#Mini Challenge UK

[duck7]

Croft 🇬🇧

Porsche Sprint Challenge GB 2023 ʳᵒᵘⁿᵈ ³: Callum Davis' big shunt in Race 3.

Mini Challenge Trophy 2023 ʳᵒᵘⁿᵈ ⁴: Multicar wreck in Race 2.

British F4 2023 ʳᵒᵘⁿᵈ ⁷: Airborne crash for Patrick Heuzenroeder during first lap of Race 2.

[neroushalvaus]

Drag Race USA: Congratulations for winning the challenge, you will receive 20 000 dollars and an all inclusive vacation paid by ross matthew's onlyfans

Drag Race in other countries:

[carrieway]

alone without ethan for the first time in their home n now i have to go through my second trial . reheating dinner .

[dreamofjoys]

What we can infer from this tsum tsum card

He looks like he’s burning all the tsums except for his

He’s holding his own tsum out to say that his tsum is the superior one

Look at HIS DEVILLISH SMILE HAHAHAHAA HES FUCKING PROUD THAT THERES FINALLY A TSUM TAKING AFTER HIM

He’s definitely gonna walk around the whole campus and showing everyone what his tsum can do

HE IS PROBABLY GONNA CHALLENGE HIS TSUM IN A MAGIC DUEL (uk, just to see how strong this tsum is)

i know for sure his tsum whacks ppl and summons lightning to strike ppl whenever it’s mad. In short, NRC it’s gonna be stormy the whole time (especially when they are in a bad mood), either that or you see a mini soft toy flying around the campus

Anyways I have been waiting for this card for TOO long…… HEHHEHEHEHEHEH😏😏😏😏

[7grandmel]

Rip of the week: 21/10/2024

Through the Bad Apples!!

Season 8 No Album Release Bad Apple!! (UK Version) - Touhou 4: Lotus Land Story

Ripped by Ellie53 (@ellie53real)

While the SiIvaGunner channel comes with a lot of repeating gags and bits, the ways in which they employ these can vary a fair bit. The channel's foundational meme, the ever-present funny Flintstone man Grand Dad which I wrote about on Waluigi Pinball (Beta Mix), is a simple leitmotif of just 15 notes, which makes it incredibly flexible; it can be employed as a standalone joke as practice for greenhorn rippers, or be wormed into the middle of more complex project. Memes like We Are Number One meanwhile have a very funny sound to them, yet require a lot of time and care to get to sound as good as rips like Robbie's Rotten Mine or Ska Cha Cha (Rotten Mix). And then, on the side of the spectrum completely opposite to Grand Dad, we have the jokes that feel more like a complete and total flex on the part of the ripper employing them. These "bits" are the ones that aren't necessarily reoccurring due to being funny, but rather due to being bangers with a complexity inherent to their composition, which makes any rip employing them feel like a big event. The main example would be Final Fantasy VII's One Winged Angel as featured on rips like I will Never be a Redneck, yet perhaps just as impressive are rips utilizing Dragonforce's legendary Through the Fire and Flames; rips like, indeed, Through the Bad Apples!!.

Made legendary through Guitar Hero III, Through the Fire and Flames is a song known far and wide across the internet; a piece of mainstream music that pierces through to the most shut-in of nerds due to the gaming legacy tied to it. It was the ultimate challenge for play in the ultimate Guitar Hero release, an absolutely unmissable part of pop culture of the 7th generation of gaming, and of course an absolute shredding banger in its own right. It's a natural fit for the SiIvaGunner channel, and ever since around ~Season 5 or so it's seen a pretty notable uptick in appearances - you may remember my writing of the legendary Through the F​-​F​-​Fire and the F​-​F​-​Flames, championing its ripper for his incredible ambitions and efforts made to make the rip feel as complete as it does. Its the typical fun of SiIvaGunner arrangement rips, the age-old question of how to transfer one song's intensity into the framework of a different song or video game's sound; Float Islands (Kirby 64 Arrangement), FEEL SO FINE STUCK INSIDE, and of course medley rips like SNES Mini Circulation all show just why it's such an appealing prospect. And so, we've seen a fair few rips aiming to do just what Through the F​-​F​-​Fire and the F​-​F​-​Flames did: take the legendary song and rearrange it in the style of a different game.

