#but i had a deadline to submit it for a contest and i was running on fumes

[morgancrystal]

The Treasury and the Guards Charcoal on Arches Cold Press 14''x18.5''

Bonus points to whoever finds the other guard.

[mxauthor]

Creativity

Summary: Y/n is a photographer and Spencer is a great model.

Word Count: 1,135

Warnings: fluff, kisses, probably false statistics, giggly spence at the end.

November 4th. 

That was the deadline of when Y/n’s assignment was due. 

That date was one week away and she had no idea what the hell she was going to do. The whole class was given three weeks to complete the assignment and Y/n was running out of time. 

She’s an aspiring photographer.

Several of her works have been published in magazines and have won many contests. She even has a website dedicated to her photos as well as other young photographers wanting to pursue their passions. 

However, most of her clients don’t want an amatrue to take any of their photos, hence the course. Even though her boyfriend, Spence, has rattled off statics about not needing classes to become a photographer; it still made her feel better: more official

But now, her photography course is requiring her to submit new artwork instead of some of her old pieces. The professor said he ‘wanted to put their learning to use and catch something they’ve never thought of before.’ 

Y/n hated it. She was hitting deadend after deadend. Everything she’s shot is within her comfort zone, not new. 

With a loud groan Y/n threw her head back on the couch she was perched on. Spencer only rounded the end the moment she was looking up at their light tan ceiling. 

“Still can’t find anything?” Spencer asked. His tone knowing the answer, but wanting to be caring still. 

“Not a thing.” Y/n replied, enunciating every word in the sentence. Spencer looked at her with a sympathetic look. Knowing the frustration not being able to achieve something. 

He thought about the requirements of the assignment, having told him once she first got it. Spence wanted to help, he really did, but it was the first time he’s drawn a blank. 

“I have no clue what to do. All the photos I’ve taken are like the ones I’ve taken before.” Y/n raised her head and looked at her boyfriend of a year. “Nothing new, nothing that’s caught my eye.” 

“You know statically, most photographers set up their master photos. All of them have been staged and made to look candid. A lot of the photographs that I’ve studied since you’ve started your classes I’ve noticed that a lot of the items seemed to be perfectly placed. Just like it was made to be a photoshoot of some sort. While a lot of your works are within the moment, scenery or candid of people.” Spencer rambled. Y/n watched him intently as he talked, never liking to cut him off once he started, “So I believe that your professor is asking you to do something of the sort, to make a piece that you have to stage. I would suggest using someone that you are comfortable with, which will trigger a higher dopamine output as well as a higher serotonin that allows cognitive flexibility and an increase in mood.” 

Y/n looked at Spence. A sparkle within her eye that Spencer knew to be trouble. 

“Comfortable, staged and someone I know.” Y/n summarized, Spencer nodded along enthusiastically, always touched when someone listened to him all the way through. 

“Yep.” 

“Well then, pretty boy, I just found my client.” Y/n said, her eyes sparking with, what Spence can only describe as creativity. And lust. 

The nickname alone should’ve told him that he wasn’t going to like this idea nor was he going to be the most comfortable with it. However, when Y/n had jumped up from her seat and started to set up her equipment with a huge smile on her face, Spence couldn’t really say no. 

Y/n had placed one of their kitchen chairs in the living room (after she moved everything out of the way). Claiming that it was perfect. Her lights and camera were setup to where he supposed was his place in all of this. 

He watched with a little nervousness as he stood in a white button down and some black pants. He was demanded asked to change from his comfortable warm pajamas, into this more serious ‘photo worthy’ outfit. 

“Okay now, I need you to sit in the chair and I’ll be right back.” Y/n commanded, her voice left no place to argue.

So Spencer sat down. Patting his legs while he waited for the final piece of this photoshoot.

About 2 minutes had gone by before Y/n walked out, red lipstick painted on her lips. As well as a tub in her hand. If he looked close enough, he could see kiss marks on her hands, some more faint and one very vibrant. 

Spencer studied the way Y/n walked up to him. Almost like she was trying to seduce in a way. As she got closer, Spence could see a smirk playing on her lips. 

“What are you-” Before the genius could actually ask his question, Y/n had kissed him. 

His brain short circuited. His IQ is now at 60. 

It took a second before he kissed back, before it could get more heated Y/n pulled back. She studied the lipstick print on her boyfriend, liking how well it was placed. 

Spencer’s face had flushed, he stared at her surprised, trying to understand what’s happening. 

Before he could ask Y/n started talking, “The assignment is to do something new. To try and incorporate all of the lessons we’ve learned up into now. As you’ve said all of my past works were either scenery or candid photos. Something that has just happened or there for anyone to see. What I’m doing here is different. This is a photoshoot, not candid. You are normally sophisticated and well cleaned, however at this moment your unshaven and floppy hair. As well as dressed in something more date-casual.” 

Spencer tried computing everything that was said, only to realize what she meant. His flush grew a little as Y/n looked at him for a silent ask, him nodding his answer. 

She started to unbutton the top four buttons of his shirt. Spence started to grow even redder as Y/n started to kiss all over his neck, face and chest. 

He felt like he couldn’t breathe, all this attention and kisses making him hot.

But one thing is that he couldn’t stop smiling. Neither of them could. Y/n’s kisses varied in shape and size, trying hard to control the smiles on her face. Spencer giggled and flushed until she stopped. 

Y/n looked at the lipstick marks with a proud smile and a flush of her own. Giddy to take the pictures. 

“Okay hold still.” Y/n commanded, trying to capture him flush and giddy. 

Trying to catch her Spencer, the goof ball that’s in love with her, in a living memory.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Robert Tait at The Guardian:

Republicans are already laying the ground for rejecting the result of next week’s US presidential election in the event Donald Trump loses, with early lawsuits baselessly alleging fraud and polls from right-leaning groups that analysts say may be exaggerating his popularity and could be used by Trump to claim only cheating prevented him from returning to the White House.

The warnings – from Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans – come as Americans prepare to vote on Tuesday in the most consequential presidential contest in generations. Most polls show Trump running neck and neck with Kamala Harris, the vice-president and Democratic nominee, with the two candidates seemingly evenly matched in seven key swing states. But suspicions have been voiced over a spate of recent polls, mostly commissioned in battleground states from groups with Republican links, that mainly show Trump leading. The projection of surging Trump support as election day nears has drawn confident predictions from him and his supporters. “We’re leading big in the polls, all of the polls,” Trump told a rally in New Mexico on Thursday. “I can’t believe it’s a close race,” he told a separate rally in North Carolina, a swing state where polls show he and Harris are in a virtual dead heat.

An internal memo sent to Trump by his chief pollster is confirming that story to him, with Tony Fabrizio declaring the ex-president’s “position nationally and in every single battleground state is SIGNIFICANTLY better today than it was four years ago”. Pro-Trump influencers, too, have strengthened the impression of inevitable victory with social media posts citing anonymous White House officials predicting Harris’s defeat. “Biden is telling advisers the election is ‘dead and buried’ and called Harris an innate sucker,” the conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec posted this week. GOP-aligned polling groups have released 37 polls in the final stretch of the campaign, according to a study by the New York Times, during a period when longstanding pollsters have been curtailing their voter surveys. All but seven showed a lead for Trump, in contrast to the findings of long-established non-partisan pollsters, which have shown a more mixed picture – often with Harris leading, albeit within error margins.

[...] Trump, who falsely claims that Joe Biden stole the 2020 election, is also paving the way for repeating the accusation via legal means. He told a rally in Pennsylvania that Democrats were “cheating” in the state, and on Wednesday his campaign took legal action against election officials in Bucks County, where voters waiting to submit early mail-in ballots were turned away because the deadline had expired. A judge later ordered the county to extend early voting by one day. There is no evidence of widespread cheating in elections in Pennsylvania or any other state, and mail-in ballots are in high demand in part because Trump himself has encouraged early voting. Suing to allege – without evidence – that there has been voting fraud is part of a well-worn pattern of Trump disputing election results that do not go his way. In the aftermath of the 2020 election, his team filed 60 lawsuits disputing the results, all of which were forcefully thrown out in court. Anti-Trump Republicans have expressed similar concerns to Democrats about Trump’s actions. Michael Steele, a former Republican national committee chair and Trump critic, told the New Republic that the GOP-commissioned polls were gamed to favour Trump. “You find different ways to weight the participants, and that changes the results you’re going to get,” he said. “They’re gamed on the back end so Maga can make the claim that the election was stolen.”

[...] Trump-leaning surveys have influenced the polling averages published by sites such as Real Clear Politics, which has incorporated the results into its projected electoral map on election night, forecasting a win for the former president. Elon Musk, Trump’s wealthiest backer and surrogate, posted the map to his 202 million followers on his own X platform, proclaiming: “The trend will continue.” Trump and Musk have also promoted online betting platforms, which have bolstered the impression of a surge for the Republican candidate stemming from hefty bets on him winning. A small number of high-value wagers from four accounts linked to a French national appeared to be responsible for $28m gambled on a Trump victory on the Polymarket platform, the New York Times reported.

Republicans prepping to be sore losers by rejecting the results if Donald Trump loses.

[pettyprocrastination]

hiiii congrats on ur story being accepted to a lit journal!! ur writing is rlly gorgeous and hope more good things come to you 💌🫀!!

+ i guess i did have a question lol (and feel free to ignore or not answer!!) how did u find lit journals to submit to i guess? like what was your criteria for looking / how did u know how to go about looking lol. again! if you don’t want to answer totally fine :))) hope u have a great day !!

thank you so much love! And I'm happy to answer your questions!

one of my biggest pieces of advice is to look at small journals! I know personally it'd be nice to be able to get into a big journal on the first try but sadly for many (or at least myself lol) that usually isn't the case. My acceptance was from a very small run journal with a following of only about 100-130. It isn't to say that you don't have the talent to get into bigger literary journals- but there going to be much more competitive because they'll most likely have a lot more submissions to go through as well.

there are lots of small-run journals I've found through looking on instagram and twitter: often times when you find one you like their following list will be similarly themed/subject literary journals of the same vein or will have posts recommending fellow journals that you'll also find as good fits for your work!

Use submittable! It's a wonderful website that lets you filter through calls for submissions for art, essays, poetry, short stories, and media pieces of the like for contests and journals around the world for free as a writer/artist. It also allows you to keep track of your submissions and withdraw them easier than just doing so through plain email. (screenshot of website featured below)

Don't feel any pressure to submit to journals that require a submission fee- there are plenty of amazing journals both big and small that you can submit to for free

Now I will say that some literary journals you may find won't use submittable (because a subscription to it as a literary journal is quite expensive) which is also fine! That just means you'll have to be more content with checking your email more often for responses

I know personally I had to look for journals that allowed more "outside of the box" writing/subject matter simply because my story featured cannibalism quite heavily and things like that can be a big no-no for other journals because it may not fit the general theme of their issue/clash with the stories they had already accepted for that time slot. So look for ones that best fit to your style! My professor had told me it's best to look for literary journals that don't worry about genre but it can be hard if you write for genres that are often hard sells (ie horror) for others.

i'd say the biggest thing personally was submitting to a lot of places. Many journals allow simultaneous submissions (submitting one story to multiple journals at once) but it's best to let them know initially and then withdraw as soon as you get accepted somewhere else. Sometimes it really is a numbers game of "if i submit this story to five places I'm more likely to get an acceptance from at least one of them" but keep in mind that 1. Not all journals allow simultaneous submissions and 2. If there's one journal in particular that you really really want to be featured in I'd recommend submitting your piece to only that one so you don't get jinxed and get accepted somewhere else before they have a chance to respond.

I know it may sound moot but keep an ongoing list of the journals you like and plan to submit to!! If you aren't using submittable, it can be very easy to lose track of the journals you want to submit to without anyway of definitely remembering them so I've started by making a google docs full of journals I come across that I want to one day be accepted in + their next submission deadline because once you look at so many its definitely easy for the titles and dates to slip your mind without thinking

And finally my biggest piece of advice is to be patient and take rejections with grace. Coming from somebody who has had her stories rejected multiple times and is currently on staff for a literary journal: rejections don't mean your story is bad. It can mean they already accepted too many of the same theme/subject, the story doesn't match the theme of their current issue or many other topics. You're a talented writer and you can't let rejections pull you away from submitting! As frustrating as it is, publication for a lot of us is a small group of fish in a very big pond of rejections, as is the way of writing!

Anyways- be patient, be confident, and have fun!

[inventors-fair]

Insert The Clash Reference - New Year’s Revolution Commentary

I will be the first to admit this was not one of my stronger contests. As I alluded to in the initial post, I had intended to run something else entirely, but articulating what I wanted people to give me proved entirely fruitless despite around 8 hours of concentrated sentence-construction. So, thus, with the deadline looming, I audibled into something else entirely that I put no prior thought in. I think this showed itself somewhat in the submissions, as people seemed to take different lessons from the same post, and I sincerely apologise for any misgivings due to my poor communication of my intentions.

That said, y’all ran in some real delightful directions with this one. I definitely did not expect to see most of the twists on Rebels-as-a-concept that you decided to bring to the table, and seeing everyone’s little takes on how Rebels could be done was an absolute delight. Thank you all wholeheartedly for your submissions this week.

With all that out of the way, a cut!

@an-anarchist-shapeshifter​ - Double Agent

Thrilled to see that tumblr user an-anarchist-shapeshifter has partaken in the political unrest contest, though I am slightly bewildered that you were not the one to submit the sole Rebellious Shapeshifter of the crowd. Regardless, the card you actually submitted: Absolutely lovely saboteur effect. Leaving the card draw as optional is an incredibly clever choice, as it can allow you more flexibility to choose between adding to your own hand and decreasing theirs in less than ideal scenarios, while still allowing you to generate nauseating amounts of card advantage when everything lines up. Absolutely delicious mechanic to fit on a four mana 2/3, so excellent work there. My main sticking point for this particular rogue element is its use of skulk. See, I played standard back when Shadows of Innistrad was released, and I still vividly remember how skulk played out in practical terms: Namely, 1 power skulk creatures were essentially unblockable, 2 power ones were Difficult, but Manageable, and 3+ power ones had an extra line of flavor text. Skulk as an evasion mechanic is very narrow and I don't think I have ever found it particularly fun, playing with or against it, and that sour taste has yet to leave me even after all these years. That said, I will commend you for selecting the only vaguely interesting Skulk Number. If you gave this menace instead I think it would play out very similarly, while also avoiding any and all unforeseen Ancient Judge Grudges that may still be lying around. An otherwise delightful card somewhat marred by a slightly unfortunate mechanic choice.

