#his vision story is also really intriguing and i guess so is the contract with ajaw | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

lightsovermonaco · 3 years ago

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His Good Sweater: Chapter 18

Masterlist

Thanks to @acollectionofficsandshit for being my bestie and beta reading! This would have never happened without her ❤ Make sure you read Roman Profile, set in the same universe!

Word Count: 7.6k

Abu Dhabi holds a special place in Pierre's heart. The food is great, the views are spectacular, and there is always plenty to do to keep him busy. Night races are some of the more exciting races too and Pierre appreciated the variety.

Coming into the final race of the season, Pierre holds on to seventh in the championship by a few points. Perez sensed the usurper creeping up on his seat and had cranked it up to eleven.

Exams had kept you in London for the race in Brazil, where Pierre had finished sixth and Checo DNF'd. You had managed to fly out for the weekend in Saudi Arabia, where Perez had finished fifth and closed the gap to Pierre to only four points behind.

If Pierre didn't finish ahead of Perez this weekend, he was fucked. And he was at the distinct disadvantage of his good luck charm being absent, stuck in London finishing up your final few exams of the semester. Two weeks without seeing you coupled with barely hearing from you had worn on him. It wasn't purposeful on your part but Pierre's stress was already compressed like the suspension on his car. Stray an inch too far over the racing line, hit a curb too hard and it was liable to snap, sending bits and pieces flying.

Pierre checks his phone for the millionth time as he waits to check in to the hotel. Wednesday was late for this many crew members to be arriving. His main concern though was that you hadn't responded to the text he'd sent you upon landing.

"Look lively, will you?" Max claps Pierre on the shoulder and he slides his phone into his pocket. "It's the last race of the season. We get to go balls to the wall and leave it all out in the track. And here you are looking like a kicked puppy."

"Easy for you to say," Pierre starts, grinning at his friend. "You clinched the title weeks ago. You don't even have to race this weekend if you don't want to and you'd still win."

"Doesn't mean I won't be shooting for a podium."

Pierre rolls his eyes. "Yeah well we can't all be so lucky, can we?"

"Next year you'll be playing with the big dogs." Max hands the receptionist his ID, says a few words and turns back to Pierre. "Looking forward to having you as a teammate again. It was fun for those couple races and I'm sure you'll be a challenge now that you've found your groove."

"You're gonna jinx it if you keep talking." Pierre laughs, praying that it covers up the old wound Max's statement picked open. Pierre hated the idea of moving back to Red Bull but he didn't have much choice. He was still contracted to one of four Red Bull branded seats for next season. A promotion, at the very least, would help him showcase his talent and further cement his value. If he had to spend any longer than that with the team, ripping out his hair was a real possibility.

"Wasn't someone supposed to be with you this weekend?" Max quirks a brow. "Where is she?"

"In London." Max bringing you up doesn't help the pit forming in Pierre's stomach. Win or lose, seventh or eighth, Red Bull or Alpha Tauri, come Sunday Pierre wanted you at his side. Interview requests were bound to roll in either way and Pierre would need someone to ground him, a task much easier to accomplish if you were physically at his side.

"Too bad." Max clicks his tongue and takes his room keys from the receptionist. "It's gonna be a fun weekend."

"I don't think-"

Pierre's vision goes dark at the same time someone whispers, "Guess who?"

Pierre sucks in a breath, spins on his heel and wraps you in a hug in one smooth motion. You laugh as he lifts you off your feet and presses kisses to your cheeks.

"What are you doing here?" He grabs both suitcases and tugs you aside. His room can wait.

"Tost asked me to come." Your grin is contagious, its twin appearing on Pierre's own cheeks. "He said that since you were flying out from Milan on your own there was an extra seat on the jet, so if I got myself to Nice I could fly out with the Red Bull boys."

"Seven hours trapped in a tin can with Max, Yuki and Checo?" Pierre rubs his chest. "I've got heartburn just thinking about that."

"It wasn't so bad," you say, finally giving him a proper kiss. "Yuki and I just played games on our phones the whole time. And I beat Max at Scrabble."

"How many Dutch words did he try to use?"

"Mmm, about half the words he tried were definitely not English."

"Yep, sounds about right." Pierre throws an arm around your shoulders and leads you back to the reception desk. He pays for an upgraded room when you aren't looking- though when you're assigned a suite there's not much higher you can go- and slips the woman behind the counter an extra bill for good measure.

"I could use a nap," you note, leaning against Pierre like you'd otherwise fall over. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

Pierre checks his watch. "We've got time for a nap."

"We?" Your raised eyebrow is question enough. Pierre smiles and swipes his key card once you're in the elevator with him. He hadn't looked at the price of the room but he was positive it was more than he'd spent on a single night in his entire career, considering it occupies an entire floor of the swanky hotel.

"It's date night," Pierre says simply. Initially his plan had been to invite Charles over for a game of Fifa but the Monegasque wouldn’t fault him for cancelling at the last minute. "We're in one of the most luxurious cities in the world and I'm going to show you off every chance I get. The restaurant down stairs is to die for."

Your attempt at nodding along with what he says is thwarted by a yawn. "Sleep first, eat later." Seeing as it was impossible to deny you, Pierre simply drops a kiss to the crown of your head.

"Wait until you see our room." The way your eyes light up when he says our room makes him want to say it again and again just to see you sparkle.

"I know you upgraded it, Mr. I-think-I'm-sneaky." You uncurl yourself from against his arm when the elevator chimes. "How much did it cost?"

"A few extra pennies."

The stainless steel doors open directly into the suite. The living space is dominated by a curving crescent of full length windows overlooking the cerulean harbor and the jagged steel of the city skyline beyond. Suitcase forgotten, your jaw drags along the floor as you toe off your shoes in favor of sinking onto one of the half moon couches situated around a low coffee table.

"Did you get some sort of bonus you didn't tell me about?" Pierre sees your inner engineer cataloging the chandelier dripping crystals over the carved dining table and the pattern of the black veined marble flooring. "This cost more than a few pennies."

"I didn't really look at the price so it's possible," he admits. In the end it was worth it to see you like this, happy as a pig in mud. Pierre was in his element at the track you were in yours in beautiful buildings. For all Pierre cared you could be sharing a dingy room at a motel; it would still be five star worthy with you there.

Every once in a while though, you deserve a bit of pampering for all you put up with. Late nights and months apart wasn’t easy on either of you, but you stuck by him. And when the day comes that Pierre retires or loses his seat, you would be the one there to comfort him. Spending frivolous amounts of money to see you smile was nothing in the grand scheme of things.

In Pierre’s world, money is temporary, you are forever.

"Well I have half a mind to tear into you for spending so much on a room we won't spend all that much time in," you start, your star-speckled gaze landing on Pierre, "the view is too pretty to be upset about."

"Mine isn't half bad either." You laugh, tucking an errant hair behind your ear. You both know he isn’t referring to the glittering bay or the expensive furnishings.

"Up," Pierre demands softly, holding out his hand. Your hand is warm and dwarfed by his long fingers but you barely seem to notice. The heart in his chest pounds for no discernable reason as he leads you down the narrow hall past doors leading to what he can only assume are bedrooms and bathrooms, to the one at the end of the hall. Based on his mental floor plan this one has the best view, if he's guessed correctly.

Your breezy oh confirms his hunch. You stutter at the threshold, coming up short behind him to bathe in the beauty of the sea, dotted through with white sails. Sunlight twinkles off the waves and if he breathes deep enough, he can almost smell the salt.

"Come on," Pierre says with a chuckle, urging you to fall into the fluffy down of the bed with him. You follow reluctantly, too enamored by the sights to pay any real attention to how Pierre arranges your limbs to his liking, your head resting on his chest and your joined hands laying atop his stomach.

"How about that nap?" He murmurs, running the fingers of his free hand through your unbound hair.

You sigh and snuggle in closer. It was rare that Pierre had the opportunity to steal moments like this during a race week, when he had nothing better to do than tangle himself in you.

"I'll tell you a story."

Just as he expected, you leap at the offer. "Can you tell me the one about the time you and Charles got in trouble when you were karting?"

Normally he opts for something fictional that allows him to embellish the details to fit his narrative. Pierre loved spinning tales rife with laughter and intrigue but he also didn't mind indulging your curiosity.

"Yeah, I can tell that one. Let me set the scene. It's midnight on a Friday at a little track outside Rouen. Two gangly teenage boys, one French and one definitely, positively not French, have nothing better to do than get themselves in trouble…"

**********

Fans began whispering when Pierre set foot in the lobby. The price of stardom was high and had taken years to get used to. Some days the bombardment of people asking for photos and autographs overwhelmed him to the point he was desperate for an out. Most people respected his boundaries and when they sensed it was too much, they backed off. Other days it was simply too much and he would mumble excuses and book it out the door.

The pressure increases tenfold when he steps into the lobby with you on his arm, the pair of you dressed to the nines. He clocks a group of women- clearly tourists based on their body language- perched on a sofa the minute their low murmurs turn into excited squeals.

Pierre mentally braces for you to stiffen or stop altogether but you do neither. You carry on unaffected, either ignoring them or completely oblivious to the women who do nothing to hide their pointed stares.

"Table for two please." You smile at the restaurant host and then at Pierre. You must not have noticed the fans then. You were getting better at coping with the photos and whispers, although your smile usually became forced the longer it dragged on, the polar opposite of you currently beaming at him.

Pierre's shoulders sag a bit when you're led to a secluded table towards the rear of the dining space. Privacy wasn't a luxury he was often afforded. With his back to a wall of windows, there were fewer angles for people to approach from which was a small comfort.

Apparently you find sitting across from Pierre unacceptable because you shuffle your chair to his side of the table before plopping down in it. Pierre shoots you a questioning look but keeps his mouth shut. Inquiring after your motives didn't tend to end well for him.

Instead he leans over to kiss your cheek, relishing the blush his lips coax to the surface.

“It all sounds good,” you say, scanning the menu. “You’ve been here before, I take it?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah I have. It’s all wonderful.”

The fans from the lobby remain in the blurred fringes of his vision. Pierre does his best to focus on the waitress explaining the specials. He tunes in automatically to the fan’s heavily accented English as they argue with the host, vying for a table as close to Pierre as possible.

Their phones remain out as an annoyed waiter tries and fails to coax the gaggle of girls into ordering something. Pierre drags a hand through his hair.

Being the center of attention usually doesn't bother him. Coping with the spotlight and the scrutiny that accompanies it is second nature; if the press conferences at Spa in 2019 had taught him anything, it was the importance of a solid poker face. Fame is new to you though and interactions with polite fans make you nervous. Having your picture taken without permission and splashed on social media? Forget about it. Pierre didn't care to find out how you'd react.

"Don't be nervous." You lay a hand on Pierre's thigh. The touch is enough to temporarily pause his bouncing leg. "You're going to do amazing this weekend. All you have to do is finish in front of Checo and you're golden."

How you haven't noticed the girls giggling mere yards away is beyond him. The last thing he wants to do is ruin this perfect, beautiful moment of bliss. You look gorgeous with your painted lips and that sinful black dress that he doubts can be comfortable based on how it hugs your curves like water. To top it off, the pride in your gaze is something to behold, making it impossible to doubt himself when you so clearly and openly believe he can conquer the world.

But it's better to tell you now versus you finding out on social media later. "That's not what's bothering me."

"Oh?" You sit straighter and set the menu down. "What is it then? Because if it's Horner, I have no problem marching in there and chewing him out. Birdy will back me up."

Despite himself, Pierre can't hold back his smile. "Where did all this confidence come from, hmm?"

"I'm learning," you insist, nodding your head firmly. "I'm growing as a person and you should be proud."

"I never said I wasn't." Maybe you'd spent the last month at university interacting with racing fans on campus. Perhaps being exposed to endless questions in a setting you controlled was the key. "Did you take a course in confidence at university?"

You scrunch up your nose and laugh in the most adorable way. Pierre's heart lurches at the sight, regardless if it was him you were laughing at.

"No, but I did make a few new friends that have a habit of pestering me about you." You jab a finger in his side for good measure. "It helped, I think. I don't look for cameras as much anymore. You're my focus now, not paps that may or may not be lurking in bushes."

"I knew it." Pierre is slightly impressed that he'd hit the nail squarely on the head. "I figured there had to be someone at uni responsible for helping you out."

You shrug and purse your lips. "I guess we'll have to see how I handle this weekend. I mean, there's bound to be press trying to corner me, what with the stakes and all. But I think I can take them." You raise your fists in front of your face and Pierre has to laugh.

“Throw a punch like that and you’ll break a finger.” He takes one of your clenched fists in his and untucks your thumb from under your fingers. “That’s how you make a proper fist. And you hit with these knuckles here- make sure you distribute the blow across all four, or you’ll be hurting.”

“Regardless,” you say, jabbing the air a few times, “The shock factor of having little old me in their face ought to be enough to earn me an advantage.”

Pierre finishes the lap to circle back to the topic at hand. "How about we test your confidence?”

"Okay," you say, dragging out the 'a' until it hangs in the air between you like a spider's web.

Pierre rakes a hand through his hair and nods to the girls a few tables away. "They've been taking pictures since we sat down. I'm sure they'll be all over Instagram in an hour, if they aren't already."

You steal a glance at the table in question under the guise of grabbing something from your purse. You hum, contemplating how to go about responding. Pierre is almost certain you'll ask to head back upstairs where it's just the two of you, no cameras or outside influence to ruin your night. His wallet is already out under the table, ready to leave a hefty tip for putting up with your drink-and-dash.

“We aren’t doing anything interesting,” you point out, swirling the knuckle’s worth of whiskey in your glass. “Why do they feel the need to document every passing second?”

Pierre lifts a shoulder in a shrug. “It’s just what some people do. If you’re uncomfortable we can go.”

“Who said anything about leaving?” You scoff, the corners of your lips turned up in a teasing smile. “I figure the best course of action is to give them something worth photographing.”