In large part, that is what Through the Bad Apples!! also does to great effect, imbuing the track with the distinct sound of the Touhou franchise. You can read the entries on W.E. Are Number One? and Beautiful! ~ Curveball of Sean Kingston to learn more about it, but to keep it concise it's a sound that I very much admire and enjoy despite having very little knowledge of the Touhou series as a whole. One Touhou song I'm most DEFINITELY aware of, however, is Bad Apple!! - perhaps the series' most virally spread anthem, and one that I officially fell in love with all the way back in Season 3 of SiIvaGunner through Imperial Touwer. It is, in many ways, a song just as legendary and known to the video game mainstream - if not moreso - as Through the Fire and Flames. And so, in some sense, it was only logical for Through the Bad Apples!! to instead flip things on its head.

Indeed, the rip isn't an arrangement of the Dragonforce track kept to the soundscape of Touhou 4; uniquely, it's instead the other way around, an arrangement of Bad Apple!! using the instrumental sound of Through the Fire and Flames. Upon relistening to Through the Fire and Flames a few times before writing this post, I had forgotten just how video game-y the original track actually already sounds, with a chirpy synth accentuating several key moments of the performance that just oozes 90s video games. As a result, the two tracks feel closer to one another than you'd once think; and Through the Bad Apples!! as a result manages to feel less like a straight interpretation of one into the other, and more like an even blend of the two sounds.

I'm yet to cover much of what Ellie53 has done on SiIvaGunner before this post, but she's been a constant presence on the channel since the tail end of Season 5, no doubt soon becoming aware of the rising prominence of Through the Fire and Flames rips. She's also tinkered around with Bad Apple!! in particular with Maçã Ruim!! back in Season 7; and so, I suppose it only makes sense that one would eventually put the pieces together and try their hand at mixing the two into one. Through the Bad Apples!! feels WELL worth the wait and is a shining example of Ellie53's growth as a ripper, and I'm hopeful that Through the Fire and Flames sticking around on SiIvaGunner for the foreseeable future can continue to inspire rippers just like Ellie53 to keep finding new ways to experiment with its sound.

Long live Dragonforce!

[sapphicacademic]

things to study once classes end

for those who want to keep up a habit or just enjoy learning

a new language

a style of literature less commonly studies (e.g. fantasy, science fiction - I took a sci-fi course this semester and it was so fun)

practice an instrument or learn some music theory

take some skillshare courses!

start / join a book club. this isn't really studying but imo most English courses are just really expensive book clubs

learn to read tarot / study other spirituality. I want to get better at astrology

study your local history! your library probably has a bunch of stuff on it

pick up a new hobby or craft and learn the history of it

study the plants in your local forest, aim to create a mini foraging guide

design a heavy programming project for yourself, challenge yourself to learn how to do it before the fall term starts

teach yourself some psychology! there's a LOT about it out there

do a bible study if that's something that suits you

the 1980s UK punk scene. I just took a course on this it's great

really any pop culture era

the Salem witch trials. there's a lot to learn there

if you're up to it, learn the history of some local indigenous / aboriginal groups if you happen to be on colonized land. learn what you can do as an ally (I actually have a reading list for those of you getting in to indigenous American allyship, and you can always reach out to me for a starting point)

literally take out a textbook from a library or get a used textbook off a friend and read through it, annotate it if you can, study the material. It's fun to learn without deadlines looming.

work on your handwriting

[pinkkop]

Day 51 - 15 Days BL Challenge (part 4)

Day 51 - Top 3 BLs that you'd never want to explain to your parents

I'd like to send a letter of complaint to whoever decided that this prompt was a top 3 (past me) because I'm really struggling with narrowing it down

Pit Babe

I already used ABO in my description for this prompt so why not keep it going with this show, because as much as the creators of the show wanted us to believe it wasn't ABO, this is drenched in omegaverse.

This show had such a crazy plot line and I do not want to explain the dynamics of this universe to my parents or really anyone outside of the fandom space. The show itself however committed to the bit and that made it easy to buy into the world of Pit Babe, the plot and the characters, which makes this a really good watch.

Utsukushii Kare (My Beautiful Man)

I find this show hard to explain and also if I do manage to explain the plot to someone, it's probably also going to sound weird to an outsider, so I'd rather not.

