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pipermaycosplays · 6 years ago

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*Disclaimer* I do not hate Pikachu if it sounds like I’m dissing Pikachu. Pikachu is one of my favorite Pokémon. Objective here is to give Pikachu’s older sibling some much needed love.

Several months ago, I came across an article by The Gamer, in my Facebook feed and the title was, “25 Awesome Things Fans Forgot About Pokemon*” (link will be at the end of this post, I have put it on Tumblr before but I don’t think the articles I post have been that popular). I thought to myself, “Well this looks interesting, I’m gonna read it.” When I got toward the end of it, I noticed a fact that just about reduced me to tears. The number one fact was simply this, Raichu Exists. Ouch. If any gen 1 Pokémon is underappreciated, its Raichu. Does the Pokémon company hate Raichu?

This instilled in me a new found love for Raichu. A few years back when XY BreakThrough came out, I bought the Burning Spark theme deck featuring Raichu because the box art was nice and I liked the artwork on the card. Now, I am trying to get two decks ready to go for Tekko that are built around Raichu. One for the standard format (Raichu GX) and one for expanded format (Raichu Break). Just trying to show Raichu some love here…anyway back to how Raichu is underappreciated and overshadowed.

Right from the get go, Raichu has been forgotten. Pikachu was made the adorable mascot of the Pokémon Franchise. The first impression you get of Raichu, is in the opening theme of the anime when Ash’s Pikachu faces off against Lt. Surge’s Raichu (which I believe has been characterized as a jerk Raichu…). So right off the bat, fans have a negative image of Raichu because he kicked Ash’s Pikachu’s butt in a fight. In the Pokémon video games (please anyone correct me if I am wrong, for I have never played the video games, I only know what I read about them), if Pikachu is your starter, it won’t evolve into it’s more powerful, older sibling Raichu. However, I have also read that if you happen to like Pikachu better than Raichu, it’s not recommended that you evolve your Pikachu until toward the end of the game for the sake of completing the dex. From an outsider who hasn’t had much experience with the games, to me that seems a little sad, because before the Light Ball, Raichu was the better pick for your team. However even if Pikachu had the **Light Ball, it does not get a speed boost, just an attack boost, so given that, Raichu is still faster. A little later, is a side-by-side comparison of their base statistics. When generation 6 dropped for Pokémon, a cool, new type of evolution was introduced to the gameplay….mega evolutions. Raichu got snubbed of a mega evolution and yet I’ve seen so many fakemon/fanart designs for a mega Raichu, that actually look pretty epic. And some of them actually look like what would have been Raichu’s older sibling, Gorochu.

That said, when generation 7 rolled around an interesting and new form for certain Pokémon (mostly gen 1 Pokémon), were Alola forms. Raichu finally gets some love? Perhaps. He did get blessed with an adorable Alolan form….with dual typing may add…electric and psychic typing. I still have yet to see an Alolan Raichu GX card and I still have yet to see Alolan Raichu printed as a psychic type. With gen 8 starters having been dropped recently, I think my wishes for that are slim to none.

This next one might be slightly out of place but let’s compare the base stats between Pikachu and Raichu. All stats directly taken from: https://veekun.com/dex/gadgets/compare_pokemon?pokemon=Pikachu&pokemon=Raichu

Raichu Base Stats: Pikachu Base Stats:

Base EXP: 218 Base EXP: 112

Base Happiness: 70 Base Happiness: 70

Capture Rate: 75 Capture Rate: 190

HP: 60 HP: 35

Attack: 90 Attack: 55

Defense: 55 Defense: 40

Sp. Attack: 90 Sp. Attack: 50

Sp. Defense: 80 Sp. Defense: 50

Speed: 110 Speed: 90

Base Stat Total: 485 Base Stat Total: 320

Effort: 3 Speed Effort: 2 Speed

I recently read that the Pokémon company has made Pikachu more viable as an attacker via an item called, “Light Ball” which to my understanding is an item that only a Pikachu can weild (to me that begs the question, why? Why can only a Pikachu wield the Light Ball?). It raises special attack and attack stats and therefore makes it slightly better than Raichu overall. At least that is my understanding of how the item works. I have also read that in Gen 3, I believe, that Pikachu beat a Raichu with Light Ball, however it doesn’t stand a chance now against Alolan Raichu. Here is the link to the WikiFandom page on the Light Ball; ** https://pokemon.fandom.com/wiki/Light_Ball

In the Pokémon tcg, Raichu has gotten the short end of the stick. And while I don’t know much about how the tcg started back in Base Set, however from about DPP on, I can tell you a bit there because I follow a lovely blog called, @pokemon-card-of-the-day and they have done a wonderful job of shedding light on how the tcg has evolved over time….Please check their blog out, its awesome! Anyway I digress..back to Raichu. To my knowledge and understanding, I don’t think that Raichu has been part of any top cut/competitive deck until now. And for various reasons I suppose. With all the electric support running around in the current format (pun intended), and the Shining Legends Raichu GX, somebody wants my boy to win. Of course, from experience, the most viable Raichu GX deck is the Snuggly Generator variant, not Raichu x Magnezone variant (too bulky). I hope Snuggly Generator Raichu GX somehow goes to World’s this year. I really do.

Raichu to my knowledge has been printed in half or less than half (Bulbagarden article said 43 different cards I think…) of the sets that Pikachu has been released in, and yet, Raichu has had some beautiful card artwork. Several examples come to mind when I think of all the lovely artwork featuring Raichu. Base Set Raichu comes to mind, he just looks so happy. Another example is Expedition Base Set Raichu, the holo with the stars and Raichu, again looks very happy. Or how about the artwork for Raichu in the Black and White Next Destinies set? He is walking down a street with balloons looking perfectly happy…or how about a throwback to some of the first EX cards released? Raichu was fortunate enough to get 2 different EX cards with beautiful artwork. For my last, and slightly more recent example, take the Radiant Collection Raichu from the XY Generations set, it’s just plain adorable….and yet he isn’t popular. That begs the question….why? Raichu has had some awesome artwork in the tcg…so many gorgeous cards Imo.

Raichu, you are a the goodest of boi’s and deserve a ton of love! Thank you for existing. You are absolutely adorable. Thank you to something wonderful I recently discovered on Tumblr; Pokéganda blogs…I discovered two for Raichu! Thank you @raichu-propaganda and @raichupropaganda for showing Raichu some love! :)

Here is the link to Raichu’s Bulbagarden page for it’s appearances in the games, anime, manga and tcg, and just about anything else you want to know on the soft, squishy boi; https://m.bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Raichu_(Pokémon) Whoever did this Bulbagarden page, very nice job. I love the detail in it. Thank you.

Thank you to @dragonair–propaganda for complimenting Raichu the other night, that really made my night. I absolutely adore the Pokéganda community, and follow a bunch of the blogs.

Below is the link I referenced at the beginning of this post, if anyone was interested in reading it. Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this long winded post, it has been brewing for several months, and I have put a little over a month worth of time into this.

