#nothing too special or bonkers here

[willgrahamandthekirksmirk]

There are so many good things about the cliff scene, and I love everything about it, but the thing that really REALLY gets me every time is the way that they cling to each other. Will’s hand, clenching the shoulder of Hannibal’s shirt, pulling him closer, putting his head on Hannibal’s chest. Hannibal, looking up as if he’s never felt anything so sweet in his life before resting his head against Will’s, tangling his fingers in Will’s shirt at his side. Hannibal rubbing his cheek against Will’s hair. The way Hannibal looks when Will loops his arm around the back of his neck. Everything about it is incredibly tender and it GETS me

#i just cannot think about it anymore without dying a little bit each time #as a touch starved person myself #the way they hold each other for those few seconds feels so tender #when will it be my turn :/ #Hannibal #Hannibal Lecter #NBC Hannibal #Will Graham #Hannigram #cliff scene #Hannibal text post #it's really only my thoughts on it #nothing too special or bonkers here

[oddballwriter]

The New Teacher’s Aid

꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦

Summary: Mike has Abby signed up to be part of the after school program at her school since he can’t pick her up due to him working, there’s nothing too special about it until a staff member catches his eye and he tries to explain it without thinking the obvious. 

Warnings: Reader is kept gender neutral and is a teacher’s aid and member of the staff that work in the after school program. This is in second person perspective at first but shifts at times. “Y/n” is used two times in here. Mike has a crush on you lol. I actually can’t think of many things that are actual warnings but if there are any just let me know

Author’s Snip: Surprise! I’m alive! I’ve been relaxing since I took the summer semester off to unwind from my first year of college. Anyways, I’m sure some, if not most, of us have seen the teaser and trailer for the FNAF movie. I’ve been seeing people going bonkers over Mike and William and so have I a little. This thought came to me last night and I wanted to write it so bad but it was 2am then and I had things I needed to do with family so I wrote it down in my notes so that I didn’t forget. 

Notes: This is sort of meant to be before Mike takes up the job at the abandoned plazeria. And I just saw that there are some implications that Abby walks/rides a bike home to and from school but I’m just going to ignore that because I can and because then this shot doesn’t really work. So yeah. 

I’ll shut up now. Enjoy! And don’t be afraid to request.

꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦

  You’ve been working at the school for a month and a half now as a teacher’s aid and an additional member of the staff that work in the after school program. The program wasn’t much if you had to be honest, it was pretty much just babysitting kids who didn’t get picked up once school was over. 

  You weren’t complaining though, but then again, you worked in the spare classroom with the older kids rather than the younger ones. This group wasn’t too much of a hassle. Usually these kids would talk, do their homework, or some quiet activity and rarely cause any trouble. That’s how you met a little girl named Abby. 

  Abby was like the other kids who minded their own till their parent or guardian came to pick them up. You noticed that she didn’t interact with any of the other kids and either drew or did her homework quietly at a desk. You decided to check on her. Now you two have formed a really nice bond. You usually help her with her homework or talk about whatever comes to mind which helped pass the time since she was one of the kids that stayed the whole time the program operated. 

  Speaking of which, it was rolling around that time. You knew that the person who usually gets her is always here when the clock hits  five pm but it always makes you a little worried that they won’t come since after five there wasn’t meant to be any students still on campus. 

  “Okay, last one. What do you think?” you say, you were helping Abby finish up a tricky math sheet. Abby stared at the problem for a moment and worked it out on a blank space next to it before writing down the answer she came up with. “There you go! Great job. Now you’re all done, you don’t need to do any at home.” you smile. Just then you hear a knock at the door to the room. When you turn, you see a man in his mid twenties or early thirties standing in the doorway. You stand up to go talk to him but you hear Abby chirp “Hi, Mike!” to the man. He gives her a nod as a hello back as you grab a clipboard and walk up to him. 

  “Hello. Can I get a name?” you ask. This was common check out protocol whenever someone came to pick up a child from the program. “Mike Schmidt.” he responds. You nod and check the name that’s correlated with Abby, it checks out. “And the password?”, that was another part of the protocol. He says the correct one and you smile with a nod before letting him sign his name as the last part of the process. 

  By then Abby had already packed up her things and skipped over to Mike and took a hold of his hand to leave. “Goodbye, Abby!” you wave. She waves back with some more energy to it, “Bye, (y/n)!”. You give a wave back to Mike as well out of courtesy, “Goodbye, Mr. Schmidt.”. He gives you a small wave goodbye too as he leaves with Abby by his side. 

  With Abby gone home, you were set to pack everything in the classroom so that you could leave. You usually did this earlier but the other staff member went out and hadn’t come back yet, so you needed to keep an eye on Abby. Usually they checked Abby out to Mike, who you were told was her older brother, so she could go home. But since they still weren’t back, you met him for the first time. You were a bit surprised to finally see him. He was actually older than you thought he would be. The age minimum for someone who could pick up a child was sixteen and that Mike met that requirement, but you thought that he would be younger. Turns out he’s around the same age as you.

  Abby actually told you a lot about Mike. As already mentioned, he was her older brother. She also told you that he works and that the two of them live together. She’s also told you about how cool he is but that’s a given since most younger siblings think that their older siblings are cool. 

  You didn’t think too much about Mike after that, but strangely enough, Mike spent a good part of the evening thinking about you.

  “Are they a new staff member? I don’t think I’ve seen them before.” Mike asked Abby while she picked at the reheated veggies on her plate. “No, not really. They’ve been here for a while.” Abby responded. “They seem nice.” he mentioned. “They are. They help me with my homework and we talk. They even said they like my drawings!” Abby explained with a smile. “ Well, that’s nice to hear.” Mike said as he got up from his seat at the table. “You finish those off before you try and watch TV, alright?” he said with a little bit of demand as he pointed to the uneaten food on her plate before heading off to get ready for the rest of the night. 

  Soon after that, Mike had formed a habit. Everyday, just before getting out of his car to go pick up Abby, he would check himself in his rearview mirror. He would subconsciously fix any loose hair, fix up his jacket to look neater, or check for food in his teeth. He didn’t know when it started but he noticed it when he was fighting with a piece of food from his lunch earlier that day that didn’t want to leave it’s spot between his teeth. “Why am I even doing this? It’s barely noticeable.” he thought to himself. But something irked him to get it out before he got out. 

  After he finally got the pesky piece out, he stepped out of his car and made his way to the classroom that the program was held in. Abby noticed him but the staff member who came to check her out to him wasn’t you. After he gave all the information, signed, and took Abby’s hand, he found that he felt slightly disappointed that it wasn’t you this time and thought that he fought that food between his teeth for nothing. 

  The drive home consisted of silence as Abby stared out the window and Mike stewed in his thoughts on why he wanted see you every time he came in. It shouldn’t matter if it’s you, or the new teacher Miss Hill, or the old teacher Mrs. Flores, or someone who was a part of that group. 

  “Did you have fun with (Y/n) today?” Mike asked as he peaked at Abby in the rearview. Why did he ask that? “Yeah. I didn’t have a lot of homework so we spent most of the time talking while I drew.” Abby responded. “What did you talk about?” he questioned. “Not much. They talked about being a teacher’s aid and how they want to be a school teacher.” Abby commented, Mike nodded his head. “I talked about us a little. I told them that you work and take care of me.” she explained, “And they said that’s really nice of you to be doing both.” Abby referenced. Mike thought about that for a second. “Did they?” he responded. 

  The rest of the evening and night went on as normal. But Mike found that he didn’t really pay attention to the late night TV like he usually does. He was caught up on what Abby said today about you. Mike tried to brush it off but just couldn’t, and he didn’t like it all that much. It made him feel dumb. Why was he so consumed with what you thought of him, with Abby saying that you think he’s nice for taking care of his little sister and being their breadwinner and him recently starting to care about how he looked under the possibility of you and him seeing each other while he got Abby. 

  There was no way he had some stupid crush on you. You were just some staff member who took care of Abby after school and he was just her older brother. That’s all you should be to each other. 

  He thinks that while also thinking about how maybe he should pack a mini toothbrush and toothpaste tube so his lunch doesn’t end up in his breath in case you catch it next time you talk. 

#I just needed to write this lol #Don't know if this will be a new media I write for or if I'm just excited for October #Actual tags --> #fnaf movie #five nights at freddy's movie #fnaf #five nights at freddy's #one shot #mike schmidt #mike schmidt x reader #fnaf x reader #fnaf movie x reader

[noneorother]

The secret timeline inside of Good Omens season 2 revealed, *part2*

Part 1 l Part 2

The ineffable cut is explained in part 1. Please read that first. (I’ve burnt a timecode into this ineffable edit to help pick up the rhythm.)

So now that I've shown you XX:X6 is the number of the beast in the last installment, what else can we glean? Well, it turns out angel numbers (sequences of repeated numbers ex: 22:22 or 20:02) are quite important events in the S2 universe! I've cut together every "Angel Number" I could find in the timeline and put them in order. I first noticed this near the end of the ineffable cut, where Beelzebub and Gabriel hold hands, so I've started with that one just to give you an idea how bonkers this whole sequence is. Don't forget, sound on! Breakdown below the cut.

So we start off with this Beez and Gabriel sequence near the end of the cut. They start singing to each other a little out of time, but lo and behold, at 02:03:20 the music comes in right on time with the seconds ticking by to line them up. By the time they reach 03:33 they're gone.

Aziraphale is excited to get his "record"! He's doing something sneaky, and as a result opens the door to go off to said covert activity on 00:02:22.

Crowley asks "Do they know?" on 03:33. Who are they and why does he want to know? This whole scene is on a St-James park bench so spying and double speak is in progress, clearly.

Crowley then asks "Something big?" on 00:04:44. We get the hint for the main action of the entire second season here. Something's up with the up...

Now the real fun begins! I'll come back to the ones I just skipped in a later post because they're more subtle. Here's the first "real" angel number at 11:11. Aziraphale discovers THE box and touches it for the first time.

At 22:22 Nina and Maggie's signs are "mysteriously" ignored by a human passerby.

This is wild. Aziraphale is learning about the Everyday record and something funny happens. 33:31 Aziraphale says, " Do you have a copy?" 33:32 Maggie says, "Mm, too many of them" and at the same time a car horn beeps twice. 33:33 Aziraphale is startled by the fact that a double car horn happened on a XX:X2 and looks out the window in concern. So the question is: does Aziraphale feel or know the rhythm of the timestamps?? And are things that line up with numbers a signal he's paying attention to?

A funny one! At 44:44 Aziraphale seems to be wanting to check if Gabriel is really who he says he is, and is watching him like a hawk. Gabriel does all he can to do nothing at all and look innocent while the angel number passes by.

Another funny one. Nice. 55:55 reveals that the Bentley likes Aziraphale more than Crowley, and does whatever he wants, including not speeding when he puts his foot down.

This next one's a little peculiar. It seems like an exchange about Gabriel's whereabouts, but it's the halfway point of the edit (1:11:10-11:11:11) of the ineffable timeline and we seem to be having two conversations at once. Shax says on 11:11 "He hates you." Does she mean that she thinks Crowley hates Aziraphale, or... that Gabriel hates Aziraphale. Aziraphale looks noticeably shocked at her reply. After the eyebrow raise of "You don't seem like his type at all" I would bet we're not talking about Crowley anymore. How did she get this information?

01:22:22 Gabriel does a little laugh to himself while signalling with the lamp. What the fuck? Does someone know morse code?

01:33:33 Maggie extends her had to Nina at the ball, to invite her to dance. Nina looks pleased, but doesn't move until... a very odd miracle sound on a XX:X6 happens and she jumps up to take Maggie's hand. That miracle sound is not Aziraphale's, and besides, he would never miracle on a 6. Who's the demon making Nina dance...

Aziraphale's halo toss is the flip from ACT II to ACT III of season 2, and as such, get's a special time right before rolling over to the second hour. He decides to throw it down on exactly 01:54:45, and at 01:54:54 gets a giant tubular bell ring in the music to highlight the action. It lands on the ground at 01:55:01, and incinerates the demons at precisely 01:55:10.

01:59:59 Beez and Gabriel hold hands, and a magical chime sounds at 2:00:00. Maggie start her sentence "Aww, that's really sweet" at the same time, and manages to finish it on 2:00:02. (Dagon politely waits to pretend to barf on a XX:X3 after she's done.)

The last one is a big one : 02:02:02 gets "to face CELESTIAL punishment" by Michael. This is what we've been waiting for the entire season, the Checkov's gun of the book of life. But, where is it? We then get an odd cowboy showdown style stare-off between Michael and Shax. I'm predicting that missing chunk of time in the bookshop before we come back to Michael threatening Aziraphale with the book of life is going to be a pretty interesting reveal in season 3. -------------------------------------------

People, this is the short version of this post. There are SO MANY things to unpack. Next up is doubled numbers. If you want an ides of what it takes to break things down, here's my workflow timeline right now. The stuff after the first big space is numbers I haven't shown you yet... This show is insane.

#good omens meta #good omens 2 #art director talks good omens #go season 2 #go meta #good omens season 2 #crowley x aziraphale #good omens #good omens analysis #good omens spoilers

[dialovers-translations]

DIABOLIK LOVERS Do-S Kyuuketsu VERSUS Ⅲ Animate Tokuten Drama CD ”Agricultural Management, the Vampire Way! ~When Disaster Strikes, a Storm Whips Up~”

Original title: ヴァンパイア的農村経営！ ～災いは嵐と共に～

Source: Diabolik Lovers VERSUS III Animate Tokuten CD

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Toriumi Kousuke, Katsuyuki Konishi, Midorikawa Hikaru, Kaji Yuki, Hirakawa Daisuke, Kondou Takashi, Takahiro Sakurai, Kimura Ryouhei, Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Kishio Daisuke, Morikawa Toshiyuki, Morikubo Shoutari & Tomoaki Maeno

Translator’s note: Classic Ryoutei Academy coming up with the weirdest classes and assignments for their students. No wonder Karlheinz sponsors the school because the principal is just as bonkers as he is. Anyway, it was interesting to see characters like Reiji, Laito and Carla having to do physical labor out on the field. Meanwhile Yuma is just completely in his element. This assignment was made for him after all. I won’t spoil how the CD ends, but let’s all press F in the chat for our Diaboys.

*Thud thud* 

Subaru: …Ugh…Arghー Fuck! …Why am I here ploughin’ some damn field!? 

*Rustle* 

Laito: Ugh…That’s…my…line…! Ugh…! 

*Thud* 

Laito: Haah~ …Ahー God! I’m tired! 

Laito tosses his hoe away.

*Thud* 

Reiji: Hey, you two! No sleeping on the job! You have barely made any progress! …Laito, grab hold of that hoe at once!

Laito: Eeeh~? 

Reiji: Don’t ‘eeeh~?’ me! This is part of a special class, so I shall ensure that all of you take it seriously! 

Subaru: Che…I don’t give a damn if it’s for school or not…I can’t believe we’re forced to do this crap! Haah…I should have just skipped. 

Reiji: Subaru…I shall not allow for that. Did you not hear me earlier? This assignment has to be done all together as a team!

Laito: If we can submit a stellar report on our task afterwards, the school will give us some kind of reward, right? Not just any reward either, but we get to choose anything we want with nothing off-limits. However, the one condition is that each member of a team contributes.

Reiji: Yes, exactly. And there just happens to be a silverware set which I have been dying to get my hands on. Therefore, I must get an excellent grade at all costs!

*Rustle* 

Subaru: Ahー What a load of crap. …Anyway, they must be out of their minds if they think that this is a job for human labor. Don’t they have some kind of big or impressive machine which can get it done instead!? 

Reiji: This is part of class. What makes you think there would be a tractor available to us? The whole point of the exercise is to get it done through our own strength!

*Clap clap* 

Reiji: Well then, now grab hold of those hoes! As long as I am here to keep an eye on things, I shall not allow anyone to slack off!

Subaru: Che…Fuck off…

Laito: Aah~ …I’m really sick of this. I would have dipped a long time ago if it wasn’t for Bitch-chan being here as well. 

Subaru: Anyway, Reiji! If you’re that stuck up ‘bout everyone doin’ their part, then why don’t you go and call over all those fuckers who aren’t here right now!? 

Reiji: Hm…? Now that you mention it…I have not seen those three in a while. …Excuse me, you! Have you seen Yuma and the others, perhaps? 

You explain. 

Reiji: Ahー So Yuma and Azusa have gone fetch some fertilizer. 

Yuma: Oi, you guys! 

Reiji: If you speak of the Devil…

Yuma: We got the fertilizer. 

He puts the bag down on the floor. 

*Thud* 

Yuma: There ya go. This should do the trick, right? 

Azusa: Phew…Yuma…Where should I put my bag…? 

Yuma: Ah. You can just throw it onto the pile over here. …Thanks, Azusa. 

Azusa: Oh no…It was no big deal.

*Rustle* 

Yuma: I don’t like havin’ to work together with these fuckers, but I guess I have no other choice if I wanna get my hands on that sweet reward. …So, how much of the area have you plowed so far?

Yuma takes a look. 

Yuma: Aah!? You’ve barely made any progress!

Subaru: Oh shut up! The soil’s too damn hard, it’s no easy feat!

Laito: Yeah, exactly! My hands are so tired…

Yuma: God, you’re all such a bunch of weaklings…All you’ve done is some plowin’ and you’re already exhausted? Did you think agriculture was easy or somethin’!? 

