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outropeace · 4 years ago

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elotito tagged me on this so i’m gonna do it for her <33333

1. describe how you first started writing and when you first posted

i began to write in general since i was around 14 like any other emo kid kdjdjsks and o began to write fics when a friend asked me for one as a birthday present. it was written in a hurry and it’s not my favorite but i really enjoyed doing it. i posted that exact same fic on their birthday

2. which of your characters do you typically resonate most closely with? do you base any characters off of yourself?

it depends the fic i guess. and not really, i think the closest i’ve been to do that is in the rockstar au (coming to the @bottomlouisficfest very soon), i put one or two of my old insecurities in h so he could connect better and wouldn’t be persieved as just an asshole-y dude cause i don’t like that and louis don’t deserve that uwu🌸

3. where do you often find inspiration?

music, movies, tiktoks (DONT JUDGE KDKDKS)

4. has quarantine helped or hindered your writing process?

before the quarantine i had around 3 wips, now i have 8

5. do you listen to music/noise while you write or do you prefer silence?

i listen lofi youtube playlists shjdkld

6. what is your biggest writing pet peeve in your writing or in general?

me repeating “Oh...” over and over again through tall my fics, it shouldn’t be legal

7. describe your ideal writing setup

rainy day, good coffee, comfy sweater, my cat besides me, arely sending texts about teeth/imessage games, snacks

8. favorite time of day to write?

nights (it’s usually when i have time)

9. favorite genre to write + one you’d like to try writing in the future?

i’d LOVE to write a thriller

10. do you struggle with writer’s block? how do you typically overcome it?

i just leave the fic for a bit, i don’t really like to push myself about this cause i’m just doing it for fun

11. what is the easiest part of your writing process and the most difficult?

the easiest is the dialogues, i could write pages and pages of just dialogues in hours and the hardest is the smut dhjdd

12. how do you come up with original characters? (if applicable)

it depends, is the antagonist? i ask myself how’d i feel if i were them, like a third party just trying (and usually failing) to get in between

13. what is your favorite and least favorite word?

i like “wet” i just... yeah.... and least favorite i don’t really know tbh

14. what is one thing about your writing that you’re really proud of and one thing you hope to continue working at?

i like that people conect with the characters because i always put a lot of effort in making them realistic (as much as i can), i make them flawled and sometimes even messy but with good hearts and intentions, all of them are (even the antagonists). and my grammar OH MY GOD MY GRAMMAR

15. what work of yours has your favorite ‘verse/world building? how did you come up with it?

hands down the ice prince fic. and funny thing is, i already had my prompt for the fic fest but i just couldn’t stop thinking about one particular prompt about a bratty prince and an alpha who hated omegas and the amount of POSSIBILITIES that had. two days later or so, the mods of the fest gave us the opportunity to pick another prompt if we wanted and the rest is HISTORY

16. what font and size do you write in? single spaced or double?

11 and single

17. what is a typo(s) you find yourself making consistently?

baby do we have TIME FOR THIS ONE?

18. (if applicable) do you separate fic writing from fandom?

yes, always 100000000%

19. what emotion is your favorite to write? which is the most difficult?

angst, sadness, anguish, sorrow, jealousy, i love to hurt hearts. and it’s not an emotion but after they get together it’s really difficult to me to actually keep going (oh god dkdkdkkdd)

20. what is one thing you hope readers always take away from your works?

that that’s okay to fuck up, that no matter the circumstances you have to respect your partner and TALK WITH THEM and that a person can be successful, independent and a badass while being soft and a c*mslut

21. what is the best and worst writing advice you’ve ever received?

i think “write whatever you like, you’re not being paid for it anyways” is the best and only advise i’ve actually listened to

22. which one of your works would you most want to see turned into a film/television show?

it’s complicated cause my two favorites are abos and idk how that would work dkskkss but the ice prince and the alpha/alpha fic

23. do you write scenes chronologically or out of order?

chronologically but i have a document apart where i write everything that comes to my mind at the moment, that one is A MESS

24. how do you handle criticism?

i think good, if it’s respectful

25. what is the advice you would give to someone who is looking to start writing?

trust yourself, have fun

26. what kind of feedback on your work always makes your day?

ANY type of positive feedback makes my day tbh

27. which fic ‘verse of your own would you most like to exist in? which fic’s characters would you most like to befriend?

none tbh dkdkks and louis, obviously

28. what do you always enjoy getting asks about/wish people would ask about more?

about my stories, i love when people just come to rant to me about certain things the characters did and ask me why they did it

29. what has writing added to your life? how has it changed you?

it relaxes me a lot. i just can write for hours and hours and it just feels nice and in some way exciting

30. why do you write?

refer to question 29 kdkdkxk

boost yourself + tags!

1a. share the last sentence you wrote

from the exes to lovers au:

The second hiccup of the night came in the form of his ex smiling to a boy sitting next to him on a couch. The boy had gorgeous, dark and wild hair, clear hazel eyes and a pretty pouty mouth. Their body language screamed attraction and that they both were ready to devour each other. Louis was familiar to the smile Harry was giving to him, bright and seductive, ready to give anything you asked for.

2a. describe the wip you’re most excited about

right now i’m very excited for the happiest season au, my “cliche story” au and for my exes to lovers au dksks i’m excited about a lot of my wips i’m so sorryjdjd

3a. share the piece of dialogue from one of your works you’re most proud of

from the alpha/alpha au:

“I’m not giving up on love,” He softly touched the hand that was still grabbing his thigh. “To me, love is like flowers. Each one needs a special treatment, if you give an orchid the same treatment you give to an iris, the orchid will die. Same thing with love. I’m not giving up on love, I’m just changing the treatment. We might not be an orchid, but we could make such a pretty iris.”

4a. share the best first and last lines from your work(s)

favorite first line from the sugar baby au:

Powerful people only end up with powerful people. The rest are just playthings in their lives. Louis Tomlinson was many things, but he wasn’t anybody’s plaything.

favorite last line from the ice prince fic:

“Who would have guessed…” Harry whispered after a while, smiling against Louis’ lips. “the dragon finally got to keep the princess.”

5a. link the last fic you read

HAYLEY’S MASTERPIECE

6a. link the last work you published

that’d be the ice prince fic

7a. link to your ao3 (if applicable)

hereee

8a. someone that inspires you

louis teheeee

9a. a comfort fic/work that you’ve been grateful for this year

god, again, there’s so so many of them, like the amount of authors i’m so grateful for, the list is infinite but these are a few that comes to my mind

all elote’s (@defencelesst) fics makes me really really happy and never fails to give me a cozy/wintery feeling, her louis IS THE MOST PRECIOUS THING ON EARTH AND HER HARRY IS JUST PERFECTION, i’m in love with her descriptions and how she just takes you THERE. hanis @loulicate-recs always makes me smile so fucking hard. ris @falsegoodnight fics NOW.... well.... ris fics they make me smile but also make me want to throw my phone to the other side of the room BEST OF BOTH WORLD IG. MAR’S FICS (loubellies on twitter, idk their @ here i’m sORRY) ARE LITERALLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE AUTHORS AT THE MOMENT, such a pretty louis IM SO IN LOVE WITH MAR’S LOUIS ITS UNFAIR

10a. other writers that you’d like to tag!

omg i’m probably so late to this and idk how many of you have actually done this so here goes nothing @allwaswell16, @runaway-train-works, @greenfeelings, @kingsofeverything, @thepolourryexpress, @larents

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noona-clock · 5 years ago

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Which One? Ji Soo - Part 6

Genre: Coffee Shop!AU

Pairing: Ji Soo x You

Warnings: Use of the word ‘Soccer.’ I know non-Americans hate it, and I apologize. But I am American. What can I say? 🤷‍♀️ Oh, and also mentions of alcohol.

Prologue, Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, Epilogue | Words: 3,951

“Go out?” you asked, your own voice sounding foreign to your ears. It was a bit squeakier than normal, but... what about this situation was normal?

Ji Soo, a very handsome coffee shop owner, had just asked you out.

I mean, you’re pretty sure he was asking you out!

And, like... you couldn’t stress enough just how handsome he was.

So... definitely not your average Saturday night.

“Yeah,” Ji Soo assured you with a nod. “Go out. Like... get dinner? Or see a movie?”

Yeah, he was asking you out.

But there was just one thing stopping you from saying ‘yes’ immediately.

“Do you... have time to go out?”

Ji Soo chuckled softly, his lips tilting into a half-grin. “I, uh -- I asked Joo Hyuk to cover for me tomorrow night. Last Sunday was pretty slow. I guess people don’t want all that caffeine before they have to wake up on Monday morning.”

Oh, wow, that made your heart flutter. He had prepared for this and everything!

You opened your mouth to say that you would love to go out with him tomorrow night, but -- you stopped yourself.

Because there was just one problem.

“I... actually already have plans tomorrow night,” you said, your brow furrowing. “There’s a game at 7, and I have season tickets, so --”

“A game?” Ji Soo asked. He was clearly confused by what you’d just told him. “Season tickets? What kind of game?”

You weren’t surprised by how surprised he sounded. You were kind of a technology geek, so why on Earth would you enjoy sports?

“Soccer,” you explained with a tiny smile. “The Tigers. I have season tickets. My dad passed down his love of the game to me, and one of the first things I bought with my first real paycheck was a season pass.”

The expression on Ji Soo’s face was still one of confusion, but now there was some amusement mixed in there. “Huh,” he nodded. “Soccer. I had no idea.”

For a split second, you felt bad because you had to turn him down... but then you suddenly had an idea. You gasped slightly, your eyebrows shooting halfway up your forehead.

“Do you want to come with me?” you asked excitedly. “I can see if the seat next to me is open.”

Ji Soo also raised his eyebrows, and you thought maybe he would decline, but the grin tugging at his lips gave you hope. “Yeah? Yeah, of course, I would love to come. That sounds awesome, actually.”

Your heart fluttered for probably the ten thousandth time tonight, and you had to bite your lip to keep from smiling like the biggest goofball.

“It starts at 7,” you told him, clutching your laptop to your chest. “Should I pick you up here at 6? We can get food at the stadium.”

Ji Soo slid his hands into his pockets, and even though you couldn’t be absolutely sure, you had an inkling that the expression on his face was just as hopeful and giddy as yours.

“That sounds good,” he nodded. “I’ll be waiting outside right at 6. I know how you like to be on time.”

Oh, boy. First, he had prepared ahead of time to go on a date with you. And now he was promising to be on time because he knew that’s what you like?

The date wasn’t for another 21 hours, but you were already labeling it The Best Date Ever.

“Yes, I do,” you agreed with a soft laugh. “You’re right.”

“You should probably get used to saying that, by the way,” he said casually, taking one hand out of his pocket and reaching out to open your car door for you.

“Saying what?”

“You just said I was right,” he clarified. “You should get used to saying that because I’m right 99.9% of the time.”

You shot him a look which clearly said ‘Oh, yeah, right.’

“It’s true!” he argued, his eyebrows raised earnestly. “You’ll see, it really is true.”

You turned and ducked into your car, setting your laptop on the passenger seat and your bag down on the floor. “Okay, whatever you say,” you sighed, biting back a playful smirk.

“Drive safely,” he said as he leaned slightly against your open door. “Let me know when you get home?”

“I live less than ten minutes away,” you reminded him, chuckling softly but also awkwardly. It had just been such a long time since anyone besides Jane had made a request like that.

“Yeah... but still. Let me know.”

“I will,” you assured him with a nod. And just before you got into your car, you added a quiet, “See you tomorrow.”

Once you were fully and safely seated behind the wheel, Ji Soo gently closed your door and stepped back to allow you to reverse out of the parking spot. He stayed there as you drove away, lifting up one hand in a wave as you pulled out of the lot.

Oh, boy.

Oh, boy, oh, boy.

A date.

Tomorrow.

With Ji Soo.

Obviously, the first thing you did after you got home -- besides texting Ji Soo about your safe arrival, of course -- was call Jane.

You had barely gotten a whole sentence out before her high-pitched squeals filled the air. And your ear canal. You literally had to pull your phone away to protect your eardrum.

“I TOLD YOU!” she cried. “Didn’t I tell you?!”

“Yes, you told me,” you sighed, remembering just the other day when Ji Soo said ‘I told you so’ about your car troubles.

...Okay, now that you thought about it, Ji Soo and Jane were almost eerily similar. They both loved to tease you, they both were quick to point out when they were right, they were both incredibly kind and sweet, they both made you laugh, and... they both made you feel good about yourself.

When they weren’t embarrassing you, of course.

No wonder Jane had been able to predict the course of events between you and Ji Soo. They were practically the same person!

“And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to bed,” you told her as you held back a huge, goofy grin.

