and overall, just a good guy. The man your parents would die for you to marry.

When you and him parked in the huge drive way at your parent’s home, Chris was in awe. It was a giant mansion with multiple garages, two pools, and a tennis court. "You grew up here?” He said, taking it all in.

You shrugged, “Not really. I was sent to different boarding schools every few years to ‘expand my horizons’.” You quoted with your fingers as you walked up the drive to the door.

The whole house was in tip top shape, so everything sparkled, even the front porch. When you knocked, anxiety set in. You would be judged about everything, your hair, your outfit, your boyfriend. Your whole family was uptight and snobs.

Your mother answered the door, a fake smile on her face. “Hello Y/N! How are you, my beautiful girl!” She embraced you quickly.

“I’m doing good. Mom, I’d like you to meet my boyfriend, Chris.” You gesture to him, side stepping so he could shake your mother’s hand.

“It’s wonderful to finally meet you, Mrs. L/N.”

“You too, Chris. Come in! Come in!” Your mom ushered you in and shut the door. “Hey everybody, Y/N’s here!”

You had barely made it past the foyer before all your siblings and cousins ran in. You were greeted and hugged by about 17 family members, but you also saw Chris was being socialized by one of the wealthiest families in all of Massachusetts.

Soon enough, Chris became best buds with your great grandfather talking about the NASA space programs. While you helped set the table, you were forced to listen to your cousin Michelle brag about her two week trip to Malaysia. Chris was playing around with your younger cousins, laughing and giggling.

It was a cute scene that sparked a day dream. You and Chris sitting on the grass at a park while your kids ran around for the afternoon. It was perfect, a simple life in the suburbs with a little house and beautiful children. You were lost in thought and Chris snuck up behind you.

His arms snaked around your waist. “Hi baby,” He whispered to you before he kissed your cheek.

“Hi.” You placed the last fork down on its placemat and twisted to hug him.

The whole family awed at the sight. You two managed to find an empty room where you could exchange a few words. You ended up finding an unused office with a few chairs.

“Chris, if you don’t like my family, I get it, I don’t like them either.” You admitted, sitting on one of the chairs.

Chris shook his head, his hair flopping with it. “So far, they’re pretty good. Grandpa Joe is a pretty cool guy and Charlie and Aiden, they are the best behaved eight year olds I have ever met! So what if a few of them are on high horses, you are not and I love you.”

Sighing, you only became more nervous for the meal and the time after. “It’s worse than that, they’ll pry into everything and try to make themselves the victim of everything. They’ll all look down on you because you came from the suburbs!” You are almost in tears and your voice is cracking.

“You know what, I can leave you because I don’t like your family, but I’m not that kind of guy. We can leave and never come back. We can be together forever.” Chris stood up and grabbed your hands in his.

“If one of us is dragged down, we both go down. We are a team, we can show them that we don’t need to gossip and we don’t need them. We can show them we are better than that.”

Chris kissed your lips lightly, and with that, your nerves went away. You took a deep breath, ready to face the terrible, no good, dirty rotten gossipers.

#bella's cstjm #whothehellisbella #bucky-effing-barnes #chris beck #chris beck x reader #fanfic #the martian fanfic #chris beck fanfiction #fanfiction #sebastian stan

22 notes · View notes

hannahberrie · 7 years

Text

Something That Finds You: Chapter 7

Fandom: Zootopia Pairing: Nick Wilde, Judy Hopps Rating: K+ WC: 2138 Summary: “Love isn’t something you find. Love is something that finds you.“

In a time of tension in the land of Zootopia, Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps are arranged to be married as a symbol of peace and unity. The only problem? They can’t stand each other (the 8 year age gap doesn’t help either). A story following Nick and Judy growing up together, through all the good and bad.

Chapter Selection: [1][2][3][4][5][6]-7-[8][9][10][11][12]

[AO3]

She was definitely different.

It was the first thought that hit him when the carriage rolled up and over the hill towards the manor. He could see her waiting in the courtyard, surrounded by the usual bunny crew. It had taken him a minute to actually recognize the little gray bunny as Judy, considering the huge amount of different-ness.

For one, she was no longer one foot tall. While she was still short, she had to have at least doubled in height, and shrunk in other places. Maybe too much so, in fact. Her waist seemed unnaturally tiny compared to her hips, and by the way she was constantly stretching at her sides, he figured it had to be due to a corset of sorts.

Poor dumb bunny.

She jittered even more as the carriage rolled in through the front gates, and just by watching her Nick could feel himself getting nervous. Which was ridiculous, because there was no reason he should be nervous about reuniting with his former childhood-enemy-turned-fiancé.

Nevertheless, he too felt slight jittery as he turned his head away from the window of the carriage.

His mother, seated across from him, examined his face closely. “Are you ready?” She asked, noting his nervous demeanor.

