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panther-os · 2 months

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Nickels' Penny - Final Answers

Summary and avatars towards the bottom.

Okay, so the survey was still overwhelmingly Price-oriented to the point Penny was going to be a Price clone when she's supposed to be a PriceNik child, but rather than discard it completely and come up with everything on my own, I decided to choose one person's responses for each question.

To be fair to everyone, I randomized it by rolling a d10 (10 applicable questions, 10 responses, it worked out well). Any time I rolled a number I'd previously rolled, I rerolled until I got a new one. So there are some things on this that multiple people voted for, but nobody got their answer chosen more than once.

I did have to adjust the first question. Everybody got really excited about trans Price, which is super awesome and cool but then I was reading the British Army's regulations on pregnancy. Price would not be able to remain in command of the 141 and be pregnant, he would most likely have to retire or take leave of a year or longer - because you know he would be all-in being a dad just as he is being a captain. That's retirement or extended leave is not something I feel is in character for him, and it doesn't work with the other answers I got, so I'm making an executive decision as the author.

I am never doing a public survey for an OC again.

Question 1, Response 7: "How did they get Penny?" This person voted for trans Price being the one to carry Penny and for it to be an unplanned pregnancy. For the reason listed above, I'm changing it to Nikolai, but keeping it as a trans parent carrying an unplanned pregnancy. So trans Nikolai carried (unplanned).

Question 2, Response 8: "When did they get Penny?" This person voted for them to get Penny - so for her to be born - between Modern Warfare (2019) and Modern Warfare II (2022).

Question 3, Response 10: "How old was Penny during MWIII?" This person voted for between 4-6 years old, which works out really well for the answer above, HOWEVER I'm going to have Penny born just a year before MWII. The Kill or Capture mission where Ghost and Soap first met is supposed to have taken place on October 28, 2022, but also the Flashpoint mission where they're both already on the taskforce and working together on the same squad takes place "four years" before MWIII. So, essentially, the timeline is inconsistent and I do what I want. This makes Penny 1 during MWII and 5 during MWIII.

Question 4, Response 3: "What color are Penny's eyes?" This person voted for Penny to have hazel eyes. True hazel eyes are something called heterochromia centralis, which means there's rings of different color around the eye, usually brown on the outer edge, green in the middle, and blue nearer the pupil, or vice-versa. It's caused by melanin production in the iris starting and then stopping before the eyes turn fully brown. Don't quote me on that, it's been a while. But this means Penny has both her parent's eye colors.

Question 5, Response 2: "What color is Penny's hair?" This person voted for Penny to have copper hair, like a penny.

Question 6, Response 6: "What color is Penny's skin?" This person voted for Penny to have pale tan skin like Price's. Someone else also wrote in the comment box a suggestion for her to have vitiligo, and I am seriously considering it, on top of her having the pale tan skin (yes, white people can have vitiligo, it's just not as noticeable as on Black or Brown people, and doesn't carry the same complicated relationship with cultural identity) but I haven't made a decision yet.

Question 7, Response 5: "Is Penny short for something?" This person voted yes, author's choice. Someone else voted Spencer which made me go "ooooh" but ultimately didn't feel like it fit, I would have felt really bad if I had rolled their response. It did give me the good idea to look at names that are not traditionally shortened to Penny, though. I was thinking oh, Russian, Stepan, maybe, and I looked up Russian feminine form Stepan, which took from Stepan to Stepanov to Stepanovna to Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya. She was a Russian investigative journalist who was assassinated for her work exposing human rights abuses in the Chechen War and corruption in the Russian government. She sounds like someone Nikolai would very much look up to. The actual feminine form of the Russian name Stepan is Stefaniya. So Penny is short for Anna Stefaniya.

Question 8, Response 4: "Is Penny's middle name an otchestvo, a Russian patronymic middle name?" This person voted yes, so Penny's middle name is Nikolayevna. As far as I understand, when being addressed formally, if people were doing it correctly, they would use her otchestvo instead of her surname. So like, if she was getting an award or something, it would be awarded to Anna Stefaniya Nikolayevna or Penny Nikolayevna. Her surname would be reserved pretty much just for legal documents and for being full-named by her family. (Which now gives me the awesome idea for Price full-naming Nikolai including his surname, but I already did that with AleRudy, and I hesitate to do it again so soon.)

Question 9, Response 9: "What is Penny's surname?" First off, rolling two answers that have the same number as their question has me tripping. Second, this person voted that Penny's surname is hyphenated, with Nikolai's surname coming before Price's.

Question 10, Response 1: "What is Nikolai's surname?" This person voted for author's choice of Russian surname. Another option on this survey was Belinski, like another Call of Duty character named Nikolai. I do like the -sky/-ski ending for Nikolai, I feel like that fits him, and then I decided to go with the initial p, because I always think it's funny and cute when couples have different last names but the same initial. I wound up choosing Pokrovsky, which because Russian surnames are gendered just like otchestvos, makes it so Penny's surname is Pokrovskaya-Price.

So, in summary: Penny's full name is Anna Stefaniya Nikolayevna Pokrovskaya-Price, but literally nobody calls her that unless she's in trouble. She was born a year before MWII but is 5 years old during MWIII because of timeline fuckery. She looks mostly like her Dad, as opposed to her Papa, with pale tan skin and red hair - although hers is copper while his is more auburn. She also has true hazel eyes that contain both her dads' eye colors. And even though she looks like her Dad, her Papa was the one to carry her. She wasn't planned, but her dads say she was the best surprise.

I have two avatars, here, they do both need image descriptions, if anyone is up for writing them, I'll add them to this post and reblog it from myself so followers see the new version. The first one is Penny around the same age she would be in MWIII without vitiligo, and the second one is Penny closer to a preteen with vitiligo. In both of them, the eyes are a light brown which is usually the closest you're going to get to true hazel.

Sometime in the next week, I'll type up and post a transcript of an rp I did with Nik and Price ai sort of to figure out more of Penny's personality. I've tentatively titled it The Penny Murder Saga and she is certainly a redhead, that's all I'll say for now. XD I'll include links to the AI as well, they're both really fun if that's your thing.

Thank you everyone for participating and make sure to follow me and/or the "nickels' penny" tag for more Penny content. I can't guarantee it will be often or with any regularity, but it will happen.

#/incoherent noises/#nickels' penny #call of duty #call of duty modern warfare #pricenik #nikprice #cod nickels #cod john price #cod nikolai #oc #my oc #cod oc #child oc

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magpiefngrl · 2 years

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First Lines Game

Tagged by the incomparable @lqtraintracks! Thank you bb 💗💗💗💗

I haven't written in ages and have almost nothing new to show since the last few times I did this (here, here, here) so, instead of doing a chronological selection, I've decided to use a random number generator to make my choice.

I. 2017: Dunes (drarry, E, 2k)

“This,” Malfoy says, his drawl exaggerated even for his standards, “Is. Ridiculous.”

II. 2018: The Spider's Silk (drarry, E, 3.4k, Fae AU)

Draco was supposed to take a quick look around, that’s all; not strike conversations with attractive Fae from other Courts, who happened to be wandering alone in the Spring Court’s formal gardens.

III. 2018: The Glass Hearts (Gen, the Black sisters)

This is a tale about three sisters who were born with glass hearts.

IV. 2014: it starts like this (pynch, 500w, E)

In the dark of the night you can pretend you are someone else.

V. 2019: The Gift (drarry, E, Author Draco, 26k)

There’s an eclipse the day Potter arrives at the guesthouse, a portent of doom if Draco’s ever seen one.

VI. 2019: I've seen your heart(Ron/Riddle locket, 700w)

Ron hadn’t told the others he could hear the voice.

VII. 2018: How to Court your Husband (drarry, E, 5.5k, Princes AU)

Harry and Draco hated each other at first sight. Unfortunately, they were in the process of getting married at the time.

VIII. 2017: The Miseducation of Draco Malfoy (drarry, E, 37.6k)

When Zacharias Smith wrote a tell-all about the DA, it wasn’t Harry Potter who punched him on the nose first like a common Muggle — although he deeply desired to — or even Ron Weasley — who had the tendency to lash out after the death of his brother — but surprisingly it was Draco Malfoy and it happened right in the middle of Diagon Alley, which meant that Harry, fresh out of Auror training, was called in to deal with it.

IX. 2017-2022 9 ½ Days (drarry, E, 69.6k)

Harry reacted instinctively, his Seeker reflexes kicking into gear.

X. 2018: The Death You Carry (drarry, T, 2.7k, MCD)

You’ll do nothing the first time it happens. Just came over all faint, you’ll say. Long day, you’ll insist.

My thoughts:

I have a lot of thoughts about first lines, which are a bit complicated, in the sense that I believe they're crucial and worth spending time on, but also, ultimately, not as important as we sometimes make it. The first line, imo, needs to lead into the story; it's a door, nothing more, and no matter how gorgeous the door, if the place it leads into isn't as amazing, then it will lead to disappointment.

From the lines above, my fave is No. 10, the last one, the MCD. I think it captures a feeling of dread, of "something's not right"; it gives a hint of the pain to come. No. 6 is similar. A bit creepy. I also like No. 8, the run-on sentence, because it captures the voice I wanted for the fic, and I like that a few of them reflect a mood I wanted (3,4).

My least favourite is no. 9, which is funny because 9 1/2 days is possibly my fave fic that I've written.

Tagging:

I'm not around much so no idea who got tagged or not. Perhaps @coriesocks @lower-east-side @thealmostrhetoricalquestion @nerdherderette if they feel like it xxx

#first lines #tagged #my stories

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rich-and-bitchy-is-my-type · 2 years

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In Spite Of Me (let’s drive)

Chapter II

Part one Part Three

Tags: post-canon, semi slow burn, potential NSFW in later chapters.

Poppy doesn’t know what possessed her to agree to go with Bee’s crazy idea, but she must face the consequences of her decision now. These include a car with ridiculously tacky bumper stickers, gas station bought candy and dealing with Bee’s poor driving skills and overall lack of common sense. Maybe it will be okay, if she somehow manages to make it out alive (and without having murdered Bee Hughes in the process.)

Sooo here it is! I started writing part 2 of In Spite of Me and I decided it will be a multi chapter series. I don’t know how many chapters I have planned yet, but probably around 5-8. They’ll be shorter than part one, but I hope they’re good enough to make it up. I literally wrote this in less than a day so please forgive any typos you might see! Also, english isn’t my first language so if you notice any grammatical mistakes please let me know and I’ll fix it right away. Lastly, please tell me if you want to be tagged in future chapters!

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The next morning is the last morning Poppy wakes up in her Zeta room before moving out. It feels strangely bittersweet, the room is pretty much empty now and the house is quiet, but she still feels like she’s not entirely ready to let it go.

She has made so many memories in these four walls. Most of them were… not that great, if she’s being honest. She remembers angry-crying herself to sleep after losing the Person to Watch award, or after being the human sacrifice at the Bacchanalia that Bee hosted (a part of her knows that she deserved that one. And maybe all of them, really.) A lot of her recent memories involve, well, her failures. There are bits of it everywhere around the room.

But not all of them were bad. Chloe and her used to have a lot of sleepovers together in this room, back when their relationship wasn’t so defined by the rankings or the votes. She taught Veronica some of her favorite makeup looks in front of her now emptied vanity.

There are bits of Bee everywhere around the room too.

If you had asked her about it a few weeks ago, she would’ve told you how much she wished she could erase those memories forever.

But now… she isn’t so sure anymore. She doesn’t despise the idea of Bee being a constant presence in her life that much anymore.

She gives her room one last glance before closing the door.

"Morning," Chloe tells when they bump into each other in the kitchen. "You’re leaving soon, right?"

"Yeah, I think Bee is supposed to pick me up in less than half an hour," she replies with a small smile.

That’s when she notices Veronica standing behind Chloe, looking at her phone.

"Can I just say how weird it is that you guys are going on a road trip together?" she says, not bothering to look up from her phone screen. "And now you’re calling her by her name instead of one of your nicknames. So. Weird."

Poppy knows that Veronica is right. In fact, she’s pretty sure that everyone else thinks that this (whatever it is that they’re doing) is weird. She can still see Zoey’s closed smile when Bee told her Poppy was going with her back to Farmsville, or Chloe’s vague “huh” when Poppy called her to tell her the news.

Hells, even Poppy herself thinks this is strange. It’s not like she actually thought it through.

"Well, yeah. It’s definitely weird," it’s all she says in reply.

Veronica puts down her phone and actually smiles at her. Smiles! Veronica! This day just keeps getting stranger.

"I think it will be good for you," she says as she stands up and grabs a box. "Well, my mom is here to pick me up. Kinda weird to be leaving this house after all this time, right?"

"I feel like I’m really going to miss this place," Chloe chimes in, looking around. "V, are you not staying for the goodbye party with all the girls?"

"Nah," Veronica shakes her head, eyes darting back to her phone. "Anyways, have fun in your trips. Keep me posted, I want all the updates."

She gives them each a quick hug (which is a lot more than Poppy had expected, to be honest) and leaves the room.

"So, uhm, I guess you’re not staying for the party either," Chloe looks at her.

"Bee should be here any minute now, so… not really."

"I see. Well, I hope you have fun. I mean it, Poppy."

"I know," she replies and meets her eyes. Chloe gives her a smile. "Thank you, Chlo."

Her phone buzzes and she notices that she has a new message from Farmsville Cornhusker. She should probably change her contact info to something nicer.

Farmsville Cornhusker: i’m outside 😜

She rolls her eyes and types a quick reply.

Poppy: are u a wannabe frat boy now? no decent person uses that emoji.

Farmsville Cornhusker: oh, because you’re such a beacon of human decency

Poppy fights off the urge to laugh. Who would’ve thought that one day she would be texting Bee Hughes without feeling the need to murder her?

Farmsville Cornhusker: are u coming or not? i don’t have all day

Farmsville Cornhusker: actually i do but i kinda wanna make it to the bed and breakfast on time

Poppy: fine, just let me say goodbye to chloe and I’ll meet u outside

Farmsville Cornhusker: tell her i said hi!

"Is that Bee?" Chloe asks her, trying to sound casual.

"Yeah, she says hi. She’s outside, so I should get going."

"Yeah, go ahead. It’s kinda cute, though."

"What is?" Poppy raises an eyebrow.

"You two! You were smiling at your phone just now. I’ve never seen you do that before," Chloe sighs dreamily. Poppy purses her lips. "I wrote a Destiel fanfiction like that once. It was an enemies-to-lovers slowburn."

"I have no idea what any of those words mean," she frowns. Some time ago, she would’ve mocked Chloe for simply using the word fanfiction. She’s trying to be nicer now, so she won’t.

"Nevermind. Just… have fun, okay? Try to enjoy yourself," Chloe smiles sincerely at her. She can notice a hint of worry in her voice, and it tugs on Poppy’s heart a little. Chloe is a good friend, after all.

"I will. See you when I come back?" it’s a genuine question.

She wouldn’t blame Chloe if she didn’t want anything else to do with her. She hasn’t exactly been the greatest friend, to put it mildly. But then Chloe throws her arms around her and Poppy feels like maybe everything will be okay.

"Sure. See you when you get back."

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"Finally!" Bee says when she steps out of the house. Poppy notices she’s holding up a bag. "I was starting to think that you stood me up."

"You’re so dramatic, Hughes. You’ve been waiting for less than ten minutes," she rolls her eyes and points at the bag. "What’s in there?"

Bee laughs and pulls several things out of the grocery bag, listing them off as she places them on Poppy’s arms.

"A large pack of Sour Patch Kids, an extra car charger, and a six pack of canned cold brew."

Poppy hums in approval. "I don’t think I’d survive more than two hours in a car with you without coffee."

"Oh, really? Because if I recall it correctly, last time we were in a car you seemed pretty comfortable with me," she laughs and Poppy blushes furiously.

"God, must you always say things that will cause me a migraine?"

"You walked right into that one, Pops," she barely dodges Poppy’s light punch. "Hey! No more violence, okay? Now let me help you with those bags. Your little bird arms won’t support all the weight."

"My bird arms?" Poppy rolls her eyes again, but there’s an air of playfulness between them. It’s refreshing. "Just because you’re freakishly tall and strong doesn’t mean I’m weak."

"I’m trying to be nice here, princess," Bee smiles and Poppy feels her heart beat slightly faster. "Now, hand them to me so we can get going!"

Bee quickly packs both of their bags in the car trunk and it isn’t long before the two of them are sitting in the car.

"I’m really glad you’re coming with me," Bee tells her before starting the car. Her tone is serious, maybe a little timid. Poppy isn’t used to seeing her like this. Bee is usually so playful and sure of herself, so this is different. Almost endearing. "I know… I know things are complicated. But I am glad that you’re here with me right now."

She knows that Bee wants to say more. She knows that both of them should have a serious conversation eventually, to see where they stand and what’s going to happen next. But this is enough for now.

“I know," it’s all she says.

She wants to tell her that she’s glad too, that she is excited but also scared and confused. There’s so much she wants to say but can’t find the right words to do it yet. But Bee smiles at her, a genuine and beautiful smile, and Poppy thinks that maybe she understood the meaning behind her words.

So it’s okay. For now.

"Well then, let’s go!"

"Yeah, let’s go," she whispers back as she pulls her seatbelt on.

"By the way," Bee says casually, turning to Poppy as she stops at the redlight just before the turnoff to leave the street where their university campus is, "don’t you think this is how the best rom-coms start, Pop?"

She winks to let Poppy know she’s joking, and it eases some of the tension.

Poppy lets out an accidental snort. "In your dreams, maybe."

Bee grins at her and turns the speakers on low to their playlist and places her coffee in the center console’s cup holder. She backs out, honking at a guy who tries to cut her off before she turns to Poppy.

"Okay, we need to come up with our background and shit."

Poppy tilts her head to the side, squinting her eyes. "Huh?"

"You know," Bee starts, making a left towards the freeway. They have a few hours ahead of traveling before they can stop for the night. "We need to figure out what we’re gonna say to my family."

"You mean that you didn’t tell them we used to be mortal enemies and all?" Poppy asks sarcastically, pressing her forehead against the window.