“Gotta get some beauty rest before the big day tomorrow,” Jane squealed. “Not that you need it, but it’s always a plus to use a little less concealer. Night!”

“Good night, Jane,” you murmured affectionately before hanging up the phone.

After you got ready for bed, you settled in under the covers and got out your phone to look for Ji Soo’s ticket for the game tomorrow. Even if you couldn’t find one right next to you, you could trade yours out and find two together easily enough.

Just as you pulled up the ticket app, though, you got an Instagram notification.

TheMugShop (The Mug Coffee) is now following you.

Ooooooh.

You hastily pressed the banner alert, and your phone switched over to the Instagram app, heading straight to TheMugShop’s profile. First things first, you clicked ‘Follow back’ right away. They only had three followers so far (most likely Ji Soo, Joo Hyuk, and now you), but you were sure that would change fairly quickly.

Their bio read:

The Mug, your favorite locally-owned coffee shop. ☕️ 7a - 9p

all photos taken by @yourusername

And, to your surprise, there was already a picture posted. It was the picture you and Ji Soo had edited together tonight, one of a green tea latte since it was your beverage of choice (and because the green color was just so pretty) so you quickly clicked on it.

The caption made you both roll your eyes and laugh out loud.

“🍵❤️we like you a latte ❤️🍵come visit from 7-9 and try our green tea latte, a customer favorite”

You would bet five bucks Ji Soo had come up with that. You’d have to remember to ask him tomorrow.

Here’s a question for you:

Why are dates always in the evening?

Most of the time, people are nervous to go on a date. Especially a first date.

So, why would you subject yourself to going through almost the whole day waiting to meet up? Why would you spend hours and hours in anxiety? Why didn’t people just say ‘Hey, let’s meet for breakfast’?

Maybe you would start a new trend. Morning dates!

Except it was too late now. You’d bought a ticket for Ji Soo for the game tonight, and you couldn’t very well change the kickoff time.

If tonight went well, you would bring it up for a second date. Although, you weren’t sure when a second date would happen. Ji Soo worked at the coffee shop every single day from 7-9 -- or at least, for now. They couldn’t afford to pay you to take pictures for them, so surely they couldn’t afford to pay a part-time employee.

To be honest, though... you didn’t care. You were more than happy to just go to the shop, have a drink, and see Ji Soo, even if just for a few minutes at a time.

But you were getting a little ahead of yourself.

You would see how tonight went and then start worrying about the future.

Somehow -- some way -- you managed to get through the better part of the day without freaking out. You cleaned up the rest of your place since you’d cleaned up your kitchen yesterday, and that alone successfully distracted you for most of the morning and afternoon.

Plus, you kept busy keeping up with the Tigers on Instagram, watching videos of them getting ready to play and getting hyped for the game.

By 5:45 that evening, you were all set and ready to go, donning your team jersey with your favorite player’s name and number on the back, as usual.

You were semi-fine -- meaning not extremely nervous -- until you turned into The Mug’s parking lot and saw Ji Soo waiting by the entrance for you.

Oh, god.

When you pulled up to the front, Ji Soo lifted a hand and grinned at you. He opened the passenger door once you stopped and slid into the seat.

“Hey,” he greeted, sounding far less nervous than you felt at the moment.

“Hello,” you replied. Since you were behind the wheel, you had an excuse not to look over at him. You’d basically seen him as he’d stood outside the shop, and you could tell he looked extra good tonight. You weren’t sure how that was possible, but... apparently, it was.

“How are you?” he asked as he reached back to grab his seat belt.

“I’m excited for the game,” you told him. You decided to leave off the fact you were nervous for the date.

“You’re not nervous for the date?” he asked. You didn’t even need to look over at him to know he was smirking.

Of course. Of course, he knew what you were thinking. He was your best friend in male form!

You felt your cheeks warming as a shy smile tugged at your lips, and you shook your head slightly in disbelief. “Well, yes,” you admitted. “But it’ll be fun.”

“Yeah? I’ve never been to a game before, so I’m curious.”

“Wait, really? You’ve never been to a game?”

“Nope.”

“Like any soccer game?”

“Any soccer game,” he confirmed with a chuckle. “Joo Hyuk has, but apparently, it takes a pretty girl to convince me.”

Awesome. Not even five minutes into the date, and you were already blushing wildly.

“They’re really fun,” you assured him, trying to hide a shy grin. “I mean, I think they’re really fun. Obviously. Hopefully, you’ll have a good time.”

“Oh, yeah. I think I will. I had a good time when we were editing a picture, so I definitely think I’ll have a good time tonight. As long as you’re there.”

Okay, you couldn’t hide your shy grin any longer, and you could feel Ji Soo’s eyes on you.

Judging by the car ride alone, you were in trouble tonight. If Ji Soo kept saying things like that, you were pretty sure your lips would get stuck in this little smile for the rest of your life.

“Have you always blushed so easily?” Ji Soo asked, reaching over and poking your cheek gently.

“Yes,” you chuckled. You shrugged your shoulder to try and push his arm away, but it was more of an instinctive reaction than anything.

“It’s cute,” he murmured. “Like, just on your own, you’re beautiful. But when you blush it’s just so cute.”

“Oh my gosh, can we not talk about me anymore?” you asked with just the slightest whine in your voice. But you still had that smile on your lips; honestly, you were for real on your way to smiling permanently. All because of him!

Ji Soo obliged, though, and he (somehow) managed not to make you blush the rest of the way to the stadium. He asked about the rules of the game, and that kept you talking for the whole ride.

By the time you parked, walked to the stadium, went through security, scanned your tickets, bought some pizza and beer, and found your seats, the team was out practicing on the field.

Ji Soo asked who all of the players were, so you pointed out each one, telling him what their name was and which position they played.

“Who’s on your jersey?” he asked with half a mouthful of pizza.

“Ah,” you muttered, feeling your cheeks blush for the first time in almost half an hour. “Number 16, Martinez.”

Ji Soo’s eyes searched the field, and they narrowed slightly when he found the number 16 jersey.

Of course, you liked Martinez because he was a good player...

But... you would be lying if you said he wasn’t the best-looking guy on the team.

Ji Soo turned his narrowed gaze over to you, and your eyes widened innocently.

“What?” you asked.

“I’m onto you,” he murmured, sounding utterly serious (which you knew meant he was teasing).

“What are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

You shook your head, still keeping up the innocent act as you ate your pizza.

Ji Soo simply smirked at you, and you had to look away because it wasn’t possible to eat properly if you weren’t breathing.

Once you had both finished your pizza, the game was just about to start. You took a quick gulp of beer as the team came back out onto the field in their uniforms. You stood from your seat and clapped, cupping your hands around your mouth and cheering along with the crowd.

Ji Soo stood up, and you were reminded just how tall he was. Most of the time, either one or both of you were sitting, so it was easy to forget that he not only had the face of a model but the body of a model, too. Tall, slim, but you could tell he was also muscular.

As the national anthem played, Ji Soo leaned over and casually rested his elbow on your shoulder.

And, if you can believe it, it made your heart flutter.

So, literally, everything this guy did had some sort of effect on you, I guess. Even if he was just resting his elbow on your shoulder.

Plus, he smelled really good. He always seemed to smell good, even though he worked pretty much all day, every day.

After the last note of the anthem rang through the stadium, you gulped down your anxiety and leaned just a little bit closer toward your date.

“You smell really good,” you told him, raising your voice over the din of the crowd.

Ji Soo simply smirked before reaching out and wrapping his arms around you, pulling you into a hug.

You were so tempted to just bury your face in his chest, but he had already let go before you could give in to the urge.

Thankfully, the referee blew the starting whistle so you could turn your attention to the game instead of how good Ji Soo smelled. Or how amazing just that one, quick hug had felt.

“Okay, you have to tell me what’s going on,” he said, his voice suddenly close to your ear.

You nodded and began your commentary, making sure to stay close to him so you didn’t bother the people around you. You told him what was going on, you answered any question he had, and you also still managed to react to the game as you usually did.

The first time the ref made a somewhat questionable call, your brow furrowed deeply and you yelled out your disagreement.

“OH, COME ON, REF!” you cried. “THAT WAS A FOUL! ARE YOU BLIND?!”

Now, obviously, you weren’t the only one who was yelling at the ref. But the way Ji Soo was looking at you right now, you might as well have been.

When you glanced over at him, a bit of a guilty smile appeared on your lips. “What?” you asked, chuckling.

“I had no idea you had this side to you,” he laughed. “You just seem so... sweet.”

“I am!” you countered.

“You just asked the referee if he was blind,” Ji Soo pointed out. “That’s not sweet.”

“Well! It was a clear foul!”

You went back to watching the game, but you felt Ji Soo lean in close, placing his lips right by your ear.

“Don’t worry,” he told you. “I like it.”

You simply pressed your lips together, your cheeks blazing.

Since the two of you had opted to buy food before the game, you decided to stay in your seats during halftime while almost everyone else in the stadium left.

“How do you like it so far?” you asked, reaching down to pick up your beer and down the last of it.

“Honestly, it’s a lot more fun than I thought,” Ji Soo admitted. “I don’t know why I always thought soccer was boring, but it’s really not.”

“No, not at all!”

“Joo Hyuk is going to be so pissed,” he chuckled.

“You’ll have to go to a game with him to make up for it,” you grinned, nudging him gently with your arm.

“As long as you come, too.”

“What?” you laughed. “Why do I have to come?”

“Because you’re the best commentator. I feel like I know all about soccer already! ...And because you are ridiculously cute when you’re yelling at the players.”

“Be quiet,” you muttered through your smile.

“It’s true!”

You shook your head, rolling your eyes in amusement.

Before Ji Soo could say anything else, Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” started blaring through the stadium speakers.

“Ooh, Kiss Cam!” you cried, tapping Ji Soo’s arm and pointing up to the jumbo screen hanging from the ceiling. “I love the Kiss Cam.”

“You do?” Ji Soo asked, sounding surprised.

You turned to look at him, nodding -- but then you froze.

Oh... god.

What if... what if the two of you were put up on the screen?

Oh, no no no no no.

Ji Soo would love it, surely, but...

It would be so embarrassing!

The cameramen had no way of knowing this, but it was just your first date! You had only hugged, and it had only lasted less than a second!

Your heart started hammering as couples came and went on the screen, and you could sincerely say you’d never been so nervous watching the Kiss Cam. Every time a new couple showed up, you held your breath, letting it out gently when you realized it wasn’t you and Ji Soo.

When an older couple finished kissing, the Kiss Cam logo came up and the announcer asked the crowd to give all of the couples a round of applause.

Oh, thank god. You had survived.

“Aw, man,” Ji Soo lamented, shaking his head. “I was hoping we would be on it.”

Of course, he would hope that.

Instead of letting him know you were not disappointed in the least, you simply reached over and patted his arm. “I’m sorry,” you said. “Maybe next time.”

“Next time?” he asked, eyebrows raised. “You think there’s going to be a next time?”

You stared at him, blinking, your mouth slightly agape.

Uh...

Ji Soo smirked and lifted his arm, moving to rest it around your shoulders. “There better be a next time,” he smirked.

You couldn’t help but let out yet another sigh of relief.

And then... you settled down in your seat, leaning into him and tilting your head to rest it against his shoulder.

When the game was over (a satisfying 2-0 win for the Tigers, thank goodness), you and Ji Soo shuffled out of the stadium with the rest of the crowd. You headed up the stairs ahead of him, and as the people filed out with you, you felt Ji Soo’s fingers grasp yours.

Thankfully, he couldn’t see your face, but you would be surprised if he didn’t know you were blushing right now.

When you got to the top of stairs, instead of letting go of his hand, you linked your fingers through his more firmly. Ji Soo squeezed your hand as he walked beside you, and you shot him a shy grin.

Eventually, you made it out to the parking lot, and once the two of you were settled into your car, Ji Soo told you to drop him back off at the coffee shop.

“Joo Hyuk is still there, so I figure I should help him clean up some.”

“Can you please apologize to him for me?” you asked as you threw your car into reverse and began to back out of your spot. “I feel bad that he had to work by himself.”

“So, you feel bad for going out with me?” Ji Soo teased.

“No!” you chuckled.

“Don’t worry,” he assured you, reaching over and resting his hand on your thigh briefly. “We’re talking about hiring a part-timer. Hopefully. If business keeps up, we should be able to. And we can pay you for the pictures.”

“No, Ji Soo, I already told you that you don’t need to pay me. The free drinks are more than enough.”

“See? That’s why I thought you were sweet,” Ji Soo pointed out. “But then you started yelling at that ref. Now I’m afraid to ever get on your bad side.”

You simply laughed, shaking your head as you began the drive back to The Mug.