Nick turned his attention away from the courtyard as the carriage began to slow. “I guess so,” he said lightly, fidgeting with the buttons on his jacket.

His mother gave him a warm smile as she licked her paw and leaned forward to brush down a stray strand of fur on his cheek. “You’re doing a great thing for the land, you know,” his mother assured him, cupping his cheek gently. “Especially for predators. Your father would have been very proud of you.”

Nick felt his heart lurch at the mention of his father. Even though it had been 3 years since his passing, it never failed to hurt. And ever since his death, Nick was only more driven to honor his father’s wishes. And if that meant putting up with a 2-foot tall pipsqueak, then so be it.

“I really hope so,” he replied to his mother, gently placing his paw to rest over the one his mother had on his cheek.

“I’m proud of you,” his mother beamed as the carriage pulled to a stop. She pulled away, sat back in her seat, and adjusted her skirts. “Now, remember to smile! And remember your manners! Do you know how many letters I got from your tutors when you were away? Always mouthing-off…”

“I never ‘mouthed-off,’” Nick scoffed playfully. “I prefer to see it as…being conversational.”

His mother gave him a look.

“I promise to be civil,” he lamented, slouching back in his seat. “Mostly,” he added with a wink.

His mother gave him one last look before the carriage doors opened and she stepped out to greet the Hopps household. Nick adjusted his blue suit one last time, licked his chops, brushed down his fur, and exited the carriage.

As he stepped out, the sun shone in his eyes, blinding him for a moment. When his feet hit the courtyard ground, he managed to stop blinking enough to make eye contact with Judy, who was currently gaping at him. Literally gaping, eyes wide, mouth open, the whole shebang.

Okay then.

She seemed to notice the wary gaze Nick gave her as she quickly closed her mouth and stood up straighter, feigning indifference.

As Nick approached Judy, he couldn’t help but examine her more closely. She was pretty nice-looking, he guessed. Her hips had filled out, but it was hard to tell how much so with her corset on. Her ears were still huge, but she was a bunny after all, so that was to be expected. Overall, not terrible-looking, but Nick would have been lying if he said he was instantly love-struck by the sight of her.

He could see Judy hold her breath as he came to a stop in front of her. He had to avert his gaze slightly lower to make eye contact with her, as the top of her head only reached the top of his chest.

Judy, stilling holding her breath, held out her paw to him, face set in an emotion Nick couldn’t quite read.

The whole audience of bunnies seemed to hold their breaths with Judy, all eyes locked on the fox and bunny, waiting in anticipation for the reunification of their favorite betrothed couple.

And so, with what felt like the whole world watching, Nick opened his mouth to deliver the most romantic, eloquent introduction of all time:

“Hey,” Nick said casually.

Judy eyed him.

His mother glared at him.

“I mean…” Nick cleared his throat and leaned down to kiss her paw. “Good day, Miss Hopps. It’s a pleasure to make your re-acquaintance.”

The staff let out an audible sigh as they fawned over the couple, completely enamored by the situation.

Judy looked slightly less so. “All the same to you, Nicholas,” She replied stiffly, voice far less squeaky than he remembered. It sounded nice-ish, he supposed. But by the way she was still eyeing him, he guessed that the way she felt about him was slightly less nice.

“Let’s adjourn to the dining hall for refreshments!” Lady Hopps offered, ushering Nick’s mother inside. “Our staff has spent all morning preparing a lovely brunch for you all!”

“Let me guess; carrot omelets with a side of a carrot salad and a fresh glass of carrot juice?” Nick mumbled, low enough for only Judy to hear.

Judy didn’t seem to find his quip charming, as she simply tilted her head up and walked into the manor with a refined air that was very unfamiliar coming from her.

At least it was better than yelling at him, or something.

Sort of.

The dining hall was louder than usual as the two families reconnected. Her parents were talking with Lady Wilde (Judy couldn’t help but notice that Nick’s father was absent, though she didn’t know why) while her brothers conversed excitedly with Nick, eager to hear all about his adventures and travels while he was away.

And adventures did he have. He told them all with an excited glint in his eye and voice laden with dramatic theatrics, paws often moving through the air for emphasis. He was so full of it, in Judy’s opinion, though deep down she knew that part of her resentment was due to her envy of his adventures.

Nevertheless, even some of her sisters seemed charmed by the fox, she could see them whispering to each other and giggling into their paws. Some of them even threw Judy envious glances, though Judy couldn’t think of any reason why. They could have him, as far as she was concerned.

Nick was seated across from her, recounting tales of how he’d learned to sail trade ships and actually steered one out of a perilous thunderstorm on one occasion. Judy listened idly as she picked at her carrot quiche with a fork, only mildly impressed. So, sure, he had grown into his ears a bit, and was taller, and was overall nicer-looking, but that didn’t change how she felt about him. He could sail all the ships he wanted, Judy wasn’t in love with him. The only reason she was going through with this was because it would help her people.

