#anyways it was brilliant please watch the new season when it officially drops

[bin-baby]

Just watched the Good Omens season 2 premier in theater, and all I can say is... the fan fics and fan art are going to go HARD this season

[fyregrayfong]

Could you write a angst turned fluff for Lin x female or gender neutral reader?

Bonus points if the reader is a firebender. You don’t have to tho :)))

okay, so I’m gonna have to split this into parts because weeee boi 

do I write a lot.

Fun Fact: This story was a piece I was thinking of adding to my Book 4 of See You At The Station Series. Idk If I will still use it, but I did change the Reader to a fire bender per your request. ;)

Reunion (Lin x Reader)

This is set after the whole Zaheer (within the three year gap)

“Thanks for agreeing to accompany me tonight, Cin” you gave your date a gentle smile

“If I didn’t, you would make some excuse to leave early. What of our potential investors and buyers?”

You laugh as you fix your collar while looking at the rearview mirror “It’s always about business with you.”

“Here let me help” Cinder offers and reaches over to fix the collar laying it out then flattens out the suit jacket. Your cheeks slightly blush of the close proximity. Cinder slowly looks up and meets your eyes.

You clear your throat as you straighten up “thanks”

She gives you a warm smile as she sits back into her seat and puts on her seatbelt “don’t mention it. Let’s go”

Asami was invited to attend a state dinner in Republic City as she has been coming up with plans on modernizing Republic City's Central City Station. Asami had a stroke of inspiration on the tram designs and wanted to work on the ramifications. So she couldn’t attend so you offered to go as a representative for Future Industries. Rather than attend this dinner by yourself, you decide to take Cinder.  The Head of Automotive Interiors for the Satomobile. You and Cinder, a firebender, have become friends in the past six months after going through a bad breakup. You decided it would be a good idea to bring a fellow designer to talk up the next line of Satomobiles while you talked about the business.

Walking up the steps into the government building where the state dinner was being held. You smoothed down your suit jacket and let out a deep exhale. “You good?” Cinder looped her arm around yours giving your hand a gentle tap. Looking over you nodded your head “yeah, all good.” you reassured her and gave her a smile before walking the both of you toward the doors giving the guard your invitation.

“There’s president Raiko, we should introduce ourselves” Cinder looks at you and she starts walking both of you towards his direction. “Mr. President” Cinder approached and Raiko’s brows raised as he saw you giving you a big smile, “Captain y/n! So nice to see you here!” he extended his arms.

You smiled politely before gently correcting him “that’s former Captain, Sir. I no longer hold that position, remember? I’m now working along with Ms. Sato at Future Industries as partner and Head Designer.”

You and Raiko grab each other’s forearms in greeting as you give a firm shake “Right, sorry Ms. y/n, but is it okay if I call you Captain still? Despite the trouble in the city you held that position well. Wonder what happened.” He spoke as his security team covered him, keeping him safe while the perimeter was protected with RCPD’s finest. He took out his metal cigar canister taking one out.

“Uh...sure I guess although I’m not sure how the current Captain will take it” you looked around before looking back at Raiko as he is looking for a lighter “oh allow me Sir. If I may of course”

Raiko looks back at you and gives you a nod and you flick your finger, a flame coming out. An officer approaches to stop you but Raiko puts his hand up to prevent him as you continue lighting the cigar for him. “Thank you, Cap”

“Anytime, President Raiko.”

Cinder nudges you and fakes a cough giving you a cue “oh right so sorry” you apologized and turned dropping your arm down as you direct the attention to your date. “Mr. President, I would like to introduce you to Cinder, our brilliant Head of Automotive Interior of our successful satomobiles. She has been working diligently with our creative team on creating a beautiful car in the next season.”

Raiko gently shakes Cinder’s hand as she gives him a smile and respectfully bows “Mr. President, pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh no the pleasure is all mine. Are you two?” he eyes and points at the two of you. Your cheeks slightly blush “no no, sir. Purely business associates. We’re friends of course but just colleagues.” you clear your throat trying to bring down the head to your face.

“My apologizes”

“It’s okay, I understand with my arm around hers and our clothes slightly matching. I’m also from the Fire Nation.” Cinder tries explaining and you gently put your hand on her back and whisper in her ear “I think that’s good Cin.” you smile at President Raiko as he nods understanding “I don’t judge.” there’s an awkward silence before Raiko’s assistant comes up and whispers in his ear. Raiko speaks up, turning back to the both of you “Well I hope you enjoy the state dinner.”

You and Cinder bowed to the president before Cinder rubs her eyes “I blew it didn’t I?” she whispered. “Noooooo not at all.” you tried to assure her when she glares up at you and you laugh softly “it’s okay. He’s going to forget about it by the end of the night.”

A waiter with a tray of drinks comes by and you grab two glasses handing one to Cinder “Here this should take the edge off” you pass her a glass and watch as she downs it quick then grabs the one that you intended for yourself and downed it as well.

“Uh...that was for me…” you looked at Cinder then down at the two glasses in your hands

“Crap, I’m sorry”

“No worries, this isn’t my kind of drink anyways. Feeling better?” another waiter comes by and you set the two empty glasses on the passing tray. Cinder gives you a wide smile and nods “loads better. We should be meeting with these important officials on transporting vehicles for sales.” Cinder grabs your hand and tugs you along, but you stop. “Woah, how about you speak with Ambassador Zeng from the Earth Kingdom while I grab myself a drink from the bar.”

“Seeing as I took your glass back there. Fine. See you soon” Cinder gives you a smile before she heads over and approaches Ambassador Zeng.

You sigh as you near the outdoor bar unbuttoning your suit jacket as you wave a hand at the bartender, “a Pegu Club please” you order and the bartender nods as she starts pouring some gin, curaçao, lime juice, and bitters into the shaker with crushed iced. She starts giving it a good shake before pulling out a chilled cocktail glass and pouring the drink in it, finishing it off with a twisted lime and hands it to you. You gave her a nod and raised the drink in appreciation before taking a sip. Once you savored the alcohol you felt your shoulders relax.

“New haircut? Surprised to see you here”, it’s been a while since you heard that voice. It still gave you an effect as you felt the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. You inhaled before turning around and placing a smile on your face, “Chief Beifong, I’m sorry I can’t say the same. Figured I’d run into you sometime throughout the night, but it seems like you ran into me.” you calmly spoke as you took another sip from your drink.  

“Pegu Club?” she eyes the glass then up at you as a little bit of your facade escapes but you try regaining it and look away. “Yes, it is” you tap on the glass.

“At least some things never change...” She looks away at the surrounding scene, before her eyes look back at you. Noticing your physical changes, for once you’re dressed in a fire nation suit and your hair once long in length has been cut short. It looks nice on you, Lin thinks. Though the thing she couldn’t stop looking at were those eyes she missed. The bright amber eyes that seem to look like glowing embers from a fire. Sometimes it brought a shiver down her spine in the way you looked at her at night.

“It’s a favorite-” your voice brings her back from her thoughts and she looks back at you.

“I know….” a sudden softness slips from her voice, causes you to look up and meet those jade eyes. It causes you to lose your breath for a second that you need to take another sip to regain some control. Pegu Club was one of your go to drinks and Lin would often order it for you at restaurants and even tried to prepare it for you at home. Home.

“It’s good to see you Lin-I mean- Chief Beifong. I should get going. I left my partner alone long enough.” you stepped forward and started walking when Lin grabbed your arm to stop you “that Fire Nation girl you gallivanted in with? You sure have a sweet spot for fire nation don’t you?” she looked at you talking under her breath.

“What are you insinuating?” you looked down at her then darted your eyes around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. Lin doing the same. “Say it”

“Don’t act daft. First Iris and now her.” Lin put an extra emphasis on the word and you arch your brow up. Lin thinks you and Cinder are together. Is she jealous?

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Lin. Please let go.” you mutter back and Lin’s grip loosens as you smooth the sleeve and button it up. “Now, if you excuse me, Chief. I have business to attend to” you bowed your head and walked away. Lin watched you go and pinched the bridge of her nose as she cursed herself for acting like this.

-/-

After talking to various ambassadors and important officials at the dinner making influences and possible deals with the neighboring cities and nations. Cinder and you decided to leave a couple of hours early before the festivities were to end.

“If you wanted to stay, I could have left you the car and I could’ve called a cap” you smiled as you walked Cinder down the steps to the valet. “Nonsense, what fun would I have with you gone.” she nudges you and you laugh nudging her back.

“I’m glad you came. I needed a friend tonight and glad you helped with the pitches. Hopefully we’ll hear from the assistants tomorrow morning on scheduling test runs and meetings.” you talked as the valet driver handed you the keys and you opened the door for Cinder. Cinder smiles and gives you a kiss on the cheek before squeezing it “look at you opening doors for me. So cute, but I could’ve done that myself” you laugh as you rub your cheek “I know, but let me do something nice.”

Cinder rolls her eyes and gets in the car as you close the door for her and starts walking around to the driver’s side. You open the door before looking up and see Lin talking to one of her officers and she turns her head and looks at you.

You sigh and tilt your head down on the roof of the car before you run your hand through your hair, “I’ll be right back, I forgot something” you told Cinder before you stepped back and walked over toward the Chief of Police as she orders the officer back to their post, “leaving so soon?” she folds her arms as you exhale “uh.. Yeah busy morning at work” you slide your hands in your slack pockets. Lin looks over your shoulder then back at you “is that what you’re calling it?”

You roll your eyes and look away “you can just say it Lin”

“Say what?”

“That you’re jealous for starters.” you smirk a bit as Lin rolls her eyes and shrugs “I’m not.”

“Sure, so you insinuating falsely over the relationship between my colleague and I twice in one night has nothing to do with you being jealous.” you pulled your arms out and folded your arms looking at the chief of police. The night late and a sudden chill with a couple party goers starting to leave and head to the valet.

“I have work to do” Lin snarls as she drops her arms and starts to turn. You step forward and touch her arm but quickly retract it “If you want to talk, really talk. I’m going to head back to my office after dropping Cinder off”

“Cinder?” Lin pursed her lips and you sighed getting the car keys from your pocket “office”. You sternly looked at her before you turned and walked back to the car. Getting in the car and starting it up “everything okay with the Chief?” Cinder looks at you as you slowly let go of the clutch and apply equal pressure to the gas, driving out of the area “yeah, just wanted to check up on former bosses. It was nice to see the chief” you look straight down the road as you drive away from downtown. “That lady scares me. She’s so intimidating.” Cinder taps on the window then decides to roll down the window as you let out a chuckle “yeah, she can be, but once you get to know her she isn’t all that bad” you turn a street and drive down the bridge until you reached Shassa Village. “You had to live in one of the fire nation neighborhoods.” a light chuckle as you looked at the street signs. “Well do I need to remind you that I am a fire nation lady” she ends in a sing-song tone.

“Yeah, but just because you’re from the fire nation doesn’t mean you have to stay in a fire nation borough.”

Cinder shrugs and smiles “it reminds me of home. Is that a problem?”

“No, of course not” you smile back as you pull up to Cinder’s townhome “alright, here we are.” you shift the gear stick in park, “thanks for the ride and for tonight”. Cinder gets out of the car and closes the door “See you bright and early tomorrow morning” she taps your car roof then walks up the steps and opens her door to give you a wave and you wave back, driving off.

-/-

Rubbing the back of your neck as you stare at your drafting table looking over the sketches you drew in the past two hours. Drinking the glass of whiskey you’re holding then rubs your eyes. It’s been the third straight night that you’ve snuck back to your office to work. Stifling a yawn then quickly blink as you set your glass down and grab your brush and softly brush off the eraser shavings from your drafting papers and get your pencil and compass to work on the new satomobile’s curves. You were planning on presenting a new line of satomobile, a luxury line. This new car would be sleeker with curves, integration of phones into the cars into the Public Switched Telephone Network of Republic City, and a better radio system.

-/-

Lin was able to secure and made sure everyone left the area safe and sound while her men checked surrounding areas. Saikhan approached the chief “I saw the state dinner was a success.”

“It seems it had” Lin gruffed back as she watched her men work

“Were my eyes deceiving me or did I catch Cap in the night? Did you request them to help us with the security intel?” He looked at the metalbending officers packing up the squad cars before looking at the chief.

“No, former captain y/n was here as a guest. It appears Ms. Sato couldn’t make it so y/n had to come as a representative for Future Industries.”

“Some snazzy date they had” he commented and Lin glared at Saikhan “apparently they’re just colleagues” she muttered and Saikhan nodded “So you two talked?”

“We ran into each other at the bar earlier in the night”

“Did y/n want their job back? As much as I hate to admit it, they were a damn good detective and leader” he gruffed as he folded his arms.

“No, let’s head back to headquarters. I don’t want to hear a word from your wife about how late I’ve kept you. All because you wanted to gossip.” Lin dropped her arms and started walking away, thinking back to her interactions with you throughout the night. Never forgetting how you looked and worked around the room.

-/-

You looked up at the clock and noticed it was nearing 2 in the morning. “I should leave now and get some sleep on an actual bed”, you muttered to yourself as you stood up from your drafting table and walked over to your desk to grab your jacket. You turned around to look out your office window as you fixed your sleeves and collar. A part of you was upset that a certain chief of police didn’t show up, although you understood. She had a job to do tonight and she most likely had better more important things to do. You sighed then finished off the whiskey left in your glass before setting it down on your counter. As you’re cleaning up your desk you hear the door open across from you “I’m sorry Jed. I know I promised to leave sooner, but-” you shuffle some papers into your portfolio.

“If you’re going to keep Jed up this late. He should get a raise or at least buy the poor boy a coffee. He was practically asleep when I saw him”

Your eyes widened as you placed your palms on the desk and slowly looked up. Lin standing across from you. Slowly stand up straight and walk around your desk “We provide our security with the amenities. I would have to check up on that later.”

For a second there was silence between the two of you and you were unsure of what to say “I wasn’t sure you would show up...”

“Neither did I...”

[mrsmarymorstan]

Now Furuba S2 is over, what now?

I’m already seeing a lot of people asking for recommendations now the S2 Sub is over; so this is a list of series that I think you’ll enjoy if you like Furuba! 

All platforms listed are true for the UK, but might not be for other residences. More viewing options may be available in other territories. 

Unless specified, All Manga/Comic recs are available from regular bookstores and EBook Stores. If you’re in the UK I’ll suggest checking out Hive, which is an online store where a potion of each sale goes towards a Local Independent Bookstroe of your choice! They also have flat-rate free shipping! 

Okay, so the actual recs! (I got lazy in some places and used the official synopisis) 

Romance

Convenience Store Boyfriends Funimation (Dub) Crunchyroll (Sub) 12 Eps Total 

“Six high school boys hang out at a local convenience store where they talk about their daily lives. Haruki Mishima and Towa Honda are first year students looking forward to the high school experience. Alongside them, there’s Nasa Sanagi, the only member of the cooking research club. Natsu Asumi is a loner but has third year students, Mikado Nakajima and Masamune Sakurakoji, looking out for him.“

Kaguya-sama: Love is War S1 - Crunchyroll, Funimation (Sub) S2 Funimation (Sub/Dub) 24 eps - Ongoing Manga: 18/20 volumes available in English 

“Known for being both brilliant and powerful, Miyuki Shirogane and Kaguya Shinomiya lead the illustrious Shuchiin Academy as near equals. And everyone thinks they’d make a great couple. Pride and arrogance are in ample supply, so the only logical move is to trick the other into instigating a date! Who will come out on top in this psychological war where the first move is the only one that matters?”

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun Netflix (Dub/Sub), Crunchyroll (Sub) 12 Eps Total Manga: 12/12 volumes available in English 

“High school student Chiyo Sakura has a crush on schoolmate Umetarou Nozaki. When she confesses her love to him, he mistakes her for a fan and gives her an autograph. When she says she wants to be with him, he invites her to his house and has her help on some drawings. Sakura discovers that Nozaki is actually a renowned shōjo manga artist working under the pen name Sakiko Yumeno. She agrees to be his assistant in order to get closer to him. As they work on his manga Let's Fall in Love they encounter other schoolmates, who assist them and serve as inspirations for the story.”

Snow White With the Red Hair Funimation (Dub/Sub) 24 Eps Total Manga: 9/22+ volumes available in English. Anime ends Vol. 8 

“In the kingdom of Tanbarun lives an independent young pharmacist named Shirayuki. Shirayuki is a plain girl, save for her shock of beautiful apple-red hair. Her stunning mane gets her noticed by the prince, but instead of romancing her, he demands she be his concubine. Shirayuki chops off her lovely locks, and runs away to the neighboring kingdom where she befriends a handsome stranger.”

Tsuruedure Children Funimation (Dub), Crunchyroll (Sub) 12 Eps Total Manga (Ebook only) 12/12 Volumes available in English

“Short and charming comedic vignettes offer a quick glimpse into the unique and funny situations, misunderstandings, and all around confusion that can happen in a high school romance. For starters, there’s a story about a delinquent girl and the student council president, and one about a stoic boy confused about an emotional girl. Relive the charm of high school romance!”

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku Amazon Prime (Sub) 11 Eps Total Manga: 4/9 volumes available in english 

Looking for a slice of life romance but you’re an actual adult now and don’t want to read about teenagers? Try Wotakoi! It combines office romance with childhood friends-to-lovers. Narumi is a Fujoshi who doesn’t want anyone to find out the truth of her ways, Hirotaka is a Game Otaku who doesn’t care what anyone says about it, together they go about the ins-and-outs of dating as an adult. 