When you arrived at the shop, you pulled up as close to the door as you could since there were no other cars in the lot. You put the car in park and, a bit nervously, you turned toward Ji Soo.

“Thank you for coming,” you said softly. “I’m glad you had a good time.”

“No, thank you for inviting me. I never thought our first date would be a sports game, but that’s one of the things I like about you.”

“...What do you mean?” you asked shyly.

“You’re full of surprises,” Ji soo told you with just the slightest of smirks.

For probably the millionth time tonight, you blushed.

And you wondered if there would ever be a time you didn’t blush around Ji Soo.

“Hey, so...” he continued. “I don’t really want our first kiss to be in the parking lot, but... if you wouldn’t mind...”

Well, the blushing certainly wasn’t going to be letting up anytime soon, was it?

He was asking you if you wouldn’t mind kissing him?

Really?

You didn’t let yourself think too much about it because you probably would have talked yourself out of saying ‘yes.’

And... you wanted to say ‘yes.’

So, you nodded quickly.

Part 7

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msbeccieboo · 6 years ago

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Arrow 7x08 brain dump

It wasn’t that bad!!

So like many I was a liiiittle bit disappointed this week. I really tried to recalibrate my expectations, but I think I was so pumped by the surprise fabulousness of last week and then the buzz online (so naive I know) of the advanced reviews for this week. I was also doubly excited as it was the first time I was watching it via live stream (wow...all the adverts) rather than waking up super early to stream it the following morning (I’m in the UK). I just think that we could've spent more time on the personal life of THE MAIN CHARACTER(S) after he had been in prison for half a year, but hey, live and learn. Luckily I have ZERO hopes for the crossover so next week should be fine haha!

However, I have slept on it, seen everyone else freak out, and decided it could have been way worse, we got some quality Olicity fluff/angst content and Felicity is still the driving force of the storylines this year in both timelines so PositiveOutlook!Beccie is here!

So the episode...we didn’t get our shower shenanigans scene...*pouty face* (my review last week got flagged cos I wrote the ‘explicit’ s*x word twice, so all naughtiness shall hereby be referred to as shenanigans, until I get bored of typing shenanigans). HOWEVER, the feelings of PTSD we got from Oliver in that scene, and throughout the episode, were great, and something I hope we continue to see and actually be acknowledged. Oh yeah, and we got the FLUFFIEST SCENE TO EVER FLUFF!! The zip!! The mirror!! The rubbing of the wedding ring!! The RECITAL OF THEIR WEDDING VOWS!!! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!! Ahhh and then some bed shenanigans 😉😉 (which could have been a bit longer, really Beth, come on!!).

Source: oliverxfelicity

We all have Felicity, we all have!! We have been starved and we just want some good foooood!!

Then there was the gala, with allusions to Oliver’s first meal *cough Felicity*, a smidge of Laurel side-eye (always fun), and a classic forever-rebloggable gif from Mrs Smoak-Queen:

Unfortunately the gala also came with NTA. Rene bitching that they didn’t get an event thrown for them when ‘they’ caught Diaz...err excuse me now, who caught Diaz?? At least it makes a change from Curtis being the whiner of the episode!

Then we see the shit hit the fan with the break-in and Felicity’s reaction to it, or rather, Oliver’s reaction to Felicity’s reaction to it haha! Oliver’s cry of “Felicity” before diving across the room to protect her (yes I swooned), was swiftly followed up with Badass!Felicity pulling a gun and shooting the intruder, like a boss!

Source: oliverfelicitygifs

Oliver is shocked and mad that she has a gun....huh? Why? She’s protecting herself and her family in their own home, not, say, seeking out criminals and inflicting bodily harm on them willy nilly like some kind of....vigilante???! How many times have we seen her knock a villain out before, except this time Oliver sees the anger, rage even, in her, and THAT is what could harm her, that is where his fear lies and that is what he is really concerned about. This is followed up with a rather delicious Olicity angst scene, which may I add, WE ALL HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR. We all wanted to see Felicity lose her shit over what Oliver did and show him how she has had to change because of it. The sad part was seeing the way Felicity sees her ‘old self’ as weak. The important thing to see here is that this is how Felicity is feeling because of what she’s been through the past few months, not what the writers, or Oliver think. Oliver's look of incredulity when she said that was a thing of beauty. Girl you have never been weak, you are just scared and angry, and this is something that Felicity will come to accept over the season, I am sure. Again, Olicity are walking in each others shoes, and Oliver will need to be her light this time and show her another way to channel these feelings than do something that she may regret later.

Source: oliverfelicitygifs

Their conversation continued at the end of the episode, which is where people are freaking out I think. I’m not worried. I found it annoying that they effectively ended Season 7a at this point of their discussion, but Olicity are not splitting up!! The red pen mention... “I love you more than a human being should love another human being” *my heart*...then the notion that they are growing apart/moving in different directions, but Oliver is there asking how do they get back on the same page again. Oliver will not let Felicity walk away again....Felicity won’t walk away again...they are acknowledging that they have changed/grown independently and will just need to learn to grow back together again cos they are endgame!!!!

Oh and Emiko Queen is the new GA, and Oliver’s half sister...I am SHOCKED (I’m not shocked). I did have a giggle that the charred remains of the Queen mansion were still stood there as full-mansion-sized charred remains ~5 years after said-charring 😂😂

Future timeline

So, on first appearances it seems that Maya is not our Olicity baby...apparently William doesn’t recognise her. One of the first things I did think when we actually saw her interacting with William et al was how reminiscent of a young Thea she was...the only alternative option I will accept for her is that she is Thea's and Roy's...especially as Roy wasn't with them to meet her. But her and William....totally had that ‘we have a secret’ eye-contact thing going on. The season theme is legacy, why go to the trouble of casting a relatively well-known actress and hyping her up weeks and weeks before her first appearance for her to not fit into that theme in a major way? Girl is a Smoak/Queen or a Queen/Harper or I’m out!

Also, it seems that they are trying to make us think that Oliver is dead in the future too....hmm ok then, Oliver and Felicity are dead and before she died Felicity was also evil and wanted to level the Glades...

(I think this is the first time I’ve actually used this gif! Yay!)

Things I wasn’t keen on...

Dyla...I think I need to watch their scenes back cos I zoned out a bit there...why are they seeing Lizard boy?? Actually I DON’T F-ING CARE BE GONE ALREADY DIAZ!!!

When is Oliver gonna find out that Dig has been next to useless the last 6 months? Cos there is no hint of him having the slightest clue...this would also help him to understand Felicity’s position better.

The Max Fuller storyline was just essentially to show Oliver working for the SCPD and using a different route of justice, so why did they need to spend sooo much time on it?

My main gripe with the episode wasn’t the way the Olicity angst was dealt with necessarily, but rather the lack of time dedicated to it. I also think that the episode requires a re-watch as soon as I get home to fully digest and make sense of it. Sometime recently I seem to recall @jbuffyangel saying something along the lines of, if you have to re-watch the episode straight away to understand it, it's kind of a crappy episode. I would somewhat agree in this case, but we did get some goodies in there...I think I will enjoy this episode better when the season has finished and I can binge-watch. That’s how I watched nearly the first 4 seasons of Arrow and those are some of my favourites (I didn’t even mind Ray upon binging!).

#arrow spoilers #arrow 7x08 #olicity #beccie's brain #arrow season 7

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trippin-over-my-fandoms · 6 years ago

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Arrow 7x12 thoughts

I tried to make one of these last week and I bitch about them every week because all it seems the people I follow can do is point out the negative but you know what? I enjoyed it and I’m going to make a post. And unlike the past few weeks when I try to do this I’m actually posting it.

This episode was actually really good and very feelsy.

The only thing I didn’t like? I was told Kelsey Grammer was narrating and he only did the opening.

I really liked the call back to the very first freaking episode. I use those clips a lot for editing (I need new material oof) and I know that fight scene pretty well so even though I’ve only been watching for two years it was epic seeing a reference to the very first ep. I remember watching it in my cousins’ living room with them and just that feeling alone made me practically cry (but I’ll spare you the sad details this is a review)

The interviews were so serious it was epic. I think Oliver’s were the only ones that didn’t feel right. They felt more like Stephen than Oliver but maybe that’s because I watch a lot of Stephen interviews. Felicity’s actually looked legit though and I loved that. Her little faces were cute.

Rene actually said some heavy shit and it makes me wonder what the hell happens from now to the flash forwards. He seems like a different person in those. He said something along the lines of “the worst thing I can do is sit on my hands and let the world get worse” and like I just said damn and thought about that because it’s true to real life. So what happens to Rene?

I’m also excited William is back because usually that means Oliver is gonna be more happy (he’s such a family man, he’s always been) and seeing (young) Will and Zoe in the same frame was so cute. Not in a shippy way but more of a friends way. It’s also nice that William has someone to talk to about stuff. Kids need at least one friend for that. I think we also tend to forget between how quickly Jack is growing and seeing the older flash forward William that he is a kid. I think he’s supposed to be like 12-14 and that’s still a baby to me.

TEAM ARROW!

I don’t like the Mayor but giving everyone at the end badges is so great! I didn’t realized how much I missed the team until I saw them working together. They were so torn apart in season 6 and 7A that I didn’t realize how much I missed the season 5 team and now we’re finally getting them back.

I loved the end with Oliver taking the crew into the old base. It got me so excited for what’s next. I think Arrow is going back to what it was in season 5, slowly but surely and I’m ready for that.

#arrow #arrow 7x12 #150th #green arrow #oliver queen #review #thoughts

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liesandarbor · 6 years ago

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Which are your personal favourite DW eras and episodes, if Clara era turned you off a bit (a shame, I think S10 really did improve)?

I think anything from Donna to Amy/Rory was done well (series five was some of the best writing for a TV serial ever), and also think Martha was a very underrated series. Although, series seven kind of started tanking, I think the Amy and Rory arc was closed well, if not for a few weak writing moments.

If I had to give it a go, here is a… not so brief list of my favorites from the seasons that I actually cared about (because… I love all of it, how could I not)

90% of the Christmas episodes; the 50th, etc

(Especially Time of the Doctor. If you compiled my tears at TOTD and TATM, you would have … maybe not an ocean, but at least a small Pond)

Season 8… I liked some, not notable enough that I could name. Like, Danny died, that was sad I guess.

Season 7A

all of it

fight me, I loved it, it was the best 5 episode swan song a girl could ask for

Not them, Brian. Never them.

The Rings of Akhaten (7x7)

The Name of the Doctor (7x13)

The Doctor’s Wife (6x4)

The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People (6x5/6)

A Good Man Goes to War (6x7)

The Girl Who Waited (6x10)

The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood (5x8/9)

The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang (5x12/13)

Seriously, this arc was amazing

The Fires of Pompeii (4x2)

Silence in the Library/The Forest of the Dead (4x8/9)

Stolen Earth/Journey’s End (4x12/13)

The Shakespeare Code (3x2)

Human Nature/The Family of Blood (3x8/9)

Tooth and Claw (2x2)

The Girl in the Fireplace (2x4)

Army of Ghosts/Doomsday (2x12/13)

The Long Game (1x7)

Father’s Day (1x8)

Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways (1x12/13)

I guess, for me, it isn’t specifically what episodes so far as what arc. If the episode contributes to the overarcing plot that they’re delivering, I find myself more invested than not. The whole standalone episode thing is nice, but it just isn’t what I watch the program for… and there are other shows that will give me what I want, now. So it’s really hard to trust again!

I quit after a few episodes into series ten, but I’m tempted to get a nice ol’ bottle of wine and go back to it sometime. The stars just haven’t aligned yet - I have so much else to watch! So little time. :)

#doctor who #chloe answers #I'm a bad whovian #I used to be the biggest whovian ever sigh #It just isn't the same

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illusmeta · 6 years ago

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s7 thoughts, in no particular order (spoilers yes)

1. Bex was right. This season hurt more than s6, if that’s even fucking possible...the last five episodes were just the most painful ride i have ever been on

2. HUNK DEVELOPMENT! IT’S A B O U T FUCKING TIME. I’m just. gaAAAAAAAH.

2a. ok but WHY MUST HIS FAMILY BE THE ONLY ONE THAT ISN’T SAFE. the scene where keith talked to him was really fuckin sweet but also....just...give hunk his family???

2b. that being said we now know hunk’s connection to yellow is comparable to keith’s with black. yup. s3′s hunk not wanting black paladin was foreSHADOWING BICTH and it makes sense bc hunk is literally the team’s stability now soooooo <3 he honestly is the biggest hero of the team, fucking carried the team, deserves the world

2c. and HUNK HOLDING THE TEAM TOGETHER IN EPISODE 6??? i fuckin SCREAMED he deSERVES THE WORLD and i would die for him he’s my fuckin role model

2d. self-care is making my inner voice HUNK and having him tell me to take care of myself...my crops are FUCKING WATERED

2e. and hunk care...is seeing shay again <3 my loves!!!