It is however one of my favourite Japanese shows and I'd highly recommend it to anyone within the fandom. It's not a dynamic for everyone but Japan does it soooo well in this show.

I'd highly recommend watching at least the full season 1 because a lot of context is given at the end of season 1, so don't give in to any knee-jerk un-comfortableness. Also the final confession is sooooooooo good!

You can find season 1 and 2 fansubbed here or on Viki. The full series with both seasons and a final movie definitely has my stamp of approval!

Look I made more GIFs! Based on the subbed version by lollipopsub linked above.

Don't Say No

No denying that Mame likes to write about trauma and sexual assault and she usually leans into D/s dynamics. Don't Say No is no exception to this which makes it a hard one to explain to outsiders without getting into that.

Love In the Air is my favourite MeMindY show (which could also fit on this list) but Don't Say No is not far behind.

Most of the plot points during this show are wild, like two occasions of blackmail, an abusive mother and a lot trauma, but I really like the basis for this show: childhood best friends who get together after a long struggle, but then they have to figure out how to be boyfriends with all their baggage and assumptions, both of their own but also of the people around them.

It's a battle between what they want, what they think the other person wants and what they think they should want.

Part of that is them finding their roles in the D/s relationship they both want but are struggling to communicate which I find super interesting to watch.

Also I freaking love a Uke that's more sexually experienced than the Seme. No Blushing Maiden Ukes in this show!!

Honerable mentions

If you were wondering how I'd get around the 3 show limit I set for myself, this is it! Neither are full BL shows so I think I'm good

Innocent

This is Taiwanese mini-series about a relationship between a man who's main personality is 5 years old and the man who saved him from an assault.

The show revolves around how his two personalities interact with his partner and how they find themselves in a loving secure relationship

As with most shows out of Taiwan this topic is treated seriously and not used as comedic relief. Even if this is a realistic relationship and the series doesn't revolve around an outlandish plot, I'd still think twice before trying to explain this show to just any stranger.

Sweet Curse

Finally Sweet Curse is a Strongberry short that I have such a soft spot for. It's a horror comedy romance with high heat and a wild plot.

Let's just say: A friend of Ha Jun is jealous of him and decides to summon a demon(?) to haunt Ha Jun, but something is a little wrong (or right?) with Ha Jun so he isn't scared so easily.

The short is 30 min and it's on Gagaoolala (though not all locations but a VPN can fix that easily)

The original challenge is here, part two here, part three here, and four here.

[ai-satin-chic]

I present the latest AI style challenge. This time the theme is:

"Statues & Monuments"

Giving a bit of time to create, so if you would like to participate, post your entry and tag either me, ( @ai-satin-chic ) or @dryndelicate. Challenge closes on the 29th of May at 20:00 UK time.

As a mini prize, I will attempt to animate the winning entry!

Anyone can participate, however I'm tagging in previous participants below.

@dryndelicate

@danni-gurrl

@softsmooth69

@andysfantasie

@synth-ai

@mistressmaurahypno

@hollyjumper

@gigiprinceton

@prettiesforyou

Current challenge leaderboard here.

@ai-satin-chic @synth-ai

@dryndelicate @andysfantasie

@mistressmaurahypno @hollyjumper

@danni-gurrl @softsmooth69

[heejinkwan]

FALLEN ANGEL is the second mini album by ASTELLA, a South Korean soloist. It was released on February 23, 2024 by StarShip Entertainment. The album consists of seven tracks, one including title track NOBODY KNOWS. It is available both physically and digitally.

ASTELLA promoted the album for 4 weeks total, promoting NOBDODY KNOWS and b-side MANIAC for 2 weeks each. NOBODY KNOWS peaked at 2 on the gaon charts while MANIAC peaked at 11. although unpromoted, Kingdom Come and Lucid Dream also charted, peaking at 19 and 25 the week after the album's release. The album received global attention as well, peaking at 10 on the US Billboard 200, also charting in 20 other countries including Japan, Brazil, FinLand, Thailand, and the UK. ASTELLA won a total of 9 music show awards for this album, NOBDOY KNOWS winning 7 with MANIAC earning 3.