Coming of Age

BOFURI: I don’t want to get hurt, so I’ll max out my defence Funimation (Dub/Sub) 12 Eps Ongoing 

“She may be new to gaming, but Maple has found the secret to invincibility! Just put all your skill points into defense until you can't even move. That works, right? She doesn't want to experience any pain in the VRMMO game she started playing, and somehow it works better than anyone expected. Now she's got followers??”

Brand New Animal Netflix (Dub/Sub) 12 Eps Total 

“Set in a world where humanoid animals (known as beastmen) inhabit Earth, the series centers on Michiru Kagemori, a young teenage girl who one day suddenly starts turning into a tanuki beastman. Running away, she seeks refuge in Anima City, a city built for beastmen to be able to live peacefully as themselves, and ends up meeting a wolf beastman named Shirou Ogami. Together, they investigate how and why Michiru became a beastman, becoming mixed up in even stranger events in the process.”

Hyouka Funimation (Dub/Sub) 23 Eps Total 

“A worthy addition to any animation fan's collection, Hyouka is a stunning masterwork that spins a charming tale of high school romance and mystery. After disenchanted student Hotaro Oreki joins his school’s Classic Lit Club, he meets Eru Chitanda, a kindhearted and inquisitive girl with boundless curiosity and a knack for getting him caught up in all sorts of trouble.”

Koto Oto Tomara! Sounds of Life Funimation (Dub/Sub) 24 Eps Total 

“Down to its last member, the koto club will accept anyone who is interested in the traditional Japanese instrument. But when a delinquent and a prodigy player sign up, finding harmony isn’t going to be easy—especially not with ensemble competitions looming around the corner. With enough time and some incredible skill at the strings, perhaps this motley crew can strike a chord with the judges.“

O Maidens in your Savage Season HIDIVE (Dub/Sub) 12 Eps Total Manga: 7/8 volumes available in English (8th available for pre-order) 

The series follows a High School Literature club as they make their nervous first foray into the nature of sexuality. What is the difference between sexual attraction and romantic attraction? Does watching porn mean wanting to have sex? What are these strange feelings I am having down below? Why are boys so gross and girls so pretty? Each girl undergoes their own journey and finds their own destination, a brutally honest yet heart warming look at teenage female sexuality. 

CW: Sexual Assault, pedophilia (both portrayed as BAD AND TERRIBLE things) 

Our Dreams at Dusk Manga: 4/4 volumes available in English 

IF YOU ONLY CONSUME ONE THING ON THIS LIST MAKE IT THIS!!!!! The series is the VERY DEFINITION of “It Gets Better”. 

After his classmates discover some gay pornography on his phone, Tasuku Kaname contemplates committing suicide. Just as he’s about to jump, he spots a mysterious figure parkouring down a mountain. Shocked out of his moment, he decides to go and investigate what’s happening and finds an LGBT+ Drop In Centre. The series follows the lives of the people in the drop in centre, from Haruko who wishes to marry her closeted girlfriend, to Misora who is still trying to figure out what their gender is but has the threat of puberty hovering of their shoulder. 

It’s very clear that Kamatani-sensei has written this story FOR the Queer Community. It’s a truly beautiful story. Please give it your money if you can, so that Kamatani-sensei can actually earn some money, and so that Seven Seas know that there is a viable audience for these stories! So that we may get more content!

Reverse Harem 

Fruits Basket is NOT a reverse Harem, but i figure there’ll be some fan crossover. 

Kiss Him, Not Me Cruncyroll (sub) Funimation Dub available on DVD etc. 12 Eps Total Manga 14/14 volumes available in English

“Kae Serinuma believes one thing—princes belong together! As an avid boy’s love fan, she loves nothing more than fantasizing about faux relationships between the boys at her school. But when she loses weight due to the stress of her favorite anime character dying suddenly the boys want…her?! From pretty average to prettiest girl, Kae just wants these boys to date each other, not her!”

Sub uses an irritating “Silly Fat Person” voice that the Dub doesn’t. CW for Sexual Assult, though it is depicted as a BAD thing and used for Kae to question why she is so into it when reading BL, when IRL it is terrifying? 

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom Crunchyroll (Dub/Sub) 12 Eps Total 

A TRULY Bisexual harem! After bumping her head, young Katarina Claes awakens with all the memories of her past life... and promptly realises she’s been re-incarnated as the antagonist of her favourite Otome Game! Determined this time to live past the age of 17, Katarina starts to make plans to turn all her enemies into allies through the power of kindness and understanding! Throughout the series, she tries harder and harder to avoid her doom flags... without realising that she’s turned those doom flags into romance flags! 

Katarina lives out the fantasy of going to magic school and eating cake as all the pretty people fall head over heels for her. A pity she’s too dim to notice.

Ouran High School Host Club Funimation (Dub/Sub) 24 eps total Manga: 18/18 volumes available in english 

Set in the high class elite private school of Ouran High, the Host Club exist to provide entertainment for the ladies of the school. Looking for a quiet place to study, Haruhi Fujioka, stumbles across the Host Club and in their haste to leave they knock over an ¥8,000,000 vase. Now she must earn that money back by working for the Host Club, all the while disguising the fact that she’s a girl. Not that she ever felt much like a girl before hand anyway. Along the way, she gets to know better the Cool Kyoya, the flamboyant Tamaki, the Mischievous Hikaru & Kaoru, the Strong and Silent Mori-senpai and the adorable Honey-senpai. Comedic Hijinks ensue! 

Slice of Life

The Emperor and I Manga: 4/4 volumes available in English on Shonen Jump App 

One day Kaho returns home from school to find an Emperor Penguin in her fridge. He quickly becomes a beloved part of the family, but a secret to the rest of the world who would want to take him away from them. Hijinks ensue. 

Kakushigoto Funimation (Dub/Sub) 12 Eps Total 

Doting single father, Kakushi Goto, is determined to hide the fact that he writes echhi humour manga for a living. He couldn’t bare it if his daughter were to ever find out the truth, the shame of his profession only alienating her. A laugh out loud series that will suddenly cut you deep as it explores the nature of grief and familial love. 

My Brother’s Husband Manga: 2/2 volumes available in English 

“Yaichi, a stay-at-home single father, lives with his daughter Kana in suburban Tokyo. They are visited by Mike Flanagan, the widower of Yaichi's estranged twin brother Ryōji, who has traveled from his native Canada for three weeks to learn about Ryōji's past. Kana is fascinated by Mike and is immediately accepting of him, though Yaichi is hesitant to accept Mike as family.

While Yaichi is not overtly homophobic, Mike suggests that his tacit discomfort over his brother's sexuality drove a wedge between them that led to their estrangement. Mike's interactions with the family and neighborhood over the subsequent three weeks prompt Yaichi to confront his own prejudices around sex and sexuality, as his growing tolerance and eventual acceptance of Mike parallel his overcoming of his own homophobia.”

Whilst the trope of “the gay brother dies and the heterosexual brother learns not to be homophobic” might be over done in western media, the same is not true for Japan. It’s a heartfelt and honest look at grief and acceptance, as well as how the nature of family is changing all around the world... but attitudes are maybe conservative attitudes aren’t as quick to catch up. 

Nichijou: My Ordinary Life Funimation (Dub/Sub) 

So apparently everyone went “this show is undubbable! It relies too much on puns and untranslatable humour!” and then Howard Wang said “hold my beer” and did it. A bizarre comedy series set in a high school. It’s probably best known for the ongoing fight between the deer and the principal.  

Way of the Househusband Manga: 4/5+ (ongoing) volumes available in English  

After he meets and marries the career driven Miku, Tatsu AKA The Immortal Dragon decides to give up his life of crime to commit to being the worlds’ best husband. You’d be surprised at the transferable skills between a Yakuza enforcer and a house husband. From knowing how to efficiently cut up a slice of meat, to how to perfectly clean a bathroom of all evidence. Hilarious and heartwarming, Taki and Kyoko would be best bros. 

Slice of Life + Supernatural 

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K S1 Funimation (Dub/Sub) 24 episodes Netflix S1 (Dub/Sub) S2 & 3 (Sub) 50 episodes total 

“Saiki Kusuo is a typical 16-year-old high school student… except he has psychic powers. He can use them to get whatever he wants, but he also knows everything that people are thinking. Everything. No surprises, no secrets, no normal human experiences. He’s kept his powers in check since childhood, but with the temptations of high school now on his mind, he’s bending the rules—and spoons.“

Sabrina The Teenage Witch (2019)

Writer Kelly Thompson wears her magical girl influences on her sleeve in this new take on the Archie Classic. Sabrina is your regular teenager, except she is also a witch and so are her aunts. Hijinks (and Card Captor Sakura References) ensue. 

Toilet Bound Hanako-kun Funimation (Dub/Sub) 12 eps total Manga 13/13 Volumes available in English 

“Kamome Academy is rumored to have many mysteries, the strangest of which involves the mischievous ghost of Hanako-kun. When occult-loving high schooler Nene Yashiro accidentally becomes bonded to him, she uncovers a hidden world of supernatural beings. Now the two of them are conspiring to keep the peace between student and supernatural—that is, if they can only stay out of trouble themselves.“

Jughead (2015) 4 Volumes total

Bought to you in various parts by the creators of Squirrel Girl, Jughead combines slice of life with spy thriller, time travel and the joy of a good burger. Hilarious and heart warming, this run holds a special place in my heart as the one where Jughead was confirmed as canonically asexual and continues to express various aro/ace moods throughout the series. There’s a REASON my friends say I’m a Real Life Jughead.... 

Weathering With You - available digitally/physically 28th Sep. 2019

In June 2021, first year high schooler Hodaka Morishima leaves Kōzu-shima in order to get to Tokyo. When his ferry to the city is hit by a rainstorm, he is saved by Keisuke Suga, who runs a small occult magazine that’s looking for an assistant. As Hodaka becomes broke and struggles to find work, he meets Hina Amano, an employee of a McDonald’s restaurant. She takes pity on him and gives him food. After agreeing to work with Suga, Hodaka learns about the legend of the “sunshine girl” who can control the weather! It turns out that the newly unemployed Hina is a sunshine girl! And with her little brother, they start up their own business to bring sunshine to the never-ending rain of Tokyo. 

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches Crunchyroll (Dub/Sub) 12 Episodes Total Manga: 22/28 volumes available in English 

After tripping on the stairs, School Bad Boy Ryu Yamada and Top Student Urara Shiraishi discover they can swap bodies with a kiss! They then learn that they’re not the only ones with magic powers in the school, and with the help of the Supernatural Studies Club they begin to track down the identities of the 7 witches of Suzaku High. 

This series really stretches my limits on fan service, but at least it does proceed to get a little even in terms of gender. It’s still a really rather sweet and romantic series, once you get past the boobs and panties. 

Your Name Netflix (Dub/Sub) Spin Off Manga “Your Name: Another Side: Earthbound” - 2/2 volumes available in English 

A modern take on the Red Sting of Fate mythos, Mitsuha and Taki are two teenagers tied together. Three times a week, Mitsuha will wake up in Taki’s body and live the life of a Tokyo School boy. In turn, Taki will wake up in Mitsuha’s body and learn what it is to be a Rural Shrine Maiden. A look at the bonds that tie us, and how fate won’t let two young people fall apart before they can meet. 

Also the animation is BEAUTIFUL and it made me cry. Like a lot. There’s a spin off manga called “Your Name: Another Side” that follows the same story but from the POV of Mitsuha’s friends and family. It really brings new light to the events and made me very emotional.

Mental Health 

Green Lanterns: Rebirth (2018)

Jessica Cruz suffers from PTSD and severer anxiety, seeing her utalising her will power to overcome those problems and harness that energy to help save the universe is so incredibly powerful and moving. 

Hawkeye (2012-2015) 4 Volumes 

The Fraction/Aja/Wu/Hollingworth Hawkeye run is widely considered one of the best superhero runs of all time. Fraction and Aja perfectly capture “functional depression” at its finest, and we watch as Clint Barton slowly burns all his bridges before being forced by his friends to sort his shit out and put them back together again. There’s also a whole issue that’s primarily written in sign language too. 

My Roomate is a Cat Funimation (Dub) Crunchyroll (Sub) 12 eps total 

“Mystery author Mikazuki would rather live in total isolation than deal with others. Getting a roommate is the last thing he’d ever do, until a stray cat sparks an idea for his next novel. After plucking the little killer off the streets, this four-legged muse inspires Mikazuki in ways he would have never expected. And for the street-wise cat, this human just opened the door to a whole new world.”

A Silent Voice (Manga/Movie) Movie: Netflix (Dub/Sub) 

“A former class bully reaches out to the deaf girl he’d tormented in grade school. He feels unworthy of redemption but tries to make things right.”

CW Attempted Suicide, bullying

Please watch the dub. Lexi Marman Cowden, who voices Shoko, is an ACTUAL hard-of-hearing actress. It makes for a more real and vulnerable performance that avoids the mild ableism of the Sub hiring a Hearing Actress and robot-ising her voice. 

Yuri!!! On ICE Crunchyroll (Sub) Funimation (Dub) 12 eps total 

“Yuri Katsuki makes his way to the Grand Prix ice skating competition as Japan’s top representative with his eyes on the prize. However, instead of celebrating, Yuri walks away defeated and ready to retire for good. But a run-in with champion Viktor Nikiforov and rising star Yuri Plisetsky ignites a new fire within him. With the two of them close by his side, Yuri will take to the ice once more.”

Yuri’s defeat sends him into a very relatable spiral of lack of self belief that he slowly starts to regain thanks to the help of Viktor. Part sports anime, part love story, all full of feels. 

The Dub is considered hit or miss depending on whether you like accents or not, but honestly it’s worth it for Sabat’s Christophe giacometti. Ayame walked, so Christophe could strut. 

Generic 

I’m gonna start by recommending the Shonen Jump App, it’s £1.99/month and gives you access to all their recent publications as well as their back catalogue in English! So you can read all of Boys Over Flowers, Nisekoi, Naruto, One Piece, Haikyuu, Assassination Classroom, My Hero Academia etc. for a fraction of the cost of buying the physicals! SO much manga at your finger tips! No, they don’t sponsor me but i wish they would. 

Astra Lost in Space Funimation (Dub/Sub) 12 Eps Total Manga: 5/5 volumes available in english, available on the Shonen Jump App

A group of teenagers on a school trip become Lost In Space and quickly discover a conspiracy is a foot. Part thriller, part comedy, saying anything more about this series would count as a spoiler given the number of plot twists throughout. 

Radiant Funimation (Dub) Crunchyroll (Sub) 42 eps total Manga: 13/13+ volumes available in english (ongoing series)

A french manga turned into a Japanese Anime.

“Seth, a sorcerer destined to find Radiant, sets his sights on Caislean Merlin for answers. He’s desperate to find out what the Knight Sorcerers know, but can he trust them? In the wake of all that is unknown, he digs deep within himself for the wisdom and confidence to control his powers. And as the world around him continues to grow with more magic and power, he gains strong new allies.”

The series has BIG Saturday Morning cartoon vibes. My 12 year-old self would have been ALL OVER this.

Batman Ninja (Netflix)  

What if a Japanese animation studio asked DC if they could make a batman movie? And then just threw a Japanese history book at it? What if there was time travel? What if the main batman villains were all feudal lords in Japan? What if everyone were Samari? What if Damian had a small animal companion he could communicate with using a flue? What if Jason’s hood was made out of wicker? What if Penguin had a penguin shaped mecha? 

A wild ride from start to finish that makes no sense but really, do you care? 

[ruinedthatfriendship]

If Happy Is Her

A/N: In which Lauren kinda ships it? IDK, this one got weird. Also, I’m pretty sure given the last paragraph that when I originally wrote this, there was supposed to be a part two. So sorry for that. (If anyone really wants me to, I can take a stab at finishing it?)

There were very few things Demi wanted to do less than entertain Lauren Silverman at her kitchen table. But, here she was, awkwardly sliding a cup of coffee across the table to the woman who was a living, breathing reminder of when she wasn’t good enough.

It would have been so much easier if she’d hated her. But Lauren was genuine, and funny, and the sort of person she would have liked to have been friends with, once. If things had been different.

Demi swallowed hard and boosted herself up onto the high stool with a quick smile she wished hadn’t come out so fake. “So...this is a surprise,” she prompted carefully.

Lauren’s answering smile was just as forced, and she traced the handle of the cup Demi had given her, not quite meeting the younger woman’s eyes. She took a deep breath as if to begin speaking, then cut herself off before she could get a single word out.

Anxiety mounting, Demi waited her out. She hadn’t really seen Lauren since the news of her affair with Simon had first come out. There had been a few tense backstage run-ins when she came to the X Factor set, during which Demi had congratulated herself for her civility. She had seen the woman twice more, when she met Eric, but that had been over two years ago.

Simon, Eric, Lauren… she’d thought they were all entirely out of her life. And however much that had hurt, and still hurt, she was learning to make her peace with it. If happy is her, I’m happy for you. She’d written songs until the subject was beaten thoroughly into the ground, three quarters of which never made it out of her notebook. Considering how many songs she did have out with ties back to Simon freaking Cowell, that was saying something.

“Thank you,” Lauren said suddenly, softly, shaking Demi out of her thoughts. “You didn’t have to see me,”

Demi shrugged. “You were on my literal doorstep,” she pointed out, earning a weak laugh from the woman sitting across from her.

“Demi,” Lauren tried, then paused again. “There’s something you need to know.”

Demi tried to take a steadying breath, but it didn’t stop her mind from leaping to wild conclusions. “Is...is Eric okay?” she ventured suddenly. “Simon?”

Pain flitted across Lauren’s features, but she smiled a bit more genuinely. “No, they’re fine. They’re fine. I just…” She pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and squared her shoulders. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think this would be quite this hard.”