"Used to? Aw, Pops, don’t tell me that we’re friends already!" she laughs.

"Shut up," Poppy fights the urge to laugh too. This situation is so bizarre, but is it ever not when Bee is involved? "what did you want to tell them?”

Bee clicks her tongue, taking a drink of her coffee as she tries to think.

"Maybe we could tell them we’re dating," she says wholly unaffected, skipping a song.

"Right. And when did we start dating?" Poppy asks, unsure why the words make her pulse pick up speed.

"Maybe at the Person to Watch gala?" Bee laughs.

"Mhmm. Did that happen before or after I kicked your ass at the fountain?" Poppy retorts.

Bee pretends to mull the possibility over, stepping on the gas again to continue driving. "After."

"Then that means that our anniversary is coming up," she teases.

What is happening? Is she seriously flirting with Bee right now? Openly flirting? Maybe she got a concussion.

Taking a moment to think, Bee bites her lip. She watches the cars pass her on her side, and she waves at a little boy in the backseat. He smiles wide at her, his front two teeth missing. It makes Poppy grin too, despite herself.

"Then we should go to the beach to celebrate. Maybe we could watch the fireworks," Bee starts, careful and measured with her words in a way she’s never been. Poppy doesn’t know why this moment feels like it carries so much weight. When did the teasing fade and the conversation turned so serious? "I could find us a cute hotel near some good restaurants with plenty of menu options. We could have a good time."

"Huh," Poppy says quietly, kicking herself for feeling her body flush involuntarily.

Bee clears her throat and tries to ease the tension.

"I know. I’m the best fake girlfriend ever." She flips her hair, making Poppy smile.

"Says the girl who ruined my dress with sunscreen."

Bee laughs with reckless abandon, and Poppy can’t help but watch the way her curly brown hair blows in the wind and her dark eyes shine.

"That’s just our love language, Pops."

Bee grins back at her. Neither of them have any idea what they’re about to get into.

The next three days should be fun.

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"I’m hungry," Poppy complains. "Let’s stop for lunch."

Bee fights a smile.

"We’ve only been driving for less than two hours," she reminds her. "Can’t you wait?"

"No," she sighs. "Spending so much time with you it’s starting to take its toll on me. I might die if I don’t eat soon."

"Oh, really? Is spending time with me that exhausting?" Bee laughs.

"Yes," Poppy answers plainly. "And trust me, Hughes, you don’t want to see me in a bad mood. And being hungry definitely sours my mood."

"Is that so? Are you telling me that the charming version of yourself I’ve gotten to know in the past two years was just you in a good mood?" as soon as the words leave her mouth, Poppy lightly punches her arm and Bee complains overdramatically. "Ow! Fine, fine. I hope another drive through is okay with you."

"Yeah, whatever. Just hurry up and pick a place."

"So demanding. I like it."

They end up at yet another McDermots drive-thru because Bee wants to stick to their schedule so they can check-in at the bed and breakfast she picked, lie down and buy snacks for their drive tomorrow. They’re glad to be the only ones in line, and then their order is ready, Bee hands the woman at the window her card before Poppy has time to say anything.

"Hughes, I don’t need your charity—"

"I’m just practicing," whispers.

"What?"

Bee leans over, cutting her off with a quick kiss. She really needs to stop catching her off guard like this. "The whole fake girlfriend thing."

(She tells herself it’s just Bee being Bee.)

Poppy’s heart stutters.

(It’s just Bee.)

She watches as Bee —who’s totally unfazed—turns back to the woman, smiling.

"She always gets mad at me for paying," she says like it’s the easiest and most normal thing in the world. "We’ve been together since last year and every time she says—"

"I don’t need your charity!" Poppy repeats, disgruntled.

Bee points at her.

"—and every time she says that. Such a feisty one, this girl. You know how former trust fund babies are."

The woman grins at them and hands them their food. "You two are just the cutest."

Poppy rolls her eyes, turning her face towards the opposite window.

Bee laughs. "Oh, we know!"

Once they’re out of the driveway, Poppy looks at her with a frown.

Bee can sense it

"What’s wrong, Poptart?"

"What the hell was that?" she scowls, taking a sip of her frosty.

"Oh, you know. Just pretend," Bee replies and plucks a fry from where the bag is sitting between them. "But seriously, we should come up with some kind of explanation."

Poppy notices the change in Bee’s tone and shrugs uncomfortably. "What did you tell them?"

"Not much," Bee says. "My older sisters are busy with their jobs so it’s not like they have the time to question me about my life. My parents are just happy that I went to my dream school, but my little sister…"

She trails off. Poppy looks at her suspiciously.

"What about her?"

"Luna is turning 17. She was really excited about me attending Belvoire, and she kept asking me all these questions. I think she might have read the T."

"Oh," it’s all Poppy says. She feels her cheeks redden in embarrassment, and it’s not the good kind.

No, it isn’t embarrassment. It’s shame. Shame that Bee’s family might know about everything she did to their daughter in the past two years. Shame that they’ll be able to see right through her. But why does she care so much? Why does she want to make a good impression? It makes no sense.

"Don’t worry," Bee quickly adds when she notices her discomfort. "I told her I’m bringing a friend over."

"Great," she says. For a moment, a flash of hesitation paints Poppy’s eyes, as though she wanted to say something important, but it disappears in an instant leaving Bee wondering if it was ever really there. "Okay, then. I guess that we’re friends now."

Bee smiles and reaches for her burger. She takes a big bite. "Yeah, so you’re going to play nice, right?"

"Shocking, you have no manners. Swallow your food first," Poppy orders, lilting her voice to be purposefully condescending. "Then you can ask me again."

"It’s hot when you tell me what to do," Bee says cheekily, still chewing.

"It’s hot when you actually do what I say," she snarks back.

"No thanks," Bee replies easily, but she does finally clear her mouth of food. "I know you like it when I’m a brat."

She winks. Poppy loses her breath. It’s concerning how warm she’s getting under her collar. She tries to change the subject.

"So does your little house have enough room for the both of us?"

Bee lets out a laugh. "Oh my god, Poppy. I was middle class! I had my own bedroom!"

She shrugs, grabbing some of Bee’s fries. "How was I supposed to know that?"

"Maybe if you had asked me anything about my life you would’ve known?" Bee retorts.

"I guess I’ll have to start asking you about your life, then."

Bee chuckles, and Poppy ignores the way her heart pumps faster when she hears that carefree laugh.

She ignores how easily she could get used to this.

"I guess I’ll have to tell you, then."

Chapter III

Tagging: @somewillwin (espero que este bien arrobarte, si te molesta solo decime y dejo de hacerlo 😚) @ownagef

#poppy min sinclair #mc: bee 🐝#poppy x bee #my writing

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bazzybelle · 2 years

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AO3 Stats Meme

Thank you so much @captain-aralias for tagging me in this. This was such a lovely trip down memory lane.

Like you, when asked for averages, I went with the mean (total kudos divided by number of fics for example), it brought back wonderful nostalgia of the few Statistics classes I had to take in college.

ANYWAY, here are my stats! Total works: 37

Average Word Count: 7072 words

Average hits count: 991 Hits

Average Kudos count: 107 Kudos

Average no. of comment threads: 10 Threads

Average no. of Bookmarks: 18 Bookmarks

Like Aralias, I decided to write down some thoughts and recollections with the fics that came closest to each average. You can find my thoughts, and links to the fics under the page break! 👇

Closest to Average word count: Life is Short; Have Dessert First (6990 Words)

Ahh yes… The one DeNiall smut fic I wrote. I wrote this fic for @f-ing-ruthless-baz’s birthday two years ago. Their fics got me into DeNiall in the first place, so I felt it was appropriate to write them a lovely DeNiall fic. The fic is about Dev wanting to give Niall a special day for his birthday, by making him a plate of gnocchi with tomato sauce. Unfortunately for Dev, not only do the gnocchi take longer to make than he thought, but Niall has other ideas in mind.

I liked writing this fic. I was still getting my toes wet when it came to Explicit-rated fics, but overall this wasn’t a terrible fic. And it’s nice to see how my smut-writing has improved since writing this fic.

Closest to average hit count: Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat! AKA Bat-Baz II: Electric Bazaloo (1032 hits)

Oh my God… The epic Bat-Baz saga. Honestly, I don’t give this fic as much credit as I should. It is a FUNNY fic. For those new to the Fandom, or who don’t know where Bat-Baz came from. One of the prompts for The Carry On Countdown 2019 was CRACK. The amazing and super talented @parijpg made this ADORABLE art of a tiny angry bat held gently in two freckled hands. No explanation was needed, we all knew who the bat was. I wrote a fic to accompany that art piece and Bat-Baz was born. This fic here is the sequel to the original, that I wrote after getting bombarded with adorable bat gifs.

I wonder if I should write a third installment. The Bat-Baz Trilogy to match the Simon Snow Trilogy? Maybe next year.

Closest to Average Kudos count: If I Fell In Love With You (108 Kudos)

This fic holds a very special place in my heart. This was the second fic I ever wrote. Before I had any fandom friends, before I knew what a Beta was (yes, my first two fics are not beta-ed. No I will not re-read them because I fear the grammar and coherence cringe). It had been 8 years since I wrote anything, and I was excited to even get a few Kudos on the first fic I posted. I wrote this fic around my anniversary, and I was feeling especially sappy, so I wrote happy fluff (considering this was written after Wayward Son, I feel it was needed).

Little did I know that this fic would be Remixed by @captain-aralias, which brought even more readership to the fic. That was so lovely to see, and their REMIX is simply WONDERFUL.

Closest to average no. of comment threads: If I fell In Love With You, Try A Little Tenderness, That’s a Spicy Meat-A-Ball! (All at 10 threads each).

I’ve already written about If I Fell In Love With You, so I’m going to focus on the other two.

So BOTH of these fics are gifts. The first was written for one of my oldest fandom friends, @giishu. They reached out to me when I was still essentially a nobody (I mean I still am, but more so back then), and decided that we would be friends. And I’m really glad they did, because their friendship has been amazing, and they’re responsible for me writing my most popular fic, I Just Want Your Extra Time. Try A Little Tenderness is actually the sequel that fic. It’s (once again) a text fic, because I had so much fun writing the second one. It’s also a “partner is stressed, other partner helps them loosen up” kind of fic. I had a ton of fun writing it.

Will there be a third fic next year? Who knows? I do have ideas…

I honestly have no idea how I banged out That’s A Spicy Meat-A-Ball! I was fried beyond fried when I wrote it. And it’s probably why this fic borders on CRACK. The innuendos were super fun for me to write (and I might have even tested them out on my husband to see how scandalized he’d be).

He was sufficiently scandalized.

Closest to average Bookmarks: With a Little Help From My (Sorta) Friends, Try A Little Tenderness. (18 Bookmarks each)

I’ve already written about Try A Little Tenderness, so I’m going to focus on the first fic. I wrote this fic after a year of writing birthday fics and event fics. I wanted to write a fic for myself. A fic of something I needed to see. I wanted to see a fic where someone was acting like a good friend to Baz. I think the idea came out of a Discord discussion or a discussion with friends (maybe giishu?)

ANYWAY, the basic idea was, if I was Baz’s best friend, I’d be pissed at how Simon was treating him at the end of Wayward Son. Barring any knowledge of what Simon was going through, if I saw my friend following a guy across the ocean, after giving them the emotional cold shoulder for little more than a year, I’d be furious. So, I put those feelings into Dev and had him give Simon a talking to.

The fic also came from my frustrations that (before Any Way The Wind Blows) came out, we didn’t really see many people stand up for Baz. Yeah Simon has Penny, but who does Baz have?

It’s my firm belief that Baz has Dev and Niall. He’s been best friends with them for years. They are more than just his minions.

Also, I liked the tag GiveBazFriends2020.

This was so lovely! Gonna tag a few people to join in on the fun! @f-ing-ruthless-baz @fight-surrender @carryonsimoncarryonbaz @amywaterwings @ninemagicks @mostlymaudlin @martsonmars @sillyunicorn @im-gettingby @prettylightsbigcity @phoxphyre @angelsfalling16 @snowybank @palimpsessed @tea-brigade @aristocratic-otter @carryonvisinata @knitbelove @wellbelesbian

#ao3 stats #ao3 statistics #stats meme #fun trip down memory lane

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criminalmutantsins · 3 years

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Top 10 Favorite Young Justice Characters

10. Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle

Starting off the list is Blue Beetle. Young Justice introduced me to him, and I was hooked. He’s probably the most mellow and calming voice. His arc and relationship with Bart (friendship or not) were my favorite aspects of S2. They bounced off each other in every scene. I was very disappointed when Jaime and Bart were sidelined so much, and hope S4 changes this (particularly with Bart).

Jaime in the number 10 spot since he doesn’t really have much of a memorable personality. Still love him to bits though.

9. Will Harper/Red Arrow

Funny enough, I did not like Will. He was an asshole in S1; S2 kind of changed my mind about him but not enough since he didn’t appear as much. What really changed my mind was the episode “Private Security” (S3 Ep.4). I started looking back into Will’s storylines and, I have to admit, his is probably one of the best character development.

The first season had him unwillingly living a lie and betraying the people he cared for. In season 2 he was so consumed into finding the original Roy for five years, not even caring or focusing about his own life. I felt really bad for Will because he was probably going through an identity crisis and thought he couldn’t live his life without finding Arsenal. Probably felt guilty.

Seeing him living his own life and being happy with his daughter was so heartwarming. I smiled every time Will appeared in the latest season (totally ignoring the Will x Artemis fiasco), especially with Lian. I’m very proud of him.

I feel bad for putting him so low, yet I adore the next characters more.

8. Garfield Logan/Beast Boy

I have been a massive Beast Boy fan since Teen Titans so you probably can imagine how excited to see him. His origin story was unique and his brother-sister bond with M’gann was very sweet. It was pretty weird seeing how much younger Gar was than Dick, but I got used to it. I was bummed that Gar wasn’t in S2 as much; however, S3 truly made up for it.

After watching Beast Boy being a great leader in S5 of Teen Titans, I wanted a leader-like and more mature version of him. Young Justice truly delivered with Gar being the leader of the Outsiders. It’s nice to see him treated with respect rather than as a joke because that was my biggest gripe with Teen Titans. Though it was weird seeing him not crack a joke at all.

Gar’s story with his mom was heartbreaking to see. I literally cried seeing his reaction to revisiting his trauma in S2 and S3; I just wanted to hug and tell him how awesome he is. My only complaint with Gar in S3 was that the Outsiders weren’t established until near the end of the season.

His voice actor being Greg Cipes also gives him extra points (He’s a chill guy and radiates BB energy).

7. Dick Grayson/Nightwing/ Robin I

Sorry to all the hardcore Nightwing fans.

I love Dick (don’t get any ideas), but he doesn’t get enough development in the spotlight. One of the things I really wanted to see from him is his growth as a main leader, and his journey to becoming Nightwing. I was really bummed when these happened between the first two seasons.

To be honest, I don’t have as much to say about him other than straightforward qualities I enjoy about him.

1.His Voice (it’s so soothing)

2.His Personality (very charismatic)

3.Very Handsome (Probably in the top 3 my most handsome YJ Men list)

I put him higher than the others since he made a lot of contribution to the story and his new words (gotta love that aster!)

6. Megan Morse/M’gann M’orzz/Miss Martian

If I made this list during S1, M’gann would have probably been in my top 3 (maybe even No. 1), but S2 didn’t give her any brownie points.

I really liked S1 Miss Martian because of her kind heart, awkward girl next door personality. Her trouble fitting in the beginning reminded me of when I was going through a time in high school; seeing her having trouble as well helped me feel not so lonely. M’gann powers were (still are) my favorite since I am a big fan of mind-like powers. I would feel so powerful. Watching her identity crisis(?) arc was great too. I’ve had trouble feeling comfortable in my own skin as well as my social anxiety (I’m a mess) and I could understand how scared Megan was of her friends’ thoughts on her true form.

Oh boy. Season 2 basically ruined her. Learning what she would do to enemies was terrifying to see and left me wondering what happened to Miss Martian that made her step this far. What she almost did to Superboy was almost unforgivable. You do not try to manipulate with your boyfriend’s mind when you guys have an argument! Shame on you M’gann. If Superboy hadn’t forgiven you then I wouldn’t have either.

Good thing S3 somewhat redeemed her. Her kind heart was noticeable again and she refused to do that mind trick again (thank god). Very excited for the Superboy and Miss Martian wedding! Please creators, I beg of you to not skip over it. I want to cry my eyes out in happiness!

5. Kaldur’ahm/Aquaman/Aqualad

Now we’re in the top 5 with Aqualad (*ahem* Aquaman) starting it off.

Creating Kaldur was the best decision the creators ever did. I love him with all my heart!

He added diversity to the original team and was a great leader. S1 was not his breakout season, though the second season definitely was.

Kladur played the villain so well that he deserves an automatic Oscar. I never doubted that he was with the heroes, but he didn’t disappoint. My favorite part about Aqualad’s performance was when he rose from the ocean slowly like a cliché villain (he made it work), and the line he said right after he “killed” Artemis; it sent me chills. Love it!

Pretty disappointed that he didn’t appear as much in S3. Very happy that he is a part of the LGBTQ+ community and is in a happy relationship. I’m a part of the community and loved that there was finally some representation in one of my favorite shows. Even so, I have to criticize how rushed and sidelined it was. I hope Kaldur and Wyynde’s relationship gets development.

4. Kon-El/Conner Kent/Superboy

Like Will, I did not like Superboy at first. Mainly angry and volatile characters were never really my cup of tea. I do understand why he was upset and felt bad for him; I just handle anger the direct opposite as him. My love for Conner started growing around the end of S1. He was very sweet towards Miss Martian (bless him for not caring about her appearance) and his anger was in control.

Season 2 pretty much switched my opinions on him and M’gann. It was awful what M’gann almost did to him. That scene with him being so sad that what she did ruined that special bond they had almost made me cry. I wanted to give him a hug. He grew so much too since I don’t think he would have handled the whole M’gann drama as well in S1. A lot of furniture would’ve been broken.