You apologize.

Yuma: Nah, you don’t need to say sorry. From what I can tell, the area you and Mr. Know-It-All did has made the most progress. 

Azusa: Eve…Good work…

Reiji: Fufu…While I would never resort to doing physical labor under normal circumstances, my silverware is at stake this time. I am taking this very seriously. 

He turns towards his brothers.

Reiji: Laito, Subaru. How about the two of you step up your game as well and start taking this seriously? 

Laito: That’s easy for you to say…But this kind of work isn’t exactly my cup of tea. I mean, there’s bugs and such crawling around on the field as well, right?

Subaru: I mean, there’s only so much the four of us can accomplish, right? Look at how much ground we have to cover!

Azusa: Four? …Huh…? Now that you mention it…What happened to Carla-san? 

Reiji: We actually haven’t seen him in a while now. I assumed that he went with you two to go get fertilizer but…It seems like that wasn’t the case. 

Yuma: Yeah. It was only Azusa and I. 

Laito: Eeh~? Then maybe he’s sleeping on the job somewhere!? (imitates Carla’s tone) ‘Fieldwork is not the kind of job a respectable Founder such as myself would ever resort to’

Subaru: Haah!? That’s not fair, is it!? 

You mention something about a sound in the distance. 

Azusa: Eh? Eve…? What’s wrong? …You hear something? 

Azusa focuses on the sound. 

Azusa: You’re right. I can hear it too.

Reiji: What could it be? It sounds like the engine of some kind of machine? 

Yuma: …!! Shh, be quiet for a sec! …Ah! This is the sound of a tractor’s motor!

Laito: Hey…It seems to be steadily getting closer to us…!? 

Azusa: Ah! Eve! Watch out!

ー A tractor arrives. 

Carla: …Ugh. 

*Thud* 

Carla: You lot! Why are you here together, doing nothing? 

Subaru: …Excuse me!? That’s what I’d like to ask! Where did you get that thing!? …Actually, Reiji! Didn’t you tell us earlier that a tractor is off-limits because this is part of a class assignment!? 

Reiji: Yes…I was under that assumption. 

Carla: Hmph. I pulled some strings to have this one arranged especially for me. 

He steps towards the group. 

Carla: I do not care that this is part of a special extracurricular activity. Under normal circumstances, a Founder such as myself would never resort to this sort of work. However, I shall make an exception this one time. I have decided that for the sake of getting a new ham stand, I am willing to dirty my very own hands!

Yuma: Your very own hands, you say? You’re usin’ a tractor tho.

Laito: Heeh…I didn’t think even Carla would be so desperate for the reward. 

Azusa: It’s unusual…for Carla-san to be this motivated…

Carla: You may run your mouths all you want. This is all to secure a high score and a new ham holder…You lot! Now that you are in my team, I shall not allow any of you to slack off. Get your tasks done without fail! Do you understand? 

Yuma: I mean, that was always my intention. It’s honestly like a dream come true to be able to work on the field as part of a school assignment. 

Azusa: I’ll try…my best too…

Reiji: It should go without saying that I shall do the same. I never slack off when it comes to school, no matter what the assignment may be!

*Rustle* 

Carla: Woman, what about you? 

You agree to doing your best as well. 

Carla: …Fufu. Well said. Allow me to praise you. …That leaves just you two. Hurry up and prove to me that you are prepared to face this challenge. 

Subaru: Che…Big words comin’ from the guy who showed up late. Pisses me off…

*Rustle* 

Subaru: Hah…But constantly bein’ nagged to work is annoyin’ too…Haahー Fine. Guess I have no other choice, so I’ll do it.

Laito: Hmm~ Well, I suppose I’ll do what I can without dirtying my clothes. 

Reiji: Well then, let us first divide the tasks. There’d be no point in having all five of us plow the field.

Yuma: Damn right. I mean, now that we have a tractor to work with, we can leave that task up to Carla. 

Azusa: What else…needs to be done…? 

Yuma: Ah, next would be creating ridges by raising the earth. Then plant the seeds and water them. Just like that.

Laito: The ridges are made with the help of an animal, right? I want to do that then. I’d like to avoid having to touch the soil directly if possible. 

Azusa: Then…I’d like to…be in the team planting the seeds…There’s a specific kind of vegetable I want to grow…

Yuma: In that case, feel free to use the fertilizer we carried here earlier. I got a really good kind. 

Azusa: Mmh…Thank you. 

Carla: I have something I want to grow as well. 

Reiji: In which case, I shall join Laito in creating the ridges. I am curious whether I will be able to elevate them to a new level. 

Carla: ーー Subaru. What shall you do? Hurry up and make up your mind. 

Subaru: Huh? …Ahー I…

Laito: Don’t you think Subaru should join the two guys planting seeds? He seems like the kind of guy who likes digging around the dirt. 

Subaru: Haah!? What kind of image do you have of me!? 

Yuma: That’s settled then. Well then…If we want to balance things out, I suppose I’d go into the ridges team. I mean, fine by me.

You ask what you should do. 

Reiji: You…Can we ask you to alternate between both groups and assist where you can?

ー You nod. 

Yuma: ‘Kay! Now hold out yer hands, mates!

Azusa: My hand…? Like this…? 

Reiji: Would this do? 

Subaru: Oi, whatcha gonna do? 

Carla: …

Laito: Yeah, yeah. …Come on, you too, Bitch-chan. 

*Rustle rustle* 

Yuma: Exactly. Now we all put them on top of each other like this. 

*Rustle* 

Yuma: ‘Kay! You’ve all got yer hands stacked on top of each other, right? Agriculture is all ‘bout good team work. I want to hear a loud ‘yeah’ at my signal, ‘kay?

Subaru: Haah!? You really think I’m gonna do that lame shit!? 

Yuma: Ya guys! We’re gonna make a great field together!

Everyone: Yeah…!

*TIMESKIP*

You approach the group in charge of the ridges.

Reiji: Oh dear, you. Have you come to help out here first? Thank you very much. 

Yuma: Well then, Sow. Hold this rope and stand there. We’re gonna trace this line to make the ridges. 

*Rustle* 

Reiji: Well then, I suppose we should get started soon. …Ugh…Ugh…

*Thud thud* 

Reiji: Thanks to Carla softening up the soil with the tractor, the hoe digs right in. …Hah!...Hah!

*Thud thud* 

Yuma: I’ll even it out later, so for now ya can just make lil’ piles.

Laito: …As to be expected of Yuma-kun, it looks like you were made to hold one of those hoes in your hands. 

Yuma: Ya think so? Well, I do this at home all the time after all. 

Laito: Eeh~? Every day? I wouldn’t be able to keep up with that. Working on the field is not only exhausting but it gets you all dirty as well. I honestly fail to see what’s so fun about digging around the earth like this. …Say, you agree with me, don’t you, Bitch-chan? ーー I mean, maybe if there was a chance to dig up some kind of treasure. 

You suddenly scream out.

Laito: What’s wrong, Bitch-chan? Why the panic? 

You explain. 

Laito: Huh? Right at my feet? 

*Rustle* 

Laito: …Uwah! A-An earthworm…!

Reiji: Excuse me, Laito! Why are you fooling around? Take your job seriously!

Laito: I-I’m not fooling around…! More importantly, an earthworm popped up…!

Yuma: Ah? An earthworm? Now where is that lil’ bugger? 

Laito: O-Over there! At your feet! Uu…It’s wriggling around…I’m feeling sick to my stomach… 

Yuma: God, you’re makin’ way too much of a fuss over a lil’ earthworm. You should expect this much when out on the field, no? 

You step back.

Yuma: Ah…? Why are you pissin’ yer pants as well? Ya just grab them like this andー

*Rustle* 

Laito: Eek! Hey, Yuma-kun! Stay away from me…!!

Yuma: There ya go. 

He throws it away. 

*Rustle* 

Yuma: Happy now?

Laito: Phew…I thought I was going to have a heart attack. 

Reiji: Good grief…How pathetic, making such a fuss over a single bug. 

Yuma: My thoughts exactly…

Laito: You two just don’t understand! Just how disgusting those creepy crawlers truly are! Aah…Just the thought of them wriggling around gives me goosebumps…

Laito loses consciousness. 

Laito: Uu…Nn…

*Rustle* 

Reiji: Dear god. I cannot believe he passed out over something like this. I feel ashamed as his brother. Haah…

*Rustle*

Reiji: Come on, you. Let us ignore Laito for now and get back to work. 

You seem worried.

Reiji: No need to be concerned. I am sure he will regain consciousness in no time. …Yuma, let us continue. 

Yuma: Yeah. …Come on, Sow. Hold the rope straight.

*Rustle* 

Yuma: Ugh…

*Thud* 

Reiji: Ugh…

*Thud*

Yuma: Still, I didn’t think you’d join this team. Ya seem like the type of dude who wouldn’t wanna work up a sweat.

Reiji: Like I mentioned before, I would not usually resort to physical labor. I happen to be more skilled at using my brains rather than my muscles after all. However…I got a little curious. 

Yuma: Curious? 

Reiji: The vegetables you drop off at our place every so often…They far exceed the ones sold at any store in terms of flavor. I came to the conclusion if you managed to raise such high-quality products in a small vegetable garden, then what would we be capable of growing in our own garden? While we do grow a couple of herbs, we have never grown our own vegetables before. 

Yuma: Heh. Why not give it a try? I wouldn’t mind givin’ ya some pointers. From which fertilizer to choose to how to use the different tools involved, all of it. 

Reiji: Fufu…That sounds very promising. I would love to have you teach me someday. 

*Thud* 

Yuma: Woah…We’ve made some great progress while talkin’. 

Reiji: Yes. It went smoother than I expected. Perhaps we can thank the guy who made a huge fuss and then proceeded to faint on us.

Laito: Uu…Uu…Earthworm…I can’t…~~~

Reiji: Haah…

*Rustle* 

Reiji: You, go ahead and call Subaru and the others. They can already start planting seeds in the ridges we’ve created so far.

You nod. 

Yuma: We’re countin’ on ya!

You run off.

*TIMESKIP*

You approach the other group. 

Azusa: Hm….Ah! Eve!

Subaru: Oh? Are Reiji and the others done already? 

ー You explain. 

Azusa: So we can start planting seeds? …Perfect timing…I just decided what I want to grow…

You show interest.

Azusa: Me? You seeーー I’ve decided to plant chili pepper seeds. Yuma arranged these for me. They’re from the Demon World so they should grow quicker…than normal ones…I’ll let you try some of them…once they’ve been harvested, okay? Fufu… 

ーー Speaking of which…Subaru-san, which seeds did you choose…?

Subaru: Ah? Me…Iーー …It doesn’t really matter, does it? Anyway, let’s go plant them already!

Azusa: Oh…Ah, yeah. Good idea. …Let’s go together, Eve. 

You walk back towards the field together. 

*TIMESKIP*

Azusa: …Ridges have already been made over here. Yuma and the others made them…Well then, I suppose we can plant the seeds here. 

*Rustle* 

Subaru: Hm? Oi, wait. Is that Carla over there? He seems to be crouched down…What is that guy up to? 

Azusa: Ah…You’re right. 

You approach Carla. 

Carla: …Hm? So you lot have come to plant your seeds as well? 

Subaru: ‘As well’, you say? So you planted something as well? 

Carla: Yes, I just finished planting almonds and cashews. 

Subaru: Hah? …By the way, what’s the pink thing sticking out from the ground? 

Carla: This…? Isn’t that obvious? It’s cured ham. 

Subaru: Haah!? What is that doin’ iside the soil!? 

Carla: I mean, the vegetables need proper fertilizer to be able to grow into their optimal form, correct? That is why I decided to bury ham of the finest quality alongside them!

*Rustle* 

Carla: I believe this will allow me to grow the finest of nuts. Fufu… ーー However, I have already planted plenty of them, yet none have sprouted so far. Is something still missing, perhaps? 

Subaru: No…Rather than somethin’ missin’…I think this is a whole different issue. 

Azusa: Ah! Carla-san…Did you already water them? 

Carla: Water? …No, not yet. Hah! I see. So water is the solution, huh? ーー Oi, Subaru! Go and get me water!

Subaru: Again, this makes no sense! Why do I have to do that!? Anyway, there’s no way they’ll grow like that!

Carla: Kuh…Excuse me? They will not?

You try to explain to Carla. 

Subaru: Haah…Just like she said, you have to start with the seeds or it won’t work. 

Carla: …! …No…I refuse to give up…I am positive they will grow…!

Azusa: Carla-san, please don’t feel down…Right! Why don’t we plant some chili pepper seeds together? 

Carla: Chili pepper, you say? Hah! Ridiculous…!

Azusa: Please don’t be like that. Come on? …Eve, you should join us as well. Let’s plant them together. …Here’s a shovel for you. 

*Rustle* 

You thank him. 

Azusa: Mmh. You’re welcome. Here’s yours, Subaru-san. 

*Rustle* 

Subaru: Ah…Yeah…

Azusa: Let’s see…I suppose we can plant them around here? 

*Rustle rustle* 

Azusa: First you create a small hole…

He pours the seeds inside. 

Azusa: And then you add the seeds before closing it up again…

*Rustle rustle* 

Carla: Hmph!

Subaru: Well…I guess this should do? 

They continue planting seeds. 

Azusa: Mmh! You’re all doing a great job! Now we just…

*Tap tap* 

Azusa: Please turn out delicious…

*Tap tap* 

Azusa: Please turn out delicious…

Carla: Haah…What has that guy been mumbling about this whole time? 

Subaru: For some reason, it comes off as really creepy when comin’ from you…

Azusa: Eh? I’m just doing what Yuma always does. When you plant sands…While praying for them to turn out delicious…They actually will, you see…?

Subaru: For real? 

You ask Subaru which vegetables he will grow.

Subaru: Ah? …L-Like I said, that’s none of your business, is it!? 

Azusa: But I’m curious as well…

You agree.

Subaru: …Ugh. …Haahー Fine…Cherry tomatoes. 

Azusa: Cherry…tomatoes…

Subaru: What’s with that face!? Why do you seem so obviously surprised!? …They seemed the easiest to grow according to the manual so that’s why I chose them! Got a problem with that, huh!? 

Azusa: No…Not at all. Well then, here you go. 

*Rustle* 

Azusa: You can have this, okay? 

*Thud* 

Subaru: …Ah. What is this? A name tag?

Azusa: Yeah…I also got this from Yuma but…You should give your plant a name and put that beside it.

Subaru: Let me see… ‘Subaru-san’s tomatoes’? Doesn’t it seem like a grave of some sorts now?

Azusa: Eh? You think so? 

Carla: Hmph! You enjoy crawling into a coffin as a hobby, do you not? This is barely any different. 

Subaru: …!? A-Are you makin’ fun of me!? 

Carla: I am not. I am simply stating the truth. 

Subaru: Like I saidーー 

The other group approaches them. 

Reiji: Oh dear, why the ruckus? 

Azusa: Ah…Reiji-san…Yuma and Laito-san as well…

Laito: Hey there, Bitch-chan~! Haven’t seen you since earlier. 

You ask if he’s alright now. 

Laito: Mmh! I’m back in tip-top shape! Although…I’d rather stay clear from soil for a while.

Yuma: Look, ya guys can fight all ya want, but have ya finished plantin’ the seeds yet?

You nod.

Yuma: Hah? That doesn’t sound very convincin’...But…Oh! They’re already sproutin’! I guess seeds from the Demon World really are on a different level! If they keep growin’ like this, we might just be able to harvest them tomorrow!

Laito: Then why don’t we take a break? The sky is looking gray as well…

Reiji: You are right. It has been cloudy for a while now. Well then, how about we go rest up inside that cabin for a bit?

You all start walking towards the cabin. 

*TIMESKIP*

A storm rages outside.

Laito: It’s really pouring down…

Azusa: There’s even thunder…

*CRASH*

Reiji: I have to admit…The weather does make me rather worried about the seeds we planted earlier. They only just sprouted after all. 

Yuma: Yeah. Young sprouts aren’t well resistant to the rain or strong gusts of wind yet. Perhaps we should have put a few support pillars ‘round the plants to protect them. At this rate, they’ll end up gettin’ washed away by the rain. 

*Rustle* 

Subaru: Haah!? Then what ‘bout our assignment!? I’m not startin’ over from scratch again!

Carla: I agree. My new ham holder is at stake here. I shall not waste this opportunity. 

Reiji: Calm down, both of you. My silverware set depends on it as well, so I refuse to give up already. That being said, haste makes for waste, remember? 

*CRASH*

Laito: But…I don’t think we have much time to waste? The storm’s really picking up outside. 

Subaru: …! Tsk…Oi, Yuma! How do those pillars work? 

Yuma: …!? Don’t tell me…You’re thinkin’ of goin’ out there in this weather!? 

Subaru: What other choice do I have!? I put in all that effort to plant those seeds!  It’d be such a shame…To let my tomatoes go to waste before even gettin’ a chance to harvest them. 

Azusa: But…If you were to step outside right now…Wouldn’t you put yourself at risk as well? 

Subaru: I don’t give a damn ‘bout that! …Somebody has to go, right!? Get out of my way! I’ll go…!

*Thud* 

Yuma: Wait, Subaru! You won’t be able to do anythin’ by yourself! I’ll come with you. 