Demi said nothing, and took a sip of her drink. Tea today, like the brand she used to frequently steal from Simon’s kitchen. She would never have made it if she’d known Lauren would show up--one slap in the face of past memories was enough for a day.

“I thought he was going to hurt himself,” Lauren blurted, earning a wide-eyed look of alarm from Demi over the rim of the mug. “He called me...I still don’t really know what it was about. He was so drunk, I told him to come here rather than let him try to get home...he said you fought.”

Demi’s eyebrows crinkled up in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

“Things got out of hand,” Lauren went on, biting her lower lip. “And I can never regret my son. But the night we made Eric, he, um, he just kept calling me Demi.”

Demi’s stomach was currently located somewhere in her toes, heart wedged into her throat. “What?” was all she had the strength to squeak out. This was in no way the conversation she’d expected, or planned, when she’d seen Lauren standing at her front door.

Lauren shrugged. “So I guess I always knew, you know? And as I’m sure you know, Simon talks in his sleep.”

Demi swallowed. No comment, she wanted to say dryly.

“I thought it would get better...I wanted to think he was just drunk and you were on his mind because he said you had a fight.” Her mouth twisted wryly. “It never did.” Lauren looked down at her coffee again. “I love him, Demi, so much.”

Demi wanted to scream. Why are you telling me this I can’t hear this right now I was doing so well please stop I just want to forget I can’t forget. She blinked her long lashes rapidly, trying to deny the sudden, inexplicable sting behind her lids. Don’t cry. Don’t.

“It’s taken me longer than it should have to understand that…” a humorless laugh. “He was there for Eric, not me. And I think we will always be connected, by our beautiful baby boy. But Eric isn’t a baby anymore. He sleeps through the night...I don’t really need someone to switch off with so I can sleep. We made it through the terrible two’s alive… it’s time to let go. You know?”

Demi blinked hard again, and shook her head. No, I don’t know. “I don’t understand,” she finally whispered thickly.

Lauren’s eyes shone too, and she reached out suddenly and put her hand over Demi’s on the table top, squeezing. “I never realized what an incredible thing you did, Demi, all those years ago. I didn’t want to see it. But there was a reason that it felt so tense when we saw each other on the set. I saw your face on the panel that season. And in spite of all of that pain, you gave us the gift of grace.” She pressed her lips together, then went on. “I think I know what ‘Stone Cold’ is about now, huh? And you let him go,” her voice had dropped to a whisper.

“Demi, what I’m trying to say, is that I think it’s my turn now.” She used her free hand to swipe under her eyes briefly, and let out a shaky little laugh. “Simon has done his duty to me, and to our son, a thousand times over. But he never loved me. Not the way I wanted him to, anyway. You understand better than anyone, I think, what it’s like to choose his happiness instead of yours. And I can’t keep being the thing standing in the way of his happy ending.”

Something broke in Demi’s chest suddenly, and she looked away, lips pressed together and quivering. Don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry.

“And you know, if I have to listen to him going on about you while I’m trying to sleep one more time, I might just kick him out anyway.” Lauren snorted, her lips twitching up. “I need to let him go, Demi. He gave me a miracle, but that’s all we are. And it’s past time I gave him back to you.”

She took her hand off of Demi’s with one last squeeze, and then leaned over to dig through her purse. “Eric actually broke his phone a while ago,” she narrated casually. Apparently the emotional bit was over, then. “But here, I wrote this down.”

She pushed a slip of white paper toward Demi with a sense of finality in both the gesture and her expression. Ten digits in blue ink, written in a delicate hand. “Call him.” Lauren said firmly.

“Why are you doing this?” Demi finally ventured. She was staring at the slip like it might actually leap out and bite her, trying to keep her breathing even.

Lauren shrugged. “Oh, you know. Trying to jumpstart a new Demi album of love songs to play in my kitchen.”

Demi’s hand flew to her lips suddenly in a vain attempt to stifle the half-laugh, half-sob that burst out of her. And then Lauren was out of her seat and around the table to hug her, and her head was buried in the older woman’s shoulder, and all she could say was “I’m sorry.”

Tears ran down her cheeks in spite of herself, landing in Lauren’s hair while she shook. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,”

Lauren pushed her back far enough to look at her face, peering at her almost curiously. “Why? Don’t be sorry for having feelings.” She shrugged. “Simon makes it hard not to, believe me I know. But I want him to be happy. And I want you to be happy.”

“What about you?” Demi wiped her eyes, taking in a quick, steadying breath.

Lauren looked a bit timid again, and shrugged hesitantly. “I want us to be friends?” she ventured carefully.

At that, Demi smiled. It wasn’t quite one of her brilliant grins, but it was a genuine start, and she put her arms around the other woman again.

“The paparazzi would really have a field day with this one,” she cracked, earning a laugh from Lauren. And somehow, the tension left the air. Well, not completely, because Demi doubted that would ever really be gone, but maybe they’d make it.

They moved on to other topics, and by the time Lauren finally left the house, Demi saw her off with a bright smile and a wave, with the woman’s number saved into her contacts. Simon’s, on the other hand, stayed on the counter for a week.

It stared at her while she made breakfast, lurked in the back of her brain every time she so much as walked past the kitchen. It kept her up at night, knowing it was sitting innocuously downstairs. In her weakest moment, she crept downstairs in the middle of the night in her pajamas and spent five minutes digging through her kitchen drawers for a lighter before giving up.

It was eventually moved from the center of the table to sit carefully on the top of a stack of magazines, but it was never really out of her mind. Demi thought about calling when the new season of AGT premiered, and she was unable to resist watching him lay into one of the stupider auditioning acts from her couch. She thought hard about picking up the phone when ENews covered the official story that Lauren Silverman had bought a new house, and Simon Cowell was not coming with her.

Lauren, meanwhile, had installed herself firmly as a champion of Demi’s love life, making a point to text her at least once each day to inquire. 

Lauren Silverman: Did you do it yet???

No, go away, Demi had replied, resolving to ignore the following six indignant messages. 

Oh come on. 

Do it, he totally misses you

Demi!

DEMI!

Stop procrastinating you know you want to 

Why are you both so difficult I’m giving up 

At that, Demi had sarcastically typed back, Good. She really didn’t have time for this. And she liked Lauren, she did, but she still wasn’t sure how she felt about her relentless efforts to put Simon and Demi together after she’d been the one to send everything to hell in the first place. 

Simon had started featuring in almost every one of her dreams now, not that he’d ever really completely left. She knew it was an easy fix; she could just pick up the phone or tear up the slip of paper and it would be over either way. But it took almost three months for her to convince herself to get off of the fence and face the fear.

It was stupid, really. She was scrolling through her phone in a moment of procrastination while an unfinished song sat open in her notebook, the final verse unrelentingly stubborn. Somehow she’d ended up in the cake decorating tag on Instagram, and she’d scrolled entirely past it before backtracking quickly up through her feed.

And it wasn’t the X Factor cake at all, just a similar tiered design with red and black, but suddenly all Demi could think of was the laughter and the taste of the frosting Simon had smeared across her lips. The moment she’d met his eyes, feigning annoyance as she licked it off but privately thinking she liked seeing him laugh.

Before she really knew what she was doing, her feet were up and propelling her across the house to pick up that stupid piece of paper. Her hands were shaking slightly while she typed it into her contacts, but she quelled the nerves in her belly and lifted the phone to her ear.

Two rings. Then three.

“Simon Cowell speaking.”

All the air left Demi’s lungs in a rush. She’d obsessed over picking up the phone for weeks, but nothing could have prepared her for the reality of hearing his voice, and that British accent, again.

“Hello?” he questioned..

She was still trying to make her voice work.

“Hello?”

Demi bit her lip, her eyes welling up again, and her voice came out in a whisper. “Hi.”

[the-a-factor-fs-blog]

Kiss & Cry - Episode 7

Fashionably late, welcome to the seventh Episode of “Kiss & Cry”, Max&Angelo’s Podcasts.

If you missed previous Episodes, you can catch up with it here (x).

This seventh podcast is 116:03 minutes long, and it’s available to be listened in Italian here: https://www.spreaker.com/user/talk-sport/puntata-7.

In the following translation, (M) indicates when M. Ambesi is speaking, (A) indicates when A. Dolfini is speaking.

Translated by The-A-Factor Team. Please do not repost without permission.

Table of Contents

Yuzuru Hanyu - recounting what transpired during NHK Trophy: what strategy could Hanyu opt for, looking at the future?

A look at the ladies’ field: Polina Tsurskaya left her mark during her senior debut, but she was still preceded by a pensive Evgenia Medvedeva and a brilliant Carolina Kostner.

Pairs: who can stop Sui/Han? Signs of a comeback from Stolbova/Klimov.

Men: Voronov leads the veterans to success: coincidence or signs of a new trend?

Ice Dance: a good debut for Cappellini/Lanotte, but the route to the final is still full of hurdles.

Internationaux de France - Short Preview

Part 1: Yuzuru Hanyu

(M): Let’s start with NHK. Biggest news has been the forced absence of Yuzuru Hanyu. A withdrawal that had a big impact, (for the competition and) also on the crowd and viewership. A numerous crowd (on site), as usual, but TV ratings dropped down, and TV networks weren’t very pleased about this.

(A): When you don’t have (in the field) such a big star, like Hanyu is, it’s quite normal people’s interest goes down. In Japan, figure skating remains a sport with a big following and there are several skaters - in men and ladies - who draw a lot of media attention; Hanyu is for sure one of the most followed if not the most followed, though. If we add that Miyahara wasn’t at her best either, it’s easy to see why NHK had minor pull of japanese viewership this season and it does explain the low (compared to the past) ratings.

(M): If things didn’t go well in TV ratings, for fans they went even worse, since for the first time since forever, Japanese skaters didn’t get any medal at NHK. A record that also tells of the quality (over last 20 years) of Japanese skaters in two out of the four disciplines. And a result that also highlight how GP results need often to be analysed with particular care. Because it’s not like Japan didn’t have skaters who are able to get a medal here, but how assignments are given out is often fundamental to reaching certains results.

(A): Indeed. Then on this occasion, Japan Federation has been particularly unlucky. You pick Hanyu, which is a logical choice, Murakami should have been there. And both had to withdraw. In ladies, you have a lot of choices, but in Spring you go with Miyahara, hoping and thinking she will be fully back by November, but her recovery doesn’t proceed as well as planned. Nothing went right, but that aside, this doesn’t mean Japanese skating is going downhill.

(M): [Skipping a brief excursus over speed skating results for Japan in the same weekend as NHK] Yuzuru Hanyu. What happened? Intercontinental flights always carry a risk factor with them. Two problems that can arise: the first type - the most common and banal one - regards jet-lag issues. The second type is to get ill.

Yuzuru Hanyu after the flight from Canada to Japan had high fever, around 39°C. So, on Wednesday, he skipped the pre-competition practice. On Thursday, he skipped the morning session and he showed up to the afternoon one. And what happened there?

Since the start, he realized something was off. After the usual warm up, he landed a 4T3T combo but he started to shake his head. Why? Probably due to flu or the high fever still running in his system. By the way, it’s not so easy to get over a fever in just a day. He tried other jumps without success. After that, he went for a 4Lz, which could have been the opening jump in his SP, because that’s how he had also been trying it lately. That 4Lz was lower than his usual, contrary to what he usual does when it happens (that the parabole is not ideal), he didn’t pop it, but he tried to complete the rotation. Rotation was completed, but he didn’t have enough room to properly land it. Ankle and knee were subjected to a pressure and torsion that scared all those who watched it. End result: he injured his ankle. Word is about a tear on a literal ligament. Anyway, he had to sit out from NHK. Angelo, what’s the difficulty of jumping when recovering from high fever?

(A): Well, of course it depends on the jump, but. First: high fever weakens your body. It weakens you and it also takes away part of your strength, power, reflexes, energy; and this is something everybody of us can experience first hand in our lives. Then of course, a high-level athlete who needs to compete will take medicines and integrators to try and recover as much of that energy as possible, but your body is debilitated anyway. But that isn’t the only thing. Everyone, who has experienced high fever, has also experienced how it makes you a bit dizzy, unfocused, and it may also cause some issues with balance. If we put all these together, it’s easy to understand what it means to try difficult jumps under those conditions. Not to mention that your energy reserve is limited and they run out quickly during a practice. In the end, what’s lacking? That reflex, power, coordination and quick thinking that Hanyu and all those skaters who are able to do such difficult jumps have. It’s high-level coordination that allows you to properly use your energy in less than a second to complete a four-revolution jump. Clearly, if someone is weakened, a bit foggy-minded, his movements will be a bit slower, and if we speak of triples, it may not be a big problem for an athlete of Hanyu’s level, but if we speak about a quad that pushes these athletes to their limits, we can see how it requires full energy, full concentration, full coordination. And also full elevation. You said it was a jump with a low parabole. It lacked a bit of spring, energy, elevation. Maybe less than one tenth of a second. 5 or 6 cents of a second are enough to make the difference, leaving you with insufficient space to complete the landing. He tried to go for it anyway, he landed earlier than what he was expecting, didn’t manage to properly unlock his free leg, and then I think the majority of figure skating fans have already seen the video, so the consequences are known.

(M): From there, it started the buzz over whether or not he will participate in the SP on the following day. On Friday’s press conference organized by JSF, they were still speaking about a possibility of skating. Not even a hour later, tho, his withdrawal from competition became official. It’s been said Hanyu wanted to skate at all cost, but that after a consult with his coaching team, it’s been decided not to risk it. He accepted this decision while crying, because one of his goal of the season was to win the fifth straight GPF, goal that is now out of his reach, since he won’t be able to qualify for the final.

As usual when these kind of accidents happen, all kind of rumors go off, and on Friday morning it was said he was able to run and jump, then this news was retracted and it seems he was able to do that the previous day, when the injury was still fresh and not after having the injured part cooled down by a night of sleep. The diagnosis has been of a sprained ankle, which should take a break between 3 to 4 weeks before starting to train at 100%. Others speak of a lighter injury that should take 10 days off ice and a quicker recovery. We can only wait and see the developments, whatever it will be, Hanyu will try to be ready for Nationals, which should be Olympic qualification competition for Japan Team. That said, for what’s worth my opinion, should Yuzuru not be ready for that event, he will be still selected for the Team. It would be folly not to.

By the way, last spring, Yuzuru Hanyu has been already helped by JSF, when they gave him a direct qualification to Nationals. Theoretically, having skipped last year Nationals, he should have qualified for next one by competing at Regionals and Sectionals. He was exempted, as it’s right to do for an athlete of his level, I hope no one would grumble should he be given a second exemption.

(A): I think that in a case like this one, it would be really foolish not to select Hanyu for the team, if he is healthy for Olympics. If he is healed and able to train as usual, so to be ready for Olympics, you can’t leave home someone like Hanyu. Especially considering how even the third skater (for Japan Team) is already far behind their top two, let’s not even start speaking the fourth one or fifth one.

(M): The question of the moment is: “Which strategy for Yuzuru going into Olympics?” Said otherwise, is it really worth to risk on elements of highest difficulty, when he could probably win Olympic Gold anyway giving up on 4Lz or 4Lo or both of them?

(A): You already know my answer.

(M): Plushenko gave you a hand.

(A): I read about it.

(M) He basically said that with clean skates, Hanyu can win even without 4Lz, since he is the complete package. He is superior to all others, so it’s the others who should risk to catch up with him.

Knowing Yuzuru Hanyu, I doubt he can think to go to Olympics without an element like 4Lz. And personally, I think there’s a complex topic to get into. What I mean? Yuzuru has been somewhat burnt by what happened in last competitions, starting from last season. He probably didn’t feel awarded enough on the scores he got. And at that point a certainty may have taken ground: “to be sure (to be the owner of my fate), I need also 4Lz”, because I don’t know what may happen.

And I think it will be hard to go back from this acknowledgment of the reality of the situation, an assessment that had some confirmation more in this first part of the season.

(A): Umh, yes and no. He had some confirmations, but also some proof on the other sense. His Short Program at Autumn Classic got a WR with Sal and Toe. For the short program, I don’t have big doubts. In the free program, it’s true that he has to face Uno and Chen - and in my opinion it’s only those two the athletes really dangerous (for him) should they complete everything, Jin Boyang does have a gap too big on PCS - so it’s two, maybe three athletes - there could be also Fernandez there, but Fernandez technical content is lower - but they have had lower scores than Hanyu even without  the need for Hanyu to put a 4Lz in.

(M): I think this can be true in for the Short Program.

(A): Even for the Free Program. Clean program vs clean program. He skated a clean program with 4Lo at Worlds, but even his clean program with only 3 quads got scores that others never managed to reach. So I remain of my idea, even if I do understand his approach who may think he did indeed reach those scores with only 4Lo or even without it, but his rivals weren’t the same he has today. So the doubt about what could happen remains. Nathan Chen already managed to defeat Hanyu in a couple of competitions, so his rationale has a ground, but he still got scores others never did, up to today.

(M): I think the whole game is based on the correct evaluation of Program Components. Because if there will be no significative difference on PCS among the top 3, top 4 skaters - and that is the path that seems to have been taken - then a risk more on technical side makes sense.

(A): That’s true. For sure PCS are becoming closer and closer, and it’s also true we have seen how it’s possible to gain a big advantage - or to lose a lot of ground - on TES. And at that point if PCS are close and the gap is under 4, 5 or 6 points at maximum, while on TES you can gain up to 15, 20 points depending on your content and GOE, then it’s clear that it’s on TES you need to stay up.

