#thank you crew ra | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

n7punk · 8 months

Text

She-ra (2018) Official Merch

I've made a loooong post about She-ra merch and its weirdness, but I wanted to summarize it in the most comprehensive list of official merch for the 2018 Netflix reboot that I could assemble. I'm sure I've missed some stuff, though, so I'll update this if I find anything. Thanks to everyone who contributed, especially Clare and Tippen.

I did deep dives (with pictures and details) on con exclusive and promotion exclusive merch. Basic info on those is included below the read more of this post.

Everything with [L] at the end of its bulletpoint - or an * inside one - has a photo in the long post. I provided links to official photos/listings when possible, but most of them are defunct.

Pins/Accessories/Clothing (active):

A bunch of jewelry (necklaces, rings, earrings) and enamel pins from Han Cholo (+ one iron-on patch). I've seen resellers claim the chibi pins were exclusive to a convention, but they're up on the website. The long post* has pictures of these if they ever go down, and the actual convention-exclusive ones can be found in the con post.

Amazon print-on-demand clothing (+ tote bags and pop sockets) with a lot of different designs that are hidden on the site but still purchasable, see this post for details, and here's the direct link. Once you find a design you like, you can search its name in the regular search bar (for instance, there's a shirt design called "Power Stripes Catra," for that one you have to search just "Stripes Catra") to see all the kinds of items it comes on, usually a variety of tops/outerwear, maybe a tote, and sometimes pop sockets.

Bioworld also had licensed merch, but some designs are hidden on their store page, so the link shows everything available but includes both the reboot and the 80s original. As of writing, they have one lunchbox, two adult t-shirts, one adult crop top, and two youth shirts for the reboot.

Media (active):

A DVD of just the first three seasons (there's a box sleeve version that includes stickers and it's never clear in listings if this is the only version and they just don't show the sleeve or if they're two separate things). This is still for sale at multiple retailers, but there's no way we're ever getting a full boxset.

There were a couple of books: the Rebel Princess Guide, the Legend of the Fire Princess graphic novel, and then some small "novels." These are still available at multiple retailers, but the novels weren't made by the crew and at least some of these contradict basic facts from season one, so they're less canon than many fanfics despite being licensed.

Everything from this point on is out of production and only available via resale.

Toys/Figures (defunct):

Eight fashion dolls. The line had Adora, Glimmer, Bow, Catra, and She-ra (season one version), Battle Armor She-ra (2-pack with a model of Swift Wind featuring their Battle of Bright Moon looks), and a deluxe She-ra & Shadow Weaver 2-pack (SDCC 2019 exclusive). These dolls were supposed to be Target exclusive, but the rollout was botched and now they're collectors' items. There were also four cancelled dolls that were supposed to be part of the line.

Two Super7 action figures in a Catra & Adora 2-pack with limited articulation. They're rare collector's items too, though this time it's just because they were a limited run. [L]

A plastic toy Sword of Protection and shield sized for children. The sword lit up and said "For the honor of Grayskull!" when you lifted it. The gem was semi-transparent and had a picture of She-ra under it. This was a Target and Amazon exclusive (Mattel & Target are always holding hands 🤝). [L]

Clothes/Dress-up/Accessories (defunct):

Four licensed She-ra costumes (season one version) of varying quality: a Target-exclusive one in limited sizes, one from Disguise in a wider range of sizes, one from Party City (as well as a wig and Sword of Protection prop licensed under Classic Media) for children, and one from Rubie's Costume Company (with a season one Catra costume to match, as well as separate accessory packs and wigs for both characters) that was also available at Party City. [L]

Her Universe used their Netflix license to make three shirts, two jackets, an earring set, and a wallet. Photos in the long post* if these links go down (they are discontinued, after all). Bioworld (remember them?) are actually the producers of the earrings with their name rather than Her Universe's branding being found on the backing card.

Hot Topic made a few shirts (like, three. I don't have the primary link for the third design). [L]

Misc (defunct):

Zaks Design-A-Tumbler, a plastic see-through drink tumbler with a sticker sheet provided so you can place the character graphics inside as desired. Features the key character art seen on most other merch for the Best Friend Squad as well as the sword, the moonstone, Swift Wind for the horse girls, and some random sparkles and hearts to fill space. It was available via Amazon and Walmart.

Comcanroll made a Sword of Protection keychain, also defunct. [L]

Beneath the cut are con exclusives and promotional items that were not for sale (at all, or at least by themselves) but that you can still probably hunt down online. Also... still available apps.

I can't believe this is real but there are two apps. She-Ra Stickers is available on iOS and Android and is exactly what you expect: "stickers" (pngs) to send in texting conversations. She-ra Gems of Etheria (also still available on iOS and Android) is a match 3+ game. It doesn't have micro transactions or ads (since, you know, the whole thing is an ad) so it's actually better than most things on the app store.

@tippenfunkaport also made a post about "digital merch" (backgrounds, printed papercrafts, etc) that Dreamworks posted online.

Promotion Exclusives:

I made a separate post for promo-exclusive merch. Things marked with an [L] still have photos in the long post, but photos are better gathered for all of these things in the promo-exclusive post, so please look at that one if any of these interest you.

Lootcrate/Lootwear made a pair of socks, a notebook, and a tumbler all featuring the season one She-ra silhouette. These were only available as part of their subscription service and not for individual sale. [L]

A Sonic kids meal tie-in that featured: magnets of the characters, funko-esque She-ra and Hordak figures, Swift Wind & Imp "straw buddies," and a small inflatable toy Sword of Protection. [L]

The following is promotional material that was never available to the general public:

A statuette of She-ra sent out to family bloggers to promote season four. Very limited due to the tiny production and being fragile. [L]

An equally rare metal lunchbox was sent out exclusively to influencers to promote season one.

Media press kits included a number of items that made it to the public as con-exclusives (see below for more details): collectors cards, buttons, and a foam tiara.

Stickers plugging the Dreamworks Careers' socials were also produced, likely for recruitment. [L]

Gray zip-up hoodies with a small sword on the front (pocket area placement) and a larger logo on the back were made for the crew and never available outside of Dreamworks.

A shirt featuring a graphic of She-ra riding Swift Wind with the She-ra logo in the corner - distribution & source currently unknown. Looks similar but is distinct from an existing Amazon POD design. Best guess is it was given out at an event (con, reviewer promo, employee event, etc), but I'm putting it here since I have no clue where it was from.

Con exclusives (defunct):

I made a separate post for con-exclusive promo items. Some of these still have photos in the long post, but photos and details about which cons they were available at and such are gathered in the con-exclusive post.