Azusa: Mmh. I’ll tag along as well. I want those chilli pepper seeds which we all planted together…To have a chance to grow…

Reiji: Haah…I suppose I have no other choice. I am not thrilled about having to go out during a rainstorm, but I shall come as well. 

You offer to join them as well. 

Reiji: No, you should wait here. It is dangerous outside after all. 

Yuma: Let’s get goin’ then…!

They run outside. 

Laito: Ahーah. They actually went outside. 

Carla: Hah! They can build a fort around it all they want, it will all be in vain if you do not tackle the root of the issue. 

You point out that the weather is the main problem. 

Carla: Yes. Exactly. In other words, this weather. 

Laito: Nfu~ That being said…There’s not much we can do about the weather, is there? 

Carla: No, I know a way. I could offset the storm with my magic. 

Laito: Eeh? You can do that? 

Carla: Who do you think I am? I am Tsukinami Carla, King of Founders! ーー Woman, step out of the way. I shall blow this storm away with my powers. Fufufu…Ahahaha! The ham holder is as good as mine!

Carla begins charging up an attack. 

Carla: Haah…

Laito: …Wow! This magic is impressive. I guess I should have expected as much from a Founder…? 

Carla: Aaaah!!!

*CRASH*

*BOOM*

Laito: Coff..coff…Bitch-chan…Are you alright? 

Carla: Hmph! That was a piece of cake for someone of my caliber. 

Yuma: Magic sure is somethin’ else! But I’m glad! Now our veggies are saーー Wait. Aaaaah…!!

Azusa: Oh…They had already sprouted as well…But now they’re all…gone. 

Subaru: …Oi! You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me!? How!? 

Reiji: Could it be…Was Carla’s attack simply too powerful…He ended up destroying the whole field in the process? 

Laito: Aahー

Carla: …A-Ahem…You should be grateful to me for getting rid of that terrible storm, at least.

Subaru: S…So in the end we’re back at square one anyway!? 

ーー THE END ーー

#diabolik lovers #dialovers #reiji sakamaki #subaru sakamaki #yuma mukami #azusa mukami #carla tsukinami #diabolik lovers translation #diabolik lovers drama cd #drama cd

[welcometothejianghu]

Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 절대 그이/My Absolute Boyfriend

My Absolute Boyfriend is the 2019 Korean live-action adaptation of the Watase Yuu manga "Absolute Boyfriend." (There are two other adaptations, one Taiwanese and one Japanese.) It tells the story of a woman who has just broken up with her celebrity boyfriend, and the robot who becomes a real boy by falling in love with her.

(And yes, the reason we started watching it was because of Yeo Jingoo, since the tantalizing prospect of "that guy who played Han Juwon, playing a robot boyfriend" was too amazing to pass up.)

I need to note right off the bat: I am not usually a consumer of bippy k-dramas, romcoms, or het romance in media in general. No shade to anyone who likes these thing; they're just not my regular cup of tea. So if your tastes are akin to mine, you may have looked at the poster and been like, hm, no thank you.

Thus I am here to try and sell you on it even if you are not a fan of these genres.

This show is so unwatched that (as far as I can tell) there is nothing for it on AO3. There are a mere eight hits for the manga, Zettai Kareshi | Absolute Boyfriend, but there's nothing at all for this adaptation. This is an absolute crime, for reasons I will detail in the forthcoming five reasons to watch (above and beyond the simple pleasure of watching Yeo Jingoo be a handsome goober, though that remains a serious point in its favor):

1. Balls entirely to the wall

You know those Tumblr posts where someone comments and is like, at no point could I have predicted what the next word in that sentence would be? Yeah, that, only the sentence is the show.

This show is absolutely bonkers. It is absolute storytelling mayhem. It is gleefully head-clutching weird. Someone told it that girls like exactly three things -- cute boys in adorable outfits, cute boys with their shirts off, and cute boys in Situations -- and it is ready to deliver.

I could tell you what the plot of the show is, or at least I could try, but that wouldn't convey the sheer volume of shenanigans it gets up to. I feel like every time it had a flashback montage (set to one of its six licensed pop songs), I was like, oh yeah, that happened.

The thing, too, is that it's so self-aware. This show knows precisely what it is, and it's having fun with it. The acting is often melodramatic, but obviously very consciously so. I'm not going to say the show never takes itself seriously (because it does -- see my point #5), but it never doesn't know exactly what it is.

Browsing the MyDramaList page, I can see that a lot of viewers had lukewarm feelings on the show as a whole. (Normally I don't make the mistake of reading the comments, but since this is such a non-property in English-speaking fandom, I had to go find out what the hell.) And yeah, I can imagine that if you came into this expecting a more straight-faced entry in the genre, what you get could be confusing and alienating.

If you watch this, take off your nitpicker's hat. There are many, many points that do not make sense. Just go with it. Let the cute boys take off their shirts. Kiss a robot. Embrace chaos.

2. A++ Girlfriend

Eom Dada is great. She's just so weird. I love her and I absolutely understand why those two boys want to get with her.

She is a special effects makeup artist who runs her own three-person team that specializes in sci-fi/horror properties. One of the first things we see her doing is mixing up a bunch of different types of fake blood, because, hey, a lot of different stunt people are going to die today, and you can't just use one type of blood for everybody!

She is a dadgumn professional, is what she is.

What she isn't, however, is a pick-me, not-like-the-other-girls girl. Several times, she gets dressed up real cute and femme, and she never expresses negativity toward her more girly-girl friends. It's not that she's rejecting femininity so much as that her vision of femininity is big enough to include creating beautiful fake severed body parts. When someone describes a female character as "quirky," I cringe reflexively. But that's what she is! She's got quirks! She's a nice, normal girl who is also a big weirdo.

Since I did go read the comments, I found out pretty quickly that a lot of viewers hate her. Part of this, I'm sure, is just your generic vitriol you see aimed at any woman in a show, because holy fuck, we sure do hate women.

But I think part of it may come from how she's not asking "how high?" every time those boys tell her they'd like her to jump. There's some real viciousness out there toward women that turn down men, epecially from other women. Without getting too much into psychoanalysis about it, an awful lot of hate gets directed from other women toward the female ex-/partners of desirable men, much of which comes from the terrible assumption that if you were in her position, you'd be appropriately grateful! You'd treat that boy right! That lucky bitch doesn't know how good she's got it!

...You see how that's bad, though, right? Like, really bad and toxic?

Eom Dada tells those boys "no" when she doesn't want what they're offering. She's realizes early on that setting yourself on fire to keep your partner warm is terrible, so she stops. She's going to make them wait until she wants it -- and if she never wants it, well, those boys just get to keep right on waiting!

Read me loud and clear: I'm not saying the only reason to dislike Eom Dada is misogyny. Sometimes you just don't like a character! It happens! It's legal! What I am saying, though, is that when you look at a lot of the hate toward her all at once, certain trends emerge, and they're more than a little bit ugly.

And I think that's unfair because she's an absolute pumpkin who deserves all the smooches and spicy noodles she wants.

3. ...Are they gonna kiss?

And by "they" here, I don't mean Girlfriend and Robot Boyfriend, who obviously smooch. I mean Robot Boyfriend and Ex-Boyfriend.

They hate one another! They make heartbreaking sacrifices for one another! They're vicious rivals! They team up to solve mysteries! They're incredibly suspicious of one another! They trust one another completely! What the actual hell is going on with these two? Because oh boy, the show itself sure doesn't know.

Their relationship yo-yos constantly throughout the length of the series. They're never friends, but they get weirdly close on several occasions, including rescuing one another from terrible predicaments. They also both seem fascinated with each other, above and beyond how they're competing for the affections of the same girl. The actors have some solid chemistry (much of it comedic) in their shared scenes. They're certainly not afraid to get right up in each other's personal space.

This isn't queerbaiting, it's not using gay as a punchline, it's ... something, that's for sure. And by that I mean, I don't know if I've ever seen a more powerful vindication of the principle that the optimal solution to every love triangle is a threesome.

This to me is one of the flaws of the show, that it has decided it must never acknowledge the strength of their independent bond outside of its place in the central love conflict, and to keep from doing so, it keeps nuking Ex-Boyfriend's character back to square one. He learns about love and trust and growth! ...and then we need the plot to have a which boy will she choose??? conflict, so he's got to unlearn all of that real quick so he can be a real dillhole again. If it didn't feel obligated to do that, things would get sexy fast, I'm just saying.

Here is the main reason I'm baffled that I'm getting no AO3 hits for this: These three would be one hell of a throuple. Where are my bisexual horndog fix-it fics where all three of them wind up sharing Ma Wangjoon's comically large bed?

4. Weirdly healthyish messages about romance?

I mentioned earlier that het romance in media is not my thing, and one of the main reasons it's not is how many just gross messages it delivers about normative gender roles and behaviors.

This show absolutely starts that way. Robot Boyfriend is raised on all your classic romcoms and taught that love is all about giving everything with no concern for your own well-being, while at the same time overriding all your partner's objections because you know what she really wants. When he first latches on to Eom Dada, he's kind of your classic overbearing comedy stalker who doesn't take no for an answer, because True Love.

And then ... he changes. He realizes that his romcom education is not going to help here, so he decides to figure out what kind of boyfriend she actually wants. Once he does that, he starts to figure out that he wants to be loved too. And that's when things get interesting.

He never stops being pretty forward about things, but it becomes far more playful when he's not pressuring her, just reminding her that the offer is still on the table. Eom Dada then responds by becoming clear about how she definitely wants to take this boy out for a spin -- just at her own pace, when she herself is ready for it.

It makes an interesting contrast to how, when she was with Ex-Boyfriend, all she wanted was for him to acknowledge her (which he wanted to do too, but couldn't, for absolutely bonkers reasons, because this show is just Like That). The two of them are still in love, but the show makes it clear that being in love doesn't mean you're going to be good together -- and it doesn't mean you have to forgive the bullshit your ex-partner pulled back when you were together.

But the love triangle isn't even the sole source of romance! There's a whole 'nother love ... triangle? quadrilateral? Whatever, you've also got Robot Boyfriend's charmingly goofy MIT-educated co-creator/trainer/big brother, who becomes the object of affection for at least two of the supporting characters.

My take on this is that Handsome Robot Hyung deserves the whole harem: the boss lady who can pick him up, the cute thirsty girl who does yoga, and the sweet gay-coded boy who is so impressed that he knows robots. (This is another tragic casualty of the NO HOMO attitude of the show, where that boy should be treated as a legitimate love interest, but can never be. But we know better!)

I'm used to seeing love triangles solved in one of three ways: 1) one point on the triangle gets demonized so significantly as to make the other one the obvious choice; 2) the eventually unchosen point gets given a Consolation Prize Significant Other so we don't fell too bad about how they didn't get chosen; or 3) one point dies or is otherwise removed from the narrative, letting the other two hook up without guilt. None of those things happen to either of these love polygons. Despite some genre-appropriate catty, melodramatic speed bumps, everything gets resolved in the manner of adults with reasonable amounts of emotional maturity. It's weirdly kind of nice.

(This isn't to say there's no toxic bullshit that slips in -- for instance, I still don't know what to make of that one arguing couple, or what Robot Boyfriend says to them. It's just much less than I expected.)

Your mileage may vary about the choices the show makes at the very end. It's not how I would have ended it, sure, but I also don't think it could have ended any other way -- remember, this is a show that never forgets what it is. It is contractually obligated by its genre conventions to keep certain narrative promises. If anything, I think it's interesting how much it feels it can get away with leaving hopeful yet unresolved, up to and including how many people are still comfortably single at the end of the show. Partnered romance isn't always the solution to everything! Sometimes you've got your career and you've got your friends, and now you've got some time to work on yourself! Maybe it won't always be that way, but it sure is right now. And that's great.

5. A surprisingly sophisticated meditation on memory and mortality (say that five times fast)

Real talk: In the past four months, I have lost a lot of people, places, and animals who were very dear to me, and had some close calls with a couple more. It has sucked exactly as much as you think it has.

So yeah, in the last few episodes, I blew through some tissues.

To a certain degree, it's exactly the kind of melodramatic tearjerker narrative you'd expect from a property like this. And let me tell you what, there is nothing wrong with getting a good, sappy cry going because of the overwrought dramas of fictional people. There are plenty of objectively mediocre shows and movies I put on because I know I'm going to be a blubbering wreck by the end.

This show, however, has the extra layer of interest that Robot Boyfriend is both Boyfriend and Robot. I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say that having a guy designed to be reformatted every time a new person smooches him adds a whole lot of interesting layers to what counts as death and mourning.

Add that to how Eom Dada is still grieving the loss of her beloved father, who taught her everything she knew about her career, and you get some surprisingly moving little moments that creep in through the wacky hijinks that make up the rest of the show.

Look, it's nothing I'd ever teach in a Philosophy seminar, or anything so profound as that. But it's quiet and nice, and it has more depth than I expected, and it all hit me right in my tender little feels box. If that's the kind of thing you're open to, you could do a lot worse.

Thinking about giving this one a shot?

Viki's got the series in its full 40-episode run. (It's actually 20 hour-long episodes split in half because of commercial break rules, if you're wondering why it's sometimes Like That.) So does Tubi. I guess your choice then becomes which one's ads you'd rather sit through.

I think if you go into this with the attitude that you're just going to go with it all and laugh at how zany it is, you're in for a fine time. Whether or not you think it's good is up to your standards of quality. But it's hard to deny that it's a whole lot of fun.

And then get your ass to AO3 and give me some OT3! Mama needs these three cutie patooties to smooch~

#절대 그이 #my absolute boyfriend #absolute boyfriend #k drama #rec post #i made this #honorary danmei

[freddieraimbow74]

𝐀 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐧 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗼 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.....

26 March 1986 - John Deacon recorded a track with ‘The Immortals’ called ‘No Turning Back’ for the movie ‘The Biggles Adventures In Time’

Here’s a wonderful interview:

Who's this geezer all topped up like one of those World War One aviator choppies? Why, it's that bass-playing wonder from Queen, John Deacon!

So why has he gone and posed in this blinking silly outfit then? Has the man gone stark, staring bonkers? No -- it's because he performs the main theme tune to the new movie Biggles, based on the gung-ho exploits of the fictional World War One fighter ace who shot down more Jerries than you or I have had hot dinners -- and still managed to keep a stiff upper lip of all times!

John's theme is called 'No Turning Back', and he performs it with a new group (specially formed for the occasion, fact fans!) called The Immortals, remarkable chiefly for the fact that the singer's name is Lenny Zakatek.

"This is strictly a one-off project," explains John, munching on a bag of peanuts. "It doesn't mean Queen are going to split up or anything."

So what does he think of the film, then?

There's a long pause.

"Ummmm...err...well...I don't think it's a terrific picture. Thing is, they've tried to update it by making Biggles fall through a hole in time and end up in the 20th Century, which is a bit silly. I mean, the poor bloke who's playing him spends the entire film looking bewildered."

John, along with the rest of Queen, has also been involved with the music for another upcoming film -- the multi-million dollar Highlander, directed by Russell Mulcahy (of Duran Duran's Arena fame), in which mystic immortal warlords cut each other's heads off. What did he think of that film?

"Ummmm...(another long pause)...that one wasn't too brilliant, either. See, it looks fabulous but...erm...the script's not too hot. Shame, really..."

Dearie me! Well, never mind these dodgy films, how are Queen getting on? Tell us about your plans for your gi-normous Wembley Stadium concert this summer.

"Oh...well, I can't really give too much away...mainly because I don't really know what's going to happen! It'll be jolly spectacular, though. You can bet on that! "

OK then...describe the other three in one sentence.

"Oh God...it's so hard...one sentence?

Freddie's got a nasty temper...I remember one time he lost it, he smashed a very large, ornate mirror over someone's head. Brian's very quiet and a really good gardener...Roger likes a laugh and a joke."

What about yourself, then?

"Oh...I'm terribly shy and nervous. When we did Live Aid I was too nervous of meeting Princess Di, so Spider, our roadie, met her in my place -- shook hands with her and everything! He's now the most famous roadie in the world. He's on a solo world tour at the moment!"

Well, Queen'll have a new LP out in the summer, and then they're going to take a nice long rest. What'll you do then, John?

"Oh God -- I'm so lazy. I'll probably make loads of plans, and then just sit around on my bottom all day long and do nothing."

Finally, are you a millionaire?

"Technically, yes -- we all are, I suppose. But I've always been accused of being a bit tight with money, so it hasn't particularly changed my lifestyle. I've got a nice house, a loving wife and a couple of kids -- that'll do me!"

Source: BIGGLES AND THE CASE OF THE SHY BASSIST; Interview by Stuart Husband (Jun 7 '86 )

**John Deacon did meet Princess Diana during the premier of the movie “Biggles” 22 May 1986 - See pictures below..

Here’s a clip of “No Turning Back”

https://youtu.be/ZwfgKKH6wQc

#freddie mercury #queen band #brian may #roger taylor #jhon deacon #musique #music #queen #original character #j’adore

[gowns]

In regards to your repression post: aside from the obvious answer (therapy) what are some exercises or things we can do to tackle/acknowledge/defeat repression? If you can suggest any.

i think it really is so individual to different people. therapy will help (it helped me; i found a very progressive therapist who is familiar with trauma). a lot of self-reflection.

for me: reading about zen helped. i'm not very good at meditating (too much bonkers stuff going on up there) but i really like reading about zen concepts and what people get out of it. books that i read that helped me grasp zen were, in this order, the long quiet highway, you are here, nothing special, then goodbye things and the concept of minimalism (what are the things in your life that matter to you, and what is clutter?). also, previously i have been helped by reading books about how trauma manifests in your body, like "the body keeps the score," but now i know that guy is problematique so i would check out alternative books like what my bones know.

that was all kind of like the baseline stuff that was scaffolding for helping me get to a better position to grasp what came to me last year...