But let’s not forget that Hanyu has on his side PCS compared to most extreme jumpers, but also GOE. Then it remains BV, but he is ahead on two out of three points. I would consider also this point.

And I also think that with a quad less, he may also further the gap on PCS. Because the layout he wants to go with this season, which is a very extreme layout, does force him to have a program a bit poorer on transitions, a bit easier, a bit emptier. And so the gap on PCS gets closer also because of these choices.

(M): There have already been several skaters going over 90 in PCS. You can only make a relative difference there. Because if Hanyu, Chan skate a clean program they can go over 97 – Fernandez can get close to that – but if the others are above 90, there isn’t any big gap with them there. And that gap is becoming less and less significant. My feeling is you have to risk for this reason. Then: if you manage to stay up, you win by a landslide, if there are falls, everything gets way more complicated.

(A): Indeed. There are several things to consider. And at the Olympics, the pressure will be at maximum. It’s hard to evaluate with all aspects in mind. Let me also say that I don’t think this 4Lz is such a gamble, considering that he landed it with positive GOE at first try in Moscow. Even if it may have costed him too much mental energy, leading to mistakes on next jumping passes. For Hanyu, a 4Lz and a 4Lo in the same program is really energy-consuming, physically and mentally. That said, even if it’s not that much of a gamble, the injury came from that jump and that may have consequences psychologically. But it’s also true that the injury came at a peculiar situation, so it may be that the root cause wasn’t the jump itself but his own weakened status. Still, since the injury came from a 4Lz, the psychological consequences need to be considered.

(M): Plushenko advises for four quads. That would probably be one Lo, one Sal and two To Lloop, or one Toe and two Sals. It would still be technical content of very high level, and let’s not forget no one has ever completed a Free Program with four quads in an Olympic Event. Of course, someone will try something even beyond that, because figure skating changed a lot in this quad, and especially in the last two and a half seasons.

Anyway, we’ll see what Hanyu’s intention will be. To win an Olympic Gold with 4Lz, 4Lo, 4S and 4T would be something epic. Before anything else, it would be a challenge against himself and Hanyu – for better or for wor or the worst - has always focused on this challenge at his own abilities, even before thinking about his opponents. Knowing him, I doubt he will change idea and plan, I’m also convinced that someone in Toronto will try to suggest him a more conservative approach. I’m not sure that suggestion will be taken upon, tho.

(A): I fear the same, but we’ll see. The most important thing now is that Yuzuru recovers fully from his injury, 100% healed, because joints are a delicate matter: that ankle must heal perfectly before going back to try those elements. He experienced firsthand how dangerous and how much you risk if you try those jumps in a precarious state.

(M): A fragility to an ankle is really a big issue for any athlete, because the risk is a recurrence of injuries on the same joint, with an escalation in the gravity of the injury, too. I can speak from my personal experience, where a series of ill-treated injuries in that area escalated to a composite fracture.

(A): So of course the priority now is to heal fully and avoid any risk. Then, once he is back on ice and back to 100%, that will be the moment to think about strategies, what to do, what’s more convenient to put in his program and so on.

(M): It was very interesting to see the reactions from other skaters. Many expressed their sorrow for what happened to Yuzuru Hanyu, messages came from all corners of the world, showing the bond that exists between these skaters. And I think that was the nicest thing.

(A): They are all on same boat, they all train and fight to be ready to show such extreme programs, so it’s also natural there is this closeness among them. It happened for Hanyu, it would happen for others, too. It’s always saddening when you see these athletes getting injured while doing their sport. Indeed, this closeness has been nice to see and it must be remarked upon. For Hanyu, for those expressing it, and also for the sadness of missing the opportunity to watch an athlete of his level compete.

(M): Also considering that when we speak of this athlete, there is the chance to update some (world) records. By the way, Yuzuru never won a GP Event that wasn’t the last one. All his victories came in the last event and at the finals, so it could have been a good opportunity to break this sort of taboo. It ended differently and almost immediately, the men’s competition lost some of its spark, even if it offered intriguing topics we will talk about later on.

Part 2: Ladies

(M): The focus shifted to the Ladies’ competition, which had in its field: World Champion, Evgenia Medvedeva, Polina Tsurskaya at her (GP) debut and Carolina Kostner who, with a second place finish, would guarantee her place in the Finals.

Even if not impeccable, Evgenia Medvedeva won the competition. Second place for Kostner, not impeccable in the free program either. Third place for Polina Tsurskaya, who skated two high quality programs, without any major mistake, and with a Short Program that’s really competitive, much more competitive than her Free Program.

(A): Yes, even if [Polina’s] Free Program was second (contrary to the Short Program which was third). But why? As you explained earlier, Medvedeva and Kostner both made mistakes in their FP, and if Evgenia had such a gap (on the others) that she managed to win anyway, Kostner had to concede something. All the advantage Polina got was from a very high TES, contrary to the other two. Why did this FP appear less competitive, then? Because on PCS the gap was quite substantial, with Medvedeva and Kostner both again. Kostner who had the highest PCS for FP, higher even than Medvedeva, and this is news.

(M): [Medvedeva] seemed more nervous than usual since the post-SP press conference, during which she didn’t speak about the Short but only about what she should do in the Free. The fall on the Flip is really an anomaly. More normal is an error on the Lutz, since it’s been a jump that always gave her headaches and isn’t technically textbook. She has been amazing at recovering what she lost (with the fall) in the second half of the program, but compared to other events, she seemed way more tense. Even on spins, we noticed a lower quality than usual.

(A): To the point that on spins Carolina got more points than her. And this is another piece of news. Something that up until a couple of seasons ago, or even last season, would have been totally unthinkable.

(M): I think this is what needs to be remarked upon from the NHK Trophy. That Kostner got more points on her spins in the FP than Medvedeva.

(A): It’s an important fact and it highlights something we’ve been talking about since the first competitions of this season. Her improvements on spins have been really noticeable: on a difficulty level, on how they are built, on how they are executed. And with a quality that keeps improving competition after competition. This attention to detail was something missing in Carolina’s programs, in the past. It’s been a really evident “upgrade” to her skating and here it’s been awarded with something (t/n - scoring more on spins than Medvedeva) that seemed impossible until only a little time ago. Yes, Evgenia wasn’t at her best, but it’s still a result borne from a very clear path. Maybe it will never happen again, but the fact remains she got almost the maximum she could on those elements, especially considering her own skills.

(M): Exactly. To be precise, she got the same GOE as Evgenia, but she had a higher BV; result: +0.5 point.

She gained another 0.7 points on the two sequences - Steps and Choreo. This is another little bit of news since, at Rostelecom, Evgenia got more (than her). Of course, Medvedeva won the free program anyway, because she completed more triple jumps. The difference is there. Kostner completed two 2A and 5 triples, fall aside. She did miss a 3T in the second half. Medvedeva still rotated two 2A and 7 triples and there she gained all the points she needed to win the Free Program too.

Curious thing, she won the FP without being the first on TES nor on PCS. Something never happened to her, before.

(A): Indeed. Second on TES, second on PCS. Sure, on PCS the difference was small, less than a point. On TES, we already said how Tsurskaya has been the only one among them to have a clean skate with two 2A and 7 triples. Medvedeva rotated them all too, and actually she has a higher BV than usual since she recovered the missing triple on the flip in the second half, but what’s always been her strength? The GOE. And that is where she lost all her usual ground at NHK, with the -3 for the fall and the -2 for the step out on Lutz: -3.5 points once you scale them, contrary to what she usually gets on those elements.

(M): Kostner lost points in a similar way, with the fall on her 2ALo3S combo. Doing some quick math, we can say Kostner lost around 8 points. That’s a lot and they allow for a projection of a clean FP being around 145-6 points.

Clearly, not everybody was enthusiastic about this result. Meaning, many thought some valuations were higher than what was displayed on the ice.

Here the topic is big and complex, what we can say is that, generally speaking, the panel at NHK was quite generous. We talked about GOE on spins, and even Tsurskaya got a high GOE on hers, even if her Layback wasn’t the best, for example. But this generosity was also seen towards skaters who finished at the bottom of the final standing. Also the tech panel was more lenient and, compared to other events, rotations (on jumps) weren’t as strictly judged with almost all athletes. A bit less lenient on Miyahara, but in her case, those jumps were clearly lacking (in rotation) and you really couldn’t do anything but call them.

(A): It seems a paradox, but such meter of judgement doesn’t help Kostner. Nor Medvedeva, but she doesn’t need any help anyway. But for Kostner, who already has a program with a triple less compared to other top skaters, she needs a strict panel. Because she can do 6 clean triples - as she did in Moscow - and if she competes against someone who does 7 triples, but a couple of them are underrotated, another downgraded, then it’s clear she needs a panel calling those jumps to be competitive.

(M): Well, the top three skaters in this competition should be safe from underrotation calls - maybe only Tsurskaya sometimes underrotates the 3T in her 3Lz3T combination, but it wasn’t the case in Osaka. Generally speaking, the top three ladies at NHK Trophy can benefit from a strict technical panel. It’s true though that in this competition, both Kostner and Tsurskaya benefitted from the lenient panel on spins. And it’s also true that a good performance with no mistakes raises the GOEs a lot; this goes for everybody. That said, Tsurskaya got the highest TES in the free skate and collected more than 50% of the available GOEs, considering she was at her absolute debut in Seniors - and most importantly, considering she was this close to quitting skating because of the unending series of physical problems she had - I’d say what she did at NHK was quite remarkable. (A): Yes, poor Polina, she had a lot of troubles but she was able to overcome them. She’s really blessed with talent, we’ve been monitoring her since she was a young girl, and I think she can be proud of what she did at the NHK Trophy. It was her first international competition in Seniors, probably she could have received even higher marks in terms of PCS - she could have rightfully wound up above Kostner in my opinion. It’s also important to remark how the free program wasn’t appreciated as much as her short: it fits her less, if I may say so, but I’m sure her team already knows which are the points to fix, as they can analyze the judges’ evaluations better than anybody else, in my opinion. (M): A listener is asking us, “How can Polina have underrotations problems on her 3+3 combination when the trajectory is so huge? The trajectory and height of the first jump are precisely the cause of the problem.” (A): Exactly, kind of the same problem Higuchi has. When Polina is in good condition, her opening 3+3 is absolutely spectacular and the most impressive trait is that the 3T is just as high as the first jump, something that’s really uncommon, but it’s clear that when your jumps are so high, the risk is to lose speed and it could be harder to complete the rotation on your second element. That said, she is not an athlete whose jumps are so borderline. It may happen, as it can happen to everybody, but generally speaking, I wouldn’t say Tsurskaya is a skater with problems on rotations.

(M): She greatly improved on Flip execution. It became a cleaner jump. It may not be the most inside of edges, but it’s now inside without doubt. She improved a lot on it. You must have all noticed how in her SP she planned a Rittberger and not a Flip, and this is a hint of her issue with that jump.

(A): A correct strategy, considering her Rittberger and the minimal difference in terms of BV. It’s the same strategy we’d suggest for others, too.

(M): I think her entry into her triple Rittberger in the SP is one of the best examples of what a jump out of steps is. Medvedeva is another good example for that, with her 3Lo being the best in the field. All Tutberidze’s skaters best execute what is required of them in the rules (regarding the steps into solo jump).

We have an interesting question: “Mihara Mai got 64.72 on PCS in her FP at Cup of China, 11 points less than Kostner at NHK, with almost a 2 points difference in TR. In the same competition (NHK), Tsurskaya got 10 points less than Kostner. In light of what happened on ice and what you said before about how pops and falls can interrupt the flow of a program, how is it possible that Kostner got 73.27 in Russia in a program without mistakes and 75.71 in Japan, where she fell and popped a 3T?”

This is a very interesting question but that opens the door to the usual long-standing issue: for every competition, a different judging panel.

(A): It’s not easy to answer. More than a question, I’d call this ‘stating facts’. That’s precisely what happened, Kostner’s program was the same (in Moscow and in Osaka), maybe on some components she may have skated better in Japan than Russia - where she had a better technical performance, so it’s not a given that a better TES must also mean a better PCS. And although it’s undoubtedly true that if you skate clean technically, you usually also get more hyped, and express better, and with more energy, but we also witnessed the opposite: skaters so focused on nailing the technical part that they partially forget to skate the program as it was meant to be skated. I don’t mean to say this is Kostner’s case, but it could be an explanation. And these things aren’t always as easily detectable on a TV screen as live in the arena…

In the end, I think what you said is true: for every competition, a different judging panel, that looks for different things, awards different things, and scores differently. In a sport like this, it’s something that sadly must be accepted. Being a discipline judged by different people, having uniformity of judgement is impossible.

(M): My opinion is that the gap between Kostner and Mihara or Kostner and Tsurskaya will close in time.

(A): I think they are also two different cases. I was really surprised by Mihara’s (low) score, because I found it a rich program, and at least on TR, I’d put her much higher. Tsurskaya’s, instead, is a program that is less refined compared to her SP, it left me quite unimpressed. It’s just my personal opinion - as in a way judges’ scores are personal opinions, albeit they should be constrained by objective parameters - but that’s how I see it. In the Short Program, Tsurskaya managed to put all her qualities on the table, and I was able to see and feel those qualities. In her Free Program, not so much. Mihara is a different matter. We spoke a bit about this in a previous podcast, she has still, in some respect, a more scholastic presence on ice.

(M): The two components where Mihara could be a bit weaker right now are Interpretation and partially Skating Skill, but the pulling down on other components arises from the evaluation on Interpretation. This is the only rationale I find to explain those scores. If you analyse the programs in their wholeness as we did in last few days, what is evident is how Mihara’s is the richest one on transitions. She isn’t behind Tutberidze’s skaters on that.

(A): Absolutely, she has something more there than Higuchi, whose program is one of the best in terms of choreography and interpretation, but under transitions, it’s a bit weaker than Mai’s.

(M): Angelo, it’s also true that Higuchi brings such speed to the ice that her Skating Skills bumps up. Then, you’ll tell me, there’s more beyond speed and flow [in judging SS], but we already are at 70%.

(A): Moreover - and we already discussed it for pairs - when you have a very clear and evident strength and you manage to make it shine, you also manage to project and communicate so much on that skill, about being the fastest one, the one with the best flow, the most energy, that it helps pull up all the other components. It’s almost an automatic reaction.

When you don’t have a strong point that is evident and easily noticeable, than you don’t have the same train effect, so you’re left with lower scores on average.

(M): We have a question about Osmond that brings us back to the same topic. It is said on many FS boards that Osmond’s PCS were too high on both segments.

But Osmond is another athlete who can express a great deal of speed and, according to judges, she interprets in a more mature way compared to Higuchi. And (being highly judged on) Interpretation is very rewarding, at the moment. What we said about Kostner at NHK is not different from what happened with Osmond at SC.

(A): It’s clearly so. Higuchi and Osmond are clearly the fastest skaters in the field. Osmond is a bit more refined right now. So there’s that strong point, there’s that perceived better average quality, and everything goes up. Then, if we speak about Skating Skills alone, they are probably even better than Medvedeva, both of them. Medvedeva [may yet show more SS] with her new FP, a completely different program compared to what she did in the past.

(M): The choreography is completely changed, the choreographer too. It’s a very different idea as a program in and of itself.

(A): It is indeed something different.  While with previous ones she often repeated the same scheme and even the same transitions and clusters, as hard as they were, now with this program she changed a lot. Still, on Skating Skills her level is very high, but not the absolute best, not that excellence we saw with Kostner at her best and we can see with Osmond and Higuchi at their best now. On the other hand, you analyse Medvedeva’s program, and you can see how it’s built with the rulebook in hand. It has everything that is required. It’s faultless in this regard. And a judge finds what the rulebook tells him to look for, there.

(M): Clearly. And it explains the reason behind those high PCS that sometimes create perplexity. I have this opinion: I think from here to Olympics, there will be many skaters who’ll manage to go over 70 in PCS, and this will mean that PCS will partially lose importance (compared to TES). There are athletes - like Medvedeva or Kostner - who already are way above that wall. Higuchi is close and I think she is near to breaking it, too. Mihara got close last season, and considering the more complex program she is skating now, it would be a crime should she not reach 70. Zagitova - as first-year Senior skater - is another one of those skaters who came near to 70 in PCS, and that means that with a clean FP, she could go over it. And if she gets to 70 in PCS, she can reach 150 total: 80 points on TES - if she doesn’t make mistakes - are guaranteed. I think we will witness an Olympic competition with more contenders than what we could imagine (before): Medvedeva still has a gap over others, and in my opinion - not now but looking ahead - I’d name Tsurskaya as the athlete who could give her the most trouble, because she has that quid more that Medvedeva lacks on jumping elements. On their technique, on their size: just compare their triple Lutz or double Axel.

(A): There the comparison is unmerciful.

(M): On the Lutz, with that delayed rotation, especially…

(A): Indeed, (Tsurskaya’s) lutz has a clearly visible delay on rotation. She first goes up and then starts rotation. You don’t need a slow motion to appreciate it, and it’s spectacular. It’s amazing how can she do such a beautiful triple with such a strong delay. Tsurskaya has something more, for sure. Then, if we want to do a fair comparison, we maybe should compare her Lutz with Medvedeva’s Flip and vice versa. But even in those cases, you’d still pick Tsurskaya’s.

