#I had a blast drawing Asha

[thecipherlegacy]

So sorry this OCkissweek response was so late! I got a new job and needed time to adjust ^^;; But here they are at long last!

@palepinkycat's beautiful OC, Asha, and My lovely Mavasha having a make-out session after a successful battle. DAMN, I loved drawing these fine sith ladies 👀

[emergenciesstory]

Set Me Free

for @star-spangled-bingo square: Fatal illness

Summary: Every time you used your powers, it took some of your lifeforce. Unlike a human's lifeforce, yours didn’t regenerate from exercise, eating right, and rest- but you could take it from others. But when the Avengers found you and put you on the path of good, you couldn’t bear to take lifeforce anymore. And when you fell in love with the one Avenger who had an affinity for getting hurt, you had to make one final choice- his life, or yours?

A/N: Not all fatal illnesses are bad. Sometimes, it’s love.

Words: 1981

Pairing: Steve x Reader

_____________________

1943

    “Tell me, did they tell you what I do?” You asked from your spot leaning on the wall. You stepped out of the shadows in front of the man, fear registering on his eyes. 

    “The bringer of death, they call me. Sad really, that’s not actually what I do.” You pulled a chair out and sat backwards on it, untying your cloak as you sat down. “You see, I am strong, powerful, but I do not bring death. That’s Grims job. Great reaper, mind you. I’ve met him on many occasions.”

    The man was squirming where he sat, trying to move away from you as you spoke.

    “I, however, am dying. I don’t live like you. Your lifeforce regenerates if it can, not that you’d notice. Not that you’ll get a chance to after I’m done.” Your gaze leveled with his, as you focused on the feeling of warmth coming from the ground. 

    “I don’t like scum like you. You attacked my home, so they sent you to me. You see- taking someone's life force, it can be quite painful for you if I don’t do it slowly like I am now.” You increased the pull, a weak moan of pain escaping from his gagged mouth. 

    “But the part I truly enjoy is when I let you hang in the balance. Just enough life to know what’s happening, just enough death for Grim to come. Might leave you there and visit an old friend. Don’t worry, you’ll lose your sight from the pain of each and every part of your body shutting down.” you upped the draw more, feeling the buzz of power and youth as it filled you.

    “But the true satisfaction is knowing without a trace of lifeforce in you, you’re damned to hell.” You smiled a blood curling Grin. “Enjoy the trip down.” 

    The last of his force was ripped from him with one quick flick of your hand, a rush of power coming from the ground. You gathered your cloak from the ground, retying it as the door opened, the leader of the Red Room entering with a smile. 

    “Pity,” you mused, looking up at her with a smile. “I was hoping he’d beg.” 

__________

2012

    You wandered around the chaos that was New York after battle, slowly taking lifeforce from the deathly wounded. They deserved rest, but you were close to death as well. Cursing yourself for so much power being used, you continued through the wreckage, scrounging as best you could. Stepping out of a subway terminal, you felt a surge of lifeforce stronger than ever.

    It’s reading 2000 or more years, that’s not human, and there's multiple.

    You glanced around, finally noticing the source. Before you stood two Large men, one in chains, both glowing with the force of Gods. Around them were many individuals with varying levels of force.

    Just a bit and I’ll be good. You thought to yourself, focusing on the Gods. Their force was different from that of humans- one year from them was 100 for you, and they wouldn’t miss it. You felt the pull of energy, the warmth filling you softly as to not be detected. You sensed eyes on you and looked up, locking eyes with a familiar redhead. You saw recognition flash softly in her face, and slid back into the rubble.

    Once back to the subway system, you ran. Greater than full power thanks to the Gods, time felt as though it slowed as you moved. You turned and glanced behind you, coming face to face with the Redhead again.

    “Asha, Stop.” She yelled with power. Why not, nothing she can do to me.

    “Natalia, nice to see you again.” You mused. “Tell me, how’s life been since leaving?”

    “What are you doing here?” Nat asked, defensive stance positioned.

    “I mean you no harm, I took nothing from you or the mortals. Simply helping the dying go peacefully.” You shrugged. “Is that such a crime?” 

    “Depends, do you still work for them?” Anger laced her voice, not that you blamed her.

    “Oh, they wish. I ceased that alliance years ago, about when you graduated I believe. No one has called me Asha since, in fact. I didn’t expect to find someone who would recall that life.”

    Nat looked at you skeptically. 

    “Nat?” A voice rang out from above. You both stood frozen as the group from above came down onto the subway platform. You felt a strange pull from the group, not warm like the pull of lifeforce, but cold like running water washing over you. You stayed out of curiosity, following the pull until it locked with a blonde man in a brown leather jacket. 

    “Who are you?” The metal suit asked, anger flexed in his voice, Nat making a gesture to stay behind her.

    “To leave pasts behind. I mean you and your group no harm.” You said simply, turning to leave. The pull of the water made you face them again, each step more and more difficult to take. 

    “Would you mind telling us who exactly you are then? Must be powerful to have Nat frozen like this.” The blonde smiled softly, but still on defense. You looked at the group, not really wanting to leave the new pull, but weighing your options.

    “Yes, of course. Though I guess you’d like to do it from the Comfort of Shield, hmm? Properly? I’ll come willingly, as long as I’m extended the same courtesy.” You looked between the two men, eyes ending on Natasha. “I promise, no power. Between old friends.” 

    She nodded, gesturing for you to follow them.

_________

Some years later IDK 

    “When’s the last time?” Nat asked, tending to your wounds.

    “The last time what?”

    “Don’t play dumb, y/n. The last time you took a decent amount of lifeforce.” She placed the stitching equipment away. 

    “Are we counting the practically dead bad guys?” You looked at her, the glare on her face answering your question. “Of course not, well the last time I skimmed years was... two years ago?” 

    “When you joined us?” She asked. 

    “Took them from Thor and Loki. About 200 years of our time.” You winced, pulling your shirt back on. 

    “What are you down to?” She said quietly.

    “I’m fine, Nat. Really. Don’t worry about me.” You brushed her off as the door opened, Steve and Bucky coming in. 

    “Well, that was quite the trip.” Bucky plopped down beside you, pulling his shirt over his head. “Nat, do you mind?” He gestured to a gash on his side, already healing on the ends.

    “It’ll be healed in the hour, I’m not wasting my time.” she slapped his side, putting the box back. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be in the shower.” 

    “Word of advice, don’t need her.” Steve sassed.

    “Learned that the hard way, punk?” Bucky teased back, sliding off the table. “I’m going to go and need her.” 

    “If you die, it’s not our problem.” You mused, laughing as he took off after her. 

    “Are you okay?” Steve asked, pulling you to the edge of the table into him.

    “Better now. It’s just a scratch.” You shrugged, kissing the side of his face. 