@demimonde-semigoddess​ - Jabberhouse Hand

This card is delightful and I very much wish it existed, but unfortunately, as I am currently judging the Rebel Contest and not the Cards I Like Contest, I cannot fully endorse this card, as I am having quite a bit of difficulty figuring out where the Goblin bit ends and the Rebel bit begins. Plinking people? That's just standard Boggart Shenanigans. Milling everyone? A lil weird for Goblins but I'm not sure it exactly screams "I'm a Rebel!" either. Caring about things what cost 2 or less? No idea. I just can't really tell why this particular Goblin has selected Rebellion as a profession rather than Roguery, aside possibly from the flavor text association with Grenzo, which is itself tenuous as he himself is also a Goblin Rogue. Could I envision a set where Grenzo tries to upend the monarchists from his dungeon-throne, and acquires the Rebel typing while doing so? Sure. But I'm just not confident I'm getting that entirely from this card, unfortunately. Like I said though, love it mechanically, just not sure it was the ideal execution for this contest.

@dimestoretajic​ - Backroom Recruiter

Let the workers unite! It is rather unfortunate that their union contracts only extend to the end of combat, rather than end of turn, as that will almost certainly result in unintentional union-member casualties, when your Union Bear becomes a 4/4 and becomes blocked by another 2/2 and emerges triumphant, only to lose its coveted toughness and die to the very damage it previously powered through at combat's end. Fix that tiny little thing, though, and this is genuinely one of my favorite mechanics submitted this week. Absolutely in love with the idea of recruiting all my creatures into The Union. Although I will say I'm not totally thrilled with the concept of the union counters, I can definitely understand why you would feel motivated to include them on your singular submission for this week, as this definitely strikes me as a mechanic best demonstrated with friends. All in all, you almost made the cut, and this entire card is extremely endearing, but the mistaken timing on the toughness buff just barely took you out of contention.

@foxgirlbeans​ - Spartacus, Boisterous Rebel

Finally! Some consensus on the identity of Spartacus: It's this guy. Thrilled we've finally worked that one out. Goofs about impassioned acts of solidarity aside, this is an absolutely fascinating card that I would absolutely love to play at a table with, like, 4+ people but would loathe to encounter against a single opponent. I will get into more detail about that criticism in a second, but first, I'd like to address a templating concern. First, the regenerate. Magic the Gathering has not seen a new use of the regenerate mechanic in approximately seven years. As of late, they've all but replaced that mechanic with temporarily granting indestructible, which by and large is going to accomplish the exact same thing as regeneration without a large amount of the associated rules headaches (Speaking as a former Rules Advisor Who Judged Some Local Tournaments, regenerate does A Lot Of Things and people have a very easy time forgetting about most of them.) This is rather fortunately a simple thing to address: As stated, you could pretty easily swap that regeneration shield for temporary indestructibility and be entirely above board.

Slightly larger problem: The permanence of the control-changing ability. Red/white doesn't generally get to steal things from people, even if winning a die roll is required to do so. Additionally, in one-on-one games of Magic, having a creature out which incentivises you to spend all your time attempting to steal other people's creatures with coinflip odds seems potentially frustrating for everyone involved, as, if you win the flips, your opponent has a bad time, and if you lose the flips, you have a bad time. I think the single simplest fix for both of these issues would be to have the control change only last until the end of the new controller's next turn. That way, they're guaranteed at least one attack with their newfound ally, but there is significantly decreased chance of permanent estrangement. All in all, I'd love to play this with a larger table, but it very much needs a bit more iterating before I can really endorse it for use in any other format. Clever idea though.

@helloijustreadyourpost​ - Brazen Bruiser

I am slightly concerned about this mechanic, as I am a bit afraid that the range of benefits you can grant to someone who succeeds in being Defiant is much smaller than is desirable. As is, I'm worried that this mechanic, in spite of the attack trigger, will actually cause people to not want to attack quite as much, for fear of enabling an opposing Rebel's Defiance. Flavor is great, and the card itself is pretty well executed, and very solidly within the range of Effects That You Can Get Away With, don't get me wrong, but I'm just inclined to believe that it won't quite have the kind of effect on a game you were looking for, unfortunately.

@hypexion​ - Angel of Revolution

Very bold of you to submit an Angel of Revolution that does not need to turn even a meager 90 degrees to attack. Trigonometry aside, this card is perfectly reasonable, and the mechanic seems like a delightful addition to the Rebel arsenal, especially considering how... interesting some of the additional creature type choices get for some of these things (looking at you, Trenching Steed). Not much more to say, honestly. Good mechanic, solid card, maybe could have used a bit more of a flavor anchoring to really allow it to rise above the competition.

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes​ - Deep-Cover Agent

The aforementioned Rebellious Shapeshifter, not to be confused with any tumblr users that might be present. The flavor here is pretty immaculate honestly, but I'm not sold on how much that second ability is doing. Putting this at uncommon was definitely a wise choice, but even then, having access to a repeatable pump spell and also a repeatable shrink feels a bit excessive, when either one of those by itself would make combat in complex boardstates borderline nightmarish. If you just picked one (probably the one that encourages you to use the first ability, honestly) I think I'd be a bit higher on this card than I am, but as is I think it still just does a little too much for a little to little.

@izzet-always-r-versus-u​ - Voice of the Masses

Adding "reference to a cycle of Urza's Saga Angels" to my list of Things I Very Much Wasn't Expecting this week. Nor was Rebels-As-A-Group-Of-Heretics, honestly, and I'm kind of down for that? That's a cool idea, thank you for sharing it with me. I think my main concern with the card itself is the tax ability. I know decks full of legends are generally pretty niche, but they still very much do exist, and that's a pretty steep bill to add to an entire supertype/deck archetype, especially given how aggressively costed the actual body is. I know they're not a fan of the establishment but I do feel that making things cost 1 extra would have more than sufficed here. Regardless, this is I think a relatively small gripe strung from the worlds tiniest violin.

@reaperfromtheabyss​ - Aimless Renegade

A rebel without a cause! Absolutely delightful. Tragically, this was yet another victim of I Can Only Pick Six Winners. Though I do think that a stronger flavor/setting leaning would've pushed this a bit further above the competition. Also, not to nitpick, but it should "attack each combat." rather than each turn. That's about it honestly. Great card! Lovely concept. Just not quite enough steam for me to exalt it further.

@snugz​ - Amphin Frostmage

You alluded to the possibility that this could end up just kind of being an evasion ability in your submission text, and, well, yeah. This mechanic, in any sufficient quantity, will be Pretty Much Skulk, But More Words. Like, if you get down more than two of these I'm not sure many non-desperate individuals would dare block your Rebellious Salamanders at that point, as that would mean getting their creature locked down for nearly the next half-century. It certainly is an interesting concept, and I'm thrilled to see you've brought the Amphin into this of all things, definitely a novel source of rebellion. But yeah, this can pretty much be boiled down to Evasion, But More Verbose, and I'm not sure that's gonna play out as the best use of textbox space in the world. Perhaps something more akin to afflict, where you have a set payoff for getting blocked, if only to save on text space? I'm not sure honestly.

@squeezyboi​ - Simic Dismissers

Absolutely in love with the concept of this card, and the idea that maybe some of the Simic's experiments aren't quite as enthused with their outcomes. Mechanically, as well, I think this is quite delightful, letting you profit off of any excessive accrued counters that your evolve or adapt creatures may have generated. The only thing that really put this behind the Defiant Gateless for me is that I'm not sure what broader implications it could have. Like, yes, these are rebellious Simic victims, but what else are rebels doing on Ravnica? I'm sure one could conjure a cycle of guild-"aligned" Rebels in similar fashion to this, but I just don't see it being as cohesive as other entries, which is I think the main thing that brought it out of contention for me. All that aside, lovely stuff here.

@wolkemesser​ - Defiant Aesthete

Rebellious Lorwyn Elf who wants to protect those that the ruling Elf class deem undesirable? Oh absolutely. Your flavor direction here is honestly immaculate. Mechanically, though, I'm a bit less impressed. Anti-ward is definitely an interesting direction to take things, though I'm not confident it will play quite as well as its more traditional counterpart, as it relies more on the owner of the Thing People Want To Kill not leaving up enough mana rather than the person doing the killing having enough mana, which means that the Defiant in question is pretty much gonna survive whatever gets thrown at it so long as its owner is sufficiently motivated to allow it to do so, which feels like it would be rather frustrating to play against, especially in quantity. Regardless, the flavor is absolutely lovely, the enters the battlefield ability is quite nice, and I appreciate that you reached out with a new mechanic this week, even if it didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

@yd12k​ - Farmstead Rallier

Fantastic flavor, love that, and the flavor text itself is absolutely stellar. Largest strike against this for me, honestly, is that the Rebel bit feels real tangential to the whole experience. Like, this card? Great. Fantastic Peasant Tribal experience. In the context of this contest? I think you may have been slightly better served submitting something that demonstrated the utility of these Rebel tokens which you alluded to in your submission text, more of a Rebel Payoff than a Rebel which might incidentally generate More Rebels. All that said, it is still definitely a very lovely card, I'm just not confident it was the best demonstration of the concepts in your set in relation to the prompt.

That’s all from me for this week, barring me continuing to ride this inexplicable wave of executive function through some backlog commentary. (Again, I sincerely apologise for that, my brain is filled with bees and everything is difficult) but yes. Thank you all for participating!

- @starch255​

[audriegreywind]

Shirtless Hiccup Fanart Competition

Calling all HTTYD fanartists!

HTTYD comic writer Richard Hamilton and I are running a competition among fans to create a depiction of shirtless Hiccup, which would have appeared in the third graphic novel The Fire Tides if it had been released.

When I first reached out to Richard to ask if he’d like to share the shelved story, I also asked if he’d be willing to provide the fandom with a ‘canon’ depiction of shirtless Hiccup to put it to rest, but unfortunately he is no artist, so he could not deliver.

That’s where the fandom comes in! It then became his idea to host a contest among fans, the winner will receive a prize (physical if located in US, outside the US will be something virtual) and their piece will be deemed the official ‘CANON’ depiction of shirtless Hiccup!!!

Any and all art styles are welcome, the criteria is listed above. To submit your piece, @ Richard (@RegardsRichard) and I (@AudrieGreywind) on Twitter with your depiction and the #ShirtlessHiccup tag.

The two of us will determine the winner together! The deadline for submissions is November 17th 2022.

Please share with any and all fanartists in the fandom, we can’t wait to see what you come up with!

[rissynicole]

A Parade of Indignities Hit 1,000 Kudos on AO3!

This is an enormous milestone for me, and I would love to celebrate it. A few days ago, when I was getting close to 1,000, I asked around on the Moo-Ping 10 Discord about ideas for this occasion. I’ve never hosted anything in my life and I’m a bit daunted by it. @melodyofthevoid​ mentioned having run some Draw This In Your Style events in the past to commemorate her own milestones with her blog and her lovely Royalty AU. I thought that sounded like fun! So…  

As a celebration, I will be hosting a DTIYS

This is from the final passage of the epilogue of Parade, in which Zim and Dib return to Earth together. It’s kind of an ambiguous scene, but one that implies a budding friendship. They have a lot to process, and in many ways, they’re in shock. Zim especially. But they know they have a sense of support and trust in on another that they’ve never had before.

“They sat comfortably in each other's company, something that was an entirely new experience. In return, they were offered a faint glimmer of the world's sincerity through the other. A physical embodiment of genuine concern and caring. A lifeline in a sea of uncertainty.

It might not have been much, but in the grand scheme of things, it felt like everything.”

Details under the cut:

Rules for Entries:

Have fun and feel free to take some creative liberties! Change up the poses, do funky stuff with the ship design, etc., etc. Just please remember to keep things within the spirit of the fic and my original intentions with the relationships featured.

The tag for this event will be #dtiysparade, but it would also be great (read: easier for me to find) if you @ me.

The deadline for entries will be July 1st, so you should have plenty of time if you would like to submit an entry.

Contest Winners:

I will be choosing three winners. As a prize, each can request a one-shot of their choice. I imagine I’ll cap the word count at around 1,000 to 1,200 words. I’m pretty comfortable with most requests, but please keep in mind:

I don’t do NSFW

I’m a gen writer, so I might not be phenomenal at writing ships. If that’s what you want, though, and I’m comfortable with the ship requested, I’d try my damnedest to give you something good!

This event couldn’t have come at a better time for me, as I’ll still be out of school for summer break and able to focus on running the DTIYS and working on prizes for the contest winners. I truly hope that this is also a gracious time for any of you who would like to participate. Please remember, though: there’s never any pressure. Simply knowing I have so many kind readers and friends in this fandom is enough.

Thank you all. I love you!

[kuyajermsss]

Ang bilis ng July grabeee hahahaha. I guess if you really have a busy schedule, you’ll never notice how fast the days go by hehehe. Ang daming nangyari so I’ll just share everything down below:

WARNING: Long post ahead. 

On medication

The doctor prescribed me on meds last April, but I was really hesitant to take it because of the side effects and possibly the long term damage on my body. It took me 2 months before I decided to try it hehehe.

A month after taking the meds, I was asked to do a lab test just to check any repercussions. Thankfully, wala naman. She just said to continue taking the meds for 5 months. Honestly, the meds are too pricey so goodbye sahod talaga huhuhuhu~

Ortigas Art Festival 

While preoccupied on my meds, the post about Ortigas Art Festival appeared on my feed a week after July started. Sadly, we were not able to attend their first workshop, but since it’s a month-long event, I registered on some of their upcoming workshops and activities I’m interested to. Good thing it was scheduled every weekend so no conflict with my work.