“So Judith,” her mother suddenly chimed in, noticing her daughter’s perturbed pout, “Why don’t you tell Nicholas about the carrot festival coming up?”

“Oh please, call me Nick,” Nick interjected with a cheeky grin, “I mean, we’re almost family, aren’t we?”

“Almost,” Judy’s father nodded, watching Nick carefully. “Soon my lil’ bun-bun will be all grown up, moving off to run her own household…have kits…” As he went on, his eyes grew slightly wider and wider as his voice grew tighter and tighter, and eventually Lady Hopps had to butt in and place a paw on her husband’s back.

“I think what my husband means to say is that we’re very excited for the wedding,” she said, giving him a stern look. “And a little nervous. It never gets any easier to say goodbye to one of our own.”

Lady Wilde nodded, paws clasped around a bunny-sized tea cup that was just a little too small for her. “I understand completely.”

“Well, there’s nothing to fear sir,” Nick jested to Judy’s father. “I promise I’ll take perfect care of your lil’ bun-bun.”

Her siblings laughed as Judy glared at him. “I don’t need to be taken care of,” she said through a tight smile. “I’m perfectly capable of handling myself.”

Her mother gave Judy a warning look. “I think what Nick means to say is that he’s going to be a splendid husband.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being taken care of,” her father added, “Especially with an…excited spirit like yours, Judy.”

Judy frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well,” Sir Hopps cleared his throat and muttered, “The whole…constable incident, for one.”

Nick raised an eyebrow. “What incident?”

“It’s nothing!” Lady Hopps answered, directing her warning look to her husband once more. “We’re very happy to have you here, both of you, now, let’s move on please—”

“May I be excused from the table?” Judy asked quickly, foot starting to thump impatiently. “Please.”

“But you hardly touched your plate!” Her mother frowned, gesturing to her barely-eaten carrot quiche.

“I’m not very hungry,” Judy replied, “In fact…I…uh…feel rather ill.” She placed a paw over her stomach for emphasis. “I think it’d be best if I just leave.”

Her mother looked doubtful, but nodded, excusing Judy from the table. She departed quickly, grabbing her oversized skirt and darting out of the dining room. As she dashed through the halls and towards her bedroom, she couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming amount of distress.

This had been a mistake. She clearly wasn’t ready to be married, especially not to Nick. This was too much pressure! The entire land was riding on the fact that she was going to spend the rest of her life stuck in some stuffy manor, having kits and doting upon someone else! It wasn’t fair! Why did Nick get to go on all these adventures? Why were her brothers and cousins allowed to do whatever they pleased, enroll in whatever profession they wanted, and all without judgment?

She stopped at her bedroom door and leaned up against the wall, panting slightly. Her head was spinning and her heart felt like it was being torn in a million different directions. Before today, she thought that she could do this, that she would be able to marry someone she didn’t love to make her people happy.

But now….

She was still panting, and in frustration she tried to loosen her dress, paws scrambling at the laces on her back that were starting to feel more and more like a choking vise.

“Need a little help there?”

Judy paused and looked up to see Nick eyeing her. So he’d followed her. Great.

“I’m perfectly fine, thank you,” she replied, standing up straighter.

“So you always claw at your own clothing like that?” Nick smirked wryly.

“Can you just…go away?” Judy huffed, turning to open her bedroom door. “I didn’t ask for your help.”

“I was trying to be nice!”

“Since when?”

“Since you ran off, claiming to be ‘sick,’ which I’m starting to think wasn’t even true…”

“Well, our parents aren’t here right now, so you don’t have to pretend to be nice to me.”

“I’m not pretending. I’m actually trying here, ya’ know?”

Judy turned away from the door to look at him, incredulous. “Why? Aren’t you upset? Aren’t you frustrated?”

Nick shrugged. “I guess. I mean, no offense, but marrying you isn’t going to be a picnic, that’s for sure.”

Judy glared at him. “Nice. Real nice, Nick.”

“It’s true!” Nick said defensively. “Ever since I got here you’ve been glaring at me like something you found in a gutter!”

“Oh, and you’ve been perfect!” Judy replied sarcastically. “‘Hey?!’ Really? You went away for almost a decade and all they taught you was ‘hey!?’”

“You know that’s not all they taught me, Fluff,” Nick said dismissively, examining his claws. “I saw the way you were eyeing me at dinner. If I didn’t know better I’d say you were jealous.”

“I’m not jealous!” Judy said a little too quickly, crossing her arms. “You just brag too much!”

“Uh huh,” Nick smirked. “Whatever you say, Carrots.”

“Don’t call me Carrots.”

“Sorry, Fluff.”

“Don’t call me that either!”

“Greatest apologies!” Nick lamented dramatically, adding a bow for extra effect, “….Bun-bun.”