“What do you-”

Pierre’s yelp is decidedly unsexy when you yank him forward by his tie and attach your lips to his. Caught entirely off guard, he flounders for a moment before he catches himself and sinks into you. One hand on your cheek and the other creeping up your thigh, Pierre slides his tongue over the seam of your lips. You don't hesitate to obey the silent command.

He should be embarrassed. He should be contemplating the consequences of this kiss being splashed across tabloids the world over. He can’t bring himself to care, not when you’re the only release he needs and something as simple as a kiss sets his skin alight and causes any sane thoughts to trickle from his head.

Nothing matters. You're kissing him and your hand is a few inches below his hip on his right thigh, burning a brand that he prays leaves a puckered pink scar. Your scent and your mouth and your unmistakable hiss of pleasure saps the worry from his limbs. He's floating up off his chair, lungs filling with helium as you steal every last molecule of oxygen from the room.

Just like that, Pierre is the one that's roaring to leave for an entirely different reason.

Your hand on his jaw keeps your lips a hair's breadth apart as you whisper, "Are they staring?"

A blissed out nod is all he manages. Thoughts evade him and speaking is utterly out of the question when your lips are within striking distance. He surges forward for another kiss, heavier on teeth than on tongue. He makes sure to hold your lower lip between his teeth longer than necessary, putting on a show now that you've given him permission.

"Pierre," you murmur, using the hand splayed on his chest to push him away. The whine that escapes him is wholly unintentional. Thankfully it's low enough that only you hear, pressing a finger to your sinful lips.

"Down, boy." You extricate his hand from the dimpled flesh of your hip and place it chastely in his own lap. "We've accomplished what I wanted to."

Saying you tossing a wink over your shoulder at the intrusive fans isn't the hottest thing he's ever seen would be a lie. Pierre needed to be sure to thank Daniel's girlfriend the next time he saw her for whatever the hell she said to finally bestow you with a healthy serving of self-assurance because this new you is an entirely different entity, one Pierre intends to explore at the next opportunity.

"Problem solved." You brush your hands together and Pierre half expects to see dust clouds in the air like you'd just finished a woodshop project.

Pierre's brain is operating on a ten second delay. So really, normal operating procedure when he was in your vicinity. "I don't think we've accomplished everything I'd like to get done."

"We have a dinner to finish first." You pick up your menu and resume browsing like you hadn't just forcibly ripped his appetite for anything other than you right out of him. "The salmon sounds good, don't you think?"

"You sound good," Pierre mumbles under his breath and picks up his own menu. God, he'd love to let his fingers drift to the apex of your thighs. You’re always cute when you squirm. It was so simple to do too, all you needed was a brush of his knuckle to your center and you'd be gasping.

"Are you ready to order?"

The soft-spoken waitress bursts Pierre's bubble. She brings fresh drinks and jots down an order of two salmon fillets and leaves with a smile.

How Pierre has managed to make it this long without fucking you is beyond him. From the moment you surprised him in the lobby, his limbs have been thrumming with energy. And now your surprise kiss had been the pebble that preceded an avalanche of feverish longing. Those red painted lips would look better wrapped around his-

The pointed toe of your shoe digs into his calf. "Quit staring."

"Either you let me daydream or you let me take you upstairs,” Pierre quips back, licking his lips before he can catch himself.

"Can we get through one date without you mentally undressing me?"

Pierre dips his grin in a vat of lust, his words dripping with waxy promise. "No. Not when I know that as soon as we're alone, you'll let me do what I want."

"And what about what I want?" Your pouted lip does absolutely nothing but push his mind further in the gutter.

"Your wish is my command." His hand floats under the hem of your dress to graze along your core. And there it is, that sound he would swim across oceans to hear, your chastizing gasp of surprise.

The cross way you whisper his name is a thing of dreams. No one else's name sounded like that on your tongue, that honor is reserved solely for Pierre. The two breathless syllables are more exhilarating than standing on the top step. The rush of adrenaline that accompanies them is ten times what he is rewarded with when passing a world champion on track. He'll give it all up to hear you repeat it when you're pissed or lonely or tired- he just wants your voice echoing in his ears like a broken record.

You move his hand a safe distance down your thigh, nearly at your knee. Pierre gives your leg a sharp squeeze. "Can we please get our dinner to go?"

"Not tonight. You can wait, mon amour."

The French rolls off your tongue awkwardly but Pierre will be the last to complain. Your encyclopedic knowledge of which buttons to press when had come back to bite him in the ass.

"That's not fair." His pout is a mirror image of the one you turned on him earlier. "You can't use my own language against me."

You pat your pockets as if searching for something and shrug when you come up empty. "I don't see a rulebook anywhere."

Reminding you what happens when you tease him shoots to the top of his to do list. "I'll play if you wanna play, ma chérie. Don't bite off more than you can chew."

"I think you're forgetting who usually wins off track."

Pierre can't help it. He takes advantage of his superior reflexes and surges forward to claim another searing kiss. You did normally win and it wasn't for lack of trying on his end. No matter the tactic he employed, you generally got the better of him. Not that he minded.

"Why don't you come here?" He purposely grazes his lips to your ear as he speaks and grins when a shiver runs down your spine.

"Because we are in public," you hiss back, though the way your head tips to the side betrays you. Pierre's nose touches the underside of your jaw and you struggle to find your breath.

"We should eat." A self satisfied smile splits his face when he notices your heaving chest and wild eyes.

"When did our food get here?" Pierre did that. He got you so worked up that you blocked out your surroundings so thoroughly that you hadn't heard the clink of plates. Pierre wears that fact like a badge of honor.

"A minute or so ago. Remind me again who's winning?"

"We may be even," you relent, adjusting the skirt of your dress. Yeah, even isn't the word he would pick, considering how flustered you are. It's a good thing Pierre has learned to eat with one hand because he doesn't plan on moving the arm currently slung over the back of your chair anytime soon. His finger traces the letters of his name on the bare skin of your shoulder. Whether you realize what he's writing or not you lean into him as you eat, falling in closer with each lemon-scented bite.

"Excuse me?"

You don't bother to look up but Pierre does. Disappointment washes over him when he is met by one of the fans, apparently deeming now to be the appropriate time to approach him, while clearly on a date, in the middle of a meal.

"I'll be happy to take a photo once I'm done." Sometimes passive aggressiveness works best with people like this, who have no regard for personal space. "Right now I would prefer to be alone, thanks."

"Oh, right." The blonde giggles, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "You two make a… cute couple?" The end of her sentence turns up and your fork falls to your plate.

Pierre tucks you a little closer to his side, both possessive and reassuring. "We know."

Your discomfort is plain, the way you curl in on yourself making his heart hurt. But you surprise him by taking a deep breath and turning to the woman with a smile.

"If you'd let us finish our meal, I would appreciate it. We can stop by on our way out and chat with you." Sylvie would be proud of that answer. Diplomatically phrased and said with a smile that negates any negative connotations.

"Of course." The blonde's smile is sickly sweet. To Pierre she adds, "Good luck on Sunday."

Pierre nods. The woman's rude behavior didn't warrant a verbal response. She mumbles a feeble goodbye before slinking back to her friends. If nothing else at least their whispers died down, put out by his behavior.

Pierre loves his fans. Without them he wouldn't have a sport to compete in, and of course he appreciated their endless support. Stopping for photos or autographs had gotten him in trouble with Marko multiple times for being late to meetings that usually turned out to be pointless anyway. As a whole, their enthusiasm gives him an extra boost on Sundays and lifts his spirits after a bad weekend.

And then sometimes there were people like the blonde woman that had interrupted his dinner. Those people he has far less tolerance for. Basic manners were imperative to Pierre giving someone the light of day, otherwise he saw no need to waste time and energy on them.

"All good, ma chérie?" Pierre rubs your shoulder, hoping it'll stave off any anxiety.

"I'm good," you confirm with a nod of your head. "Let's finish up and go to our room."

Pierre presses a kiss to your temple and scarfs down the remainder of his meal in record time. He flags down the waitress and hands her his card, leaving a substantial tip when she returns with the check.

“Can you distract that table?” Pierre asks, aware of how unusual the request likely is. “I’d like to get out of here without making a scene.”

“Of course,” the waitress says with a warm, sincere smile. Pierre waits until she loudly announces, “Excuse me? Your card has been declined, do you have another method of payment?”

Neither of you can contain your laughter as you stumble through the lobby. In the sanctity of the elevator, Pierre wraps his arms around your middle and molds himself against you. "You look especially gorgeous tonight."

"You're not too bad yourself." One of your hands finds the nape of his neck, guiding his face to the crook of your shoulder. Pierre takes the invitation at face value and nips at the sensitive skin. Your hum goes straight to his cock, twitching against the swell of your ass.

"I win," you purr, tangling your fingers in his hair and tugging.

For once Pierre is glad to be in the world's slowest elevator. Since he's already lost, he might as well lose in style. He spins you to face the mirrored wall. And because he knows it'll make you tremble, he trails his hand lazily over your throat to grip your jaw.

A low moan leaves your parted lips. Pierre studies your reflection, from your hands gripping the railing to the skin dimpling beneath his fingers.

"Fine, you win this time. But I think you and I both know, I'll come out ahead in the end."

**********

Waking up to soft kisses will never get old. Thirty years from now when Pierre was retired and you fell asleep each night with his arms around you, you'd still yearn for the brush of his lips to your cheeks, neck, and shoulders to rouse you from the violet shores of sleep.

"Good morning," you mumble, a sentiment which Pierre echoes with his gruff, sleep tinged voice. "Sleep well?"

"Best sleep I've ever gotten. You tired me out last night." You both grin at the reminder. Fueled by a slight tinge of jealousy after the women at the restaurant made eyes at him, you had refused to let him tumble into bed until well past midnight, when you both were well and truly exhausted. Thursday is press day, nothing strenuous that he couldn't afford to be a little sore for.

Pierre rolls to straddle your hips, lips capturing yours for a proper kiss. The taste of freshly brushed mint makes your skin tingle when he tugs your lip between his teeth.

"It's too early for that." You throw your arms around his neck and urge him to bend his elbows until he falls atop you. It takes him a moment to snuggle in, his head on your chest and his arms sliding under your middle.

You're convinced that ten minutes in this position can cure any ailments, physical or mental. The weight of your soulmate pressing into you, forcing you to focus on breathing instead of whatever might be bothering you. It's easy to forget about the outside world when everything you require to be happy is wrapped around you like a blanket.

You stroke a hand over Pierre's hair until his breathing evens out, only rousing him when the sun peeks over the harbor. Amiable silence fills the space as hues of orange and pink paint Pierre in swaths of color. Suddenly you're seeing him for the first time, completely enamored by the angles of his cheekbones and the sharp cut of his stubbled jaw. The golden hour of dawn shines on it's golden boy, his lashes brushing his cheeks as he turns towards the warmth calling him home.

"Pyry and I are going for a run soon if you'd like to come with us."

You cringe. Running used to be fun when you were in school, but seeing as you hadn't properly trained in years you doubted you could keep up with a pair of professionals. "How about you text me when you're back and I'll come to the gym with you? It looks fancy, if George's snaps are anything to go by."

Pierre trails kisses up your sternum, over your neck and only speaks once he's reached your lips. "Looking at other men, are you?"

"Shut up," you laugh, shoving him off you. "I'll have you know it was a rare shirt on picture, thank you very much. I don't need to see George shirtless ever again."

A satisfied, "Good," rumbles from Pierre's chest and he stands to stretch the lingering sleep from his limbs. Clad in nothing but a pair of white four inch inseam shorts and with his back to you, you grin as an idea forms. You scramble forward before he can process you moving and smack his ass so hard he yelps.

"Gotcha!" You devolve into a fit of giggles as he rubs the spot you hit, whining about you taking advantage of his distraction.

"You like it," you tease, and Pierre remains strictly pouty for two whole seconds before he breaks into a grin and nods. "Now put on a shirt and get downstairs before Pyry calls you and you get reamed for being late again."

Pierre leans down for one last kiss before rushing off to the lobby. Waking up before the sun leaves you plenty of time to laze about if you choose to. Kicking your butt into gear seems like the better option so you drag yourself out of the relative warmth of the sheets and shuffle to the kitchen in search of coffee.

Apparently the suite came fully stocked with a handful of different freshly ground blends, and much to your delight you recognize one of your favorites. You scroll through the room service menu on your phone while it brews. Without a doubt Pyry would rope you in to whatever workout he had planned for Pierre, albeit giving you a watered down version of what he gave the driver. Regardless, it would still be grueling and you needed to fuel up.

A hearty breakfast of fresh fruit and cinnamon sugar oatmeal shows up at your door ten minutes later. You're just finishing up when Pierre's snapchat comes through and you nearly choke.

Come on down baby

The sweaty, shirtless selfie that accompanies the caption is wholly unnecessary. Pierre's stupid tongue sticks out and the fingers of one hand are tangled in his hair. The muscle of his bicep is perfectly flexed, an obvious but appreciated attempt to rile you up. You shamelessly screenshot the photo before it disappears to save it for later.

You change into a simple set of leggings and a loose t-shirt and head to the elevator, curating your music queue on the way down.

The outdoor gym overlooks a pool of the same crystalline blue as the sea not far beyond. A few Alpha Tauri and Red Bull team members you recognize occupy a handful of machines. You wave at the ones you recognize, including Alana- she was a sight for sore eyes. You make a mental note to catch up with her at some point today, as you're sure to cross paths again.

Pyry spots you before Pierre does and waves you over. "Start stretching," the fin orders, "I'm glad you dressed for the occasion this time."

"I've learned my lesson." You plop down next to Pierre and lean into a stretch to stage whisper, "He drives you this hard?"

"Get used to it." Pierre shoots you a grin that sets you on fire. He's got a shirt on now, which means he only took it off earlier to send you that snap. Tease.