    “Lifeforce?” He looked down at you, eyebrow arched.

    “Topped off from those we were shooting at.” you shrugged. “Why is everyone worried about it?”

    “Because you’ve been kicking ass.” Steve laughed, kissing you.

    “Language, Captain.” You kissed him back softly, enjoying the pull of water. “You’re stuck with me for a long time.” Guilt crept up in you, as Steve pulled you off the table, dragging you towards the commons. You looked down at the meter on your wrist, lighting about a forth of the meter of lifeforce pulsing through you. You smiled as Steve looked back at you; a short amount of time was better than a lifetime without him. 

_____

    “To the left.” You said in the comms, recalling where the system fail was located. “We get the files, and taking down that room will destroy the entire bunker.” 

    “Copy. Keep sharp.” Steve’s voice came from beside you and into the Comms. 

    “Incoming from the North.” Tony rang in from the skies. You and Steve paused.

    “Alpha team is a go.” Nat said.

    “We never agreed to that team name.” Bucky sassed, likely keeping an eye on her and Clint from the trees. 

    “Too late Tin Man.” Clint’s voice rang out, arrow flying as the comms cut out. 

    “Flight team, how’re we looking?” Steve asked, only to be met by static.

    “Alpha team, do you need an assist?” He asked, only for more static. He looked back at you, worry on his face.

    “Guess they don’t like visitors.” You mused, clicking the Comms off. “Come on. Through here.” 

    The two of you ventured further, finding the files and wiping the computer.

    “It’s too easy.” You muttered, looking around.

    “Yes, it was too easy. Nice to see you again Asha.” A man stepped out of the shadows, many other agents following. 

    “I wish I could say the same.” You sneared, pocketing the drive. 

    “You won’t be leaving with that.” The man said simply, gesturing the agents beside him towards you. Two took you on in hand to hand, three surrounding Steve. You kept him in your peripherals, the agents being well trained. One kickflip and you heard a snap, before rough hands circled your waist, throwing you into the wall behind you. The world went fuzzy for a moment, pain radiating from your mid back, nothing below it. The agent gave a sickening grin, pointing a gun at your face as he walked up. In a quick motion, and gasp of pain, you shot out a blast, killing him inches from you. You looked at your wrist, the life force meter lower than you had seen it in years. 

    Wincing, you forced yourself up, using lifeforce  pain in each step but needing to help Steve. Steve... He had to be okay. The room seemed a million times bigger, but you caught the flash of his shield flying taking out the agents upon him. You looked to see the masked man, pointing a gun at Steve's back, Steve none the wiser. 

    “No!” You yelled, channeling everything to a protection spell around him, refracting the bullet to the Man.

    Steve felt the surge of energy, shielding his eyes from the blinding light. He opened them, turning to see you lying on the ground.

    “Y/n!” He yelled, running and picking you up. 

    “Steve..” You said weakly, unable to keep the power flowing through you to walk. 

    “Lifeforce?” He asked, worried, looking you up and down. You shook your head as his hands scooped under you, running out of the facility. “Hold on. Take some from me if you have to.”

    You closed your eyes, taking in the feel of his heartbeat. You felt Steve set you down in the jet, but tuned out the voices and movement.

    “Hey, Hey... Stay with me Y/n.” Steve said in your ear. “We are all willing to give you some years until we can get Thor back. Please.”

    “No.” You said softly. You felt hands on your back moving down, and then nothing. 

    “Lumbar fracture. It's bad.” Nat said softly. You opened your eyes to see Steve’s worried face.

    “It’s not worth taking years to never be full again.” you said softly. Steve went to say something, but you silently shushed him.

    “I was born with this power, to take lives and manipulate the years. Some see it as a gift, I call it an illness. But loving you? I’d rather die for saving your ass than any other reason.”

    “This isn’t the end.” Steve said, tears rolling down his cheeks.

    “No, it’s the beginning of me being free.” You smiled, your vision becoming fuzzy. “I’m sorry, Steve, but your love set me free.”

[hypeathon]

RWBY - Volume 6, Chapter 12 Production Analysis

Previous Volume 6 Production Analysis Posts:

Chapters one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, & eleven

“Defining” would probably be the best way to describe a lot of the moments in this episode, as both plot lines had practically as much to highlight and analyze as the last chapter. Let’s break down all the whys and hows through the production.

Opening the episode is some interesting motion capture with the Atlessian soldiers. Although mo-cap in RWBY is nothing new and there was probably some touch-up through key animation, it’s strange in terms of how noticeable it felt. Then again, they’re faces are hardly shown so all there is to read are the body gestures, hence why it probably felt more obvious than usual. Not really a good or bad thing, just an observation. Skipping ahead a bit, as Oscar explains a blind spot to the others, we see some more of dust cannon fire effects, likely ice dust since the same blue-colored smoke effects are there. At this point, there’s not much particularly new to say about the type of effect so much as how it looks viewed from another angle. This actually helps give a bit more to analyze as to how the effect is constructed when fired. It seems that at least in this case, given the shapes of parts of the the cannon fire as it dissipates, there may be a bit more of 2-D effects than presumed. There’s also a blue-filter effect layered through composting somewhere within the effect of the cannon fire that increases width at first and then thins out.

There will be more to speak in terms of effects, but there are a couple of side notes to quickly mention. First is just the way Ruby climbs up the cliff side. It’s a small moment and a little funny-looking given the circumstances, but it’s also great little animation considering that it may not have been mo-capped at all. First she squats a bit more as she pulls Crescent Rose, then she makes a great leaping pose when climbing up and once her weapon pierces through the cliffs, her body suddenly drops as she holds on. From then on, it’s rinse and repeat and combined with the way her weapon bends as she pulls and swings it and how her cape flaps as follow-through animation as she settles in a squatting position and the gesture feels more convincing. Considering that there’s definitely a wrong way to pull and swing a tool akin to a giant scythe, there’s something to appreciate about the whole sequence as an animation enthusiast. And speaking of Ruby’s weapon, Crescent Rose, that’s the other side note. It’s easy to forget, but despite it’s size during scythe mode, when viewed from the front or back, it’s relatively thin, which helps somewhat to remind the viewer how a 17-year-old girl can easily carry something so seemingly-massive.