Mr. Thomas Daquioag, a professor from UST College of Fine Arts discussed preservation of art. He tackled proper techniques how art should be stored considering the climate here in PH and few factors why art deteriorates, etc. Actually, his talk was a bit underrated I think? Few people participated, mostly targeted art curators and collectors, so di ko rin sure bakit kami nandun hahaha but it was fuuun!

Mr. Arjanmar Rebete, discussed mobile filmmaking. Now I won’t bore you with the details but if you read my prev post, his talk was the reason why we decided to join the contest. Ayun, my takeaway: your smartphone may be small, but imagine the big stories it can tell. That’s how powerful mobile filmmaking can be. 

Mr. Lilit Reyes, the writer of Changing Partners (if you haven’t watched it yet, pleeease watch this masterpiece), discussed screenwriting. The topic was not new to us given our college degree, but my god he’s so good! Yknow the structure of screenplay, on point gago! I’m really amazed! Iba talaga when you’re speaking from experience. Ang dami kong natutunan na di tinuro ng prof ko lol hahahaha. I swear, he’s that goooood!

*Side note: by the time screenwriting workshop happened, we were already done with the shoot, but pending post-prod. So while listening to Mr. Lilit Reyes talk, somehow we were recalling if we did the screenplay right hahahaha.

Aside from workshops, there were art activities as well like pottery, paper cutting/sculpture, wood carving, and live portraiture sketching. May fashion show din, ballet, and exhibit. *Check Jade Gacuan’s painting here.

Film showing

Also part of the Ortigas Art Festival was film showing of Lino Brocka’s ‘Insiang’ and ‘White Slavery’, and Ishmael Bernal’s ‘Manila by Night.’ The only film we didn’t watch was ‘White Slavery.’ The films shown were newly restored version. 

Anyway, I liked Insiang better than Manila by Night. I have already watched some of Brocka’s films so I’m already familiar with his style, and I really love his storytelling. Nonetheless both films were good!

‘Sa Bahay Lang’

Going back to our production (perhaps I’ve already told you some of these), the script was written immediately after we got home from the workshop. Nag-allot ako ng 5 days for pre-prod, including casting call, script revisions, ocular visit, set preparation, production design, and dry-run of technical equipment. Since it was a one-day shoot, I had to make sure everything’s okay.

On the actual day of shoot, everything went well according to plan, aside from the time of course hehehe. We extended an hour just to shoot the remaining scenes. Then another week allotted for post-prod. I don’t wanna rush the editing bc I know how delicate it is even if it’s just 2 mins. Hindi na ko masyadong nag-ambag sa editing, I only reviewed the shots, the audio, subs, and scoring.

So ayun, we’re able to submit our entry on time naman, just a few minutes before the deadline ganun hahaha. *Check the stills here.

Goodbye Apple Watch

You might remember my listing here re selling my Apple watch hahahaha. 

Initially posted it on Facebook marketplace, pero sobrang tumal so I had to bring my A-game. I joined multiple groups and posted the listing there as well. I think I got 26 inquiries overall, but only one of them agreed to my selling price. I told him he can get it lower pa if he’ll pick it up in Pasig hahahaha, he declined lol. So we agreed to meet in Greenhills, and it was a smooth transaction. Easy money baby hahahaha.

So that’s it for me this July hehehe. Hello August!

[duckieeart]

Victor’s - Moody Date

Hello! This is my entry for @little-butterfly-writes ‘s Contest . It’s my first time writing and I really enjoyed the process of it, enjoy reading this date!

Fandom: MLQC - Victor Li x Duckie (Mc)

Genre : jealousy jealousy jealousy , comfort , Filled with romance ( fluff)

Word count : 3,309

As If its not obvious enough to everybody.

I have feelings towards my boss, victor Li. I did fall in love with a person that I know i can’t reach even if i had him in my wildest dreams. I all i am wishing for is that no one know about these hidden feelings hoping that i will be able to maintain the decision i took and forget about him, But unfortunately things goes unplanned after I experienced certain feeling. jealousy .

If Kiki , Anna , the rest of my friends and colleagues found out about my secret feelings including the letters I wrote about victor secretly , I would get in big trouble , what letters you may ask? It’s simple. Basically, when i feel like I can’t control the love i feel towards him . I write down all my feelings in a letter and hide it somewhere , i got this idea from a movie i watched last year. At first , I haven’t thought not in a million years that I would use this idea and especially writing my unwanted feelings towards my CEO ,Aka victor li .

He was very strict and seemed to be very rude, i used to hate on him . He isn’t my type in men plus we’re completely different. Its not a big surprise since he is the CEO of an worldwide successful company ,LFG.

Just to clarify our differences. He made his company from the beginning meanwhile me, A young lady who inherited a show from her father once she Graduated from college. I didn’t even have an experience in life or the business field.

Everything were so difficult to me and it felt like an endless maze , the fact that I have him as my investor was like a miracle . Not only that but he really take good care of me . He is older in age , with a mature mindset . I am just young reckless, hesitant and inexperienced girl who just got a big position and so naive comparing to what she is responsible for .

I thought alot about giving up but victor make me change my mind and Instead of giving up he gave me the motivation to challenge him , i was in the mood to show him and prove to him that i can take the harsh responsibilities like an adult And be someone who is trust worthy enough to have his five hundred million investment in my show .

With time, i fall in love with him. And with everyday goes by it only grows bigger and bigger than the day before. The more i try to hide my feelings. The more it becomes obvious . When he confessed his feelings to me that day in the rooftop. I was beyond happy. I couldn’t sleep that day. But I quickly get back to the harsh reality, and remembered the huge gap between us, Victor deserve someone near to his position. Not me, comparing to him i am just a crybaby who rant about submitting reports and dealing with the deadlines every week .

But one day, I don’t know what’s goes inside my brain . I couldn’t even control my own body. When i found out that Victor would go to the awards banquet with another woman, I stopped thinking and I couldn’t care less about how weird i am behaving with my colleagues . In that night , i saw victor leaving the fancy banquet hall with another woman.

She looks way more mature and wiser than me. To put it in simple words she has everything i lack, and to my unfortunate luck. She does everything way better than me . And tonight , I witnessed My heart sinking in the ground. Its like i just got drenched in icy cold water in this snowy weather . I drank Alot . Wine, whiskey and even brandy . I couldn’t even recognize the bitterness in them . I just drink to be numb and ease my heart.

When the banquet came to an end ..

“ you two can head home first, its late . The weather is pretty today so i just want to walk and be alone for some time “ I spoke with a shaky voice tone, then left after grabbing my hand bag from the table.

“ whats wrong with our boss? She’s has been acting weird these few days especially today” Kiki spoke to anna.

Anna were worried as well , she just shrugs in confusion replying to kikis question.

“ i have never seen her like that before!” Anna added

“ it’s dangerous to let her be alone !, we can’t just leave her there! “ kiki said

“ she wanted time to get her self together, I think its very inappropriate for us to interrupt her wishes . * she smiled * Don’t worry minor would keep his eyes on her from afar “ Anna said while patting Kiki s shoulder gently to comfort her .

After leaving them. i rushed to the back beautiful garden to try and process everything happened tonight , the scenery were amazing but I couldn’t focus and appreciate it , I started regretting what i did, I shouldn’t push him away acting dumb and slow from the beginning. I love him more than anything, I admit i am very jealous and I don’t know how to deal with it because its my first time feeling this way about someone. I have never wanted someone as much I do for Victor.

These feelings were so exhausting to bear alone ,I was so hopeless that i even shared my story anonymously in tumbler with people but everyone advised me to stay away and forget about him for endless reasons. Yeah, they were right. But..

I also can’t… I CANT STOP LOVING HIM AND GIVE UP ON THIS . people wont have mercy on us and our relationship since we are a boss and worker in love but now seeing this . Realizing I might lose him forever. I don’t care, seeing him taking care of a random woman and accompanying her in the banquet really make me rethink about everything and even that thoughtful decision i took and was so confident about . I decided to head to the parking section for cars to follow them. I started running like crazy .

“GOD PLEASE PLEASE LET ME MAKE IT , PLEASE DONT LET THEM LEAVE TOGETHER ! . PLEASE.. I CANT LOSE HIM THIS TIME” i said begging .

I can lose anything and everything, but not him. I can’t lose Victor!

Because no one loved me like he did And I can’t imagine falling in love again with a different man.

Suddenly my foot slipped and i fall.

The expensive pair of high heel that i brought got ruined too. One of them broke But I couldn’t stop here! Im still in the middle of the way . My legs started be numb and it hurt a little because these shoes were new too , But I didn’t care, I can’t lose the path that can lead me to them! I still have to find Victor!

When i reached to the cars parking space , I couldn’t find them…

My nose suddenly started to burn and my eyes started sweating?, i decided to go back inside the banquet and sit . I couldn’t find chair there so I went to sit the corner on the stairs like a lost child. I started to cry heartily like a baby who lost her parents . But for me comparing to the baby I lost everything, I lost Victor..

My body is shaking and I couldn’t stop the thoughts in my mind. My mind went wild and started to even imagining how they would look together in the church . Kissing each other passionately after announcing them as a husband and wife. My heart suddenly started to beat so fast and I began to struggle breathing , while sobbing quietly.

Suddenly i felt a warm coat landed on my head, shoulders and has familiar manly scent ..

my face were swallowed, especially my eyes and nose. I was slow to react and realizing that this coat belongs to him…. And only him. Victor..

I felt strange feeling , i was happy and relieved that i was able to meet him again.. and that happiness give me strange feelings in my tummy . I believe that’s what they call “butterflies in the stomach” , I felt really warm. I don’t think it’s because of that coat. But him. Who give them his scent and body temperature

“ * sigh helplessly at the view* Dummy.. what are you doing here in this condition ? Don’t you know it’s dangerous area, especially in this hour? What if someone came for you ? Or even decided to kidnap you ,taking you away ? What are going to do? I searched everywhere for you and I couldn’t find you its like you weren’t in this earth from the beginning , WHERE THE HECK YOU WERE??? ………. But most importantly are you okay? Did something happen?……… Duckie , are you crying? “

my eyes couldn’t stop the tears from coming out when he were talking in such an sharp voice, he was really worried so he was furious to see me in such a state alone , but when he noticed that i was crying so hard, sniffing and wiping my eyes his voice turned so soft and calm

he grabbed my hands and hold them between his hands to warm them up

I refused to talk or face him because i wasn’t looking at my best right now, he just kneeled down to my level like prince charming and looked at me, he noticed how swallowed and red my face are.. he reached with his hands to hold my cheeks while massaging my under eyes

“ do they hurt A lot? “ he said quietly ,

I nodded while looking in the ground, my eyes fell upon his shoes trying to avoid his glare.

“If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine too. Lets go home first … its getting late” he said..

I nodded because i was too tired to reply using sentences . I stand and remembered my broken heels and slightly injured foot.

Before I could explain, Victor carried me bridal style , I didn’t needed to explain anything. I felt warm , safe and happy, that I forget that I’m being held between his arms . I gave up to the warm sensation and fall asleep.

Victor put me in his car gently , wrapping my body with his big coat then went to grab hot tea and body warmers from the super market near by.

i took some time to wake up, when i wake up i was still in his car , the car was really warm. I didn’t find Victor on the driver seat so i looked outside.

i saw him tapping on his tablet working and answering calls . I also noticed that we’re near the sea and its 12am . I took my time appreciating the view , then i knocked at the window. Victor saw me and returned to the car.

“ you wake up, how do you feel now ? “ he asked with a soft voice

“ i am better now , sorry for making a scene back there. I was really upset about something so i was drunk , angry and upset thats why I decided to be alone , sorry i worried you and caused you trouble “i said while looking into his eyes.

“ dummy… And why did you drink? “ he said angrily ..

“ please don’t be mad i was just so upset, can’t you just allow me to drink only this time?” I said

“ yes, i am angry at you… but also glad to see you safe and better. After all , i can’t ask for more from dummy like you” victor said then poked the tip of my nose lightly with his fingers , after that he patted my head gently, smiling at me .

“ its late, let’s head home” he said

After few minutes driving i realized that we are in different path and its unfamiliar to me.

“ where are we going “ i asked hesitantly ..

“ to My home” he said

“ to your home??”

“Well, only if your apartment was nearby like my home. Its late already, just sleep tonight in my house” he said calmly

I nodded in agreement.

After few minutes we arrived.

Victor opened the door for me , i entered inside . His home was big but also felt so warm and cozy . Victor turned to face me “ go and take a hot shower, then dry your hair. Don’t get cold. I asked them to prepare you clothes. If you need anything ask me “ he said

i went to the room. It was big as expected and has a fancy bathtub. After i finished showering and preparing for bed. When i was about to head to sleep, I suddenly heard knocks on my door .

“Get in “ i said

The door was opened and it was victor, he was wearing his classic black pjs

“ as expected, you didn’t even dry your hair yet you headed to sleep anyways“ he said..

“What if you get cold?” He added

He went to grab a hairdryer from the drawer . Then turned to face me

“ come here” he said

I understand what he want so i sit and give him my back. He started to dry my hair, touching my hair so gently. After he finished drying my hair he took a hair tie and started to tie my hair.

“ there’s something I wanted to say to you” he said

“ hmm? “ I replied

“ i will get to the point “ he said

“ I might not know what exactly that got you so bothered like that , but you must know that there are a lot of circumstances in the world that are out of our control. The causes and reasons behind every circumstance is complicated. In a world where it’s impossible to know everything, it’s normal that we experience things we cannot understand and find difficult to accept. Even so, we have to accept it. There are many ways to accept it. Crying is also one of them. However, only for one night. ( he took my hand that was planning on reaching my face)…. And don’t rub your eyes, it will be better if you leave it and take a good sleep “ he added .

After leaving, he leaned to kiss my head .

“ good night “ he said

“ wait! “ i said

His eyes locked into mine , waiting for me to say what I want to say.

“ why did you went to the banquet, with her? “ i couldn’t stop my curiosity so i asked him .