Any other time you'd chide him for his behavior but this weekend you let it slide. Tension has been brewing since the moment you spotted him across the lobby; simple things tip you off to the stress winding up in him. If flirting could offer him a small amount of release, then so be it, even if it was torturous for you to see him like this and be unable to do anything about it.

"If you two can't get through this without making heart eyes at each other I'll separate you," Pyry warns, pushing at your shoulders and helping you stretch a few more inches. You hide your wince and laugh, leaning into the slight burn.

"Sorry coach," Pierre chimes in, "I'll keep my hands to myself, don't worry." He accepts Pyry's hand to be pulled to his feet. Bouncing on his toes he throws a few punches at the air and catches your gaze over his trainer's shoulder.

"Definitely not you I'm worried about."

As Pyry says it, you blow Pierre a kiss. You quickly tuck your hands behind your back when Pyry's head whips around. Your cheshire grin gets you off the hook and Pyry just points to the stationary bike in silent command. At least he was going easy on you.

Headphones pumping a Pierre curated playlist, you lose track of time as you cycle mile after mile. Pierre sparring on the fringes of your vision helps distract you from burning muscles. Sweat soaks his black tee and is absorbed by the waistband of his oddly patterned orange and white shorts. No matter how incessantly you tease him for his fashion choices, he never fails to amaze you for how well he pulls it all off.

Lost in the music and the incredible view, it takes you a moment to realize Pierre's lips aren't just moving silently. You yank out an ear bud and blubber, "What did you say?"

Pierre's breathless laugh is accompanied by a shake of his head. He half curls in on himself, hands on his hips and mouth agape as he tries to catch his breath. The image stirs memories of the last night, when he was panting just like that but with nothing obscuring you from drinking in his godlike muscled body.

"I said," Pierre starts, walking over to kiss your cheek, "I need a shower before press. I'm going upstairs. You can stay here and Pyry can take you through some more-"

"No thanks!" Pyry shrugs off your immediate refusal. Training top tier athletes and training you sat at polar opposite ends of the spectrum and often times the Fin pushed you farther than you thought capable. You'd like to be able to function tomorrow, thank you very much.

The elevator ride to the suite is filled with salted kisses and wet touches. A breadcrumb trail of clothing leads from the stainless steel doors to the glass encased shower. There's not enough time to worship Pierre like you'd wanted to but he sighs when you run a soapy cloth over his body. Your lips follow the suds, leaving light kisses to the tender muscles. By the time you pour shampoo in your palm and lightly scratch at his scalp to work it into a lather, he's practically purring.

Media appearances are a necessary part of being a driver. Pierre usually handled them well enough on his own and occasionally with Sylvie's help when she could be bothered to get off her phone for a few minutes, but having you with him is different. You pride yourself on reading him well enough to know exactly what he needs. Some days, when the press isn't a pack of rabid animals, he returns to his driver's room and needs nothing more than a quick kiss to have him righted. On days when the pack of piranhas descend to feast on the bones of a bad session or the whispering of drama, a delicate touch is required.

If your suspicion proves right, today would be the latter. Being ahead of the frenzy might take the edge off when Pierre got in the thick of it.

When the tap cuts off, you step out and wrap Pierre in a fluffy towel. His smile communicates how grateful he is- and that he knows what you're doing.

You hand him a stack of Alpha Tauri branded clothes and sit on the foot of the bed. "Do you want me to come to the paddock with you?"

Pierre pauses with his shirt half on. "If you don't mind."

"Of course I don't mind." You pluck a few of his rings from the nightstand and hold out your hand. "You have to complete the look."

"What would I do without you," he murmurs, slipping one on his pinky and one on the thumb of his opposite hand.

"Probably be ridiculed for your lack of fashion sense."

**********

As a driver's girlfriend, you had come to grips with being relegated to a background role when it came to team events. You have to ask Sylvie to repeat herself twice before her words sink in.

"Come with me to the media pen," the woman grits out. Apparently Tost intended to have some fun torturing the woman before he fired her at the end of the season. Hopefully whoever Pierre got stuck with next was a bit more personable than Sylvie.

"Pierre told me to wait here," you say, gesturing to the garage buzzing around you. You were a rock and the mechanics were the stream, parting around you without a care in the world. You were barely a blip on their radar, everyone too honed in on their tasks to pay you any mind.

"And now I'm telling you to come with me. The other wives and girlfriends are in attendance and it'll look odd if you're not there too." Clearly, Sylvie didn't like the idea. And any idea that pissed Sylvie off sounded like a good one.

"I know the way," you say and breeze past her. Your feet follow the familiar path to the cluster of reporters crowded around metal gates, keeping the drivers in like caged animals. It was fitting, considering how often people referred to the sport as a traveling circus.

Pierre is already knee deep in an interview with one of the more popular journalists in the bunch, Will Buxton. Careful to stay out of the lens, you lean against the guardrail to listen in. So far it seems to be going well, Pierre's laugh brings a smile to your face.

"So, Pierre." Will shifts on his feet, pausing to create a sense of drama. "Your seat for next year. We know you'll be in Alpha Tauri or at Red Bull. Only a few points separate you from being demoted right back to eighth in the championship, which would officially relegate you to keep your seat at Alpha for the upcoming season. Are you worried about a mechanical problem or an accident stripping you of your chance to prove yourself and leaving you stuck where you are?"

Your stomach sinks. Buxton knew how to phrase a question, you had to give him that. Each word had been carefully chosen to elicit an emotional response from Pierre. You hate seeing him backed into a corner, forced to answer the same questions again and again, helpless to prevent it.

"Well first of all I'd like to stay that I'm not stuck at Alpha." Pierre shifts his weight and you exhale. Buxton's poisoned dart had missed its mark.

"Given a few years of development I know we could have a really competitive car. But it's more so that I'm ready to move up, fight with the leaders now instead of waiting. I'm in my prime and I don't want to let that pass me by.

"So no, I'm not worried about things that are out of my control. My team has given me an amazing car this year and I'm not concerned about mechanical problems. Things out of my control aren't worth my energy. There's nothing I can do about it so I don't even give it thought. I'll focus on my driving and pushing my limit- if an accident happens, I'm just a passenger."

"Well said." Buxton nods and turns away, effectively dismissing Pierre. As soon as he's out of the camera's view he's reaching for you and you meet him halfway. Sylvie trails after you as Pierre leads you through to the Alpha garage.

"Five minutes until your briefing," Alana says the second you enter. "And hey girl. Don't think I've forgotten about that sweater I loaned you. I still want it back!"

Your friend doesn't leave any room for rebuttal before heading for the conference room, presumably to set up whatever presentation she had created. Sylvie had disappeared too, leaving you as the only one for Pierre to focus on.

"You think I can do it?" He asks quietly, playing with your interlaced fingers.

"I don't think." You tilt his chin up so he's looking at you. "I know. And I'll be right here when you cross that line on Sunday and bring home points. You've got this, baby. Don't doubt yourself now."

"Pierre!"

Your grip on his chin prevents him from following the voice, not that he would if he could. You shoot him a raucous grin, "Red Bull colors would look pretty good on me, huh?"

Pierre's smile is brighter than all the stars in the sky. "Anything with my name on it will do.”

@seasidetom @flashcal @limp-wrist-max @sunshinesewis @lifeofzoemichael @ninuffi @perfectfantasies22 @lamboleglerg @ladyperceval @0forgottenparadise0 @evie-pr @avsensio @ninuffi @lu-morningstar @ggaslyp1 @swiftyhowlz @xeniarocks @teenwaywardasgardian @saintandrea-droidsmuggler

Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future updates!

#pierre gasly #pierre gasly fanfiction #formula 1 fanfiction #formula 1 fantasy #formula 1 #formula 1 fanfic #formula 1 fic #formula 1 imagine #formula 1 rpf #f1 fanfic #f1 fanfiction #f1 fic #f1 fantasy #f1 imagine #f1 rpf #f1 #reader insert #pierre gasly x reader #his good sweater

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greenlantern94to04 · 4 years ago

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The Green Lantern Stories Ron Marz Wrote BEFORE Kyle Rayner

Before becoming Green Lantern writer and co-creating our boy Kyle, Ron Marz wrote some short stories for the Green Lantern Corps Quarterly anthology series. Are these tales absolutely necessary to understand the Kyle Rayner comics this blog is supposed to be about? Nope. But I still read them because OCD compelled me to, so here they are:

Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #4 (Spring 1993)

Fun fact: the first Green Lantern created by Ron Marz wasn't Kyle Rayner, it was Torquemada, the GL who's also a space wizard. In this story, a young guy from a rival gang of space wizards sneaks into Torquemada's secret hideout to steal his GL ring, and hit on his bosomy apprentice Giselle while he's at it.

The evil wizard almost gets away with Torque's ring, but then he decides to force Giselle to make out with him before leaving... unaware that she has a curse that makes everyone she kisses turn into gold. The story ends with the reveal that there's a whole bunch of golden statues inside the hideout, including a female and a giant one, because creeps come in all shapes and sizes.

Not sure how the guy didn't see all those statues there, though. Anyway, Torquemada went on to appear a few times during Marz's run and beyond (without Giselle, unfortunately).

Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #5 (Summer 1993)

Next up is a two-part story about Alan Scott, the original 1940s Green Lantern. Ever wondered why Alan looked so young in the mid-'90s while his Justice Society of America pals looked like old geezers? This story explains it. It starts with Alan dreaming about his wife, the retired supervillain Harlequin (not that one), and waking up to find a young guy staring at him from the mirror.

(This is also how I react upon seeing my handsome face every morning.)

Alan goes out to look for whoever is pulling a Benjamin Button on him, and runs across two supposedly dead enemies of his, the Icicle and Solomon Grundy. They turn out to be illusions created a young lady who also calls herself Harlequin (not that one, either), who says she's only doing this so she and Alan can "be together". Then she disappears and leaves him alone, which is the opposite of being together. To be continued...

Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #6 (Autumn 1993)

Alan visit the JSA to let his friends know he's young again, and they immediately start trying to kill him. Supposedly it's because they think he's an impostor, but it's pretty clear that they're just jealous of his smooth skin and full head of hair.

But that's not really the JSA, it's just another illusion created by the new Harlequin. Turns out she's been obsessed with Alan since she was a kid because she has the same illusion-based powers as his wife, so she figures they should be together. Makes sense! Also, she claims that she's not the one who made him look young: he did that to himself, somehow. Alan looks kind of intrigued by Harlequin's sexy visions, but he snaps out of it when his real wife shows up. When Harlequin hurts the old lady, Alan loses it and shows HER a vision of what it'd look like if they dated, and... they'd be heavily into demonic S&M roleplaying, apparently?

(I suspect this is more about Marz trying to give artist Jim Balent some Jim Balent-type stuff to draw. Maybe Balent put it in his contract.)

This spooks the new Harlequin away and Alan has a tender reunion with his wife, who is still old. And then they went home and did S&M stuff, I guess.

Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #7 (Winter 1993)

This issue is mostly written by Marz and partly drawn by Kyle Rayner co-creator Darryl Banks, so I guess it technically counts as the start of their run. The Marz-written stories are:

The origin of Alan Scott's powers! We see the Guardians of the Universe when they were young, tall, and badass, slaying demons in a hell planet called Ysmault as part of their quest to rid the universe of magic. Once they were done with that, they crammed all that magic inside a celestial body called Starheart, part of which eventually crashed down on Earth and was forged into the magic lantern that Alan bumped into when he was young (the first time he was young, I mean). I'm not sure if this is a recap of previously known information or if Marz was the first to establish the connection between Alan and the early Guardians. Anyone know?

Alan's kids, the superheroes Jade and Obsidian, visit him for Halloween and are surprised to see that their dad is now the same age as them (Obsidian seems particularly shaken by the fact that Alan’s “in better shape” than him). Then Torquemada drops by too and asks for Alan's assistance with a space magic emergency. Jade and Obsidian want to help as well, since they didn't have their own comic at the time and could probably use the exposure, but their dad tells them to stay home with their mom. As they fly off into space, Torquemada tells Alan about all the weird magic-related stuff happening across the universe, which serves as a framing device for the rest of the stories. Including...

Marz introduces another GL who has a second job: Ash, a vampire hunter in a planet infested by vamps. When he finally kills the vampire who murdered his wife (at the cost of three fingers), Ash wants to retire from vampire hunting, but the girl he just saved asks him to keep at it because "there are monsters everywhere". Then we see that her shadow is all spooky, so I guess she was a vampire too... and she wants Ash to keep killing them anyway? Doesn't make much sense, but the story has sweet Tony Harris art so who cares.

Back to Alan and Torquemada, they reach the Starheart, which has become unstable, explaining the weird magic-related stuff going on in the universe (including Alan being de-aged). Torque says that a "Sentinel" was supposed to guard this place and prevent this from happening, but the Starheart's evil side gained sentience and killed her. Evil Starheart taunts Alan and Torque with visions of their loved ones in danger, which is pretty dumb because it just pisses Alan off and makes him fight it harder. The Starheart ends up exploding and its evil side escapes, but Alan says he'll be waiting for it whenever it resurfaces.

This conveniently sets the stage for Alan to adopt the Sentinel name when DC enacts their "there's only ONE Green Lantern and he's Kyle" rule. There was one more issue of Green Lantern Corps Quarterly but it's a (very loose) "Emerald Twilight" tie-in, so I'll cover it along with the rest of that storyline.

Oh yeah, a bunch of magic-related DC characters make very brief cameos during this story, including Blaze from the Superman comics:

And now that I've shown her I have an excuse to link to this post from my Superman '86 to '99 blog and maybe trick some readers into coming here. Hi!

#green lantern #ron marz #jim balent #darryl banks #tony harris #alan scott #torquemada #ash #guardians of the universe #starheart #justice society of america #lady blaze #jade #obsidian #harlequin #alan's kinks

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dnkaus · 6 years ago

Text

Fateful Visions | Chapter 21: Incredulous Encounter

Namjoon x Reader (OC)

Summary: Idol Namjoon meets a grad student, Maya, but he experiences strange visions each time their eyes meet and they touch one another. Fate plays a magnetic role, & keeps bringing them together. Are these visions a sign that they should stay away or stay together?