(M): Without doubt. Although, we can’t forget that Medvedeva has a characteristic that made her what she is: when she feels put on the line, she brings out 110%. She is the one who wasn’t considered [a contender] as a kid, because all eyes were on Radionova. When she started to get good results in juniors, people began saying she was Lipnitskaya’s ugly copy. She is the one who has been hearing for two years that “if Tsurskaya is healthy as a senior, she can beat you, because she has that quality on jumps that you lack” - well, some of them, because saying that Medvedeva has no quality on jumps is a bit of a heresy, but it is objectively true that Tsurskaya has something more on basic technique and (jumps ’) trajectory. I’ll skip the part about Sakhanovich - when she arrived at Eteri’s, people said Evgenia was over since Serafima was so much better - but anyway, everytime someone else was said to be better or was close to overtaking her, she managed to bring out something new and to raise her level. Now, there’s curiosity over what this “something new”  could be this time around. Maybe - from here to GPF - a change in her FP layout. Not so much planned elements as their positioning : let’s not forget that her intention at the start of the season was to put a 2A only in the first half. We shouldn’t forget that such a choice (to backload almost all jumps) can raise BV but also hinder choreography.

(A): Yes, because the composition of the program would be less balanced. I think that it would be a bit inane from her technical staff to change a layout she knows, that works well for her, and that allows her to reach scores others never even came close to [achieving]. At NHK, she won with +12 points on the runner up and we say she didn’t win with her usual huge margin, because for her +12 is a small gap… At the moment, it’s hard to say who could reach her level and go beyond 220 with consistency. Without forgetting she also went over 230.

(M): With 240 as maximum… in a competition generously scored for all skaters (t/n WTT trophy), but it was also a low-pressure competition where many managed to skate at their best. In Osaka, we had Satoko Miyahara returning to competition and we read much criticism. Personally, in this case, I feel like going against the tide. She put out much better performances than I was expecting. We are talking about a skater who didn’t compete for almost a year. A skater who had to face a very serious injury, a hip injury that compromised her weakest point even further – jumps. Honestly, I thought she’d be more behind. Yes, some jumps were short on rotation, but that’s always been an issue for her, it’s not news that broke out from NHK. And on everything else, it was the usual Miyahara: brilliant where she can make a difference, fighting through a smart strategy and trying to rotate as many jumps as possible. Over 190 in a comeback competition… I think it’s a good basis to start anew, looking ahead to the future. Sure, GPF is almost impossible right now. But that wasn’t her goal.

(A): No, not her goal. We can understand the criticism (over her jumps), we explained before how Japan didn’t medal at NHK and how it can’t be a satisfying team result; and of course after Hanyu’s withdrawal, Miyahara was the next big name, there. But we have to take into account everything you said: such a long absence, such a serious injury… these things are not excuses. And yet she skated at a good level already. We can also add without fear of contradiction that the level in ladies’ field has been very high in this GP Series. I admit I didn’t expect it. It’s the discipline in which we are seeing the highest quality content, with many athletes consistently going over 200 points. At NHK, three skaters over 200; at COC, four. Tuktamysheva sixth with 196 points, there… They are all skating at a very high standard, and considering everything, Miyahara stood up well. Right now, there are athletes in Japan who can reach something more, but it isn’t a surprise…

(M): And we can’t forget that there is only one competition that is the pillar of her 2017: Japanese Nationals, to be held in Tokyo, Higuchi’s home. And that’s where everything will be decided for the Olympic Team. No Plan B. I do believe the first two in that competition will be the ones chosen for Pyeongchang. Maybe, just maybe, the only one who could get a pass is Higuchi, should she manage to qualify for the Finals and get on podium there. At that point, maybe - I repeat maybe - there might be a pass for her and she’d be picked, no matter the result at nationals. If that doesn’t happen, it will be a mighty battle among many skaters who would have deserved to go to Olympics. It’s true that up till now, two of them showed something more: Higuchi and Mihara.

(A): I think the actual skater who must be disappointed for the way things went during this GP isn’t Miyahara but Honda; because it was Honda who skated at a lower level than what we expected from her. At Skate Canada especially, but not only there; we expected her to be on a similar level as Higuchi, but it wasn’t the case.

(M): That’s true, but she has some mitigating circumstances. The first one is that she was at her senior debut, so facing some issues is not uncommon. The second one is that one of her programs came late into play, she started skating it in the last month and half. Let’s add another factor: she is a skater that needs time to reach a good level, she rarely reaches her best in the first half of a season. But she has also another characteristic: historically, when the prize is big, she is able to put everything on table. Not by chance that if you look up her name, you’ll find one win and one second place at Junior World Championships; and even at Nationals, she often managed to upset predictions. I’d say that for Nationals, Marin Honda is a loose cannon. I wouldn’t rule out her being able to put together a 210 there, something she never came close to in other competitions.

(A): She has qualities, there’s no doubt there. One of her programs has been changed (after the season started), but she is not the only one who opted for such a change. Must be said that in her case, at the debut of the new SP, everything had yet to be fixed. Her layout was very questionable, there. Her strategy had little sense. The week after, they fixed some things and it went much better already. For what we saw during GP, for her characteristic as an athlete, she is indeed a loose cannon for nationals.

(M): To sum up, at Nationals we’ll have two athletes who already showed something close to their best: Higuchi and Mihara, and two other athletes who have the means to find their best shape in next 5 weeks: Miyahara and Honda. Along with them, we’ll have others who can try to play their cards as outsiders, like Sakamoto, Shiraiwa or Hongo, but the impression is the former four skaters - who are the most complete skaters in japanese senior ladies field, at the moment - will fight for those 2 spots. Even the components for Mihara… I’m expecting them to rise soon, maybe even starting from the next GP event in France.

(A): In France, Osmond and Zagitova are the favourites for the win. Russia will also have Tuktamysheva there, and even taking into consideration everything we explained, she showed that she is already able to reach close to the 200 mark at this point in the season. Sotskova will be there, too.

(M): Sotskova who could even qualify for the final, with a third place and a score high enough, although in case of a third place and a tie-break with Higuchi, she seems out of contention. She left a lot of points on the table in Skate Canada and lost by quite a margin to Osmond in Canada, but three weeks have passed since.

(A): Once again, the ladies’ competition in France will be a very interesting one. We mentioned 5 athletes for the top 3, with Osmond the favourite for the win, but the competition will be fierce. For sure, we’ll have the first verdicts after this event.

(M): If Mihara doesn’t win, Osmond and Zagitova will qualify for sure, since a fourth place will be enough for them to join Kostner and Medvedeva. Then, for the last 2 spots, it will depend on results from Grenoble and Skate America.

We have a question on a topic we talked about earlier: PCS. “You spoke about how components pull each other. Shouldn’t judges be prepared and not fall (for such a thing), though? And if they are not able to differentiate and give a judgement on each one, what’s the difference between them and a fan watching a competition for his own enjoyment?”

We have partly already answered this question earlier.

(A): Umh, yes. Let’s not forget a judge needs to provide judgement in real time. We speak after having analysed a program over and over. It’s clear that, while letting the live impression guide you for some things (while judging) is good, a judge needs to be able to see what’s there (in a program) and what is lacking.

Part 3: Pairs

(M): Then, there are situations that leave you perplexed. For example, in China, we were perplexed over S/H PCS, because in the FP, Skating Skills and Transition had basically the same score. Something that almost never happens, because usually judges tend to give a higher score to SS. At NHK, we went beyond that, with TR higher than SS. Explanations? I don’t have any, because S/H are skaters with high SS quality. Which doesn’t mean they have few transitions, but objectively, the first component should probably be the highest one.

(A): There are many factors coming into play.

(M): But speaking of S/H, the question is: who will be able to stop them?

(A): Only they themselves, it seems. Meaning, if they make a mistake, the door is open for the others, otherwise… Where can they can make a mistake? On 3S side by side, that’s the element in which they are at greater risk of mistakes. When they nail it, as it happened at Osaka, they have margin over all others, but the success rate on the element is really low. But even if they miss it, the opening for others is really small because they have immense quality on every other element. There’s the technical difficulty they show with their quad twist, but they can also score many points on throw jumps… they have very few weak points, the others will be forced to risk something (to compete with them), while paying attention on how they risk, because pairs skating rules don’t reward risk-takers.

(M): Well you unwittingly replied to a quite interesting question we’ve gotten from one of our listeners. They ask: “Do Aliona and Bruno really need the 3ATh? Wouldn’t it be better for them to try to skate clean [t/n: an “easier” program but clean]?

(A): If they want to win they might really need that 3A.

(M): I think Savchenko/Massot are the nearest couple to Sui/Han, in terms of PCS – although Stolbova/Klimov weren’t very far off at NHK Trophy. But Savchenko/Massot have a problem: the quality with which they can execute their throws. What I mean is that, more often than not, Aliona’s landings aren’t clean.

(A): Sometimes her landings are two-footed, sometimes she touches the ice with her free leg; these mistakes affect their GOE. Whereas Sui/Han definitely don’t get 0s for their throws, rather, they basically get +3s from all the judges.

(M): Which means they get at least 4 more points [than S/M] for their throws, or 4.2 points max [through their GOE]. That’s why going for the 3ATh makes sense for them: this way you can have a chance against skaters who can maximize the scores they get with their throws through GOE.

(A): Yes, and the 3A can give you another advantage. Because you can execute it in the SP as well, it gives you an advantage in both the SP and the FP, in terms of BV. That’s why it is an interesting weapon, while we’ve already seen how a quad throw doesn’t give you that much of an advantage – a 4STh for example, gives you a real advantage only if you can execute it with a +1/+2 GOE, certainly not 0 or -1. Which is something that has rarely happened so far, while we’ve also said how, on the other hand, a quad throw can penalize you when it comes to the PCS, because it requires an emptier choreography

(M): Numbers themselves speak volumes: Sui/Han easily reach 7,6 points for their 3FTh in the SP, which is the max score you can achieve for it. At this point, a 3ATh can help them not lose too many points in a SP. A 3ATh’s BV is 7,7: if you don’t execute it well –

(A): You’re already behind.

(M): And the GOE penalizes you even more, because -1s from the judges mean you’ll lose a point from the BV (t/n Since for a 3A the coefficient for GOE is 1x, and not 0.7 like for a 3F, it’s more rewarding with positive GOE, but more penalizing if GOE is negative). If Aliona and Bruno can execute a 3ATh in practice that is clean enough to get 0 or +1 GOE, the element itself becomes necessary to keep up with Sui/Han, because it seems to me that they struggle more on other throws. They’re on the same level on the twist, but on sbs jumps, Sui/Han have great quality and they have better success rate. Savchenko/Massot do have great quality on their sbs jump, when they can execute it well, but their success rate isn’t as high.

(A): In the end, in spite of having a lot of quality, Savchenko/Massot are in the same position as the other couples: they need to take risks. But so far, risks haven’t really paid off in pairs: history says you’ll win with quality, clean skates, by making a difference through GOE. We’ll see how it goes in PyeongChang, whether it will go like this or if a pair that takes bigger risks will manage to give an amazing performance. These pairs could be Duhamel/Radford or Savchenko/Massot.

(M): Duhamel/Radford have two weapons: the sbs 3Lz, on both programs, and the 4STh in the FP. Although it’s also true that the Canadians have a bigger gap on PCS, and Sui/Han have a 4Tw, which is an element that Duhamel/Radford don’t have. In the end, it would be extremely difficult for them too. I think that Sui/Han’s weak point is the sbs 3S: this is what could leave the door open for the others, as of now. Stolbova/Klimov weren’t far…well, 11-12 points behind. And [at NHK], they’re the nearest to Sui/Han after Tarasova/Morozov. Stolbova/Klimov can improve the 3Tw and work on adding a -2T to their combo (t/n 3T3T at the moment) in the FP as they gain more confidence in it; then they could have a chance, because they weren’t far on PCS – which is the biggest news we got from NHK in a way, because it had been quite a while since Stolbova/Klimov were able to skate on that level.

(A): And they don’t have extreme programs either. Although they do take more risks on sbs jumps, that 3T3T combo could make a difference. That said, their idea is still to risk less and execute their elements with good quality. You’ve highlighted their problem very well: their problems with the 3Tw. It’s very difficult to bridge that gap through the other elements. We’ve said it during our commentary: in the FP they get half the points Sui/Han get. True, they do a 4Tw instead of a 3Tw, but still there’s a 4-5 points difference there. And it’s extremely difficult to bridge that gap, because Sui/Han really have quality on every other element…well can I add another small weakness? Their spins; sometimes they do lose a couple of points there.

(M): Yes, but with 3T3T2T Stolbova/Klimov could bridge that gap. At that point it would all get down to the sbs 3S. The problem is that the rate of success isn’t great for both pairs.

(A): Yes…although Stolbova/Klimov lose something on throws and lifts too if compared to Sui/Han, so that might not be enough. It’s not easy to bridge a 10 points gap.

(M): No, right.

We got a question about Volosozhar/Trankov; someone is asking whether they could have had a say in the fight for the gold medal. Well…the Volosozhar/Trankov of 2014 could have fought with Sui/Han. With very similar strategies, but a lower BV than the Chinese team, because Volosozhar/Trankov never even had in mind to do a 4Tw, and the had a 3LoTh instead of the Flip. They have a lot in common when it comes to the rest, like the quality they had on their elements, the complexity of the choreography in terms of TR, which were what made a difference in Sochi.

(A): Yes, as we’ve said before it’s a similar strategy to Sui/Han’s although Sui/Han still take more risks with that 4Tw. In the end the strategy is similar: make a difference through GOE, rather than technical difficulty. Which isn’t what seemed the best route until last season, when Duhamel/Radford’s strategy seemed to pay off – and with some debate coming from Trankov.

(M): Polemics that were mainly due to the PCS they received, which seemed too high for what they did on the ice.

(A): Yes, because it’s inevitable that such difficult elements will affect the choreography. Trankov’s analysis has always been very accurate, he has always followed and analyzed how the discipline was evolving. That said, it seems that now we’re back to the same route that ended up being the best in 2014, which was the same in 2010 and 2006: more quality, although with a lower BV, but programs with great unison and precision, which is what Sui/Han showed.”

(M): And rightly so, we are basically talking about the essence of this discipline. Not to say that Sui/Han don’t have great technical elements: Toe Loop and Salchow in sbs jumps, Flip and Salchow for throws – they might have abandoned the 4STh, but they still have a 4Tw. Their lifts from group 5 are Reverse and Axel, so…they don’t lack anything.

(A): And their scores are proof of that.

Part 4: Men

(M): In the men’s field, Sergei Voronov won. And he leads an ‘army’ of veterans that counts Carolina Kostner and Cappellini/Lanotte in its rank – both in their 30s and both on the podium. And Virtue/Moir aren’t much younger either, yet they easily won. What is happening? Is it a coincidence or a new trend?

(A): For the men’s field, I’d say it was a coincidence, due to the many withdrawals. The first being Patrick Chan’s, which we hadn’t mentioned yet. In a less competitive field, the veterans managed to take advantage of the situation. In the end, Voronov became the oldest winner of a GP, and he was followed by other veterans. The most disappointed must be Jason Brown, who could have been the favourite after Hanyu withdrew. And it isn’t the first time Brown struggles at the NHK Trophy.

(M): Something that keeps happening year after year, because Jason Brown gets invited at the NHK by the JSF – and gladly so, he is an athlete really appreciated by the crowd – but he always ends up missing the final at NHK. His situation was still good after the SP, but he had quite a few mistakes in the FP – maybe he was also affected by the fact that others skated very well before him. Adam Rippon, for example, who skated one of the best programs of his career; and he had the intention of raising the bar [with a 4Lz] - the fact that he didn’t manage to do it is another matter – he could increase his scores looking into the future.

(A): Yes, 4Lz aside – that isn’t a new thing, although this attempt was certainly one of his best – the fact that he had planned 3F3Lo could raise the bar a little for him. Quad aside, he could reach around 95 TES, which isn’t trivial. You can’t win with that TES, but still, if combined with his interpretation and good PCS it could be an interesting score, especially in the US. It wouldn’t be very easy for Brown himself to beat him, especially considering his low success rate not on a quad jump but on the 3A as well – while Rippon’s 3A is getting more consistent, and he plans them both in the second half of the program.

(M): We wouldn’t have guessed that a couple of years ago, considering the problems he had with this element. It isn’t a jump he executes with great quality, but still, he receives a bonus for it since it’s in the second half. The winner of the competition was Voronov, who managed to be much more consistent on his quads if compared to the past, when he managed to complete two quads between SP and FP. He completed three quads this time around, which brought him to the top of the podium and helped him reach those 270 points that only Kolyada reached this season, among the Russian men.

(A): Well, Voronov was able to exploit this chance, by skating two clean programs – and finally landing that second 4T in his FP. I say finally, because it’s a great jump for him. Then some things were also debatable, like the fact that he got higher PCS than Rippon, whose FP is, in my opinion, one of the best choreographies of the last few years in the men’s field. Voronov’s skating isn’t really competitive in a more competitive field: the program is quite empty, he needs long set ups for the quads and the 3A. It’s true that he tried to add more to his choreography by working with Misha Ge, there’s something more in the second half of the program, when he has easier jumps, if compared to the past, but TR aren’t his specialty let’s say. It wouldn’t have been a scandal if he had gotten a few points less in terms of PCS. That said he deservedly won; and he was able to remain calm to take advantage of this chance, just like it happened for Bychenko – he had already been on the podium in a GP, but we would have never expected him to reach another here.

(M): So, Voronov could surprisingly qualify for the GPF. A final that won’t have Hanyu, Fernandez and Chan, who would have ever said that? Although it was due to…accidents, late starts to the season etc. True, Fernandez will be in Grenoble this week, but he wouldn’t make it to the final even if he won. It’s truly a pity but it’s also true that they will have more time to prepare for the Olympics, they will have less stress [because of skipped GPF] so it might not be as bad as we think.