Skipping ahead a bit, we have Ruby getting into position to fire at the missile carrier. Seeing a close-up of a bullet fired has been done a few times before, both in RWBY and even in RWBY Chibi. The way the effect is done tends to vary slightly in each occasion and here, there’s no trail until after the bullet ricochets against the missile carrier. Similar to the mo-capped movement of the Atlessian soldiers though, this is just a neutral observation. That said, what’s more interesting is what comes after. When Cordovin preps up a lightning dust blast, we get a close-up shot of Ruby with her pupils gleaming while viewing the lightning. This trick was likely from the compositing team, but ever since it was revealed back at RTX Austin 2018 that lead compositor for volume 6, Penelope Nederlander and Amanda Gotera both came up with the electricity effect flowing around Hazel’s arms during volume 5, I’ve felt especially curious to learn which ideas for effects have come from who. Though this is a question that may not have an answer any time soon, assuming there will be one at all. On another note, although I’ve talked extensively about the lightning dust cannon fire in the chapter 10 production analysis and this effect is more or less the same, I’ve neglected to mention the way it fires. Whereas the earth dust fires in split-second bursts, ice dust fires more like a beam with a poofy smoke effect and wind dust fires being shaped and timed to draw a combination of the earlier two dusts, lightning dust fires starting with a brief electrical spiral and then follows with a flash and then a laser expanding in size with a series of electric rings surrounding it. The overall blast itself actually lingers the longest in comparison and constantly emits an array of electrical stream effects that reach and extend to the airship, its controls and Maria’s specs for at least several seconds. This just goes to show how much thought is considered as to keeping the timing of each dust cannon fire consistent.

Next up is the scene where the airship crashed. Right before cutting to it, we get an off-screen bird transformation from Qrow and though there was nothing wrong with it being animated, it shows how the idea of having Qrow transition from his human form to his bird form can be trickier to make the idea feel more seamless rather than the other way around. Once getting to the crash site itself, we get what is essential a damaged model of the ship as part of the environment as oppose to it being its own model. This is actually now as good of a time as any to mention something that I’m a bit upset for not spotting sooner. Since chapter 10, the staff credits included a vehicle designer within the art department named Scott Zenteno. As one would guess, this position refers to him designing vehicles for the show which upon reflection, there have not been much of between volumes 4 and 5 outside of the design for the average Mistral airship and the ship Blake took to Menagerie. Now what being a vehicle designer for volume 6 means for Scott is not just limited to designing the airship the gang steal since he apparently also designed Cordovin’s mech suit. Just a quick acknowledgement to make about a rather late entry in the ever-growing production staff.

As Cordovin approaches the crash site, we get a sequence of Ruby attempting to face her while Qrow tries to stop her. At least most of this sequence was confirmed to have been animated by Hannah Novotny via her Tumblr account through the tags underneath her reblog that say “my shots, except the last one”. Having spoken of her before, her animations here are a bit more nuanced and some of the tells I’ve mentioned about how she does character acting seems to be lacking. Although with Qrow, the way his eyebrows greatly raises and then slightly lowers as he is slightly taken aback in response to seeing Ruby’s stern face and the way his mouth slightly opens is an indication of small anticipatory action that I’ve used to describe Hannah’s animations before. The same observation can be referred to the next shot when Ruby slightly raises her head while saying, “I need you...”, and then firmly lowers her head when saying, “...to trust me”. Moving on to the next sequence, we get Ruby’s defiance against Cordovin accompanied with some very abundant, emotional character acting out of her in a couple of shots. After learning that Alyssa Lisiecki animated much of Jaune’s meeting with the Red-Haired Woman a few episodes back who I initially assumed to be Asha Bishi, I’ve been careful not to conflate the two and their animation styles. However, since it was confirmed that Asha animated a much later scene in the episode, it is somewhat safe to assume that this was Alyssa. In the shots that focus on Ruby there is a combination of the glimmer in her eyes, the the mouth movements, way her head shifts, and the way her shoulders raise and lower respond accordingly to each part of what she says to help further make it clear at which points is she feeling defiant, frustrated and stern. It’s the kind of character acting one would see in animators who excel at that kind of thing in anime such as Shinji Suetomi, Toshiyuki Tsuru, Akira Hamaguchi, Masayuki Nonaka, Yuki Hayashi, Masami Mori & Masashi Kudo, the character designer for Bleach.

Once Cordovin prepares to fire, Ruby zips into the barrel of the cannon with a whip-like animation akin to when Joel Mann animated Ruby in the volume 4 character short. As Ruby mounts her weapon and aims at the dust, she dons a very wide stance with her posture down, then bounces herself back up a bit and then back down again to prep herself. Assuming that it was Alyssa who did the previous sequence, it may have extended to here as well. Whether it was her or someone else though, Ruby this entire episode has been granted with character acting that greatly reminds the viewer who Ruby is in action. She then breathes in to signify how crucial it is that she times her move just right and as she fires and escapes, we get an amazing assortment of rock and ice suddenly forming, explosions, lightning, debris, steam, and bursting air/water. It’s so absurdly incredible that one would wonder how difficult thing of a thing it was to pull all that off. The bursts towards the bottom, possibly done via compositing, emits a transparent effect akin to seeing through streams of rushing water. The explosion effects are very similar to the ones from when Ruby maneuvered around all the missiles in the last chapter. Then there’s the earth and ice sprouting which convincingly creates small debris. It’s one hell of a spectacle. Finally, we get Ruby falling down the sky unconsciously and having her left arm and leg be limp enough to effectively be lifted a bit along with her body rotating while coming into contact with each of Weiss’s glyphs helps sell how much her stunt took out of her.

Once all is said and done with that part of the episode, we’re out of the conclusion of one fight and into settling another one that starts with some more character acting. As mentioned previously, it is pleasing to see how the facial expressions coming from Adam unmasked helps compliment Garret Hunter’s vocal performance, making it much more convincing (*note: that footage has audio). That’s not to say Garret was never improving over the course of the show until now, but since this is the final scene featuring his character as he currently is, what Adam says, how his lines are delivered and what his eyes and mouth emote makes what he says and does feel more engaging. Of course, it helps that Arryn Zech and Barbara Dunkelman equally put forth convincing performances as well, but more on that later. Also, side note, in case it was not made clear by now to some viewers, the ending credits displays Adam’s unmasked design (likely drawn by lead concept artist, Erin Winn) with the branding mark clearly stating “SDC”, short for Schnee Dust Company and not “600″ like some reactors initially thought.

What comes next is the final conflict between these characters and within the first ten seconds is a very interesting observation. I previously pointed out how the first 10 seconds of the fight sequence were very similar to snippets of the fight between Naruto, Sasuke & Momoshiki in Boruto, episode 65 which that specific part was animated by Weilin Zhang. It’s not confirmed whether this was an intentional nod or not, but if it is, then I can’t help but suspect Kevin Harger once again provided the storyboards. The reason for this is back during RTX Austin 2018, Kevin was a panelist for the Just the Fights panel hosted by Torrian Crawford and each panelist was to present a fight sequence they were fond of, be it their own or someone else’s. Considering Kim Newman was the one who provided clips of episode 65 of Boruto, expressing how some parts excited her while other parts made her cry, Kevin was made aware of the episode by at least that point, if not sooner and might’ve used it as partial inspiration. Of course, I could be reaching at the end of the day but if that’s the case, then Blake and Yang vs Adam plays a light homage while still having each of the characters consistently fight in their own respective ways.