He chuckled quietly then pinned my chin forcing me to look at him..

“ you jealous? “ he said

A bold idea came up to me ,

“Yes..i am! “ I didn’t wasted time and answered his question seriously.

He was frozen in his place , stopped chuckling and has a surprised face expression .

I gathered all my courage to say the three most difficult words ..

“ i love you victor! “ i said , while looking into his face..

then reached to his face and give him a quick peck on his lips ..

“ don’t make me feel this way again, I hate it !“ i said and then went for another kiss . But He didn’t kiss me back , still surprised by my bold move.

“ when i saw how you looked to her when she was talking to you . You were smiling while and looking into her eyes , I wondered if you ever started to lose your feelings towards me , i was really scared of losing you.. i even started to imagine how you would look in your groom suit .. standing beside her in front of everyone… i was so scared “ my voice cracked at the end.. i felt the tears forming in my eyes

“ I really… really don’t want to lose you . I did my research about her, She won countless times and even has the f-“ my speech were cut off with his hot kiss .

He closed his eyes and rested his one hand on the back of my head and the other on my neck.

He pulled his lips away from mine when he noticed how i was struggling to breathe.

“ … you talk too much” he said while maintaining his sharp eyes on me.

“Since when you had these thoughts on that little brain of yours? Instead of using it on useless things, apply this effort and worry about your unfinished weekly report instead. You thought I haven’t noticed how distracted you were ?“ Victor said.

“ relax dummy , Lili is just an older sister to me. She asked if i can company her since her husband on business trip outside china. Lili is busy in work but also dealing with three kids at the same time. I was just helping her manage the deal she had with SJ company , you don’t have to worry that little head of yours on such matters “ victor added.

“ Duckie, i searched for you, and luckily after 10017 years i was able to meet you again. The little head of yours could never imagine how bad I wanted to see that silly smile of yours again. I waited for so long , and you better make it up to me. In other words , Be mine” victor said , while holding my left cheek and went for another breathless kiss ..

“ i —-love —-you——-, Dummy “ he said between his kisses ..

“ don’t close your eyes, look at me when iam talking to you. You know that i love when you’re bold with me, right?” he said smiling at me then slightly biting my lower lip ..

“I was so happy when i met you, in the end of the banquet . I thought you went with her“ i said while having a big silly smile on my face

“ There is only one thing you should be happy about……. It has always been you and only you” he said while looking at my eyes and holding my hot blushing cheeks in his big hand .

After making out sessions for straight two hours , he lay me down on the bed pulling the quilt over my body.

“ go to sleep, and NEVER think about theses useless matters . if you want to ask me something Just ask me directly ... Goodnight dummy” he said ..

“Good night” i replied softly

He smiled then give me a final forehead kiss and went outside the room after dimming the lights ..

In the next day i went to LFG to submit my weekly report , suddenly i received a call from Kiki

“ boss, i made a surprise for you!! you are going to thank me for it . Don’t overthink about it, and just enjoy the surprise” she said while giggling in mischievous manner.

She closed the call, i was nervous and curious at the same time but I didn’t pay much attention on that because I didn’t have much time left, i have weekly report to submit! . I hurried to victors office and luckily I arrived on time but I found my secret love letters has been opened on victors office already and he had one of them on his hand , taking his time reading it while drinking his coffee ..

he noticed me standing near the door , surprised and embarrassed . Victor smirked in anticipation

“ You have a lot of explainings to do , Producer Duckie “ he said while giving me smirky face

what a Great start to my day.

The End

Thank you for reading, see you next time!

[quiddity-jones]

Starting in a few weeks, I’m going to begin Season 2 of my Big Brother Sims challenge for Sims 4. I’m going to be running this as a ‘filler’ while I get things set up for the Codex Files.

If you’re interested, please keep reading under the cut! (I’m afraid I got rather long winded. Again.)

I need your sims to make it happen. If you’d like to submit a sim to participate, here are some things to know:

All sims must be a presenting human. (No anthro sims, but alien sims are fine as long as they have a human disguise. Yes, merfolk are allowed, etc, etc.)

YA - Elder is acceptable

Tray files are preferred, but gallery submissions are accepted

Maxis match cc is allowed, please link or include with the download

There will be no reserved spots, tag me and hashtag a post of your sim with the tag #Quidbb

Eight (8) submissions will be chosen on June 27th. Deadline for submission is 1800 hours (GMT) or 1200 hours CST on the 27th of June. Submissions presented after this will not be under consideration.

To submit your sim, make a post with their picture, tag me, and add the appropriate hashtag #QuidBB. Please also include the following:

Name

Age

Pronouns

Current Job (Does not have to be a ‘real’ game job. This is to add to the fiction, folks. Unemployed is fine, just try to be creative.)

Traits

Personality (Feel free to go mad here.)

Brief background information - if you have a significant other for your sim in your game, or anything else super important I need to know before starting the story with them, please, please include that information here. Anything not submitted with the sim for the challenge will not be canon for them during gameplay. 

Big Brother has had a long and time-honoured tradition of diversity in their contestants. I firmly intend to uphold this. This means I will be looking for eight sims that will present me with the widest spectrum of humanity, from ethnicity, age, gender (or lack thereof), sexual orientation (or lack thereof), personality (or lack thereof), traits, etc. I will be hand-picking my eight contestants on this basis. The more interesting and different from the rest of the pack you make your sim, the more likely I am to select them.

I own all EA/Maxis packs for Sims 4 ( except for that stupid pet stuff one), so knock yourself out with game content. I would prefer minimal CC (as that saves my lazy butt from needing to go around and grab it all).

I look forward to seeing what you will submit! Best of luck to everybody who sends in a sim.

[homeformyheart]

first choice (part 2) - noah harris x mc (mtfl)

author’s note: part 2 for “first choice.” there are mentions of characters from the freshman series (emily day, zig ortega, chris powell) – enjoy!

copyright: all characters owned by pixelberry studios. moodboard created by me. series/pairing: my two first loves - noah harris x mc (emma price) rating/warnings: 18+; smut between the 🔥⚡ and ❄💧 icons word count: 4.9k based on/prompt: moodboard aesthetic / prom theme inspired by the royal masquerade choices book. summary: emma and noah’s relationship continues to blossom and hit a few major milestones as they finish out their senior year of high school.

read part 1 if you haven’t. read the follow-up fic, the perfect gift if you’d like.

first choice (part 2)

2 weeks later

emma blew on her gloved hands to try to warm them up. she was wearing at least three layers, a scarf, boots, and she still felt the freezing cold in her bones. noah looked over at his shivering girlfriend and chuckled, putting his arm around her and rubbing her shoulders.

“how are you not cold?” emma whined, turning her body toward him to get as close to his body heat as possible.

“i’m always warm and it’s technically above freezing,” noah said, bending down to kiss her forehead.

berry high and eastridge had a partnership with a local community program that helped coordinate and fund group college visits. emma had volunteered to help coordinate schedules across schools. it took a little bit of convincing, and promising a lot of kisses, but noah agreed to come on the trip. even though the NAUA scholarship didn’t pan out, emma was hoping that hartfeld’s second chance scholarship might still be an option for him.

“we’ll take a 15-minute break everyone, feel free to grab some coffee!” the tour guide announced as they approached the campus coffee shop.

“oh, thank god!” emma muttered, half-dragging noah with her as she raced to stand in line.

“hot chocolate or coffee?” noah asked, wrapping his arms around her waist once they got in line.

they approached the front as emma still debated her order. “vanilla latte, please!” she said, kissing him on the cheek before going to find a table.

she sat down next to the red-headed tour guide. “hey emily, how easy is it to find flexible part-time jobs on campus? my boyfriend’s a little worried about balancing everything.”

emily smiled. “first of all, you guys are such a cute couple. second, it’s pretty easy to find a job on campus or close to campus. but how to balance it all might be a better question for my boyfriend, zig, who took a full course load while playing football and working to support his family. i’ll see if he can take his break now.”

emily walked to the counter as noah came back with their drinks. emma accepted the warm mug gratefully and sighed as the latte warmed her cold fingers. noah slid in next to her on the couch, putting an arm around her shoulders.

the tall, tanned brunette barista sauntered over with emily, who quickly introduced everyone. emma shook zig’s hand and was surprised that he and noah went in for a fist bump.

“have you guys met?” emily asked, also seeming surprised.

zig nodded. “i helped prep noah for his interview with dean stafford for the second chance scholarship.”

emma’s eyes widened with recognition. “oh, you’re the one chris mentioned when i spoke to him about the scholarship!”

“chris powell? yeah, he’s one of our best friends and team captain. he showed me your film, noah, and we made sure to pass it on to coach with our recommendations. it was a no brainer, especially hearing about your story from emma,” zig said warmly as emily cuddled in close to his side.

emma tensed and looked down. a couple of weeks ago, the hartfeld football coach reached out to noah “out of the blue” and recommended he apply to hartfeld formally. that noah would be a top candidate for the second chance scholarship, so long as he was willing to play football for hartfeld and kept his grades up. the captain of the team then reached out and walked noah through the application process and connected him with zig to prep for the interviews, which not-so-coincidentally aligned with the trip’s scheduled visit to hartfeld. of course, all of that happened after emma found chris’ contact information on the scholarship website and spoke to him about noah.

zig kept talking about how the scholarship changed his life and made it so he could finally pursue the college education he wanted and was able to put the stigma of his past behind him. noah asked zig if he could have a moment alone with him. emma bit her lip nervously as she walked away with emily to give them some privacy.

“is everything okay?” emily asked.

“um, well, he may or may not be mad at me for going behind his back and submitting his football film to chris. i came across the second chance scholarship during my research and thought it would be perfect for noah. i didn’t tell him about it because i didn’t want to get his hopes up,” emma said quickly, a knot of anxiety forming in her stomach.

“well, it sounds to me like he’s very lucky to have someone in his life who cares so much about him and his future. zig and chris also wouldn’t be here if someone didn’t give them a second chance. it inspired chris to create the scholarship, and i really hope things work out for you guys,” emily said reassuringly as zig and noah fist bumped. she walked over to give zig a kiss and emma watched apprehensively as noah approached her, his face thoughtful.

“i’m sorry for going behind your back, babe. you were just so upset about losing the NAUA scholarship, i didn’t want to get your hopes up but i did a lot of research and thought the second chance scholarship would be perfect, since it covers tuition, room and board, and books, with football and boxing fulfilling the activity requirement, so any extra money you make can be sent to your mom. i had to convince ava to help me sneak into the A/V office, and i owe michael a big favor since he put the highlight reel together quickly to make the deadline, so i didn’t have time to explain, and…” emma blurted out. “are you mad?”

noah gave her such a tender look that the tension in her body disappeared. “how could i be mad at my gorgeous, selfless girlfriend who found a way that i could go to college while dealing with her own applications? but i don’t like that you felt as though you needed to keep this a secret. i want us to be a team, okay?”

emma tilted her head up and leaned in to give him a soft kiss. “okay. and i couldn’t just not help you. i care about you, babe. you mean a lot to me.”

noah lowered his head until his forehead was touching hers and closed his eyes. “what did i do to deserve you?”

she laughed. “you chose me, remember?”

“and you chose me,” noah said softly, leaving a kiss on her nose and lacing his fingers with hers as they left the coffee shop to rejoin the tour.

4 weeks later

emma was in front of her house at 7am, waiting for mason. she had texted him a few days ago asking if she could join him for a run. she was pleasantly surprised when he replied but she still wasn’t sure what to expect. she looked carefully at mason’s face as he jogged up to her house, trying to gauge his mood. he gave her a nod and she fell into place jogging beside him. when they finally reached the park and took a break, emma turned to face mason.

“thanks for hanging out with me again, i’ve missed you,” she said, her voice hopeful.

mason gave her a longing look before a small smile appeared on his face. “i’ve missed you too, em. i wish things could go back to normal with us, but i don’t think my feelings for you are going to go away anytime soon. and it hurts to think about you with noah.”

“i felt the same when you were with ava and i’m sorry if i hurt you. mason, you’ll always have a special place in my heart but i also really want my best friend back. i think we just maybe outgrew the old way we used to be friends with all the changes that happened this year, and with us going to different colleges and experiencing different things, maybe we just need to find a new way to be there for each other,” emma said slowly. she had given this a lot of thought over the last couple of months.

mason nodded thoughtfully, seeming to agree. “yeah, maybe we can talk over a milkshake?”

they spent the rest of the morning sharing a malted peanut butter milkshake and catching up on everything and anything. as the sun rose high in the sky, they decided to order food and continue talking like they used to, and emma was hopeful that they would be able to keep finding moments like this to reconnect even when school and life kept them miles apart.

* * * * * emma kept hitting the refresh button on her phone mail app for the results of the photo contest she was expecting to hear about. she was sitting in the park with noah, who was attempting to study for midterms but kept looking over at emma with amusement.

“staring at your phone isn’t going to make the results appear magically,” he teased.

emma put her phone down and sighed. “i know, i’m just really anxious.”

“come here,” noah said, putting his book aside and pulling emma on to his lap. he wrapped one arm around her waist and used the other to draw her face closer to his. he left a line of kisses starting at her neck, working his way across her jaw, and up to her cheek. emma closed her eyes, tilting her chin toward noah so their lips could meet in a sweet kiss. she brought a hand up to the back of his neck and shifted so she could deepen the kiss when she heard the ping! from her phone. she quickly climbed off noah’s lap to grab her phone and read the new email that had arrived.

“oh my god, i won! i can’t believe it!” emma shoved her phone in front of her boyfriend’s face, who quickly scanned the congratulatory email and broke out into a wide grin.

he stood up, pulling emma up with him so he could wrap his arms around her and swing her around. “congratulations, babe. i knew you could do it! remember what i said when we picked that one?” noah asked, setting her back down on the ground and peppering her face with kisses.

after an hour of reading her write-ups for both photo options and looking at each photo carefully, noah grabbed the first one and handed it back to emma. “you should use this one. your write-up definitely brings the viewer into the moment and make it seem like so much more happened than the moment itself. and personally, it means the most to me since i was thinking of you when i scored that touchdown. i was so happy you were finally mine, the adrenaline made me feel like i could do anything,” he said, smiling fondly.