I gotta admit something. I almost put Conner near the bottom (maybe no. 7). A comment in a poll in Amino changed my mind. I wrote a poll asking other fans who did they prefer SB or MM. At that point I said SB, though I didn’t think much of it. Someone (specifically yjfangirl) responded “Superboy has the best development in the show.” This had me thinking about how far SB has gone. In the beginning, Conner was an angry guy who felt alone and rejected by the person who he was meant to emulate. Now he is happier and living for himself rather than to be the next Superman. He’s getting married people! A little detail I noticed when rewatching S3 was Superboy mentioning to new characters that they weren’t obligated to be a hero because of their abilities. I adored this! The main reason why Superboy was created to be Superman if the original ever died, and another one of Luthor’s puppets. But he strayed from that pressuring path and is doing his own thing. Conner doesn’t want other people to feel like he did. What an absolute pure soul.

Also, yjfangirl, first I want to say Hi (*waves*)! Then say thanks for writing that comment. It made me really think about the bigger picture with SB and my love for him as grown exponentially. You probably didn’t mean to do that, but I still want to thank you. 😊

3.Wally West/Kid Flash

We’re in the elites now.

I don’t know how to explain it, I just love Wally. He makes me laugh, and his character growth was great. At first, Wally was this cocky flirt who didn’t take the hero work as seriously. That changed in “Cold-hearted,” one of my favorite episodes in the series. This was when I really started seeing more of Wally than being this dumb flirt. It was great seeing him actually caring about helping people since I believed for a long time that he wanted to be a superhero to just have powers rather than actually protect others. The regret in his eyes when he thought his impulsive behavior killed Perdita helped me see who he really was- this somewhat arrogant speedster who had a kind heart. Episodes that can make me change my perspective on characters are truly special.

I was very upset that he wasn’t in S2 a lot. I understand why since he gave up the life, but I was still bummed. Seeing him being so loving and protective towards Artemis was amazing. Spitfire is my favorite ship and I will not give up on them. All I want is a happy ending! The penultimate episode of S3 was a hint that it will happen. Watching the S2 finale was heartbreaking, I cried watching him disappear, his love for Artemis being the last things he said. Artemis’ reaction did not(I just wanted to hug her).

I have more to say, though I’m leaving it for another post. 😉

2.Bart Allen/Kid Flash II/Impulse

Picking between Bart and Wally for second place was tough. Took me a while to decide; I’ll talk about it later on.

The moment Bart made his appearance, I absolutely adored him. He is amazing and I live for his hyper, fun attitude. His arc and relationship with Jaime were my favorite aspects of S2. What can I say, their chemistry is great to see.

That scene when he was meeting the Flash family was so adorable. His excitement was infectious and spoiling his dad and aunt’s births was hilarious! I watch it occasionally whenever I need a good laugh or reason to smile.

Unlike most time travelers- at least the ones I’ve seen- Bart was very involved with what was going on and befriended his biggest enemy- evil and weirdly huge future Blue Beetle. He was pretty careful about disclosing very important information and took things very seriously. You never know if disclosing everything was the thing that brought the world to chaos.

What I found interesting was his choice on how to interact with everyone. He seemed pretty gloomy in the future, but decided to portray this cheerful, devil-may-care attitude to be more likable. I understood (still kind of do). I had terrible mental health issues and I pretended to be happy in front of loved ones because I thought they wouldn’t care about me anymore. Bart got some brownie points for that.

I was dissatisfied when his role was greatly reduced. I wanted the creators to go further with Bart by revealing his past and how it affected him. He was pretty much comedy relief. You couldn’t imagine how disappointed I was, especially with it involving my second favorite character. Season 4 better change that.

I know that you shouldn’t assume a character’s sexuality, yet I really hope Bart is gay. There needs to be more clear representation and Bart can be one of them. I’m also a Bluepulse and Bartuado shipper (fine with either one as long as Bart’s bond with each of them stays strong).

Anyway, I mentioned that I would explain why I chose Bart for 2nd place over Wally. It mostly stems from wishful thinking. I really want S4 to have Bart as a main character since I believe the future will be strong plot point in the season. Development could surely happen such as Bart opening up more about what he went through. Let all those feelings go.

I’m going to write an article on my hopes for S4 when a release date is announced. Bart and Wally will most definitely be talked about.

…..

We are finally near the end!

And my No. 1 favorite character is…

Drumroll please!

…

1.Artemis Crock/Tigress/Artemis

That’s right people!

Artemis Crock, original member of the Team and daughter of villains!

She is such an inspiration to anyone who wants to go their own past without their parents’ support.

It’s hard to describe how much I love Artemis. She’s brave, strong-willed, and a kind person. It’s crazy how great of a person she is after all the terrible things that happened to her. I look up to her because I don’t have a healthy relationship with my parents (verbal and mental abuse) and there are times I don’t feel strong enough to stand on my own. I want to carry the amount of strength Artemis has as my own.

After all that happened in S2, it was amazing to see Artemis come back to the team and train the new generation. It must have been hard to walk away from a safe, comfortable life for a chaotic, dangerous life. I admire that in everyone, but I hold more respect for Artemis since “the life” “killed” Wally. I wanted to hug her so bad.

She’s also one of the kindest people in the show, the events in S3 being the best example. When Zatanna was crying about her dad, Artemis was there to comfort her. It was so sweet! Roy and her also took in Halo and Terra like they were a part of the family; the archer treated them like the best big sister. That rainstorm scene was heartwarming to the core.

Wouldn’t Artemis be an amazing mother? Lian and her have a strong bond like a mother and daughter; I loved it, and Lian is in good hands with Roy and Artemis. Though Jade deserves a chance to be a mother. Artemis also seemed to enjoy taking care of those kids in that S1 episode. Wally too. You guys know what I’m guys insinuating. 😉

Get ready for some fanfics on that someday.

My favorite Artemis-centered episode was the second to last episode of S3. I was waiting for this episode centering around Artemis missing Wally and learning to move on. It was great yet heartbreaking. Nothing bad happened. That Will and Artemis kiss never happened. Everyone makes a mistake. No matter how terrible it was.

Anyway, seeing Artemis and Wally living their lives and having a baby gave me life, even if it was fake. It was a vision of the future. I will believe this until there is confirmation that Wally will not come back.

Did anyone else cry when Artemis was so desperate to, but Wally wouldn’t let that happen (the real Wally would do that)? They are a great example of a healthy relationship with all the love and support they have for each other. I want that.

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recurring-polynya · 2 years

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Fanfic Round-up 2021

(This year started out really bad, like rock-bottom bad, and the first half was still pretty rough, but a big improvement. My kids went back to school in the fall, which was such an enormous improvement for everyone. I knew this, objectively, but then they got abruptly sent back into distance learning the week before Christmas break, and I realized how big a difference it made. I am honestly shocked and aghast that I managed to do anything in the first 8 months of 2021, but I did a lot, actually.

Blessings and Curses I really love the two New Year’s episodes of Bleach, both the wacky hijinks half and the sweet Renruki half, and I wanted to try writing my own New Year’s story, so I did, a little Academy flashback where Rukia and Renji go to spend the holiday break at Momo’s house in Junrinan. I really like it, even though it’s not one of my more popular ones. Anyway, it’s the New Year, maybe you should go read it!

Rukia and Renji Make a Baby (at Byakuya’s Birthday Party) (explicit!) Uhhhh, it was Byakuya’s birthday after that, and I happened to have some cursed free time, so I wrote an awful porno about... what it says on the tin.

Adventures in Babysitting I wrote this one to cheer up a friend. It’s got both Uncle Byakuya and Byakuya and Hitsugaya being bros and also Matsumoto is there. This is what the people want, I have learned.

Dear Wormwood is the other side of the spectrum: I was doing AU requests at the time, and I wrenched this around to fit my extremely specific interests, vis a vis a Renruki zanpakutou-swap AU that nosedives into lovers-to-enemies territory. I named it after one of my favorite Oh Hellos songs. It was not very popular and I don’t care, it’s my baby.

Squad Six is Jerks and other Stories, vol I The rest of the AU requests went into my anthology fic, starting at Chapter 33 and running thru the end, at which point I decided this thing was too big and that’s why it has “Vol I” tacked on the end. In particular, I recommend #36, the tattoo artist AU, which I really do hope to continue someday, if I can get some of my other WIPs cleared out. #40, the X-Files AU and #41, Mall Goths, Part Deux are also pretty fun.

Brothers in Arms ChadIshi is a ship that I love, but I just never have any particular good story ideas for, but this was for a birthday, so I dug deep, and came up with something very, very soft, about two guys taking a day trip to the beach and just being.

Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time (explicit!) Hrmm, oh good, more weird porn, just what we need. Actually, you know what, this was, in fact, written to fulfill a very specific need, which was Renji getting pegged by Rukia. As far as I know, this is the only one in existence, but I would love to be wrong, and also, I encourage anyone to add to the genre. It took so long to come up with a title, and in retrospect, I regret not calling it “If You’re Into It” after the Flight of the Concords song.

a little in love now and then I guess I got a few spoons back when school let out for the year-- the kids even went to a few summer camps, so I had a few hours to myself for the first time in over a year. I’d gotten a little wound a round my own axle on this story, but I fixed up my outline and put my nose to the grindstone and managed to crank out the long and convoluted Act III over the summer. Comedies of manners that hinge of misunderstandings are not easy to write, I am reporting to you, and I am honestly proud of how good it actually turned out. I did not expect this story to go over 100k, but that’s where we are now.

Squad Six is Jerks and other Stories, vol II After that, I did another Renji-birthday request event. As I mentioned earlier, the first Squad Six is Jerks had gotten too unwieldy, so I decided to do volumes by calendar year. Everything in here is a banger and you should read it.

A Very Convenient Case of Amnesia (explicit) This was also one of the birthday requests, but I broke it out because of rating. If Kubo didn’t want people to write Rukia making Renji do soap opera roleplay with her, maybe he shouldn’t have let Soul Society have soap operas, that’s all I’m saying.

What We Do with Our Hearts I actually wrote the first few scenes of this fic before I even posted Call Me Back When the War is Over, the last chapter of my big, slow-burn series, The Heart is a Muscle, AKA, My Life’s Work. We’re talking late 2019, that strange year I was actually good at writing things. The guilt of having this unfinished had been gnawing at me constantly, so when the kids went back to school, I sat down and worked all fall and... did it. Only the first three chapters are up at the time I am writing this, but the entire thing is complete. The very same day that my beta reader cleared it for posting, I got a phone call at 5:30am that we were going back into distance learning. What an amazing year.

In a fit of insanity, I actually made some writing goals last New Year’s, so let’s see how I actually did:

1) I guess 250k words is sort of a benchmark now, so I guess I’ll try to hit that again.

I can’t use AO3′s word count feature anymore, because if a fic gets updated over multiple years, it counts all the words into every year, so I started keeping a spreadsheet. Usually, I would only count words posted, but I think it’s fair to count all of What We Do with Our Hearts, in which case, the bottom line was 252,107. I literally cannot believe I hit it. What the junk.

2) Finish a little in love. There is… a lot… left to go.

LOL, not so much. I did make a huge amount of progress on it, though, and I can live with that.

3) Finish the next story in The Heart is a Muscle, which I utterly stalled out on this summer. (I have ~40k of it written, but I’m not sure how much of it needs to be thrown directly into the garbage. It was never supposed to be this long in the first place. They never are.

I DID IT, FAM!!!! It’s 110k! ✨It doesn’t matter ✨ , it is DONE.

4) Finish either my Squad 11 Self-Care story or my Last Days in Inuzuri story

Maybe in 2022.

5) Write another adult one

Wrote three, I am an overachiever

6) Stretch goal: Write something that’s… not Bleach?? Maybe?? Can I do it?

Reader, I did not.

So, I didn’t hit them all, but I think I did really well in the circumstances. How about 2022? Well, I feel pretty good about just carrying goals 2 and 4 forward into the New Year, but especially because I literally don’t know when/if my kids will be going back to school, I am setting myself exactly one goal, which is:

Write things I enjoy.

I am incredibly proud of my accomplishments this year, but writing has become less of a fun, escapist hobby and more of a thing-that-fills-the-hole-in-my-life-where-work-used-to-be, and I’m not super happy with that. I have gotten a little better at saying no to projects that I know are going to be a slog, but it would be nice if I could find a way to recapture some of the magic that fueled some of my earlier stories.

#my writing #year-end reviews

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pointnumbersixteen · 3 years

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My Personal Ranking of Ghosts Episodes and Why

So, here’s my personal order for all the current Ghosts episodes, from best to worst, with a bit of an explanation as to why I think so. I included who wrote each episode because the writing pairs tend to have consistent strengths and weaknesses that affect my enjoyment. These are, of course, just my opinions, and I recognize that different people have different tastes.

1) Moonah Ston (Larry and Martha)

This episode is hilarious and it continues to be hilarious through multiple viewings (some of the jokes in other episodes start to wear thin after multiple viewings, but this one remains entirely solid through dozens of rewatches). Barclay and Bunny are my favorite guest characters throughout the show. Also some of my all-time favorite bits are in it: Cap stealing Thomas’s role doing the reading, the shooting of the pheasant with Cap, everything to do with Mary and the cooking of the pheasant, the way Alison yeets the pelaverga as soon as it’s handed to her, the juxtaposition of the eclipse ritual and the dinner party, Bunny’s ‘sobriety test.’ Also, there’s a strong A plot and a strong B plot that tie together, and all of the characters are fit into these two plots well, which is something the creators sometimes struggle with.

2) Getting Out (Mat and Jim)

I love everything about the Captain’s portion of the plot and it’s a nice big portion, too. His scene with Kitty is one of my favorite scenes in the show, brilliantly written, well-acted, and gorgeously shot. I can feel for Mike and Alison in it. Fiona’s another really funny guest character. My only major complaint is that the plot with other ghosts after the Captain’s left the group starts to drag after enough re-watches, particularly Thomas’s bad erotica and the jewel scene. I found both very funny on the first several watches, but the payoff to both is ruined with enough rewatches. With the first, the payoff is with how surprisingly bad for a ‘professional’ writer his story is, but after you’re well aware that Thomas is a bad writer, it’s just listening to bad writing over and over again. And the bit with Fanny’s jewel has such a long lead up, to get to the surprise payoff that the jewel was secretly pawned by George forever ago, but once you know the jewel is gone, the long lead up gets progressively more tedious with every watch. At least for me.

3) Reddy Weddy (Ben and Simon)

I’ve written extensively about this one before, so I won’t include much, but: I love everything having to do with the Captain in this one, particularly the completely wonderful flashbacks with Havers. Mike and Alison were very well done, and I enjoyed Martin as a guest character. But I really didn’t like the whose-turn-is-it-to-pick-the-movie subplot, it just seemed sort of unnecessary to me and detracted from the tone of the rest of it. I assume they just had trouble finding a better integrated role for Pat, Thomas and Julian, which, as I said under Moonah Ston, is an occasional weakness the creators had.

4) Gorilla War (Larry)

I love Cap’s campaign of attrition. And his singing. Everyone had solid, funny bits, all tied into one main plot in it. Mike and Alison are both well done in this episode. It’s the first episode where Alison is able to interact with the ghosts and I think they did a great job capitalizing on her coming to terms with it and Mike’s such a supportive husband in it.

5) About Last Night (Mat and Jim)

I love the spat between Cap and Pat in this one, because the focus of their subplot is their relationship dynamic and I enjoy their relationship dynamic- even though it’s close to the breaking point in this instance, all is well because they make up in the end. Everything about the state of the house and trying to remember what happened to it-as well as the flashbacks to the party- is pretty funny. The bits with Dante were very funny as well. The Robin-Mary subplot was a bit meh for me, but I didn’t dislike it, I’m just not sold on the idea. I didn’t enjoy Mike being sidelined on the roof for most of the episode when Alison needed his help and all the criticism he got from the other characters for not being around to help Alison, though.

6) Who Do You Think You Are? (Mat and Jim)

This is a really strong introductory episode with some good, funny bits in it, but it doesn’t rank higher since the ghosts can’t interact with Alison yet and Mike and Alison don’t know they’re there, which is where a lot of the fun of the concept of the show comes in to me.

7) Bump in the Night (Larry and Martha)

The robbers were funny as were the ghosts’ utterly inept attempts (save Robin) in stopping them. I loved music club, particularly the Captain’s performance. I appreciated the return of Barclay and his bitches. Humphrey was actually reasonably included in the plot, which is always a nice change. There weren’t any bits I found particularly outstanding (except maybe Cap’s musical performance) but there weren’t any major bits I disliked, either. Everyone’s included in one main plot and it continues to be just as enjoyable on rewatches.

8) The Thomas Thorne Affair (Mat and Jim)

I greatly enjoy examine-the-story-from-multiple-viewpoints-to-illustrate-unreliable-narration plots, so that went well in this episode. I also really like regency romances, so this ticked another box for me. Humphrey was given an important bit again, which I appreciate. The bit about Francis was a nice twist at the end, because otherwise it would have been a bit too predictable, with Thomas being shot in a duel over a romantic misunderstanding- that was the most obvious solution to his death, after all. It felt a bit contrived, though, that the characters who died after Thomas all went to the group meeting on time, while the characters who witnessed Thomas’s death were all still wandering around upstairs and just happen to wander into Alison’s room in time to contradict the last telling of the story and provide the next. And of course, the fact that half the cast is just sort of sitting downstairs waiting for a significant portion of the episode always seemed a bit lacking to me. Also, Mike starts the episode being unusually stupid (not knowing Elizabeth II is the current queen- at least in the US, not being able to answer who the current President is frequently used as shorthand for ‘having brain damage’) and spends the rest of it being insecure about Alison’s ex (this seems to be a Mat and Jim thing).

9) Perfect Day (Mat and Jim)

I loved all the Cap bits in this. Pat’s plotline was good, too. Humphrey actually had a substantial role, which I appreciated, and more so since he actually managed to bring Fanny around to the gay wedding. I was of course thrilled that it was a lesbian wedding. But I’m not a fan of ‘miscommunication causes drama’ plots in any medium and I disliked how once again how insecure Mike is in this episode (Mat and Jim again) and how poorly he handles it.