*https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-awesome-things-fans-forget-trivia/

~MistyMay

#raichu appreciation #raichu pokemon #pokedex number 026 #raichu love #little squish #the goodest boi #pokemon tcg base set #pokemon tcg bw next destinies #pokemon tcg expedition base #pokemon tcg generations #pokemon tcg emerald #pokemon tcg ex sandstorm #pokemon tcg breakthrough #not my artwork

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gffa · 6 years ago

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THIS IS GOING TO BE A JOURNEY and it may not be what you were looking for, but I hope that it can explain how I came around on TLJ and why I’m sitting where I am, why I’ve made peace with it and even come to like aspects of it. It’s going to seem pretty negative at first and it’s not going to work for everyone (spoiler alert: I think the supplementary canon is pretty invaluable for turning someone around), but I’ll lay out how I got to a pretty good place with TLJ! Because, looking back on it, I think what I really needed to do wasn’t to sweep aside my negative feelings, but instead to work through them. This isn’t a post for people who loved TLJ and want a celebratory post about it! It’s also not a post for people who hated it and want to read criticisms of it (though, both those things are in here!). It’s a post for those who are struggling with how to figure out how to feel about it and want to like it a little more. (Or anyone who just wants to rubberneck at this rather long navel-gazing post! XD) LET ME START WITH THIS: I fully recognize that my method and my views and my way of coming around on TLJ aren’t going to be for everyone and that’s okay. We all have our different views of the movie and we all have our preferences/lines in the sand drawn at our own personal points. If you read what I have to say and don’t come out any more convinced than you were before, that’s okay, too! LET ME FOLLOW IT UP WITH THIS: My feelings for TLJ are complicated, in that there are aspects of it that I really enjoy, but I came around to them in a very roundabout way and that may not work for everyone. While there are things I really love about the movie now, there are also things that I think are never going to work for me. In a nutshell: The Luke & Rey storyline is largely the only one that really works for me. The Kylo stuff actually hangs together reasonably coherently for me, I’m just not sure what to do with it until IX comes out.

The Finn & Rose stuff has a lot of potential that I like, but it fails to follow through on that potential. As @thewillowbends has noted many times (and she’s very right about this, imo) HOW do you have a storyline about what war does to people by the rich and powerful to the oppressed, HOW do you have a storyline that contains child slaves in it, AND NOT CONNECT IT TO FINN’S STORY AS A CHILD SOLDIER IN THE FIRST ORDER? The Poe & Holdo stuff has potential and hangs together well on a thematic level, as the three stories are about cementing characters into their roles and making sure they are committed to being on these paths, as well as the movie has the theme running through it of defying expectations (yet this still locks them into giving those expectations just as much importance, because that’s the framework you’re still working it) and that it’s about men being called out by women, that this is how the Poe and Holdo thing defies what we expect. Yes, I can agree with all of that! I can agree that Holdo doesn’t owe him an explanation, women don’t owe men shit, in that sense! It works on a thematic level, but then I look at it from a character level and it just absolutely falls apart for me. W H Y did Holdo not sense the mutiny brewing under her nose, W H Y not just tell us a good reason for not saying anything about their plan? There’s no in universe answer that has satisfied me on that yet. AND THEN THE ONE THING THE MOVIE MAY NEVER BE ABLE TO FIX: Rian Johnson makes no bones about how this was a movie about defying expectations, that Rey’s story in the cave was about the hardest thing for her to hear, it was a movie about Luke Skywalker not being what we thought we wanted from the story. And I can eventually come around on the Luke part of that story, because rewatching the OT has actually helped me a lot to see where much of his characterization has been stemming from! But we’ll get to that later. Right now, what this movie can probably never fix is that, yeah, okay, you’re defying expectations, that’s the story you wanted to tell and maybe there’s something to that whole thing. But it also means that I’m never going to get Mark Hamill as a badass Jedi Master in all his glory, not for more than about two minutes. Instead, I’m going to be left with the feeling of how bitterness ate at him for at least those six years, how he died for this, and it’s never going to reach the epic heights of what the old Legends EU set up for him. Whether it’s a better story or not, that depends on what each of us gets out of it, but my heart wanted Luke Skywalker being badass the whole way through a movie and getting to see him in a lightsaber fight that actually put his incredible skills to use, to see that strength in the Force on display in movies that could do the special effects justice. I’m never going to get that with Mark Hamill and I’m never going to be satisfied on some level for it. All the good (if you think they’re good) reasons in the world are never going to be able to fill that in for me. AND THE BIGGER PROBLEM WITH THE OVERALL SEQUELS: I had to come home and Google what the fuck the First Order even was after TFA. I have no idea what the state of the galaxy is like during TLJ and boy did the movie work to make sure it didn’t feel connected to anything that came before on a worldbuilding level. Sure, you have Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa and the Millennium Falcon and lightsabers! But that’s about it. There were no recognizable alien races. There are almost no recognizable planets. There is a very, very obvious lack of knowing the backstory and I don’t know if IX can stick the landing of what is very obviously a WIP. George Lucas managed it, that the prequels evolved as he wrote them/worked on them, but I think one of his strengths is that he’s really good at building a bigger world like that. Can a George Lucas-less film trilogy stick the landing without him? I’m willing to work with them, but I’m not sure JJ Abrams (a guy known for the Alias ending and that LOST was his baby as well, even if he wasn’t as involved as later, and the Star Trek movies) is the guy who can achieve that. WHERE THIS ENDS US UP AT: Okay, so those are my big criticisms with the movie. For me, it helps to understand where my dissatisfaction is coming from, that pinning it down and laying it out in clearly expressed words so that I completely and totally grok my problems with the movie, that lets me move on to, well, okay, what do I like, what potential good stuff is here. This is a pretty high up view of my problems with TLJ, of course, I’m skimming over a lot of the more detail-oriented problems (like how Holdo’s kamikaze hyperspace attack basically breaks Star Wars, because WHY HAS NO ONE DONE THAT BEFORE?, THERE IS NO REASON THAT ANYONE HAS COME UP WITH THAT SATISFIES THAT QUESTION FOR ME, but that’s not really a TLJ problem, that’s a “this was always there, just that no one really thought about it and assumed it wasn’t possible” problem), as I want to keep this post under 3k words, but that lays out the framework. Okay, so where did I go from here? SOME WAYS I STARTED TO COME AROUND A BIT: → I started getting into the supplementary material. I watched the Battlefront II game like a movie and, oh, hey, they’re doing the work of connecting the Empire to the First Order! And, whoa, that was the single best Luke Skywalker story post-ROTJ that we’ve gotten yet! I read Legends of Luke Skywalker and that gave me a lot of Luke feelings, which eased up my feeling stung about how the majority of the screentime he got was him mired in depression and blaming the Jedi for the problems. → I started reading interviews with Rian Johnson. Now, this is a mixed bag at times, but there are some things that he explicitly explains that really worked for me, such as: “[Luke]’s taken the weight of the world on his shoulders, taken himself out of the equation, so that the Jedi can die out, so that light can rise from a worthier source. So, in his own way, similar to Kylo, he’s trying to disconnect, he’s trying to throw away the past, he’s saying 'Let’s kill religion. It’s the thing that’s messing us up, thing thing right here, let’s kill it.’ And the truth is, it’s a personal failure. It’s not religion[’s fault], it’s his own human nature that’s betrayed him.” This puts A LOT into context → It highlights that Luke was in a really bad place mentally and I’m here for characters who are speaking out of being in bad mental/emotional places! → It highlights that Luke’s words about how it was time for the Jedi to end, how they were responsible for the creation of Vader and the rise of the Empire, how they were fucked up, how they weren’t needed in the galaxy, were all explicitly set up to be knocked down! He literally goes out to face down the entire First Order with his laser sword! Rian Johnson explicitly states what happened was a personal failing, not the religion/Jedi’s failing! → It took me a long time and a lot of going back over Luke’s scenes from the OT to really connect them to how they were being continued on with TLJ and focusing on him as coming from a bad mental health place made me ready to hear that. → I read the novelizations, which are largely pretty standard retellings, but they do contain a lot of the characters’ thoughts and confirmation of some details that bugged me. Like, it’s confirmed that Rey’s abilities with the lightsaber are based on the Force bond that Snoke gave her to Kylo, that she’s using his memories as a way to fight. This also allowed me to take a better look at Rose Tico’s character and give better context to Finn. There’s a scene in one of them (I can’t remember if it’s the adult or jr novelization?) where it’s pretty clear that Finn wasn’t a failure at being a Stormtrooper, but that he was mopping decks because they couldn’t squash the compassion and goodness out of him, to do the jobs they were tasking him with. He had really high scores in the rankings, but he just couldn’t follow through on the bad shit, so he was being punished. That kind of thought being given to Finn, even if only for a moment, really helped me! Rose also gets more exploration and her reactions as coming from a place of grief are much easier for me to see. Her anger at Finn’s desertion attempt because Paige gave her life for it, her latching onto him because she has this empty place in her because of Paige’s death, her readiness to FIGHT EVERYTHING IN HER WAY, were all really charming to me! → During this, I’m also reading the supplementary material to get me more emotionally invested in the characters. Both the Phasma and Cobalt Squadron books really charmed the hell out of me and they helped fill in the world for me! WHERE I STAND AT THAT POINT: Well, I still have issues with TLJ, but it’s starting to make more sense to me. I still think some things are bullshit about it or just leave me feeling entirely cold, I think a lot of the backlash against the criticism for the movie ignores that there are a lot of people with really good points, instead of it being just assholes who are angry that women and people of color are getting all up in their Star Wars. (Don’t get me wrong, that’s a very real problem with Star Wars fans, but it’s not all of the TLJ criticism.) But I guess I’m warming up to it. And I realized that I needed to drop a certain mindset from the movie: It is not revolutionary or breaking new ground or a big, shocking thing. The movie does kind of pride itself on defying expectations, but that still means it’s just as married to using those expectations as a framework for the story. For example: Rian Johnson talked about how the cave scene was about telling Rey the hardest thing she could hear, rather than what would be the satisfying answer or whatever. Okay, but that still uses the question of, “What would the audience find satisfying?” as the foundation of how that scene was written, rather than something that would feel organic to the character’s actual development and the world around her. (In fairness, the whole “defies expectations” thing is more about reviewers and defenders on YouTube than it’s something directly from RJ himself, so I’m not putting this on him as much as I am on the fandom-in-general.) So I dropped the whole idea that TLJ was revolutionary or different or breaking new ground. “Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.” KYLO REN IS NOT RIGHT ABOUT THIS. And Rian Johnson explicitly says so. He says that you shouldn’t be stuck in the past, but that you build on it and move forward. And, when I looked at TLJ in that light, I suddenly liked it a lot more. FOR EXAMPLE: That cave scene. You know why it works for me? I explain more fully here, but basically it really works (even RJ’s comment about what would be the hardest thing for her to hear works with this) as the time honored Jedi tradition of going into a cave full of the Force and facing your greatest fears that linger inside yourself. Luke did it on Dagobah. The Jedi younglings all did it on Ilum. Ezra did it in the Jedi Temple on Lothal. And now Rey does it on Ahch-To. If that scene wasn’t about revealing some external truth, but instead some internal truth about what she was carrying around with her? HELL YEAH I’M HERE FOR THAT, THAT’S WHAT A JEDI NEEDS TO DO TO BECOME A JEDI. And if I could turn around on that aspect, maybe there were other things I could turn around on, too? WHICH BRINGS US TO THE LUKE SKYWALKER QUESTION: A big crux of a lot of people’s dislike of TLJ is OMG LUKE SKYWALKER WOULD NEVER. And that was absolutely how I felt for a long time! But now I’m kind of wondering: Am I sure about that? Because I’ve been doing some meta about Luke Skywalker and I’ve been finding it to fit with the things the character has always struggled with. As much as we want Luke Skywalker to be a pure cinnamon roll who is nothing but sweetness and light, that’s not actually who he is. (And let me be clear that this is not a criticism leveled at Luke or even a “oh, you can only like him if he’s ~flawed~, otherwise you’re not seeing the ~truth~”, but instead aimed at showing why Luke Skywalker is incredible as a person and as a character, as I see him!) It’s easy to remember that Luke threw away his lightsaber and refused to fight, that he said, “I am a Jedi. Like my father before me.” But you know what came right before that? Sidious taunting him with how he feels the hate and anger flowing through Luke, as he threatens his friends down on Endor. We see it, too:

He is SO ANGRY here, even at this late in the game. He’s spent years working on himself and controlling those feelings and he STILL struggles with it, even knowing that there’s good in his father. Sidious’ taunt wouldn’t rile Luke up if there was nothing in him that was there to rile up. And it’s present all along the way, Luke’s struggle with fear and anger. He’s angry after ANH when all the slaves on Cymoon 1 are killed, blaming himself for Vader killing them. He has fear and doubt swirling around in him, because the cave on Dagobah isn’t showing us an external threat, but an internal one. All that he faces there is what he brought with him. He runs off from Dagobah before he’s ready to face Vader, who says he can feel the fear Luke is at least learning to control--but it’s clearly still there. And when Luke cannot deny the connection to Vader, when he has to yield some part of himself to the truth that Darth Vader is is father, he wants to die. Mark Hamill talks about how Luke let go from Cloud City, “like committing suicide”. Luke is an incredible, phenomenal person, but a big part of that is because of the struggles he faces to overcome his anger and fear, that he does it--not that he never felt them in the first place. And the Jedi very much make the point that this is a lifelong journey to keep facing all the dark side stuff inside you. They make this point in the prequels, they make this point in Rebels, they make this point in TLJ even. So, the idea that he would ignite his saber in a moment of weakness (because, let’s be honest, Ben Solo is not innocent at that point--if someone is willing to MURDER ALL THE OTHER STUDENTS because his uncle realized the darkness in him--and that is how it’s phrased in the novelization--then THAT PERSON IS A DANGER and Luke’s reacting to something that’s there) and then regret it so deeply that he withdraws from everyone for the next six years? That he would be borderline suicidal while on Ahch-To because the dark things inside him were eating him alive? Yeah, for me that’s a continuation of everything that’s been established about Luke in previous stories. We remember Luke’s insistence that Vader had still had good in him, that he didn’t want to fight him, that he didn’t want to leave him behind on the Death Star. But it’s easy to forget that Luke also did have moments of anger and violence against Vader, after he taunts Luke and threatens Leia, reading Luke’s thoughts about her. (God, there was a twitter thread that I’m sure I reblogged that talked about this issue specifically, Luke’s aggression towards Vader in ROTJ, but I cannot find it again.) He believed there was good in his father, but it was still a struggle to put down his weapon. That’s exactly what happened with Ben as well--he knew there was still good in him, but he felt that darkness roiling in Ben so strongly that it was still a struggle to put down his weapon. (Also, this was six years pre-TLJ, so Ben was in his early-to-mid-twenties or so, not a teenager!) And then Luke, who struggles not to take on responsibility for others’ actions, retreats because he goes to a bad mental place, as the dark things that have always been in him (that are in all of us) get the better of him. AFTER ALL OF THAT: All of this may just solidify that you (or anyone else reading this!) are never going to like TLJ and that’s okay! It’s not going to work for everyone, it’s not going to jive with everyone, some people are going to read those scenes differently. Also okay! There’s no hard feelings on my part if someone reads all of this and goes, “That’s not how I saw it.” And I’ll give the caveat that this process took me months, honestly I’m still sorting through my feelings. I don’t think this is going to suddenly make anyone go OH SHIT YOU’RE RIGHT. But maybe it might help nudge a few people towards recontextualizing everything in their head--which is the process that I went through and the only way I could go from “WTF WAS THAT?” to “Yeah, okay, that makes sense to me.” Plus, you know, hey, not everyone is going to want to read a bunch of supplementary material to feel better about the movie and there’s a very valid point about how you shouldn’t have to. I ENTIRELY AGREE ABOUT THIS, btw! But, at the same time, those supplementary materials exist and I’ve been consuming them and they’ve started drawing connections in ways that really help me. The novelizations and the comics have given extra bits of insight that made it clear they are thinking about the worldbuilding in the wider franchise. The books and comics set in Canto Bight’s casino have specifically made an effort to include established aliens. The Star Wars: Battlefront II game’s story has gone to worlds that are familiar (LEIA ON NABOO, bestill my heart, the arcade mode in the Naboo palace where you can have Vader or Leia or Luke wander by the stained glass windows with Padme’s image on them! MY HEARTTTTTT) and great characterization. The Propaganda and Aftermath books are doing a lot to start bridging the gap of what happened between VI and VII, helping me see that, yes, they are building this world up and the First Order being the Empire 2.0 actually WORKS for me. I put more things into context of how, for example, it’s only been six years (give or take) since Luke retreated--he spend the other ~25 years doing WHO KNOWS WHAT. At least some of that time was spent traveling the galaxy in Legends of Luke Skywalker. Mark Hamill got to voice Luke in a Forces of Destiny short that made me feel better about his connection to the role! Rewatching the OT and listening to Mark talk about Luke helped me see TLJ as an extension of what was already there. OKAY, HERE’S SOME STUFF I STRAIGHT UP JUST LOVED: A lot of fandom really hates that it wasn’t Anakin showing up to talk to Luke, but it made perfect sense to me that it was Yoda. In universe, Yoda is the one that Luke spent the most time with, they spent months together on Dagobah and developed a very strong bond. As much as we love Luke and Anakin’s story, Yoda was actually incredible important to Luke in-story. AND BOY DID I HAVE FEELINGS about Yoda showing up and smacking Luke in the face literally and metaphorically, that he was like GET BACK IN THE GAME, TRASH FIRE, and “Ahhh, Skywalker, I have missed you.” LUKE SKYPEWALKER. Oh, my god, Luke Force Skyped himself to death, that is an Extra As Fuck way to go out as ANYTHING, I hope the Force Ghost gang are all proud of him. That fight on Crait was pretty fucking gorgeous. I wish we’d gotten a longer fight but oh MAN everything we did get was incredible. Luke sliding under Kylo’s blade in slo-mo was F A N T A S T I C. Also crystal foxes! I LOVE THEM. The porgs were really cute but GIMME THOSE CRYSTAL FOXES. Crait as a planet in general was beautiful. Leia, practically in a coma, so all her thoughts were shoved out of her head and she was acting on instinct, using the Force like that? HELL YEAH I 100% BELIEVE ANAKIN SKYWALKER’S BIO-DAUGHTER WAS CAPABLE OF BEING THAT EXTRA. Luke blowing up the hut when he exploded in on Rey and Kylo’s Force Skype call, that is an underrated moment of FORCE USING BADASSERY. Luke on Ahch-To, staring out at the binary suns, so far away from where he started and yet all things circle back around in their own way. His body disappearing, his robe fluttering to the stone floor. HI THANKS I’M CRYING especially when the novelization hinted that there was a voice waiting to welcome him to the other side. I legit got misty-eyed at Luke and Leia’s reunion. I wish I could have had an entire movie of them working together, I wanted to see more of Mark and Carrie’s chemistry, but I am going to cling to the hope that, just like Obi-Wan and Anakin, they’ll be together in the Force one day. IN THE END: This is how I came to like at least big parts of this movie. But I needed to work through those feelings, rather than sweep them aside, so that’s what this post was aimed at, showing how I did that (if in a very generalized, bird’s eye view kind of way). So much of it ultimately revolves around my growing understanding of Luke Skywalker’s character, why I disagree that he’s a pure cinnamon roll too good for this world, but instead that his incredible strength of character and inherent goodness are about overcoming the dark side, not about never being tempted in the first place or making mistakes. And I see that Luke in the man who found peace and purpose in the end of TLJ, who took a long, hard look at himself and dragged himself back up again, because that’s what good people do. I’ll always wish we could have gotten Mark Hamill to play Luke during the high points of his life, to see that in a Saga movie on the big screen. But if this is Luke Skywalker’s end, then I understand how he got there and that the ultimate lesson of his life was: The dark side is a part of all of us, it’s in the fear inside of our hearts and minds that we must constantly face. It can knock us down sometimes, it can make us doubt ourselves and retreat because we think the world will be better without us. But we get up again, we take a look at ourselves, and we re-choose the light all over again. The world works better when you’re on the side of good and you have a choice about that. And sometimes it’s going to be a struggle to choose it, but Luke Skywalker showed me that, even when I fall down into a dark hole in my own mind, I can still get up and find peace and purpose in my path going forward.