“how could i forget? i made sure to include it in my college applications because of that,” emma said, smiling.

6 weeks later

emma smoothed out the invisible wrinkles in her navy fit-and-flare dress outside of the neighborhood restaurant noah first took her to when he asked her to homecoming. it quickly became a fixture for them as a date night spot, but tonight was going to be the first time she met his mom and sister. to say she was nervous was a huge understatement.

noah took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “there’s no need to be nervous, i promise,” he said gently, giving her a kiss on the cheek before leading her toward a booth in the back of the restaurant.

emma waved shyly as they approached the booth. “hi, mrs. harris; hazel. it’s really nice to meet you,” she greeted tentatively. she was surprised when mrs. harris stepped out of the booth and wrapped her up in a big hug.

“it’s so good to finally meet you, dear. i’m so glad you could join us to celebrate!”

the rest of the evening was pleasant as they recounted how noah got selected for the second chance scholarship. emma and noah held hands under the table throughout dinner, giving each other side glances and small smiles when they thought his family wouldn’t notice. noah looked pointedly in the other direction when they started sharing embarrassing childhood stories, and emma just laughed along until the conversation eventually transitioned to emma’s future.

“so, emma, what are your college plans?” mrs. harris asked.

she saw noah shift in his seat and avoid her gaze. she hadn’t made any decisions yet but they also hadn’t really talked about their relationship long-term.

“um, well, i plan on focusing on fine arts so i’m deciding between the california institute of design and columbia university in new york,” she replied quietly.

mrs. harris clapped her hands. “oh my, those sound prestigious! i’m sure your family would want you to stay close.”

emma smiled half-heartedly and nodded. “yeah, california would be much closer to home.” but on the complete opposite side of the country from hartfeld, she thought glumly to herself.

dinner wrapped up shortly and after saying goodbye and promising to have dinner with them again soon, emma sat quietly in the drivers’ seat of her used SUV. her dad finally caved and bought her a car as an 18th birthday and congratulatory present after her acceptances came in. it was a safe, reliable car, perfect for the eventual long drives to and from college but emma was just glad to finally have a car of her own. emma looked over at noah with a twinge of sadness as she drove silently back to his house, stopping a couple blocks away so they could have some privacy.

“we should probably talk about what’s next for us, right?” she asked hesitantly.

noah shrugged. “we still have time before you have to decide. but honestly emma, i want you to make the decision that’s best for you. promise me you won’t factor me or our relationship into your decision.”

emma looked helplessly at how the moonlight seemed to sharpen the contours of noah’s face in the most romantic way; his eyes shining sincerely with every word he said. how could this kind, sensitive, gorgeous guy not factor into her decision? she sighed and nodded, “i’ll try.”

🔥⚡🔥⚡

he gave her a sympathetic but understanding look before taking off his seatbelt and reaching toward her. emma obliged, turning the engine off and climbing over the center console to straddle his lap. noah lowered his seat back, wrapping one arm around emma’s waist and the other around her neck, bringing her in for a kiss. emma sighed contentedly at the soft, sweet kisses that quickly grew heated. she ground her hips into his, trying to get her body as close to his as possible, as her hands tangled themselves in his hair. she moaned as he started kissing down her neck to suck gently on the soft patch of skin near her collarbone, one hand moving to palm her breast and the other trailing up the inside of her thigh.

they had agreed over winter break to go slow and that sex would be off the table for now, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t still have fun. emma was starting to get addicted to his touch and wanted to speed up her readiness for him even though logically she knew they needed to take their time; noah had more experience from his time in juvie but understood more than she did that he needed to go slow with her. they ended up meeting somewhere in the middle. emma let out a soft hiss as his fingers started stroking the fabric of her underwear and she ached to feel him inside. he pulled back to look in her eyes for permission and when she nodded, her lips swollen and eyes lidded, his finger dove underneath the fabric.

she could sense the smirk on noah’s face before it appeared as her hips started grinding against his fingers of their own accord and crashed her lips into his. he quickly added a second finger and emma moaned against his mouth; she wanted more. as his fingers continued their steady strokes, she unzipped his jeans as fast as she could, cupping him in her hands through the fabric of his underwear before diving her hand beneath his waistband. she felt him stiffen even more once she freed his cock from his pants and started stroking him; knowing that she caused this reaction sent a thrill down her spine.

“noah, please, i need more,” emma whimpered, rocking hard against his hand while trying to match him stroke for stroke.

“since you asked so nicely,” he murmured against her lips, pressing his thumb down on her clit and moving it in slow circles while maintaining his finger ministrations.

emma buried her face in his neck as she felt the pressure build below her hips; her body felt like it was on fire and she came apart shortly after, biting down gently on the patch of skin that connected noah’s neck to his shoulder to keep herself from screaming. panting slightly, she pulled back to look at him as he brought his fingers to his lips and began licking them. emma picked up the pace of her strokes and gave him a mischievous grin, leaning forward to capture one of his fingers in her mouth, tasting herself. noah’s eyes widened with surprise and she felt his cock twitch underneath her hand as she swirled her tongue around his finger. she moved back to lower her head to his cock.

he tried to pull her back up. “you don’t have to do that—” but she waved him off.

“just tell me what you want,” she winked, continuing her strokes as she started licking him playfully.

noah’s hips rose slightly. “you’re not going to have to do much, i’m close, babe. just keep doing— that, yes, god!” true to his word, after a few measured tongue swirls in sync with her hand strokes, emma felt noah clench and release but not without moaning her name. she swallowed as much as she could and grabbed a tissue from the center console to clean up the rest, grinning wickedly at noah.

“you are definitely full of surprises,” he murmured, bringing her up so he could give her a kiss.

❄💧❄💧

8 weeks later

emma stood in front of the refreshments table, trying to avoid constantly looking over to see if anyone was looking at her photos. but of course, she couldn’t help it and was glancing over every 15 seconds. she stopped when a pair of large, warm hands covered her eyes.

“guess who?”

she squealed and turned around to wrap her arms around noah’s neck. he had to take a step back to keep from falling over, and let his arms wrap naturally around her back. he leaned down to give her a quick kiss before she pulled away.

“thanks for coming, babe. let me walk you through it,” she said excitedly, grabbing his hand and whirling around quickly to lead him toward the wall where her photographs were on display at berry high’s end-of-year art show.

noah smiled and listened attentively as emma explained the themes she was going for and why she chose each photo and placed it where she did. he glanced over at the photos as she was explaining, but he cared more about observing the way her eyes lit up as she talked about something particularly moving, the way she tapped her chin when she was gathering her thoughts, or when a light pink blush appeared on her cheeks when she glanced over and caught him looking at her.

it wasn’t long before her family, ava, mason, and berry high friends arrived and she moved to greet them, giving them a similar rundown of her photos. noah took a couple steps back to observe the photos from a distance; he wasn’t that into art but could tell that emma had a real talent. of course, someone might say he was biased since her award-winning photo, which happened to feature him, was front-and-center.

“hey noah, how’s it going?” noah turned to his right to find mason standing next to him, looking up at emma’s photos.

“jennings. i’m good.” he really wasn’t one for small talk. “i’m glad you made it; emma’s been looking forward to seeing your reaction since you’ve always supported her photography hobby.”

mason turned to him, eyebrow raised. “thanks, i appreciate that. she used to always carry her mom’s camera with her everywhere.” he paused and noah, who always found a way to extract himself from conversations when the predictable lull approached, took a sip of his drink.

“i know we’ve had our differences but i just wanted to thank you for being there for emma. she means a lot to me, and she seems happy with you. just don’t hurt her,” mason said, putting a hand on noah’s shoulder as he turned away.

noah held mason’s gaze for a brief moment and nodded. mason gave him a nod in return and walked away. noah wasn’t sure if they would ever be friends, but he knew mason was always going to be in emma’s life, and at least now the two of them had an understanding.

the crowd was starting to thin out as the evening wore on, and soon it was just him and emma. he put an arm around her waist and brought her closer. “i’m really proud of you. your photos are amazing,” he said, leaning down to give her a soft kiss on the forehead. emma felt herself flush from the compliment.

“wait, i have one more thing i want to show you,” she ducked below the refreshments table to pull out a horizontal picture frame. she tucked it behind her back. “turn around and close your eyes!”

noah chuckled but obeyed; even though he was tempted to peek, he preferred seeing emma’s eager expression when she was waiting for his reaction to something. “okay, you can open them now!”

where her photos were before now hung a series of five photos, individually framed, but connected in a large horizontal design. noah stepped closer to look at the photos, there was the goofy one of them from homecoming, the selfie they took under the stars after emma agreed to be his girlfriend, and a few others. he looked over at emma, who looked giddy, prompting his eyebrow to quirk up in interest.

emma leaned forward to flip a switch hidden on the side. it was then that noah noticed a cord from the frame that was plugged in to the outlet below. when he looked back up, a soft light came from each individual photo, lighting up the letters P R O M ? in script.

noah stood there with his jaw open slightly, stunned. “wha-? aren’t i supposed to ask you to prom?”

emma shifted her weight nervously. “well, i wasn’t sure if you wanted to go to eastridge prom and since i’m at berry high, i figured i should do the asking. and i wanted to surprise you since, you know…” she trailed off and noah raised his eyebrow at her expectantly. emma blushed and looked down at her feet. “you said before that you liked that i could surprise you. i just want to make sure i keep you interested.”

he wrapped his arms around her to pull her in for a kiss. “you just keep being you, there’s plenty to like.”

“wait, is that a yes?” emma pulled back to look up at him.

noah just chuckled. “like i could ever say no to you.”

* * * * * emma couldn’t have imagined a more magical night, as stereotypical and cliché as that sounded. berry high had outdone itself with their prom theme, “the royal masquerade,” and the sparkly gold and silver décor. she couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she took in the balloon archway and the gold and silver painted vase centerpieces filled with red and yellow roses on each table. masks and crowns surrounded the vases, along with disposable cameras and costume jewelry, easily serving double duty as décor and photo props.

she turned her head to look at her absolutely handsome boyfriend. he wore a fitted black suit and bowtie with a boutonniere that matched the deep red of her dress and corsage. even though they had coordinated their outfits, she was still stunned when he came to pick her up. she had forgotten how good he looked in a suit. she kept sneaking glances at his profile the entire ride over (he drove them in her car after she made it clear she was not going to ruin her hair and makeup by riding on his motorcycle to prom), wondering how she got so lucky with noah.

“you’ve been staring at me all night, you okay?” he asked, holding out his arm for her as they stepped through the doors of the ballroom.

emma looped her hand in the crook of his elbow, hoping he didn’t notice how she lingered on his bicep. “you just look so handsome tonight,” she said, sighing happily.

noah smirked. “i think you’re the one who steals the show. you are absolutely gorgeous tonight, baby. dance with me?” he grabbed her hand and extended his arm, inviting her to twirl under it. emma giggled as she let him spin her around, the long skirt of her dress billowing out elegantly, before he put his arm around her waist and led her to the dance floor.

after taking their prom photos, dancing with her berry high friends, and enjoying the evening overall, noah quietly led emma toward one of the ballroom balconies. they stepped outside and let the night breeze cool them down.

“did you want to take a break?” emma asked, feeling grateful that she could lean against the railing and take some of the pressure off her stilettos.

noah didn’t answer but just looked at her softly as he rested his arms on the railing on either side of her, enveloping her in his arms. “i just wanted a little bit of quiet to admire my amazing girlfriend. i can’t believe we’ve been together six months already. it seems like not that long ago that we were dancing at homecoming.”

emma felt herself blush. “you are being really romantic tonight, you know that?” she said softly, placing her hand on his cheek and gently stroking it with her thumb. noah leaned down until their foreheads touched and emma felt an overwhelming warmth bloom from her heart and spread across her chest. in that moment, wrapped up in the tender way noah was holding her, she couldn’t help but feel safe and loved. she knew her feelings had progressed for a while now but wasn’t sure if she should wait for noah to say it first. her heart told her that she needed to seize this moment.

“i love you.”

noah’s eyes widened slightly. did she just say—? he blinked a couple times before a wide grin broke out on his face, his eyes lighting up with happiness. “you mean it?” emma nodded, smiling shyly. “i love you too. i’ve wanted to say it for a while now but you beat me to it,” he said, cupping her face in his hands and leaning down to give her a deep, loving kiss.

emma beamed and knew she was never going to forget this night for the rest of her life.

* * * * * summer came and went, filled with graduations (lots of tears all around as noah walked across the stage, with mrs. harris squeezing emma’s hand tightly) and grad parties, working part-time to have spending money for college, registering for classes, and planning out the road trip to school. but emma’s favorite part of the summer was how she finally got to spend it hanging out with ava at the mall like old times, reminiscing with mason at his treehouse or at the beach, helping mack find ways to express her art more productively, and going on lots of dates with noah. despite the memories she made that more than made up for missing out last summer, emma was ready to step forward into her future.

noah secured his motorcycle to the tow dolly attached to the back of emma’s car as she crammed in another box in the backseat. “that’s the last box, right?”

emma nodded, glad her dad got her a car that was big enough for both of their stuff but small enough that she shouldn’t have issues finding parking in the city. she watched as noah went back into the house to say his goodbyes and sent her dad a quick text update that they were getting on the road. their goodbye earlier that morning had been brief; he wasn’t thrilled that she was driving cross-country with noah, but agreed to trust her as long as she sent him updates every couple of hours and called him once she arrived at their scheduled stops.

she climbed into the car and put on her seatbelt, waving goodbye to noah’s mom who was waiting in the doorway. noah gave his mom a kiss on the cheek and climbed into the passenger seat. emma turned the key in the ignition and looked over at noah. “ready?”

“wait, not yet.” he leaned over and cupped her face in his hands before giving her a long, deep kiss. “i love you. now i’m ready.”

emma rolled her eyes but couldn’t keep the grin off her face. “i love you, too.”

she carefully pulled the car out of the driveway, following her phone’s gps toward the highway. she couldn’t help but glance over at noah’s profile next to her, wondering how she got so lucky. noah held out his hand and emma laced her fingers with his over the center console. he pulled their intertwined hands together to leave a soft kiss on the back of her hand, and when he looked back up at her, he was beaming. emma felt a feeling of gratitude and love swell within her for this wonderful man who chose her first.