Her nose started to twitch rapidly as her fists balled tightly and her ears flattened against her head. “You’re…impossible!” Judy snapped, and with that, entered her bedroom and slammed the door shut.

#wildehopps #zootopia #wilde hopps #nick x judt #judy x nick #zootopia fanfiction #disney fanfiction #wildehopps fanfiction #berrie fics #zoo 3 fic #arranged marriage au

83 notes · View notes

totallyrhettro · 7 years

Text

The Lone Jedi, Chapter 15

Word Count: 2100 Rating: This chapter: PG-13. Overall story: explicit Warnings: Violence with an electric whip Summary: Jedi Knight Rhett McLaughlin managed to escape the purge of the Emperor to become one of the last of his celibate order. After years of a solitary life, he finds himself with a former slave for a friend. Despite his efforts to maintain anonymity and the jedi code, he starts to realize that doing either is easier said than done. Notes: Star Wars AU; Events take place between episodes III and IV

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

*See the end of each chapter for additional notes on star wars terms*

Link POV

There was a time when the zygerrians practically had a monopoly on slavery. They had built an empire on the blacks of slaves becoming one of the richest civilizations in the galaxy. That was until the jedi order went to war with them and outlawed slavery in the civilized systems. With the order all but gone and the old republic destroyed, the zygerrians had started to rebuild their lost supremacy.

With their thick, bat-like ears and short but razor-sharp teeth they had a distinct canine look. The fur-covered humanoids thought themselves quite cunning. Whether or not they deserved this description they were definitely known for being treacherous and cruel. They saw all other races as beneath them, all slaves as less than dirt. Even the most prized of slaves were born to serve and nothing more.

Link’s new master, a female by the name of Mahala, was a lover of fine things. Exquisite wine, elegant tapestries, and the most luxurious furnishings; she wasn’t happy unless she was surrounded by her cherished belongings. This included the most beautiful and talented slaves. She insisted to have at least one of her favorites to entertain her during long trips in her private transport and today was no exception. So it was that Link found himself chosen from the multitude of slaves she had purchased at the market and brought into her cruiser.

Once he was cleansed and dressed in dark, semi transparent zoosha pants, he was escorted into his new master’s chambers. The round room was dominated by an equally round bed, covered in silken sheets and dozens of colorful pillows. Dim lamps on either side where the only source of light, reflecting shimmering patterns on the dull, metallic walls. At the center of a small alcove was a curved dais and a single, silver pole. Link had seen many similar set ups before. He knew full well what it was for and what was to be expected of him.

The guard who had brought him here gave him a slight shove, urging him towards the display area. The cold metal tracking shackle on his ankle was all the reminder Link needed to know this was his place now, his existence, his life. He made no fuss as he took position near the pole, standing with his arms behind his back and his feet flat on the smooth floor. The guard left him alone then; there was no reason to guard him. He knew there was no choice. Even if Link wanted to escape, there were several guards between him and freedom. Besides, the tracker on his ankle was rigged to explode at the push of a button. He knew all too well the price of disobedience.

He didn’t have to wait long for his new master to arrive. She had changed from her traveler's outfit into something less outdoor-friendly. Her lavender bodice and black-striped, slitted skirt, was far more fitting than her previous garb, and far more flattering. As she strode into the room, proud and fearless, she practically exuded beauty and she knew it. This was a woman who was used to owning not only slaves, but entire cities. Mahala could control a whole room with a single look and gazing over at the broken slave before her now, she smirked confidently.

“You are a pretty one,” she commented, running her eyes up and down his bare chest and barely covered legs. “I quite enjoyed your performance earlier.” Sitting down on the bed, her smirk became a terrifying grin. “I’m looking forward to the encore.” Link didn’t need to be asked twice. Placing both of his hands on the upper end of the pole, he swung himself slowly, beginning his dance. His biceps bulged as he pulled himself up and around. His legs flexed as he lifted himself off the ground. He moved with both strength and grace, and Mahala was enraptured. Although he kept his gaze from focusing on his new master, Link could see the sparkle in her eye, the way she licked her lips, and he knew that she was more than enjoying the show.

Link continued to dance, trying to lose himself in the act itself and not think about where he was or who was here… who wasn’t here. He wasn’t really paying attention when the zygerrian got to her feet, or when she walked over towards the stage. It wasn’t until he felt her hand touch his shoulder that he flinched, startled. No one had ever touched him when he was a slave of the Hutt; no one had been allowed. Link faltered, freezing in place, unsure what to do. Mahala smiled.

“Don’t stop, cyare,” she purred. “I love the way you move.” Running her hand down his back, she was gentle, almost loving, but Link was terrified. He began to shake, unable to continue the routine that he had done thousands of times before. His hands clenched the pole tightly, as if he would fall off at any moment. Angry at the defiance of her newest purchase, the affection in her eyes disappeared instantly. Her tender caress became cautionary scratches, warning him that he was not here to just look pretty.