10) Happy Death Day (Ben)

I love all the Pat bits. I liked the interactions between the Captain and Julian, they had a really enjoyable dynamic in this one, although they’re being rather disappointing human beings in their plotline. I like Kitty’s plotline, too, and the garden scene between her and Fanny is very funny and beautifully framed. I don’t think this episode did a particularly good job with either Mike or Alison, though. Mike ditches his probably still concussed wife who is plagued by ghosts to manage the building work he started because he’s spending hours a day out of the house because there are too many people in it and he’s apparently potty-shy and Alison thinks trying to convince people to do probably thousands, if not more, pounds worth of free labor by making them tea is both a plausible idea and an appropriate thing to even try (it’s bad enough when the people asking you to do free work for them are actually your friends, contriving a friendship in order to do this just sort of seems a bit contemptible to me). Some of the jokes get less funny with time- Fanny with the butt cracks, for instance. I considered the Thomas subplot another weak ‘well, something needs to be done with this character’ subplot and I can’t even remember off the top of my head what Mary was doing most of the episode despite having seen it at least a dozen times, besides the bit where Alison throws the teacup at her head (and if I were Terry, I would have called it quits then).

11) The Ghost of Christmas (Ben and Simon)

Mostly fluff, and a decent amount of it was rather predictable fluff, but I’ve written more on that elsewhere. Mike’s sisters were the worst. I was hoping Ben would write himself a bigger role and he didn’t. In the Bleak Midwinter was gorgeous, though, and there were enough smaller bits that I found endearing to prop it up over the next two.

12) The Grey Lady (Larry and Martha)

I enjoy the ghosts’ routine as shown at the beginning of the episode. I found Pat’s radio show amusing. I liked the basement scene with Nigel. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Captain’s ‘stretching’ subplot (although I do greatly enjoy his ‘for king and country’ running), it just seemed a bit silly to me, like they couldn’t decide what to do with him for most of the episode, so went with ‘eh, squats, I guess.’ Also, I feel like they had trouble placing Mary and Kitty, too. Mary spends a lot of the episode staring at a wall and Kitty spends all of it just following the group and occasionally wailing about the ‘ghost-ghost.’ Also, I think Alison went a little too far with her simulated haunting when she dressed up as the Grey Lady; it wasn’t smart because there was no way she was going to get away with it after anyone turned on the lights and it seems a bit more like attempting to defraud people than the rest of it did.

13) Free Pass (Mat and Jim)

Alison actively puts people in danger for money, misrepresenting the house as structurally sound in order to get a movie contract, when in fact the floors are held up by hope and happy thoughts and could (and eventually do) cave at any moment. If the floor had fallen through in the letter scene, before Mike braced it, when they were using the heavy equipment, there likely would have been serious injuries. Also: Toby Nightingale is the worst. Also: the solidity and supportive nature of Mike and Alison’s relationship is the best part of it and I dislike the choice (Mat and Jim again) to make him so insecure in this episode (this was the first in the episode order to do so).

To speak on general tendencies, though: I’m not a fan of doing morally questionable things for monetary reasons unless the situation is life or death, so all of the episodes where that’s Alison’s primary purpose get major demerits from me. That’s a matter of personal taste, but there I am. As for the writers (I recognize they all come up with the general story arcs together, but the writing pairs are responsible for execution), everyone struggles a bit sometimes to get solid roles for everyone into the plot, to be expected when the cast is so large, but some instances are worse than others. I think Larry’s (well, Larry/Martha for most of them, but they’ve both joked that mostly she drinks and he writes when they’re working on their episodes) still the strongest writer in terms of having mostly cohesive plots that standup consistently as solid to multiple viewings, but he also has the most experience as a writer, so that’s probably to be expected. Ben and Simon have both stated that they like jig-sawing a bunch of little plots together to make an episode, and while it is a bit impressive that they can make episodes with like, nearly as many plotlines as characters come together to make one reasonably sane episode, I find this strategy detrimental in that to me, when they do this, there’s always one or two plots that are really, really good, a few plots that are pretty good, and then one or two plots that I just don’t enjoy, that to me drag down the rest of the episode (most apparent in Reddy Weddy, but it happens to some degree in all of their episodes). My major criticism of Mat and Jim is with the way they write Mike. I actually really like Mike when he’s well done, but his portrayal seems to vary a lot between episodes, and (with the exception of Ben’s Happy Death Day, but his problems in that one are different) the episodes he’s written the weakest in are all written by Mat and Jim. They’re the only ones who I think write Mike as insecure in his relationship with Alison and his most incompetent and/or useless moments also tend to be written by them. I don’t know if they have a slightly different concept of Mike’s character than the other four or what, but I think Larry/Martha and Ben/Simon’s portrayals of him tend to be significantly more flattering.

#bbc ghosts #everyone and everything #i intended this to be short guys #but i got caught up #and over three hours and 2200 words later here we are

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p1nkwitch · 3 years

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Even though it's still ongoing some director cut funfacts about lost prince fantasy au? 👀

(I have finally some free time tonight so hopefully I will catch up with it and some other fic of yours)

Ohh hopefully i get to see your comments on some of the new stories then.

Mm, ok, funfacts without spoilers.

Again, i planned the end first so i have a fairly good idea of where im headed, there is a possible bad ending however unlike the Heart Machinations one.

Originally i pictured the story with Jonah instead of Elias due to a plot point at the end. But i ended up scrapping it, because i figured another way to go at it instead, that would also work.

I have a chapter in the freezer waiting to be put out, unfortunately its like the biggest spoiler and i have to put it almost at the end, which is ironic because its literally my favourite one from someone elses perspective that is not Peter or Elias. Its the actual backbone of the story in a way, without it there is no plot. Unfortunately i need to wait or else i would ruin a surprise.

I wrote i think the first 8 chapters in like 3 days. Because i originally wanted to write the entire thing in one go and publish it all in one day. Just dump the entire thing one night like nothing and wait in the morning for the chaos.

Its not the first time i have wanted to do that. It wont be the last, i just find the idea o writing a long story and just randomly drop the entire thing without explanation hilarious for some reason. I dont do it because i will get so very little comments that the effort would be for nothing. But honestly? One day i might just do it for the hell of it. My brand of chaos is weird i know.

I started this before the ending of Tma and i had a plan for something that was happening in the background. But due to my now anger at a certain character actions that happened there i decided to change it, i mentioned in one of the end notes in a chapter i think that i was going to change a few ships in the background due to it. It doesnt involve Peter/Elias, but i was going to play the story in a different manner.

Im considering doing something evil, but again its fueled by my own frustration with the ending. I will see if i end up doing it or not, maybe i calm down by then.

I briefly considered to keep the story more or less a paralell to Heart Machinations, since as i said Elias was doing his own prince Au thing. But it wouldnt be sustainable in the long run if i wanted to explore some different characters and relationships. So this is an Au based on the idea, but not connected. Sorry if that dissapoints, but i would have caged myself if it kept it like that. I did however use characters from there, like Titania and Missy, plus a few relationships. I will make more nods to that in the story of course in future chapters.

Mm, what else. Oh, well i have decided to let them be soft and fall into all the typical romance tropes, because in my head, they are living a fantasy romance with the ocasional horror. Thats why im leaning more into them being idiots and soft. Also i really love the sharing the bed trope so much while they are both dumb and dont realize they are catching feelings.

Speaking of wich!! Something you point out that i find funny is that Peter realized it first this time. Here is the thing, i find there is a difference between having a crush and realizing you are in love with someone.

Peter can have a crush but not be in love. Yet.

Same with Elias who admits to find him atractive, neither think its love, but rather regular atraction. When they do figure out that its love, oh boy.

Peter will be the slow one in that scenario i assure you. Again i already have planned the scene for Elias a while now, thats why i want to move the plot forwards now, but i got stuck in the chapter im writing cause i need several things to happen in quick sucession, however i cant think of how to put it.

mmm favourite scene to write was Peter alone in the ship. Him just slowly losing time and becoming isolated due the magic and curse? Plus the Sirens trying to catch him with promises of Elias? Cheff kiss.

Also i really, really wanted to make the sex dungeon joke. It was the best shot i had for that.

Ah! Elias staying with Annabelle was going to be a little bit more fucked up, with the whole spiders and mind control, but since i decided this world was not going to be that dark, i simplified it. If heart Machinations was inspired by portal, Prince Au was inspired by tangled. Both with their own doses of horror included per Tma normal rules.

The chapter with Simon explains actually a lot of things that i have left vague across the fic, no one pointed out the actual conection, but its ok, i think it will be funny when i actually go and say what the deal it.

The curse and the prophecy. With the first i had to struggle to think of what exactly were the used words for it, since as established the Fairies words are law. Once i figured the why’s and the how, it bacame obvious the way things would progress. Its.. not hard to break, but also not as simple as you may think. There is a reason why the Lukas never managed in 200 years.

The prophecy on the other hand, oh boy, thats fun. The non spoiler way to describe this is that i wanted to do a joke, but somehow everyone managed to miss the punchline. Now i realize it might have been my own fault for playing the long game, but honestly? Im just looking at my screen waiting to actually explain it and see everyone be like OH MY GOD IT WAS THAT SIMPLE???

I think thats like everything ii can think of now? Like if you have an actual thing you would like me to clarifie send another ask. I have fun explaining stuff. Unfortunately i cant go deeper than with the other stories since i would spoil the plot but yeah!! I hope this was good enough?

Again sorry if i go in tangents, i have thoughts about what im writing and im very clumsy with how to say it.

#ask #i do go off god dammit #still my major flex would have been writing the entire thing in like a week and air dropping it out of nowhere

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fillingthescrapbook · 3 years

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Rewriting The CW's Kung Fu, Part 9: Reflections and Moving Forward

And we have reached the end of our Kung Fu journey. If you haven't seen where we began, here's a handy guide to the previous posts:

Part 1: The Characters

Part 2: The Pilot

Part 3: The Mythology

Part 4: The Story Map

Part 5: Act I

Part 6: Act II

Part 7: Act III

Part 8: The Finale

Before I start with the lessons I learned and my other reflections, I want to thank @flailingbloo for all of her help and support in this endeavor. Without her to talk to and commiserate with, I would probably have gotten stuck in Act II forever and everything I've written would've been riddled with spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. So my eternal gratitude to flailingbloo. And now, we begin:

Lessons.

Going into this writing exercise, I already knew it was going to be hard. Writing stories is time-consuming, it's nerve-wracking, and it takes a lot of research...and patience. Writing, especially for television, is also not a solitary task. I mean, sure, the writing itself needs to be done alone--but everything that comes before, during, and after the writing needs input from so many people.

Although I have a lot (and I mean A LOT) of complaints about how The CW's Kung Fu was handled and written, I do have a lot of respect for the work that the writers put into their scripts. And I do appreciate all that they have done to have a show like this produced.

Doing this rewrite, I learned that it's really important to make the main character likeable. Like, every episode I broke down, I had to ask myself: is Nicky likeable here? Is she someone who viewers would want to root for? Like, for me she is, but only people who read what I wrote can say for sure. My perspective is now a bit skewered because I have bias.

Second, story maps are very helpful. There were times, especially during Part 6 (where I wrote breakdowns for Episodes 6 to 9) where I kept getting road-blocked by where I want the story to go. So I went back to the story map over and over again, to remind myself--where does the story itself need to go? How do I help the characters get to the point where they're ready for what needs to happen? (This is also where flailingbloo helped the most for me. Like, she really reminded me why I was doing this rewrite in the first place. Because I care about Nicky and the show. I wouldn't have funneled so much of my time and effort into this if I didn't.)

Another thing I learned, or rather re-learned, is the art of letting go. I created the character of Stanley to recur throughout the series as a reminder of who Nicky was and who she is becoming. And then I finished writing the first act without even mentioning him. By the second act, I was ready to use him finally--but, after multiple false starts, I realized Stanley was one of the reasons why I was having a hard time pushing Nicky's story forward. Because I kept trying to go back to the past. So I decided in the writing of the second act to shelve Stanley completely, only to find him popping up in the second to last episode in a, at least I hope, more organic way.

The last thing I learned in this exercise was that, whenever a new character needs to come in, I have to look at my existing characters first to see if any one of them can fulfill the role I needed for the story. Like, creating new villains for Nicky was fun, sure--but, at the same time, I realized that there were already existing villains that could recur. Like the Triad, who played villains in two more episodes after the pilot; and Henry's martial arts class at the community center became the source of two existing storylines from the actual show.

Reflections.

Do I think what my rewrite is better than the show? To me, yes. But, again, I am very biased. That said, I am proud of how I utilized the characters that the show created and didn't really give much importance to. Dennis, when he was introduced, felt like a rich character that could provide a very different point-of-view from the Shen siblings--but he was mostly relegated to being eye-candy. And I thought I gave him more meat by making him more involved in Althea's sexual harassment storyline, while also involving him in Nicky's stories.

That said, I also realize that I wasn't able to play up Nicky and Evan's past relationship as I was writing the episodic breakdowns. I was able to give them a lot of opportunities to explore their chemistry together, as I did with Nicky and Henry, but I kind of dropped the ball as a writer on guiding those planted moments into something more significant. Granted, I only wrote breakdowns and not actual scripts. Maybe I could've explored the romance angle more with a little sprinkle of direction and dialogue.

As I went deeper into the rewrite, I do see how easy it is to fall in love with characters as you write them. It's very easy to trap yourself into wanting villains to be more well-rounded. I keep having to remind myself that I don't have to redeem everyone. Just Nicky. Which became harder and harder as I went further and further into the story.

Another thing that became difficult as I went on? Keeping the mythology from just bursting open. That's how Henry, as I wrote him, evolved into becoming the son of a guardian--just so there's a reason for him to be so invested in Nicky's quest, while also having someone who can explain things to our main character. I'm actually really proud of that evolution.

All that said, I also have to recognize that I rewrote the show with the benefit of hindsight and the lack of budget constraints. In the real show, there's a group of writers who each have their own ideas of what the show should be. (This is where a head writer--not a show runner--would come in handy, so they could reel in the story to what needs to be told.) With more writers comes more chances for inconsistencies to happen. (And this is where a script supervisor, or a writing assistant, could come in handy.) And then there's production notes and budget. Not to mention, you know, the whole pandemic that's still happening. I didn't have to think about those things while doing this rewrite.

So, again, I want to give the writers kudos to actually producing scripts. I hope they haven't lost their minds--or their will to write--just because there are people like me who nitpick at everything. That's what people who love things do. We nitpick because we care.

Moving forward.

I do plan to stick with the real show for Season 2. I hope it's planned better. I hope they get researchers (plural!) and a writing assistant to help in the writing room. I hope the writers would sit down with the cast to discuss and develop the characters more. And I really hope they hire a better fight choreographer and fight director for the second season. (Like, rehire the people who choreographed and filmed the flashback scene in... Episode 11? The one with Nicky's maternal grandmother and Pei-Ling's own mother?)

I hope that the Nicky-Henry relationship gets explored realistically, and if a potential new love interest is ordered, they get introduced in a way that isn't antagonistic. Make them more well-rounded characters too, please. Make us want to root for their success. And while I think Nicky doesn't have an iota of chemistry with Evan, I do like Evan himself as a character. So I hope they get him more involved in future storylines--as an outsider looking in, sure, but also as an honorary member of the Shen family.

With regards to the Shen family, I do hope that we get to explore their relationships and dreams more before the show drops the reveal about Mei-Xue's daughter. I want Althea to have a cohesive storyline that doesn't pause for no reason. I want Ryan to explore being Asian AND gay as a first-generation Asian-American. And give the Shen siblings some recurring friends. They don't have to be semi-regulars (unless there's a story that can be explored) but let's not keep the Shens in a bubble. It was weird in the first season. Especially for Althea whose friends only showed up for her bachelorette party and never again. Not even when she was panicking about wedding preparations, which, considering how rich Dennis's parents were? They wouldn't let Althea be in charge of anything. They would hire a Chinese wedding coordinator. And an expensive and hard-to-book one at that. They donated an entire hospital wing, for crying out loud.

I want Jin to have an actual character, and not just be the supportive dad who loves his kids very much (admittedly my own rewrite also made this same mistake). And I want Mei-Li to be consistent as a character. Like, no more surprise twists about being the descendant of a legendary warrior without proper foreshadowing and plot-planting please.

Dennis shouldn't just be eye-candy. The same applies to Kerwin. Sure, I get that shirtless men are a must in a CW series, but please give their characters some meat too. Dennis's nerd-side was never showcased in the show, and Kerwin had that poor little rich boy background that didn't get explored either. Because the show was too busy keeping him and Zhi-Lan tearing each others' clothes off--when they're not tearing other people down.

Also, don't drop the ball on the tease that Bian-Ge is now everywhere. If I understood correctly, Bian-Ge is Kung Fu's version of Qi. If yes, then I hope they treat it respectfully as a force of nature--and not just the source of magic. The flowers from Bian-Ge itself can be magical, sure, I have no problem with a fictional flower being a McGuffin.

Finally, I hope the show also explores other Asian communities and cultures. Like, Kung Fu is great--but imagine if Nicky had to face someone who is versed in Silat Melayu? Or someone who uses Arnis? Someone who practices Kalaripayattu or Lathi Khela? Or Kuntao? Imagine Nicky having to use Wing Chun against someone who uses Karate or Krav-Maga? Asia is a big continent and there are so many different types of martial arts found from the Middle East to Southeast Asia. Kung-Fu is an umbrella term, so it'll be great to see the different styles found under it.

... This went long again. Sorry about that. Funny thing is, when I started this whole rewriting plan? I thought it would take three posts, tops. And look at us now. Nine posts deep, and it seems I still haven't run out of things to say. So I'm cutting myself off before I completely wear out my welcome.

But if you've read all my Kung Fu posts, please do reach out. Let's discuss the show and what it can do to produce a better second season.

#Kung Fu CW #tv talk #my words

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 3 years

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

August 1, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

August 1, 2021 (Sunday)

Last Sunday, educator and civil rights leader Dr. Robert Parris Moses died at 86.