At the very least, what is clear is the animation team behind the fight consisting of assistant lead animator, Melanie Stern, Matt Drury, John Yang, Megan Pellino, Joe Vick, Vito Ferber & Asha Bishi at the end. This is mostly the same team as the last episode and having to proceed with things back-to-back, as exciting as it probably was for them, must have been equally exhausting. The fruits of their labor definitely shows though, starting with the double-teaming effort on Blake and Yang’s part who I presume Melanie did, though at this point, it’s not totally clear. What’s probably so great about this portion is that the camera is positioned at dynamic angles that help to draw the viewer’s eye to where each character is in a given moment. In one shot, when Yang exits the shot from the front, Blake appears from the side. When Blake kicks Adam, Yang in the next shot is positioning herself to attack. When Adam recovers, we see where both Blake and Yang are positioned at a given shot. Once Blake gets a kick in and then dodges Adam’s strike, Yang steps in and after she gets a few hits on Adam, Blake appears again after Yang is off-screen. Even the moment where Adam deflects Blake’s gambol shroud has a long shot of Yang in the middle which cuts to a close-up of her being alert only to have her appear two shots later to grab the weapon. This is similar to what I mentioned liking about the train fight sequences in the chapter one production analysis. There is a smooth transition between characters in a given space that the fight feels more interconnected and it’s something that certain storyboard artists/animators in anime incorporate into fights.

Skipping ahead slightly to right before Adam and Yang’s portion of the conflict, we get another small character acting moment that once again displays the synergy between Garrett’s acting and Adam’s facial expressions. This also extends a bit to when Adam remains on the offensive when he lashes out at Yang who just quietly observes Blake climbing up. This segment also seems to have said character acting mo-capped, though obviously polished with key animation by whoever animated this segment. We then get a couple of strikes from him, including his buzz-saw trick (there’s audio within the footage) from the last episode which according to sound designer/engineer, Philip Spann, is supposedly based off of the foley sound of skill and power saws running using a tremolo effect. Adam of course being as charged as he is, comes equipped with red-accented lightning and forming a black silhouette while in mid-air and when he strikes down, Yang herself gets a near-black silhouette for a split-second. Once Adam sends another blast at Yang, we get the attack viewed from Yang’s back accompanied with some wavy blur compositing  and more realistic-looking smoke effects. An interesting touch is that when the smoke appears, we get one brief yellow lightning and then a bit of red lightning afterward.

Then comes the big part. Despite being unsure prior, it’s very safe to say judging by the very dynamic poses and great anticipatory action that John Yang without a doubt animated Yang’s “gotcha” punch. There’s obviously a lot to talk about this moment in general, the first being how he has Yang’s fingers smear to convincingly present the wind-up which leads to the next cut of Yang pulling Adam’s sword towards her, thus creating a bigger wind-up and then the effects of her punch with a bright trail to show the arc of it which follows with a couple of seconds of slow-motion. Then it gets to the next cut where sparks, ring effects and another trail effect shows to add to the sense of impact right before Adam is flown away. That’s all just one thing about the moment to talk about for the record. There’s also the effect of Yang’s semblance itself, a first since the production staff migrated to using Autodesk Maya and 3DS Max. Up until now, the hair on Yang’s semblance simply had a quick burst of fire and energy and the rest was just a matter of keeping her eyes red and having her fight more aggressively. Even the idea of Yang’s semblance according to Miles in the volume 1 blu-ray director’s audio commentary was initially meant as a bit of a running gag for her character:

Miles: “So this was um... A bunch of people were like "Does her hair give her power, what's goin' on with her hair?" Honestly, it's just because we thought it'd be funny. It, she's Goldilocks!”

Kerry: “She takes care of herself.”

Miles: “She takes care, and. And a bunch of people were like "Oh, this, this self-confident girl like why does she care what other people think about her?" She doesn't care what other people think, but her hair is something that she takes care of and she really likes it and they're screwing it up.”

Monty: “Yeah.”  

Somewhere along the line though, the trait was presented more earnestly and in this specific case, the effects are much different. Instead of being a brief burst, the fire-like glow coats over her hair and does so consistently and it features small fire sparks emitting off of her hair. Complimenting it of course is a burning sound effect as Philip Spann describes it that unsurprisingly took inspiration from the Dragon Ball franchise. Finally, there’s the voice acting. At the risk of being frank, Barbara Dunkelman who otherwise provides great acting in dialogue scenes, was lacking in expressing shouts and grunts when fighting. In anime dubs, voice actors in action-oriented scenes often put forth a sense of build-up in a yell which can vary from actor-to-actor, from scene-to-scene depending on the context of the direction. Even Christopher Niosi who has only been consistently voice acting for a few years as of this post has worked on roles that required such a vocal delivery. Sometimes voice actors have their shouts and grunts change depending on what the character goes through over the course of the story, such as how Johnny Yong Bosch once explained how he had his character from Bleach, Ichigo yell differently between the beginning and the end of the Soul Society arc. In comparison,  whenever Barbara shouted as Yang before, there generally was more of a strain. Granted, Barbara is not a voice actress first and foremost, but she has dipped into more voice acting on occasion through characters like Cosmos in Fairy Tail. That and her type of yells have been a consistent thing since the beginning of RWBY. This is why it was a very pleasant surprise how much of a difference was made when her shout had more of that kind of build-up to it, to the point where if one didn’t know any better that it could have come from a different voice. Then again, it sounds similar to how Barbara sounded when Yang performs her astral finish in Blazblue: Cross Tag Battle, which as a fighting game, how a character shouts or grunts can affect a gamer’s playing experience. It is possible that by that point, Barbara was getting a better grasp of how to handle such vocal delivery. It also helps how much the yell aligned with the timing of the wind-up for the animation.