3. james griffin turned out to be less of an asshole than he could have been, give him a fucking medal lol but the subtlety of his learning to accept Voltron and specifically keith was pretty sick actually. apart from the heart-wrenching, this season had a great deal of subtlety in character development like that (before s8 or 9 when the stakes go way up of course) and i for one appreciated it

3a. his team...also awesome. especially the girls, i love them

4. ok but after that last episode when the whole thing just went silent...I legit thought the showrunners did it. fucking murdered everyone. keith said “it’s been an honor” and my tiny heart just broke. i keep telling myself that the showrunners can’t keep loading on impossible situations with everyone with their backs to the wall and still have it be believable but in that last scene...I believed it. I thought their luck had run out. and these guys...in a lot of ways, it feels like i’ve grown up with this show, from the end of freshman year to now. it felt like i was losing my real friends. and i thought that james’s crew had been brought on to replace them. kudos to the show for making something so incredible, but also...fuck. the adrenaline and tension has literally given me a massive headache and after i write all this down i’m gonna take a realllly long nap

5. I could write an essay on why Admiral Sanda was valid and then write another essay on why she wasn’t, but i could write a fucking thesis on why the showrunners got her arc just right

6. episode six...ohhhh my god. you know how s6 stuck a knife in my heart? well, that episode twisted it, pulled it out, and dragged my innards out with it.

6a. seriously, think of the psychological horror of that episode. it’s one thing to die in battle, feeling you have a clear purpose and strategy and knowing you died for something. it’s another to die slowly, and painfully, without any sign that your actions ever mattered or that they can ever matter again, without any sign of hope. it’s another to die uncertain and afraid, unsure of what world you’ll leave behind, unsure of the people you’ll leave behind. small wonder everyone wanted to believe they were home. it was the first thing that kept them from going completely insane. they had to believe in it.

6b. consider: the sheer mental force of will Hunk had to force the team forward and away. Think of just how in-tune with himself he has to be, how brave he has to be, to go against his own heart and his own team and push back and believe in himself. Honestly, Hunk is a miracle. he uses his caution to make him stronger. keith was right to admire him. he really was.

6c. small bone to pick: i guess keith’s leaving the team has finally been...dealt with? i don’t think it’s finished but i generally think emotional development needs more focus in voltron. That’s what headcanons and fics are for, i guess? after all, it is still a kids show, and i guess the showrunners want to make sure the pacing matches that...

7. sooooo. ships. we gotta talk about that. Wasn’t super happy with how axca was coded to be a love interest for keith. personally i’m still holding out for them finding out they’re related bc axca just seems like she’s coded to be waaaay older than keith but then again that might just be me. also: allurance maybe confirmed? I do hope that if the showrunners really want this to be endgame, they take some time next season to fully flesh out why allura’s not using lance as a rebound. like...come on. everyone knows he deserves better.

7a. on the bright side: zethrid and ezor. nice.

7b. double bright side: hunk and shay. NICe

7c. klance is gonna get all its mileage from episode 4 and the fact that red and black make cool wing boosters, calling it right now, the ship will never fucking sink lol tbh i don’t care that much anymore??? like, the whole show is just coming together so well and i’m happy with whatever??? as long as there’s no toxicity and everyone loves each other i’d be perfectly happy if keith and hunk became a thing

8. the paladins with their families is just. Nice.

8a. KEEF GOT A HUG MY BABY IS LOVED

8b. Hunk’s flashbacks...honestly, he’s even more of a mama’s boy than lance is and he’s just. perfect.

8c. lance and his sister lmao. veronica knows what’s up

8d. pidge <3 again with the subtlety of the emotion the showrunners pulled off this season...10/10. everything shows on her face and it’s wonderfully done and alSO COLLEEN HOLT IS SUCH A BADASS. just fucking SNAPPED and gave Sanda the what-for. she’s valid

8e. but question: where the FUCK IS SHIRO’S FAM I am INSULTED are you just gonna be like, “hey shiro can put his life on hold and pretend like he’s not hurting too? he came back and adam was dead. after all this time, thinking adam would outlive him. that’s harsh and i’m feeling it

9. can we go back to the atlas? ok. that shit was fuckin relentless

9a. so much screaming and sciency-mumbo-jumbo i feel like the showrunners were just throwing in random words with ‘o’s and hoping it worked

9b. and shiro, powering up an entire voltron XL through his arm and his connection to altean magic?? completely implausible. honestly tho? i don’t fucking care. Shiro is magic, friendship and resilience are magic, the paladins’ resolve is basically the only thing holding voltron together at this point, and I DON’T CARE. they’re fucking badasses and they can do what they want. at least the showrunners used the small details, like sendak’s memories and the castle crystal thing. there’s my bar -- using past story details. everything else? whatever, i’m using this fiction to escape reality, not constantly poke holes in it

10. if i had to pick favorite episodes: 6, 9, 10. maybe 12 and 13 for sheer emotional trauma.

10a. this might be my favorite season, tbh. i honestly don’t know yet bc i’m still really Shook(TM) but while i can’t say the season made me happy (it actually fucking ripped up my heart and stomped on it), i can say it left a mark. and I think voltron has a future in saving the universe with the earth as its home base.

10b. ok but allura needs to pull out that quintessence mumbo jumbo and give the lions a fucking UPGRADE WE ALL KNOW THAT’S WHAT HAGGAR’S DOING WITH THE COLONY AND HER WEIRD ROBEAST THINGS and ALLURA HAD THE SAME CRASHCOURSE IN ALCHEMY FROM ORIANDE SO GET ON IT PLS

11. ngl, the characters in this season? fine.

and now: a list of girls i thought were cute:

- Allura (as always)

- Veronica (called it)

- the girls on the MFE team (Leifsdottir and I forgot the other girl’s name, started with an R i think, either way she’s cute)

- Ezor (i’m a simple fool)

- Romelle with her hair up is such a Look and I love it

a list of guys:

- Keith (as usual) -- seriously, why is his animation always 100000X more expressive and beautiful than everyone else’s?? someone up there loves anime pretty boys and I am NOT COMPLAINING like in episode 5 his faces of fear were just so beautifully and expressively drawn

- HUNK.

- james & kinkade (is that how his name is even spelled lmao)

ANYWAY. i had feelings, thought I’d share

#vld s7 spoilers #spoilers #voltron #space squad #commentary

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theblondegoesabroad · 4 years ago

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Day 413,414, 415

Saturday 20th March, Sunday 21st March, Monday 22nd March 2021

Where to start. What a weekend we have had! Since our plans to head to fountainebleau got cancelled due to the strict lockdown in France, Benoit and I changed our plans and instead headed to Berdorf, a climbing spot, closer to home. Still a two hours drive, but a climbing spot none the less. Saturday morning after a early tea in bed, we had breakfast at then got on the road. We arrived at Berdorf around 10am, and were climbing by 10.30. It was a big first day climbing, the temperatures were crazily low, the rock was freezing but we had a lot of fun. The first day, Benoit and I climbed the same routes, all on lead climbing. I like going to Berdorf as the routes are so well bolted, there is pretty much a bolt every meter, so even when you are climbing really hard routes, it is not to scary climbing them on lead. I really enjoyed myself. For our first day, there was a bit of sunshine, and even though my fingers were constantly frozen we had a good time. It was crazy climbing with numb hands, as usually you climb a lot based on sensations, and what your fingers are feeling, but when you cant feel anything, you grip on and pray that you don’t slip. At least with the cold temperatures, you stick on a bit better than when it is too hot! After a few routes (both easy and hard, I think we climbed a few 6bs/6cs – which is hard for me and I was happy I lead climbed them) under our belts for the day, we scouted out some projects for the next day, and then make the most of the afternoon to explore Berdorf a bit more. There is a huge forest all around us, and generally when we are only there for two days, we spend our whole time looking at the rock in front of us and no time exploring the rest of the forest, so for the last hours of the sunshine, we packed up our climbing gear and went for a walk. It was lovely, the forest has incredibly rock formations and we enjoyed checking them out. Then at 6, we headed into town to the only takeaway restaurant and bought a pizza each. The hot food was exactly what we felt like and we watched the sunset while eating dinner. A good end to our first day. Then into the van to warm up and blob for the evening, until it became a respectable hour to fall asleep!

It was a pretty rough night, it was freezing, and although we have our super warm duvet, it is still March and not really camping season. We woke up to a balmy -2 degrees and wow, it was hard to get motived for our second climbing day. To start the day easily, we decided to head to the supermarket and grab the supplies for dinner. We decided to have a BBQ and salad so grabbed a few things this morning. Since it is so cold, at least there is no need to try and conserve things! On our way back, we decided to go for a little walk in an area nearby. Once again it was stunning and neat to see another part of the forest. Then back to the climbing spot. And wow, today was a big day, we pretty much only climbed hard routes, 6cs, 7a and 7a+, I was really proud of myself as it was just at the top of my level and I actually climbed pretty well, numb hands, toes and all. Benoit to finish off his day climbed a 7c that he has been working on, and it went really well. A good way to finish off the day, we deserved our beers at the end that was for sure! After our big day of climbing, we headed back to the picnic area, and started a fire before having nibbles and a drink. It was pretty chilly so once again, we had a pretty early dinner, but this time next to the fire. We made a yummy Greek salad, and benoit cooked sausages and potatoes on the BBQ. Another lovely night camping, and then back to the van to snuggle up and keep warm for the night.

Monday, wow today was hard, after two days of intense climbing on my part, I was knackered, I think the constant cold and the big days out doors really wore me out. So this morning I was low on motivation. Luckily I had Benoit to rally me along. After a lovely breakfast in the freezing cold we decided to head out for another walk and discover a bit more of the area. We found some really neat caves, that were mined for milling stones, using a technique where they drill wood into the rock face, then eventually the wood swells up and due to the pressure causes the rock to break, pretty crazy, and the patterns left on the stone are incredible. It was neat to see and the forest was stunning. The rock formations all around really make you wonder! Then back to the climbing spot, Benoit started and then had a toilet break, while I was waiting for him I checked my phone and heard that one of my host dads had passed away. It really hit me hard as I have been meaning to go visit them in Angers ever since I came to Europe but with covid and constant lockdowns, I never got the time. It was just a bit too tough to handle, so we decided to head home. Climbing is such a mental sport and if you are not thinking clearly, it isn’t fun for anyone, so we called it a day and hit the road. We stopped off at a few spots to check out the views and look around but by 3pm we were home, unpacked and finally having a nice hot shower. Wow it felt good to relax in the heat! The rest of the afternoon, we did washing etc, and now I am writing my blog! Ready to get back to work tomorrow!

Love Kate xxxxx

One: long weekends away, having Monday off from work, really made the weekend feel like a holiday, we were able to spend two nights away and it was great. A really treat Two: The cold, although I spent most of the weekend freezing, it made getting back to warmth and hot water all the more rewarding Three: Benoit, for introducing me to the sport of climbing, for pushing me to my limits, for helping me get through barriers, for motivating me and for spending a super weekend together! It was bliss!

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just-whelmed · 7 years ago

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A Long, Rambly, Incoherent Rant Regarding TWD

!WARNING!: a lot of complaints, a lot of tangents, specific shipping of specific pairings, wishful thinking and weird ideas, probably unpopular opinions -- all up ahead.

[i just needed to get my thoughts out there; i’m not looking to fight anyone over things i think/believe/like or don’t like about the show. i’m aware my opinions are not fact, nor are they the end all, be all for the walking dead. i’m just a fan who has no one to talk to about all this junk. nothing more. ignore if you want.]

I love The Walking Dead. It’s been a huge part of my life, my family’s life, for going on 5 years now. I’ve sat down every Sunday (when the show is airing) since the season 4 premiere to watch live, I’ve argued with family members after episodes, I’ve analyzed and defended characters, spent time making stupid edits and writing fluffy fanfics and just generally thinking about this show for an admittedly unhealthy amount of time.

I’ve never liked zombie entertainment. I didn’t even want to watch this show initially, but I’d been convinced by my sister one day and so we sat down in my room and watched season 1, which we rented from a video store before it went out of business. Right away, during 1x01, I realized that this wasn’t a zombie show—it was a show about survivors. It was a show about one man waking up to a dead world and wanting nothing more than to find his family. It was about seeing all these characters with all their complexities, whether you liked them or not, trying to keep themselves afloat while anyone could die at any moment. But that was never the point. The point was to follow these characters we meet right alongside Rick and root for them to conquer the threat of the world, no matter the cost. Because amongst all the loss and sadness, there was survival and hope. That’s how I convinced my grandparents to watch, too.