“I- I’m sorry,” he stuttered, trying to convince his muscles to continue their work. “I’ve never… I’ve never been... that kind of slave.” There was a brief pause, then Mahala took a step back to take in the sight of Link once more. She gave him a knowing smile and he swallowed, nervously.

“I find that hard to believe but, if it is true, your days of teasing the audience are over.” Stepping away, Mahala crossed the room to the bed, seating herself upon it like a queen on her throne. Link didn’t move. “I do enjoy your dancing,” his master admitted, “and there are few that I would prefer adorning my chambers aside from you, but you will learn your station.” Reaching into a drawer hidden in the headboard, she removed a gold-plated rod. It was an electro-whip; Link had seen that before too. Never had he felt one on his own skin but there had been many times he’d seen unruly slaves punished with one. It wasn’t pleasant to watch and he was certain he never wanted to feel it for himself.

“I understand,” he conceded.

“Good. I’d hate to damage that perfect body of yours. Come.” Still holding the deactivated whip, Mahala tapped the bed beside her. Defeated, Link shuffled over to sit down. At that moment he felt something he’d never felt before in all his years as a slave. Hatred. He hated himself for getting himself into this situation, for failing to prevent his own capture. More than that he hated her, the woman that saw him as nothing more than property and not a person. He had never hated a master before. In the past it had been enough just to please the masters, that was his life but now… Now he knew there was so much more to life. Now he understood that he could have a choice.

“When we get back to Zygerria I’ll be sure to have you trained in new techniques of pleasing me,” Mahala cooed, tracing swirling lines along Link’s collar bone. “Until then, we’ll start… simple…” Learning forward she brought her lips up to the tip of the man’s ear but just as her furry mouth was about to make contact, Link pulled away, turning his head so she couldn’t reach. Furious, the zygerrian activated her whip, preparing to brandish it at her slave, but he dodged nimbly out of the way and to his feet.

“I’d rather die.” He meant it. Standing taller than he felt, Link set his jaw and glared at the woman before him. Getting her feet, Mahala cracked the whip to her side, threatening her newest pet to behave, but although he couldn’t help but grimace, he stood his ground.

“I could arrange that.” On the last word, Mahala lashed her whip forward, striking Link on his shoulder. Electricity surged through the thick cord and into Link’s skin, sending a jolt of pain throughout his body. It only lasted a few seconds but it brought the brave man to his knees. The zygerrian snarled. “I will break you.”

“You can hurt me, you can kill me, but you will never break me.” He couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. Something in him had snapped and he refused to resettle into his old life. Not that he suffered any delusions of liberation, he just saw no point in living now. There was no reason, no motivation. His last joy had been taken and the only man he had ever loved didn’t want to have anything to do with him. He braced himself for what was certain to be a painful death.

Mahala roared in fury, lashing out with her whip again, over and over. Link shut his eyes as wave after wave of pain pulsed through him. He couldn’t stay upright, his muscles locked in place and he fell to the floor, writhing in pain. It was worse than he had imagined, but he didn’t cry out. He refused to give her the satisfaction. Any moment he was going to pass out from the torture, he could already feel the darkness closing in, but just as he was going to let it happen a huge explosion rocked the city and the small vessel hard. Immediately there was a chime of an intercom being rung. Swearing, Mahala turned off her whip and went to answer the call at the panel by the door.

“What was that?” she demanded.

“My apologies, mistress,” came a voice. “The city appears to be under attack.”

“Then take off. Get me off this ugly rock!”

“We haven't finished loading-”

“What is taking so long?” With a frustrated sigh, Mahala shook her head. “Never mind.” Without a last glance at Link, she opened the door and stormed out, muttering “I’ll deal with this myself.” Seconds later the slave was alone again, much to his relief. He lay panting on the floor, frankly amazed at his luck, but he couldn’t help but wonder what had caused the explosion. The city was under attack? By whom? Why? He didn’t think he’d ever find out. The last time he felt an explosion like that, he had been a great deal closer and the transport he was on had been destroyed. He never did find out who had been behind that attack. Could it have been the same people?

He didn’t have long to wonder about such things. Before he knew it there was a commotion at behind the door. It sounded like a scuffle between the guard outside and some unknown attacker. It didn’t last very long, ending with a subtle thump of the loser to the ground and then there was silence. Seconds later the door opened revealing an unusually tall figure in a long, brown robe. The man pulled back the hood, but Link already knew who it was.

“Rhett!” He couldn't believe it, but there he was, the man he loved standing before him. His body was still weak, but he barely felt the pain now. As he struggled to get back up, Rhett was already there, kneeling at his side.

“Link. Oh, Link. What have they done to you?” Cupping Link’s jaw in his hand, he lifted the man’s face so he could get a better look.