Button pin sets (4 sets, 4 buttons each) were at comic cons. These were possibly also available on Amazon for a time but I can't find confirmation on that beyond a backing card logo that could just mean the backing card itself was produced by Amazon. They aren't for sale now either way.

A foam She-ra crown and flat plastic/foam Sword of Protection, handed out at multiple cons.

She-ra socks designed after her uniform (including a cape on the back) seem to have been given out at cons. Photos are only in the long post* because they aren't good and I ran out of room.

There's a number of official poster designs that were handed out (mostly as mini posters) at cons, but most listings online are reprints.

Collector's cards were handed out at cons, probably SDCC.

Temporary tattoos, stickers, bookmarks, and coloring sheets were handed out at Power-Con (years unknown) and possibly other locations, likely those that sold the Scholastic books. [L]

A plastic shopping bag, made to be a disposable advertisement, exclusive to Anime Expo 2019. This one also don't have a photo in the con exclusive post because it's just one of the poster designs already in there, but there is a (wrinkly) photo in the long post*.

#words and things #she ra #merch #spop meta #the fact that the concise post is itself long... listen there's a REASON i didnt add the photos here #it would have been nice and i considered sticking them under the read more but you cant format photos side-by-side on the dashboard view #so it would have ended up a mess that only looked clean on my blog itself #and i would have run out of room pretty much immediately anyway considering hitting the photo limit is why there's so many other posts #so yeah if this becomes a static page than photos can be added but the rebloggable version just has links #okay i think that's everything and all the links are right #welcome to my hell!

97 notes · View notes

blazestar3450 · 1 month

Text

My first try at fanfiction that I actually finished.

Have some VR-LA and MR-SN... fluff? angst? I don't know what it is.

It was done pretty quickly so constructive criticism is accepted as I want to get better at writing

Newfound Memories

As VR-LA walks through the ship, his newly found memories start springing back to him. Talking to K-LB about the mechanics of the ship, playing a game of Dragon chess with C-RA, learning about what it’s like being devoted to a deity from AS-TR and enjoying some calm silence with E-DN. Yet one memory seems to be nagging at him the most.

So he goes up to the deck. He walks over to the railing and looks out on the Astral Sea. The reflective surface showing just his own face. Until something else comes up next to it, a familiar face. One he’s only seen a handful of times before regaining his memories. The calm yellow eyes of one of his best friends, MR-SN, stare back at him.

“So, still trying to get used to the sea huh?” he says to VR-LA. VR-LA sort of stands there stunned for a second, unsure of what to say, his face still showing that inquisitive look he always sports. “Yes. It is strange yet… comforting. Just a new feeling to try and understand”.

“Good”, MR-SN replies. “I’m glad it’s not too uncomfortable. It took a couple other members some time to get used to the sea.” VR-La stands there, still trying to process what he’s seeing. “You know I’m glad we found you. You’ve been a fantastic scribe VR-LA. I imagine Vigil would be proud”.

VR-LA seems shocked to hear the name of an Ad Astra crew member. “Vigil?” he questions. “Oh yes!” MR-SN exclaims. “I haven’t told you about that yet have I? Well, you remember the Ad Astra right? The ship we found in Thuldanin. Well, it’s my theory that each of us are descendants from that crew. While I can’t confirm it, I still feel we all have a part to play in finding where they all came from.” MR-SN explains.

VR-LA sort of sits with that for a moment. “Hm… It’s certainly possible. They did seem to all scatter after they crashed the ship” he says. “Exactly!” MR-SN exclaims. “Plus it would explain at least the subject of my dreams”. VR-LA remembers when MR-SN first confided in him about the fact that he could dream. It was something he had never heard of before. Mechanites couldn’t dream, right? Yet he trusted MR-SN. He hadn’t lied to him yet.

“Do you think we’ll actually do it? Break through the Blue Veil?” VR-LA asks. “Of course we will. We haven’t failed at any task put in front of us yet. This crew is set for anything. All of you are fantastic at what you do and I have no doubt that you’ll all make it to where we need to be.”

“MR-SN…? I um… I don’t know what to say except thank you. I really appreciate your confidence in me.” VR-LA says. MR-SN smiles. “Of course. You’ve shown time and time again that you’re skills are needed on this ship and that you’re a perfect fit for this crew”.

At this moment VR-LA reaches out to try and hug MR-SN. But before he makes contact a voice breaks through. “VR-LA!! We’re here!!”. As the memory fades away and MR-SN disappears much the same way his Starry Apparition faded a couple months prior, VR-LA looks to the helm to see Kyana looking back at him. “Get the others!” she calls out to him.

VR-LA, trying to hold back tears, nods and goes to find Dani and Vhas. “Thank you Mystra. It was nice to see him again” he says as he descends back into the lower decks of the ship.

#rolling with difficulty #rwd #vr la rwd #mr sn rwd

25 notes · View notes

joelslegalwhre · 2 years

Text

I told them to

pairing ⁀➷ daniel ricciardo x reader

word count ⁀➷ 916 more or less

summary ⁀➷ You're Daniel's new performance coach, it's your first race with him, and you're allowed to talk to him on the radio before and after the race. Who allowed that though, is something you don't know yet...

warnings ⁀➷ fluff, idek if this needs any warnings

a/n ⁀➷ My “read more” isn’t working at the moment so I can’t add that. Sorry to everyone who’s bothered by that!

As always, if I missed a warning please tell me! I've written this years ago, and I still like it, but it may differ from my more previous works.

Also, what's better than a Daniel os to start posting f1 content on here?

You've met Daniel and the team last week to get to know them, and there was really no reason to be scared. The team has welcomed you with open arms and, even after one meeting, you could feel that they would have your back if something happens.

Nevertheless, your heart was beating faster than usual.

"Y/N!" you heard a familiar voice call your name, belonging to Daniel. He jogged to you and gave you a big smile. "Hey, good morning." you greeted him with a smile in return. You walked to the Renault hospitality and on the way, you and Daniel talked about the upcoming race but he could sense that you were nervous.

"C'mon, l'lI show you around." he said and put his hand on your back to guide you to the garage. "So, I'm sure you know how everything works but you know, new team, new things. So please shut your phone, hand me your ticket and enjoy the tour, ladies and ladies." A chuckle escaped you and Daniel had a broad smile on his face when he looked at you. You knew he tried to calm you down and you felt a tingling feeling in your belly, that hasn't been leaving you since he ran up to you earlier. You liked him from the beginning when he came in with this big smile of his. Yes, you knew him from watching the races and some interviews on TV but meeting him in real life has been something completely different.

You enjoyed his little tour and it actually calmed you down a lot. He showed you everything, from the car to all the computers and buttons. You knew them already but having him explaining everything and fooling around with you was fun and it took your mind off. The crew was giving you amused glances as they knew how Daniel was and you just shrugged your shoulders laughing.