And so it makes me sad, mad, frustrated, that I can barely recognize the show anymore. That I can rarely even enjoy it. Where’s the fun in watching characters you’ve cared about for years get killed off without any payoff (especially when it’s falsely promised that it’s for some type of “reason”)? Where’s the fun the show either being so predictable that it becomes stupid, or so outlandish that you have to laugh at the ridiculousness of it?

I know the common arguments, just as I know my opinions are purely my own. This is a show that’s created by a team who can do whatever they want with it. They don’t have to take the fan’s wants and desires into account (they rarely do, anyhow). They don’t have to cater to anyone. However, why should they then expect the fans to keep watching when they (Gimple) consistently flush everything we love about what made TWD what it is right now down the drain? Actions have consequences, and while yes, this is a show and what happens shouldn’t revolve around whether or not people are going to get mad, I do think TWD deserves a little more care and common sense.

And I’m in no way saying that this show should not evolve every season, that it should only be about 5 people and no one else, that threats can’t be bigger and greater or that main characters can’t eventually die. I know all these things, I accept all these things, I even like some of these things. But there’s a time, a place, and a way to do all of this, and the way it’s been done recently… it’s just frustrating.

Of course, no matter what happens on the show, someone will always complain. There’s too much plot, not enough character moments; too many character moments, not enough action; too much action, not enough plot. Etc, etc. Nothing can please everyone 100% of the time and that’s fine, but where’s the balance? Where’s the forethought? It seems like Gimple plans a season without thinking about the future of the show, and now said future is far too bleak—in terms of TWD itself and the state of how long AMC can keep this train running before it completely wrecks.

And everyone has an idea on when this started happening. For reference, my favorite seasons OVERALL are 1, 2, and 6. S3 had a lot of great episodes, but too much focus on Woodbury too suddenly. S4 had some stand out episodes, but was slow a lot of the time and had weird plot moments intertwined. S5 might be my least favorite, really, though it contains a couple of my favorite episodes in the series. The first half with all that hospital shit? No thanks, but the second half was pretty good. A lot of people disliked s6 and cite this as the season that things started to fall apart, but aside from the completely random obsession Rick had over Jessie and the fakeout dumpster with Glenn (also, Denise’s too-soon death), I think the season was strong. It had a lot of little character moments where most everyone got to shine and essentially helped change the course of the show in new and interesting ways.

Unfortunately, s7 took those changes and ran in the wrong direction. The pacing was off, half the focus was about Negan when we had three communities (two of which were extremely new) to learn about, and practically all the deaths were for shock value. (Also, the whole “blame Daryl” bullshit really blew up here in full force, stopping Negan from taking accountability for anything because he’s so ~charming~.) Now, I have a lot of individual episodes in this season that I actually really like, for various reasons (7x02, 7x03, 7x05, 7x08, 7x13, 7x14, 7x15, 7x16; obviously, 7B was better than 7A in my eyes). And there were a lot of things in the other episodes I enjoyed, too, but overall? S7 was kind of a big mess.

Why did Glenn need to die, honestly? What was the point of the dumpster bullshit if he was going to get his comic death anyways, only this time as an afterthought and therefore the exact opposite of the huge show-changing event they’d claimed it would be? Abraham dying, alongside maybe a surprise someone else, would’ve done the same damn thing that s7 showed us, except Maggie wouldn’t have lost yet another person she cares the most about, Daryl wouldn’t be persecuted for something Negan did on solely his own will, and we’d still have some fucking hope for a little bit. TWD immediately started feeling less like TWD when Glenn was killed off.

Why is Negan’s characterization so flip-floppy? He was, to me, a threat in 6x16 and 7x01, as well as 7x03, and then for the rest of the season (as well as 8a) he’s just a joke-cracking, lame ass leaning cartoon who likes to pretend he’s not coercing his “wives” into being with him and who seems so obsessed with Rick’s dick that I’m not sure how he thinks about anything else. His relationship with Carl also falls flat. Yeah, I can see maybe if he had some kind of fatherly feelings towards him, but he just seems like a sociopath. He makes fun of Carl and then apologizes when he starts to cry, only doing so to gain control. He carts Carl around to show him the workers he treats as slaves, the “wives” that are only with him because they want to avoid a worse fate, and tries to emasculate his father by propping himself up as some kind of God to his “Saviors,” as if Carl will think that’s cool. He used Carl to break Rick in 7x01 and then was ready to bash his head in during 7x16, but it’s okay because he feels bad, right? Negan is a villain who has no empathy, who makes excuses for his actions the same way his fans do; there’s nothing to make the audience connect with him in a way that even the Governor, as whiny and dumb as he was, had. His s8 tragic backstory? Cheated on his dying wife. Okay. But it’s alright because he’s funny sometimes, yeah? In my opinion, Negan is a weak villain who’s plot armor is so obvious that so much of the show has become stupid. He controls so many people and yet you’re telling me that only Dwight hates him? That no one can just freaking shoot the guy who strolls around without a care? You’re telling me that Rosita is suddenly a shit shot and hits the small surface of baseball bat instead of Negan’s forehead? You’re telling me Sasha couldn’t take the knife from the rapist in the cell and stab Negan? She was going to die anyways, so why not just do it? You’re telling me they had Daryl on the B-Team in 8x01 because… why? He had a bike to lead walkers to Sanctuary? No, it’s because he would’ve popped Negan between the eyes if he’d been in that crowd, instead of shooting out windows too many stories up to even matter. Like… not to shit on Rick’s plan, because it’s pretty clever when you take the whole thing into account, but really? They could’ve killed Negan in 8x01 and the show would have been more interesting with Simon as the new main villain.

Also, what’s the deal with introducing characters (Heath, Sherry) that suddenly just disappear? I get actors have other things going on, but then there’s literally no mention of them again. Tara finds a sheet of paper, which we have no clue what would even have to do with anything, and hopes Heath is okay. Dwight gets Sanctuary’s doctor killed so he can lie about Sherry being dead. That’s it. And then what’s the deal WITH BRINGING BACK A CHARACTER FROM SEASON 1, SOMEONE THAT COULD HAVE HAD POTENTIAL TO SHOW MORE TENSION WITHIN NEGAN’S RANK, SOMEONE WHO COULD’VE HELPED DWIGHT TURN ON THE SAVIORS AFTER RECONNECTING WITH RICK, SOMEONE WHO COULD’VE AT LEAST FILLED THE EMPTY SPACE MORGAN WILL BE LEAVING ONCE HE HOPS SHOWS, ONLY TO KILL HIM AT THE START OF THE VERY NEXT EPISODE??? The most random shit you have ever seen, right up there with scavenger freaks that talk like robots even though the apocalypse has only been around for like 2-3 years.

It really pains me to complain about a show I love so much, but maybe it’s because I have such strong feelings for it that I have to air my grievances.

But wait, there’s more!

So, sure, season 7 had a nice finale, with Sasha at least going out on her own terms and Glenn finally really being acknowledged by newly appointed leader Maggie, plus the cool visual of seeing Rick, Ezekiel, and Maggie give rousing speeches to their followers, but we then get s8.

It had a strong start. Rick’s plan is confusing and, for some reason, not fully explained when it’s the ONE thing that should be talked about. But, essentially: Rick teams up with other communities to trap Negan inside until they can no longer survive, with the threat of walkers looming, rather than outright killing anyone because he wants them to surrender. Then, with Dwight’s information, they go to every outpost to clear them of outside Saviors and to arm themselves with more weapons. His back up plan, in case something goes wrong, is to call upon the group that already betrayed them. Then, they just need to wait it out.

Except a lot of things go wrong, as they usually do, and this makes up a lot of the plot. Great! I enjoy the fact that many of our favorite characters are disagreeing. Daryl, Tara, and Morgan want revenge at all costs; Rick and Maggie are struggling with morality; Ezekiel loses nearly all of the Kingdom and needs Carol to get him steady; Jesus, the new moral compass, has taken prisoners because he’s thinking not just about the present, but also the future and what the cost of winning will do to everyone; Rosita’s learned her lesson, Michonne is on neutral ground, Carl once again won’t stay in the house, Eugene’s become an asshole as well as a coward, and Aaron is dealing with the loss of Eric (which was unnecessary, but whatever).

But within these neat little things are several problems. For one thing, Tara in s7 seemed to care about the innocent workers, even after she learned about Denise, Glenn, and Abraham. Now, she wants them all dead and is kind of manipulating the fragile state of mind that Morgan and Daryl are in. Like don’t get me wrong, crashing a truck into Sanctuary was Daryl’s big idea (and it was NOT a bad one, entirely, just morally incorrect, which he even knew and seemed to struggle with at times), but after Michonne tried to talk some sense into him and we saw that he’s once again suicidal, Tara is right there to make sure he goes through with it, just like she said Morgan was right after he had a breakdown and nearly killed Jesus. As for Eric, I get that we need casualties in war, and considering that they never developed the background characters (Tobin, Francine, etc) like they should have, Eric is the only one people would have cared enough about. It’s all about impact. (Note: If it wasn’t clear, I do not ship Aaron and Jesus on the show. I don’t read the comics, I don’t like the comics, and I don’t care if they’re a thing in them. On the show, they’ve not spoken ONE WORD to each other on screen. They’ve never interacted, which is a shitty setup if the plan is to then try and convince us later that a relationship can form there, especially if they killed Eric just for that. Why does Aaron need to be with Jesus when he was already in a perfectly loving relationship? Tom Payne said it best: it would be lazy plotting. Aaron is grieving. Give him the random baby, since Ross mentioned that he’d clung to that bit of life in the wake of losing Eric, and leave him alone.)

Now. Daryl. Obviously, he’s my favorite character, so no matter what I say it’s going to seem like I’m defending him just because. But what you don’t know about me is that I actually like to see both sides to a situation. I don’t think one character is always right or wrong, I’ll admit to anyone if something happens that I don’t agree with, and then I try to see the other side if I can. So… Daryl’s been a popular character since his first appearance. Like him or not, he’s a mainstay and a huge part of the show. Daryl has always been hot-headed, violent, and emotional. He’s also always been caring, loyal, and an outsider. In 6x16, he goes out to find and kill Dwight, despite the fact that it would probably get him killed in return. Why is he doing this? Dwight, who he’d helped in the woods, betrayed him and stole his stuff. Then, he killed Denise for no reason and showed zero remorse. Rick, Michonne, and Rosita followed him out because they cared about him and thought what he was doing was stupid. People act like Daryl is the only character who does stupid shit. Yeah, he’s not, but anyway. Instead of realizing Glenn, Michonne, and Rosita have their own minds and make their own decisions, people want to blame Daryl for them getting captured instead of blaming Dwight and the Saviors for acting on Negan’s orders. In 7x01, when everyone is in the lineup, after Abraham is murdered, Negan taunts Rosita. He’s looking for an excuse to kill someone else. He’s purposefully going around, trying to see who he can rile up. When he starts shouting at Rosita, Daryl snaps and punches him. Stupid, stupid, stupid. BUT look what happens after. The punch, which Daryl no doubt thought would get himself killed, backfires and makes Negan like him because he’s not a “bitch” like Rick. Immediately, Negan turns to Glenn, who’d already spoken out of line, and beats him to death. Aside from the fact that the writers wanted Glenn to die, if we’re looking at it in the scope of canon, do you really think it was random? Do you really think Abraham was random? Abraham, who’d straightened up as a challenge to Negan when he first went down the line? He was a threat and Eeenie Meenie Minie Mo was a farce. He picked Abraham for a reason, just as he picked Glenn—because he saw how Glenn reacted to Negan suggesting he would kill Maggie, and then with Daryl’s outburst on Rosita’s behalf he realized how much pain it would cause everyone if he killed someone else (someone who already showed strong ties to another in the ine) instead of the one who punched him. This is behavior he carries out constantly: choosing someone at random to hurt when someone else acts out because it’s cruel, because the person who defies him is doing so thinking they’re going to die, which means they’re ready to die, and killing someone else leaves that person living with pain and guilt. He tries to make Rick cut Carl’s arm off to get him to break. He was going to kill Dwight for when he, Sherry, and Tina escaped, leaving Sherry alive to ive with it. He burned Mark’s face for seeing Amber. He killed Spencer when he sucked up to him about hating Rick. He told Arat to kill someone random after Rosita shot at him. On and on. This is a pattern. Would people be less pissed if it had been Glenn who punched Negan and if someone else died in his place? Is it only Daryl (who has always been portrayed as impulsive and angry in hard situations) that elicits this reaction? It continues into season 8. Daryl goes against Rick’s plan, just like pretty much everyone else has been going against his plan, and he’s actually got sound reasoning. He wants to blow a hole into Sanctuary to let Walkers inside, furthering the threat and shortening the timeline of their surrender AFTER they’ve lost many of their Kingdom fighters. Rick cites the innocent workers and Daryl tries to make himself feel better about the plan by saying the workers could possibly escape (showing he cares, but not enough in his mindset to back down). Rick pretty much tells Daryl he cannot do it, which is a bad idea, and Daryl decides to disobey. But honestly, Rick’s plan is to recruit the trash people that betrayed them and have shown not to care about anything other than themselves, so how is Daryl’s plan, as ruthless as it is, any worse? Then, when he carries it out, with the help of Tara and Morgan, it succeeds in what he wanted it to. BUT THEN PEOPLE WANT TO BLAME THE WALKERS ROAMING OFF ON DARYL, WHEN HIS PLAN DID THE EXACT OPPOSITE. AND EVEN AFTER IT WAS STATED TWICE IN ONE EPISODE THAT EUGENE WAS AT FAULT, I STILL SAW PEOPLE BLAMING DARYL. It makes no sense. But neither does the show half the time, so whatever.