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ i. the tracklist !

i. ✭ .   nobody knows ( title track )

ii. ✭ . maniac

iii. ✭ . rewind

iv. ✭ . lucid dream

v. ✭ . kingdom come

vi. ✭ . automatic

vii. ✭ . thirsty

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ get your photocards here !

*ੈ♡⸝⸝ ii. the styling !

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ iii. the reception !

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ iv. the notes !

₊˚ෆ the concept of this album was basically an omen to her performance on fictitouscore, her being a fallen angel, like the title of the album says.

₊˚ෆ the album was automatically a banger, earning a 7.2 score on pitchfork, astella garnered many new fans off of the release of nobody knows itself.

₊˚ෆ a lot of stellars believe that they should’ve made kingdom come be the title track, seeing that it’s gone so viral, but others understand why nobody knows was chosen for the title track.

₊˚ෆ astella blew up on tik tok! people already saying that nobody knows is soty and that it was the best release so far!

₊˚ෆ she did many challenges with julie and hanuel of kiss of life, karina of aespa, joy of red velvet, and yeji of itzy.

₊˚ෆ she made many new friends including yeji, who she met from being friends with karina.

₊˚ෆ and all the rumors are true! the album may or may not be about yeonjun, who she has been rumored to be dating ever since 2020 west they had a minor acquaintance.

₊˚ෆ she began being close to him while being in promise, but after leaving he was one of the only people she talked to all the time, the rest being her family, the promise members, and karina.

₊˚ෆ they began officially dating in 2022 but never actually confirms it so nobody knows is like her saying it but not actually saying it.

₊˚ෆ when it peaked number two on billboard, heejin’s family called her and they celebrated with a cake, congratulating her on her success.

₊˚ෆ she literally did a live at like 1am happy, which turned into her crying because of how overwhelmed and happy she was that the song was doing well, the comments were congratulating her and telling her not to cry.

₊˚ෆ during maniac promotions, a lot of people felt like the song did not fit the album and complained that it was being promoted and not kingdom come, which was gaining more streams than maniac.

₊˚ෆ starship released two videos of the recording process of both nobody knows and maniac, which gained so much traction on twitter and tik tok with videos with over 1m+ likes and views.

₊˚ෆ even though she hadn’t planned it, heejin ended up finding out that she will be performing at coachella 2024 in california alongside other kpop artists such as lesserafim and ateez.

₊˚ෆ even though no one expected it, rewind also ended up getting popular! after many stellars posted the song in a sped up version, making people who did even stan heejin wonder what the song was, it even got non kpop fans bopping to it!

₊˚ෆ after catching onto it, heejjn ended up posting a lyric video of rewind on her channel, and after a week it charted at number 8 on top 100: south korea on apple music, youtube music charts at number 1, and gaon chart at number 5.

₊˚ෆ stellars can really say this is their favorite era of astella so far, when the music is good how can you not stan?

₊˚ෆ very much inspired by this by @dr3amluc1d

[expatesque]

How are you doing in general??? Excited for the trip?? What’s first on your itinerary to see (Florence right?).

(I just got back from my brothers wedding and am shattered but high on the love. Also a little heartbroken because there was a “this could have been something” with a man there. But alas. We move. Plus I just ate some chocolate cake)

Florence first for a week! Then back to the UK for 10 days and then Korea for two weeks!

I'm like... very ????? Like mostly I'm good, I'm surprised how good I am but sometimes I worry that I'm only okay because I'm distracting myself. So I'm genuinely trying to take it very chill in Florence and see if I'm actually okay.

But it's been a lot of change in the space of a year and genuinely the biggest thing I feel is humbled - like I really thought I had it together! And to be perfectly honest, I felt a little superior to people that didn't. Wow did the universe know how to throw that back in my face - single, nearly 30, only had one serious relationship, unemployed! Truly take down of the century for me.

But I'm trying to remember that instead of living the life I thought I would have, I'm living this one. Where I'm a person trying to figure it out just like most people are. And that no one goes through life without real challenges - and if they do, how much did they really live, you know?

Anyway! I am jealous of your cake, I love that you're high on love even despite the mini-heartbreak (isn't it odd how often they go together?), and I know that what will come along for you will be better than what you missed 💕

+ Friday Thursday sleepover (asks here or ask me anything)

[duck7]

Mini Challenge UK (JWC) 2023 Donington Park 🇬🇧

Sam Smith and Dan Zelos big crash in Race 3.