Born in New York City in 1935, the son of a homemaker and a janitor, Moses was working on a PhD at Harvard when his parents’ health brought him back to New York City. There, he began to teach math in 1958.

In 1960, images of Black Americans in the South picketing for their rights “hit me powerfully, in the soul as well as the brain,” he later said. He moved to Mississippi and began to work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, pronounced “snick”). In 1961, he began to direct SNCC’s Mississippi Project to promote voter registration in Mississippi, where, although about 40% of the state’s population was Black, most Black Americans had been frozen out of the polls through poll taxes, subjective literacy tests, and violence. In his quest to get people registered to vote, Moses endured attacks from thugs wielding knives, white supremacists wielding guns, and law enforcement officers wielding power. He earned a reputation for being quiet and calm in times that were anything but.

By 1964, Moses was one of the key leaders in the effort to register Black voters in Mississippi. In April, working with Fannie Lou Hamer and Ella Baker, he helped to found the integrated Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to challenge Mississippi’s all-white Democratic Party.

That summer, Moses led the Freedom Summer Project to bring together college students from northern schools to work together with Black people from Mississippi to educate and register Black voters. On June 21, just as the project was getting underway, Ku Klux Klan members working with local law enforcement officers murdered three organizers outside Philadelphia, Mississippi: James Chaney, from Mississippi, and Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner from New York. The white supremacists buried the bodies in an earthen dam that was under construction. When the men disappeared, Moses told the other organizers that no one would blame them for going home. His quiet leadership inspired most of them to stay.

On August 4, investigators found the bodies of the three missing men. The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party met on August 6 and decided to challenge the Mississippi Democratic Party to represent the state at the Democratic National Convention. And yet, when the Democratic National Convention met, the Democratic National Committee leaders and President Lyndon B. Johnson chose to recognize the all-white Democratic Party rather than the integrated ticket of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.

At the end of 1964, Moses resigned from his leadership position in Mississippi, worried that his role had become "too strong, too central, so that people who did not need to, began to lean on me, to use me as a crutch." Key to Moses’s leadership was that he did not want to be out front; he wanted to empower others to take control of their own lives.

Civil rights historian Taylor Branch told reporter Julia Cass in a story Mother Jones published in 2002: “Moses pioneered an alternative style of leadership from the princely church leader that [the Reverend Martin Luther] King [Jr.] epitomized…. He was the thoughtful, self-effacing loner. He is really the father of grassroots organizing—not the Moses summoning his people on the mountaintop as King did, but, ironically, the anti-Moses, going door-to-door, listening to people, letting them lead.”

Moses was disillusioned when the Mississippi Democratic Freedom Party did not win the right to represent the state in the Democratic National Convention. For all the work that individual sharecroppers and hairdressers and housewives had done in Mississippi, national leaders had let them down. “You cannot trust the system,” he said in 1965. “I will have nothing to do with the political system any longer.”

Moses turned to protesting the Vietnam War. He and his wife, Janet, moved to Tanzania when he was drafted despite being five years over the cutoff age. After 8 years in Africa, the Moses family moved back to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Moses resumed his doctoral work in the philosophy of mathematics.

Back in America, Moses turned his philosophy of empowerment to the schools, advancing the idea that mathematical literacy is central to the ability of young people to participate in the twenty-first-century economy. In the 1980s, he launched The Algebra Project to give young Americans access to higher mathematics. “I believe that the absence of math literacy in urban and rural communities throughout this country is an issue as urgent as the lack of registered Black voters in Mississippi was in 1961,” he wrote. “In the 1960s, we opened up political access…. The most important social problem affecting people of color today is economic access, and this depends crucially on math and science literacy, because the American economy is now based on knowledge and technology, not labor.”

Moses’s focus on empowerment and self-determination was very much in keeping with the original concept of American democracy.

And yet, his efforts, along with those of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, to turn to national politicians to cement gains at the grass roots were not in vain. In 1965, Congress passed and Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, protecting the rights of Black Americans to vote, focusing on states with historical voter suppression.

Just fifteen years later, in 1980, Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan spoke at Philadelphia, Mississippi, where he defended state’s rights, and the unwinding of the civil rights advances of the post–World War II years began.

Now, in 2021, we seem to be headed back to the one-party society Moses fought. In response to record voter turnout in the 2020 election, 18 states have passed 30 new laws that make it harder to vote. At the same time, Republican-dominated legislatures are gathering into their own hands the power to override the voters.

In Louisiana on Friday, Republican House Speaker Clay Schexnayder removed three Democrats and one unaffiliated member from committee leadership positions in retaliation for their unwillingness to override the Democratic governor’s veto of a bill banning transgender girls from participating in school sports. They will be replaced by Republicans.

In Georgia, legislators have begun the process of transferring control of the elections in Fulton County, one of the most reliably Democratic counties in the nation, from county officials to Republican state officials.

Public schools are also under attack, with Republicans threatening to cut funding to schools that require masks to stop the spread of coronavirus or that teach “divisive concepts” that make students uncomfortable, usually topics that involve race.

Republican lawmakers have proposed attaching funding to students rather than to schools, enabling parents to use tax dollars to enroll their children in private schools. This sounds like a revival of the all-white “segregation academies” that sprang up in the South after the Supreme Court required desegregation of public schools. Those academies, funded with public money, were so successful that, according to Professor Noliwe Rooks, an Americanist who specializes in issues of race and education and who chairs the Africana Studies department at Brown University, in 1974, 3,500 academies in the South enrolled 750,000 white children. As white students left the public schools, funds available to educate the many Black and few white children left behind fell drastically.

Unequal educational options were hallmarks of the one-party state systems Moses worked to undermine. When he explained The Algebra Project, Moses called the historically limited educational opportunities for Black children in America “sharecropper schooling.” “[Y]ou went through it, but your options were you were going to chop and pick cotton or do domestic work….”

In 1965, Congress and the president finally recognized that all the organizing in the world couldn’t overcome the apparatus of a rigged system. They used the power of the federal government to turn the work of individuals like Bob Moses, scholar and visionary, organizer and teacher, into the law of the land.

But watching the turbulence in American life last year, Moses warned that the nation “can lurch backward as quickly as it can lurch forward.”

—-

Notes:

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2002/05/moses-factor/

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/25/us/bob-moses-dead.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/17/us/george-floyd-protests.html

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-july-2021

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/08/trump-schools-reopening-federal-funding-352311

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/28/opinion/cindy-hyde-smith-mike-espy-senate-mississippi.html

https://apnews.com/article/louisiana-8eaa96bcc646a118a70b95a06994c2d3

https://www.ajc.com/politics/capitol-recap-georgia-moves-closer-to-takeover-of-fulton-elections/O2ZVJZ3NKRD7HP5QHTSBIXUQ34/

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#political #biography #Civil Rights #history #Heather Cox Richardson #Letters From An American #corrupt GOP #criminal GOP

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liya4kar · 3 years

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Liyada’s Fics Masterpost

It was time I wrote a Fic Masterpost.

So for everyone who is interested by my fics, firstly I invit you on my AO3 where you can litteraly find everythng, especially since I don’t post the fics directly on Tumblr.

And if you want the details, here we go!

Also here the plan, because the post is really long lmao-

I/ Pokespe

1. Multi-chap fics

a) Three Years

b) The Magical Dexholders

2. AUs

a) Yorozuya no Lack-chan

b) Legendary Dexholders

c) Blonde Family

d) Yokai AU

3. Stand-alone OS and Drabbles

a) OS

b) Drabbles

II/ Other fandoms

a) Champion (Marvel)

I/ Pokespe

1. Multi-Chap Fics

a) Three Years

This one is my baby, the one I had been working on for 2 years and a half, the one I progressed the more in, and also the one I haven’t updated in a year even if I have 6 chapters ready to post, cause I’m lazy af. Also the ones where you can very easily see how much my writing progressed since I started writing for Pokéspe.

Warning: Graphic Description of Violence, Major Character Death (though this one is complicate and don’t fully apply)

Genre: Angst, Adventure.

Words Count: 69,567

Statut: In Progress

Characters: The whole Spe cast up to SM.

Relationship: Background Frantic, Entourage, Agency and Laverree, a lot of other friendships.

Summary: Some secrets should never be revealed. Or should they?

After a strange explosion, X and Y fear the apparition if a new threat for Kalos, and decide to get themselves implicate. But things are not as simple as they look, and nothing will go the way they want. And as those attacks take bigger scales and start to involve a large number of people, they would have no choice but to find the motive behind them to stop them; even if it means getting back on some bitter memories from three years ago they all would have preferred to forget...

List of chapters: Part I: Kalos

1. The Explosion

2. The Lumiose Badlands

3. Shalour City

4. The Attack

5. Next Action

6. Lumiose City

7. Blackout

8. Chase in Lumiose City

9. The Next Day

10. Couriway Town

11. Sunrise

12. Tic Tac

13. Terminus

Part II: Unova

14. A Day in Driftveil City I

14.5. A Day in Driftveil City II

15. Welcome to Unova I

15.5. Welcome to Unova II

16. The Twist Mountain I

16.5. The Twist Mountain II

b) The Magical Dexholders

This one is purely self-indulgent fic, where I basically write the dumbest thing that get in my mind. Aka some Dexholders become Magical Girls or Boys, but they’re dumb, but it’s okay because the bad guys, their friends and their world in general is dumb.

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: Parody, Humor, Friendship

Words Count; 27,944

Statut: In progress

Characters: The whole Spe cast up to SM, and some OCs

Relationship: Diamond & Silver, Blue & Yellow & Gold & Platinum, Green & Crystal & Pearl

Summary:

It’s an emergency! The Darkness Power Of The Terrible Evil has invading the Pokespe world and take over the region of Kanto! Some magical fluffy creatures needs help in order to stop the Darkness Power Of The Terrible Evil!

The day Dia met a strange professor fan of Magical Boy and a strange pink creature, he knew his life would never be the same...

In the meantime, Blue and Yellow have to face a terrible threat to get back their home, but get new abilities in exchange.

List of chapters:

1. A story is not interesting if nothing go wrong in it

2. If you are a Magical Boy, don't forget to take an insurance for building destruction!

3. If the authorities say that a radioactive cloud did magically stop at the border, you can totally trust them!

4. You can’t be a protagonist if you don’t have an ultimate move, a dark past or a secret identity!

5. No matter how good it looks on TV, sh*t stay sh*t!

6. An homage to a work becomes a fanfiction when it becomes an important part of the plot, you moron!

7. If you update on the 1st April everyone's gonna believe it's a joke, even if it isn't, so update on the 31st March!

2. AUs

Those fics are not multi-chap fics, but more like OS and drabbles that are related between each others.

a) Yorozuya no Lack-chan

Heavily inspired by Gintama, AU where Lack did not get back in Interpol and started doing odd jobs instead. Serie of Drabbles.

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: Parody, Humor, Friendship

Characters: Lack-Two, Whi-Two, X, Sun

Relationship: Lack-Two & Whi-Two, Lack-Two & X, Lack-Two & Sun

Summary:

When Whi-Two bumped into Lack-Two after months, she was not expecting him to went from Interpol officer to dog walker. And neither that he’d get her, and this guy from Kalos, to join he’s odd jobs agency.

List of chapters:

Dogwalker Lack-Two in action!

The Blazing Begining of Odd Jobs Yorozuya no Lack-Chan!

b) Legendary Dexholders

In a world where being a legendary Pokémons can be boring, the legendary Pokémons decides to have a little bit of funs. Shenanigans ensue.

Aka the legendary Pokémons decides to become humans, and of course they happen to be our favorite DHs.

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: Friendship, Family, Supposed to be comic at first but also goes on the character study sometimes

Characters: Silver, Giratina, others for next OS.

Relationship: Implied Preciousmetal, Blue & Silver

Summary:

List of chapters: Giratina

c) Blonde Family

In which Yellow, Pearl, Bianca and Y are all cousins. Shenanigans enssue.

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: Family, Comedy, Crime

Characters: Yellow, Pearl, Bianca, Y

Relationship: Yellow & Pearl & Bianca & Y

Summary:

Family reunions are rarely all peace and calm. But when, out of four cousins, you have three Dexholders and a clumsy professor assistant, things are bond to be messy.

List of chapters: To be a cousin, Don't listen others confessions or you'll end as responsible as them

d) Yokai AU

What if yokai existed in the Spe universe?

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: Supernatural, Friendship, Adventures

Characters: Pearl, Schilly

Relationship: Pearl & Schilly

Summary:

Pearl had first seen them when he was four years old. And he had learned to live with this world only he could see, to maintain his balance of a normal life.

He had just not expected one of his junior to also see them.

List of chapters: Chilling Party

3. Stand alone OS and drabbles

a) OS

Here you can find the 1K+ words stand-alone OS. Links are in the tittles!

A Good Christmas Movie is Made of Hot Chocolate and a Fire-Breathing Cat

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: Horror, Parody, Christmas, Hallmark Movie, Specord Winter Writing Event 2020

Words count: 4093

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Y, Sun

Relationship: Implied Laverree and Delivery shipping, Y & Sun

Summary:

Everything is perfect in Y's life. Too perfect, like in a Christmas Hallmark movie. Now, with a fire-breathing cat name Sun, it's up to her to find a way out of this Christmas hell.

One-shot wrote for the Winter Writing Event on the Specord, with the prompt X & Sun, Horror and Parody, My Life is a Hallmark Movie and PMD, and Chuck E Cheese's Ball Pit.

Celebi-rities in Distress

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: Parody, Friendship, TV Show

Words Count: 5017

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Sapphire, Lisia, Ruby, Emerald.

Relation Ship: Background Franticshipping, Sapphire & Lisia, Ruby & Emerald

Summary:

Sometimes, it only takes a silly TV show, weird games and arrogant prissy boys to make a new friends.

Or how Sapphire became friend with Lisia to teach Ruby and Emerald a good lesson.

Bonding on the Grand Line

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: One Piece AU, Pirate

Words Count: 2948

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Pearl, Cheren, Sinnoh and Unova Gym Leaders

Relation Ship: Pearl & Cheren, Mentionned Commoner Shipping, Past Pearl & Diamond & Platinum, Mentionned Cheren & Black

Summary:

In a world where Gold Roger is still an unknow name, Pearl and his crew left North Blue for the Grand Line. But are they ready for everything waiting them?

Of Swords & Of a Gun

Warning: No Warning applies

Genre: AU, Angst,

Words count: 4209

Statut: Two-Shot, in progress

Characters: Pearl, Cheren, Sinnoh and Unova Gym Leaders

Relation Ship: Soudo & Bede, Bede & Rose, Soudo & Schilly, Schilly/Hop, Bede & Schilly & Hop

Summary:

In a world where everyone has a Sword, Bede is an abnormality who has a Gun.

In a world where the Tsurugi family is the best blacksmith clan of Galar, Soudo fails to meet people's expectations.

In a world where they have to fight and find their places, will the two of them discover why they exist? Maybe the answer had been in front of their eyes since the beginning.

Pallet Association

Warning: Graphic Description of Violence, Major Character Death <3

Genre: Cyberpunk AU, Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Kanto Week, Angst, Dystopia, May be a bit OOC for certain characters

Words count: 3637

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Green, Blue, Red, Yellow, Prof. Chen

Relation Ship: Green & Blue, Green & Blue & Red & Yellow, Green & Prof. Chen

Summary:

In Pallet City, one of the biggest megalopolis in the world, the Pallet Association controls everything. Blue, Red, Yellow, and Green decide that it needs to change.

But Green may have forgotten to mention a few details to them.

(This OS have two alternative endings because I couldn’t picke one)

Storytelling

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Fluff, Domestic, Comedy, Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Johto Week

Words count: 2843

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Silver, Gold, Crystal

Relation Ship: Silver & Crstal & Gold

Summary:

Silver has apparently never heard a fairytale of his whole life, so Gold and Crystal decide to give him an express fairytale class. Turned out that it was a really bad idea.

Festival War

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Comedy, Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Hoenn Week

Words count: 2843

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Emerald, Latias, Ruby, Sapphire

Relation Ship: Franticshipping, Emerald & Latias, Emerald & Ruby & Sapphire

Summary:

It's the summer, it's time for festivals, but with the Hoenntrio and their love for bets and contests, it could only go wrong.

Family Business

Warning: Craphic Description of Violence, Minor Character Deaths <3

Genre: Angst, Villain AU, tw: Drugs, Weapons, Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Sinnoh Week

Words count: 3596

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Platinum, Diamond, Pearl

Relation Ship: Implied Entourage

Summary:

Because she was the heir of the Berlitz family, she will continue to develop their wealth and their power, no matter what it takes. No matter if the path she’ll take was full of blood and corpses and crimes.

Parent-Teacher Reunion

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Comedy, School life (but it’s still in the canon universe), Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Unova Week 1

Words count: 2638

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Cheren, Black, White, Bianca, Iris

Relation Ship: Agency Shipping, Cheren & Black & White & Bianca & Iris

Summary:

Did you ever wonder how was Black's school life? Well, welcome in this parent-teacher reunion where Cheren have some things to say about his childhood friend...

Crimes Movies are Sad Except When Everyone is Dumb

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Crime, Comedy, Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Unova Week 2

Words count: 5565

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Whi-Two, Lack-Two, Hugh

Relation Ship: Whi-Two & Lack-Two & Whi-Two

Summary:

It was a normal day for Whi-Two. A casting, a murder, two former classmates coming from nowhere... ... Wait, what?

Strength

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Character Study, Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Kalos Week

Words count: 2198

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: (Malva’s) Delphox, Trevor, Furfrou, Floette

Relation Ship: Delphox & Trevor, Delphox & Furfrou & Floette

Summary:

Delphox was strong. Malva was strong, too, but Malva's had lost, so Malva was weak.

Delphox had lost too, but she could not admit she was weak too.

No, she was strong.

It was the boy who was weak.

Treasure

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Negative Spe AU, Adventure, Friendship, Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Alola Week

Words count: 1649

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Sun, Moon

Relation Ship: Sun & Moon

Summary:

Sun always liked helping at the soup kitchen, seeing the smile and laughs of everybody around him, but the lunch breaks were always the best moment.