“How did you…?” Link asked. “When did you…?” Or tried to. He couldn’t decide which question he wanted answered first. “I never thought I was going to see you again.” His examination complete, Rhett still didn’t let go. His heart swelled at the sight of Link, at feeling him so close at last. The same conflicts of emotion and morality came back in force, but he didn’t care about the inner fight just now. He only cared about Link, about telling him what he should have said a long time ago.

“Link,” he began. “Link I-”

“You filth!” came a shout behind him. They both turned to see a livid Mahala at the door, her whip in hand and two guards by her side. Her eyes were ablaze in rage staring right at Rhett. “That slave is mine. Get away from him, jedi wretch!” Rhett froze, his eyes glancing at the man beside him, waiting to see his reaction to what had just been said. He practically could see the gears turning in his head and finally Link understood.

“... jedi?”

Next Chapter

Additional Notes-

Zygerrian: a humanoid species who built a powerful empire by selling their slaves.

Zoosha: a transparent material often used in clothing.

Cyare: a term of endearment. Translates to ‘beloved’.

Electro-whip: an electrified whip consisting of a metal grip and an electrified wire that glows when powered up.

More Fics

#rhett #link #rhink #fanfic #star wars #starwars #the lone jedi

5 notes · View notes

marvelandponder · 7 years

Photo

Woo Hoo! The Small, Emotional Horses are Back!!!

And they’ve come back not with a bang, but with a song, tears, and lot of hugs. To steal a joke from the Steven Universe fandom, this week’s episodes of Singing and Crying really deliver what they promise!

Oh, and this also happens to be the first time I’ve tried anything close to a reviewing format when talking about MLP. So that’s new!

Since we’re starting off a new season with this new series of posts, I figure I should warn you: I love this show. Way too much.

In addition to that, I’m not a very good critic. I respect those who are because they can bring to light new perspectives I hadn’t considered, but I think it just comes down to how I consume the media I love. I’m more emotionally driven than it seems a lot of the best critics are, who enjoy taking things apart as they watch them. I might do that in the aftermath to explain myself, but even if I can take it apart, I can’t deny that I had that (usually) enjoyable experience watching my favourite show and that’s ultimately a huge part of my take-away.

So, why get into the reviewing game if I’m not much of a reviewer?

Well, because the Brony fandom already has LOADS of wonderful critics who are already so great at providing awesome criticisms*, so that’s already covered. And, even if I’m not as critical of the show as I sometimes maybe should be, being a super fan means my analysis can still be in-depth. If very obviously biased towards the positive.

*To be clear, I’m of course not saying all critics only pick apart an episode by its flaws alone (they of course can praise elements as they do their deconstructions and give their recommendations), just that I tend to forgive a lot of flaws too easily so my bias is excessively clear

So, that’s just some context for you before we dive into it. I won’t really rate episodes because, I mean, the majority of the time it’s going to be somewhere on the scale of liked it to loved it (and in this case leaning towards loved it).

Instead, let’s just talk about the horses. Because I could ramble about this opener for hours!

Subverting the “Two-Parter” MLP Formula

Right off the bat, I want to say how much I appreciate the staff’s inventiveness. Not for any mind-blowing story concept or even any awesomely emotional break-through, but because at this point they clearly know they can’t keep doing what they’ve always have been forever and ever.

Breaking up the premiere into two completely separate stories is a really simple idea, yes, but still one we’ve never seen before.

One episode is higher in concept than the other---dealing with the fate of one our main characters while the other breaks itself up between an A plot and a B plot (another thing MLP hasn’t really done too much of)---but overall I think this works really well because we haven’t really had a low-key season opener.

I mean, we’ve definitely had openers that are smaller in scope than others. Season 5′s opener, The Cutie Map, took place and exclusively effected one small village, for example. It still threatened to take the identities of our main characters away with a sinister antagonist and the conflict took two episodes to solve, but it wasn’t all Equestria at stake.

This is even smaller that that. More slice-of-life.

My theory’s been for a while that this is because of season’s 4 opener and finale. They went big on both occasions, but really big with the Tirek and Twilight battle. It seems to me that after they went full DragonBall Z, the staff realized that while it was cool to do once, they couldn’t keep escalating things forever. I mean, that battle had all the magic in Equestria---PLUS new, Rainbow-powered magic to finish it off! You really can’t go much bigger than that.

Which isn’t to say they always stuck to and will stick to stories with slower stakes. It’s just not always a show of who’s got the most powerful magic anymore.

And because of that, I really admire the ways they’ve tried to subvert our expectations recently.

Not every attempt worked---like, I think The Crystalling compartmentalized its story into an A plot and a B plot incorrectly; the emotional story was all with Starlight in the B plot, and the A plot was mostly just Big, Exciting Plot Stakes! without any one character to feel the stakes with (for instance, if Twilight had been worried about becoming an aunt, or we stuck with Shining Armour and Cadence worrying over how they’re going to protect Flurry Heart from herself and the world around her---we would’ve felt those stakes a lot more)---but even when it doesn’t pan out, I can still appreciate that they’re always pushing themselves to try something new!