Genre: Angst, Fluff

Previous Part: Chapter Twenty Next Part: Chapter Twenty Two

4 Months Later

A few months after Maya signed the contract and joined SM Entertainment as a full time songwriter, BTS was preparing for another comeback. BTS had almost accomplished every goal on their list, except they still had not been nominated for a Grammy yet. Therefore, this time they were eyeing the the Grammy nomination with their new album.

Members were still disoriented from the completion of their recent tour but they knew they had to get right back to work to prepare for this comeback. One afternoon Namjoon had just returned from a walk and went to Yoongi’s studio to pitch a new idea he had for a song they were working on together. Namjoon knocked on the door and Yoongi opened immediately.

“Hey! I just got an-” Namjoon was about to explain his idea, when he heard a beautiful song playing on Yoongi’s stereo system. Few females were rapping and singing over a classical traditional Thai music. Namjoon was intrigued so he just stood there for a few moments listening to the lyrics. The lyrics seemed to be about how this woman was a party and she realized she had small stain on her dress, she tried to ignore the stain, hoping that no one would notice, but her own attention became so focused on the stain that she couldn’t enjoy the party. In fact, she became so paranoid that she was certain that the stain was getting bigger as time went by. Eventually she just left the party because of a stain that was so small that no one would have even noticed. Namjoon immediately recognized the metaphor of stain was about problems. People ignore the problem hoping for it to disappear on its on but in the back of the mind the problem remains and eventually gets bigger.

Namjoon was mesmerized by the song as a strange feeling of pain and familiarity took over him. The voices of the females were not familiar, but the message was.

Yoongi noticed Namjoon was busy listening to the song so he decided not to interrupt until the song finished. As soon as the song ended, Namjoon suddenly asked “Wow, what song was that?”

“Small Stain,” by The Crescent, Yoongi replied.

“That’s such a good song. I am definitely adding that to my playlist.” Namjoon responded.

“Yeah, guess which company the group is from.” Yoongi said.

“Which company?” Namjoon asked.

“SM” Yoongi replied. “This is their new rookie group. The Crescent”

“Huh, well who would have thought SM would debut a girl group like this.” Namjoon answered.

“Yeah, I guess we just have that type of effect on other companies.” Yoongi smirked.

“What do you mean?” Namjoon asked.

“A girl group with 7 girls with 3 rappers and 4 vocalists that sing about philosophy. Sound familiar?”

Namjoon wheezed. “Well, at least they are a girl group.” Namjoon shrugged and smiled.

“Yeah, very creative.” Yoongi gave a sarcastic response.

“Anyways, I was here to talk about the song we were working on.” Namjoon changed the topic.

Namjoon and Yoongi talked about the song and eventually Namjoon went back to his studio. Yoongi on the other hand went back to the album he was listening to by The Crescent. He became curious about this group and decided to look at who the producers were for these songs. It was then that Yoongi came across a familiar name in the credits of the album. The song he was listening to earlier was written by a woman named Maya Shroff.

Yoongi was shocked. He let out a gasp. He couldn’t believe his eyes, so he decided to look up her name. He needed to know if this was the same Maya. Surely this was some mistake or a coincidence. Why in the world would Maya ever work for SM? That would be completely absurd considering what had happened.

As Yoongi searched Maya’s name on the internet, he immediately came across her blog first. He clicked on the blog to see if there was something written there. But all he saw were her poems and short stories. No ads and no other information.

Then Yoongi saw her past interviews with both American and Korean shows. But none of them were recent so they didn’t mention where she was now. This were all from before when she got her Ph.D.

He then came across the website for Violet Inc., which indicated that she had recently signed a publishing deal with them for a book. Along with that information was her photo and short paragraph about her recent accomplishments.

Yoongi gulped after reading the description. The description mentioned that Maya was finished with her Ph.D. and she was Korea. But how does this relate to SM? Why would she work for SM when she was working on her book? Yoongi was about to give up on his search when he came across a Naver article from some months ago regarding Maya’s recent contract with SM. Yoongi’s heart slightly dropped as he clicked on the article.

Yoongi immediately closed the tab out sheer disbelief. Not only was Maya in Korea, but she did indeed join SM Entertainment. But why? Wasn’t she working on a book? None of this made sense. But the real question was, should he tell Namjoon? Would it be better for him to just pretend like he doesn’t know? The song Small Stain began playing in Yoongi’s head as he came up with the decision. If he ignored this stain, he knew it would only get bigger.

Yoongi sighed. Yoongi had previously known about Maya’s famous blog, but he had never mentioned it to Namjoon. It was an unspoken rule between the members to never mention her name. But this would be hard to do if she was now in the same industry as them. He realized that he needed to let Namjoon know. It was better if the news came from him than some page on the internet.

Yoongi went to Namjoon’s studio to spill the truth. He knocked on Namjoon’s studio door, but no one answered. Yoongi knocked again and after what seemed like an infinity, Namjoon finally opened the door with expressions that made it easy for Yoongi to realize that he was too late. Namjoon already knew. Namjoon knew who had written the song that he had just complimented a few minutes ago. He wished he hadn’t, but just like Yoongi, Namjoon’s curiosity had gotten the best of him, and so he had also stumbled upon the same Naver article that Yoongi had.

“Ah, sorry hyung. I was just-” Namjoon was about to make some excuse as to why it took him long to open the door, but Yoongi already knew.

“No, it’s okay. I...I know everything.” Yoongi nodded and confirmed.

Namjoon sulked back into his desk chair out of defeat. “She is here. She is really back.” Namjoon mumbled in almost an inaudible voice. His face was sickly pale. It was as if all the blood in his body had been drained. Yoongi had no idea what to do.

“Yeah...I didn’t know until-” Yoongi began to explain.

“I don’t know whether I should cry or laugh.” Namjoon interrupted. “Why does it feel like I have been somehow betrayed?” Namjoon continued.

Yoongi remained silent. He had no answer to Namjoon’s question.

“Then again, I deserve all this don’t I? I deserve all of it.” Namjoon let out another despairing sentence.

“No, you don’t. Whatever happened was in the past. You and her are….just on different paths now.” Yoongi gave a weak response.

“Ha, different paths? No, hyung. Don’t you see it? She is literally working in the same industry as us now. And not only that, she is working for SM? Of all the companies, she picked SM?” Namjoon covered his face with his hands out of frustration.

“I am sure she has her reasons. Don’t think too much about this. I am sure you won’t even ever have to see her since she is just a songwriter. It’s not like she became an idol.” Yoongi assured.

Namjoon didn’t say anything for a few moments, but then he suddenly started laughing. It wasn’t a funny laugh, it was angry laugh. “Wow, it all makes now.” Namjoon said after a pause in his laughter. “Hyung, it all makes sense.”

“What?” Yoongi was utterly confused by Namjoon’s reaction. He could see tears welling up in Namjoon’s eyes but on the other hand Namjoon was laughing.

“I know why she did this. I bet it was him. He is the one who convinced her.”

“Who?”

Namjoon didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He felt like the ground underneath him was slowly slipping away with the realization of his reality.

“Namjoonie, who are you talking about?” Yoongi asked again.

Namjoon gulped. “Junmyeon Sunbaenim.”

“Why would he want her to join...actually, nevermind.”Yoongi didn’t finish his thought as he knew where this was going.

“I guess she finally moved on from me. She is with him now, probably.” Namjoon was mumbling what they both already knew. Maya had probably moved on. She was probably with Junmyeon now. It made sense to Namjoon for her to be with Junmyeon considering how much he had supported her when Namjoon wasn’t there.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions. We don’t know why she is joining that company. I don’t know Maya very well, but I don’t think she is going to date another idol after what happened the last time. It would be silly.”

“Maybe so. But love can make us do very silly things, trust me. ” Namjoon replied in a grave tone.

“I hope she is happy. I know I am. I am very happy for her. ” Namjoon continued as a tear did escape his eyes. He quickly wiped it and turned his chair to face the computer again, which was still displaying the Naver article from earlier.

“Don’t think about this too much. Dwelling on something that is not in our control is pointless. It will only drain your energy.” Yoongi gave a piece of his wisdom knowing full well that Namjoon would still dwell on the issue anyways.

Yoongi was right. Namjoon did dwell on the news anyways. His mind could not let go of the fact that Maya was really back in Korea and that she was working with SM. It hurt. In fact, it almost hurt worse than breaking up. He felt betrayed because all the times that he had asked Maya if she wanted credit on the songs she had helped him with, she had refused. She would tell him that she didn’t need the credit. And now she was working with SM? Perhaps, this was karma. He deserved to feel this way after what he did to her. Besides, this was an amazing opportunity for her. She was clearly growing as a writer. If this is what made her happy, then who was he to stop her? He didn’t even have the right to feel hurt over this anymore. After all, he himself had chosen his career over her too.

Over the next few months Small Stain by The Crescent started spreading like an epidemic across the East and the West. Everywhere anyone went, they were bound to hear Small Stain. What shocked people the most was that it became the third song to chart on the Top 10 on Billboard Hot 100 at #8, after BTS’s two title tracks charted at #10 and #1. In fact, it actually stayed there consistently even after digimon’s like Rihanna dropped her album. There was just something about the song that made everyone nostalgic and hyped at the same time. People didn’t need to understand the lyrics for it to be catchy, it just naturally became ingrained your head after the first listen. The Crescent also became one of the few rookies to get an Perfect All-Kill (PAK) on the Korean music charts.

Meanwhile, Maya’s blog began to gain even more traction from the fans of The Crescent. Suddenly, she was known as the “Word Wizard” on the internet as people started looking up the lyrics to her songs on the album. In fact, those publishing companies that had retracted their offers after seeing Maya, started offering her a new deal for her next book again. Nonetheless, Maya made sure not to let it get to her head. She wrote Small Stain and other songs on the album, just to pay her bills. She knew she would always be a poet and a fiction writer before she was a songwriter.

Overall, she was grateful that this whole deal with SM worked out, even though during the process of working with SM, she was realizing more and more of all the politics that went on in the Korean music industry. Up until now, she had heard things from Junmyeon about the industry, but now she was slowly becoming a part of it.

One morning in November, Maya received an email invite to MAMA awards. Maya didn’t think too much of it and disregarded the invite completely. That was until later that day, when her phone started buzzing while she was eating lunch. Maya looked at the screen and realized it was Junmyeon. She put down her plate of food and picked up the phone.

“Hello” Maya answered.

“Hey, Congratulations!! Sorry I was in a middle of the shoot earlier so couldn’t call” Junmyeon replied.

“Thanks! But what are you congratulating me for?” Maya asked out of confusion.

Junmyeon laughed. “You are so funny! Nice try! But I am not falling for your joke.”

“I am not joking though. What are congratulating me for?” Maya felt her heartbeat starting to raise.

“Maya, have you not seen the nominee list?” Junmyeon asked.

“Which one? Wait are you talking about the MAMA invite? Yeah, I saw that, but I didn’t see the nominee list.” Maya clarified.

“Well, check again!” Junmyeon demanded.

Maya laughed. “Alright, alright I am looking. Give me a second!”

Maya went to her room and opened up her laptop to pull up the email again. She once again read through the invitation and then she finally saw the attached nominee list. Maya opened the list, wondering what was in there.

That’s when she saw her name. Maya Shroff, Lyricist of the Year. Her breath hitched as she read the sentence again.

“Oh, I guess I am on the list. But I don’t understand. Does this mean I am nominated?” Maya asked after a few seconds.

“No, actually they already announced your name as a winner. They usually just announce the winners for technical and producing awards. But, they’ll still call you up on stage to get the award.”

“What? So this means I won?” Maya asked the question again, almost out of disbelief.

“Yes, you did! That’s why I am congratulating you!” Junmyeon tried to remind Maya his original reason for calling her in the first place.

Maya just sat there in disbelief. “Wow, who would have thought that I would get an award for writing songs. This is crazy.” Maya said. She was lacking enthusiasm.

“How come you don’t seem very happy?” Junmyeon questioned.

“Because, I guess I still haven’t gotten used to being in this industry...” Maya often felt guilty working with SM. She couldn’t completely pinpoint the reason the why, but being part of SM’s “innovative team” made her feel uncomfortable at times. When they were working on making The Crescent’s album, the team of producers and creatives mainly always talked about making it in America and breaking through in the West. Every meeting consisted of plans and strategies to make sure that The Crescent ended up on the Billboard charts, instead of talking about music. Maya was happy that those strategies and plans worked out, but then again, was this really the point of the album? Was this the point of being a songwriter, choreographer, or producer?Winning this award was exciting, but it made Maya feel like it was not because of her lyrics, but rather because this is was part of the strategies and marketing.

“I am not sure what you mean, but in my opinion, this is an amazing achievement. It’s like everything you touch turns to gold.” Junmyeon laughed.

Maya rolled her eyes. “Ah, I wouldn’t say that. Perhaps, those surrounded by gold are often the lonliest. I am just grateful to have you and Han Bi” Maya said as she started skimming through the nominee list again. She wanted to know whether EXO was nominated or not. After all, she needed to cheer them on, just like Junmyeon had cheered for her till now. She remembered suddenly that last year EXO had not won any daesangs, and it truly broke Junmyeon’s heart. She hoped this year it would be different.

Maya skimmed the list, and found EXO’s name under the all 3 daesang categories: Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and Artist of the Year. Of course, alongside EXO were none other than BTS and The Crescent. Maya saw the names and immediately closed the document, as she realized something she had never given any thought to till now. Something that her conscious mind had completely disregarded till now. It finally hit Maya that she was now BTS’s competitor.

It finally hit her that she really was in the same industry as BTS. Oh god, what had she done. How could she have been so oblivious to the fact that by working with SM, she was essentially working against BTS. The album that she had written songs on was breaking records that were previously set by BTS. Her song was currently charting right alongside BTS’s song. She wondered if BTS knew about this. Did they know she had joined SM? Did they know she was back? She wondered how they would feel if they saw her. If he saw her.