[b-blushes]

my neverending quest: trying to find something on the internet when it literally might not even actually exist OR perhaps you are searching wrong (for anyone who is sooooo bored and wants a challenge, E27 dimmable mini globe lightbulb (45mm diameter 38mm length) 800lumen minimum warm white in stock and available for home delivery in the uk <3)

[far-side-skies]

Storm Hawks Bird OC Challenge - November 2023

Remember remember the 5th of November, Gunpowder treason and plot

Hello Storm Hawks fandom! Spook month might be over but here in the UK we celebrate attempted regicide with fireworks. Hopefully this bird's colours are inspiring to y'all. This month we're looking at the wire-tailed manakin (Pipra filicauda)!

This bird is most commonly found in the Amazon basin and prefers habitats of subtropical or tropical swamps. It's part of a superspecies alongside two other Manakin species; the band-tailed and the crimson-hooded manakin. There's not much more information available, but the colours are a nice contrast to October's, so I hope y'all have fun with it!

The deadline this month is Wednesday the 29th of November, I look forward to seeing all the characters this month. Rules are under the cut.

Minimum requirements for drawn entries to be put in the winner’s vote are a name, occupation, the character’s home/birth Terra and at least one paragraph (or about 100 words) of written backstory.

Minimum requirements for written (i.e. written dossiers without art, or mini-fics for the character) are 500 words including backstory and appearance. Feel free to make a mini-fic out of this challenge, I’ll make sure to link it with the final collage as well.

You’re not expected to create a character from scratch for this challenge. If you’ve got an older character concept that’s been collecting dust or that you’d like to take the opportunity to revamp, feel free! The goal of this challenge is to inspire people.

Collaborations are allowed! Same rules apply, the only addition is that you and your partner(s) just need to make note of who was responsible for what part of the character.

Make sure to tag me in your entries and also DM me with a link to your entry. Tumblr is not always reliable about notifications for this sort of thing, and I don’t want to risk missing anyone’s entries, so better safe than sorry.

The group collage of entries, and the (possible) winner’s vote are opt-in. Participation of those parts of this challenge are not mandatory.

[warningsine]

Democracies are no better than other forms of government at avoiding catastrophic mistakes. But they are much more effective at rectifying them. While the 2024 British general election might have seemed a long time coming, as the country meandered from one failure to the next, the utter scale of defeat for the Conservatives is testament to the ability of a democratic system to reject, reverse and renew.

It also places a singular challenge on the desk of the new prime minister, Keir Starmer. He will be judged by his ability to restore probity to government and address the damage suffered by the country.

It is easy to see this election in the tradition of other big defeats like 1997 or 1979 or 1964. A powerful theme of “time for a change” was at play and the governing party seemed to have run out of steam. It can even be interpreted as sending a powerful message to Rishi Sunak’s Conservative party that voters wanted to inflict punishment for incompetence, economic mismanagement and sleaze.

But this one is more than that.

The now former governing party, returned with a majority of 80 in 2019, has been beaten to within an inch of its life. A generation of politicians long criticised for treating public life with contempt, have been ejected from office and parliament.

Step back, and this election can be seen as democracy rectifying the catalogue of its own glaring mistakes. Since the calamitous Brexit referendum eight years ago, Britain has suffered economic decay and a cost of living crisis (briefly exacerbated by Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s disastrous so-called “mini-budget”).

It has endured a government with a lengthy record of rule breaking reflected in the UK falling to its lowest ever ranking in the Global Corruption Index. It has seen dodgy pandemic procurement contracts handed out, party donors appointed to the House of Lords and a sustained attack on its constitution, institutions, and rule of law. Tiresome culture war crusades have divided communities and polluted public life.

Denigration of public services from education to the NHS to the armed forces, crises in housing, the climate and inequality have been left unchallenged. Damage has been done to the country’s international reputation and relations strained with the UK’s closest allies in Europe.

What these errors have in common is that each one sits firmly at the door of 10 Downing Street and its four most recent inhabitants. This election emphatically draws a line under them.

Parties can fall

For so long in opposition and even during this campaign, Starmer’s party has danced to the populist tune of the government and its media cheerleaders. The challenge for his new administration as it takes power is to recognise that this election is a watershed, a rejection of this catalogue of mistakes, and an expectation of political renewal.