We last left our heroes with a season finale that also subverted the formula, by having side characters band together instead of our mains. In my opinion, it ended up working fantastically, giving us some great character dynamics and a refreshing way to end the season.

This time, we come back to see the results of that in two stories with low, normal stakes, but satisfying emotional arcs nonetheless!

Episode 1 Celestial Advice A.K.A. STOP MAKING ME FEEL THINGS

Even the first, while dealing with Starlight’s Ultimate Fate™ has a lot of its action take place within Twilight’s freakouts. The action itself is either funny or a bit emotional, but it’s not going to be incredibly exciting because there are no stakes to it, since it’s all a fantasy. But the Lady writers of this episode know that, and that’s not what we’re following throughout the episode.

The majority of the conflict is really simple---to the point that the first half of this episode is a bit slow in terms of pacing as Twilight starts to work herself up (with Discord’s “help”). Little jokes here and there help keep the leisurely pace from getting too dry (Spike’s sass, Katie Cook and Andy Price showing up at the celebration, gags with Discord, etc.) but it starts very modestly nonetheless.

Maybe too much so. As things escalate and we take the journey with Twilight, Spike, and Celestia, I started to get a little worried that while funny, this episode wouldn’t deliver much since all the fun fantasy gags, being the most memorable part so far, wouldn’t ultimately add anything in the long run.

That’s when it becomes a Celestia episode for a while and the emotional stakes go from meandering to oh-my-gosh-this-is-so-sweet.

Recontextualizing things from the past from Celestia’s point of view was so adorable, and without a doubt the best character development she’s gotten in the series so far.

Going back to watch the first three seasons and hearing Twilight write those letters is going to be extra sweet now (and Celestia even giving those up when Twilight graduates... dammit, that’s too cute).

Also, this is a bit out of order, but props to the moment when Twilight makes herself cry by imagining Starlight getting herself killed with a magic portal (and Celestia just losing her shit laughing shortly after). Twilight spends this whole episode worrying about Starlight and her future, but that’s the moment that really sells how much she loves her student (to the point that she’s begging her not to do it despite the fact that she’s the one imagining it).

That really pays off when you see how much Starlight doesn’t want to leave her either, despite graduating. Having the resolution of this episode being them crying and hugging is just... really great??? Thank you for this??? And Celestia smiling to Twilight being proud of her, too???? YES???

It’s also satisfying for at least one of the characters (and especially Starlight herself) to say that even if Starlight’s learned a few lessons and stepped up when she needed to, she really isn’t done learning.

And, honestly, Twilight’s line about her future being in her own hooves now makes this move rather fitting. You could say it’s just the writers admitting they don’t know where they want to take Starlight’s character, and maybe that’s true for now, but it’s also well-suited to Starlight for her to have to take responsibility for what comes next.

With the whole blaming cutie marks thing and then blaming Twilight for not letting her blame cutie marks thing, Starlight had to take responsibility for her past. Not necessarily by taking punishment for it, but by accepting that it was her fault and taking ownership of that.

Now that she’s started to progress in her friendship studies a bit, it’s up to her to define her future as well. That’s... pretty cool, in my books. I don’t know that she needed to stop learning friendship lessons from Twi, but to be fair, even Twilight hasn’t stopped learning about friendship, and she graduated in season 3!

So, with all the concerns in the fandom of Star being too perfect (read: too Mary Sue-like) and things coming too easily to her (more on that in episode 2 it seems), I’m glad we can still acknowledge her victories without giving her the world on a silver platter. To let her take responsibility for her life going forward, but not just claim she’s by any means done learning.

Because as the next episode proves, she’s still far from the master of friendship.

Episode 2 - All Bottled Up A.K.A. Stop Making Starlight Feel Things

Now we get to the StarTrix I mean totally not gay, platonic A plot contrasted by an adorable, easily resolved B plot to compliment it. The B plot couldn’t really stand on its own, but it makes a point of showing you that it knows it’s purely there to make the chaos and misery Trixie and Starlight look worse by always transitioning with some ironic restatement of the last line in a completely opposite tone.

A super simple thing, but it still got a chuckle out of me, especially the “Aw, nuts!” gag.

But I’m getting ahead, let’s go.... semi-chronologically.

We start with Trixie trying to learn actual magic, and that in and of itself is super neat.

In the comics, it’s canon that Trixie went to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns at the same time as Twilight, so I wonder. If that’s canon with the show, is illusion/fake magic something you can learn at the school? If not, was she able to perform the spells the other gifted unicorns could, but focused more on her special talent to the neglect of her studies?