“Maya, are you there?” Junmyeon asked.

“Hmm?”

“What happened? You went completely silent for a few seconds.” Junmyeon asked.

“Oh...umm...nothing...umm...I was just looking at the list and I see that EXO is nominated for all the daesang categories! Oppa, I am so so proud of you! Congratulations!” Maya replied.

Junmyeon went silent this time.

“What’s wrong?” Maya asked.

“Maya, we are nominated alongside The Crescent and BTS, do you really think we will win? The boys and I have accepted our fate. But thanks anyways!”

“What? What do you mean? Of course you can win! EXO has the longest streak of being million sellers. You can’t deny the success. Besides, your song was charting on the Hot 100 too!”

“Yeah, I guess we’ll see. Anyways, I guess I will see you at the award ceremony.” Junmyeon changed the topic. He felt like talking about it would somehow make him feel worse.

“Umm...I don’t think I’ll go.” Maya replied.

“What? Why?” Junmyeon asked.

“I just don’t feel right. Besides, it’s not like I am idol.” Maya explained.

“Oh gosh, don’t tell me it’s because of them.” Junmyeon responded as he referred to BTS as them.

“My goal of doing this was to prove to myself and the industry that my skin doesn’t define my ability to be a good writer. And I already did that. What’s the point of me going?” Maya defended.

“Well, I hope you know it’s in your contract. You are required to attend events that promote the album and that do not conflict with other schedules” Junmyeon responded.

“What?” Maya was in disbelief. She had forgotten the conditions that were listed in the contract. She could feel herself panic.

“You can look it up.” Junmyeon answered. “You being there would be great publicity for SM, so I am sure they are going to make you go.”

“But I don’t want to…” Maya insisted.

“Maya the announcers might even invite you on the stage during the technical award ceremony, don’t you want to receive the award yourself? Look, if you think they are going to come bother you, I promise they won’t. I’ll make sure they don’t even come near you” Junmyeon assured. Again “they” was in reference to BTS.

“No, that’s not what I am afraid of. Seeing them again is just going to make things complicated. I don’t want that. It’s going to hurt him so much if sees me. I don’t even know if he knows that I am back.” Maya broke down finally. All these years and she couldn’t help but think about how Namjoon would feel to see her again. She had told herself and him that they would never see each other again, but now she herself was failing at staying away from him.

“Maya it’s been years. People in our industry break up all the time and they still see each other. I mean he even probably runs into Ji Hyu all the time and they dated longer than you and him did.” Poor Junmyeon was oblivious to the whole ‘98% in-sync’ part. He had no idea that Namjoon and Maya were connected much more deeply. He had no idea how much the universe had to plan to get them together the first time.

“Yeah I guess that’s true. Perhaps, he has moved on, but I haven’t. Seeing him again would probably break whatever little courage I have mustered up so far.” Maya gave an honest response.

“But what if seeing him ends up making you stronger? You knew going in this would happen,right? You knew you would run into him eventually, so why is it bothering you now?” Junmyeon was just confused. To him it was just seeing an ex again. Sure, it would hurt, but he would never avoid an entire event just to avoid them. It didn’t make sense to him why Maya was questioning all of this now, when she was the one who wanted to join the industry anyways.

“I honestly never thought this far. I didn’t know the album and song would end up doing so well. I had no idea that the whole SM team was actually going to successfully break into the West. I just wrote the songs and that’s it.”

“Then accept it as fate. If you avoid him the way he avoided you, you are repeating the same cowardness he showed years ago. Besides, I am pretty sure SM will make sure you enforce this contract because this will benefit them. Trust me. Why do you think we all attend these ceremonies? It’s not because we want to. It’s because it’s required.” Junmyeon reminded Maya.

Maya didn’t respond at first. It was starting to feel like her small decision to join SM had turned into a complicated scheme of bringing her face to face with her biggest fear. Was she ready to face him again? Perhaps, Junmyeon was right that it was fate.

“Oppa, why did I do this to myself? Why didn’t I think this through before?” Maya felt frustrated.

“Because you are growing and with each step you are bound to face new challenges.”

“Well, either this event is going to make me stronger than ever before or it's going to break me into pieces.” Maya said with her voice half-audible.

Junmyeon smirked. “Either ways, Han Bi and I will be there afterwards.”

December

The day arrived when most of the Korean music industry gathered in Japan for another year of MAMA awards. The whole spectacle included the technical awards, the red carpet, and then finally the usual telecasted music awards. Maya had initially thought she would only be required to stay for the technical awards, but of course, the event manager insisted that she stay for the red carpet and the actual ceremony. For the technical awards, Maya was seated with the other members of the SM team that were involved with the making of The Crescent’s album. The idols were not present for those as these awards were not really telecasted. Maya was honestly relieved to hear that.

Names started being announced of all the winners. For these awards the winners were already decided so there was no need for nominee announcement. Almost all members of the The Crescent’s production team received an award. Except the choreographer award went to BTS’s choreographer Son Sungdeuk and the producer of the year award went to BTS’s producer PDogg, once again. Thankfully neither one of them really knew much about Maya, so they didn’t really give her any attention. Maya on the other hand couldn’t decide whether she should feel upset or happy that those awards went to BTS instead of her team. Finally, the time came when her name was announced as the lyricist of the year.

Maya slowly stood up and went up to the stage. She was grateful she didn’t need to give a speech, because for these awards they only usually took pictures, and there were no speeches. She just went on to the stage and accepted the award. Those that didn’t know her gasped when they saw her, some looked confused, while others were in awe.

Maya went back to her seat afterwards and stayed till the end of the technical awards. Then the award show staff signaled her to go backstage so that she could prepare for her red carpet appearance.

Soon the red carpet started with celebrities appearing one after another. BTS appeared and walked towards the MC, who was there to assist the media representatives and also ask them questions for the journalists.

The MC handed each member a microphone, before beginning the question portion of the ceremony.

“Good evening, gentleman! How are you all feeling tonight?” The MC asked.

BTS begin by introducing themselves, followed by Namjoon’s response. “Good evening! We are very excited to be here again on this auspicious occasion. We always look forward to this night, as MAMA awards do hold a special place in our heart.” Namjoon explained.

“Yes, you gentleman always leave us with some memorable moments, so tell us, what can we expect from you tonight. We know you are performing, so could you tell us a little bit about your performance?” the MC asked.

This time Hoseok took over the question. “Yes, we don’t want to spoil too much, but I will say this performance is focusing on emotions of nostalgia and regret. These two elements have been our theme recently, so we’ll incorporate those emotions in our performance tonight.”

“Ah, that sounds very exciting!” The MC enthusiastically responded.

“Yes, I would also like to add, as always we also have hints for our future work hidden in our performance, so please anticipate it.” Yoongi added.

“Oh wow, I feel like the audience will definitely have the eyes glued to their screens now.” The MC joked. “Alright, gentlemen, I will see you in the ceremony. Thank you for your wonderful interview!” The MC concluded the interview and the members went inside the venue towards their seat.

A few more celebrities were interviewed, followed by Maya’s red carpet appearance. She was quite unprepared for this as this was decided last minute that she would be staying for the entire award ceremony. She was half-panicked and fully unprepared for this interview. First, as with every idol and celebrity, the media people took her pictures. Then the MC began the interview with Maya.

“Good evening, Dr. Shroff” The MC introduced Maya as Dr. Shroff, which caught her off guard. She was not used to being called that.

“Oh, good evening to you too!” Maya replied. She felt completely out of place and frazzled. Her mind was going a million miles per hour and she felt like she would fall any second. Why was she here? How did this happen? She was just supposed to be in the background. She just wanted a side job while she wrote her book. Why in the world did she agree to do this?

“Thank you. It’s really our pleasure to have you here tonight. How are you feeling about being here at the MAMA awards?” the MC asked with a bright smile. It was becoming more and more obvious to the MC that Maya was feeling very nervous, so the MC tried to keep a positive and friendly vibe to help Maya calm down.

“Oh...thanks….I mean...I mean... the pleasure is truly mine. I...I feel honored to be amongst such great artists. I….I was not expecting this invitation at all…” Maya was stuttering as she was having trouble breathing.

“I assume you have already started your celebration, since earlier this evening you won the prestigious Lyricist of the Year award for The Crescent’s debut album, right?” the MC stated.

“Ah, yes, definitely! Working on the songs for The Crescent has been such great learning opportunity for me as a writer. I feel….I feel proud of our team that worked on the album.” Maya was saying whatever that came to mind to keep the interview going.

“Now, of course as a songwriter and novelist, we know you won’t performing tonight, but are you excited to see any performances?” the MC asked an innocent question, but little did they know how hard this question really was for Maya.

Maya debated what to say. Should she just say The Crescent? Or would that sound too arrogant? Should she say EXO? But then what if the media interprets that the wrong way? She definitely can’t say BTS for obvious reasons. Wonder if she can get away with just saying that she was excited to see everyone.

“Uh, well...I am honestly excited to see everyone perform tonight. They are all so talented and I feel very grateful to even get a chance like this.”

“Oh, we should be the ones who are grateful to have you here. We are greatly excited for your new book that you working on and maybe the new songs that hopefully you’ll bring in the future. Hope you’ll enjoy your evening. Thank you!” The MC bowed and concluded the interviewed.

Maya internally let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you so much for you great wishes.” Maya bowed back and went towards the venue once the interview ended.

Inside the venue most of the idols were already seated. Taehyung was socializing with his idol friends that he had not had a chance to see in a long time, Yoongi was blankly staring at the stage perhaps contemplating some life lessons, while Jungkook and Seokjin were both playing a game on their phones. Namjoon, Jimin, and Hoseok were talking about their performance later that night, because Namjoon wasn’t feeling too well.

“Did you take your medicine?” Hoseok asked Namjoon.

“I did. I just need to make it through tonight.” Namjoon replied. He had suddenly fallen sick the night before, and he really couldn’t understand why. He kept coughing and his head and stomach were aching quite badly. He just felt weak and dizzy, as if he would collapse any moment.

“Hyung, you should have stayed at the hotel. What if something happens on the stage?” Jimin replied.

“Maybe you should rest backstage until our performance, do you think that will help?” Hoseok suggested.

Namjoon was tempted to follow Hoseok’s suggestion.

“Yes, that’s a great idea.” Jimin agreed.

“C’mon, let’s get you backstage, alright?” Hoseok said.

Namjoon nodded.

Hoseok got up from his seat and him and Namjoon went backstage.

Meanwhile, the rest of the members tried to socialize a bit more, as they waited for the rest of the guests to enter the venue.

Yoongi and Seokjin were talking to members of Day6 when they saw a familiar figure walking inside the venue. Yoongi and Seokjin both tried to clear their eyes, making sure this incredulous sight was real. However, no matter how many times they blinked and tried to rub their eyes to clear their vision, the view did not change. The person they were seeing was indeed really there.

Yoongi mumbled a series of curse words under his breath.

“Crap! Seokjin joined.

“This can’t be real. This isn’t real right.” Seokjin turned to Yoongi, almost begging Yoongi to essentially tell him he was dreaming.

“It’s definitely real…” Yoongi replied much to Seokjin’s dismay.

By this point the other members, except Hoseok and Namjoon who were backstage, had also noticed the person that had entered the venue. All of the members immediately returned to their seats and looked at each other, as if they were trying to figure out an escape plan.

“Guys, what should we do?” Taehyung asked with both sadness and warmth on his face.

“Looks like the stain just got bigger…” Yoongi said referencing the song Small Stain.

No one responded to Yoongi at first, because they were too busy staring at Maya Shroff, as she found her seat in the back of all the idols. All the members knew Maya was back in Korea, but none of them had expected her to come to the award show. They were all shocked that she was somehow invited to stay for the whole award show.

A wave of cold air suddenly passed through the venue when Maya’s eyes accidentally met BTS members, causing Maya to shudder. She immediately looked away and began talking to some of the other producers sitting next to her, that were also asked to stay during the whole event.

“No, I think the stain was always bigger than we thought…” Jimin gave a painfully witty response to Yoongi’s earlier reference. He suddenly felt a surge of guilt take over him again as he remembered the day years ago at Maya’s apartment when he had delivered Namjoon’s cruel message. Till this day he could not forget how he had left Maya in such a lifeless state. He had never told the other members the sight he had witnessed, but honestly, he felt as if he had a killed person that day. Of course, as fate would have it, he was now seeing that person alive again.

Jimin was right. The stain of Namjoon and Maya’s story was always bigger than anyone had anticipated. Till now both sides had ignored this stain, hoping that it would disappear on its own, but as Maya’s song suggests, trying to hide the stain will only attract more attention towards it. So then what should they do? Hide, run, or embrace?

#bts #BTS au #au #bts imagines #imagines #bts senarios #bts reader #namjoon reader #bts fanfic #bts fanfiction #fanfiction #namjoon #yoongi #hoseok #jin #jungkook #jimin #tae #suga #jhope #v

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jordoalejandro · 3 years ago

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The Fifth Annual List of TV Shows I Saw the Past Year

This is another weird year for the list.

For one, a handful of shows are still on some kind of COVID related delay or hiatus.

Two, I dropped quite a few shows. Some I just bailed on because I had no patience to watch another season of them. Some shows I never got around to because I had an Apple TV+ free subscription that came with my iPhone and that ran out and I didn’t pay to renew it. (Here’s my quick review of Apple TV+: the quality of the shows is good but the quantity leaves a lot to be desired. You could probably pay for a month and binge through everything you have any interest in.)

Three, a lot of shows that I’m reviewing here have seasons that aren’t finished. They’re still going. Most are at least close to finishing. Some that have just started I’m going to wait on and review on next year’s list. But a handful of shows on this list are chugging along. I’m trying to factor that into my reviews but it's obviously a bit unfair to the shows. On the other hand, who cares?