... which was a deeper understanding of my own sexuality, identity, how i relate to other people, how i present, feeling embodied instead of disassociating, actually feeling sensations instead of it all being mental. in other words, a deeper acceptance of the fact that i am gay and that queer sex makes me whole.

now, for me, that all started with deep vulnerable conversations with friends about sexuality, identity, desires, dreams. long, long conversations. having more LGBTQ friends. being more in community with people. putting myself out there more, not isolating myself, feeling like an island unto myself.

--

i must repeat: i think that the seed for unrooting repression can be many different things, for many different people.

for me, i found myself in a position where i was a parent of two, in a seemingly cis hetero marriage, experiencing years of isolation. this isolation was mostly self-imposed! my partner has always been very supportive of me in anything i wanted to do. i just had no concept of my own wants and desires anymore. i had been in a caretaker role for so long that any concept of a personal "want" was buried deep underground.

how did this happen? i have always been against the status quo, in concept. but i felt a nebulous social pressure to "perform" motherhood, marriage, nuclear family structure, to wear makeup a certain way, to have sex a certain way... i was living in an unquestioned "normalcy" which was actually actively harmful to me.

i am usually coy about this on this blog, but i'll tell you right out, i started actively dating again and engaging with new sexual ideas and i was astonished that it just... made me feel so real, so myself, in a way that years of therapy and different medications have never done.

over the past several years, in periods of re-experiencing trauma or being triggered, i felt asexual. i would often have to be very drunk or very high to enjoy sex. i felt separate from my body.

now i feel whole again. i feel lit up all over.

like: i sat down and tried to learn the piano this year, and i was amazed that for the first time, in a very long time, there was a connection between my brain, my hands, my ears, and i was capable of being fully embodied in that way too, being able to use my hands to make music, having the plasticity in my brain to learn new things.

--

tldr: i think the answer is different for everyone. for me, it was embracing my nature as an unabashed flirt and local lothario. for you? it could be writing a love song and performing it. it could be finally writing the book laced with details of family secrets you've always been afraid to write. it could be just, like, buying a leather harness, and enjoying the sensation of the leather against your skin. we're only here once (in this form of consciousness)! enjoy the ride!

#Kill the Cop in Your Head!

[touchmycoat]

fake white lotus AU pt. 3a

(had birthday dinner w family and went absolutely bonkers. So here's 3k of SY angry-ranting about fake!qijiu)

CW: canon-typical violence & child slavery/abuse

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom and a regime. The emperor of the regime, as was an emperor’s wont, sired dozens of children with gratuitous amounts of beautiful women and left all the women and children in a sequestered harem to main and kill and battle each other for spots of favor. Infants were poisoned in the womb. Faces that were once touted as the most beautiful of entire provinces were torn to shreds and fed to dogs. Concubines and crown princes alike rose and fell.

A number that no longer mattered was seven because at this point in the plot, the Seventh Prince had long since gotten rid of one through six—and also eight through fifteen for that matter. The Seventh Prince was no longer the seventh of anything; he was now the Crown Prince. But once, long ago, he hadn’t wanted the crown at all. He had been so far down the line, his mother dead and unfavored, that he thought he never stood a chance.

Then there was a kidnapping. A fumbled escape. Then there was a prince among the beggars in a slum, unfamiliar with everything except the heavy weight of awaiting death in all these people’s eyes.

And then there was the Protagonist.

All in all, Shen Yuan gave this Meet Cute-slash-Meet Awful a five out of ten for originality and a seven (six-point-five?) for execution. The backstory itself was neither special nor cliched, and seeing baby-Qi and baby-Jiu roughing it was effectively heartbreaking. Shen Yuan liked their thematically matching names. He liked Shen Jiu’s youthful effort at kindness. He liked the surprising depiction of Yue Qi as not a useless flower vase with nothing but annoying platitudes, but rather a boy who caught on quickly to the rhythm of survival because he was already used to it in the palace. He liked the stakes of Yue Qi not telling Shen Jiu his princely identity, first because he was wary of further betrayal, and then later because he didn’t want Shen Jiu to push him away for his royal status.

But what did Shen Yuan not like?

Oh not much. Just, like, everything after that.

The problem with Yue Qingyuan was that the author got all wishy-washy. The prince wasn’t laundry, Author-dada, so stop dumping him in the spin cycle! He was coming out each time all confused and inconsistent! Was he clever enough to take out all the other princes in the running for the throne or was he an idiot, blind to the most Basic™ of political intrigue tropes and needing Shen Jiu running to his aid at all times? Was he camped out in the angsting corner and self-sacrificing to a fault or did he kabedon Shen Jiu when the passion arose?? Did he take over the country because he was filled with idealism and determination to abolish the slavery and poverty that he couldn’t save the love of his life from or because he was a black lotus in his own right, matching Shen Jiu beat for beat in his quest for vengeance, getting back what he believed he was owed?!

Oh what was that, haters? Shen Yuan was being unfair? It didn’t have to be one way or another, Shen Yuan was not taking the author’s characterizations at face value and was instead projecting his own desires? Shen Yuan should just write his own Mary Sue self-insert if he wanted the Protagonist so badly?

Wrong! An offensively incorrect misdiagnosis! Shen Yuan knew all about false binaries, okay? There were more than two genders; ipso facto, Yue Qi could be both smart and an idiot, both self-sacrificing and self-serving.

—Like hell! There was a line here, one between having the cake and eating it too. The author wanted to eat the cake of the doting Gege-type, hiding his feelings behind a comforting smile because he only wanted Xiao Jiu to be happy, then there wasn’t going to be the same cake waiting in the fridge, this time with I should take this opportunity to kill all the competition filling inside! Fans weren’t your unpaid interns combing out your character kinks for you (in every sense of the word). Make it! Make! Sense!

But Shen Yuan may have digressed. The point was, Shen Yuan had the Crown Prince coming over for some afternoon tea yet had little idea which version of the character he was going to get. He’d tried to ask Ming Fan before Ming Fan left, all meaningful looks and trailing off:

So my last encounter with the Crown Prince…

To which Ming Fan had winced and found a far, faraway tree to squint philosophically at.

Surely the Crown Prince is a gentleman, and has long-since forgotten the incident.

Oh so now this comic knew how to do effective foreshadowing?!

Do you think he might—? Shen Yuan had pressed, at which point Ming Fan’s gaze had slipped over to Shen Jiu before—

Hurry up! We’re leaving!

Qing-gege ah! How could you do this to your Qing-didi?! And then shoot such an aggro glare before galloping off in a cloud of dust? Didn’t you know to never leave family and loved ones on a sour note? This was the perfect set-up for you to return to a burned down husk of a house and a remaining lifetime’s supply of regrets that you never told them you loved them, don’t you know! You foolish tragic hero!

…Not to jinx himself or anything, knock on wood. But who could Shen Yuan ask now to prepare himself? Not Shen Jiu—at least, not after the totally-not-tense, haha-of-course-not-why-would-you-even-think-there-was-tension-here conversation Shen Jiu and Luo Binghe decided to have, some days after Liu Qingge’s departure and the day before the Crown Prince’s visit.

Young Master Shen! Shall I prepare some desserts for you and your guest tomorrow?

That would be lovely Binghe, thank you.

It would be my honor. Attendant Shen, what are the Crown Prince’s preferred flavors?

…How would a common servant like myself know?

Oh my mistake. I just thought I heard a story in the market about Attendant Shen being called to wait on the Crown Prince at a prior banquet or some such.

(What the hell Binghe, jealousy this early in your courtship?? Take it from an old man: that wasn’t a cute look! Shen Jiu didn’t owe you anything, so don’t go taking a dip in the vinegar vat just because Shen Jiu poured a guy’s tea one time!)

Had Young Master Shen also been in attendance?

Hm, I forget. But I’m sure the Crown Prince will love the berry dessert you made yesterday as much as I did. Will Binghe get more ingredients for those?

Certainly Young Master Shen! I’ll go right now!

(Ah but who could blame a once-enslaved half-demon for being less-than-well-adjusted? Have no fear, your devoted reader was here! Love Doctor—or, no, gross, ew, let’s workshop that—was his name, matchmaking was his game!)

Attendant Shen, maybe you can accompany him?

Oh I’m sure that’s not nece—

For what?

(You roll around in ink you got up black—a.k.a. Jiu-ge, keep hanging out with Liu Qingge and you’d end up only knowing how to speak in gruff demands!)

Well Binghe’s new to our Estate. If you show him around town I’m sure no one will give him trouble.

I wouldn’t want to take Attendant Shen from his duties—

I’ve wrapped up my duties. Certainly I can accompany him, Young Master Shen.

(Score! All aboard the Bingjiu train!)

Only, I can’t do my hair up properly.

(Blink. Blink blink. Right, the arm injury. Shen Jiu had honestly looked so natural with his hair down, gathered back at the nape of his neck with only a strip of ribbon that Shen Yuan had completely forgotten it wasn’t his typical neat and classy half-bun.)

Oh sure, let me—

This servant can do it!

(Great, now what the heck was this development?! Shen Jiu going tense? So sure, yes, Luo Binghe had been the one to deal him the injury but were they running the trauma storyline now? Regroup Shen Yuan, regroup. Obviously this was where Young Master Shen insisted on doing up Shen Jiu’s hair right in front of Luo Binghe, and Luo Binghe would be angry-mad-jealous except he knew he didn’t deserve Shen Jiu’s trust, not after losing control of his demon form and injuring Shen Jiu the morning after he arrived. Therefore on their trip out to market Luo Binghe would keep his distance and the tension would be rising—until bam! Shen Jiu was suddenly in grave physical danger (a runaway carriage was always a cheap classic here) and Luo Binghe would leap into action! Luo Binghe would return to his distance once the danger had passed but now Shen Jiu would know those demonic hands that had once hurt him were actually capable of protection and warmth, okay okay Shen Yuan you’re doing fine, you’re still on track here.)

I’ve got it. Attendant Shen’s been trying to teach me how to do this pin for ages, anyhow.

Time to see if Young Master Shen has the talent to be a personal attendant.

Right, so there was that whole conversation, plus or minus Shen Yuan getting to brush and handle Shen Jiu’s Protagonist hair on his Protagonist nape (and no Shen Yuan was not getting a bite of that tofu—Shen Jiu murmured something about it being hot outside! Shen Yuan had to get the hair off his neck!). Luo Binghe had put Shen Jiu on the defensive so Shen Yuan hardly expected Shen Jiu to be open to a sleepover type of heart-to-heart, all so what do you think the Crown Prince is like as a person? Like, is he the forgiving sort? Will he let the Young Master he believes has been systematically ruining his beloved’s life go unpunished for those sins? El oh el, asking for a friend. All Shen Yuan had to go on was Ming Fan’s foreshadowing, Luo Binghe’s street gossip, and of course the holy fucking doctrine of the original comic.

In the original comic, Shen Jiu and Yue Qi reunite one warm spring night. Shen Jiu had been making a last-minute delivery of live pigs and Yue Qingyuan had been escaping the royal banquet; it was the night of the Crown Prince’s engagement to the Young Master of the great merchant House of Shen and Shen Jiu, caked in a day’s worth of livestock grime, stumbled upon Yue Qingyuan hiding in the back garden.

Shen Jiu, who had agreed to come in the first place in order to seek out potential connections, put on his best customer service smile and called out, pardon this servant Young Master, but we’re to close the backdoors behind us. Will you reenter the banquet so this servant can lock up?

And Yue Qingyuan, who had shot up the moment he sensed another’s presence intrude on his woeful solitude, yes, yes of course, I apologize for getting in your—Xiao Jiu?

…Qi-ge?

And the rest was history…more like shitstory! To be fair, the primary reason it was so bad was because Shen Yuan knew it could’ve been so good. As a wise woman once sang, we could’ve had it all!

Shen Jiu and Yue Qi’s reunion in the garden revealed the circumstances of their separation: that Yue Qi had been entirely ready to give up palace life and stay in the streets, picking up small jobs and here and there and waiting by the Qiu Estate’s backdoor at sunset, hoping to catch Shen Jiu on his way to do evening chores and give Shen Jiu a little candied snack or two. The more Yue Qi saw Shen Jiu though, the more he saw Shen Jiu injured, coming out of the Qiu Estate limping, bandaged, bloodied.

It hardly took a genius to understand, but what were two helpless children to do? Uh, plan a murder, was what. Or at least an escape with a side order of murder, extra red sauce. Shen Jiu wanted out and Yue Qi’s resume had under Work Experience years spent dodging assassination attempts; the two kids quickly hatched a plot involving fire, stabbing, and a small stash of money Yue Qi managed to put away.

Too bad that, when the day of the scheduled escape came, Yue Qi was recognized by a distant cousin’s uncle’s cousin, who wanted to bring him back to the palace not out of the kindness of her heart but as a bargaining chip. Yue Qi ran for it, heading straight to Shen Jiu to warn his best friend that the plan was off. Shen Jiu made the call to stay the course since the plan involved them both fleeing town anyways. But nothing lined up, the traps didn’t spring to plan, and soon the cousin had Yue Qi and Qiu Jianluo had Shen Jiu. The last they saw each other was Shen Jiu slamming the estate doors shut between them, yelling for Qi-ge to go already, go get help, Shen Jiu would wait for him to return.

And of course Yue Qi wouldn’t, not until it was too late. Back in the palace he was tied up, gagged, drugged, caged. If you know what’s good for you, Concubine Lin had hissed, you’ll stop making such a ruckus and pretend you know nothing.

So Yue Qi did. He played the smiley cowardly idiot until all the factions in power finally left him alone. His first attempt to get information on Shen Jiu got an innocent servant boy set upon by hunting dogs and brutally killed; the boy had been a year younger than Shen Jiu, also enslaved, and Yue Qi wouldn’t try again for a year. By the time Yue Qi had amassed enough power of his own—by the time Yue Qingyuan had earned his name in his Imperial father’s eyes—to discretely send for intel, the Qiu Estate had been empty for months.

A mass execution, came the report from a neighbor, the dragon whiskers-candy stall Yue Qi used to buy Shen Jiu sweets from all the time. Nasty, nasty business. All the slaves dead because of one traitor. Young Master Qiu said he wanted a clean slate.

Yue Qingyuan would end up buying the old Qiu Estate and “accidentally” burning it to the ground, but it would only ever be a pitiful, futile gesture at vengeance. He couldn’t even find Young Master Qiu to exact vengeance because the entire Qiu merchant caravan had been slaughtered by robbers on some dangerous roads. Yue Qi finally had his hands on immeasurable power but it was all for naught—the one person he needed it to save was long dead, long gone.

…Or so he thought. Here we go live audience members, place your bets: how did the reunion go, between the Crown Prince who thought a slave dead and the slave who thought himself abandoned? Start things off with a slap? Yes! Ten points to the lady in the back! Shen Jiu, for all of his connivance and self-control, couldn’t help but go red in the eyes. Here was the boy he saved who promised to save him back but then didn’t. Here was the boy he cleaned and dressed now in the cleanest and finest dress of all. And here he was, holding the memory of Qi-ge so close to his heart as someone who did not deserve his lot in life. Well Shen Jiu was right—Yue Qingyuan did not fucking deserve this.

The gentleman in blue! What was that? Yue Qingyuan would not explain? Absolutely correct, you get ten points! In the face of Shen Jiu’s distress, no explanation for his prolonged absence seemed good enough, especially not now that Yue Qingyuan was well-fed and dolled up and so close to the seat of power. As far as he was concerned, he’d failed Shen Jiu; there was no fixing the past, only the things he could secure for Shen Jiu going forward. He would not be losing track of Shen Jiu again though, that he vowed. He may not be a hero, but he would never again not be there when Shen Jiu needed him.

Scholarly looking person in the front row! Hm, so you believed the best way to capitalize and build on the emotional valence here would be to keep Shen Jiu’s sense of betrayal, probably have Shen Jiu reveal he worked under the House of Shen and have Yue Qingyuan eagerly volunteer to aid in Shen Jiu’s cause? And that there would be something delicious and true about Shen Jiu being the fake white lotus to everybody but the Crown Prince, the most high stakes character you anticipated needed to be fake-white-lotused the most? Oof, unfortunately no points for you, because Shen Jiu actually decided to lovingly stroke Yue Qingyuan’s face after the slap and pivot into the but I know you must’ve had your reasons part of the script that nobody asked for or wanted! Like what even was the point of setting up the perceived betrayal then, hah?!