Sorry. I needed to get all that Daryl stuff off my chest.

Let me talk about Jesus for a minute.

Jesus had one of the best introductions on the show in 6x10 (which is my all-time favorite episode ever). Tom Payne is strong in the role, which, from what I understand, is quite different than the one from the comics… and that’s okay. And no matter what people say, I actually think Jesus has been characterized consistently since he’s been introduced, we’ve just seen it expanded on in unexpected ways. The issue comes with the fact that we haven’t seen enough. Gimple has underutilized him constantly, for no reason. After a good start at the end of s6, he was a background piece for a lot of s7, which is a shame since he shined whenever he was on screen. We established that Jesus is pretty much the only real fighter at Hilltop, the only scout, the only person who’s out more than he is in. But when we see him in s7, he’s just hanging around Hilltop like no big deal. If the point was for him to be there for Maggie and Sasha, then maybe more than a couple of little scenes was necessary to show that. And in 7x16? They took away his big Negan moment without giving a single fuck. That moment would’ve solidified him immediately as a member of Team Family instead of being just on the edge of it, but nope, give it to the cgi tiger (i love her, but let’s be real). And in 8a? We’ve seen his morality, his philosophy, and some of his many capabilities as a fighter, but there’s so much more to explore and I have little hope that they will in 8b, especially in the right ways. I so hope I’m wrong because I love his character and there are countless possibilities for him (one of which is a relationship with Daryl, but maybe I shouldn’t get into that. Yet).

I’ve liked a lot of little moments in 8a. I like the action, the conflict, the spotlight on multiple characters in an episode, the dynamics. But Negan’s plot armor is still around, the trash people are still around for no reason, shocking deaths are still around, and it’s exhausting. For as good as the pacing has generally been, the little details of the overall plot are convoluted.

The show that’s been about survival and hope no longer has either.

As bad as Glenn’s death was, even with the way he’d been slowly phased out before that point, Carl’s impending death is somehow worse. Carl, who was Rick’s reason for living since the start; Carl, who we’ve watched go through so much, who’s grown up so fast, who was just a kid who kept losing himself and is now a man who is capable of so much compassion; Carl, who is the future of the show, literally and figuratively. It’s all gone. For nothing.

For all the talk about “anyone can die at any moment,” no one ever really thought that Carl would be an option, and it’s precisely this reason they did it. I don’t care what excuses Gimple and Kirkman give. I really don’t. There will be no payoff for this, just acceptance from those who haven’t yet already quit. There are people who might think this is overdramatic or who don’t care or who are happy because oh how shocking or because maybe they didn’t like Carl, but this is legitimately a huge blow to the show. Not even simply because TWD is losing Carl himself, but because it’s losing everything he represents to the show and to the other characters. This is a big impact and it’s entirely negative. The trailer for 8b has Carl mentioning Lori telling him he would beat this world, which is sad and poignant, but why does it have to be? Why couldn’t she be proven right? Why does Gimple have to ruin the very foundation of the show with dumb stunts like this?

Deaths are no longer shocking or a good idea. Killing off main characters when you have so few remaining is no longer a good idea. Focusing on the horrors of their world with so few moments of happiness and love to counteract it is no longer a good idea. (How many couples on the show are there at this point?) Watching the characters we actually care about get kicked down over and over again, without getting to see them stand all the way back up, is no longer a good idea.

We have 8 episodes of the season left. A lot of things can happen, good or bad, we can only speculate right now, but based on the course season 8 has taken so far? I’m not too hopeful. We’re going to lose Carl, we’ll lose Morgan in some way since he’s crossing over to the other show, and I would be majorly surprised if Negan dies. It’s hard to be excited for whatever else might happen when most of the possibilities are disappointing. Even with Angela Kang ready to run s9, right now I feel kind of apathetic. Will she have as much control as Gimple had? Can she mend whatever else s8 breaks and create a new, interesting story with our remaining characters for s9? Or will it just be more of the same—maybe even worse—because AMC can’t get it together?

I complained about Gimple sticking far too closely to the comics during 7, which forced the show in awkward directions that it hadn’t been on track for (Spencer becoming a random douchebag for the guts death, for example), but instead of finding a middle ground between adapting and tweaking storylines from the comic for the screen and creating original ideas in s8, Gimple’s now strayed so far from not only the “source material,” but also from what the show has been and what it should.

How can it get back to its roots while becoming fresh in a way that’s actually logical and interesting? Maybe one day we’ll see. Cross your fingers.

You guys probably don’t care about my undeniably optimistic desires for the future of the show, but maybe I can list them anyway, since I’ve rambled enough as it is.

One: Get rid of Negan. As much as I love JDM and think he’s a fantastic actor, Negan’s run his course. I vote for Rick not sparing Negan, but instead sparing the workers and those like Siddiq who he would have otherwise ignored, if not for his son’s interference. If Carl wants Rick to be merciful, it should be a side effect of Negan’s death, maybe make him feel guilt about how he went about the whole thing, but don’t keep him alive. Heck, Gimple recycles plotlines so much, why not have Rick take the workers into Alexandria like he had with the Woodbury citizens? It’d make more sense than the mustache-twirly villain living while Rick’s own child dies. At least the Governor had some humanity.

Two: Slow down on the character deaths. Seriously. How many nameless Alexandrians are left? How many nonfighters at the Kingdom? Oceanside has already been touched by Negan and Rick, and while the Hilltop is currently intact, I doubt they won’t suffer some damage by the end of this season. No more main or side characters should die this season; no more mains in s9, either. There’s barely anyone left. The characters we’ve already established are what make this show worth anything.

Three: Time jump for season 9? I think the show needs it, at least a couple of years. We’ve got a new showrunner, now we need a fresh slate. If a few years pass between 8 and 9, more options for what to do with the plot will open up. (Will they do the Whisperers? Will it be some big remix, like turning Lydia into a boy for Enid, having Lydia develop a mother/daughter relationship with Carol, having no kid at all? Will Jadis live to become Alpha by finally shaving off that horrible haircut? Maybe we’ll get an original villain? Who knows.) But people will be healed up, rebuilding can be under way, and we can explore storylines for characters that could have started during the jump, making things feel natural.

How about some little things I’d love to see, but that we probably won’t? Buckle up for some major wishful thinking and maybe exit the vehicle if you aren’t on the same page as me for certain things... like desus, carzekiel, etc.

Maybe we can recycle Rick not knowing if he should lead or not, still struggling with the loss of his son and trying to live on for him and Judith. Maybe Michonne is more driven after the initial mourning of another son and takes a more active role in getting Alexandria back on its feet, since she didn’t want to leave it for the Saviors in 8x08. She and Rick are stronger together and can focus on raising Judith to know her roots, like Lori’s sacrifice and how much Carl loved her, keeping his spirit alive. Maybe they recreate the council from the prison and any new characters (Siddiq, perhaps the introduction of Magna and her crew) can be part of it, alongside the oldies like Rosita, Aaron, and Gabriel (if he survives).

Maybe Daryl has decided to stick around at Hilltop. Not only did he never fit in at Alexandria, but perhaps he feels an obligation to look after Maggie and the baby. Maybe Enid’s come into her own (with the help of Maggie and Jesus?) and can have a critical role within the group, maybe as kind of a runner like Glenn had been at the start?

Maybe Jesus is more secure in his position in the community(ies), more secure in himself, and gets a personal story… like, say, developing a relationship with Daryl. And maybe this, too, can be a new start/story for Daryl; a departure from all the self-sacrificing and depression he’s been getting these last few years. Daryl’s sexuality has been ambiguous since the beginning, basically, as we usually know or see who a character is interested in fairly quickly (Rick with Lori and then Jessie and then Michonne, Glenn and Maggie, Tara and Alisha(?) then Denise, Sasha and Bob, Abraham with Rosita and the Sasha, Eugene’s interest in Tara and Rosita, Aaron and Eric, Carl with Beth and then Enid, Jesus coming out to Maggie...). And the fact that it has continued to be ambiguous, and to be covered as some kind of mystery as of late, leads directly into a chance for one final, organic reveal. Daryl has always been a character that’s formed unique and important bonds with others. He was integral to Jesus being introduced into the show and they’ve shared some very important scenes since; plus, it’s easy to pick up on signs that Jesus might have a bit of a crush on, or is at least attracted to, Daryl. (There are so many desus scenes, shots, parallels, etc. that have already been talked about, so I won’t here, but you know. you know you know.) Showing a bond between Daryl and Jesus that turns into romance would be an interesting story, a new one for both characters, it would make sense in a myriad of ways, and it would also be groundbreaking. (Also, Daryl deserves some freaking happiness and dialogue for once, just as Jesus deserves to be pushed to the forefront, and something like this could do just that.)

Maybe Tara can make the move to Oceanside. She needs a break, some time to get herself together, and she’s closely tied to that community already… which is full of women. Give Tara a girlfriend that isn’t murdered. (Cyndie? How even old is she, I don’t know.)

Maybe Rosita can find happiness again, now that she’s more chill and humble. Her bond with Tara can be further explored. If they want to throw her into a romance like in the comic, it sure as hell isn’t going to be with Eugene (either kill in in redemption or do something other than this back and forth confliction), so how about Tara or Siddiq? Dwight seems likely, given their interactions thus far, and while I’m still salty about him I see that he’s trying to redeem himself and Rosita would be someone who would understand that. There’s also Gabriel, but I would rather see him continue to sort of mentor her.

Maybe Ezekiel can rebuild Kingdom and maintain his more active role as a King, letting his people know the drill instead of feeding them an image. Maybe Carol can be his queen, his second in command, and they can be themselves together as they know exactly who the other is. A romance between them already seems perfectly set up; we’ve seen that they clearly care for each other and have a deep connection.

I could go on, but I’m just spitballing here (and probably also revealing some things i’ve planned for my fic’s sequel so oops). There are tons of things this show could do in place of constant tragedy. Yes, deaths can still happen. People can still be shitty, walkers can still bite and eat people, that’s how it’s always been. Conflict and angst have to there. But after a war this big, with so many losses from s7 and s8, we need something else. We need to bring back that feeling of survival in the face of certain death, those little rays of hope than shine after dark times. The show needs this if it wants to be good again and not just become another thing on TV that’s wasting away.

The characters deserve better, the actors deserve better, and we deserve better.

I’m so close to quitting before we even get to what Angela might be able to do, and you don’t know how sad that makes me. It doesn’t matter that all of this is fiction; it’s such a big part of who I am at this point, and to have it screwed around with by someone who clearly doesn’t give a shit is something I still don’t understand, and I’m not even as critical about TWD as some people are! I can overlook a lot, find enjoyment in certain things that might otherwise be bad or annoying, and like… I don’t even know if I have an episode that I hate. I’m just done with wondering about what we could’ve gotten if things had gone differently. I still really wish they will, but it’s up in the air at this point.

So… Please, 8b, don’t burn that final straw. I want to tune in for s9 with real interest and investment and excitement again, not just because I’m loyal to the characters that are still standing.

Sorry.

#personal ramblings #twd #ignore this if you don't like unpopular opinions #i'm just salty i'm sorry #i need some hope and help #long post

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frivoloussuits · 7 years ago

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Suits: What Comes Next?

What can Suits do next, in 7b and 8a and beyond? It’s a question I’ve been thinking about for a while, and while I’ve explored it in fic I think it’s about time I do a proper meta post. Strap in for lots of weird predictions about how Suits can go on, and what the potential pitfalls of each route are.

TLDR: Suits is probably but not definitely doomed. Their safest option, in my opinion, is to decisively break up Donna and Harvey in 7b, give Harvey an absolutely awful time through 8a (maybe 7b and 8b too?), and double down on another ship entirely. This is not their only option; Darvey is still on the table.