* * * * * mentions: @khoicesbyk; @nyastarlight; @chetachisblog​; @robintora​;​ @shows-simp-card​; @brycesgirl​;

[dweemeister]

2020 Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song (preliminary round)

Yup, it’s back (bullet indentations are not working, so this post will look very ugly on your dashboards)!

Tagging a few folks who have participated before in this annual tradition/folks who I would like to extend an open invitation to (please contact me if you’re interested so I can sort you in a group ASAP... you will also be tagged for the final unless you tell me you are not interested): @birdsongvelvet, @bitch-genius, @dog-of-ulthar, @idontknowmuchaboutmovies, @loveless422, @lvl9gay, @neverwasastoryofmorewhoa, @phendranaedge, @poncho-honcho, @sayaf, @shadesofhappy, @thethirdman8, @uncoolforelimb, and @wehadfacesthen.

Hello everybody. For my fellow Americans, I hope your Thanksgiving was a good one. For the non-Americans reading things, I hope you are doing well, as always! Many things have fallen to the wayside in this unforgettable year. So in hopes of providing some sense of continuity and normalcy, here - as you have agreed to - is the Preliminary Round for 2020's Movie Odyssey Award for Best Original Song (MOABOS). This is the eighth time it has been contested and the seventh consecutive year it has been open to involvement from family, friends, and tumblr followers.

For those new to this, my classic movie blog traditionally ends the year by honoring some of the best achievements from movies that I saw for the first time this calendar year (the "Movie Odyssey") with an Oscar-like ceremony. I choose all the nominees and winners from each category, save one: Best Original Song. It is the only category I can think of that does not require you to watch several movies in their entirety. I consider MOABOS as a sort of cinematic-musical thank-you for your moral support in various ways.

An unspecified number of songs have already advanced to the final round. 24 songs will contest this prelim in two groups - Group A and Group B. In a year when COVID-19 has closed theaters (and which I refused to go to an indoor theater even when they reopened), a year that I did not feel compelled to watch the newest releases on streaming services, there is not a single 2020 entry for 2020's MOABOS. That is, obviously, a MOABOS first - no other MOABOS edition has lacked a shortlisted song from a film released that same calendar year. And as of writing this sentence, I have not seen a single film released in 2020. Despite the lack of 1930s songs, this year's shortlisted songs might be the oldest on average. In other news, this year's field is a modest improvement from the record monolingual field of last year's (which contained only English and two Vietnamese-language entries). 2019's preliminary was the most chaotic we had ever seen, with shocking last-day stumbles and surges from certain songs ("I Dug a Ditch" from Thousands Cheer) that riled up a lot of participants. It's 2020 - will there be a repeat or even more drama at this stage?

INSTRUCTIONS Please rank (#1-12) at least six of your group's songs. Please consider to the best of your ability: how musically interesting the song is (incl. and not limited to musical phrasing and orchestration); its lyrics; context within the film (contextual blurbs provided for every entry for those who haven't seen the films); choreography/dance direction (if applicable); and the song's cultural impact/life outside the film (if applicable, and, in my opinion, least important factor). Imperfections in audio and video quality may not be used against any song. I encourage you to send in comments and reactions with your rankings - it makes the process more enjoyable for you and myself! The top five songs in each group automatically advance to the final round. I reserve the right to pick 0-2 songs from one or both groups that finished outside the top five in their respective groups to contest the final round.

The deadline for submission is Saturday, December 12 at 11 PM Pacific Time. That is 9 PM Hawaii/Aleutian Time. That deadline is also Sunday, December 13 at 1 AM Central Time / 2 AM Eastern Time / 7 AM GMT / 8 AM CET / 9 AM EET. This deadline - as we have seen in the last few years - may be pushed back if there are a large number of people who have not submitted in time. However, I very much do not wish to extend the deadline because the final round is more intensive and usually involves more participants. Tabulation details are in the “read more” below.

Please participate in the group you have been sorted into, if you have not yet been sorted into a group and would like to participate, please contact me. You can access most, not all, of your group’s songs in these YouTube playlists: (Group A) / (Group B). Again, please note that not all of your group's songs are in the playlist for various reasons.

Happy listening. Feel free to listen as many times as you need, and I hope you discover music and movies that strike your interest. The following is formatted... ("Song title", composer and lyricist, film title):

GROUP A

“Blue Shadows on the Trail”, music and lyrics by Eliot Daniel and Johnny Lange, Melody Time (1948)

Performed by Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers

This is the introductory song to the final segment of Melody Time. That segment is dedicated to the legend of Pecos Bill, and this atmospheric song leads into the telling of that story.

“Born Free”, music by John Barry, lyrics by Don Black, Born Free (1966)

Performed by Matt Munro

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Song

This version with lyrics appears in the end credits. The main theme in the song is introduced in the opening credits and is incorporated extensively in John Barry's score across the film. Born Free, based on the non-fiction book of the same name is about two white Kenyan conservationists who raise an orphaned lion cub and eventually release her into the wild.

“But the World Goes 'Round”, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, New York, New York (1977)

Performed by Liza Minnelli

In this musical, USO singer Francine Evans (Minnelli) has been performing in New York City nightclubs, hoping to someday become a major recording star. This song appears as she is recording that very hit that will propel her to stardom.

“Exsultate Justi”, music and lyrics by John Williams, Empire of the Sun (1987)

Performed by orchestra and chorus under the direction of Williams

Lyrics in Latin

In this historical epic, affluent British school boy Jamie Graham (a young Christian Bale) is living with his parents in Shanghai when the Japanese invade. Jamie is separated from his parents and placed in an internment camp. Soon before the end of WWII, the prisoners are moved elsewhere, but Jamie hides and stays put. This song plays as Jamie bikes around the empty camp and continues to play as he encounters liberating U.S. troops. Jamie is dirty and malnourished when found; one can argue that this song is used ironically. It plays once more over the end credits. "Exsultate Justi" is a variation on a theme John Williams develops over the course of the film and harkens back to Jamie's past, attending Anglican services with parents.

"Farewell to Storyville",  music by Louis Alter, lyrics by Edgar De Lange, New Orleans (1947)

Performed by Louis Armstrong and his band, Billie Holiday, and company

In New Orleans, the Storyville district was a den of drinking, gambling, jazz, and prostitution. The district was the home to a heavily black populace. The U.S. military, about to establish a Naval base nearby, forces the city to close the district for good. This song is a jazzy dirge to a center of jazz - a musical genre looked down upon by many of the city's upper-class whites due to its ties (real and imagined) to crime.

"Hawaiian Sunset", music and lyrics by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett, Blue Hawaii (1961)

Performed by Elvis Presley

In a musical packed end-to-end with songs, Chadwick "Chad" Gates (Elvis) has taken a job with a tour guide agency - and this includes performing during a luau for tourists. "Hawaiian Sunset" appears as one of the dinner show's numbers.

"Is There Still Anything That Love Can Do?", music and lyrics by Yôjirô Noda, Weathering with You (2019, Japan)

Performed by RADWIMPS

Lyrics in Japanese (translation)

Weathering with You is a romantic fantasy anime about a high school boy who runs away from his rural home to Tokyo, where he meets a girl who can manipulate the weather. It has been inexplicably raining for weeks without interruption in Tokyo, so they form a business to help clear the inclement weather for special events. The melody of this song is heard throughout the film's score. It does not appear with lyrics until late in the film. The song is played under the boy's seemingly impossible attempt to save her from an unwilling human sacrifice.

There is so much plot in this damn film (it's all Makoto Shinkai's fault) - I can't explain the context of the song or this movie in a reasonable amount of space.

“Mad Monster Party”, music by Maury Laws, lyrics by Jules Bass, Mad Monster Party? (1967)

Performed by Ethel Ennis

(opening credits version) / (soundtrack version with no sound effects)

In this Rankin/Bass stop-motion animated film, Baron Boris von Frankenstein (Boris Karloff in his final Frankenstein-related role) has discovered a formula that can destroy matter. Dispatching his bats to send the news, he summons the various members of the Worldwide Organization of Monsters to inform them of his discovery. This song is performed over the film's opening credits and the various introductions for the monsters as they receive their summons.

“My Dream Is Yours”, music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Ralph Blane, My Dream Is Yours (1949)

Initially performed by Doris Day; later reprised by Hal Derwin

Singer Martha Gibson (Day) has abruptly left New York City for Los Angeles to become a star on the radio. In a film where personal sacrifice is central, she stresses over how to bring her son out west with her, the direction of her career, and her tumultuous love life. "My Dream Is Yours" is the song that makes Martha a star, laying out the film's themes in its lyrics. I was unable to find Derwin's reprise, but no matter as the reprise is rather inconsequential.

“Ride the Wild Surf”, music and lyrics by Jan Berry, Brian Wilson, and Roger Christian, Ride the Wild Surf (1964)

Performed by Jan and Dean

Ride the Wild Surf is a surfing film that, unlike most surfing films of this time, is a drama. It follows three surfers (Fabian, Tab Hunter, Peter Brown) who have come to Oahu at the end of December to ride the large waves of Waimea Bay (made famous internationally by this song, this movie, and the Beach Boys' "Surfin' USA"). This song appears in the film's closing credits. The video provided is a montage of surfing footage that appears in the film.

“That’ll Do”, music and lyrics by Randy Newman, Babe: Pig in the City (1998)

Performed by Peter Gabriel

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song

This song begins at the end (and through the end credits) of Babe: Pig in the City, the second and last film in this series about a sheep-herding pig who perseveres amidst other animals and humans with ulterior agendas. The title is derived from the famous quote said by Arthur Hoggett (James Cromwell) to reassure Babe: "That'll do, pig. That'll do."

“Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Hassen Sitam”, music and lyrics by S.D. Burman, Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959, India)

Performed by Geeta Dutt (dubbing Waheeda Rehman)

Lyrics in Hindi - roughly, "Time Has Inflicted Such Sweet Cruelty On Us"

Song begins at 1:03:31 and ends at 1:07:51

Make sure to turn on the video’s English captions

In this romantic tragedy told in flashback, Suresh Sinha (Guru Dutt) is a director looking back on his life. Suresh is unhappily married to a woman whose in-laws look down on him because, to them, working in films is contemptible to their social class. Suresh meets a woman, Shanti (Waheeda Rehman), on accident and she is soon cast as the lead for his next film. They fall in love, but it is never consummated for various reasons. This song is the most explicit statement of that love in this film. How much of the scene's set-up is observable by the characters is up to the viewer's interpretation.

Group A participants include: @addaellis, @introspectivemeltdown, @memetoilet, @myluckyerror, @plus-low-overthrow, @shootingstarvenator, @themusicmoviesportsguy, @theybecomestories, @umgeschrieben, @underblackwings, @yellanimal. Seven others - including myself and my sister - are currently slated to be voting in Group A.

GROUP B

“Angela”, music and lyrics by José Feliciano and Janna Merlyn Feliciano, Aaron Loves Angela (1975)

Performed by José Feliciano

(English-language version) / (Spanish single version)

Played over the opening credits to this teenage drama that is partly a blaxploitation film, partly an interracial coming-of-age romance. The movie wasn't a hit, but the Spanish-language version of this song was received well in Latin America.

“Aren’t You Kind of Glad We Did?”, music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1947)

Originally performed by Betty Grable and Dick Haymes

(soundtrack version with Judy Garland and Haymes) / (modern arrangement far more faithful to how song sounds in the film)

Cynthia Pilgrim (Grable) is the top typewriting student from a business college in this period piece where the typewriter is the newest invention to sweep the business world. This song appears as Pilgrim and her boss, John Pritchard (Haymes), are about to go out on a date for dinner after talking about how society looks down on women in public without a chaperone.

“The Blues are Brewin’”, music by Louis Alter, lyrics by Edgar De Lange, New Orleans (1947)

Performed by Louis Armstrong and his band and Billie Holiday

(in-film version) / (Billie Holiday single)

After being evicted by the U.S. military from the historic Storyville district of New Orleans (the Navy had just opened a base in the area, and would not tolerate places of gambling, jazz, and prostitution nearby), the characters played by Armstrong and Holiday tour the country with a jazz band in tow. This song appears within a montage showing the passage of time.

“Dekhi Zamaane Ki Yaari / Bichhde Sabhi Baari Baari”, music by S.D. Burman, lyrics by Kaifi Azmi, Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959, India)

Performed by Mohammad Rafi (dubbing Guru Dutt)

Lyrics in Hindi - roughly, "I Have Seen How Deeply Friendship Lies / I Have Seen People Abandon Me One by One"

Part 1 (3:44-8:27) / Part 2 (2:16:29-2:20:42)

Make sure to turn on the video’s English captions

In this romantic tragedy, Suresh Sinha (Dutt) is a washed-up director looking back on his life. In the first part, the song leads into the rest of the film - which is almost entirely a flashback. In brief, Suresh is unhappily married to a woman whose in-laws look down on him because, to them, working in films is contemptible to their social class. Suresh meets a woman, Shanti (Waheeda Rehman), on accident and she is soon cast as the lead for his next film. They fall in love, but it is never consummated for various reasons. Eventually, his career crashes after a box office bomb and her career is ascendant. Leading into the second part of the song, Suresh is penniless and working as an extra at the movie studio. Shanti recognizes him, wants to help, but he refuses to revive his career on the back of her success. Kaagaz Ke Phool has elements of autobiography, and Suresh's fate has parallels with what happened to Dutt after this film was released.

“End Theme from Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades”, music by Eiken Sakurai, lyrics by Kazuko Koike, Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades (1972, Japan)

Performed by Tomisaburo Wakayama

Lyrics in Japanese (translation)

Video provided is not safe for work (NSFW) due to stylized violence

Ogami Ittô (Wakayama) is a former, disgraced executioner for the Tokugawa shogunate who wanders the land with his young son. He is intent on exacting revenge on the clan that murdered his wife. This song is played non-diegetically after Ittô has slain dozens of a corrupt governor's bodyguards and walks onward, pushing his son in a babycart, away from the dead left in his wake. This is the third of six films in the Lone Wolf and Cub series.