#luke skywalker #star wars meta #meta #sequels discourse #though ultimately it's a positive piece i think

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takenews-blog1 · 7 years ago

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What Makes North Park A Hipster’s Paradise?

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What Makes North Park A Hipster’s Paradise?

“Hipsters” are regarded as younger people which are unusually conscious of developments with a progressive nature in an unconventional style. And what’s it about North Park that brings these vivid people out? Properly to reply that query North Park is…..

Being a North Park hipster takes effort with the impact of placing in no effort in any respect when leaving the home; the “I wakened like this” supreme. A lot of what makes a hipster a hipster is style associated to eclectic and classic items and equipment. Amongst these are hats, totally different textures, and patterns on each shirts and pants, funky facial hair, studying glasses, and comfortable flats.

Hats have turn into a well-liked piece which have been solely rejuvenated on this motion as they appear to translate the extent of hipster the person has achieved; fedoras, floppy brim, vast floppy brim, beanies, bowler hats, the trilby, the porkpie, the boater, and your typical baseball cap are all in style hipster headwear. Irrespective of the place you flip on this stunning, all-embracing metropolis, you’ll almost certainly see fairly a number of tipped caps.

The time period bartender, based on hipsters, is out. However, mixology and mixologists are in and the motion is alive and nicely in North Park. The distinction between common, commonplace bartending and the artwork of mixology? Effort and sophistication. Very similar to the way in which cocktails had been used to exude a character and particular id again within the day, mixologists have reinvented what it means to create a drink with an intensive background and information on each alcoholic recipes and delicacies.

Understanding the moods and feelings of the alcohol utilized in every drink, educated and expert mixologists have a capability to create a libation like you’ve by no means tasted earlier than. A number of North Park bars like 7 Grand, Well mannered Provisions, and Bar Pink characteristic such a superb show of craft and talent and, at this level, are well-known for it.

Sure, in San Diego we drive vehicles throughout our vast unfold metropolis, however North Park appears to have re-adapted to extra conventional types of transportation like bikes and penny-farthings. Usually you might even see an quaint bicycle such as you would see in a Charlie Chaplin silent comedy roaming across the streets of homey North Park and it truly is a sight to see.

Since every little thing is inside such a good neighborhood within the metropolis, you’ll find most hipsters afoot touring to and from their favourite breweries and artwork galleries, however many make the most of the mode of bicycles once they wish to give their patterned flats a relaxation. We actually love this concerning the metropolis as a result of it actually does make us really feel as if we have now transported again to a less complicated and fewer populated time.

With over 15 breweries alongside the streets of North Park, the trick for this youthful tradition is just selecting which to partake in. Mike Hess, North Park Beer Firm, Belching Beaver, Trendy Occasions, Fall Brewing Co., Barn Brewery- ah, simply take your decide!

In the previous couple of years, breweries have been considerably on the rise, particularly in San Diego and the tradition of brewing appears to mesh nicely with people who think about themselves hipsters. Usually you will notice a pack of those freshly dressed hooligans downing flights collectively at one of many institutions talked about above, drawn in by the aromas of freshly brewed beer and so they gained’t deny it.

A significant portion of the hipster persona is curiosity in tradition and humanities, so North Park is filled with galleries and murals that characterize the town in fashionable, modern varieties.