Emo-styling person with the cat ears, what do you have to say? Perhaps that was Shen Jiu deciding to fake-white-lotus Yue Qingyuan as well, and maybe there was something to be salvaged in the one-way mirror setup of Shen Jiu thinking he’d successfully fooled Yue Qingyuan with his white lotus persona but Yue Qingyuan actually seeing the most ruthless and manipulative sides of him the whole time and was okay with it? Yes wouldn’t that be spicy, maybe have Liu Qingge walk away first upon seeing past Shen Jiu’s mask, only for Yue Qingyuan to declare he already knew? That would definitely be a viable path had Shen Jiu’s forgiveness not been wholly, diegetically, irrevocably, canonically authentic—thanks to the author-dada. No muss, no fuss, no plausible deniability left under all the pink bubble-sparkles and closeups of tear-filled, longing gazes. No points for cat ears. No point to any of this fertile backstory, because at the end of the day it was just two boys, one obtrusively big cliché.

Hence—circling all the way back—Shen Yuan’s dilemma. His complicated state of knowing but not actually knowing anything.

#also i do not fucking understand tenses if anyone wants to help me out #my fic #qijiu #jiuyuan #i think i wrote this in three chunks #each chunk on a single breath with bulging eyeballs #spot the line I'm most proud of #(it's the tofu one) #brain goes brrrrr #post panic attack at 3am cause one of my fish died el oh el #channeling all my panicked energy into SY this is fine

[kachikirby]

Kirby: Mysterious Incident on the Pupupu Train! - Chapter 4: The Great Sandwich Incident!

Previous Chapter

In the early morning, Chef Kawasaki got to work right away. While he was cooking in the kitchen car, Kirby came.

“Good morning, Chef Kawasaki!”

“Good morning, Kirby. You’re up early.”

“Bonkers’s snoring was so loud that it woke me up!”

Kirby let out a sigh.

“Bonkers snores a lot, has a bad sleeping pattern, and is a real pain! And yet, whenever I hummed a little, he would wake up suddenly and get really angry! That’s awful, isn’t it?”

“Y-yeah.”

Chef Kawasaki’s smile was wry. Kirby’s singing had terrifying destructive power. Even if he was humming a little tune, someone sitting next to him would probably flinch. Bonkers’s snoring versus Kirby’s humming. It was a showdown no one wanted to get too close to.

“It’s strange. Even though Bonkers really liked me so much that he insisted on rooming with me...”

“Bonkers probably doesn’t feel well in the mornings, so he hates them.” Chef Kawasaki comforted the disappointed Kirby.

“...that’s right! More importantly, let’s make breakfast early! I’ll help you!”

“N-no thanks. I’m good.” Chef Kawasaki’s smile was more and more strained.

Kirby’s cooking skills were just as destructive as his singing ability!

“You don’t have to worry! I’ll mix natto, strawberry jam, and eggs! If you put it on toast, it’ll be delicious!”

“It’s fine, Kirby! Leave the cooking to me! First, I have to make breakfast for the crew!” Kawasaki shouted with all his might.

“Ok! What are you making?”

“Something that you can easily pick up with one hand while working... I think a sandwich would be good.”

“Waah! Sounds good! What are you gonna put in them? Sashimi? Pickled radishes? Gyoza?”

“Ham and cucumbers. Kirby, would you mind going to the food car and getting some ham from the refrigerator?”

“Got it!”

Kirby ran to the food car. Meanwhile, Chef Kawasaki opened a wooden box on the floor and took out a cucumber. He then spread some butter on the bread and put on the sliced cucumber and ham that Kirby brought. Then he put on some mayonnaise and salt for seasoning and cut off the crust.

“Waaah! Looks delicious! I wanna eat it, too!”

“You can’t! This is for the crew! If you have a bit, there won’t be enough for them!” Kawasaki said to the drooling Kirby.

“Oh, that’s right!”

“I’ll make you plenty of them when it’s your turn later. Would you mind delivering these to the driver, the conductor, and the maid?”

“Suuuree!”

Kirby took one plate in each hand and one on his head before tottering out of the kitchen car.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The first place Kirby went to was the conductor’s room behind the food car.

“Good morning! Please open the door!”

Kirby shouted. The door opened and the conductor’s face peered out.

“Oh, Mr. Kirby. Good morning. What can I do for you?”

“I brought you breakfast!”

“Hm? For me?”

“Yup! It’s Chef Kawasaki’s specially made sandwich!”

The conductor’s eyes sparkled.

“Waah! Ham and cucumber! My favorite! I’ll have it after checking the machine. Please put it on the table over there.”

“Okay!”

Kirby put the plate in the conductor’s room and left. Next, he headed for the maid’s room. The maid was well dressed and had a broom in her hand.

“Oh, good morning, Mr. Kirby.”

“Good morning! Here’s a sandwich made by Chef Kawasaki!”

“Ahh! Is this for me? It looks delicious!” The maid smiled. “I was about to go clean everyone’s rooms. I’m so happy to be able to eat such a delicious looking sandwich before work.”

“Good luck with your work! See you!”

The last place he headed was the cab at the far front of the train. The driver sat in his seat, staring at the screen.

“Good morning, Mr. Driver!”

“Hm? Oh, good morning, Mr. Kirby.”

The driver stretched his arms as if to relax his body. Although he occasionally swaps with the conductor to take a nap, he usually stays in the driver’s seat for most of the trip. It’s an exhausting job.

“Do you need something? The train is running smoothly and there’s nothing to worry about!”

“That’s good to hear! I brought you a sandwich made by Chef Kawasaki!”

“Hm? For me?”

The driver smiled.

“Waah, it looks delicious! Thank you so much!”

He took a small piece of the sandwich, opened his large mouth, and took a bite. Kirby, having a rare opportunity in the cab, looked around.

“That’s a really big screen. So that’s how you know what’s going on outside. Is this a speedometer? These numbers... are how far we are to the destination?”

The driver spoke while munching on the sandwiches.

“You can look at it, but don’t... touch... anything...”

His words were interrupted. Kirby, wondering about this, looked at him. The driver was laying face down on the control panel.

“...huh?!”

Surprised, Kirby called out to the driver. “What’s wrong, Mr. Driver!? Are you ok?!”

There was no response. It seemed like the driver lost consciousness.

“Wh-what happened?! Is everything ok?!”

He shook the driver, but the driver did not move.

“Th-this is bad...! I gotta call someone!”

Kirby rushed out of the driver’s cab in a panic. As he ran into the passageway, an even more shocking sight caught his eye. The maid was lying down, her broom still in hand.

“Huuuuh?!  Ms. Maid!? Ms. Maid, hang in there!”

Kirby shook her, but her consciousness did not return, just like with the driver. Except it was right in front of the Waddle Dee room. The door opened to reveal Bandana Waddle Dee.

“What’s wrong, Kirby? Why are you shouting so...”

Upon seeing the maid laying on the floor, Bandana rushed over.

“Ms. Maid?! Wh-wh-what’s wrong!?”

“I don’t know! This happened with the driver, too! They suddenly fell over!” Kirby answered.

“Huuuuuuhhh?! Even the driver!?”

Bandana turned pale. Some Waddle Dees heard the noise and rushed out of the room.

“You guys stay with the maid! I’ll let his highness know! Kirby... that’s right! Call the conductor!” Bandana quickly said.

“Got it!”

With that, Kirby and Bandana headed off in their according directions.

~~~~~~~~

Kirby knocked at the door to the conductor’s room violently.

“Mr. Conductor! Mr. Conductor! Open up! There’s a problem!”

However, there was no response from inside.

“No way...even the conductor?!”

Kirby quickly opened the door. His bad feeling was correct. The conductor was sitting slumped over in the chair, unconscious. On the table was an empty plate. It seems like he passed out because he ate all of the sandwiches.

“The sandwich...?! No, it’s because they all ate the sandwiches...?!”

Kirby ran out of the conductor’s room. Chef Kawasaki had to know about this!

~~~~~~~~

The news spread all over the train in the blink of an eye. The passengers gathered in the dining car and made a big fuss.

“What’s going on? Did the maid faint?”

“I heard that the driver and conductor also lost consciousness. What’s happened?!”

Everyone looked at each other with worried expressions.

Chef Kawasaki stood still with a blank look on his face. In front of him was York, King Dedede, and Meta Knight.

York raised his voice. “Calm down, everyone. First, let’s sort out this situation. What happened?”

“The driver, conductor, and maid all passed out!” Kirby said.

“The three crew members were taken to their rooms and are sleeping in bed. The three of them looked fine, were breathing normally, and appeared to just be sleeping. But no matter how much you would yell or shake them, they wouldn’t wake up.” Bandana said.

“H... hey! Never mind the conductor or the maid, if there’s no driver, then the train shouldn’t be moving! If there’s no driver, how is the train moving...” King Dedede shouted.

Upon hearing what the king shouted, the passengers panicked.

“If there’s no driver, then the train is running with no one at the controls...?! It’s a runaway!”

“Oh no! We’re in danger!”

“Kyahhh! Kyaaahh! I’m scared!”

“This is an emergency. Stop the train and return to Dream Land.” Meta Knight said to York.

“We cannot do that.” York shook his head.

“You can’t? Why?”

“When this train departs from its station, it uses a device installed at the station to accelerate the train. It is not possible to stop or start the train at a place that is not a station.”

“What do you... so you mean that without a driver, it will continue to run?”

Even Meta Knight was at a loss for words.

“Everything will be fine. This train has a self-driving device. Even if there is no driver, it will continue to run on the line. Unless something very bad...” York said emphatically.

“No, wait, wait!” Dedede shouted. “The train absolutely needs a driver!”

“It’s fine. The self-driving device...”

“Can you really trust a device? Leave it to me!”

“...huh?”

York was dumbfounded.

“King Dedede? You can’t be saying that you can drive the train, can you?”

“I’ve never done it before, but there’s nothing that I can’t do! Don’t worry, everyone!”

Dedede rushed out of the dining car in a confident manner.

“...seems more like he just wants to drive it.” Knuckle Joe said.

“Will it really be all right?”

“There’s an automatic driving device, so it’ll work out somehow, right?”

While the passengers murmured, Meta Knight spoke.

“I still feel uneasy without a proper driver. We have to do something to wake them up. But first, we must investigate how and why they fell asleep.”

“I think I have a pretty good idea.”

Chef Kawasaki stepped forward.

“The three of them ate the sandwiches that I made.”

“...what?”

“Everyone fell asleep after eating my sandwiches. I thought it was my sandwiches’ fault...!”

The passengers gasped.

“What were in the sandwiches?” Meta Knight asked.

“Just ordinary ham and cucumbers.”

“Cucumbers... it can’t be...” York, who was listening to the conversation, muttered.

Meta Knight overheard what he had said.

“Do you have an idea what’s going on here, York?”

“N-no. It’s nothing.”

York turned his back as if deceiving. Meta Knight turned back to Chef Kawasaki.

“Will you allow me to investigate the kitchen car?”

“Of course.”

The two of them headed to the kitchen car.

“I baked the bread myself. The ham was stored in the refrigerator. The cucumbers came from this wooden box. Then I put on salt, mayonnaise, and butter.” Chef Kawasaki explained.

“Was there an ingredient that made them sleepy...?”

“Impossible! I didn’t even use slumbercumbers!”

“Slumbercumbers?”

“It’s the name of a vegetable. It looks and tastes the same as regular cucumbers, but eating them causes you to be overwhelmed by intense drowsiness.”

Meta Knight’s eyes lit up.

“Would that box of vegetables happen to be sleep cucumbers?”

“That’s impossible! I picked the usual cucumbers from the usual field and packed them in the box myself!”

“But I want to check just in case.”

“Understood, though I think it’s useless.”

Chef Kawasaki took out a long green vegetable from the box placed on the floor. He then cut it in two with a kitchen knife.

“See? It’s just a normal cucumber...”

But at the next moment, his eyes widened.

“...huh?! This scent...!?”

He sniffed the vegetable and shouted.

“This is a sweet smell...! This isn’t a normal cucumber! It’s a slumbercumber!”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes...!” Chef Kawasaki said, dumbfounded.

“If you don't pay close attention, you won't notice, but slumbercumbers have a different, sweeter smell than normal cucumbers. I wasn’t paying attention when I made the sandwiches! Why were these things even in the kitchen car...?!”

Meta Knight stared at Kawasaki with sharp eyes underneath his mask.

“Is it possible that you mistook them with normal cucumbers when you brought them on?”

“Absolutely not!” Chef Kawasaki shouted. “Slumbercumbers only grow in the southern grasslands of Dream Land! There’s no way it can become lost in a field of regular cucumbers!”

“Did you carry the box on yourself?”

“I didn’t, there was just so many ingredients. I packed up everything I had prepared and shipped to the York Railroad Company.”

“...how long will the people who eat the slumbercumbers be asleep for?”

“It depends on how much they ate, and the amount used in those sandwiches... it’ll be about ten days.”

“Ten days...?!”

Meta Knight was surprised.

“What will happen to them if they sleep for ten days? They won’t be able to eat during that time and their bodies will become weak...”

“It’ll be fine. They won’t need to eat or drink anything while they’re asleep. It’s like they’re hibernating. So, there’s no need to worry.”

“...I see. That’s good.”

Meta Knight’s voice calmed down.

“Is there any way we can wake them up?”

“No. The slumbercumber’s effect is strong. Until ten days pass, they won’t wake up no matter what you do.”

“...and there’s four days left until we reach Baspa. So, the crew will be asleep until we reach the last stop.”

At that moment, York entered the kitchen car.

“What did you think? Did you find anything out?” He asked in a worried voice.

“...Mr. York.”

Meta Knight explained everything to him about how slumbercumbers look similar to normal cucumbers and how they somehow got into the kitchen car. After hearing everything, York turned pale.

“...I see. But why...”

It was a small whisper, but Meta Knight heard it.

“Mr. York, what did you just say?”

“Huh? Oh, no, it’s nothing... ahem!”

York cleared his throat.

“Why is something like that in the kitchen car?!”

“Chef Kawasaki said he doesn’t know. Do you have an idea, Mr. York?”

“Of- of course not! I have no idea!” York looked confused.

Meta Knight responded. “But it seems that you can only get the slumbercumbers in the south grasslands of Dream Land. It’s impossible to accidentally mistake it for normal cucumbers and carelessly bring it on. Someone put slumbercumbers in this box and brought them into the kitchen car.”

“What...” York said while sweating profusely. “Who would do something like that?”

“I don’t know. But Chef Kawasaki said that he left it to the York Railway Company to pack the ingredients.”

Chef Kawasaki nodded.

“York, of course, knows about that. I left the food I had prepared to the York Railroad Company to carry it into the Pupupu Train.”

“That’s correct.” York nodded. “The food car is used for items that need to be frozen or refrigerated. Seasonings and ready to use vegetables go straight to the kitchen car...my workers followed Chef Kawasaki’s instructions exactly.”

“...hmph.”

Meta Knight said with a serious voice. “There are several possibilities. First, there is the possibility that an unscrupulous employee of the York Railroad Company secretly slipped in a crate of slumbercumbers.”

“That cannot be!” York shouted quickly. “All of my employees are serious and hard-working people! I know everyone who works here! There cannot be any unscrupulous individuals!”

“Then the next possibility. An unscrupulous passenger brought on the slumbercumbers and put them in the kitchen car...”

“I don’t think it’s that.” Chef Kawasaki said. “The passengers are all citizens of Dream Land, outside of you and your subordinates, Meta Knight.”

“...that’s right.”

“I know the people in Dream Land well, and I don’t believe that they would do something like that.”

“My subordinates wouldn’t do something like that either. Next possibility is that someone other than one of the original passengers entered this car...”

“That’s unthinkable.” York denied. “The Pupupu Train’s passenger check is strict. Those who don’t have a ticket will absolutely not be allowed on. No matter who tries to slip in, it’s impossible.”

“Hmm...” Chef Kawasaki uttered while thinking. “But Kirby was the one who was in charge of the ticket gate. It seemed he longed for the job and the station attendant let him do it.”

“That’s right.”

“Someone sneaked in while Kirby was looking away...that’s probably what happened.”

“...yeah...”

Meta Knight nodded, his voice lowering.

“There’s still too much we don’t know. The most important thing is to not let panic spread among the passengers.”

“That’s right.”

York quickly nodded. “Our company wishes for the most enjoyable travel on the rails for our guests. We cannot let them panic.”

“Mr. York, confirm for me again. Will the train be fine without the driver?”

“Yes, of course.” York puffed his chest up. “Our company’s self-driving device proudly uses the best technology in the galaxy! There’s nothing to worry about!”

“Anyway, we have no choice but to keep going. Cook Kawasaki, make a delicious breakfast that will calm everyone down.”

Chef Kawasaki nodded. “I’ll make sure that each ingredient is carefully selected so that this won’t happen again. The afternoon snack party will be held as planned.”

“Good idea. Sweets have a calming effect on the hearts of others.”