"Happy Endings", music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, New York, New York (1977)

Performed by Liza Minnelli and company (that's Jack Haley - who played the Tin Man and was, at the time, Minnelli's father-in-law - roughly seven minutes in)

(use in film) / (soundtrack version)

It is highly recommended one sees how this song is used in the film. Bear with me: this song is part of a movie within a movie. Within that movie within a movie, there is another movie. "Happy Endings" is the title end song to a film called Happy Endings within New York, New York. Singer Francine Evans (Liza Minnelli) has made it big as a recording artist and caps off her hit film, Happy Endings, with this song. We see Francine's ex, played by Robert De Niro, in the audience as the film ends. "Happy Endings" is a homage/deconstruction to midcentury Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) musicals. It serves the film as "The Broadway Melody" does to Singin' in the Rain (1952) or the 17-minute ballet does to conclude An American in Paris (1951).

"Here They Come (From All Over the World)", music and lyrics by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri, The T.A.M.I. Show (1964)

Performed by Jan and Dean

The link above provides the entire film. You only need to watch from 0:00-4:11. If you like music from this era or want to hear more, this film is highly, highly recommended.

This is the opening credits song to a concert film recorded over two days in Santa Monica, California on October 28 and 29, 1964. The Teenage Awards Music International (T.A.M.I. - yes, I know it's an awkward name) Show included many of the most popular musical stars of that time - almost all of them name-dropped in this song. Jan and Dean, a surf music duo, served as hosts (and performed during) the show. You folks are lucky that this is the only original song from this film!

“Moonlight Swim”, music by Ben Weisman, lyrics by Sylvia Dee, Blue Hawaii (1961)

Performed by Elvis Presley

In a musical packed end-to-end with songs, Chadwick "Chad" Gates (Elvis) has taken a job with a tour guide agency. On his first day, he drives his first clients - a school teacher (who not so secretly is attracted to Chad) and four teenagers (one of whom becomes smitten) - to their destination.

“On the Boardwalk (in Atlantic City)”, music by Josef Myrow, lyrics by Mack Gordon, Three Little Girls in Blue (1946)

Performed by Carol Stewart (dubbing for Vera-Ellen), June Haver, and Vivian Blaine

(original soundtrack) / (Dick Haymes single)

In this rarely-seen musical (20th Century Fox wasn't very good at promoting its back catalogue compared to some other studios, and the situation is worse now that they are owned by Disney), three chicken farmer sisters (Vera-Ellen, Haver, and Blaine) decide to travel to Atlantic City in hopes of marrying a rich husband after learning their aunt's inheritance is not nearly as much as they want. They sing this song as they arrive and check into their hotel suite - which they apparently have not looked up the rate for.

Those who listened to the soundtrack version... FYI, $9.25 in 1902 is $280 in 2020.

“Personality”, music by Jimmy Van Heusen, lyrics by Johnny Burke, Road to Utopia (1946)

Performed by Dorothy Lamour

(in-film performance) / (live radio performance)

In the fourth film of the Road to... comedy series, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby's characters have just overpowered two Alaskan thugs with a history of murderous violence. As they enter a saloon dressed up as those two thugs, all of the patrons - in a town that only knows the thugs by reputation - shut up in terror. They are treated to a performance by Sal (Lamour), who is trying to find a map of a gold mine that the real outlaws supposedly have. A visual narrator (Robert Benchley) interrupts the scene before the song briefly.

“Please Don’t Stop Loving Me”, music and lyrics by Joy Byers, Frankie and Johnny (1966)

Performed by Elvis Presley

(in-film performance) / (single version)

Johnny (Elvis) and girlfriend Frankie (Donna Douglas) work on a Mississippi River riverboat as performers. Johnny is addicted to gambling and believes that another woman is spurring on his recent run of good luck. During a fit of jealousy-as-acting, Frankie accidentally shoots Johnny during a bit of musical theater (someone switched out the blanks for real bullets). This song occurs after Johnny has recovered from the accident.

"Wichita", music by Hans Salter, lyrics by Ned Washington, Wichita (1955)

Performed by Tex Ritter

This is the opening title song to this Western. It is one of many Wyatt Earp movies set before the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Earp (Joel McCrea) arrives in an otherwise lawless town of Wichita, Kansas where gunplay is rampant. In a radical move, Earp orders to seize the firearms of anyone living in or entering town - which doesn't sit well with some outlaws. This song is incorporated throughout the film's score.

Group B participants include: @cokwong, @emilylime5, @halfwaythruthedark, @maximiliani, @thewolfofelectricavenue, and @voicetalentbrendan. Twelve others - including me and my sister - are slated to be voting in Group B.

Contact me however you wish if you have questions or comments regarding MOABOS' processes or something specific about a song or a few. Please let me know as soon as possible if you are having difficulty accessing one of the songs (especially if it is region-locked) or if there is an error in the playlist.

I thank you all for your support for the Movie Odyssey, the blog, and for me personally - no matter how long I’ve known you or in what capacity. You will be contacted for the final round regardless of your participation here. If turnout in one group is lagging behind compared to another, I will ask some of the more senior participants to participate in the other group, too. No pressure if you cannot get to this, although I will be checking in as the deadlines get close. Stay safe and socially distanced, everyone.

TABULATION This preliminary round uses a points-based, ranked choice method which has been used since the first time I asked friends, tumblr followers, and family to help out. A respondent’s first choice receives 10 points, the second choice receives 9, the third choice receives 8, etc. The winner is the song that ends up with the most total points. The tabulation method used in this preliminary is used only as a tiebreaker in the final round (more on how the final is tabulated when we get there).

This tiebreaker will look slightly different this year.  

Tiebreakers for above: 1) total points earned; 2) total #1 votes; 3) average placement on my and my sister's ballots; 4) tie declared

[victorusolano]

FYD Series

It was one evening of summer. Anyone's skin can be steamed when exposed to the open air of the night. There, perched like a bird on his writing desk, contemplating seriously in a small dimly lit room was - Xenon. His family was all disturbed by the climate condition, so they went out of town to some nearby beach resorts. Xenon on his volition stayed alone, in which he likely enjoyed making love with the old typewriter resting in a great silence. He thought that this is what he needs to write a story tonight and the deadline of his paper is tomorrow before the sunset.

Two weeks ago, the writing task was assigned to him, by the chief editor of the literary magazine he is working with; and till this night it had remained untouched, and unmarked, though the time left was enough to say generously to finish one short story. However, catching up the race between him, and the ongoing moments is now useless. Words and meanings ran away and went to a place nowhere to be found. I should eat a dictionary, He murmured to himself. He took a glance at the old wall clock and looked away at the open window, stared blankly across the survey of height and to the dark space outside.

When he reconciled his thoughts; he gave a sweeping look at the old pictures of the family photos and old framed certificates of academic achievements of writing contests. He nailed his attention to a class picture of his college.

It was before the day of graduation; like a dreamy shot, his recollections swirled in a throwback changing a milieu; a trance to a memory. He can even smell the old odor of the room where he was in the picture: the blackboard with the doodle half-erased drawings of impish boyhood, girls prepping up in a rush as the bell rang when the class was announced dismissed. “Wait for me at the powder room, just need to fix this” the president of the class pointed at the board trying so hard to erase the drawings. “Come on here now Xenon!” The tall pale boy invited him to take his place for picture taking along the corridor. The boys, in a disorganized choreography, set themselves like a tableau; rowdy as they were. They were teasing, joking, thumping in harsh horseplay. “It's the last day!” Declared joyfully of one of the boys.

His consciousness lurched back into reality like a warp of time; he put his palm on his face. Now, he began carelessly to at least write something. The editor will kill him flat tomorrow; I need to finish at least one tonight.

He took a glance at the old wall clock which struck exactly twelve-thirty midnight. He returned to his writing desk, wiped out apple cores and peels, and decided to transcribe anything that comes first into his mind, a short story must be short and should have a story, he said to himself. But what story should I write? desperate he was, hope suddenly became absent; tomorrow I'm dead! Misfortune has taken its form now: all he accomplished about writing have flown away, he began to think that all structures of narratives are bogus, workshops and seminars he attended are all hoaxes. No formula could teach someone how to write. He then remembered a book called Under The…  What? It’s something ahm… He tried it with difficulty to remember. Suddenly, he remembered Tree - then he told himself, all writing may be divided into two groups, good writing, and bad writing; good books come out of good writing while bad writing produces failures, again and again, he scanned the line like an X-ray of that passage from a book which was a foreword by RK. A failure He exclaimed silently; not even of Montes’ Of Fish… and etcetera, What would I be writing about dogs or flies? Then he recalled Peter's Touch Move. I am no longer a kid! That conviction made him more worried there, he is now sure that a block along the streamlines of thoughts is hampering him to be productive and creative. No is now a strong resistance, to be Noel’s Games is something, and to finish a writing task today is a different thing. He remembered it all well; call me Tina or Fanny – No one calls me! He snorted.

It was almost three in the morning and no matter how hard he tried to have an idea and flood an ink in the paper, it just equated to frustration. A scrap of papers had been spilling off the bin and onto the floor, so he decided to take a walk outside for a while and jog. The objective of his motivation was like a plan, he thought that maybe he needed to activate an endorphin from his brain, in a matter of two minutes he got changed his clothes, he wore that unlaundered navy blue jersey shorts, he wore the other day; he paired it with a billowy old white cotton shirt, and put on his ash-colored rubber shoes which was a birthday gift, and went to the plaza.

He went on jogging around the track field. Quickly, it made him asphyxiated on the sixth round, but he decided to run two more and two rounds of walk to complete the set; good enough for an hour jog today he thought. Thirsty as he was, he wanted to look for water, so he went to an all-day convenience store to quench his dried throat. “Good morning!” a sweet greeting of the store staff, he smiled back and padded to the panel doors of chillers; grabbed a bottle of water, he opened it right away and in a spur-of-the-moment, he drank it all without thinking that he hadn't paid it yet; he remembered, so he went to the counter, and scanned the bottle, he grabbed some chips, and instant coffee, pay the total, and left.

At the park, He again tried to process what was going on with him. The situation of being a writer seemed to change from what he has believed for the past years; beginning from his aspiration to be a writer someday which now has been achieved. Now is a challenge against himself, am I just being lazy? He rebuked the thought hastily, laziness is a big word, he would like to think that he is more of a selective participant rather than being the word lazy… these thoughts wire loomed in his mind. He walked toward a wooden bench at the park but at that moment, an answer did not come; he decided to sit for a moment while looking at the cadastral and being engulfed by the tranquility. When suddenly an old man spoke, “What are you looking at?” the old man asked, breaking the silence. Astounded Xenon was; as he did not realize the presence of the old man sitting next to him at all before. Xenon tried to find a complete grasp of how it could happen?

“Nothing sir” he answered back at an instant without an inch of hesitation.

“Thinking?”

“No, sir”

“What exactly do you have in your mind and how would you like to describe it, before you sit here beside me?” The old man asked. “Well I am thinking of so many things, I am thinking of my article, a short story of some sort, it’s my deadline today, and I need to submit it this afternoon” Xenon responded as if caught in a corner with the question.

“Excuse me, sir - you've been here all the while?”

“Yes”

“I… did not see you’re here, I am sure of that!”

“Well I am exactly”

“Exactly? like how? I’m sorry sir!”

The old man gave him an artificial laugh before he uttered another word. “There so many things we trouble so much in this life – we don’t see now details of why we’re here or how did we get there, time runs too fast, we don’t see that - I like this place,” An eminent pause before Xenon was able to respond, “I'm sorry for the intrusion, sir!” What he wanted to mean in that is like a stop.

“Are you alone or waiting for someone? I'll just then look at another bench around.”

“No,” the old man said.

Without a second the old man said, “You can sit here, I don't own it anyway - I am the same, like you…” he turned a look to Xenon “I as well wanted to take a walk and free the mind of so many things.”  

Xenon did not believe the words, like the same he tried to process the thought, it cannot be possible for two people to do something the same or thinking completely parallel at the same point of time at exactitude, and meet. He’d like to dismiss the idea with a general conviction. “Yes, I am thinking if this is appropriate to have your autograph?” The old man said, Xenon wondered very oddly. The old man was very well informed, he thought as if he was under surveillance. “Hold on a second, sir - How did you know that...? I am… ahm” He can’t find the words again. “Writer?” The old man responded so very quickly to help him grasp the words. “Yes! You've already told me, I think no less than a minute before the whole sentence that I have calculated.” - “What?” He was surprised by the old man’s precision of thoughts. “You see now my friend, It seems that you're not paying much attention to the details, you’ve just told me that; this day is your deadline of a narrative to some sort that you needed to submit later this afternoon.” He repeated it like a backmasked vinyl recording to him.

He did not answer back and noticed something which he cannot sham his feeling. he thought it was talking to some kind of a prophet; an oracle, the old man gave him a creep but it was never of fear he felt that time, when the old man said, you're not paying much attention to the details: and it provided him a connection, an impulse releasing the secret of his lingering dilemma. It seemed that the old man had known him before and was reading his mind in silence. And before he could say another word, the old man got on to his feet and walked slowly in the distance. “Where are you going, sir? I thought you wanted my autograph?” He replied instantly. “I was about to do that” he slipped his hand on the pocket of his shirt and brought out a pen. The man moved close to him and said, “maybe after you finish the story you are about to submit today – I want surprises, I love that. It sounded more of a challenge to him. “I'll just wait for it once it’s out,” the old man continued, “I'm expecting that one will be good too, like the others.” Xenon felt being seized. Then in no time delay, he asked, “Sir, may I know your name please” The old man looked away and replied with a serious note. “I never had one.”

“I grew up in a home,” the old man continued, Xenon did not understand what he meant by the word home.

“I never knew who my parents are”

“You mean you're an orphan, sir?”