"Thank you, Daniel." you smiled at him when he finished his tour. "Oh no problemo, but call me Dan, alright?" he said. Your smile got even bigger and you nodded.

"Alright. That was a really great tour by the best tour guide I've ever seen, to be honest." You joked and Daniel bowed.

"Sadly we must go now. We have some work to do, haven't we?" You said with a little smile, being much more relaxed as you were this morning. Thanks to Daniel. He smiled and gave you an approving nod.

"You've got this, Dan." you said to him via radio. The race was about to begin and Daniel was starting P5 after a good Qualifying. You were allowed to talk to him before and after the race on the radio. You didn't know why, as you were his performance coach and not his engineer but you liked it. And after the race, you would definitely ask Daniel about it.

"Thanks, Y/N/N." he said. You could feel your cheeks getting warm. Hopefully, no one noticed it, you thought and cupped your face with your hands to make sure no one could see your slightly red cheeks. He only used a nickname for you, nothing to freak out about, you thought.

Daniel had a great start, lost some positions throughout the race but he was able to get them back and finished the race as 4th. One position better than he started. You were proud of how much Daniel got out of his car. "Thank you guys." he said after crossing the finish line. "Great job Daniel, you did really good." his race engineer told him. "You did it! 4th is wonderful!

Congratulations!" you said excitedly. You could hear him chuckle, "Thanks Y/N/N! I had excellent support before the race from my performance coach." he said and you could almost hear his smile through the radio.

You were waiting for Daniel with a towel and a water bottle. As he came to you, you couldn't hold yourself back. You walked towards Daniel and wrapped your arms around him. "You did amazing." you said into his neck. When you realized what you've just done, you quickly stepped back, cleared your throat and gave him his towel and bottle. Daniel didn't seem to mind as he just smiled at you. "Thanks." he said and put his arm around your shoulders. "You were my lucky charm, you know." he grinned. You felt your cheeks getting hot.

Damn it, you thought.

"Hey Dan, how is it that I'm allowed to talk to you on the radio?" you asked him, better now than never. He looked down at you and a smile was forming on his face once again. "I told them to." he said with a grin and guided you back to the garage, his arm still around your shoulders.

This day has been crazy, you thought. And there were many more to come. Many more with crazy races but most importantly, many more with Daniel by your side.

༄ Don't copy, translate or republish any of my works on any app or other platform please. I only post my work on Tumblr and Wattpad.

Reblogs are always appreciated, they really make my day🧡

#mywork #daniel ricciardo #daniel ricciardo x reader #daniel ricciardo x you #daniel ricciardo x y/n #danny ric #renault f1 #f1 x y/n #f1 x reader #f1 x you #formula one #formula one x reader #fluff #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic #joelslegalwhre's masterlist

465 notes · View notes

ariadnaltos · 1 year

Text

ND Stevenson interview about She-Ra and animation in Celsius 232 (2022)

This post is a transcribe of second interview/talk made to ND Stevenson during the Celsius 232, a multimedia festival about fantasy, scifi and horror genres celebrated in Avilés, a city in the North of Spain. The interview was about She-Ra and The Princesses Of Power. There was another interview about his comics that I attended, but I couldn't find recordings of that one. In this interview ND talked about topics such as Catra's choices, toxic relationships, Nimona's film adaptation and Lumberjanes' TV adaptation. He also answered questions from the public.

Click on Keep reading to read the whole interview!

youtube

Thanks to Comic Astur for recording the interview. They have another interviews during Celsius 232 in their channel, both to Spanish and non-Spanish authors. So check it out!

First of all, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! This post is being released on Christmas day in Spain, so I think it's a good moment to make a gift to the SPOP fandom. 🎁🎄

I don't do professional trancribes, I just want to share this interview. I love Celsius 232 and hearing ND Stevenson in person was a great experience. I want to share this with international fans. The interview is in a mix of Spanish and English, so I'll translate the Spanish parts (and also use some of Diego's translations that you can hear in the video) and I'll transcribe everything in English. I'll also add some notes here and there about the interview.

The auditorium opened some minutes before the beggining of the talk. It was almost full. There were some cosplayers of She-Ra, Adora, Catra and even one cosplayed as Finn, Adora and Catra's post-canon child. There was also a baby cosplayed as She-Ra (baby She-Ra!!). Some people brought with them pride flags because of the series nature. 🏳‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ When ND Stevenson entered the auditorium everyone started clapping.

In the scenario, as you can see in the video, there were three people. ND Stevenson (center), Jorge Iván Argiz (left, interviewer) and Diego García (right, interpreter). Jorge Iván did the questions while Diego translated everything to ND and then to the public.

The interviewer started the talk remembering that ND Stevenson will come back to Celsius next year, for Celsius 2023, and he also claimed the importance of animation. Then, he asked his first question:

Interviewer: When you make a comic you have full control. You have a blank paper or a screen. You have your pen and you can do wathever you want. However, when doing an animation film, even if it has a main creative, it's a hugely collective work. How it was your first experience? How it was entering the animation industry and realizing that it's a huge teamwork effort?

ND Stevenson: Getting into animation was actually kind of an accident for me. I didn't plan to go in that direction. When I started out writing comics I thought of myself as an artist first before I was a writer. And so getting hired as a writer in animation was kind of a surprise for me. And I wasn't sure if it was something I was going to stay with. But my first job was amazing. It was working for Craig McCracken who did Powerpuff Girls and a lot of other stuff that defined my childhood and other people's childhoods. It was a very cool job to work with him.

Thinking of myself as a writer... it took me a while to accept that. But also, the collaboration of animation was what made me fall in love with animation. I also had always loved animation as a kid. Sneaking into my parents room where the TV was, when they were out of the house, to watch Teen Titans, which was my favorite show. To be behind the scenes, to be able to share this world that we were building together with the rest of the crew, that was... I immediately became addicted to that.

To write a comic it is all you. And unexpected things still happen but it all comes from your own brain, you own hands. With animation, everybody has a little piece of that world. And so, I would look over people's shoulders and ask to be in meetings that I wasn't technically a part of, just because I wanted to know everything and see everything. And so that is what made me fall in love with animation and that's what eventually lead me to make She-Ra.

Interviewer: Now we're going to talk about She-Ra. She-Ra as a character already existed, created as a base for a series of toys. I think that it started in 1985 and it was a show with near a hundred episodes. She-Ras was a twin sister to He-Man and she had a similar story to him, it was kind of complementary. But you made something completely new with this character and this universe. This seems wonderful to me. The first example already appears in the tittle [of the show]. The original series was called She-Ra Princess of Power. But here we're talking about She-Ra and The Princesses of Power. This collaborative spirit that you liked a lot when making animation shows was translated to the animation series. I imagine that this was the first decision [that you made], to bring a more complete arc for characters and to create not just one, but multiple princesses of power.