So it’ll be a list with fewer entries, comprised of full seasons of shows and shows I watched most of. The list must happen, though. However it has to happen, it must happen.

Here’s the list of shows I’ve watched since the last Emmy Awards.

41. The Equalizer (Season 1 - 2021, CBS) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - The Equalizer is a fascinating show. You know how with some shows people will say the show is fully realized from the pilot? It’s usually presented as a good thing -- a show that knew what it was from the start and executed that vision. The Equalizer is that but in a bad way. It’s a show that from the pilot has felt like it was already in its tired ninth season, trudging along, writers and actors and everyone just going through the motions because they’re trapped in their contracts. There’s nothing fresh about this. No life to it. Uninteresting plots. Weak dialogue. Characters -- both heroes and villains -- that you’ve seen a thousand times (the nerdy IT expert, the troublesome teenage child of the main character, the generic good looking older white guy boss figure, blah blah blah). A show that’s already in late-stage syndication mode.

40. The Flash (Season 7 - 2021, CW) (Last year’s ranking: 49) - Speaking of late-stage syndication mode, The Flash has been in a creative tailspin for several years now. A big part of the problem is they just have no ideas left in the tank for villains on this show. This leads to them either reusing old ones (which doesn’t have a ton of dramatic impact -- we’ve seen The Flash beat all these people before), or digging through comic canon for the ones they have left (they’ve been unused this long for a reason). The other problem is it turns out running fast as a solution to every issue gets old very quickly. The producers must have felt this, and having gotten tired of telling Barry he has to run faster than he’s ever run before, they’ve switched it up and are now telling him to love people harder than he’s ever loved them before. Beyond the structural problems, the show is just not working on a very basic level. The writing has gotten super corny. The acting seems off. They’ve introduced new characters that are not working. The Flash had my worst rated episode this year and the weird thing was, it wasn’t even a mess of an episode. Like, functionally, it worked. It went from point A to point B and all that fine. But the problem was the titular Flash took off in the first few minutes of the episode to have sex with his wife on an island (not a joke) and didn’t return until the last few minutes of the episode. In between, viewers received a very boring, very boilerplate episode of The Flash, starring one of the new side characters it’s incredibly hard to care about. And she interacted with some even more to-the-side side characters and had some relationship issues with them and on and on until they inevitably saved the day in the end and it was so dull and so pointless that it made me say out loud, “What is this? Why am I watching this? Who could possibly care about anything that is happening on screen right now?” I felt that a lot during this season of The Flash. That was the only time I felt compelled to articulate it, but I felt it a lot. And that’s not a great place to be with a show.

39. Riverdale (Season 5 - 2021, CW) (Last year’s ranking: 50) - Here’s a little insight as to how stupid Riverdale can be. Between episodes three and four of this season (episode three was what would’ve been the season finale of season 4, which was cut short by COVID so at least it's not wholly random, in fairness), Riverdale did a seven year time jump. This seven year time jump landed them in the year… 2021. They shifted everything that happened in the first four seasons of their show, including dozens upon dozens of current day pop culture references, about a decade into the past. And why did they do this? So they could change a few things and then basically keep telling the same exact stories they were telling the first four years of this show. Just stupid nonsense. Stupid nonsense all around. Which, to be fair, I actually used to look forward to from this show. I’ve argued here that it’s at its best when it’s being as stupid as possible, but this year the nonsense just doesn’t seem inspired. They’re recycling some plots. The actors seem checked out. Maybe all the years of nonsense have finally taken their toll on them.

38. Batwoman (Season 2 - 2021, CW) (Last year’s ranking: 43) - Batwoman lost its main actress in between seasons, which obviously put it at a difficult crossroads. In my opinion, the wise thing to do would have probably been to recast as best as possible and carry on. Instead, the show chose to go a different direction and cast a new person to play an entirely new character. There was maybe a way this could work, but you likely have to retool the entire show to get there. Instead, they changed nothing but the main character and inserted her into the middle of the old character’s world, forcing her to have the same supporting characters and deal with some of the same storylines the old character was dealing with. This led to a lot of story beats where new Batwoman had to interact with old Batwoman’s family. What was in season one drama between Batwoman and her sister, or her father, became drama between the new Batwoman and this crazy lady she just met, or this guy she barely knows. As you might be able to guess, this added an air of “who cares?” to the proceedings. Also, the whole season essentially became an origin story for new Batwoman, which was a problem because that’s basically what season one of the show was. It wasn't super engrossing. That said, let me put aside the issues raised there. Having to recast your main actress is obviously a tough situation. They didn’t handle it well, but it was tough. Here’s why this show is still all the way down here on the list: bad execution. Week in, week out: bad plots, bad dialogue, dumb subplots, forgettable villains. A lot of the same issues that are plaguing The Flash. The show is simply not executing. It’s like these superhero CW shows don’t know how to do writers’ rooms over Zoom.

37. Everything’s Gonna Be Okay (Season 2 - 2021, Freeform) (Last year’s ranking: 47) - I said last year I didn’t know if I liked this show or not. I think the fact that I’ve put it near the bottom of my list for two years in a row has answered that for me. It’s a kind of fascinating show in how, I guess… aimless it is. Floating from one scene to the next, one plot to the next, one episode to the next, no real driving force. A comedy that’s not really funny. A drama that isn’t very strong. A few good moments in a season of ten half-hour episodes. Would I have watched a third season? Yeah, probably. Not in a hate-watch way, but also not in a like-watch way. I’m glad it got canceled because it means I’m free of it. Would I recommend to other people any of the shows I’ve seen from Josh Thomas? No. Definitely not. Will I watch whatever Josh Thomas writes next? Yeah, probably. Though I can’t say why.

36. Soulmates (Season 1 - 2020, AMC) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - This was a short Black Mirror-esque anthology series that ran out of interesting stories to tell surprisingly quick. Like, third episode quick. This show’s problem is that, while Black Mirror has freedom to tell lots of different stories, Soulmates is restrained by its premise: a short time into the future a company creates a test that can match you to your soulmate with 100% accuracy. It’s not a bad premise, but you can sort of imagine how it would constrain the storytelling possibilities. The test matches you with someone surprising, the test matches you with the wrong person, etc. etc. The whole thing was only six episodes and it felt repetitive even within that small amount.

35. Debris (Season 1 - 2021, NBC) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - Debris was created by J. H. Wyman, who did a lot of work on Fringe, one of my favorite sci-fi shows ever. Unfortunately, Debris was just a pale imitation of Fringe. The characters weren’t strong enough. The ideas weren’t intriguing enough. The episodes were often flat. They just didn’t have enough action or drama or horror or twists or whatever you might be hoping for from a show like this. They’d have a lot of walking around and looking at stuff and people talking about the stuff that was happening and then they’d kind of just peter out. A real disappointment.

34. The Walking Dead: World Beyond (Season 1 - 2020, AMC) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - You know how teenagers can often be the worst characters on a TV show? How they can exist just to act bratty and make really stupid decisions? Well, imagine a whole show of that. I’m half-joking. It’s not that bad. There’s some fun stuff and it works as a companion piece in this series of shows, but for the most part, it’s a lot of watching teenagers make really stupid decisions and almost getting themselves killed.

33. Stargirl (Season 2 - 2021, CW) (Last year’s ranking: 36) - Speaking of teenagers making really stupid decisions and almost getting themselves killed... Stargirl is a bit of a strange show. It’s kind of lighthearted, but also weirdly dark (more children die in this show than died in all the other shows I watched this year combined). It has some interesting characters and some absolutely ridiculous ones. Some fun episodes, but what also feels like quite a bit of filler. It’s not bad, it’s just also not great.

32. Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (Season 2 - 2021, NBC) (Last year’s ranking: 20) - The first season of this show was about a handful of things, but the big emotional throughline was about Zoey dealing with the impending death of her father, who had been diagnosed with an incurable neurological disease. While the other plotlines in the show could be hit or miss, there was always emotional meat on that bone, so to speak. Well, minor spoiler alert I guess, but her father died at the end of the first season from the aforementioned incurable disease. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the second season of the show really laid bare how important that throughline was to the whole thing. Without it, the show felt rudderless. There were a lot of pieces of plots but nothing really anchoring them the way her father’s storyline did. Plus, there was a lot more love-triangle stuff, which wasn’t the most original, compelling plot the first season and grew even more tiresome in the second. The show sort of became like late-stage Glee for me, where I stopped caring about the plots and just listened for the songs. That more or less worked with Glee because almost all the people on that show were excellent singers. It works much less on this show because maybe (generously) half the performers are good singers.

31. MacGyver (Season 5 - 2020-2021, CBS) (Last year’s ranking: 26) - It was a pretty weak final season for MacGyver. They abandoned some interesting storylines from last season in a disappointing way. In fairness, it’s because last season got shortened by COVID and I guess for whatever reason they couldn’t find a way to pick back up where they left off. But still, they had a tough time regaining the momentum after they lost it. The cancellation was without warning from CBS, too, so there’s no real conclusion to anything. Just an average season finale that suddenly became a series finale. Tough way to go out.

30. Bob's Burgers (Season 11 - 2020-2021, FOX) (Last year’s ranking: 38) - I was looking back at my episode ratings for this show from the last two years and realized they were pretty similar. Both last year and this year, there was only one episode per season that I thought was pretty good. There was also one episode each year I thought was awful. And then, basically, there were 21 episodes each season that were fine. Just fine. A few laughs. Nothing really engrossing. Worked well enough to keep me entertained and not much more.

29. The Walking Dead (Season 10B - 2021, AMC) (Last year’s ranking: 29) - The eleventh season of the show is currently on-going. That’ll be on next year’s list. This is just for a grouping of six episodes that aired earlier this year. They were extremely forgettable with the exception of two episodes. I enjoyed “One More” quite a bit and I really liked the Negan origin story episode: “Here’s Negan”. Probably one of the best episodes they’d done in years.

28. The Blacklist (Season 8 - 2020-2021, NBC) (Last year’s ranking: 39) - A slight improvement for this show from last year. A handful of average episodes, a few very good ones. A really fascinating choice made at the end of the season that makes me interested in seeing what next season will be like.

27. The Moodys (Season 2 - 2021, FOX) (Last year’s ranking: 46) - I described this show last season as “likeable if not particularly funny” and said if it was to come back, the writing would have to get sharper. That remains pretty accurate. The writing was slightly better, though not enough to make this a truly good show.

26. Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Season 1 - 2021, Disney+) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - This show was way too overstuffed to really work well, which seems a poor choice made in the writing process. It has like a dozen different ideas it wants to touch on and doesn’t really execute any single one of them in a satisfying manner. The real shame of it is there was a good show in here if they just chose to keep things simple. The best episode by far featured Falcon and the Winter Soldier going on a mission with Baron Zemo. That was it. They went to a shady bar of villains and did some spy stuff. Blew some stuff up. Fought some bad guys. That’s the show! Sticking with a core of that and cutting the 20-something unnecessary side characters would’ve gone a long way.

25. Archer (Season 11 - 2020, FXX) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - The show returned to its spy satire roots and started clicking again. It’s not at the level of its earlier peak seasons, but it’s still reliable for some good laughs.

24. The Great North (Season 1 - 2021, FOX) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - Solid animated comedy from two of the writers of Bob’s Burgers. It obviously borrows a lot from the style and tone of that show. I do find The Great North a little fresher. The writing is a little sharper, the stories are a little more interesting (but it also isn’t in its 11th season like Bob’s Burgers so it’s not a wholly fair comparison). It slots in nicely with the other FOX Sunday animation shows.

23. The Simpsons (Season 32 - 2020-2021, FOX) (Last year’s ranking: 37) - I essentially write the same thing every year about The Simpsons. Some highs, some lows. I felt the quality of episodes this season, for whatever reason, was generally a little bit higher than last, thus it’s up here.

22. Duncanville (Season 2 - 2021, FOX) (Last year’s ranking: 34) - It didn’t make the huge leap in quality I was hoping for, but it was consistently above average this season, with a couple of flashes of excellence.

21. Snowpiercer (Season 2 - 2021, TNT) (Last year’s ranking: 14) - Decent second season for this show. Started a bit slowly but picked up in the back half. Sean Bean was a good addition to the cast. If it dropped in quality from season one, it might be because I liked this show as my stupid summer show and season two aired during the winter. High possibility this affected my opinion of it.

20. Chad (Season 1 - 2021, TBS) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - This isn’t a show for people who can’t handle cringe comedy. It lives there. And if the joke isn’t landing, which sometimes it doesn’t on this show, then you’re just trapped in a scene. But! But the jokes often do land, and when they do, they are very good. It’s also occasionally a touching show. The main character is a little dick, but the show also has a lot of sympathy for him -- he’s the son of immigrants trying so hard to fit in in middle school, to be what he perceives to be normal, in a battle with his own identity, in some of the most difficult years in a teen's life. You hate him but you also feel for him and want him to win. It’s a show with a little more depth than I thought it would have coming in.

19. What If…? (Season 1 - 2021, Disney+) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - You know how it is with anthology shows: you win some, you lose some. The show is better at coming up with concepts than executing them, I think. Episodes feel a little rushed (generally because they’re trying to tell a movie’s worth -- or sometimes multiple movies’ worth -- of story in half an hour) and sometimes they feel like they just end because they've reached their time limit. Overall though, it’s a fun way to just try different things in the Marvel Universe.

18. Family Guy (Season 19 - 2020-2021, FOX) (Last year’s ranking: 24) - I barely even write blurbs about Family Guy on these lists anymore. It’s very consistent. This is around where it ends up on every list.

17. Alex Rider (Season 1 - 2020, IMDbTV) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - Fun fact: I watched this show as part of an online paid focus group thing. I’ll just tell you what I told the people who ran the focus group. It’s good. It’s sleek and well-made. It moves just a little too slow for a spy thriller but not to the point of being boring. The show does need a little more life though. Some more quips and liveliness. It’s pretty preposterous on a conceptual level. A teenager is recruited into MI6 to be a spy and save the world. Don’t play that too seriously. Everyone understands this is teenage James Bond, so be that. Lean into it.