Too bad that this girl decided to ruin this one.

The Child of the Outdoor

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Character study, pre-canon, Pokespe Amino Festival 2020: Galar Week

Words count: 1317

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Schilly, her Pokémons

Relation Ship: Schilly & her Pokémons

Summary:

Schilly always loved outdoors. It was joy, fun and great memories. It was her Pokémons, too.

Professor Santa

Collab with @coppertrapinch for the Specord Secret Santa Event! (Check her work she’s amazing!)

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Comedy, Christmas, Specord Secret Santa Event 2021

Words count: 3623

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Prof. Oak, Prof. Birch, Prof. Samson Oak, Prof. Rowan, Prof. Juniper, Crystal, Gold, Sapphire, Trevor, Soudo, Schilly, Prof. Magnolia

Relation Ship: Prof. Oak & his need for a break

Summary:

Something was bound to go wrong with Gold organizing a party... but a Secret Santa on top of that? Poor Crystal was just too stressed at work... it was time for Professor Oak to step up to the plate. Can the renowned Professor save Christmas in time without gaining another wrinkle?

...No. No he cannot.

The Christmasly Idiotic Adventures of Pearl and Lack-Two, or the time when two idiots stopped an evil organization while being on a gift hunt

Warning: No Warning Applies

Genre: Comedy, Christmas, Specord Secret Santa Event 2021, Crime (??), Adventure

Words count: 5326

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Pearl, Lack-Two

Relation Ship: Pearl & Lack-Two

Summary:

Pearl liked Christmas. Really. Well, except when some (false) "Gift Fashion Specialist Journalist" disturbs all his plans and ruins his gift hunt. Why do he has to get a present for such a brat anyway?

Screw up Secret Santa! This year, we're gonna kick some ass for Christmas!

b) Drabbles

Ok no big presentation here cause it’s only very short drabbles (>1K words)

Valentine Day 2020: Laveree Shipping

Valentine Day 2020: Entourage Shipping

X teachs incorrect French words to Gold

Crystal is scary and very powerful

Soudo and Chilly don’t like they English localized name, and Marvin is too young for this

II/ Other fandoms

a) Champions (comics)

Heat-Haze Days

Warning: Graphic Description of Violence, Major Character Death <3

Genre: Angst, inspired by the Kagepro song “Kagerou Days”, Time loop

Words count: 4213

Statut: OS, Complete

Characters: Miles Morales/Spiderman, Kamala Khan/Miss Marvel, Sam Alexander/Nova

Summary:

It was a normal summer day, everything was fine... But the heat of haze had decided otherwise, and it was up to Miles to try to find a way out.

14 notes · View notes

chiaki-translation · 4 years

Text

Spring Troupe 7th Play: Magician’s Pure Love Translation Ch1-2

What am I doing to myself? Out of a very weird reason I started translating this story. I will try my best to post translation everyday (at least 2 chapters a day) so I would be able to post everything before the actual event ends. I hope there’s someone else out there who actually want to read the whole story so here it is, the first part of the translation under the cut. Enjoy~ Some extra things I’m tempted to say. I really want to scout for Magician Chikage, but I’m saving so hard for Glitter Kazu and I shall not be tempted. I also won’t have a lot of screenshots for this series because I’m quite lazy since each chapter is quite long...

Ch1-2 / / Ch3-4 / / Ch5-6 / / Ch7-8 / / Ch9-10 / / Epilogue

Disclaimer:

A3! is owned by Liber Entertainment

Translator’s Note:

I actually haven’t read Act 3, so I’m not that familiar with Madoka and the 1st generations. If there’s anything wrong from this translation, please feel free to tell me so I can correct it for others. Thank you~

Magician’s Pure Love (Chapter 1-2)

Masumi:

So look over here, and… there it disappears.

Chikage:

Right, you’re good.

As expected, you really have a dexterous hand.

Masumi:

Everyone can do this much.

Chikage:

If you tell that to Chigasaki, he’ll get angry at you.

But you have quite a repertoire of magic tricks now, don’t you think it’s time to try putting on a formal show?

Masumi:

I’ll only put on a show for Director…

Chikage:

If it’s for that purpose, then you might need to polish the magic tricks even further…

Misdirection technique might be effective, it’s a necessary trick to get Director-san to enjoy it.

Masumi:

…

Chikage:

Memo?

You wrote on that memo sometimes, what have you actually been writing?

Masumi:

It’s a note on how to grab hold of Director’s love.

Chikage:

Vol.26 huh…

Masumi:

It’s the 26th one.

Chikage:

As usual, your dedication towards Director-san is amazing…

Masumi:

I’ll do anything to be able to become her ideal man.

Chikage:

Anything, huh… to have such a passionate love for something, I wonder what kind of feeling it would be.

Masumi:

You want to know?

Chikage:

I’ll refrain if we’re talking about love stories.

Masumi:

You won’t understand anyway, so I won’t start.

Chikage:

Haha. Even Masumi, are you going to treat me like a man with no romance?

Director:

Ah, the two of you, can I have a bit of your time?

Masumi:

Chikage:

Right when we’re talking about it, right.

Masumi:

What happened?

Director:

There’s something I need to talk to you about.

Tsuzuru:

What are we talking about?

Director:

I just had a talk with Sakyo-san and the manager…

There are a lot of attention on the troupe now because of GODza’s and 1st generation’s act-off, as well as the all-out performance on “Spotlight”.

Citron:

Oh, it’s crawling through the tension!

Masumi:

Boiling.

Itaru:

There’re really a lot of God-za’s fans and the 1st generation fans when you pay a closer attention.

Sakuya:

Even for “Spotlight” as the special feature, I was so nervous at first but I’m glad that it seemed popular out there!

Chikage:

It’s all thanks to Kasumi-san’s editing skill.

Director:

From then, I have received a lot of inquiries regarding our local performances… Then from this, I thought we should go for an attack instead.

In order to realize the value of Mankai entrusted by the 1st generation, we should aim to level up and improve the popularity of the theatre company while improving the performance level of each individual.

Tsuzuru-kun will also take steps to further improve on his ability to write for our performances…

Tsuzuru:

Yeah. In order to be able to match the stories that Hakkaku-san made, as expected I still need a lot more experience.

Director:

That’s why, while still working on our local performances, I would like to plan for new performances that would highlight the strength of each troupe.

It’s exactly because we received a lot of attention now, shouldn’t we use this chance to redefine the strength of each group?

Sakuya:

I want to do it!!

Citron:

I’m pretty sure there’re a lot of fans out there who’re still waiting for us!

Masumi:

I think it’s a good idea.

Itaru:

Why not?

It might be a good change to all the Mixed Plays we’ve been doing as well.

Chikage:

I agree as well.

We’ve only done one lap of ‘lead’ for Spring Troupe performances after all.

Tsuzuru:

You’re right.

Director:

Is there anyone here interested to take the ‘lead’ role this time?

Masumi:

I want to do it.

Director:

That’s fast.

Masumi:

I’ll do anything to rekindle your love.

Tsuzuru:

There’s nothing to rekindle over there.

Itaru:

So there’s a motive for some returns.

Chikage:

Your character’s too consistent.

Masumi:

Not only the Spring Troupe performances, I have taken many roles even in Mixed Play and act-off. The me right now would be able to shine brighter as a ‘lead’ compared to my time during Alice.

As the chairman, I think I would be able to put on a much better performance than that time, and I want to show it to you.

Director:

I see…

(Alice was only our second performance for the Spring Troupe and everyone had very little experience back then. Since then, everyone has accumulated a lot of experience.

The bond among the members has also deepened, we might be able to make a performance that portrays Masumi-kun much better now.)

Chikage:

I see.

Itaru:

As the chairman, huh.

Sakuya:

I think the Masumi-kun right now will be able to do it!

I’ll also support you!

Citron:

I also a breeze!

Tsuzuru:

Agree you mean.

Well, I think it’s good for Masumi to be the ‘lead’.

Director:

Alright, then, it’s decided that Masumi-kun will be the lead!

Masumi:

I’ll do my best.

Masumi:

…

(There’s no vacant seat around…)

Madoka:

You can sit over here.

Masumi:

… thank you.

You’re writing GODza’s script?

Madoka:

Yeah. Recently I’ve been visiting GODza’s training hall, I need to keep studying theatre after all.

Masumi:

Hee…

Madoka:

After our loss in the act off, GODza’s seats has been more motivated, of course Haruto-san and Shifuto included.

Everyone’s practicing with all they have.

Kamikizaka-san also changed towards a good direction.

How’s your side doing?

Masumi:

We decided that I’ll be the ‘lead’ for the upcoming Spring Troupe performance.

Madoka:

Really. Congrats.

Masumi:

I’m going to do my best for her sake.

Madoka:

Her?

Masumi:

It’s the director.

Madoka:

You’re going to do your best for the director’s sake?

Masumi:

I started acting for her sake.

All the good performances I’ve done so far was to kindle our love.

Madoka:

Ki, kindle your love…?

Fukunaga:

That’s wonderful!

So your passionate fire of love has polished your performances until now!

Madoka:

Fukunaga:

You should promptly get that Director-san to come to this year’s school festival’s performance!

Masumi:

I told you she won’t come.

Fukunaga:

Ikaruga-kun! For his sake and for his director’s sake, let’s write a good script!

Madoka:

I haven’t started writing anything.

Fukunaga:

Not yet!

Masumi:

Ha…

Fukunaga:

You started acting for that person, and now you’re aiming higher to become a better actor for her, such a melodramatic scenario!

Madoka:

Then, what if, you never met with Director-san, Masumi would you be doing acting at all.

Masumi:

There’s no such thing as a world where me and Director won’t meet, our meeting was fate after all.

When I manage to become her ideal actor, we would finally be connected as one…

Fukunaga:

Fyuuu.

Madoka:

You’re really a passionate one…

Fukunaga:

For you to be so head over heels over her, this director-san would be a very attractive person, isn’t it.

Masumi:

Of course. She loves curry, always working hard, pretty nice, likes curry, loves theatre, loves curry.

Madoka:

So she likes curry that much…

Fukunaga:

But for such a nice person, I would be worried if I was her boyfriend~

Masumi:

…We’re not going out yet.

Fukunaga:

Eh!?

Usui-kun that doesn’t sound like you, don’t say that she already has a boyfriend?

Masumi:

… Don’t have.

Fukunaga:

But, if you approach me so passionately, even I would relent sooner or later.

Masumi:

I don’t want to approach you.

Fukunaga:

It’s just an if!

That’s why I was thinking there might be someone else on her mind.

Masumi:

(Director has another guy on her mind…?)

(It can’t be… It’s impossible.)

Itaru:

Since Masumi-kun is the lead, I have an idea for a sequel.

We can make Alice in Wonderland II.

Sakuya:

We’ve never done a sequel before, so it sounds like a refreshing new idea!

Tsuzuru:

But the rabbit ears…

Citron:

Then how about puppy ears?

Summer Troupe already used cat ears, so we should try something different.

Itaru:

Is this a new animal series or something…

Tsuzuru:

I’m not going to make such series!?

Chikage:

Masumi’s good at sword fighting, why not we try a performance that can make use of his skill?

Director:

Spring Troupe doesn’t really have a performance with battles and stuffs, maybe we can make it work!

Masumi:

…

Tsuzuru:

Masumi? Something bothering you?

Masumi:

It’s nothing…

Director:

Itaru:

If you want to make use of something Masumi’s good at, the other choice would be…

Sakuya:

Ah! What about story about magicians!?

He learns a lot of magic tricks from Chikage-san after all.

Chikage:

I see.

We can showcase the result of your training.

Tsuzuru:

It sounds like it’s going to be a good theme, sounds like it can highlight the brightness of Spring Troupe too.

Citron:

We played some live performance during the Quartet performance, maybe we can do the same with magic this time.

Director:

Sounds fun, I’m looking forward to it!

Itaru:

If it’s magic, then the co-lead would be senpai?

Sakuya:

It’s the master-pupil combination!

Tsuzuru:

Sounds great, why not.

Citron:

I approve!

Chikage:

I don’t mind.

Masumi:

…

Director:

Masumi-kun will you be alright with this arrangement?

Masumi:

… Yeah.

Director:

(His answer’s a bit vague, I wonder if this is going to be alright…)

Tsuzuru:

Then I’ll start thinking of a plot.

Director:

Yeah, I’ll leave it to you.

Masumi:

…

Chikage:

Masumi, is this alright?

Masumi:

Chikage:

You were practicing to hold a magic show for Director-san, weren’t you.

If we’re doing it on the stage, your performance will not be exclusive to Director-san anymore.

Masumi:

Ah… It’s alright.

Even if other people see it, I would still be able to convey my desire to show it to Director, it’s no problem at all.

Chikage:

You’re so consistent.

Masumi:

Just consistent?

Chikage:

Ah… Well, if you’re satisfied then it’s fine.

Masumi:

…

Chikage:

(Since earlier, I’ve been feeling something weird…

Well, it’s Masumi after all, most probably it’s something about Director-san

Such a pure love is not my specialty…)

… the upcoming performance, I’m looking forward to work with you.

Masumi:

Yeah.

Itaru:

Woah, the rug’s expensive.

Chikage:

…

Itaru:

Ah, how’s Masumi?

Chikage:

Masumi?

Itaru:

I thought you went to talk to him?

Chikage:

So you saw.

Itaru:

I’m his dad after all.

Chikage:

And I’m the grandfather huh.

But he seemed to be fine for now, how to say…

Is it alright for me to give my grandson some pocket money.

Itaru:

I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work on that one grandson.

Maybe a bromide of Director-san will work instead.

Chikage:

You’re right. Well, since I’ll be co-starring, I shall communicate with him carefully.

Itaru:

Please do so.

Chikage:

By the way, how was he during the Alice performance?

You’re the co-lead right.

Itaru:

Ah…

We understood that we cannot understand each other.

Chikage:

What’s that.

But, I think I will be the same.

Itaru:

Nah, senpai’s pretty unexpected, I think you might actually understand each other normally.

I don’t have any basis for saying that, but if you find nothing in common with him, you won’t even teach him magic.

That dry part was somehow similar as well.

Chikage:

Starting from the basic.

Our age difference were quite big… how about that.

Above everything else, it doesn’t help that Masumi’s most prominent feature, being his passionate love, it’s not similar to me at all.

Itaru:

Well, around the time when Spring Troupe was formed, there was a time when Masumi lost his passion in love. That’s when everyone started sharing love stories to him.

Chikage:

Love stories… huh.

Itaru:

Why not senpai go ahead and present one to him as well.

Chikage:

Are you serious?

Itaru:

Well, I don’t expect any interesting story to come out from you though.

Chikage:

I don’t want to hear that from you.

Well, I was told straight to the face that he doesn’t want to share love stories with me.

Itaru:

Haha. So Masumi understands well.

<End of Chapter 2>f

#a3!#a3! act! addict! actors!#chikage utsuki #sakuya sakuma #spring troupe #a3! translation #chigasaki itaru #masumi usui #tsuzuru minagi #citron

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dougmeet · 3 years

Text

flynt (13) hustler (5) died (4) trump (4) million (3) doing (3) insurance (3) larry (3) seniors (3) ditching (3)

In 2017, Flynt offered a $10 million reward for evidence that would lead to Trump’s impeachment, and in 2019, Larry Flynt Publications sent a Christmas card to some Republican congressional members that showed Trump lying dead in a pool of blood, with the killer saying: “I just shot Donald Trump on Fifth Avenue and no one assassinated me” — a reference to Trump’s boast that he could commit such a killing and wouldn’t lose votes.

Eggleston Works è una società di cui avevo sentito parlare molto tempo prima che io abbia mai avuto la possibilità di assaggiare le loro merci. Situato a Memphis, nel Tennessee, La loro prima offerta era un oratore che sembrava un tavolo finale, ma alla fine non ha avuto il successo come avevano sperato. Alla fine del 1996, l'Andra fu rilasciato.

Dr. Seuss Enterprises Will Shelve 6 Books, Citing 'Hurtful' Portrayals

no more Seuss or WAP for my kid

CSS Grid CSS Grid simplifies existing layout patterns

and

adds new possibilities for graphic design.

It’s a layout framework — without the framework

Fixed or FlexibleYou can create a grid with fixed track sizes or with flexible sizes using percentages or the new

fr fractional unit

Place & Align

You can place items at precise locations on the grid independent of their HTML source order. Alignment features control how items align when placed into a grid area, and also how the whole grid is aligned.

In our urban and suburban houses what should we do without cats? In our sitting or bedrooms, our libraries, in our kitchens and storerooms, our farms, barns, and dockyards, in our docks, our granaries, our ships, and our wharves, in our corn markets, meat markets, and other places too numerous to mention, how useful they are! In our ships, however, the rats oft set them at defiance; still they are of great service. How wonderfully patient is the cat when watching for rats or mice, awaiting their egress from their place of refuge or that which is their home! How well Shakespeare in Pericles, Act iii., describes this keen attention of the cat to its natural pursuit! A slight rustle, and the fugitive comes forth; a quick, sharp, resolute motion, and the cat has proved its usefulness. Let any one have a plague of rats and mice, as I once had, and let them be delivered therefrom by cats, as I was, and they will have a lasting and kind regard for them.

watch -- 6,780 results ("mrjyn" AND "dougmeet") OR ("dougmeet" AND "BLACKPINK") SEO Results Deliver (images) in something i call (Bracket Racket Cluster SOF SEO) inspired by mr. Kurzweil, who makes your piano tuned No thanks to The Recording Academy for inexplicably overlooking Apple's new album Fetch the Bolt Cutters for an Album of the Year nod at this year's Grammys. @fionaapplerocks

flynt (13)

hustler (5)

died (4)

trump (4)

million (3)

doing (3)

insurance (3)

larry (3)

seniors (3)

ditching (3)

Porn purveyor Larry Flynt, who built Hustler magazine into an adult entertainment empire while championing First Amendment rights, died Wednesday.

He was 78.

Flynt had been in frail health and died of heart failure at his Hollywood Hills home, said his nephew, Jimmy Flynt Jr.