ND Stevenson: Yeah, the show ended up being- it was about teamwork. It's not just what the show was about, it's also the way in which we made it. It was a show that was made under a lot of pressure, not just because of She-Ra, but because we didn't have the biggest budget and we didn't have the longest timeline for making it. And so it was really something that if we were going to pull it off, we had to rely on each other to do it. And so that was something that really brought us together.

But that show, taking it from being- I hadn't watched the show myself [before], the original show from the 80s [when I was] growing up. But I loved it when I watched it [as an adult]. I had a lot of love in my heart for that show. Trying to pay that off and take that so it could appeal to new fans as well and still make old fans happy was always the line to find and walk. Taking it from one princess of power to an entire team of princesses who are very powerful and making it more about that, about the group instead about the one individual. That was something that was very important for us to do. Because it was so personal for us, with how the show was being made, because we were so close to each other. It was important to show that aspect of friendship and teamwork, and relationships in general. And love in every form. That was our inspiration behind that aspect of the show.

Interviewer: I would like to know if from the beggining it was always clear that the series was going to have that format and that number of seasons. The first season was a presentation of the princesses, almost one per episode. For me the series starts having more pace when each episode develops these stories that connect with each other. I would like to know if the series was already thought like that or if after season one you still had freedom to make changes.

ND Stevenson: The production of the show was actually pretty unsual in animation. The show had already been greenlit for 26 episodes before I was even hired for the show. They just bought the rights to She-Ra and they knew that Netflix had already ordered the first season. They also knew that they wanted to do 52 episodes total. So when I was hired it was my job to pitch that second season. And so, when I pitched the show, I'm kind of a wordy person, so my pitch was supposed to be like 20 minutes and it was like over an hour [in the end]. And I was lucky that the people I was pitching to were receptive and interested, but I pitched all 52 episodes. That is part of why it was so long, because I wanted to have this conception of it.

Some things stayed the same and some things changed over time, but we had certain ideas that stayed the whole time. For example, an early idea was that Catra was going to get a promotion at the end of every season and move further up the ranks. And also she was going to betray somebody in each season. That really ended up in the show. She just keeps kind of working her way up the ranks and eventually decides that she's out of there, going back to Adora. That was something that stayed true over time, but there were some things that we found along the way. A lot of things were really unexpected. At the very least, it was very helpful to have those broad strokes figured out from the beggining. I'm glad they didn't just cut me off after 20 minutes of talking cause that would be embarrasing *laughs*.

Interviewer: One of the best things that has happened to YA narrative is the shift from just entertainment and fun spirit to topics that were forbidden before. This change probably happened because of the new young people creating new stuff for young audiences. Some of this topics are abuse, bullying, mental health... She-Ra is about some of these topics, toxic relationships are very present in the show. There are multiple cases. It has been talked a lot about the relationship between Adora and Catra, but the relationship between Catra and Scorpia is also another perfect example of a toxic relationship. Something that someone denies, although everybody is warning them. I would like to know more about these messages that can make the audience think about their own relationships. Tell us about it.

ND Stevenson: I'm of the believe that it's important just not to see representation of good behaviour and role models that we can model ourselves on. But is also, I think, a good thing to see representation of characters making the wrong choices and doing the wrong thing. And Catra is defined by that. This was [something that] the crew [asked about as well]. People would come and they'd be like: "so, you told me that she's gonna join the good guys again, right? She'll be OK? When is that going to happen?" And people started to stop believing me that it was going to happen.

AJ, who voices the character, I would [tell her] "We have a big run for you today, Catra is going to do something new, but I promise that she's going to be OK in the end". And she'll be like: "yeah, sure, you say that every time". But I think that's why [Catra] was very beloved among the crew and by me. She's a character who kind of consistently always makes the wrong choices. And it can be so frustrating. Because you'll yell at her at just be like: "OMG, you know you don't want that, why can't you just do the right thing?". And that, I think, in it's own way can be something that also tells us how to make decisions ourselves. So when you see somebody who we sometimes want to scream [at], sometimes we're compelled to do things that make us a bad friend or bad people. And it's important, I think, to know the consequences of those wrong decisions.

Catra is someone who expresses those things and my hope is that it is cathartic in it's own way, but it's also a little bit of a cautionary tell. She ends up alone at the end, without any friends. And that's the consequences of her actions. But then it's also something that it's- you know, there's nothing you can't come back from. There are things that if you work, if you make yourself vulnerable and open yourself up and try to make amends for your mistakes, it is possible to come back. That was something that was very important for us to show. It's my believe that it's important to see characters, specially female characters, making those bad decisions. We found it cathartic, and I hope that it was cathartic for others as well.

Interviewer: Now two short questions about the animation. First, it is traditional animation, or at least it looks like it, with some touches of CG here and there. I wanted to know if it was a conscious decision so the show would look like it was intended, or if it was because of the low budget and short production time which you said you had.

The second question is about the aesthetic of the ancient buildings. It makes me think about an illustrator called Roger Dean. I don't know if it's by chance or if it was an inspiration for this aesthetic.

*a fly 🪰 flies near the interviewer and he tries to hit it*

ND Stevenson: We had an option on pursuing 3D animation as well. It was something that was done at this studio I was at, at DreamWorks, pretty often. But it was also for an epic... There's a fly!! 🪰

*the interviewer and translator agree and everybody laughs* There's a fly in my... flying over and over... 🪰

Yeah, for epic action scifi fantasy it is harder, it's more expensive to do CG animation. And you have fewer resources. One thing that happens is that the characters can't go to many places because every room and setting has to be build in three dimensions. My friends who are writers working on shows in 3D have limitations of what they can use. They have a set number of characters and a set number of locations, which is true in hand-drawn as well, but less so. You don't have to design the whole thing if you'll only going to see it from one angle.

So that was a lot of the reason of just what was posible with the show. But also, I thought it was important because She-Ra was one of the last shows in the 80s animated in the US, before everything moved overseas to be animated in South Korea and Canada, France and Ireland. It felt important to stay true to the original and the hand-drawn look of the original.

As for Roger Dean, that was definitely one of my inspirations. You have very sharp eye! That very epic... The science fiction illustrations of the 70s and 80s that you would see on the cover of a paperback... That is how I wanted the world to feel. But populated by characters who felt a bit newer. As a kid, I always loved this covers because you would see these floating rocks or the sky with dozens of planets and moons. I wanted to capture that feeling. It always sparked my imagination to see those illsutrations and I wanted to capture that in the show.