16. Prodigal Son (Season 2 - 2021, FOX) (Last year’s ranking: 28) - A fun second and final season for Prodigal Son. They only did 13 episodes for this season so they got to do a little more long term storytelling and fewer cases-of-the-week (this show handles those well anyway so not necessarily a bad thing). The bummer is that the show got canceled without much warning so they didn’t get to wrap things up, leaving on not quite a cliffhanger, but a fairly open-ended note.

15. Legends of Tomorrow (Season 6 - 2021, CW) (Last year’s ranking: 11) - The only show on the CW that seems to be in control of what it’s doing. Not as good a season as last season, but still quality work. Good characters, funny, imaginative.

14. Fargo (Season 4 - 2020, FX) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - First time on a list for Fargo since the very first TV list I wrote in 2017. An impressive hiatus. I will say, I do think this was the weakest of the four seasons of Fargo. It took way too long to get the train rolling, though when it did, it got much better and delivered four really strong episodes at the end of the season. When it’s on, Fargo can fire on cylinders in storytelling and characters and dialogue that very few shows on TV can match up with. This season’s issue was that it took far too long to be on.

13. 9-1-1: Lone Star (Season 2 - 2021, FOX) (Last year’s ranking: 35) - I've really come to enjoy this show. I think this show found a groove in season two, putting out pretty consistently above-average episodes. It still has a lot of over-the-top silliness, but the characters are strong and most of the plots work.

12. Superstore (Season 6 - 2020-2021, NBC) (Last year’s ranking: 25) - Superstore was one of the few shows to incorporate COVID into their storylines in a natural way and manage to find humor in the situation, so bravo for both attempting that and succeeding at it. Behind the scenes, the show lost their main star, America Ferrera, at the start of the season, which should obviously have been a tough blow to take, but the rest of the ensemble stepped up and the show continued on without missing a beat in quality. Then, after filming nine episodes, they learned that this would be their final season, so the producers transitioned really well into endgame mode, crafting a strong backstretch of episodes to wrap everything up. I would guess with all the behind the scenes stuff and shooting this whole thing in the midst of a pandemic, this was the most difficult of the show’s six seasons to create. The fact that they were able to deliver such a satisfying finale through all of it is very impressive.

11. Fear The Walking Dead (Season 6 - 2020-2021, AMC) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - I’d say this season was not as strong as last, but I still found it very good, and generally more enjoyable in recent years than the original flavor Walking Dead. A fascinating story choice at the end of the season, setting up an intriguing seventh season.

10. Animal Kingdom (Season 5 - 2021, TNT) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - Not the strongest season Animal Kingdom has had, but the show is still one of my favorites. This season is sort of about the characters searching for their identity in a new world, which is interesting in its own right but perhaps not as much as pulling off daring heists? I get the sense this season is doing some prep work in anticipation of next season, the show’s last. I’m predicting a very good final season.

9. American Dad! (Season 18 - 2021, TBS) (Last year’s ranking: 23) - A return to form for the show. Much improved over last season for me.

8. Love, Victor (Season 2 - 2021, Hulu) (Last year’s ranking: 5) - Just a minor step down in quality from the first season, I think mostly because the show lost a little focus. Season one was about Victor’s journey to self-acceptance and coming out, season two was more about dealing with the fallout from all that. There wasn’t a super-strong throughline. But still a very sweet show. Funny. Romantic. Very enjoyable.

7. Mr. Mayor (Season 1 - 2021, NBC) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - This show is going to be good. I’m calling it. It already had a very strong first season with one of my favorite comedic episodes of any show this year in 1.6 “Respect in the Workplace”. Tina Fey and Robert Carlock behind the scenes, a very good cast in front of the camera, this show is set up to become one of my favorites.

6. Mythic Quest (Season 2 - 2021, Apple TV+) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - Mythic Quest is a fascinating show. For 90% of its episodes, it’s just a very good workplace comedy. And then, every now and then, it just uncorks a truly fantastic standalone episode. Season one did this with episode 1.5 “A Dark Quiet Death”. The show also released a quarantine episode called, appropriately, “Quarantine” that was probably my favorite COVID-related TV episode, one that should serve as a nice time capsule for this period at some point down the road. Season two was an improvement in quality overall from season one, and it also featured a tremendous two-part standalone story (episodes 2.6 “Backstory!” and 2.7 “Peter”). It’s a funny show with good characters and a surprising amount of heart.

5. The Other Two (Season 2 - 2021, HBO Max) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - Great, great satire of the entertainment industry. Excellent characters. Fantastic writing. Often hilarious, but it also has some depth to it when it comes to matters surrounding the core family.

4. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Season 8 - 2021, NBC) (Last year’s ranking: 7) - It’s only appropriate that this show ends up here in its final season. I once wrote about this show that I was never excited to see it pop up in my DVR, despite really enjoying it when I actually got around to watching the individual episodes. This final season was essentially a bunch of very special episodes. The show felt it was obligated to tackle all kinds of important real world topics instead of just being a goofy sitcom. It didn’t really work and it made me once again unenthused about starting up an episode. And yet, the show’s actually plotting within episodes and joke-writing ability is so incredibly strong that once I started the episode, I found myself really, really enjoying it as always. The series finale is a great example. Super obvious character arcs, things you saw telegraphed from basically the beginning of the season, and yet, the episode was still pitch perfect. Hilarious and moving and exactly how you'd hope for a show to wrap up. Stuck the landing brilliantly. This was a show that always succeeded in spite of itself. In spite of its premise and its core identity. It succeeded because it was always one of the sharpest written shows on television. Its final season was no different.

3. WandaVision (Season 1 - 2021, Disney+) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - I really enjoyed the early episodes of this show, where they went to great lengths to capture the setting and feel of various past eras of television. They did an incredible job with the sets and costumes, and beyond that, even the writing was very good at aping the styles of the eras being portrayed. But as much as I enjoyed the early episodes, I really loved when the show took a turn and slowly unfolded into a piece about one character’s loss and grief. A tremendous second gear. A fantastic show overall.

2. The Mandalorian (Season 2 - 2020, Disney+) (Last year’s ranking: 2) - A tremendously fun show. Didn’t lose a step from season one.

1. Loki (Season 1 - 2021, Disney+) (Last year’s ranking: N/A) - Loved this show. Not just from a storytelling perspective. On that alone, it’s an excellent show. Some fun mystery stuff, some mind-bending stuff, clever, funny writing, great characters, solid drama. Beyond that though, I was just loving everything I was seeing and hearing on screen. The sets -- everything from the TVA headquarters to alien planets -- look amazing. The costumes are great. The music is superb. The show just had everything firing on all cylinders. It was brilliantly done.

So there we have it. Like I mentioned, some of these shows are still going on and have a few episodes left in their seasons. I might come back and do some light editing on this list if any of those shows do something truly surprising in a good or bad way in those final episodes but the likelihood is they probably won’t do enough to wildly change my opinion of them.

Or, if you’re reading this in the future, maybe I’ve already done that and that adjusted list is the list you’re looking at!

Wow.

Mind. Blown.

- - - - -

Annual Lists of TV Shows I Saw the Past Year

#reviews #Annual Lists of TV Shows I Saw The Past Year

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chrisstevenson · 4 years ago

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First Nations Tribes Matter Too.

After spellbinding the readers by his fabulous imagination in Screamcatcher: Web World, Chris Stevenson, who writes this series by a pen name (Christy J. Breedlove), released the second book of the Scremcatcher series, Screamcatcher – Dream Chasers. Both the books of the Screamcatcher series have created an alternate world that leaves the characters and the readers gasping for air. So, when I got a chance to pick the brains of the very talented Chris Stevenson, I knew it was an opportunity of a lifetime. Join the conversation and get ready to be amazed.

Screamcatcher is one of my favorite series. Nobody could have ever imagined using an innocent-looking dream-catcher as a source of unleashing havoc. How did you come up with this idea? Any interesting story behind the making of this mind-blowing series.

It all started with a dream catcher. This iconic item, which is rightfully ingrained in Indian lore, is a dream symbol respected by the culture that created it. It is mystifying, an enigma that that prods the imagination. Legends about the dream catcher are passed down from multiple tribes. There are variations, but the one fact that can be agreed upon is that it is a nightmare entrapment device, designed to sift through evil thoughts and images and only allow pleasant and peaceful dreams to enter into the consciousness of the sleeper.

I wondered what would happen to a very ancient dream catcher that was topped off with dreams and nightmares. What if the nightmares became too sick or deathly? What if the web strings could not hold any more visions? Would the dream catcher melt, burst, vanish, implode? I reasoned that something would have to give if too much evil was allowed to congregate inside of its structure. I found nothing on the Internet that offered a solution to this problem—I might have missed a relevant story, but nothing stood out to me. Stephen King had a story called Dream Catcher, but I found nothing in it that was similar to what I had in mind. So I took it upon myself to answer such a burning question.

Like too much death on a battlefield could inundate the immediate location with lost and angry spirits, so could a dream catcher hold no more of its fill of sheer terror without morphing into something else, or opening up a lost and forbidden existence. What would it be like to be caught up in another world inside the webs of a dream catcher, and how would you get out? What would this world look like? How could it be navigated? What was the source of the exit, and what was inside of it that threatened your existence? Screamcatcher: Web World, the first in the series, was my answer. I can only hope that I have done it justice.

Your knowledge of Native American Indian culture is evident in many instances. I am sure the readers would love to know more about the subject. How do you know so much about the culture? Is it personal experience or an inclination toward the culture?

It’s primarily researched, and not very much. I’ve always known about the emotional feelings that the First Nations Tribes has/had about their plight and contact with the white man. I knew about their reverent association with nature and the environment. I owe a lot of it to memories from the Boy Scouts of America–about signs, riddles, plants, hunting, and the environment. I’m Scotch/Irish and I’ve never had any tribal friends.

I DID research the construction of the Dream Catcher and what it was made out of. I winged the rest of it, hoping that I was at least on target with what I had to say about them. The Albert White Feather Pike speech at the beginning of the book (about the sad state of the world) were my words straight from my heart. Nothing was quoted. I did not want to ram Indian lore, heritage, and legend down the throat of the reader. There’s just enough to make it sympathetic and interesting.

While we are talking about Native American culture, do you have a favorite legend from any of their mythologies?

Obviously, the Dream Catcher Legend. It was just fascinating to me, filled with whimsy and magic. And the hand-crafted charms are so varied from one type to another; they are just gorgeous works of art, and I mean that by saying the originals that were crafted in the very beginning with gems, beads, and real Eagle feathers. And I’ll be honest, I have NO idea how far the Dream Catcher legend goes back in time. I’m also intrigued by the sweat lodge, and how it is supposed to purify the soul. The legend of the Skinwalker scares me, and I touch upon that just a tiny bit in the last book, Screamcatcher: The Shimmering Eye.

You can remove this question if you do not wish to discuss your pen name This one is for budding authors. Many of the first time authors struggle with the idea of using a pen name. While a majority considers using one only if they are writing a memoir and do not wish to be identified, a few others wish to use one to avoid prejudices based on gender or nationality. Regardless of their reasons, what is your opinion on using a pen name? Is there a formal procedure involved in registering a pen name against your legal name?

I’m a guy and I used a female pen name for my young adult books. I know, pretty strange. Why? Women, I believe, are more prone to writing about true emotions, with truth and accuracy, than men. Especially in romance and young adult, where sometimes a softer touch is needed. Women comprise 65% of all book purchases and they are also the majority of readers. Truly, women are more apt to buy a romance or young adult novel from a woman, in my experience. So I thought that if the “general reading public” saw a female pen name, they might make a spontaneous buy and trust the material. But I always admitted everywhere that the two authors were one and the same–Me. My fans, friends, and readership knew that.

The problem with adopting a pen name is that you have a brand new author out there making a debut, so it is hugely difficult to build a readership in that pen name. No legal problems, not even in contracts. But I must say that two author names have to be merged into one in places like Amazon, GoodReads, and other sites–it gets really tangled and confusing. For budding writers? If you are publishing 10 or more books per year and one genre is romance and the other is science fiction, then two authors just might work. It also depends on how many genres you write in and how many books you have out there. My advice is to go with one name–keep it simple just starting out.

Did you always want to be an author? How did you get into it?

I actually started late, reading, and writing when I was 26 years old. My early writing accomplishment were multiple hits within a few years: In my first year of writing back in 1987, I wrote three SF short stories that were accepted by major slick magazines which qualified me for the Science Fiction Writers of America, and at the same time achieved a Finalist award in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest. This recognition garnered me a top gun SF agent at the time, Richard Curtis Associates. My first novel went to John Badham (Director) and the Producers, the Cohen Brothers. It was an extreme honor to be considered. The writer who beat me out of contention for a feature movie (as well as the book), was Michael Crichton’snJurassic Park. My book was called Dinothon.

A year after that I published two best-selling non-fiction books and landed on radio, TV, in every library in the U.S., and hundreds of newspapers. This was at a time when small and mid-sized press paid nice advances and had unlimited distribution.

I have been trying to catch that lightning in a bottle ever since. My YA dystopian novel, The Girl They Sold to the Moon won the grand prize in a publisher’s YA novel writing contest, went to a small auction, and got tagged for a film option. My latest release, Screamcatcher: Web World, just currently won Best YA title of 2019 in the N.N. Light Book Awards contest. I have 13 titles appearing on Amazon, with three more slated for publication. I guess I should stick to Young Adult, which I do love BTW

I have picked out your next book Earth Angel, and I am pretty excited about reading it. Would you like to share anything about the book: plot, character, inspiration?

Not much to tell really, and it’s not terribly original, but I’m guessing at that. I just wondered what would happen if a person had an eye transplant, and that eye came from a gifted medium who really saw a fourth dimension or alternate world through her vision? If that transplanted eye allowed you to see a different world, what in the heck could you possibly see and how would it affect you emotionally? You would either have a superpower, or you would end up going insane. How could a power like that possibly help you in catching a serial killer? Those were the questions I asked. Hey, glad you are looking forward to it!