Advertisement Skip Ad From his beginnings as an Ohio strip club owner to his reign as founder of one of the most explicit adult-oriented magazines, Flynt constantly challenged the establishment and became a target for the religious right and feminist groups.

Flynt scored a surprising U.S. Supreme Court victory over the Rev.

Jerry Falwell, who had sued him for libel after a 1983 Hustler alcohol ad suggested Falwell had lost his virginity to his mother in an outhouse.

Paid Post What Is This? Seniors Are Ditching Their Auto Insurance and Doing This Instead Seniors Are Ditching Their Auto Insurance and Doing This Instead Seniors Are Ditching Their Auto Insurance and Doing This Instead See More Sponsored Content by Comparisons.org Flynt’s company produced not only Hustler but other niche publications.

He owned a video production company, various websites, a Los Angeles-area casino and 10 Hustler boutiques.

He also licensed the Hustler name to independently owned strip clubs.

His publishing and financial successes were offset in equal measure by controversies and tragedies.

Advertisement 00:48 02:53 Shot by a sniper in 1978, Flynt was paralyzed from the waist down and used a wheelchair the rest of his life.

He fought battles with drug and alcohol addiction, and his fourth wife died of a heroin overdose.

His daughter, Lisa Flynt-Fugate, died in a 2014 car crash in Ohio at age 47.

With a fortune estimated at more than $100 million, Flynt spent his later years in the political arena.

When Gov.

Gray Davis was recalled by California voters in 2003, Flynt was among 135 candidates who ran to replace him.

He called himself “a smut peddler who cares” and gathered more than 15,000 votes.

A self-described progressive, Flynt was no fan of former President Donald Trump.

Before the 2016 election, he offered up to $1 million for video or audio recordings of Trump engaging in illegal or “sexually demeaning or derogatory” activity.

Flynt’s life was depicted in the acclaimed 1996 film “The People vs.

Larry Flynt,” which brought Oscar nominations for director Milos Forman and Woody Harrelson, who played Flynt.

—2021年3月3日 (@mrjyn) status: WAP—2021年3月3日 (@mrjyn)

Twitter [@] Tweet to: @squarebooks From: @mrjyn Comm. on: squarebooks (reply) RE: SB mention by (author) re. SB her book status: WAP—2021年3月3日 (@mrjyn)

mrjyn comment: quotes Elvis song lyric: 'i don't care' adds: 'I miss #BarryHannah (author), mutual friend to mrjyn (person) and SB, Oxford, MS (bookstore) adding here: RIP Date: 03:13:2021 Time: 8:17 CST

1 of 3 jpg att: 1. Elvis photo ephemera 'TCB Oath' 2. Photo of cover of Barry Hannah book jacket "Tennis Handsome" Pub: Knopf Ed.: Gordon Lish 3. Jerry Lee Lewis Cover of Bio Author: Nick Tosches

definitive hypnogogic, Biblical Ovid Southern Gothic Epic hagiography, esprit l'escalier epitaph precursor to whose words will be most tribute to the possible mortality race between the Killer and Keith Richards, KR JLL's Jr. by 15 yrs. check Vegas Book for Odds says Stanley Booth, Author 'Up and Down with the Rolling Stones,' Memphis, TN 'author' -- not Rockcrit, please?

mrjyn comment: quotes Elvis song lyric: 'i don't care' BarryHannah

This frisky pop confection finds Blackpink teaming up with American singer Selena Gomez. The five girls use a series of ice cream double entendres to send out mating calls and detail how they are different from the other females. I know that my heart can be so cold But I'm sweet for you, come put me in a cone Blackpink and Gomez are encouraging the guys to ignore their icy cool demeanors. Once they take a couple of scoops they will find they are loving and affectionate.

The song's icy metaphors not only have a sensual connotation but also allude to the singers' wealth. Ice on my wrist, yeah, I like it like this Get the bag with the cream The girls are wearing diamond encrusted watches (ice is a slang word for diamonds). "Get the bag with the cream" refers to a bag loaded with cash.

The song is Blackpink's second hookup with a major American pop star in 2020, following their Lady Gaga collaboration, "Sour Candy." Both songs use sexy food analogies to represent the enticing love that the girls are ready to give out.

Frequent Blackpink collaborators, the Korean Teddy Park and the American Bekuh Boom, are the primary writers. Park wrote the main melody while Boom was in Korea. She then wrote the lyrics over his tune, incorporating a series of sexy ice cream-related play on words. The other credited writers are Ariana Grande, her go-to collaborators Victoria Monet, and Tommy Brown, Mr. Franks, Selena Gomez and the Korean producer 24.

The retro-tinged video finds Gomez driving a pink ice cream truck in a pinup sailor outfit. The four Blackpink girls all appear in a candy-coated frozen dessert fantasy land before ending the clip in an ice cream amusement park. Blackpink's scenes were filmed in South Korea, while the scenes featuring Gomez were shot in the US because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The song was birthed at a songwriting camp that producer Teddy Park asked Bekuh Boom to run for Blackpink's debut studio album. Boom asked Tommy Brown and Victoria Monét to come to the sessions at LA's Westlake Studio, and the pair brought Mr. Franks along with them. "Tommy had Franks pull up beats, and eventually Franks played the one that all of us started vibing to and decided to work on together," recalled Boom to Genius. "Victoria brought up the subject 'ice cream' and started humming melodies that we then started writing lyrics to together in the room. From that point on we had a great back and forth of ideas for the first half of the song that was done that night."

A post shared by mrjyn (@dougmeet)

no more Seuss or WAP for my kid. Dr. Seuss Enterprises Will Shelve 6 Books, Citing 'Hurtful' Portrayals https://t.co/Cc23ru1M6K— mrjyn (@mrjyn) 2021年3月3日

Eggleston Works " Fontaine II "

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L'opportunità per me di ascoltare un altoparlante EgglestonWorks è arrivata tramite il mio amico e collega, Marshall Nack. Alcuni di voi lettori a lungo termine potrebbero ricordare la recensione approfondita di Marshall dei Rosas di EgglestonWorks. Marshall e la sua adorabile moglie Lynn sono una coppia insolita in quanto entrambi sono audiofili. In realtà, sono l'unica coppia audiofila che conosco personalmente. Sono certo che il fatto che siano entrambi dei musicisti seri è in gran parte responsabile della loro capacità di ascoltare le gradazioni e i dettagli tonali molto fini con tanta facilità. Tra i suoi molti talenti, Marshall ha un'eccezionale capacità di dare voce a un sistema. Sembra sempre in grado di trovare la giusta miscela di componenti e accessori che si traducono in un sistema eccezionalmente ben bilanciato. Questo è molto più difficile da realizzare di quanto si possa pensare. Tuttavia, la natura rivelatrice dei diffusori EgglestonWorks è stata determinante nel raggiungimento dei suoi obiettivi sonori. Quando lo Stereophile Show è arrivato in città questa primavera, la stanza di EgglestonWorks era in cima alla mia lista delle visite obbligatorie. È stato lì che ho incontrato EgglestonWorks prez Jim Thomson e ho iniziato il mio primo ascolto con i Fontaines. So che hai tutti sentito che la qualità del suono agli spettacoli è generalmente piuttosto brutta. Mentre trovo che questo sia ampiamente vero, allo stesso tempo, puoi avere un'idea del potenziale sonoro di un prodotto, o come alla fine potrebbe funzionare in condizioni di casa. I Fontaines furono sistemati nella sala dell'home theater di Eggleston. Incluso con il display era un paio di sub-woofer dedicati. Secondo la letteratura aziendale, "il design di ciascun modello di altoparlante nella linea EgglestonWorks inizia con il midrange". Per le Fontaines, una coppia di 6 "polipropilene, i driver a doppio magnete gestiscono il midrange e il basso. Ognuno di questi driver ha una bobina da 3 "di diametro, che è stata ripetuta molte volte ma che ripete, come è vero, se il midrange non è corretto, di tutti gli altri è infruttuoso. Il tweeter ha una grande camera di smorzamento aperiodico che imita il caricamento infinito del diaframma. Il tweeter è collegato al crossover con un cappuccio e due resistori utilizzati come un L-pad. Un singolo set di morsetti è montato in un pannello incassato nella parte posteriore della sezione driver. Ho chiesto a Jim Thompson di utilizzare un singolo set di post di rilegatura in contrasto con la tendenza attuale di utilizzare post doppio. I driver sono direttamente collegati ai bind. Ovviamente, se un cliente è impostato su biwiring, questi diffusori possono essere dotati di doppio binding post su un ordine speciale.

I driver dei bassi e dei medi sono alloggiati in quello che EgglestonWorks descrive come una custodia con una linea di trasmissione quasi in trasmissione. Ciò si ottiene impiegando un materiale di imbottitura acustico specializzato noto come " Lastre di granito italiane legate a loro. Il risultato finale di questi sforzi è un recinto molto inerte che fornisce una risposta dei bassi molto migliore rispetto alle dimensioni ridotte dei driver. Dopo diverse conversazioni con Jim Thompson, quattro cartoni di dimensioni medie ma piuttosto pesanti arrivarono da EgglestonWorks. I cartoni contenevano il driver e le sezioni di base corrispondenti. Dovresti stare molto attento mentre imposti questi diffusori per non danneggiare la squisita finitura nera del pianoforte. L'immagine non rende in alcun modo giustizia a questi oratori. Devi davvero vederli di persona per capire cosa intendo. I Fontaines possono essere visti come uno di quei prodotti che rientrano nella categoria "audio come arte". Sono semplicemente belli. I Fontaines possono essere visti come uno di quei prodotti che rientrano nella categoria "audio come arte". Sono semplicemente belli. I Fontaines possono essere visti come uno di quei prodotti che rientrano nella categoria "audio come arte". Sono semplicemente belli. La vestibilità e la finitura sono proprio lì con il meglio che abbia mai visto.È ovvio per me che EgglestonWorks ha preso molta cura e ha fatto spese considerevoli nella progettazione e costruzione di questi contenitori. Una volta assemblati, gli altoparlanti danno l'aspetto di un monolitico sul pavimento. Le basi sono sabbia-fallibili e formeranno un recinto molto sostanziale. Vi consiglio caldamente di stabilirvi il posizionamento finale prima di riempire le basi di sabbia. Questi bambini sono abbastanza pesanti per cominciare; una volta riempito di sabbia, sarebbe quasi impossibile per la persona media muoversi da sola. Ho posizionato gli altoparlanti su una trapunta, quindi sui loro lati, per inserire i quattro bulloni che fissano le basi in posizione. Questo viene fatto attraverso un pannello di accesso nella parte inferiore della base. Mentre le punte fornite sono molto robuste, hanno un filo sottile e possono essere facilmente danneggiati se si è negligenti durante l'installazione. Il cofano del conducente è molto inerte quindi consiglierei molto se decidi di eseguire il test delle articolazioni.

Mi piace particolarmente il modo in cui hanno scelto di affrontare le griglie. Sono costruiti con un materiale molto puro montato su una sottile struttura in acciaio. Si collegano al pannello frontale mediante magneti che sono sepolti sotto il laminato di superficie. Questa disposizione rende il fissaggio delle griglie il più semplice possibile e ha funzionato bene per me. Mentre l'efficienza è elencata come quello che potrebbe sembrare un 87db piuttosto basso, non ho avuto problemi a raggiungere livelli di rottura del lease con l'amplificatore di potenza Bel Canto EVo. Però, Quando ricevo nuove attrezzature da recensire, inviterò spesso diversi amici non audiofili, accenderò il sistema e osserverò le loro reazioni. In ogni caso, le reazioni ai Fontaines iniziarono prima che il primo CD fosse nel cassetto ed erano sempre abbastanza positivi. Tutti sono stati presi con il loro aspetto sorprendente e il modo in cui si sono mescolati così facilmente nella stanza. Sono belli come sono discreti. Mentre è abbastanza ovvio dalle specifiche e dalla qualità dell'hardware utilizzato che EgglestonWorks costruisce i suoi diffusori con molta cura,

Come suonano? Dal momento che non ho la possibilità di eseguire alcuna misurazione sull'attrezzatura che ho per la revisione, posso solo dirti come si comportano nel mio sistema. Mentre credo che le misure abbiano il loro posto, difficilmente danno il quadro complessivo. Ci sono stati molti componenti che hanno misurato terribilmente, ma erano artisti stellari dal punto di vista sonoro, e viceversa. Hanno quella qualità trasparente che consente ad ogni strumento di occupare il proprio spazio, ma sempre con un naturale senso di proporzione all'interno del palcoscenico. Nessuna durezza o nervosismo ha mai accompagnato questa chiarezza. Ho notato anche una qualità semplice e costante del suono che lasciava che la musica scorresse in modo molto seducente. Piatti e campane hanno la giusta quantità di lucentezza e delicatezza e di nuovo, sembrano avere le giuste dimensioni. I tassi di decadimento per questi strumenti contribuiscono anche al senso del realismo. Hanno costantemente svelato i dettagli di basso livello che tra l'altro davano un senso reale delle dimensioni del luogo di registrazione. Con Miles Davis,Tipo di bluHo sempre messo in discussione il suono registrato del pianoforte, specialmente con molte delle vecchie registrazioni Blue Note. Proprio l'opposto è il caso della registrazione XRCD, in particolare con molte delle vecchie registrazioni Blue Note. Proprio l'opposto è il caso della registrazione XRCD, in particolare con molte delle vecchie registrazioni Blue Note. Proprio l'opposto è il caso della registrazione XRCD,Waltz for Debby del Bill Evans Trio [JVC XRCD VICJ-60141]. Qui le qualità tonali e la complessa struttura armonica del pianoforte sono presentate molto bene. Sono rimasto sorpreso dal senso di profondità con cui questi relatori mi hanno presentato. La mia stanza non collaborerà molto in quest'area, quindi questa è stata una sorpresa gradita. In effetti, è il migliore che ho sentito qui. Il riempimento del centro era azzeccato: i solisti erano un po 'più avanti di quanto io non fossi abituato, ma era di buon effetto. Nel complesso, ho trovato le capacità di imaging di questi diffusori di essere eccezionalmente buone. Per i miei gusti, Dal momento che il punto -3db è quotato a 55Hz, non mi aspettavo troppo dalle regioni inferiori, ma sono rimasto piacevolmente sorpreso da ciò che ho sentito. Ora non fraintendere, questi non sono gli altoparlanti per gli organi a canne o i fan del reggae. Per quel tipo di uscita dei bassi dovresti guardare molto più in alto nella linea EgglestonWorks. Ciò che è notevole in questo caso è la precisione del basso. Non è mai cupo; piuttosto, tende ad essere stretto e melodico. Quando eseguito male, il basso può oscurare gli elementi musicali nella gamma media inferiore. Il basso dei Fontaines non interferisce o oscura affatto il midrange. In altre parole, la fioritura della fascia bassa non viene a scapito della chiarezza del midrange. Per classica e buona parte del jazz, potresti essere abbastanza soddisfatto della fascia bassa delle Fontaines. Nel complesso, l'uscita dei bassi è stata molto meglio di quanto mi aspettassi. Lo scorso giugno Tim Shea ha scritto una magnifica recensione del Musse Audio Reference Two NF speakers. Li ho a portata di mano e farò una revisione di follow-up. Tuttavia, poiché sono nella stessa fascia di prezzo delle Fontaines, I Reference Twos, come i Fontaines, sono monitor bidirezionali. In questo caso, fornisci gli stand. Le differenze sonore colpiscono a causa della forza di ciascuna bugia alle estremità opposte dello spettro sonoro. Con un punto -3db di 35Hz e una frequenza di sintonizzazione della porta di 29Hz, non sorprende che i Reference Twos si approfondiscano. La parte bassa qui è stretta e melodica. Mentre i Fontaines non vanno così in profondità, Devo dire che il basso è un po 'più stretto e un po' più melodico dei Reference Twos. Tuttavia, i Fontaines ottengono sicuramente un cenno del capo per l'estensione del registro medio e superiore, dolcezza e ottima resa dei dettagli. Questi sono tratti sonori che sono un appuntamento fisso nella sala d'ascolto di Perry e in seguito sono venuto ad ascoltarli per tutto il tempo. In aggiunta a questo, c'è molta aria intorno agli strumenti con un tasso di decadimento molto buono. Alcuni potrebbero descrivere questi diffusori come neutri dal punto di vista tonale, tuttavia si desidera descrivere questa caratteristica. Io, d'altra parte, trovare la loro tonalità per essere leggermente sul lato caldo. Mi sta bene. Nel complesso, semplicemente si tolgono la via della musica. Etta James, Life, Love and The Blues [Private Label 01005-82162-2]: Questo è un CD che è un ottimo esempio del suono "Mussel Shoals". Ha una linea di basso sostenuta molto pesante durante molti tagli. Check-out " senza alcun segno di sovraccarico del conducente o altro pericolo. Dal basso superiore in su tutto va bene. La voce di Etta James arriva con la giusta quantità di morso e calore. Dal basso superiore in su tutto va bene. La voce di Etta James arriva con la giusta quantità di morso e calore. Dal basso superiore in su tutto va bene. La voce di Etta James arriva con la giusta quantità di morso e calore. Patricia Barber, Companion Il senso di immediatezza e presenza è tale che è possibile ottenere un'implicazione delle dimensioni della stanza senza alcun iper-dettaglio per intromettersi. Sul taglio "Usami" c'è un assolo di basso verticale che i Fontaines riproducono con tutte le trame e la ricchezza armonica in tatto. Signorina. La voce del barbiere ha una trama soffice che è abbastanza piacevole senza che i dettagli vocali siano mai esagerati. Non ho mai avuto l'impressione di poter vedere le sue tonsille. Con opere sinfoniche su larga scala, questi bambini continuano nella stessa vena. Mentre le loro capacità limitate di fascia bassa diminuiranno parte dello slam e del peso che i loro fratelli più grandi sono in grado di gestire, Per riassumere, la EgglestonWorks Fontaines può essere descritta come molto musicale. Mentre ti daranno tutti gli attributi che gli audiofili bramano, non sono mai eccessivamente analitici. Apprezzo molto le qualità dei medi che mantengono le mie sessioni di ascolto sul lato lungo. Mi fanno venire voglia di togliersi la roba da audiofili e semplicemente sedersi e godersi la musica. Mi trovo a tirare fuori CD dopo CD che non ho sentito da un po 'di tempo per ascoltare. Se ritieni di dover semplicemente avere quell'ultimo bit di uscita dei bassi, ricorda che i sottotitoli corrispondenti sono disponibili. palcoscenico sonoro totalmente coerente e la massima semplicità della presentazione musicale. Non ho mai sentito alcuna discontinuità tra basso, medi o alti. Erano sempre coerenti in questo senso. Questi diffusori sono di altissima qualità ed è necessario collegarli a ingranaggi di pari qualità a monte. Ovviamente lavoreranno con amplificatori economici, ma riveleranno rapidamente tutte le carenze e le deficienze del suono. Le Fontaines EgglestonWorks sono l'essenza del lusso. Mentre non possono essere considerati a buon mercato e sono in un campo affollato a questo punto di prezzo

VEDIAMO DIETRO

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fuckyeahmarxismleninism · 4 years

Photo

From ‘The History of USSR-China Relations’ by Vince Copeland

The carefully hidden differences between the Chinese CP and Stalin first came to light in 1956 and 1957, three or four years after Stalin's death. In one of the first public revelations of this, the Chinese said:

"Stalin displayed certain great-nation chauvinist tendencies in relation to brother parties and countries. The essence of such tendencies lies in being unmindful of the independent and equal status of the communist parties of various lands and that of the socialist countries."[1]

In light of the subsequent Chinese repudiation of Khrushchev and reestablishment of Stalin, these powerful words from the Chinese are worth some study. It would appear that Stalin, the author of "Marxism and the National Question," violated the spirit of his own youthful essay, and so much so that the Chinese repeated this criticism several times after his death.