Interviewer: Before starting with the questions of the public I have to ask about the adaptation of Nimona into a film, as well as Lumberjanes' TV adaptation. Tell us a little bit about both projects.

ND Stevenson: You're gonna see the Nimona movie early next year, I think february or march. *big applause from the public* So get excited because I just saw the newest cut and it has a lot of the animation. I've seen the board drawings for a while, but I started to get the animation and it is completely surreal to see really dumb drawings that I made as a teenager like, suddenly being executed in three dimensions and it's gorgeous and the style is amazing. So I'm very excited for everyone to see it.

And Lumberjanes is still in the development period. This is a little more standard. I said that She-Ra was unsual in the animation industry and part of that is that the development happened very very quickly. Less than a year. For most animated projects it takes longer than that. So on Lumberjanes we are still on the development phase. We haven't launched into the actual production of the show yet. It's still on the writing and creating the look of the show, finding a studio and everything like that. I think that I'll hopefully have more news about it soon for you. And I think that it's going to be also really cool. So... yeah. *applause*

Interviewer: Great. (To the public) Any questions?

#1 audience question: 1) I heard some rumors that you had trouble with Netflix because the series did not have as much advertisement as they wanted, the low-budget... That was the case? 2) Would you be interested to start working for other platforms like Amazon?

ND Stevenson: Something that not many people know it's that I actually haven't worked for Netflix. I created She-Ra as the show that you saw on Netflix, but I made it at DreamWorks. DreamWorks is it's own animation studio and they had a deal with Netflix that Netflix would stream the shows that DreamWorks was producing. So that was the deal. That's different now. They still do co-productions with DreamWorks, but they [Netflix] created their own animation studio after a year or so after I started working on She-Ra. So actually I didn't have much interaction with Netflix at all. I didn't get notes from them. I didn't know my executives there personally... Actually, I did, but... One of my executives was actually a good friend of mine. But I didn't actually have meetings with Netflix in any way.

If there's rumors about being trouble with Netflix it's certainly not in any kind of working relationship way. They are pretty mysteryous, they guard their algorithm pretty closely. But yeah, that was my experience with Netflix. For me it was very positive. I can't speak any more to what their reaction towards the show was because we were in different places. Hope that answers that.

I'm not currently working with Amazon, but that's something that is definitely... it's pretty common in animation to kind of move around from studio to studio. So it's definitely posible.

#2 audience question: I'm almost 30 so I'm a bit old for the She-Ra target audience, but me and my friend loved it because there is a lot of queer representation. For me and my friend that is very important. I was wondering how it felt because we're more of less of the same age, so we've grown up with similar cartoons and there was nothing that showed you what queer means. We didn't really see ourselves in mainstream shows. I was wondering how it felt to put for the queer community out there this clear representation.

ND Stevenson: It was obviously pretty important for me in a personal level. But another thing that I don't know if that many people know it's that when I got the job I wasn't out yet as gay. So it was certainly not something... Honestly, the show is probably responsible for making me way gayer, just working on it. *everybody laughs*

But it was something very important to me, just in the world of the show, you know? For me, it's always queer characters, they're always on the front of what I make, even before I was out. But also it's something that is defined by the show itself, what makes the world feel more alive. So I felt that having very fluid gender expression was an important par of the show. Because honestly, the original show has fairly fluid gender. He-Man wears pink and purple in his clothes and then wears a furry diaper when he transforms as He-Man. All the characters are wearing tights and belly shirts and men and women, there're not non-binary people in the original show, but it makes sense for us that there would be. So there's something for me that made the world feel more alive. And again, rainbows and drag queen princesses were such a big part of the original that it just makes sense to [have them] and it made our world feel bigger and more expansive. So that was a lot of my thinking behind it, and sometimes it was an easy sell I think. We were pleasantly surprised that the studio would be very receptive for Bow to have two dads. And Double Trouble, we were very excited about that and very supportive of hiring a non-binary voice actor.

And then there were other things that were a harder sell. I got on the phone with a lot of different people for the Adora and Catra relatioship and had to pitch it a bunch of different times to different people. Got a few notes at first. And then, you know, appealed it, and then the noes turned into yeses. And I still didn't believed it until I was actually watching the final season on Netflix. I didn't believed it'd really happen. But it did so, yeah, that was really cool.

*when the interpreter was translating this answer by ND he tried to hit the fly 🪰 and everybody laughed and applaud, it was really funny*

Interviewer: (To the public) One last question with a short answer?

#3 audience question: In the series there's a lot of characters. I wanted to ask who do you relate to the most?

ND Stevenson: I think all the characters have little bits of me and the rest of the crew. I think almost every character is sort of- there's someone on the crew who identified with them really strongly and that person became more expert on the character. So we have someone who strongly identified with Entrapta, or Tecnia as you said... (Tecnia is the name of Entrapta in the Spanish dub <3) I forget they have different names sometimes. Which is a great name, Tecnia is a great name! *public laughs* But yeah. Almost all of the characters had some counterpart among the crew.

For me, I think that I sort of related the most to a tie between Adora, Catra and Glimmer. One of the things I struggled with on the show was that I was very young when I was hired and I'd never been a manager before. And I mostly just worked on my own stuff and so, having to suddenly become a leader was a thing that I found very difficult and very scary. Like, I really really wanted to do a good job. I wanted everyone on the crew to be taken care of. And it was very difficult and terrifying. That's something that I think all three of those characters deal with in different ways.

Glimmer unexpectedly becomes the new queen. Adora changes sides and suddenly has to deal with all the guilt of having been on the bad guys side before. And Catra has this drive and this ambition, but she also starts to fall apart the higher up the ladder she moves.

I put a lot of those feelings into the characters. With Glimmer there's an episode where she can't go on missions anymore with Bow and Adora because she needs to stay and go to meetings, which was like my everyday. Everyone's going to do something fun and I have to be in a meeting, I can't hang out with [other crew members]. Like Adora in the episode where they play D&D and she keeps just being like: "no no NO, we're all gonna die and everything is gonna go wrong" and she's trying to anticipate every possible way it could go wrong. That was a lot of like, you know, having to conceptualize and keep consistent a story that was going to be told in such a long period of time, with such a large crew of people. That was how my brain felt a lot of the time. A lot of these feelings were poured into she show through the characters. Those are the characters that I think I have the strongest connection to.

(ND is, in fact, wordy, so it wasn't a short answer LOL)

Interviewer: There are big threats and the world needs to be saved a lot of times, and at the same time what you're woried the most is if the characters will recover their friendship... What's going to happen next? Someone will pay attention to Scorpia? *everybody laughs* This shows us something that happens in our lifes as well, that a big event can change you as much as an event that may seem small. This series also shows us that being different is cool, being the same as everyone else can be pretty boring. Being different can be even desirable. ND said that at the beggining he started working with someone who changed his life and who gave him a show such as The Powerpuff Girls, and I anticipate to him that right now, very very soon, there will be people that will say "I'm working for ND Stevenson, who changed my life thanks to She-Ra and his other works". To make easier our wait for the next year [Celsius 2023], when he comes back to Avilés, we're gonna say goodbye to him with a very very strong applause.