At any rate, it’s as early as this in the episode that we find the balance Trixie will be striking throughout the episode: between lovable, oblivious jerk and adorable, caring but misguided friend.

It’s a tricky thing to pull off, actually. Trixie spends the majority of the episode causing the conflict, not really realizing it, and showing off how self-centered she is. It would be easy for her to become annoying or just downright unlikable.

But even in her most flawed moments, she’s always entertaining, and it’s quickly followed by an adorable expression, funny bit of dialogue, or a genuine look of concern in the few moments that she catches on to what’s going with Starlight. With the ever excellent voice work from Kathleen Barr, Trixie pulls off the lovable jerk really well.

Like, one moment I loved especially on the rewatch was when Trixie tells Twilight Starlight has something for her. Like, she clearly thinks she was having Starlight’s back, making sure she didn’t forget to give her the snacks she wanted to that morning, and she’s so proud that she demonstrated what a good listener she is.

The fact that she’s trying to be a good friend even though she clearly doesn’t get it is just... really cute. She’s trying, she’s just really bad at it.

And speaking of things I loved on the rewatch, there are a lot of fun details you can actually track throughout the episode. Besides the ironic juxtaposition transitions, there’s little details, like when Starlight enters the kitchen, Spike’s cleaning all the new teacups that Trixie transfigured that morning.

And because of the whole ‘didn’t get to have any teacakes this morning’ joke, you can also see how snacky is. She eats the apple she was supposed to teleport when Starlight leaves, has the idea to get cinnamon nuts because of it, and later takes them back for more apples because they apparently go really well together.

Don’t do magic on an empty stomach, I guess.

And speaking of adorable, can I just gush about Starlight and Trixie some more? Because you know I’m going to anyway!

These two have an instant chemistry (whether we’re talking shipping or just plain ol’ vanilla flavoured friendship) that continues to work exceedingly well! You can really buy that these two would be friends in real life because they compliment each other that well. It’s one of the most natural feeling friendships in the whole show, in my personal opinion, even when one of them is simmering with barely concealed rage at the other.

Which brings us to Starlight. This episode yet again demonstrates why she’s a fun character to keep around. While some fans are opposed to having her be so (over) powerful, like I said in my Starlight/Dark Magic editorial, Starlight’s our gateway into some interesting, fun, and sometimes messed up magic.

Even in the early seasons, Twilight seemed mature enough to only really breakout the big guns in a full own Freakout (i.e. the Want it Need it spell). Starlight is not that mature. At least, not emotionally, which is apparently what her magic is tied to. So, even though you can tell she’s learning using magic to solve her problems isn’t really the way to go most of time, she also just know how to cope with big emotions otherwise yet.

In Every Little Thing She Does, Star’s panic and fear of failure lead her to finding the quickest solution. Here, she’s just trying not to deal with her anger at all.

This demonstrates that she’s still most definitely still growing, so props to the last episode again for keeping her around and imperfect to experience that growth.

But, speaking of dynamics and perfection, the mane six’s storyline is so pure. They all still have their quirks that in earlier seasons and more stressful situations would’ve gotten on each other’s nerves, but things just go smoothly because they’ve all come to expect those things from each other and clearly know how to accept each other for their flaws.

Which, of course, leads us to both a great punchline about sappy musical numbers (the meta humour in this two-parter is so wonderful, I loved all of it) and our first song of the season! It’s my understanding that we won’t be getting a huge amount of songs since Daniel Ingram was stretched so thin between the Movie, EQG specials, and season 7, but I’ll take quality over quantity if this is the sort of thing we’re getting.

The reused animation for the second chorus is a bit disappointing from such a creative team, but with how enjoyably sweet and catchy the song is, I’m kinda hoping for a longer version (or at least a fan version that’s extended). It won’t be one of the most iconic MLP songs ever, but it’s one I’d definitely listen to on repeat (and have been), so it’s a solid entry in my books.

Also: take a drink every time you hear mandolin in an MLP song. You’ll die, but what a way to go.

And with that, I think that about wraps it up for all the big stuff in this season premiere. On the whole, these episodes present a strong, yet humble start to the season. A slower start than usual, but one that’s filled with some really heartwarming and funny moments showing off both how far we’ve come with these characters, and that we can still find new avenues to explore with them.

And based on the spoilers that have been released for the rest of the season, and the comics that have boast a tie-in at some point with the season or its themes, I’m more than excited to see where we go from here.

The year of the pony, indeed.

Want some more MLP content while waiting for the next episode? Got you covered right over here, with some editorials! And why not have the last three things I did, free of charge:

Starlight Editorial, Supporting Cast, and Legends of Magic Comic Review

Or, browse it all! See everything I’ve done this year so far:

Year of the Pony

Special Thanks to Millennial Dan on Deviantart, who made the Microphone vector for the logo!

And, We’re Off!

17 notes · View notes