After the punch, it is shown how Yang’s semblance dissipates which releases the flame coating off of her hair. Staying on the subject of her semblances, there has been some consistent confusion on when one’s aura shimmers and when it breaks. Philip Spann once again provides insight from an audio perspective about the matter, stating how canon sounds do exist for both characters and that aura breaks in particular have a bass drop effect. While it is difficult to tell if that’s what happened with Adam, it’s definitely clear that this was what happened with Yang. Skipping ahead, we get Blake climbing back up with a surprise attack which then leads to one cut after another of Adam and Blake noticing the Gambol shroud and Adam first lunging after it with Blake to soon follow, which between the timing that displays “show, don’t tell” and the sound effect of Adam kicking the pieces as he’s knocked back should’ve made it clear that one intended to go for the kill first and the other quickly reacted as a result with Yang to follow. Speaking of which, there is an interesting touch where in the shot where as Blake is about to strike, a glistening effect is shown on the tip of the Gambol Shroud piece she has. What follows is another interesting bit where the blood spreads around where Adam gets stabbed, though it’s unclear whether this was at all done in compositing or something else. Adam’s slow walk and fall was all actually animated by Matt Drury which was quite fascinating considering how much of a fan of the character he was. This does however serve as a reminder that he and the other people involved with each segment of the fight are animators and not just “fight choreographers”, meaning that they can be equally capable at character acting. To cap off the death, Philip Spann once more gives sound design insight stating that despite not having any influence over the script, he did try to give an explicit bone-crack sound as he hit the rock. Finally, we get the aftermath where Blake breaks down and this was the part Asha Bishi animated. There are cues in the scene that make it evident it came from here, the most obvious tell being the way Blake’s arms and hands harshly shaking and her hands clenching as she drops to the ground she felt about what she did which followed with her abdomen strongly inhaling and exhaling as she cries in front of Yang who readily consoles her. What adds to the scene is the long shot of the two in front of the waterfall which carries over the framing from the end of the last chapter where just their hands were in front of the cliff to now having the both of them in front of it.

Ending the episode is not much, as it simply is a setup for the finale episode. Though we do get a small funny bit with the communication device, an amusing,  flabbergasted expression from Cordovin and a good gulp from one of the soldiers in response to witnessing the Leviathan Grimm. This penultimate episode did not have as much going on as the previous one but due to the moments themselves being bigger in terms of both presentation and production, there was just as much, if not more to break down. As the finale comes, there’s something interesting to mention about updates regarding the production itself or rather lack thereof. Usually by now, certain members of the Crwby like lead animators or one of the producers would mention when a certain phase of production would wrap-up. Back in volume 5, then co-lead animator, Joel Mann confirmed on January 9th, 2018 that the animation stage ended before the finale premiered on the 20th. For volume 4, Joel confirmed that animation was done on January 26th, 2017 before its finale on February 4th. Before that, Gray Haddock mentioned how volume 3′s animation ended on January 23rd, 2016 while that finale premiered on the 13th of February.

Usually, there is a 2-3 week period where the main production phase is ending before post-production needs to be finished. However, no mention came from anyone this time. The closest we got to anything remotely resembling a confirmation was Kerry talking about doing some super casual, relaxing things on January 19th (which he very much deserved), which at least implies whatever production that involved him overseeing and approving as the director was likely done. It’s not clear this lack of sharing the status of the production was due to simply forgetting or if it was a personal choice or if the fact Gen:Lock was around the corner that all attention was directed towards that instead. It’s hard to say but I’m not really worried about what that could mean for the finale episode. That said, Neath Oum, the voice of Lie Ren, did once again state that whatever big moment coming in these last batch of episodes didn’t even occur yet. What could that mean for the finale? We all would just have to hold out butts until then.  

[shankarjaikishanfansassnintl]

Three Cheers for the Timeless Thrill of ‘Teesri Manzil’!  Remembering RDB

by

Subramanium Viswanathan

Remembering RDB on his birthday ... and reposting my ‘matinee experience’, which made me sit up, and take notice of him!

Three Cheers for the Timeless Thrill of ‘Teesri Manzil’!

1971. SIES College of Arts & Science, Sion, Mumbai.

I had just stepped out of S.I.E.S High School and entered the S.I.E.S College as a First Year Science student. I was pleasantly surprised at the new-found privileges of being a college student, which included the freedom of ‘cutting classes’ (something unthinkable at school), whenever one just was not in a mood to attend the lectures, or whenever there was some ‘unavoidable circumstance’, such as having to attend the matinee show at the near-by theatre.

Rupam at Sion Circle (now PVR Multiplex or something) was strategically located near the college. The theatre was just a stone’s throw away from the college, but the students preferred to throw themselves at the spot, more often than into class-rooms.

Now before you all get my credentials wrong, let me declare that I was not the irresponsible undisciplined ‘tapori’ type of teen-ager that you would imagine. I was a shy, sincere, serious, studious and spectacled student that time. Bunking classes for a matinee show was not in my nature at all. But there are moments in a teenager’s life, when one succumbs to peer pressure. I had a few close friends who apparently had seen ‘Teesri Manzil’ before, and they all strongly felt that ‘TM’ was a better way of spending the afternoon, than attending the Physics and Zoology lectures. After all, Newton’s Laws are not going anywhere, they will remain to trouble you throughout the year till the exams. But ‘Teesri Manzil’ may disappear from Rupam by next week. Also the Zoology lecture was all about the slimy Amoeba, which luckily one can draw in any shape and get away with passing marks. So my friends rationalize with me. Also, since I had not seen the film before, they take upon themselves the responsibility of dragging me along. I start to roll my tongue to say, ‘No, but …’, but it’s too late.

So at 11.15 am we are already inside the AC comfort of Rupam, after a great deal of pushing and pulling at the ticket counter. There is chaos all around. It appears as if the entire college is inside the auditorium. Noisy banter, loud laughter, whistling etc. The commercials are on. Nobody is paying a damn heed to the ads. I think, why can’t these guys maintain some discipline and sit down quietly. Soon a documentary of Film Divisions on Rural Development starts. One student gets impatient and shouts towards the man at the projector, ‘Arre! Main Picture chalu karo re!’. Another gentleman from the matured uncles’ minority in the audience sounds an admonishing ‘Shhh!’ to the errant student, but poor uncle is instantly greeted back with hoots and ridicule. As Rural Development makes its painful way towards the conclusion, the catcalls grow louder. At last Film Divisions prove their point that Sanitation and Sewage System have indeed improved in some remote village of U.P.

Suddenly there is a hush as the Censors’ certificate of the main film is displayed. Somebody reads aloud the number of reels for the benefit of the short-sighted among us. Then the real show starts with a bang, a big banner of NH (Nasir Hussain) films and a thundering Urdu couplet. The audience screams for no apparent reason. I wonder, what is there to scream about an Urdu couplet that they don’t understand.

As the banner fades out, ‘Teesri Manzil’ explodes right on the face! Right from the first frame, this guy called Rahul Dev Burman who seemed to be hiding behind the screen for the attack, suddenly unleashes his deadly instruments on you! On the screen, a car is chasing another along the hill-ways on a rainy night. Two short violin pieces play continuously in quick succession exactly simulating the pace and tension of the situation. The credits roll on. The lady driving the first car gets down and runs towards a building. You can see from the glass pane outside, her silhouette rushing up the stairs followed by another shadow of a man close on heels. 1st floor, 2nd floor and further up—and then she desperately knocks at a door, ‘Rocky, Darwaza kholo!, Rocky, Darwaza kholo!’, as the shadow of the man is fast closing in on her. The back-ground music turns ominous and suddenly stops for a second, as the shrieking woman is bodily lifted and thrown by her predator from the ‘Teesri Manzil’!

RDB announces the bloody event with a loud trumpet, pauses a bit, then crashes his cymbals and goes at his drums with a beat that is sort of a cross between ‘Pink Panther’ theme and the 007 title track, but with lots of more punch. The camera swirls around the shocked faces including Shammi Kapoor’s, collected around the gravitated lady’s corpse. RDB’s beats raise the tempo culminating with the last credit-slide –‘Directed by Vijay Anand’. By now the audience is univocally vociferous giving out, not those hoots reserved for ‘Films Division’, but shrill shrieks of excitement and anticipation of more thrills!

‘Teesri Manzil’ was all thrills, not just because it was a murder mystery, but also because it was a musical wonder. Apparently unlike me, most of the audience were seeing the film for umpteenth time, as they knew exactly when to scream at RDB’s notes! I think, RDB would have jumped like a hungry tiger at the offer made by Nasir Hussain, who also knew his music fundas well, right from the time of ‘Tumsa nahin dekha’(OPN) and ‘Jab pyar kisise hota hai’(S-J) days! So for the cynics like me who had always wanted Shankar-Jaikishen for a Shammi Kappor movie (that included Shammi Kapoor himself), RDB silenced everybody’s ‘bolti’ with the opening orchestral blast!

It was not that ‘TM’ was an out-and-out RDB show. Apart from music, it had great style! Vijay Anand’s narration of a crime caper was slick and imaginative with loads of thrills and fun too! After the credits, you find Shammi Kapoor on the top berth of a compartment with Asha Parekh sitting below and one pot-bellied man (Ram Avtar?) sitting opposite to her. Shammi makes monkey-faces at the fatso and forces him to break into uncontrollable peals of laughter which invites Asha Parkh’s wrath and she starts bashing the poor ‘mota’!

Asha is on the track of one ‘Rocky’, a band-player to avenge the death of her sister. She traces him to the hotel where Rocky plays his band daily. Shammi Kapoor (Rocky) who is also trying to get to the bottom of ‘Third Floor Throw-out’ puzzle hood-winks Asha about his real identity. He says he is substituting on the drums for ‘Rocky’ who is on leave. Asha pouts contemptuously that she had come to hear Rocky’s drums and she had to listen to this non-entity. Shammi takes on the challenge. So does RDB, and throws at you ‘O haseena zulfonwali …’.

Now the shrieking session has revived! Shammi thrashes the drums, Helen swoops down a curved ramp and the collegians cry hoarse almost deafening the voices of Rafi and Asha Bhosle! Then Shammi and Helen sizzle on the floor to Majrooh Sultanpuri’s rapid repartee:

‘Garm hai, tez hai, yeh nigaahen meri

Kaam aa jaayengi sard aahen meri

Hey, Tum kisi raah-mein phir miloge kahin,

Arre, Ishq hoon, Main kahin teherta hi nahin!

Main bhi hoon galiyon-ki parchhai, Kabhi yahan Kabhi wahaan …’

Then RDB’s violins take you to high pitch and tug at you three times before dropping!

The steps and movements are wild, yet so gracefully executed, a far cry from some of today’s crude ‘item numbers’! Shammi tinkers with a glass and then blows a saxophone. Guitars and violins pump adrenalin into the auditorium. Now I am beginning to enjoy all this ‘shor’ around me! I don’t know what one calls it –Rock, Pop or Jazz, but ‘Jo bhi hai, khuda-ki kasam lajawaab hai’! I find myself rocking involuntarily on my seat to the RDB beats. Then I tell myself ‘Sit straight properly, like you were told at school’.

As the song ends, I compose myself and sit straight. But there is no respite. The second song starts soon. For prelude, RDB plays a crazy guitar piece that does somersaults repeatedly three or four times and hands over the mike to Rafi and Asha Bhosle. This time it is Shammi wooing Asha Parekh with ‘Aa jaa aa jaa, main hoon pyar tera …’, feverishly shaking his head and repeating ‘Ah-ha aa jaa’ eight times for emphasis. Parekh in pink swirls around Shammi giving him the slip and ‘pehnao’-ing him the ‘topi’. Shammi dances with ruffled hair and goes berserk gesticulating in eight different ways for each ‘aa jaa’ while Asha swings fluttering her eyelashes. All that frenetic head-shaking and hip-swinging on screen with trumpets blowing and drums beating, drive the public to delirious frenzy. I suppress my own urge to scream. Aakhir, discipline bhi koi cheez hai!

Agatha Christie’s whodunits could grip you, but you don’t read the same novel repeatedly. Alfred Hitchcock was a master of suspense who packed in some of the most bizarre situations in his script, some of them exciting and funny at the same time (Remember ‘North by North-West’ in which Cary Grant is left alone to drive on a treacherous hilly road after being forced to gulp a full bottle of Bourbon by a bunch of goons!). Nobody can beat Hitchcock when it comes to an intriguing plot, but Hitchcock Saab-ke filmon-mein aisa music kahan hota hai (if you don’t count ‘Que Sera Sera’ in ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’)? Here our own Vijay Anand mixes all the ingredients like suspense, music, romance and comedy in the right proportions like an expert ‘bhel-puri-wala’ from Juhu and gives on the platter ekdum ‘paisa-wasool’ entertainment, worth every penny of your hard-extracted pocket-money from Daddy’s hard-earned money.

The first-half is great fun and romance giving RDB the avenue to come up with another two very pleasant numbers, ‘Diwana mujhsa nahin‘, a Rafi solo and ‘O mere sona-re sona-re’, a Rafi-Asha duet in which Asha Parekh concedes to Shammi Kapoor’s ‘patao-ing’. Before you know, it is already ‘Interval’. Now there is commotion at the Samosa stall outside! No Sir, I don’t join the mad scramble for a few samosas! I told you already that I was not the irresponsible undisciplined ‘tapori’ type of teen-ager that you would imagine! I was still a shy, sincere, spectacled student.

I try to take my mind off from the missed Samosas and focus on the second half. The plot thickens now … quite like the thick Tomato Ketchup that goes so well with Samosas! Now a whole lot of suspicious characters are hovering around the screen like Prem Chopra who points a rifle to shoot a distant bird, Iftekhar who leaves a misty cigarette smoke from wherever he spies on other suspects, Premnath (who generally opens his dialogue in most of his films with ‘Bloody Bushhtaard’) urf Rai Bahadur Singh who lives lavishly alone in a Dak Banglow, and K.N.Singh , Rai Saab’s drunken house-keeper. The needle of suspicion keeps swinging.

Who killed the lady? Well, that can wait. Meanwhile let’s have more of RDB. So we have a delightfully crazy ‘Dekhiye Sahibon’ in which Asha lets loose the ‘public’ on Shammi who clings to a ‘Merry-go- Round’ to avoid getting bashed up by a group of Sardars. The song is good fun with great camerawork matching the mood of the music.

It is time to get a bit serious. Helen has a ‘Raaz’ tucked up in her sleeveless. So she gets shot the same way as the ‘broads get the bullets’ in James Hadley Chase novels, before she could divulge the ‘secret’ to Shammi Kapoor. Shammi himself gets exposed as the real ‘Rocky’ making him eligible for titles like’Jhoothe’,’Makhhar’,‘Dhokebaaz’ etc. from Asha Parekh, but not before delivering a superb last song, a solo by Rafi, my most favourite in the film - ‘Tumne mujhe dekha hokar mehrban---Rukh gayi yeh zameen, tham gayaa aasmaan, Jaane man, Jaan-e-Jaan …’. What a song!

'Lekar yeh haseen jalwe, Tum bhi na kahan pahunche

Aakhir to mere dil tak kadmon-ke nishaan pahunche …’

One can as well sing these lines to that fantastic trio of Majrooh-RDB-Rafi for such an exquisite composition!

The stock of songs is sadly over, but RDB still has a fantastic piece in store, when Shammi discovers the identity of the murderer by his host’s coat in which one diamond stud is conspicuously missing. The missing button had been tightly clutched in the fist of the dead woman. Terrific close-ups of a sweaty shocked Shammi’s face when he realizes the truth, are accentuated with a more terrific back-ground score by RDB! Finally after a scuffle, the killer himself drops himself to death from an altitude equivalent to that from which he had thrown the lady in the title-scene. The police arrive dutifully after all action is over. The film ends with a funny note with Shammi and Asha again in a train compartment, this time on honey-moon, encountering the same pot-bellied man who tries to escape from them to avoid trouble!

Vijay Anand’s crisp and creative direction makes the film a gripping entertainer and places it a cut above the rest of typical crime thrillers. But ‘Teesri Manzil’ is more remembered as a musical classic that changed the trend of Hindi film music irreversibly! The film was released way back in 1966. But Rahul Dev Burman was a maverick clearly much ahead of his time. He broke all the rules and raised the tempo of Hindi film music to a feverish pitch several ‘manzil’s higher! Western music never sounded more jazzy and classy in any other Indian film, before or after ‘TM’. So it is no wonder that after five decades, the film and its music still rocks in memories, if not in matinees.

Well, to cut the long story short, we were back in college corridor next day and discussing the ‘TM’ experience. One of them starts, ‘Listen.Today is Thursday’. ‘So?’. ‘So, Today is the last day matinee show of ‘Teesri Manzil’ at Rupam. So why not we …’. I nod my head vehemently, ‘No, No … that’s too much… well … OK, Why not? OK, Sure’. The would-be IIM aspirant amongst us steps forward to manage the immediate crisis, ‘Let’s see what have we today? Oh! Physics Lab? The same silly experiment of moving the convex lens to and fro till you remove parallax. We can skip it. Journal? Not to worry, we can copy from that front-benchwala Bakul Mehta’.

So we are back again at Rupam, throwing all shame to the rains outside! There is chaos all around inside. The same FD documentary is on. One voice shouts ‘Arre! Main Picture chalu karo re!’. I turn towards the voice and am shocked to find that the shouter is none other than Bakul Mehta, the front-benchwala of college! I start fretting and mutter to my friend ‘Just look at that Bakul! What’s he doing here? How irresponsible! He is supposed to be at the Lab this time! Now how the hell are we going to finish our journals?’. My cool friend admonishes me, ‘Let’s worry about all that after the film. Relax. Try to concentrate on the movie. Don’t disturb, Pay attention … This is not Calculus class’.

So I pay attention all over again. The show starts with a bang … the big banner of NH (Nasir Hussain) films and the thundering Urdu couplet. People shriek cheeringly. And to my horror, I find myself whistling and screaming hoarse along with them for no apparent reason!

Now please don’t get my credentials wrong. I was not the irresponsible undisciplined student …. well, may be till I was coerced to see 'Teesri Manzil’ twice in quick succession, during peak college hours!

https://youtu.be/dDtKEtDA8sM

[jitolibido]

Asha I (part ii) Battle of Ice fan fic

Follow me on instagram @truestannis

The night fell as the king had promised, as the sky shifted to grey, to a dark blue, and then black, in contrast to the white of the never ending snow. Asha could scarce make out the sound of cold steel clashing amidst the punishing winds. Her back ached from the fall, as she could hardly keep the lance straight. I’m more fit for an axe, she thought. The Frey soldiers were more like to use long swords, spears, and crossbows. Asha had slung the dead Frey’s crossbow onto her back. She thought of her uncle Victarion who would cut through scores of foes with his battle axe. Had I not pressed my claim, would he have won the kingsmoot then? Anyone in Westeros would be fitter to sit the Seastone Chair than Euron Greyjoy.

         She could almost make the Frey banners as she rode forth towards the light. The Frey rear marched slowly whilst the van was engaged with the clansmen. The two flanks of the Frey army attempted to envelop the clans but arrows flew from the king’s position, halting their formation. The fire arrows provided little or less light as they were extinguished as soon as they hit the snow.

         “We’ll lure out their rear,” Ser Richard commanded, “separate them from the main force. Ready the men!”

         Asha and the rest of the ironborn loosed the crossbow bolts onto the Frey rear. A few Frey horses fell into the snow. The rearguard turned, and they outnumbered Ser Richard’s men two to one by sight. However, by the time that their luxurious and yet impractical southron breeds managed to turn around, Richard’s cavalry already jammed their lances into a row of Frey knights. The rest of the foes remained ferocious, however, and they retaliated. The right wing, commanded by Liddle, began to retreat, and the freshly aggravated Freys ate the bait and then some. As the left wing of the rearguard rode forth towards the Liddles, Asha, Tristifer Botley, and the men under Ned Woods’s command went to engage them. We have the element of surprise, and their numbers matter but little so long as they can’t maintain the formation.

         Asha drove her spear into the back of a Frey’s neck. The man wore chainmail under his warhelm, but the sheer impact broke his neck. In a matter of moments, the left wing of the rearguard was all but annihilated. There were many left still, Asha realized that as a man cut her spear in half with a sword. She drew her axe and engaged, but her arm was growing weak. The initial blood rush from a battle would make one forget the very concept of exhaustion, but soon or late, fatigue always set in. In that instant, she grew thankful of Ser Justin Massey, who had urged her to devour more horse meat despite her lack of appetite. She gave all the strength she had and swung the axe upward, and the blade almost touched the enemy’s warhelm. Her body was left defenseless, and the foe lowered his sword to his chest level for a killing strike. Oh, fuck me.