Word count: ~3K

Question 1: How can they handle Mike and Rachel’s departure?

First things first, now that Mike’s leaving, the powers that be are losing the core relationship of the show. Assuming the reason Mike’s leaving is that he and Rachel got a better job/life opportunity elsewhere (as opposed to, say, the two of them get killed off), there are two options here:

1.) Brush over Mike and Rachel’s departure as a happy, happy event for everyone involved. The remaining characters move on with their lives with minimal angst. Maybe a new sidekick (Alex? Donna? Louis? someone else new?) fills the Mike-sized hole in Harvey’s plot lines.

Pros: Patrick J. Adams described Suits as a fundamentally “aspirational” show. In his opinion the show can approach darkness, it cannot dwell there. This would allow the show to carry on with its typical plot lines without angst.

Cons: This may feel out of sync with the previous seasons. If everyone can pick up and move on without Mike in a heartbeat, then why were they so dedicated to keeping him around and protecting him for all this time? Also, now that two more members of the original core cast are leaving, Suits is at risk of having too few meaningful plots. Glossing over Mike’s departure would mean dropping a major source of potential drama.

2.) Dwell on the implications of Mike and Rachel’s departure. Harvey’s abandonment issues might come back to the forefront.

Pros: Drama. Tension. Sensible, in-character consequences over the loss of the Mike-Harvey relationship.

Cons: If the show dwells on Rachel and Mike’s departure, so will the audience. And if the audience is upset about the departure, they might end up alienated, sick of the reminders of what’s now missing. Also, as mentioned above, this show doesn’t like serious angst; it might be hard to strike the right tone.

Question 2: How to end 7b?

Patrick J. Adams has strongly hinted that the finale of 7b will include the Machel wedding. 7b is also intended to serve as a backdoor pilot for Jessica’s spin-off show. That’s all well and good, but what happens to our core remaining characters, Donna, Louis, and Harvey?

Suits knows the benefits of ending on a cliffhanger (or some sort of tantalizing promise of new conflict), they've done it every season except maybe 6. I think they have to do this again. Because they’ve now lost half their main cast, they’ll probably try to hook people more than ever and give them an incredibly compelling reason to tune back in. What sort of cliffhanger they might use depends on the answer to . . .

Question 3: What’s the driving tension of Season 8a?

(8b’s also important, of course, but I think it’ll be the ending of the series. And since I don’t have a great intuition for how this show can end without Mike, I won’t make detailed predictions. All I’ll say is that I think at least 2 out of 3, if not all 3, of the Donna-Louis-Harvey group will be happily and stably in love, and I think all three will achieve some level of personal growth. I predict that they’ll all be happy with their careers and that the firm will be doing well. Either that or the firm crashes, in which case Harvey probably throws up his hands and moves out of New York, lol.)

Okay, so fandom loves fluffy slice-of-life stories that don’t have conflict, but mainstream TV shows? Not so much. There ought to be a driving conflict that makes 8a run. I think Suits can have three major types of tension:

External Tension: A mostly-new set of characters invades and raises hell. Examples include the Danbury plot of 6a, the investment banking plot of 4a, and the failed Darby merger from 3.

Pros of external tension: So many options for drama.

Cons of external tension: Meh. Suits has done this a lot already, and how do you top the stakes of Danbury? What new threat can outside characters present that we haven’t already seen? If it’s just that “the firm’s in jeopardy again,” I think a lot of viewers will yawn, but the obvious ways of raising the stakes (disgruntled ex-client attempts murder, someone ends up in the hospital for multiple episodes, Louis makes good on the Daniel Hardman death threat, etc.) would potentially be too angsty and out of place.

Another potential issue is that the end of 7b would ideally introduce this new bunch of external troublemakers, and if 7b’s finale is already packed with the Machel wedding and Jessica’s pilot plots then that’ll be tough.

Old-Conflict-Resurfaces Tension: Oooh, this one could be fun. A decent way for Suits to go out (assuming Season 8 is the end) is to do a fabulous villain team-up. Maybe Daniel Hardman’s working with Travis Tanner, who’s being paid off by Charles Forstman, and so on. More broadly, if Suits can reach into its established rogues gallery and present some old threats as more menacing than ever and weave a credible yet surprising legal plot, that might be a way to go.

Pros: Lots of options for drama, though less than above. Potentially cleaner and more elegant, since Suits doesn’t need to introduce bunches of new settings and characters. If done well, it could viewers guessing all throughout, rethinking old episodes and searching their memories for clues to unravel every new mystery. All in all this could feel like a very fitting end for the show.

Cons: This may be very hard to pull off. It can tip one way and become boring, or the other and become absurd.

Internal Tension: My personal favorite. Something changes among our central trio, and they then generate a driving plot of their own free will.

Pros: Elegant. Minimal set-up (well, no, but the setup is all the character dynamics we’ve learned so well over the past seven seasons). A great way to propel meaningful character change and wrap up the central arcs. I think audiences will care about this tension more than any other kind, because it’s all about Donna, Harvey and Louis, and those central characters are what the general audience cares about most.

Cons: We’ve already seen a lot of Donna, Harvey and Louis. We’ve seen how they react in stressful situations. Pushing them to new limits is hard, there are few events that can still do it. The powers that be would have to be pretty damn careful to keep everyone in-character without just rehashing dramas we’ve already seen.

Question 4: Who is Samantha Wheeler?

For those who don’t know, Katherine Heigl is joining the main cast of Suits for Season 8. She’s playing Samantha Wheeler, a “talented new partner at Pearson Specter Litt who challenges the status quo and will either become the firm’s greatest ally or most powerful enemy.”

It’s possible that Samantha will come crashing in and become the one-woman generator of an “external tension” that drives Season 8a. I’m hard-pressed to come up with what’s so special about this character that she can cause such big waves, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

Pros: New drama. New relationship dynamics. If she’s connected via backstory to one or more of the main characters (and she probably should be, otherwise the audience is at risk of just not caring about her), that could cause drama amidst the Donna-Louis-Harvey group. Also! She might provide new romance opportunities, and god knows Suits likes its love stories. If Darvey and Louis/Sheila are both definitively together by the end of 7, I think Samantha is even more likely to have a love interest.

Cons: Things are already changing a lot from 7 to 8. The audience is at risk of 1.) being confused, 2.) being bored because they’ve already seen too much like this, 3.) feeling alienated because this isn’t what they signed up for, and/or 4.) just not caring. Adding a brand-new main character may exacerbate these issues.

Question 5: WHAT HAPPENS TO DARVEY?!?!?!

The powers that be wrote themselves into an interesting corner with the 7a kiss. The Darvey tension’s been simmering for ages, but it’s finally been pushed so far that Donna and Harvey have to confront it. If the Darvey will-they-won’t-they dance isn’t finished by the end of 7, I think audiences will revolt.

The writers are devoting serious attention to the fallout the kiss; the consequences will propel plenty of 7b drama, and I won’t be surprised if Donna and Harvey spend 5.99 out of 6 episodes feuding. That said, by the time the season is over, the Darvey plot should be decided one way or the other to avoid the aforementioned audience revolt. Working under that assumption, there are two options . . .

1.) Darvey gets together in 7b.

I’m going to quote another Aaron (the namesake of Rick Sorkin?) discussing the long-time workplace romance of another fictional Donna: “They are in a tough spot . . . because she works for him. Besides, sexual and romantic tension is, to me, much more fun than taking the tension away by having the sex and romance.” And while I can’t find the article at the moment, I’ve seen a related quote from Sarah Rafferty, where she said that she hoped Darvey would happen in the very last episodes of the show, if it happened at all.

Why might they say this? Because hardcore Darvey shippers may be thrilled to watch an entire Season 8 of canon Darvey, but I think more casual viewers will lose interest. The unspoken will-they-won’t-they tension has captivated viewers for years, and once that’s gone so is one of Suits’ biggest hooks. If the powers that be still want the Donna-Harvey relationship to draw people in, they’d better cook up something really special to replace the sexual and romantic tension.

Donna and Harvey have prepared for this relationship for so long that a lot of the typical sources in television love stories (one of them is jealous, one of them cheats, they miscommunicate, they aren’t familiar with each others’ priorities) would make little sense; they should be past that by now. If there’s any relationship conflict, that would have to be written quite carefully.

Another option is to let Donna and Harvey be happy together and throw conflict at them from the outside-- maybe someone else comes and tries to break them up, or threaten them professionally, and maybe they close ranks and become a wonderful battle couple.

(Personal note: If Darvey gets together, I’d like to see canon unquestionably establish Donna as Harvey’s equal in 7b and 8. I want to see them contributing equally to their relationship. I want to be convinced that they’ll both be happy in the long term, that this isn’t a relationship where Donna sacrifices for Harvey but has to grovel for his support in return, and I think they’re not there yet. Harvey really isn’t there yet. Getting there could generate plot.)

So these are some options for how canon can keep viewers invested through S8, but . . . I bet they won’t be as compelling for the general audience as the 7-season mating dance.

2.) Darvey gets smashed to hell in 7b.

I know I’m the only one, but I think this is still a real possibility!

At this point, Suits is running into two issues. One, it feels overall predictable and unsurprising. Two, it feels like it’s pushing its characters out of character in order to manufacture surprises (see: Harvey’s sudden infatuation with Paula, rule-obsessed Sheila’s sudden willingness to cheat on her fiance). If they can thwart viewer expectations on one of the biggest questions-- will Darvey happen?-- while remaining true to their characters, that could be pretty damn cool.

It’s also a reasonable option, in my opinion. It could generate plenty of plot for Donna and Harvey in 8a, since they might completely burn their bridges in 7b and have to rebuild from scratch, and it also leaves room for a different central romance!

So there’s this ship that nobody talks about. It’s a m/f ship, which means it’s more likely to be canon on this sadly heteronormative show than, say, Marvey. The characters have had compelling plots and interactions from Season 1. They’ve laughed together. They’ve survived drama. They respect, care about and understand each other. They have the same interests and hobbies. They have hilariously sexual conversations. They have literally said “I love you.”

I’m talking about Louis and Donna.

Yes, I’m serious, and so was Sarah Rafferty when she claimed Donna needs someone more emotionally open than Harvey to be her “life partner,” and so was Rick Hoffman when he said, “I just don’t understand how Louis could not be attracted to a woman like Donna.”

Pros of Lonna: Surprises! Drama! I can see this being the internal tension that drives 8a, and hell, I can’t imagine a better cliffhanger for season 7′s finale than a Lonna moment. This wouldn’t be radically out of character-- I’ve been checking, and there’s a surprisingly large amount of foundational material for this ship-- yet it’d massively upset audience expectations and also the existing relationship dynamics between Donna, Louis, and Harvey.

No, I’m not forgetting Harvey. Maybe he doesn’t want Donna himself, but seeing Louis end up with her would upturn everything he thought he knew about the world. Given that Mike’s also leaving and that he might still be dealing with Paula-related guilt, this plot twist would send Harvey reeling, especially if he and Donna are still working out the fallout from the kiss. If he lashes out and screws up his professional life too, then that can generate legal plots as well as personal drama.

Long story short, Lonna is potentially a massive plot generator.

Cons: The big downside of Lonna is that (besides Rick Hoffman and Sarah Rafferty who have been discussing it at least since Season 2) practically nobody ships it. Louis is so often treated as fodder for jokes, it’s possible that audiences just wouldn’t take it seriously. Also, a lot of Darvey shippers would be furious and heartbroken.

Question 6: What’s my ideal season 7 finale?

Okay, I know nobody is actually asking this, but I want to tell you!

Mike and Rachel dance peacefully at their wedding reception, safe in a happy bubble, oblivious to the world burning down around them. Jessica’s in the Plaza lobby, threatening some poor sucker over the phone in a desperate bid to save her political career. Harvey’s locked in the bathroom, fighting off a panic attack and failing, wondering whether he’s sick because of Paula, or because of Mike, or because Donna’s not speaking to him anymore . . .

Meanwhile, Louis and Donna share a sweet, intimate conversation on a hotel balcony that leads to a sweet, intimate kiss-- only to have Donna pull back, gasping as though she’s been burned.

SUITS RETURNS IN FALL 2018.

(I don’t know about you guys, but I would so tune in for that Season 8.)

#suits #harvey specter #mike ross #donna paulsen #louis litt #samantha wheeler #my meta

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anchorsandjesus · 7 years ago

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it’s time for God-given change.