The more existential question is whether this election is also a watershed moment that will permanently change the shape of British politics. Could we be witnessing the demise of the Conservative party and the end of its hegemonic position at the centre of public life?

It happened to the previously dominant Liberal party a century ago when it split down the middle and was replaced by a new emerging Labour party. Such a shift is rare, of course, and requires some sort of major disruption.

In the years following the fist world war, Labour’s rise was fuelled by an extension in the franchise so significant that it makes the proposed votes for today’s 1.5 million 16 and 17-year-olds appear trifling. Indeed the Representation of the People acts more than doubled the electorate by giving the vote to women and the 40% of (working-class) men who were also previously disenfranchised.

There is nothing quite so seismic heading Westminster’s way today (though plans for automatic registration could add millions of voters). But the potential for comparison should not be dismissed.

Post-Brexit realignment, realigned

Party identification in the electorate, which has been in decline since the 1960s was turned on its head in 2019 when Boris Johnson’s Tories won a swathe of red wall seats in the Midlands and the north of England. For the first time, Labour voters were wealthier than Conservative. Labour, of course, went down to its worst defeat since 1935. There was talk of a new political cleavage, where class divisions had been replaced by leavers and remainers.

That this has all been reversed in the space of one parliament demonstrates the incredible fluidity in the electorate today. The more than 70 seats that have gone to the Liberal Democrats show the determination of the electorate to vote tactically to remove Conservatives in spite of an electoral system that has historically kept them in office.

And then there is Reform. Nigel Farage’s rag bag of a party has proved to be the ultimate protest vote for disenchanted Tory voters, attracted to the open acknowledgement that few if any seats could be won but the higher the vote, the harder the beating for the Conservatives.

As it happens, millions more voted Reform than was reflected in their seat share. While there are some leading Tories who would still welcome him into the fold, Farage perhaps overplayed his hand during the campaign making the Conservatives defensive of a rival, hell bent on their destruction. Time will tell if the Conservatives can resist the onslaught but for now the psychodrama of the right will be a political sideshow to the main event: an innocent new government and a refreshed parliament.

Britain’s parliamentary democracy facilitated this catalogue of mistakes which have proved so damaging to the country over recent years. But in this election it has also proved highly effective at beginning the work to rectification. If Starmer gets a moment to catch his breath, he might reflect upon this as the key reason he has been handed such a decisive majority.

[niiikkii]

Adapting to Changing Travel Trends: Maximizing Travel Experience

In recent years, there have been significant shifts in the travel trends. The once exclusive practice of tourism has evolved into a popular entertainment and tourism trend with affordable travel and a rich cultural heritage. The travel business has seen a significant transformation because to new technologies like digital platforms, which give visitors access to advice and recommendations from other travelers as well as locals.

For the past 5 years, here are some of the biggest travel trends in 2019 including the Regenerative Travel which are the challenges of sustainable tourism have drawn attention, which focuses on striking a balance between financial advantages and environmental and societal benefits. Secondly, the B-Leisure Trips which means leisure and business blends together became increasingly popular. While business travelers saw the in-flight experience as a means of leisure and time off, they also often viewed the airport as a nice place to work.

Micro-vacations, sometimes referred to as mini-vacations, have grown in popularity since 2019. These quick getaways provide travelers with instant happiness and relaxation, enabling them to make wonderful memories and depart with favorable impressions. The next one is the Insta-Holidays, travel planning in 2019 was greatly helped by Instagram, particularly for Gen Z travelers. Last but not the least travel trend for the past 5 years is the Wellness Travel, which describes travel experiences that seek to enhance and maintain health in a range of areas of human being, such as the physical, mental, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual.

For the next and possible travel trends that we expected, the first one is the Home Swapping, is a more cost-effective option to booking expensive hotels or Airbnbs when travel expenses keep rising. The second one is the Eco Diving, the Reef-World Foundation, a UK marine ecology nonprofit, discovered in 2022 that 95% of divers desired to make reservations with sustainable operators but found it difficult to do so.