         The foe’s head came flying towards Asha before his sword could land a killing strike. Tris? she thought for an instant. As the headless body rolled off the horse, the man who appeared was Qarl the Maid. Asha remembered the night she had spent with Qarl in Deepwood Motte, when he’d sucked her breasts whilst driving his firm cock into her wet cunt to release his seeds. Asha had loved the rough play. Quiet, mind, she reminded herself. She gave a nod to Qarl. It may be that I shall never bed you again.

         The Freys were no meek foes, the rest of the rearguard were not to submit without a fight. Thirty men or so they had left, perhaps fewer, got in formation, and charged forward with a chilling war cry, as the Liddles turned around. Ser Richard’s men engaged them, and Tris was on the left wing, attempting to surround the Freys once again.

         Qarl rode close to Asha. He sees that I’m weak, Asha thought begrudgingly, I’m not some princess who needs a flowery knight to shield me from danger. And yet she seemed to be surrounded by men who’d die for her, and a precious few who’d love to see her burnt alive. Almost forgot that.

         “Thank you.” It took a deal of reluctance for Asha to express her gratitude. She had affection for the pink-cheeked boy once in a while. Asha rubbed on her right shoulder to make sure that she could still swing. When she turned her head it was too late.

         A spear went through Qarl’s back and protruded out of his chest. Qarl had worn only jerkin, fur, and light armor, and the blood rendered the back of his white horse crimson. He held onto the tip of the spear with his right hand, and coughed out blood. The enemy tried to pull the spear but Qarl would not let go.

         No time to grieve, Asha turned her horse towards the Frey. The man loosened his grip on the spear to draw his sword, but Asha killed him with a single swing before his sword could clear the scabbard.

         “Don’t forget me.” Qarl smiled with blood around his lips. It was the sweetest smile he ever gave. Asha fought her tears, and she fought them hard. A few managed to drop, however, and they froze onto her cheeks. she pressed her hand against her cheek to break it. Qarl almost fell from his horse, and she held him.

         “Go.” He planted one last kiss upon Asha’s lips before he fell into the snow.

         “What of our losses?” Ser Richard cut down a Frey and rode forward to Middle Liddle.

         “A dozen or more,” the Liddle replied.

         Richard ordered the men to ride towards the light of the watchtower. When they rode close to the lakes, Asha realized that the light was not from the tower at all.

         The tower was all in darkness. Instead, the light that they saw was on the weirwood islet. Asha remember the tales of the night lamp of Sisterton, where the sistermen lure ships with false beacons.

         The mountain clans fought the Freys on the surface of the ice lake. Already Asha saw a few horses sinking their limbs into the ice as the knights fell off their backs. When the Frey knights got on their feet, the clansmen cut their throats.

         Asha heard one blast from a horn, coming from the longhall. The mountain clans began to spread out and retreat. The Freys either chose to dismount, or struggling to hold still. One Frey who was larger than most, dismounted and cut down two clansmen. He was freakishly huge, althought not as big as Gregor Clegane. The big bellied chief Hugo Wull raised his axe to engage him. The old man struggled, as the Frey was much stronger. The old man blocked the Frey’s blow with the hilt of his axe, but the knight kicked him in the belly. The old man rose and lunged forward, raising his battle axe. The knight got on his feet and parried the attack and drove his sword into the old man’s throat. Two of the queen’s men began fighting the ferocious Frey. And then came the second blast. Stannis’s men moved farther from the islet, and the Freys struggled. The holes were not only for fishing, Asha thought. Ned Woods had made a remark about Stannis’s men drilling holes into the ice.

         When Asha heard the third blast of the horn, large rocks were flung into the lakes from the north and the south. Catapults, Asha noticed. large portions of the ice began to crumble and crack. two dozen Frey knights sunk into the water as the rest attempted to retreat. The king’s knights and the mountain clans lined up along the east side of the lake and held a shield wall. Another hail of rocks were launched with the next blast of the horn. Dozens, or hundreds of horses fell. Asha could barely tell as the snows were blinding. The heavy cavalry were mostly sunk as the barding on the destriers added more weight. The king’s archers got into position as well, two dozens at the north side of the lake, and another two dozesn at the south side.

         “Nock! Draw! Loose!” A hail of arrows were loosed onto what remained of the Frey van. Some arrows found their way onto the clansmen’s shields as well. Most of the Freys dismounted and drew their swords to engage in melee with the mountain clans. The horses were spooked and began running in all directions. The Freys’ castle-forged steel were still an advantage. The Frey men got into formation in an attempt to fight their way out of the mountain clans’ envelopment. They concentrated their forces on the right wing. Stannis’s archers were lightly armored and the Freys cut through them with ease. The Freys began pushing south as they were no longer surrounded. The large Frey fought in the frontlines and cut down half a dozen of the tribesmen. Asha had seldom seen such ferocity. The man reminded her of her uncle Victarion. Stannis’s knights went towards the Freys. Asha could hardly see faces, but she saw the winged pig and the purple knight sigils. Suggs and Farring, she thought. For a split moment Asha wished that the bloodthirsty queen’s men would fall. She hoped that the fearless Frey knight would cut them in half. She soon regretted that thought. She wondered why she grew to hate the queen’s men a little less. Perhaps it was Ser Richard, she thought, nothing in this world turns foes into friends faster than comraderie born amidst a bloodbath.

         The fire-crazed knights were indeed a fearsome lot, as their steel clashed against the Frey armors. The knight of the winged pig, Ser Clayton Suggs, stroke the helm off the tall Frey. A husky man with a jut-jawed face thick with beard and full of rage. He blocked the blows from both Suggs and Farring, and pushed forth with his freakish strength. Godry the Giantslayer lowered his sword and cut the Frey’s leg, and as the Frey went onto his knee, Clayton drove a dagger into the brawny man’s throat.

         Asha heard a horn blast from the north, but a deal farther than the one before. More men? She thought. By the sound, Asha judged them to be a few hundred horses at least. Asha looked towards the north and could almost make out the banners. Green, she thought, a white figure on a blue-green field, a merman. The knights wielded tridents instead of spears. The Manderlys. The Karstarks came out of the long hall to engage the White Harbor knights. She could almost hear the laugh of relief of the Freys. Their saviors finally came for them, and we are fucked.

         Except, the tridents went through the necks of the Frey knights, not Stannis’s men. The clans soon understood the situation and surrounded the Frey knights completely. More cavalry came pouring through the woods onto the helpless Freys. The trumpets were blowing, as the knights continued to charge and trample through the deserting Freys, and the words they cried were “the North remembers! The North remembers! The North remembers!”