With that, Meta Knight and York left the kitchen car.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Table of Contents

Next Chapter ->

#kirby light novel #kirby light novel translation #light novel translation #kirby #king dedede #meta knight #bandana waddle dee #chef kawasaki #knuckle joe #yeah this week's episode of g witch was brutal #like really brutal #I heard that this is where the novel starts to fall apart #ngl i can see it #like I understand trusting the others but you should really interview them just in case #just to confirm it #just interview everyone #like I know people are gonna complain to me for critiquing a novel aimed at children #but being aimed at children doesn't mean it's exempt from criticism #especially since Mie Takase has written some really good novels before in this series #and I know I shouldn't have gone into this expecting something like Murder on the Orient Express #IT REALLY SHOULD'VE BEEN SOMETHING LIKE THAT

[erismourn]

ok ive been thinking about a destiny university au that im ultimately not going to do anything with (probably) but I just want to talk about it so here is a list of some characters and what I think they would do at uni

osiris: physics prof specializing in quantum + theoretical physics. undergrads find him extremely difficult to follow but master's students love him. will occasionally heckle ikora's philosophy seminars

saint: kinesiology prof, former football quarterback. everyone takes his first year classes because he's the best and also might let you throw things at each other for a grade. too much of a meathead to truly understand what's going on in osiris' lectures, but sits in on his beloved's lessons anyway.

ikora: philosophy prof, has like 4 undergrad degrees because she couldn't decide what she wanted to study ("but mads that's bonkers" my friend has done this and is currently getting their phd in social work. it happens). playful academic beef with osiris on the nature of life itself. was the scariest player on the women's lacrosse team

eris: perma-phd student in archaeology with a minor in anthropology. spends way too much time in the bone lab, which is why she looks like she doesn't go out in the sun. spends a little too much time hanging around the philosophy department for someone who isn't a philosophy major

zavala: extremely jacked anthropology professor. did his phd thesis on the value of fibrecraft to the human experience (more specific than that but I'm not about to come up with a feasible phd level thesis for a field I know nothing about). many of his students think he's in the mafia or something because of how ripped he is, but he just really likes working out

asher mir: chemistry professor. kind of a hardass, HATES teaching undergrads, but might let you blow something up in a controlled environment on the last lab day of the semester

amanda holliday: engineering master's student. EXTREMELY passionate about the yearly engineering go-kart derby where teams of students build their own go-karts

banshee-44: engineering prof. the smartest, most capable engineering prof at the school, but god forbid he remembers where he put that caliper. do not go into his office. it's a hazard.

shaxx: the football coach. end of thought.

drifter: math and stats prof. weirdly grungy for a nerd. I almost put him as an ethics professor bc I think his morals are really interesting but then I remembered he likes math a lot and I think he can have a little treat. has way too much energy for undergrads

mara: history prof. you thought history was boring until you took a class with dr sov. that woman can spin a yarn like nobody else. often has academic beef with ikora

riven: the school mascot

#mads.txt #'mads why isn't cayde on this list' you know that man would actively suffer in a university environment #it would be like taking a pug on a hike on a hot day. just torture for him #destiny #d2 uni au #in case i post more about this #sorry this is long. i have thoughts

[carverl]

I've been rewatching the Indiana Jones films and decided to rank them from least favourite to my absolute favourite, I'd like to note that despite what negative things I may have to say I don't think there is a bad movie in this franchise which is kind of a miracle. I love all of them to some extent, this series means the world to me, and I feel the entertainment industry is lucky to have it.

5. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I really love the first two acts of this movie; the 50s setting is fun, Harrison Ford is great as ever, Cate Blanchett plays a great villain, the action is fun and energetic, and despite how much of a shitty person Shia LaBeouf is his performance as Mutt Williams is honestly really great. Then they get to the jungle in the second half and it all starts to fall apart. The car chase is pretty terrible, the giant ants are creepy but kind of just meh and the conclusion feels very underwhelming. I will say that I don't agree with the criticism that there being aliens is a bridge too far, it's about as plausible as any of the other supernatural stuff so it doesn't feel out of place to me. Overall a fun movie just a bit messy in its third act. 6/10

4. Dial of Destiny

I was so anxious to watch this one, all I'd heard from people was that it was terrible and another wasted legacy sequel, so imagine my surprise when I sat down to watch it and found it's actually brilliant. It feels like a proper finale to the series and does a lot of interesting things with Indy and makes him more compelling in this film than he's been since Last Crusade. Mads Mikkelsen plays my favourite Indy villain in Jürgen Voller, who is intimidating yet ever so slightly campy. I love him, and his plan is so bonkers and off the wall it's amazing. Helena is a brilliant supporting character, and I love how she's kind of like a young Indy with her own version of Shortround. The overall message of the film plus how it deals with Indy's age and the ending made me cry, I felt it was truly something special. That being said, I didn't like the CGI young Harrison Ford at the start of the movie, as well as how a lot of the once practical stunts are now completely CGI, but that aside I love this film. 8/10

3. Raiders of the Lost Ark

The classic that started it all, I'm not gonna say much about this film mainly because I feel like out of all the films I have least to say about this one. It's really great with phenomenonal action, music, acting, and pacing. An adventure for the ages, everything that could possibly be said about this movie has been said. It's a masterpiece. So why is it not at the top? Mainly cause I like the next two more, nothing against this film but I feel later entries improve on what's already there. Still the most quintessential adventure film of all time. 9/10

2. Temple of Doom

My hot take is that Temple of Doom is better than Raiders and I will die on this hill. This movie is a thrill ride from start to finish with some of my favourite characters in the whole franchise; I love Shortround and think he's a great sidekick to Indy, I love Willie she's such a great comedic foil and her line delivery never fails to crack me up, Mola Ram is basically the devil himself with how genuinely evil he is compared to the other bad guys he seems to be relishing in his evil. The camp fun of this movie mixed in with genuine horror imagery and elements make it utterly unforgettable to me, I know for some people it's too mean spirited but I kind of love that about it. Harrison Ford is so great here too, he is an absolute delight in this movie in every scene. The action is unmatched in the rest of the series here with the mine cart chase and bridge collapse being series highlights for me. Overall, it's just a brilliant bit of fun that while not being very deep has such great entertainment factor that I adore it. 9/10

1. The Last Crusade

I must have watched this on VHS so many times as a kid, I was constantly rewatching Last Crusade so I have a nostalgic bias for this movie, but so what? This movie means so much to me personally, its themes of obsession and fatherhood are beautifully executed. Getting Sean Connery, James Bond himself, to play Indy's father was a genius move by Spielberg the presence of Henry Jones sr elevates this film to the stratosphere for me. The story and characters are absolutely perfect, the action is as great as ever, the character of Indiana Jones himself is at his peak in this movie with how we learn so much about his past with that incredible opening sequence with young Indy. My only slight criticism is that the main villain, Walter Donovan is the weakest of the series, but even that's made up for by Elsa, who plays the role as both villain and love interest brilliantly. I love this movie to death. 10/10

"Indiana, let it go."

#indiana jones #ranking

[signalwatch]

Marvel Watch: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)

Watched:  05/21/2023

Format:  Theater!

Viewing:  First

Director:  James Gunn

On Friday night I watched the mostly panned Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, and on Saturday spent an ungodly amount of time discussing the film with Danny for the Superheroes Every Day podcast.  Spoiler: it wasn't my favorite movie.  And so it was that here, deep in Marvel Phase 5, that I finally saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023).  

You'd have to listen to the podcast and read between the lines on other posts to know how I feel about Marvel these days.  It's an affection, but one that knows where we're at in the scheme of creation and the realization that what always worked will not always work, and that they're now on to properties that have always struggled within the Marvel portfolio, while still not dishing up a Fantastic Four movie that we all know is coming.

As has been largely agreed upon, James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy solidified the lessons of Iron Man (and to a lesser extent, Thor) and re-positioned how Marvel designed its films into action-comedies with heart.  GotG somehow, against all odds, managed to make you care about a tree with one line of dialog, an asshole space-raccoon, a manchild with knives, a mass-murderer, and a slacker with delusions of grandeur.  Plus a redneck pirate!  The heart part was a bit surprising as we watched our leads kill a ship full of pirates, etc... Not the usual side of superheroes.

Bit, dammit, if I wasn't weepy at the end when Groot did his thing.  And in the second one when we all worked through whatever we call found family and family.  And who didn't like the Christmas special?

When I was 12 and getting into comics (circa 1987), I picked up a bundled four-pack of the 1986 Rocket Raccoon mini-series from a spinner rack at my local comic shop (and still my shop!), Austin Books and Comics.  I was wildly enthusiastic about what I read, but also understood - apparently this series was not popular and I was going to have to love Rocket alone.  

In truth, Rocket was deeply changed by the time he got to the GotG films.  In the original series he was a gold-hearted law-man in an insane world (literally), with an otter girlfriend and a Walrus uncle.  They'd been placed there to help keep an eye on "the loonies", crazy humans who needed looking after.  The series is bonkers and has nothing to do with anything that would come up later in the comics or movies featuring the now gruff and ready-to-rumble Rocket.  Over time, these things happen in comics.

I was also very aware of the High Evolutionary from late 1980's/ early 1990's comics, and in-particular a really fun summer event called "The Evolutionary War"* that gave me insight into his whole deal.  He's a Grade A villain, but I wasn't sure how one would use him in a Marvel film.  But here we are.

SPOILERS

Full stop - it was nice to see Marvel firing on all cylinders again.  They're taking too long between sequels and re-appearances of fan-favorite characters as they litter the MCU with new characters, but mostly it's been 6 years since Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.  Snippets of them in in big crossover films is nice, or doing some day work on Thor is cool, but... come on.  

Luckily it doesn't feel like anyone missed a beat.  Even if the audience who saw the last one in middle school is potentially now in college (that's too long, Marvel).  

After multiple movies of Rocket being a bit rough around the edges, we get his origin story - even if the Guardians don't.  And that's okay.  But after being wounded in a fight with the newly hatched Adam Warlock by the Sovereign, Rocket is injured and its discovered his cybernetics include a kill-switch, which in turn points to the legitimate and illegitimate affairs of the MCU-space-freighting High Evolutionary.  

Turns out this movie is about vivisection and animal testing, and puts a face to the whole affair, while creating Ani-Men along the way.

It's clear Gunn read and appreciated the groundbreaking comic We3 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, a three-issue story about a dog, cat and rabbit given cybernetic enhancements as a military experiment.  Set free by their keeper when she realizes the military is going to euthanize them, things get very dark, very fast, but it's also an emotional rollercoaster.  (Talk about the comics that live in your head.  It's still one of my favorite comics of all time.)  

Pretty clearly Gunn took the characters from the whimsical 1986 comics, overlaying them on ideas and concepts seen in We3, creating something new and utterly heartbreaking in ways I was not expecting.

Meanwhile, Peter Quill is working through his grief at living in a world where his new Gamorra has rejected him, Nebula is trying to make the best of her situation and move forward, Mantis is coming into her own and Drax is... Drax.  

Our villain this outing is the aforementioned High Evolutionary, recast here as a galactic-level type, played with tremendous effect by Chukwudi Iwuji - a "visionary" who is endlessly working his way to building a utopian society by trying to create new species through an endless parade of grotesquries.  But maybe he doesn't know what he's doing?  And/ or is more into the process itself than the end goal?  And who jealously sees a true, inherent genius in his creation of Rocket that he, himself, lacks.

I can't say how remarkable it is that Gunn works in multiple arcs across multiple characters, and, arguably, those arcs all work.  It's possible the overall story that's an excuse for spending time with his characters is a little messy - but I didn't really think so.  Gunn is mostly responsible for his own scripts, and he manages to keep things tight.  But nothing sacrifices the journeys we've been on since the first film - the characters continue to grow, reflect, refract and change.  

And this is Gunn.  He absolutely knows how to push the buttons to make you laugh, cry, sit on the edge of your seat, make you love a character instantly and care about them in ways that few other filmmakers can do.  All of this is wrapped up in one of the more violent corners of the MCU where life really is cheap, and the devastation of whole planets is something that happens along the way.  Characters we just met meet swift and terrible ends.  

But violence isn't the point.  Unlike many-a-superhero movie, GotG doesn't reduce itself to a slog of equally matched foes making a light show.  Here in Volume 3, we have a finale during which the last 1/3rd isn't just when things get crazy, it's also when character arcs come to a head and work through to completion.  And not just "if I beat that guy, I can go home".  It's all fairly legitimate third act resolution, which is really something when you consider it's also the 9th to 15th act we've had for some of these characters.  

Gunn creates amazing scenes.  It's worth noting that he does use practical sets when he can (Knowhere's business area is one massive set), and he doesn't rely on dark or haze to cover up what he wants to show.  His characters are buyable in their insane spaces - making our own world and reasonable facsimiles of it - look like the alien thing on screen.   And he knows that intersplicing events is the real action in many action movies (thanks, Star Wars, for that lesson!).  But he's also not above an astounding but reasonably paced hallways fight giving our re-teamed heroes their moment.  

And, of course, Gunn's soundtrack was typically on point.  I assume Gunn and I must be within a few graduating classes of each other, because I see him.

This was the first movie since probably February of 2020 that Jamie and I have seen together in a theater, and the first for me in an Alamo since, I believe, Birds of Prey.  So of course I'm almost predisposed to like this one on principle of the cinematic experience.  And, sure, I am certain I missed an error or ten.  I am sure the anthropomorphization and cruelty shown to Rocket and his friends was disliked, or seen as manipulative or sentimental.  On that we'll have to part ways and ponder the very nature of fictional narratives.

As with all of Gunn's output from the past decade-plus, the rollercoaster of experiences and emotional whiplash - while maintaining a coherent story - is mind-boggling.  For comparison/ contrast, one need only turn their eye on the recent-to-Disney+ Quantumania, which just keeps hitting the same notes over and over.  

I don't mind that Gunn essentially killed characters I'd hoped to see on screen one day since the appearance of Rocket.  In a way, I'm disappointed, but I do feel it's earned.  I may actually be more cheesed that this eliminates the possibility for a We3 movie, but that was never going to happen properly, anyway.  And I am delighted that Rocket did get so much spotlight this film, and that the story felt meaningful.  

I have no idea what will become of Marvel Studios over the next five to ten years.  Not all signs point to another twenty years of non-stop success, and some bad choices have been made here and there in a way that seemed impossible once Marvel started firing on all cylinders.  But it's great to send off at least this little corner of the MCU with a sequel worthy of the goodwill.

Sunday afternoon I was asked what I thought of Gunn on Superman: Legacy, and while I won't get into why, specifically, watching a non-Suicide Squad film settled for me that he's the right person of the job at this moment.  I think he's got it.  

*I've always held this up as "how comics cross-over events should be handled".  There's a main story and the individual summer annuals tie-in, and you can opt in or out, and it gives everyone time to mention that it happened later in the year in their ongoing titles.

  https://ift.tt/qpV3mL0

from The Signal Watch https://ift.tt/NyRxbmf

#Guardians of the Galaxy #Rocket Raccoon #marvel #mcu

[dreamy625]

This rockstar life - 4.3 Spectrum introspection

Fun fact - I wrote most of this over a year ago, I just didn’t have anywhere to put it until now!

Words: 1639

Content: Casual drinking, smoking

This rockstar life master list

----------------------------------------

“Ugh, you’d think with so many channels there would be something on. It’s just news, wrestling, and reruns of Magnum PI.”

Steve looks up from the guitar magazine he’s studying, “It is the middle of the night, they probably assume everyone’s asleep. Anyway, I quite like Magnum.”

Alice flicks back to the channel with the moustachioed detective, then gets out of bed and roams aimlessly around the room, picking things up and putting them down again, opening and closing the trouser press, and sniffing the complimentary toiletries. 

“D’you think it’s worth unpacking, as we’re only here two nights?”

Lighting another cigarette, Steve shrugs, “I usually just hang my jackets up.”

She hangs a few random items in the wardrobe before resuming her restless pacing.

“Such a weird nomadic existence. Where even are we?”

“Philadelphia? No… Pittsburgh? Dunno. It must say on the menu or something…” He starts rifling through the detritus on the desk.

Alice stops by the window and peers out at the unprepossessing view of freeway, vast car parks and, in the distance, the floodlit wall of the arena.

“Ah, it is Philadelphia - The Spectrum, apparently.”

She spins around with sudden eagerness, “Let's go out and look at it!”

“Now?”

“Now!”

“But I haven’t got any trousers…”

“Come ON Clarkie!”

Pausing only to scoop a handful of little bottles from the minibar into the pocket of her robe, Alice pushes him out of the door. She raises her finger to her lips to signal quiet (it is 2am after all) and they tiptoe along the corridor. As they reach the lift, there is a ding and the doors start to open, so Alice darts into the stairwell, dragging Steve behind her. Reaching the lobby, she adopts a casual saunter, as if leaving your hotel in the middle of the night in your pyjamas is completely normal. The desk clerk watches them pass, one eyebrow raised, and Steve gives him a grin and a shrug as they escape via the revolving door. 

Obviously it’s still dark, but the security lighting enables them to make their way across to the building with just the minimum of tripping up kerbs and getting snagged in hedges. 

“Wow, it’s huge!”

“Yeah. We did even bigger ones on the last tour though.”

“Wow. Just. Wow.”

Alice flops down on the grass bank facing the entrance, and Steve sits down beside her. She hands him one of the bottles from the stash in her pocket, and he lights a cigarette. 

“I just… wow. Do you ever get used to it?”

“Sort of, if you don’t think about it too much. They all start to blur into one another after a while.”

Alice lapses into thoughtful silence, staring up at the concrete edifice.

“Why am I here?”

“Don’t ask me, you’re the one who wanted to come out here!”

“No, I mean why am I here? Me specifically. Why am I here with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You could have anyone you wanted.”

Steve rolls his eyes, “a) No, I couldn’t, and b) I don’t want to anyway. I want you. Fuck knows why, because you’re clearly bonkers, but here we are.”

Alice mock-glares at him before returning to pulling up tufts of grass. “No, but seriously. This… your life… I didn’t really understand until I saw it. You just… live in a totally different world from me.”