The Studio Door, Visuals, Stone Paper Scissors, Taylor Studio and Artwork on 30th are simply a number of the unbelievable displays that may be discovered inside the area oozing wall-to-wall with beatniks hungry for hanging visuals and the deeper that means of life. In the case of the eclectic and attention-grabbing types of artwork that North Park is so well-known for, it’s the right area for individuals so ravenous for expertise and tradition to reside.

Alongside the way in which, we have now misplaced the appreciation for smaller companies shopping for in bulk and discovering reductions throughout city, however North Park has managed to nurture the native boutiques and retailers tenfold.

In spite of everything, it’s well-known that hipsters appear to have an urge for food for overpriced simplistic equipment, because the poster youngsters for City Outfitters, so boutiques are proper up their alley. Remaining alongside the strains of one-a-kind items they’re so well-known for rocking, many classic and distinctive finds are situated in native boutiques like North Park’s mimi & crimson boutique or MYTHOLOGY.

What’s now the North Park Observatory venue was as soon as dwelling to old school movies and cinematic masterpieces like those talked about under. Feeding into the constant stream of culture-seeking vagabonds, North Park capabilities as the right residence but once more as a consequence of its extremely historic background and nature.

Everybody needs to stay someplace that has a narrative, a previous, and a future and this metropolis exudes a historical past that’s in contrast to another. With the historic and all the time attractive Balboa Park simply minutes away, there are a number of locations for hipsters to walk round in. What may you be extra happy with? They positive like it, possibly we should always too.

The close-knit neighborhood of North Park residents is unquestionably a forgiving one with a number of retailers beneath its completely paved floor. Fashioned in 1984, the NPCA (North Park Group Affiliation) has labored since to keep up the protected and sound atmosphere with some occasional homeless teams which have inevitably fashioned as a consequence of its central location.

The weekly farmers markets, occasional festivals, native musical help and involvement with the North Park Youth Basketball staff, present that this metropolis goes above and past to stay one of many best components of San Diego. Hipsters are very happy to name this tough working city dwelling, wouldn’t you be too?

Usually you’ll find a cup of completely blended espresso within the arms of those free spirits as they stay as much as their on-the-go, but nonetheless chill persona. And, so far as we all know, most want their morning espresso which North Park fortunately supplies with the all the time strong Starbucks, Espresso & Tea Collective, Santos Espresso Home, Subterranean Espresso Boutique (take a look at that, espresso and a small enterprise) and so many extra.

From fancily adorned cappuccinos with seasonal foam carvings to the on-the-go scrumptious iced drinks, all of those institutions are bleeding with hipsters head-to-toe and so they like it. One factor is for positive, there’ll by no means be a scarcity of espresso on this small sub-city.

On account of their “hippie-ish” fashionable life-style, you’ll all the time discover this group out within the solar with their modern crop tops, wide-brimmed hats, and over-the-shoulder satchels. Being part of one of many best cities on the earth (San Diego) North Park typically has unbelievable climate.

Not too shut and never too removed from the seaside, it’s a few 10-minute drive to the ocean from this hipster zone. That is excellent for the times that the solar is just too brilliant to disregard inside Belching Beaver and precisely why these superior spots have solar decks to catch some rays whereas they’re nonetheless carrying together with their stereotypical, gentle day-drinking duties.

Though the Observatory is among the city’s main sights and venues, North Park is filled with music bar-to-bar each stay and recorded and it’s principally like an audio drug to this technology of free-thinkers.

Seven Grand, probably the most in style hipster spots, is among the many best of finds in San Diego to catch a stay band that can vary from bluegrass to rock and roll. The epic speakeasy again room construction feeds the group like a hungry mouse with stay, pristine acoustics and brings in individuals from all around the metropolis. Different spots like Bar Pink, The Soda Bar, and The Workplace are additionally main social gathering sectors for these fun-loving, earthy people.

North Park isn’t just well-known for its beer and enjoyable, but additionally for its meals. Scrumptious eating places with totally different choices of each greasy and wholesome, fancy and finger meals, nutritious smoothies and big steaks, that’s what the cuisine-friendly tradition is all about.

Among the many favorites are Underbelly, Dunedin, The Smoking Goat, Alexander’s, and The Mission that each hipsters and “normals” eagerly flock to. Dunedin, as one the city’s newer additions, supplies a number of the best genuine New Zealand delicacies set in a tropical bungalow tree home comfortably on the town’s foremost road. It’s fairly superior; undoubtedly give it a shot subsequent time you’re within the space.

Though the handlebar mustache appears to be a fleeting pattern, North Park has adopted the manly, manipulated whiskers with an open-armed embrace. Alongside its stylish aspect, the ever in style flower beard blossomed onto the scene simply earlier than glittered facial hair roared its luscious, shimmery mane in our hungry faces.

Mainly, subsequent to the chain of toppers that appears to outline the layer of achieved hipster-ed out model, facial hair capabilities as its twin brother. For the primary time ever, (or at the very least the primary time, shortly, in San Diego,) face fringe has outlined a city with character, flare, and an eased again persona that emulates the laissez-faire life-style they’re so susceptible to loving.

If we all know one factor, it’s that hipsters love juicing. North Park’s The Juice Bar, Unico Juice Store, and Fortunate Dutch Juice Firm are packed wall-to-wall with vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free admirers of the hipster nature all day and evening lengthy.

Among the many developments that these people take pleasure in, juice ranks fairly excessive on the checklist as a refreshing libation stuffed with the each day and mandatory fruits and veggies. Inexperienced juice was even ranked #18 on Huffington Put up’s The 22 Most Hipster Meals On The Planet with the caption “your inexperienced juice prices greater than your hire. Are you content now?” Sufficient stated.

Do us a favor and Google North Park, San Diego for a second and take a look at how cool these photographs are. Consistently you will notice individuals sneaking between the busy streets in each the day and evening for a fast, intimate pictures session. Feeding into the culture-hungry mouths of the hipster motion, the atmosphere is just too excellent to not snag some killer photographs in.

The ever in style and totally photogenic North Park signal rests peacefully as individuals usually come to go to its stagnant purity, staking its named territory within the San Diego streets. Particularly with the mix of our metropolis’s completely breathtaking sunsets and dusky skies, this city’s surroundings makes for some fairly unbelievable photographs.

As a free-spirit city, North Park isn’t any stranger to legalization and so they’re not afraid to say it (if they’ve a card). Following together with the fashionable hippie persona they’ve adopted alongside the way in which, teams of this nature are prone to sway towards the optimistic aspect with regards to medical marijuana.

Though they aren’t categorised underneath the phrases we’re hinting at, there’s a dispensary situated within the metropolis that you’ll usually see stuffed with hipstery clients. Unfold all through San Diego, you will notice a number of dispensary places because it has been allowed to provide medical marijuana since ’96 and this contains the good metropolis of North Park.

North Park is dwelling to one of many best brunch spots in all of San Diego, Breakfast Republic. This empire of bougie brunch beckons to the hipster crowd like a tempting siren within the evening shore and so they flock willingly.

Present in types of huge stacks of buttermilk french toast, benedicts, omelets, scrambles, sammies, and refreshing mimosas, brunch is a standard exercise that the group seeks to take pleasure in on Sunday “Fundays.” Past the greatness that’s Breakfast Republic, different epic brunch spots within the small metropolis embrace Cafe 21, City Solace, Swamis, The Mission and extra.

As probably the most dog-friendly components of San Diego, North Park may be very sort to the canine with quaint neighborhoods, hilly trails, eating places with outdoors patios, pet hospitals, pet pictures galleries, and grooming stations.

As younger people that search companionship, as will we all, hipsters are thought-about very pet-friendly so you’ll usually see them out on walks with their particular mates alongside the streets of the gorgeous metropolis. Rocking their modern staple in beanies, skinny denims, and handkerchiefs, it is possible for you to to identify one a gentle away. However, beware, there are rather a lot to depend. Significantly, although.