Who is your favorite character in Screamcatcher series? Did any real-life person inspire this particular character?

My favorite character, modeled in name and personality after my sister, Jory Post, is Jory Pike. Jory Pike’s physical attributes are modeled after my last girlfriend in Las Vegas. I had many reviewers and some beta readers tell me, “Hey! You have Katniss here, in The Hunger Games!” I did not know who they were talking about until I just recently read the THG series. Then I thought, OMG! My girl is Katness!

And to top it off, I wrote my book before The Hunger Games came out, but mine was not published before hers. My gal IS native American, though. And I’m proud that the female side of me came out with an Indian teenage girl who takes the lead in a portal fantasy thriller. Rarely, if ever, do you see teenage, female North American Indians in a book, especially in the lead role. Talk about POC (people of color), well, I thought I’d give it to them in spades.

May we get a sneak peek into your next WIP?

The third and last book in the Screamcatcher series (The Shimmering Eye) is modeled after the true story of the most haunted property in the United States–Skinwalker Ranch. I devised my own version of the paranormal activity out there, and even contacted George Knapp, an investigative reporter out of Las Vegas, and host of Coast to Coast radio. I asked his permission to write my own fictional account of such a place, without busting his copyright or anything else. He is the documentary narrator and book author of The Hunt for the Skinwalker. George gave me the thumbs up and wished me well. So I tossed my teenage Badlands Paranormal Society into the ranch and brought hell and damnation down on them. The third book in the Screamcatcher series will be out sometime this summer.

Thank you so much for answering the questions. Can’t wait to see more of your work soon!

More places where you can find Chris Stevenson:

Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/Chris-Harold-Stevenson/e/B001K8UUBK

Christy’s Website: https://christysyoungadultfabuliers.com/

Blog: http://guerrillawarfareforwriters.blogspot.com/

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thesunnevershines · 4 years ago

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Good news! I got my first rejection...

I thought it was a good idea to take one of the most compelling extracts of my novel and remold it into a short story that I could send in to a few magazines.

I started with The Masters Review and since I don’t have the patience to wait for months, I paid for fast feedback. I also added the option to get a detailed critique instead of just the simple accepted or rejected note. This turned out to be a well-worth investment and it is why the title of this post is Good news!

The Masters Review, like many other magazines, uses www.submittable.com, which makes it so much easier to keep track of multiple submissions and results. No more checking your inbox and spam every day to see if you got a reply.

First of all, here is my cover letter that I pretty much copied from an article about how to make the perfect cover letter.

Dear Editor, Thank you for considering my work. I am an emerging writer with only a small scattering of published pieces. I appreciate all the time and attention my work receives. I look forward to hearing from you. This extract from my novel in progress is a simultaneous submission. I will withdraw the piece immediately if it is accepted elsewhere. I am a business entrepreneur from Norway, living in Greece since 2006. My work has been published twice in Kingston College’s Best of International Creative Writing Summer School anthology. It is a course I have participated four times to help me learn the craft. Sincerely, Anders Wennesland

Anyway, my short story was rejected, but the feedback was encouraging and it lead me to an idea of a revision that might turn out much stronger. I also got a statement that I can use in my cover letter to other magazines and publishers. In addition, they actually recommended me to send in to a few specific magazines that further helps me get noticed.

This is how the rejection letter begins and if I had not paid extra for the extensive critique, it would have been the only information I would have to go on.

From: The Masters ReviewTo: Anders WenneslandSubject: RE: [The Masters Review] The Sun Never Shines.Dear Anders, Thank you for the opportunity to consider "The Sun Never Shines." for New Voices. We are grateful you thought of us and we appreciate your participation in our Fast Response Option. Thank you also for requesting an editorial letter for your piece, “The Sun Never Shines.” Submitting this piece for critique allows me (and other editors on staff) to spend more time with individual submissions and really dig into what is working well and where some opportunities for revision lie.

I’m afraid I’m going to pass on this story for publication, but I’m more than happy to provide some feedback on this piece, as I think it is situated at a really nice place for revision and near to your final vision. Keep in mind the following is only the opinion of one editor, and these things are highly subjective. With that said, I’ll try to offer comments that I think might help you improve this piece and ready it for publication.

So instead, I get this full review of my short story which represents a micro-cosmos of the full length novel. It gives me the confidence that all or most elements, including my rather experimental duet structure, are working and that the story itself is intriguing.

At the very outset, “The Sun Never Shines,” posits a kind of mystery. Jessica, the narrator’s partner (wife? girlfriend? Just a line of context could be nice if this is to be read standalone), is going to be murdered at some point, and it is that tension that energizes the entirety of the excerpt. The looming threat of violence, coupled with the narrator’s recollections of his first violent encounters, creates a wonderful tension, and we as readers are left wondering when the axe will fall.

It is a deft choice to not reveal Jessica’s death in this piece. To do so would be perhaps too overt, and by withholding it from the reader you allow the flywheel of the mind to turn, contextualizing the story and leaving the end of the piece with an effective ambiguity. Is it the Albanian who kills Jessica? Does she drown swimming while drunk? Is the narrator the killer after rough sex gone wrong?

By guarding these details you allow your audience to have to sit in a sort of between space where any and none of the possibilities are true. All of it comes together to help your tone tell the story. There is evidence seemingly everywhere: mysterious drinks, darkness, an unknown character. It all comes together to make something very tense. In revision, experiment with ways that can help increase the tone through simple description of setting. You are doing this well with things like the tray of drinks, but how can you enhance descriptions of say, the dark ocean or the narrow city streets so that they too become as menacing as the other story actors.

To this point I haven’t brought up the italicized sections yet, those where we dip back into the narrator's past for his recollections of violence (mainly things like pub brawls). Their inclusion in the story leads me to believe that they are somehow linked to the in scene sections, but as of this draft I am not quite seeing how they inform one another. If I had to guess, I would think that they might be there to set up the narrator as a possible suspect, and that the violence demonstrated in these sections points to his potential for violence in the present moment. However, in these sections the narrator is often the victim of violence, not its perpetrator, and they all seem to have relatively low stakes, which is the opposite tone we get from the prose throughout the rest of the narrative. I think you can earn these sections more if you enhance the stakes within them.

What happens if our view of the narrator drastically changes as the recollections go on? They could move from fairly innocent to more insidious, and not only would this increase the tension, but also make your main character more ambiguous, which is exactly what you want in a story where mystery and suspicion is key. It would, in a way, make him unreliable. How do we know what he tells us is the objective truth, and not just perception through a warped lens? Finding more linkages between these sections apart from the violence is what will really create conversation between them, but as of now it serves as context that isn’t really clicking given the excerpted form.

One of the things that tends to slow prose down is the use of passive voice. Passive voice is the sentence level decision to use forms of the verb “to be” (is, are, was, am) in place of using more active verbiage. I’ll provide some more examples from the text. On page 1 we have the line, “Her elbow is leaning against the white paper tablecloth.” By using passive voice here the prose is slowed down, becomes leaden. However, if you rely on more active verbs, the sentence gains energy, like so, “Her elbow leans against the white paper tablecloth.” In terms of one sentence, this is a small change, but accumulated over the course of an entire piece you can really start to conserve narrative energy and funnel it into other places like theme and character. Another example from the same paragraph is, “There is this young Albanian man standing next to her,” which could easily be rewritten as, “A young Albanian man stands next to her.” By using active voice where applicable (you will, of course, always need to use some passive voice for grammar) you can hook readers by making the storytelling “faster.” Conserving space in an already contracted form like a short story is paramount in ensuring that you always arrive at the right level of prosody. Something to look out for as you revise.

This piece has a very well-developed tone and suspense, and I have confidence that it will find a home. After revision, you might consider submitting to the following journals: The Gravity of the Thing, Pithead Chapel, The Hunger, and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. All are great venues and I could see this piece finding a home in any one of them.

Again, thank you so much for your submission. I hope these comments help you understand your writing for the better.

It was a pleasure reading your story, and I hope you keep submitting! Best, Benjamin Kessler

So now I have a name and a recommendation quote to refer to in my next cover letter. Not bad. I also got some very important feedback in terms of readers experience, especially for the back-story parts of the duet structure. It made me realize that I could actually add another part of the story here instead, which I will do in my revision and post soon.

My goal now, is to get one acceptance in pretty much any literary magazines, so that I can use this as a reference when submitting the entire novel to agents or publishers.

#fictionreview #rejections #literary magazine #themastersreview #submissions #shortstory #novel #fiction

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flauntpage · 7 years ago

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Welcome to “Today’s NBA”: Seven Observations from Grizzlies 110, Sixers 89

This post is brought to you with limited advertising and no surveys by TalentFleX Solutions. TalentFleX Solutions is a full service business consulting firm offering contingent, contract and project based professionals in the Information Technology, Data Analytics, Finance & Accounting and Human Resources fields. Our model provides for flexibility in hiring needs from project, to contract to permanent placement. Our consultants have extensive experience in attracting, screening, and placing the very best in technical talent for our clients. For more information, please visit http://ift.tt/2oPPjkL or email [email protected]. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for updates.

Whatever the Sixers end up being this season, it won’t be boring.

The Wells Fargo Center was about 80% full for preseason basketball on a Wednesday night, with at least 99% of fans booing Kris Humphries whenever he touched the ball or entered the game.

This was our first look at Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz playing against someone other than their own teammates or random Australian blokes, and our first true understanding of how other teams might defend the pair of debuting rookies.

Memphis coach David Fizdale had a GREAT quote about Simmons pregame:

“He’s a freak talent. He’s not really lacking in any areas. His unselfishness is probably one of his greatest attributes. The fact that he does that with such great size, he is really today’s NBA.”

“He is really today’s NBA.”

I like that.

One Sixers rookie looked pretty damn good last night while the other looked not-so-good in a meaningless tune-up game.

1) Who does what?

Ben Simmons was announced as a guard during introductions and that’s how he played, starting alongside Fultz but as the primary ball handler bringing it up the court.

He scored the game’s first points, including a layup in transition, which we’ll see a lot of this year. Simmons assisted on a JJ Redick three before hitting Richaun Holmes for a big alley oop layup from half court. He had four points, four assists, and a pair of rebounds in five minutes of play, then took his first break at 2:17 in the first.

I thought Fultz looked a little lost playing off the ball. He didn’t see a ton of the rock and the Sixers’ half court sets were somewhat sloppy, with the best offense coming on Simmons’ ability to drive to the hoop, draw defenders, then dish to an open teammate. Both he and Fultz had fantastic first half drives that exhibited their vision in close proximity to the rim.

I think the second play here was Simmons’ best pass of the night:

Ben Simmons put on a passing clinic in his debut http://pic.twitter.com/cfeWKUDtmP

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 5, 2017

He came back in with three minutes left in the second quarter, then played more in the second half. The rookie finished with six points (2-of-8 shooting) and added seven rebounds and nine assists. Simmons turned it over only once in 21 minutes.

Here’s what Brett Brown said about him after the game:

“I mean, his breakaway speed, his ability to get to the rim, the pace at which he plays I love. His ability to see things, find corners, when defensive players nudge him he can find stuff well. The finishing at the rim, I thought we struggled as a group. We’re going to work with Ben on finishing at a high rate.”

Fultz played 22 minutes and went 2-for-13 for four points. He added two rebounds and three assists. Both of his field goals came on gimmes– one a layup on a brilliant pass from Simmons, and another on a breakaway dunk.

Neither shot the ball very well. Simmons barely even looked to shoot. Most of his stuff was right around the rim (which Brown mentioned), while Fultz missed on a few jumpers.

I also didn’t think that Fultz looked lethargic or lackadaisical out there. Let’s not read too much into body language after one preseason outing.

Fultz said he would grade his performance as a "C"

— Kevin Kinkead (@Kevin_Kinkead) October 5, 2017

Kyle: My guess is Fultz was proud of his defensive effort – he talked to Molly Sullivan about it before the game – which at this point might be more important to his growth seeing as though he’s clearly a gifted offensive player. But he did struggle on that end of the floor, with most of his drives resulting in ugliness in the paint. But there were flashes, including several impressive spins and a few slick passes. Fultz will be fine. He’s not as polished as Simmons, who is two years older, more physically mature, and had a year to sit on an NBA bench and watch. Don’t press the panic button.

2) Guarding a “guard”

It’s kind of pointless to look at the matchups when Memphis was missing a few starters, but this really was our first look at how other squads might guard Simmons.

James Ennis matched up against him to start the game, which was reciprocated by Simmons at the other end. When Ennis came out, that duty was passed off to JaMychal Green. That’s a 6’9″ and a 6’7″ forward matching up against a 6’11” “guard,” if that’s what we’re calling Simmons.

Nobody could really stay with him and he was able to get to the rim rather easily. His finishing in that area was one thing, but the ability to pull defenders and kick it out to Redick, or Robert Covington, or dish it off to Joel Embiid a la that Holmes sequence could be monstrous this season.

3) Big man usage

Speaking of Embiid, he didn’t play, nor did Amir Johnson, who sprained an ankle in practice this week.

Richaun Holmes started the game and played 16 minutes. Jahlil Okafor was only recently cleared for 5v5 action, but played 18 minutes.

In the first half, and really throughout the game, Embiid’s interior defense was sorely missed. The Sixers were soft down low and allowed Memphis to open up a double-digit lead just before halftime. Brown described his team as “all over the place” defensively.

There was one goofy sequence where Holmes appeared to suffer an eye poke, which allowed Memphis two straight offensive rebounds. At the other end, he committed a hard foul on Wayne Selden, which resulted in some jawing.

Kris Humphries played seven minutes and struggled right off the bat, hence the boos, which carried over from Sunday’s scrimmage.

Emeka Okafor made a fourth quarter cameo and played nine minutes.