*all the public applauses, ND does a heart shape with his hands 🫶 He also thanked the Celsius 232 organizers and the public for coming*

This interview was done on Friday 22nd, july 2022. ND Stevenson made another talk/interview the day before. After that one talk I went to the signing and got my copy of Nimona signed. He was really nice and we could talk with him a little bit. He seemed really happy to visit this event in Spain and I'm really excited to see him next year. At that time the Nimona movie will be out, so I'm sure that we'll be able to know more about it and his future projects!

Photo with ND Stevenson during the book signing on Thursday. My boyfriend and I went together. We both love Stevenson's stories. <3

Thanks to ND Stevenson for coming to Spain and to Celsius 232!! I've been going every year to this event since 2018 and they always have great authors and the festival is really nice. I've learned a lot of stuff thanks to this festival and with talks like this one that ND made. The event is mostly about books and literature, but as you can see other forms of media are in Celsius 232 as well.

That's all! Thank you so much for reading this whole thing. I hope that it was interesting. <3

270 notes · View notes

foolforshera · 1 year

Text

It's the third anniversary of the drop of season five.

Three years ago, May 15, 2020, was a hard time for me. Let's be honest, it was a hard time for everyone. The beginning of the Pandemic was seeing all kinds of scary things that I'm not going to rehash here. I was still going to work but I was one of only a handful of people in a 150,000 square feet building. Even with my wife and roommate at home, I was feeling isolated.

My wife and I were looking forward to the final season of She-Ra to watch together. I'd got into it right about the time season four had dropped and watched through it. I enjoyed it, it was fun. Then, into all of that up above, season five showed up.

Listen, even if Catradora hadn't been confirmed canon, I think I still would have loved the show. Season Five is my favorite season out of all of them because of the tension and narrative that is going on. However, ND Stevenson, that beautiful mad lad, set up the show so that Catradora was the only sensible story beat to go with and at the end, the whole, "Don't you get it? I love you! I always have! So please, just this once... stay!" just floored me. I shouted loud enough my neighbors probably heard me.

In any normal time, I think I would have loved it. In my time of isolation and sadness with the Pandemic and everything else going on, it hit me like a sledgehammer. A happy ending, evil defeated, love expressed and received, and all of it queer. Is it any wonder that three years down the line I'm still turning out fic and happily part of the fandom?

Now, on the third anniversary, raise a cup and remember these things.

We're strong together.

Hope is not a pointless thing.

Love is a powerful force.

So to She-Ra, Crew-Ra, and the fandom, I say thank you. I'm proud to belong here and I'm proud to have all of you here. We won in the end.

#spop #third anniversary

99 notes · View notes

onboardsorasora · 10 months

Text

Some more tennis au. This is helping me procrastinate editing the Adore You sequel 😅😅 sorry not sorry

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4

Part 3

Daniel walked off the pier onto the coarse sand, his shoes hanging off his fingers in a loose hold. Glasses shading happy, wide brown eyes, his grin ever present. He was enjoying this weekend to the fullest because tomorrow it was back to training camp, pain and reality.

The weekend has truly been epic; the race was wildly action packed (after Blake told him it would be boring pfff), he did the post race party at the Amber Lounge last night, spent the morning and early afternoon drinking on a boat in the middle of the Mediterranean and now he was about to join a party of happy, plastered Red Bull people at a beach club.

His shirt was open, tanned chest and abs on display and his trunks were short but hopefully not too indecent. He felt too good to really care. His entrance to the club was heralded by cheers and before long he was in the midst of the chaos.

Max took the stairs two by two, he’d been holed up on the rooftop with Christian and some of the management team. It was a great time but he wanted to spend some time, drink and let loose with his pit crew. They really were the stars of the weekend, he wouldn’t have won without them.

There were some drunken cheers at his appearance, he gave few high fives and patted some backs. But mainly everyone’s attention seemed to be at a far corner of the balcony. Using the bar counter to hoist himself up to see through the crowd, he saw a rowdy game of table tennis. He couldn’t tell exactly who was playing but the crowd were going crazy for them.

There was an excited cheer and then,

“I told you! High performance athlete! Kikiki ra!’

Max’s mouth went dry as Daniel emerged from the crowd, he stood on a chair and beat his bare chest with a fist before throwing back a double shot of something. The crowd egged him on.

Max could only stare at his broad shoulders…arms. He was fit as fuck and the chest hair was doing it for him. His happy trail framed by the V of his lower abs in his low slung (tight) shorts.

Daniel jumped off the chair and made his way through the crowd of people clapping him on the shoulder to lean heavily against the car, smiling widely at the bartender. He turned happy warm brown eyes onto Max and he could see when he recognized him

“Max! Hi, congrats man!” Daniel gushed, a blush forming high on his tanned cheeks. Max felt his lips pulling in an answering smile that he couldn’t control if he wanted to.

“Thank you” Max scratched the tip of his ear.

They continued to eye fuck stare at each other before Max rested his hand on top of Daniel’s that rested on the counter top.

“Do you wanna-”

“I was thinkin-.”

They grinned at each other.

#maxiel #max/daniel #tennis au #one day I'll write some actual tennis #tennis!dan #tennis player!dan #driver!max #mv33 #dr3 #my fic #drabble practice #au drabble #procrastination drabble

59 notes · View notes

quentin136 · 6 months

Text

Happy 5-year anniversary of the premiere of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, my favorite show of all time! I'm endlessly grateful for this wonderful cartoon and all the joy it's brought me. Thank you to the cast and crew for making such a masterpiece, thank you to all the fans who continue to create fanart/fanfics/cosplay/etc, and thank you to anyone who continues to discuss and post about it to this day!

#spop #she ra #spop anniversary #5 years of spop #quentinposting

32 notes · View notes

wishing-stones · 8 months

Text

Updates

Apologies for the lack of updates on any R&R content lately, the brain does not want to do it LMAO

Instead, I've started work on another multi-chapter fic: Ready Aim Fire (With... punctuation in the title pending)

This would be the Star Sanses x Paintball Reader fic. I've gotten a few chapters written, but unlike R&R, RAF has a beta. Should help with continuity errors and the like. I won't be posting any of it until it's been gone over.

I'm not abandoning R&R, but I'm having difficulty getting started on the content I want to write for it. Nothing good comes out of what gets forced, so I'm directing my creative energies elsewhere.