He sounded that question as an inquiry, not a statement or a report; he could not completely believe when the old man said, never had one. He assumed, while the slightest of what he can accept, that someone in his infancy had given him any name at least any among the common names, like Peter or Jeff.  

“Yes, may I?” The old man was demonstrating to take a seat, he snatched the opportunity, and released a deep sigh before Xenon could make his reply.

“Yes! Surely, sir”

“I would like to tell you a story – may I?” Without averseness he agreed — this is what precisely he doesn’t have at this very moment — He felt a pity to himself that the old man at least has something to tell a story. He thought resentfully. “Now, what is your nearest happy memory? – something that may be a remarkable one?” The old man asked. “Well, I can still remember my days when I was in college, you know a scholar of some sort, a nerdy bookworm student and sometimes nasty. I enjoyed the friends and their all varieties of personal attitude, the mentorship and all; that experience gave me a feeling of a second home too,” he ended his recollection with a ruminating smile.

The old man started after his last word and said, “home Oh yes! I grew up in a home too, you know. But it was different, — there are all sorts of people from all diversities you know? minor age killers, thieves, abandoned children, and those who escape from their hostile relatives and parents — there is one thing that is common among all of us resident mates. We are all looking for someone who could give us genuine love; so to every opportunity of adoption; though we don’t want to go away from home, we grab it in hope for a foster parent. On the contrary, after a week or so; most of us go back and never want to go out. The result rather turned worse, trust became more absent.”

“That must be interesting – go on please” Xenon eagerly butt in. “We didn’t have a good foundation of education there.” Xenon in his skeptics let the old man claim his privilege of a good start of his story, “though a mother staff is there to attend the everyday needs of the operation of a foster home, there is always a lacking that only a real parent could provide the never-ending emptiness lingers every day. When you were being born and grew up in a home you’ll never find a name in your birth identity, the space in the paper reads either baby boy or baby girl, or at least a consolation part is you have your last name written on your birth certificate, then at your legal age, you will then be advised and go on a series of counseling to condition your mind that you are now ready to be set free and join the outside world. On the other meaning, you will now look for your own. All years of staying there, all favors of your daily needs are all in the form of a plea and request, it’s like a nauseated chick being asked to walk or run.” Xenon, unconsciously now conceded and pondering deep to the part brimming inside him, the visual in his mind provided a still picture that speaks a thousand and more ideas to write.

He felt like hanging on a cliff and wanting more. “Go on, please!” He said. “Very well,” the old man continued. “Overwhelmed you are now huh? - There was an incident that night when everybody was all sleeping in our respective quarters; the boy’s place was on the east of a pavilion near the high walls while the girls’ was just near the lobby entrance. I never got an interest of why is that because I never asked, I am always like that timid among other orphans, I was very young then, not even that I know what an introvert means but I enjoyed my solitude; they often think that I am weird, but I have my way of covering, a defense mechanism, mostly I pretend; which always sets me in a situation turned more difficult at the end. It was an unforgettable experience that everybody there will never forget. A fire, a huge one that killed one group of orphans in quarter D at the corner pavilion, maybe fifteen or twenty souls in there burnt alive.” Xenon’s shoulders twitched at the mention of being burnt alive! But he remained silent, leaving the old man to continue.

“How did it all happen, sir?” he went on curiously. “I expected that would be your most obvious next question” As the old man continued - “The mother staff on duty that night left the door locked and she brought the keys with her and stride past for a moment to meet someone outside, but she never calculated it right that a kettle in the kitchen was also left on a stove, she enjoyed the romantic rendezvous with the guy she has been seeing for the past weeks, the next series of event happened so fast as the fire spread all the rest of the quarters, I happened to escape quickly and help the young ones to get out, well I would like to say thank you for my insomniac.” The old man paused there for a while. “Investigations went on afterward but of course, the subject of the incident died just like that; an isolated one. But the tremor lives like a resurrection and even to this moment whenever I recall the experience I can still feel the trauma.”

His feelings were automatically snatched. “Pitiful souls,” Xenon added, “true, indeed!” The old man replied. “Well just like other closed call stories, the ending was still unknown and then life just went on, I finally said goodbye to the orphanage and faced a life of my own.” The old man got up on his feet and walked away slowly. “Where are you going, sir?” xenon asked. “Home,” the word gave him a sensation like a blank white paper inked with lots of things and images of a scene scribbled in no exact direction; he imagined an abstract picture that was difficult to understand from that story.

Unexpectedly, it gave him a feeling of freedom. A unit of work that he is required to finish a story from that conversation. And the task is waiting for him now at home. “Sir, could I just at least have your name?” The sun had shone its glimpse in the sky. The illumination gave a picture of cucoloris lighting patterns of shadows of the old man’s face, like a mirror from afar. “Could you please tell me your name?” Xenon asked garishly. The old man stopped, and said, “You should fix the ending.” He tried to catch the sounds from afar. “Will you?” The picture of him was already filtered out of the blinding lights.

THE END

This is a work of FICTION. Names, characters, business, events and incidents are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. 

Copyright Statement This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced material. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written from the author.

[bryanastar]

Sending a Short Story Out For Publication: Writing Update 5

Howdy Tumblr! Sorry for the late update. I had to write an essay yesterday for English. Also, it’s standardized testing season at school, which is never fun. It’s honestly a miracle I’m getting any writing done at all. Speaking of which...

Novels:

Unfortunately, I had to abandon writing my Camp NaNoWriMo project due to a combination of not having enough time and the project just being too complex to be able to complete in a NaNoWriMo month. Unlike with A Fable of a Wolf Boy, I do actually have a solid vision for this story, but it needs more time to settle. I can’t write it in a month... or two... or three... or even four or more. A first draft for this will probably take me about a year to complete with feedback throughout the whole process.

That doesn’t necessarily upset me as I do have a backup project I can work on. I probably won’t do it for the rest of Camp NaNoWriMo since, like I said, it is standardized testing season this month, so I want to focus on short fiction since that’s easier for me to complete in a tightened time frame.

Speaking of short fiction—

Short Fiction:

Yes, you read that title right. I’ve sent one of my stories out for hopefully publication to a magazine... chapbook... hybrid... thing called “The Hungry Ghost Project”. This story had been previously rejected by a contest (that I had no chance of winning but entered anyway since it was sent to me by my future sister-in-law) so it already had some light editing.

I originally wanted to do some decently major revisions on this piece before sending it out to publication, but the deadline for this magazine was April 16th, so I just kinda went “Yolo” and did some light editing before emailing it in. I originally sent this piece in on Saturday and apparently their response time is less than a week, so I should be hearing from them really soon.

Do I think it’s gonna get accepted? Nah. Not really. It’s not that I think it’s a bad piece. The story is about an old man who runs a bar for supernatural creatures, and it takes place the day before he dies as he reflects on how his workaholism has basically destroyed all his human relationships. The writing is a bit offbeat, but not in a literary fiction way (which is what most magazines publish). The story is simple and sad, while still having humor (despite it being only 800 something words).

It’s certainly not perfect by any means. The middle is a bit frantic (both for better and for worse) and the ending is a bit too overt. I also wish it was a tad more atmospheric than it currently is. Still, I’m proud of this piece, and I enjoy reading it. It’s like my beloved eldest son—my depressive, alcoholic eldest son desperately trying to get into college because he wants to make me proud even though I’m already proud of everything that he has achieved.

When he inevitably gets rejected, I already have some major revisions planned thanks to some coming critique from The Young Writers Institute. After that, I actually have a second magazine in mind that I want to submit this piece too, called Outlanderzine. I was actually floored when I first read a story from this magazine, not because I though the writing was spectacular, but because it was the first time I actually felt a magazine vibed with what I wrote.

The story I read was about an old man in a graveyard, and it was weird, and sad, and the writing was nice without being too literary. My story literally fits right in. I swear, I have never felt happier than now about discovering a magazine. A lot of the “about” sections for magazines are so intimidating, and their work never seems to jive with what I write, but this felt so true to me and my writing interests. Even if I don’t end up submitting this specific story, I’m definitely keep it in mind for a different piece moving forward.

That’s all for now. See you next week Tumblr!

[thewebcomicsreview]

THE WINNERS OF THE PREVIOUS CONTEST

Only four entries last time, but they were all great. Mr Sing and CharlesDarwinInTheTardis both had clever interpretations of the prompt, whereas PeriPapaya and Marco both wrote stories that made me have to stop and think for a moment (albeit for very different reasons)

That said, there can be only one winner, and this week it’s Mr. Sing, for “God Damns Her at the End”, which hits several buttons of mine and also has this line:

God slammed the door shut. “I have no idea who that is. Call the cops.” 

Which is just a great line to read at 2am.

Mr. Sing is entitled to One Commission From Me, which will be completed at some point after the commission he won a bit ago that I haven’t finished yet and the one PeriPayapa wrote last time and I haven’t started on. I’ve been moving! It’s busy! 

THE RULES

Friday night at 8pm Eastern Time, I will post a set of writing prompts. In keeping with the themes of the event, these will be shitty prompts I came up with five minutes before the deadline

Entrants choose the prompt they like the best, and write a story based on that prompt

The story can be in a medium of the entrant’s choosing, including prose writing, a comic, a folk song, a twine game, or basically any format that doesn’t require me to install software to view.

The story must be a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. There is otherwise no minimum length

Stories should be able to be read in under ten minutes (that is, don’t go much past a few thousand words)

The purpose of this exercise is to write a complete story, not necessarily a good one.

Please include content warnings for triggering or adult content

Stories are due by 8:00 PM Eastern Time on Sunday, September 20th. You have 48 hours!

The Prizes

One entry will be picked as the winner based on criteria that are mysterious as they are inscrutable. The winner will receive one simple commission from me, the writer of Saffron and Sage. Artistic quality is NOT guaranteed.

The Story Prompts

Choose one (or more, if you wish), story prompts from the list below. These prompts have a common through-line, and the first person to send me an ask correctly guessing what it is will also receive a commission! 

1. A broke loser has suddenly lucked into fame and fortune, and suspects this is why an old friend turned enemy has shown up seeking to get a redemption arc

2. Thousands of children spontaneously decide to chase after a jogger

3. An action hero is feeling down, and some romantic time alone on the beach with his love interest makes him realize what he needs to get his mojo back: Some romantic time alone on the beach with his nemesis

4. A plan to defeat the Soviet Union runs into their most fearsome defense: Sexy robot maids 

Just submit a link to your entry through this form. Note that your answers to the form (a name to use, the prompt you chose, and a link to the story) will be made public!

[nate-gibson]

BroBots Development

The reason for this blog post is because my group has decided to continue with this project in semester 1 2021.

Preview Gifs

Game Jam

Before University started Ashton, Matt and I decided to take part in the Brackey's 2021.1 Game Jam. A Game Jam for those who do not know is a contest where participants must make a game from scratch within a set duration. The Jam we participated in lasted a week and had a theme of stronger together (it was from the 15th to the 22nd February).

We had wished to participate in a Game Jam since around the end of University last year as we are all very interested in creating a game. Over the seven days Allotted to us we work from roughly 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM each day excluding Friday. We spent the first day delving into multiple different game ideas around the theme provided to us. We created a Google doc to write down each of the ideas and after decently expanding upon them we used a voting system to determine which we would choose.

For voting each of has two votes one worth 2 point and the other worth one.

Image of our voting:

Game Concept

The concept we decided to go with was one called Bomb Bros. The idea was to create a multiplayer game where there are two players that have bombs attached to themselves. The player characters would have a magnetic link that is broken when exceeding a certain distance of each other, this would cause the bombs to start counting down to an explosion. This concept would have been set in a maze-like area consisting of obstacles with the players forced to separate to progress, there would also be checkpoints throughout the game to reset the explosion timer.

Since voting for Game Jams are done by the participants it means we need to make some changes to our original idea. We changed it from a multiplayer to a single player game. This was done to make our game easily playable as a multiplayer game would have deterred some potential testers. We decided to make it so that the player controls two separate playable characters by using a key to switch from one to the other. We wanted to keep two controllable entities as without them the game no longer fits the theme. Another change that was made was to remove the magnetic link idea. Instead, we will have points throughout the map that will reset the explosion timer when both players are standing on it. Then when at least one player leaves that point it will then start the timer’s countdown again.

Creation of our game

Having finalized the concept we moved into Unity to start creating it. I took charge of integrating player movement and the character switching system, Matt started working on the players camera, incorporating ragdolls and some obstacles for the game, while Ashton took on creating the player models in blender as well as player animations.

Within a couple days I had my parts working and had integrated Ashton's blender models into the players. I did run into some bugs, but they were eventually fixed.

I Then moved onto adding Ashton's animations to the players and creating the “end zone” which is the object that would reset the timer. I also made a button that when a player goes into would turn on the “end zone”. Lastly, I played around with some particle effects. I setup this course to test out the project so far.

Video showing current progression:

After this I moved on to creating a disappearing platform and lift (which became a jump pad). The disappearing platform destroys itself after a player that was on it leaves it. The lift was originally going to be a zone that would push your player upwards acting sort of like an elevator, but when testing I accidentally made a jump pad that was a lot more fun compared to a lift, so we decided to keep it.

Gifs showing disappearing platform and jump pad:

Matt and I then got our player movement and ragdoll scripts working together and I added Ashton's new animations to the players. Matt has created a spinner and pusher obstacle that when colliding with the player forces them into a rag-dolling state. He next moved onto getting audio for the game and implementing it. At this time Ashton had finished working on the player and their animations and was working on creating assets for the obstacles and my different platform types. He also started making levels for the game as well as creating the lighting scheme.

Gif showing map design and Matt's rag-dolling:

Disclaimer: Rag-dolling gravity is fixed later on.

I had then moved onto creating an explosion particle effect, making a “dead zone” (an area that would kill the player when they enter it), setting up a main menu screen and helping Ashton create additional levels. While finishing up we also decided to change the name from Bomb Bros to BroBots as it better fitted our game.

Playthrough of our game:

After all of this was completed we then built the game and setup a page on itch.io where the Game Jam takes place submitting it just before the deadline.

Link to Itch.io page: