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hopeididntscareyou · 1 year

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Even though Liz would talk shit about me, I dont agree with everything she says. I'm not going to let other people get in the way of my relationships anymore. Listening to other peoples opinions just making me feel hateful and also making me a terrible person for being always on defensive mode. Deep down, i'm a very loyal and genuine person. I believe in true love even in this day and age where people are either manipulators and too traumatized to trust others. I am someone who would go lengths to show how i care about someone without losing myself. I dont care about all these labels and games that people play. As long as I stay healthy mentally, emotionally and physically, then nothing can destroy me. I only follow my own philosophy.

I find it saddening how people would believe whatever bullshit they see on tiktok/youtube rather than learning things from real life experience. People need to understand that these content creators are mainly trying to make money. They have that goal thats why they stir drama from reddit or 4chan extremists. Their ideas dont reflect the entire population IRL. They make money by grabbing your attention, brainwashing you and being their followers. Don't you see how out of touch with reality that looks like? if that doesn't sound crazy and cult-like to you, then i don't know what to tell you. I admit though, I was also a victim of this for awhile, but in my entire life I realized, the only times I have really learned about life was from my own experiences, and going outside and engaging with people who are passionate about their work that they dont even have time for the internet- usually older people from all walks of life. Thats where I got real wisdom. Its never really been from the internet. The thing is you could spend your precious time consuming self improvement material from youtube or reddit and even a book but it wouldn't actually improve your life whatsoever because you spent your time being a follower of someone else's ideas than having your own path. To be honest, all self improvement books/videos I've seen are just mostly common sense that I already knew and had been doing because I came up with these ideas on my own. It's really not that hard to give yourself a quiet time to sit and think solutions for your own problems. I believe it is more important to create more than to consume. Nowadays, internet is full of retarded and braindead people wired by quick dopamine. Its not the same as early 2000s and mid 2010s where internet stuff was obscure. Its been decades since the invention of the internet. It is not the age of the internet anymore but the age of algorithm. I stopped consuming internet as much as possible because of two things; one - the internet is full of fake news, misinformation and propagandas. Two - it is the source of distraction with its unlimited entertainment. I only use internet as an online tool for conveniency to keep up with the digital world; mainly using google maps, QR codes, storage, work or legit educational priorities.

And honestly, i can tell a lot about person based on their internet activities that its probably my main criteria now when judging a person as first impression. If you're a person who doom scrolls on short videos/reels regardless of the content, then I would assume you spend your spare time as a consumer than a creator and that alone would tell me what kind of person you are.

In an unrelated note, I'm still coming into terms about my sexuality because I can't quite figure out if i am really indeed an asexual or not. I feel extremely grossed out with the idea of sex with people I have a romantic relationship with. It just feels so wrong, like it makes me feel like i'm engaging in incest kind of wrong to me. I do however like sharing intimate moments and romance like hugging touching cuddling and kissing but sex is just repulsive and disgusting to me. I think its partly because of my trauma from watching depraved and disturbing porn for sickfucks, that definitely is a fact. But i also should admit that I have been sexually attracted before and I would consider myself as sexually active because I masturbate an average of 3x a week to 5x in just one day. The problem arise whenever I'm dating/seeing someone because i completely lose my interest in anything sexual all of a sudden and I would even stop masturbating. I don't know, its fucking weird. I cant count how many times i forced myself to be in the mood while someone is kissing me and touching me, but it just doesn't work, and I hate that when that happens because it makes me hate sex entirely and apathetic with someone. Like i don't even care if my partner would do it with other women just because he cant have sex with me. I literally don't care. Honestly, I am not really a jealous person and I can handle things well as long as I'm not bored. Sex is not a massive issue to me entirely at all. Fortunately i never had a problem about this with most guys except one time. But in general, the guys i chose to date were good natured individuals that i shared the same values with. So contrary to the popular belief, no I am not a raging feminazi who hates men. Thats incorrect and its funny how my friends would say i hate men just because i don't put up with trashy behaviors. You'd think people who are close to me would know me better, but surprise surprise. Sometimes its just not really easy to get to know someone on a deeper level. You could know someone for years without knowing anything about them. Not all people are open books, and honestly I dont care enough to change how people perceive me. You can think whatever you want about me and I'm still going to live my reality

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afrival · 3 years

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Hetalia Characters and Their Music Tastes

I’ve been in the hetalia fandom for like a year now and I stg thinking abt what these bitches listen to NEVER gets old

no warnings

will feature mostly modern day music, like 1950s-2010s

I don’t know a lot of artists that don’t sing in English so there’s probably A LOT that I’m missing on here, not even including shit from like the 1800s

The Allies

Alfred:

Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood, The Chain by Fleetwood Mac, Crazy In Love by Beyoncé

- Listens to basically everything, but particular fond of like 80s rock and early 2000s shit

- Likes country music bc ofc he does, a huge fan of Carrie Underwood, Sam Hunt, and The Band Perry

- Got his love of rock from England 💀 Especially during the like the 60s-80s when Queen, The Beatles, and Elton John really popular

- They really only bond over their love for this period of music lmao like they would absolutely go ape during karaoke

- He loves more mainstream artists like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, all those iconic mfs

- Probably enjoys old wartime music just for nostalgias sake. Shit from the 40s and he listens to Civil War tunes (Union Dixie lmao)

- Definitely listens to musicals and forces Ivan to as well. His favorites are Hamilton, Hairspray, and Chess

- LOVES LOVES LOVES The Backstreet Bogs holy shit. This man had a whole phase where he dressed like they did. Don’t even dare play I Want It That Way because he WILL sing along

- Speaking of which he’s actually a really good singer, like he probably used to sing at clubs and shit back in the day

- It’s very specific but I imagine his voice to sound like Taron Egerton’s cover of “Crocodile Rock” by Elton John

Arthur:

Killer Queen by Queen, Set Fire to the Rain by Adele, Tiny Dancer by Elton John

- Old man who had a weird punk phase in the 90s. Definitely listens to The Beatles and Gorillaz

- Like I said, he and Alfred bond over Queen and Elton and Bon Jovi and FUCKING Michael Jackson

- Refuses to admit he really likes Elvis

- Oh boy. He had so much fun in like late 2000s and early 2010s— Panic at the Disco, MCR, Green Day, he absolutely got his ears pierced during this time

- Doesn’t listen to like current mainstream music that much he will sob to Adele and probably really likes the Cry Baby album by Melanie Martinez.

- Francis plays so much Lady Gaga in the car that at this point he really likes her music

- He likes Ed Sheeran I am so sorry </3 and he absolutely gets bullied for it

- He can sing too honestly? I know I just said he listens to Ed Sheeran but I honestly think he kinda sounds like him too just maybe a little deeper

- Listen to Galway Girl and you’ll get a basic idea of what I imagine he sounds like

Ivan:

Dance and Cry by Mother Mother, Baby One More Time by Britney Spears, смерти Больше нет by IC3PEAK

- THIS MANS MUSIC TASTE MAKES NO SENSE. It ranges from fucking Aerosmith to Ic3peak to Lady Gaga

- Literally has every Mother Mother album downloaded and probably on Vinyl bc he’s a fucking dweeb

- Also a huge musical stannie, loves Wicked and Hairspray

- He and Al will split the parts to sing along to in the car

- Alfred made him listen to Britney Spears ONCE in like the 90s and now he’s obsessed

- Speaking of the 90s he went absolutely fucking ape during this time. The USSR wasn’t very big on western music but when it fell there was a HUGE influx of it and suddenly like it was just his favorite thing ever

- Alfred also got him into Carrie Underwood, literally lost of his music taste comes from Alfred forcing him to listen to shit

- During the 70s/80s he got really into Fleetwood Mac and Aerosmith, maybe even a little bit of disco but not a lot

- Went to a club with Al a few times and he won’t ever forget dancing to Footloose by Kenny Loggins at like one in the morning and having the absolute time of his life, easily one of his favorite memories

- Like I get so soft thinking about him just letting loose and actually having fun, even though he was very stiff and shit during the 1900s

- He can’t sing LMAO but my friend and I said once that he could lowkey rap really well and now it’s all I think about

Francis:

From Eden by Hozier, La Vie En Rose by Edith Piaf, Primadona by Marina

- If you look up the gay agenda his playlist would just show up

- I mean seriously he has it all: Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Lorde

- HOWEVER she does really enjoy softer sounding music. Edith Piaf, Louis Armstrong, and Vera Lynn are favorites of his

- Listens to the Les Mis soundtrack like once a month

- REALLY REALLY loves Hozier, like a whole lot. He’s probably one of his favorite artists along with Sufjan Stevens

- Even more of his homo playlist includes Marina, Madonna and Troye Sivan

- Bullies Arthur for liking Ed Sheeran but he also really likes Ed Sheeran, just refuses to admit it

- Stromae ofc 🙄🤚 can’t just not include like the most popular French musician or whatever

- He can also sing but he sounds kinda raspy, it’s nice tho

Yao:

- I don’t think he listens to music LMAO, if he does it’s probably instrumental

The Axis

Ludwig:

Elastic Heart by Sia, From Now On from The Greatest Showman, Natural by Imagine Dragons

- Also doesn’t really listen to music but my friend said that when he does it ranges from classical to heavy metal

- For some reason I think he really likes Sia, he seems like a Sia kind of guy

- Doesn’t listen to Hozier but really loves Take Me to Church

- Most of his music listening comes from giving Feli the aux in the car

- The whore listens to Imagine Dragons like he fucking loves them

- When The Greatest Showman came out he had the soundtrack on repeat for a solid month, From Now Onis one of his favorite songs ever

- Cannot sing Jesus Christ do not let him near a mic

Feliciano:

Thank u, next by Ariana Grande, Break My Stride by Matthew Wilder, Bella Ciao by Manu Pillas

- Pop music! So much pop!

- Loves Ariana Grande and Conan Gray

- Probably listens to A LOT of classical because of his time with Austria

- His music taste is kinda all over the fucking place and it’s mostly happy and peppy shit

- Weirdly tho he listens to GRLwood? Like it’ll just shhow up on shuffle and suddenly he’s an entire different person

- Will listen to absolutely everything just to find something that Ludwig likes, was so proud of himself when Ludwig really ended up loving The Greatest Showman

- Doesn’t sing but plays like 5 instruments. Violin and piano are his faves

Kiku:

It’s Been So Long by The Living Tombstone, Faded by Alan Walker, Ophelia by The Lumineers

- LISTEN. LISTEN. HE LOVES VIDEO GAME MUSIC AND FUCKING THE LIVING TOMBSTONE

- The fnaf songs are his guilty fucking pleasures, he fucking loves them

- Loves loves loves the Undertake Soundtrack

- Listens to a lot of anime openings 💀 Me too tbh they’re so good at for what

- Big fan of TheFatRat

- In general he enjoys techno shit? Idk what the word is but it’s a lot of instrumental

- Listens to regular music as well (The Lumineers especially)

- Likes listening to Elvis because it makes him happy to see Alfred having fun

- Feli also introduces him to a lot of music but he can never fucking remember the names of the songs or artists

- He hums a lot rather than sings, and it’s really soft and gentle

If anybody wants any more characters lmk bc I love coming up with these, also I do have playlists for these bitches 😎✌️ Spotify is in my linktree (bio)

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larryfanficwriter98 · 4 years

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Chapter Five

Louis answered the facetime call grinning at the man across the screen still in a bed.

"Happy birthday and Merry Christmas Eve. Have you opened your presents yet?"

"No thought I would wait for you to wake up, but I do have the gifts here along with the one with two bows which I'm assuming is my Christmas Eve present."

"Yes, it is. The very thin one is last altogether and the big cube is first."

"Everything else doesn't matter?"

"Not really however if you'd rather do the Christmas eve present first and let it start up while you open the rest then make sure to open the cube second. I bought myself one and it took a few minutes to start up so."

"It's too big to be a phone."

"Very observant."

"You do know I have a laptop right?"

"A broken laptop."

"Harold."

"Just come on and open it. I got it for a lot of reasons."

"Well, I already know what it is now." Louis told him

"Just shut up and open your Christmas Eve gift. Its Christmas I'm allowed to buy you expensive things." Harry said

"You bought me a Samovar."

"Please." Louis sighed heavily as he grabbed the gift, he looked at Harry who was grinning

"Where are you anyway? It's not the bus is it?"

"No, I'm in my LA home. The others are sleeping at a hotel though I offered them rooms here." Harry said

"You're alone on Christmas?" Louis asked stopping his unwrapping momentarily to look at Harry. Harry opened his mouth to speak, but he frowned and looked off camera before looking back at Louis after a second.

"No, my family is here. I'm trying to be quiet so they think I'm asleep otherwise they'll come in here. Well, go on then open it." Louis ripped the wrapping paper and shot Harry a glare when the box revealed the newest MacBook.

"Harold-"

"No, before you complain listen. This will give us better angles for video calls."

"Our phones worked just fine."

"Just shut up and take it." Louis shook his head as he stared at Harry. Harry with his long curly hair pulled into a bun, his pearl necklace laying against his bare chest, his little stubble on his jaw. His soft smile and soft eyes.

"So the cube next?" Louis asked looking away from Harry

"Yes. The cube." It was heavy in it's own way despite its medium size. He tore the gift open and froze when he saw the team logo.

"Wait..seriously?" Harry chuckled grinning as Louis grabbed the shadow box holding a signed ball from the entire Doncaster Rovers team, "Harry."

"I only paid for the shadow box, I know a lot of the players so when I told them my boyfriend is a huge fan the offered to sign a ball for me to give to you."

"Harry this is incredible. I can't open the rest Haz I won't be as excited now."

"Louis trust me it gets better." Louis put the shadow box to the side and grabbed another box placing it on his lap. Opening the box he pulled out four jerseys, two for home games, and two for away games. One set was for Doncaster and the other for Manchester. The third gift was two sets of five lanyards for the Manchester and Doncaster stadiums giving them access and free drinks and food in a VIP box.

"Harry.. but wait why five?"

"I'll be home near the middle of the season." Louis looked at Harry grinned, he bought the phone screen to his lips and kissed him making Harry laughed.

"One more. Is the MacBook set up?" Louis glanced at the MacBook then started to finish setting it up. "Open the last one and play it."

"Harry, I swear if you make me cry." Louis said as he grabbed the thin square package. He already knew it was a cd which meant a personalized playlist, a cheesy montage of their time together, or something along those lines, and honestly, Louis wasn't ready for either of those options.

"I am going to let you listen to it alone and I will take a shower and eat breakfast then we can talk in about two hours?"

"Alright." Harry leaned in to the screen and kissed the lens making Louis laugh. The facetime ended so Louis focused on the gift revealing the cd and placing it in the CD tray. He clicked on the pop up then pressed play turning the volume up.

"I know you don't want us to say the L-word until we meet for the first time. So I wrote something that I hope will express my feelings for you as strongly and clearly as I can and um... this might give away who I am, but I'm not scared about that. I've been trying to find a way to tell you for a few weeks now since you fell asleep on our facetime call in Australia. So I um... I hope you like it I guess and if you do find out who I am and if you need a few days to think about what being in a relationship with me would involve then let me know. If you come to a decision of ending things just know that I trust you and I'm sorry and I completely understand why you would decide that. If you still want to be with me then great and we can talk more on the depth of everything like if you want to be public about our relationship or not. Whatever you want. Alright.. before I say the word you don't want me to I'm going to stop this and let you listen. Bye." Louis laughed at his awkward boyfriend shaking his head as a soft piano came over the speakers.

"If I could fly I'd be coming right back home to you I think I might Give up everything just ask me to Pay attention, I hope that you listen Cause I've let my guard down Right now in completely defenseless

For your eyes only I'll show you my heart For when you're lonely And forget who you are I'm missing half of me When we're apart Now you know me For your eyes only."

Louis closed his eyes to keep his traitorous tears back. Harry's voice was raw, but sounded beautiful and Louis had a hard time focusing on what he was singing. He did recognize the voice, he knew he has heard it on the radio quite a few times, but he was terrible at remembering names. He knew that once he actually knew who Harry was he'd feel pretty damn stupid, but right now he couldn't think of anything. Louis replayed the song five times before it the lyrics finally sunk in and Louis understood this was Harry telling Louis that he Loved him with a capital 'L'.

Like he was completely in and completely gone for Louis. Louis would be lying if he said the thought didn't terrify him, but he felt the same way about Harry. He had fallen when Harry had answered a facetime with the widest grin, completely shirtless, and a towel wrapped around his waist. HIS WAIST. Not his hips like a normal person, his waist which meant his towel had stopped pretty high on his thighs. But Louis hadn't even noticed that until after he had completely fallen for his dimples and open mouth smile and his wet hair and his perfect complexion. Louis was pretty sure he had stopped breathing for a minute only to stop breathing again when Harry had straightened up and Louis had noticed his towel situation.

Nothing had been revealed, but still, it was the principal of things. Harry had perfect thighs and it was rude. How dare he just answer a facetime looking like a god while Louis had been wearing a stained holey band shirt and stained sweats with pizza sauce on the corner of his mouth. He had been tempted to break up with him because of it. Of course, he had talked himself out of it, but the thought had lingered in his head for a few seconds.

****

Two hours later Louis escaped to his room and accepted the facetime request. Harry was outside this time, but he was looking off-camera at someone.

"Mom. I love you, but please leave now."

"What if you need me?"

"Mom go away," Harry said

"But what if he's mean to you."

Mom. I'm 21 and I've been talking to him for months."

"Remember the last Doncaster boy you liked? He took your number and never texted you."

"I was 14 mom, I wouldn't have texted me either. Now go away."

"Fine. I'll be inside if you need me." Harry turned to the phone with a soft blush on his cheeks

"You had another Doncaster boy? Should I be worried?" Louis asked

"No, it was 2009 and at a battle of the bands. He was a singer in this band."

"Wait...shut up...2009 battle of the bands?" Louis asked sitting up straighter

"Yeah, why?"

"No fucking way. What was the guy's band name?" Louis asked not able to believe it

"Band name? I don't know it was...seven years ago. Rogue something I think or maybe something Rogue."

"Shut up."

"What?" Harry asked amused

"That was my band. The Rogue. We met before Harry."

"No."

"Yes. Me mom has the picture we took together in one of the photo albums back home in Donny."

"You're shitting me. We snogged that day."

"We snogged in the toilet stall after you peed on me. The first time." Louis told his embarrassed boyfriend making him even more embarrassed as he buried his face in his arms.

"Oh my god. Please stop talking now." Louis laughed even harder as he thought back to 2009, "wait didn't we meet again? At the script concert?"

"We did. We met up in the toilets. I think you were leaving when I was coming in."

"Fucking hell." Harry said shaking his head

"Then again that summer when I was on holiday and again in 2010 at the X Factor auditions."

"No."

"Yes. We have met four fucking times already." Louis said as he remembered Harry again

"Well after eight years I finally get your number." Harry said making Louis blush

"Well, I can explain. The first time I never actually saved it. I typed it, but I forgot to save it so when I tried to text you I couldn't. Then after the concert, I was actually struggling with coming out and being comfortable with it all. The holiday I still hadn't come out so I sort of ignored you then we didn't exchange numbers at the auditions. I left early anyway so I never actually auditioned."

"What? Why not? Louis, you should have auditioned. I remember you having an amazing voice."

"And lose to you? No thanks. Talk about a busted ego." Harry shook his head smiling as he laid his chin on his hand

"I actually didn't win. When you get to the Live Shows they give you this new contract to sign in case they want to sign anyone who doesn't win. A lot of the other contestants warned me about bad labels and what they can do and that they could closest someone. I was already being labeled and branded as a lady's man at 16 on that show. I refused to sign the contract and they organized my elimination three weeks later. Simon tried to talk me out of it a lot, but I refused and told my mom I didn’t want to be forced into a five to ten-year closet. Six months later Sony got a hold of me and told me that I would be able to coke out whenever I wanted, but until then they did want to promote me as straight which I was fine with. Luckily it had to wait until I was 18 so when I turned 18 they had me date Taylor Swift. I'm not out publicly yet, but I just never really had a reason to come out."

The first thing that popped into Louis' head was "Harry Styles" but that was insane because Harry was...like...18 and had a mop of curls. He did not have tattoos or long hair nor was he 21 turning 22. Louis was positive he had just turned 18 last year.

"That's good that you were warned and was able to escape before you were legally straight."

"Yeah, it is. A little upset I will never know if I would have won or not, but I guess having my first album get platinum within a week was proof enough that I would have at least made top 5."

~~~~~

Harry had gotten Niall an expensive whiskey that Niall was excited about and a limited edition Baccarat Louxor Bar Set. Liam got a $100 tattoo voucher for the local parlor he liked and some Manchester footie merch signed as well like Louis'. Zayn got some expensive hair care products as well as a $100 (my keyboard doesn't have the pound symbol so sorry about the American dollar) tattoo voucher. For someone who only knew a few things about his roommates he did amazing and they were all excited about everything.

Louis had gotten more gifts from all of the places Harry has been. Some more sweaters, a Japanese dragon jacket that felt expensive and warm. A rice cooker with a side note to follow the instructions causing Louis and the lads to laugh. Harry also bought Louis a Royal Copenhagen complete set which almost made Louis cry. Having a complete Royal Copenhagen set was every tea lover's dream, if they're lucky they are able to collect a few tea cups, but it was rare to get a complete set.

In the last box, Louis opened it revealed a large lilac sweater that was something Louis wouldn't usually wear until he pulled it out. The smell was of a tropical scent mixed with an expensive earthy cologne. That meant the sweater was Harry's along with the other sweaters that were folded neatly into the box. A white Aran turtle neck sweater, a black hoodie with a rose embroidery, and under that was a note over another hoodie reading, "unreleased merch". When Louis pulled out the black hoodie it had "Treat People With Kindness" written in rainbow embroidery across the chest. The last one was a light pink sweater with Harry on the chest and then the same quote on the arm.

"Wait.. your boyfriend sent you Harry Styles merch? You've got to be kidding me." Liam said grabbing the black hoodie from Louis

"What?" Louis asked

"Treat people with kindness. This is Harry Styles' merch, it's like his slogan, his brand." Liam said

"Really?" Louis asked, "isn't he like..17?"

"What? No, he's 21 Louis. He was 17 in 2011." Zayn said as he looked at the hoodie, "I haven't seen this one yet."

"21..and when is his birthday?" Louis asked

"The first of February." Niall told him Louis nodded and grabbed his phone going to the safari app and googling Harry Styles.

Sure enough there he was with long hair and tattoos and extremely long legs. There were also modeling pictures and paparazzi pictures of him at airports and fan pictures. Louis went on Instagram and went to Harry Styles' profile and saw many pictures of the countries landscapes and landmarks he had visited the past few months. One of the posts was a picture of Louis' teddys on Louis' shelf in his bedroom wall that he got just for them. The caption read, "Dating 101 - buy them cheesy €5 souvenirs" Louis made his profile private then commented, "and the sweaters that still smell like you."

#larry stylinson #larry fanfiction #larry fic #work in progress #new story #new chapter

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yoramkelmer · 4 years

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The rise and fall of the Twilight-Craze

Let me tell you about my first encounter with Twilight - it was a “read”-week in 6th or 7th grade, and I picked up a very new book at the library of my elementary school. So I started reading it. I remember reading the first chapters, but never finishing it. I remember how I found the protagonist to be very whiny, and very disrespectful too.

Also, at this point I also didnt know that this would be a vampire-novel, as the backcover of the book - this being the first danish translation/edition of the novel - never mentioned it.

Anyway, afterwards, I forgot about it pretty quickly.

Flashforward to a year later.

I´m over in Germany, visiting my grandmother, and I buy some books - the german translation of Twilight being among them - and then I start reading it later in the fall. While I did think that the name Stephenie Meyer sounded familiar, I could not remember why. At this point I should also mention that 6th and 7th grade was a very traumatising period for me, and I had by that point pretty much blacked much of that period out of my mind, focusing on the now and future. And yeah, I was 14, so there was still much to come.

Anywway, as I start reading the novel later in the fall, I suddenly remembered that one book I never finished back in 6th or 7th grade - and am kinda amused. Yeah, anyway, I still found Bella Swan to be a very whiny girl, and I actually liked the novel, and honestly did not think that much about it afterwards. Though I did learn not long after that a movie would come out later that year, I - while I was looking forward to it - did not imagine that it would start a big craze, that I later learned from the Wikipedia article of the South Park episode The Ungroundable to be named “The Twilight Craze”.

I enjoyed the movie, actually - I watched it with my best friend (who went on to become the biggest Twilight fan I know, at least for as long as the craze lasted) and it is a memory that I like to think back on. I still think that both Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson did a good job in these movies - though more on that later.

So, flash forward to the fall of 2009, where I am in Thailand with my parents. On the way to Thailand - as we went through Germany - I bought the subsequent books New Moon and Eclipse. I read these books very quickly, and my mom as well.

New Moon - and I´m talking about the novel here - did introduce some rather interesting ideas, such as the Volturi. One thing, however, already stuck me back then - it was the fact that Meyer completely distorted the actual folklore of an actual native american tribe, the Quileutes, for her own way, and it seemed really disrespectful back then already. And as for the Volturi, despite being mentioned early on, we didn´t really get that much from them - though as for the climax of the novel, I was pretty disturbed by the fact that the Volturi let in hundreds of tourists into their palace just to eat them after closing the doors. While that scenario is already pretty much horrifying, what really disturbed me was that Bella - and by extension, Stephenie Meyer herself - immediately forgot about it after it happened and moved on with the plot. That, and another thing - are we really gonna accept it as okay that one from Jacobs tribe physically hurt and mutilated his wifes face after wolfing out, because he feels sorry and he forgave her? It already seemed really wrong back then.

What I also noticed was the fact that Bella Swan essentially only hung out with Jacob so she could play with his feelings, and so she could get into dangerous situations so she could get these hallucinations of Edward. With that said - I also could not really see what was so special about the relationship between Bella and Edward.

Then I read Eclipse - and one thing stuck out to me there: it´s the fact that the mentioned backstories of the individual Cullens - Carlisles past with the Volturi, Rosalie seeking out and killing her rapists, Jaspers backstory from the american civil war (as I later learned from Das Mervins sporkings, she got a lot of stuff wrong there, to put it mildly), or how Alice was abandoned by her family in an asylum and pretended she was dead, where she ultimately got turned - all of these backstories are a hundred times way more interesting than the perks of being Bella Swan and her love life!

Also, I immediately knew that the vampire army was a work of Victoria, and that it was to kill Bella - only upon reading the sporkings by Das Mervin did I learn that it was supposed to be a “twist”.

On the way back from Thailand I bought Breaking Dawn shortly before leaving Germany, but I never finished it - you know why? Because some of my classmembers spilled the tea on the spoiler that Jacob imprints on Bellas daughter. I was just grossed out. I later learned that the book is what turned many fans off Twilight - and the imprinting thing was one of the reasons why, in many cases.

Anyway, then a few weeks after returning from Thailand, I went in to see New Moon with two of my best friends, and it is a memory that I cherish very much.

And that was the time when the Twilight Craze really, really went off - with all the cringeworthy “Are you Team Edward, or Team Jacob?” stuff, and how out of touch with reality some of the fangirls seemed - there were apparently some who really believed that Edward Cullen exists, and so much more. I still didnt think too much about it, as I had other things to look for.

Though - despite liking the movies and the books at the time - I really, really enjoyed a lot of the parodies on the Twilight Craze, like this one from Smosh. The thing is, that Twilight became the probably most parodied thing in the 2009-2010 period. And that may have been one of the things that killed the craze - but more on that later.

Then, in the summer of 2010 - one of the best summers of my life - I was in Miami with my family. And then my best friend and I got to watch Eclipse in a gigantic cinema in a very big mall in Miami Beach - that was unforgettable. And I also remember that I wasnt the only one who laughed over Taylor Lautners overacting. Good to know.

During that same summer, I remember then seeing a new book by Stephenie Meyer in the bookstores - “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner”. As this was before my friend and I saw the movie, I myself did not think that much about it; but I then later realised that Bree was the girl killed by the Volturi at the end of Eclipse, and that the novel - as the title already states - was about her time with the army of newborns. That sounded like an actual interesting plot. Shortly before watching Eclipse, the trailer for “Vampires Suck” came out - and the trailer was very funny, way more funny than the actual movie.

So....Eclipse was a huge hit that summer. But you know what that also was? The end of the Twilight Craze itself. In fact, it can also be compared with another contemporary hit of the 2009-2010 period - Avatar. While that was the biggest hit of the winter of 2009-2010, as soon as spring started, everyone forgot about it. And while Eclipse itself got a lot of mixed reviews, like the preceding movies of the franchise, it simply was the end of the craze itself.

I think here are some of the factors:

Twilight was pretty much EVERYWHERE in the media in 2009-2010, not only from advertisement, product placements, and posters, but also from parodies, not to mention how often Twilight was mentioned in actual news broadcast. In other words, people got tired of it - not just the people who werent even fans of the franchise in the first place, but also more moderate fans, like I considered myself then. And yeah - now thinking back on it, I was also pretty tired of seeing Twilight everywhere even before Eclipse was released in the cinemas.

And another thing is this: The Second Life of Bree Tanner. While the novel was released in early June of 2010, mere weeks before the movie came out, it was very bestselling, because of the Twilight Craze. And the reason why it was released was most likely because even Stephenie Meyer herself had a feeling that the craze soon would end, and had to publish something Twilight-related in advance, so she could be talked about again. Officially, the novella started as a short story to tie in with her illustrated guide for Twilight.

I bought the book later that summer while in Germany - and I found it not very well written, and forgot about it very shortly afterwards. Even my friend found it forgettable. I recently read the sporking of the book on Das Mervin to be reminded of what actually happened - and boy, does it suck! And here is my point - many Twilight fans probably realised with that book that Stephenie Meyer isnt that good a writer. (A lot of people had the same reactions to “The Host” - including me, who never finished the novel because of that)

And then, as soon as the summer of 2010 was over, Twilight was over. People had enough.

I know that the final film was - because of Harry Potter - split in two parts (a decision that was continued when The Hunger Games were made into movies, and a decision that ultimately killed the Divergent franchise), and was released in the winter of 2011 and 2012. I watched both of them - and I was immediately struck by this in 2012: While there of course were trailers and posters for these films, there was simply not the same exposure to the franchise as back in 2009-2010.

And by the time of the release of Breaking Dawn part 2 in the winter of 2012, I had already been redpilled regarding Mary Sues, and had a field day of counting all the Mary Sue points in the movies.

Yeah, Bella Swan is one of the biggest Mary Sues in existence, and was created as a way of Stephenie Meyer wanting to live out an idealised version of her highschool years.

That, and Stephenie Meyer isnt that great a writer - just read the sporking on Das Mervin.

During the reading of the sporkings, I also realised the way how Meyer demonises every blonde - from Lauren to Rosalie, and how Leah Clearwater is demonised for being an independent woman who doesnt bow down to Bella Sue and who actually does something, unlike Bella Sue.

Now, onto the thing with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Both are very good actors, and I think it is sad to see how haunted they were in the past decade of Twilight. Many have accused Stewart of being a bad actress because of Twilight (not to mention that they haven´t seen her brilliant performance in Speak) - I disagree. Kristen Stewart showed what a spoiled, ungrateful and dull Sue Bella is, and Pattinson what a creepy, controllable Stalker Edward is. And I´m now especially happy to see how especially Pattinson is recovering now, as Kristen Stewart did get to prove herself in movies like Camp X-Ray.

Anyway, that was my rant on the Twilight Craze.

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the-desolated-quill · 4 years

Text

Quill’s Swill - The Worst Of 2019

Congratulations! You’ve made it through another year! You’ve faced many obstacles and overcome many adversaries to arrive here, at the dawn of a new decade. So as we prepare to leave the 2010s and make our way into the 2020s, lets take a look back at the challenges and hardships of 2019. And by challenges and hardships, I of course mean shitty fiction and media.

Yes, it’s time for yet another edition of Quill’s Swill, where we mark the absolute worst stories that the industry had to offer over the past year and proceed to tear them to shreds. Think of it as like voiding your bowels before the New Year.

As always remember that this is my personal, subjective opinion. If you happen to like any of the things on this list, that’s fine. More power to you. Go make your own list. Also bear in mind I haven’t seen everything 2019 has to offer due to various other commitments. So as much as I really, really want to, I can’t put Avengers Endgame on here. I know what happens. It sounds fucking terrible, but I haven’t seen the film, so it wouldn’t be fair of me to put it on the list, even though it would most definitely deserve it.

...

Seriously, read the synopsis of Endgame on Wikipedia some time. It’s like fanfic written by a nine year old. It’s truly shocking. And now it’s the highest grossing movie of all time? Give me strength.

All In A Row

Don’t you just hate it when you’re expected to parent your autistic child? Like actually show love and care and consideration to your offspring. Look at him, expecting you to treat him like a human being. Selfish bastard! If only there was a play that explored the horrors of having to be a decent person to your own flesh and blood and how objectively awful it is. If you’re one of those people, then the play All In A Row will be right up your street.

Premiering on the 14th February at Southwark Playhouse in London, All In A Row was a total shitshow to say the least. The playwright, Alex Oates, claimed to have ten years of experience working with autistic children, which you wouldn’t have believed if you saw the play as the autistic child at the centre of the play, Lawrence, seemed more like a wild animal than a person. In fact two of the main characters compare him to a dog. And if you thought this wasn’t dehumanising enough, Lawrence isn’t even a child. He’s a puppet. Yes, it’s as bad as it sounds.

All In A Row seems to place all of the blame for the family’s predicament on the autistic child, who’s presented as barely functional, bordering on bestial. There’s no effort to really make an emotional connection with Lawrence (how can you? He’s a puppet!) as the play instead focuses on how this kid has effectively ruined this family’s life because of his autism and aggressive behaviour. Speaking as someone on the autism spectrum, I can say quite confidently that this play is fucking despicable. Badly written, badly conceived, insulting and downright mean spirited. I wouldn’t want Oates looking after my autistic children, that’s for damn sure.

Anthem

EA is back and this time they’re dragging the critical darling that is BioWare down with them.

Anthem was a desperate attempt to jump aboard the ‘live service’ bandwagon, trying to replicate the success of other video games like Overwatch, Destiny and Warframe. They failed spectacularly. The game itself had more bugs than A Bug’s Life, loot drops were often stingy and unrewarding, loading times were farcically long, and the story and worldbuilding was fucking pitiful. Oh yeah, and if you played it on PS4, there was a good chance it could permanently damage it. Thankfully I have a uni friend with an Xbox One and they allowed me to play the game on that. It was a crushing disappointment, especially coming fresh off the heels of Mass Effect Andromeda, which didn’t exactly set the world on fire back in 2017.

It didn’t help that EA’s reputation was in tatters thanks to the lootbox controversy of Star Wars Battlefront II and having to try and win back the trust of fans, but worse still reports began to service of what went on behind the scenes at BioWare during the game’s development. Apparently the game’s story and mechanics kept changing every other day as the creative directors and writers didn’t have the faintest idea what kind of game they wanted to make, and the developers were often forced to work obscenely long work hours in abusive crunch periods to get the game finished for launch. It got so bad that, according to an article on Kotaku, some members of the team had to leave for weeks or even months at a time to recover from ‘stress casualties.’

To think this was the same company that gave us Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Knights Of The Old Republic. Thank God that Obsidian Entertainment is there to pick up the slack on the RPG front because I think it’s safe to assume that BioWare won’t be around for much longer at this rate.

The Lion King (2019 remake)

Here we go. Yet another live action remake of a Disney classic. Excpet it’s not live action, is it? Well... it’s live action in the sense that Dinosaur was live action (remember that film? Don’t worry if you don’t. No one does). Real locations but CGI characters. Millions of dollars spent on cutting edge tech to create photo realistic animals... and the film ends up duller than a bowl of porridge that really likes trainspotting.

It’s not just the fact that The Lion King remake is yet another soulless cash grab from the House of Mouse, it’s also the fact that it’s done really badly that upsets me. The Lion King works as an animated film. Bright colourful images, over the top song and dance sequences and vibrant character designs. As a ‘live action’ film, it just looks awkward and stilted. None of the animals are very expressive, leaving it up to the poor voice actors to carry the film, and to cap it all off the CGI isn’t even all that convincing in my opinion. At no point did I look at Simba and go ‘oh yeah, he looks like a real lion.’ It’s so obviously fake. In fact it reminds me of those early 00s movies like Cats & Dogs or Stuart Little where you see the jaws of the talking animals moving up and down like some messed up ventriloquist act or something. And here’s me thinking cinema has evolved past this.

BBC’s The War Of The Worlds

Remember Peter Harness? That guy who wrote that Doctor Who episode about the moon being an egg? Yeah, he’s back and he’s doing an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War Of The Worlds. And guess what! It’s fucking ghastly! :D

The three part BBC mini-series was without a doubt some of the worst telly I think I’ve ever seen. It’s staggering how clueless Harness is as a writer. For starters he managed to achieve the impossible and somehow made a Martian invasion of Earth boring. I didn’t even think it was possible, but somehow he pulled it off. Then he sucks all tension out of the story by revealing the ultimate fate of the Martians at the beginning of the second episode, so now any threat or danger has been chucked out of the window because we know that the main female protagonist Amy at least would survive. And then finally he takes a massive dump over the source material by having humanity weaponise typhoid to kill the red weed rather than just having the Martians die of the common cold like in the book. Because God forbid us Brits should be presented as anything other than heroic and dignified.

So what we’re left with is a poorly realised allegory with ineffectual horror tropes full of OTT progressive posturing in a pathetic attempt to make Harness and the BBC look more liberal than they actually are. There’s no effort to really explore the themes of imperialism and colonialism outside of casual lip service, and we barely get a glimpse of the dark side of humanity. Everyone is presented as flawed, but basically awesome or, in the case of Rafe Spall’s character, utterly gormless. Our TV license fees help fund this shit, you know?!

And if you think this was bad, just wait till New Year’s Day where we’ll get to see Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ butcher Dracula. Can we stop giving these beloved literary icons to these hacks please?

Glass

I liked Split. It wasn’t an amazing movie, but it was entertaining with some good ideas, a great performance from James McAvoy and was a true return to form for M Night Shyamalan. That being said, I wasn’t keen on the idea of it taking place in the same universe as Unbreakable. I feared it would be a step too far and we’d end up having something like... well, something like Glass.

On paper, Glass isn’t a bad idea. The idea of superpowers being a delusion is legitimately intriguing and could have been a great post-modern deconstruction of the superhero genre. Except Shyamalan never actually does anything with it. The first act drags on and on with absolutely nothing happening, none of the characters really grow or change over the course of the film, Bruce Willis in particular is basically only here for an extended cameo as his character does pretty much nothing for the majority of the film, and then the entire film is undermined by that stupid Shyamalan twist. Turns out superhumans are real and there’s a big cover up. Oh great! So not only does it render the entire film pointless, it also undoes what made Unbreakable and Split so good. They’re no longer people capable of extraordinary feats via rational means. They’re just superhuman. They can do anything. Sigh.

Shyamalan... maybe it’s time to give up the director’s chair, yeah?

Cats

Oh come on! Don’t act surprised! Did you honestly think I wouldn’t put Cats on this list?!

Cats, without a doubt, is the worst film of the decade and, yes, the CGI is terrible. Not only are there these sub-human cat mutants running around, we also have mice and cockroaches with child faces, James Corden coughing up furballs, Taylor Swift trying to give the furries in the audience boners, Idris Elba looking disturbingly underdressed and Rebel Wilson being... well... Rebel Wilson. It’s a disaster of a film. And really, should we even be surprised? We all knew this was going to suck. And no it’s not because of the CGI. I thought the CGI in Pokemon: Detective Pikachu was creepy as well, but at least it had a decent script and good performances to back it up. No the reason why Cats sucked is because... it’s Cats. It’s always been that bad. No amount of ‘advanced fur technology’ was going to change that. It was still going to be a confused, plotless mess with one dimensional characters and bad songs.

The only consolation I had was that I didn’t waste money buying a ticket. A friend of mine snuck me into the premiere and we watched it in the projector room. The plan was to make fun of it and have a laugh, but we didn’t even do that because honestly there’s nothing to really make fun. There’s only so many times you can take the piss out of the CGI and honestly the film was just boring more than anything else. It doesn’t even have the distinction of being so bad it’s good like Sharknado or Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. It’s just bad, period.

I just hope we don’t see something similar happen to Starlight Express. Just think. Anthropomorphic, singing trains on roller skates. Shudder.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker

Finally we have yet another cynical cash grab from Disney.

I confess I didn’t exactly go into The Rise Of Skywalker with an open mind. I was never all that keen on a sequel trilogy in the first place, and neither The Force Awakens nor The Last Jedi ever convinced me otherwise. Admittedly they weren’t bad movies. Just derivative and painfully uninspired, and I was expecting more of the same for Episode IX. What I got instead was quite possibly the worst Star Wars film since Attack Of The Clones. Yes, it’s that bad.

This film is very poorly made, filled with plot contrivances and logic holes galore. I lost count of the number of times the protagonists got into a dangerous situation because of Rey constantly wandering off like a confused toddler lost in a shopping mall. Oh and we finally find out who her parents were and it was quite a twist, but only because it was really stupid. Of course we didn’t see it coming because nobody would have guessed it would be something that moronic. I feel JJ Abrams’ stupid ‘mystery box’ philosophy is to blame for this. It’s derailed countless franchises before such as Lost and Cloverfield, and now Abrams has fucked up Star Wars because he’s obsessed with mystery for the sake of mystery and Disney are so lazy that they couldn’t be bothered to plan an actual trilogy out properly beforehand. Instead they just wing it, making it up as they go along, which led to Rian Johnson ‘subverting our expectations’ and left Abrams desperately trying to pick up the pieces.

In fact a lot of The Rise Of Skywalker seemed designed specifically to appease people of both sides of the wide chasm The Last Jedi had created. The roles of characters of colour like Finn and Rose were significantly reduced, Poe and Finn don’t end up together because of homophobia, but we do see two women kiss in the background of one two second shot that could easily be cut out when they release the film in China, Kylo Ren gets his stupid redemption even though he hasn’t fucking earned it, Lando Calrissian shows up for no fucking reason, Rey is given ‘flaws’ relating to her parentage in order to combat those accusing her of being a Mary Sue, but they’re the boring kind of flaws that don’t have any real impact on her character, and that ghastly ship Reylo is made canon even though it makes no sodding sense in the context of this movie, let alone the whole trilogy. They even go to the trouble of baiting us with a FinnRey romance before pulling the rug out from under us. Then, just to add insult to injury, the film retroactively ends up making the entire original trilogy completely pointless. All because Disney wanted more dollars to put in their Scrooge McDuck money bin.

The Rise Of Skywalker, and indeed the entire sequel trilogy, should serve as a cautionary tale against the dangers of hype and nostalgia. The reason The Force Awakens was successful wasn’t because it was a good movie (because lets be brutally honest here, it really fucking wasn’t). It was because it gave gullible Star Wars fans warm fuzzies because it reminded them of A New Hope whilst tempting them with the vague promise that things might get more interesting later on. And when that didn’t materialise, quelle surprise, the fanbase didn’t take it very well. I would love to think that this will serve as an important lesson for the future when people go and see Disney movies, but who am I kidding? I guarantee at some point we’re going to get Episodes X, XI and XII and we’ll have to go through this sorry process all over again.

So there we have it. The worst of 2019. May they rot forever in Satan’s rectum or wherever it is stories go to die. Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the other end of the spectrum. Yes it’s the Quill Seal Of Approval Awards! The best of the best! Who shall win? The suspense is killing me! Ooooh, I can’t wait! You’ll be there tomorrow, won’t you? Of course you will. How could you not?

#quill's swill #quill's swill 2019 #worst of the year #review #opinion

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dvp95 · 5 years

Text

hang on just long enough

pairing: dan howell/phil lester

rating: e

warnings: none

tags: public sex/blowjob, pwp, porn w/ feelings, that’s all this is

word count: 1,700

summary: Phil is meant to be the impatient one between them. Bingo squares: groping + public sex + 2010 (writer’s choice)

read on ao3 or here!

Phil knows he isn't going to win any awards for patience in the near future - he grazes while he waits for dinner to be ready, jumps in the shower before the water has warmed completely, gives up on games if he isn't having fun - but he's got a leg up on a bored, horny Dan.

In most situations, Dan has the type of handle on his self control that Phil could probably have, if he tried. He just doesn't see the point. Instant gratification is pretty great, and there's no reason to keep doing something that's not fun just because it might get fun later.

In this specific situation, Phil will happily take home the award for patience of a bloody saint.

"Dan," he whispers again, for the fourth time since they sat down.

"What?" Dan responds innocently, also for the fourth time. His hand stops its path up Phil's thigh once again, but it still doesn't retreat.

Phil doesn't know what to say, exactly. He's not sure if Dan is doing this to be a tease or if he's doing this to be a dick. As with most things Dan does, it's more likely some combination of the two. Phil's eyes flicker away from Dan, pointedly looking at their surroundings.

Dan had dragged Phil to the back corner of the bus, which hadn't seemed strange at the time. Now, Phil is wondering if that was calculated.

They don't have a lot of company on this bus, which is nice. It's early in the morning, still dark outside. Way earlier than Phil would have preferred to be up if there hadn't been the promise of a sleepy Dan waiting for him at the train station. There's an elderly couple behind the driver talking to each other quietly and a uni student still in club gear staring blankly out the window a few rows ahead of them.

Nobody is paying any attention to them at all.

While Phil is looking forward, Dan has decided to start moving his hand again. It's definitely intentional, whatever Dan's puppy eyes try to say, Phil just can't figure out what the endgame is here.

"Dan," he says quietly, because maybe the fifth time is the charm. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Dan asks, matching Phil’s volume. The faux innocence gives way to pure, unadulterated cheek. He's dimpling when Phil gives him a Look. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," says Phil. He's already said as much at the station and over a shoddy wifi connection for the past three weeks. He's missed Dan so much it aches in his chest, like he can't breathe properly in the time between Dan's visits.

"Yeah," Dan says. His large, warm palm creeps further up Phil's leg, fingertips brushing Phil's inseam. "But I missed you."

Phil's heart pounds in his ears. As nervous as he is, his body is still reacting to Dan the way it always does, always will. He glances at the student again, who is completely in her own world.

"Dan." It seems like that is all Phil is able to say. "This is so stupid."

"Yeah, and?" Dan huffs a laugh, brushing his lips against Phil's jaw and flexing his big hand and, yeah, now Phil's dick has definitely gotten the memo.

"There're, like, other people here," Phil whispers. He already knows that Dan doesn't care, and the little shrug he gets in response just confirms that.

"They're not looking at us."

"Yeah, but," Phil says, then falters. Dan's palm is pressing against him through his jeans now, the touch familiar and new all at the same time. "But, we'll be at mine in like half an hour. So you could just... wait til we get there."

Dan is usually very good at controlling himself, better than Phil by far. Phil will eat an entire bag of marshmallows while he waits for a pizza delivery and drink his coffee as soon as it hits his mug.

Right now, though, Dan doesn't seem interested in waiting. He's restless from the long, late-night train ride and the evident desire to be touching Phil in any way possible.

"Tell me to stop and I'll stop," says Dan. As much as he's been teasing, there's nothing but sincerity there.

Phil feels a swell of warmth for this beautiful, clingy boy. He makes a big show of sighing before he worms his arm out from between them to pull Dan closer by the waist. He noses at Dan's ear, the metal of his piercing still surprising Phil whenever it touches his skin.

"Just... make it quick," Phil murmurs directly into Dan's ear. He feels Dan shiver, try to squirm away from the feeling instinctively. "Or I'll have an anxiety attack, for sure."

"Oh, will you?" Dan snarks.

Despite the sarcasm, Dan doesn't drag out the teasing any longer. His big brown eyes flicker over the other passengers, the driver, before he folds his lanky body half onto the floor. He has to kneel sideways to fit, his stupidly big feet poking out in the aisle. Phil’s torn between amusement and arousal as Dan starts working his flies.

"Oh," Phil breathes. He didn't expect that.

Dan snorts lightly and shakes his fringe out of his eyes to give Phil a surprisingly fond look. "You'd rather get jizz on the seat? Your jeans?"

"Definitely not," Phil says on a huff of laughter. He slumps a bit lower in the seat and angles himself diagonally to make it easier for Dan to pull his cock out of his pants, and that's a goddamn weird feeling all on its own. Phil is pretty sure his dick has never been out in a public place, doctor's offices and locker rooms notwithstanding.

Luckily, his dick isn't out for long before Dan curls forward and takes it in his big, warm mouth. Phil's eyelids flutter, but he can't close his eyes and get lost in the feeling the way he can when they're all holed up in his bedroom. He bites at his own lip and holds Dan's long hair out of his face for him. He splits his time between looking at Dan and making sure nobody is looking at them.

It's been too long, honestly. At this exact moment in time, Phil doesn't know why they don't spend all their time together with his cock in Dan's talented mouth. He likes it almost as much as Phil does - his eyes have long since fallen shut and he's making tiny muffled noises that Phil wants to care about, but he just can't bring himself to.

Nobody's listening, anyway. The noises that the bus itself is making are louder than Dan, and Phil is keeping his eye out for anyone turning around.

Dan opens his eyes as he takes Phil deeper, and Phil swallows a groan with the ease of someone who has lots of practice keeping quiet. Dan's tongue presses against the underside of Phil's cock with the soft vibration of a moan that doesn't reach Phil's ears. Phil thanks his lucky stars that he's lived in enough thin-walled places to be confident that he won't make any sounds he doesn't want to.

With anyone else, Phil might be embarrassed by how quickly he gets close, but this is Dan. Dan has brought him to the edge a hundred times since that first weekend, knows exactly how to make him fall apart. Besides, they can't exactly take their time right now.

Phil tugs lightly at Dan's hair in warning, and Dan closes his eyes again as he sinks down even further on Phil's cock. He doesn't risk taking it too deep into his throat, not with the noise that usually elicits, but Phil doesn't care. He could probably come even if Dan just sucked slowly on the head of his cock for hours, that's how wrapped around Dan's finger he is.

He tastes copper as he reaches his peak, teeth digging too sharply into his lip, and he can't quite muster up the mental capacity to care.

Dan blows him through it and then lets Phil's cock slip out of his pretty lips with a grin. He gets back into his seat with a little difficulty, the bus seats not really built for people of their height at the best of times. Phil has enough presence of mind to tuck himself back into his boxers and zip his jeans.

The sky outside the bus window is still dark. The dawn hasn't even broken yet, and Phil has already done something he never imagined he would. He wonders if Dan plans to keep this energy all week, because he's not sure his heart can handle that.

"So," Dan says, slow. He's smirking and curling close to Phil's side, so pleased with himself that it's radiating off him in waves.

Phil yawns. Only for Dan would he get out of bed in the early hours of the morning that he normally only sees when he stays up too late watching scary movies. The orgasm has made him even sleepier. "So what?"

It's a little funny how quickly Dan's expression falls into affront. "So...?" he says, pointed.

"I'll get you back at home," says Phil.

"What?" Dan squawks. For the first time, the uni student looks behind her with a perplexed expression. Phil gives her an awkward smile before he turns back to Dan.

"Not like this was my idea," Phil points out. He has to laugh at the abject horror on Dan's face as he realises that Phil really, truly, has no intention of getting him off in a public vehicle. "Don't worry, I'll make it good for you. Maybe after a nap."

Dan scowls and tangles his fingers with Phil's, the grip a bit too tight for it to be a sweet gesture. "Selfish prick."

"Impatient brat," Phil shoots back, and then they're just. Grinning stupidly at each other.

Maybe Phil's worse about waiting for things, generally, but it makes him happy to see how much Dan hates waiting for him, specifically. They don't need to live in the too-long moments between visits much longer and Phil, for one, can't wait.

#phanfic #phanfiction #dnp fic #words words words #bingo

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agentwallflower · 4 years

Text

Supernova Chapter 7

Well, I didn’t take off.

I’m currently working on chapter 13. I’m almost at the halfway point of the novel, so that’s a good sign. Things are about to pick up based on my notes. That’s good - it’s been a bear to write lately.

Next chapter is going up July 25th. By then I’ll hopefully have the first draft of my next anthology submission open. I’ll let you know.

Thanks as always for reading. I’ll see you in two weeks. Wear a mask and wash your hands!

“I know you're not the cops, but shouldn't I get a phone call or something? Pretty sure you didn't read me my rights either.”

An ex had once told him he used humor as a coping mechanism when he was stressed. Given he had laughed when they had broken up a few months before summer vacation, she had been on the money. That was why he didn't date these days – that and the fact he didn't have much attraction for it.

He was at the moment handcuffed to a table in a rather blank room. There was a mirror on the other side – it was a two way. He couldn't see through it, but Angel had seen enough cop shows to know what it was.

At least he got to keep his helmet on. Thank you, 2004 Caped Crusader Law.

Nobody answered, of course. They were probably trying to sweat him long enough to make him break down. Well, it was kind of working honestly. His communicator wasn't working, even with all of Scanner's upgrades. If he got out of there alive, maybe he'd tell the tech about it. If anyone would be up to the challenge of cracking through top security measures, it would be his favorite person ever.

Ok, he was laying it on a little thick but he was going stir-crazy in there.

Honestly, he didn't really remember how he had gotten in there. It was all a blur after his last usable memory. He had thought it over countless times as he sat there, waiting for someone to come in and do whatever people did after he pulled the stupid shit he had tried.

And stupid shit it was. His shield, as it turned out, could not completely stop bullets. Paladin would be so disappointed.

His back still hurt from where they hit him, but it was his chest that was the real problem. Angel wasn't sure how long it had been, but he had definitely been wearing his binder for way too long. His chest was starting to feel tight, and the urge to cough was a strong one. This was the longest he had ever gone wearing it, even when he had first started out.

6-8 hours had nothing on... well, he wasn't sure how long he had been inside.

“Hope Andy and PT are ok.” He muttered under his breath. He had seen them disappear into the building before he had thrown up his shield to stop the agents from getting in. Then people had started firing and he had woken up in a cell. That was about everything he was working with right then. Clearly, he had a great picture of the situation.

Andy... apart from looking weird as hell, he couldn't see why they would want her so badly. He knew plenty of other heroes who had powers in a similar vein. Some weren't as bright, and they might not have hit as hard, but he didn't see anything extra special about them to warrant the FBI being on her ass about it. Was it just the fact her appearance was so screwed up?

“Guess they're trying to hide birth defects from the Ball Drop or something.” He shrugged his shoulders. Oww. Binder straps were digging in. He should probably stop doing that until he managed to bust out.

Ball Drop must have been the magic word, however. Angel straightened up as he saw the door swing open. A woman in a suit with sunglasses on entered and sat on the other side of the desk. She was probably older than him, but really that was all he could figure out about her. It was kind of hard to get a read, like -

Paladin's words echoed in his mind, reminding Angel that brain fog could be a helpful technique for gathering information. Angel's exhaustion had probably led to him missing the tingle of someone trying to throw one over the room. He would kick himself later for missing it, but at least he had figured it out before she'd started questioning.

He could still focus enough to dispel it from his mind. The room came into sharper focus – he saw cracks in the wall, a gap in the mirror that let him see there were people on the other side. The woman in front of him was at least 10 years older than him and had dark hair and really pale skin. She also looked kind of annoyed.

So, at least he knew who he was dealing with.

“They said you were strong. I should have taken that seriously, but the East Coast has often had low standards.” She sounded like she came from California. West Coast psychics thought they knew everything. “Well, Mr. Sky Rider, read any minds yet to figure out why you're here, or do I have to fill you in?”

She was tying to get a rise out of him. If he got pissed off, that made it easier for her to get into his mind and get the info she was looking for. So he allowed himself to breathe as he settled back into his seat, back straight. Proper posture, or so Paladin had taught him, was important for this sort of thing.

Or maybe that was just Paladin being weird. He had lots of weird shit like that.

“Haven't really done much reading. Don't want to waste my energy in case I have to throw something off.” He held up his wrists. “These are coated so I can't break them with telekinesis. You deal with a lot of psychics here?”

The woman's expression never changed – not that he expected it to. If she was used to dealing with folks like him, then she knew that betraying her expression would make things easier. Besides, maybe she enjoyed that kind of thing. It usually took a class of asshole to decide the best way to make a living was turn on your fellow weird humans.

…

Which was, of course ,different from when he did it. After all, he didn't want anybody getting hurt.

“You could say that. It's for your protection as well as ours.” Her voice was pleasantly cool, practiced. She did this a lot. Made sense, she was a psychic. Even if there were laws (thank you, Clear Mind Act 2010, he really hadn't wanted to work for the government one day) against using psychic-gained testimony in court, psychics were adept players at mind games. If anyone could trick somebody into giving it up, he'd put the money on someone who could sense your weaknesses from a mile away.

She straightened up – must've also been taught the posture law. “You can call me Agent Claire.”

“Please tell me that's a bad joke and not actually your name because if it is, I'm sorry your parents hate you so much.”

Her lips twitched very slightly, but he caught it. Yep, her parents hated her. Another reason why he never told his anything about himself besides his new name. The less they knew about what he got up to, the better.

“We're still debating whether to charge you with anything. It's not like you hurt my men.” There was a barb there, he elected to ignore it. “But you did make it rather hard for us to retrieve our target.”

Agent Claire's voice was a little hard. “Mr. Rider, containing that target is of utmost importance to national – no, perhaps even international safety. You no doubt saw what they actually look like.”

It wasn't like he could forget it – she was freaking blue! But he still couldn't get why birth defects were a matter of international security. Hell, maybe he could understand the FBI not wanting it to get out that there was a nuclear waste dump so close to the US heartland, but now they were laying it on a bit thick. It wasn't adding up.

And why was the FBI dealing with this?

Angel frowned behind his visor. “I mean she's a little screwed up but I don't see why that's any business of yours unless you're paying for some major reconstructive surgery. I'd start on those teeth, by the way. Those are nasty.”

And... not very human looking, now that he reflected back on it. He had seen some teeth since becoming a hero, but those... something about them activated a part in his bran that just screamed run as fast as he could. Honestly, every part of Andy did that – from the top of her hard head to her weirdly shaped feet.

“There is no amount of surgery that could fix the subject.” More deadpan. “Not that there weren't attempts when they were under our custody.”

Angel felt sweat drip down the back of his neck. “You guys aren't supposed to be able to do that.”

It was something every hero knew from the time they got their powers – they could wind up in super-max should they become bad guys, but that was it. There were no black helicopters or secret research facilities that were allowed to hold them, at least not anymore. After those had been discovered in the early 2000's, public outcry had made sure of that. He still remembered seeing it on TV as a kid, even though it hadn't made any sense to him then.

Unless...

Briefly, the law flickered through his mind – no human, no matter their status, could be held for their powers by any agency without their consent. Those words were set in stone an into the paper of every Union handbook. No matter how they screwed up, they couldn't wind up on a dissection table or in some weird test.

“When something like the Ball Drop happens, things tend to be more lenient.” Agent Claire had more emotion in her voice – she was frustrated. “Until, however, they were switched to an outside department. We almost had them recovered until you interfered. That was nearly ten years of planning and observation for our one chance to be thwarted by you.”

Someone was mad. More importantly, someone was letting their guard down. Angel saw it as cracks in the nearly impassible wall in front of him. That was when he struck, carefully and with the delicate touch of a surgeon.

Memories were hard things to sort through, especially when the person he was working with was also a psychic. She had walls, but he had a lock pick. He threaded his way through, careful to keep his own walls up. After all, when he went in he was just as weak to her digging around as well.

“So you've been bothering her since the Ball Drop?”

The words were what he needed – he felt the memory glow. It was reinforced behind some of the strongest walls he had ever seen. But Paladin was no slouch. When he trained someone to find a memory, he kept at it.

Angel flexed his fingers on instinct, like he was twisting a combo lock. However, that gave him away. He could see more walls coming up now – and there was a glow around it. She was actively defending that memory now.

More importantly, he could feel her digging away at his walls too. Alerting her had unleashed a counterattack. She didn't have any physical tells to give away what she was doing; definitely West Coast style. They were all try-hards who didn't want to give themselves away.

“We have been interested in security since then, yes.” Her tone was pleasant, and if anyone had come in they would have considered it a normal conversation. However, a war was raging, one between the minds of two well-trained psychics. Whoever had the strongest mental defenses won the day.

Angel's were red. It was his favorite color and the connection was great at helping him keep them standing under the onslaught. Claire's were, ironically, clear as glass. They weren't as weak, though. Bashing up against them only would only wear him out and open him up to a well-timed counterattack.

“Don't you have more important things to do than bother some weird kid?” He was still looking for a way in as he spoke. “Or is this some departmental pissing match and you're mad you lost out on your research subject?”

Grazed her, but not enough to get through the defenses. Claire was getting annoyed, but that wasn't going to get him through. He needed to dig even deeper to figure out if she had any kind of trigger. If she didn't... well he was going to have to hop on defense until something called her away.

Damn, this wasn't easy to do when he was tired.

His opponent knew it too – she smiled briefly as she broke through the first line of his defenses like they were made of paper. She got some surface details out of him, but nothing close to his core identity – that he kept so guarded that Fort Knox looked like a kindergartner's piggy bank. “Nothing of the sort. You saw how powerful the subject is. Do you really want them out on the street?”

Angel grimaced as he tried to reinforce what he had left. Sweat was dripping down his forehead now. “Doesn't really matter how I feel. No human can be held without reason, and especially not by you. You want to arrest her for something, take it up with those damn cops that are always giving me trouble.”

There was a glimmer on the other side of the field, close to the memory, as she smiled. Amused – she thought this was funny. Whatever she knew, the fact he didn't was enough to give her a momentary weakness. But more than that, he could sense she thought she had him beat. After all, he wasn't from the West Coast.

Well, it was time to show his adopted home did things just fine.

Angel breathed slowly as he tightened his fists. The first round of defenses fell as he raced forward. “People have the right to live freely, regardless of who they are and what they can do.”

That's when he punched hard, throwing his full weight at the wall. It cracked, but it was just enough that he could get a peek in. The world blurred around him as he entered the memory. Right then, he was Claire.

And she was scared out of her mind. The fear and anxiety rolled over him in waves as they stood at the base of the largest hole he had ever seen. The sides were glass smooth, and he couldn't see the bottom. A light cast down there didn't show one either.

“How deep is it?”

Someone was asking with a hushed tone. A number was thrown out – he didn't hear it. Claire hadn't cared. She was more focused on a rope that was going deeper and deeper. They were trying to get something out.

“We hit bottom! It's... holy shit.”

The memory blurred, probably because of the passage of time. The human memory didn't tend to remember things like this. What was more important was what they were bringing out of the hole. It had taken so long that the sky had shifted. Now it was the middle of the day.

Before the memory cut out as Claire took back control, he saw the top of something hard and blue glinting in the light. It was about the size of a boulder and completely blue under the midday winter sun. Nobody could hold it – it was melting the ground.

“It laid an egg?”

And then he was back in the room. Claire was sweating hard, her glasses had come off. She was furious with him for going into her mind, but she was angrier at herself. Without a word, she swept the glasses off the table and put them back on.

Angel still felt her fear as he shored up his defenses. “What do you mean, it laid an egg?”

“I should lock you away for that for life.” Her voice was barely a hiss. “You have no idea what you just did, boy.”

His mind was still spinning. There were possibilities, but none of them made sense. However, the law kept banging through his mind. No humans could be held without their consent. And, last he checked, they were all still human under the law.

But...

His stomach dropped. “If she's not human... what the hell is she?”

The agent didn't answer him. Someone was knocking on the wall. Without a word, she got up and went to the door and peered through. Then there was some talk – it involved him. Turns out the Union really hated people being held by the government.

“Are you going to let my coworker out or not? You don't have the power to hold him.”

An impossibly warm voice shook his spirit. He knew that tone and it filled him with relief. If the union had sent their leader down, then he was going to get out soon. Nobody could show down with Ember for long, even without her powers.

Claire looked rattled, and annoyed. “He's a threat to-”

“No government agency can hold without consent. He wasn't arrested, you spirited him away in a dark van. If anything, I should be turning you in for flaunting the laws to protect us.” Ember was enjoying herself. “I hope you kept his mask on?”

Angel was still puzzling through as the two women discussed keep-away in regards to whose chair got his ass. Animals that he knew of were thrown out, as were... well, rocks wouldn't make sense. Who had ever heard of sentient rocks? Robot was out, too – there had been something warmer about her. Hot, even.

Her aura... had been odd, though. Normally with people he could get a sense of them when he first met them. Claire was a psychic, so she was actively suppressing herself. Ember was on the other side of the door, and she was warm. He felt safe around her. But Andy?

He hadn't gotten anything. Standing next to PT, all he had sensed was his partner's gruff but good-natured personality. Andy just... didn't have anything. It wasn't like she was trying to hide something, she just didn't register.

All people registered, no matter how screwed up they were.

“But... it doesn't make sense.”

He was wracking his brain. Sentient, weird looking, couldn't be read. Just seeing her activated some weird primal urge to run away. And the fact the government was just so interested in her. The pieces were coming together.

“Fine, you can take him back. But if he interferes in our investigations one more time, we'll arrest him.” Claire turned to unlock his shackles. “Mr. Rider, your team leader is-”

“She's an alien.”

He kept his voice low, so Ember couldn't hear. It wasn't for her, anyway. He was focused on Claire's reaction. Her hand had hesitated on the shackles, and just briefly he got a sense of panic from her stomach.

Bingo.

“I think you've been awake for too long, Mr. Rider.” Her cool was restored, but it was too late as he stood up from the table. He didn't rub his wrists, but they still hurt as she walked him to the door. “You're lucky the Union still needs you, or we were going to have a very long talk.”

She gripped his shoulder briefly. With it came near crushing psychic pressure to hammer her point home. An image impressed in his mind – if he stepped a toe out of line, they would bury him for the rest of his life. Claire would even enjoy it.

“Yeah, I know.” He shrugged off her grasp. “Get a new hobby besides following after sick people, lady.”

With that, he left. Soon Ember was at his side as they left the facility under heavy guard. It wasn't safe to speak then. Neither of them may have been Scanner, but they knew enough about the FBI to know to keep their mouths shut.

It was a pretty nondescript place... perfect for hiding an alien.

Angel still couldn't believe it as they left. It shouldn't have made sense, but... what else could've kicked off that kind of hole in Ohio of all places? Wasn't it the joke that more astronauts came from the state than anywhere else in the hopes of getting away? And all the leftover radiation...

Shit, aliens were real.

Ember didn't talk to him until they left – they weren't too far out of town as they headed to a place Scanner could pick them up. “You're in a lot of trouble, SR.”

“Yeah, well I had to help my partner and her niece. They tried to shoot her.”

The team leader frowned. He knew she agreed with her, but being in charge meant a new set of duties. She had to lecture him, even if she didn't want to do it. He could see it in her eyes as she punched in the coordinates.

“The FBI are going to be monitoring you now.”

“They can join the NSA in my smartphone, I'm not doing anything illegal.” Angel finally rubbed his wrists. “Damn, that coating hurts. I swear they put mercury in it or something to boost the ache.”

Still, Claire's words echoed through his mind as he turned to her. “What was that about you needing me?”

Ember didn't get the chance to answer – they were beamed up. Talking through transport was a hard no if you wanted to keep your tongue in your mouth. Luckily it only lasted a few seconds. They were soon back on the landing pad in the base.

Scanner was letting the transport beam cool down as they rolled over. “Good to see the both of you. You filled him in yet?”

“Was just about to before you pulled us up.” Ember turned to him, and he got the feeling he wasn't going to like that. “You met PT's niece, yes?”

The alien? Uh... yeah. But how did that involve him?

“We have something we need you to agree to.”

Why did he get the sense he was about to be putting in a lot more hours in his gear?

---

If you like the chapter and want to contribute to my coke zero fund, I have a ko-fi!

#Supernova Collision Trilogy #writing #novel #surprise i guess lo

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mysticseasons · 6 years

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New-look Virtue, Moir redefine ice dance greatness

Canadian duo attains legendary status after capturing second Olympic gold

Icenetwork will announce its choice for 2017-18 Person of the Year later this month. Here's one of the nominations for that honor from icenetwork contributor Lynn Rutherford.

When Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir returned to competition after a two-year hiatus, they had no interest in duplicating the skills and performance quality they used to win Olympic ice dance gold in 2010 and silver in 2014.

They intended to be different, and better.

"We've watched a lot of footage, we've really been studying our skating, and we feel there is so much room for improvement," Virtue said around the time of the team's comeback announcement in February 2016. "We had a series of conversations where we vowed to each other we both needed to be 100 percent in, we needed to be inspired and we needed to be ready to do things differently."

Differently, but just as successfully: Their sights were trained on recapturing their status as the best ice dance team in the world.

"Well, sure," Moir said. "We would be lying if we said we were just coming back to be part of the pack. That's definitely not the goal."

The London, Ontario,-born skaters -- who were teamed in 1997 at ages 7 and 9 by Scott's aunt, Carol Moir -- set about to recreate themselves. After training for more than a decade under Marina Zoueva and Igor Shpilband (until 2012) in Canton, Michigan, they turned to mentors and friends Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon in Montreal, seeking a new look and fresh approach.

"Our first meeting with Marie-France and Patrice, we threw everything at them, and they were so classy," Moir said. "[Tessa] was in shape, but I was out of shape, and I had mental things to work through. We could not have done anything without them. We would not have made it through the first summer."

The early years of Virtue and Moir's senior career played out like a fairytale: Two good-looking Canadian kids, coming into their own just after the international judging system (IJS) disrupted the ice dance world, where Russian couples had long reigned supreme. Their on-ice chemistry was so potent that many fans insist they are an off-ice couple, despite more than 10 years of denials.

Zoueva and Shpilband created technically demanding yet charming programs that masterfully exploited their skaters' strengths. Skating to the tender music from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg or Gustav Mahler's haunting "Adagietto," Virtue and Moir could break your heart as easily as they could spin off perfect twizzles. When they won gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games, they were 20 and 22 -- almost a decade younger than some other ice dance teams were when they were crowned Olympic champions.

The next four seasons were bumpy. Virtue underwent surgery in October 2010 to relieve exertional compartment syndrome in her shins and calves. The couple lost momentum to longtime U.S. rivals and training partners Meryl Davis and Charlie White and, with it, the 2011 world title. They regained global supremacy the following season, only to lose to Davis and White at the 2013 World Figure Skating Championships in their hometown of London and place second to the Americans at the 2014 Sochi Games.

"My impression of their free dance in Sochi (to a medley of Russian composers Alexander Glazunov and Alexander Scriabin) was in some ways it was trying to give a nod back to their free dance in Vancouver, all the while trying to still show the evolution of the past four years," said Tanith Belbin White, the 2006 Olympic ice dance silver medalist (with Benjamin Agosto) and now an NBC commentator. "I think it just didn't come together, and that's their words, not just mine."

For the next two seasons, Virtue and Moir performed professionally, refining and amplifiying their ability to reach audiences. All the while, the competitive ice dance landscape shifted under their skates. Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France, just 13th at the 2014 World Championships, won world titles in 2015 and 2016, captivating judges with their fresh style and youthful artistry. Where Virtue and Moir were romantic and athletic, the French were ethereal and fluid.

One thing stayed the same: With Papadakis and Cizeron also training in Dubreuil and Lauzon's Montreal camp, the Canadians again found themselves practicing alongside their biggest rivals.

"These kids, we train them five hours a day, we see them grow, we know what their goals are, and we just support that," Dubreuil said, sounding rather like Zoueva did when describing her work with Virtue and Moir, and Davis and White. "This competition is about them, not about us. In whatever order (they finish), it's the same to us."

Conventional wisdom held that while some judges might prefer the French team's style, Virtue and Moir's technical ability -- particularly in the short dance -- would prevail. It did during the 2016-17 season, when the Canadians won the Grand Prix Final and worlds. In the lead-up to PyeongChang, though, Papadakis and Cizeron upped their game, skating with noticeably greater speed and clarity. They defeated Virtue and Moir for the first time in December 2017 at the Grand Prix Final after the Canadians made what Moir called "a few uncharacteristic glitches."

The loss prompted Virtue and Moir and their coaches to take a fresh look at their programs.

"We went through every element and just thought, 'What could possibly be a reason for a judge not to give a +3 (Grade of Execution)?' We wanted to eliminate those," Virtue said in PyeongChang. "Looking at it that way gave us a different baseline."

Papadakis and Cizeron sat out the team event in PyeongChang, training with longtime coach Romain Haguenauer while Virtue and Moir led Team Canada to gold. The Canadians entered the individual event as slight underdogs but put out what they considered their finest performances of the season to edge the French -- who made obvious errors in their short dance, after Papadakis suffered a costume malfunction -- by 0.79 points to win their second Olympic title.

"We were trying to drive the power and speed more; we knew we would need that against the French," Moir said. "We're in great shape. We feel we have more power in our blades, more power in our knees than we have ever had."

To Belbin White, the Canadians more than achieved their goals: They won, and they were better than ever.

"In PyeongChang, it felt more natural, it felt more organic," Belbin White said. "In the past, it was like they were showing you a dream. In PyeongChang, it was, 'This is us, this is what we came to do, and we're going to do it.' It felt like they were putting themselves into the characters on the ice, and when you put yourself out there so honestly, it resonates."

Virtue and Moir own five Olympic medals -- two individual golds (2010 and 2018), an individual silver (2014), a team gold (2018) and a team silver (2014) -- making them the most decorated figure skaters in Olympic history. They also won three world titles (2010, 2012 and 2017).

"They've rewritten what an ice dance team can do," said Alex Shibutani, who won ice dance bronze with sister Maia in PyeongChang.

"They were born under good stars, they found each other at a young age -- it's a partnership that kept growing," Dubreuil said. "Twenty years of skating together, eyes closed they know what the other one is doing."

Belbin White doesn't hesitate to call her old Canton training partners the G.O.A.T.s (greatest of all time).

"I use that term in reverence," she said. "The facts are in front of you. What else would you call them?"

- IceNetwork

#Tessa and Scott #People talking about Tessa and Scott

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dustindahusky-blog · 5 years

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Would Americans buy a Chinese car?

From my view, yes. Here’s why a Chinese car might stick around long enough to catch on with American buyers.

Cars are pillars of status, privilege, and pride in the USA. The car has truly made its home in our country and to many we often see them as members of the family or a faithful friend. Some like to show off with luxury or sport models or brands to denote their position in their company, neighborhood, or for the thrill of driving something fun or special. Most of us own what I would refer to as a daily driver, a car that gets you to A and B without fuss with creature comforts that make the everyday drive possible and while adding buckets of practically for any adventure. Some own minivans or CUVs/SUVs for hauling stuff around easier or to move large families around with oodles of space. Trucks are great for even bigger hauling and towing things around like boats or trailers of beer or stolen copper wire. However there is a price to pay with all this, depending on brand or model, new or used. Buying a vehicle is quite the important purchase for many. And they aren’t cheap depending on entirely what you’re looking for. And this is where the Chinese auto manufacturers might have a leg on nearly all brands currently selling in the US. This even includes the value leaders of Kia and Hyundai, who have been known to sell cars at more reasonable prices than their competitors and offer more for what you’re buying.

Installing a brand into a new market isn’t easy, however we have seen a template in which new guests into the US auto arena have done very well to get anchored in and to weather to storm ahead. At first European brands immediately after WWII have established themselves and have secured a foothold in the US, so did the Japanese in the mid 1960’s and early 1970’s, the Koreans in the late 80’s and early 90’s, and even late newcomers back on American soil like Tesla in the 2010’s have found their way to be taken seriously on the big stage. That successful template is offer something special or affordable in value, or do both. The original Volkswagen Beetle offered affordability, simplicity, and economy that was hard to pass up in the car starved post war era of the late 40’s. So was the Toyota Corona and Corolla of the late 60’s. The Koreans offered the Hyundai Excel that also provided much the same qualities. At the time when they were new, they were “the” disposable car of their time. They did a job well and adequately without many frills, and they were good value for the money for their respected time periods. Even the little Yugo from Socialist Yugoslavia offered the cheapest car in the US that only did the job to get you around town that didn’t get you wet when it rained. They offered both young people and adults who didn’t have a lot of money to spend or who wanted to buy a new car at second hand car prices, cheap affordable wheels they can take home with.

Now it’s 2018, and the brands that introduced themselves humbly during their times are now well established with the American buying public. No longer do we look at brands like Toyota, Honda, or Nissan with skeptical views of cheapness or being unpatriotic of not buying domestic, even today the scrutiny of buying Kia and Hyundai products is nearly nonexistent in our day and age because they have continued to up their quality and value game. Much like the many imports before them, we see them no differently than how we see GM, FoCoMo, and Chrysler-Fiat products. Just another quality brand. However now, there is a catch that we now see today, the import brands that came into our country that once touted affordability have now slowly over the passage of time become a tad out of reach for younger buyers. Yes cars are expensive, but most cars you see on dealer lots tend to be more expensive mid and upper trim option levels for most models, and you have to do some digging around to find a new car that is cheap enough to fit within budget needs. And here’s why this affordability is important with the feasibility of seeing Chinese cars in the US market. The average age of a car in the US is 11 years old, which honestly doesn’t sound that bad, though that feels kinda low. I’d feel it’s more like 15 years old, there are still a ton of older cars still rolling about the hills and the back roads. But whatever it is, people are holding on to them for many reasons. Can’t afford a newer car, maybe with plenty of work done a car could be driven for a lot longer, or maybe life priorities don’t call for the purchase of a newer car.

Now let’s take a look at the Chinese auto industry. The Chinese economy is very much a living example of the Yugoslavian hybrid model of “market socialism”, centralized planning with capitalist competitiveness coexisting well together that promotes more frequent updates or advancements with the goal to sell to the consumer without having industrial or economic waste. Other socialist states didn’t work like this, and how they had vehicle development, marketing, and production was a much more different animal than what is seen in China today. And because of this, China’s automotive industry is has blossomed into many companies producing many models of vehicles for its vast “captive” and export markets. Some companies have properly obtained licensing agreements and their technical packages to produce vehicles, while some others have reverse engineered vehicles to blatantly copy. Their quality ranges from comparable to Western cars we come to expect to just low quality junk that we haven’t seen in cars since the 80’s or 90’s.

If China makes most of our consumer products, cameras, phones, selfie sticks, appliances, industrial equipment and car parts, why not whole cars. Well China did try to extend into our auto market by selling us the Coda electric sedan on the West coast for only a model year from 2012 to 2013, and selling a dismal 117 units. Quality wasn’t where it should have been for the cost of $40k, and initially scheduled to be launched back in 2010 was held back two years due to lack of developmental time for durability. For the first US market launch of a Chinese made car that designed in 2004 on an older Mitsubishi platform, and an electric car right off the bat, no bite and little positive impression.

Now for real, let’s say China markets a car brand for the US that passes Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) and fuel economy/emissions standards, they should start with basic affordable cars that people want to buy. It’s a no brainer that the US market for car sales is a huge market on its own, and even other European companies are envisioning a return back to grab a small slice of the market pie. For one, Americans might draw some skepticism to a Chinese car but the idea of buying a compact or even midsized sedan with loads of options for less than $15-20k is a tantalizing prospect and would buy them up like they did the Yugo. The Yugo did alright for staying in the market from 1985 to 1992, selling 142k units. If you can sell ten thousand cars like how Scion began in 2003, you’ll make a good enough foothold in the market, unless you’re Daihatsu. Sorry Daihatsu, maybe a subject for another day.

What are you going to expect with your Chinese car when you get it. I would expect body panels that don’t align well as they should have, “orange peel” paint finish, interior plastics that look like they won’t last long, sheet metal that might go rusty in a couple years, seat fabric that might rip in not much time, fit and finish overall is generally an afterthought. Again, you’re paying to get pissed off like buying a $3990 Yugo sold new in 1986 (if you could ever find one that sold for that low back then), but remember that you’re buying a set of wheels that’ll get you by for the time being. Much like how people expected Hyundai Excels to be just garbage piles, still preformed the duty of a basic if not agricultural car. But that would be a worst expectation of what a Chinese car could be. Who knows, maybe if the Chinese are that serious about the US market, they’ll build a separate assembly line like the Zastava factory who built the Yugo for the USDM. Here’s a scary thought, we all know how much of a mixed bag the Yugo was in the US, and to think the ones that made it here were built better on another assembly line meant for our market, I can’t imagine what the Yugoslavian market Yugos were like.

Much like every cheap and affordable car that introduces itself to our market, expect it to have little to no resale value to speak of, however you’re not really expecting to sell this car if you were looking at buying one. In your situation, you’re buying your first car for the first time or needing a second car, something to get you rolling for the time being. Whether if you’re in college or in highschool, or down on your luck with an older car that kept falling apart. The idea that you could buy a Chinese car for peanuts is something that’ll get the job done, and not care much about what you’re driving. You’re not expecting mind bending performance or luxury, you know what you’re getting into if you do, and the more you accept this the better. I mean no Toyota Corolla was ever sporty in the 70’s, it was the car you bought after the Ford Falcon finally rusted away and you needed to buy something fast so you can still go to night class. And if there were Chinese cars in the market here to buy, I’d buy one to drive it into the ground to either save up for a better car or just to buy another if one wasn’t enough. In the world of millennials sometimes having no credit or shit credit could transpire into a hairy situation of sticking with a rusty 90’s Nissan Sentra affectionately named “Liam Nissan” that eats too much oil or asking your aunt to buy her equally rusty Plymouth Breeze with empty cigarette packs scattered around. You’d rather buy a Chevy Cruze however you’re afraid that one for $10k and 83K miles might end up needing routine maintenance that you couldn’t afford to pull off on the spot and any new Kia Rio found on a dealer lot is still thousands over the mythical minimum sticker price. Hell, if a Chinese car was too expensive brand new, wait a year and you could even get one for sub $6-8k prices, maybe even less.

Honestly I’m really surprised that the Chinese haven’t entered our market yet, they have entered the European zone and been a huge mainstay in Russia (I guess Ladas aren’t cheap enough for them) for years now. They can range from cheap to really adequate modes of transportation, even something to own for more than you really require of it. The Chinese have been making Audi’s, BMW’s, and Buick’s with huge demands because they have been grand sellers in terms of luxury, and they tend to be of quality similar to their genuine originals. Whatever the Chinese do throw out us someday, we’ll gladly be in open arms for cheaper alternatives to newer, or really used cars. Plus, we Americans love to rip on unknown shitboxes, then in 15 years’ time we are buying them by the thousands. Who would guess in 1966 that Toyota would be producing quality luxury sporty cars under the Lexus brand. In 1995 when Kia would one day be producing a car like the Stinger that is chasing around other RWD sport sedans. In 1992 the Yugo going on to better things….oh wait we ran out of Yugoslavia by then. Mhmmmm we never really did get the Tata Nano here in the states (who remembered when that came out, $3000 car that had a fire problem), even though that there was an interest for a short while. In 1970 Americans wouldn’t expect Datsuns to be called “Datsun by Nissan” in 1984 and just Nissan by 1985. Import brands change and morph in the fluid of time, and many are still here. I wouldn’t be surprised if a Chinese brand turns out to be a good seller in 5-10 years time much like how the other imports started out.

And apparently on a quick google search, it seems that the Chinese auto company GAC has an interest in joining the US market in late 2019. Under the local Chinese brand name….Trumpchi. They are serious, and honestly their vehicles don’t look that bad either. In fact they would fit right in with this country. They are figuring out a newer name to use in North America. No one is certain how reliable a new Chinese car will be in the states, but if it’s cheap don’t expect it to last forever.

If you made it this far, hurray! If you like my rambling, you’d like what I’d have in store in the future. If you don’t, well, I’m still going to write it down anyways. :D

Keep zooming!

#DustinDaHusky autos ramblings Chinese cars furry

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gentlemansaurusrex · 5 years

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A Way with Words

Hey guys, I am starting my blog posts back up for the season. I am finally stepping away from university life with my MA in History! With that announcement, I plan to step up my own game by posting weekly apart from crazy stuff going on. An example of this would be wedding prep or holidays, and sometimes people get sick too. Anyways, aside from minor housekeeping announcements, I thought I would kick off this new season with the history of slang. Now, I am going to give credit where credit is due. I got this idea from my friend, Will Cloud, and a cool sticker that said: “Now that’s the tea” or something along those lines. This intrigued me into our topic, the history of slang. I am now going to do my best to do a timeline of slang from the 1920s to now. With this, I will be discussing several different slang terms per era.

The 1920s was a hoping time. Everyone and their cousins were hitting up the town if you lived in more urban areas. One way that people would get around the city would be the use of streetcars or trolleys before busses and subways became more prominent. I grew up going to San Francisco every now and then, so I grew up with the sights of a typical trolley flying through the streets near the piers. A slang one would often hear was “Now you’re on the trolley”. What this phrase meant was that you understand something correctly. An example of this would be Guy A stating that he is finally understanding his math homework while Guy B replies with “Now you’re on the trolley!” Since I still have a lot of ground to cover in this timeline, I will leave the 1920s with this one last slang, “the bee’s knees”. The origins of this phrase are unclear, but it represents the height of greatness in something. In the 20s, there was also a time where attributing animals to something was fashionable. Other terms like the above are: “the cat’s pajama’s”, “the bullfrog’s beard”, “the eel’s ankles” etc. As a huge history nerd, I started to re-use “the bee’s knees” and “the cat’s pajamas” in the early 2010s while in high school. While the 1920s is the height of slang, we must move forward to the era of the Great Depression, the 1930s.

While looking through a list of 1930s slang, I came across the word “Abyssinia”. To say the least, I got overexcited. Abyssinia was the former name of the Empire of Ethiopia controlling the countries of Ethiopia and Eritrea located on the western horn of Africa. The name Abyssinia roughly lasted from the 13th century to the 20th century. While that is a cool tidbit about the former Ethiopian Empire, the 1930s slang comes from slurring the phrase “I’ll be seeing you”. This era was also known for the police, whether it would be the end of prohibition of Bonnie and Clyde, police officers had several slang nicknames. My friend Emily told me about the origins of the word “cop” which is a phrased used now in 2019. This refers to the copper star that police officers would often wear, being called “coppers”. In 1931, the comic known as Dick Tracy came out. While Dick is a shortened version of the name Richard, that was not the case. This slang was appropriately used compared to today, as slang for a shortened way of saying, detective. The last police related term that I will leave before going into the 1940s is “gumshoes”. A Gumshoe was another word for a detective, but it also means a stealthy detective. The reason for this description was that the shoe detectives commonly wore were made from Indian Gum Tree rubber, having a soft and silent sole. With the 1940s, we begin the Second World War.

With World War Two happened for the first half of the 1940s and the Cold War following, there was a lot of neat slang coming out. One slang that is still used today is “dope”. Dope typically was referred to marijuana, but with WW2 going on, the phrase typically associated itself with reliable information. Like “what’s the scoop”, people would say “what’s the dope”. That usage has gone away, so today people say dope when referring to something cool. Since the 1940s was full of military jargon such as FUBAR (ask privately for the definition), we have one of my favorite sayings, “joe”. While I am biased because my best friend’s name is Joe, I just love coffee. Joe’s origins appeared in a military manual for officers in 1931 referring to a drink mixture of java and mocha, a jamoke. One other origin is that coffee was the drink of the common man, who was often named Joe, Joey, or Joseph. Onto the 1950s!

The 1950s was a great time to be alive despite social issues within the U.S. and the constant fear of the Soviet Union. My favorite slang that I often say sarcastically is “Isn’t he/she a dreamboat”. Honestly, compared to some other the other slang we’ve discussed, this is self-explanatory. It means someone thinks your cute or fancies you. Think of the iconic moment in Back to the Future where Marty’s mom called him a dreamboat (weird example but we’re going with it). This next slang, “oddball” is something I have been unashamedly been called before. Again, not creative compared to other eras, but it simply means that someone is odd. I don’t understand why the ball portion is involved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJAx99MZ6Jo

The 1960s was a rough era. The conflict in Vietnam was starting to affect everyone with news reporting on it daily. The 1960s also had some fashion that I have unfortunately seen come back to the 2010s. With weird fashion, there is also weird slang. “Bogart” is one of those words. The origins of this word are confusing, but it is of the Dutch referring to “keeper of orchards”. Humphrey Bogart, who I would consider a “dreamboat” does not fit the description of this slang which means “to keep for yourself”. As Marshall from the show How I Met Your Mother once said in Italian, “Don’t bogart the funyuns”. A famous slang for a person during the era was a “hippy” which meant that they were a free-spirited or unconventional person that went against the norm or current culture of The 1960s.

In a way, this era was just an extension of the 1960s when it came to culture. Movies and movie theatres had become a big deal by the 1940s, but in the 1970s a whole new culture would emerge from the slang “May the force be with you.” Back in The 70s, people would just quote this for the sake of the movie. However, it has become a euphemism for “Good Luck”. While researching this topic, one slang word came up several times with different definitions that essentially all mean the same thing. That word was “Bad”. As confusing as it is, it was used as an opposite of the original definition. So bad is good or bad is nice.

Now we get to the era of Ronald Reagan, great music, and even greater movies, the 1980s. A famous phrase that came about from the movie The Breakfast Club where the character Bender defiantly tells Mr. Vernon “eat my shorts”. This phrase was the 80s equivalent to the post-modern response of “sucks to suck”. It is simply a response to say to someone who is putting you down. Bart Simpson also used to say this several times on The Simpsons which was all ad-lib. The other iconic phrase from the 80s was the term “yuppie”. A yuppie was a Young Urban Professional. Typically, a yuppie was a white male or female who was ambitious on their goals and careers. They were interested in daily events only to further themselves rather understand what went around them. It was a clash against the hippies who were most often parents of yuppies. Even though I was born in the 90s, I feel as if I went through the 80s mainly through my mom’s influence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgITiiOYxvM

Most of the slang that I do use today consists of 90s material. My personal all-time favorite slang that I say regardless of situation or gender is “dude”. Dude comes from two different words and phrases, “doodle” and “dandy”. Essentially, calling someone a dude back when this phrase was first created in the 19th century was to call someone a dandy. While looking through the slang of The 90s, a good majority was inappropriate. There were a few appropriate terms that had been used in other eras. It turns out that the 90s wasn’t that creative with slang, but rap music did help with slang. For example, O.G. which stands for “Original Gangsta” came into play. Seeing as I am a white nerdy guy who listens to everything, I don’t think I can do this phrase any justice by speaking it. Even this phrase came out of the 70s but became more fluent in The 90s. Simply, this phrase is kind of self-explanatory meaning “the first”.

Now we enter a new millennium with the 2000s. Much of the 2000s had internet slang so I will throw one into this bunch. I use this term jokingly, “Bromance”, The best way I could describe a bromance is having a jokingly non-romantic relationship with another guy, a strong guy and guy friendship. Sure, it is awkward at times, but so is most of the slang from The 2000s. The most iconic internet slang that became used in the real world was “lol” or “laugh out loud”. If someone online had a told a funny joke or a funny situation happened, someone would type lol. I know in high-school some of my fellow friends would verbally say lol. I never understood it because laughing looks better than sounding like an idiot. That’s my honest opinion so you can fight me on that if you want. With the 2010s, we conclude this long arduous wordy post.

To be honest, I cannot stand 2010s slang. There are phrases such as “on fleek”, “its lit”, “fam”, “Gucci”, and “Bae”. I know I am missing a lot but, that’s all I can stomach. “on fleek” is essentially another way to say, “on point”. “its lit” is another way of saying cool. “fam” is what I am guessing is the shorter way to say family, but what it represents is that “fam” is one’s close friend group. “Gucci” besides being a designer product, means “you’re good or that’s cool”. Lastly, we have the infamous “bae”. Since I go to a Christian university, I have heard it jokingly as “before anyone else”, but in reality, it means “babe”. It’s literally one letter off being a normal word. As a guilty pleasure, I jokingly call my fiancée “bae” or some of my close bromantic guy friends. With next year being the roaring 2020s. I hope that we can come up with our own unique phrases or at least recycle some older, heartier phrases.

Special shoutouts: To Will Cloud for giving me this idea, Emily Parrow for giving me the idea about police officers/detectives, my mom for her 80s wisdom, and to my future wife for editing this!

Next Week: I think I will be writing about the adventures of T. E. Lawrence. If y’all have any suggestions let me know!

#ridiculoushistory

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