The point, however, is not so much the role of Stalin in particular as it is the question of great-nation chauvinism in general. Every word of the above quotation burns with repressed anger against arrogant treatment and violations of the "independent and equal status" of the persons who wrote it. The fact that it does not specifically mention the experiences of the Chinese themselves is all the more eloquent. How many times more sharply the Chinese must have felt these things considering that they had been members of an oppressed nation and accustomed to the contemptuous treatment of the British and American imperialists over decades and generations!

This charge of great-nation chauvinism runs like a red thread through all the subsequent arguments with Khrushchev, and Brezhnev, too, even when the actual words are not mentioned. The accusation against Stalin arises not from a casual remembrance but from a still burning sense of injustice in the old relationship now projected into the new one.

To show that this great-nation arrogance among the leaders of the Soviet CP had existed for a very long time, let us go back to the year 1922. It was Stalin's idea at that time that all the formerly oppressed nations within the territory of what was once Czarist Russia should simply join the already existing Russian Socialist Federation of Soviet Republics (RSFSR) after the civil war on the principle of autonomy for each.

Lenin strongly objected to this and proposed:

"We recognize ourselves as equal with the Ukrainian Republic and the others, and join the new union, the new federation, together with them and on equal footing."[2]

In accordance with Lenin's advice, the draft was changed, the first congress of the various nations was held on December 30, 1922, and the new Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was founded in equal comradeship by the Russian and non-Russian nations together.

Lenin warns about 'the Russian frame of mind'

About the same time, Lenin bitterly denounced Stalin's narrowness on the national question, particularly in respect to Georgia, Stalin's own homeland:

"I also fear that Comrade Dzerzhinsky, who went to the Caucasus to investigate the crime of those nationalist-socialists distinguished himself there by his truly Russian frame of mind [it is common knowledge that people of other nationalities who have become Russified overdo the Russian frame of mind]." [3]

After severely criticizing another of Stalin's close collaborators, Orjonikidze, for actual brutality on the scene in Georgia and recommending "suitable punishment" for him, Lenin continues:

"The political responsibility for all this truly Great-Russian campaign must, of course, be laid on Stalin and Dzerzhinsky."[4]

And concluding with prophetic clarity about future relations with China, he writes:

"It would be unpardonable opportunism if, on the eve of the debut of the East, just as it is awakening, we undermine our prestige with its peoples, even if only by the slightest crudity or injustice towards our own non-Russian nationalities. The need to rally against the imperialists of the West ... is one thing ... It is another thing when we ourselves lapse, even if only in trifles, into imperialist attitudes towards oppressed nationalities, thus undermining all our principled sincerity, all our principled defense of the struggle against imperialism." [5]

In this short passage Lenin pinpoints not just the uncommunist Great-Russian chauvinism of Stalin, but also the chauvinist failings of a number of others — Lenin's diplomatically designated "we ourselves" — who were to inherit the Soviet Party along with Stalin.

To those who are used to thinking of socialist countries as utopias rather than as historical advances of the working class which still bear the birthmarks from the tortured capitalist past, Stalin's defects and these sharp words of Lenin may be somewhat of a letdown. But even if Lenin's criticism had been twice as sharp, this would not have indicated that the revolution-based USSR was actually imperialist, in spite of the uncommunist "imperialist attitudes" of some of its leaders.

The USSR, like the People's Republic of China and other socialist countries, is not the political expression of a group of individual leaders, but an objective complex of concrete social institutions that emerged from the revolutionary action of millions of people. These millions were under the leadership of a Marxist party, to be sure, but they physically smashed not only the old ruling class, but also its armies, prisons, courts, and property relations. This being the case, a number of "bad" leaders could later put a braking effect upon the full benefits of the new social institutions, including the effect of social backwardness on many questions. But they could not by a mere act of political will turn these institutions back into their opposite, that is, capitalist, imperialist institutions. ...

Let us take the case of Stalin himself. His interference with the Chinese CP at an earlier date did not arise so much from innate feelings of superiority as from caution about breaking the defense treaty (against Japan) with the still powerful Chiang Kai-shek. But the Chinese now interpret this first and foremost as "great-nation chauvinism." And this chauvinism was undoubtedly a factor in Stalin's attitude, since he continually put his judgment about the Chinese revolution (which happened to be wrong anyway) ahead of theirs and imposed it on them. ...

The inequalities in Stalin's time were far more advanced than in the time of Lenin, who had already said, "What we really have is a workers' state with bureaucratic distortions." [6] Stalin still further emphasized the imperialist attitude, however unconsciously, because of his lack of faith in the Chinese revolution.

Khrushchev, and later Brezhnev, merely carried this position still further to the right, although with some oscillations to the left. With all three leaders it was in varying degrees a combination of national chauvinism and fear of the power of imperialism while they still governed a country whose advanced, dynamic social system had been established by the greatest revolution in human history.

Thus the Soviet leaders under Stalin at first provided little help for the Chinese CP in the crucial civil war of 1945-1949, [7] partly because they had no faith that it would succeed [8] and partly because they feared the consequences of success (such as a new war). But great-nation chauvinism was also an element in their lack of faith. The Chinese carefully noted Stalin's consideration for Roosevelt and Churchill during World War II and saw that he continued to ally himself with the U.S. puppet Chiang Kai-shek long after their own civil war against Chiang had begun. ...

Chinese CP refuses to give up its arms

In 1945 and 1946, when Chiang proposed (at U.S. prompting) that the Chinese CP join with the bourgeois Kuomintang in a coalition government, Stalin and the Soviet leadership went along with the idea. But it was undoubtedly the Chinese CP that decided to accept the coalition only on the condition that the Communist Red Army keep its weapons and remain intact. [11]

When Chiang refused to agree with this condition, he touched off a civil war — at first somewhat to the surprise and concern of Stalin and the other Soviet leaders.

The Soviet leaders had calculated that Chiang would rule China for a long period after the defeat of imperialist Japan, and Stalin accordingly made agreements with Chiang (as against Japan) at the post-war Potsdam Conference without necessarily consulting the Chinese CP. And of course Stalin recognized the Chiang government as the exclusive representative of China at the formation of the United Nations after the war, even though he was well aware that the Chinese CP already controlled hundreds of thousands of square miles of China and had the allegiance of millions of people.

Stalin apparently thought the fighting was over after eight years of war with Japan. He apparently thought that the Chinese CP would give up its arms and enter the bourgeois government as a "loyal opposition," just as the French and Italian CPs had done.

This did not prevent him from welcoming the victorious Chinese revolution into the Soviet bloc four years later in the middle of the Cold War, in spite of the problems it created for him. Similarly, Khrushchev welcomed the Cuban revolution, although he had a general policy of accommodation with the U.S. — incidentally proving as Stalin did that a non-revolutionary policy does not prove there is a non-revolutionary state.

In addition to all the problems the Chinese CP had with Chiang Kai-shek, they had many with the leaders of the first workers' state. They might have correctly criticized the Soviet leadership for its conduct during the Chinese revolution, while making sure to underline the working class character of the USSR. But in the context of the Cold War such an approach could have been interpreted as a blow against the foundations as well as the superstructure of the USSR. Such a line might have isolated the revolution and the infant revolutionary Chinese state and left it open to penetration by the imperialist United States.

But nevertheless, relations between the two parties were difficult. [12] It was not until after the Chinese CP took power, and even then, not until Mao's trip to the Soviet Union late in December 1949, that relations between the two national parties were really good. [13] (It is noteworthy that this was Mao's first trip to Moscow, while his old opponents in the Chinese CP had gone there again and again, mainly to get support against him.) [14]

There was much imperialist speculation about a break between the two parties — and countries — during the weeks that Mao was in the Soviet Union (December 1949-February 1950) negotiating a treaty with Stalin. And there was a feverish intrigue of U.S. agents in Hong Kong and other places to prevent an agreement from taking place at all.

#China #Chinese Revolution #Stalin #USSR #national chauvinism #workers state #socialism #communist #revolution #Marxism #Lenin #Mao #armed struggle #imperialism #reformism #peaceful coexistence #Stalinism #Vince Copeland

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douchebagbrainwaves · 3 years

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THE ANATOMY OF VC BE A STARTUP

If in the next couple years. Sometimes it literally is software, like Photoshop, will still want to have the right kind of friends. Where the work of PR firms.1 Competitors riding on lots of good blogger perception aren't really the winners and can disappear from the map quickly. One reason Google doesn't have a problem doing acquisitions, the others should have even less problem. Some of Viaweb even consisted of the absence of programs, since one of the reasons was that, to save money, he'd designed the Apple II to use a computer for email and for keeping accounts. They want to know what is a momentous one. How do you find them? Suppose it's 1998. The big media companies shouldn't worry that people will post their copyrighted material on YouTube. Once someone is good at it, but regardless it's certainly constraining.

Gone with the Wind plus Roots. This is extremely risky, and takes months even if you succeed.2 At most software companies, especially at first. Their answers were remarkably similar. I use constantly?3 Combined they yield Pick the startups that postpone raising VC money may do so well on the angel money they raise that they never bother to raise more. I wrote much of Viaweb's editor in this style, and we needed to buy time to fix it in an ugly way, or even introduce more bugs.4

Historically investors thought it was important for a founder to be an online store builder, but we may change our minds if it looks promising, turn into a company at a pre-money valuation is $1.5 But it will be the divisor of your capital cost, so if you can find and fix most bugs as soon as it does work. Even in the rare cases where a clever hack makes your fortune, you probably never will. You may not believe it, but regardless it's certainly constraining.6 But it's so tempting to sit in their offices and let PR firms bring the stories to them. Web-based software wins, it will mean a very different world for developers. I think we're just beginning to see its democratizing effects. But this is old news to Lisp programmers. If 98% of the time.7 It might help if they were a race apart.8

7 billion, and the living dead—companies that are plugging along but don't seem likely in the immediate future to get bought for 30 million, you won't be able to make something, or to regard it as a sign of maturity. To my surprise, they said no—that they'd just spent four months dealing with investors, and we are in fact seeing it.9 But what that means, if you have code for noticing errors built into your application. The number of possible connections between developers grows exponentially with the size of the group. We think of the overall cost of owning it. But once you prove yourself as a good investor in the startups you meet that way, the answer is obvious: from a job. Your housemate was hungry. So an idea for something people want as an engineering task, a never ending stream of feature after feature until enough people are happy and the application takes off. So you don't have to worry about any signals your existing investors are sending. They do not generally get to the truth to say the main value of your initial idea is just a guess, but my guess is that the winning model for most applications will be the rule with Web-based application.

It's practically a mantra at YC. You probably need about the amount you invest, this can vary a lot.10 If you lose a deal to None, all VCs lose.11 Plenty of famous founders have had some failures along the way. No technology in the immediate future will replace walking down University Ave and running into a friend who works for a big company or a VC fund can only do 2 deals per partner per year. For insiders work turns into a duty, laden with responsibilities and expectations.12 In addition to catching bugs, they were moving to a cheaper apartment.13 If your first version is so impressive that trolls don't make fun of it, and try to get included in his syndicates.14 VCs did this to them.15

Most people, most of the surprises. So the previously sharp line between angels and VCs. This makes everyone naturally pull in the same portfolio-optimizing way as investors.16 And there is a big motivator.17 These things don't get discovered that often. Then one day we had the idea of writing serious, intellectual stuff like the famous writers. You need investors. The mud flat morphs into a well. When a startup does return to working on the product after a funding round finally closes, it's as if they used the worse-is-better approach but stopped after the first stage and handed the thing over to marketers.

Unless there's some huge market crash, the next couple years are going to be seeing in the next couple years. And yet when I got back I didn't discard so much as a box of it. And when there's no installation, it will be made quickly out of inadequate materials. It's traditional to think of a successful startup that wasn't turned down by investors at some point. But that doesn't mean it's wrong to sell.18 Big companies are biased against new technologies, and to have the computations happening on the desktop software business will find this hard to credit, but at Viaweb bugs became almost a game.19 Plans are just another word for ideas on the shelf.

I wouldn't try it myself. This applies not just to intelligence but to ability in general, and partly because they tend to operate in secret. Now you can rent a much more powerful server, with SSL included, for less than the cost of starting a startup. For a lot of the worst ones were designed for other people, it's always a specific group of other people: people not as smart as the language designer. We're not hearing about Perl and Python because people are using them to write Windows apps. But if you look into the hearts of hackers, you'll see that they really love it.20 I am always looking.21 But you know perfectly well how bogus most of these are. The fact that super-angels know is that it seems promising enough to worry about installation going wrong. If another firm shares the deal, then in the event of failure it will seem to have made investors more cautious, it doesn't tell you what they're after, they will often reveal amazing details about what they find valuable as well what they're willing to pay for the servers that the software ran on the server. Why can't defenders score goals too? If coming up with ideas for startups?

Notes

But if they pay a lot of people who need the money.

A Bayesian Approach to Filtering Junk E-Mail.

Unless you're very docile compared to sheep. Whereas the activation energy for enterprise software—and in b the valuation should be especially skeptical about any plan that centers on things you waste your time working on your board, consisting of two founders and investors are also the perfect point to spread from.

Surely no one on the way up into the heads of would-be poets were mistaken to be younger initially we encouraged undergrads to apply, and cook on lowish heat for at least once for the correction. I know it didn't to undergraduates on the y, you'd see a clear upward trend.

The hardest kind of method acting. Turn on rice cooker, if you have good net growth till you see what the rule of law. But there are no discrimination laws about starting businesses. In fact, this seems empirically false.

In Russia they just kill you, they might have done and try to ensure none of your new microcomputer causes someone to tell them startups are ready to invest in the first 40 employees, or in one where life was tougher, the work of selection.

The best kind of kludge you need to, but except for money. VCs more than you could get a small proportion of the Italian word for success.

To a 3:59 mile as a motive, and their flakiness is indistinguishable from those of popular Web browsers, including the numbers we have to assume it's bad. I believe Lisp Machine Lisp was the fall of 2008 but no doubt partly because it is more important for societies to remember and pass on the fly is that you end up. According to Zagat's there are only partially driven by the government and construction companies.

One great advantage of startups have elements of both. Not least because they're determined to fight. The quality of investor behavior.

These horrible stickers are much like what you do if your goal is to carry a beeper? Acquisitions fall into in the angel is being unfair to him?

Which OS?

As I was genuinely worried that Airbnb, for example, you're not allowed to discriminate on the admissions committee knows the professors who wrote the editor in Lisp, you might be tempted to ignore what your GPA was.

Prose lets you be more alarmed if you want to trick a pointy-haired boss into letting him play. World War II the tax codes were so bad that they decided to skip raising an A round, you don't mind taking money from good angels over a series A from a mediocre VC. The dictator in the US. Google's revenues are about two billion a year for a couple hundred years or so you can make offers that super-angels will snap up stars that VCs may begin to conserve board seats for shorter periods.

It's not simply a function of the movie Dawn of the delays and disconnects between founders and one of the markets they serve, because that's how we gauge their progress, but except for that might produce the next one will be near-spams that have been the losing side in debates about software design. Japanese.

There were a first—9. Galbraith was clearly puzzled that corporate executives were, they'd have something more recent. Trevor Blackwell reminds you to remain in denial about your fundraising prospects. In the Daddy Model and reality is the converse: that the only cause of the fatal pinch where your idea of starting a company tuned to exploit it.

A few VCs have an email being spam.

The late 1960s were famous for social upheaval. Picking out the words we use for good and bad technological progress aren't sharply differentiated. Letter to Oldenburg, quoted in Westfall, Richard.

So you can fix by writing library functions.

If Congress passes the founder of the 800 highest paid executives at 300 big corporations found that three quarters of them. The angels had convertible debt, so we hacked together our own startup Viaweb, if they knew their friends were. But be careful. The original Internet forums were not web sites but Usenet newsgroups.

The only people who had been with us if the quality of production. If they agreed among themselves never to do good work and thereby earn the respect of their hands. That's why the series AA paperwork aims at a friend's house for the popular vote.

Galbraith p. And so this one is harder, the median VC loses money. European art.

Thanks to Ian Hogarth, Rajat Suri, Trevor Blackwell, Sam Altman, Jackie McDonough, Patrick Collison, Jessica Livingston, and Robert Morris for reading a previous draft.

#automatically generated text #Markov chains #Paul Graham #Python #Patrick Mooney #sup #friends #people #founder #funding #idea #li #Plans #executives

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