Additionally, my workstation has been moved. I do the vast majority (98% or better) of my writing at work because the lulls in responsibilities and tasks are often wide and boring. Without real consultation, my station was moved out into the open a little more (where I previously sat in a corner specialized for my job) with the manager occasionally sitting over my shoulder.

Feeling like I'm being babysat does not help my creativity in the slightest, and I feel like I have to kind of... hunch over to be able to write anything without someone reading over my shoulder. Even writing the most innocuous of things, I haaatteee people reading over my shoulder. It's already happened once at this job (I was editing a site page at the time) and I really don't want it to happen again.

Fortunately, the manager both isn't here very often, and doesn't like the setup. I'm hoping this is a very temporary thing. My back is also to the office printer, so I have a pretty steady stream of people behind my desk a lot. That isn't new, but it's more difficult to handle now than it was before.

Also contributing to my lack of ability to make anything is the somewhat unfortunate complete-attention-grab of Baldur's Gate 3, since my partner and I got it on our PS5 to play couch co-op. BG3 has my brain in a chokehold LMAO. I'm trying to evenly split hyperfixation between my projects and the new fandom/special interest, but BG3 is winning that LOL

Also, the domesticity of the first half of RAF is not as exciting for me to write. I'm struggling through a chapter because there's nothing really going on. Still have to make it engaging without dragging ass, so I've rewritten six paragraphs already. I also have to work with a couple of characters I'm not as practiced in writing, and I'm trying to do that well. (Neither of whom were in R&R, for the record.)

I've seen a couple of things for R&R floating around in the wild (ie, not shown directly to me; either I saw it in passing, or friends showed it to me) and it's absolutely mind-boggling that my work is as inspiring as it is, and that people talk about me without talking to me. It almost doesn't feel real. Thank you guys.

Speaking of R&R, I haven't done a proper promotion for this, and it's a crime:

If you enjoyed R&R, especially from a character interaction standpoint, you will absolutely love Rubble&Ramparts by Hiddenshadowwolf on Ao3

Here's a link

The story's premise is: what if the events of Chapter 20 didn't go so smoothly? If everyone got injured in the fight, not just Ren and Dust. What would happen if Baggs was in over his head trying to make sure everyone survives? The answer is to accost a nurse from a very mundane AU to help out, but... there's more to her than meets the eye.

Ru&Ra follows Alexis, a nurse, as she navigates the prickly personalities of Nightmare's crew, discovers and learns about magic, and becomes entangled in the complex web of events that follow xGaster's attack.

Every new chapter is a wonderful treat and an absolute goldmine of characterization and study. You can feel the love and effort put into it.

If you're over there chewing the walls waiting for content from me, go read this, it'll scratch the itch very effectively.

For now, I'll happily take continued questions about the fics, the casts, and the characters. You can ask about RAF, but some things might get a very vague answer if they're spoilery.

Thanks guys!

#k talks #fic nonsense #r&r(r&r)#raf fic #ru&ra #reminded of that “handle your stuff like it's a press release” post

37 notes · View notes

cyborg-franky · 2 years

Note

Haiii Franky

I hope your doing well and taking care of yourself

I rarely request but I figure I should go ahead and throw one in may u request gn reader telling their best friend (marco,ace or sabo) of a few years about how they have feelings for them

I decided to go anon for this request lol but I hope you take care of yourself ^^

You picked all the fire boys huh? that's fine <3 and this sounds fun I hope you enjoy! also you too anon <3<3

Ace

You’d known Ace since you joined the Whitebeard Pirates, had joined around the same time although your joining was a lot more your choice.

During the years of knowing Ace you realized you had a crush on him, and with each passing day it got worse but you just couldn’t bring yourself to tell him.

Until tonight, you’d had enough with Ace casually flirting with other members of the crew as you guys all enjoyed a night of drinking.

Maybe it was the little bit of booze in your system that urged your confession.

How you just blurted it out at Ace when he returned with a drink for you.

“What?” he asked, sitting, brows furrowed as he stared at you.

“I like you Ace, I know we are best friends but.. I just.. Needed it out.”

Ace looks emotional, you can read every expression that crosses his face before he takes in a breath, reaches over, and grabs your hands.

“I like you too I was just so worried someone like you could never love someone like me,” he said with a laugh and wrapped his arms around you, feeling loved and wanted.

Marco

You’ve been best friends for a number of years now, so comfortable around one another, always able to tell what the other needs.

A coffee, a pat on the back, someone to help with duties, it’s very wordless and easy to be around him. You have one another's backs no matter what.

So when you got a crush on him you freaked out. You didn’t want to push the feelings away, this was a wonderful man and you’d love to be with him.

But you were always terrified he didn’t feel the same.

One day you were writing him a note, you were going on a mission and wouldn't be back for a few days, it meant you could leave the note on his desk and run away for a few days.

Sadly that didn’t go how you’d planned because Marco was a shit and liked to sometimes sneak up on you.

He loomed over you as you wrote out your deepest feelings.

“You like me back?” he asked and you almost fell off the chair, you would have if not for strong hands on your shoulders.

“Hey! You prick how many times do I have to te- wait- what do you mean ‘like me back?’” you asked as you watched his sly smirk grow.

“The feelings appear to be mutual yoi.” he chuckled and leaned down to kiss your forehead.

Sabo

Joining the RA had been so terrifying at first but it was thanks to Sabo you felt at home and found your place in the ranks.

From day one you guys became very close friends.

Always spending your off days together, you were the first person he would find when he got back from missions.

He was always worried about getting close to people since he’d lost so much before but something about the connection you both had was worth it.

You were so worried the crush that kept growing over the years was going to ruin whatever you both had, something that would hurt him you were sure of it.

The day he was sent on a mission, the most dangerous one he’d ever embarked you had to tell him.

You didn't know why you needed to, maybe it was selfish but you blurted it out with tears in your eyes.

Sabo paused, not reacting to the confession at first before he tipped his hat up and grinned.

“Don’t worry, knowing you love me back, I’ll come back safe and sound I promise!”

211 notes · View notes

swearyshera · 2 years

Video

The crew and I are proud to present Episode 1 of She-Ra Uncut! Thanks to Tumblr’s file size limit, this is in two parts (second part should post any moment) and in lower quality. But good news! You can download it in full quality here https://1drv.ms/v/s!AsPAyUCWoZ4Nx6p8YZic4fSO7WiL7A?e=pUi0OJ

There’s also a subtitle file for this video: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AsPAyUCWoZ4Nx6p7mzlZP8OjLrKr8A?e=XSWIiS

(And yes, I know the audio is not perfect - that’s mostly my fault and we’ve already improved it for our shorts and second episode)

#she-ra #shera #spop #spopedit #shera uncut #Adora #angella #bow #catra #glimmer #light hope

156 notes · View notes

darkthingshappen · 1 year

Text

Reckoning (Merry Whump of May Day 1)

A Brother's Keeper Story Set about seven month's after Ben's initial rescue after fourteen months of captivity with Volkov.