Ah, sure. The artwork of yoga in all of its simplistic nature, refined challenges, and skilled firming properties; it’s usually an exercise you will notice the stylish North Park youth concerned in. A lot of the peaceable beliefs behind yoga’s harmonious nature match together with the approach to life that this group enjoys main; particularly rocking the form-fitting attire.

What’s so cool about this pattern is that every one genders take part in its intentional practices each bodily and mentally and it actually does assist to enhance general respiration, consciousness, and non secular satisfaction. All North Park Yoga, CorePower, and Pilgrimage of the Coronary heart Yoga places welcome these hipsters with open minds and hearts.

The fashionable cult all the time possesses an affinity towards D.I.Y. tasks that include the cutest of succulents, for some cause. Each cacti and succulents are sometimes discovered as a part of a hipster’s dwelling decor, whether or not it’s the arms off accountability or their normal bodily look that pulls them we’re not too positive.

The North Park Nursery is dripping with their favourite vegetation like these as a result of the shop is aware of its viewers nicely. As soon as viewing the corporate’s web site, you will notice first rate portion of their “exterior decor” items consists of lovely, colourful and easy succulents due to their native admirers.

#Hipster’s #Makes #North #Paradise

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3one3 · 8 years ago

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The Sequel - 835

Hamburg

André Schürrle, Juan Mata, other Chelsea/BVB players, and random awesome OC’s (okay they’re less random now but they’re still pretty awesome)

original epic tale

all chapters of The Sequel

“This fucking idiot. A 35% tariff on BMW’s made in Mexico just hurts consumers. BMW, Mercedes, and VW all BUILD CARS IN THE UNITED STATES. Ugh, jeezus. Find me an American. I need an American. There are tons of them at this show. Get me one.”

“Who let her read a newspaper during a NATO summit?”

“Who even reads newspapers?”

“Who scheduled her to do an on-camera interview with CNN Sport during a NATO summit?”

“You. That was you. You did that.”

The conversation at Team Schürrle’s temporary Hamburg stabling began with Christina’s enraged incredulity, included comments from Marcus, Kyle, and Tim, and then returned to the lady in the middle. She had a folding chair, two dogs, cold brew coffee, and regretfully for all those around her, a local newspaper with several pages worth of President Trump stories from the previous day’s NATO event, at which he characterized Germany as “bad, bad”. On the plus side for all, the weather was beautiful and so was the horse show. Christina had no idea how nice a venue she would have the opportunity to compete in. The Deutsches Spring-und Dressur-Derby was a fabulous event to experience, regardless of luck and results. Everything was green, and old, and pretty. Grass, trees, bushes, and traditional German architecture filled the sprawling property. The competition arena was huge- by far the largest she’d ever had the privilege to ride in, and so big she didn’t know how spectators could even see what was happening. That ring was the home of the famed Hamburg Derby, which she would tackle with Dirk on Sunday. The horse plan she shared with André earlier in the week was completely off. She was using Socks and Cartagena for the GCT classes, and Dirk was doing the 4* ones because they included the Derby and the qualifier for it. Not understanding her own entries ahead of time made her feel kind of stupid and negligent, but then the actual riding was so enjoyable that she forgot about it. Even the shady schooling ring was lovely.

Everyone loved her there. She was asked for an autograph and/or selfie every 12 yards when out in the wild around the show, and the line for her signature at the Longines Global Champions Tour souvenir tent was over an hour long. The boutique village had legitimately interesting things for sale, like patio furniture and place settings. Christina bought two large, handmade baskets for her barn office. What she would use them for, she had no idea, but they were very pretty and fitting with the decor in there. The dining options were many, varied, and delicious. There was a parade of foals by Olympic gold medal winning stallion Casall ASK, a legendary Holsteiner who would be retired at the end of the event. He was 19, and his planned retirement and its relevance to things on her mind was the only thing bringing Christina down in Hamburg until she found out about all of the ridiculous things the leader of the free world did in Belgium. Her barn family was used to hearing her political rants, and so were Marcus and her coaches and some other colleagues. Her agent was pretty familiar too. So no one relaxing with her in the sun on Friday afternoon was surprised to see her fold and wave her newspaper around while she railed against the American president. Lukas was the one who didn’t like it. He arrived at the side of her chair with a concerned pout and filthy hands. He’d been using them, and a stick, to dig a hole to bury a large rock he found, reason unknown. Espen had to hold the rock. He wouldn’t let her put it down. Spencer lifted his head from Christina’s lap to sniff the little boy’s brown hands.

“Mommy?”

“Mommy is trying to show us all that she should have had a more political career,” Marcus told him.

“What’s up, Munchkin?” His sometimes teammate and sometimes rival leaned over to smooch her platinum blonde son. She smiled at him so he would know everything was fine. I can’t believe how big he’s getting, she rued about the boy just a week shy of his second birthday. I shouldn’t be able to reach him from the chair like this. When did he get tall enough that I can actually see leg between his shorts and his socks besides his knees? Ohgodno don’t drink that! “Not for you. Nuh-uh. You know not to have other people’s drinks,” Christina gently chided when Lukas stood on his tiptoes to try to get to the straw in her coffee in the built-in cup holder. No caffeine for the baby...who isn’t a baby anymore...sad face. “Do you want some water?”

“Yes please.” He nodded and then, without warning, started trying to climb into her lap. That involved putting his dirty hands all over her white breeches, and disturbing the Toy Fox Terriers occupying 100% of her lap. Mom opened her mouth to complain and then shut it again. It was too late. Nothing she said would remove the brown hand prints, and he wouldn’t understand if she tried to explain that she couldn’t get him water if he was sitting on her.

“I’ll get it,” Espen volunteered sympathetically.

“Mommy, can I have eye-scream?”

“Does anyone think I can get to the Dippin’ Dots tent without being recognized and without someone tweeting or Instagram-ing a picture of me there and 40 people showing up for selfies before I even get to the head of the line?” Christina dropped her newspaper on the grass and winced at Lukas’ knee in her stomach. He was trying to turn around and sit with his back to her front, and her level of horizontalness made it precarious for him, like crawling on a diving board. She relocated the coffee to the ground too, and waved Lucky away from it. Both dogs’ leashes were tethered to the base of her chair, and both looked unhappy about being made to get up from their naps. Their eyes were squinty against the sun, and they appeared to be looking for another place to lie down. I could get them ice cream too. The doggie accessory boutique has doggie ice cream cups, she remembered.

“Maybe if you don’t take the child wearing the shirt with your name on the back.” Marcus raised an eyebrow in her direction pointedly, reminding her that Lukas was wearing one of his BVB shirts with his dad’s name and number. It was supposed to be for Saturday- Pokalfinale day- but he wanted to wear it Friday too.

“But he could be any little Schü fan,” the biggest Schü fan in the world argued. She was still working out how to watch Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund compete in their respective cup finals, and qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, and compete all day.

“You haven’t got time anyway,” Kyle yawned in the process of getting up from his chair. He was the only one with a direct line of sight into the stabling tent. Espen came back from her trip in there to get the water, and poured some in a large plastic cup for the boy further dirtying his mom’s pants with his sneakers. He thanked her, and both women went to rub his head affectionately. “Dirk is about to be ready for you.”

“Do you want to have ice cream later with me?” Christina asked him. I hate when he’s good and he wants something and I don’t have time and either have to say “no” or let him get it or do it with the nanny instead, she whined to herself. I have to do Dirkmeister in this qualifier and then I have a few hours off before Socks. I’m doing the CNN Sport interview for the federation in there too but it can’t take that long, right? The rider looked to her agent while Lukas downed water. “Is that okay? I’m not having dinner with you tonight because I have to go to a party. Can we have ice cream after Mommy rides Dirk?”