Sports Tourism, the Olympic and Paralympic Games serve as the main event of the 2024 sporting calendar. The fourth is the Coolcationing that the year 2023 is declared the hottest on record. Family vacations are especially well-suited to cooler weather.  The last possible travel trend for the next 5 years is the Gig-Tripping that for many years, the main attractions at retreats were athletes and wellness experts. Taylor Swift is the main reason for the more than 50% increase in destination concert business, according to Janel Carnero, travel advisor at Embark Beyond.

As a tourist in tourism industry, we should expect that we can have more technological and advanced travel trends that a tourist can surely enjoy now and in the future.

[servants-hall]

All Creatures Great and Small star Nicholas Ralph: 'James and Helen are broody'

By Caren Clark

All Creatures Great and Small — Nicholas Ralph reveals all about the changes ahead in the fourth season of vet drama All Creatures Great and Small

All Creatures Great and Small season 4 features new challenges and big decisions for the Yorkshire vets.

The latest season of the period drama, which airs on Channel 5 in the UK in October and on PBS Masterpiece in January, is set in Spring 1940 as World War Two continues.

Caring James Herriot (Nicholas Ralph), spirited wife Helen (Rachel Shenton), grouchy head vet Siegfried Farnon (Samuel West) and trusty housekeeper Mrs Hall (Anna Madeley) are trying to keep things running smoothly at the Skeldale House practice in the absence of Siegfried’s brother Tristan (Callum Woodhouse), who is serving with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps. But they all face dilemmas about the future.

We caught up with Nicholas Ralph to discover what lies ahead in All Creatures Great and Small season four…

All Creatures Great and Small is back! What impact is the war having?

Nicholas Ralph: “We kick off during the Phoney War [before hostilities became more intense] and it’s the All Creatures that we know and love, so it’s very much focused on the community. But signing up was something James wanted to do and Tristan has now gone off to war, so James still feels that pang of guilt.” 

How are James and Helen finding married life as we hear babies could be on the cards?

Nicholas Ralph: “Yes, they are broody. Helen’s more open about it and James is more guarded, although he wants to be a dad as well. It's a complex situation. But in the opening episode, he becomes a bit of a father figure to a young boy who is a toerag but has an unwell dog and James takes him under his wing, it’s charming.”  

Troubled Wesley Binks (Billy Hickey) and his dog Duke need help from James (Nicholas Ralph) in All Creatures Great and Small. (Image credit: Channel 5)

What is it like at Skeldale without Tristan?

Nicholas Ralph: “Siegfried is feeling the loss of Tris and not dealing with it well. But the bond between Siegfried and James also becomes tighter, which is nice to play. And the whole family unit blossoms more as well with us and Mrs Hall and then Richard Carmody [a student vet played by rising star James Anthony-Rose, who joins later in the series].”

Student vet Richard Carmody (James Anthony-Rose) received a baptism of fire when he joins the team is All Creatures Great and Small. (Image credit: Channel 5)

Tell us about Carmody and the other new faces this time…

Nicholas Ralph: “It’s James' idea to get Carmody in because, with the loss of Tristan, they’re struggling. He thinks it will be brilliant and Carmody will be a mini-James, but he turns out to be more like Siegfried, so it blows up in James’ face! James, who plays Carmody, is a joy to work with. We also have James Bolam [the New Tricks star guests as a farmer]. I didn’t get to work with him, but Sam said it was an absolute pleasure.” 

And what animals will we see?

Nicholas Ralph: “We have goats who were brilliant! The animal wranglers trained the goats with food and a buzzer, so when they came in, they did this elaborate route around Skeldale. We also have horses, and cows having calves. And we have a flatulent boxer dog that Mrs Pumphrey [the wealthy local played by Patricia Hodge] takes on. It’s the sweetest dog but it’s supposed to be boisterous so it kept jumping up and hitting me in a painful place!” 

And is Mrs Pumphrey’s pampered Pekingese Tricki Woo, played by Derek, back too?!

Nicholas Ralph: “Yes, and you can do whatever you need with him, he’s like putty! He always gives you something back in a scene too, he's better than some of the actors! We also have Erin, who plays Dash [Skeldale’s springer spaniel], and she’s the cutest dog ever, although you can't do a scene with her, because as soon as you look at her, she comes over. But you can't not look at her, because she's got these massive doe eyes and she just stares at you intently!”

All Creatures Great and Small season four begins on Thursday October 5 on Channel 5 at 9pm