Thanks to my always whumperful crew @whumpcereal @sparrowsage @quietly-by-myself, and @oddsconvert for the flash beta job this afternoon.

Tags list at the end.

Warnings: BRIEF mentions of past torture, captivity, and noncon. Though nothing too explicit. PTSD. Ben just has a moment where he's tired of being told it's okay and unfortunately, Jake gets the full brunt of it. Ben's not wrong, but Jake... well... you'll see.

@themerrywhumpofmay (I'm so excited this is back this year!)

The kitchen was brightly lit, it was Fall again. Ben and Jake were doing the dishes. They were nearing the second anniversary of Ben’s abduction, but it felt like the first since he’d spent the previous one still with Volkov. Jake was dreading it. Everyone was dreading it. Ben was jumpy and distant, caught up in far too many dark memories.

Still, he had made so much progress, especially in the last month or so. He was smiling more, Jake had even seen him laugh once, with Zoe. Ben was slowly coming out of his shell after a brief stint in a mental hospital and months and months of intensive therapy. Ben stared blankly out the window. He never seemed to be able to get enough of looking outside.

Jake slapped him playfully on the arm with his wet washcloth as he’d done a million times throughout their childhood.

He shouldn’t have done that. The loud smacking sound of the cloth on Ben’s arm sent him to the floor, arms over his head, curled in a ball and rocking.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” Ben whimpered.

Jake glanced around the kitchen in panic. He was alone with Ben. Their parents were out, his dad at work and their mom grocery shopping. They were counting on him to take care of Ben. He’d told them he could do it. He was eight years Ben’s senior for god’s sake. Think! He could do this. He could handle it. Couldn’t he?

“Shit! Benny. It’s okay. Sorry. That was stupid of me. I was just playing like we used to. I didn’t think... Shit I’m sorry. Please Benny. Please,” Jake begged, trying to recall what the therapist had said about how to bring Ben out of these horrible flashbacks.

Jake got up and ran to the living room. He grabbed the heated and weighted blanket they’d got Ben recently. They left it on most of the time for emergencies like this. Jake draped the warm blanket over Ben and held Ben’s hand, rubbing soft circles on the back of it with his thumb.

“It’s okay, Ben. Don’t worry. It’s okay,” Jake assured him for the millionth time since Ben had come home and had one of his prolific flashbacks that, at best made him freeze dead still and zone out, and at worst made him panic and react as if he were in the moment that he was seeing in his head.

“It’s not fucking okay!” Ben snapped suddenly, throwing the blanket off and getting to his feet. “Stop fucking telling me that! You don’t know a damn thing about it, do you?” He glared at his brother. “You. Weren’t. There!”

Jake recoiled, taken aback by the sudden and uncharacteristic anger and volume. Ben was always quiet now, rarely talking and when he did it was barely above a whisper. Jake attributed it to months of wearing a fucking shock collar. He stared at Ben in disbelief. He knew he deserved his brother’s anger. Whatever Ben wanted to say, he deserved it. He deserved to be reviled by the shell of a brother in front of him. He wished to God he could fix it; could make his baby brother whole.

“He didn’t take you, did he? He didn’t fucking torture you on daily basis, did he? He didn’t ra-” Ben’s voice, dripping with rage, cut off and he was left standing, heaving in breaths of air. His whole body trembled and Jake saw the dam of emotions and torment and memories that threatened to overwhelm his baby brother.

They both knew what he was about to say.

“It’s not okay,” Ben finally finished, more quietly than before.

“I-I know, Benny. I’m not meaning to make light. I know what he did to you.-”

“No. No you fucking don’t. Seeing my scars or reading that damn file that they gave mom and dad doesn’t mean you know. It doesn’t. It doesn’t. There’s so much more than what they could fit in my fucking file.” Ben made air quotes over the last word.

“I spent almost every night curled up in a cage. A fucking cage, Jake. No blanket. No pillow, no mattress. Just a hard plastic or metal bottom of a cage. And it was cold. All the time. I asked for a blanket one time. Do you know what he did to me?”

Jake’s expression reflected the horror of what Ben was telling him. It was the most Ben had directly said about what happened to him when he was with Volkov and Jake felt ashamed to want him to stop talking. He shook his head minutely.

“He tied me to a fucking cross outside. Outside in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs. Outside in the fucking Russian winter. I thought I was gonna die. Over and over and over I thought I was going to die. Until it shifted from being afraid of dying to…” Ben’s voice dropped to a whisper. “To hoping for it.” He looked at Jake. “I don’t know who I am anymore because of what he did to me. Do you know what it’s like to hurt so bad, in every part of you, that you just want it to be over. Permanently. Do you?”

A tear slipped down Jake’s cheek and he shook his head, “N-no. No, Benny, I don’t. I’m… I’m sorry. I wish I knew what to do. I wish I knew how to take it away. God! Fuck! Benny I wish it were me. You have no idea how badly I wish it had been me. It should have been me.”

And for once, Ben didn’t disagree. He just stood there watching his brother crumble. He had always said, believed, told himself, that he wouldn’t wish what happened to him on his worst enemy. But he was so angry, and so terrified, and so overwhelmed with all that he had been through, that a furious mean little voice that he never used to have reared its ugly head and screamed inside him, ‘I wish it had been you!’

Ben clamps his lips shut before he can utter the hurtful words, but he knew it was too late, he may not have said them, but Jake heard them loud and clear all the same. Ben sighed.

“I… I need to… I need a break, Jake. I-I-I don’t blame you. I don’t.” He said the words, but he was no longer sure if he believed them. “But I can’t do this right now.”

Ben turned and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Jake standing in the middle of the room, holding a warm blanket that offered him no comfort.

Tagging List: @i-can-even-burn-salad @peachy-panic @deluxewhump @arwenadreamer @whumpcereal @melancholy-in-the-morning @dont-touch-my-soup @whumpsday @keeper-of-all-the-random-things @whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump @oddsconvert @melennui @susiequaz12 @morning-star-whump @crystalquartzwhump @whump-and-other-things @mylifeisonthebookshelf @reflected-pain @hold-him-down @quietshae @quietly-by-myself @there-will-always-be-bloodblood @whumping-seven-days-a-week @hiding-in-the-shadows (I hope I’m not forgetting anyone - please let me know if I am and I’ll fix it. I’m still getting used to this)

38 notes · View notes