“Kaaay.” He handed her the blue cup and then her Rolex Oyster Perpetual Pearlmaster caught his eye. He held onto the rose gold watch on her wrist and leaned over to inspect it, perhaps interested in the little diamonds spaced generously around the black face, or just the shine of it in the sun. Christina found out she could trade in the boring and generic men’s Rolex timepieces she’d won and left in their prize-boxes for one that she actually wanted to wear. The rather large model she picked out arrived at home while she was in Madrid. André told her not to take it to the horse show, and to save it as her one nice watch that wouldn’t go to the barn and become “all horsey”. She was too enamored with it to leave it home, and she liked irritating the Longines people in charge of public events. One of them asked her to take off the rival’s product before she sat for a press conference on Wednesday, and she declined. They asked her to take her IWC off a hundred times too, just as unsuccessfully. Tim told her to keep wearing it. She was very excited when she showed it to him, and he said she should stick with it because she looked “way happier than” he’d seen her “about anything in a long time”, and because she’d already won two classes at that point, one each with Dirk and Cartagena. Christina looked really good in rose gold and diamonds, and her favorite stallion looked great in a black and silver Mercedes Benz-branded winner’s dress sheet.

She didn’t put a lot of credence in what Tim said- not the part about her looking happy, at least. He’d hardly seen her much in recent times, and she was sure he wasn’t watching her ride online, or scouring the Internet for pictures after each event. Someone else in his office updated her website gallery with videos and photos. Her best guess was that he just wanted to be flattering, and suck up a bit, and her second guess was that André talked to him a lot about her being unhappy, particularly in terms of equine matters.

What the footballer said was much more real to her. He told her after her second win of the week that she was doing what he suggested- starting a good run of form. He said she needed to reap all the confidence on offer, and use it to keep winning. Naturally Christina rolled her eyes and told him it’s not that literal, or easy for that matter, but inside she felt good about it, and believed he was right, and hoped she really could harness some good feeling from those early, insignificant results and turn it into great performances and wins in more important classes. Winning her first ever class with Cartagena really did stroke her ego anyway. His owner was delighted and impressed. André really was too. He wasn’t just providing lip service. His wife’s success with the Cento son was of particular import to him because he’d watched them learn each other from the beginning.

“Are you changing for the party?” Kyle inquired, stretching his back in an elaborate and slightly obscene, hip-thrusting sort of way. He was having a lazy horse show, really, as Holger loaned Team Schürrle a groom for the week to take care of Julian, Jelly Bean, and Calvin.

“Nope. Stef and I brought dresses, but nope. Where is she?”

“I think she was looking at the foals with Ally and my wife,” Marcus interjected. He was getting up too. They all had a course to walk shortly.

“Hey Munchkin do you wanna call Daddy while I have a few minutes still? They might be doing their training at the stadium. We can try though. Wanna talk to Daddy?” Christina knew offering up Daddy with no guarantee of being able to reach Daddy was risky, and could result in a tantrum, but Lukas was liking Hamburg too. He was relaxed and enjoying the new sights. Some of her friends’ little kids were around for him to meet and play with, he got his face painted on Thursday, his mom let him eat junk food, and she had a decent amount of time to spend with him throughout the day. She worried a little on the long drive up there that André was onto something when he asked what she did to keep him entertained at shows. It was the first time it occurred to her that her little one might not really like going to them, or that it wasn’t fair to drag him along. His growing awareness made it harder to keep him preoccupied and happy, and letting him get bored was like an invitation for misbehavior and accidentally bad behavior, so it was important to be able to keep him stimulated one way or another, and then to give him enough good quality rest to recover from all the stimulation. Lukas certainly seemed content, and Espen didn’t report anything worrying. Christina felt some need to keep reassuring her partner of that, and also just wanted to talk to him.

She saw that he went on a “Like” spree on Instagram earlier of a bunch of fan-made collages of the two of them together, with cute quotes and stickers. That made her smile. He also formally accepted her plan to spend that 5-day spell on the boat with Juan. He said he was okay with it, and that he was going to use that time to go to Miami with Marco and some of his friends, and two of is own friends he was able to reconnect with since moving to Dortmund. They were going to get some sun, eat great food, check out the famed South Beach nightlife, and generally unwind in the testosterone-filled kind of way André hadn’t done in a long, long time. It would be different than spending a month with his friends and teammates for a summer tournament, and different from going away with his wife and his friends at the same time. His parents were going to take Lukas to Milan to hang out with Melanie and the newest member of the family for the week. Christina really appreciated that her oft-of-late tone deaf partner found a way to make it possible for them both to get to do something with their friends and not leave the other out, at home, alone, babysitting. It was important to frame it as such too. It mattered that their separate holidays were billed as holidays with friends. Then it wasn’t like she was going away with her boyfriend. André had every right to hold a grudge, and stay home and sulk and constantly remind her of his displeasure about it. He didn’t want to do that, and his girl was thankful.

“He didn’t answer, Luke. Do you want to leave him a message? Here. Say “Hi Daddy!”” She put her phone on speaker so Lukas could leave his dad an annoying voicemail, and then apologized to him for having to get up and go do things other than hang out with him. Espen and the child got to take the dogs though, so he wasn’t too disappointed. Christina took a detour to the massive grass ring and derby field to use the bathroom instead of walking over with her mentor and her student, and decided to use her hopefully lonely journey to reach her other favorite player preparing for a cup final. Being on the phone had some deterrent effect on the people seeking her autograph, so that was an added bonus once she got clear of the horse-people-only zone.

“Hey, angel. I was just thinking about you.”

“Liar.”

“No, I was. I put underpants on and they felt very small. Because they were yours, not mine. My butt doesn’t look as good in them as yours.”

“Don’t make me you know what while I’m still wearing undies and then they won’t end up in your laundry and then they won’t end up in your drawer and then you won’t accidentally put them on.”

“Uhhuh.”

“What else are you doing besides wearing girls’ underwear?”

“Getting ready to go to the last training of the season!”

“You have to win. I can’t stand losing to Arsenal.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“In other news, guess who I saw when I stopped into the VIP tent to make nice with the people who own Socks.”

“Elvis.”

“Lex.”

“No.”

“Yes. Did you know Hamburg is like, a minor fashion capital?”

“No, but I’m happy that Lex is now a minor fashion designer.”

“Oooo burn,” Christina laughed. Then she realized people were looking at her as she passed through the champagne tent- part of her shortcut to the ring- and steeled her face so as to appear more serious and absorbed in her phone call. Having fans was great, and she did appreciate them, but she was really tired of being in selfies, and really tired of people who just hurried up to her and tried to take the picture without even saying anything. People who approached her and asked if she minded being in the snap were okay, and those who politely said “hello” and tried to have even a basic conversation were preferable. Some of her Twitter fans kept her mentions full with Tweets about her being caught on her phone all the time. They made a game of guessing whom she was talking to, or what she was talking about. Some of it was funny. Some of it was obscene.

“Did you speak with her?” Juan was always sarcastic about his ex-fiancé, and annoyingly also always kind of interested whenever she came up.

“Nope. She didn’t see me either. I expect she’ll be at this party later that is supposed to be for riders but is really for VIP’s to get access to riders.”

“Oh. Give her my best if you see her again.”

“Really?”

“No,” he snorted. “Steer clear of her. You don’t need the drama, cariña. Focus on yourself, and your horses.”

“I knooooow. Everyone is all over me with the motivational advice this week. I wish you would all-“

“I know, I know, you know what you’re doing.”

“Yes.”

“I need to go and I’ll lose the call in the elevator. Message me later after your party.”

“K.”

“Good luck.”

“You too!”

