#becoming

The arrival of First Lady Melania Trump’s movie has appeared to cause a spike in viewership for her predecessor Michelle Obama’s own 2020 documentary, Becoming.

Over the same weekend that Melania released in theaters, Becoming saw a bump in viewership among U.S. Netflix users, according to data provider Luminate. It reported a 13,000 percent rise in views, up from the past weekend.

More than 47.5 million minutes of Becoming were viewed over Melania’s opening weekend, compared to 354,000 minutes the previous weekend. Roughly, that means Becoming was streamed more than 480,000 times, a figure calculated by dividing the time spent viewing by the film’s total run time.

While Melania was critically panned across the board, it had the biggest opening for a non-fiction feature in the last decade, grossing $7 million in ticket sales domestically.

When the Ice Answers Yuri on Ice Fanfic by MythboundCal

The music begins. But Yuri doesn’t hear it.

He hears breath. His own—ragged, sharp, then steady. Like wind through glass.

He steps onto the ice like it’s a love letter. As if saying it without words might make it true. That he’s strong. That he’s worthy. That he wants this.

The first glide is everything. It’s not movement. It’s memory.

And just like that— The letter becomes a vow.

He thinks of late nights and early mornings. Of Victor’s hand on his back. Of the sound his blades make when he finally lets go.

The rink becomes a galaxy. The spotlight, his moonlight. And overhead, the flashing of cameras Spirals into stars.

He gives himself to the moment. Every stumble, every sweat-stained failure, Every heartbreak etched into his spine— He offers it all to the ice.

And the ice? The ice answers.

By the final spin, he’s not skating anymore. He’s flying. Not to escape. But to arrive.

When he stops, there’s silence.

And then— Applause.

But none of that matters. Because now he knows:

"This is why alchemy exists," the boy said. "So that everyone will search for his treasure, find it, and then want to be better than he was in his former life. Lead will play its role until the world has no further need for lead; and then lead will have to turn itself into gold. That's what alchemists do. They show that when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too."

-- Paulo Coelho