(A): Yes, although their situations are very different. Hanyu needs to recover from a physical problem, so a lot will depend on that: how much time it will take, how he will be afterwards etc because his programs are so extreme they require him to be at his best. For the others it’s very different. First, their programs are less extreme [than Hanyu’s]. Second, Patrick Chan is the “weakest” of the three, in terms of technical content; he is struggling to keep up in this field, although he’s still one of the best when it comes to how his programs are built and how he can interact with the crowd. His withdrawal is mainly due to the fact that he is struggling at the moment, in my opinion. We’ll see what he can do during these months. Fernandez’s case is different from the first two as well. It depends on whether this was a one-off poor performance, or whether it was due to less-than-stellar condition – they talked about it being caused by food poisoning after all – or due to him actually struggling. He’s been able to reach stellar scores in the past, but he is a bit behind when it comes to technical content now, which isn’t something he’s used to.

(M): Fernandez will compete against Uno Shoma in France. We received a question about him; someone asks: “Last week you both said how some of Uno’s jumps are preceded by difficult entries –”

Well, actually, we highlighted a different thing: the fact that the jumps that should be preceded by steps don’t satisfy this requirement, while others – that shouldn’t necessarily be preceded by steps – have more difficult entries. This is very obvious looking at his SP: he has a more difficult entry for his combo rather the 4F, that should be preceded by steps;  there’s a step but very very far and a very easy one too.

(A): Yes, his 4T is preceded by a complex entry – in the FP too, but there’s no problem in the FP, other than the fact that the lack of steps could affect his PCS or GOE, while in the SP it is more of a problem (t/n flouting an SP requirement by not doing a solo jump out of steps). When it comes to the FP, we can say that Uno Shoma can execute the same jump, the 4T, from different entries, which isn’t exactly a trivial thing, as it means he is very confident when it comes to that jump and that he has good SS, since he’s able to use a certain variety of steps before a difficult element, although I’m not sure this is something the judges can notice. There are other more debatable things about Uno’s skating, rather than this.

(M): Wait though, because the question is more complex than this, I will read the second part now:

“Looking at the steps he plans to execute, I noticed how he often lacks the clean and clear edges that those steps would require. And it is something that I noticed in parts of his StSq as well. If this is true, can such entries count for his GOE, since clearness and cleanness of edges and quality count for SS and TR respectively?”

(A): Quality and variety. I don’t have many doubts when it comes to variety…I don’t know, I can’t say his edges are that bad, maybe he isn’t the best when it comes to clarity for his steps – Patrick Chan is – but I don’t think there’s such lack of precision…he is much better than, say, someone like Bychenko. Uno Shoma has good flow; it’s true that there’s more two footed skating in his programs than in others’, but I don’t see such lack of quality when he is on one foot. True, probably he isn’t the best when it comes to clearness of edges, probably not even the second or third best, but like, the fourth. Then this is my opinion.

(M): We also received a question about Kolyada and the kind of scores he could reach with two clean programs.

Well, he could probably reach 300 points with two clean skates. He skated a clean SP – well, almost clean, since he had problems on the CCSp – while he’s far from skating a clean FP right now, but with three quads, one of them in the second half, and two 3A he would get to 200 points in the FP. With two clean programs he could get 300 points, but as of now he hasn’t been able to do it, and it won’t be easy either. Russia definitely needed him, as they have always been strong in the men’s field. The fact that their strongest field is the ladies’ field isn’t what we’ve been used to seeing.

(A): Not that they’ve never had a strong ladies’ field before, but Slutskaya and Butyrskaya back then – the golden age of Russian ladies skating – were something new.

(M): Yes, they’d had good athletes before – we can see some of them in the K&C with some athletes now – but they were constantly defeated by girls from East Germany or the US. Slutskaya and Butyrskaya were the first ones to win World titles, then came Sotnikova, with her Olympic title, and Tuktamysheva who won a World title afterwards. Now their ladies are dominant…a defeat in the ladies’ field would be a shock.

(A): Yes, the ladies’ field is their strongest field right now, while they’ve had some difficulties in the men’s field – they’ve finally found a contender in Kolyada – and ice dance, where they used to completely dominate the field.

Part 5: Ice Dance

(M): Exactly. Regarding ice dance: Cappellini/Lanotte performed well, they weren’t very far from breaking their national record – they actually broke the one for the SD. And this is even more encouraging if we think about the fact that they have margin for growth, both in the SD and the FD, which means they could reach those 190 points they need to go to GPF and to play a bigger role at the Olympics. This is very encouraging considering the injuries they suffered – the nastiest was Anna’s to her hand, but Luca wasn’t at this best either.

(A): They both had some problems, which made them postpone their season debut, until they competed in Minsk – and easily won. Here they definitely made some progress – I’m sure they want to do better, but they are already showing that they made progress. The score was good, although it’s a pity for the result, because beating Hubbell/Donohue would have brought them very close to the final already, although as you said, they still have a chance.

(M): Yes, they would have more problems if Chock/Bates defeated Weaver/Poje in Grenoble; it would be very hard to reach the final for Cappellini/Lanotte at that point, because they would have to win SA, since Weaver/Poje would have an advantage against them in terms of scores with a second and a third place. Weaver/Poje should be the “second seed” in Grenoble, considering what we’ve seen so far, while Chock/Bates seemed to struggle quite a bit in the SD, even though the music choice seemed convincing at first – costumes were less convincing, but that’s another matter. We’ll have to wait and see what happens in France, because we will have an idea of the possible finalists then. That said, Cappellini/Lanotte will still need strong skates to get into the final, because they would need high scores. Even this small record, reaching the podium at 30 years old, is significant; they didn’t receive as much attention from the media as other Italian skaters before them, but they’re not far from them in terms of medals.

(A): Yes, Kostner and Fusar Poli/Margaglio have an Olympic medal if compared to them, but they have a World title, the European title – they lack the GPF title that Kostner and Fusar Poli/Margaglio have, yes, but they’ve had a long career and they’ve had many important results.

(M): Virtue/Moir won, as expected, although maybe we expected more from them in the SD. There was a mistake, because Scott Moir botched the last set of twizzles, which was what impeded them from reaching the [SD] WR they had gotten at SC. They improved in the FD, but they still lacked something to bridge the gap with Papadakis/Cizeron. The most surprising thing is they lost some tenths of a point on the choreographic elements [ compared to P/C], which rarely made a difference; Papadakis/Cizeron got one more level 4 in the FD at CoC, but that level 4 aside, that’s the main difference.

(A): Which is very surprising because those are the elements with the lowest BV, but the GOE makes a difference.

(M): Yes the max GOE you can get is 2.1 [by getting +3s], the lowest 0.7

(A): Yeah, so GOE can truly create a gap here, and it’s rather unusual to see such a big difference between two top teams, because you’d usually expect both to get +2s/+3s. Tessa and Scott will work on it, in order to bridge this gap, because that’s where Papadakis/Cizeron made a difference in the FD. And Papadakis/Cizeron weren’t very far in the SD either.

(M): That’s what the numbers say. I think Virtue/Moir will work a lot on those elements, because I doubt that these differences can be attributed to the different judging standards in different panels. The French couple probably paid more attention to these details, but this is something Virtue/Moir can work on. After that it will depend on their performances on that day.

(A): Yes, because both teams are getting so near to perfection that even the smallest detail could make a difference.

Part 6: Internationaux de France - Preview

(M): Next up, IdF – ex TdF, TEB etc as it changed names quite a few times in the past. And once again, the ladies’ competition will be the most interesting, since there are four girls who could reach the final and a fifth – Tuktamysheva – who definitely has some weapons. We’ll have Della Monica/Guarise among pairs and Guignard/Fabbri in ice dance for Italy; reaching the podium will be extremely difficult, as there are Papadakis/Cizeron, Weaver/Poje and Chock/Bates for dance – and they would have to make some incredible mistakes not to be on the podium. And even in pairs, we have Tarasova/Morozov and James/Cipres, who will try to reach the first GPF of their career.

(A): And Peng/Jin, who have the potential to reach very high scores.

(M): Yes, but Della Monica/Guarise were quite near them at the Finlandia Trophy. Yes, the Chinese have more potential, but they also have some problems, especially on sbs jumps – Peng has always had an aversion for them, and they often get almost 0 points for them in the FP. In theory there aren’t many chances, but who knows, with some luck they [DM/G] might reach that podium they could have had in CoC.

[cut out final part, with ESP broadcast]

Once again, sorry for the longest delay, hope you enjoyed anyway.

A big thank you to our saviour (and proof-reader), gladi.

See you,

The A Factor Team

[breg21]

The Ties that bind us Ch.1

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12840945/1/The-Ties-That-Bind-Us

Chapter 1! I'm so excited to get this story started! I now have a skeleton down; so I know what I basically wanna do with this story, I can't wait to write it all down! Anyway, please enjoy. Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Nickelodeon does.

HOWEVER, LILITH FENTON IS MINE HEHEHE.

Two years had passed. Spring poured into summer, summer had swirled into fall, and winter was now taking its harsh claim over Amity. As the seasons changed so did Team Phantom, which was now their official name. Now that Team Phantom was a renowned worldwide corporation, it allowed people to make ghost hunting to be their career, and people could start as young as fifteen with parental permission. It was now a more government-funded career, with classes taught by educated people that had to get a degree in the field.

It also gave students that wanted to go into ghost hunting a scholarship into college if they wanted something other than ghost fighting, depending on their rank, how invested they were, and what skills they built up over the years. It worked like a grading system; the better the grades, the more scholarships were offered. While there was a grading system in Ghost 101, it worked more on the physical aspects, like gym, and either you passed or failed.

Ghost 102 worked on more of the science of ghost hunting, and was graded like a normal academic class. They were taught how to outsmart a ghost, how to hide from a ghost, and a better understanding of how a ghost thinks for self preservation. The students had to learn how to get out of tough situations that they may get into if a ghost were to attack them.

Danielle wasn't sure how many high school and colleges offered the ghost hunting classes outside of her town, but in town there were three classes: One taught by her grandpa, one by grandma, and one by Valerie's dad, Damien Grey.

Her dad had changed the most, while he wasn't the bulkiest around he was starting to lose his lean build and was gaining muscle from ghost fighting. He kept his hair about the same, and he now towered over Dash at 6'4''. His crystal blue eyes, despite having seen so much horror and shit in his young eighteen years, had retained an understanding of happiness. He always said it was because of his family that he was so grounded in reality. He now wore a plain black t-shirt with his symbolic logo, and simple blue jeans.

She had also changed a little over the years. Her figure was now more refined at sixteen. However, not wanting too many eyes on her, she kept to her baggy hoodies, sweatpants and leggings, unless she was with Tucker, then she'd dress a little differently. Her eyes that matched those of her dad's stayed the same, and honestly so did everything else. She didn't need much of a change.

Her mom and Valerie stayed the same physically, other than filling out in the chest area a bit and gaining a couple inches in height. Valerie still was curvy, and her mom still had her straight figure, which always seemed to compliment her nicely.

Sam was also growing her hair out now; it was just past her shoulders. Her signature clothing hadn't changed much, except for a different deep purple plaid skirt with black lining instead of the green; she had also traded her purple tights for black ones that stopped just above mid-thigh.

Valerie now typically wore a crimson red sweater and black jeans. She preferred to cover up, trying to protect her skin as much as possible if a ghost were to unexpectedly attack, unlike Sam who didn't give a damn, her own words being "If I get a scratch, I get a scratch, I'm not going to worry about it," to which the huntress could only shrug in acceptance. To each their own.

Tucker had changed along with Danny, getting more bulk in his build. It was not as much as the halfa but it added to him, and - to Danielle's utter disgust - made girls chase after him constantly, to which she'd secretly fire an ecto-blast at the fawning girl's ass over her boyfriend. He stood strongly at 6'2'', which still made her have to stand on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. Switching up his own outfit, he now wore a light baby blue hoodie with the logo embedded on the front, dark blue jeans that matched nicely, and a multi-colored beret of green, red and yellow. He was in his last term as mayor.

As of right now, however, it didn't matter how many years had passed; Danielle was still sure that school was the embodiment of torture for teenagers. She had been out with Tucker last night, past curfew -which got her grounded- and she could feel her eyes start to droop. Drool started to pool in her mouth, threatening to spill over. History 2 was so boring, and Lancer hadn't changed over the years; his voice still put people to sleep.

"Ms. Fenton!" Her textbook slid from her desk, dropping to the floor, resounding with a loud thud. Bolting up, her eyes snapped open, sweeping the room, searching for danger. When she came back to reality, she saw her classmates staring back at her in laughter and amusement. Her only response was to shrink a little in her seat. What scared her most was the look of anger on her parents' face.

"Ms. Fenton, do I need to have a conference with your parents? If the cause is ghost fighting, I'd allow it, but seeing as your dad over here is quite awake, something tells me that isn't the case." The glances she received from both eighteen-year-olds told her she didn't want that.

"No, sorry sir." He turned back to his lesson.

"Now, as I was saying-"

Out of nowhere, the ceiling caved in.

Two ghosts - from what Team Phantom could tell, one being Skulker, and one unknown - were in hand-to-hand combat. Skulker, unfortunately, had the upper hand in the fight as they pushed against each other to gain control against the other. His bigger build seemed to tower over her.

The girl looked no older than sixteen. The weird thing about her though, was she had almost the same costume of Team Phantom, complete with the DP logo, sleek green, black, and white colors and all. She had a round baby face, thin lips pressed firmly together, with a narrow scrunched up nose as she fought off Skulker. Her waist length hair was snow white, much like Danny's in ghost form, and her amethyst eyes narrowed in concentration on her fight.

There was something else she noticed about this new girl. A medallion hung loosely around her neck, with the letters CW imprinted in the middle that stood for Clockwork.

Just great.

Time travel. Can't we have a normal month?

The girl's head turned to the side, piercing daggers at the team. "A little help here you guys?" She hissed through her teeth as she continued to struggle with the hunter.

The four broke into action. Valerie, Sam, and Tucker pulled bazookas from their backpacks, while Danny and Danielle changed forms, and all started striking the hunter with ectoblast after ectoblast. It was moments before he was easily contained in a Thermos.

The girl got up with the help of Danny. Rolling her shoulder, she groaned in anger and pain at discovering that her shoulder was dislocated.

"Thanks, dad." the halfa said.

Everyone but the four gasped in shock at hearing this girl call him dad.

'Wasn't Danielle his only daughter? How many clones did Masters create?' was the only thought from their fellow classmates.

Ignoring their shock, Danny continued as if it was nothing. "What's your name?" He came up to her, grabbing her shoulder, signaling that this was going to hurt, and she nodded in agreement, used to this by now.

"Lilith." she grit out between her teeth. He grabbed her forearm, placing one hand on her shoulder, and snaps it back into place.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm uncle Clockwork's apprentice. I'm from about twenty or so years into the future. Sometimes he has to send me to different times to test me so that I can learn to do things correctly. I don't exactly know why I'm here yet."

Oh, that made sense. Sorta.

"Wait," Sam cut in, placing her weapon back in her backpack and snapping the Thermos back onto her specter deflector belt. "I don't get it, why would Clockwork need an apprentice? He's the master of time. "

"Even the master of time needs a break too mom. Humans and ghosts are a pain to watch over constantly. And don't even get me started on the Observants." She shuddered at the thought of them.

"Okay." They all turned to the new nasally voice that enters the conversation; Mikey. "There's something I just don't get. Your daughter, from the future, just fell from the sky, and you act as if it's nothing. What made you so jaded that your future daughter coming here doesn't boggle your mind?"

In response, all fingers of the group, including that of her own, pointed to Danielle. "I was kinda the straw that broke the camel's back," She explained, with pride gleaming in her beautiful brilliant blue eyes.

"Shouldn't you be more careful of what you do here, haven't you heard of the butterfly effect?" That earned the nerd an eye roll.

"Why do people have the premise that time is so sensitive? The butterfly effect only happens in extreme cases."

"Do we have any more siblings in the future?" Dani asked.

Lilith turned back to look at her older sibling, "Yeah. He's a little shit too. He's thirteen." Lilith mumbled sorry when she saw the angered look of her parents at the swear word.

Well, they definitely had time to perfect it with Danielle.

That was when all hell broke loose.

Questions were thrown at her from the class, several all at once, one after another which eventually became a mess of words, shouting, and people who wanted their question answered. Poor Mr. Lancer couldn't even quiet the kids.

Danielle then offered Lilith a hand - even twenty years in the past the sisters had a special connection – and Danielle boosted her up onto Lancer's desk. Bringing her fingers to her mouth, Lilith let out a loud piercing whistle.

"Okay. Mr. Lancer has a class to teach, and I still have to figure out why I'm here. I'll answer only three questions, but then my family and I gotta get out of here. Now, one at a time and you better raise your hand. I won't answer if you don't raise your hand."

Paulina was the first to raise her hand, to which Lilith, with much disgust, picked her. "Do I marry the ghost boy?"

Lilith's eyes squinted in confusion at the eighteen-year-old, her mouth agape for a second, truly contemplating whether or not if this chick was for real. She could tell the rest of her family felt the same, and her dad was holding mom against him, trying to calm her with whispers into her ear so that she wouldn't go and attack the girl.

"Are you serious right now? I just referred to Sam as my mom. Wanna know why? 'Cause they've been married for years in my time."

The latina shrugged. "You can't tell me she amounts to much." Lilith, bless her heart, was mid-air, about to pounce on the older - older to her at least - girl when Danielle caught her by the waist, clutching her younger sister to her chest to try calming her baby sister.

"My mom is a world-renowned fashion designer that makes Danny Phantom clothing. Who do you think came up with my dad's logo? My mom." She stressed the name. "She's also a great ghost hunter along with the rest of my family. My parents are rich, I don't have to worry about any college money wise, but I sure as hell don't flaunt it like you do.

"And another thing, you marry Baxter. Have fun with that. At least one of your children doesn't turn out as horrible as you. The other one is terrible, unfortunately. "

"So we have two kids?" The jock asked sheepishly, as to not upset the girl.

While Dash didn't raise his hand like she had asked in the beginning, Lilith let it slide; she was nice like that."Yep. My brother is actually dating your younger one, Ashlen is her name. It's cute, 'cause she's nothing like her mother. From what I can tell, she likes him for him, and not just his ghost half." She smirked at the girl who was now glaring at her. Not that she minded. Paulina didn't scare her, neither did her kid.

"What's the other one's name? Please tell me it's a boy, I want to keep the Baxter name going." That angered her. He never changed. She had to bite back a growl that bubbled in her throat.

"That-"

"Why are we discussing this?" Mikey piped in once again. "She's from the future. This is only going to mess up the timeline."

That only pissed her off even more. "I have had training with the master of time himself. I think I know more than you're aware of. Have you even met Clockwork? No. So shut up and sit down. I have to cut this short anyway. I really have to find out why I'm here."

She turned to her family. "Let's go to Nana's. We'll discuss everything there." They all nodded in agreement, telling Lancer that they'd pick up their homework after school.

"Race ya." She saw the challenge in her big sister's eyes as she transformed.

"Oh, you're so on!" With that, they sped off towards nana's house, Danielle just a tad ahead.

Yee. I personally love the idea that Danielle and Lilith are close, despite the big age difference. Anyway, let me know your thoughts! Until next time. (I know I said it'd be longer until I posted this story, but I just had so much inspiration for this one that I had to write. Lol)

Shoutout to my amazing beta reader silente faery. The rest will be posted on Fanfiction. I hope you guys enjoy!

[lavieendonna]

Brushwork || ArtMajor!Calum AU (Chapter 16)

Summary: An Art Major AU where Dallas - third year gawky art student at VCA -  makes a deal with Calum - her cute new neighbour and project partner - and they spend the semester learning that the perfect masterpiece takes a whole lot of brushwork.

Date: 3 September 2016 Requested: i mean i guess?????? not officially.  Pairing: Calum + Dallas Words: 4.4K jesus  Warnings: fluffy fluffy fluffy calum goodness (oh, and there is a mention of sexual assault near the beginning)  A/N: I really hope you guys are proud of me this month/months. This is the 3rd chapter I’ve updated in the span of like 2 weeks. I haven’t been this fast since I first started posting. I’m proud of me, and I appreciate everybody who has had a hand in helping my inspiration and motivation and to anyone who just reads because the love it. Big love xo 

Check out my ‘Brushwork’ inspiration tag x Let me know if you want to be messaged when the next update of ‘Brushwork’ is available x 

Ask | Masterlist | ‘Brushwork’ Spotify Playlist | Next Chapter | ‘Brushwork’ News

Chapter 16: I Settled For Saying That Instead Because It Was Less Dramatic And Less Of A Giveaway That I Would Jump Off Of A Cliff If He Told Me It Would Make Him Happy.

Isabelle hadn’t slept over since earlier in my second year at VCA. It was different now than it was back then – Polly used to be a part of it, and together the three of us would be up ‘til all hours of the morning talking shit and drinking wine and doing each other’s hair. It was real slumber party happenings in our student apartment, but now it was… quiet.

“Is Polly even here?” B wondered out loud around 11pm. We were curled up in my bed binge watching Game of Thrones since we were both ridiculously behind (I’m talking entire seasons, here). She had a Costco sized packet of peanut M&M’s and I had the Ben & Jerry’s. Every now and then we’d swap over, but she had a tendency to hog the chocolate so we were long overdue. That’s why Polly had come up in conversation – she was good at mediating the snacks.

“I don’t actually know.” I admitted. “Probably at work.” It was dark but I felt like I could see Isabelle raise her eyebrow at the idea of Polly having a job.

“At the pub?” She questioned. Polly used to work at the local pub last year, and it didn’t occur to me that Isabelle wouldn’t have known that she quit that job a few months ago.

“No, no.” I said, trying to recall the story. “Well, yeah, but a different one. She left the other pub a few months ago. Her boss was sexually harassing her.”

“Whoa, her boss?”

“Yeah.”

“The middle-aged white lady?”

“Yep.”

“Blonde hair, always blown-out, really bad regrowth and ridiculous fake lashes?”

“The one and the same.”

“Huh.” She paused. “I didn’t think… well, she didn’t seem… the type?” I wanted to laugh at Belle’s shock, but I was much the same when Pol first mentioned it.

“Neither.” I snorted darkly. “Turns out white women become sexual predators a lot more often than we thought.”

“I’ll say.” Belle huffed, but it seemed off again. Not so much like she didn’t care that Polly had experienced harassment, but the same thing as earlier – just the mention of Polly seemed to bug her. I wanted to ask about it, but I got the feeling she was just going to tell me to buzz off.

“Are you okay?” I settled for asking quietly, almost afraid that I’d left it too long to ask and she’d fallen asleep (despite the graphic death scenes flashing before our eyes). But her breathing was still even and I felt her shrug against my shoulder.

“I’m okay.” She mumbled and then picked up the PlayStation remote to turn up the volume. I sat there with anxiety for a couple more hours as I finished the ice-cram and, eventually, drifted off into a restless sleep.

We both woke up the next morning to my phone blaring obnoxiously loud. It was too early for my alarm to be going off, which meant somebody thought it was a brilliant idea to call me at (I fished out the contraption from somewhere between the sheets) 6 in the morning. My eyes weren’t open enough to see who it was, so I just answered the damn thing before Belle started swearing at me.

“Please tell me you have a good reason for calling me right this second.” I grumbled out, teetering on the edge of sleep despite my predicament, and internally hoping it wasn’t my mother or someone who would take an equal amount of offence to me answering the phone like that.

“I’m sorry!” I could almost see his sheepish grin now. “I know it’s early. But Diaz is sick, he sent the email last night.”

“So… no class?” I asked, my voice almost cheerful. Calum waking me up at 6 o’clock in the morning was almost worth hearing the news.

“No class.” I could hear the smile in the Māori boy’s voice. “Breakfast instead? I was thinking we could finally work on the mural together today. We might even finish if we haul ass.” I chuckled weakly and yawned before I had a chance to say anything. Part of me wanted to say no and curl over and go back to bed. But the other part of me – the smarter part – was too giddy to think of anything to say that wasn’t ‘fuck yeah’. I didn’t say that, but I did yawn one more time.

“Uh, yeah alright.” I sat up and used my free hand to rub my eye (and smear my already smeared eyeliner from yesterday).

“Sweet.” Calum was smiling again, I knew it. “I’ll meet you at the door in half an hour?” I yawned again and Calum laughed. “Hopefully you’ll be awake properly by then.”

“Whatever.” I said but I laughed weakly too. “I’ll see you soon.” I didn’t really wait for Calum to reply before I hung up, but he probably didn’t mind. Much.

“Who the fuck was that?” Isabelle grumbled out in her raspy morning voice that, admittedly, was a lot sexier than mine.

“Calum.” I told her. “We’re going to go work on the mural.”

“At this hour of the morning?!” I felt like if we were awake properly and it wasn’t so damn early in the morning, my sister would be yelling at me.

“Yeah, class got cancelled.” I explained, looking around the room to find where I’d abandoned my jeans. I couldn’t find the ones from yesterday, weirdly enough, so I found a different pair of light-wash skinny jeans that were ripped at the knees and paired it with an old, over-sized grey Draco Malfoy tee that already had paint all over it from previous projects.

“Do you want to come?” I asked when I realised Belle would be here on her own to face the wrath of Polly (I assumed Polly had wrath, anyway). But she didn’t reply with words, so much as a muffled snore. I turned to look over my shoulder and, naturally, the girl had passed out again.

I snuck out as quietly as I could, grabbing my bag with my sketch book and colour swatches, my wallet, phone and keys in my hands before I slipped into a pair of worn-in black flats and tip-toed out of my bedroom, trying as hard as I could to make as little sounds as possible (which, obviously, was impossible considering it’s me we’re talking about. I dropped about a million things and actually swore kind of loudly when I hit my hip on the corner of my dresser).

There was a part of me was waiting for Polly to be sitting in a swivelling chair out in the living room, turning on the lights dramatically as she swung around in her reveal and demanded to know where I was going. Because that was definitely something she would do – knowing her, she’d even borrow somebody’s cat and go full Godfather on my ass. But, again, that smarter part of me knew that was ridiculous, and that I didn’t really owe her this one either. Polly had a flair for the dramatic, and being so invested in my life wasn’t a right.

I finally made it out of the front door, and as promised, Calum was waiting on the other side, beaming at me like he’d been awake for hours. He was in similar get-up to mine – dark skinny jeans, spotted with paint and ripped a few times at the knees and thighs, and a red flannel, that looked kind of too big for his limbs, thrown over a similarly paint-sotted black tank. It annoyed me a little bit, too, because he looked so damn good, even in flip-flops, and I looked like a toddler from day-care.  

“I hope you know breakfast is on you.” I took for telling him over my shoulder while I locked up, trying to mask my frustration as being because of the hour of the morning and not because of my growing butterflies. “You don’t get to wake me up this early and not feed me.” Calum laughed and when I turned around to greet him properly, it was almost as if he was smirking at me, but like… fondly. I didn’t even know that was possible and yet here he was, making it a thing.

“Yeah, alright, that’s fair.” He chuckled at me with a nod before pulling me in for a ‘good morning’ hug which, you know, wasn’t overly unusual. What was out of the ordinary was that he pressed his lips to my temple and held me just longer than he normally would have, and that kind of sent me into a bit of a puddle. My knees were shaking so much I was pretty sure he could feel the trembling, too. “Cold?” He asked, and that’s when I knew for sure that he could. I just nodded with pursed lips, too scared to open my mouth in case I vomited on his feet. Not at them. On them.

“One sec.” He let me go and I desperately started to wipe my hands on my jeans on the off chance he miraculously wanted to hold hands at some point. I mean, if he was smart he wouldn’t. But everyone was under the impression we were “something” and I was under the impression that if two people like us were “something” then usually the “something’s” would hold hands at some point. I really kind of hoped that wouldn’t be today.

Anyway, Calum had disappeared for a short moment back into his apartment, and just as I was about to ask what the hell he was doing, he remerged with a black Dickies hoodie in hand.

“Here.” He said, offering me the sweatshirt with a fairly neutral expression. I just stared at it for a moment, bewildered at his complete underestimation of how much I would overthink everything he did for me from the moment he decided he liked me.

“I could have done that myself, you know.” I took to saying when he nudged the soft fabric at my goose-bump-covered arm. Calum just shrugged, totally unfussed.

“Eh, you’d already locked up.” Was his justification and then he grinned the lazy grin I kind of loved and I rolled my eyes at it to stop myself from melting any further.

“Well, thanks.” I laughed, handing him my bag while I pulled the hoodie over my head. It was kind of big, and I had to roll the sleeves back a little so my hands would be free, but it was warm and it smelled like Calum and I actually kind of forgot to be nervous the moment I pulled my hair out from inside and took my bag back from Calum who was watching me carefully. “How do I look?” I gave him a cheeky pose.

“I didn’t realise how much smaller than me you were.” He noted. “But it looks good.” I blushed again, but before I could say ‘thanks’ again he cut me off with a very serious look. “I want it back, by the way.” I bunched the collar up over my nose and mouth, shaking my head wildly.

“Nuh-uh. I like it.” I said, muffled but the soft fleece on the inside. “I want it.”

“I’ll buy you your own.” Calum said pointedly as we made our way out of the building. “But that one is the only one I have left that isn’t so scratchy.” I gave a loud laugh.

“Wow.” I deadpanned. “The only reason you won’t let me keep it is because it’s the least shitty one you own. No sentimental value at all?” I stared at him wide-eyed and teasingly. Calum rolled his eyes and I think he was even pouting a little bit.

“No, there is…” He mumbled, refusing to look at me. I bit my lip, holding in the laugh. “My mum bought it for me before I moved to Melbourne.”

I was still laughing about Calum being a Mama’s Boy when we reached the only on-campus place that served breakfast food – and to our displeasure, that was Bitters. We weren’t too keen on shitty tasting coffee and stale toast, but we were lazy and didn’t exactly want to walk any further than we needed to either. We chose the lesser of the evils – sometimes ass-tasting coffee wasn’t the biggest problem in the world.

The whole time we talked and joked (and Calum teased me about my various scars and bruises from our last early morning), I couldn’t get over how normal this was starting to feel. Early mornings with Calum, breakfast with Calum, conversations that were leading nowhere with no meaning whatsoever, while simultaneously seeming to bleed some kind of hidden wisdom that we would come to realise a little bit later. The butterflies never went away, but instead of making me feel sick it was almost like it was a comfortable encouragement that maybe, just maybe, nothing was going to immediately go wrong this time.

I was scaring myself a little bit, actually, how weirdly okay with this I was. I still trembled a little bit whenever Calum’s ankles brushed mine under the table, and my blood still settled deep in my cheeks whenever he complimented me or hinted slightly that he had feelings for me more than ‘yeah she’s pretty alright, let’s test a theory’. But it was becoming easier to ignore them – or, at least, rationalise with myself that maybe there was a chance that the world wouldn’t end if I felt a little bit safe with Calum. This was a big step for me. The last time I felt involuntarily safe around this guy I freaked out and threw myself into a spiral of depression, just about killing myself in my own stench when I refused to shower. Right now, I was seriously impressed that I hadn’t tried to smother myself in my bed covers. Or hang myself with my own hair.

“Hey, did you ever end up figuring out what tattoo you want yet?” Calum suddenly asked, excited, and snapping me out of my deep train of thought with a fright. I flinched. I knew that eventually we would end up talking about this again, and I was ridiculously underprepared for it.

“Uh, no…” I gave a tight-lipped grimace and Calum’s face fell, disappointed.

“What? Why?” He asked, and if I didn’t know him better I would have thought maybe he was actually kind of offended. I shrugged, my face contorted into some kind of frown crossed with a pout.

“I just…?!” I gave a defeated laugh, burying my face in my hands as I leant my elbows on the table in front of me.  Calum laughed, his hands grabbing my wrists and pulling my hands away so he could look at my face with raised eyebrows.

“Just what?” He asked me.

I sighed. “Alright, honestly? Most of it is that I just forgot.” I admitted and Calum raised a thick brow at me.

“Uh... what?” He was struggling for words, I could see it. “How do you forget to design a tattoo?” I shrugged again through a kind of uncomfortable laugh. Calum’s hands were still kind of wrapped around mine, our fingers some kind of intertwined together on top of the table. ‘This is how!’ I felt like screaming. ‘You are the reason I forget my own fucking name half the time!’

“I don’t know.” I settled for saying that instead because it was less dramatic and less of a giveaway that I would jump off of a cliff if he told me it would make him happy. “Things have been kind of… busy, I guess. Kind of.”

“Have they?” Calum questioned me, not so much challenging the statement but more so as if he genuinely hadn’t realised that – surprise! – student life can get kind of full on sometimes.

“I mean… well, yeah.”  I said, leaning back against my chair, leaving my hands beneath Calum’s. I tried to convince myself that it was for warmth, but I was already wearing his hoodie so that didn’t really work out very well. “The mural has been kinda kicking our asses, and the same with my other classes... Plus there’s this whole thing with Polly, and my sister, and my mother and Ashton and work – it’s just…” I trailed off my sentence because it was becoming impossible to finish it without giving myself an anxiety attack. My heart rate was already starting to spike (although, that could have been the caffeine).

“Jesus.” Calum mumbled under his breath, and I nodded my head in agreement while I mumbled a quiet ‘yeah’. “Hold up, your sister? What about your sister?”

“She’s here.” I said simply, thinking back to yesterday morning when she arrived and how weird it was that she’d come unannounced.

“Here, as in, ‘on campus’ here?” Calum asked and I nodded.

“Yeah, she was still sleeping when I left.” I said with a small smile that lasted only a second or two. “I think she’s been having a hard time. I didn’t know she was coming and she seemed kind of off yesterday.”

“Oh.” Calum paused, and I could see the gears grinding in his head from across the table. “If… I mean, you should have said.” He said with a small frown of worry. “If I’d known B was here I would have let you spend some time with her.” I shook my head, waving Calum off immediately. I mean, it was sweet that he was worried about her and about me not spending time with her – but, honestly, this was probably going to be more interesting than anything my sister and I would have come up with to do today.

“Nah, don’t stress.” I told him carefully. “I took her out to lunch yesterday and we had a good talk. And she slept over last night, so I think she’s okay now.”

“If you’re sure.” He said carefully, and then between the two of us we decided that if we had any more coffee we were going to shit our pants.

We gathered our things and, as promised (read: threatened), Calum paid for our meals. I said thank you, even though I’d made him do it, and Calum rolled his eyes at me and continued to dish it back until we’d reached the storage studio where all our paints were, and again until we’d reached the mural.

And we kept talking shit for an hour or so, each of us on one end of the mural and working on the detailing. Eventually we just stopped talking, both of us lost in our own little world of paint and tutus and faceless ballerinas.

“Can I ask you something?” Calum asked me, seemingly out of nowhere, around 10am. He was still sitting up on a step ladder, working on the final ballerina while I was sitting down on the ground and doing detailing on the background in the first section of the wall.

“Is that the question?” I replied with a small chuckle, mostly to myself because I was really on a roll today and it was putting me in a good mood. The quiet was nice, and being quiet with Calum was a lot more comforting than I thought it would be. Turns out, Calum was the kind of guy that didn’t make the silence awkward. He seemed just as content with it as I was – except for now, where I could sense that something was on his mind.

“Ha, ha.” He deadpanned. “I’m serious.” I looked over at him and his expression toward me was pointed. I just nodded back, curious, but also moderately terrified. Calum stared down at me, not concerned or worried, not even angry or upset. He looked more confused than anything. Like he was trying to figure me out or something.

“Why don’t you want to be the ballerina?”

I wasn’t sure why I wasn’t expecting him to ask, but I wasn’t, and the longer he stared at me waiting for my reply, the more uncomfortable I was starting to get. I shifted under the weight of his stare, looking away and turning back to my piece of wall that was meant to look like a shadow (though it was starting to look more like a brown blob than anything).

“I, uh…” I cleared my throat, suddenly unsure of what to say. And I stayed quiet for some time, trying to find the right truth.

“Dallas?” He prompted. I gave a small sigh, and offered a small, tight lipped smile. Not necessarily to Calum, but just into the space between us.

“I, um. I just… don’t think I am up to that kind of standard.” I settled for saying, and when I said the words out loud I knew they were true. I could see Calum not understanding, the look in his eyes almost more confused than they were before, and I bit my lip, trying to find a way to make him understand. “Ballerinas are… perfection.” I explained. “And I’m…” I gave a nearly wild shrug, kind of gesturing to all of myself in the hopes that he’d get it – that I was just me, and that no matter how many time I re-gathered the pieces of me that fell apart, I was never going to find the same peace in my mistakes. I wasn’t upset about it, I’d learnt to accept who I was a long time ago. I just didn’t understand why Calum was so intent on thinking I was any different.

“You’re pretty great, Dal.” He said softly, and I nearly didn’t hear him because he was so high up. My head snapped up to where I could see him, and when I looked he was smiling softly at me, the way he did when I knew he’d been watching me for longer than I’d been looking at him. I just rolled my eyes at him and turned away again, wishing that I hadn’t tied my hair up into its bun so it would be easier to hide my blush.

“Right.” I huffed. I didn’t believe him, but I couldn’t help smiling as if I did. The familiar warmness, the butterflies… it was almost exciting, if I thought about it from the right angle.

It wasn’t long until Calum spoke again.

“Are you nervous for showcase?” He asked, less serious now and the air between us a little lighter. I shrugged.

“I’m always nervous.” I said pointedly and the boy didn’t even laugh which offended me slightly (but only slightly – it was a fair point, he didn’t need to be a genius to see I was completely terrified by life). “But yeah, I guess so. I mean, I only have the mural reveal that night. But still.” I gave another shrug, content with my answer and Calum seemed to accept it too. When I looked back up at him he seemed lost in his art again, one brush in his mouth, his pallet in his left hand as he concentrated deeply on the beading of the final tutu.

“Are you?” I asked, relaxing for a bit, letting my posture slouch as I looked up to Calum’s great height.

“Hmm?” He murmured.

“Nervous.” I clarified. “About showcase.” He didn’t reply for what felt like forever. I couldn’t tell if he was just distracted by the art or if he was thinking, the way I did. I’d turned back to my pallet and started painting again by the time Calum replied.

“I don’t think so.” He said conclusively, and I’d almost forgotten what I’d asked already. “We… well, look at this. We’ve done some amazing work.” I hummed in agreement. Showcase was in just over a week, and even though we were still so behind, what we had was pretty damn cool. “My folio is being displayed in the library, too.”

“Really?” I was surprised at how exciting that sounded to me. Calum nodded and he seemed to beam down on me like the walking embodiment of the sun that he was.

“I can’t wait for you to see it.” He said, and I was just so blown away by his confidence. I’d never seen someone so… in their element. It was… hell, it was kind of inspirational if I was honest.

“So you’re not nervous?” I asked again with a crooked smile. “At all?” He shook his head with a small chuckle.

“Nah.” He waved me off. “I’ve got bigger things to be nervous about.” His smile turned into a tiny smirk, and from where I was sitting it looked like he shot me a wink. I snorted unattractively, biting my lip so I didn’t laugh in his face (figuratively, of course. There was still six feet and a step ladder between us, you see).

“Are… Are you talking about our date?!” I asked, completely bewildered, at this point, at the look of seemingly genuine anxiety inside the boy’s chocolate eyes.

“It is still happening, right?” He asked fearfully and I couldn’t help the eyebrow quirk.

“Uh, yeah.” I managed to chuckle out before his worries started to catch on, and my ability to jump to the worst conclusions got the better of me. “Why, do you not want it to?” I asked, all traces of amusement slipping from my face, and a whole new level of panic rising in Calum’s.

“No!” He said almost too quickly, and he immediately realised what that sounded like and tried to correct it before I had a stroke and died the night before our first official date. “Shit, n-no… Argh, yes! I mean yes!” He closed his eyes for a second and took a breath, letting it out in a small laugh of his own that wasn’t really making me feel better, but he was trying, and that was the main thing.

“I do still want it to happen.” He explained through that small crooked, awkwardly adorable smile. “I’m just… well, I’m kinda nervous.” I shook my head, looking away and trying to hide my blush yet again.

“You don’t have to be nervous, Cal.” I said quietly. I shrugged again before I looked back up at him – but only for a moment. “It’s just me.”

“It’s more than just you, Dallas.” He drawled out, and when I looked up with a cocked eyebrow, Calum was wearing that same pointed look from before. “Anyway, I’m excited too. I like spending time with you.”

The grin I gave back was slow and crooked and filled with warmth and I couldn’t stop it even though I was trying my hardest.

“Me too.” I said simply. My heart was racing again, and it had nothing to do with the caffeine.

[caitielou-askew]

The Doctor is a Lady

So for those of you who pay attention to Doctor Who, Jodie Whittaker has been chosen to replace Peter Capaldi as the 13th Doctor (as they are “officially” numbered in the current show’s canon). And she’s also the first female Doctor, in the show’s current canon.

I’ll spare everyone who’s not interested my Doctor Who rant by putting it under the cut, but for those who are in the know I do have a quick question: I haven’t watched the most recent season. How does it compare to Capaldi’s first two? Or to get to the question I’m really trying to ask, does it begin to drop all the bullshit about focusing on the Doctor's persona and start telling compelling stories with compelling characters again?

I’m fine with Jodie Whittaker. My worst fear was they’d go with yet another charismatic, young, white man to try and recapture the glory days of David Tennant and Matt Smith. My best hope was someone female, non-white, older, or any combination of those 3. She’s 35 and doesn’t look NEARLY as much of a baby as Matt Smith did at first, but I really wouldn’t have argued with someone more along the lines of Helen Mirren as far as age and presence.

ANYWAY. As much as I love Doctor Who, I must confess again that I haven’t watched the most recent Christmas special or season, the one with Bill. After Capaldi’s second season I really lost faith in the show’s writing and direction. The problem wasn’t Capaldi himself, I thought he was brilliant as the Doctor and I feel like he sort of got stinted as far as length and quality of his run.

Truly, I’ve never had a problem with ANY Doctor as far as actor or performance. I’ve even got a soft spot in my heart for Colin Baker. I don’t consider myself a fan who is difficult to please, and usually try to reserve judgement until I’ve seen how a major change plays out. I also don’t (think I) have a strict definition of what the show should be.

But I AM one of those anti-Steven Moffat fans. I recently saw an extremely long but good video essay which did a good job of breaking down what I don’t like about Moffat’s writing and approach to the show [link], but I will summarize for you here. Basically: Moffat made the show entirely about the Doctor. As in, he made it about exploring the Doctor’s personal history and personality flaws, as opposed to having the Doctor simply be a compelling (yet flawed) character interacting among other compelling (yet flawed) characters.

I didn’t like everything about Russell T. Davies’ writing (some of the season endings were pretty corny), but one thing he was very good at was making sure the Doctor remained as much of a passenger in the universe as everybody else in the show. The Doctor is pretty amazing and has a lot of skills and resources at his disposal.

But the show at its best isn’t ABOUT the Doctor being amazing. At his best, the Doctor takes regular people and makes them amazing. And at one time Steven Moffat knew that. He wrote Blink and Silence in the Library for God’s sake. The Doctor is hardly in Blink. The thing which is so amazing to watch in that episode is seeing how those people who did NOT set out to do incredible things dealt with their situation, with a bit of help and guidance from the Doctor and his wider knowledge of the situation.

In a mere 44 minute episode we became intimately familiar with Sally Sparrow’s personality and drive. We saw a man who flirted with her become old and die in a matter of minutes, and that moment felt so real and touching. And in the Silence in the Library two-parter, we became so invested in River’s knowledge and trust in the Doctor that seeing her go before we could fully comprehend her side of that relationship was heartbreaking.

I have not felt that connected to any characters in the show since Matt Smith’s time, at least. Nowadays the show is so much about the Doctor and time-travel/Time Lord gimmicks that there isn’t any room left for the characters to come to life, not even the Doctor himself.

The Doctor has gone from being a passenger in the universe to being the entire CENTER of the universe. The alpha and omega, beginning and end. The entire universe conspires to either kill or save the Doctor. The Doctor is at the center of every conspiracy and anomaly. It’s all so big and centered on HIM that it’s just...so boring now. The stakes seem so high when things are big like that, but they aren’t centered around any other characters that we really care about.

Even Missy’s stories ultimately became figuring things out about the Doctor rather than her trying to do or be anything the Master has ever done or been. Honestly she just feels like a genderswapped Moriarty who thinks the Doctor is Sherlock.

ANYWAY. My point in writing this rant is to explain how much I love and care about Doctor Who, and how much I want to see it return to those glory days. Not because we need a young prettyboy as the Doctor, but because we need a Doctor who is small and mysterious again. We don’t need a Doctor who is the center of the universe, we need a Doctor who is a space hobo helping people solve problems and take down corrupt enemies both new and old.

So I’ll restate my question from above for the, like, 1 or 2 people who made it this far: Does the most recent season try to get back to those great character-driven stories, or is it just more “the Doctor is the specialest person in the universe” spacetime bullshit?

[newagesispage]

                                                              JUNE       2018

 PAGE RIB

 ***** Childish Gambino has the song of the summer with the brilliant ‘This is America’.  I am so reminded of Jean Luc Goddard and also the Talking Heads when I watch the video and yet it is so on point today. . Donald Glover is the star of the year with the fab season of Atlanta. The coat of many colors with the FUBU shirt episode was a beautiful reminder of thy child, thy self. The turn as host and musical guest on SNL was a triumph, best show of the season. His role in Ron Howard’s movie, Solo will only make him burn brighter!!

***** Arrested Development came back for season 5. We have wonderful things in there from seasons past to make us smile and new catchphrases to carry on in the future. This is just the first half of the season and the binge went by fast. We will have to be content with great new Arrested memories like APB (ah, poor Buster), hour mouth, peanut pockets, trophy cobbler, break up cactus, will he won’t he  and Strum! I laugh just thinking about them. I was particularly fond of the Howard family get together, Rance Howard was a national treasure. I was thrilled to see Kyle Mooney in the mix.

***** Days alert: I saw it coming.. Mexico?? Of course, Teresa had to be back.. Hooray!! ..It is time for Sonny’s new lover to go…. It is also time for John and Paul to get Shane and go get Chloe.. well, they did not get Shane but they got her. That was fast!!… Is Abby pregnant by Stefan??**We’ll miss ya Joseph Campanella.

***** Goodbye to The Americans!! Oh how I will miss ya.

***** Benedict Cumberbatch and Jennifer Jason Leigh have given us Patrick Melrose.

***** Well, Roseanne tweeted her racist rhetoric and got her show booted off ABC. If it can bring down Roseanne, we still may see it take down the President. It will cost the network plenty ( like 60 mil not counting the rerun revenue). Reruns were yanked by CMT, Paramount and TV Land. She was also dropped by her talent agency ICM partners. She blamed Ambien but the company issued a statement explaining that racism is not a side effect of Ambien.  I feel bad for the rest of the cast and crew but bye bye Roseanne!

***** I am hearing good things about Robin, the Robin Williams doc from Dave Itzkoff.

***** Ric Ocasek has separated from Paulina Porizkova.

***** What is this NFL no kneeling bullshit? I get that it is a business and we all have to adhere to our employer’s rules but it is very sad. How is that silent peaceful protest hurting anyone? Who needs football anyway? C’mon, America, no more football!! Some believe free speech is only for them.

***** The latest accused of sexual misconduct: Morgan Freeman** Weinstein has been indicted!!!!!

***** New money got its chance to buy a piece of old money at the Rockefeller auction at Christie’s. The private collection broke records with a take of $832 million which will go to charity.

***** TV cancelled shows all over the place. The list includes Designated Survivor, Kevin Can Wait, Scorpion, 9JKL, Alex Inc., Deception, Taken, Rise, Great News, Me Myself and I, Quantico, The Mayor and The Exorcist. Last Man Standing will move to Fox, Project Runway will move to Bravo and Brooklyn 99 will move to NBC. There should be more of this moving.. C’mon somebody take Last man on Earth and Me , Myself and I. LA to Vegas is on the bubble, please keep that one going.

***** The podcast Cocaine and Rhinestones with Tyler Mahan Coe sounds interesting.

***** Sears has not made a profit since 2010. They are closing hundreds more stores this year.

***** Who do you think you are? Is back with Molly Shannon, Jean Smart, Jon Cryer, Hillary Duff, Megan Mullally and Laverne Cox.

***** Can’t wait to see the new doc  The gospel according to Andre’ about Andre’ Leon Talley.

***** Black Rhinos have returned to Chad. Fifty years ago poaching had wiped them out.

***** Lung cancer is a trend with more women than men being diagnosed. It has become more common than breast or ovarian cancer.

***** The interior department wants to end the ban on hunting black bears, wolves and coyotes and their young.

***** Before the 2016 election the FBI had a codename for their Russian interference investigation: Crossfire Hurricane. The Stones have a little touch on everything.

***** Oliver North is the new face of the NRA.

***** Word is that over a 30 year period, there have been 27 complaints against Charlie Rose.. Ugh!** The Kennedy Center Honors has rescinded the Honors award and the Mark Twain prize from Bill Cosby.

***** Iowa has made the strictest abortion laws. They want no abortions once the heartbeat can be detected. The American civil liberties union and Planned Parenthood have filed complaints.

***** Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The press was telling us that 2 people fell in love and we all showed up. This actually did seem to bring people together. Harry and Meghan are 17th cousins.

***** Great to see Joel Mchale back to his green screen zaniness. It seems like old times on Netflix and with a little help from Jim Rash and Alison Brie.

***** There seems to have been some shading from the government on the actual death toll in Puerto Rico. Hurricane Maria has an official tally of 64 dead but estimates are saying that it could be 70 times higher. Most deaths happened after the actual threat and could have been prevented. How many people have to suffer or die before we get these clowns out of office?

***** Scary clown is in the habit of pardoning whoever he pleases. Why the hell would anybdy want to pardon Rod Blagojevich?

***** The 71st Cannes film fest has honored Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters.

***** The Boys in the Band has been restaged starring Tuc Watkins, Zachary Quinto and Jim Parsons.

***** It seems the Black Cube operatives who worked for Weinstein have been trying to get dirt on former Obama administration officials and their spouses. Guess who set that in motion?

***** Cigna and Blue Cross Blue Shield say that policies advocated by the Trump administration and the repeal of Obama care would raise their rates up to 64%.

***** The Met gala had some fab fashion with a theme of Heavenly bodies/Catholic imagination. The best dressed according to me were Lily Collins, Zoe Kravitz, Frances McDormand, Mindy Kaling, Rosie Huntington Whitely, Arianna Grande, Amal Clooney, Gigi Hadid, Rita Ora, Donatella, JLo, Tiffany Haddish, Scarlett Johansen, Janelle Monae, Blake Lively, Gabrielle Union, Liu Wen, Sienna Miller, Emilia Clark, Miley Cyrus, Virgil Abloh, Emily Ratajkowski, Stephen Colbert, Cynthia Erivo, Mary J. Blige, Trevor Noah, Michelle Williams, Lena Waithe, Alek Wek and Jasmine snders. The worst dressed to me were Katy Perry, Kris Jenner, Anne Hathaway, Selena Gomez, Claire Danes, Sarah Paulson, Ariana Rockefellar, Greta Gerwig, Tracee Ellis Ross and Helen Lasichanh. 2Chainz proposed again to Nakesha Ward at the ball.

***** The new slogan from our first lady: Be Best

***** Are Emma Stone and Justin Theroux a thing?

***** Trump has withdrawn from the Iran deal.

***** Buddy Guy has a new cd with help from Jeff Beck, James Bay and Mick and Keith. Buddy id also a guest on Letterman’s My next guest needs no introduction.

***** There are 11 investigations into Scott Pruitt.

***** The ins and outs at the White House: Ty Cobb is out and Emmet Flood is in.

***** The Tony nominations are out with Mean Girls, Sponge Bob square pants, Angels in America, The Band’s visit, Carousel, My Fair Lady and Harry Potter and the cursed child leading the pack.

***** John McCain has a memoir and will retire soon. He and his family are also riding out the heartless comments that came from the White House who seem pleased that he may die sooner rather than later.

***** It’s stripe season. I have never seen people wear so many stripes.

***** R.I.P. Allan D. Smith,  Anne V. Coates, Scott Hutchison, Big T, Kristin Harmon Nelson, Peter Mayer, Margot Kidder, Clint Walker, Patricia Morison, Philip Roth, Tom Wolfe, John Bain, Joseph Campanella and Paul Bloch.