Only one of them ended up needing luck, and weirdly it was the one who’d just won a major title, earned more league wins than any other team, and Champions League football for the next year. Chelsea were lousy at Wembley. Christina told her son that they were lucky their parade got canceled for security reasons because it looked like they’d all be too lazy to show up for it. Arsenal outplayed them in every way. The Blues rallied in the second half with a Diego goal, but they were already down to 10 men thanks to some Victor Moses stupidity, and the other London club came back at them almost immediately. The pitch was over-watered and everyone slipped a lot. It was hot. The score could have been 6-6, but it wasn’t. It was 2-1 and there was no double for Chelsea FC. Christina’s Global Champions League team got their double, however. She and her teammate finished the second round in the same position as the first- the top. Socks was also second in the Grand Prix, and could have won. His rider did a noble thing. Four other riders were clean in the jump off and the fastest of them before her turn was Ralf-Goran Bengtsson, aboard Casall ASK, the horse whose retirement ceremony would follow the prize giving. Socks had enough in the tank to hustle, and the track wasn’t all that difficult. Christina touched her brake pedal just a teeny, tiny bit on the gallop to the last fence- enough to ensure that the Holsteiner stallion’s final bow would be as a winner.

She never thought she would do that, but the headline was too good to let go to waste. The points didn’t matter to her anyway. She’d already decided that defending her Tour title wasn’t important to her, and that she wouldn’t stress about it. The Olympics was the only real goal for the whole year. Everything before the Games was preparation, and everything after didn’t matter. Christina didn’t tell anyone about what she did. Juan got some consoling during halftime in Berlin. His friend, or girlfriend, or partner, or whatever he thought of her as, said nothing about her day at all, and he didn’t ask. That was fine. He was down, and a bit angry. There was no need to talk about herself.

Then André trumped them both and won himself a big golden cup. Really, his teammates won it for him. He didn’t get to play despite being included in the substitutes. Marco and Schmelle suffered first-half injuries that prevented them from returning for the second, so Tuchel burned two substitutions on 45’. Marc had to come off injured or exhausted later too. The black and yellow side scored early, conceded an equalizer shortly thereafter, and then fought and fought and fought and finally got a winner through the league’s top scorer, Auba. No team was more deserving of a prize than Borussia Dortmund, Christina thought. They’d been through so much, and suffered so many problems, some in the form of heinous criminal activity and some in the form of what she considered criminal defensive organization, or lack thereof. Marco had been waiting for a trophy with the club- with any club- forever. He was by far the happiest person on the planet on Saturday night. Even with his potentially quite serious knee injury, he ran around with his teammates, kissed the trophy, hugged the trophy, hoisted the trophy a million times, sang to the trophy, and, his friend assumed, would take it home and sleep with it.

André was happy. He celebrated with the other Bees, but not like it was the best night of his life. He hung in the back of some of the photos, and let others enjoy the cup. As he told Christina before the game, he didn’t wholly feel like a part of the team. She argued that he wasn’t out that long and that it just felt that way. It felt like he missed so much of the season that he didn’t contribute much to it. The rider went through the footballer’s BVB highlights to prove that wasn’t true. Still, she was almost proud of him for having perspective, and for not inserting himself in the middle of the celebrations. That gold cup meant a lot more to some of those other guys. They’d been there longer, fought harder, scored more, and suffered other heartbreaking cup final losses. Christina was proud of her partner for getting himself fit enough to be in the team, too. His manager had to have been as well. Nuri Sahin was left out. He was arguably a more useful asset to have on the bench than another forward who hadn’t played in almost two months. Tuchel rewarded André for his hard work. His girl wanted to inflate his ego about that too, and fawn over him, and dote on him like a DFB Pokal champion. It was impossible to get him on the phone again after his initial “HEY WE WON I LOVE YOU I’M POURING BEER ON SOMEONE GOTTA GO” call though. She stayed up for a while after saying goodnight to Tim and some of the others who watched the match in the hotel bar with her, waiting for André to get to his hotel room and call again, or for the partying on the bus to wind down enough that he might actually be able to talk on the phone. It was after midnight when hers finally vibrated on the next pillow.

“I’m just changing to go down to our party,” the German explained to his sleepy wife after the second round of congratulations. “I wish you were here! Everyone else has a date!”

“I wish I was there too,” Christina yawned. Thank god I don’t have to ride until 2:30 tomorrow, she thought, already mentally pushing her morning schedule back.

“We’ll celebrate tomorrow, you and me,” André smiled. “Hey! It’s your birthday already! Happy birthday, Prinzessin. I got you a very large gold cup with some precious stones on it.”

“Thank you. I figured out what I want, by the way.”

“What?”

“To not go to St. Gallen on Wednesday.”

“Aww. Tired?” He was still too pumped about the victory and the partying to take advantage of her cracking, and harass her about the fact that she dictated her own schedule and didn’t have to go anywhere she didn’t want.

“I’m tired like in general from the day, and I’m tired of hotel rooms and catered food. I’m going to try to give myself a birthday present and ask Heiner if Stef can take my place on the team. She’s doing so well with Jules and he can definitely jump two weeks in a row.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I wanna be home with you.” The sleepy equestrian’s voice was thin and quiet and childlike, and it made him wonder why she was almost embarrassed to say she wanted to edit her schedule and get some rest at home with her family. She and her horses had been showing for three weeks already and there was only one break in the next 8 to come. That was the one between Cannes and Monaco, when they’d be on the boat together, so that wasn’t even a chance to be home. It was also two times in a row that Christina was shy or hesitant about letting him know that she wanted to spend more time with him. She was weird about staying up late earlier in the week because she wanted to interact with him longer instead of going to sleep. I’m happy that she wants this, he told himself before challenging the idea too. It’s like she thinks there’s something wrong with it though. It’s like she decided she doesn’t want that, so then when she realizes she does, she’s betraying herself? I can’t tell if she’s reluctant, or...what. “Babe?”

“Well I’d love to have you home, obviously,” he hastened to assure her. “Are you sure it’s what you want? You’re not going to get upset in a few weeks when a show goes badly and yell at me that I made you skip something to stay home and it ruined your plan, or-“

“No,” Christina chuckled. “I promise. I’ve weighed all that already. I’m tired. Tom is tired. The horses have such a long summer in front of them. St. Gallen isn’t a big deal. It’s up to Heiner though. They did well in Rome yesterday so he should be okay with it, maybe.”

“I got you a t-shirt.”

“What?”

“Like the ones we put on to celebrate. I got you the girls’ one, and a tiny one for Mausi.” André looked away from the mirror over the desk and eyed the two yellow shirts by his suitcase. He kept the one he wore separate, because it smelled like beer. Deep down, he was a little relieved to be on the outskirts of the victory. It would have been disappointing to have played his heart out to help get the win and then not had his family there to celebrate with him. We’ll play in the Supercup now. She has to be there for that. Except she can’t be, because she’ll be at the Olympics.

“Oh, neat. Thanks. Lukas likes the new kit. He won’t take it off. Maybe he’ll give it up in exchange for a new t-shirt, and then I can wash it. He’s obsessed with digging right now, so he’s constantly covered in dirt.”

“Sorry. He got that from me. You’ve seen the pictures.”

“Yeah,” his girl smiled.

“I have to go to the party now. I’m already late.”

“I’m really proud of you babe, for like, how you handled yourself today, and for doing everything to get fit. I know if they had needed you today, you would have been ready,” Christina told him, sincere and soft. “Other guys would look at the injury and look at the calendar and think they got an advance on their holidays.”

“Thanks. That means a lot.” Especially since you were side-eyeing me for being happy about goals and wins before.

“Enjoy the party. Take lots of embarrassing pictures of Marco.”

“I love you.”

“You too. Wait! Will you be able to watch the Derby tomorrow?”

“I’m sorry, Prinzessin, I can’t. We have the parade.”

“Oh. I forgot.”

“I’ll watch your round with you when you get home.”

“Yeah.”

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