“But you’re in my world now. You’ve been on a tour bus and everything!”

“I’m just a visitor, I’ll never be a showbiz person.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“But it does. You need someone who understands all this.” She waves an arm at the building towering above them. “You should be with another musician, or at least someone from the industry, or an actress or a model or something.”

“I tried that, remember. Just being in the same sort of weirdo job doesn’t mean you magically understand each other.”

“But you’re extraordinary.” Steve winces. “And I’m just ordinary, nothing special.”

“You are to me.”

Alice just shakes her head.

“Look, I can try and explain. But you won’t like it. It’s not… romantic. I’ll say it all wrong.”

She just shrugs one shoulder and stays staring down at the ground.

“Alright. In the clinic. I was really miserable. And… really angry. About being packed off to another useless hospital. I hated everything and everyone. Then there was you. You were so… still… and quiet. It made me feel better just to look at you. Calmer.”

Alice gives a small laugh.

“Yeah, I know now that you weren’t calm, you’re never calm, but you looked calm. And then I actually met you and you were funny, and really clever, and really weird…”

Alice laughs again.

“I even started to look forward to group therapy, because I would get to talk to you in the tea break. And then suddenly my time was up and I was leaving and I panicked that I wouldn’t see you again. You’d made everything bearable and I didn’t want to be back on my own again. Really fucking selfish. I didn’t even know if you liked me really.”

Alice interrupts, “Yes you did, you must have done. I was pretty obvious.”

“Well, a bit. But I didn’t know… I didn’t know if you liked me or if it was because I’m, you know, famous and stuff.”

Now it’s Alice’s turn to roll her eyes.

“One time when you phoned, I nearly didn’t answer. It’d been such a shit week. No sleep, I’d just got fucked up every night, got into a fight, the usual. And I thought, it’s not fair, bringing her into this, no one should have to...”

“Was that the time you fell asleep on the phone?”

“Yeah, probably.”

“This sounds… this is gonna sound made up… but I think I… sensed it. I felt that something was going on with you, and that’s why I kept phoning when you weren’t picking up.”

“Maybe you’re psychic!”

“Ha! So why did you? Answer?”

“Selfish again. I knew you’d make me feel better. Which you did. But then I felt bad again afterwards, guilty, like I was using you for… comfort.”

Alice is shaking her head again, but Steve carries on, “I didn’t understand what I was feeling. People have always said that I’m no good on my own, that I always need someone to… look after me. So was that it? Or, what do they call it? Rebound. On the rebound from Lorelei? Had I just latched onto the first girl who was nice to me because I was lonely? My head was so messed up… to be honest, I didn’t even… to start with I wasn’t even sure if I fancied you, until…”

“Oh.” Alice looks down at her lap and wraps her arms across her chest.

“No, wait, I… oh god, this is going to sound worse. I did, of course I did. I realised that… you always came into my mind when I was…” He makes a hand gesture and then looks embarrassed, “I’m sorry, that’s disgusting, it wasn’t on purpose I swear.”

He looks anxiously at Alice and, even though her head is still bent down, he can see the corners of her mouth have turned up. 

She looks up at him from behind her hair and asks, “Really? Do you still? I mean, do I still? When you…?” 

Steve, suddenly totally fascinated by picking the label off the bottle he is holding, nods.

Alice leans in and quickly kisses the corner of his mouth.

Steve clears his throat, still looking somewhat abashed. “Anyway,” he takes her hand, “what I’m trying to say is that you’re amazing and all I could ever want and even if I could have anyone I would still pick you and I don’t give a toss that you’re not a filmstar or whatever because I love you for you.” 

Speech over, he sucks in a big breath and peers at Alice’s face, trying to see from her expression if he has said the right thing. She looks like she’s going to cry, so that's… good? She reaches up her hand and pulls his head down so that their foreheads rest together.

“That’s a lot of words for a Steve.” She gives him a tender, though slightly teary and gin-flavoured, kiss. 

“I left out that I can’t believe my luck that you would even put up with me.”

“Oh stop it.”

“No, really. I know I’m… a lot to deal with. Most people would run a mile.”

“What are you talking about? You’re Steamin’ Steve Clark!”

Steve screws his face up.

“You’re so sweet, and so talented, and look at you, you’re gorgeous. Women literally line up to touch you!”

“But they just see… stage-Steve… they don’t know what I’m really like.”

“And what are you really like?” asks Alice with a smile.

He looks down, “I’m drinking minibar bourbon, in a car park, in my underpants, and someone else’s shirt…”

“My shirt.”

“Your shirt. Which I have spilled ketchup on…”

“That’d better come out.”

“So all in all, I would say not the world’s most eligible bachelor. Could do better.”

“But the car park is outside an arena where, in…” she grabs his wrist and squints at his watch, “just over eighteen hours… thousands of people, who have paid actual money, will watch you play your music and scream because they love it so much!”

“Yeah… I suppose… but that isn’t me. Not really.”

“It’s a part of you.”

“For a few hours maybe. Then you’re stuck with… this.” He waves his arms, spilling the last of the bourbon. 

Alice hands him another tiny bottle, studies him through narrowed eyes for a few seconds, then says, “It looks pretty good to me.”

“Ah, that’s what I really see in you - incredibly low standards!”

#steve clark #steve clark fanfic #steve clark fanfiction #def leppard fanfic #def leppard fanfiction #this rockstar life

[tuiyla]

since we're bring up the subreddit's greatest hits, I think my last straw was the 5th post within like 3 days that was basically "how dare Santana taint the beauty of finchel by ruining their perfect prom memory". I'm not here to argue it was her finest moment, but my god, the way people blow that out of proportion. And all just to canonize Finn, as if he shouldn't have been kicked out of that prom in the first place anyway. frankly, I'm glad Santana "ruined" that cringe moment.

The subreddit's greatest hits and it's just the most tired takes you've ever heard lol. What a time it was to check it several times a day.

I feel like that one's a classic but one I haven't heard in so long I sort of just blocked it. People get so obsessed with that particular detail. Like, I'm sorry, but out of Santana's whole rant that's the thing you think is the worst thing she's ever said? Obviously it was cruel, but in the context of how I feel about the whole scene and 100 Pezberry stuff in general I really don't pay it much attention.

But my god people love to shit on Santana for that one thing in particular. Let me play Satan's advocate for a moment and be the blatantly biased Santana stan people think I am lol. She wasn't lying, was she? All Santana did was reveal that it was only because of her and Quinn that Rachel got the crown. Frankly, I don't know what Rachel thought happened. I mean, even in the scene itself she fears it's a joke. If I were Rachel, I'd be pissed that Santana would stoop so low as to want to ruin my prom moment, sure, but then I'd think for a second and realize what that stupid bitch was actually saying. That she and Quinn both cared about Rachel enough to want to give her the crown, completely disregarding McKinley's vote. That's got to count for something, and sure it got revealed by Santana being a bitch but if the Pezberry feud proved anything it's that Rachel's got to see Santana's good side more. But, I mean, yeah, it was a low blow from Santana. Not earth-shatteringly cruel tho by any means.

And also, and this is what gets me: the scene never brings up Finn. Santana never does, Rachel never does. It's the fans who automatically think, oh how dare she ruin that Finchel moment. And I think that's doing Rachel a disservice, who probably did very much like her dance and joint triumph with Finn but it meant more than that to her. She specifically highlights her friends' belief in her mattering the most. And that meaning stays even after the revelation because Quinntana believed in her, even if, in her hurt, Santana used the fact against Rachel. So what I'm trying to say is that, because of Cory Monteith's and therefore Finn's tragic death the fans have this tendency to consider certain things sacred. But it's them who gave that scene this meaning, not the scene in 100 that has nothing to do with Finn being gone and Santana somehow intentionally ruining Rachel's memory of him. That's literally not what happened and even Santana wouldn't stoop so low as to insult his memory, not to Rachel.

In general, season 5's approach beyond The Quarterback and special mentions here and there, like City of Angels and Bash IIRC is to ignore the Finn elephant in the room. And so it's annoying when people cherry-pick when he's relevant and what callbacks are specifically about him when, in fact, they're not. And it's like they're reducing s5-6 Rachel to Finchel, too, in a way, which is its own thing. I have seen people on the subreddit say they can't fully love Santana because of this particular action and I'm sorry, that's just bonkers. Specifically because she ruined this Finchel memory for Rachel? That's not even what the scene is about. You're getting mad at fictional character Santana Lopez because of a leap in logic you have made. At least get mad at her for the right reasons, geez, like her transphobic comment and overall behaviour in this scene. But no, it's one of those fandom things where an interpretation gets spread like wildfire and people forget what's actually in the text. It's like getting mad at Blaine for something he did in a fanfic.

And you know what Anon, I think I'm with you on being glad that moment was ruined lol. Because I find that moment so incredibly obnoxious and I think it's my top 1 worst Finchel moment, so. It's a contended spot though.

#that's what's so bonkers in the og scene there's NO mention of finn #when she talks to mercedes rachel doesn't complain about that memory beign ruined #people just think of that because of the irl tragedy #anyway i hate it when people narrow issues between women down to... a man #how fun #maybe santana sucks because of how she hurt rachel not because it was a finn memory my god #glee asks #anti finchel #remember when i was only neutral about them #anon #santana asks #glee subreddit #rachel asks

[callgespenst]

Best of 2022 Media Post

I read/watched a whole lot last year! Here’s the summary of what I enjoyed the most.

Sing a Bit of Harmony: The best new anime movie I saw last year. Usually I try and watch everything I can subbed, but I caught the dub showing for this and it was really well done. Very lived-in and real-feeling near future setting, some wonderful stuff about AI, and just a really good coming of age story. A year later it’s apparently finally getting a US BD release so I’m excited to finally watch it subbed.

Dress-Up Darling: Found this show oddly relatable (or at least, the parts about making the costumes). Wholesome in a roundabout way, and has a very true to life portrayal of how horny teenagers can be, without being weird or gross about it.

Everything Everywhere All At Once: I haven’t been hooked by a trailer for a movie like that in a very long while. Just seeing the preview I knew I was in for a great time, and it delivered. A lot of other people’s favorite movie of 2022 as well, but it’s just that good.

Creamy Mami: One of the earliest magical girl shows, and yet, goes in directions completely untouched by any of its successors. Excellent funny little mascot characters, bopping tunes, and some of the funniest episodes of anything I’ve ever seen. An absolute must watch. Still have some OVAs to go through at some point.

Thrilling Bloody Sword: the summary said “a martial arts movie based on Snow White” and while that’s technically true, it’s so, so much more from that. When the opening credits played and the movie’s main theme turned out to -literally- just be a stolen reindition of the Space Battleship Yamato opening, I knew I was in for a good time. Bonkers battles, a completely unpredictable plot, and special effects that weren’t even good at the time combine into a flawless package. Also, the male main antagonist is weirdly hot and also an incredible actor. When the special effects are that bad, you gotta really give it your all to sell them.

Glass Onion: Another popular pick, but it’s damn good. Needs every second of its two and a half hour runtime. Has a great core message, a superb female lead, and the best use of celebrity cameos in any media I’ve seen in a good long while. Hope there’s many more Benoit Blanc mysteries to come.

Spy X Family: The first anime adaptation in a hot minute that got me to read the source material. A perfect mix of comedy, action, and good old fashioned spy thrills. My only complaint is that there’s not nearly enough Yor getting to do what she does best, but I think the next part of the manga I have to read will fix that.

Dragon Ball Super Hero: Went to go see this twice! Wasn’t sure how the 3DCG would go over, but it was really well done. Got me to finally re-read Dragon Ball all the way through like I’ve wanted to for ages, so that was good too. The action’s great, but it’s really the good ol’ Toriyama humor in full force.

Symphony of the Night: Not sure what I can say about one of the most acclaimed video games of all time, but it was a lot of fun! I could feel myself getting better as I went along, especially when I got into the Reverse Castle. Had to start using my entire toolkit to get by. Think I’ll definitely play another Castlevania game for Halloween this year.

Flying Phantom Ship: Like Creamy Mami, a massive inspiration for a lot of series that have come since, and yet, I saw almost nothing that happened in this movie coming. Only an hour, but with at least three hours worth of twists and turns. Nothing I say about this film can really do it justice.

Phantom of the Paradise: Tremendously well put together movie. Great music by the legendary Paul Williams with a story you probably already know, but put together in a captivating and engrossing way. Knows it’s a story and who the main characters are, and has them interact in ways that really show off all their strengths and flaws. That said, my favorite character might actually be the man only known as Beef, I think about him a lot.

That’s everything for 2022! I have no particular goals on the media front for 2023, but I’m excited to see what it brings.

#gespenst media

[sissytobitch10seconds]

Secrets and Revelations

Fandom: Grey's Anatomy Summary: (Crack taken seriously) George and Alex have known each other a lot longer than everyone thinks. They have a couple other secrets up their sleeves too. Warnings: Crack, mpreg, pregnancy, hidden relationships, secrets, mentions of medical trauma, mentions of teen pregnancy Word Count: 5,087 Ship(s): George O'Malley/Alex Karev

Archive link!

A/N: So I'm going to be completely honest, I don't write crack. All of my fanfictions are serious even if they have some fluffy/funny elements to them. But when my friend fishyysoup brought up this absolutely bonkers prompt when I was showing him pictures of Grey's characters they hadn't met yet, I couldn't help but write it. The prompt was essentially that Andrew was an mpreg love child between George and Alex, and then I turned it into something that is probably too serious but I have a problem. I tried to turn it into a serious fic that has basically just a crack prompt, and I'm not sure if that's what they wanted. Still, here it is. I'm also uploading this on a day I don't normally upload because it's a gift and I wanna get it to him as soon as possible. So, Fishyy, I hope that you enjoy and that this isn't super disappointing to you because there's no actual mpreg. I hope that the rest of the possibly unlucky readers that stumble upon this enjoy it too. Stay sissy and bitchy everyone <3

I. Jackson Avery

Jackson sighed as he finally took the last step that would lead him into the ER. He walked past a couple nurses who did nothing more than give him a sparing glance. "So what was I paged to the pit for?" he asked, leaning up against the counter that April was sitting behind.

"There's a wound in bed six," she said, pointing vaguely in the direction. She then blinked up at him, "How's Harriet doing?"

"Happy to be in daycare and asking after you," he chuckled. He leaned over the edge of the counter right as she moved to stand up so that the two of them could press their lips together for just a moment. They had been through so much together and apart, but he was glad they always managed to find each other. 

"I'll go talk to her after I finish showing the new class of interns around the ER. I was hoping that you could help me after your consult," she said. The redhead reached out with one hand and grasped his own to try and persuade him even more than her doe eyes.

Jackson clicked his tongue and moved a bit away from her. "April…"

"I know, I know," she whispered. "But I've been working all night and I'm worried that I'm going to explode at them or forget something if I do it by myself."

"So make Owen do it," he threw his arms out to the side of his body in exasperation.

"Jackson," she whined.

He clicked his tongue and then let out a small sigh. "Alright. But you owe me."

April got up and then leaned over the counter. She pressed their lips together in another comforting kiss. "I know and I definitely plan on doing so."

The plastic surgeon turned and walked off towards his consult. It ended up being something easy that he was able to handle in just a couple of minutes. That gave him enough time to tell Mark what he'd be doing and why he wouldn't be in their meeting. April had already started the tour with the new class of interns, their residents hanging behind and talking amongst themselves. Jackson pushed his way past them so that he was standing by his partner's side.

"We actually have a pretty big group this year," Jackson murmured as he leaned back against the nurse's station next to April. 

"Hopefully they won't be like our class," she chuckled. Their year, back when they were in Mercy West, had been a complete disaster because there were too many of them to really get an accurate education the way that they needed. It had only been when they merged with Seattle Grace that they had really been able to learn what surgery entailed and their chosen specialities. 

They returned back to the tour. By the time they got to the end of the ER, the residents took their new interns. There were only about five residents chosen every year to have a group of three to five interns each. The residents would be chosen by a group of attendings that would determine who was the most fit to teach that year. Afterwards, they would never be given another round of interns again so that they could focus on their surgical abilities instead.

Jackson peeled away from the swarming, suffocating group of questioning interns and residents. He was trying his best to get to his next consult, this one having been scheduled nearly a week ago, but was instead stopped by a resident he couldn't remember the name of. "Yes?" he asked, letting his hands fall into his pockets.

"I'm on your service today, Dr. Avery," the resident answered.

He paused as he tried to remember their name. They were kind of mousy, and he at least remembered that they were nonbinary and used they/them pronouns. He then nodded as he finally got the information he was looking for, "Right. Come on then, Dr. Asha and all of their lackeys." 

"Don't I need to introduce my interns to you?" they asked, raising a brow at him. The interns behind them were murmuring and bouncing in excitement. He remembered being at that stage in his life, but the memory wasn't enough to make him like them in the slightest.

"I guess," he sighed as he ran a hand over the top of his head. "Go ahead."

Asha turned so that she could say each name to him. Jackson was only half listening since he was going to have to be told several more times before he actually learned their names. His attention peaked when the resident got to the last member of their little group. The intern that Asha was pointing to looked oddly familiar but Jacksonc couldn't quite put his finger on it. "And finally, Andrew DeLuca. Onto rounds?

"I have a patient right now," Jackson said, turning on his heel. He kept the intern in his peripheral while they walked through the halls to get to the patient's room. He was going to figure out who that was and why he looked so familiar.