I’m sure some of you probably understand the struggle at the moment: new classes, new routines, new jobs, whatever it may be…you’re stuck in it. that kinda funk because you are overly tired because you wake up in the middle of the night thinking about the to-do list you have even written yet. i feel you. with the start of my sophomore classes with the addition of a new job and new club, it’s starting to feel overwhelming and a little hectic. i can tell my body and mind haven’t been adjusting well to the changes…or maybe they are just trying to keep up and adjust to the new rhythm. and having come out of a spiritual drought, a lot of this change has made it difficult to just sit and be in the presence of God. like right now I’m exhausted but I really just want to feel Him touch my heart. you know what I mean?

the only thing I can equate this change to is the major update I just completed on my laptop. I was stuck with the slow rundown version of Windows 8 for at least two years after Windows 10 came out??? outdated much???? I think so. but i realized that the process to actually download and complete the update was a lot longer than just the click of a button. like a solid 5% increase probably took a good 15 minutes. and there was no doubt that I was definitely pumped to update my laptop and have a completely new view and organization of all my apps and everything. but I wanted the change…right now. like this second. this moment. now. but change and progress is never just a click of a button and boom, you have what you wanted. it’s a process. it’s not linear. and it is difficult. to wait. to have patience. to believe that you will arrive at your final destination. but we never really arrive there. life is a series of small and big changes. we never arrive where we want and ache to be…but where God wants us to be. our seasons of change are never and I mean NEVER on our own timetables. they are always on God’s. and lately, I’ve been a girl about change. where I am ready for it. shed the old. put on the new. move on. let go. kinda. change. but it’s also kinda scary…because I don’t know where God is taking me. I don’t know what I’m going to be doing after I graduate college in three years. I don’t know if I’ll end up sleeping a solid eight hours without tossing and turning. I just don’t know.

but in the chaotic and hectic season of college life, I am reminded of several verses that just hug my heart a little tighter and make me breathe a little lighter.

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.” {Psalm 27:7}

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, and He will do it….Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way…” {Psalm 37:4-5, 7a}

“She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” {Proverbs 31:25}

I am in noooo way supposed to have my whole life figured out. right now, God is telling my heart to “be here.” to be present. to be alive in this waking moment with my troubles and worries and my struggles but trust Him with all the strength that’s left and surrender those burdens at the cross. I cannot control the change and direction He is taking me. All I know is that if I trusted Him with the change in my life then, I can trust in Him with the change in my life now. crazy. different. uncomfortable change…I can trust Him.

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” {Philippians 1:6}

#writings #fear #anxiety #love #faith #hope #strength #courage #change #college #christianity #Jesus Christ #God #inspiration #encouragement #bible verses

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diygabl · 7 years ago

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Planting Leeks

Unlike onions, leeks grow independently of day-length and will stand in your garden at temperatures colder than many other vegetables can handle, getting bigger until you harvest them. A flexible harvest date during fall and winter is a boon to gardeners seeking a steady supply of vegetables. Planting dates can be chosen to suit your climate. Both the white and the green parts of the leek are delicious. Only the tougher parts of the outer leaves need to be composted. Late spring or early summer is the time to transplant leek seedlings started earlier in spring.

Leek Varieties

Leeks come in two main types: the less hardy, faster-growing lighter green varieties, which are not winter-hardy north of Zone 8. We like Lincoln, and King Richard (both 75 days). They are hardy down to 12°F (-11°C). American Flag aka Giant Musselburgh (105 days) is good for overwintering in climates milder than our 7a. Itand Jaune du Poiteau, are hardy to 10°F (-12°C).

The blue-green hardier winter leeks such as Bulgarian Giant, Laura, Tadorna (100 days) are hardy to 5°F (-15°C). For winter leeks we also like King Sieg (84 days) and Bleu de Solaize (105 days) and Bandit (120 days). A few leeks (Alaska, Durabel) are hardy down to 0°F (-18°C).

Crop requirements for Leeks

Leeks do best in well-draining soil rich in nutrients, with a pH of 6.5, and good sunlight. Ideal growing temperatures are 55°F–75°F (13°C–24°C). Growth is slow above 77°F (25°C), but the plants do not deteriorate and will resume growth when cooler weather arrives.

Growing Leeks from Seed

If you have a long enough growing season and don’t want leeks in summer, you can delay sowing till March as we do. We transplant in late May or early June, in beds cleared of early spring crops. People with a longer growing season (zones 8–9a) can plant two crops: the first 12–14 weeks before the last spring frost, and the second in mid-July, to transplant in late September or early October. In zones 9b–11, sow only in July, and use a bolt-resistant variety for leeks to harvest in the new year.

Step-by-Step Leek Planting Instructions

The ideal leek size for transplanting is between a pencil lead and a pencil in thickness. We plant at 6" (15 cm) spacing, four rows to a 48" (1.2 m) bed. People wanting really huge leeks use wider spacings. We use a special planting technique, in order to develop long white shanks, which are prized more than the equally edible green parts. If you have a crew, divide up and specialize. If not, take it one step at a time.

1. If the soil is dry, water it well, preferably the day before.

2. Make parallel V-shaped furrows, 3" (8 cm) deep, along the bed.

3. Set out a fiberglass tape measure along one row.

4. Make holes 6" (15 cm) apart in the furrows. Use the tape measure for one row and then eyeball the other rows to offset the leeks in alternate rows. The best tools for this job are homemade “dibbles” or dibblers made from broken shovel or digging fork handles, with the end sharpened to a point. The tool needs to have a diameter of 1.5–2" (4–5 cm). The depth of the holes is determined by the height of the transplants, and probably needs to be 3" (8 cm) or so.

5. If the holes cave in, stop and water the soil more before proceeding.

6. Transfer some leek seedlings from open flats or a nursery seedbed to a small bucket containing an inch or so of water. We make buckets from one-gallon (four-liter) plastic jugs with the top cut off. A rope handle knotted into holes at the top of the new bucket makes it easy to carry.

7. Resist any temptation to trim either the roots or the tops of the leeks.

8. To transplant, take a leek plant, shake it free from its neighbors and decide whether to plant it. Discard the ones thinner than pencil leads. If the plant is a good size and looks healthy, twirl it as you lower it into the hole to prevent the roots folding back on the plant and pointing at the sky — they need to grow downwards. This works best if the roots are still wet and muddy from the water bucket. Bobbing the plant up and down as you settle it in the hole will help a transplant that has slightly bunched roots.

9. If at first you don’t succeed, remove the plant from the hole, dip it back in the water and try again. Soon you will develop this quirky planting skill, and will be able to move along the row at a good pace. Ideally just the tips of the leaves will poke out of the holes, not more. Get the depth of the hole-making adjusted to suit the prevailing plant height. The furrow-and-hole combination creates the depth for growing a long white shank.

10. Surprising as it may sound, it is not necessary or desirable to fill the holes with soil (you don’t want to bury the seedlings). The soil fills in naturally as the plants grow tall enough to survive the depth.

11. Next gently fill each hole with water, either from a low-pressure hose or watering can. The goal is to water the plant roots, adding little or no soil to each hole. The shelter of the hole helps the plant get over the transplant shock, and because leeks have slender tough leaves, they do not lose a lot of water by transpiration. This means that transplanting is possible in quite hot weather.

12. Keep the soil damp for several days after planting,

13. Then give one inch (2.5 cm) of water per week as needed.

14. Like other alliums, leeks do not compete well with weeds, so hoe as needed, at least once a month. Hoeing will help fill the holes.

15. Some people hill up their leeks, but with this method it is not necessary. Our method avoids the problem of soil getting above the point where the leaves fan out from the stem, which makes them very hard to clean later.

source: http://www.motherearthnews.com/

#organic #organic vegetables #organic garden #leeks #diy #gardening tips

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highschoolharrier · 5 years ago

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Blake Borden is a distance coach at Huntsville (AL), a program on the rise looking to qualify for NXN after a seventh place finish in the Southeast region last year.

High School Harrier: Your boys team finished a great seventh place at NXR SE last year. Were you expecting to finish higher, lower, or about that spot?

Blake Borden: We were honestly aiming at top three, hoping for an at large NXN bid if close enough to second, if we finished third. A few of the guys had rough days with the weather that day. It had been a long regular season. They had exerted a lot of emotional energy to capture the state title, where the year before we were nipped by 4 points at state to finish runner-up. The last time HHS had finished in the top 2 before 2017 was the early 1980s. Overall, after reflecting a few weeks later, we were "Ok" with 7th as a team, considering how far off expectations nearly each guy was as an individual.

HSH: Compared to last year, where do you see your program this fall?

BB: Much deeper top to bottom. We lost a great senior in Nick Ceci to graduation - he will be running for Alabama this year - but getting 6 of the projected top 7 back is tough to beat. We feel that each of those 6 will improve a lot this year because that pack is so close. They get to train with each other day in, day out, and will definitely push each other to improve. There is no real "top guy" which I feel is beneficial. There is also a group right on their heels from the "#7" to as high as "#15" who are hungry and each feel they have what it takes to be on the line at NXR & could finish in any of those spots on any given day.

HSH: Alabama is a state that might often get overlooked in terms of distance running. What would you say to those skeptical of the quality of Alabama cross country?

BB: There are a lot of great runners in the state. I can't speak for anywhere else but in terms of the early part of our season - meet season that is, because the summer DUH - we compete in some pretty high temps and humidity, so times aren't always glamorous nor do they translate to how tough our runners are. For instance, at Jesse Owens last year in the first week of October the heat index was around 95. The top teams in our state this year in my opinion could hold up with most states in the southeast.

HSH: Do you have any athletes you believe are ready to have a breakout season?

BB: Anybody wearing a Huntsville High singlet!

HSH: How many assistant coaches do you have throughout the year?

BB: We have a small staff relative to our team size - a head coach: Stephen Baker who joined the staff last year; I am in my 4th year with the team and am the full time faculty member coach at the school, and we have one volunteer assistant. Some days we herd cats.

HSH: How big is your school and how big is your team?

BB: We are right around 1,800 students in the 7A classification (largest). We have 100 members on the team 7th-12th.

HSH: Do you have any big regular season meets your team will be participating in this fall?

BB: We are hitting the Memphis Twilight meet in TN, Chickasaw Trails in Alabama on our state course, and Great American.

HSH: What is your philosophical approach to coaching that shapes how you run your program?

BB: The culture of the team dictates the results of the team. High expectations across the board, but do not sacrifice fun.

HSH: What is a sample week of training for your program during the cross country season?

BB: For non-meet weeks we use a 14 day "week" with at least one challenging true long run at the end of one of the weeks - typically on Saturday. There will be an aerobic heavy workout on the other Saturday if we don't do a 2nd long run, something like a continuous tempo or 2k reps. One hard hilly effort per 14 days. We use HIITs & strides/striders year round. Our HIITS vary from flat 150m sprints, to hilly 75-100m sprints. We do strength and hurdle work a few times a week as well.

HSH: What type of mileage does your average top 7 runner do during their base phase?

BB: It is based on age as well as experience, not just their PR or ability level. We also individualize per what works best for the athlete. For instance, a few of our experienced varsity level seniors will do between 60-65 a few times, while another senior of the same experience level works best with 50-55. It is a pretty common progression system. Top end is 40-45 for fresh, 45-55 for soph, 50-60 for juniors, 55-65 for seniors. Again, no one fits into every box perfectly, so it varies.

HSH: Do you have a staple workout you like to do with your program?

BB: Long runs are probably the primary staple - with different variables inserted into them at different times. Last 3 miles progress to tempo, hit a tempo mile at 1/3 & 2/3, etc etc but we also have a 1.2 mile hill called Bankhead at a state park nearby we hit a few times a season. We have taken the Lumberjack from NAU and modified it as well as a variation of a workout from GVSU we call ROHO.

HSH: What type of ancillary training does your team do?

BB: High/low hurdles, med ball circuits, individualized weight training to meet their individual needs - we do everything under the sun we can in this category. Constantly learning and researching new items to add.

HSH: What do you think is the most important aspect of your training program?

BB: Consistent aerobic development + year round athletic development (strength/ancillary/HIITS)

HSH: What was the most influential book or coach that helped get to where we've brought the program?

BB: Stanley Johnson at Lawrence Co. High in small town Alabama - he was my high school xc and basketball coach. Myles Scarano - he is younger than me (even though it doesn't look that way) but was a major reason our team is what it is and helped me learn a lot about training when I was getting back into the xc world. Coach Baker brought a lot of valuable experience to the team last year as well and helps keep me grounded when I get a little too passionate.

HSH: What do you do to foster team camaraderie?

BB: We have team dinners before meets. We foster encouragement of all levels of teammates at meets - such as the varsity girls team cheering on the junior high boys, etc.. Encourage the leaders of the team to really get to know the new kids and host team gatherings outside of coach/team led activities. Pack up workout formats - learn to hurt together and support each other through the tough days. We just show the kids that we truly care about them and get to know them as coaches too.

Photo is from Alabama HS Photo Twitter.

#nxn #crosscountry #xc #alabama #huntsville

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