II. Callie Torres

She looked away from where she was scrubbing at her hands to the clock to see how much longer she had left. She always tried to scrub a little bit over so that she was sure everything was good before she went into surgery. She was working with people's bones, which was one of the most intimate places of their body that could easily get infected.

"Hey," Jackson said as he entered the scrub room. He turned the sink next to her on as he began to scrub as well. They had both been paged to this case when it had come into the ER. It was a nasty car accident that resulted in some burns on the upper chest and two broken legs. The patient was in such critical condition that all of the surgeons required to help were going in at the same time.

"Nasty set of injuries, huh?" she chuckled, looking back to the surgery suite that was being set up as they spoke. 

"Yeah," he answered, mostly distracted. "Hey, have you met the new class of interns?"

"Mm?" Callie asked, glancing up from her hands at him. "I mean, I guess. I had a resident without interns today so I've seen them around but I haven't met any of them yet. Why?"

"One of them looks incredibly familiar and I can't figure out why. It's like I've already met him before but then I've never seen his face. It's like the…" he paused, trying to find the word. His brows furrowed together and he shook his head. 

"Uncanny valley?" she offered.

"Yeah, that. It's like I've seen him before but I haven't at the same time," he explained. "I think he's going to scrub in with us because he's one of my resident's interns," Jackson explained.

Callie shrugged and nodded. "Alright, I'll see if I can recognize him if you point him out to me."

She finished scrubbing and then walked into the surgical suite. The nurse immediately moved up to her and helped her finish getting ready to start the setting of the patient's legs. She got lost in the surgery with everything happening with this patient. She had to help set a couple more bones that they found that were broken, as well as carefully break his ribs when it turned out that they had to help his heart out. It was obvious that there was a new intern in the room, as several of the other attendings were asking more questions than normal as they worked.

The patient had finally been wheeled away to the ICU so that they could rest and recuperate. Callie removed her mask and gloves, turning so that she was looking at Jackson. He had moved closer to her after the rest of the attendings had left. "Which one?" she asked subtly.

"That one," he pointed towards the intern that was standing next to Asha. The younger resident was explaining what was happening in the OR to him as he removed his gloves and mask just like everyone else was. 

Callie folded her arms over her chest as she turned to look at the intern. "Oh man, you're right. He does look like someone that we know. Hmm, I can't quite put my finger on it…" She paused as she tried to figure out just who she thought she was looking at. She then snapped her fingers, pointing towards him not-so-subtly. "He looks like Alex and George!"

III. Cristina Yang

She couldn't help the scowl that formed on her face as she thought about having to deal with yet another new class of interns. It wasn't as though she disliked teaching, especially when it was another thing that she could excell past her peers at. Every intern and fellow that she took under her wing was immediately shaped into the next Cardio God. None of them could be better than her, but she would turn them into something as close as they could get.

Cristina rounded the corner, then turned on her heel and immediately walked away from the crowds of excited baby doctors. Before she even got the chance to get all the way down the hall, Callie met up with her. She placed her hands on the other woman's shoulders to steer her to another part of the hospital. "Callie, what's going on?" she demanded, wriggling around to try and move away from where she was being forced.

"Shh," the other woman quickly hushed. Once she got to the place that she wanted to be, she removed her hands from Cristina's shoulders. "Turn and watch the intern," she pointed towards the group of people walking down the hall. They were standing in a little alcove with a couple of chairs that was usually reserved for families that had to step out and leave their loved ones for a moment. Callie opened the chart that she had grabbed, which was empty, and pretended to be showing the other surgeon something in it.

"Why?" Cristina asked. She pursed her lips and then blinked heavily at her friend. "What is going on?"

"There's an intern that looks like the perfect combination of George and Alex. Jackson and I both think so. We checked with Owen and April. Owen yelled at us to get back to work and April just looked at us like we were crazy. Then we asked Hayes and he said that he didn't want to answer because Alex is still his boss technically. Arizona thinks that they do, so we're now asking everyone in the hospital."

"Huh," she responded. She glanced down at the fake chart before she looked back up. "Which one is it?"

Cristina didn't act like she liked the antics of the rest of the hospital, but everyone was aware that she did at least a little bit. She would pretend like she was above them all but she did enjoy playing their games and competing with them. She had since she had started as an intern. This time was no different. One the outside she was acting as though Callie was ridiculous for even bringing this up to her, but she was now incredibly invested on which side of the argument would win.

The orthos surgeon clicked her tongue as he looked over the assortment of staff in front of them. Then finally she was able to spot Asha and the crowd of interns that they had around them. She snapped her finger and pointed towards the intern in question. "That one, standing near the back. He's got his hands folded over his chest. See?"

"Mm," Cristina waved the other woman off. She squinted her eyes for just a moment to zero in on the topic of their discussion. As soon as she actually got him she made a face. "That is uncanny."

"Right?" Callie cackled. When some attention was turned back towards them, they both looked down to the blank chart until everyone around them had returned back to their work.

As soon as the attention had been taken away from them, both women were back to staring at the intern. Asha was moving to lead them in the other direction, so they got a better look at his entire face instead of only a fourth of it. Cristina turned towards Callie, tearing her eyes away from the man only for a moment. "Maybe he's George and Alex's secret love child."

IV. Mark Sloan

"Mark!" two voices called after the plastic surgeon as he tried to head towards the nearest on-call room. He had been up for what felt like days and he needed nothing more than a long nap. Then he had a wife and newborn to go home to, which meant that sleep was even more important to him than it ever had been before.

"What?" he almost snapped as he turned on his heel to face them. Thoughts of sleep were beginning to fade away from him as he realized just how many people were trying to find him. His protege, Jackson, stood beside his best friend, Callie, and Cristina of all people. The three of them were almost never in the same place anymore because of how busy they were with their own lives.

"We need your help," Jackson began, moving in front of the two women. "I know that you just had a long surgery, but Owen won't let me anywhere near the ER right now because he thinks I'm being annoying, so we need you to do it."

Mark was slowly forgetting about sleep and going home. It was still in the back of his mind, and he was constantly reminding himself to text Lexie that he would be back late and then Meredith so that his wife could have a break, but he wanted to see what was going to happen. "Do what?" he asked as he placed his hands on his hips.

"We think that George and Alex might have a secret love child they neglected to tell everyone about for the twenty years that they've worked here," Cristina said before any of them got a chance to say anything else.

"You think that George, George O'Malley, would have been able to keep not only a relationship but a child secret from this hospital? No one in this place can keep a secret. Everyone knew about Jackson and April being pregnant before she was even eight weeks. Everyone knew that Lexie and I were back together before we even got out of the hospital," Mark snorted. He opened his mouth to keep going but Callie cut him off.

"Ah, ah, ah, no. I don't think that George would be able to keep the secret himself. Alex? Absolutely. We didn't even know that he had siblings until they showed up at the hospital. Same thing with his dad. It's entirely possible that Alex somehow managed to keep George's mouth shut about them having a kid," she explained. "But that's not the point. We've told you the basics of our theory, before we tell you more we need you to agree to the plan."

"I need to know the plan before I agree to it," Mark replied, raising an eyebrow at them all. The only reason that he still works here of all places is them. This hospital is chalk full of his bad memories, the only ones that it's lacking has to do with his parents and Derek, but they're here and so he stays here.

"So, George is in trauma three with a patient that needs a bit of bandaging. He's already asked one of the residents to go and find someone from plastics. We were thinking that you could go in there and talk to him about whether or not that intern is related to him or Alex in any way so that we can figure out what's going on. Since you don't like interns, it wouldn't be out of character for you to keep everyone else out," Callie explained quickly before anyone else got the chance to.

Mark nodded, considering the plan for a moment. "So you want me to ask him about this intern? One I haven't even seen yet?"

"He's one of my resident's interns, so I can point him out to you," Jackson explained.

The other attending took a moment later. He then nodded as he accepted his part in their plan. All of them separated from each other so that they could actually get to work. Jackson walked beside his teacher so that he could point out the intern that everyone was talking about. "I suppose that he does look pretty similar to George and Alex," he chuckled once he finally got a good look at the intern.

Once they had, they initiated the first step of their plan. Mark slipped into the trauma room with George and the rest of the doctors in on the plan helped keep all the other staff out so that the plastic surgeon could focus. Mark entered, got the information that he needed about the patient to be able to help them and then got to work. He let them operate in silence for a moment before he asked, "Have you met anyone from the new intern class?"

"Yeah, a couple of them," George nodded. He was working to try and stabilize the patient's arm so only glanced at the other man once as he spoke. "They're really spirited. Reminds me a little bit of what my intern class was like. Just without all of the drama, so far. It's only the first shift," he chuckled.

"I think that it's physically impossible for any other resident or intern year to have as much drama as your class did," he chuckled. 

They worked in silence for a little bit longer before Mark asked, "So is there anyone in the new intern class that's legacy? We seem to get a couple every now and again."

"I think that there's a second generation, not necessarily a legacy. The only legacy that we've had is Meredith and Jackson since they're kids of people who've won awards," George answered.

"Somebody's kid finally made it here?" Mark asked, raising a brow. "They aren't yours, are they?" He said it like it was a joke, but the other doctor's reaction was going to be what he needed to go and tell the group what the actual answer to their questions. The plastic surgeon looked up from the line of sutures that he had been doing on the top of the patient's chest. 

He watched George as the other man's cheeks began to turn red. "Well, I mean…" he paused for a second as he considered his next words. "Um, he kind of is."

"One of the interns is your kid? No way," Mark snorted as he turned to look at the other doctor. 

"It's not something that I've ever talked about before, but we kind of have to talk about it now because he's here," George admitted. He was trying to focus more on the patient than the conversation that they were having, but Mark could see that the tips of his ears were red with embarrassment. 

Mark went quiet for a bit to give him a chance to calm down. "So which one of them is it? I mean, I'm not going to pry into any personal information about who the other parent is or why you didn't tell anyone about your having a kid because I assume you have your reasons, but if you're coming out about it now then we should at least know who it is." The plastic surgeon is absolutely exhausted from having a newborn at home and still working full time as a surgeon, so he was rambling far more than he would with the normal amount of sleep.

"Nah," George shrugged. "The reason that I haven't talked about it before is because I didn't want anyone judging me. I mean, what kind of intern has a twelve-year-old kid?"

The older man glanced over. "What kind of fifty-year-old as a newborn?" he offered in reply. "We've all got weird families. All that matters is that everyone is happy and healthy. If you want to talk to me about it you can, I won't tell anyone else. Though I am going to tell some of the others that you do have a kid attending as an intern in the hospital. They've been asking and making bets on it."

"So that's why you were talking about the interns. You hate anyone younger than an attending, so I was a little bit confused," George chuckled.

Mark laughed as well. He went back to his sutures while keeping the conversation going. "I can rarely ever say no when it comes to Callie and Jackson. So which one is it?"

"Hmm?" George asked, moving on to another part of the patient.

"Which of the interns is your kid?"

"Oh, his name is Andrew DeLuca," George smiled softly. "He looks fairly like me, just a little bit more handsome."

"Is DeLuca the name of the other parent?" Mark asked, raising a brow. 

"No, it's his partner's name. He got married to his childhood sweetheart before he went to medical school and took his husband's last name. He thought that it would be easier if he didn't have Alex's or I's name attached to him when he tried to become a doctor. Not that the secret of his parenthood would have been kept for very long," George babbled. He had finished helping the patient get stabilized and was now writing some things down in the chart while Mark finished his stitches.

"Alex is the other dad? Huh," the plastic surgeon said.

"Oh shit," George whispered, letting his eyes fall shut for a second. "I wasn't going to tell anyone. I was just going to kind of let everyone figure it out, but I guess that kind of counts."

"Wait a second. How long have you and Alex been together?" he asked as he turned to face the other doctor entirely.

George bit his lip and then tried to come up with a lie. He sighed, placing the chart down next to the patient once he realized that there was no getting out of this. "It's kind of a long story…"

V. Miranda Bailey

She was good at putting out fires. She had been doing it her entire life. She was either handling a situation with her homework or a game that she had playing with other children, or she was soothing her mother's frayed nerves. She was good with people, which is why she became a doctor, and even better at cleaning up messes, which is why she became a chief. That didn't mean that she liked putting out unnecessary fires caused by people not telling her critical information.

"What is the matter with the two of you?" she demanded, letting the door slam shut behind her as she walked into her office. It had been years and years since she had them both in her office at the same time, especially when it was something bad. Meredith had to visit her often for breaking or bending the rules more than necessary, but the only thing that she ever had to yell at George and Alex for was things that happened during their intern year.

"What?" George asked. He was fidgeting with his cane with one hand and the bottom of his shirt with the other. They were dressed in their civilian clothes as they had been getting ready to go home before they were told that they had to go visit her. 

Alex looked just as confused, "Are we in trouble?"

"The two of you hid what's apparently a marriage and a child for the two decades that you've worked here!" she said. "this is an HR nightmare, I hope you know that. You should have disclosed the fact that you had any kind of relationship with each other the second that you stepped foot into this building as coworkers. Especially when you failed your intern exam and he became your superior for a time," she informed them both as she sat down behind her desk.

"Oh, so the news has already gotten back to you," Alex sighed. He glanced at his husband and then back to their chief. "Sorry that we didn't tell you, but it wasn't something that we really wanted to go around the hospital."

George nodded in agreement. He reached over so that he was holding his husband's hand to try and calm himself down. "Originally, we were going to report our relationship to HR and then just pretend to not know what people were talking about if they brought it up," George admitted. His cheeks went a little bit pink and Alex had to suppress a laugh. It had been about a decade and a half since then, but it never failed to amuse them when they thought about their idea to gaslight the hospital into ignoring their marriage. The smile slipped off of George's face when he saw the scowl on Bailey's. "But then Meredith and Derek were always taking the limelight from everyone and their relationship was definitely… less okay than ours. And we had been married for a long time since then."

"Almost twelve years," Alex said, though he had remembered something that wasn't quite it.

"Ten. We had our ten year anniversary that year," George snapped his fingers as he remembered. It was hard for him to remember his intern year because of the accident he had. 

"How in the Hell did the two of you manage to hide a child and a marriage for two decades from your closest friends?" she asked once she had gotten over the information they had just given her.

Alex snorted, "Our son came to visit us in the hospital the couple times we had to be hospitalized. I'm surprised no one figured it out sooner."

"He was already twelve by the time that we started our intern year, and he didn't really want to be involved with a lot of things that also involved us. You know how teenagers can be," George reasoned. "He stayed home by himself a lot, and the couple times that he did come with us I think people just assumed he was someone else's."

"I want the story," Bailey said after she took a moment to calm herself down.

The two of them glanced at each other. They knew that they could trust her not to spread their story around, but people were going to find out soon enough anyway. "Well, um," George hummed. "My parents moved us out to Iowa for my dad's job when I was fifteen, and then I met Alex at school. I was one of the only people that wasn't deterred by his shitty family life. I got pregnant at the end of our Junior year and Andrew was born in the middle of our senior year. Getting pregnant at sixteen wasn't something my very Catholic parents approved of very much so I was kicked out of the house and we ended up living together until we were seventeen and graduated. We got married when we were eighteen and then my family started talking to me again. We just went throughout the rest of our lives with our kid and each other until we both happened to match here when Andrew was twelve. We didn't want to tell anyone because teen pregnancy isn't really something that you advertise."

Bailey took a moment to process the story before she finally conceded. "I guess you had your reasons. You are going to have to report your relationship to HR, including the fact that you're DeLuca's fathers," she said, pointing at them both very seriously to make sure that they got the memo.

+1. Andrew DeLuca

As he grasped the handle to his childhood home, he felt the tension from the day beginning to melt off of his back. It had been a lot of work getting through his first day as an intern, but the resident he was assigned to was kind on top of being one of the better teachers. The attendings didn't treat him any differently than the rest, though there had been a decent amount of staring seeing as he looked like both of his fathers.

"How was work, sweetie?" George called from the kitchen.

"Weird," Andrew shouted back. He dropped his bag down on the floor next to the hooks, like he used to do when he was a teenager. It had been years, six years of college to be exact, but old habits die hard.

"On the hook!" Alex reprimanded from where he was finishing up some work in the living room.

"Sorry Papa," he replied as he picked his bag back up and then placed it onto the hook. He then toed off his shoes and placed them next to the door where they belonged. He walked into the kitchen where his father was making dinner. "I think your friends were trying to figure out who I was all day, Dad," he commented. He placed a kiss on his father's cheek as he moved around him.

"I'm sure that they were. Mark came and talked to me while we were working on a patient. Everyone thinks that you look like us, so it wasn't hard for them to figure out. I think that the name and your age threw them for a loop," George chuckled. "Make sure you call your wife before the end of the day to check on her and tell her about your day."

"I'm not a kid anymore, Dad. I can handle my own relationship," he laughed. "I will though. Thank you for reminding me," Andrew slipped away from his father. He loved his parents more than anything, and he appreciated the fact that they were willing to reveal the mistakes they had made as teenagers to claim him as their kid despite the embarrassment that it would lead to. Teenage pregnancy and then a hidden relationship weren't something that just completely got overlooked, after all. 

"Love you, Dads!" he called as he walked back out of the communal space and to his childhood bedroom. They both replied back immediately, telling him that they loved him.